Part III - Monarch 7/31-8/3 Review/Day Log-includes trip cost

[Poultrygeist]

Here is a link to Part I and II....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=20708810#post20708810

Part III - Departure/Kennedy Space Center/Daytona Beach/Manatee Watching/Total trip cost breakdown

 

Heading down the home stretch. We did not opt for the express checkout. Our bags were tagged blue. We were scheduled for 8:50. We almost missed breakfast at the Windjammer. They were suppose to stop serving at 8:30, and we got there at 8:20. I loaded up my plate thinking they were not going to let us back in the buffet area, but they let people in way past 8:30. They did have it roped off, but they left one part open. Anyway, we ate quickly and returned to our rooms. We had everything ready to go. My wife is super-organized. It looked like a long, double line for departure, but it moved very fast. Exiting Port Canaveral was a breeze just like boarding day. Again they led us to elevators because of our stroller. A porter met us and offered to put our three larger bags on his dolly. He took them all the way from the baggage claim to our van in the parking lot. I tipped him $5.00. He was very nice. We were on the road by 9:20.

 

Kennedy Space Center

We picked up some coupons at McDonald’s for the space center while we were on the way to Fl. One coupon got up to six people $5.00 off each. The baby was free, so it saved us $20.00. This is a very hot place, even in the morning. We did the talking robot show, which was pretty good. We also went to the Astronaut Encounter. John Baha told us all about his five missions on the shuttles to the space station and his four month tour on the Russian Mir. He took questions at the end. They had a jumbo size play area (picture four Chic-fil-a play areas) that the boys enjoyed, especially the two year old. I had to drag myself to the top of the thing to get him down. Not the first time I’ve had to do that.

 

We next did the best part, the Shuttle Launch Simulator. I won’t spoil this too much, but it is worth the trip. The baby couldn’t ride it (48 inch height restriction) so the older boys got to do it twice, once with me and once with the wife. Very cool and informative.

 

We ate at the inside dining area. Nothing spectacular there after eating on the Monarch for three days. We next did an IMAX show about all of the moon walks which was narrated by Tom Hanks. It was 3-D and very good. It only lasted 30 minutes, but was well worth the time. They had another short IMAX movie that we did not do as well as the new Star Trek movie in IMAX 3-D. We were led to believe this was included in our ticket, but Star Trek was $7.00 more each. I’ll wait for the DVD.

 

We toured a space shuttle that was actual size. Pretty neat. We finished up by visiting the monuments to fallen astronauts. This area is very well done and beautiful.

 

There was a bus tour that lasted two hours that we passed on. The kids were really tired. This tour takes you out near the launch pad and has a few more attractions. We probably wasted a little money by not doing it, but I wasn’t about to put our crew on a bus for that long.

 

Manatee Watching

On our way out, we asked a lady at guest services if there was anything to do between there and Daytona Beach. She told us about a 7 mile animal preserve on Meritt Island and gave us a brochure. It showed a lynx, alligators, and manatees. We hit a huge storm right after we entered the preserve. Didn’t see any animals. Then we spotted the manatee observation dock. This was located on a canal. As soon as we walked up we saw two manatees in the water “grazing” on the seaweed. The kids loved it. It wasn’t raining there, so we spent about 30 minutes watching them. We counted at least six including a mother and baby. Well worth the drive. We found our way over to I-95 and headed for Daytona Beach.

 

Daytona Beach

We came into Daytona and passed the speedway. It is huge. We drove out on the beach for about five minutes before a lifeguard waved us off. Darn tourists. We saw other areas to drive on, but we had had our fun. We went to a pier that had a chair-lift on it (like you see at amusement parks) Unfortunately, it was not running. Inside the gift shop on this pier they had an animated pirate that performed a short “show” for a buck. I won’t tell you what the pirate did, but we won’t soon forget it. We made it to our hotel - Holiday Inn Express on International Speedway Blvd - and ordered Domino’s. The website said this hotel had the largest hotel pool in Florida and it did not disappoint. We spent a couple of hours out there until dark then we all hit the bed. We were five tired puppies and I had a long drive ahead the next day. We made it back home to Lancaster, SC fine the next day without incident.

 

All and all, this was a great trip. I had dreaded this vacation more than any other we had planned. I worried that the kids would make it a disaster. I was wrong. We had some good, quality time. The separate rooms kept up from killing each other J

Total Trip Cost

Like I said way back at the beginning, we tried to cruise on a budget. It’s really hard to guess how much a total cost will be, so I’m posting below our breakdown and total:

 

Cruise itself (including tax) $1610.50

Food (on the way down and back) $122.54

Hotels (hot breakfast included) $160.41

Gas (not counting the full tank when we left) $73.00

Kennedy Space Center (3 and under free) $118.72

Cash (mostly tips and taxis- take the Jitney) $484.00

Misc. (excursions, pictures, etc) $176.91

Grand Total $2746.08

 

I really had wanted to stay under $2500.00. We could have done that by getting one room to sleep five or by skipping Kennedy Space Center. Oh well, who ever comes in under budget anyway?

 

Thanks to all who have stuck it out and read this whole post. It turned into a monster. Thanks again to the mods and posters here who helped me get ready for the cruise. I was really cramming, and this board was a life-saver.

 

LA FINE.

[craftin2cruise]

Thank you for the nice review! and Im sure your children will remember it as a wonderful time also.....

[sunandseagirl617]

Again, thank you, for posting! I know how hard it is to get your thoughts together and do a review. I still haven't finished my Enchantment review from the 30th!:D

 

Quick question-Did the taxi ride to Wyndham charge for your child? Also, did the day pass charge for your child? I'm trying to help my friend who is leaving next weekend and is bringing her 3 year old! Thanks, again!

 

Theresa

[Poultrygeist]

Again, thank you, for posting! I know how hard it is to get your thoughts together and do a review. I still haven't finished my Enchantment review from the 30th!:D

 

Quick question-Did the taxi ride to Wyndham charge for your child? Also, did the day pass charge for your child? I'm trying to help my friend who is leaving next weekend and is bringing her 3 year old! Thanks, again!

 

Theresa

 

None of the taxis we took counted the 2 yr old. Also, my wife paid the $40.00 for her Windham day pass and the baby was free.

 

I am going to try to cut & paste the three parts into one post and re-post it. I hope my review of our three night cruise can be helpful to others. I bet y'all are glad we didn't do a seven night!