09/18/11 - DVCers Take Over the Dream (S.S. Member Cruise 2011) - Thread #5

[Hoosier John]

THAT WOULD BE SO COOL STAYING IN A CASTLE. I HAVENT BEEN TO EDINBURGH SINCE 1969. WENT TO THE TATOO IN THE CASTLE. I FORGET, WHAT DOES LARA DO FOR WORK? IS ALL THIS TRAVEL WORK RELATED. OR IS IT BECAUSE IM A MAN I DIDNT READ THE POSTS RIGHT JUST THOUGHT ID ADD THAT FOR THE LADIES WHO POST ON HERE

Lara works for Rolls-Royce (the jet/marine/powerplant engines, not the cars), which is based in Derby, England. They had previously purchashed the Allison Aircraft engine company in Indianapolis, where we live. I used to go to the hydroplane boat races and they used WWII fighter engines (before the started using trubine engines). The three they used were Allison, Rolls-Griffin, and Rolls-Merlin engines. Man, I miss the sound of those engines on the water!

Our trip to England is work related for her. On the weekends we have been taking side trips to various places. During the week when we have company, Lara leaves the car with us, and I take them to some more local sites. We dedicate one day to a walking tour of the City Centre of Derby.

We purchased annual passes to hundreds of historical sites around the country including the rest of the UK. Castles, mansions, stately homes, abbeys, stonehenge, etc. We have barely scratched the surface. I started writing trip reports (in Word) and emailing them back to friends and family, but am way behind, so I'll have to finish them later.

Ian, what's "the tatoo in the castle"? Since 1969 I bet not much has changed. Sure the cars, fashions, and shop names may have changed, but they are still building with stone. I take that back. They built an ultra modern and artistic government building. The cost was estimated to be 40 million pounds, and ended up being 400 million! But we were told everything required to build it was locally sourced for within Scotland.

Sean Connery posed (either naked or in a loin cloth) for money while he attended school in Edinburgh, and J. K. Rowlings is from there (and I think still lives there in a rather modest flat).

 

[Hoosier John]

Hi John! How's the family? My FIL's mother is from Scotland, he remembers Scotland as cold and dreary. I asked him about his "English sayings", but they really aren't very Disney like....For example, something about a "duck" and and an English pub song, "He wore his sister's trousers..."

That's what Ian said too. Maybe we just got lucky because the weather was great there last weekend.

Crickie (sp?) (pronounced CRY-key), not a song about a duck because we all know where that goes when drinking songs are involved.

Hey, maybe you're related to Ian (although you might want to keep that to yourself, from what I gather here )

PS I had to wear my sister's hand-be-downs too. Not only a gender problem, but 9 years out of fashion too (maybe that explains some of my "issues")

 

[Hoosier John]

Almost neighbors!



I think she withdrew from the Palo Brunch reservations. Is there anyone else that can do this earlier than the basic 90 days prior?

This will only be our 5th sailing, so I think that gives us only 90 days booking (until after we have sailed 5 times).

Which one did you stay in? Was it the haunted one they are always showing on TV? Of course, I think they are _all_ haunted, right?

We stayed at the Dalhousie Castle. No ghosts as far as I know of. At least no bad ghosts, but on the first night we were all in bed watching TV and the bedroom door opened all by itself. I told Lara it must have been a ghost because she is into that kind of thing. It must have been a good ghost, because once it was in (or out?), we never heard any more.

In Edinburgh at the Grass Market, I did find it interesting to see people happily enjoying their take-away food on a raised round stone pedistal with a red cross in the middle of it. This is where thieves were publicly hanged. Sometimes their heads would then be chopped off and carried to stick on a post at the entrance to the Grass Market, as a warning to others who might consider stealing!

 

[Hoosier John]

I got an email from an aide in my congressman's office yesterday.

He was confirming our request for tickets to Kennedy Space Center for September.

We're hoping to visit the day before the first leg of our B2B (9/14).

That's a great idea! I didn't know you could get free entry from your congressman (congressperson, now days). I seem to remember it was pretty cheap to get in, but free is better yet.

Last year we drove and hiked around Merrit Island. I think that was completely free. We saw manatees, all kinds of birds and plants, fish jumping out of the water between Merrit and NASA, and giant spiders in the trees overhead. Most of it was by car driving along gravel roads with the windows down and a/c on. There is also a Welcome Center/Museum which should be your first stop to pick up maps. There is also a nature trail around a pond an marsh there.

 

[GoofTroop716]

Detroit should have a good team this year. They will surprise people.

If Stafford can stay healthy, yes. We always play Detroit in the preseason...

 

[dvc deernut]

Ian, what's "the tatoo in the castle"?

Sean Connery posed (either naked or in a loin cloth) for money while he attended school in Edinburgh, and J. K. Rowlings is from there (and I think still lives there in a rather modest flat).[/QUOTE]
The EDINBURGH TATTOO was held in the castle in the summer. They have marching bands perform individually then have them march as a unit in mass completely covering the grounds infront of the main part of the castle. Kind of like at an American college football game when the college marching band performs at halftime, except larger and with PIPES AND DRUMS. Its at night. Its amazing, the sound and colour.
Sean Connery is very pro seperation for Scotland becoming its own country. My cousin tells me all about the history of our family and Scotland. If the Clans of Scotland werent bickering amoungst themselves and fight together they would have defeated the English, and the movie Braveheart would of had a different ending.
Dont tell anyone but the MACPHERSON CLAN were known as sheep stealers

 

[dvc deernut]

Can anyone tell me what they use to download photos on here. Obviously i use Photobucket but there seems to be issues right now for a few who are registered with them. Should i sign up in Photobucket again or switch to something else.

 

[W@LL-E]

Can anyone tell me what they use to download photos on here. Obviously i use Photobucket but there seems to be issues right now for a few who are registered with them. Should i sign up in Photobucket again or switch to something else.

Ian, I'd just create another account on Photobucket (or Juliobucket when Junior gets that up and running) and re-upload your pictures and point your signature pics to your new account

 

[Hoosier John]

The EDINBURGH TATTOO was held in the castle in the summer. They have marching bands perform individually then have them march as a unit in mass completely covering the grounds infront of the main part of the castle. Kind of like at an American college football game when the college marching band performs at halftime, except larger and with PIPES AND DRUMS. Its at night. Its amazing, the sound and colour.
Sean Connery is very pro seperation for Scotland becoming its own country. My cousin tells me all about the history of our family and Scotland. If the Clans of Scotland werent bickering amoungst themselves and fight together they would have defeated the English, and the movie Braveheart would of had a different ending.
Dont tell anyone but the MACPHERSON CLAN were known as sheep stealers

Ah, you're talking about THE castle. That's where we were headed, when we parked at the bottom of it. The ramp going up the small mountain to the Castle was closed (for falling rock/construction?), so we began skirting the bottom of it to find another path. We had just arrived and Laran was already complaining about being tired, so when I saw one of those tourist busses we jumped on and bought tickets. For a few pounds more, we added the ability to hop on all four bus lines giving tours. By the end of the day we just finished all 4 tours and ate dinner. Even the busses couldn't go up to the castle because of construction, but they said it was open and we could walk up to it. We never made it to the castle. Hope we didn't miss much.

The MacPherson 'sheep stealing' Clan. Yet another reason why I suggested to Jennifer that she might not want to dig too deeply into her in-law's Scotish heritage ... she might be related to you somehow

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

Hello you two!!

Yes, I had a blast on the cruise. I have pics, I just havent put them into Photobucket yet. I really need to do that. The ship is beautiful and sooooo big!! A lot of people on that boat. Loved our servers and stateroom host! Had a great view of Sorcerer Mickey at the aft of the ship. Lilly loved it. Deb, you are welcome for the nice weather. I really enjoyed it as well. Oh by the way....could you send me your address again??? PM me.

What cabin # were you in? Can't wait for your trip report Kelly.

 

[W@LL-E]

Happy Hump Day Everybody

 

[Hoosier John]

Hiya Wally

 

[W@LL-E]

Hiya Wally

Hiya John, when are you heading back to the states?

 

[Hoosier John]

Leaving next Tuesday ... then incommunicato for a week

 

[Hoosier John]

Gotta log off for a while so Lara can use the internet stick ... back after while.

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

Time for some DWTS talk ...

So, just for fun, I asked Paul (age 16) how old he thought Ralph Macchio is. He said twenty-five. TWENTY-FIVE!! Yeah, once upon a time I looked younger than him. Not anymore. Luckily, I didn't marry him. Did you see his wife, she looks like she should be his _mom_. Poor lady!!

Can't believe Chelsea isn't safe (haven't seen the end yet, so I don't know who gets cut). I thought her dance was _great_!

And mostly unrelated ... can anyone explain to me why Ashley Tisdale, who is _still_ making Disney movies for kids, felt the need to pose nekkid in a magazine? Did she have to go down that road?

at the comment about Ralph's wife! (Poor lady!)

about Ashley Tisdale!!!!!!! I'm sure after THAT she won't be making any more movies for Disney.

This will only be our 5th sailing, so I think that gives us only 90 days booking (until after we have sailed 5 times).



We stayed at the Dalhousie Castle. No ghosts as far as I know of. At least no bad ghosts, but on the first night we were all in bed watching TV and the bedroom door opened all by itself. I told Lara it must have been a ghost because she is into that kind of thing. It must have been a good ghost, because once it was in (or out?), we never heard any more.

In Edinburgh at the Grass Market, I did find it interesting to see people happily enjoying their take-away food on a raised round stone pedistal with a red cross in the middle of it. This is where thieves were publicly hanged. Sometimes their heads would then be chopped off and carried to stick on a post at the entrance to the Grass Market, as a warning to others who might consider stealing!

I supposedly lived in a haunted house here in my hometown. My brother and sister used to play with a ouija board and they swear they contacted a couple of spirits. After that they claimed that weird things would happen in the house. I never saw or heard anything but I always felt like someone was watching me when I was there by myself. Supposedly it WAS REALLY haunted...my mom found out the day she sold it. And neighbors have stories, too. I'm just glad I never encountered anything...I'd probably be locked up in a padded room! I don't deal well with that type of stuff!

Happy Hump Day Everybody

one day closer to Friday!!

 

[calypso726]

Yeah, I'm almost done with book #2 now. Probably another half hour of reading to go. The next one came into the library for me, but they don't open again until Tuesday at noon. So, I'll have to find something else to read between now and then. Maybe Pride, Prejudice and Zombies? I've had that on the shelf for a while but haven't gotten to it yet.

Ah, you're heading into my favorite on next

Hmmmm that sounds interesting Let me know if its a good read.

Oh, our next book club pick is Water for Elephants. We read a couple of books and then seen the movie. This one comes out as a movie in a few weeks. So, we'll probably try to go see it in the theater after discussing the book.

My manicurist er nail stylist, heck not sure what her title would be that got me hooked on the BDB series LOVED Water for Elephants. I'd like to read it but can not seem to break away from PNR at the moment

Terrie! If there was more of this in a dog show, I would watch them! You guessed it, another Clicky!

Yeah, I know they aren't exactly riveting

Just got home before I made the colorful logo; my buddy made his own arcade machine (complete with 30,000 games from atari, co-ops, commodore, nintendo, sega, etc)...I could spent days on that machine playing all of the classics.

Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Ms Pac Man, Galaga...

Watching the wheels turning and seeing where this could be headed .... Now where did I put that crowbar?

We're probably gonna use the same stuff as last years.

Oh my, I think he is experiencing early dementia. It breaking my heart to see my DH act as if he has never met me

I THINK I WILL MAKE A FEW EXTRA MAGNETS FOR YOUR DOOR. DONT TELL TERRIE ABOUT THAT EITHER

At first I was sad to see that photobucket was not displaying pictures that were being posted. That is until your post here Ian. I am almost afraid to know what is on these

Hi everyone. We will be joining you on this cruise. It will be our second member cruise. We are going this time with another couple and are leaving the kids home this time (and boy they are not happy)! Is there a FE list already going? We would love to participate in it. Also, for those who have done the member cruise didn't it go to CC twice?

Hi and aboard! Yes, it did got to CC twice

Who's planning on dressing up for Pirate night?

WE ARE

 

[GoofTroop716]

Can anyone tell me what they use to download photos on here. Obviously i use Photobucket but there seems to be issues right now for a few who are registered with them. Should i sign up in Photobucket again or switch to something else.

I agree. Photobucket is the best photo hosting website I've found. I doubt it would be a problem for new users.

 

[Steamboat WillyNilly]

Happy Hump Day Everybody

There will be no hump in my day. Thanks for nothin Deb.

 

[GoofTroop716]

Hello you two!!

Yes, I had a blast on the cruise. I have pics, I just havent put them into Photobucket yet. I really need to do that. The ship is beautiful and sooooo big!! A lot of people on that boat. Loved our servers and stateroom host! Had a great view of Sorcerer Mickey at the aft of the ship. Lilly loved it. Deb, you are welcome for the nice weather. I really enjoyed it as well. Oh by the way....could you send me your address again??? PM me.

Welcome back! I'm glad to hear you had a great time!
When you do your trip report, please post a link in this thread. We love reading about and looking at pictures from the Dream!