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Boo to the Halloween on the Highs Seas Crew Oct. 2016, Fantasy Trip Report


jenseib
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Sweet. Another Jen cruise thread. I always enjoy there. It's like taking a virtual cruise.

Claire sure has grown. Compare her to that little girl in the signature picture.

 

Thanks for joining in!

 

Yes Claire really is growing. I can't believe how big she is now...it seemed just like yesterday she was my little girl.

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Oct 20, 2016, Sunday, Day 12

 

Our time really has come to an end. We had to fly home today.

 

We had a 10 AM flight today, which meant we had to hit the road around 7-7:30 this morning. YUCK…but it could be worse…my next trip I have scheduled has a flight that leaves around 7:30 AM…that will be torture for sure. (but for the cost, I sucked it up).

 

A few last pictures this morning.

 

32618194670_9a8b9f31cb_z.jpgdeparture1by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

32618194560_3079a69a59_z.jpgdeparture2by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

32618194340_ef7d1e4a5f_z.jpgdeparture3by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

32618194110_4e1a1d8e03_z.jpgdeparture4by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

32618193890_3ec6d117df_z.jpgdeparture5by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

32845243022_166d57dbe2_z.jpgdeparture11by Jenseib, on Flickr

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32845242872_7da0665b9b_z.jpgdeparture12by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

Good bye palm trees!

 

32845242682_a43a9dd72e_z.jpgdeparture13by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

I packed up the van and we all took one last look around the room to be sure we didn’t forget anything and then headed off to the airport. We made excellent time and dropped off the van with no issues and then took our bags to get checked in.

 

32184980273_44b1d1a37b_z.jpgdeparture14by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We all had TSA pre-check, Me because I have global entry,Claire because she gets to come through with me until she is 13 and has to get her own, and Mom, who has TSA precheck. That is so nice! Getting through at MCO can be a pain at any time during the day and we went through so much faster.

 

We hopped the monorail over to our terminal and gate.

 

32845242172_86d6d30333_z.jpgdeparture15by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

And a video of our ride.

 

 

I think we may have gotten a bite to eat at one point somewhere along the line and settled in to wait.

 

I took no more pictures today so I am going on pure memory, but I think everything was on time. I do remember I had a little anxiety on the flight, which is almost always normal on my return. It’s the lack of sleep thing again and also that I know I have to sit for a few hours and can’t get up and move around. Sleeping for me on a plane is almost impossible. I sometimes drift off only to wake up drooling and flopping over. It usually has felt like I slept for an hour and in reality it’s only been like 5 minutes.

 

We landed in Columbus and grabbed our bags and Mom and Claire waited with them while I went to catch the shuttle to the car lot. Of course I forgot exactly where I parked and it took me a while of beeping the key chain for it to register I was near and beep back at me. I had actually gotten off one shuttle stop too soon.

 

I got in the car and made my way back and picked up Mom and Claire and we strategically loaded the suitcases back in the car for the trip home….and then we headed off for the 2 ½ hour drive home.

 

I think we did stop and get some lunch, but I can’t remember if we went somewhere and sat down or had fast food. I actually think we did stop at Bob Evans, but again no pictures to help me remember.

 

We got home at a decent hour and unloaded our bags and said good bye to Mom.

We then worked on emptying the luggage and starting laundry and all that good stuff.

 

Mom called me later that evening to check in and report to me her conversation with my Dad. She had asked him if he had learned his lesson and will no longer say “NO”immediately when we plan a trip…and just to go with the flow and realize he will end up coming.

His answer…..yes, but you all really need to ask me first what will work for me.

 

My Mom flipped out on him. My Mom never cusses and she said she was using the F word when she replied to him. LOL!

If we checked with him…first off he would never have a good date, and then he would have to wait 2 weeks out before letting us know that good date……and of course, he has no children in school or anything else to work around like the majority of us all had to get us together on the same date. Oh Boy!

 

And as a side….Mom and Dad just got back from their yearly vacation in FL. I helped Mom book the flights. Dad wanted to go out of Detroit, but Mom wanted whatever was the cheapest. Columbus fit that bill, saving them about $600 on their flights…That’s a huge amount. He complained so much about having to drive 2½ hours to an airport instead of 1 ½. Yet,he wasn’t going to contribute any money to the cost of the flights. LOL. He did get over it though.

 

And that concludes this trip report. I’ll try to write up a summary of thoughts later.

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Thanks all for following my trip report. It was really a great trip. We had many ups and a few downs, but we made many memories.

I know sometimes you might wonder when I post some negative things….how could that trip be great? Well I usually try to get past any of the negatives and enjoy the positives. I like to tell it all and not sugar coat my trips. In reality, no one has a perfect trip…those with kids often have a meltdown involved…heck those with husbands and wives may have a meltdown involved at some point. LOL. Even though it is Disney, sometimes not all CM’s are magical or great. Mother Nature can’t always be wonderful every day of the year, so we have to take it all in stride.

 

Even though we had some not so magical moments…we still made wonderful memories and the good outweighed any bad that happened.

 

I did a lot of new things this trip.

It was my first stay at Coronado Springs. We did some new things at Disney Springs, including the bowling. We did the putt putt for the first time. It was my first time using the DCL buses to get to the port. It was my first time on the Fantasy! Tortola and St Thomas were both new ports for me and it was my first time heading off on an Eastern Itinerary. It was my first time seeing the drawing animated show at Animator’s Palate. It was my first time seeing the Aladdin show on the ship….and I am sure there were a lot more “firsts” that I am not remembering right at the moment.

 

Going in a big group is becoming a favorite of mine now. I have now done 4 cruises where I have known many people sailing and it is so much fun. You can do things with different members at different times and all gather to eat in the evening to talk about your day. It’s much easier to cruise with a group than to do the parks with one. You can be as relaxed or as active as you choose and there are no hard feelings. In the parks I have found that not everyone wants to ride the same rides, or see the same shows. And when it comes to eating…you have so many options and everyone has different tastes. On the cruise…you have the dining rooms, the Adult dining options or the buffets and fast food places. For dinner you make your choice of where you want to eat and you don’t feel bad if others choose something different. For lunch,it is just super easy to get what you want when you want and not worry about what everyone else is doing.

 

The kids all loved this trip and are all counting down till the time we can do it again. Almost everyone booked a placeholder before getting off, so hopefully we can do this again within the next 2 years. (Katie actually has booked her next cruise for next year, but she loves to cruise and will most likely book another placeholder again).

 

I loved this itinerary and hope to do it again.

And the count down for my next cruise has started! Stay tuned!!!!!!

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Thanks for the review. Really enjoyed the photos.

 

Thanks so much for reading!

 

Enjoyed your trip report and was very informative. It's was my first one to read here on Cruise critic. Do you have a blog or Facebook page for for your trips?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks!

I do post on facebook while I travel. If you search jenseib you can find me. I have a blog as well though I don't keep it up like I should. I don't think I am allowed to post that link here.

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you for the informative review. I love your "down to Earth" writing style and the fact that you don't sugar coat anything. The good was good and the not so good wasn't good LOL. It's refreshing to read. Loved all the pics too!!

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Thank you for the informative review. I love your "down to Earth" writing style and the fact that you don't sugar coat anything. The good was good and the not so good wasn't good LOL. It's refreshing to read. Loved all the pics too!!

 

 

Thanks so much for reading. I am glad you enjoyed it!

My next cruise is just a little over 3 weeks away...again on the Fantasy...I can't wait!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks so much your review! Halloween is my favorite holiday and I enjoyed seeing the ship all decorated :)

 

Thanks for reading along. I wish I could go again this year. I did get back on the Fantasy in late June and got to spend the 4th of July on there and that was great too.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for such a great review. Love all the pictures and details. I'd love to do a Disney cruise but with my kids all much older, not sure it will be in the cards, due to lack of (their) interest plus the cost! But I really appreciate that you honestly show what a Disney vacation can be like, that it's not just OMG AMAZING DISNEY MAGIC PERFECT FAMILY VACATION TIME but also usually includes grumpy adolescents and teens, family member disputes, annoying seat savers, perpetually tardy friends, etc. We've done Disney land based vacations several times, and it helps to bring the expectations for perfection down just a notch! Last time we went it was just my girls and myself, along with a friend of one of my daughter's and her mother, and it was such a disaster. It doesn't help that these vacations are so expensive, so you don't want to think you're missing something, or someone is unhappy. Thanks for all the hard work to do this review! I'll definitely be on the lookout for more!

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Thanks for such a great review. Love all the pictures and details. I'd love to do a Disney cruise but with my kids all much older, not sure it will be in the cards, due to lack of (their) interest plus the cost! But I really appreciate that you honestly show what a Disney vacation can be like, that it's not just OMG AMAZING DISNEY MAGIC PERFECT FAMILY VACATION TIME but also usually includes grumpy adolescents and teens, family member disputes, annoying seat savers, perpetually tardy friends, etc. We've done Disney land based vacations several times, and it helps to bring the expectations for perfection down just a notch! Last time we went it was just my girls and myself, along with a friend of one of my daughter's and her mother, and it was such a disaster. It doesn't help that these vacations are so expensive, so you don't want to think you're missing something, or someone is unhappy. Thanks for all the hard work to do this review! I'll definitely be on the lookout for more!

 

Thanks for reading. This was such a fun cruise. This year many of us are going to NYC for Thanksgiving. We did this 2 years ago and it was the best Thanksgiving ever. Maybe someday we'll cruise over the holiday. As I get older I see no need to be home for any holiday. Unfortunately my husband doesn't have the same views. LOL.

 

I have my most recent one completed here too. I just added to my signature. I hadn't realized I hadn't linked it before. It was a 10 night cruise on the Fantasy with 2 days before and 2 days after at Walt Disney World. It was another fabulous cruise.

If you get a chance, check it out.

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