Solo and Unleashed!

[mousetravel]

I'm here!! (And needing to catch up on your previous TR!!)

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[jenseib]

I'm here!! (And needing to catch up on your previous TR!!)

Can't wait to hear more!

I've been going really slow on that one. I need to get my rear in gear!

 

[jenseib]

I pulled up to the Custom House and the lot was basically empty with 1 or 2 cars in the lot, so I parked so that I had a couple of spaces on either side of me and then I opened the car door so I could see and get into my bag to get my Magic Band and my paperwork…..and then this car pulls in and tries to park right next to me….yeah there is basically a completely empty parking lot and this car chooses to park in the space next to me…and they just sit there and wait till I close my car door so they can get in. I look at them as they pull in they are all staring at me and I literally rolled my eyes at them. They seemed to be in a big hurry to get inside, so I just took my time and once I was ready walked up to the Custom House.



I had done online check in so I went to that queue…..that other family had not.





I took a few pictures as my guy got me all settled.





Even though I had done the online check in, it still seemed to take a while to get everything done. I was given my room number, 4532, which I was informed was one of the refurbished rooms. I wasn’t sure if I was excited or not. I had seen pictures of the new rooms online and so far I was not impressed with them at all. The rooms I had seen looked like they took wood and painted it chocolate brown. It was definitely not a Caribbean style of décor either, more Polynesian in my opinion. My CM pulled out the resort map and showed me some highpoints on the map, where my building was, how to get to Old Port Royale from my room, etc. He then told me how to drive back there. It all sounded good and I set back off to my car.
About the same time I walked out, my happy parking buddies were leaving too and they went out a totally different way than my CM told me to go. I went the way he told me but then I basically got confused…..he had given me a lot of turn left, turn rights….and it did not coincide with where I was. I ended up going the wrong way and having to circle back into the Custom House lot and giving it a second try….but finally I found the right way and was on my way to building 45.
I parked up and just grabbed my carryon and went in search of my room. I actually went down the wrong side of the building first before realizing on was on the other side…and score! I was in a corner room.
I took a few pictures and then went back to get my big suitcase.





A corner room means 2 windows…though for the short time I was there that really wasn’t a big deal for me.























My thoughts on the room? Pleasantly surprised. Pictures do not do this justice at all. It looks much better in person….and the wood did not have the painted look like I thought it did in previous pictures I had seen.

It was now after 10 PM….so much for doing anything this evening…I had been traveling for basically 12 hours at this point and I just was ready to chill out, but I was now starving.
I grabbed my camera and backpack and headed out to find the bridge to get to the food court.









Again, I was pleasantly surprised to find how close the bridge actually was. The walk across the island was really quick too, which surprised me….though it was really dark.



It was much more lively and happening over on this side of the resort. Lots of people at the bar and pool.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Ugh, I hate it when there's an entirely empty lot and another car just has to pull in the space beside me. I still park the SCAR out in Timbuktu and even still people park by me.

I've seen a lot of the refurbed room pictures on the CBR thread but your's are great. Do you think you'd have time to post them on the CBR info thread? I don't recall seeing the colored details on the lights above the beds in previous pictures. I can't wait to see the rooms in person in May/June (staying another two weeks).

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a shame about all the delays. I love the way the room looks like.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

Ugh, I hate it when there's an entirely empty lot and another car just has to pull in the space beside me. I still park the SCAR out in Timbuktu and even still people park by me.

I've seen a lot of the refurbed room pictures on the CBR thread but your's are great. Do you think you'd have time to post them on the CBR info thread? I don't recall seeing the colored details on the lights above the beds in previous pictures. I can't wait to see the rooms in person in May/June (staying another two weeks).

I do plan too..in fact I was gonna do it earlier today but it was time to go get Claire from school...and now we're doing the ever dreaded homework

 

[jenseib]

What a shame about all the delays. I love the way the room looks like.

Corinna

I was pleasantly surprised with the new rooms

 

[JanaJohn]

Even though I had done the online check in, it still seemed to take a while to get everything done. I was given my room number, 4532, which I was informed was one of the refurbished rooms.

Congratulations on the refurbished room. The pictures look GREAT.....as usual!

Looking at the picture of the bathroom sink and the mirror, I see what looks like a safe. But it looks like there is literally no room inside the safe. I'm hoping this image of the safe as viewed in the mirror makes it look much smaller than it is.

 

[jenseib]

Congratulations on the refurbished room. The pictures look GREAT.....as usual!

Looking at the picture of the bathroom sink and the mirror, I see what looks like a safe. But it looks like there is literally no room inside the safe. I'm hoping this image of the safe as viewed in the mirror makes it look much smaller than it is.

Mickeystoontown might have a better picture of the safes, but they are really small. I "think" a small laptop can fit in there, but I didn't look at it too much.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I don't have a picture of the safes in the refurbed rooms but I would assume that they didn't change them out or they are still the same size if they did. We were able to fit six bottles of medication, a semi-large bottle of vitamins, three wallets, a portable hand held game two sets of keys in the safe. We did have to do a little puzzle to get it all in there but it all fit quite nicely.

 

[BellaBaby]

That's funny about the car parking right next to you at check in. We just had that happen to us when we checked in at CSR recently! Weird how people do that in a nearly empty parking lot!!

Our safe at CSR looked just like the one you had and it held my 13" Macbook Air with a few more small items.

 

[dizneeat]

The room looks very nice! And corner rooms are such a treat if you stay for more days.
Brave girl heading into the "dark" over that bridge.

I hear you on the long travel day!

 

[littlenellbell]

Joining in! Cute picture of you in your intro. Is that a clue to one of your "good wrenches"?
That's awesome you got a refurbished room! Those nemo rooms really needed an update and I really like the look of them. We also stayed in Jamaica 45 in 2011 and we really loved the location. I was nervous about how big the resort was reading reviews before we arrived, but I didn't think it was bad at all. No different than POR in my opinion.

 

[jenseib]

I don't have a picture of the safes in the refurbed rooms but I would assume that they didn't change them out or they are still the same size if they did. We were able to fit six bottles of medication, a semi-large bottle of vitamins, three wallets, a portable hand held game two sets of keys in the safe. We did have to do a little puzzle to get it all in there but it all fit quite nicely.

I am pretty sure they probably kept the same safes too.

That's funny about the car parking right next to you at check in. We just had that happen to us when we checked in at CSR recently! Weird how people do that in a nearly empty parking lot!!

Our safe at CSR looked just like the one you had and it held my 13" Macbook Air with a few more small items.

I swear I have had this happen several times in the last week too. I must be a magnet!
Good to know about the safe as well.

The room looks very nice! And corner rooms are such a treat if you stay for more days.
Brave girl heading into the "dark" over that bridge.

I hear you on the long travel day!

The corner rooms are really nice.
It was a little creepy at night on that island.
I knew you would understand about long travel days.

Joining in! Cute picture of you in your intro. Is that a clue to one of your "good wrenches"?
That's awesome you got a refurbished room! Those nemo rooms really needed an update and I really like the look of them. We also stayed in Jamaica 45 in 2011 and we really loved the location. I was nervous about how big the resort was reading reviews before we arrived, but I didn't think it was bad at all. No different than POR in my opinion.

Yes it is! And that was a very good wrench!
The new rooms are much nicer than I had thought they would be and was really impressed with the resort overall. I went in with not being sure if I would like it and I am happy to say I would go back for sure.

 

[mom2rtk]

Skip is too funny. Seriously though.... kudos to him for not giving you a hard time for going...... AND for the spending money!

What a frustrating start. I'm thinking the airline pilots must have been using Siri for directions to the airport!

I'm really surprised by the look of the room. Not at all what I'd expect. Not that I wouldn't stay there. Just different from what I'd expect. I agree it looks more Polynesian. I guess I expected something more colorful without as much brown.

 

[jenseib]

I made my way to the food court quickly.





I looked at the different selections and decided on something with pasta.

I asked what the person in front of me was getting as it looked tasty…it was chicken parmesan, which I love so I decided on that as well.



I debated on a dessert….after all that is the best part of the meal, but I decided to wait and see how full I was after this and went and found a table.



I also had decided on milk to drink after have several diet cokes throughout the day I figured this would be better for me.



I then started to eat and called home. Claire was in bed, but I talked to Skip for a bit and let him know that it had been a long travel day (I had talked to him once while I was at the Columbus airport and he knew I was delayed). I can almost hear him smile whenever something doesn’t go smoothly or the way it was planned.





After I ate, I decided to check out the gift shop.



My friend Brook had asked if I would look and see if they had a headband that she liked and had recently lost, they did so I grabbed that. I also bought a 2014 zip up sweatshirt. I usually get one every year (though I never did manage to get one in 2013) and had planned to get one while I was down here in March, but I waited till our last day so I wouldn’t have the extra bulk in my suitcase. That was a dumb plan. Our last full day we had dinner at DTD and I went to World of Disney to get the sweatshirt and they were out completely. Of course the parks still had them but I was not going to any parks at that point, so I figured eventually I would order one online, which I had not done yet either. So I was happy to find one and quickly made my purchases.

I went back outside then after my shopping.



I then realized I didn’t see any magnets inside and went back in to see if they had any resort specific ones but I did not find any and I just wasn’t in love with any of the other magnets they had on display.

Back out I went and decided to take a look at the pool.



CBR does have a really nice looking pool.



I debated going back to the room to get my swimsuit on and sitting in the hot tub, but I wasn’t sure how much longer the pool would be open.















A look past the pool.



And another hot tub.

 

[jenseib]

Skip is too funny. Seriously though.... kudos to him for not giving you a hard time for going...... AND for the spending money!

What a frustrating start. I'm thinking the airline pilots must have been using Siri for directions to the airport!

I'm really surprised by the look of the room. Not at all what I'd expect. Not that I wouldn't stay there. Just different from what I'd expect. I agree it looks more Polynesian. I guess I expected something more colorful without as much brown.

I wonder if he is softening up in his old age?
I got the email from SW that my next trip is around the corner and my heart skipped a beat. I am so not ready yet for that one. (which I know you know what it is, but I think I will keep it secret here for now )
I agree. Not very Caribbean at all. And when I moved to Royal Pacific the decor was very similar. In fact I think the soap dish was the exact same one.
They still were nice and the mattress was GREAT!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Excellent start!

 

[BellaBaby]

It's strange to see pics of the pool without little Claire bobbing happily in the water!

Great pics of the resort. We may try CBR next time and it's fun to see the updates. We stayed there back in 2003 I believe.

 

[JKSWonder]

I think the CBR pools is one of the better ones on property. No Stormalong Bay, of course, but very nice.

The pool at the Contemporary was...a pool. While it was nice to be on Bay Lake, there was just SO much concrete everywhere and the slide was ho-hum. Precious little shady areas. And in the August sun, shade is a must for me.