Friday morning, Castaway Cay. But first, down to Guest Services, and I want something done about our nightly noise!
Somewhere I lost the names of the people I spoke with, but this time the man I spoke with told me that the next time I hear the noise, I should call down right away and they would send someone up to take care of it. Ok, fine, I will do that. In hindsight, I should have done that right away, but I just trusted that DCL guest relations would handle everything right away, that there would be no hassle for me, because our last experience with them was so perfect, that I had no reason to think they would let me down this time. I know better now.
So, Castaway Cay. Finally, SIL was impressed by something. We were off the boat by 9:15, headed to the Family Beach while SIL went to the Adult Beach. We got our 2 floats, laid them next to us while we played in the sand. A couple minutes later we looked over to get our floats, only one float left! We were there maybe 30 minutes!
DH went off to get a replacement. No problem to do that, just a pain to walk back with it.
We played, we floated, DH and eldest DD snorkeled a little, we played some more, then we had lunch. We put the floats against our chairs, had lunch (it was yummy, especially the cookie dough ice cream!), and headed back to play some more. Hey, we only had one floatie again!
I don't understand why people take other's floats.
Back to the float rental place for another replacement. This time, someone sat on the floats when they were not in use. It is not an easy walk back to the float rental in soft sand, especially when you are ticked off, and DH did not want to go walking again.
The water at Castaway Cay was a bit cold for me, although the air was warm and the sun was shining. I headed back to the boat about 2:30, as I had to get some packing done before my family came and took over the cabin again. I had about an hour, then the family returned and regaled me with tales of their sand castle building.
Dinner is always sad on the last night, and not just because we have to part with so much money for tips!
We really enjoyed out time with Adrian again and Zoltan. They make you feel very special, and my girls leave feeling like they are the most beautiful, special girls on the boat. I especially appreciate Zoltan finding the Hungarian flag for me from the other restaurant (there was no Hungarian flag at Parrot Cay for the Small World Parade) and bringing it over for me to take a picture of him, Adrian, and the flag. I don't know if we will ever see them again, but I hope our paths will cross in the not too far future.
We even liked our room stewerd, Prachan (our last room steward was ok, but we liked Prachan better). His towel animals were always a hit, and he would light up when the girls would tell him how much they liked his latest creation. On the last night, he even showed my eldest how to make a couple of the animals! She has been taking my towels and fashioning swans ever since!
After dinner, I went back to the room to pack while DH, SIL and DDs walked around. They came back before too long, and no one wanted to go to any shows, they just wanted to hang out on the verandah and watch the sea go by, so they did. Why not, how often do you get to do that anyway?
Off to bed after the packing was done. At 2:00 a.m., it returned. THUD, THUD, THUD. I called Guest Services. There was no answer. I tried again 15 minutes later. Spoke to a woman who said she would notify security. 15 minutes later, my family is complaining they can't sleep, so I throw on DH's coat and go down to Guest Services. The woman pages security (didn't she do this early? apparently not). Security shows up, I explain the problem, I tell him that I saw on deck 4 a guy using a power washer, maybe he was the one making the noise in some way with either the cord and as he was washing things on the wall? Security would look into it, I was told to go back to the room (by the time I arrived, the noise was gone). First, I wanted the Guest Services Manager, but was told she would not be in until 6:00 a.m. Fine, I would be back, since I had to attend immigration at that time anyway.
Next morning, I stand in line to talk to Danielle, the manager. She tells me she can't do anything, as there is no record of my complaints. I think there may have been steam coming out of my ears at this time, but I held my cool. She did make a record of my complaint, and gave me an address to write to. I will be doing that soon.
Disembarkation was not a problem, it went by quickly.
We enjoyed our cruise, we will probably sail with DCL again, but it was not the all out wonderful experience we had the first time. I probably would not have been so upset with the constant secrecy in regards to the illnesses on board and the people leaving with luggage in both Grand Cayman and Cozumel if I had been getting enough sleep. It is amazing how a lack of sleep really affects your mood. That's why I will just chalk this all up to me not sleeping and partially to dealing with my SIL as to why I did not thoroughly enjoy this cruise. I did enjoy my time with my family, my girls were so thrilled to be on the ship again, and it was wonderful to see Adrian. The ports of call were fun to see, I am glad we went. I am especially glad we did not miss the boat in Key West!
Thanks for reading, hope I wasn't too boring nor wordy (well, ok, I was wordy, but hopefully not too boring! )
Somewhere I lost the names of the people I spoke with, but this time the man I spoke with told me that the next time I hear the noise, I should call down right away and they would send someone up to take care of it. Ok, fine, I will do that. In hindsight, I should have done that right away, but I just trusted that DCL guest relations would handle everything right away, that there would be no hassle for me, because our last experience with them was so perfect, that I had no reason to think they would let me down this time. I know better now.
So, Castaway Cay. Finally, SIL was impressed by something. We were off the boat by 9:15, headed to the Family Beach while SIL went to the Adult Beach. We got our 2 floats, laid them next to us while we played in the sand. A couple minutes later we looked over to get our floats, only one float left! We were there maybe 30 minutes!
DH went off to get a replacement. No problem to do that, just a pain to walk back with it.
We played, we floated, DH and eldest DD snorkeled a little, we played some more, then we had lunch. We put the floats against our chairs, had lunch (it was yummy, especially the cookie dough ice cream!), and headed back to play some more. Hey, we only had one floatie again!
I don't understand why people take other's floats.
Back to the float rental place for another replacement. This time, someone sat on the floats when they were not in use. It is not an easy walk back to the float rental in soft sand, especially when you are ticked off, and DH did not want to go walking again.
The water at Castaway Cay was a bit cold for me, although the air was warm and the sun was shining. I headed back to the boat about 2:30, as I had to get some packing done before my family came and took over the cabin again. I had about an hour, then the family returned and regaled me with tales of their sand castle building.
Dinner is always sad on the last night, and not just because we have to part with so much money for tips!
We really enjoyed out time with Adrian again and Zoltan. They make you feel very special, and my girls leave feeling like they are the most beautiful, special girls on the boat. I especially appreciate Zoltan finding the Hungarian flag for me from the other restaurant (there was no Hungarian flag at Parrot Cay for the Small World Parade) and bringing it over for me to take a picture of him, Adrian, and the flag. I don't know if we will ever see them again, but I hope our paths will cross in the not too far future.We even liked our room stewerd, Prachan (our last room steward was ok, but we liked Prachan better). His towel animals were always a hit, and he would light up when the girls would tell him how much they liked his latest creation. On the last night, he even showed my eldest how to make a couple of the animals! She has been taking my towels and fashioning swans ever since!
After dinner, I went back to the room to pack while DH, SIL and DDs walked around. They came back before too long, and no one wanted to go to any shows, they just wanted to hang out on the verandah and watch the sea go by, so they did. Why not, how often do you get to do that anyway?
Off to bed after the packing was done. At 2:00 a.m., it returned. THUD, THUD, THUD. I called Guest Services. There was no answer. I tried again 15 minutes later. Spoke to a woman who said she would notify security. 15 minutes later, my family is complaining they can't sleep, so I throw on DH's coat and go down to Guest Services. The woman pages security (didn't she do this early? apparently not). Security shows up, I explain the problem, I tell him that I saw on deck 4 a guy using a power washer, maybe he was the one making the noise in some way with either the cord and as he was washing things on the wall? Security would look into it, I was told to go back to the room (by the time I arrived, the noise was gone). First, I wanted the Guest Services Manager, but was told she would not be in until 6:00 a.m. Fine, I would be back, since I had to attend immigration at that time anyway.
Next morning, I stand in line to talk to Danielle, the manager. She tells me she can't do anything, as there is no record of my complaints. I think there may have been steam coming out of my ears at this time, but I held my cool. She did make a record of my complaint, and gave me an address to write to. I will be doing that soon.
Disembarkation was not a problem, it went by quickly.
We enjoyed our cruise, we will probably sail with DCL again, but it was not the all out wonderful experience we had the first time. I probably would not have been so upset with the constant secrecy in regards to the illnesses on board and the people leaving with luggage in both Grand Cayman and Cozumel if I had been getting enough sleep. It is amazing how a lack of sleep really affects your mood. That's why I will just chalk this all up to me not sleeping and partially to dealing with my SIL as to why I did not thoroughly enjoy this cruise. I did enjoy my time with my family, my girls were so thrilled to be on the ship again, and it was wonderful to see Adrian. The ports of call were fun to see, I am glad we went. I am especially glad we did not miss the boat in Key West!
Thanks for reading, hope I wasn't too boring nor wordy (well, ok, I was wordy, but hopefully not too boring!
)
! So sorry about the THUD, THUD, THUD 
. I would like to know what your cabin number was.
