Ready or not we went... and survived! Fantasy Oct 26-Nov 1

I just have to laugh at the whole cruise shuttle thing! :lmao:

We had a similar situation in 2009 on our last cruise! Rob and Sean (friends we cruised with) dropped us off too and went to return the cars at Avis. I had assumed they would just go together (2 cars) so they could help each other out but nope, Sean took off and well, Rob kinda needs a navigator :p

Sean came back like an hour later without Rob and I was all worried because I am his navigator and I know what he's like without me :rolleyes2

He finally got back about half an hour after Sean and told me he got lost :worried:

So this time we rented from Budget (closer than Avis) and I showed him on Google Street View just how to get there. Then he split a cab back to port with another guy who was cruising on the Fantasy and it went so much smoother :thumbsup2

Wait until you hear about my experience with waiting in line at the port, I was furious :furious: Wendy and Rich had the right idea, I wish I had done what they did! ;)

Still waiting for that stress-free part :rolleyes2 Hopefully it's coming soon! :goodvibes

Oh and don't you just HATE the whole have to pay in advance with the credit card thing??? :mad: We kept having to go in twice just so we could get the correct receipt! :sad2:
 
So this time we rented from Budget (closer than Avis) and I showed him on Google Street View just how to get there. Then he split a cab back to port with another guy who was cruising on the Fantasy and it went so much smoother :thumbsup2

Wait until you hear about my experience with waiting in line at the port, I was furious :furious: Wendy and Rich had the right idea, I wish I had done what they did! ;)

Still waiting for that stress-free part :rolleyes2 Hopefully it's coming soon! :goodvibes

I had printed out maps on google maps from the hotel to the terminal because I just don't trust my GPS. It can be the most beautiful day and at a crucial part it will say "lost satellite" grrr.

For the most part everything was stress free... they were just little blurps that happen everyday including the barf thing. Which happened again at Nates kids Christmas party today! :lmao:I think it has to do with pop... he should not have it (soda for all the American readers).;) Oooo except wait until you read about Cozumel...now that was a stressful day!

Our line wasn't too long... it was just sloooow. I know I was thinking I wanted to get out of line and go in the door Wendy and Rich went it but I was afraid I would get turned away and told "no... your only a lowly silver":rotfl:
 
Who needs food…. I’m going on the AquaDuck!

Finally we are at the point were we are walking onto the ship! It never gets old when they announce your name and clap when you enter.:goodvibes We had met up with Jen and Rob while getting our pics taken so it was cool to be with them for their first experience walking onto the ship with all the fanfare. I had viewed the pictures of the lobby but ya know what they say….it’s never the same in person. I get butterflies reliving that moment of first walking on the Fantasy. As we stood in the lobby taking in all the beauty Donald Duck appeared who my Gabe LOVES! He is all about the characters….Luke not so much, mostly because he hates to wait in lines. Luke refused at first however since Donald just got there and there was practically no line, he obliged his little brother and got a pic with Donald. It’s funny because Gabe finds it so upsetting when he gets a pic with a character and Luke is not with him. Even though Luke refuses to wait in line he still has to wait in the vicinity while we wait for Gabe.:confused3 Once Gabe gets to the front of the line he will still be calling Luke over and demanding that he get in the picture and Luke refuses because he’s too upset that he had to wait! :sad2:Gabe gets mad… Luke gets mad…Goodness gracious! Character sightings are QUITE the ordeal! :headache:

Here are some pics of the beautiful lobby… like I said. Doesn’t do it justice.





And here’s one of BOTH the boys and they are ACTUALLY happy!:thumbsup2



Ok I’m with Luke enough with the characters…. Lead me to the Aqua Duck! Rob and Jen leave at this point to get some lunch. Food smood…. Bye we’ll see ya later at the meet and greet!

We head straight up to deck 12! We score a great spot and got some chairs close to the stairs to the Aqua Duck and everyone started to get ready. We were all wearing our bathing suits so we could just disrobe and go. Well I was a little slower than everyone else and I had to sit back all alone to watch all the stuff. Oh well I was outside in the heat on a beautiful day with the sun on my face on the FANTASY! :woohoo:I’m trying to teach myself patience and it seems to be working:hyper:… some days better than others. I took out the camera to try and catch everyone as they went by.

Here comes Cass and Luke!






And here comes Dad and Gabe!



They all loved it… even my Gabe who was a little apprehensive as he does NOT like the water and needs a lot of coaxing to get into a pool. So finally….It’s MY TURN!!! YAY! It was fantastic and well worth the months and months of waiting. Once it was over the line became quite long so it was looking like it was time for a drink of the day.

As you can see it didn’t take Gabe long to find the ice cream machine.





Here’s Cass and Luke in the Mickey pool



Everyone knew where to find us



Here’s Jen, Logan and Joh’s daughter Sian watching the dolphins playing.



If you look really closely you can see a dolphin jumping out of the water. It was so COOL!



Up next…. Sweet Meet and Greet!
 


Sweet Meet and Greet!

We decide to grab a little lunch since a drink of the day and ice cream was not a very nutritious meal. Once we were done we decided to go on the walking ship tour! I had never done this on previous cruises and felt this was very informative. If not for this tour I would not have seen the many bars in Europa.:(
Now it was time to go and check out our rooms. This was the first time we had connecting cabins. On previous cruises we would get a balcony for us and put the kids in an inside across from us. This time the older kids were paying their own way and decided to splurge since we had the discount of the OBB from the last cruise. However early in the year my oldest Corey and his fiancée Julia decided not to come because they were saving for their house and wedding in June 2014. (They bought the house and as of 2 weeks ago I am that much closer to an empty nester;)) So initially Cassie was looking for someone to share the room with her but it didn’t work out with any of her friends. We talked with Cassie and said we would put the boys in the room with her and it wouldn’t be any extra cost to her and for the first time on a Disney cruise we scored a room to ourselves! :cool1::love2:We loved the room and the location…right off the aft elevators.

Here’s a few pics of our room.





The view from our room. Hey that red one right there… I think that’s my luggage! :rotfl2:



So we are checking out our room and we came across this!



That was SO sweet of them! They said they wanted to do something special for us because of our horrible month prior to the cruise. :grouphug:Well I can tell you it was VERY special and more on that once I get to day 4 of the cruise.

So now it was time to head on down for the “Sweet Meet” in D lounge. For our meet and greet we had a candy exchange, you bring candy from your area to share with everyone. Joh, Wendy and I had done this on our 2011 cruise and it was a hit so we thought we’d carry on because we love chocolate so much….or at least I do. Here are some pics of that.



Here I am with all my cruise buddies



Here’s me, Joh and “OHIO” (inside joke, I’ll fill you in on day 5)



Funny story. So on FB Joh was organizer of all things…. the Sweet Meet, the private mixology and so on. Well during her planning and organizing of the mixology she needed all the names and cabin #’s of everyone that signed up. So she posts on fb one day that she had been trying to get a hold of Hendrik and Darlene ****** but couldn’t find them on fb and was wondering if anyone knew who they were. I replied… “SILLY! That’s my mom and dad!” So she replied… “I guess I did know that but just forgot! I always just call them mum and dad lol.” So Angelique added that their name was a very Dutch sounding name, which I told her that my dad was straight off the boat 55 years before. Angelique is from the Netherlands and the day she joined our fb group my Cassie happened to be in Europe on her tour and Amsterdam was her next stop! So Angelique and I chatted about that for a bit. Anyway when Angelique found out my dad was from the Netherlands she offered to bring him a special treat from his home country. Unfortunately my parents don’t listen to a word I say and totally missed out on the Sweet Meet …but I delivered ONE of the treats that Angelique had brought and I quite enjoyed the other myself.;)

Here’s a pic of me and Angelique.



Once the Sweet Meet was over it was time to head straight to the life boat drill and then on to get ready for diner at Animators.

Next up….. EVAN! :furious: (Think of Dave in Alvin and the Chipmunks:rotfl:)
 
Just joining in. I read your PTR. Oh, my! So glad you got past all the health issues and were able to go on the cruise! Anxiously awaiting the rest of the story!

Jill in CO
 


Just joining in. I read your PTR. Oh, my! So glad you got past all the health issues and were able to go on the cruise! Anxiously awaiting the rest of the story!

Jill in CO

Thanks for reading! :thumbsup2

I know right! We were a little nervous since we went against medical advice with Nate. He had one night that he was not feeling the best and just decided to lay low in the cabin but otherwise we were all fine. :)
 
EVAN!

With the fire drill over we headed back to the cabin to see if our luggage had arrived. It had not, so on we go to get a good spot for the sail away party. We kept a look out for our friends but we did not see anyone. The party is always good but I have one little guy who can be quite grumpy and I’m not even sure why he was in such a miserable mood. Gabe doesn’t like change and it usually takes him a few days to warm up to anything new. So while at the sail away party he looked EXTRA miserable and said “why did you plan this vacation mommy!” Why I oughta! Ok… so I just breath deeply, smile like I mean it :bitelip:and remind myself that I really DO love him dearly. Meanwhile a cast member saw his miserableness and thought she could dance with him and get him out of his funk. Nope… not even. :rolleyes2



Some more miserableness!

At least he’s making an effort in this one



Good bye Port Canaveral….see ya in a week!



On the way back to our room Cassie asked me if I gave Evan specific instructions about dinner. The last we had seen of Evan was when we left for the ship walking tour. He was heading over to the Vibe to check it out. Of course he didn’t have a wave phone yet. Our first cruise we hardly saw Evan and we would all take our turns doing the walk the ship until we found him for a check in. He showed up for dinner a total of 4 times so the next cruise we laid down the rule that we would at least all be together at dinner. I told Cassie that he knows what’s expected of him which she replied…”come on mom… this IS Evan we are talking about!” Evan is the kind of kid that if you ask him if he has any homework he will say no, but when the teacher calls the next day asking why he hasn’t handed in a project he would reply…”what? You asked about “homework” not projects” So now when we ask him we are VERY specific. Now the fact that Cassie was saying this was quite funny because she was the master of THAT little game when she was in high school and taught her brother well. :rotfl2:
No excuse was going to be sufficient since this was his 3rd cruise and he is well aware that all he had to do was look at his room card and it would tell him everything he needed to know about dinner. We get to dinner and no Evan...and I was ticked!:furious: It was funny because all of my Carnival friends had not met Evan since he arrived after they had left for their dinner the night before and then he stayed back to watch the boys that night. Rob even asked me if the infamous Evan really did exist :rotfl:. I was annoyed to say the least but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my evening.
We were quite a large group and we had a total of 4 tables! We had 2 large tables and 2 small tables that sat 4. Well Nate and I... the only ones who basically knew everyone sat at the table of 4 alone. :rolleyes:When I surveyed the tables I had to laugh because at the two big tables no one knew anyone. Each group of people knew at least 3 other couples and not one sat together. It was fine though as everyone got to know each other. We did switch it up a few nights because with such a large group I know for myself I didn’t get to see everyone as much as I would have liked to on this trip. Here’s a few pics of dinner at Animators.WITHOUT EVAN! (but I wasn't bitter or anything;))







First Mickey bar of the trip!



The cure all for grumpiness is Mickey bars!



From dinner off we went to the show. It was OK… it felt more like an advertisement for all the ships amenities. Although I always love the dancing and singing, that was still fantastic…. I guess I just found the story line to be a bit cheesy.

After the show we took the kids up to the kids club to get them registered. With all the commotion in the terminal we skipped the huge line for checking in the kids there and opted to just get on the ship. We were able to walk right up and it was quick since we had preregistered on line and it took no time at all. They did their registration in a different spot than the actual kids club so we had to walk down the long hall to get them in. Once we were there, there was a weird sound and vibration that wasn’t letting up. At this point my more outgoing child Luke says…. "I don’t want to stay." Gabe was annoyed because he had decided he was going to have some fun and his brother was stopping it! lol I figured it was the noise and the vibration that was causing Luke’s sudden change of mind after seeing the look of concern on his face when it started. I asked a cast member if the noise and vibration was temporary and they assured me that it was. She said as the ship was turning and they were right above the….blahblahblah I can’t remember everything She said, it was loud and chaotic. Anyway I tried to put Luke’s mind at ease but he was having no part of it. Gabe was getting increasingly angry because he wanted to stay and they actually started to grapple. :eek: So we separated them and told Gabe that he could stay without Luke if he wanted. We were SO surprised when he decided to stay. He doesn’t do a whole lot without the safety of having his older brother close by. This was a huge deal! They are pretty much inseparable…they have bunk beds and they even sleep in the same bed ::yes::. With Luke not staying we were pretty much out for any adult entertainment that we had planned but that was OK…it had been a very long day with a very tight schedule. We were with Bobbie and Gerald during the whole ordeal as they were dropping off their kids too. While we were heading back to the room Bobbie had mentioned that Jen was a bit bummed because they were going to be confined to their room as well with Logan. He was 2…almost 3 so he was too young for the kids club yet. So I gave Jen a call and once he fell asleep she brought him over to our cabin where we put sleepy Luke and Logan in the kids cabin while Jen and Rob visited with us. Not long after we were joined by Bobbie and Gerald and we had a great reunion! They were telling me that even though they had not met Evan yet that their son Lane had at the club. He said he met this guy Evan from Canada and that he said he was going to go up to the deck to get something to eat since he was starving because he missed supper. Lane then said… “what a minute. Is Char your mom?!” Which freaked Evan out :lmao:.
Bobbie and Gerald got a text to pick up their youngest and I went along to check on Gabe. He was still good! :thumbsup2So back to the cabin we went and the kids cabin was quickly filling up with sleepy kids. This connecting room was way better than we could have imagined. It was nice to get to visit being confined to our room. Gabe stayed until around 11 and I picked him up and tucked him into bed. We all visited and it was just before midnight when everyone left. Nate and I stayed up talking and laughing until at least 1. We were looking forward to sleeping in and enjoying the sea day!

Up next up…. Mixology and formal night…. Maybe not a good idea:confused3
 
Mixology and formal night…. Maybe not a good idea :confused3 Part 1

I woke up at 6:30 Sunday morning! :scared:What is up with that? I work night shifts which is what I prefer as I’m a natural night hawk and I don’t like to get out of bed in the morning….so WHY CAN’T I SLEEP IN! For whatever reason I can never sleep in while I’m on vacation. If I was at home and not working I would be dragging my butt out of bed at 8 and I would consider that to be early! Nate got up with me and we went out on the balcony to see if we could see any flying fish. It worked out quite well that we were up early since we had planned to go to the church service at 9:30 at Outlook. At home our church has two services with one being at 9:15 and one at 10:45. We always mean well trying to get to the early one but like I said…I’m not a morning person and it usually involves me rushing and herding the kids out the door to get to the late service on time. This was a new experience for me. We took our time and let the boys roll out of bed at 8:00 and made our way down to breakfast at Enchanted Garden. We had plenty of time to spare and made it to the service ON TIME! It was a pretty good service too which was lead by…I think his name was Jerome. He was the head butcher on the ship. Once the service was finished the boys decided they wanted to do the Aqua Duck. It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be on a sea day. Once they had enough of the water Gabe asked to go to the kids club and Luke agreed to go with him. On our way back from dropping off the boys we bumped into Joh and Sian along with Daniel in front of the Detective agency desk and that just happened to be the time of Jack-Jacks Incredible Diaper Dash. We stayed for a bit to watch the first race which was hilarious!

Here’s a pic of that just before the first race



After that we strolled around and decided to check out shutters to find out where our album was.We were green Minnie 50. We were getting a little hungry and decided to go to the Royal Court for a nice romantic lunch. We just placed our order and we get “the text”. So we text Cassie and asked her to pick up the boys for us. She did but the boys wanted us so we told her to bring them on down to the Royal Court for lunch. :rolleyes:So much for the romantic lunch. After lunch we decided to do the detective agency thingy. With this activity you go to the detective desk and choose a case, there’s the case of the missing puppies, the case of the missing show and the case of the plundered paintings. We chose to do the case of the missing puppies. You sign up at the detective agency desk and get a badge, which you activate by holding it up and it reads a 2D scan code. You also get a map of the ship and a list of suspects. The map shows you where all the enchanted paintings are. Once you find the paintings your badge triggers it to show you a clue to help you solve your case. It was really quite cool and the boys had a blast being Detectives! If we ever chose to go on the Fantasy without kids someday I would totally do this again! It did take a little over an hour but you don’t have to do it all at once. You can do the same one throughout the whole week. I bumped into Holly, aka Ohio while we were “on the job” and she was solving her own mystery. She was telling me that they had 14 different scenarios or something like that! I quickly shushed her. :rotfl: It was fun but I could see our whole cruise turning into us becoming super sleuths. We finished just in time to get them an ice cream and headed back down to the kids club so Nate Cassie and I could head to Skyline for our private mixology session. I was REALLY looking forward to this. The class was arranged by Joh on fb and there were 3 classes to choose from. I knew that someone from my city was also in our class but I didn’t know who. So when Debbie looked at me and said the name of our church I knew that she was the one! Lol AND we actually GO to the same church and know a lot of the same people. It was a hoot talking with her and we chatted for a while after the session. She’s an early service gal so we will never see each other again. :rotfl2:

Here’s Wendy, Debbie and myself. One for the church bulletin board.;)


[
Here's Nate making his drink.



Here’s Wendy double fisted with Rich



Joh double fisted….anyone else notice a pattern here?



One with my DD Cass.


DSC_0202 by tow_mater_1
 
Your knee...my flip flop. :goodvibes

Love reading this, wish we were there now. Wind chill is around -20. Yuck
 
Great report Char :thumbsup2

The funny thing kids do huh? I kinda had to laugh about Luke and the vibrations in kids clubs. Sounds just like my Kira :rolleyes1

It sucks that we never got to cruise together but maybe one day I will get the pleasure of meeting you and your family, you all seem like such sweethearts :hug:

P.S. I like Cassie's lanyard at the mixology class :rolleyes1 :p
 

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Oh look!! My knee made it into one of your pictures!!
hahaha :rotfl2: hahaha

Your knee...my flip flop. :goodvibes



Haha... that's so funny! :rotfl: Too bad it was formal night...I would have loved to stick around and chat with everyone. It takes a lot of effort and time for me to get spiffed up....especially after a few too many cocktails. ;)

Love reading this, wish we were there now. Wind chill is around -20. Yuck

Me too Kelsey. Writing this makes me feel like I'm there again though. We are siting at -14 with wind chill but that is Celsius so that's like 7 fahrenheit. So -20 would be rather chilly! :scared1: :cold:
 
Great report Char :thumbsup2

The funny thing kids do huh? I kinda had to laugh about Luke and the vibrations in kids clubs. Sounds just like my Kira :rolleyes1

It sucks that we never got to cruise together but maybe one day I will get the pleasure of meeting you and your family, you all seem like such sweethearts :hug:

P.S. I like Cassie's lanyard at the mixology class :rolleyes1 :p

Awww.... thanks Cass. :hug: I was really looking forward to finally meeting you too. I was bummed when we had to cancel our b2b:(

Yes Cassie's lanyard was awesome wasn't it!;) We had several to choose from each day. We had yours, we had our silver AND our fb group had halloween ones. Since Bobby and Gerald were newbies and didn't have any I gave them the little boys lanyards since they don't wear them. If you look closely at the pics of diner, Bobby and her son Lane are wearing yours too.:goodvibes I made sure they had your business cards in them too and look what happened!;) Well it wasn't just your card... I DID tell them you were the best TA evah! :cheer2:
 
Signing up!:coffee:
Great start! popcorn::Cant wait till the end when you guys get off the ship so WE can get on!!;):lmao:
 

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