Hey there, hi there, ho there all!!!!
Wow... KC made it sound like there was pages and pages over here that I'm falling behind on. Actually, for me, this is pretty quick. Those of you that know me know that I'm telling the honest truth. You'd think that my life would have settled down some now, huh? Ha!!! The job, the Young Marines, working on my website, trying to get the house in order and figure out what can go in a yard sale (yeah, let's move all our stuff to Orlando and have the yard sale THERE!).... needless to say that Hypermommy is still hyper. Ah, you know some things will never change!!
And let me first off say that I'm pleased as punch that so many people have come over here to read this trip report. Y'all must be really bored, huh?
and other random babblings.
Oh honey, please.... you can't make it THAT easy for me. I'm trying to be nice.... really I am.
I found I enjoy writing these, and since this will be the last one for a very long time, I intend to make the most of it. You'll also have to put up with DW's input from time to time, as this will be a tag team effort, and the photos she will post. You'd think w/ over 1200 pics taken, at least a few would be viewable. You decide.
So since this is going to be the last TR for a while, I'm trying to talk him into starting to blog about just life in general. I just love reading his writing! But so far, no dice.
And a few of the pictures are okay, but first let me run a little test and tease. I've got the posted in my picasa album and I've not used that to link in here so first I just want to make sure one works. It'll work for me because it's my account but y'all let me know if you can see this...
Even tho we were all on the same boat, the experience was so different for everyone. I think that is what made me fall in love with Disney cruising.
We absolutly loved our DIS group. Which added to our experience greatly.
Look forward to comparing notes with your TR.
Isn't that the truth! I thoroughly agree that they do a wonderful job at making sure each family has the vacation they want.
We had such a great time--in part--because we were enjoying your PTR and Denise did such a great job with the spread sheets. I made a photo scavenger hunt for our group.
Awww, thanks. I didn't do much with the spreadsheet except make it available and all. Thank you for keeping it up with your info!
A photo scavenger hunt? That sounds like loads of fun!!!!! What kinds of things did you put on it?
Looking forward to reading your report. My mom and I had a great time on this cruise!
So wonderful to hear! So now when are y'all coming back over for another visit. I hear the Tonga Toast calling!!!!
Hey there KC .... it's your Campaign Manager reporting for (reading) duty. Hope the holidays were great for you and the family!
They were wonderful, thanks!! KC even managed to figure out a way to get both boys the one thing they wanted the most for Christmas. Isn't he fantastic!!! Mickey may have the magic but it's my King that has the charm and the way to make just anything work out!!!!
Hope they went well for you too! Can't wait to see ya again!
Nov 1-10 were spent packing everything up, finding a place to live, and getting stuff turned on. Most of the move was 11-13. The rest of the stuff can wait till we get back. You better believe I was SO looking forward to the 14th.
Okay, yes, you did do a lot of packing and your week before the cruise was MUCH more hectic than mine, BUT......... you make it sound like you pcaked up everything between Nov 1 and 10. Now you ladies reading this trip report would know that I would NEVER let that happen! Let the King and the two princes pack up my house???? You gotta be kidding me!!!! I'd never find ANYTHING!!!!! As it is now I know I've got some more baking pans and I know I've seen them in a box somewhere but I can't for the life of me remember where. My best guess is that they got packed in with the bedroom stuff that I still have to go through when I get a tall chest of drawers. Oh yes, ladies... if there's room in a box it doesn't really matter what room of the house you mix together in the box! That's apparently how men pack! So just to let everyone know, I packed up a BUNCH of boxes before I left and was continuing to pack every weekend while I was living down here.
That morning was so surreal. This was the day we'd been waiting on for too long, but nothing seems right. I woke up in a new city (and house), no dogs (being cared for in Tally), and only a short drive to the port. It should be easy to get there by 10 (like we talked about), but suddenly we're in no hurry at all. Everybody shot out of bed this morning, but nothing seems to be getting done or loaded. Why does "pm" suddenly seem like an acceptable arrival time? Man, this was too different than what I expected. But I go with the flow and we eventually pull out the driveway before 10. In no time we are in Cocoa Beach, where the liquor stores are now open, then on to the port.
Okay, time to throw in another couple of pictures and just hope that they work. Y'all let me know if they don't and I'll come up with an alternate solution.
Here we are getting to the port:
And here's King Charming picking up important stuff:
Despite the construction, there were enough signs/people to easily direct me to the rear luggage drop off area. In less than 4 minutes, the family, bags, and $10 porter tip are in the rearview mirror, and I'm following the orange cones to the parking area. It's a 2 minute walk across the street to the terminal. Check in was quick and easy, but I turn around and leave afterwards. Time for a walking tour of the port area, snooping around, making last minute phone calls, and mostly savoring the idea that I could finally relax; no more deadlines. As I re-entered the terminal bldg, I realized that the metal clips on my suspenders are no longer setting off the metal detector. This makes life so much easier during the week. Thanks DCL for fine tuning the machine.
Back upstairs, they are loading 8-12(?), so we head over to the photo area. Five minutes later we are done AND they are calling our number. Sixteens may now board! What great timing.
The Eating Machines waiting for mom to finish her smoke while dad parks the van.
Oh you forgot to tell what a "joy" it was to walk back into the terminal with the 16yo EM giving us the parental once over. Might as well let them have the FULL enjoyment of the trip. Okay, y'all... so here's the scoop. You know that God made teenagers like they are so you wouldn't mind when they leave home, right? Yeah, for sure!!! So KC and I walk back out to the car at some point because he left something in the car. We left the boys in the terminal. So anyway, while we're out there he calls his sister who's looking after the dogs. And they chat a bit and such. Okay so I GUESS we took longer than we should have because when we got back the 16yo is waiting for us at the stairs with this attitude of "WHERE have you BEEN!?!?!?". And just that type of tone too. Oh no we are not going to start out the trip like this. I IMMEDIATELY get my hackles up and tell him in no uncertain terms that we're the parents, he's the kid and those roles are NOT gonna be reversed. Of course (as all our fights go) after a while we both calmed down and I was able to talk to him about it. He understood.... he was just antsy because they were getting close to calling our number and he'd much rather be hanging out on the ship rather than in the terminal. I can certainly understand that.
And to be quite perfectly honest, he was pretty much a dream on the ship this time! Made curfew... was always on time. Was really responsible about making sure we knew where he was. Just a thoroughly different young man than last cruise. Now, little brother on the other hand.... but I'm getting ahead of myself....
But since we're in the terminal at this point in our TR, here's some terminal shots.
I loved the area where you get your security picture taken. The stands are cute for sure but the little feet that help you stand in the right spot for the pic are great!!!!
Here we go!
Hi King Charming! I can't find the thread to your PTR. Can you post a link? You mentioned there was some info there I was interested in, but can't find it now!
There should be a link in my sig. PM me if still having troubles and I'll get a direct link to it.
OK, it's 1pm as we board, bypass the the photos, get announced (oh, so cool), and get the welcome aboard speel from a CM. Topsiders is full, the room will be ready soon, and the weather tomorrow will be beach perfect! We drag our booze bags up to deck nine and grab a table. Pluto's and Pinchocio's have short lines and provide a tasty lunch, then we check out our stateroom.
Just a few more pics.
See, he's a natural at this eating thing! Dad loaned him the hat since EM#1 was the one sitting in the sun.
And after a quick visit to the stateroom we met with all our wonderful Dis friends. Boy did we ever have a huge group!!! Check this out.. this is only part of us. Oh, and just leave it to our group -- here we are not an hour on the boat and we're already getting in trouble for blocking the stairways. Yep, they sent CMs to the stairs to let us know we couldn't do that. I'll bet that's just about the quickest any group has ever gotten in trouble. Woot!!!!!!!!!!! Go Double Dippers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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