3 days on the WONDER and NOW i get it! (and am positively hooked on DISNEY) :)

[ilovecraigandcooper]

I truly feel that extended family vacations are very similar to giving birth the second time. At some point in the middle of the vacation you find yourself completely engrossed in absolute fiasco and you're thinking to yourself WHY THE FLOCK DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF AGAIN?! IT'S HORRIBLE, IT'S MISERABLE, NOW IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME, ALL OF THE REASONS FROM THE LAST FAMILY VACATION WHEN I SWORE TO MYSELF THAT I WOULD NEVER AGAIN DO THIS, YET HERE I AM!!! And then after it's all said and done it's like God erases all the pain, and all the bad times and you're only left with a really good feeling in your heart and the happy memories and you're already planning your next family vacation...(much like after you have a baby and during labor you're all like UGH, NEVER AGAIN, and then that baby gets here and you're all like THIS IS AWESOME, I'M HAVING SIXTEEN...

The Pre-Plan: back in april (on my birthday actually), I decided that I would buy myself a present and I put down a deposit on a disney cruise! I will admit, it was somewhat of an impulsive decision and I didn't know that much about disney AND over the last couple of months I did have a few moments of regret (like WHAT THE CRAP WAS I THINKING, I COULD HAVE DONE A SEVEN NIGHT ON ROYAL CARIBBEAN FOR WHAT I'M PAYING TO SAIL THREE NIGHTS WITH A MOUSE)!!! But don't throw stones yet because I was a newbie, I didn't know, I wasn't aware of the absolute magical that was about to transpire...

The Players:
~Shannon (that would me, the over compulsive planner and self proclaimed leader of the group)
~Craig (my sweet hubby, who lets me go crazy and be in charge of the vacations)
~Cooper (the 18 month old, sweetest, happiest baby in the world)
~Mom (my mom, loves everything, so great!)
~Dad (went on one royal caribbean cruise, hated it, generally grumpy...)
~Becca (my 17 year old sister, pretty shy, did NOT wish to participate in aloft)
~Joann (my mother in law, craig's mom, easy to get along with, discovered that she snores LOUDLY)

The Plan: staying at the sheraton the night before the cruise and then three nights aboard the wonder!

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

Some people pack days, even weeks ahead. I pack hours and minutes before we're scheduled to leave. So friday night that's what I was doing, feverishly throwing things into our suitcase (our ONE suitcase) for all three of us, (me, craig and cooper). Because we were all seven riding in my mom and dad's aviator we were only going to be able to take one bag each...(not good for an over-compulsive person like me, who also likes to over pack because YOU JUST NEVER KNOW).

My bff came over to keep me company while I packed into wee hours of the morning and we watched f.r.i.e.n.d.s. and ate an ENTIRE pizza ourselves...a secret that we swore to take to our graves...whoops...

Anyway I finally finished up around 1:00 am and we were due to leave at 5:00am. Yuck. I got a few hours sleep, the alarm went off way to early and we actually pulled out at 5:30 (not too bad)!

Cooper was not amused to be drug out of bed at such an hour and forced out into the cold morning air. But not to worry, we were heading for a climate much warmer than ours...a state in which it's not entirely unheard of for people to just spontaneously combust from the heat...this place is called florida. (Did I mention I hate the heat)?

So we pack into the aviator, which has plenty of people room but like no luggage room and even before we pick up Joann and her bag we squished in like sardines.

We picked up the mother in law and drove and drove and I slept and slept. We stopped for breakfast somewhere in south georgia. Nothing really exciting to report on the roadtrip part except that it IS extremely hard to amuse a
1 1/2 year old on the road for ten hours...

We went the way the gps told us to (on the turnpike). Before we had always taken Hwy. 10 I think so we wern't really expecting the tolls. We knew it was a toll booth so we thought big deal a couple of quarters and we'll be on our way...yeah EXCEPT that there are I don't know, LIKE FIFTEEN different toll booths, all of which we would pull up to and all be feverishly hunting for quarters like crazy.

Up next, our hotel for which we had reservations but had never seen, would it be a crap hole or not?

 

[lmhall2000]

Love the report! Can't wait to see how you and family like it!! Especially generally grumpy grandpa!

Tara

 

[kindra657]

subbing! wish I could get my family members to finally "get" it!!
We're taking the in-laws in Jan on a land/sea vacation --kidani and wonder-- I really hope the magic spreads to them because I am SOOOO tired of hearing: "You guys are going to Disney AGAIN , don't ya wanna go somewhere else?" ...um yeah we are and no we don't!!!!!!!

 

[mmmears]

We're planning our first cruise, a 3-day on the Wonder, so I'm really excited to read about your trip!

 

[Tink rules]

You left me at a toll booth???

Waiting for more!!!

 

[MagicMe]

Where did you go???? Anxious to read more!

 

[DWjunkie]

More, More

 

[TotallyAngelic]

signing up to read about your trip .... great story so far ....

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

So after countless (COUNTLESS)! tollbooths we finally make it into port canaveral My original plan was to to make it into town in time to eat at one of the restaurants that over look the water and possibly see the magic sail out. That didn't happen but we did get to see her from the road and that was exciting!

We rode around and found our hotel, Four Points by Sheraton. I was totally amazed and blown away by the hotel. It was beautiful. You walk into the lobby and then there's a restaurant with a waterfall and my son's favorite a HUGE round aquarium with lots of FISH-EEESSSS and one shark! (We took many trips down to the look at the fisheeeessss! There's also a surf shop in the hotel. Lots of fun things to look at!

We got a suite that had 2 beds and one pull out couch. We also had a crib. The room wasn't crowded at all. The best part was it had a window that overlooked the restaurant/surf shop so it was fun to sit up there and people watch.

We got our stuff up to our room and then went back down to the surf shop. We browsed and then talked about dinner. Craig really had his heart set on eating oysters (yuck) so we looked at the menu from the on site restaurant. They didn't have them but they recommended the Florida Seafood Company. (I'm pretty sure that was the name of it...maybe it was the Great Florida Seafood Company...SEE, THIS IS WHY YOU DO YOUR TRIP REPORTS AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME, SO YOU DON'T FORGET IMPORTANT DETAILS)! anyway...

The hotel said it was within walking distance (which was good because for one, we had just woken our butts back up from hours on the road, and two because my mom, dad and sister decided to eat at the KFC across the road instead)! They're not a fan of the seafood.

So Craig, Joann, Cooper and me start the walk. We did get there although if I was doing it again with my 2 year old I may elect to take a car. It seemed like a pretty long walk along a very busy road and by some questionable parking lots that were a little scary at night...

Finally we make it Bring on the food! Craig got his oysters, Coop had clam chowder, Joann got some type of fish platter and I got pasta with shrimp YUMMO! Dinner was very, very good! I would recommend THE (GREAT?) FLORIDA SEAFOOD COMPANY...and I would also recommend driving there..if it's at night...and you're clumsy like me...and you may or may not regularly fall into pot holes in parking lots...not that I would ever do anything like that

 

[BeautyFan]

Shannon,
Love it so far! We leave in a month, maybe we'll try that restaurant!

Looking forward to hearing the rest! Please tell us if the hotel had a shuttle or if you parked at the port for your trip.

Thanks for taking the time to post your report!

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

Shannon,
Love it so far! We leave in a month, maybe we'll try that restaurant!

Looking forward to hearing the rest! Please tell us if the hotel had a shuttle or if you parked at the port for your trip.

Thanks for taking the time to post your report!

yes, you definitely should check out the restaurant, i'll check with my hubby and get the correct name and get back with you!

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

So after dinner we're stuffed so we waddle our way back towards our hotel room but we get distracted by CVS and the fact that even though we had months to plan for this cruise we still managed to forget something. (I can't even remember what it was now but something at the time that seems pretty crucial, maybe sunglasses? sunscreen?)

ANYWAY, we make a stop at cvs, we also get some milk because YES, my child is OVER a year old and YES I still give him a "baa baa peas" (bottle please)! and YES he enjoyes it and YES sometimes I hold him while he sleeps (EVEN THOUGH, I've been told multiple times by my grandma that this will "spoil" him, who cares, HE'S MINE, I'LL SPOIL HIM IF I WANT TO)...wow, I really got off on a tangent there... HAHA, so...we bought the milk...

Then we met my parents and sister at the Ron Jon Surf Shop (right next to our hotel) which stays open 24 hours a day! I don't know why this excites me, I really don't forsee ever having a surfing emergency at like 2 in the morning BUT IF I DID, I'd have a place to go! I think I just like 24 hour things...I'm very partial to our super walmart!

After we left the surf shop Craig and Joann headed back to the room. The rest of us walked towards what "should have been the ocean" but we never found it They were doing construction on the back roads and it was pitch black so we eventually just turned back toward the hotel.

A SIDE NOTE: the room we booked was a "cruise and park" or something like that, where the price included getting to park at the radisson and taking their shuttle to and from the ship. When I booked the room (not very long before we left, maybe 2 weeks?) I went ahead and called the Radisson and booked a shuttle time (10:30 am). I'm soooooo glad I did because when we got to the hotel she looked at our reservation and then she called the Radisson to book us a time (I didn't know what she was doing at the time) and the earliest time she could get was 2:30 when she told me that I explained that I had called earlier and got her to verify that they had our name down for 10:30. They did), So moral of the story: if you plan to take a radisson shuttle make sure you call and make your reservations early)!

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

AFTER all that excitement it was time to head up to the room. We people watched for awhile (via our SUPER-COOL window over looking the peeps and the FISHEEESSSS). Then we slept. CORRECTION: some people slept, (mom, dad Becca and Craig). Some people snored: JOANN. Some people were just plain wound up and loud because 1)he had been in a carseat for ten hours and 2)he KNEW that there were still fisheeesss down there and why should he have to sleep, why couldn't he just stay up all night and stare at them and say fisheee..fisheee (which by the way is A-DOR-A-BLE) and then there was someone (ME)! who didn't get to sleep because of the tiny human who refused to and the older woman who was so involved in sleeping it sounded a little like she was murdering a whole forrest of trees all by herself. Some time eventually I also fell asleep. I finally convinced Coop to sleep with us (YES, in our bed, not in his crib even though according to the experts this will make him co-dependent and he'll never be able to sleep alone...although he almost always does ANYWAY), (that was left over from the rant from the previous post...)

THE NEXT MORNING: CRUISE DAY!
We woke up and honestly I have no idea what we did for breakfast...I know I didn't eat but I think someone did...I'm not sure, anyway I neglected to let you in on a very COOL fact, at the front desk of the sheraton they have this bowl of peppermints that taste just like regular peppermints BUT they're BLUE! like really, really pretty blue! and square! (I'm not sure why that's important, but it is)! Snitch a few of these, your mouth will thank you.

We spent a few more minutes in the shop and saying goodbye to our fishee friends, then we headed to the car. We loaded up and took off to the radisson. Dad stopped to fill the aviator up because he said that way if someone stole it while we were gone, they'd have a full tank

Note on my Dad: he's the type of person that has that half smile, like he never really wants you to know he's having a good time because that would be too human or something...he likes to pretend to be miserable even when he's not. In his defense he usually doesn't strive to make OTHER people miserable, he just likes to stay grumpy himself... he was not thrilled about the cruise because we had talked him into one (royal caribbean) which he hated because he said "there was nothing he liked to do", "the food was horrible" and "he was bored". Now on land there's very few things he likes to do, he likes to rebuild old cars, he likes to look at old cars, he likes nascar, he likes to watch andy griffith and...yeah that's about the extent of it. So I'm not sure how he could have been MORE bored on a ship then he usually is on land...as for the food this was partially our fault on the last cruise, we pushed for him to eat in the dinning room with us each night because it's like our favorite part of the cruise, we should have just let him eat burgers at the pool but we *thought* he'd grow to love it (wishful thinking) Okay I'm not even sure where I was going with this...

 

[Shoppingstaceysmom]

Following your report, can't wait to hear more!

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

Sooooooo we get to the Radisson, unload our bags, check in with the front desk and I go with my dad to park the car wayyyyy around the back. Then we make the long journey back. By this time it was maybe 10:25. Now I had asked my dad before we left georgia, DO YOU HAVE ANY WEAPONS because he (along with the whole fine state) never has anything less than a pocket knife on him at any given time. (Okay that made him sound pretty rednecky, he's really not but truthfully it's a law or something that georgia men HAVE to carry pocket knives).

So when he reached into his pocket and his face turned white and he goes "oh crap I've still got my knife!" right at 10:30 I was more than a little annoyed. "I TOLD YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU LEFT IT IN THE CAR". UGHGHGHGHGH It's okay, I'll run really fast he says. So he takes off for the car yet again..

Meanwhile the very important man with the clipboard called our name. Before we could load our bags he asked us if everyone in our party was present or if anyone was parking the car. We hung our head in defeat, "no, there's one with the car" we replied glumly. So we stepped aside and watched lucky families board the shuttle. By the time dad got back that shuttle was full but the pirate man assured us there would be another soon! I asked the crowd if anyone else thought the clipboard man was less shuttle coordinator/more pirates of the caribbean. I had two little boys agree enthusiastically and the pirate man took a bow. Seriously he could totally be a pirate, he's in the wrong profession!

Finally our shuttle got there and we loaded up (minus any weaponary). The bus was filled with excitement. My favorite part was watching all the little kids, yay for energy!

Unloading and getting to the terminal was pretty non eventful. There wasn't a line to check in so that was pretty painless. The only thing that caused alarm was that joann's birth certificate name does not match her name on her driver's license. She was born in the 40's, at home and her dad filled out the birth certificate and spelled her name "joan" leaving out one "n". This was a problem.

Will they let joann on the boat or not?

 

[wink13]

Did Joan I mean Joann make it on???

 

[poppinz]

Enjoying your trip report.....MORE!!!

 

[toy]

come on.... don't leave me hanging

 

[boardom]

Your TR is hilarious, don't leave us in suspense!!