Glass collection

I have amassed a glass collection from my travels. Half Liter Weissbier glasses, Guinness stein from Dublin, Gluhwein boot from Bremerhaven and a odd coffee mug.




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Once again in smooth waters

After 5days of heavy Seas it is nice to see that Caribbean waters are smoothing out. We dock at Castaway tonight which adds a number of items on our "to-do" list. That list has 100 items on it. We have 4 days left so anxiety is high. Sally and Chance have been captured by Pirates and put to work onboard. Chance has been unpacking wave phones and Sally is creating government manifests.Stephanie has been having a great time in the teen club and we never see her.

Another holiday onboard tonight New Years. Family countdown at 10pm and real EST countdown at midnight.


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4300 Nautical miles down

Day 11 of 16. We are getting close to land.

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25th Wedding Anniversary

Well it has been 25 years since I married my best friend from High School.  So what better time to renew our vows.  The ship used this as a training event. Capt. Tom was gracious and his crew did a great job.  Stephanie stayed with her Mom until the ship escort came to get her and then Chance walked Mom down the aisle.  As Sally said" it was a dreamy day"

Fw: Sunrise on my 25th wedding anniversary

------Original Message------
To: Wagsplace
Subject: Sunrise on my 25th wedding anniversary
Sent: Dec 28, 2010 5:08 AM

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Happy Boxing Day

…an important holiday in the United Kingdom that has its roots many years back. In fact, well-to-do families would celebrate Christmas on the 25^th of December, and then on the 26^th would “box up” various items for the less fortunate. Given that so many of our crew hails from the U.K., it was pleasing to hear about this traditional spirit of giving that it is still celebrated today.

 

I missed doing a blog update on Christmas.  While there were great activities for the little kids my family stayed in our cabin for the morning. We went through the hundreds of pictures they took of their Ireland and Amsterdam travels.  It was great sitting in the bed with them as they explained the fun they had. 

 

The Entertainment team did a full dress rehearsal of the new show “Believe” it is a great story and truly made by the top creative minds within the company.  Many of us left wondering how they pulled off many of the special effects.  I do not want to give too much away but seeing Tinkerbelle talk to Rachael will make anyone a believer of the power of the Creative and Technology minds in the Entertainment department.

 

 

Christmas Eve on the ship

It’s about 10 p.m. here in Tenerife on Christmas Eve, and it’s a special time for all onboard. Especially for the crew, given that we decided to stay later and provide open Internet access. While many people working on the crossing have their families with them, the crew relies on email or phone to connect with family during this special time of year. It’s not easy for those on their first ship contract and your family is thousands of miles away.

 

I have always wondered about the onboard experience during Christmas.  The ship entertainment crew did a good job. There was mass, Pictures with Santa, Holiday cookies, holiday parades on the funnel vision and more.

 

We are departing Tenerife late today because we’re waiting on the airlines. You can well imagine the numbers of lost bags from this past week’s European weather challenges, and a number of our guests joining the ship in Tenerife were not spared. Hopefully there will be some luggage reuniting late tonight!!

 

We wandered and explored Tenerife, the primary city in the Canary Islands, which is part of Spain.  It was a great opportunity to explore, and my family could not have been happier to experience a wee bit of terra firma and another country. Stephanie was able to get a Spanish version of Harry Potter to go with her Irish and Dutch copies from this trip. 

 

 

Wagners

 

 

Teinerief

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View of 2nd largest volcano

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Santa Cruz

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Atlantic is now smooooooth

Peaceful, 67 degree night.
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North Sea was calm the Atlantic is not

Well we came out of the Bay of Biscay and ran into two weather fronts colliding.  This was in the afternoon and for most of the night. We experienced some typical Atlantic weather. The ship handled the wind and waves beautifully she swayed, rolled and moaned but was never jarring like her little sisters.  The reassuring voice of Captain Tom had a distinct calming effect on some while others were concerned of his command to lash and stowaway all loose items!

We turned back the clocks last night so it's still early on the Disney Dream for many, not me as I forgot so I am an hour early for breakfast. We are now -5 hours (GMT) from EST so we are making progress. Tomorrow we stop in the Canary Islands at Tenerife for fuel and to let those that want to explore off before our full crossing.  Only tomorrow knows what is in store for the Wagner family.

 

 

Crossing Update December 22

We are just crossing the northwestern tip of France and heading across the Bay of Biscay toward the northern tip of Portugal. We’ll then follow the Portuguese coast en route to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.

 

The weather and seas have been fantastic today. A very gentle breeze and temperatures in the lower 40s. The Captain announced that we will see heavy seas tomorrow so we should enjoy the outside decks now. 

 

 

Somewhere

Sally and the kids joined us yesterday.  We successfully on-boarded all of our guests in the Bremerhaven port terminal.   Spirits are up now that our families are here but all of these guests are bringing to light small details were forgot so the workload has increased. 

Went through the english channel last night and we are heading south toward Portugal.
We have a lot running but still working 15hr days. Temperature has moderated and seas have been calm.
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Crazy Times on a Caribbean flagged ship

Snowman on the pool deck!

I think this ring will do little good if you go overboard in this weather

Snow on my balcony railing.



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IMG-20101218-00184.jpg

New stateroom with a new view.. 21F, light snow and fog. Love the northern germany weather. We onboard 1000 family members sunday 19th Capt. Tom announced to expect high Seas upon our debark out of Bremerhaven early Monday morning. "Lash all items remove everything to floor4" sounds like fun!

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Life is good

Brats, Eierpunsch, gluhwein and pommes

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USCG dead ship test

All nonessential personnel are being bused into town for 8 hours while the Coast Guard conducts some tests. There is somewhere near 2000 people and about 100 will be onboard.

Very interesting that even our capt and staff capt walked off. The shipyard owns the vessel still so they are responsible.

So off to the atlantic sail hotel to see if we can get a conference room.

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Another beautiful morning in Bremerhaven

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Ice Cold

The weather has not been cooperating. It is cold with moderate winds. We saw it sleeting an hour ago but that was short lived. I am so lucky I am not working down on the dock.

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Small German breakfast

This morning I awoke a little late and came down for breakfast. Our stay includes "small breakfast" which is for those on business that expense their food. Seems there is a german tax law that forbids large breakfast expenses.



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Longest flight ever

My dislike of Frankfurt went up today. After a 8hr flight we started to circle my favorite airport. After about 45 min we landed in a slushy/snow mess. As we raced to our connecting flight Heather was pulled into extra random security check. Luckily our connecting flight was delayed two hours or not so luck as two turned to three then we spent three hours onboard waiting to get de iced. Visualize a truck shooting orange gatorade all over plane.
That is a de icing.




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Frankfurt

On yet another trip to Germany. This time I and three other colleagues are heading to Bremerhaven. As we approached Frankfurt, Lufthansa's hub, I noticed we kept circling and circling. When we landed and looked outside there was 2-3" of snow everywhere. Typical Frankfurt fashion we were herded by cattle bus to a terminal far from where the plane was parked. We have to go through passport and security control so the odds we make our connecting flight are 1in 100 odds in my bookie book.




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Back in Orlando

I spent a couple weeks back in Orlando and had a relaxing Thanksgiving. The team onboard is still working long hours even on this American holiday.The ship is going through Sea trials where they run the ship to its maximum capabilities.  I hear they are up near Sweden and the Seas are very heavy. 

While I was home I went back and added more details and pictures to my blog.  Please go back and review my last trip.  I also realized that if you searched on Google using the ship's name my blog was in the top 5 blog results. It is not my intention to become a source of information. I write this blog so my friends and family can see what I am working on.  Even that is obscured by the secrecy of the ship build.  So the reason you are seeing numbers in words is to throw off the search engines; seems silly I know.


Soon I will be off again for a longer tour.  Follow this link to a website that tracks vessels, this will take you to the Dr3am.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

My first 777 flight on US947

I was upset when I found out a leg of my journey switched to a United flight; I got over it when I noticed it was on a 777.  Then I saw that Seatguru.com does not rate the 777 very high in comfort. The website says there is no feet storage. If that is true I will be miserable. Full flight and I am on the window.

Post flight rant - Not only is there no room to stow gear at your feet there are no power ports and the chair does not lay down at all. This was a "Lufthansa purchased flight" but United cannot compare to Delta and Lufthansa.  It is sad that the newest Boeing airplane can be so basic and similar to the 767.  To make it even more miserable I got a fraction of the points I normally would of received.   


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Amsterdam train

Amsterdam train station info for Sally and the kids

There is normally a train that goes from Schipol airport to amsterdam central station. Due to construction that route is closed. You must route through Dievenchtrie. This requires careful review of the train map and route time sheet.

The kiosk for buying a ticket takes credit cards but not amex. Credit cards require a pin. We chose >same day-second class-full fare-good for today-not non-stop fast train. Total cost from schipol to AC was €3.70 each.

Next you look on large yellow board for schedule. Your ticket will not tell you anything about you train,gate or route. Find chart that has your route in large bold print at top. This should have the names of your first and next stop. If train does not go to AC you need to find connecting station. We changed at arena station going into town. Schedule goes by time, day of week and type of train. It will also display platform You now proceed to the correct platform. We had to ask security for where the platform is. There were many.

Before you board the train look at your ticket. The tip should have a date time stamp. If it does not get it stamped at yellow machine on platform. $35 euro fee if it is not stamped.

Once on train watch the station names. They do not always call them out nor are the signs easily visible from the train.

I high suggest going to train website beforehand.




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Amsterdam at night

View down a canal

A parking garage full of nothing but bikes. The bikes overflowed in and around the area

This is a public urinal for men.  All you do is cozy on up to it and pee away. One of my female colleagues walked right next to a man using this urinal before she realized what he was doing!  

What a crazy city!  I only was able to get into Amsterdam Central after 7PM.  The train stops at midnight so we had to leave before 11PM.  I lived in New Orleans for a year but it was in my territory for five.  I know how crazy Bourbon St is but Amsterdam has 15+ Bourbon streets and the crowds are larger.   I cannot imagine partying all night there.  

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Off the ship

I went to sleep at 12:30 AM as we passed Leer. The crowds were enormous along the river as the Dream completed her conveyance. I fell asleep listening to Disney show tunes blaring from the open deck speakers. I can remember hearing the main ship horn a few times through the night. At 4:30 I awoke to a loud vibration. After awhile I decided to get up and peer outside. As I arose I felt as though the ship was listing. When I pulled the curtains in my PJs I saw multiple camera flashes from across the river. The crowds were still out and the thrusters we going full blast. I later learned we were going under a bridge and they leaned the ship to clear it.

We made it to Eemshaven by 9am Saturday.  I had little time to view out but what I did see is windmills far out on the horizon. This port makes the offshore wind turbines which are built complete and towed out to sea. Until you see one on the ground it is hard to judge their size.  We passed a single blade and it seems the bus took a minute to drive by it.
We are on our way to Amsterdam next.  On a bus with about 20 others. Imagineers, Character actors from Disneyland Paris the Shoreside Communication team and us.




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Map of Delfzijl, Netherlands

This is my current location 6:30 AM Saturday during the conveyance down the river Ems. If you look at this map you can follow the river we traversed.  Leer, Weener and then our starting city Papenburg.
.

http://maps.BlackBerry.com?lat=53.32660&lon=7.00403&z=7&label=Delfzijl,+Netherlands&city=Delfzijl&country=Netherlands



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Map of Weener, Germany

This is my current location, stop laughing.

http://maps.BlackBerry.com?lat=53.11253&lon=7.37032&z=3&label=Weener,+Germany&city=Weener&country=Germany



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D1sney Dr3am Begins Journey to Completion During ‘Conveyance’ on River Ems

The following was taken from a shippipedia.com.  It is a very well written article regarding the next step for the Disney Dr3am. 

PAPENBURG, GERMANY, Nov. 12, 2010 The Disney Dr3am cruise ship departed the MEYER WERFT shipyard today on its conveyance down the River Ems, traveling from the ship s inland birthplace in Papenburg, Germany to the North Sea at the port of Eemshaven, The Netherlands.  The journey began with a firework display as the ship passed through the first sea lock exiting the harbor, completing yet another milestone as the ship moves closer to its maiden voyage on Jan. 26, 2011, from Port Canaveral, Florida.

The conveyance process is a unique maneuver for ships built by the MEYER WERFT shipyard, the only place in the world where this process occurs. The journey involves moving the ship some 26 miles down the winding River Ems.  In some areas, railroad bridges have been dismantled with sections lifted out to allow the ship s passage.

With the conveyance of the Disney Dr3am, we have reached yet another milestone for the third ship in our fleet, said Karl Holz, president of Disney Cruise Line. It won t be long before our guests finally experience the inspired innovation and extraordinary creative content that makes this ship so magnificent and so unique. From an exhilarating ride on the AquaDuck to dazzling stage shows and exquisite French cuisine at Remy, the incredible offerings on the Disney Dr3am will delight everyone who steps aboard.

Tens of thousands of local residents lined the shore to see the Disney Dr3am and some of its new and innovative features, like the AquaDuck water coaster, which winds around the ship s iconic funnels.

All of us at MEYER WERFT and throughout the community of Papenburg are very proud to see this Dream ship through its historic conveyance, said Bernard Meyer, managing partner of MEYER WERFT. As the largest ship this yard has built, our entire community feels a tremendous sense of achievement and a deep connection to this exceptional vessel.

Prior to the conveyance, the Disney Dr3am underwent its float out on Oct. 30.  For the last two weeks, testing on the ship s functional features has taken place in the MEYER WERFT harbor, while work on the interior areas continued.  As the ship concludes the conveyance, it will move into what is known as the test-and-adjust period, departing Eemshaven for sea trials.  After sea trials, the ship will travel to Hamburg, Germany for a short final dry docking.  The ship then returns to Bremerhaven, Germany, for the delivery ceremony in which MEYER WERFT will officially deliver the Disney Dr3am to Disney Cruise Line.  Here the ship will welcome its remaining crew members before departing for its home in Port Canaveral in Florida.

The Disney Dr3am is the first of two new Disney ships being built by MEYER WERFT in Papenburg, Germany.  The Disney Fantasy is also currently in production and is scheduled to set sail on its maiden voyage on April 7, 2012.

Disney Dr3am Innovations

Known for establishing the family cruise market when the Disney Magic debuted in 1998, Disney Cruise Line continues to build upon this success with a focus on the legacy and heritage of The Walt Disney Company s most known assets master storytelling, world-class entertainment and legendary guest service. In addition to all of the features Disney Cruise Line is known for, the Disney Dr3am will have several new notable innovations for guests to enjoy.

• AquaDuck, a first-of-its-kind water coaster, is an exhilarating, high-speed thrill ride that combines all the ups and downs of a roller coaster with all the twists and turns of a water slide.
• Magical Portholes offer a virtual window to the world for inside staterooms, with a real-time view outside the ship where high-definition cameras feed live video to each stateroom.
• Enchanted Art immerses guests in Disney storytelling and looks like other hanging art pieces around the ship, but is actually a framed LCD screen with technology that recognizes a guest is present.
• Remy, an exquisite top-deck restaurant, only for adults, with incredible ocean views and French-inspired, gourmet cuisine by two award-winning chefs.

New Itineraries

With the addition of two new ships, Disney Cruise Line is able to more formally expand its itineraries to new destinations, including Alaska, while continuing to offer cruises to some of the line s most popular itineraries.

The Disney Dr3am will sail three-, four- and five-night cruises to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Fla., while sister ship Disney F@ntasy, is set to sail seven-night alternating eastern and western Caribbean itineraries, also from Port Canaveral, beginning in 2012.  The Disney Magic will continue sailing seven-night eastern and western Caribbean cruises, before returning to the Mediterranean for another summer of cruising in this region in 2011.  The Disney Wonder will begin 2011 by repositioning to the West Coast of the U.S., sailing seven-night Mexican Riviera cruises from the Port of Los Angeles, while spending the summer sailing first-ever Alaskan itineraries from Vancouver.

Based in Celebration, Fla., the Disney Cruise Line experience is focused on providing a setting where families can reconnect, adults can recharge and kids can immerse themselves in worlds of fantasy only Disney can create.  Most recently, the company was recognized as the top cruise experience by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine.  Disney Cruise Line was voted the No. 1 cruise experience in the magazine s 2010 Readers Choice Awards in the mega-ship category.

http://www.shippipedia.com/disney-dream-begins-journey-to-completion-during-conveyance-on-river-ems/

Long hallways

According to the statistics this ship is 115 feet longer than our Magic class vessel. You need a Segway to get around this monster.  I wore out my Clarks.  


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Telling sign?

This is the main icon in the hallway carpet.  It shows our three home ports along with the four vessels.  Read into it what you want.

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Moving on up!

8 days in a hotel; 11 days in a crew cabin and now two nights on deck 9 in a guest room!  Wow I was given the small room and it is huge!  The guest areas are slowly getting to be accessible so it is exciting getting into areas the yard was in control of.



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