Hey! I am way late to this party! I didn't even know you were doing a trip report, and I even had an honorable mention! Great report! I found it so interesting, as I read your report, that our vacations were SO different! I think this speaks volumes that the cruise can cater to many different families, likes/dislikes, etc. Even if you guys don't go on a cruise again, it sounded like you did have fun at least and were able to find things that kept you busy and Conor happy
I have to say that Conor is a really cool "little dude" and it was great spending time with you and your family in San Juan!
Conorama said:Ha! Funny - yes, as you know, I'm following yours, so I was inspired to write ours. You definitely get an honorable mention - and you can vouch for me when I describe the level of sand-covered-ness that had to be seen to be believed on the beach.
It was great to meet Jayden too - she's so bright and spunky.
And yes, we had a good time - maybe even a very good time, verging on great! (Conor had a great time.) I just missed my beach. I'm fundamentally just super-lazy on vacation, and that's really the issue.
Speaking of lazy... work is calling to me, and I can't ignore it anymore.
Thx! I'll keep following yours along.
Yes, I can definitely confirm that I have never seen so much sand on one person. If I remember correctly from earlier in the day, his suit was blue, but I couldn't see a bit of blue when I came back to grab our stuff before heading to the pool. All I could think at that point was that I should have bought stock in baby powder
I need to finish my TR...it is closer. Hoping to finish it up tonight.
Your report about the Isla Verde Marriott was great information and we just took a 15 minute ride over and enjoyed the beach for three hours including umbrella shaded chaise lounges, hammocks under a palm tree, and a singing cab driver. We were back on the ship by 12:30 and just got our lunch there. So it was a very economical way to enjoy the sounds and sights of the beautiful huge aqua waves.
Your report about the quiet cove cafe led me to go up there every morning at 6am for a private swim and private hot tub soak while watching the sun come up. None of the other 4000 folks aboard had the same idea so I literally had my own pool and hot tub! I am sad to be back home, but I really feel that we got the very most enjoyment out of our cruise because of the information and tips you provided in your report.
Thanks Again
And yes, that 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. time was lovely and peaceful.
Great news! I'm jealous you had great weather in San Juan - ours wasn't bad, but super windy, as I mentioned.
Was Robert there in Cove Café? I miss him!
I'm really glad you had a great time, and I'm glad my report was helpful. Now back to the real world!
We will be doing Eastern in August 2014. It will take me a while to catch up to the end of this thread where my post will be but I will be on the trail tonight! 
Subbing in from London...I also just finished and M.Ed while working full time. Where did you do yours? I was at Western....a cruise is an APT reward!
really enjoying the tr so far.
I may have slept less than a wise amount last night to finish.
Okay...have spent a very long time reading every word.
Question - what was the time you spent at the spa called? Was it a treatment tnat you had to book and if so, do you mind telling me how you found it/how much it cost? I don't really fancy any treatments but that morning sounded LUSH.
The fact that you finished an M.Ed makes me wonder if, like me, you are finished the headache of OSSLT today??
Thanks!
Beth
Currently, I'm cursing and swearing about making a poster from my thesis work... but it ends up with going to Quebec City next weekend, I will stop complaining. Conor and DH are coming too, so I fully expect the usual sneaky pee battles!Day 4 - St. Thomas - part 2 - Getting back off the ship
After a quick lunch at Cabanas, we headed back off the ship. DH had big plans to buy a new camera, but we didn't have any ambition to shop 'til we dropped. We had done the main shopping strip in St. Thomas 5 years before, and the idea of doing that with a 4.5 year old convinced us to suck up some higher prices and shop at port - still duty free, which was the main deal. I amused Conor at tacky souvenir stores (great for the 4.5 year old set), while DH found his camera, in the space of about 20 minutes.
Here we have cool tourist boy - that is a real Tilley hat - a gift from my sister's in-laws - that thing rocks.
Butterfly farm
Back in the P-K days (pre-kid) DH and I had been to a butterfly farm in St. Martin and so I paid attention when I saw the signs for one "5 minute walk" from port. It was a 5 minute walk for normal humans, but not for a 4.5 year old who has to explore everything, however, we were not on a schedule ( a theme?) so we just meandered.
We arrived just as they were putting on a bird show just outside the shop- cool birds doing cool tricks - since one is supposed to pay to watch this extravaganza (included in the admission), we were good little tourists and went in to do so. I can't remember how much we paid, but it wasn't completely ridiculous - somewhere between $20 and $30 for the 3 of us? (Pales in comparison to the price of Port Adventures)
The farm itself is much smaller than the one at St. Martin, but, again, not a problem for the JK set. There were enough butterflies to keep him interested, and because it was small, we were able to make a quick exit when he decided he'd had enough. We refrained from buying anything in the shop.
My overall review? It's reasonably cheap, and the bird show was cool (birds walking on tight-ropes, etc.) and close to the ship - perfect for killing an hour with little kids - probably would bore older kids to tears, though.
And.... the Aquaduck!
Somewhat to our surprise, Mr. "I go down the Mickey slide slower than anyone else" really wanted to go on the Aquaduck. There was no way we were going to attempt the 20-30 minute line-ups on at-sea days, but a slightly rainy, definitely overcast at-port day was perfect.
Conor is 42 inches tall ... exactly - we know this since they had him take off his swim shoes and his swim hat to measure him - he just made it. I stayed on dry(ish) land to take photos. It was only about 10 minutes when I saw them come out the one side, so I was ready to capture this:
Yes, that is a photo of a boy holding on for dear life, while DH waved happily behind. Conor's declaration after getting off... "I do NOT want to do that again!!!" Too much speed, too many dips. Nope - roller coasters are not in our immediate future. Love my adventurous boy.
We dried the poor bedraggled soul off, got him changed, cuddled him, fed him ice cream, and by then, in typical resilient kid fashion, he was ready for a couple of hours at the club.
I believe DH and I headed to deck 4 to lounge in anticipation of ... PIRATE NIGHT - a HUGE night for us. You can keep your princess extravaganzas and character bonanzas.... we will take pirate night 1,000 times over... coming up next.
Many bandaids are also on stand-by. Hey fellow Canadian! 3-year-old twins -wow, that's busy, I'm sure.
There were a few Pixar characters, as I recall (we were boycotting all characters, regardless of origin...) - Buzz & Woody for sure. I don't remember anyone from Monster's Inc, but there is the Monster's Inc room in the club.
As for flights - Conor is, um, well-traveled, to put it mildly (he's at trip number 14 this weekend coming up). He's quite used to planes. Age 3 was not bad at all for flying (way better than age 2) - mostly because by then he was old enough to be amused at his seat - coloring, Playdoh (yes, you can bring it on planes), Hotwheels, and of course a fully-loaded IPad (games and shows). He views flights as one of the few times he is actively allowed and encouraged to watch TV, so he loves them.
My flight tips with kiddos:
A) Pack your own food and do not assume you'll be fed on the flight- we once got stuck with turbulence during the entire flight, so there was no in-flight service. I was very glad for the food I packed. Ditto for drinks - I bring empty sippy cups through security then immediately fill them up. On return flights, this usually means we buy food at the airport to bring on the plane.
B) Have extra clothes for all ... including yourself. Conor used to get airsick, and he always managed to cover me.
C) Novelty is your friend - I stock up on a whole bunch of new stuff - not expensive, just new to Conor. Favourites at age 3 - AquaDoodle travel size, Crayola Colour Wonder stuff (no staining), new books, Hotwheels, stickers, etc. Then, I loaded up the IPad with new games (I can provide recommendations if you have one) and new episodes of his favourite shows.
D) We love the CARES harness when we don't need a car seat at the other end. It keeps him contained. We've not used a car seat on flights, but I think that would work too.
E) Use their "baggie" allowance for stuff you will need for them (sound obvious) - but I always have Kids' Advil, Tylenol, Gravol, Benadryl on hand, with a syringe, and I calculate doses before we leave - we've only ever needed the Gravol, but I feel better!
F) Layers are your friend when going from Canadian climes to Southern temperatures. Overheating on the plane = airsickness for us in the old days, so I make sure his final layer is a light-weight T-shirt and lightweight pants.
Hope that helps!
Conor was definitely not the youngest in the club at age 4.5. He loved it. Only once did he complain about an older kid- and then we realized, when he pointed the child out later, that the boy had special needs and was quite a bit older (9?). He told us the boy pushed him, but the "teachers" stopped him and took him away, so they were obviously watching. Mostly, when I went in to get him, the kids were all under 6, I would say. He never went over the the Lab side of things.
The pool was closed once- Conor was in it (he didn't cause it!) and they got folks out quickly. It might have been closed other times, but we didn't notice.
What flights do you have? I might have other thoughts when I know times/durations, etc.
Transatlantic sounds fun!
