3 Day Wonder 10/16/08 with lots of pics and some advice

[brucechase]

Friday
Friday morning brought us to our Nassau day.

First stop was to Beach Blanket Buffet for a wonderful fresh cooked omlete. Everyone else stocked up on Mickey waffles, bacon, and other great food.

We also grabbed a couple of bananas and apples for our day in Atlantis. I had booked the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island so we could have free roam of Atlantis. The cost with all fees and everything was less than $200 where the excursion price would have been $600. A few of us from the Disboards were supposed to meet up so we could all ride a taxi over there, but that didn’t quite happen. As we walked off and got into the main building, a taxi driver was looking for his fares. We stopped at the front desk and asked for a taxi. Of course he wanted to wait until he had a full ride so we hung around for less than a minute when a couple of other families showed up for the ride. One of them just happened to be one of our meets that we never got to meet. It was a short ride over to the resort through downtown Nassau. The drive took us right to the Comfort Suites door where there was a line of about 5 families waiting to do exactly what we were doing. Of course we met 2 other Disboard families in line. The check-in went very smooth. About 15 minutes later and we were walking out the back door to Atlantis.

Now for anyone who hasn’t been there, this place is huge. We spent maybe 10-15 minutes trying to find the towel hut to get our wristbands.

Then there was another 5 minute walk to get the pools and slide area. The first slide was the one where you went through the tunnel with the sharks in it.

I thought for sure my little would chicken out but she was first in line to get the tubes. After riding that one 3 times, I tried the really steep slide. It was a little scary at first because of the drop, but once you get on it, it was great. The next thing was to find the not-so-lazy river. It took us quite a while to find an entrance. We kept walking by seeing it but could never get to the tubes. We probably spent several hours riding around this river. This is not a normal river, it goes on and on and there are several different paths to take. There was this wave machine that generated 5 foot tall waves on this river.

This was not a kiddie ride to say the least. In addition, there were several places that conveyor belts took you up to a new level or a new ride.

You really didn’t have to get out of the raft hardly at all. Most things could be done from the tube.

After the river, we went down to the beach.

Of course there were people everywhere checking our wrist bands. The water was a spectacular clear blue. The only problem was the waves were very rough. Just getting into the water was a chore. If you weren’t prepared, a wave would take you off your feet. We didn’t stay there very long as there was still more playing to do. After the beach, we rode the slides through the shark tunnel several times and then spent time just relaxing in the pool.

Now we did want to walk through the Dig so we had to get moving. After touring the Dig, we finished in the hotel lobby, which was magnificent.

 

[brucechase]

More Pictures:

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Hey! This is a great report so far, and strangely similar to another report I read here on the Disboards somewhere.

Congratulations on the upgrade! I have always contemplated trying the GTY12 booking, and may give it a go on our next cruise.

Also, good job on booking the room at the Comfort Suites. I have thought about that, too, but always thought it would be too much of a hassle getting everyone off the ship, over there, and back. Looks like the hassle is worth it, though. You only get four wristbands, right? So what did MIL do while you were at Atlantis?

TCD

 

[brucechase]

Hey! This is a great report so far, and strangely similar to another report I read here on the Disboards somewhere.

Congratulations on the upgrade! I have always contemplated trying the GTY12 booking, and may give it a go on our next cruise.

Also, good job on booking the room at the Comfort Suites. I have thought about that, too, but always thought it would be too much of a hassle getting everyone off the ship, over there, and back. Looks like the hassle is worth it, though. You only get four wristbands, right? So what did MIL do while you were at Atlantis?

TCD

Well, since you were the inspiration for my trip report, it means a lot coming from you.

If you do the Cat 12 GTY just be prepared for the room if you don't get upgraded. I would probably book it again if I go again since there was very little in room time. The only down part is no split bathrooms and with 4 of us (which would be upgraded to a Cat 11) and me being the only guy, I am prepared for not getting in there.

Yes, you get up to 4 wristbands depending on how many you booked in a room. On our cruise a couple of Disboard people split a room to save some money. It worked out great for them so if there is more than 4, this would be a great option.

The hassle was worth it for us. The MIL took a DCL island tour and she liked it. She had no interest in spending 5 hours at a waterpark. She was actually still walking on cloud 9 from winning the diamond and sapphire necklace at the shopping presentation.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Well, since you were the inspiration for my trip report, it means a lot coming from you.

If you do the Cat 12 GTY just be prepared for the room if you don't get upgraded. I would probably book it again if I go again since there was very little in room time. The only down part is no split bathrooms and with 4 of us (which would be upgraded to a Cat 11) and me being the only guy, I am prepared for not getting in there.

Yes, you get up to 4 wristbands depending on how many you booked in a room. On our cruise a couple of Disboard people split a room to save some money. It worked out great for them so if there is more than 4, this would be a great option.

The hassle was worth it for us. The MIL took a DCL island tour and she liked it. She had no interest in spending 5 hours at a waterpark. She was actually still walking on cloud 9 from winning the diamond and sapphire necklace at the shopping presentation.

Well, I guess MIL will be coming on your next cruise, too!

Thanks for answering my questions, and keep the report coming, you are doing great.

TCD

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

It was perfect! Did you have the connecting rooms or did you go for a suite?

Oh, I see you have a trip report going too. I was the police-man in the YMCA show. It definately wasn't my singing or dancing that got me picked (or maybe it was).

The suite was a little more than we wanted to pay, so we booked separate category 12's and hoped for connecting rooms. We were upgraded to 11's right next to each. It would have been really nice to have connecting rooms, but at least were right next to each other.

The DIS was represented in the Village People on back-to-back Wonder cruises!

 

[disney1990]

You do know that you aren't supposed to take any fruit off of the ship. Those apples and bananas that you took to Atlantis was a big no, no.

But, I love your trip report - great pictures.

 

[brucechase]

You do know that you aren't supposed to take any fruit off of the ship. Those apples and bananas that you took to Atlantis was a big no, no.

But, I love your trip report - great pictures.

You are not suppose to take the fruit off the ship when coming back to the states or certain other ports.

You can take it off the ship in the Bahamas. We asked several crew members and each one said it was perfectly fine to take off the ship.

 

[brucechase]

Since it was getting late and we had early dinner and the wife had to have a Tortuga Rum Cake, we decided that we should get a taxi back to the port. Now since we wound up at the front of the hotel, taxis were a lot more expensive than the $4 per person that we paid on the way over. I told my wife that I would save the money and walk back to the Comfort Suites. Just then a man with a TownCar asked if we needed a ride. My wife told him we were going back to the cruise ships and he said he would take us back for $25. I said that I would rather go back and get a taxi for $16 when he said he would take us back for that same amount.

When he dropped us off at the Rum Cake Factory, I did give him $20 to split the difference. At the rum cake factory, my wife bought 4 cakes and then wanted to go look at jewelry. This was not my favorite part of the trip because I had no intention of buying $400 pieces of jewelry. One thing that was nice from the shopping trip seminar was a coupon from Diamonds International for a free charm (but you had to pay $5 for the bracelet). Since this was probably going to be the cheapest way out for me, I did spring for 3 of them for all the girls and each one received a charm signifying Nassau. We were told that as we go to other ports that had a DI there, we could get free charms at them all. A nice little touch, but I’m not sure how many other ports we would visit in our future.

Back at the ship and it was close to dinner time again.

Erica wanted her hair braided and we didn’t want to do it in Nassau so they ran up to deck 9 where it was taken care of in about 15 minutes.Tonight was Parrot Cay and pirate night. At the table there were the bandanas waiting for us.

Also there was some blinking Tinkerbell and Captain Hook things that could be purchased. I thought this would make a great souvenir. There really wasn’t a lot of people dressed up as pirates. We didn’t have a chance to bring anything so I was a little worried about being the only ones not dressed up. Instead, I could count the dressed up people on 1 hand. Dinner seemed to go so fast tonight. My wife did find a new favorite desert for her, crème brulee cheesecake. After I had a taste, our server had to bring me one too. That’s alright, after a long day in Nassau, I could use 2 deserts.

After dinner, we made a quick trip to the room to get glow in the dark braclets to give out on our FE exchange. Me and Victoria took half the room and Carolyn and Erica took the other half. We were done in 15 minutes this time. We stopped by Shutters and bought a package of pictures and used this time to pick out a few for our package. The girls were getting bored and wanted to go to the arcade. I went down with them and go them a game card to play for a while. I went back but couldn’t find my wife. A trip back to the arcade and I found my girls had used up a lot of their game card. Since it was getting close to the party, I figured we needed to go find them. After trips to the room, Shutters and the stores, I finally got a page saying they were on deck 10 waiting for us. This is one time that family radios would have come in handy.

We all met up on deck 10 but my oldest wanted to go make Flubber before the fireworks.

Off she went and we stayed up on the right side (the place to be according to our servers) watching the show.

Soon the fireworks started going off and the cheering started. Then came the late night buffet. Since we had early dinner, we weren’t stuffed, but I still wasn’t hungry. No need to let that stop a vacation! They were serving the largest turkey legs I’ve ever seen. Never mind about the chocolate, I wanted a turkey leg.

We all ate like it was our first meal except Victoria who went back to the club. Now my youngest really didn’t want to go back at all. She just was not into these kids clubs. I think she was a little intimidated by all the other kids there.

Now it was real late, but I wanted to deliver our last large FE gift before the morning. After Victoria came back from the club, we delivered all the personalized water bottles to every room. This took a little longer since we had to carry around 3 cases of water. I figured that some might want to use them on Castaway Island.

 

[brucechase]

Getting to the end. I had 14 pages in word and I am on page 11 now.

 

[brucechase]

Saturday
I woke up a little early to watch us pull into the island.

I am amazed at how well the captain can control that boat. It must be like driving a building, but when he docked, you never felt a thing. Running down to the room to get everyone ready was the next order of business. Again we opted for Beach Blanket Buffet even though our servers suggested Tritons. I’m not sure if it was the anticipation but I couldn’t sit still for a sit down breakfast. After breakfast, we went to our room to pick up our excursion tickets and all the stuff for the day.

The sign that would mean something later

Our only DCL excursion was the Extreme Getaway Adventure that included snorkeling with the stingrays, all day float rental, all day snorkel gear and a 1 hour bike rental. This was only for me, my wife and the kids, the mother in law really didn’t want to do the snorkeling. Our stingray adventure was set up for 10:00 so that was the first place we went after finding an umbrella for my mother in law to wait for us. The snorkeling adventure was great; Erica (my youngest) didn’t want to go in the deep water so she hung out at the shore.

We all spent the entire hour just snorkeling around the lagoon. Afterwards, we picked up 2 tube and 2 flat floats to lounge around in.

Taking it all over to the beach wasn’t bad, but Victoria wanted the snorkeling equipment. Now what I didn’t know it that is was all the way at the beginning of the family beach and we were at the other end. Of course I volunteered to go get 4 sets of the gear. I can tell you that was a long hike. They did give me a mesh bag, but it was still a lot to cart all over the beach. By the time I got back, everyone was starting to get hungry. Carolyn and her mom went to go grab a bite while I stayed back and tried to get a snorkel on me and the kids. One thing I did find out the hard way is that the masks do not float. So when I took mine off and dropped, it was gone. We spent probably the next 15-20 minutes before we finally found it. I felt to bad to just leave it in the water and go get another one so we had to find it.

Now it was our turn for lunch. We went to the right side of the building and there was no one there. The left side had 15-20 people in line and we went right up and got what we wanted. I did enjoy the Mahi-Mahi sandwich, but I had to make my own tarter sauce since it was a little dry. One nice treat was the ice cream right after dinner.

After finishing with the chow line, we decided that we would now take a little bike ride to work off the bar-b-que and ice cream. There are 2 paths for you to take on the bike ride. One takes you to the end near a beach that is not really accessible. The other takes you on a small circle to an observation tower.

If you do both rides, it will be about 2 miles so be prepared. We did both paths and got some good pictures, but it really wasn’t a lot to it. I’m not sure if I would do that again though.

Back at the umbrella, everyone just had to have a Konk Kooler.

I also noticed that a helicopter came over the horizon and looked like it landed towards the back of the island. I’m not sure what that was about.

In the middle of the picture

Victoria was begging to do some real snorkeling so we got up all our stuff and headed over to the snorkeling beach which Carolyn and Erica stayed back to enjoy the water. I did find out a little later that Erica got stung by sea lice on the shoulder not 15 minutes after we left. Needless to say, no more water for her. While all this was happening, Victoria and I were exploring the underwater world and enjoying every minute of it. We got some great pictures of fish and underwater surprises (like Minnie).

 

[brucechase]

More CC photos

 

[WishingMom]

Great report...but, what is sea lice??

 

[brucechase]

Great report...but, what is sea lice??

Actually I'm not sure it was sea lice, that is what my wife said the nurse on the island attributed it to. My wife did say that there were basically tiny jellyfish looking things. They were about the size of her thumbnail. She even picked up a couple and tossed them around but never got stung. Once she found out that what she was playing with could sting you, she had this weird look on her face.

I had to tell her:

"It's all fun and games until someone gets stung"

 

[brucechase]

Getting close to 4:30, we decided to head back to the ship.

This is when I found out that my daughter got stung. The lifeguard couldn’t do anything so they went to the medical hut. They took care of here very well there. Now being the end of the day, I realized that neither I nor Victoria set foot on the tubes at all. Too much to do and not enough time. I do understand why the double dip cruises are popular. I would choose those if I had the chance next time.

As soon as we got back on the ship I realized that I haven’t done the tips yet. I knew I would forget. So I went right to guest services where there was a line of 10+ people. I wish I would have done this sooner. There was a box there that said you could drop the tips off before 4:30 but I didn’t make it. It was easy just to fill out the form and put it all on the room. In addition, when I got back to the room, Martha and Carolyn wanted to add a little more so we upped the tip with some cash.

Tonight was our last night at Tritons. Victoria wanted to go to the club and see a movie with a friend. Erica still didn’t want to have a lot to do with the club so she stayed with us. Dinner was good as usual, but I didn’t see anything on the desert menu that I really wanted. Not to be left out, our server ask if I wanted the crème brulee cheesecake from the other night. He actually got 5 yeses with that question. After the little show, he ran to the other dining room and brought us all back desert. He definitely earned his tip with that alone. Speaking of such, since it was the last night, we did give him, the assistant server, and the head server their tip. I was never happier to give something out as then. They deserved everything and more.

We wanted to see the last show, Dreams, along with doing many other things. Carolyn wanted to play Bingo but things were not going to work out to do it all. Last night of the cruise and we understand that we could have been on a 7 day cruise and still not done everything we wanted. Also back at the room, the ship’s engineer gave me a call. I got the chance to talk to him for over 30 minutes while he explained not only how the ship works, but also what it was like to be employed on a cruise ship. He even tried to talk me into applying when the 2 new ships are complete. Tempting, but I’m not sure if I would like working on the cruise instead of being pampered on the cruise. Only time will tell if I look into it. After the phone call, we chose to go to the stores to do a little shopping then go see Dreams. The show was great and probably better than the first one. I would recommend that everyone see at least one show while onboard. After the show, we went back to the room and took Victoria up to see if she wanted any souvenirs. Everyone was extremely worn out so we only go a couple little things. Carolyn took the girls to the room while I got the gifts. I did add the Fish keychain (just like at our room) and a picture frame as a surprise for her when we get back home. It was now 10:45 and I realized that we had to have the luggage out in 15 minutes.

It was time I went back to the room to try to pack up everything. I am shocked at how much our stuff grew in 3 days. As I was going down the hall, CMs were already taking the luggage. One good tip that I did for this is to have everyone pack their going home clothes in a 2 gallon ziplock bag and put it in the luggage before we left the house. Now it was as simple as pulling out that bag and putting everything else up. This tip was a great time saver considering how tire we all were. Erica did finally get to order room service – cookies and milk, but she was so tired that she never got to eat it. One other thing is we never unpacked our luggage. There just wasn’t enough time to unpack so it made packing a lot easier. For the entire trip, we just kept the luggage either in the closet or on the desk in the back.

 

[brucechase]

Sunday
The last day on the ship was a little sad. We got up early because we didn’t have a choice. I realize that we could have not gone to our assigned breakfast, but we did want to say goodbye to our wonderful servers. They did a truly wonderful job making our meals special. After breakfast, I ran up to Shutters because I asked for doubles of a couple of the pictures to complete the package I bought. While there, I did notice that the person next to me was getting a picture that looked like a 4x6 with a couple of wallet sizes on it instead of the 8x10. I wish I would have asked if that was an option for some of the pictures I had. I would have rather had some smaller pictures than all the larger ones they offered. A quick walk by the rebooking desk and I could not bring myself to stop. Even though I would love to have a 10% discount, I really am having a hard time with the expense of the cruise. I would want to do a minimum of a 5 or a 7 day cruise, but the summer prices are just too high. And with the girls school getting harder and harder, missing time would not be the best for them.

The walk out was uneventful and a little subdued. Other than the high five from some Mickey hands, it was a quiet walk to the luggage corral. It didn’t take us long to find the luggage and the customs checkout didn’t even require us to slow down. Within 5 minutes, we were out the door waiting for the Radisson shuttle to take us back to the hotel.

Saying goodbye!

The trip home was all about everyone, except me, sleeping. A few of the FE gifts found their way into the kids hands, but for the most part, it was all silence for us to look back and remember our first cruise.

Here is a couple of pics of all the gifts we got.

 

[2disneycruzrs]

Nice job on the report! I look forward to seeing your photos on my home computer...dang work firewalls!

 

[SunnyBunny08]

I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed your trip. I really enjoyed reading about your entire cruise - thank you again for sharing it. I am so anxious to go, but have lots to do before we leave!

I will be testing out the magnet ideas next weekend and will be sure to make plenty of extras. (Thanks for that tip too!!)

 

[brucechase]

Great tips


• Stay at a local hotel and take the shuttle to the port (if you can).
• Pack the going home clothes in a separate 2 gallon zip lock bag for each person and put in the suitcase. There will be no problems on the last night.
• Get to the ship early and enjoy the time (if you don’t have extremely young children).
• Join up with your meet thread on the Disboard and do the FE exchange. Don’t bring a lot for the FE exchange – a little goes a long way.
• If you want to do Atlantis, get a room at the Comfort Suites and take a taxi over yourself. It will save you hundreds of dollars.
• We brought the over-the-door shoe holder and it was OK, but we could have lived without it. I would bring one again because it is a great place to put stuff like the cameras, batteries, car keys (so I wouldn’t have to dig for them later) and other small stuff.
• If your camera uses AA or AAA, consider spending the extra dollars for the Energizer Lithium Battery. The cost around $2 per battery – but – after 800+ pictures over 5 days, I still had over half the battery left. They say it lasts 7X longer and I now believe it. My camera would normally go through batteries after 100-200 pictures. I would still take a couple of extra batteries, but these things were surprisingly great.
• Don’t overbook stuff for Castaway Cay. I never used the floats and my youngest never used the snorkel equipment. Most of these small things can be rented there when you arrive.
• Go to the right side at Cookies BBQ on Castaway Cay.
• I never went to the debarkation presentation, just watched it on the TV in the room. I don’t think it is necessary attend if you watch it in the room.
• If you want character signatures, drop off the book or pillowcase or photomat at guest services the first night. You won’t have to take up time in line trying to get it done and you won’t miss any. I put the pillowcases in a ziplock bag with fabric markers and a couple of small bags of M&Ms for the characters to snack on while signing.
• If you want to do any jewelry shopping in Nassau, attend the presentation. You might want to attend anyway for a chance for a beautiful necklace.
• If you are getting off the ship in Nassau, get the coupon from Diamonds International for the free charm. Buy the bracelet ($5) for a great souvenir.
• Go to the Adventures Away party and sing and dance until you can’t do it anymore. Great way to start the vacation.
• I never did unpack the clothes, just lived out of the suitcase for the 3 day trip.
• Pre-pay the tips if you can. You can always change it later or add more to it in cash yourself later. Also, give the tips personally to each person, they worked hard to make your trip great and they do need to know if they were successful.
• If you want the Shutters photos, buy a package early to keep the ones you like with you. You can trade out for others at different times and add or subtract at any time. This will save some time at the end instead of scrambling for the photos.
• If you have kids, be prepared for the different feelings on the kids club. I had one (11YO) who loved it and didn’t want to leave and I had one (9YO) who spent almost no time in it because she didn’t like it.
• Trade out the memory cards in your camera every day. Even though nothing bad happened to me, a lost card would mean losing all the pictures instead of just one day’s worth. And put that card in your luggage immediately so you don’t leave it behind.
• If you want an inexpensive digital underwater camera, consider the Vivitar 5188. I read some good and bad reviews but I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars for an Olympus. I picked this up for $55 which would have been the same as 3 underwater disposable camera.;

 

[brucechase]

Now for my last bit of advice to anyone who takes the time to read my trip report.

Life is short and you only get a chance to do it once. Don't get too upset if things aren't exactly perfect or don't go the way you planned. Enjoy the time with your family and savor every moment. The memories you make today will last a lifetime.