8/15/09-Eastern-Tortola Treasure Seekers #5

[jbm02]

We are home as well! The drive home wasn't too bad except for the delay in Ga for road work! We had a great time on the cruise. Sorry I didn't get to meet everybody. Giraffemom was my tablemate and we all got along great! The boys got along great.
Kristin-I agree about Cozumel, it was just ok. I had been there before and wasn't impressed. But, hey at least we had great weather on the cruise.

Andrew, has already started a trip report.

We're back too!!! Elena, we encountered the same traffic jam in GA. Luckily, that was the only glitch in the 2 day ride home. And it was great walking in the door to our own home. (I have to admit it - I missed my "own" pillow!! )
We had such an amazing vacation. Thanks so much to all of you who helped us in our planning (even if some of that had to change due to Ana and Bill!!) I was worried that our second cruise would be a bit of a let down after the great time we had on our first "double dip" cruise in August 2006 - wow, not at all!!
The time went by so fast - there were so many people on our cruise thread that I wanted to meet and so many that I didn't get a chance to say hello to. (especially Janeanne and Sharon, after all of our emails and notes to each other!! and Anna, after all her help to me with my FE gifts and the awesome ones she provided to our cabin) Luckily, PoohJen and I met on our last day and mulan2 and her family were on our stageworks II tour. I saw Samantha in her amazing formal gown - absolutely beautiful. Ed and I always seemed to be going in different directions (Ed, that was me waving and saying hi as we walked by...) Steve and I had such a nice time talking before I even realized that he was Catherine's DH and Susy's BIL!
Andrew, I never had a chance to meet you so please accept our thanks for all the information you've provided to us non-veteran cruisers. There were so many others that I wished I had more time to say hi and catch up with. I hope that your cruise was as much fun for you and your families!!
I have to send out a huge thank you to Jen and Kristin. Jen did such an awesome job with the website and keeping all of us excited about the upcoming trip with the great information she posted. I know that we couldn't use all of it due to the change in schedule but I have my fingers crossed that we'll be able to use it all on a future cruise...! Thanks to both of you for all your work in organizing the fish exchange. This was our first one and was so much fun - the kids were so excited to come back every night and see what goodies were left. And they loved passing the "magnet lady's door (aka Anna aka Disneycrazzy) to see what new magnets appeared each day...
We met so many great people. The Anderson and Wilder families were amazing. We had such a great time with them!!! (Jen and Beth - we're downloading over 800 pictures from our camera - we'll be sending copies of lots of them, including Beth dancing at the adult pool...maybe we should just post that on your blog??? ) Mel, Laura, Marco, Bev & Dave, I was so glad we had a chance to meet all of you. Heather, I wish we had more time to talk - especially since I didn't find out about the soft serve chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from you til our second CC day!!! I'm glad Tim and Kevin had a good time hanging out at the Stack too.
I hope that you, Kristin and your families are have a great time in WDW right now!!! Enjoy the nice weather - cuz, as usual, it's raining in upstate NY again!!!!
Have a great night everyone!!!
Jude

 

[jenanderson]

We're back too!!! Elena, we encountered the same traffic jam in GA. Luckily, that was the only glitch in the 2 day ride home. And it was great walking in the door to our own home. (I have to admit it - I missed my "own" pillow!! )
We had such an amazing vacation. Thanks so much to all of you who helped us in our planning (even if some of that had to change due to Ana and Bill!!) I was worried that our second cruise would be a bit of a let down after the great time we had on our first "double dip" cruise in August 2006 - wow, not at all!!
The time went by so fast - there were so many people on our cruise thread that I wanted to meet and so many that I didn't get a chance to say hello to. (especially Janeanne and Sharon, after all of our emails and notes to each other!! and Anna, after all her help to me with my FE gifts and the awesome ones she provided to our cabin) Luckily, PoohJen and I met on our last day and mulan2 and her family were on our stageworks II tour. I saw Samantha in her amazing formal gown - absolutely beautiful. Ed and I always seemed to be going in different directions (Ed, that was me waving and saying hi as we walked by...) Steve and I had such a nice time talking before I even realized that he was Catherine's DH and Susy's BIL!
Andrew, I never had a chance to meet you so please accept our thanks for all the information you've provided to us non-veteran cruisers. There were so many others that I wished I had more time to say hi and catch up with. I hope that your cruise was as much fun for you and your families!!
I have to send out a huge thank you to Jen and Kristin. Jen did such an awesome job with the website and keeping all of us excited about the upcoming trip with the great information she posted. I know that we couldn't use all of it due to the change in schedule but I have my fingers crossed that we'll be able to use it all on a future cruise...! Thanks to both of you for all your work in organizing the fish exchange. This was our first one and was so much fun - the kids were so excited to come back every night and see what goodies were left. And they loved passing the "magnet lady's door (aka Anna aka Disneycrazzy) to see what new magnets appeared each day...
We met so many great people. The Anderson and Wilder families were amazing. We had such a great time with them!!! (Jen and Beth - we're downloading over 800 pictures from our camera - we'll be sending copies of lots of them, including Beth dancing at the adult pool...maybe we should just post that on your blog??? ) Mel, Laura, Marco, Bev & Dave, I was so glad we had a chance to meet all of you. Heather, I wish we had more time to talk - especially since I didn't find out about the soft serve chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from you til our second CC day!!! I'm glad Tim and Kevin had a good time hanging out at the Stack too.
I hope that you, Kristin and your families are have a great time in WDW right now!!! Enjoy the nice weather - cuz, as usual, it's raining in upstate NY again!!!!
Have a great night everyone!!!
Jude

Jude - You said it all so nicely! I feel like everyone I met on this board really added to our cruise experience. It is on my list of "things to do" to post a note recognizing everyone...

Glad to see your family made it home safely and with few problems! As sad as it is to be away from the ship...we have felt it is great to be home!

I have been working on photos ALL day today. We have 1469 of them!!!!! I also worked briefly on our Photopass photos from WDW - 304 of those! No wonder my kids were getting sick of smiling! I will be working hard in the next 2 days to create my free Shutterfly book (try promo code SUMMERBOOK when you create a book to see if you can get a free one too - expires on August 26th though). Once I get that done, I am going to burn a CD with all the photos that have your kids/family in them - we have TONS of them! It was so fun to really look at them all today.

I will be sending you an e-mail tonight or tomorrow...

Talk with you soon! Jen

 

[kritter]

Jude,

Glad you made it home safely!!!!!!!!!!!

Jen,

Got your PM I will pick up the jibit for you. No problem!!

Today, we had a GREAT day with Heather and Family and the Allards...................It was Jes's B-day today. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace with Heather then did some rides with the Allards. We actually saw the Allards right when we were entering MK.........

Tomorrow, we are all going to be @ Epcot so I am sure we will meet up again.....Our friends from California are on their way to WDW right now!!!!!!!!!

Such FUN....I don't want to go home.........

Last night Heather, Ed and the Allards all did the dessert buffet @ MK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jenanderson]

Jen,

Got your PM I will pick up the jibit for you. No problem!!
now!!!!!!!!!.

Thank you! You have made my DS VERY happy!!!

Sounds like you had a great day and will be having many more before you have to leave! I love that you are still seeing everyone after the cruise!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

We're back too!!! Elena, we encountered the same traffic jam in GA. Luckily, that was the only glitch in the 2 day ride home. And it was great walking in the door to our own home. (I have to admit it - I missed my "own" pillow!! )
We had such an amazing vacation. Thanks so much to all of you who helped us in our planning (even if some of that had to change due to Ana and Bill!!) I was worried that our second cruise would be a bit of a let down after the great time we had on our first "double dip" cruise in August 2006 - wow, not at all!!
The time went by so fast - there were so many people on our cruise thread that I wanted to meet and so many that I didn't get a chance to say hello to. (especially Janeanne and Sharon, after all of our emails and notes to each other!! and Anna, after all her help to me with my FE gifts and the awesome ones she provided to our cabin) Luckily, PoohJen and I met on our last day and mulan2 and her family were on our stageworks II tour. I saw Samantha in her amazing formal gown - absolutely beautiful. Ed and I always seemed to be going in different directions (Ed, that was me waving and saying hi as we walked by...) Steve and I had such a nice time talking before I even realized that he was Catherine's DH and Susy's BIL!
Andrew, I never had a chance to meet you so please accept our thanks for all the information you've provided to us non-veteran cruisers. There were so many others that I wished I had more time to say hi and catch up with. I hope that your cruise was as much fun for you and your families!!
I have to send out a huge thank you to Jen and Kristin. Jen did such an awesome job with the website and keeping all of us excited about the upcoming trip with the great information she posted. I know that we couldn't use all of it due to the change in schedule but I have my fingers crossed that we'll be able to use it all on a future cruise...! Thanks to both of you for all your work in organizing the fish exchange. This was our first one and was so much fun - the kids were so excited to come back every night and see what goodies were left. And they loved passing the "magnet lady's door (aka Anna aka Disneycrazzy) to see what new magnets appeared each day...
We met so many great people. The Anderson and Wilder families were amazing. We had such a great time with them!!! (Jen and Beth - we're downloading over 800 pictures from our camera - we'll be sending copies of lots of them, including Beth dancing at the adult pool...maybe we should just post that on your blog??? ) Mel, Laura, Marco, Bev & Dave, I was so glad we had a chance to meet all of you. Heather, I wish we had more time to talk - especially since I didn't find out about the soft serve chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from you til our second CC day!!! I'm glad Tim and Kevin had a good time hanging out at the Stack too.
I hope that you, Kristin and your families are have a great time in WDW right now!!! Enjoy the nice weather - cuz, as usual, it's raining in upstate NY again!!!!
Have a great night everyone!!!
Jude

I do apologies, as I only saw a few people on this cruise, in fact my kids saw far more of their friends, With the change of schedule and concierge invites time just disappeared, I had many plans but with three sea days going into two many were dropped, like the WDW Theater tour, galley tour etc.

As its a family vacation first my first responsibility is to my kids and they wouldn't leave the room, and with popcorn, mickey bars and DVD;s coming in from concierge all the time who could blame them.

We had concierge meetings/party on embarkation and on Tuesday before dinner, and it seemed I was always in Palo, so apologies again.

I did see a few of you but you were busy at dinner etc with your kids or in Palo so not a good time to interrupt.

Safe trip home everyone, I have been in Discovery cove at Orlando all day today.

 

[kritter]

I do apologies, as I only saw a few people on this cruise, in fact my kids saw far more of their friends, With the change of schedule and concierge invites time just disappeared, I had many plans but with three sea days going into two many were dropped, like the WDW Theater tour, galley tour etc.

As its a family vacation first my first responsibility is to my kids and they wouldn't leave the room, and with popcorn, mickey bars and DVD;s coming in from concierge all the time who could blame them.

We had concierge meetings/party on embarkation and on Tuesday before dinner, and it seemed I was always in Palo, so apologies again.

I did see a few of you but you were busy at dinner etc with your kids or in Palo so not a good time to interrupt.

Safe trip home everyone, I have been in Discovery cove at Orlando all day today.

Hey Andrew,,

Glad you enjoyed your time in the Cat. 3.......I know Heather and I sure did...It was GREAT. My kids did not want to leave the room either. I soo enjoyed the room, the daily treats, etc.............

Safe Travels home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gfolchick]

Hello to all fellow cruisers:
It was an awesome week! We finally arrived home last night (this morning) at 2:30 am thanks to delays from Southwest (ok, they said the storms had something to do with it). Our 5:40 pm flight didn't leave until 10 pm. We had checked into the airport at 2 pm so it was a long wait for us, especially since we went through security early to hang out with our friends who flew JetBlue (and got home on time).

I met a few of you, seems like I bumped into the same people over and over. Thanks for all the FE gifts. The kids got a kick out of it. All of my door magnets got moved one night to another cabin and I didn't even notice! They re-created the door across the hall. My only "complaints" are that I will never again stay on Deck 1-a hydrolic pump went off every 7 minutes all day and night and there were a lot of tweens running wild in the stairways and hallways. A guest service manager ended up comping us with getaway packages on CC for the inconvenience (I didn't complain, our neighbors did). Oh yeah, the whole rebooking excursions was a mess too. We finally got our parasailing straightened out, but visited the desk every day to check up on it. It was moved to Monday and then cancelled for winds then they wouldn't rebook until we knew for sure we were headed for CC.

I LOVED doing the double dip to CC. We had done one (on purpose) back in 2005 over Thanksgiving. It was a nice surprise to do one again, even if it meant losing our catamaran excursion in Tortola. We ended up doing the Pirate excursion on Grand Cayman (not the same thing, but the kids LOVED jumping off the back of the pirate ship).

We had an awesome serving team-Dobi and Ozen, they took very good care of us.

Megan and I had woken up on Saturday morning of the cruise with sore throats which progressed into head colds. Megan actually slept all of Monday and missed the entire day at sea. We are all still dealing with the colds and our flight home didn't help-our ears were hurting big time.

Laundry is washed-now needs to be finished folding. Pictures are uploaded (I'm only in the 700's but I still need to get my friends who has about the same). Want to do a photobook. Apparently we missed some really hot and humid gross weather back here for the two weeks we were gone. It was hot in Florida, but we did the two water parks and stayed in the air as much as possible so I didn't think it was that bad. Our house alarm went off twice while we were away, apparently thanks to a fly in the house that my dad accidentally let in.

Welcome back to everyone. Can't wait to read about everyone's adventures.
Gina

 

[jenanderson]

I finally feel like I can write a little longer note...we had the BEST time on this trip and tons of little notes about things to share!

First of all, there were so many of you that I met and shared time with - it was wonderful after all the "chats" here to finally meet you in person! There were many people who I kept running into and hanging out with - we really loved seeing all the friendly faces. There were many of you who I did not get a chance to spend time with - I am sorry that we missed you!

While we were disappointed that we did not go to Tortola after all our extensive planning, we really loved this cruise! We ended up with no excursions on Castaway Cay (LOVED being there 2 times ), doing 7 mile beach in the Caymans on our own (rented really cruddy snorkel gear) and did the Disney excursion to Tulum in Cozumel (super hot, incredible beach).

To everyone who did the FE...thank you for all the incredible gifts! We loved all that we got and were so amazed by the gifts! It was always exciting to come back to our room and see what was waiting for us.

Some of our favorite things...our server (Leo was INCREDIBLE!!!!!), taking photos at sunset on formal night up on deck 10, Palo (both the brunch and dinner), the fact that my kids were independent enough this time that we were able to hang out in the adult areas a lot this cruise, ordering 2 lobster tails (and 2 desserts on the same night!), floating for hours at Castaway Cay, and so much more!

Some lessons learned...I still did not order enough Mickey bars, I still want to do an Eastern cruise so that I get that extra day at sea (or just maybe do a long cruise ), I MUST pack a simple swim cover up next time (I was in my swimsuit way more than I thought I would be) and I will pay the extra money to have one piece of luggage with all our snorkeling equipment in the future (for the amount we paid to rent, we could have had our good stuff with us for all the stops).

I have been working hard on photos but need to focus on unpacking! I want to get the last of the laundry out tomorrow and hope to finish it all up. That will just leave all the little things that are laying around. I think I will plan on putting it all in a small box until I can sort through it in a couple of weeks.

Thank you to everyone here who added to our trip! I hope to hear what other people thought of the trip and what you are all up to now that we are at home!

Have a great night!
Jen

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hey Andrew,,

Glad you enjoyed your time in the Cat. 3.......I know Heather and I sure did...It was GREAT. My kids did not want to leave the room either. I soo enjoyed the room, the daily treats, etc.............

Safe Travels home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You had a very nice and full cabin door and your young girls were always dressed so nice!

I / we just couldnt leave the room, good thing is I had a good rupport with our stateroom hostess, as we had her 15 nights last year. I would say come in when you want and kick the kids out or tell thme to go to the verandah.

It was a bit much when we were in Coz and the kids just said can we go back to the room?

I call this cruise a trial run for 2010, I have it for 12 nights and now know how it all works, and the kids cant stay in with 6 ports of call.

 

[gfolchick]

A bit of drama here last night. At bedtime my DS realized he left his two prized stuffed animals back on his bed in the cabin We didn't notice them tucked under the sheets of the top bunk. I've been working with Disney to see if they've been located to get them back. They have stowed away and are enjoying another week onboard the Magic. Wish I was there too.

Photos are loaded to Snapfish, but now I'm loading to Kodak gallery and it is taking FOREVER even with their improved software. My friend uses Kodak exclusively so if I want to order a book I need my pictures loaded there too.

My new Canon D10 experienced some operating difficulties during Cozumel and Castaway Cay (when we were parasailing). Still need to contact them but what a bummer. Last time we sailed the pics from the disposable camera were ruined and now this. My screen fogged up and gave an error message that I couldn't read. Some of the pictures turned out hazy and then the next picture is perfect.

Back to reality today, worked on creating a calendar for Cub Scouts today and I'm now updating all the registration and information forms. DH and I run a pack at our elementary school.

Gina

 

[kritter]

You had a very nice and full cabin door and your young girls were always dressed so nice!

I / we just couldnt leave the room, good thing is I had a good rupport with our stateroom hostess, as we had her 15 nights last year. I would say come in when you want and kick the kids out or tell thme to go to the verandah.

It was a bit much when we were in Coz and the kids just said can we go back to the room?

I call this cruise a trial run for 2010, I have it for 12 nights and now know how it all works, and the kids cant stay in with 6 ports of call.

Thanks, Andrew..The girls so enjoy dressing up on the cruise.. They had such Fun and are looking forward to our 2010 cruise too. We are having such FUN in WDW now with all of our friends..................

Jen, what a GREAT family photo!!!!!!!!

 

[TonytheWop]

To all my fellow Tortola Treasure Seekers,

Welcome back !!
I was sorry to hear that your itinerary was changed to a western and, that your are still seeking Tortola but, it seems that you all had a wonderful time on the cruise. Hard to argue with a double dip at Castaway Cay.

We had a wonderful time in Myrtle Beach and my son Simon was having a blast riding the waves...unbelievable considering what he went through only a couple of weeks before.

Well , I'm back at work and anxiously awaiting DCL 2011 schedule to see if we can rebook our make-up cruise.

Have a great rest of the year, smooth return to work and smooth return to school for the kids.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Glad folks are all returning safely!

Can someone report on the on board entertainment? The band on board and who the variety entertainment was?

Did anyone talk to Brent to see how much longer he will be on the ship before his break? (it was reported earlier that he'd be done around the end of the month)

Thanks!

.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

To all my fellow Tortola Treasure Seekers,

Welcome back !!
I was sorry to hear that your itinerary was changed to a western and, that your are still seeking Tortola but, it seems that you all had a wonderful time on the cruise. Hard to argue with a double dip at Castaway Cay.

We had a wonderful time in Myrtle Beach and my son Simon was having a blast riding the waves...unbelievable considering what he went through only a couple of weeks before.

Well , I'm back at work and anxiously awaiting DCL 2011 schedule to see if we can rebook our make-up cruise.

Have a great rest of the year, smooth return to work and smooth return to school for the kids.

I could tell you about 2011, but then I would have to shoot you !!!!

 

[caitlinsdad]

Hi all, first day on the road on the way home. We are now in Santee SC.
What a diffeance the Magic is from WDW, with all the Free dining WDW was a mad house. I really miss our servers from the magic, You can really see the differance between the magic and WDW


it could be just because we stayed at the Allstar Music, but the service in the parks are second to the Magic.

We loved meeting as many couples on the Magic, and had a great time, ever tho we never made Tortola, Sadly we were pulling for Key West instead of 2nd day of CC. This cruise turnied into a repeat of 2006 for us with 2 stops at CC. Not being Beach people that turned into a dower for us,

But overall it was still a great cruise. We booked our Hold date for 2010 knowing we will move this to 2011 once they come out

 

[TonytheWop]

I could tell you about 2011, but then I would have to shoot you !!!!

 

[caitlinsdad]

Hi all, We are now back home, Rain is the key word of this trip home.

Today was another rainy, foggy day misable driving, but we are home safe.

Sadly back to frozen dinners and and no more waiters

 

[kritter]

Hi all, We are now back home, Rain is the key word of this trip home.

Today was another rainy, foggy day misable driving, but we are home safe.

Sadly back to frozen dinners and and no more waiters

Hey Ed......Glad that you made it home safely!!!!!!!!!!

It was soo nice to meet you and your family....Enjoyed, talking and hanging out with you and Caitlin the first day at CC!!

Did you transfer your reservation to Carol??

 

[caitlinsdad]

Hey Ed......Glad that you made it home safely!!!!!!!!!!

It was soo nice to meet you and your family....Enjoyed, talking and hanging out with you and Caitlin the first day at CC!!

Did you transfer your reservation to Carol??

Yes I had our hold date reservation transfered to Carol while I was onboard

 

[kritter]

Yes I had our hold date reservation transfered to Carol while I was onboard

Did you enjoy the cocktail party?? It was FUN to see everyone dressed up on formal night...

I was just looking at our pictures tonight......!!