jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 #1 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Hi all! It’s me again! I’ve been away for a while but decided it’s time to write about my summer vacation. Now you may ask...why so late..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 also spent some time at Disney World this trip as well and I will be including that info in this report. Many people who take short cruises tend to add some Disney Days. I write my reports for me! I like to have the memories....but I do also help it helps answer some questions others may have or help give them visuals of different things. A little background as we get started. This trip was a last minute booking for the most part. I had been wanting to cruise the special 3 night sailing on the Fantasy this summer but I just couldn’t justify the cost. One of my very good friends, “J”, was sailing that sailing as she would be turning 50 on Castaway Cay day. Who wouldn’t want to spend their 50th there? Right? I watched for special rates, which are sometimes released through my job and nothing was showing up…so I pretty much had given up hope, despite J constantly telling me I needed to be there. Late June I just happened to be working on something and needed to call DCL. While I was on the phone I asked if they knew of any special rates….BINGO! That cruise was now on the list of ones I could book! I put it on hold immediately. I asked Skip (my husband) if he would like to cruise this summer and that I had enough funds to pay for it all and enough airline points to fly us all. His response was a big fat no! I did ask if it was ok for us gals to go (Claire and I) and he said he didn’t care. I then said I would ask my mom as well as she had been hinting for quite some time she wanted to do a cruise. Mom said she had to wait till she cleared it from work, so Claire and I booked. (Of course if you know my husband, he then later said he would rather we didn’t go and didn’t understand that we had paid in full already and it was nonrefundable). A few days later, Mom said yes and she was added to the reservation. And good news!!! Another friend of mine, “P”, was also coming now with her 2 daughters. Her birthday was after the cruise, but she too would be celebrating 50! J was also sailing with 3 of her daughters, one who was on our cruise last summer…so it was going to be a TON of fun!!! pc3 by Jenseib, on Flickr On to the planning! Now if you read my title, I mentioned that I cruised for practically free. That is true, but don’t expect to be able to use all the cost saving ways I used. To start with, I did get a discounted rate, though not cheap, it was cheaper than full rate. Over the past year I had done everything I could to save up money and get gift cards for Disney. I actually do this all the time. My main way is by doing something called Swagbucks and I also dabble with My Points. With these sites I do “offers”, watch videos, answer surveys, etc to earn points. Those points can be cashed in for gift cards. I then take those gift cards and turn them in for Disney gift cards. This is not a quick and easy way to make money, but if you know some of the tricks you can earn free money. I do it pretty much daily and can earn from $25-$150 per month. I would say I average $75 a month. Again, I work at this and I have been doing it for years so I know what credits best for me and how to run videos without me having to monitor them too much. I really don't have to spend much time or brain power to do it these days, but that is because I know what to do and how. I also ask for gift cards for my birthday or other holidays, so I save those up as well. When I have some extra cash, or get a rebate from something…I turn those into gift cards as well. What it all comes down to is I had enough in gift cards to pay for Claire and I to cruise this cruise. Mom had a Disney Rewards card and that paid half her fare, so she didn’t have much out of pocket there either. When I talk about my saving ways, Mom and her costs are not included for the most part......... On to flights. We knew we would come in at least 1 day early and probably would stay 1 day after since the flights were pretty expensive to fly home the day the cruise disembarked. It was cheaper to get a hotel than for the 3 of us to fly home that Sat., the day the cruise disembarked. In the end, J talked me into staying an extra day as well so that we could spend Sunday at Magic Kingdom together. The flight for Monday wasn’t really much of a difference from the Sunday flight and still the hotel cost was cheaper for 2 nights than flying home Sat. (Yeah those Sat flights were HIGH). I booked Claire and I to fly with Southwest on points…coming in on July 10 and flying home July 16….early! For Claire and I, the only cost was tax and then I did purchase early bird check in for both ways. I believe the cost total for the 2 of us was around $80….so if you are keeping track…so far I have only spent $80 out of pocket. Of course we booked Mom on the same flights and she did pay for her flights. Hotel….we needed to pay for a prenight hotel. J and I discussed it and we decided we wanted to stay at the port. We did some quick looking and then decided on the Radisson as it was pretty cheap and we really didn’t want to pay too much. I believe it was just under $130 for a 2 queen room at a prepaid rate. P also decided to stay there as well. This was also an out of pocket expense…but right now I am at about $210 in expenses…not bad for a 6 night vacation! Ok….things are coming together! Now we need to decide how to get to and from the port! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 Author #2 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I had a hard time deciding on how we would be getting around….. to and from the port, the parks, etc. Car rentals were going up faster than I could look and I knew I needed a good amount of space with Mom coming. Yes, Claire and I pack a lot, but my Mom packs just as much as the 2 of us…literally. She must plan to change 3 to 4 times a day! In the end I went with Alamo, who had pretty much the best pricing, and rented cars for each way. It was still very slightly cheaper for the most part than taking Disney transportation and would be the most practical too. The car rental from MCO to Port Canaveral was $98…basically for 24 hours….the one from Port Canaveral to MCO …keeping it from Sat. pick up till Monday morning drop off…was about $123.50…so add that to my out of pocket expenses…now around $432…give or take. Hotels….yes we needed to stay 2 nights after the cruise and as I said before it was cheaper to do that than the Sat. flights had been for all 3 of us…..even using points, I try to be stingy. J was staying at Port Orleans French Quarter and I was able to snag a discounted rate there….paid by gift cards!!! No out of pocket cost for that! P had family coming down after the cruise, so I believe they stayed at Art of Animation after the cruise. Tickets. This was a debate for me. Originally I was going to do just a 1 day ticket, but then staying longer I decided on 2 days. I am able to get a discounted hopper ticket through my work…but not for family or friends. I decided to get Claire just a 2 day base and if we decided to hop I would upgrade at the park. Again… both tickets were paid with GIFT CARDS! Mom went with a 2 day base ticket as well and she paid for that. This sounds like it all went smoothly, but remember that this was all booked very last minute…about 2 ½ weeks before we were leaving, so between getting work done and ahead, and researching and booking each segment….It was a crazy few weeks. Oh…and we decided to do a private Fish Extender exchange between our 3 rooms….so I snuck in some shopping too. Luckily, I found quite a few things at good prices and made up little baggies of the items for my friends and their kids. We had all booked balcony rooms which were Guarantee….meaning they would assign us our rooms. It wasn’t long and we all had room assignments and lucky for us we were all put right next to each other all on deck 10! I haven’t been on 10 before, so I was excited to try a new spot. One other thing I wanted to add….I had posted earlier that I booked our air via points. We typically fly Southwest when possible. I have a southwest credit card which earns points with purchases. Also if when we fly on cash flights, we earn points. I also do surveys (something I was invited to from Southwest a few years back) and those earn me points as well. Just doing surveys I earn about 8,000 points, give or take, a year. Depending on flight costs, that right there can get me a one way or even in some cases a round trip ticket. For me, I am all about a deal and I have fewer arguments at home if I don’t have to pay much out of pocket! I also rather spend my money on vacations verses many other things. Spending money....…Again, I don’t count this as out of pocket money for the most part. I have a stash that I save all year round…money from my birthday and other odd things that I may earn a little extra money goes into an envelope for vacation. This money is ONLY for vacations so I never think of it as out of pocket. And now…it’s time to go on VACATION!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 Author #3 Share Posted January 3, 2019 July 9, 2018, Monday We typically fly out of Columbus, which is about 2 ½ hours away. The flights tend to be cheaper and direct and my sister lives there, so arriving the night before doesn’t cost us anything. Mom had to work, so we planned to leave after she got done. I believe she only worked a partial day and then went home to change and load her car. She then picked Claire and I up and we loaded our belongings in (crammed pack!) and started our journey to my sister’s house. There was no need to get there too early as my sister was also working. Once we arrived, we said our hellos and then headed right back out to go eat dinner. We had decided on Matt the Miller’s, which has some great food and options that Claire would eat (she is sooo picky). Service was slow tonight, but we were not in any hurry. Claire went with a steak……her favorite food. dinner1 by Jenseib, on Flickr I went with a pick 2 combo, which was a flatbread and soup. dinner2 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was very good and we had a nice time. Mom insisted on paying. She said since I paid for all the extras for the trip she was going to be paying for many meals. No use arguing as I know I won’t win. After dinner, we stopped off at Graeter’s for ice –cream. This stuff is like the best ice-cream ever! Each trip to Columbus we do try to fit it in if possible. dessert by Jenseib, on Flickr Of course I texted that pic to my other sister who is obsessed with ice-cream and Graeter’s. That’s just the thing big sister’s do…right? Hahaha. We then headed back to Amanda’s and hung out for the evening and then went to bed. I had to do some last minute work, so I had brought my laptop, however, I did not want to bring it to Florida with me. I hadn’t thought about it, but we were driving to the airport and leaving Mom’s car there. I didn’t want to leave it in the car for the week and leaving it at Amanda’s would mean I couldn’t easily pick it up when we got back as she would be working. In the end, she said she would bring it to her work as it is closer to the airport and we could just stop there after we got back. We left some other things too then…like the clothes we had worn down that day. Why bring dirty laundry with us…right? Claire and I slept in the spare room and I never sleep well before a trip and this was no exception. Oh well…no need to fight it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 Author #4 Share Posted January 3, 2019 July 10, 2018, Tuesday We had to get up at the crack of dawn as our flight was leaving at 6:55 AM. Now Columbus Airport is small, so it doesn’t usually take too long to get through security. And at the wee hours of the morning, the traffic is not an issue. It literally takes 10-15 minutes to get to the airport at that hour. We decided on a time to leave and then got up and did a quick freshening up for the day and headed out. No need to be too pretty. We would be spending the day outside in Florida…in 100 degree weather. Actually not much different than home, but at home we don’t spend all day outside. I dropped Mom, Claire, and the bags off and we checked those right in curb side and then I headed off to the Green parking lot….AKA..cheap parking lot. We always park there and it’s only like $7 a day and not too hard to find, though I almost always pass it first then have to turn around. LOL. I found a spot…wow the lot seemed really full, but luckily it was right by a shuttle pick up station. I saw one coming around, but I just couldn’t get parked and out fast enough so I had to wait for the next one. departing1 by Jenseib, on Flickr I took a quick (blurry) picture so I would remember where to go next week when we got home. I met up with Mom and Claire and we headed to the TSA precheck line. Mom has TSA precheck and Claire and I both now have global entry, which includes TSA precheck. The line was actually kind of long and regular security looked shorter, but when all was said and done, our line moved faster. Plus we don’t have to strip down or take shoes off. We headed to our gate and had a little time for bathroom breaks and reading some emails on our phones and getting a little extra charge on the electronics and then it was time to line up. We all had early bird check in and it was kind of funny…..I bought it for Claire and I right away. Mom didn’t get her flights till later, and then added the EB even later than that. Technically, the sooner you get it, the better number you get. Mom’s number was better than ours and only a few people ahead of us. Who knows how that happened? I will skip over the flight as I didn’t take early pictures (Claire was by the window), and it was uneventful other than people racing to the bathroom. Is it just me? I try not to go to the bathroom if possible on a shorter flight, but sometimes I need to…but what amazes me is how many people are going as soon as the seat belt sign is off (or even before) and my Mom is one of them. Many times it’s only ½ into the flight. Oh well, I guess people love airplane bathrooms….me not so much. I believe we landed pretty much on time and made our way to get our luggage. Woooohooo! We are in Florida! One of my bags was the first one out and on the carousel. Wow! Mom was having a little bit of issues handling her bags…she packed 2 big ones that she checked. Claire and I each had a big one and a carry on size. I think we ended up giving Mom one of the carry on sized ones and taking one of her big ones to make it easier. We headed off to Alamo, which had a big line, but I decided to try the kiosk to check in and it worked like a charm and we were off to the parking garage. When we arrived at the garage we were told we could pick any vehicle in a particular row. I typically am told this at MCO and usually it’s an upgrade and sure enough, there were several mini vans to choose from so we got one…which worked out fabulous for us. We struggled a bit trying to figure out how to get the 3rd row of seats down and only got them partially down, but it worked well enough. We were officially on vacation now and headed off to our first stop! We took off and headed towards Disney World. The one thing I like about Alamo is that you can breeze through the toll stations and it just adds it to your account. Most rental companies that allow this have a daily fee…Alamo does too, but only on the days you use it, so that makes it nice. I despise stopping for tolls. Soon we were parking and heading to the tram. dhs1 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs2 by Jenseib, on Flickr We chose Hollywood Studios today so that we could see the new Toy Story Land! I knew it would be crowded and hot and we did not plan to stay the whole day, but I thought it would be nice to see it first hand! My special ticket had to be picked up at Guest Services and there was a LONG line. Really? Why do all these people need Guest Services???...Oh wait...Disney IT SUCKS!!! I waited and Mom and Claire found some shade. One CM came up to me and said she couldn’t help me with her tablet and I would have to go to the window…finally another did come and she was able to help me. I got the ticket in hand and quickly added it to my MDE and then went on to pick fastpasses. Sadly, with my ticket I couldn’t do it ahead of time….but again, this trip was booked so last minute that that didn’t really make a difference. We headed in and made way for the Storm Troopers. dhs3 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs47 by Jenseib, on Flickr And off to Toy Story Land! dhs4 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs48 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs5 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs50 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs51 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs52 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs53 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs54 by Jenseib, on Flickr As we passed by Slinky Dog Dash it said 70 minutes….my mom said “who in their right might mind would wait 70 minutes?” I replied with “I’m surprised it’s not longer and was just thinking it was doable” And Claire agreed. dhs55 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs57 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs56 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was bright and colorful! We oohed and ahhed…but we were hungry too and needed a quick bite. dhs58 by Jenseib, on Flickr Not much in the way of shade anywhere in this land though and not nearly enough tables for those eating. dhs59 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs60 by Jenseib, on Flickr Honestly, I wasn’t too excited about the choices but I wanted to try it out anyways. dhs61 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs62 by Jenseib, on Flickr Toy Soldiers are out and about! dhs63 by Jenseib, on Flickr We ordered the Monte Cristo to share…but Claire didn’t want anything. Paid for with Gift card! dhs64 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs65 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs66 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs67 by Jenseib, on Flickr The CM’s working saw me taking pictures and took my camera to take a picture of the Grown Up’s lemonade spout. dhs68 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs69 by Jenseib, on Flickr Our food came out and we went to look for a spot. Mom wanted shade and a seat and really neither were available. We did find a standing table, but not much shade. dhs7 by Jenseib, on Flickr We totally laughed at the amount of tator tots. They sure aren’t very generous…and of course Claire wanted those. dhs70 by Jenseib, on Flickr And they were cold…not luke warm…but cold. The sandwich was just ok but I doubt I would ever get it again. Mom only ate half of her half. It wasn’t filling, but enough to tie us over till later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 Author #5 Share Posted January 3, 2019 We looked around some more. And took some pictures. dhs8 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs9 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire really wanted to ride Slinky Dog and really I did too, but we knew Mom didn’t. She said she would go find a spot to cool off and find us later. We got in line. dhs10 by Jenseib, on Flickr It still said 70 minutes. The line was around the outside and again, this area was not thought out well and not much shade. They did have big umbrellas lining the way. dhs11 by Jenseib, on Flickr As we got closer we got to talking to a CM….who was hilarious. He was saying that Disney is SHOCKED that they are drawing so many people to this area. They didn’t think it would be this busy and didn’t schedule enough people at first and the Queue was made too small as they didn’t expect the crowds….oh and they didn’t think about needing shade either. He said they had to quickly get umbrellas to line the queues after they realized it was going to be a hit hard with crowds. Claire was just eating up all the info and the way he said everything was hilarious too. He just had this tone to his voice. He also said that eventually when Galaxy Edge opens that that area will actually be the “entrance” and people are encouraged to enter there and then come into Toy Story Land and exit out the way we came in. He said there is a big Toy Story Land sign already over there. It was all interesting and it will be neat to see if that all works out or is true. As we got into the main queue there were some fans set up, but not nearly enough in my opinion. Have I mentioned it was HOT???? dhs71 by Jenseib, on Flickr See how there is no shade? dhs72 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs73 by Jenseib, on Flickr You can kind of see the umbrellas lining the outer area though the plants. dhs12 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs74 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs75 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs76 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs77 by Jenseib, on Flickr This had the video of the ride safety instructions. dhs78 by Jenseib, on Flickr And video….excuse my ugly sweaty mug at the beginning! https://youtu.be/zt9Z5wCcaXA dhs79 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs80 by Jenseib, on Flickr While in line, we tried the new in park game through the app…we found it actually pretty stupid. I hope they make it better. dhs81 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs13 by Jenseib, on Flickr As we were standing next to the glue bottle Claire noticed that the glue is made in Westerville, Ohio, which is where my sister actually lives. dhs14 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs15 by Jenseib, on Flickr The whole queue really is cute and done well (with the exception of shade and not enough fans). dhs16 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs82 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs83 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs85 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs86 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs87 by Jenseib, on Flickr Finally we were ready!!!! dhs17 by Jenseib, on Flickr We are next!!!! dhs88 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs20 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs84 by Jenseib, on Flickr Soooooo excited!!! dhs89 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Time for our Amazing Slinky Dog Dash!!!! dhs90 by Jenseib, on Flickr I randomly snapped pictures through the whole ride. dhs91 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs92 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs93 by Jenseib, on Flickr We giggled the whole time! dhs94 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs95 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs96 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs97 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was so much fun! dhs98 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs99 by Jenseib, on Flickr And then we spotted it! dhs100 by Jenseib, on Flickr Yep! You can see Star Wars Land (Galaxy’s Edge)!!!! dhs101 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs102 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs103 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs104 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs105 by Jenseib, on Flickr Weeeeee!!!! dhs106 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs107 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs108 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs109 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs110 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs111 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs112 by Jenseib, on Flickr That was soooo much fun!!! We loved it! Honestly if it was cooler out we probably would have waited again. All in all, it was just under 1 hour from the time we got in line till the time we got off the ride. Not bad really, but with the heat and not much shade we just couldn’t do that again….and Mom was waiting for us as well. We had texted her right before we got on the ride and let her know we would be meeting her soon. She said OK and her phone was about to die. UGH! She has a portable charger, but she never brings it with her. We did find her after we got off and I handed her a charger so that her phone would be charged back up again. She had gone to watch the Incredibles first 15 minutes since it was in AC. She said it was nice to be cooled off. We came across the Toy Soldiers once again. dhs18 by Jenseib, on Flickr And then we left Toy Story Land for our first Fastpass! dhs19 by Jenseib, on Flickr Star Tours! And it was fun! We walked around a bit then and I think I was either answering emails or a text or something, so we found a spot to sit. dhs21 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs113 by Jenseib, on Flickr We did check out ToT, but the standby was long and Claire wasn’t feeling it either. dhs114 by Jenseib, on Flickr We also debated Rock N Roller Coaster, but we decided no on that too. It was just so hot and we never planned to hit the park hard today (or this trip really) anyways. Some more walking around and we saw Chewy! dhs22 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs23 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 3, 2019 Author #7 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Claire wanted to ride Alien Saucer Spin and according to the App, we had just enough time….maybe….before our lunch reservation. We decided to give it a try and hope we would get through on time. dhs24 by Jenseib, on Flickr More video. dhs25 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs26 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs27 by Jenseib, on Flickr I never did use the restrooms in this land, but mom did. I asked her if they were cute and she looked at me like I was crazy. LOL. dhs28 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire and I got in line and Mom once again sat out. I think she went back and watched the Incredibles again to cool off. dhs29 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs118 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs115 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs116 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs117 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think the wait was said to be around 30 minutes or so. It was so stinking hot too and I was sweating so much that my foundation (yes I wasn’t thinking and wore foundation that day) was melting off and getting in my eyes. They were stinging so bad and my eyes were watering. I complained to Claire about it a few times and she later told me that the guy by us in line kept giving me dirty looks when I would. Boy he is lucky I didn’t know that at the time. I might have given him some of my eye sweat to try out and see if he liked it! Hahaha. dhs30 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs119 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs120 by Jenseib, on Flickr As we got closer the line seemed to slow down. It was going to be running really close to make it to lunch on time. dhs31 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs32 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs33 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs121 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs122 by Jenseib, on Flickr Finally it was our turn. Yep, it was also about 5 minutes away from our lunch ADR…but we would be ok. dhs123 by Jenseib, on Flickr And I took video of our ride! It was a fun ride, but not great. Many people think it is going to be like the Tea Cups…and it is not. The spinning is really at a minimum. It’s more of a figure 8 with a quick swing as you change tracks. I personally wouldn’t wait long for this ride. After we got off we found Mom and headed to our late lunch. They’re here!!!!! dhs34 by Jenseib, on Flickr We saw a lot of Girl tour groups this trip. We arrived at 50’s Prime Time and checked in and had to wait for a few minutes. dhs124 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs125 by Jenseib, on Flickr Stop taking pictures of me!!!! dhs35 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were seated. We had a nice waitress, but she wasn’t nearly as fun as the server we had last year. She wasn’t bad, but our guy last year was just awesome! Mom and I got the combo plate to share and Claire got her own. dhs126 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was good, but it seemed like a smaller portion this time…however it was just enough for us. Mom eats like a bird anyways. dhs127 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs128 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was a delicious meal and Mon paid for it. It hit the spot! We headed back out to the heat. We had one more fastpass yet that we didn’t want to miss….Toy Story Mania. It wasn’t till something like 4:15, so we had a little time to kill yet. J’s family had landed and they were getting their rental car and heading off to the Radisson by the port. I told her we would be heading that way once we rode Toy Story. We walked around a bit. dhs36 by Jenseib, on Flickr We did some shopping to keep cool. I think Mom bought some flip flops. Another tour group! dhs37 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs129 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted January 4, 2019 It was so darn hot! We were totally melting so we went to any spot we could find to cool off. dhs38 by Jenseib, on Flickr We found some concept models for Galaxy Edge. dhs39 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs40 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs41 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs130 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs131 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs132 by Jenseib, on Flickr Though it was cool in there compared to outside, it was still kind of warm. Disney really needs to crank up the air in the summer. I have found that it seems like they keep the AC in a lot of stores at a temp cooler than outside, but still not a comfortable cool. We headed out and back towards Toy Story Land. How on earth do people sneak these coolers in? And why???? dhs42 by Jenseib, on Flickr We stood by TSM till about 5 minutes before our fastpass was to open and then headed in. dhs133 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs134 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs135 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs136 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs137 by Jenseib, on Flickr Even though we were in the FP line, it still had quite a line. dhs138 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs139 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs140 by Jenseib, on Flickr And our turn! dhs43 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs44 by Jenseib, on Flickr Well…almost. The ride went down right then and they had a guy come in to fix something. Yeah…we were trying to hurry now and things were not going fast. It didn’t take too long so we soon were on and shooting away! Fun as always and we all left with sore arms! The new exit is long and I took pics along the way. dhs141 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs142 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs144 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs143 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs145 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs146 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs147 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs148 by Jenseib, on Flickr Time to head out. Sad to leave, but glad too. It was so hot! We knew it was just going to be a short day and we were excited to see our friends. J wanted to get dinner and they wanted us to come with them (which is why we didn’t eat a big lunch). But time was ticking and they were all getting hungry. I let her know we were on our way out of the park now and I believe they were almost to Port Canaveral now. I took pictures as we left. dhs45 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs46 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs149 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs150 by Jenseib, on Flickr Storm Troopers again! dhs151 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs152 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs153 by Jenseib, on Flickr dhs155 by Jenseib, on Flickr And with that we grabbed the tram and headed out to our rental van. That sucker was STEAMING hot! I turned it out and we opened the windows and cranked the air and let it cool a bit before trying to drive it. I texted back and forth a few minutes and J’s family was starving. I told her she could wait if she wanted for us, or she could go eat if they rather. We were on our way, but it would be about an hour or so before we got there. She said they would wait for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted January 4, 2019 We set my gps on my phone and took off…right into traffic. We seemed to hit every traffic jam and there was even an accident. In some cases we would be sitting still for a few minutes at a time. Then later on I never could see what the actual problem was. Needless to say, it was slow going for quite some time. Once we got out a ways it was better driving, but still more traffic than I have ever seen on the road to the port. We arrived at the Radisson and Claire let J know we had arrived and I checked in. We went to find our room, which was in the part of the building that kind of looked dumpy on the outside. Parking was hard to find as well, but we did find one near our building door. We were on the same floor as J’s family, but they were further down in a nicer section. We dragged our bags up to our room and I took some quick pictures. We had 2 rooms, one being a living room with kitchenette and then a bedroom with 2 queens. The living room area had a couch…but the couch was NOT a pull out, which I think was odd. There was plenty of room to have one. portc7 by Jenseib, on Flickr portc8 by Jenseib, on Flickr portc9 by Jenseib, on Flickr port10 by Jenseib, on Flickr portc10 by Jenseib, on Flickr J’s family came down to our room and we introduced Mom to her and I met 2 more of her girls, Bella and Chloe. Claire and I had cruised with Kelsey last summer. They came in and looked at our room to see if it was like theirs and they said it was. We decided to get food then. I offered to drive since I had a van. Mom was just going to stay back and shower and rest. I warned them all that Claire and I were hot and sweaty and not smelling pretty. LOL. We piled in the van and J’s girls figured out how to put the seats back up and we all crawled in and we drove to find some food. There are several places along the water and we thought of Fish Lips or a few others in that line. In the end no one wanted to make the decision and we just went with Fish Lips. portc2 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were seated upstairs and outside and they turned the fan to blow on us…though it was still really hot! I decided to start this trip in style with a cocktail! portc1 by Jenseib, on Flickr I will say now I ordered way too much food! Big eyes but the heat was making it hard to eat so much. I started with a Caesar salad. portc4 by Jenseib, on Flickr And I think I got the lobster roll…which was much more than I thought it would be. portc5 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire didn’t want anything at all, but I think I still ordered her something hoping she would eat. She picked at it but didn’t eat much. I guess I didn’t take a picture. We had a lot of fun talking and catching up and getting to know her other daughters. P had arrived at the hotel now too and he texted to say they were finding food. We never did see her or her girls till the port the next day. I paid my bill and I don’t remember how much it was, but I put it on my CC….but paid that off with my spending money stash when I got home. We looked out at the water before we left and it looked so pretty outside. portc3 by Jenseib, on Flickr The girls wanted to go to Ron Jon’s, so we headed that way. Claire and I have never been there so it was fun to look around. portc6 by Jenseib, on Flickr It’s a huge store! I bought a magnet and some bottles of water. Mom had texted me to bring her water and it was just $1 a bottle so we got several. We spent some time there as some of the girls tried to decide if they wanted something or not. We then headed back to the hotel and could not find a parking spot. I ended up parking quite a ways away on the other side of the buildings. We went back to the room to find Mom sleeping, but after a bit she did wake up to take her water. I told her I had left over food, but she didn’t want any. We showered and settled in for the night. Claire and I slept together and the bed was hard as a rock. Had the couch been a pull out I would have gladly went out there to sleep, but it wasn’t and it was too small to lay on comfortably. It was another restless night for me and I had developed the start of some blisters today too. Yippee…vacation has officially started now…sore feet is the first sign! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #10 Share Posted January 4, 2019 July 11, 2018, Wednesday Well that bed was AWFUL! I did not sleep great, unfortunately, so I got up early and showered and decided I would head off to Walmart to buy another pair of sandals as I realized I only brought one pair besides my go walks and my feet were already blistering. I messaged J to let her know I was taking off and if she needed anything to let me know. I set my gps and headed off. Walmart was actually further than I expected it to be but not too bad. I went in and looked at sandals and found a really cheap pair that was semi cute and comfy and I also found a dressier pair and bought both. I walked out and J messaged me and asked if I could get her some dry shampoo as her girls were all using what she brought, so I turned around and got her some. I should have bought some for us too. I thought Claire packed hers but it turns out she didn’t…but we survived. J said they were getting donuts and asked what I wanted. I had her get 2 as I figured Mom wouldn’t want one…then of course I thought…I should have had them just get 3 just in case, because knowing how things go, Mom would want one if I didn’t get her one…and I was right and I ended up with just a half donut for myself in the end. I drove back to the hotel and stopped to fill the van up with gas. The first place wouldn’t work right so I left and went to another station. In the end, when I got home, my debit stopped working because it flagged that I got gas in 2 different places in a short amount of time. I guess that is a good thing…but good thing I hadn’t planned on using the card for the rest of the trip. Back at the hotel we ate our donuts and packed our bags back up and got ready to take the van back. I had it timed to take it back within 24 hours so that I wouldn’t be charged an extra day. I happened to notice on the website that it said Alamo was closed today…I was a little worried about that, but I figured normally there weren’t ships in port on a Wed. but since Disney was coming in today I was sure this was an exception. We loaded up and headed off and Alamo was open, but quiet and I was the first person there to drop off a vehicle and they hadn’t set up the signs yet, so they told me where to go. I headed back out to Mom and Claire and the shuttle was just taking off. Mom said the guy never once asked if they were going to the port or if they needed a ride there. She was disgusted. We could have made it if he had asked. We waited a little bit more and another shuttle came. We loaded up and soon were on our way. It’s just a few minutes over to the port and we were left off and gave our bags to the porters and tipped the appropriate people and headed to get in line. J was upstairs in the parking lot in line as they were keeping their car all week. She kept telling me to come up there and we debated. Then someone walked by and said the line down here would be let in about 15 minutes after the one upstairs, so it might be better to go upstairs and many people made the dash along with us. Luckily we were able to join the line with J. The line was pretty long and even getting in 15 minutes earlier, the ones at the back still may have been better off downstairs. J told me that DCL had messaged her and told her to check in at the Concierge when she arrived. She knows a lot of DCL people and she had a feeling she may have been upgraded for her birthday. We stood and chatted in line for a while and finally we were slowly let in to the terminal and went through all the check points and got in line to check in. pc1 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had to wait a little bit for J’s family. pc2 by Jenseib, on Flickr She was right! They had been upgraded…to concierge! She was so excited. It was an accessible room, but who cares? We know they were all sold out before the cruise, so someone must have cancelled last minute. We waited around and finally P showed up with her 2 girls, both cute as a button! We all got acquainted. I knew both J and P personally, but J and P had never actually met in real life before. They hit it right off (and have cruised together again since then….which I really wanted to go with them, but Skip gave me a big NO!). We compared our cards to be sure we were all going to be seated together and noticed we had first seating. J likes first seating, but I prefer late. Since it was her b-day cruise, I didn’t care so much but I never called to make a selection. Our rate makes us late automatically unless you ask to be wait-listed to first, but J had booked before that rate came out and asked for early dining then. I just left it. For 3 nights I could live with early dining. We gathered all together and Mom took a picture of all of us and our girls. pc3 by Jenseib, on Flickr Yes, I think we could all pass for sisters and even out girls could pass for sisters or cousins. J was able to board early with concierge and she had told them I was her sister and they were going to allow me and my gang to board with her, and then we said P was our step sister, but they said the group was too big. P actually got an early boarding number (How? I don’t know as I got a really late one this time and I was NOT happy), so we just decided J would board and my family would try and board with P’s. In the end, one of J’s kids went and got another card for their boarding, and gave it to me, so I had an earlier number and P boarded with me instead. It sounds crazy that we are worry about boarding times....but we wanted ON THAT SHIP!!!! As we were called, we went through and the lady tried to check to see that we all had a card…but we kept walking. LOL. We got checked in, by-passed the pictures and boarded the ship! We are home! We told J we would meet her at Cabana’s as she had some stuff she had to do. I tried taking a selfie while walking, but it turned out terrible and Claire glared….isn’t she so sweet? pc4 by Jenseib, on Flickr Up at Cabana’s we found several tables and moved them together and got our food. Now, I was having such a good time talking to P and the girls and Mom that I never took a single picture while there. P and I were catching up…we had both moved to different companies over the past year (at one time all 3 of us worked for the same one) so we talked about our moves and what we liked about the new companies verses the old and that kind of stuff. (And just to add, we did like our old company, but it was time for a move for both of us). In the meantime J had been messaging me over and over and I missed it. I finally realized and responded. She said she felt like we already kicked her out of our cool club. Hahaha. Nope….just talking too much. She said the concierge now had a choice to eat in one of the dining rooms (I believe it was Royal Court) and they went there to eat, but would catch up with us after. She said she had something important to tell me, but it was a huge secret and couldn’t be told in front of her kids and basically I had to take a blood oath. OK then….you have my attention! She also said she has been told we will have the BIG table at Royal Court…which is kind of a big deal. J said usually you have to know someone or be celebrating something special and/or be in concierge. Basically it’s not normal for an average Joe to land that table. None of us have ever been at it before…wooohoooo!!! Once done eating, J and family did eventually join us and we talked some more and some of the girls took off to look around. I think Claire may have gone with Sydney and Sadie (P’s girls) for a bit too, which is shocking!!! I took a few quick pictures and then J said she would show us her room. pc5 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc6 by Jenseib, on Flickr We felt so special heading up to Concierge! pc67 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now my pics are terrible and again, we talked so much, so I didn’t take near as many as I should have. pc68 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc69 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc70 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc71 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc72 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc73 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc74 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc75 by Jenseib, on Flickr Basically there are 2 bathrooms, one off the main bedroom and then one off the entrance hall. There was a pull down murphy bed near the table area and the couch turned into a full size bed. pc76 by Jenseib, on Flickr And a very nice sized balcony….that we sat out on one evening just chatting away….so nice! pc77 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc78 by Jenseib, on Flickr Current view pc79 by Jenseib, on Flickr J said it was her b-day and she was getting the big bed all to herself! pc80 by Jenseib, on Flickr To the far left of this picture you can see where the murphy bed is in the wall in the background. pc81 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire had gone to our room but no one was there, so she messaged me and I told her to come on up and take a look. We were literally just one floor below J, almost in the exact location. Murphy bed in wall. pc82 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc83 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was now just Mom, Claire and I in the room with J and she told me the “secret”! Kelsey’s boyfriend was flying down on our Magic Kingdom day as a surprise and proposing! He has a HUGE test on Monday so Kelsey has absolutely NO idea! She will need me to help her pull this off. She has a friend staying at Bay Lake who has offered to let Josh spend the night there (he was coming is super late Sat. night) and then bringing him over in the AM and they were going to get themselves situated and grab a photopass photographer for the proposal, but we had to distract and get Kelsey there on time. OMG! How fun! I had met Kelsey last summer and she told me immediately that her boyfriend was the one she was going to marry and I was excited to finally meet him and be part of the proposal too! OK…hush hush…..Claire….don’t say a word! She’s good with secrets though. We headed down to our room and we were connected with P. I took no pics of my room either. LOL. It’s the same looking room as always, just a normal balcony room. We opened our connecting doors and P had room decorations from her boss. It was so nice and cute! pc7 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc8 by Jenseib, on Flickr We did some unpacking and lost track of everyone. It was time for the Muster Drill and we knew we were in the Walt Disney Theater again…YAY!!!! We went to the port side as instructed by a few CM’s and went through the mad rush…to be told wrong side. UGH! So we squeezed our way over to the other side and got a seat. A little later we saw J and P come in together and they were seated in the side balcony. It was funny, as last year we were on the port side and J was in the balcony over there and this year the balcony on the starboard side. Now it’s time for a party!!! We actually waited a little bit before going up. I really don’t need the whole sail away party fun anymore. Yes, it is fun, but I don’t need to see it all or be up close to it the whole time. Once we got up there I was shocked to see how many others felt the same way. pc9 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was the least crowded sail away party I have ever seen. Video Video We found J at some point and then I spotted P and girls across the way. pc10 by Jenseib, on Flickr Drink in hand! pc12 by Jenseib, on Flickr Let the Fun Begin! pc17 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1025cruise Posted January 4, 2019 #11 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I really hate to burst your bubble, but the DCL forum really doesn't have a wide enough audience to appreciate a review such as yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dulciana8 Posted January 4, 2019 #12 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I’m really enjoying your review! Thank you for posting it. We’ve only sailed on Wonder three times, and enjoyed our time on board, but it’s always so fun to read and see other’s experiences, and see the photos from the larger ships. Your writing is so bubbly and fun. Looking forward to reading more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #13 Share Posted January 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Dulciana8 said: I’m really enjoying your review! Thank you for posting it. We’ve only sailed on Wonder three times, and enjoyed our time on board, but it’s always so fun to read and see other’s experiences, and see the photos from the larger ships. Your writing is so bubbly and fun. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks~! I am going on the Wonder in 3 weeks...for the first time. I am excited to be completing my "Grand Slam" on the 4 ships! I love the Magic, so I am sure I will love the Wonder just as much...and several new ports for us too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Buh Bye Port Canaveral! pc84 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc13 by Jenseib, on Flickr I took this picture thinking it said Carnival Cruise….which I laughed about…When I got home I realized it said Canaveral Cruise….hahahaha pc14 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc15 by Jenseib, on Flickr We waved at the camera a bit and then turned around to have Claire take our picture. pc16 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc11 by Jenseib, on Flickr I was messaging on and off with our friend Cass and she said she saw us sail away but didn’t see us but did take a pic of the ship. 36971563_10156447086026171_7349925835123458048_n by Jenseib, on Flickr I told her where we were standing and she went back to look and found us! 37002223_10156447118226171_3408217795333193728_n by Jenseib, on Flickr Right when Claire was taking OUR picture! LOL!!! Off we floated! pc85 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc18 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were so excited…we wished it was a longer cruise, but still happy to be with friends. pc86 by Jenseib, on Flickr I always love these pictures as we sail out. pc87 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think this is the busiest I have ever seen the beach. pc88 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc89 by Jenseib, on Flickr We did some walking around and look who we ran into. pc20 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had early dinner tonight so it was time to get ready. J told us not to bother to dress up as her kids wouldn’t be. I knew Mom would no matter what. I had some dressier clothes but not super dressy. With a short cruise I knew I didn’t really want to go all out this time either. P debated, and I think in the end, they all went pretty casual too. Animator’s Palate was our dining room tonight….and we were running a little late…but not too late. The 3 of us were the last to walk in but not much further than the rest of our group. When we arrived at our table there were people sitting there and I missed some of the commotion going on. The people got up and left and the table was being reset as they had started drinking the water and eating the bread. What it came down to was these people had this table number but a different dining room tonight…..however they did NOT want to eat in the dining room assigned tonight, so they sat themselves in Animators at the table. Well they obviously didn’t think it through that someone else had the same table number. Now when I thought this through later, if they had the same table number as us, that would mean that one night they had the big round table and it was a small group…so I think they just made up that story too and just went to some random table. I don’t think they would have been at the big round table in Royal Court since that one is supposed to be a hard one to get. The fact that they got past anyone and seated themselves at a table that wasn’t theirs on the first night is a big deal on DCL though. And I think some wait staff had been scolded about it later. We got settled down at the table and the commotion died a bit and we started looking at our menus and met our servers. Steven was our server and he was EXCELLENT. From what I gather he is a top server on DCL. Krasimir was our Head server but he told us to call him Crush…I think…That’s what I heard but I think J kept call him Krash, and given his real name, that makes sense too. Either way, he was great too. We found out during the course of the cruise he also is a top Head Server for DCL. He and J talked quite a bit since J knows a lot of crew, especially from the Magic and he knew many of those people as well. I believe our Assistant Server was Ivelina….and honestly I can’t remember if she had a nick name or not. She was nice…but we had an incident and I think after that she was intimidated. So we made our drink orders. Kelsey ordered champagne and most of us got soft drinks and we started chatted and I totally missed it…but Ivelina went to pour Kelsey’s drink and ended up dumping pretty much the whole bottle on Bella. Bella was NOT happy and all wet. Chloe took off her sweatshirt and handed it to Bella to wear and that is really when I noticed all that was going on. Now Ivelina apologized profusely but it was done and kind of made for a not so pleasant dinner for Bella. Now if you are familiar with how cruising works, the head server should have come over and taken care of matters, but he didn’t find out actually till after dinner…and I will tell you he did make things right later and was so sorry. We made our orders and of course I got my favorite….the pasta! MMMMM! pc90 by Jenseib, on Flickr This was P’s and I snapped a picture. pc91 by Jenseib, on Flickr I was sitting between P and J and trying to talk back and forth. P did talk with Mom a lot, who sat next to her and P’s girls were sitting across from Mom. My mom was in love with her girls and they are so nice. Both girls are beautiful and friendly. pc22 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire was across from me. She broke the umbilical cord enough to not be right next to me. Chloe and Bella then on her other side. Like I said, my Mom loved Sydney and Sadie, and then she had this special bond with Chloe. As the trip goes on, they become close and Claire said that Grandma dumped her for a new granddaughter. Hahaha. pc23 by Jenseib, on Flickr I am terrible at remember the names of the foods I order any more. I just get what sounds good. So tonight…..I got a hunk of meat with carrots! pc24 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc92 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had good food and good conversations. Time for desserts…and skinny Kelsey was not holding back! pc25 by Jenseib, on Flickr Well I wasn’t either really. Hahaha. pc26 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc27 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had some time before the show, which was Aladdin tonight. This was the only show we planned on seeing since this was our third time on the Fantasy in less than 2 years. P’s family was also going to watch it, but J’s were going to just chill out for the evening. We walked around a bit and Claire may have gone to the room at some point with Mom. One of my favorite views….why can’t this cruise be longer? pc28 by Jenseib, on Flickr And look who I ran in to. They were so cute, but I missed getting a kissing picture. pc29 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc30 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc31 by Jenseib, on Flickr Some more wandering around. pc94 by Jenseib, on Flickr We browsed the shops. pc95 by Jenseib, on Flickr Mom ended up buying Claire and I each a necklace. I have a necklace that says the “Dream” and one that says the “Magic” and I have wanted one with “Fantasy” on it…but back when I got the other 2 they were only like $20. Now the new ones are pricey!!! Of course better quality too. Now they were on a clearance type price, still pricey but much better than $150. Mom bought it for me as a gift for letting her come with us…seriously…she paid her own way…no need to buy this. An Claire got a Rose Gold Mickey…...I think with a pearl in it….also discounted. Kelsey was caught buying something and when J asked what she was buying and she said perfume…..she later showed me that she bought J the DCL exclusive Pandora beads for J’s b-day. NICE!!! A stop back in the room before we headed off to the show. pc32 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #15 Share Posted January 4, 2019 We found some seats and let P’s family know where we were via the chat feature on the app and they soon arrived and sat with us. I really do love Aladdin, but I didn’t care for this cast. Of the 3 times I have seen it on this ship, this was the worst performance. (not that it was bad...just not as good) Claire said she thought there were a few changed things and I agreed, though it just might be the way a particular set of cast members portray the scene but some things did seem a little different. We did NOT like Jasmine and that made it hard to enjoy. I did take a few pictures at the end like I always do. pc33 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc34 by Jenseib, on Flickr Carpet was the same guy from last summer and he is really good! pc35 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc36 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc37 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc38 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc39 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc40 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc41 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc42 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc43 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc44 by Jenseib, on Flickr After the show we headed out to the atrium as P wanted to see a violist that was listed to be performing. Claire was going to go do a drawing class with Sydney and Sadie. pc45 by Jenseib, on Flickr This couple was MAGNIFICENT!!! She knew we were watching and made eye contact with us and probably thought we were stalkers after a bit. Hahaha. You have to listen to this video….AMAZING!!!! We moved on up the steps and I was going to head one way and P was going to catch up with the girls when they started another song and we stopped and stalked again. She sings too! The guy would look up and smile. pc46 by Jenseib, on Flickr Video pc47 by Jenseib, on Flickr We watched a while more and then separated. pc48 by Jenseib, on Flickr I just love this deck at night. Claire wanted ice-cream so I headed up to Sweet on You and got her some Mango. pc49 by Jenseib, on Flickr I walked out by the pool deck and found J and her kids all getting food at the fast food locations out there and stopped and talked a bit with them but I couldn’t stay too long because Claire’s ice-cream was melting. I headed down to D-Lounge and gave Claire her ice-cream while she continued to draw. pc50 by Jenseib, on Flickr They were drawing Stitch. pc51 by Jenseib, on Flickr And then Stitch came in! pc54 by Jenseib, on Flickr This was the first drawing class I have ever gone to where the character came for a visit. pc55 by Jenseib, on Flickr He made the rounds. pc57 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc98 by Jenseib, on Flickr And we tried to get him with our girls…but weren’t very successful. pc59 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc60 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc61 by Jenseib, on Flickr Back to drawing. pc99 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc62 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now some did better than others….but I give them all credit for trying and having fun! Hahahah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 4, 2019 Author #16 Share Posted January 4, 2019 After the drawing class there was a game show! I believe it was Family Fusion. Now P is SUPER competitive and loves this kind of thing. Claire….not so much. P said we were doing it…and we made noise and of course were picked. Claire would not join us. It was way too embarrassing! We all went up on stage and I was now part of the P family. The thing with Family Fusion is that you need to know a bit about your family to answer questions, so it wasn’t a great plan. Hahaha…..that being said, there were true families up there that didn’t do so well either. We sent Sadie out on front for the first question. pc63 by Jenseib, on Flickr She had to match the answer we thought she would give and I am pretty sure we didn’t match. pc64 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire took a few pics of us as we went. pc100 by Jenseib, on Flickr You can see P totally getting into it and being serious. pc101 by Jenseib, on Flickr pc65 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think we ended up being 3rd…out of 4…so yeah…we sucked…but we had a lot of fun and laughed a LOT! Claire headed back to the room and so did P and her girls. I went off on my own for a bit. Love the ship at night! pc66 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire messaged me that Grandma was sleeping and P said she could go in her room…was that OK?…sure thing! And they were ordering room service…could she get some?….Yes Claire…it’s not like she had to come up with money. Hahaha. I roamed around a bit and got to talking to some people and then went back to the room and then through the connecting into P’s room. We ended up talking for a long time and then room service came and they had ordered a ton of stuff and I ended up snacking on it too. We talked sooooo long that it got to the point I could barely sit up anymore I was so tired, so we finally went back into our bed…only to realize I left my phone in their room and had to knock to get it back. Sorry! We got ready for bed and Claire was in luxury this cruise as she was getting to sleep with me in the big bed! And out we went! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 5, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted January 5, 2019 July 12, 2018, Thursday, Nassau I woke early and decided to head out to see where we were. Close.... but not quite to Nassau yet. nass3 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass1 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass5 by Jenseib, on Flickr I did a walk around to take a few pictures. We had no plans to do anything today, so I was just taking my time. nass6 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass7 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass8 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass9 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass10 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass11 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass12 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass13 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass14 by Jenseib, on Flickr I went in to the Cove Café and got a little treat. Can you believe I NEVER went in once on the 10 night cruise last year? I remedied that today. nass15 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass16 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass18 by Jenseib, on Flickr I got totally wild with a rice crispie on a stick! nass17 by Jenseib, on Flickr And back out to walk. nass19 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass20 by Jenseib, on Flickr More people were starting to stir and come out. nass21 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass22 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass23 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass24 by Jenseib, on Flickr And I went to take some pics of the drink stations…..which no longer have straws!!! nass25 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass26 by Jenseib, on Flickr The no straws and lids thing started not too long before our cruise. I don’t like it. I know why they do it, but I am a straw girl. The dining room still had straws if you asked…and we did. I am told at the drink station you can find a server and ask for a paper one…and they are pretty thick and sturdy from what I saw. When we found out there would be no straws we packed our own mugs with straws to use. nass27 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass28 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass30 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass31 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass32 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass33 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass34 by Jenseib, on Flickr The sad thing about a short cruise…not enough time to have several visits here!!! nass35 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass36 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 5, 2019 Author #18 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I made my way through Cabana’s, taking a few pictures of the offerings. It was busy with those who planned to go to port today. We just planned to get off later and walk around a bit and come back, so we were in no hurry at all. nass37 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass46 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass47 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass38 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass39 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass48 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass49 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass50 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass40 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass41 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass45 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass42 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass43 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass44 by Jenseib, on Flickr And back out I went. nass56 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass57 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass59 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass60 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass61 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass62 by Jenseib, on Flickr At some point I took this video. I ran down to the room to see how the family was doing. nass63 by Jenseib, on Flickr Mom was up….Claire….not so much! nass127 by Jenseib, on Flickr We got her up. I had no issues with her sleeping in too a point, but I didn’t want her to sleep the vacation away. Kelsey and Chloe came to bring us some bottles of water from Concierge. I found out they had been leaving bottles at our door, but several times we never found them….which means there is a thief onboard taking them as they passed by. GRRR! Kelsey said she ordered for her room to be decorated for her Mom’s b-day. How exciting. J was out scuba diving today, so it should be done when she comes back. She also ordered a cake to be delivered to the dining room tomorrow night. J knows how to get these fantastic cakes for her kids b-days and Kelsey wanted to return the favor for her mom. She said that no one wanted to take responsibility and she had one heck of a time getting one ordered. Now with as many times as their family has sailed with DCL, you would think the crew would be falling over backwards to get them a cake. We then headed off and got a bite to eat. nass115 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass116 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 5, 2019 Author #19 Share Posted January 5, 2019 After we were done eating, Mom and Claire headed back to the room to get ready and I went up to take pictures in Meridian and out the back. nass125 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass126 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass117 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass118 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass119 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass120 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass121 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass122 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass123 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass124 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass128 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass129 by Jenseib, on Flickr I headed back to my room and collected my family. We packed a bag and headed down the steps to get off the ship. nass130 by Jenseib, on Flickr And started off on our scorching walk. nass131 by Jenseib, on Flickr I wanted Claire to stop here for a pic but she refused. I did see P got her girls to do so though. nass132 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass64 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were not the only ship in port today. nass65 by Jenseib, on Flickr And keep in mind, the Fantasy is NOT normally ever in Nassau! (I had secretly wished the Dream would have been in port that day too...for the side by side picture). nass66 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass67 by Jenseib, on Flickr We got behind the SLOWEST people and had a hard time getting around them and finally we opted to take a longer sidewalk around just to be able to get away from them. nass68 by Jenseib, on Flickr We just wanted to browse, so we went in and out of shops and into the straw market as Claire had never been in there. nass69 by Jenseib, on Flickr It’s too crowded in there with narrow aisles, but we did some quick looking and left and then in and out of shops. Claire got a few shirts and I got a magnet or 2 and I think Mom bought an item or 2. Claire declared it was just too darn hot and we headed back to the ship. nass133 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass134 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire rested in the room to cool off, and I got in my suit and got in the pool with P for a bit. She then left to do something and I stayed in a bit longer and then I headed to the room too and took a short nap. Mom and Claire wanted to play Bingo so they headed off and I decided to do a load of laundry. laundry1 by Jenseib, on Flickr To my surprise, the washers and dryers have changed in the way you pay and they now TEXT the app when they are done! So I took pictures of everything (which I won’t bore you with). I loved this new system. laundry17 by Jenseib, on Flickr laundry16 by Jenseib, on Flickr I sat on my balcony while I waited for the washing and messaged with my friend Cass for a bit and then flipped everything over to the dryer and went up top. nass135 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass136 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was a totally lazy day and afternoon. I didn’t take much in the way of pictures and soon it was time to leave port. nass137 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass138 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 5, 2019 Author #20 Share Posted January 5, 2019 It was now time for early dinner in Enchanted Garden! It was pirate night, but we chose not to dress this time around. Crush/Crash came right over and apologized for the night before and let us know he never found out about any of the issues till much later that evening. He wanted to make things right was sending a bottle of prosecco over for the adults and the kids all would be getting smoothies. Sounds good to us! As my glass was being poured, Chloe was in the background being a clown! nass139 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire’s smoothie. nass140 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire got wild tonight and out of her comfort zone of her usual steak and fries and ordered a soup too. nass141 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think this was P’s. nass70 by Jenseib, on Flickr And this has to be mine as I love the Lobster Ravioli there. nass71 by Jenseib, on Flickr So we are laughing and joking and J asked me if I think the plants are real above my Mom’s head and she dares me to ask my Mom to touch them…so I do….and she does! Yeah, it doesn't take much to amuse us! nass72 by Jenseib, on Flickr And we are childish and just start laughing hysterically. And just an FYI…they are fake! Mom was a good sport! nass73 by Jenseib, on Flickr I ordered a couple of entrée’s tonight. nass76 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass77 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass78 by Jenseib, on Flickr All were good, but there was no way I could eat all of each. I wish they did combo plates with smaller portions. I would love to order one of those. I had called DCL before we cruised to be sure to note my friend’s b-days. Tonight we were celebrating P’s. nass142 by Jenseib, on Flickr I brought her a little gift as well to celebrate! I will go off subject here too. We had done a private fish extender exchange between our 3 rooms and it is so fun to buy for friends and their kids. I really enjoyed buying when I knew the recipients (or at least knew them better than total strangers) and we got such great gifts as well. My mom was so impressed with everything and that they thought of her too. Back to desert! This looked good, but really wasn’t that good…well the ice-cream was fine. nass143 by Jenseib, on Flickr And that was just as well as I had had plenty to eat already. When we were done we had the girls stop in front of the fountain to get some pictures. We had some funny faces and laughter so it was hard to get a good shot. nass144 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass145 by Jenseib, on Flickr We walked out to the atrium to watch the violinist…only it was a different one tonight…just a single guy. He was good…but not our favorite couple. I think P may have taken her girls to the show. We walked around a bit on deck 4 and just enjoyed the night. nass79 by Jenseib, on Flickr This time of evening is just so wonderful and I could spend a month just staring out like this. nass80 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire headed back to the room to change. I think she was going to watch a movie. I was going to eventually meet up with P and J in Ooh La La for a drink. So I took some pictures for now. nass81 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass82 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass83 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass84 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass85 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass87 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass88 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass89 by Jenseib, on Flickr I spotted the violinist from tonight down the hall and when I passed him I told him “good job”. Lol nass90 by Jenseib, on Flickr I stopped in at Tiffany’s. nass91 by Jenseib, on Flickr More people were in here this cruise than last, but I still don’t see it doing a big business on the ship. nass92 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass93 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass94 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass95 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass146 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass147 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 5, 2019 Author #21 Share Posted January 5, 2019 J and P messaged me that they were at Ooh La La and I better get my rear over there. On my way! nass149 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass148 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass151 by Jenseib, on Flickr They both had brought a drink with them and I ordered one and we talked for quite a while and had a nice time. We wanted a picture up at the bar and the bar tender said he would take one. P has a convincing personality and soon we were behind the bar getting a few quick shots! nass109 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass114 by Jenseib, on Flickr And then we quickly scrambled back out. nass152 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was time for fireworks and Claire was messaging me, so ran I to get her and P got her girls and we met up top. nass96 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass150 by Jenseib, on Flickr And then they began! nass153 by Jenseib, on Flickr We didn’t have the best spot but we could still see them. nass154 by Jenseib, on Flickr Video After that, we headed off to the pirate buffet. We weren’t really hungry but P’s girls wanted to go check it out. nass97 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass98 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass99 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass100 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass101 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass102 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass103 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass104 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass105 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass106 by Jenseib, on Flickr nass107 by Jenseib, on Flickr I got a couple of things to eat and snacked on them. I personally am not a huge fan of the pirate buffet. nass108 by Jenseib, on Flickr After that, Claire went back to the room and I headed up to J’s room where we chatted again into the wee hours of the night. Her kids were all laying in their beds but talking with us and it was like a big slumber party and we had a lot of fun again. When I got too tired, I headed back to my room to head to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 6, 2019 Author #22 Share Posted January 6, 2019 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 cc47 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc19 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc48 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. ccday34 by Jenseib, on Flickr Then we headed out to the water. It was so stinking hot and it felt good. kids by Jenseib, on Flickr 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! cc21 by Jenseib, on Flickr Time for lunch! cc20 by Jenseib, on Flickr Love the potato salad!! cc22 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. cc50 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had a fun lunch and then headed back to the beach. cc23 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. cc1 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc2 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc3 by Jenseib, on Flickr We went back out to the water for more fun too. cc4 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc5 by Jenseib, on Flickr Some of the kids grabbed some abandoned floats and tubes. cc6 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc7 by Jenseib, on Flickr I was amazed at how much the water had gone down…The tide had gone out. cc9 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc10 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc11 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc12 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc13 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc14 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc15 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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 us by Jenseib, on Flickr cc16 by Jenseib, on Flickr The kids were having a lot of fun. cc17 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire is too shy to join, but she loved watching their antics. cc18 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 6, 2019 Author #23 Share Posted January 6, 2019 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. cc24 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc25 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc26 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc27 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc28 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc29 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc30 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc31 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc32 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc34 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc36 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc37 by Jenseib, on Flickr Walking back to the ship always means to me….snap as many pictures as you can so you can remember everything! cc38 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc39 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc40 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc41 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc42 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc43 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc44 by Jenseib, on Flickr cc45 by Jenseib, on Flickr I always love seeing the ship from different angles on the island. cc46 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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! ccday6 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday7 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday8 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. ccday9 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. ccday10 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday1 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 6, 2019 Author #24 Share Posted January 6, 2019 We were brought out some special plates to get started with tonight. ccday2 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday3 by Jenseib, on Flickr Super yummy…but I just didn’t have enough room in my tummy for everything. ccday11 by Jenseib, on Flickr Claire and I got our favorite….the Princess delight! I think P’s girls might have gotten them too after seeing them. ccday12 by Jenseib, on Flickr I went with the escargot to start. ccday13 by Jenseib, on Flickr And Shrimp. ccday14 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday15 by Jenseib, on Flickr And a hunk of beef for my entrée! ccday16 by Jenseib, on Flickr They also brought out curry for us and some rice. ccday17 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday18 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday19 by Jenseib, on Flickr The kids got smoothies again as well and we got wine. Then they delivered J’s cake. ccday20 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday22 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday23 by Jenseib, on Flickr She took it back to her room as we had ordered deserts too. ccday24 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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! ccday4 by Jenseib, on Flickr A walk out on the deck to enjoy our last evening. ccday25 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday26 by Jenseib, on Flickr ccday27 by Jenseib, on Flickr Our little cruise getaway had just flown by! ccday28 by Jenseib, on Flickr Our towel animal for tonight. ccday29 by Jenseib, on Flickr As it got dark we could see we were sailing along the coast. ccday30 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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! ccday31 by Jenseib, on Flickr Our violinist couple were playing again tonight so we stopped and watched. ccday32 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. ccday33 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 7, 2019 Author #25 Share Posted January 7, 2019 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. fq1 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq2 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq3 by Jenseib, on Flickr The new flooring….. fq4 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq5 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq6 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq7 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq8 by Jenseib, on Flickr I do not like how they have the shampoo, conditioner and soap in these big bottles though. fq9 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. fq10 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq11 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq12 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq13 by Jenseib, on Flickr I also had a packet to pick up. fq14 by Jenseib, on Flickr 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. fq15 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq36 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq41 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq42 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq43 by Jenseib, on Flickr fq16 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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