5/25/06- Our first stay at GF & our first cruise! (pictures added!)

[dzneprincess]

Yep.. we are doing the September double dip! We have our WONDERFUL AWESOME sitter that is going to keep the kids. SHe is the only help we get though. My family lives in CO and DH family stay busy to help ot much. So we have been trying to take a trip with no kids once a year from now on. THis is our 3rd year of doing it. It has been really great for us, and as far as getting away with it, well IMHO we are the adults! LOL We pay terefore we say. Plus since we just did this trip they are satiated for a while. lol Thanks for saying my Nate is a cutie. I sure think so! LOL

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

LOL Well I aim to lower my stress level as much as possible- it's high enough as it is with my kids/etc. What I meant by "getting away with it" is not getting away with it without having to hear whining, etc. LOL We have taken other trips without them (like Jamaica and such) but DISNEY? A DISNEY cruise without them? oh no way... I don't feel up to that amount of whining before, during (by phone/etc.) and afterwards. LOL

That's why I asked if it was Disney. I could see them being totally blase about some other cruise... nondisney... if we went without them. LOL

Sounds great though- DCL would be a whole lot cheaper with only 2 adults. Hmm, you have me thinking. LOL

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Oh I can't believe I forgot to mention (probably because I didn't mention it in my journal to remind me) that I burned my forehead with the curling iron trying to tame my bangs one evening for dinner. I knew I burned it- but it didn't show a thing until over a day later so at first I thought it wasn't that bad- but then the next day that area was "brownish". I just covered it with makeup. But then it PEELED off on CC day...and was bright red. Still covered it with makeup. Tried to keep it covered with my bangs. The day I saw Stacey on deck 9 she made me feel better about it though- she said if she'd noticed it she would IMMEDIATELY know what happened. Apparently I'm not the only one that has burned their forehead in that manner before.

I'm a walking billboard for what can go wrong- will. LOL Oh and I found my pile of shorts "that do really fit" on my dresser at home soon as I walked in there.. those are the shorts I meant to take. Perhaps packing the night before (with DH asleep in that bedroom where my shorts were- therefore trying to get clothes to pack that were in a room only lit by the tv so as to not wake him up) wasn't such a hot idea. Lesson learned. We are used to flying out at NIGHT for WDW trips- not early morning like we did for this trip... maybe that's the difference- I have daylight to pack that last day. Next time I'll pack a little earlier.

We can't wait for next time! I sure wish we could go again next summer so the wait wouldn't be so long. LOL

 

[ladypoo]

Thanks for the report, It was great reading it. Even though we didnt meet, I believe I saw your family around the ship.

 

[kimsue68]

Great report!! I also had issues with the manicure that I paid $40 for!! It has to have been the very worst manicure that I have ever recieved!! I am so mad at myself that I spent $40 for someone to pretend file my nails, rub lotion on my cuticles, rub an exfoliating lotion on my hand and then wipe it off, and paint my nails with nail polish that NEVER dried and became a sticky mess by the end of the day!! Oh well, lesson learned!! No more salon services on future cruises!! Out of a whole week that is the worst thing that happened so I think that I did good since I get major motion sickness and didn't, am super picky about food and totally LOVED everything and have never ever loved any vacation that I have ever been on (except for DW!) and we loved this so much that we rebooked onboard!!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Great report!! I also had issues with the manicure that I paid $40 for!! It has to have been the very worst manicure that I have ever recieved!! I am so mad at myself that I spent $40 for someone to pretend file my nails, rub lotion on my cuticles, rub an exfoliating lotion on my hand and then wipe it off, and paint my nails with nail polish that NEVER dried and became a sticky mess by the end of the day!! Oh well, lesson learned!! No more salon services on future cruises!! Out of a whole week that is the worst thing that happened so I think that I did good since I get major motion sickness and didn't, am super picky about food and totally LOVED everything and have never ever loved any vacation that I have ever been on (except for DW!) and we loved this so much that we rebooked onboard!!

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one. LOL Mine was more than $40 though- I think the manicure part was supposed to be $75 or $90 or something like that- can't remember because I booked both that and the pedicure a long time ago but it wasn't $40. And it was the exotic ritual manicure or something like that. All she did was file my nails (when I asked her not to reshape them), "picked" at my cuticles (the weirdest thing I've ever seen anyone do- with nail clippers no less -like I can't do that myself?) and then had me put my hands in some milk stuff for about 5min (seriously) and then rubbed some lotion on there- then she got to the point of starting to do the french manicure (an extra $10 btw- so the entire cost was for what I described before this point).
The money is better spent on a massage or something. Consider yourself (anyone reading this) warned... get your nails done before the cruise and avoid this part of the cruise. LOL

Some people were getting their hair dolled up for (I assume) semi-formal night and they were all very pretty... so the hair dressers sure know what they are doing! I kept thinking THAT'S what I should have got done- and that was before I even realized she'd given me pointy nails and was trying to color the white only on the very ends of my fingernails. LOL

Some would say I'm a picky person in some respects (although not about food- I go with the flow and enjoyed trying different foods on the cruise. I mean what other time can you "try" foods you've never tried before without being stuck with a huge bill for food you might not even have enjoyed? LOL) but I have always enjoyed all our vacations. However, this was by far the best... (and everyone in my family agrees) and honestly now I can't imagine just going to WDW. Did I just use the word "just" and WDW in the same sentence? LOL I thought about going again with the special that is out now- with just me and the kids- during a break the kids have end of Sept... but I'm just not feeling it. I wanna go on another Disney cruise! LOL The only bad things about this cruise was the aforementioned first dinner and the manicure fiasco.

O.M.G if it says server is busy try again later ONE MORE TIME I'm going to lose it. I just am. What is up with this board lately? Every single time I post or try to read a thread/etc. I have to refresh atleast 3 times (usually more) before it will work. Sometimes my posts disappearing and having to retype it (as is the case on THIS post!). Is this happening to everyone else or just me? *paranoia* LOL

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Excellent report! I really loved every post!

I love how you and your family coordinated your outfits on many of the days. That was so nice and made for some really great photos.

I was so discouraged to hear about your first night's dinner on the Magic but totally relieved when everything got fixed and better afterwards.

Another bit -- DH and I love Sessions, too!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Excellent report! I really loved every post!

I love how you and your family coordinated your outfits on many of the days. That was so nice and made for some really great photos.

I was so discouraged to hear about your first night's dinner on the Magic but totally relieved when everything got fixed and better afterwards.

Another bit -- DH and I love Sessions, too!

Thanks so much!

Yeah, we've learned that coordinated/matching outfits makes it easier to keep up with our kids. I guess I forgot to mention the SCARY instance we had when leaving MK (not the last time- the time before the last time we left for good LOL) where the kids were eating their suckers we'd purchased in the store after splash station... it took awhile to get our pictures even though we rode it again before picking up the picture from the first ride- and Rita wanted suckers so I bought a pkg of 3. ANYWAY, apparently what happened is I was leading with the older two within my peripheral (sp?) vision as usual and DH was behind us with Rita- he was helping to get the darn plastic off those suckers (LOL) and apparently he dropped some of the plastic, Rita stopped to pick it up (good girl that she is) and then LOST US. It wasn't even crowded- at all... but apparently she couldn't see us and DH said later he thought she was still next to him. It only lasted a few seconds because the first time I turned around I realized Rita wasn't near him. We were walking past the POC area when this happened and were just a little ways past it when we realized Rita wasn't with us.
MAJOR PANIC MODE- we've never lost a kid at WDW before!
So we backtrack really quickly yelling her name... and a family had her like right across from the POC refurbishment area standing up on one of those raised areas (can't explain what it is- is that a restaurant behind there? Perhaps) and we didn't even see Rita they recognized US by our SHIRTS that matched hers! LOL They stopped us and got our attention then ofcourse we realized Rita was with them. (this was a family of an older lady probably the grandmother and mom/dad/some kids) They said they asked her if she was lost (she told me right after that- that when she didn't see us when she looked back up she just stood there and started crying and the elderly lady came up to her) and she told them she'd lost her family- and they asked what we looked like- and she just said they are wearing shirts like this and pointed to her shirt. Since we weren't expecting her to be with some family and standing up on that thing- we were looking around for her like WALKING -probably alone... we probably would have walked right by this family in our search for her.. if they hadn't recognized our shirts and got our attention because of it.

All of this happened in about a span of 2-3 min but it was scary. And I was proud of Rita- she knew exactly what to say... I lost my family and they are wearing shirts like mine. LOL Oh and she wouldn't go anywhere with the family except right there. The lady told me she did good- she said Rita asked them if they would stay with her right there so we (her family) could find her again. (in other words she didn't want to leave the area with a family she didn't know) Guess she knew we'd be coming back for her eventually. LOL

This plan is a little easier than always like taking pictures of what our kids are wearing that day/etc. in case we lose them. But hopefully we'll never lose a kid again! (DH was in trouble for that one, btw. )

Additional WARNING/TIP BELOW!

Be sure to bring play clothes on the cruise. I know most of you won't think about doing this- we didn't... but if you're kids are going to spend time in the lab- bring play clothes! I can't remember the name of the activity but Ruby swears it was just called "animation cell"- be forewarned, this involves the use of paints and apparently they get paint on themselves during this activity- like leaning over their pictures and whatnot. They were on some of my kids clothes and upon washing them at home- it doesn't come out! So some of my kids NEW clothes worn for the first time that day- were ruined with purple paint (they were doing animation cells of Stitch thus the purple). My kids didn't even do it at the SAME TIME- so it's not like those two purposely got paint on one another... yet they both got paint on their shirts and Ruby got some on her skort- and it doesn't come off. argh
Be forewarned....
You'd think that the lab people would KNOW that on a cruise the kids are most likely not wearing play (ie: trash clothes that doesn't matter if they get ruined) clothes and have like an apron or something over them when working with paints- but nope... so beware atleast that one activity- if you send them... send them in clothes you don't mind paint getting on them.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

All of this happened in about a span of 2-3 min but it was scary. And I was proud of Rita- she knew exactly what to say... I lost my family and they are wearing shirts like mine. LOL Oh and she wouldn't go anywhere with the family except right there.

WOW! That must have been scary for both of you! What a mature and intelligent young lady you have, though. Wow. Kudos to her and kudos to you and your husband for doing such a great job raising her!

I must say, I learned so much from reading your TR in regards to traveling with younger ones. DH and I have done 4 DCs but that was before we had Amelia. We are planning on going with her next April and next October. Thank you so much for all of the tips!

Oh, and one more thing. Because of your report, I think, I had a dream (no, I had a NIGHTMARE) last night that DH and I missed Palo Brunch. Aside from the Rainforest Cafe, Palo Brunch is my absolute favorite activity on the cruise!!! LOL

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

LOL Sorry about the nightmare! It certainly is a nightmare- one we lived! *pout pout* We won't forget next time- I'll put notes everywhere to remind me if I have to!

Yes, we were very proud of our little Rita. We hadn't even prepared her for what to do when she got lost (bad parents- I know) but we didn't expect to ever lose her- yanno? And we hadn't told her anything about tell them we have the same shirts on/etc. She just did that totally on her own. (but we did wear matching shirts so we could always keep an eye on our kids AND if ever one was lost we'd have an easier time describing what they had on- shirts like ours, shorts like ours, and ofcourse we'd remember what color crocs they had on LOL) She's a talker- well all my kids are (are you surprised? LOL My kids talk full sentences VERY early on... not sure where they get that from, DH could tell ya I bet. ) and has never met a stranger... so while we weren't surprised she'd talk to a family, we were proud that she refused to just walk off with them (like to go somewhere else- is there a lost/found children place at WDW like there is at Six Flags? I'm not sure). Also surprised she didn't just go off to find us on her own. From what she told us and the family told us- once she looked up and saw we were gone- she rooted herself in that spot (and started crying ). No telling how long it would have been before we found her if she'd started walking off to find us on her own!

(but by the time we found her a few moments later- off to the side with that family- she was happily eating her sucker just waiting for us to come by or waiting for that family to find us. She's such a confident little gal... she knew we would be by along sometime. LOL IOW: she cried only until the "granny" of that family took her under her wing- as long as she wasn't "alone"- she was fine. LOL No real fear in this child... ofcourse she thinks she IS a princess and ofcourse no one would do harm to royalty. LOL )

~~ Well I've come to the conclusion "something" happened to my digital camera because now it is obvious that some pictures are just "missing". I was reminded that we did have the tower of pisa towel animal one night -with a paper telling us what it was or otherwise we'd never figure out what it was... and I know I took a picture or two of that! Gone... also the picture of Ruby with Stitch (her favorite character) that was just around the corner from the theatre one night right before a show- gone! What the heck? I've never had my camera do that before. I wonder if one time when I dropped it (hard) it messed it up? Not sure- but it's also never put weird dates on pictures before either- like it did on this trip!

~~ next time we'll have the embarkation picture taken. On this trip we just walked between the huge lines for this because we thought it was just a picture of us with the map background (blah) but now I see other pictures on this board and realize they put a border on that map with the ship, Mickey, dates of the cruise, etc.! We had no idea! arghhhhhh Next time...

 

[Tiggery]

Great report. Thanks for taking the time to post.
How much was the Hyatt day room. I'd never thought of doing it but it sounds like a perfect way to end the trip stress free.