12/24/08 Christmas Cruise on the Wonder

We packed last night. I'm heading to the office for a few hours of work before we leave for PC.

I'm sure looking forward to a little R&R over the holidays. :woohoo:
 
Our suitcases are packed and we are doing our 2 final loads of laundry before we board the ship. Concierge on the DVC 6th level was beyond fantastic and I really hope to be able to do it again some time LOLOLOL ....as if!:lmao:


I tried to find you Courtney but we didn't cross paths:hug:

I know. I tried to find you but alas no path crossing. :sad1: The thought even crossed my mind several times to find your room onboard as I had it listed in Passporter but every time I remembered, I wasn't in a position to go look. And then when I was around the Passporter, I didn't remember to look. Welcome to my world.....:sad2: It is a bit disappointing. I guess cyber drinks will have to do for quite a while longer. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your concierge. We enjoyed our room too but we didn't have the concierge. We did have zebras, antelope, and giraffes.

Thanks for the sailing wishes. I'll be wearing my Double Scoops shirt to the port on Wednesday. I still love the staying.....the cruise may end but the blabbering will not!

BTW, where was Bear in your Christmas picture? We all noticed the MIA.

Jim, I was certainly jealous of your shirt. Whoever did those for you did a wonderful job. And if you did it, you did an awesome job. Saw you guys several times around the ship. You really weren't kidding about the wine.

Glad you made it safely, Matt. I hope you enjoyed your Palo brunch. Next time we go, our DD will be old enough to do it as well. She is already counting down the days to her graduation trip. We are all sad it is two years away....:sad1: :sad1: :sad1:

Hope to still keep in touch with you guys and experience another cruise with ya! cmyost95@att.net

TTFN
Courtney
 
Hey all.
We are in DFW at the Springhill Suites over by Grapevine Mills. Dale was too tired to drive all the way home,so will make that three hour trip in the morning.
Hope everyone enjoyed the cruise. We had a lazy four days. Took an independant island/Atlantis tour in Nassau, watched Bedtime Stories and napped away our sea day. I sat on our balcony and read alot. Dale and Michael enjoyed their fishing excursion, and Lindsey and I got in the only parasailing excursion they did at CC. I noticed they cancelled everyone after ours. No we didn't break the equipment.:rotfl2:

It was good to meet all of you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to stick around and get to know everyone better, but the grandkids called and it was depressing knowing they were supposed to be with us:sad1:

Hope everyone has a safe trip home. Hopefully everyone will check in here to let us know they have gotten home safely and will let us know how they enjoyed thier Christmas onboard.
 
We had a great cruise. It was fun watching Matt eat his way through Palos for the brunch and dinner.

At our wrap up breakfast, we have a tradition of making the last morning a review of the trip meeting, the kids both agreed that the best time on the cruise was the Segway trip in Nassau. If you ever have a chance, try it. It is not a tour of the city, but riding on tracks through the woods. They also allowed us to run a course that included jumps. This is more about riding Segways then it is a tour. Lots of fun driving wide open and hands free.

I hope everyone had a great time and yes, I was not kidding about the wine.
 
Brenda, glad to see you guys made it to our home just fine. We are in Mobile, AL and just filled up on more seafood. You guys have a safe trip back home to OK. Dad said it was cold there. At least in Henryetta. I'm glad you guys got to do your parasailing. I was afraid that you didn't get to. Lindsey was such a doll and Michael's not as bad as you described either although I do see a bit of it. It was such a pleasure meeting you guys. Sorry it wasn't longer.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to go back. Mild depression is sinking in again as we recall all the good times, friends, and our wonderful server. He was awesome and really made us feel special. The kids miss their new friends and all the good times they had not coming back to the room until midnight. We really didn't rush to too many activities and really spent time relaxing. LOVED the Tropical Rainforest!!! :thumbsup2 Even talked DH into experiencing it and he loved it too. Although he ended up blaming something getting into his eye and making it red and swollen on the steam room. :confused3 It's all better now. Only DS got to see Bedtime Stories. We all wanted to go but he never told anyone which showing he was going to. Oh well. DD saw lots of movies and spent great time with kids in Aloft that she is complaining she will never see again. Nassau stunk since everything was closed!!!! No rum cake for me!!! :sad1: We went on the catamaran sail and reef snorkeling. The sailing was great but the wind was so strong and the water so choppy that the snorkeling didn't go well. The waves would go over the top of my dry snorkel and it would act like I went under water. I ended up swallowing some salt water which made me sick. So we made up for it at CC. :thumbsup2

Jim, that tour sounds quite a bit different than I had expected! It does sound like tons of fun! We will have to put that on the list for next time.
 
Nice meeting everyone. I called 0 on my phone this morning and asked for an ice cream Mickey bar but it still hasnt shown up yet:sad2:

I'll try to have my pics up on Flickr or photobucket today and leave a link here. Feel free to steal them for your own, particularly if you leave a link to yours...:thumbsup2

Our first ever cruise was WONDERful.
 
Even the Best Plan Can Go......................:laughing:


With that being said let me say a few things. We were very well organized and planned this trip for a year. We went in with a positive attitude, realistic expectations and a go with the flow attitude. Even that was not enough to prepare us for our most recent trip. More to come......:) popcorn::
 
Flight Down
Have heard lots of not so good things about United. I can see why some people may say that. We are flying United via Calgary, Alberta, connecting in Chicago and going to Tampa.
After changing our flights five times and losing our luggage on the way down, I could understand how one might feel that way. Things happen....roll with it.
We found the flight to be a very positive experience. Chicago and Tampa are very easy and pleasant airports to get around.:)
Tampa
Have heard lots of good things about Dollar Car Rental. Obviously Tampa is not one of those places. After repeatedly getting very rude and aggressive with us for not taking out the “necessary insurance”, three international phone calls ( to confirm to Dollar we were completely covered) and an hour of our time they finally caved and gave us the vehicle. This of course was after standing in line at United for 45 minutes filling out forms for our lost luggage.
We then spent 30 minutes in the parking garage in our rental talking to AIG travel insurance who also was completely uninformed on their policies and what they covered. Two hours and thirty minutes after we land we are finally on the road. This is only Day 1 of 10....OY!popcorn::
 
Here's most of our photos. I havent finished editing or checking for spelling but whatever. I'll do a TR soon but you get first dibs at looking at the pics.
 
We just pulled into the driveway an hour ago. I refused to touch a computer during my vacation, so I am just now getting caught up!

Annette, I am SO sorry I never got to meet you, and I am looking forward to reading your TR! As I am in entertainment-withdrawal at this moment, I am quite intrigued. But I do hope that your cruise part of the trip went well!!

I will be attempting a TR and pics as well in the next few days. Like I said, we JUST got home. I was so glad we had that extra night at Saratoga. I forgot about the 11:00 luggage pick-up until our tablemates reminded me at dinner, so we sped back to the room after dinner for a marathon packing. Needless to say, everything was a mess, so I basically had to unpack all the bags at SSR, do laundry (that was part of the plan - I was NOT going to waste cruise time doing that) and repack. Tom called Member Services at least 20 times trying to get an extra night, but no luck. We drove about 11 hours on Monday and 9 today. Yuck.

Nice meeting everyone. I called 0 on my phone this morning and asked for an ice cream Mickey bar but it still hasnt shown up yet

I also enjoyed meeting y'all - wish we could have visited more, but it was good to put faces to names. Did anyone else rebook? We couldn't help ourselves, but it is far away - Oct 2010! We really wanted an Eastern Carib., and the one next summer that we wanted was way too expensive. Booking this far out saves us tons of money! The kids are hoping for a miracle to go sooner, since they loved it too! 4 days was just not enough. Every once in a while the ground still sways beneath my feet, and I am missing the ocean out my window!!

Look forward to reading those trippies!!
:goodvibes Shari
 
DD saw lots of movies and spent great time with kids in Aloft that she is complaining she will never see again.

:surfweb: We're back as well. The cruise was awesome :cool1: DD and DS are already peppering me for a repeat performance and they insist that it be a Disney Cruise. DD is also missing her new best friends from the loft. She has a death grip on a contact sheet that the kids made in order to stay in touch with each other. TXdeVille if you get some strange calls from NC, it's probably her. :rolleyes1

Sorry I didn't get to meet more of you but at least I ran into one person at the lifeboat drill of all places.

Well, its back to work tomorrow. :scared1:

Jo
 
:surfweb: We're back as well. The cruise was awesome :cool1: DD and DS are already peppering me for a repeat performance and they insist that it be a Disney Cruise. DD is also missing her new best friends from the loft. She has a death grip on a contact sheet that the kids made in order to stay in touch with each other. TXdeVille if you get some strange calls from NC, it's probably her. :rolleyes1

Sorry I didn't get to meet more of you but at least I ran into one person at the lifeboat drill of all places.

Well, its back to work tomorrow. :scared1:

Jo

Well I am back to work already. :sad1: Not too bad of a day today. Cross my fingers.....

I am on call this weekend but plan on posting my pictures on Flickr and then letting you guys see them. I have photobucket too but with Flickr I can play it on my tv via our cable. :thumbsup2

Sorry I didn't get to see you either Annette. I am so sorry you had a negative experience and I will definitely read your TR for the entertainment value. You are a great writer!

Jo.....If it is the same list my daugher has, she created it. That is where her organization ends. :lmao: Most of her friends are in Canada or UK/Europe. I told her no phone calls to there but to check and see if they have Skype.

Shari...We rebooked as well. I know our schedule is busy for the next couple of years (ambassador trip to Europe, National Scout Jamboree, Star Wars Weekend, etc) so we are planning for DD's HS graduation trip. So we booked a dummy date. I thought about going when we originally planned the Star Wars Weekend but I think the kids will be ready for WDW then and I want to go when DD is still interested. And we have a cruise with RC for Oct 2010. Maybe we will pass you! We will do the Eastern Caribbean on the new Oasis. :goodvibes The kids are disappointed they aren't going. We should definitely work on getting together more since we are so close. We couldn't book another one quick enough but DD is still disappointed cuz her new friends probably won't be on the next cruise with her. Oh well.....

I have moments every now and then where I still sway too. Too funny...
 
Sorry I didn't get to meet more of you but at least I ran into one person at the lifeboat drill of all places.

That was me! :yay: I look over and there next to us is this handsome and vaguely familiar, bearded man. Your DD was fiddling with her KTTW card and I was trying to read the name. I finally just asked and JoDale it was!

Glad you had fun!
 
Shari and Courtney-

I rebooked as well. Reserved a Cat. 4 for $600 less than the Cat. 6 that I had booked for the European Capitals 6/24/10 cruise. I was able to transfer the deposit that I paid in October so no additional money out of pocket.

What about you guys? Did you splurge for balconies next time? We really missed not being able to escape to one after the kiddos were down.

Shari, my ears are still rocking, too.

It was 23 degrees in Kansas today. :sad1:

Adrianna
 
Just in case anyone checks in, I wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

HappyNewYearPoohBearFriends.gif
 
Well I am back to work already. :sad1: Not too bad of a day today. Cross my fingers.....

I am on call this weekend but plan on posting my pictures on Flickr and then letting you guys see them. I have photobucket too but with Flickr I can play it on my tv via our cable. :thumbsup2

Sorry I didn't get to see you either Annette. I am so sorry you had a negative experience and I will definitely read your TR for the entertainment value. You are a great writer!

Jo.....If it is the same list my daugher has, she created it. That is where her organization ends. :lmao: Most of her friends are in Canada or UK/Europe. I told her no phone calls to there but to check and see if they have Skype.

Shari...We rebooked as well. I know our schedule is busy for the next couple of years (ambassador trip to Europe, National Scout Jamboree, Star Wars Weekend, etc) so we are planning for DD's HS graduation trip. So we booked a dummy date. I thought about going when we originally planned the Star Wars Weekend but I think the kids will be ready for WDW then and I want to go when DD is still interested. And we have a cruise with RC for Oct 2010. Maybe we will pass you! We will do the Eastern Caribbean on the new Oasis. :goodvibes The kids are disappointed they aren't going. We should definitely work on getting together more since we are so close. We couldn't book another one quick enough but DD is still disappointed cuz her new friends probably won't be on the next cruise with her. Oh well.....

I have moments every now and then where I still sway too. Too funny...


Sorry if it sounds so negative. I would compare it more to lets say.....space mountain....non-stop with a few hee haw laffs thrown in.:lmao:
 

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