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

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Thanks Lisa- I had no idea you could call for stuff!
Fortunately I did a better job of packing/double checking than I thought- apparently I packed the frame in between the memory boxes our TA had sent for us- and didn't even remember it! Found it while unpacking.

The toy really isn't a big deal- not worth the shipping it would cost (us or Disney for that matter). But it's good to know that all is not lost if you leave something in the room!

 

[lbgraves]

Great!

 

[armyfam]

Hi Bibbidy!

Terrific trip report! I love your details. The great thing about trip reports is that we all love to read them. They are all different and great for varying reasons.
Yours is super!!!

Thank you for taking the time to write.

 

[Babs417]

BBB I thought your report was great.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Thanks!
I've been working on pictures. I took so many it's hard to cut them down to not show TONS on here. LOL

I'll be posting them soon.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Okay pictures are added. I hope it's not too many to bog down anyone's computer when reading this thread- but I really tried not to post too many! I took tons.
However, in going thru the pictures to do this thread I have to realize that lots of pictures are missing here and there- I remember taking one of the towel animal the kids had on the day we had the REAS turndown in our stateroom and I remember taking pictures of various other things after that -that have just completely disappeared. Very strange- that and the fact that the camera put weird dates on all the pictures. I think my digi camera is having a breakdown or something.

 

[tjeagle]

Honestly, yours is one of the best trip reports I have ever read! I feel like I know your family!
I have learned so many tips from your report and can't wait for my own trip!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write it!

 

[curlybop]

Your trip report is fabulous! I loved the photos too. I almost felt as if I were right there taking the journey with you. Thanks so much for taking time to share!

 

[captchris]

Were you by chance in 5522? It looks like it from the picture of your kids looking out the window. We are in that room for our first DCL cruise and can't wait for the window. We had an inside room on our first cruise on the RCI Empress of the Seas.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Thanks!
Yeah, now you know our family.

Oh and captchris- you are correct. The room they were sitting in the picture is 5522. We had 5522/5524 secret porthole adjoining rooms- they stayed in 5522 and we stayed in 5524. We chose to let them have that room because a quick glance out the windows and that was the better view. We figured they'd be looking out more often than we would- because I'd be keeping the curtains closed like when asleep, getting dressed/ready for dinner/etc. I was right. Be CAREFUL that the curtains are kept closed if you're going to walk around nakey... one of the workers almost got a looksy at me. (and it may have scared them LOL) They were out there working on things in front of our windows quite often during our trip.
Our porthole view was mostly of those barrel things- pretty obstructed.

The kids used the bunkbed. We really thought the girls would sleep together (like they did at GF) and our son would do the couch/daybed but as soon as he figured out there was a bunkbed that pulled down (like oh 5min after he got in the room) he decided he was claiming the bunkbed, our youngest then wanted the daybed. LOL

Oh here's the things we didn't do but intended to- next trip I guess.

~We expected to do more of the "nightlife" stuff and take advantage of having some alone time- since that's nonexistent at home for many years now... nope. All we did was a few times in the relaxing 'sessions' for a few minutes here and there. The ship really is like the parks- no way you can do it all in one trip. LOL Next time we want to try to make pubnight. We totally didn't know anything about it but just happened to be coming out on that deck from the elevators (forget why) when they all came out -and it was apparently a blast from the sounds of it. LOL

~Rainforest -- we had passes with REAS and never even stepped foot in there. We didn't even find time to look around Vista spa- next time massages might be in order.

~Palo brunch- ofcourse had it planned but totally forgot about it.

~Midnight dessert buffet- we saw the huge line for it and asked what the line was for- so we knew about it... just didn't want to stand in the line. we walked back by later and it was 12:30am and some people still weren't in there! They were still in line! They'd put up ropes to stop the line though- I couldn't believe the line wasn't even in there yet at 12:30am. It's supposed to end at midnight- right?

~adult pool- we never even got close to it much less got in it. LOL is there a whirlpool or jacuzzi for adults? I think so but not sure- we just always walked right on past the adult pool. Why, I don't know! Busy I guess. LOL

~watch more movies on the big screen (is that called dumbotron?) -- we enjoyed them when we caught them and now we know they list them on the navigators.. duh. LOL

~next time make more of an effort to see Mickey/Minnie on formal nights and the captain also. The navigator said when the captain was in the lobby- 7:15pm but we got there about 7:30pm and he was nowhere to be seen. I guess he doesn't hang around long? We never even saw Mickey/Minnie in their formal attire.

~I guess spend more time looking at pictures daily at shutters? Although I loathe wasting the time on that and so I rebelled and refused to do it on this cruise- finding pictures later is a pain. I never did find the pictures they took of the kids with Mickey at the port before our cruise (so I just showed one of the pictures I took myself- probably not as good) and other pictures- like one they took of Rita playing in the sand/etc. I guess along with this would be making a better effort to get our pictures TAKEN. Good thing this wasn't a once in a lifetime cruise because we didn't even get pictures of us with the ship in the background (like at CC)/etc. LOL

 

[carole88]

Enjoyed reading your trip report. It's always interesting to read about other people's experiences. I am curious about the money you spent ($3000). Would you be willing to share an approximate breakdown of your expenses?

Thanks for taking the time to post your report and all of your pictures!

 

[WDWLVR]

Thanks for the trip report. Always nice to see anothers view of the same cruise we were on.

 

[pppiglet]

Loved your report. Hope your feet are doing better. I read somewhere that it's from the salty sea air!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Enjoyed reading your trip report. It's always interesting to read about other people's experiences. I am curious about the money you spent ($3000). Would you be willing to share an approximate breakdown of your expenses?

Thanks for taking the time to post your report and all of your pictures!

Sure- let's see...
We had $1884.59 on our room charge and that included:
I can't remember which charge was for what and they don't itemize them- the CC charges just say CC for instance- but I'll do my best..
CC charges were a total of $395
~CC 2 day pkg for snorkel/fins (used one day only), bicycle (never used), float (barely used one day) for one adult and one child
~CC parasailing- 2 adults
~CC banana boat - 2 adults
~CC glass bottom boat 3 adults/2 children (Ruby counted as adult)

Then we had gratuities of $500 total (recommended amount right at $382 for our family of 5)

Cozumel was $292 for 2 "adults" 2 children for the submarine excursion

Bingo $70 the first time for 3 of us- $35 the 2nd time for just me

Palo $20 (that was extra tip- they never charged us $10 each I guess because of REAS pkg it was free?)

$89.99 for unlimited internet

$15 for 2 konk coolers at conched out

Shopping at Treasure Ketch added up to $170.60 (little card lanyard for Ruby, larger waterproof lanyard for my "things" to go in, my shorts later on... Rita's skorts outfit, Ruby's stitch, the stuffed ship/beanies $40, and Robert's stitch rocket ship or whatever you call it that turns into a surfboard also, my black shorts and a little thing of hairclips purchased solely because they were the kind/color I can't find anywhere around here at home- so when I saw them I bought them. And they were only $2.10! I felt like I was in the dollar store at that point. I totally expected to turn them over and find that they were like $10 or something- the package had 12 clips in it LOL)

$113 for the wine (Stacey ) and champagne we bought plus gratuities (and added gratuities)

the rest was for shutters pictures...

Then we had $340 cash to The Native Choice for the mayan experience

$75 for Jeff's scuba 3 tank dive

That puts us at $2300....

Also spent about $30 at cozumel on the "trinkets" stuff for the kids.

Tips ate us alive though... so many people to tip! It's never ending. LOL

We tipped the limo driver all 3 trips (in addition to automatic gratuity already added on the original cost), bellhop when we arrived at GF, bellhop when we left, porter at port.. then on the ship we tipped everytime we had room service which was pretty much every morning (times 2 rooms remember) and once for the cookies/uncrustables, tip for Marcus on glass bottom boat, $15 for taxi to go to Mayan experience excursion, tips for Ivan/other tour guide I can't spell her name and the driver at the Mayan experience, DH tipped diver & boat driver when he went scuba diving-- plus spent $15 on a stupid burrito and one drink (he said he couldn't figure ou the peso difference and apparently got ripped off- one burrito and one drink $15??) and his taxi $3 each way to go scuba diving, tipped the 2 guys on the submarine excursion, tipped both guys on the parasailing then both guys on banana boat excursions, the few times we went to sessions and brought our own drinks- I left tips under the ashtray at our table even though we didn't drink- tipped the piano man twice also, tipped porter when we left (ouch- too much luggage when the cruise director said they "expect" $2 each bag? that right there was almost $20 tip), tip bellhop at Hyatt upon arriving and then again to the one that brought it to our room, tipped bellhop that picked up our luggage to take them to check them in for the flight- it all added up quite a bit apparently. (then we also had the $20 for McD's at the airport- I ate a kids meal LOL)

All of that tipping apparently adds up because when I add what cash we brought with us originally, plus the room charges, plus the 2 checks ($100 x 2) we cashed on board- we came home with $2 left (talk about cutting it close on cash eh?)- all of that added up to just over $3,000 spent PLUS $1250 charged for the rebooking (but that didn't show up on our room charges at the end of the trip- even though we put it on our roomkey- I guess because they gave us another receipt for that?). Gosh I guess that means we paid out around $600 (+) in tips? geesh

Hope that helps! It really does add up faster than you think! There were only 2 times I bought the drink of the day with cash (before I realized my "cash issue" later on) and added a little extra gratuity- so the rest of that really was just mostly taxi's and tips!

ppiglet- hmm, maybe that explains it- but I wonder why that only affected me? No one else in my family seemed affected by it. I know I was on my feet alot and I have quite a bit of extra weight on me (again- not like I've always been skinny LOL Just lost it and then gained it back in recent years!) but I've been on my feet a lot before and never had them swell like this! (like at the WDW parks, Six Flags here, water parks on my feet all day, etc.) It was really quite freaky- I thought it was due to lack of water intake but honestly I haven't really gotten back on track drinking water at home yet either and yet my feet are almost normal today.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I enjoyed reading your trip report, it brought back a lot of good memories.

My feet get a bit swollen sometimes on vacation - I think it's because at home we try to avoid salty foods and there, things can be very salty without your even realizing it. That's my theory anyway.

I take a lot of photos. I think I drove our traveling companions a bit on our last trip, they weren't used to it at first. But by the end, they were posing, LOL, and of course they enjoyed the pictures when we got home - all 1600 of them (10 days, also)!

As for Shutters, I spend a lot of time in there. Some of the nicest pictures we have of our family came from the DCL believe it or not. We had one done in February against the white background and it is beautiful, I had it professionally framed and it's hanging in our family room.

In order to avoid either missing any of our photos or the mad rush on the last day of the cruise, my Shutters strategy is this: On the first day of the cruise, I usually buy both the 6X8 package and the 8X10 package, knowing I'm going to buy lots of pictures by the end of the cruise. I keep them safely in our stateroom closet along with the slips. Each day I check our pictures and stack them together as I see them. If I know I like certain ones for sure, I'll add them to the package (they have a card they mark off for you). That way you keep track of your pictures. You can mix and match as often as you like, and you can also buy single prints if you need to. Then you just have final decisions to make by the end. I think it's worth the trouble, and it's actually nice to have a few minutes to myself too.

Don't feel badly, even after 3 cruises there are many things we still haven't done on the ship. We'll see if we can do a few more in 2007.

 

[pppiglet]

On our last cruise it was only my friend whose feet and ankles were swollen. Me, DH, and her DH were fine! Guess some people just get lucky!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I enjoyed reading your trip report, it brought back a lot of good memories.

My feet get a bit swollen sometimes on vacation - I think it's because at home we try to avoid salty foods and there, things can be very salty without your even realizing it. That's my theory anyway.

I take a lot of photos. I think I drove our traveling companions a bit on our last trip, they weren't used to it at first. But by the end, they were posing, LOL, and of course they enjoyed the pictures when we got home - all 1600 of them (10 days, also)!

As for Shutters, I spend a lot of time in there. Some of the nicest pictures we have of our family came from the DCL believe it or not. We had one done in February against the white background and it is beautiful, I had it professionally framed and it's hanging in our family room.

In order to avoid either missing any of our photos or the mad rush on the last day of the cruise, my Shutters strategy is this: On the first day of the cruise, I usually buy both the 6X8 package and the 8X10 package, knowing I'm going to buy lots of pictures by the end of the cruise. I keep them safely in our stateroom closet along with the slips. Each day I check our pictures and stack them together as I see them. If I know I like certain ones for sure, I'll add them to the package (they have a card they mark off for you). That way you keep track of your pictures. You can mix and match as often as you like, and you can also buy single prints if you need to. Then you just have final decisions to make by the end. I think it's worth the trouble, and it's actually nice to have a few minutes to myself too.

Don't feel badly, even after 3 cruises there are many things we still haven't done on the ship. We'll see if we can do a few more in 2007.

Thanks for the info!
And that's interesting about the salt. Towards the end of the cruise I commented to DH that it was interesting to note that I hadn't used salt or pepper the entire trip- the food just didn't need it! At the time I thought it was just tasty food that didn't need it- but now that you said that... I'm wondering if it was just already salted plenty enough for me. LOL Maybe that's why my feet swelled up- I haven't been eating salty foods since I've been home either! Maybe the mystery of my huge swollen feet is solved. LOL

Oh and about not getting to do everything (even in your 3 cruises). My son pipes up TODAY about how they never got to do the arcade room. I was LOL!!!!!! I just said son, it's just like going to Walt Disney World- there is no way you can do it all in one trip. I'm sorry you didn't get to do the arcade- but can you honestly think of any time you COULD have done it? He had to reluctantly agree there was no time. LOL Next time son!

 

[dzneprincess]

Shelley,
I love that you added the pictures! Great report!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[carole88]

Thanks for posting your expenses. Tips sure do add up fast!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Shelley,
I love that you added the pictures! Great report!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!
Is it okay to say I am missing Nathan? LOL He sure was a cutie- I miss seeing that cute little dude.

And what's this no kids cruise thing? Is it DCL? I don't think I could ever get away with going on DCL without the kids. LOL My sister is talking about "adults only" cruise- I have no idea who would watch our kidlets though! (she has built in babysitters from her inlaws. I'm only a little bitter- can you tell? LOL but SHE is usually OUR babysitter if we go anywhere without the kids- which is why it isn't often... she has 3 kids herself too! LOL)
Anywho- just being nosey about your no kids cruises. LOL