THUNDERMOUNTAINMOMMA
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2006
- Messages
- 674
I have really appreciated your TR so far! It's been so positive and it looks like you all had so much fun! Thanks!
2/24/07 Western TR As Seen Through the Eyes of a Young Family WITH PICTURES!!!
- Thread starter sejejoemmiev
- Start date
sejejoemmiev
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 387
We all woke up the next morning feeling better. We got dressed and headed up to deck 9 to meet up with the rest of the family. Weather was beautiful and the seas were calm. DW and I had booked the rasul spa treatment for that morning. It was also the character breakfast for the kids (poor planning).
So we planned to have my mother and sister take them all to the breakfast while we went off to experience the infamous E.R. DW has been to a spa on several occasions, including our last DCL cruise. Those treatments were nothing like this one would be, but at least she had some knowledge of the workings of a spa. I on the other hand had never even seen inside one, so I had no idea what to expect or how to act. We walked into the Vista Spa, and there were about a half dozen people sitting in the lobby waiting for their particular appointment. As we walked up to the desk, I could feel all their eyes burning holes in my back. The CM welcomed us and I told her that we had a nine-o'clock reservation. She then asked if it was for the Rasul.
Yeah, she just said that loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Oh well, at least with her accent, it didn't sound quite as perverse as when I said it. We had a seat, filled-out the forms, and waited for our attendant to show us the way. After a short wait, we headed down the hall towards the changing rooms. We were each given a key to a locker and instructed to change and meet back in the hall. The locker contained a pair of slippers and a robe. First complaint of the cruise: As a man who is 6'3'' and 250lbs., those one size fits all robes and slippers didn't even come close. My heels dragged on the floor behind the slipper, and the robe fit more like a shirt-a tight one! Well, that made an easy decision- I would be keeping the bathing suit on for the walk through the spa to the rasul room. Our 'instructor' met us again and gave us an in-depth tour of the room. It was very spacious. You first walk in to a sort of sitting area that has a bench and all of the muds and lotions that will be needed for the next hour. There is a shower to the left of this room, and a glass door to the right. Inside the glass door is the steam room. This room has three(?) built-in seats that are just big enough for two, and the center of the room has a structure with several sinks and hoses. I have two tips for anyone planning on trying the E.R. First, all the hoses in the steam room have COLD water in them-use them CAREFULLY! Second, the sinks in the middle of the room don't have handles-they are motion sensors. I discovered this when I placed the bowl of body mud carefully on the sink, only to have the sink turn on and ruin the mud. Luckily, we had already used half the mud, and this just forced us to find a creative way to share it 
The time went by very quickly, and before we knew it, we heard the courtesy knock. This gave us enough time to shower and go back to the locker rooms to get changed. For a spa rookie, I must say I had a great time, and found this to be an excellent way to get relaxed after a not-so relaxing week at WDW. Sorry, no pictures included with this part of the TR(you can all thank me later
)
We ran down to the staterooms to get the stroller packed and everyone changed, then it was off to deck 1 to meet up with DSis and DM, and go ashore. We didn't have any excursions booked in Key West. We just planned on walking around and taking it all in. We were originally going to do the trolley for transportation around the island but after factoring in the cost for a family of six, we decided against it. We decided that the weather in Feb. (not too Hot) might be perfect weather to leisurely stroll Key West. We wanted to see the Southernmost point, the aquarium, and try the frozen key lime on a stick. We had walked about a 1/4 mile and the heat was starting to get to the kids. That is just about the time that we found the Blonde Giraffe. DW and I had been waiting a long time to try the frozen key lime pie on a stick, and they were well worth the wait. To my surprise, even the kids enjoyed them!
After our Key Lime Pie on a stick, we decided to head for the Southernmost Point. After walking about 1/2 mile in the wrong direction, then back again we decided to head to the local CVS. TIP Before the cruise, DW had been looking for some childrens snorkel sets to use for the trip. She had found some in some catalogs for anywhere from $25-40/set
I insisted we not waste the money, and said that we could probably find some when we were in port some where. Well, CVS in Key West had a large selection of snorkel sets for both children and adults for $8-can't beat that. We bought those and about 5 tubes of chap-stick as our lips were burning up in the strong sun of the Caribbean. We also picked up sand toys while we were there because we had a couple beach days coming up!
DM and Dsis decided to go their own way for the rest of the afternoon. DW and I took the kids to the Key West Aquarium to see what that was all about. It was rather small, but had some great stuff, and the kids loved it. The first tank had small critters like starfish and horseshoe crabs that the kids could reach-in and touch.
The next few pools had stingrays and sharks. The smaller tanks on the walls were filled with tropical fish, lobsters, and even sea horses. Well worth the admission price.
We took the long walk back to the ship and got there around 4 p.m. We brought the kids back to the room to change into their bathing suits and we headed to the Mickey Pool for swimming and a late lunch/early dinner for kiddos.
It was at this time that DD1 noticed the hairbrading and asked to get it done. We asked for a appointment at the desk and they said they could squeeze DD1 in @ 5:30PM. We swam for thirty more minutes than my DW brought DD1 to get her hair braided. This was something she had wanted to do since our last cruise. ($2.00/braid-$20.00 for what she had done)
While DW and her were up there, I had DD2 and the boys back in the staterooms getting ready for the night. We had Palo reservations for this night, and the kids were just going to get some food from Pluto's Dog House then head to the kid's clubs. We dropped them all off around at their respective locations (all four had to be at a different place) and got to Palo right at 7p.m. We had planned on getting there 10 minutes early as sunset in Key West that day was 6:50. DM and DSis were waiting for us when we arrived, and we were sat right away. We had a great waiter from India, but I do forget his name. The food was excellent, as I had remembered from our last visit. We started with the calamari and the pizza. DSis and I both ordered tuna while DW had a filet, and DM tried the lamb. Our server also brought out an additional item or two which he insisted that we try. No one had room for dessert, but we all knew that we couldn't possibly leave without ordering the chocolate souffle. After induldging for about two hours, we rolled out and down to deck 5 to check on the kids. We picked up DD2 from the nursery, where she had just fallen asleep. The other kids all wanted to stay where they were. While leaving my DW saw Belle doing pictures and new our DD1 would hate to miss it. We went back to the Club to see if she wanted to sign out for a few minutes to get a picture with Belle. Of course she said yes! After her picture she decided to stay with us and not to go back to the Club. We then brought DD2 back to the room to put her down for the night, change clothes, and then I went back to retreive the rest of the kids.
The kid's loved finding our towel animal of the night-a dog (I think).
So we planned to have my mother and sister take them all to the breakfast while we went off to experience the infamous E.R. DW has been to a spa on several occasions, including our last DCL cruise. Those treatments were nothing like this one would be, but at least she had some knowledge of the workings of a spa. I on the other hand had never even seen inside one, so I had no idea what to expect or how to act. We walked into the Vista Spa, and there were about a half dozen people sitting in the lobby waiting for their particular appointment. As we walked up to the desk, I could feel all their eyes burning holes in my back. The CM welcomed us and I told her that we had a nine-o'clock reservation. She then asked if it was for the Rasul.
Yeah, she just said that loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Oh well, at least with her accent, it didn't sound quite as perverse as when I said it. We had a seat, filled-out the forms, and waited for our attendant to show us the way. After a short wait, we headed down the hall towards the changing rooms. We were each given a key to a locker and instructed to change and meet back in the hall. The locker contained a pair of slippers and a robe. First complaint of the cruise: As a man who is 6'3'' and 250lbs., those one size fits all robes and slippers didn't even come close. My heels dragged on the floor behind the slipper, and the robe fit more like a shirt-a tight one! Well, that made an easy decision- I would be keeping the bathing suit on for the walk through the spa to the rasul room. Our 'instructor' met us again and gave us an in-depth tour of the room. It was very spacious. You first walk in to a sort of sitting area that has a bench and all of the muds and lotions that will be needed for the next hour. There is a shower to the left of this room, and a glass door to the right. Inside the glass door is the steam room. This room has three(?) built-in seats that are just big enough for two, and the center of the room has a structure with several sinks and hoses. I have two tips for anyone planning on trying the E.R. First, all the hoses in the steam room have COLD water in them-use them CAREFULLY! Second, the sinks in the middle of the room don't have handles-they are motion sensors. I discovered this when I placed the bowl of body mud carefully on the sink, only to have the sink turn on and ruin the mud. Luckily, we had already used half the mud, and this just forced us to find a creative way to share it The time went by very quickly, and before we knew it, we heard the courtesy knock. This gave us enough time to shower and go back to the locker rooms to get changed. For a spa rookie, I must say I had a great time, and found this to be an excellent way to get relaxed after a not-so relaxing week at WDW. Sorry, no pictures included with this part of the TR(you can all thank me later )
We then went back on deck to find the kids playing table tennis with my sister. We picked up the kids to get ready for Key West. Just as we gathered everyone, the ship came into viewing distance of the islands. As we got closer, and the water became more shallow- it changed color to the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. 
We ran down to the staterooms to get the stroller packed and everyone changed, then it was off to deck 1 to meet up with DSis and DM, and go ashore. We didn't have any excursions booked in Key West. We just planned on walking around and taking it all in. We were originally going to do the trolley for transportation around the island but after factoring in the cost for a family of six, we decided against it. We decided that the weather in Feb. (not too Hot) might be perfect weather to leisurely stroll Key West. We wanted to see the Southernmost point, the aquarium, and try the frozen key lime on a stick. We had walked about a 1/4 mile and the heat was starting to get to the kids. That is just about the time that we found the Blonde Giraffe. DW and I had been waiting a long time to try the frozen key lime pie on a stick, and they were well worth the wait. To my surprise, even the kids enjoyed them!
After our Key Lime Pie on a stick, we decided to head for the Southernmost Point. After walking about 1/2 mile in the wrong direction, then back again we decided to head to the local CVS. TIP Before the cruise, DW had been looking for some childrens snorkel sets to use for the trip. She had found some in some catalogs for anywhere from $25-40/set
I insisted we not waste the money, and said that we could probably find some when we were in port some where. Well, CVS in Key West had a large selection of snorkel sets for both children and adults for $8-can't beat that. We bought those and about 5 tubes of chap-stick as our lips were burning up in the strong sun of the Caribbean. We also picked up sand toys while we were there because we had a couple beach days coming up! DM and Dsis decided to go their own way for the rest of the afternoon. DW and I took the kids to the Key West Aquarium to see what that was all about. It was rather small, but had some great stuff, and the kids loved it. The first tank had small critters like starfish and horseshoe crabs that the kids could reach-in and touch. 
The next few pools had stingrays and sharks. The smaller tanks on the walls were filled with tropical fish, lobsters, and even sea horses. Well worth the admission price.
It was getting to be mid-afternoon, and the only thing we hadn't done yet was to go to the southernmost point. We dug out a map of the island, figured out the right direction, and started walking. According to the map, it was about a mile and a half away. That doesn't sound like too far, until you start walking it with a broken stroller and a 4-year old who was still recovering from the WDW vacation. About half way there, he threw himself on the ground and refused to go any further. We were forced to carry him on our shoulders the rest of the way. It is also about half way there that I saw a side of Key West that I wasn't expecting. I have heard great things about this island for years, both from friends and from reading the DIS Boards. But in all that time, I never heard anyone mention the neighborhood just before the point. To put it nicely, it was a little shady. We came across the southernmost biker bar and the southernmost street-craps game. I know you will find a neighborhood like this in a city across the country, I just wasn't expecting it here in 'paradise'. Maybe we had just been too sheltered after being on Disney property for a week. We finally reached the southernmost point and DW waited in line for our obligatory picture, while the kids and I sat on the seawall and rested. While we waited behind the 'rock', a couple next to us was jokingly arguing about waiting in line to have their picture taken with it. The guy said, why wait when there was no line to take a picture from the backside of the painted marker. His wife pointed out the fact that there were no words written on the backside, and his response was, "that's what photoshop is for".
We took the long walk back to the ship and got there around 4 p.m. We brought the kids back to the room to change into their bathing suits and we headed to the Mickey Pool for swimming and a late lunch/early dinner for kiddos.
It was at this time that DD1 noticed the hairbrading and asked to get it done. We asked for a appointment at the desk and they said they could squeeze DD1 in @ 5:30PM. We swam for thirty more minutes than my DW brought DD1 to get her hair braided. This was something she had wanted to do since our last cruise. ($2.00/braid-$20.00 for what she had done)
While DW and her were up there, I had DD2 and the boys back in the staterooms getting ready for the night. We had Palo reservations for this night, and the kids were just going to get some food from Pluto's Dog House then head to the kid's clubs. We dropped them all off around at their respective locations (all four had to be at a different place) and got to Palo right at 7p.m. We had planned on getting there 10 minutes early as sunset in Key West that day was 6:50. DM and DSis were waiting for us when we arrived, and we were sat right away. We had a great waiter from India, but I do forget his name. The food was excellent, as I had remembered from our last visit. We started with the calamari and the pizza. DSis and I both ordered tuna while DW had a filet, and DM tried the lamb. Our server also brought out an additional item or two which he insisted that we try. No one had room for dessert, but we all knew that we couldn't possibly leave without ordering the chocolate souffle. After induldging for about two hours, we rolled out and down to deck 5 to check on the kids. We picked up DD2 from the nursery, where she had just fallen asleep. The other kids all wanted to stay where they were. While leaving my DW saw Belle doing pictures and new our DD1 would hate to miss it. We went back to the Club to see if she wanted to sign out for a few minutes to get a picture with Belle. Of course she said yes! After her picture she decided to stay with us and not to go back to the Club. We then brought DD2 back to the room to put her down for the night, change clothes, and then I went back to retreive the rest of the kids.
The kid's loved finding our towel animal of the night-a dog (I think).
pierresgirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,623
Great report and I love the pics, your kids are adorable! How long is the Rasul? I def. want to surprise dh with it!
sejejoemmiev
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 387
Thanks for reading! The Rasul is great, and I believe it is about 50 minutes. It is by far the best value in the spa, but that is because they are just providing the real estate, the rest of the experience is totally up to you and your partner (or partners-up to three people????)
imlazar
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 584
We met this crew member on both of our cruises, he was wonderful to our children. On our first cruise he gave us a tour of the facilities and explained how it would work to our kids. I believe he's from Brazil, just a great guy!
sejejoemmiev
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 387
During all of the obsessive planning, DW and I decided to keep the sea days wide open with nothing scheduled so that we could relax and unwind for at least a few moments on this vacation. We slept in until around 9 A.M. this day, and probably could have slept much later. The kids must have been really exhausted as it took many attempts to get their backsides out of bed. DW and I had brunch reservations for Palo at 11, so we had a few hours to get the kids dressed, fed, and off to their respective Kid's Club locations before our ressies. Once I was able to drag the oldest three out of bed and into some swimsuits and t-shirts, I brought them up to Topsiders for breakfast. DW and DD2 stayed behind to get ready for brunch and the nursery. Eating out with three little ones is always an adventure, and why would it be any different here? As we worked our way through the buffet line, DS2 made it all of ten feet before dropping his tray and having to start over. Then, at the end of the line, DD1 walked right in front of another passenger and caused them to nearly drop their tray(but she has done this enough to know to apologize right away-always look for the positives). After all three of them, made it out to the deck, we found a great table overlooking the water. It was a little gusty, and things like butter packets and napkins began to blow. It was starting to get late, and I was anxious for them to finish up and bring them down to their groups. It was right about then that DD1 somehow elbowed her large glass of chocolate milk, and covered not only her tray, but DS2's as well. "Good thing we are on vacation", DS1 reminded me, "because you can't get mad on vacation", he said. I thought to myself, good thing he reminded me, because I must have missed that rule. DD1 and DS2 grabbed a couple of new doughnuts and we headed to the clubs.
After dropping DD2 off at Flounder's Nursery, DW and I headed up to Palo. Before I describe the brunch, let me just say that as wonderful as Palo is, I would not recommend back-to-back meals there. On a three-day cruise, you may not have an option-and in that case, go for it. But otherwise, you are better off showing up at Palo with a large appetite, and after eating dinner there the night before, I did not have one of those. That said, brunch at Palo is AMAZING. Service began with a complimentary Champagne cocktail and a tour of the buffet spread. They have a bread table with breads from around the world, and cheeses and spreads to go with all. They have a seafood table with eveything from shrimp to Alaskan King Crab legs. Then they have the infamous dessert table. If none of that is appealing, your waiter will take your order for anything from the kitchen including the made to order pizzas. As we were about to order some items from the kitchen, the pager began to vibrate in my pocket. I carefully took it out, so that DW wouldn't notice, and read the message. It said that DD1 was ready to be picked up from the Oceaneers Lab. I processed my options for a moment, and decided I better tell DW. She instructed me to put the pager away, and forget that I saw the message. Wow, how very un-DW of DW! I guess when you have been anticipating something like Palo brunch for as long as we had, it would take a real emergency(or at least three pages), to mess it up. DW isn't known for being an experimental eater, but she got crazy and actually tried something new. At my sisters recommendation, she ordered Eggs Benedict and loved them. The brunch doesn't last quite as long as dinner, but we were still there for over an hour, and on the way out I decided I wasn't eating again this whole trip(or until dinner, which ever came first).
We ran around the boat tracking down and retrieving all the kids, then went back to the room to get changed for the pool. As we were getting ready, I began to feel pretty bad. It was probably a combination of a lack of sleep, and an over abundance of excellent food, but I told DW that she should bring the older kids up to the pool, and I would stay behind and take a nap with DD2 who was getting cranky. That is about the last thing I remember until around 4 p.m. when they all came back, so the following paragraph is a recollection of events from DW.
DW, DS1&2, and DD1 all headed up to the Mickey Pool and then over to the Goofy Pool for a few hours. Entertainment on deck included music, a hoola-hoop contest put on by some crew members, and Cinderella III on the big screen above the Goofy Pool. The kids again enjoyed ordering their own lunch at Pinnochio's Pizzaria and Pluto's Dog House, and DW enjoyed ordering a Pina Colada from the waiters that come right up to you! After the movie ended, they went back to the Mickey Pool for a few more rides down the slide, but as soon as they got there, it was closed. Apparently, a child had an accident in the pool, and it had to be drained, cleaned, and refilled. Bad timing, as it was a sea day, but better than not knowing and having everyone get sick. So they all packed up, got some ice cream and came back down to the staterooms.
I couldn't believe how much time had passed when they came back. DW was in a big hurry as her Martini tasting was about to begin. This tasting was held in Sessions down on deck 3. DW met up with DSis, and they had a good time. For anyone that hasn't been to one, try it out. It is put on by a cast member/bartender who knows the history of the drink, and more importantly, how to mix up some very good samples for everyone to try. Apparently, they even MAKE you finish your drinks.
This night was our formal night. I had rented a tux from Cruise Line Formalwear, and it was waiting in the stateroom when we boarded(I would recommend doing this-makes life much easier). DW had found some tuxs for the boys on E-Bay from some crazy price like $20 each-can't beat that! We all got dressed up, and headed to the theatre for Twice Charmed. It was nice to see the kid's all dressed up, and they seemed to enjoy it as well. I think getting all dressed up made them feel special, after all it doesn't happen at home!
I was excited to see Twice Charmed as this show wasn't on our last cruise. It was very entertaining, up until the point when DD2 got fussy and wanted to walk around. I brought her outside the theatre so she could blow off some steam, then stood in the doors to try and watch the show without letting her bother anyone. As we were standing there, Cinderella showed up next to us and began making faces and talking to DD2, while the show was still going on (obviously without her at this particular moment) Talk about great character interaction. We got a meet and greet with the star of the show while the show was still going on-only on a Disney cruise! The show finished up and we went to the atrium for formal night photos with Captain Tom and several other backdrops. The Captain's Cocktail Reception was going on and we had a few free drinks. Dinner that night was at Lumiere's, right there in the atrium. I was feeling much better by this time, and dinner was excellent. To finish off the night, DSis offered to watch the kids in our room, so that DW and I could catch the adult-version of Gary DeLena's comedy show. He was performing in Rockin Bar D, but it was so full we wound up watching the simulcast across the hall in Diversions. This was a very funny show, and a great way to cap off a full day! Our towel animal that night was a rabbit. Our kids couldn't wait to get back to our rooms each night to see what towel animal would be waiting for them.
After dropping DD2 off at Flounder's Nursery, DW and I headed up to Palo. Before I describe the brunch, let me just say that as wonderful as Palo is, I would not recommend back-to-back meals there. On a three-day cruise, you may not have an option-and in that case, go for it. But otherwise, you are better off showing up at Palo with a large appetite, and after eating dinner there the night before, I did not have one of those. That said, brunch at Palo is AMAZING. Service began with a complimentary Champagne cocktail and a tour of the buffet spread. They have a bread table with breads from around the world, and cheeses and spreads to go with all. They have a seafood table with eveything from shrimp to Alaskan King Crab legs. Then they have the infamous dessert table. If none of that is appealing, your waiter will take your order for anything from the kitchen including the made to order pizzas. As we were about to order some items from the kitchen, the pager began to vibrate in my pocket. I carefully took it out, so that DW wouldn't notice, and read the message. It said that DD1 was ready to be picked up from the Oceaneers Lab. I processed my options for a moment, and decided I better tell DW. She instructed me to put the pager away, and forget that I saw the message. Wow, how very un-DW of DW! I guess when you have been anticipating something like Palo brunch for as long as we had, it would take a real emergency(or at least three pages), to mess it up. DW isn't known for being an experimental eater, but she got crazy and actually tried something new. At my sisters recommendation, she ordered Eggs Benedict and loved them. The brunch doesn't last quite as long as dinner, but we were still there for over an hour, and on the way out I decided I wasn't eating again this whole trip(or until dinner, which ever came first).
We ran around the boat tracking down and retrieving all the kids, then went back to the room to get changed for the pool. As we were getting ready, I began to feel pretty bad. It was probably a combination of a lack of sleep, and an over abundance of excellent food, but I told DW that she should bring the older kids up to the pool, and I would stay behind and take a nap with DD2 who was getting cranky. That is about the last thing I remember until around 4 p.m. when they all came back, so the following paragraph is a recollection of events from DW.
DW, DS1&2, and DD1 all headed up to the Mickey Pool and then over to the Goofy Pool for a few hours. Entertainment on deck included music, a hoola-hoop contest put on by some crew members, and Cinderella III on the big screen above the Goofy Pool. The kids again enjoyed ordering their own lunch at Pinnochio's Pizzaria and Pluto's Dog House, and DW enjoyed ordering a Pina Colada from the waiters that come right up to you! After the movie ended, they went back to the Mickey Pool for a few more rides down the slide, but as soon as they got there, it was closed. Apparently, a child had an accident in the pool, and it had to be drained, cleaned, and refilled. Bad timing, as it was a sea day, but better than not knowing and having everyone get sick. So they all packed up, got some ice cream and came back down to the staterooms.
I couldn't believe how much time had passed when they came back. DW was in a big hurry as her Martini tasting was about to begin. This tasting was held in Sessions down on deck 3. DW met up with DSis, and they had a good time. For anyone that hasn't been to one, try it out. It is put on by a cast member/bartender who knows the history of the drink, and more importantly, how to mix up some very good samples for everyone to try. Apparently, they even MAKE you finish your drinks.
This night was our formal night. I had rented a tux from Cruise Line Formalwear, and it was waiting in the stateroom when we boarded(I would recommend doing this-makes life much easier). DW had found some tuxs for the boys on E-Bay from some crazy price like $20 each-can't beat that! We all got dressed up, and headed to the theatre for Twice Charmed. It was nice to see the kid's all dressed up, and they seemed to enjoy it as well. I think getting all dressed up made them feel special, after all it doesn't happen at home!
I was excited to see Twice Charmed as this show wasn't on our last cruise. It was very entertaining, up until the point when DD2 got fussy and wanted to walk around. I brought her outside the theatre so she could blow off some steam, then stood in the doors to try and watch the show without letting her bother anyone. As we were standing there, Cinderella showed up next to us and began making faces and talking to DD2, while the show was still going on (obviously without her at this particular moment) Talk about great character interaction. We got a meet and greet with the star of the show while the show was still going on-only on a Disney cruise! The show finished up and we went to the atrium for formal night photos with Captain Tom and several other backdrops. The Captain's Cocktail Reception was going on and we had a few free drinks. Dinner that night was at Lumiere's, right there in the atrium. I was feeling much better by this time, and dinner was excellent. To finish off the night, DSis offered to watch the kids in our room, so that DW and I could catch the adult-version of Gary DeLena's comedy show. He was performing in Rockin Bar D, but it was so full we wound up watching the simulcast across the hall in Diversions. This was a very funny show, and a great way to cap off a full day! Our towel animal that night was a rabbit. Our kids couldn't wait to get back to our rooms each night to see what towel animal would be waiting for them.
sejejoemmiev
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 387
During our planning stages, we had booked the Seven Mile Beach Break through DCL. About a week before the cruise, we decided to cancel the reservation, and do this on our own to save some money, and to have the freedom to come and go on our own schedule.
We woke up thanks to the very strange noise of what I later determined must have been the anchor dropping. I had actually requested the Mickey wake up call, but I just hung up on him both times that he called, and continued to sleep. If it wasn't for the sound of the massive chain slowly lowering the anchor down, we would have missed breakfast. We opened the curtains to the porthole, and saw that we(and four other cruise ships parked right next to us) had arrived at Grand Cayman. This port doesn't have any docks, and the harbor was full of the tender boats that transport all of us passengers to the island. We got dressed, packed our bags, and headed up to Topsiders for breakfast. This is the first time DW and I had actually eaten at the breakfast buffet. I had read somewhere that there was an omelet station, but we were in a bit of a hurry, and today would not be the day we would look around to find it. After an uneventful breakfast, we all headed down to the Buena Vista Theatre to get in line and receive our tender tickets(which no one ever collected or checked). After being strategically seated in the theatre to keep everyone in a first-come, first-serve basis, we headed down to Deck 1 to board the tender. The seas were very calm and the 10 minute trip over to the island was smooth.
Once on shore, and through the security gates, we quickly found a cab driver with a van to bring us all to Seven Mile Beach. If you want to try and do this on your own, don't worry about finding a cab, they are EVERYWHERE! Before agreeing to the ride, we asked for a rate and were quoted $5/person (including the baby). Two other couples also shared the van with us. Seven Mile Beach is just that, the main beach on the island that is made up of many different private and public beaches. The van first pulled into a private beach owned by a small hotel. The driver told us all about the amentities here, and one couple decided to get off. We had our hearts set on Sea Grapes Beach due to suggestions we read on the DIS boards. We told the other couple what we had read, and they also decided to go there. It was another 5 minutes down the road, and the island seemed to get nicer the further from the port we drove. We arrived at Sea Grapes around 10:30 A.M. The beach was about 1/2 full at this time, and we quickly rented some chairs and an umbrella ($21) and claimed our small area of the beach. The weather was exactly what you picture when you think of a tropical beach, hot and not a cloud in the sky. The beach had a changing room with outdoor showers, and a bar/restaurant right there in the sand. The water was amazingly clear and warm. We pulled out the snorkel gear we had bought at CVS in Key West, and started looking for coral and fish. DS2 and DD1 spent the entire day playing in the waters edge with their sand toys collecting coral and swimming.
The sun was so hot, we repeatedly applied sunscreen to all the kids, but as we found out later, that didn't seem to prevent DD1 from a good case of sun poisoning on her face. DD2 didn't like the feel of the sand, so she spent her day either napping in her stroller, or in the water with DW and myself. There was also a tent with some float rentals, and we rented a floating lounge raft for $5. This was a great way to just relax in the sun and water, and the kids had a blast playing on it. We ordered some frozen drinks from the bar, but the wait was too long for food. The kids also had no interest in coming out of the water to eat. Around 2 o'clock, we were all getting tired of the sun, and a little hungry. We decided to catch a cab back to the port, do some shopping, and go back to the boat for lunch. As you walk off Sea Grapes Beach, the cabs are all lined up on the side of the road, waiting their turn for passengers. The cab at the head of the line happened to be a 20 passenger mini-bus. The female driver was outside and quoted us $7/person. We were getting tired and weren't going to argue over a few dollars, so she took the money up front (which she insisted upon) and we climbed in. We were her first six passengers, so I assumed she would wait for another couple of people to make her ride worth it. After about ten minutes, two other women boarded, and the driver noticed that I had the umbrella stroller on the seat next to me. She proceeded to ask me if I was going to buy a seat for the stroller as well. I was a little surprised by this, and told her absolutely not. She told me to bring the stroller back out front and she would put it in when we left. The stroller was partially closed, but the storage basket underneath held our wet towels, and wouldn't close all the way. She then asked me if I was going to remove the towels and close it properly. At this point, I was getting pretty irritated, and I told her no. She gave me a look, and insisted that I did. I grabbed the towels and made my way back to my seat. After another 25-30 minutes had passed, the bus had filled-up to what we all believed was its full capacity. But the driver was still walking around looking for more passengers. She was sticking us in the passenger seat, little fake seats in the isle, and I think four people were on the roof.
It was at this point that the rowdy Carnival Cruise passengers began yelling to the people in the passenger seat to start blaring her horn. They happily obliged and a total state of anarchy ensued. After all 20 of us insisted on a full refund, she finally decided to get in and drive away. With the way everyone was acting, she had some serious guts to step foot in that thing (she must have done this before). Anyway, we pulled away (45 minutes after boarding-no joke!) and she began to give us a historical overview of the island. People were shocked that she was even bothering to talk to us as we were all so upset. The ten-minute ride back to the boats was filled with the passengers debating whose cruise ship was better. We were the only ones from the Disney ship, but I sure wish I had been on the Carnival ship-they have a belly-flop contest . She dropped us all off at the shopping area just before the port. We had planned on finding the Tortuga Rum Cake factory, but after the bus experience and the heat, we just decided to get back on the boat. While on the tender, the kids decided they wanted to order room service and just relax in the staterooms. We got back and ordered one of everything on the menu, as well as a dozen cookies and all the cake of the day. We all showered in anticipation of Pirate Night while waiting for the food. I don't know if it was because we were all starving, but that still stands out as the best meal of the whole cruise. We sat around and filled our faces, and talked and laughed about the days events. After lounging about for a few hours, we started getting dressed in our pirate night outfits. The show for the night was the Golden Mickeys. On the way into the theatre, the kids were interviewed and broadcast in the theatre. DS1 refused to be interviewed while DD1 and DS2 couldn't wait to go live. When the camera came on, DD1 got a bit of stage fright and clammed up. DS2 felt right at home in the spotlight.
The show was just as good as I remembered from our last cruise. It is really fun to walk down the red carpet with the 'paparazzi' flashing cameras at us. After the show, we had pictures with Jiminy Cricket, and had Pirate Night portraits taken in the Atrium.
Dinner this night was in Animator's Palate. When we got to our table, each place setting had a pirate bandana, and the special pirate menu. We were looking forward to this night, as it was started just after our last cruise and this would be our first experience. Maybe we were still full from the room service, but the pirate menu didn't seem that appealing to DW or myself. Dinner was just okay, but the servers did a great job keeping us all entertained with magic tricks, and taking all of the kids away for the pirate parade around the restaurant. After this performance, we headed up to deck 9 to find a place to watch the deck party.
The Pirates in the Caribbean Party is another high-energy, dance party similar to the sail-away party. The CM's and characters danced for a good 45 minutes, and it was quite hot even though it was night. After the day we had, the kids were too tired to dance. Even DS2, our little attention grabber, was content sitting on my shoulders watching everything. After the dancing, the fireworks were lit off. We were all impressed watching a firework display in the middle of the ocean.
As if we hadn't eaten enough in the past few hours, we had to check out the Pirate Night buffet. They had foods like giant turkey legs and a fajita bar. They also had a dessert buffet with cakes, cookies, and melting ice cream.
We brought our food over to DW, DD2 and DS2 who had found us some seats under the big screen where Pirates in the Caribbean/Curse of the Black Pearl was just beginning. DW and the younger two kids headed back to the stateroom to call it a night. DS1, DD1, and myself ate our food and watched about 30 minutes of the movie, then they both begged me to go back to the room and go to bed. Luckily, this night we had to change the clocks back one hour, so we all got an extra hour sleep!
Our towel animal for the night, An Elephant!
We woke up thanks to the very strange noise of what I later determined must have been the anchor dropping. I had actually requested the Mickey wake up call, but I just hung up on him both times that he called, and continued to sleep. If it wasn't for the sound of the massive chain slowly lowering the anchor down, we would have missed breakfast. We opened the curtains to the porthole, and saw that we(and four other cruise ships parked right next to us) had arrived at Grand Cayman. This port doesn't have any docks, and the harbor was full of the tender boats that transport all of us passengers to the island. We got dressed, packed our bags, and headed up to Topsiders for breakfast. This is the first time DW and I had actually eaten at the breakfast buffet. I had read somewhere that there was an omelet station, but we were in a bit of a hurry, and today would not be the day we would look around to find it. After an uneventful breakfast, we all headed down to the Buena Vista Theatre to get in line and receive our tender tickets(which no one ever collected or checked). After being strategically seated in the theatre to keep everyone in a first-come, first-serve basis, we headed down to Deck 1 to board the tender. The seas were very calm and the 10 minute trip over to the island was smooth.
Once on shore, and through the security gates, we quickly found a cab driver with a van to bring us all to Seven Mile Beach. If you want to try and do this on your own, don't worry about finding a cab, they are EVERYWHERE! Before agreeing to the ride, we asked for a rate and were quoted $5/person (including the baby). Two other couples also shared the van with us. Seven Mile Beach is just that, the main beach on the island that is made up of many different private and public beaches. The van first pulled into a private beach owned by a small hotel. The driver told us all about the amentities here, and one couple decided to get off. We had our hearts set on Sea Grapes Beach due to suggestions we read on the DIS boards. We told the other couple what we had read, and they also decided to go there. It was another 5 minutes down the road, and the island seemed to get nicer the further from the port we drove. We arrived at Sea Grapes around 10:30 A.M. The beach was about 1/2 full at this time, and we quickly rented some chairs and an umbrella ($21) and claimed our small area of the beach. The weather was exactly what you picture when you think of a tropical beach, hot and not a cloud in the sky. The beach had a changing room with outdoor showers, and a bar/restaurant right there in the sand. The water was amazingly clear and warm. We pulled out the snorkel gear we had bought at CVS in Key West, and started looking for coral and fish. DS2 and DD1 spent the entire day playing in the waters edge with their sand toys collecting coral and swimming.
The sun was so hot, we repeatedly applied sunscreen to all the kids, but as we found out later, that didn't seem to prevent DD1 from a good case of sun poisoning on her face. DD2 didn't like the feel of the sand, so she spent her day either napping in her stroller, or in the water with DW and myself. There was also a tent with some float rentals, and we rented a floating lounge raft for $5. This was a great way to just relax in the sun and water, and the kids had a blast playing on it. We ordered some frozen drinks from the bar, but the wait was too long for food. The kids also had no interest in coming out of the water to eat. Around 2 o'clock, we were all getting tired of the sun, and a little hungry. We decided to catch a cab back to the port, do some shopping, and go back to the boat for lunch. As you walk off Sea Grapes Beach, the cabs are all lined up on the side of the road, waiting their turn for passengers. The cab at the head of the line happened to be a 20 passenger mini-bus. The female driver was outside and quoted us $7/person. We were getting tired and weren't going to argue over a few dollars, so she took the money up front (which she insisted upon) and we climbed in. We were her first six passengers, so I assumed she would wait for another couple of people to make her ride worth it. After about ten minutes, two other women boarded, and the driver noticed that I had the umbrella stroller on the seat next to me. She proceeded to ask me if I was going to buy a seat for the stroller as well. I was a little surprised by this, and told her absolutely not. She told me to bring the stroller back out front and she would put it in when we left. The stroller was partially closed, but the storage basket underneath held our wet towels, and wouldn't close all the way. She then asked me if I was going to remove the towels and close it properly. At this point, I was getting pretty irritated, and I told her no. She gave me a look, and insisted that I did. I grabbed the towels and made my way back to my seat. After another 25-30 minutes had passed, the bus had filled-up to what we all believed was its full capacity. But the driver was still walking around looking for more passengers. She was sticking us in the passenger seat, little fake seats in the isle, and I think four people were on the roof.
It was at this point that the rowdy Carnival Cruise passengers began yelling to the people in the passenger seat to start blaring her horn. They happily obliged and a total state of anarchy ensued. After all 20 of us insisted on a full refund, she finally decided to get in and drive away. With the way everyone was acting, she had some serious guts to step foot in that thing (she must have done this before). Anyway, we pulled away (45 minutes after boarding-no joke!) and she began to give us a historical overview of the island. People were shocked that she was even bothering to talk to us as we were all so upset. The ten-minute ride back to the boats was filled with the passengers debating whose cruise ship was better. We were the only ones from the Disney ship, but I sure wish I had been on the Carnival ship-they have a belly-flop contest . She dropped us all off at the shopping area just before the port. We had planned on finding the Tortuga Rum Cake factory, but after the bus experience and the heat, we just decided to get back on the boat. While on the tender, the kids decided they wanted to order room service and just relax in the staterooms. We got back and ordered one of everything on the menu, as well as a dozen cookies and all the cake of the day. We all showered in anticipation of Pirate Night while waiting for the food. I don't know if it was because we were all starving, but that still stands out as the best meal of the whole cruise. We sat around and filled our faces, and talked and laughed about the days events. After lounging about for a few hours, we started getting dressed in our pirate night outfits. The show for the night was the Golden Mickeys. On the way into the theatre, the kids were interviewed and broadcast in the theatre. DS1 refused to be interviewed while DD1 and DS2 couldn't wait to go live. When the camera came on, DD1 got a bit of stage fright and clammed up. DS2 felt right at home in the spotlight. 
The show was just as good as I remembered from our last cruise. It is really fun to walk down the red carpet with the 'paparazzi' flashing cameras at us. After the show, we had pictures with Jiminy Cricket, and had Pirate Night portraits taken in the Atrium.
Dinner this night was in Animator's Palate. When we got to our table, each place setting had a pirate bandana, and the special pirate menu. We were looking forward to this night, as it was started just after our last cruise and this would be our first experience. Maybe we were still full from the room service, but the pirate menu didn't seem that appealing to DW or myself. Dinner was just okay, but the servers did a great job keeping us all entertained with magic tricks, and taking all of the kids away for the pirate parade around the restaurant. After this performance, we headed up to deck 9 to find a place to watch the deck party.
The Pirates in the Caribbean Party is another high-energy, dance party similar to the sail-away party. The CM's and characters danced for a good 45 minutes, and it was quite hot even though it was night. After the day we had, the kids were too tired to dance. Even DS2, our little attention grabber, was content sitting on my shoulders watching everything. After the dancing, the fireworks were lit off. We were all impressed watching a firework display in the middle of the ocean.
As if we hadn't eaten enough in the past few hours, we had to check out the Pirate Night buffet. They had foods like giant turkey legs and a fajita bar. They also had a dessert buffet with cakes, cookies, and melting ice cream.
We brought our food over to DW, DD2 and DS2 who had found us some seats under the big screen where Pirates in the Caribbean/Curse of the Black Pearl was just beginning. DW and the younger two kids headed back to the stateroom to call it a night. DS1, DD1, and myself ate our food and watched about 30 minutes of the movie, then they both begged me to go back to the room and go to bed. Luckily, this night we had to change the clocks back one hour, so we all got an extra hour sleep!
Our towel animal for the night, An Elephant!
LovableGluttons
See Ya REAL Soon!
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2007
- Messages
- 1,298
What a wonderful trip report!
Your family is just beautiful!!!
Just reading about the taxi bus driver made my blood boil.
Your family is just beautiful!!!
Just reading about the taxi bus driver made my blood boil.
sejejoemmiev
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 387
The day started with the perky voice of Mickey Mouse over the phone telling me that I'd better get out of bed because there is so much to do today. Well, it worked today, and I did get out of bed. One of the great parts of being on a cruise is finding out where you are when you wake up. Every morning, my first move was to go to the curtains, and see what was to see outside the window. This morning I was graced with a beautiful view of a Mexican military boat and its very large gun-always a comforting sight! If you have never been to Cozumel, just be prepared for a stronger military presence than any of the other ports of call in the Western Itineray. Keep in mind, they are all there for your protection. We could see land off in the distance, but knew we had a little while until port. I got everyone up and we all showered and dressed. The plan was to head back up to Topsiders for breakfast, and then off to Chakanaab National Park for our Dolphin Discovery adventure.
We sat on the other side of Topsiders this day so that we could see Cozumel and the other cruise ship docked about twenty feet away. Because we sat on this side, I had to do some exploring to find everything we needed, and in doing so, I stumbled upon the omelet station. It is located at the back of the restaurant in between the two buffet lines. They have a good set-up, where you place your order with a CM, and he issues you a number on a little metal sign, and when your eggs are done, they deliver them to you. After eating, we took the elevator down to disembark the ship. Stepping out of the boat and onto that dock in Cozumel is impressive as you are surrounded on three sides by enormous cruise ships.
We walked to the end of the dock, passed the Mexican military with their machine guns, and down the street a little ways to the row of waiting cabs. After our last cab experience, I wasn't too anxious to hop back in one. I found a van that was just big enough for our familiy, and asked the driver how much a ride to Chakanaab would be. He quoted us a flat rate of $15. This was much cheaper than Grand Cayman, and once we loaded up, he drove right away. DSis and DMom had scheduled the DCL Tulum Ruins excursion and headed on their way before we even left the ship. That was something I would have loved to have done, but not with kids as young as ours. The drive to Chakanaab was about 15 minutes and was filled with interesting sights along the way. There is still quite a bit of damage left over from the hurricane a few years back. Much like the Caymans, lots of construction is going on. We also passed an interesting little shop whose sign stated "Bagels and Real Estate". I wonder what they do better?
We arrived at Chakanaab around the same time as several excursion groups. Our driver helped us unload, and a park employee brought us right through the crowds to an available teller. In order to get to the Dophin Discovery, you must first pay admission to Chakanaab. I was prepared for this having read about it on the DISBoards, and I had even printed up a coupon from their website which saved us some money. We paid our admission, put on our bracelets and headed into the park.
We had about an hour before DW and DS1 had their reservation for the Royal Swim, so we walked around and checked out the park. It is a very nice place that is kept up beautifully. Lots of new construction here as well as I am sure being right on the water, they took quite a beating from the hurricane. The restrooms were amazing. This is a strange thing to comment on, I know, but they really were. They were spotless and the sinks were like nothing I have ever seen- I can't even explain them (wish I took a picture). About thirty minutes before our 12 o'clock reservation, we walked over to where we were told to meet the group. In hindsight, there is no reason to get to this spot more than five minutes before your reservation. There is a nice pool right next to the meeting place which is a much better way to spend your time. The plan was for DW and DS1 to take part in their swim, and myself and the other kids would go out on the deck and videotape the whole thing. We had read in other posts about how they don't allow cameras or camcorders out there because they want to sell their own copies. We had no problem at all taping and taking pictures. Watching the swim was just as cool for the little ones, as it was for DW and DS1 to actually be doing it. As an observer, I was amazed by how the dolphins knew precisely when to drop their passengers before they would be thrown into the fence. DW and DS1 were both very nervous about the dolphins lifting them up and propelling them across the surface of the water toward the dock. It ended up being an exhilarating experience that was the highlight of the trip for both of them. The Royal Swim was about 1 1/2 hours from the orientation to the end. They spent a good amount of time actually in the water with the Dolphins. It started with the obligatory Dolphin kiss, and hold and ended with the Dorsal tow and foot-push. In the Dorsal tow you get pulled through the water by holding on to the dorsal fins of two dolphins. In the foot-push, dolphins push you across the water from the bottom of your feet. They both really enjoyed the whole experience start to finish.
After their Dolphin experience was over they collect your life vests and take you to a viewing room to view a Dvd of the Group Swim set to music. It was really nicely done and priced at $50.00. We chose not to purchase it because I had taped them myself, but my wife now regrets it because their video came out really nice. After the viewing, you exit to the gift shop where you can view the photos taken. My wife brought an underwater camera in with her and thought she got some good shots of our DS1, but their photos were unbelievable. They stated that the photos were $13.00-$15.00 based on size. My wife picked three that she liked best and the employee then said she would make a deal $60.00 for the whole package. Do not accept the first photo price, they are willing to make a deal. My wife purchased the photos and met us in front of the pool. I had found us a table at the poolside and ordered us a couple sodas. They didn't serve alcohol at the pool but there is a bar on the beach. DS1 joined DD1 and DS2, already in the pool swimming, and DW and myself decided on what to order for lunch.
(DD1 received a sunburn on her face on Grand Cayman. We put sunblock on her every 30 minutes or so in Cozumel but a second day of sun was taking a toll on her face as well as her. We told her she looked like she got sun poisoning because it was starting to blister. That freaked her out. She was a little afraid of the sun after that.)
I traveled hundreds of miles to try some authentic Mexican cuisine, and I ordered a quesedilla and some nachos for all of us-how boring. The kids ordered, what else? Chicken fingers, hot dogs and french fries. What a surprise. The wait for the food was very long. Our waiter commented that they were short handed this day, and he had come from Cancun to work just because the Disney ship was in port. We ate lunch, the kids got some icecream and we still had about an hour to kill before the Dophin Encounter with DD1, DS2, and myself. We explored the rest of the Chakanaab property, and were impressed with what we found. As I mentioned before, I was upset that I had come all the way to Mexico, and wouldn't be visiting the ancient ruins as there was no way the kids would survive the bus ride there. But while walking around Chakanaab, we found that they had some ruins of their own. They didn't have anything as extravagant as a pyramid, but there were some temples and lots of stone carvings and structures. And no one else was walking around exploring all these things-we had them all to ourselves! In fact, we were enjoying ourselves so much (the kids too), that we lost track of time, and had to run back to the beach for our reservation.
The encounter was a good time. As we were meeting the group and trying on our life jackets, DS2 had a panic attack and refused to take part, he thought the dolphins "were going to kill him" and that they "were not nice." I wasn't going to fight with him in front of all these people, and ruin my experience, so DD1 and I went in the water without him. Once DW had given up threatening him, she gave his vest to DS1 who gladly took his place for his second experience of the day. The encounter involved getting in the water and petting, kissing, and dancing with the dophins. Again, we had no problem taking our own pictures and taping it, but theirs came out much nicer.
After, we watched the video they produced, we went into the gift shop for a few more photos, t-shirts, and souveniers. TIP- Obviously, being in Mexico, I realized that everything would be in pesos, but I didn't know the the symbol for pesos was the same as the U.S. dollar. So when it came time to check out at the gift shop, I paid with a credit card, and the receipt showed $1240.00. I did a double take, and had to process this before signing off. I never bothered to check the exchange rate, but it seemed to be about a 10:1 ratio.
The park was getting ready to close as we left the gift shop, so we headed back toward the main gate. By this time, the place was empty. An employee saw us coming out the gate and flagged down a cab for us. The price back to the boats was $20 US, a little more than the trip there, but still a far better deal than Grand Cayman. We found the people here much more friendly than in Grand Cayman as well. The cab brought us back to the mall across the street from the dock. The ship wasn't leaving until after midnight, so we decided to spend a little time exploring the Punta Lagosta mall. We hit a few stores including the Hard Rock, and bought some t-shirts. We also went into Carlos&Charlies for some appetizers and very large frozen drinks (in yard glasses). Both the food and drinks were very good. It is definetaly a bar, but during the daylight hours, there was no problem bringing little kids in there-we weren't the only ones.
After eating, we went across the street and back on the boat. By this time, it was dark, and seeing the cruise ships all lit up was very cool.
We went back to the staterooms, showered, and got dressed up in our matching outfits that DW had bought months ahead of time to torture us with. They were tropical Mickey Mouse themed, and I saw them on about 4 other families during the cruise. Dinner that night was at Parrot Cay, but before dinner, we had pictures taken with Jack Sparrow. He was a very good Jack Sparrow with very similar facial expressions and mannerisms.
DSis and DMom never showed up for dinner with us. We found out later that night that DSis had dragged DMom back off the boat and over to Senor Frogs for dinner and a few drinks. (DMom is not a drinker, so I really wish I had seen her drinking a yard-long margarita) During dinner, our head server was talking with us, and mentioned the two new ships that DCL was going to be building. He told us that they had just contracted a German shipyard to build them, and that they would be ready in 2012. I couldn't believe what he was telling us, and I knew I had to get to a computer to break the news to the DIS community.
(DS2 fell asleep at dinner, AGAIN!)
After dinner, we walked through Shutters and found more of our pictures. DW decided that she had to have them, and I upgraded our picture package. We went back to the room and DW, DS1, and DD1 changed into their swimsuits and went up to the Goofy pool and hot tubs. I stayed behind with the younger two and got them in bed for the night. After about an hour, they came back and begged me to bring them to the arcade. I had no interest, but remembered promising them that I would bring them there weeks ago. So we went up, and I loaded the kids cards up with credits so they could have a blast. I told them I was going next door to the Cove Cafe to get a frozen cappachino, and that I would be back in ten minutes. When in the cafe, I noticed the internet access, and I had to sign on to break the news of the new ships. First thing I did was to check my e-mail, and I found my latest PassPorters newsletter with the headlines DCL to expand fleet. Well, I guess I was the last person to hear about the big news that I had been awaiting for a long time. I finished reading my e-mail, and walked back outside to find DS1 and DD1 in tears with a CM (the pizza lady from Pinochio's). Turns out they panicked about thirty seconds after I left, and couldn't remember where I went. They walked over to Pinochio's (a place they had become very familiar with over the past few days), and told the CM that they had lost their dad. They were smart enough to remember their room #, and she called down to DW. She told DW that she had two of our children, and they don't know where their father went, and would she mind coming up to get them. DW asked to speak to DS1, and he was crying. DW told him that I had gone to check my e-mail at the Cove Cafe, and to go look for me there, and to call her if I wasn't there. As they were walking over, I came out and found them. The CM was very friendly and helpful. With that, we called it a night and went back down to the rooms and went to bed.
Towel animal of the night-a stingray.
We sat on the other side of Topsiders this day so that we could see Cozumel and the other cruise ship docked about twenty feet away. Because we sat on this side, I had to do some exploring to find everything we needed, and in doing so, I stumbled upon the omelet station. It is located at the back of the restaurant in between the two buffet lines. They have a good set-up, where you place your order with a CM, and he issues you a number on a little metal sign, and when your eggs are done, they deliver them to you. After eating, we took the elevator down to disembark the ship. Stepping out of the boat and onto that dock in Cozumel is impressive as you are surrounded on three sides by enormous cruise ships.
We walked to the end of the dock, passed the Mexican military with their machine guns, and down the street a little ways to the row of waiting cabs. After our last cab experience, I wasn't too anxious to hop back in one. I found a van that was just big enough for our familiy, and asked the driver how much a ride to Chakanaab would be. He quoted us a flat rate of $15. This was much cheaper than Grand Cayman, and once we loaded up, he drove right away. DSis and DMom had scheduled the DCL Tulum Ruins excursion and headed on their way before we even left the ship. That was something I would have loved to have done, but not with kids as young as ours. The drive to Chakanaab was about 15 minutes and was filled with interesting sights along the way. There is still quite a bit of damage left over from the hurricane a few years back. Much like the Caymans, lots of construction is going on. We also passed an interesting little shop whose sign stated "Bagels and Real Estate". I wonder what they do better?
We arrived at Chakanaab around the same time as several excursion groups. Our driver helped us unload, and a park employee brought us right through the crowds to an available teller. In order to get to the Dophin Discovery, you must first pay admission to Chakanaab. I was prepared for this having read about it on the DISBoards, and I had even printed up a coupon from their website which saved us some money. We paid our admission, put on our bracelets and headed into the park.
We had about an hour before DW and DS1 had their reservation for the Royal Swim, so we walked around and checked out the park. It is a very nice place that is kept up beautifully. Lots of new construction here as well as I am sure being right on the water, they took quite a beating from the hurricane. The restrooms were amazing. This is a strange thing to comment on, I know, but they really were. They were spotless and the sinks were like nothing I have ever seen- I can't even explain them (wish I took a picture). About thirty minutes before our 12 o'clock reservation, we walked over to where we were told to meet the group. In hindsight, there is no reason to get to this spot more than five minutes before your reservation. There is a nice pool right next to the meeting place which is a much better way to spend your time. The plan was for DW and DS1 to take part in their swim, and myself and the other kids would go out on the deck and videotape the whole thing. We had read in other posts about how they don't allow cameras or camcorders out there because they want to sell their own copies. We had no problem at all taping and taking pictures. Watching the swim was just as cool for the little ones, as it was for DW and DS1 to actually be doing it. As an observer, I was amazed by how the dolphins knew precisely when to drop their passengers before they would be thrown into the fence. DW and DS1 were both very nervous about the dolphins lifting them up and propelling them across the surface of the water toward the dock. It ended up being an exhilarating experience that was the highlight of the trip for both of them. The Royal Swim was about 1 1/2 hours from the orientation to the end. They spent a good amount of time actually in the water with the Dolphins. It started with the obligatory Dolphin kiss, and hold and ended with the Dorsal tow and foot-push. In the Dorsal tow you get pulled through the water by holding on to the dorsal fins of two dolphins. In the foot-push, dolphins push you across the water from the bottom of your feet. They both really enjoyed the whole experience start to finish.
After their Dolphin experience was over they collect your life vests and take you to a viewing room to view a Dvd of the Group Swim set to music. It was really nicely done and priced at $50.00. We chose not to purchase it because I had taped them myself, but my wife now regrets it because their video came out really nice. After the viewing, you exit to the gift shop where you can view the photos taken. My wife brought an underwater camera in with her and thought she got some good shots of our DS1, but their photos were unbelievable. They stated that the photos were $13.00-$15.00 based on size. My wife picked three that she liked best and the employee then said she would make a deal $60.00 for the whole package. Do not accept the first photo price, they are willing to make a deal. My wife purchased the photos and met us in front of the pool. I had found us a table at the poolside and ordered us a couple sodas. They didn't serve alcohol at the pool but there is a bar on the beach. DS1 joined DD1 and DS2, already in the pool swimming, and DW and myself decided on what to order for lunch.
(DD1 received a sunburn on her face on Grand Cayman. We put sunblock on her every 30 minutes or so in Cozumel but a second day of sun was taking a toll on her face as well as her. We told her she looked like she got sun poisoning because it was starting to blister. That freaked her out. She was a little afraid of the sun after that.)
I traveled hundreds of miles to try some authentic Mexican cuisine, and I ordered a quesedilla and some nachos for all of us-how boring. The kids ordered, what else? Chicken fingers, hot dogs and french fries. What a surprise. The wait for the food was very long. Our waiter commented that they were short handed this day, and he had come from Cancun to work just because the Disney ship was in port. We ate lunch, the kids got some icecream and we still had about an hour to kill before the Dophin Encounter with DD1, DS2, and myself. We explored the rest of the Chakanaab property, and were impressed with what we found. As I mentioned before, I was upset that I had come all the way to Mexico, and wouldn't be visiting the ancient ruins as there was no way the kids would survive the bus ride there. But while walking around Chakanaab, we found that they had some ruins of their own. They didn't have anything as extravagant as a pyramid, but there were some temples and lots of stone carvings and structures. And no one else was walking around exploring all these things-we had them all to ourselves! In fact, we were enjoying ourselves so much (the kids too), that we lost track of time, and had to run back to the beach for our reservation.
The encounter was a good time. As we were meeting the group and trying on our life jackets, DS2 had a panic attack and refused to take part, he thought the dolphins "were going to kill him" and that they "were not nice." I wasn't going to fight with him in front of all these people, and ruin my experience, so DD1 and I went in the water without him. Once DW had given up threatening him, she gave his vest to DS1 who gladly took his place for his second experience of the day. The encounter involved getting in the water and petting, kissing, and dancing with the dophins. Again, we had no problem taking our own pictures and taping it, but theirs came out much nicer.
After, we watched the video they produced, we went into the gift shop for a few more photos, t-shirts, and souveniers. TIP- Obviously, being in Mexico, I realized that everything would be in pesos, but I didn't know the the symbol for pesos was the same as the U.S. dollar. So when it came time to check out at the gift shop, I paid with a credit card, and the receipt showed $1240.00. I did a double take, and had to process this before signing off. I never bothered to check the exchange rate, but it seemed to be about a 10:1 ratio.
The park was getting ready to close as we left the gift shop, so we headed back toward the main gate. By this time, the place was empty. An employee saw us coming out the gate and flagged down a cab for us. The price back to the boats was $20 US, a little more than the trip there, but still a far better deal than Grand Cayman. We found the people here much more friendly than in Grand Cayman as well. The cab brought us back to the mall across the street from the dock. The ship wasn't leaving until after midnight, so we decided to spend a little time exploring the Punta Lagosta mall. We hit a few stores including the Hard Rock, and bought some t-shirts. We also went into Carlos&Charlies for some appetizers and very large frozen drinks (in yard glasses). Both the food and drinks were very good. It is definetaly a bar, but during the daylight hours, there was no problem bringing little kids in there-we weren't the only ones.
After eating, we went across the street and back on the boat. By this time, it was dark, and seeing the cruise ships all lit up was very cool.
We went back to the staterooms, showered, and got dressed up in our matching outfits that DW had bought months ahead of time to torture us with. They were tropical Mickey Mouse themed, and I saw them on about 4 other families during the cruise. Dinner that night was at Parrot Cay, but before dinner, we had pictures taken with Jack Sparrow. He was a very good Jack Sparrow with very similar facial expressions and mannerisms.
DSis and DMom never showed up for dinner with us. We found out later that night that DSis had dragged DMom back off the boat and over to Senor Frogs for dinner and a few drinks. (DMom is not a drinker, so I really wish I had seen her drinking a yard-long margarita) During dinner, our head server was talking with us, and mentioned the two new ships that DCL was going to be building. He told us that they had just contracted a German shipyard to build them, and that they would be ready in 2012. I couldn't believe what he was telling us, and I knew I had to get to a computer to break the news to the DIS community.
(DS2 fell asleep at dinner, AGAIN!)
After dinner, we walked through Shutters and found more of our pictures. DW decided that she had to have them, and I upgraded our picture package. We went back to the room and DW, DS1, and DD1 changed into their swimsuits and went up to the Goofy pool and hot tubs. I stayed behind with the younger two and got them in bed for the night. After about an hour, they came back and begged me to bring them to the arcade. I had no interest, but remembered promising them that I would bring them there weeks ago. So we went up, and I loaded the kids cards up with credits so they could have a blast. I told them I was going next door to the Cove Cafe to get a frozen cappachino, and that I would be back in ten minutes. When in the cafe, I noticed the internet access, and I had to sign on to break the news of the new ships. First thing I did was to check my e-mail, and I found my latest PassPorters newsletter with the headlines DCL to expand fleet. Well, I guess I was the last person to hear about the big news that I had been awaiting for a long time. I finished reading my e-mail, and walked back outside to find DS1 and DD1 in tears with a CM (the pizza lady from Pinochio's). Turns out they panicked about thirty seconds after I left, and couldn't remember where I went. They walked over to Pinochio's (a place they had become very familiar with over the past few days), and told the CM that they had lost their dad. They were smart enough to remember their room #, and she called down to DW. She told DW that she had two of our children, and they don't know where their father went, and would she mind coming up to get them. DW asked to speak to DS1, and he was crying. DW told him that I had gone to check my e-mail at the Cove Cafe, and to go look for me there, and to call her if I wasn't there. As they were walking over, I came out and found them. The CM was very friendly and helpful. With that, we called it a night and went back down to the rooms and went to bed.
Towel animal of the night-a stingray.
becca_n_wa
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 584
I am enjoying the TR and pics! I have said after our move, I will start on my TR if I remember everything 
We also went to the dolphin encounter at Cozumel. We had a blast. Like you, I was so suprised they had no problem with my DM recording and my DH taking pics. I had read the same reports you had about not letting you do this. Maybe it has something to do with who the workers are that day and how they feel?
Cant wait to read more!
We also went to the dolphin encounter at Cozumel. We had a blast. Like you, I was so suprised they had no problem with my DM recording and my DH taking pics. I had read the same reports you had about not letting you do this. Maybe it has something to do with who the workers are that day and how they feel?
Cant wait to read more!
Your TR is GREAT! I really enjoyed tagging along with you on "our" day in Cozumel! The dolphin swim looks like a lot of fun. DD9 would like to know how warm was the water. (Our pool heater has us spoiled)
sejejoemmiev
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 18, 2006
- Messages
- 387
The water was very warm in Cozumel and Grand Cayman but still refreshing. The water at Castaway Cay was freezing and took a long time to get used to. It didn't stop us though!
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