Something that you may already know about me is that I work for The Walt Disney Company. It's been a dream since I was a little kid, and still some days I feel like I need to pinch myself. I work in a group at Disneyland Resort called Architecture & Facilities Engineering. I do not work with the Cruise Line (though I'd welcome the opportunity!), and am not speaking on behalf of the Company.
Now let me take you back to the end of August.
Rachel and Judy were aboard the Freedom of the Seas, and it really made me want to cruise. Why didn't I join them? Well, I was at home, hunkered down, studying for the California Supplemental Exam - the last exam I needed to pass to become a licensed Architect in California. So in between study sessions, I'd watch Rachel's stories on the Victoria on Vacation Instagram takeover and peruse the cruise websites.
On September 2nd, which was
the last day of Rachel and Judy's cruise, I got an email from Cast Activities inviting salaried and executive Anaheim-based employees to register to *Express Interest* in participating in a Test Cruise on the Disney Wonder, sailing out of San Diego.
If selected, we could choose between the 2-night sailing to Ensenada September 20-22 or the 4-night sailing to Cabo San Lucas September 23-27. While we would not be charged for the cruise fare, we would need to pay for taxes and gratuities. COUNT ME IN! Registration opened at 2:00 PM, and I logged on 5 minutes in advance and kept refreshing the page until I was allowed to register. Of course, registration didn't mean that I was guaranteed a spot on the Test Cruise - it just meant that I had expressed interest.
I immediately texted Rachel and told her the good news - possibly, maybe, I would get the invitation to participate in the test cruise. If chosen, I'd be allowed to book up to 2 staterooms and bring up to 7 guests. Rachel, to no surprise, happily volunteered to be my guest. When I asked Aaron, my boyfriend, if he would like to join, he said yes he wanted to... but he didn't know if he could get off work. Then I asked Rachel if her boyfriend, Landon, would like to come as well, and she said yes, but he'd probably have to work remotely from the ship. With very tentative plans and no cruise booked, Rachel decided to go ahead and book a flight to LA because Southwest still has a kind cancellation policy, and it was $130 round-trip.
On September 5, I received an email from Cast Activities which said to keep an eye on my inbox - further information will come directly from Disney Cruise Line. So I carried my work phone with me at all times and checked my email constantly.
Then on September 7 at 9:30 PM, DCL sent out the email that I was eligible to book the Test Cruise. I did not see this email until around midnight when I was very sleepy and headed to bed..... at which point I immediately perked up, logged onto my computer, and booked 2 staterooms for the 4-night Disney Wonder sailing to Cabo San Lucas. And because it was midnight, I was celebrating the successful cruise booking alone - everyone else would find out the next morning.
So what's a Test Cruise? If you're familiar with Disney Parks, it's similar to a "Cast Preview" or "Soft Opening." Before the announced opening (the Disney Wonder was announced to resume sailing out of San Diego on October 1), the Test Cruise would give the Crew members an opportunity to practice working with guests in an environment that isn't as high-stakes as Opening Day. Our goals were to test new experience designed for return to service, help acclimate Crew Members to new processes, make certain everything in our stateroom was in working order, and to test the technology being used to promote physical distancing and other health and safety measures. Essentially, our job was to be a guest and be patient with the Crew as they got back into the groove of their role.
The health and safety measures for cruising continue to change and evolve, so be sure to check up-to-date information provided by the cruise line. Currently, as required by the CDC, all guests ages 12 and older must be fully vaccinated to board any US-based cruise ship. On Disney Cruise Line, guests who are 11 years of age and younger are not required to be vaccinated, but must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result by a rapid PCR test or lab-based PCR test (rapid antigen test not accepted), taken between 3 days and 24 hours before your sail date.
Disney Cruise Line is using Safe Passage by Inspire Diagnostics to verify vaccination status and test guests at the port. Prior to sailing, each adult needed to create an individual account on Safe Passage and upload proof of vaccination (guests 11 and under will upload a negative PCR test result).
The online check-in process has changed to minimize the amount of time spent checking in at the port. We each needed to upload a photo of our passports, as well as a photo to use for security/identification. The photos would be approved by an individual (not a computer), so it took a long time for approval of our documents. However, if the photo is accepted by the computer, as long as it is correct and accurate, it should be approved - the computer automatically rejects bad photos. Rachel and I completed our online check-in as soon as we could, and I'm glad we did - we were able to get the earliest port check-in time, 11:15-11:30 AM, Boarding Group 5.
As we got closer to our sail date, I started frequenting the
DISboards, looking for any recent cruising information I could find. It was there that I came across
a post from someone saying that their friend got a positive test result at the port after getting a negative PCR test result a week prior, and later getting another negative PCR test result. Cue the FREAKOUT! I immediately booked two PCR tests that day to better my odds of getting test results prior to the cruise (it was Monday.... the cruise was leaving Thursday). I did one at CVS and another at Rite Aid within 30 minutes of each other. For what it's worth, I got my CVS results back on Wednesday (Negative!), but didn't get my Rite Aid results (also Negative!) back until Saturday.
Rachel and Landon were flying in Tuesday evening, so Aaron went after work to pick them up from the airport, and I ordered 2 large pizzas from Delicious Pizza for dinner.
Around 7 PM, I got a call from Rachel, "Umm.... so we fly in Wednesday." WHAT?!?! This entire time, I thought they were flying in Tuesday and working from home on Wednesday. I had set up a desk in the guest room. I had ordered 2 large pizzas!!!!! So while Rachel and Landon were laughing at me for this big misunderstanding, Aaron was circling the arrivals level of LAX. I called Aaron to break the news: "So..... you're going to hate me..... Rachel and Landon don't arrive tonight. They arrive tomorrow. But on the bright side, we're having pizza for dinner!" Aaron surprisingly was not too upset. I think the pizza helped.
It actually worked out better for Rachel and Landon to arrive on Wednesday because I had an early morning job walk at the parks - which meant that I was able to buy Disney face masks and adorable mermaid Minnie Ears that would go perfectly with the shirts that Rachel had ordered for us to wear on boarding day.
Finally, that brings us to......
