A 30 ROCK (-'n'-Roll) Cruise! ~30 IS the new 20~

[Jennifer48]

Thanks! Glad I've hooked some people

And I'm originally from CT! When I did my first internship at Disney, my roommate was from Methuen. We still keep in touch, albeit sporadically as that internship was in 2001

Cool! I'm originally from Lowell. I just moved to Methuen after I got married in September.

 

[ickletarakins]

As I [think I] previously mentioned...I started booking excursions and Palo reservations the day we called in our final payment. Didn't want to miss out on anything! (I'm actually a sort of uber-planner--when we went to New Orleans in February I bought a guidebook and marked pages with different colored mini post-it tabs, each color representing either a restaurant we *had* to eat at, something we *had* to see/do, or something I would like to see if we had the time. Yup, I'm a bit nuts! It's the former travel agent in me, I think.)

I booked Palo for Friday night because I thought it would be nice to have something a bit different right in the middle of our three-night cruise. Originally, I chose...I think an 8 PM reservation (they only had really early reservations, up to 6:30, and later reservations, 8 and later, available on the website). But imagine my chagrin when just a few days later I realized that Friday night is Pirate party night...and that Palo can sometimes take upwards of 2 hours! I didn't even want to chance it, because, well...I'm a Pirate.

No, really, when I worked at Disney my first job was at Pirates of the Caribbean...waaayyy back in August 2001-January 2002 (and I picked up some shifts at Pirates here and there in the summer of 2002 as well). The proof is in the picture--that's me on the far left, at a sweetly innocent 18 years of age:

Myself and those other fine people closed Pirates of the Caribbean at the end of the day, basically 5 days a week, the entire fall/early winter of 2001/2002. Good times, and honestly, once in a while I wax reminiscent and actually miss it. For a moment. And then I remember that I work "normal" hours for far more money and put aside my memories for future enjoyment.

As it were, I loved the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction long before I worked there, but wasn't exactly excited to be assigned to it...at first. (I thought I would have preferred Jungle Cruise or Haunted Mansion) In the end, though, I grew to love and respect this attraction and to this day it is my absolute favorite. Ever. As much as I love thrill rides and Soarin', Pirates will always hold "THE" place in my heart

Anyway, back to the task at hand...so that's why I couldn't miss the Pirate party on the cruise! Which meant a slight rearrangement of our plans. I went online (and I can't express how much I love that you can book Palo ressies, excursions, etc. all through the internet now!) and bumped our reservation up to 6:30...which, even with a two-hour meal, will give us time to eat and [possibly even] change into some sort of Pirate clothes! (We're still deciding whether we want to bother with packing Pirate accessories/costumes)

And yes, I understand that I'm moving backward through the cruise--Castaway Cay excursion booked first, then Palo, and I still haven't even talked about Nassau...there is a reason, but that's another story for a future post!

 

[Jennifer48]

I think moving your Palo ressies up was a great idea. I've been twice and each time been there over 2 hrs! They really let you enjoy every minute of it.

I hope you do wear some sort of pirate garb since you ARE a pirate and all!

 

[ickletarakins]

I think moving your Palo ressies up was a great idea. I've been twice and each time been there over 2 hrs! They really let you enjoy every minute of it.

I hope you do wear some sort of pirate garb since you ARE a pirate and all!

I'll probably do something! I'm just trying to decide between going all-out (obviously I have a couple Pirate costumes laying around) or just wearing a Pirate t-shirt and some Pirate jewelry (I have the coin necklace, the Tia Dalma necklace, a random eyepatch that came from God knows where, and a Disney pirate t-shirt, and a random skull and crossbones t-shirt).

 

[Henlady]

Hi Tara, thought I'd stop by and check out your pre trip rpt.
Looks like you will be at Palo the same time as us. We are booked for 6:30 also. Hopefully we'll be out in time to pick up DGS and see at least part of "Toy Story". Then off to the Pirate Party!!

 

[miztigg]

Hi Tara, I think im doin Palos the 1st night i know its at 830. Glad Im not gonna miss pirate night its a blast!!! Palos is amazing I just wish they did the brunch on the 3 day.
Rita Kathleen

 

[ickletarakins]

Hi Tara, thought I'd stop by and check out your pre trip rpt.
Looks like you will be at Palo the same time as us. We are booked for 6:30 also. Hopefully we'll be out in time to pick up DGS and see at least part of "Toy Story". Then off to the Pirate Party!!

Keep an eye out for us then! I haven't seen pics of you but if you've looked at any of the ones I posted...you can't miss me. I'm tall and I have really, REALLY blonde hair. haha

 

[Henlady]

Tara, you won't be able to miss us!!! I'm 6', DH is 6'2, DD is 6'(blonde also), DS is 6'5'(redhead) and his DF is barely 4'11".

 

[ickletarakins]

In fact, "excurse" is actually a word! (I know, I was surprised too--but not surprisingly, it means "to journey")

Nassau was the last thing that we "figured out" while in the planning stages of this cruise. When I booked everything (the DAY we paid the final payment), I did set us up for a $52 per person excursion to Atlantis. The Atlantis beach days were just way too expensive, and I thought this would be a good option.

Until I read the more detailed description of this excursion and realized that all it really consisted of was the transfers to and from the resort, and a tour of the Dig.

Hmm.

I tried to do more research on this particular excursion--both here on the Disboards and elsewhere--and couldn't get any more specific information. I did, however, see a lot of info on taking a cab to Atlantis, or taking the water taxi to Atlantis, both of which looked far less expensive and gave us far more freedom. As we really only want to see the resort itself, maybe do a bit of shopping and gambling, and could care less about the fake ruins and whatnot...these options were sounding far more appealing. So I went through, canceled the excursion I had booked on the cruise line website, and our Nassau plans were set! Or rather...unset

Of course...being the pirate that I am, I would also love to make time for the Pirate Museum in Nassau! So that may end up being stop number one for us when we get off the ship on Friday the 21st

 

[FlFairygirl32405]

Great PTR! We are booked for this same cruise. Like you, I booked the $52 excursion for our party and then cancelled after doing a little research. We just mainly want to see the resort and from what I understand, that can be done for free.

 

[ickletarakins]

Great PTR! We are booked for this same cruise. Like you, I booked the $52 excursion for our party and then cancelled after doing a little research. We just mainly want to see the resort and from what I understand, that can be done for free.

Good! I'm glad I'm not the only one

If you haven't done so yet, you should stop by the cruisemeet thread for our 5/20 Wonder cruise: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2418182 (If you have already posted there...sorry! So many people have posted on it that I forget all the usernames I've seen)

 

[Dack48]

Of course...being the pirate that I am, I would also love to make time for the Pirate Museum in Nassau! So that may end up being stop number one for us when we get off the ship on Friday the 21st

The Pirate Museum was pretty awesome- Jen and I did it during our time there last year. I am thinking it should be pretty cheap to get to Atlantis as well- enough people are trying to get there! Lets hope my gambling skills are better than they were Tuesday night

 

[ickletarakins]

I can't believe we leave in a week. It feels as if we've been waiting forever for this cruise, yet here it is, almost upon us! I started a packing list but I have yet to

(1) finish picking up the stuff for our FE exchange
(2) figure out what, if anything, I'm wearing for the Pirate Party
(3) grab some nippers from the liquor store to bring with
(4) figure out where we are staying the night before the cruise leaves (oops!)
(5) locate/purchase things like sunblock, aloe vera, and other necessities that we will surely need

etc. etc. etc.!

So...up until now I've probably seemed super organized and like the type of person who plans ahead...but even *I* procrastinate, and I'm reaping the anti-benefits of doing so right now

 

[miztigg]

dont feel so bad I dont have a thing packed yet!! I only have the kids and tweens FE gifts done and I cant find my FE anywhere so i gotta make one I only have off sat (which is the prom at our campground) and tues Guess what day ill be doing everything

 

[ickletarakins]

As was previously mentioned, this cruise was booked as a 30th birthday present for my DBF Steve...who has never been on a cruise before.

Little did I know that we'd be celebrating more than just a birthday...

As of yesterday, 5/15/2010...Steve is no longer my DBF...but my dear FIANCE!

That's right, we are engaged! The picture above was taken by a random woman who didn't see or hear the proposal and therefore obviously thought that I was a complete nutball. I was a bit giddy, to say the least!

However, you won't be seeing a ring on my finger later this week...apparently nowadays fancy-schmancy jewelers fit rings to your finger rather than just giving them a generic closest size. So even though he had a ring to give me yesterday...it's going back to the jewelers with me tomorrow and I won't have it until next week. Ah well!

Soon to come...this has thrown a wrench in my getting-ready plans, but at least it's a happy wrench, and I will finish everything...right?

 

[ilovedevin]

Congratulations!!!!

 

[miztigg]

congrats!!!!!!!

 

[Jennifer48]

Congratulations!! Can't wait to see the ring! Are you going to tell us all about the proposal too? Please?

 

[ickletarakins]

Let's see...where do I even begin?

So, I posted about our engagement. Long story short, we took the dogs to a park in the downtown area of our city. We wanted to walk them there and let them swim in the river. This park is beautiful and very special to us--it's the first place we went to/explored together here. It was a very sweet proposal--and very quiet, just us and our two pups. We were in a secluded area and he stopped me under the pretense of pointing out a sign, then he asked. I was a bit confused at first...actually thought he was just making conversation (we've lightly discussed marriage before)...but when he pulled out the ring and I knew that it was for real, my answer was (of course) "Yes, yes, yes!"

Originally I thought that it would take up to a week to have my ring fitted (which, by the way, I'm glad I did--Steve was rightfully worried that a 7 would be too big as I've recently complained that all of my rings, including the ones that are size 7, are falling off my fingers). But when the jeweler found out we were going on vacation, he rushed it through and I was able to pick up the ring last night! I haven't had time to take pictures yet, but I'm sure I will take a few on the cruise

As I mentioned in my last post...this engagement has definitely thrown a bit of a wrench in getting ready for our cruise! We aren't planning a big crazy wedding, so we figured we would do it sometime at the end of August or beginning/middle of September...which meant we really wanted to pick a date before we left. Still, somehow...we got everything done (including picking a date for the wedding)!

Friday before the cruise - Dug out a tub of old costumes and found a somewhat admissible Pirate outfit for the Pirate Party. So yes, I will be dressed up!
Saturday before the cruise - I booked our park & cruise package at the Comfort Inn.
Sunday before the cruise - Finally finished picking up everything for the FE exchange!
Monday before the cruise - Packed!
Tuesday before the cruise - Ran to the liquor store and stocked up on pint bottles and nippers

So we are pretty much ready to go! The dogs went to Camp this morning, I have my ring on my finger and other than a couple stressful last-minute setbacks (not the engagement) we're all set. And boy, do I need this vacation!

I will mention one thing--I knew we would be arriving at the hotel very late, so I called to inform them of this--and I'm really, really glad I called. They couldn't find our reservation! They took all the information I had (name, online reference number, check in date and the fact that it was a park and cruise package) and promised to call me back...but it took them a couple of hours to do so. Just a cautionary tale for those planning on staying at the Comfort Inn...if you reserve your room online, call and confirm the reservation! They were able to find mine but I'm glad I took care of that yesterday rather than having to deal with this issue in the middle of the night as we tried to check in.

See y'all next week!

 

[Jennifer48]

Have a great time! Can't wait to hear all about it!