VWL/Eastern Fantasy Cruise/AKV CL all wrapped into a fabulous b-day trip - Complete

[Pinkocto]

The forts are so neat to see. I love that kind of stuff too.
The area looks gorgeous.

I just loved all the beautiful buildings we saw on the way, and the forts were so impressive.

 

[Mom2m&k]

Love your trip report! San Juan looks like it is just beautiful. I love all of the different colors of all the buildings. I think if I had to walk through Cabanas to get to my room I would be in serious trouble with those fries looking at me every time!!

 

[Pinkocto]

Love your trip report!

Thank you so much

San Juan looks like it is just beautiful. I love all of the different colors of all the buildings.

It really was. I did too, they were so unique, I've never seen any city quite like it.

I think if I had to walk through Cabanas to get to my room I would be in serious trouble with those fries looking at me every time!!

Oh those fries were so good! Just crispy enough on the outside and perfectly soft inside luckily they're only open certain hours of the day so I wasn't able to grab something every time we passed through.

 

[rentayenta]

Fascinating update and so beautiful. The water looks pretty rough.

The fries look great. I'm praying I don't have to walk through any restaurant to get to our cabin. Room service will be enough temptation. I love room service. I know I'm going to be eating 24/7.

 

[dgbg100106]

I love the points of the forts that right at the water and seeing how well they have maintained the history and not letting those get ruined after years in the water.

 

[Pinkocto]

Fascinating update and so beautiful. The water looks pretty rough.

Thank you the water was really rough, the waves looked pretty dangerous.

The fires look great. I'm partying I don't have to walk through any restaurant to get to our cabin. Room service will be enough temptation. I love room service. The fries look great though. I know I'm going to be eating 24/7.

I have yet to do room service, but every time I read someone ordering it I think I must do that some day. There's the quick service counters available most of the waking hours so that's where we usually go when we get pekish. Fries are one of my downfalls and DCL makes them so good!

 

[Pinkocto]

I love the points of the forts that right at the water and seeing how well they have maintained the history and not letting those get ruined after years in the water.

I agree, they seemed to be doing really well maintaining them.

 

[rentayenta]

Holy typos....that should have said praying and fries though I may do a little partying.

 

[Pinkocto]

Holy typos....that should have said praying and fries though I may do a little partying.

I got the fries but it made sense you were partying that you didn't have to walk through a restaurant

 

[franandaj]

The fort looks awesome, I'll have to remember that when choosing cruises in the future! They really don't like it that we have our own cameras and don't want to pay to take pictures!

 

[Pinkocto]

The fort looks awesome, I'll have to remember that when choosing cruises in the future!

They were really cool and except for the stairs going to the lower parts they were totally wheelchair accessible.

They really don't like it that we have our own cameras and don't want to pay to take pictures!

They sure don't! I didn't even think about it until they said something, I just wanted pictures of the beautiful birds

Totally on another subject, your meat packing has inspired me to pack my blender and frozen fruits for my upcoming trip so I can have my breakfast smoothies while I'm there. Thank you for the tip

 

[MEK]

Pam - I have to apologize that I am always behind.

Your mom's pirate costume is adorable. Love it! Where's yours? Pictures please.

I have to admit that I am a geek when it comes to exploring old forts. Yes, they are pretty much all the same, but they are still so cool to see. Those views of the ocean are just incredible.

Love your photography in the last two updates. Just gorgeous scenery.

 

[papertraveller]

Looks like you had a great tour of the forts for a bargain price.

We took a Disney excursion of "Old and New San Juan" and it was the worst tour ever! Among the new sites, we drove through the mall where the guide made a point to state that people will go to the mall early in the morning to get their exercise! He pointed out the Denny's and the Chili's. It was sad.

I had selected the tour particularly because I wanted to hear about the history. What we got was a diatribe from a former teacher who was still upset about the Spanish-American war! We did not see nearly as much as you did. Lesson learned!

By the time we were done at San Cristobal, the city was immobilized by protests by public service workers upset about a wage/pension freeze. We fought through crazy crowds of people to try and get a taste of Old San Juan (since that was the last part of the tour).

We finally gave up and went back to the ship, where thankfully we found refuge in Satellite Falls.

We wished we could have had a better taste of Puerto Rico, because I think that sometime I'd love to do what your mom did and spend some time on the island, enjoying the food, the music and the countryside. The tour has just become a joke in our family now.

 

[Pinkocto]

Pam - I have to apologize that I am always behind.

No apologies necessary! This will be here whenever you have time, no rush

Your mom's pirate costume is adorable. Love it! Where's yours? Pictures please.

She loves getting into the spirit. I should have taken a close up of her necklace, it is an 'amber' encased scorpion. I'm a big bum in the costume department, I'm too lazy to pack anything. I was probably just wearing jeans and a tshirt.

I have to admit that I am a geek when it comes to exploring old forts. Yes, they are pretty much all the same, but they are still so cool to see. Those views of the ocean are just incredible.

I love exploring old places like that, I think they're so cool. It's humbling to think of the history that took place on the same ground I'm walking on hundreds of years later.

Love your photography in the last two updates. Just gorgeous scenery.

Thank you so much

 

[Pinkocto]

Looks like you had a great tour of the forts for a bargain price.

We took a Disney excursion of "Old and New San Juan" and it was the worst tour ever! Among the new sites, we drove through the mall where the guide made a point to state that people will go to the mall early in the morning to get their exercise! He pointed out the Denny's and the Chili's. It was sad.

I had selected the tour particularly because I wanted to hear about the history. What we got was a diatribe from a former teacher who was still upset about the Spanish-American war! We did not see nearly as much as you did. Lesson learned!

By the time we were done at San Cristobal, the city was immobilized by protests by public service workers upset about a wage/pension freeze. We fought through crazy crowds of people to try and get a taste of Old San Juan (since that was the last part of the tour).

We finally gave up and went back to the ship, where thankfully we found refuge in Satellite Falls.

We wished we could have had a better taste of Puerto Rico, because I think that sometime I'd love to do what your mom did and spend some time on the island, enjoying the food, the music and the countryside. The tour has just become a joke in our family now.

Two of our tablemates were on the same excursion as you, and disliked it just as much. Im so sorry your day was less than stellar We had such a lovely time going at our own pace and enjoying everything. Im sure we wouldnt have been quite so adventurous if mom didn't know where she was going.

If you ever do get back to Puerto Rico for a longer trip, mom has raved about Culebra. It is an island off the coast and the beaches and snorkeling were phenomenal. At one of the beaches she watched sea turtles galore munching on sea grass. She said it was amazing,

 

[Pinkocto]

I left off with us back on the ship after a magnificent morning on Puerto Rico. We had gone back to the room to change into our bathing suits and eat the delicious fries I had picked up and then we headed off to take a spin on the Aquaduck. We had done it a few times last year on the Dream but had yet to do it this trip. When we first got back to the ship there was no wait, but by the time we got there it was a 20 minute wait. Oh well, 101 Dalmatians was on the Funnel Vision and we chatted with a father/daughter duo that were currently on their 4th DCL cruise. It was fun to chat with like minded folks. The Aquaduck was as fun as we remembered but when we got off we were freezing! They conveniently have a towel bin close by so we grabbed some and went in search of some sun. We first went to the Quiet Cove but the sun was not hot enough to heat us up so decided to head into the Rainforest Room.

In the Rainforest Room most of the heated tile loungers were being used but there was no one in the hot tubs so that’s where we relaxed. Mom got too hot after a while and went to cool down in the showers. When she came back we headed out. She wanted to call her DBF before we lost cell reception again so she headed back to the room. I stayed near the ice cream station and caught up in my journal. I also called my dad to check in. After having a nice conversation with him I made my way back to the room to watch us sail away from the verandah. I was a little hungry so stopped and got a few pieces of pizza to take back with me.



Mom wasn’t in the room when I got there so I just sat on the verandah and enjoyed my pizza. I was just about to turn the cell phone to airplane mode and she called to let me know she was on Deck 12 where she could see the forts as we sailed away. I completely missed taking photos, I had my feet propped up and was enjoying my pizza immensely. Mom came and found me not too long after that and asked where she could get some food. It was around 5:30 and the only place open was Flo’s V8 Café so she headed down there to find something. I didn’t even think about room service. She came back with a veggie burger and fries. You have to ask for the veggie burgers, and they’ll make them fresh for you. She really enjoys them.



We sat and watched Toy Story 2 while mom ate her food, and then headed out to the show. The evening’s entertainment was a magic show and it was a riot. It wasn’t a very long show, only about 40 minutes but it was still fantastic. He was going to do an adult show the next night at 11:00 in the theater. Apparently the higher ups took the complaints seriously when people could not get into the ventriloquist’s show. Since we had more than an hour before dinner we headed back to the room. Mom started to complain about how tired she was and was worried she wouldn’t make it to dinner. Well she had woken up 3 hours before me, and we had had a morning heavy with walking. I was hoping she could take a quick nap and be good for dinner.

I took these on the way to the room. I was still trying to get a good picture of the carpet.







Well when we got back to the room it was clear mom was not going to make it to dinner. I had no idea how to turn down the couch for her so went in search of our stateroom host. Luckily he was right around the corner and came in shortly. She was so sleepy she laid down on my bed until he came in, big mistake! She realized how comfortable my bed really was. I mean, I tried not to tell her how much like a cloud it was, and how fantastic I slept in it. People, this bed was heavely! Now, let me tell you this first, on every single trip she insists on taking the sofa bed, it’s not my doing at all, she sacrifices herself and refuses to hear anything on the matter. Claims she can sleep anywhere, even the rocky hard ground. Who am I to fight this? I am paying for these trips afterall. I’ll admit I still feel guilty. We’ll see what she does next cruise, because every time I offer her the bed first. Back to dinner; I decided to go without her, I really liked our tablemates and didn’t want to miss any conversation. As I was walking to the Royal Court I started thinking how ironic it would be if this would be the one meal everyone missed. Thankfully my fears were unfounded and everyone else was at dinner. We had a very fun time and I’m glad I didn’t miss it.

I started with the smoked salmon appetizer. It was really good, but there was just too much of it.



Our assistant server, Karen, had been entertaining us with crayon puzzles the last couple nights.



I had a ceasar salad, quite tasty.



I had turbot as my main dish. I didn’t care for the sauce that was around it so only ate the piece that wasn’t touching the sauce. Both Karen and Martin wanted to bring me another dish without the sauce. I had plenty to eat, there was no need to bring me another dish!



I also ordered a baked potato as a side, so yummy.



I ordered two desserts, the sugar free strawberries and cream which was pretty good



And the chocolate mousse, which was not the best



We chatted a little bit after dinner and then said our goodbyes. I would miss them the next night while we were at Palo. I had decided to ask mom if she’d like to cancel Palo and have dinner with our new friends. During dinner Fitz had come by and I had asked him how much of the ship was under water. He said below Deck 1 there are Decks A, B, & C. I thought there would be more but was still fascinated. We started talking about random things about the ship, each table in the dining rooms have 4 sets of linens. He has worked for DCL for many years, he was a pleasure to chat with. He also happened to mention that there was a galley tour the next day and that we should sign up for it. All you had to do was sign up at Guest Services. I had every intention of doing that after dinner but ended up completely forgetting. I was going to go to the shops but couldn’t summon up the energy. I just headed up to the room after dinner. I turned on Meet the Robinsons for some background noise while I caught up in the journal, mom was out cold. The ship was rocking really bad that night, and I ended up going to sleep around 11:00.

 

[dgbg100106]

Yum, dinner looked amazing.

 

[rentayenta]

That pizza looks delicious. I love a thinner crust pizza. I hope the Wonder has pizza like that.

Dinner looks fantastic and I'm glad you didn't miss it. Nice to have fun table mates too I'm sure.

I had to Google *turbot*.

 

[Pinkocto]

Yum, dinner looked amazing.

Dinner was delicious! It was a menu we had not encountered before which was also a plus.

 

[Pinkocto]

That pizza looks delicious. I love a thinner crust pizza. I hope the Wonder has pizza like that.

I hadn't noticed it was thin crust until I got back to the room. Well the spinach/mushroom was the regular crust which is always good, but the cheese was super thin crust and was excellent! I wasn't as crazy about the pizza on the Wonder, it was a little thicker. I'm hoping they've since changed it because it doesn't make sense that they'd order different items for the different ships.

Dinner looks fantastic and I'm glad you didn't miss it. Nice to have fun table mates too I'm sure.

I'm so glad I didn't miss dinner, both the meal and company were wonderful

I had to Google *turbot*.

I do that all the time, I love how easy the Internet has made finding out info. I'm not sure if I had eaten it before that night but it was very delicious, and cooked perfectly. I really enjoy trying different fish dishes, since I don't cook fish at home.