jenseib
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Posts posted by jenseib
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On 5/9/2019 at 4:10 PM, mitsugirly said:
Funny thing is, I posted one of these pictures on my SM and one of my cruise friends said they had the exact same picture. LOL It definitely wow's everyone as you come around that corner and see it.
I was so shocked when I saw your pictures on facebook and I had basically the same exact picture from January!
I thought Antigua was one of the most beautiful islands I have ever been on. The water and beaches were just amazing.
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I knew there had to be a review coming since I have been seeing your pics on facebook.
I am already far behind, but wanted to say hi and I will start reading and hopefully catch up!
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On 2/26/2019 at 1:31 PM, Corb341 said:
I always enjoy reading your trip reports and so appreciate the time you put in to creating them!
Thanks for reading!!
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On 1/25/2019 at 1:42 PM, RMac713 said:
I enjoyed reading this as my husband and I were on that cruise...I turned 55 on CC day, but we stayed at the adult beach the whole time, LOL. Going on a 4 night Dream for our anniversary in June...3 nights is just not enough, but I wanted to go on the Fantasy to get our grand slam!
I just completed my Grand Slam last week! Finally made it to the Wonder. We had a few bumps because of weather and my husband had to cancel the day before we flew. We are supposed to do a make up trip now with him in March, but he won't commit to anything yet. If I know him, he will wait till very last minute...and annoy the heck out of me.
On 1/28/2019 at 2:45 PM, rmsanger said:Thank you for this detailed pictorial overview; very helpful! I was paging down trying to get to the cruise section as we aren't going to disney proper; but once I got to that section your pictures were a great way to capture your entire cruise experience.
Thanks for reading! It was a quicky, but a lot of fun.
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Another great cruise! Thanks for writing once again.
I am flying to San Juan to cruise this weekend and most of my info has come from rereading your stuff.
You are always so helpful!
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11 minutes ago, mom2miracles said:
Thanks everyone!
Does anyone happen to know when the blackout dates are?
We usually only cruise during two times of the year, and I have a feeling they are both during the blackout dates. BUT, we are thinking of doing an Alaskan cruise in 2020, which I assume are non blackout dates.
Typically over holiday sailings or very busy typical sailing dates
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it looks like a lot of fun at the 80s night! I love 80s music still!!!!!
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We have booked more than 2 per cabin..But if the same family in the cabin, the additional ones may not get all the same perks (no discount)..but usually some.
For that you do need to go to the desk and it varies by who you talk to.
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You typically will get some onboard credit based on cruise length and for some cruises you will get a discount on the cruise. longer cruises get a discounted deposit as well.
There are black out dates.
We typically do an actual placeholder for $250 and then we can decide what date works for us best later.
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Follow up…
As the title says….we cruised for practically free. Our whole trip for me was very little out of pocket.
The way it worked for me would not work for others, but there are ways to “earn” free gift cards to help pay for vacations.
We had our air covered with points (Claire and I) minus taxes and early bird check in.
Our Disney hotel and tickets were covered by gift cards that I had earned either by doing something to earn free gift cards or buying them when I had extra money.
Our cruise was the same way...gift cards for Claire and I.
We had some extra gift cards to pay for extras on the ship for the most part and for some food. I also had saved up spending money. And then Mom was a big contributor to many "free meals" for Claire and I. That was not in the plan, but was nice.
We basically paid out of pocket for our pre-cruise hotel and car rentals.
All in All in was a VERY cheap vacation for us when it came to anything out of pocket.
I have picked right up when I got back home to earn more cards and also buying some when I have extra money. I had quite a bit saved up and on Christmas Eve we booked another cruise at a discounted rate. I had enough to pay for all of us (my husband is coming too) and enough air points to fly us there and back...sadly my points are pretty depleted now.
We are excited to finally go on the Wonder for the first time and will be sailing her on Jan. 27!
This cruise was short, but oh so much fun! Whenever I travel with J and gang, it’s a good time. P is also is so much fun! And I got meet more daughters and they were all so nice. I am so excited to be sailing with J once again this year and another friend of ours who we sailed with in the summer of 2017.
I am so glad we checked out Toy Story Land. We got to see firsthand how the land looks and pros and cons to it. I can’t wait for Galaxy’s Edge to open, but I know the crowds will be insane too.
I have learned over the last few trips I just can’t go like I used to and need more resting time. Part might be the heat too. I always forget how that can slow me down….but I also kind of need more sleep now too. A nap does wonders!!!!!
Thanks for joining me on our little adventure!
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July 16, 2018, Monday
I never took any pictures today, so it is all from memory…so bear with me.
We had a very early flight, so sadly we had to be packed up and out the door fairly early. Off to the airport we went and we dropped off our rental car and checked our bags in. I believe the airport was pretty busy, but we moved fairly fast. Again, we have TSA pre-check, so even when lines are long, we usually get through fairly fast.
We found our gate and got some food for breakfast and settled in to wait. I believe we were on time, which was good as it seems the last few flights I have had delays.
As we got in line to get on the plane, people in line were talking about the heat of Florida. One gal said she couldn’t wait to get to Ohio where it would be cooler. A guy said to her “Oh no, it will be just as hot there.” The girl then replied….LOUDLY…”It’s Hot in Ohio?” So many people started to laugh. Um yes…it’s not the North Pole. This gal was visiting a friend in Ohio…and packed all long sleeves and sweaters.
Did she not even look at a weather app? It had been in the 80’s and 90s with very high humidity most of the summer. Definitely not sweater weather.
I don’t know why people think Ohio is cold year round. Even when we got off the ship our porter was asking us about the weather and was surprised we had humidity.
I don’t remember anything big about the flight, so it must have been just normal. Every so often, Claire, who thought she was hilarious, would say in a high squeaky voice “It’s Hot in Ohio?” and then she would just giggle and laugh.
As we were starting to descent, a little kid started chanting over and over and over….”Are we in Ohio yet?” Mom says under her breath….”Someone ANSWER that kid!” hahaha. He just kept saying it over and over. Claire’s responds was…”It’s hot in Ohio?” Hahahaha.
Once we landed and got off the plane, we headed to the bathroom. As we were washing our hands I noticed Miss Sweater standing near us washing hers. Claire saw her and looked right at me and I gave her a warning glare. I knew she wanted to say it, but thank goodness she didn’t. As soon as we left Claire started laughing and said she really was holding back. However she didn’t hold back for about the next week and kept saying “It’s Hot in Ohio?” over and over and over at any chance she could.
We got our luggage and took the bus over to get the car and loaded up. We programmed my sisters work address in since I had to pick up my laptop and other things I had left at her house and off we went.
Once there, Amanda gave us the tour of her work place (My Uncle owns it) and we chatted a bit, but it was time to get moving on.
Skip called and wondered if we were on our way home yet. I let him know that we were making our way there, but had stopped at Amanda’s work and would get a bite to eat along the way. There were grumbles about us taking so long to get home…..which I thought was stupid. There is no time limit from the time I land till the time we pull in the driveway. I was a little irritated.
We stopped off for some lunch and then made the drive home. I was so tired and it was nice to be home, but of course I started to unpack and get the laundry going.
And that was the end of our vacation! It seemed so short, but we had so much fun and it didn’t cost much out of pocket at all! It was "practically free" in the grand scheme of things!
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As we walked out of the park I took some pictures of the flags for one of my co-workers. Of course there was no wind and they were all droopy.
We hopped on the boat over to Wilderness Lodge and soon were there.
Mom and Chloe were there and we were seated right away.
Most of us got the family style meal, but Claire got a steak and Kelsey got the vegetarian version of family style.
And we totally pigged out!
We had such a fun dinner…telling stories and laughing at jokes. The food was good and we all agreed it was a good decision to eat here.
When the bill came, once again my Mom snatched it from me and paid. Again, she did not need to do that, but she insisted.
Chloe and Mom went to get a taxi back to French Quarter and the rest of us headed back to the boat to ride back to MK.
A Disney trip isn’t complete without a ride on Small World….so we headed there.
And then we took a spin with Ariel.
I think we made our way over to Buzz too. I wasn’t very good at taking pictures this evening.
We wanted to end our evening on the People Mover…so off we went. The kids got 1 or 2 cars I think…but the adults (J and I) got our own.
And then not far out it stopped. And we waited…and waited…and waited. Then the fireworks started and we saw people get out of their cars and run off to go watch. Hahaha. Claire said she could see the fireworks from where she was stopped but I saw nothing from my spot, which was a bummer. After a while we did finally start to move though.
And I could see a few fireworks as we moved along.
By the time we got off the show was over. We slowly made our way to the front and the bus stop. No need to hurry.
As we approached the bus stop area I was just so tired and my feet hurt. J’s girls were walking fast and I told them to go on. They got to the bus and I could see it was full and J said hurry up….they told the bus to wait for us…and they were turning other people away. I couldn’t even believe it. Hahaha. She was shocked too. So we all rode back to FQ together and then said our good byes. They still had another day, but we were leaving tomorrow morning bright and early.
We packed up and headed to bed.
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And more parade….
We were glad we had arrived in time to see the parade. We do love this parade.
And a walk down Main Street.
I think Claire may have gotten a pretzel at some point for a snack.
I believe we rode Splash Mountain, which had a fairly long wait and then headed to Haunted Mansion and then met up with J’s family….who were talking about dinner options. Kelsey was looking on the app and found a few with Whispering Canyon Café sounding pretty good to most of us. We texted Mom and Chloe and told them to taxi over to Wilderness Lodge and we would meet them over there and then we headed to the front of the park.
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More parade….
And as you probably know…the Dragon blew up earlier this year…so we had a substitute float.
Which was nice to finally include Sleeping Beauty in this parade.
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We saw the parade was getting ready so we found a spot and sat down. About 5 minutes later a CM came over and asked for our ticket…except I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Someone nearby said I needed a ticket. Oh, gosh…no sorry, we don’t have one. And we moved on to another spot. It was odd. I don’t know of an area with a physical ticket needed…then I thought about it and maybe it was a lunch/parade combo. Either way…the CM obviously wasn’t doing a good job since we sat there for at least 5 minutes before she asked us for one.
And I will warn you now…I took a lot of pics.
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The characters made the rounds.
Actually I think they came around a couple of times as the place was pretty empty.
Round 2.
Claire was too cool for characters.
We definitely had our fill here and it was good. Mom insisted on paying for Claire and I. Again, I told her no need as it was not even planned but a last minute meal, but she insisted.
The kids had a Space Mountain Fastpass, so they headed that way and the adults went into a gift shop to keep cool. T is getting married and was talking about that…but after a bit, my back was hurting, so I went outside to sit for a bit.
I saw these strange characters walking around…..I have no clue who they are or why they were there.
There were at least 3 or 4 dressed up in these odd costumes.
I saw the Incredibles having a dance party too.
Once the kids came back we headed off to the People Mover.
proposal34 by Jenseib, on Flickr
We spotted more costumed people.
We decided to shop a bit on Main Street as we worked our way to the front. Sadly, Josh was going to have to leave soon.
Mom headed back to the hotel as she wanted to swim. A few minutes later Chloe decided to leave too. I texted Mom to let her know to look out for Chloe but no reply. I gave Chloe her number and off she went. I found out later that Mom decided to ride the train around the park before leaving, so Chloe actually got back to French Quarter before Mom.
T invited us all over to Bay Lake to look at her room, which was a 3 bedroom, so we walked over there.
Picture from the hall.
contemp1 by Jenseib, on Flickr
She had cakes and snacks and served us some. Since it wasn’t someone I knew I didn’t take pictures, but it was a huge 2 story room. Super cool. I did take some view pics though.
contemp6 by Jenseib, on Flickr
contemp7 by Jenseib, on Flickr
contemp2 by Jenseib, on Flickr
contemp3 by Jenseib, on Flickr
contemp4 by Jenseib, on Flickr
contemp5 by Jenseib, on Flickr
After a bit though, I had to go the bathroom and I felt funny about asking to use theirs, so Claire and I said we were heading back to the park. T is J’s friend and I didn’t want to intrude for too long.
We used the bathroom in the lobby and walked back over the MK.
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J’s family arrived and Kelsey looked nice…..even in her ratty shorts. We headed off to the bus stop.
Once we arrived at MK, J was a little nervous as Josh and T had not left yet to come to the MK. We went in on the far left and let them know where we were so they wouldn’t accidentally bump into us.
I was instructed to use my bossy side and start yelling out things I wanted to do. LOL.
First we stopped off to get a disability card. One of the kids has some issues with heat and lines and though not normally uses this card, it was a way to waste some time…and we scored a Mine Train time as well. Can’t beat that!
Josh still had not arrived yet, so I went into Bossy mode and stated that I wanted to ride my favorite ride first before the lines got long….so we are heading to pirates….then I want to get a picture in front of the castle with all the kids. Poor Kelsey wanted Starbucks to start her day and we kept telling her later…later…we will get there soon. We didn’t want to be in Starbucks and have her accidentally spot Josh walking up Main Street. She was polite enough not to grumble too much. Hahaha
So off to Pirates we went.
I still think they should now say “We wants the Red Hen” at the auction. LOL
Well that was fun! Kelsey wanted her Starbucks! Ok, let’s walk that way. Shoot! No word from Josh…so we take our time going out of the gift shop and on our way towards main street. Then J got word they were in place and says…Let’s get those castle pics before going to Starbucks. We want to do it before it gets busy.
So we headed that way and walk to the hub.
And Josh came up behind Kelsey and she was excited to see him and so surprised! She knew he had big tests going on and was shocked he was there…..and then he went down on his knee.
proposal5 by Jenseib, on Flickr
T had set up 2 photopass photographers to snap pics…and we all were snapping away too.
And she said YES! The photographers took lots of pictures for them.
proposal21 by Jenseib, on Flickr
proposal26 by Jenseib, on Flickr
And some with us too.
And we walked to a few other spots for pictures as well.
I spotted one of those fancy carriage strollers.
proposal30 by Jenseib, on Flickr
After all the pictures were done we decided to head to the Mine Train. We were hungry, so while walking over we looked on the app for somewhere to eat. Kelsey stopped at Be Our Guest to see if they could get us in, but unfortunately no. We decided on Crystal Palace. I texted Mom and told her if she wanted to eat with us, she better be on her way and she was.
We had a blast! While in line I told Bella and Chloe that now their future boyfriends would really have to step it up when they proposed. Hahaha. Chloe said she wasn’t going to get married. Hahaha.
Off to Crystal Palace.
We checked in, but Mom hadn’t arrived yet. She said she waited forever for the bus today…of course. She kept us posted and soon was walking up main street and then once she arrived they seated us.
proposal33 by Jenseib, on Flickr
It was so hot out and it felt good to sit down and cool off.
Breakfast was being served, but before we left they brought out the lunch offerings as well. Unfortunately I was so full that I couldn’t enjoy those offerings so much.
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July 15, 2018, Sunday
We got up and ready and had beignets for breakfast! J was messaging me updates on what we needed to do. Kelsey was out jogging and she was worried she wouldn’t take a shower after. LOL. Kelsey did though…Yay! Then J said…OMG she’s wearing ratty jean shorts. Hahaha. Well we can’t push too hard or we would ruin the surprise.
The plan was to arrive at Magic Kingdom at opening and to avoid being seen by Josh and J’s friend T who Josh was staying with that night. I think he came in at like 3 AM.
Claire, who is not a morning person, was up and ready. She was so excited to see a proposal.
We took a walk and took some pictures. Mom was going to stay back and come to the park later.
J’s family was ready so we headed to the lobby to meet up with them.
I tried to get a lot of pictures because last time we stayed here it was just for one night and most of the time spent here had been dark….which meant my pics weren’t that great.
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It seemed to take forever to get our food and I was tired and hot….which is probably why it seemed to take so long.
I just snapped pictures as we waited.
Finally we got it and headed back towards the room.
Claire ate her food and Mom chattered and I went for a nap….except Mom kept talking to me. Finally I had to tell her not to talk to me anymore as it was hard to sleep when someone was asking me questions. Hahahaa..
I needed that nap and it was great! I think Claire ended up taking a little nap too.
After the nap, I went out to the gift shop for something. I can’t remember what now, but while there decided to get a Mickey bar too.
We decided we wanted to go to the outlet mall and go to the Disney Character store there. I have always wanted to go and we just never found the time. We headed off that way and traffic was crazy, but we made it there. J’s family decided to go too and we saw them a few times there, but we were in and out of different stores. The outlet was fun and I bought a few things, but there wasn’t much that was screaming “buy me!”
We looked around and Mom got to feeling sick, so she sat down in a cooler area. I went and got her a root beer to drink and she felt a bit better then. She said she thinks she got too hot and needed some sugar and liquid to make her feel better. After she rested up a bit, we left. It was crazy busy there as the tour groups were all over there as well.
Back to French Quarter we went.
J and I had messaged each other, debating on dinner options. We talked about going offsite, but the traffic was so bad we decided against that. Then we thought Disney Springs, but again, we were super tired and getting there didn’t sound so fun…either by driving or by boat.
In the end, we decided the food court was where we would go. It was funny, as when we were planning our trip the 2 weeks prior to going, we had all these thoughts of things to do this evening. One being the water park party. Another Hoop Dee Doo. But we decided to save money and just play it by ear. I am so glad we did as we were all so tired. I tend to forget how the heat can beat you down fast.
Claire went with a pizza again.
I went with noodles with chicken and alfredo.
I also bought some beignets to share. I think Claire was the only one who really ate a whole one and we had several left, which she worked on over the next few days.
We sat and talked and had a fun dinner. We were all tired and tomorrow was going to be a busy day…and a big one for Kelsey, though she didn’t know it yet.
We went back to our rooms and then J said Kelsey lost her phone and did we see it. Nope! But Claire and I went back to the food court and dialed her number to see if it rang…and walked by the trash cans. I even asked a CM if they could listen where they store their garbage for a ring….and right then J said Kelsey found it. In a bush near their room. Hahaha. I think her and Bella had been horsing around and it must have fallen in the bush then.
We relaxed the rest of the evening and got a good night’s sleep. We had one more full day left and we were excited to see how it went.
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We then connected with J’s family and headed to the boat launch so we could head over to Disney Springs for a while.
And off we go!!!!
springs12 by Jenseib, on Flickr
springs1 by Jenseib, on Flickr
We arrived and got off the boat. J’s girls came across the water fountain and played….As in who can make it through without getting wet.
springs2 by Jenseib, on Flickr
springs3 by Jenseib, on Flickr
They would watch it and time it to walk through and did pretty good.
springs4 by Jenseib, on Flickr
springs5 by Jenseib, on Flickr
And then after the big kids had their fun we moved on. Hahaha.
springs7 by Jenseib, on Flickr
We shopped around and spent a lot of time in Basin where the kids all washed their hands with the scrubs and we ended up buying some bath bombs. They had a little tube you could fill with 5 or 6 small balls….and you could pick which smells you wanted. Claire and I both got one of those tubes. I really like the smaller ones over the big ones anyways.
Believe it or not…we were hungry now and looking for lunch options.
springs6 by Jenseib, on Flickr
springs8 by Jenseib, on Flickr
There are so many new options now at Disney Springs that it makes it overwhelming. And then no one wanted to be the one to commit to anything. J suggested a few and I didn’t care. Claire is picky, but I figured if she didn’t like something, we would get her something somewhere else later. Well Mom eats so little that when she is hungry she gets really HANGRY and she was done with all of us hem hawing and said the Polite Pig would work and went in and ordered! LOL.
springs9 by Jenseib, on Flickr
springs14 by Jenseib, on Flickr
The food was AWESOME!!!!
springs15 by Jenseib, on Flickr
My Mom is famous for only eating half of what she orders…if that….and she ate every bite she ordered. Though Claire did share fries with us.
Next it was time for dessert! J’s favorite cupcake place.
springs10 by Jenseib, on Flickr
They were good, but I still think Be Our Guest Cupcakes are better. Mom and Chloe were hot so they left to go back to the resort. Mom went swimming I think and Chloe just rested and cooled off.
We shopped around but I didn’t take pictures. It was so hot, so it was just nice walking into stores to try and cool off a little bit. Finally we were all too tired and hot to do anymore as well and we got on the boat back to the resort.
springs11 by Jenseib, on Flickr
We split off and headed our own ways.
Claire was still hungry as she didn’t get her own food at Disney Springs, so I took her to the food court to get a pizza.
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July 14, 2018, Saturday
Again, I am a total slacker this morning and never took pictures on the ship.
We got up and ready and all met for breakfast in Royal Court and our guys found us a table to sit at together. It was a little crowded but we managed. We had different servers but they were given instructions to treat us well…and they did. Steven did come over for a visit to say good bye too.
After breakfast we got our bags and made some bathroom stops and said our good byes and headed off the ship. J had her rental parked in the garage, so she could leave quickly. She texted me to say she already got an email saying her room was ready at French Quarter. I had not yet.
We got through customs with the help of a porter and then headed to the Alamo shuttle and rode over to get our car. They gave me a free upgrade, but it was still tight getting the luggage in. I try to think about luggage when I rent because I know we pack big, but Mom packs REALLY big. Claire and I wore almost everything we packed at least once….Mom said she didn’t wear half of what she packed…..So there….you see she REALLY over packs.
I just want to add that I can’t remember now exactly what we spent on the ship totally, but I had applied a gift card and I think my credit card was only charged like $35. We didn’t buy a lot, but I did buy a long sleeved shirt with the 20 year celebration of the Magic on it. They said they weren’t supposed to be released for another week or 2, but since this was a special short sailing they allowed them to put them out this cruise. So this was the first Fantasy cruise they were for sale. I love the shirt…and I wore it one night to the county fair in Sept. I had to walk out to my car and get something, so they stamped my hand. As I walked out I got pushed by people coming in and my hand hit my shirt…and stained it!!!! I was so mad! I have bleached it and tried everything on the spot and even though it’s faded it’s still there. I guess I need another cruise so I can get another one!
Off we went to Disney! The ride was boring, but we made it easily. When we arrived I did see we had gotten our email as well stating our room was ready and we headed right to it.
We dragged our bags up to the 2nd floor…I forgot to put in that we like first floor rooms… and I took some pictures before they could mess up the room too much.
The new flooring…..
I do not like how they have the shampoo, conditioner and soap in these big bottles though.
We had stayed here 1 night a few years ago and we liked the updated look now.
We headed up to the lobby to see about opting out of House Keeping.
I also had a packet to pick up.
We ended up not opting out. Mom was in total panic mode that I would consider opting out of House Keeping. And the amount they were offering was not as good as it has been in the last year. I know you can sometimes negotiate but it wasn’t happening today. On top of that, they give you so much per night you stay…minus your check in date…so it wasn’t going to be much of a deal for me and the added stress of Mom freaking out about not having housekeeping just didn’t make it worth it to me.
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We were brought out some special plates to get started with tonight.
Super yummy…but I just didn’t have enough room in my tummy for everything.
Claire and I got our favorite….the Princess delight! I think P’s girls might have gotten them too after seeing them.
I went with the escargot to start.
And Shrimp.
And a hunk of beef for my entrée!
They also brought out curry for us and some rice.
The kids got smoothies again as well and we got wine.
Then they delivered J’s cake.
She took it back to her room as we had ordered deserts too.
We told the servers that we did not want to come to early breakfast and would just be heading to Cabana’s. They told us to come in for late breakfast and they would find us a table to sit at….Ok…that works. Honestly though, I prefer Cabana's on the last morning.
We had a lot of fun once again...…but I was fading fast and felt so tired. After dinner we headed back to the room to pack up and leave our bags out. Then I did some roaming and ran into this gal!
A walk out on the deck to enjoy our last evening.
Our little cruise getaway had just flown by!
Our towel animal for tonight.
As it got dark we could see we were sailing along the coast.
Claire and I got some ice-cream at Sweet on You…even though we were stuffed we just had to have some. Claire pointed out these letters for the muster stations…her initials.. She said this was her personal spot on the ship!
Our violinist couple were playing again tonight so we stopped and watched.
They were just as amazing.
Claire eventually headed back to the room and J messaged me to come to hers so I did. P was talking to the girls in their living area and I went out on the balcony and chatted with J. P came out later then and we chatted some more. They started talking about the cake that J got…..I guess they had cut into it before I arrived….and it was solid whipped cream! OMG! I just started laughing and thought they were joking, but they weren’t. Kelsey did call and complain and got her money back too.
Why on earth would they serve a whipped cream cake?
We just enjoyed the evening then and chatted. But all good things must come to an end and I had to get some sleep. We still had 2 more days on land! We said goodnight and headed off to our rooms.
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Sadly all good things must come to an end and we had to head back towards the ship. But we did it as slowly as possible…stopping to take pictures, shop, and goof off a bit.
Walking back to the ship always means to me….snap as many pictures as you can so you can remember everything!
I always love seeing the ship from different angles on the island.
We then had to go through and show our ID…something that is a bit newer for Castaway. I personally think it is stupid….it’s their private island, so why do they need to see everyone’s ID and cruise card. If you don’t have a card….you can’t get on the ship! Right?
Back on the ship we made our way to our room. Claire went to get in the shower and hollers out that there is no shampoo. That’s odd? Mom then says…Oh I love that stuff…I packed it away. Hahaha. Well...... First off NO! I LOVE this stuff and I am taking it home with me. Hahaha…and secondly….We still need to shower! I did tell her they sell it in the gift shop and also at the Disney resorts and she said she was going to buy some.
Sadly, it was time to start packing so we started on that a bit too. Then it was time for dinner.
Tonight we knew exactly where to go! The big table!
Chloe sat next to Mom, which made her happy. Mom just loved Chloe. She loved all the girls, but Chloe talked to Mom a lot and Mom really liked that. Sydney and Sadie did as well. Mom was impressed with how friendly the girls all were.
I took a pano picture and then we totally laughed at how it came out.
bigtable by Jenseib, on Flickr
Claire has a mis-shapen head! Hahaha.
I took a quick video of us too.
The bad thing about the big table….hard to talk to anyone unless they are right next to you.
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Sept. 13, 2018, Friday
Today was J’s b-day….the main reason I was cruising this sailing….well there were several, but the main one was to celebrate with my friend.
I got up and did my morning routine of walking around a bit, and got Claire up earlier today. We had to get to that Beach!!!
We did have breakfast with some of our friends and a server J knew came up and they chatted a bit. He told us he would send us something special for dinner.
Off we went! A few pictures
Ok, today I TOTALLY slacked at pictures. We were just having too much fun.
We headed off the ship and found a bunch of seats together. Mom was not getting off right away so I told her to message when she was getting off and I would try to keep checking. I also told her I would try to message her our location too so she would have an idea where we were too.
It was hot but we had some fun. I am not posting our pics since we are silly and in bathing suits…but we did a photoshoot…of stupid poses and silliness. Some of J, P and I, some with our kids….etc. We just had a good ole time and were doing a lot of laughing.
Then we headed out to the water. It was so stinking hot and it felt good.
J’s girls were flipping each other around and having a good time. I then spotted Mom walking and shouted and waved and she found us. Perfect timing. And though she hadn’t found our chairs she actually had set her stuff only a few chairs away. My Mom is not a swimmer, but it was so hot that even she stayed in the water a long time with us.
We went out to the rope and the water was deep. Wow! I didn’t remember it being so deep before. We could not touch! Then we came back and played around and went and sat down in our chairs a bit and some had some drinks and some might have gotten a little tipsy….hahaha. Not me though! I was the mother hen!
Time for lunch!
Love the potato salad!!
I think P took this picture of all of us. Too bad we didn’t get someone else to get it so we could have had her in it.
We had a fun lunch and then headed back to the beach.
At one point it looked like rain in the distance and many people got worried and packed up and went back to the ship. I think Mom was one of them…but she also had enough of the beach and heat.
We stayed put.
We went back out to the water for more fun too.
Some of the kids grabbed some abandoned floats and tubes.
I was amazed at how much the water had gone down…The tide had gone out.
We headed back out to the rope again…….remember we couldn’t touch this morning. Well it was chest high now. We had to do the squat to keep our shoulders under.
ticklekelsey by Jenseib, on Flickr
The kids were having a lot of fun.
Claire is too shy to join, but she loved watching their antics.
We had a lot of fun. Again I was amazed at how low the water got…and how fast. We later heard that Disney has said they have had some of the lowest tides ever this year at Castaway Cay and this day was one of them.
We put the DYS in Functional, Completing our ABC’s, Jan Southern Carib on the Wonder
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Hi all! It’s me again! I’ve been away for a while but decided it’s time to write about our winter vacation.
Now you may ask...why now?..How will you remember everything?
Don't worry, this has been written for months and I just haven't had a chance to post it over here. If it's too long ago to be of interest of you...then this report is not for you.
For those that don’t know me, I’m Jen. I am not going to do the long intro as many who are reading probably have read one of my former reports. If you don’t,you can go ahead and find one of my old reports. If you don't care...fine! hahaha!
I like to give details of my trips and I tend to post a lot of pictures. I know this is not for everyone and that is fine. If you don't like it, then you can just move on.
I tell the good and the bad. Sometimes I complain. I like some things that others don't and I dislike some things that others like. I can't make everyone happy all of the time.
Some people love my writing style and some don't. That's OK!
I write my reports for me! I like to have the memories....but I do hope it helps answer some questions others may have or help give them visuals of different things.
I will be changing some people’s names or referring to them with an initial to keep their privacy and some events will not be detailed for some of the same reasons….but for the most part, I tell it like it is to the best of my memory.
This trip took place Jan 25-Feb. 4, 2019. We sailed the Disney Wonder, which was our Grand Slam cruise.
If you have read any of my former reports, you probably know we usually have a hiccup or 2 each trip. I always say if someone says they had a perfect trip they are lying! Well maybe that is because we usually have at least one issue, and I can’t imagine anyone could have everything go perfectly. Or maybe we just have that kind of luck?
This trip did not disappoint and we had a few hiccups and one major hiccup, which all worked out in the end.
I will start by giving some background info and some of the “players” in this report. The background part can be a little boring, but it will set the stage for all about to come later in the actual report part. There will be a lot of writing in the first couple updates, but once we get going there will be lots of pictures too!
I will start by introducing my family.
There is me. I am lucky enough to work from home and I have my dream job! That being said, there are days I want to scream and I can put in long hours and then there are days where I don’t do anything. Because of the nature of the business, you can’t always predict your hours or level of business. I will say that once I plan a vacation, I tend to get slammed with business and the week leading up usually is crazy.
One of the trade-offs for my crazy business is that when you reach a certain level in the business you can sometimes get perks and/or discounts. These are similar to Florida Resident Rates, Military Rates, Cast Member rates, Interline rates…..you get the idea. These are not always available, so it’s not something to count on, but I check from time to time to see if anything might be available for a time I would like to vacation.
Next up is Claire, my 14 year old daughter. She usually travels with me if I am not traveling for business. She loves to travel and knows she is spoiled rotten. This cruise was her 7th Disney cruise I believe.
Then my husband, Skip. Skip is a farmer. He has been a dairy farmer his whole life and last year they sold the dairy cows and has made the transition to beef cows. He doesn’t vacation with us often and this was going to be our first family vacation in many years….our last one being an Alaskan Cruise on Norwegian.
We also had some friends join us this sailing….friends I have sailed with before and was delighted to have the chance to sail with them again.
J, who I have sailed my last 2 cruises with (our last being in July of 2018) and her new boyfriend MK. Then PT (who J and I also sailed with in June/July of 2017) and her husband F and one of their sons, Z. And then T and her new husband D. I met T last summer after our cruise. She is a friend of J’s and she was already on this sailing long before we booked.
Now you know the basic players….or do you? Wahhhahhhhahhhh!!!!!!