The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[orangecats2]

Thanks. We're you the one on pkondz TR who got the Dalek dress?

Yes that's me! Thanks for remembering. I still haven't worn it yet. It's not an everyday dress. You know?

 

[pkondz]

Yes that's me! Thanks for remembering. I still haven't worn it yet. It's not an everyday dress. You know?

Yes it is!

 

[rentayenta]

Konk Koolers are my favorite too.

Love the back story you told. Very cool.

 

[rentayenta]

Hand massaged beef? Or machine massaged? How would one tell the difference? Remy might be too fancy for this girl. Michael would love it though. And I saved that cheese plate picture to show Braden. he is dying to try a cheese plate now. LOL!

Love your Remy dress!

 

[rentayenta]

Brunch looks amazing! Michael recently prepared steaks sous vide or as I say seared then bag-in-water. UNREAL! I didn't believe him and thought it would taste poached but nope. Incredible. I think he got it from one of Gordon Ramsey's cook books.

 

[rentayenta]

Love the photo of you ladies by the tree. Fantastic!

Your Mixology looks great. I think your first drink is called a Melon Ball. That's what we use to call them anyway. I am sure there are multiple names for the same drink.

 

[Malia78]

Still halfway through this trip report but wanted to comment--will be sailing on the Dream next year for the first time so enjoying your ship report. I hope to one of these days have a trip that overlaps yours so we can meet--there are two near misses this year. I'm sailing on the first Alaska trip of this season and then will be in WDW the first couple weeks of October...

 

[franandaj]

Good to have variety.

Interesting. Never heard of that before.

I would imagine that your Canadian banks have different incentive programs through the credit cards.

Really! wow. I thought it was a ton!
But, are they all magnets? Some look like stickers.

Some people, you can't even see the door, it's so plastered. Many are stickers that I've attached to magnets. There is a strict "no adhesive" policy, so I think they would charge you if you put stickers on there. Some of the doors have been painted so many times that the magnets barely stick anymore.

Yes that's me! Thanks for remembering. I still haven't worn it yet. It's not an everyday dress. You know?

That's too bad. I wore mine on my Mexican Riviera cruise. I don't think anyone on the ship knew what it was, but the folks on my TR did!

Yes it is!

Not if you live somewhere with temperatures like you have!

Konk Koolers are my favorite too.

Love the back story you told. Very cool.

I just can't do the coconut part. Which one, the real one or the Disney made up one?

Hand massaged beef? Or machine massaged? How would one tell the difference? Remy might be too fancy for this girl. Michael would love it though. And I saved that cheese plate picture to show Braden. he is dying to try a cheese plate now. LOL!

Love your Remy dress!

We wouldn't have known if they hadn't told us, but the flavor of the machine massaged was better. Those were among the pictures I showed him on Saturday.

Brunch looks amazing! Michael recently prepared steaks sous vide or as I say seared then bag-in-water. UNREAL! I didn't believe him and thought it would taste poached but nope. Incredible. I think he got it from one of Gordon Ramsey's cook books.

Interesting. The only other time I've had it was when Marcel was experimenting on us with one that he had just received.

Love the photo of you ladies by the tree. Fantastic!

Your Mixology looks great. I think your first drink is called a Melon Ball. That's what we use to call them anyway. I am sure there are multiple names for the same drink.

Thanks! Melon Ball, I will have to remember that and try making one sometime. I think that would be a good cocktail party drink.

Still halfway through this trip report but wanted to comment--will be sailing on the Dream next year for the first time so enjoying your ship report. I hope to one of these days have a trip that overlaps yours so we can meet--there are two near misses this year. I'm sailing on the first Alaska trip of this season and then will be in WDW the first couple weeks of October...

It would be nice to finally meet up. Sorry I missed you last October. Enjoy your Alaska cruise, you'll have to tell me all about it!

 

[franandaj]

Well good news for you folks who might be falling behind. I don’t have to finish the next day until February 8th so you have some time to get caught up. Not saying I’m gonna wait until the 8th to post it, but I’ll certainly let most of the week go by for folks to get caught up. In the meantime we will be moving boxes. So far we’ve moved at least 50 or more of the “downloaded” boxes to storage. I wish I could say it was more that went to the thrift store, but I haven’t been able to get Fran over to the old house even to look through these boxes and most of them are hers, so we are just moving them for a later “go through”. For now the focus is getting stuff out of that place and then we will deal with getting rid of stuff once the apartment is under construction. Today would have been the first morning that I would have awakened in the Grand Californian for our annual, “let’s go out there to use up points” trip, but I canceled that when we were not yet out of the old apartment. I’m thinking that it’s not going to happen before our Mississippi trip. And even thinking that it will be happening before our trip with Naked Jim is being hopeful, at this point I just need to hope that before we go to Alaska the place is under construction!

But speaking of the Mississippi River trip, it’s now 45 days away, and things are really coming into place. ADRs have been made! All that is left to sort out is transportation to and from the airports in Memphis and New Orleans.

We figured out what we will be doing on some of our stops when we get off the ship, and even booked one of their premium excursions. Most of the excursions are included in the price of the tour, but just to give you an idea of what this will be like, here are a few photos that I stole from the Internet.

The Ship:



Our room will be a lot like this:



Because of the steep pricing on this cruise, we went with a bay window instead of an actual verandah. But here are the deck plans. We are on the Cabin Deck the last cabin in the middle of the ship. If you notice, there is a little patio right next to our stateroom. The agent who booked our cruise let me in on a secret that not many people know about this little patio and while it isn’t exclusively ours, it could be ours for the most part.



Here are some shots around the ship, the Ladies Parlor (although it is for use by Ladies or Men)



The Mens Parlor (also open to both sexes)



The formal dining room.



The excursion that we booked is a Cajun Swamp Tour. We take a bus for about 40 minutes to the Swamp, where we get an hour and a half long tour. I was a little wary about this as Disney does not allow scooters on their excursions. After a phone call to the company, they told me that not only could Fran bring her scooter, but that the bus drives right up to the boat for loading. This picture I found made me happy to see that the bus literally pulls right up to the boat!



And here’s some pictures that I stole from the website of the Swamp Tour Company.

 

[jedijill]

Sounds like you are making progress on the move!

The riverboat looks really beautiful...love your cabin! How nice that the tour can accommodate Fran's scooter so well!

Jill in CO

 

[pkondz]

I would imagine that your Canadian banks have different incentive programs through the credit cards.

I've had a few different cards, but right now my go to card is my WestJet card.
With it (for about $100/year) I get free bags (already more than paid for the card fees), up to 3% cash back towards WestJet flights (no exclusions) and a $99 companion flight anywhere in Continental North America where WestJet flies. Plus all the usual perks, free trip and cancel insurance, car rental insurance, etc.

Some people, you can't even see the door, it's so plastered.

Huh.

Many are stickers that I've attached to magnets. There is a strict "no adhesive" policy, so I think they would charge you if you put stickers on there. Some of the doors have been painted so many times that the magnets barely stick anymore.

I thought there was a "no adhesive" policy. That's why I was so surprised to see what looked like stickers.

Not if you live somewhere with temperatures like you have!

Not to worry. She's from the deep south. You know. Cleveland.

Well good news for you folks who might be falling behind. I don’t have to finish the next day until February 8th so you have some time to get caught up.

But I'm caught up already!

So far we’ve moved at least 50 or more of the “downloaded” boxes to storage. I wish I could say it was more that went to the thrift store, but I haven’t been able to get Fran over to the old house even to look through these boxes and most of them are hers, so we are just moving them for a later “go through”.

It's amazing how much you accumulate, isn't it?

at this point I just need to hope that before we go to Alaska the place is under construction!

I don't think I'd like to go to Alaska if it was under construction.

We are on the Cabin Deck the last cabin in the middle of the ship. If you notice, there is a little patio right next to our stateroom. The agent who booked our cruise let me in on a secret that not many people know about this little patio and while it isn’t exclusively ours, it could be ours for the most part.

Nice score!

Here are some shots around the ship, the Ladies Parlor (although it is for use by Ladies or Men)

The Mens Parlor (also open to both sexes)

I don't know how old the ship is, but I'm sure it or its predecessor had rigidly divided rooms at one time.

And here’s some pictures that I stole from the website of the Swamp Tour Company.

Cool.

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a shame that you had to cancel the stay at the Grand Californian. The ship looks wonderful. What a bonus with the patio right by the cabin. I am pretty sure that friends of ours have been on the same ship and loved it. The excursion looks pretty neat, too.

Corinna

 

[orangecats2]

Not to worry. She's from the deep south. You know. Cleveland.

Yeah we got a little snow today!

But I'm caught up already!

So am I!

 

[pkondz]

Yeah we got a little snow today!

Did your Mayor call out the National Guard?
(If you didn't know, a few years back Toronto did... and became the laughing stock of the entire country.)

 

[orangecats2]

Of course not! It was just a tiny bit, even the cats didn't mind.

 

[pkondz]

Of course not! It was just a tiny bit, even the cats didn't mind.

Silly me. Of course it was a tiny bit. You live in the deep south!

 

[dhorner233]

The Mississippi River trip sounds well organized and the ship is gorgeous! Expensive huh? Compared to a Disney cruise?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice to see that you did another Mixology class on the Dream during your trip. It must be fun to try all these different drinks.

Dinner at the Royal Palace looks very appetizing.

 

[cruisehopeful]

But speaking of the Mississippi River trip, it’s now 45 days away, and things are really coming into place.

Will you post a report from that trip somewhere? I know a couple who have taken a couple different versions of those cruises and they want to take more. I've heard nothing but rave reviews from them.

The Ship:

I didn't realize that they could be called a ship.

The Mississippi River trip sounds well organized and the ship is gorgeous! Expensive huh? Compared to a Disney cruise?

The pricing is on their website and can be very expensive, but the couple I know who have taken them have booked them on short notice and got deals like 2 for one. They are retired and able to travel on short notice. They keep telling me to go and to get on discount cruise email lists, but week long or longer travel on short notice isn't anywhere in my foreseeable future. Someday.......

 

[dhorner233]

What is the name of the company?