Yes, another LIVE thread - From the Harmony of the Seas 8/14/2022 - Star Class - with a little Disney thrown in !!!

[mac_tlc]

So a little about our Covid testing scenario. 7 of the 8 of us are fully vaccinated and the youngest is half way there. Four of the eight had Covid about three weeks ago. So after so hemming and hawing we decided to go the Certificate of Recovery route for them. Three of those four have a positive PCR test result taken at least 11 days before departure and have received their COR. The youngest is in that group and had to go in person to get it, the other two did it online with MDanywhere.com. Easy peasy. The forth’s PCR test came back negative so he will have to test two days prior. 
 

We have out tests scheduled with RapidTestamdTrace for tomorrow staggered thought the morning. Using the freebie government tests. 
 

Hope it all works out. 
 

Things are changing quickly now and the youngest could now get by with an antigen test but we will forego that since he has that positive PCR and the COR. 
 

I had checked with Royal to make sure this will work and was told it is OK. Also double checked with our genie, who triple checked with guest services and we should be OK. 
 

All fingers and toes are crossed.

 

mac_tlc
 

 

[OCSC Mike]

Had a great experience with RT&T, you'll be fine with them.

 

As for going to Disney in this heat, more power to you guys. I'd melt in an hour. I can hear the MK fireworks from my house, closest I've been to Disney in forever, lol. We had annuals for a while then kinda gave up. We go to Disney Springs every so often. Love Art Smith's Homecomin'. When we read about Mason Jar on Wonder it made us think of that restaurant. Very similar southern concept.

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Had a great experience with RT&T, you'll be fine with them.

 

As for going to Disney in this heat, more power to you guys. I'd melt in an hour. I can hear the MK fireworks from my house, closest I've been to Disney in forever, lol. We had annuals for a while then kinda gave up. We go to Disney Springs every so often. Love Art Smith's Homecomin'. When we read about Mason Jar on Wonder it made us think of that restaurant. Very similar southern concept.

I love Art Smith's too! 😋

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

 

All fingers and toes are crossed.

 

mac_tlc
 

 

Good Luck with the tests. 🤞

[LATTELOVE]

14 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Finally got into our room about 6pm. 
It’s a Grand Villa, 3 bedrooms,   4 bathrooms, dining area, living area, laundry room, two stories. It’s a few more square feet than our house in CT. 
 

Here are some pictures. 

Entry and living room:

 

 Master bedroom and bath

 

Other bedrooms and view from second story:

 

Amazing!!

This place is so spacious and perfect for your 

your large family.  Love it!

[mac_tlc]

Whew, it was a hot one today !

 

Five of us spent the morning getting our Covid tests via Rapid Test and Trace. WooHoo !!! All negative. That plus the other three folks with COR's means we all board on Sunday. Rapid Test and Trace process was easy peasy, about 15 minutes total per person, negative certificate e-mailed and checked before the session was ended. 

 

Spent a sweaty five or six hours in Animal Kingdom and Epcot, with a little Skyliner excursion in between. Lots of crowds, long lines, and sporadic attraction unavailability. The kids and spouses are at Epcot tonight. Hmmmm -- I wonder if the Food and Wine Festival had anything to do with it???? We have the grandkids in the well air conditioned villa at Old Key West --- a fair trade. 

 

Our set sail passes for Sunday have an 11am arrival time but in speaking with the genie that may be a bit early for the suite to be ready for us -- we may arrive a few minutes later and head to the Suite Lounge for a spell. 

 

Tomorrow is check-out day at Old Key West and a heavy packing day. The kids have another Disney park day scheduled for tomorrow, the wife and I are "blacked-out" of weekends with the annual pass we have. No worries for us, we will probably be back down in November. 

 

mac_tlc

 

 

[mac_tlc]

One last morning cup of coffee on the patio at OKW. That mound in the picture leads to the 4th hole of the Lake Buena Vista golf course, one of the original courses at Disney— that hosted a PGA event for a bunch of years. The villas at OKW are built around holes 3 through 8 and many have a course view. Haven’t found any golf balls yet but I’m still looking.

 

mac_tlc

 

[blondcat]

looking forward to following along! Have never been on one of these mega ships but would love to.  Also feel your pain on the Florida AC; I live in England and it's estimated only 1-2 % of homes have AC in the UK (if that) and we are having a crazy heatwave - it's 94F currently and my lounge is 93 - MELTING!!

[OCSC Mike]

19 minutes ago, blondcat said:

looking forward to following along! Have never been on one of these mega ships but would love to.  Also feel your pain on the Florida AC; I live in England and it's estimated only 1-2 % of homes have AC in the UK (if that) and we are having a crazy heatwave - it's 94F currently and my lounge is 93 - MELTING!!

 

I feel for you. Have several friends in the UK complaining about your recent heat waves.

 

It's been over 90F here for months, lol. Living without AC is obviously not an option.

[LATTELOVE]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

One last morning cup of coffee on the patio at OKW. That mound in the picture leads to the 4th hole of the Lake Buena Vista golf course, one of the original courses at Disney— that hosted a PGA event for a bunch of years. The villas at OKW are built around holes 3 through 8 and many have a course view. Haven’t found any golf balls yet but I’m still looking.

 

mac_tlc

 

Ahhh,so nice!!

 

[Kathscof]

On 8/9/2022 at 1:13 PM, mac_tlc said:

The wife + son + daughter-in-law area at Epcot today as I had to deal with the AC. They got boarding group 5 for Guardians of the Galaxy this morning. In fact, it broke down as soon as they boarded but started up about 10 minutes later. They gave all of them a free Lightning Lane pass so they will use that on Remy later today.

 

Check in to OKW tomorrow, going to Hollywood Studios. Daughter, son-in-law, grandkids arrive tomorrow. MK Thursday, AK Friday.

 

My wife and I have Pixie annual passes so we are blacked out on weekends. I think the kids will go to Epcot on Saturday. We have resisted doing Genie+. If we were to do it, it would only be at HS and MK. We visit often enough (in fact this is my wife's 100th trip) that I don't think my wife and I need them. The kids will "commando" tour the parks from rope drop to closing. I'm more interested in Food & Wine this trip.

 

mac_tlc

 

 

We need food and wine dish reviews! (Living vicariously through you because I have Disney withdrawal) 

[DustFSU]

On 8/11/2022 at 7:35 AM, mac_tlc said:

So a little about our Covid testing scenario. 7 of the 8 of us are fully vaccinated and the youngest is half way there. Four of the eight had Covid about three weeks ago. So after so hemming and hawing we decided to go the Certificate of Recovery route for them. Three of those four have a positive PCR test result taken at least 11 days before departure and have received their COR. The youngest is in that group and had to go in person to get it, the other two did it online with MDanywhere.com. Easy peasy. The forth’s PCR test came back negative so he will have to test two days prior. 
 

We have out tests scheduled with RapidTestamdTrace for tomorrow staggered thought the morning. Using the freebie government tests. 
 

Hope it all works out. 
 

Things are changing quickly now and the youngest could now get by with an antigen test but we will forego that since he has that positive PCR and the COR. 
 

I had checked with Royal to make sure this will work and was told it is OK. Also double checked with our genie, who triple checked with guest services and we should be OK. 
 

All fingers and toes are crossed.

 

mac_tlc
 

 

Be safe at Disney.  I know a lot of people that went to the parks that came back with it.  Hope it misses you so you can get on your cruise!!! Or that you don't get sick half way through the trip

[mac_tlc]

2 hours ago, Kathscof said:

We need food and wine dish reviews! (Living vicariously through you because I have Disney withdrawal) 

I think the kids did a lot more of the wine part than the food part!

 

mac_tlc

[frank808]

I know you enjoyed your time in the Grand Villa....who wouldn't?

 

Have a great cruise on Harmony. Your grand kids will have great memories from this trip.

 

Did not know you were DVC members also. We have been since 2006 as first visit to WDW was in 2002. Did you make good use of the free passes for the first decade with every stay?

 

Have a great time and hope our cruise paths (or WDW paths) cross again.

[mac_tlc]

5 hours ago, frank808 said:

I know you enjoyed your time in the Grand Villa....who wouldn't?

 

Have a great cruise on Harmony. Your grand kids will have great memories from this trip.

 

Did not know you were DVC members also. We have been since 2006 as first visit to WDW was in 2002. Did you make good use of the free passes for the first decade with every stay?

 

Have a great time and hope our cruise paths (or WDW paths) cross again.

Hi Frank, 

Great to hear from you, Terri and fondly remember our 2018 Allure sailing ! We are looonnnggg time DVCers, taking the tour in November 1991, when there were only three building of what is now OKW, and a Hospitality House. Bought in February 1992. Those free passes were fabulous, although they were not useable at the Animal Kingdom when it opened in 1998. 

Our grandkids are quite spoiled, with this being their third Star Class experience.

 

We also hope our cruise, or WDW, or DL paths cross again !!! Your home state is still on our bucket list, with the requisite trip to Aulani!!

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

All packed and ready to go to the ship tomorrow. Plan is to leave the house in Orlando at about 9:30 - 9:45 and, after the required stop at Dunkin’ , head to Port Canaveral. 
 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

I see the lovely lady has made it back to PC! See you in a couple of hours…

 

mac_tlc

Edited to add : UGH!! Tried to post a photobut got the cruise-critic-dreaded upside down post . Annoying. 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by mac_tlc

[LATTELOVE]

Yayyy!!

Your cruise day is finally here.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful cruise.

 

Bon Voyage!!

 

 

[mac_tlc]

Made it onboard. With a group of 8 , it takes longer, plus the COR process seemed to be new to the check in person. Overall, about 45 minutes from curb to checkin. Raj met us in the terminal and escorted us to the Suite lounge, we’re there about 11:40.

 

Suite was ready at 12 and it is really big.

Here are some pictures of the living area, I’ll post the bedroom pictures later.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Here is this weeks show schedule:

 

[mac_tlc]

And here is our captain arriving !

 

 

[sandebeach]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:30 AM, mac_tlc said:

One last morning cup of coffee on the patio at OKW. That mound in the picture leads to the 4th hole of the Lake Buena Vista golf course, one of the original courses at Disney— that hosted a PGA event for a bunch of years. The villas at OKW are built around holes 3 through 8 and many have a course view. Haven’t found any golf balls yet but I’m still looking.

 

mac_tlc

 

Lovely view. That villa looks amazing. 

[Arzeena]

Does he still have the parrot?

[mets07]

He indicated "no" on a recent cruise.

[Mrs.Dukes]

Wow, that suite looks amazing! Have a fabulous time.