Philly Jen
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Messages
- 23
The Cast:
Princess Hannah(5)
Princess Kathryn(3)
Patrick(32, 33 on day 8)
Jennifer(31)
It's finally here! The day we have all been waiting for. We were all tired form our drive. We left PA at 6:45 on Thursday night and arrived in Satellite Beach(near Port Canaveral) at 11:45 am on Friday. The girls slept in on Saturday but we managed to get reado in time for our Super Stretch Limo from J&J Limo. We had originally booked a plain 8-10 passenger but we were "upgraded" to a 18 person stretch Ford Excursion(I am a GM employee so I was only mildy impressed...) The driver said we were upgraded bc he had to pick up astronauts after us... The girls were in absolute awe of this thing. We have pictures of my husband sitting in the middle and the girls on either end, they needed their walkie talkies to communicate! Oh- and speaking of communicating, my most valuable asset, my voice was completely gone today! Makes for a difficult first day.
Anyway, my hubby made us some mimosa's and the girls had OJ in the champaign flutes and we were off. Needless to say, I probably took 50 pictures of the limo ride. The girls loved it, even my oldest who is the seat belt police at home.
We arrived at ther terminal at 10:30 and got right thru the lines. One thing I was surprised about was that our limo was able to drop us off right in front of the terminal. We didn't have to do the tent across the street. I don't know whether it is because they have a license to operate in the terminal area or what.... We got right through the lines and we were on board at noon. The terminal was a fun wait bc of the characters and the general excitement.
As soon as they announced "Welcome Metzler Family from Philadlephia", I started to cry! I am such a big baby but this was an experience that I never had as a kid and I am so glad to be able to do this for my girls.( I have tears just thinking about it now....) Everyone clapped, priceless!
Then we were off to make ressies. My girlfriend Patty and her family were traveling with us. We had decided early on that she would take care of the SPA ressies and I would do Palo. She got selected to be the one the SPA people did their demonstrations on so for 2 hours on the first day she was pampered for free. There was no one in line at 12 and they were taking reservations. We got the one we wanted, 7:30 on Tuesday(the same night as the "goofy giggle gala pj party at the club). The kids club registration was not so quick. We got right in to fill out the paperwork but getting the pager and the wrist bands tied in together at the desk was a pain in the @$$. I don't want to sound negative, but I was disappointed with the perceived dis-organization of the kids club. I think the CM's have the system down pat but it appears like CHAOS from the outside looking in.
Anyway, that was done and we were able to get into our stateroom. The girls Aunt Sally had decorated it all up for Kathryn's and Pat's birthday complete with Mickey Hats and a Cheese Tray. Our friend Mike and Patty had sent a bottle of "sail away" champaign so our room was very festive. One comment about our statroom, 6546. Everyone had been writing about how big the stateroom was. I thought it was big, but not as big as I had invisioned. This was our 4th cruise, but the first one with the girls and wow does their stuff take up space. Once we got everything put away, it seemed much more spacious. We changed the girls into their suits(even after all I read, I still forgot to pack mine). and off to the Mickey Pool(with everyone else on the planet it seemed). My first observation & hope was that it would be only temporary. As I am writing this after the fact, NOT TEMPORARY! The girls loved the pool, especially my little one who usually can't stand up in a pool. The Mickey Slide was a blast for the 2 older girls(Hannah and our friends daughter Skyler, who I will refer to as the big girls from here on out).
It was time for the dismeet, but of course Katie was crashing and burning from the busy day so unfortunately, we couldn't go. We went back to the cabin to drink some(more) champaigne and get the kids ready for the drill. My oldest had been a little nervous about this whole thing and before the trip would constantly ask about the life boats and why we have this drill...etc...Turns out, she was so excited about the day she forgot to worry. With just minor complaining(mostly from me) we survived. Hannah was explaining to Skyler on the way back to the cabin that the drill was important in case we get thrown overboard, we know what to do. Out of the mouths of babes! I know that isn't what I told her.
Sail Away Party!!!-The day was perfect and the girls enjoyed dancing to the island tunes. Katie fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder. I admit-I teared up when I heard the ships horn for the first time. I think it is because our family Disney World trips when I was younger gave me such happy lifelong memories and now I was experiencing it with my own kids. BTW- I tear up when I see Cinderella's castle too! Lots of people, but really not too bad. Had a few yummy drinks and back to the cabin for dinner.
Dinner tonight was at Parrot Cay. One tidbit of info. Our rotation was PLAPLAP which I requested thru my travel agent(which happened to be our travel companion, Patty as well). That way, we were in Lumiere's for formal night and Parrot Cay for Tropical Night and Animator's for semi-formal night. The rotation worked out perfectly. Many people say it is the luck of the draw, but I was able to request it thru the travel agent and it worked. Our waiters were Inyo from Bali and Collin from Trinidad and when I say they were the best, they were absolutely the best. It truly takes a special person to deal with 4 children under 6 years old every night. They made the girls feel sooo special. Inyo would wait for us in the front of the dining room(we were always late) and carry the little ones to the table. Lots of hugs, magic tricks, Collin even sang the girls a song his mom used to sing to him in Trinidad one night. Truly one of the highlights of the trip. One more thing about the dining experience overall. I mentioned somewhere before that I can be kind of a food and wine snob. My husband and I both work hard and we deserve the best when it comes to dining out. We don't waste our $$ on TGI Friday's or Crapplebees when we can go out and spend a little extra for a memorable meal. That said, I was a little leary on this cruise about the food. We had sailed RCCL, Princess and Celebrity in the past and had mixed experiences with the food. Celebrity obvoiusly is known as one of the best dining experiences in the industry, RCCL was good, Princess was good. Anyway, we truly enjoyed the food on the entire cruise. The first night I had the hot crab newburg with french bread chips, a salad(probably the only unmemorable part of the trip) and the Potato Crusted Grouper. Now- I am not a fish person all the time and I guess it was kind of a chance I took ordering fish. After all they have to cook for 2000 people every night. It was wonderful. The fish never tasted fishy at all. For dessert I had the Creme Brulee(my favorite dessert of all time) cheesecake. This would be the only night I didn't order 2 desserts, appetizers etc.... The kids had mac and cheese, PPJ and loved it. After dessert, which I thought was kind of odd, they presented Katie with a birthday cake and sang her Happy Birthday, she turned 3 a few days before. She was so excited. After dinner, the little girls danced to the steel drum band and the big girls were completely engrossed in Inyo's first of many magic tricks of the week. They(Inyo and Collin) both requested hugs and high fives from the kids and we were off to try the kids club. Checking in was a nightmare bc there were still people who needed to register. It was also extremely hot in the club and the hallway leading to the club. The kids went willingly bc all 4 of them were together for the "Luau". It again appeared like CHAOS and I was wondering how they keep track of all of those kids. Some were off in a corner by themselves crying and no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Anway, the adults went to get settled into the Welcome Aboard show and after about 15 minutes, we got paged....The pager message was very nice...."Hannah and Kathryn would like to be picked up, have a magical evening"....... When we got there Katie was crying and the other 3 girls were trying to console her. Awwww.... Anway, Hannah had bent her brand new glasses on the slide. I asked her where they were, and we found them in a baggie by the desk. I guess even with that many kids they were able to keep track of her glasses. We just put them in the safe in the room and decided to deal with them when we got home( she only really needs them for school). We were all in bed by 9:30- you will start to see a pattern develop with our bedtime.......
Stay tuned for day 2
Princess Hannah(5)
Princess Kathryn(3)
Patrick(32, 33 on day 8)
Jennifer(31)
It's finally here! The day we have all been waiting for. We were all tired form our drive. We left PA at 6:45 on Thursday night and arrived in Satellite Beach(near Port Canaveral) at 11:45 am on Friday. The girls slept in on Saturday but we managed to get reado in time for our Super Stretch Limo from J&J Limo. We had originally booked a plain 8-10 passenger but we were "upgraded" to a 18 person stretch Ford Excursion(I am a GM employee so I was only mildy impressed...) The driver said we were upgraded bc he had to pick up astronauts after us... The girls were in absolute awe of this thing. We have pictures of my husband sitting in the middle and the girls on either end, they needed their walkie talkies to communicate! Oh- and speaking of communicating, my most valuable asset, my voice was completely gone today! Makes for a difficult first day.
Anyway, my hubby made us some mimosa's and the girls had OJ in the champaign flutes and we were off. Needless to say, I probably took 50 pictures of the limo ride. The girls loved it, even my oldest who is the seat belt police at home.
We arrived at ther terminal at 10:30 and got right thru the lines. One thing I was surprised about was that our limo was able to drop us off right in front of the terminal. We didn't have to do the tent across the street. I don't know whether it is because they have a license to operate in the terminal area or what.... We got right through the lines and we were on board at noon. The terminal was a fun wait bc of the characters and the general excitement.
As soon as they announced "Welcome Metzler Family from Philadlephia", I started to cry! I am such a big baby but this was an experience that I never had as a kid and I am so glad to be able to do this for my girls.( I have tears just thinking about it now....) Everyone clapped, priceless!
Then we were off to make ressies. My girlfriend Patty and her family were traveling with us. We had decided early on that she would take care of the SPA ressies and I would do Palo. She got selected to be the one the SPA people did their demonstrations on so for 2 hours on the first day she was pampered for free. There was no one in line at 12 and they were taking reservations. We got the one we wanted, 7:30 on Tuesday(the same night as the "goofy giggle gala pj party at the club). The kids club registration was not so quick. We got right in to fill out the paperwork but getting the pager and the wrist bands tied in together at the desk was a pain in the @$$. I don't want to sound negative, but I was disappointed with the perceived dis-organization of the kids club. I think the CM's have the system down pat but it appears like CHAOS from the outside looking in.
Anyway, that was done and we were able to get into our stateroom. The girls Aunt Sally had decorated it all up for Kathryn's and Pat's birthday complete with Mickey Hats and a Cheese Tray. Our friend Mike and Patty had sent a bottle of "sail away" champaign so our room was very festive. One comment about our statroom, 6546. Everyone had been writing about how big the stateroom was. I thought it was big, but not as big as I had invisioned. This was our 4th cruise, but the first one with the girls and wow does their stuff take up space. Once we got everything put away, it seemed much more spacious. We changed the girls into their suits(even after all I read, I still forgot to pack mine). and off to the Mickey Pool(with everyone else on the planet it seemed). My first observation & hope was that it would be only temporary. As I am writing this after the fact, NOT TEMPORARY! The girls loved the pool, especially my little one who usually can't stand up in a pool. The Mickey Slide was a blast for the 2 older girls(Hannah and our friends daughter Skyler, who I will refer to as the big girls from here on out).
It was time for the dismeet, but of course Katie was crashing and burning from the busy day so unfortunately, we couldn't go. We went back to the cabin to drink some(more) champaigne and get the kids ready for the drill. My oldest had been a little nervous about this whole thing and before the trip would constantly ask about the life boats and why we have this drill...etc...Turns out, she was so excited about the day she forgot to worry. With just minor complaining(mostly from me) we survived. Hannah was explaining to Skyler on the way back to the cabin that the drill was important in case we get thrown overboard, we know what to do. Out of the mouths of babes! I know that isn't what I told her.
Sail Away Party!!!-The day was perfect and the girls enjoyed dancing to the island tunes. Katie fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder. I admit-I teared up when I heard the ships horn for the first time. I think it is because our family Disney World trips when I was younger gave me such happy lifelong memories and now I was experiencing it with my own kids. BTW- I tear up when I see Cinderella's castle too! Lots of people, but really not too bad. Had a few yummy drinks and back to the cabin for dinner.
Dinner tonight was at Parrot Cay. One tidbit of info. Our rotation was PLAPLAP which I requested thru my travel agent(which happened to be our travel companion, Patty as well). That way, we were in Lumiere's for formal night and Parrot Cay for Tropical Night and Animator's for semi-formal night. The rotation worked out perfectly. Many people say it is the luck of the draw, but I was able to request it thru the travel agent and it worked. Our waiters were Inyo from Bali and Collin from Trinidad and when I say they were the best, they were absolutely the best. It truly takes a special person to deal with 4 children under 6 years old every night. They made the girls feel sooo special. Inyo would wait for us in the front of the dining room(we were always late) and carry the little ones to the table. Lots of hugs, magic tricks, Collin even sang the girls a song his mom used to sing to him in Trinidad one night. Truly one of the highlights of the trip. One more thing about the dining experience overall. I mentioned somewhere before that I can be kind of a food and wine snob. My husband and I both work hard and we deserve the best when it comes to dining out. We don't waste our $$ on TGI Friday's or Crapplebees when we can go out and spend a little extra for a memorable meal. That said, I was a little leary on this cruise about the food. We had sailed RCCL, Princess and Celebrity in the past and had mixed experiences with the food. Celebrity obvoiusly is known as one of the best dining experiences in the industry, RCCL was good, Princess was good. Anyway, we truly enjoyed the food on the entire cruise. The first night I had the hot crab newburg with french bread chips, a salad(probably the only unmemorable part of the trip) and the Potato Crusted Grouper. Now- I am not a fish person all the time and I guess it was kind of a chance I took ordering fish. After all they have to cook for 2000 people every night. It was wonderful. The fish never tasted fishy at all. For dessert I had the Creme Brulee(my favorite dessert of all time) cheesecake. This would be the only night I didn't order 2 desserts, appetizers etc.... The kids had mac and cheese, PPJ and loved it. After dessert, which I thought was kind of odd, they presented Katie with a birthday cake and sang her Happy Birthday, she turned 3 a few days before. She was so excited. After dinner, the little girls danced to the steel drum band and the big girls were completely engrossed in Inyo's first of many magic tricks of the week. They(Inyo and Collin) both requested hugs and high fives from the kids and we were off to try the kids club. Checking in was a nightmare bc there were still people who needed to register. It was also extremely hot in the club and the hallway leading to the club. The kids went willingly bc all 4 of them were together for the "Luau". It again appeared like CHAOS and I was wondering how they keep track of all of those kids. Some were off in a corner by themselves crying and no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Anway, the adults went to get settled into the Welcome Aboard show and after about 15 minutes, we got paged....The pager message was very nice...."Hannah and Kathryn would like to be picked up, have a magical evening"....... When we got there Katie was crying and the other 3 girls were trying to console her. Awwww.... Anway, Hannah had bent her brand new glasses on the slide. I asked her where they were, and we found them in a baggie by the desk. I guess even with that many kids they were able to keep track of her glasses. We just put them in the safe in the room and decided to deal with them when we got home( she only really needs them for school). We were all in bed by 9:30- you will start to see a pattern develop with our bedtime.......
Stay tuned for day 2
Sorry .. just a silly mood .... I need a vacation!!!!! 
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I'm also glad that you guys had a great time. Paradise Point was kinda awesome, huh? And those Bushwhackers were pretty good too! 
