vicnmickey
I wish I was Cruising
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2002
- Messages
- 731
Let me start by saying this vacation was more then what we could have ever imagined. The group was Me33 Mom/Me-Maw51 DS 11, DD10 and Sister/Aunt 32 and Nephew/cousin 4.
We did the 7 night land/sea vacation with an added night to the land portion. Our adventure started very early Apr 30th as we caught the 6:00 am bus from Rockford IL. and it was pouring down rain, yuck!!! We arrived into Chicago Ohare around 7:50. The security at Spirit was awesome and very smooth. We had put our own zip ties on our suitcases and they removed them to put their own on. They stated this was their policy. We made it threw the security with no one setting off the metal dectors, yippee!!!! Our flight was scheduled for 10:50, but the plane coming in was running late and when we finally got on the plane it took us about 1 hour to taxi. The airport was backed up, I guess thats what happens when you fly from Chicago. We made it into Orlando a little over a hour late. The weather was cloudy with scattered showers. I was very concerned because we had Happy Limo picking us up. Well as soon as we landed I called and they stated they knew of the delay and someone was on their way. Went to pick up luggage and guess what
they sent our garment bag to Tampa instead of Orlando. Well I told them at least it was the garment bag, because we didn't need the clothes in the bag until Sunday. Made arrangements to send the bag to CBR. Got to the van finally, we reserved the 10 passenger van because we had 6 people and all of our luggage. The van was nice and spacey, very nice after being stuck in the airplane all day. The driver was very quiet but nice. It took us about 30 minutes to arrive at CBR. We checked in without any problems. We got put in Barbados building 15 room 1520, my sister was right next door in 1519. 1520 was a corner room, very nice. We went to DTD for dinner and shopping for the night. Ate at Planet Hollywood, what a very cool resturant. It rained off and on all night, but not too bad.
The rest of the land portion went off without any major problems other then it was rainy all morning May 1st while we were in Epcot. But we were able to walk on too all the major rides that morning. The weather was hot and humid the rest of the week in the parks.
Oh, one note!! Thursday morning when I checked into the cruise desk, I was standing next to the Brown Family and didn't know it. Until Mr. Brown asked if I was VicnMickey. What a great way to meet a fellow diser, but by surprise. I kept bumping into the Brown Family, threw out our vaction.
Now to the best part:
Sunday we spent the morning at Animal Kingdom until 12:15. We said goodbye to my sister and nephew, they didn't cruise with us this time
wish they could have. Boarded a DCL bus and headed to the port.
The first glimpse of the ship was amazing, I got teary eyed when I say her. What a beautiful ship, I had seen her a million times online and in pictures, but its totally different to see her in person. Can you tell I fell in love with Disney Wonder
Got to the terminal around 2:00 pm. What a great building, looked around for a few minutes, but we were ready to get on board. Did not have to check in because we did the land/sea package. But we did end up having to get new KTTW cards, for some reason our cards did not work for the ship. Boarded the ship around 2:30. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Went to our stateroom Inside Cat 11 6605. Dropped our carry on's off and the kids opened the gift from the Perfect Gift. It was very well done. I got the kids the tote with snacks in it.
We headed up to deck 9 for the Beach Blanket Buffet. Yum, what great food. Ate outside even though it was very warm, didn't care it was beautiful outside. After we ate, walked around the ship a little and checked things out. Joined in the sail away party for a short time and then headed up to Deck 10 forward to watch the ship pull out of port. I was waving to all the disers watching the port cam, did you see me
Headed back to our room to try to unpack and get ready for supper. We had first seating 6:00 pm our rotation was TAPT table 51. Our servers were Deniz(Turkey) and Iveta(Bulgaria) they were fun. The first night at Tritons, none of us ate very much because we had ate late boarding the ship for lunch. After dinner we went and signed the kids up for the Oceaneers Lab. Did a little more exploring of the ship. We swam for little while and then headed back to the stateroom to crash, we were all exhaused.
Nassau, Bahamas:
Ate breakfast at Beach Blanket out on deck and watched the ship pull into port. Its very cool how the Captain backs that big ship into port. We disembarked the ship and headed for the taxi's. The side of the dock we were on was very run down and very shabby looking. I would think they would try to keep it up considering all the ships that dock there. We got lucky on a taxi, there was another family waiting to go to Atlantis so we shared a taxi. We didn't have to wait to fill a taxi, this was nice. I think we got asked a million times if I wanted to get my daughter's hair braided. I just told my daughter to ignore them and keep walking. The taxi driver dropped us at Atlantis and we headed for the casino. We did the Dig(aquariums on our own). I would say this is something I would not do again. Don't get me wrong the hotel is beautiful and very well kept. But the price to see the Dig was not worth what you see, in my opinion. My mom said the same thing. We walked around the grounds of the hotel and explored. Ate ice cream by the marina, the boats docked there were huge. We walked out to the beach, took our shoes off and walked in the beautiful blue water. Did some more exploring and then headed back to Nassau. We wanted to do some shopping. Went to the straw market, mistake, I have been to Mexico and have never been treated or pressured like these people treat you. I had a couple women screaming that they had better prices and I should buy from them. I finally just stopped at one of the ladies picked out a couple t-shirts and a straw bag. It didn't help that it felt like it was 110 inside the tent the straw market is in. We headed back to the ship, stopping at a couple of the small shops on the way. Everyone had the same stuff in every store. So to say the least I was not impressed with Nassau, we should have stayed on the ship. But you only live once and now I can say I was in Nassau
Went back to the ship and swam the rest of the afternoon. We ate dinner at Animators Palate, that night. Celebrated my son's b-day, it was a very good night. After dinner my mom and son went to see the Lizzie McGuire movie. My daughter and I explored the ship some more and went back to the stateroom and fell asleep. We missed the Tropical Deck party and I really wanted to go. Oh, well maybe next time
Freeport, Bahama's:
We had room service for breakfast because we had the Dolphin Encounter booked and had to be in Wave Band's at 8:15 am. We disembarked and got on a bus to Port Lucaya, were the Dolphin Encounter was. The bus ride was nice, let me say Freeport was alot nicer than Nassau, it just looked alot cleaner. After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrived a Port Lucaya. We walked threw the little shopping area and headed over to Uniexso Dolphin Encounter. We had to take a boat out to were the dolphins were. The boat ride was nice, I have never been out on the ocean in a small boat like that before. The dolphin encounter was at small quiet cove off the ocean, the instructor was very nice and informative. We were only in the water with dolphins for about 10 minutes. Let me say this was fun, but I didn't think you got enough time in the water with the dolphins for the price you pay. But hey, you only live once. Took the boat back to the main office. Once we got on the boat my son started to complain his arms were itching. I noticed he had heat rash, really bad on his arms. When we got back to Port Lucaya, we found a pharmacy and bought some hydrocortosine. Went and ate lunch at one of the small resturants, can't remember the name. My son and I headed back to the busses because his arms were getting worse at this time. My mom and daughter stayed to do some shopping. I wish I would have because the shops were alot nicer than the crazy straw market at Nassau. My son and I arrived back at the ship and were going to go the ship docter but it was closed. So I treated him myself, with some benedryl and a long hot shower. My mom and daughter got back and we all took a nap for a short time. We ate dinner a Parrot Cay, my favorite resturant and celebrated my daughter's b-day. My son ended up leaving dinner early he was not feeling well. He went to sleep at 7:30 pm and slept till 7:00 am the next morning. He was very upset because he miss Hercules and some of the activities in the Lab.
Me, mom and my daughter went to see Hercules. A very good show!! Did some shopping and pictures with characters. We ended up falling asleep early again. I guess known of us are night people.
Castaway Cay: We had breakfast in Parrot Cay. Very good food and I love the resturant. We disembarked the ship around 9:00 am, took the tram over to the family beach. Got a couple of chairs under a palm tree, dropped our stuff off. Headed over to get our snorkeling equipment. Known of us had snorkeled before so this was very interesting. My daughter made it to about chest high and went no further. My son went out pretty far and wanted to go back. My mom started getting leg cramps, so her and my son headed back. Well I headed out for Mickey. I was determined I was going to get pictures of Mickey. I made it and it was alot fun. The swim was hard at times, but not to bad. I am glad I did this and will do it again. Meet up with the family and we swam for a short time. Ate lunch, I loved the fresh fruit they cut right there at Cookies Barbacue. We did a couple pictures with characters. Son went to the lab for sand castle building. Me, mom and daughter took a bike ride, this was fun, it was a nice way to see more of the island. I wish my son would have gone with us, he would have liked it. We swam the rest of the afternoon. We headed back to the ship around 3:00, all of us had enough sand and sun. Back to the stateroom, did some laundry and skipped the disembark talk (thanks to the boards I knew I could watch it on tv). Did some packing and got dressed for supper. We ate at Tritons, I enjoyed the resturant this time around. I think the first night I was just plan tired. Said our goodbyes to our servers, because we were not planning on coming back for breakfast the next morning. What a sweet sorrow, it was hard saying goodbye. Our servers were amazing and treated us very well. It was like saying goodbye to family. We headed up to deck 10 forward to watch the sunset. Wow, how beautiful. Took pictures of the sunset and more pictures of the sunset When we got back to the stateroom, we had realized we missed Disney Dreams
I had heard so much about the performance from the disney boards I was so looking forward to seeing it. Went to the theatre and there was no seats The CM informed us it would be playing on the tv for the rest of the night. So headed back to the stateroom for some power packing and to watch Disney Dreams. Let me say the hallways get very crowded with all that luggage out there. We did some last minute exploring of the ship and headed for bed.
Time to leave :
We woke about 7 a.m. got dressed and made sure we didn't leave anything behind in our stateroom and headed up to Beach Blanker Buffet for breakfast. It was sad to close the door on our stateroom for the last time.
Ate breakfast, no one in the whole place had smiles on thier faces, you could feel the sadness in the air. About 8:00 am we got the go head to disembark. Said our goodbyes and headed off the ship. We picked our luggage up and were on the buses by 8:30 am. I watched the ship disappear as we drove away and I got tears in my eyes. I didn't want to say goodbye and finally realized how DCL can become addicting.
Our vacation was amazing. It was more than what we could have ever imagined and then some. I looked at my mom as we sat in the airport and said you ready to go again. Of course her answer was yes, but we both agreed it had to be a 7 night cruise.
I wish we would have did more of the activities on board. The kids didn't really spend much time in the kids programs. My daughter only went once and my son only a couple times. We spent alot of time together on the islands. I think on a 7 night we would have had more time to do things on the ship.
We did the 7 night land/sea vacation with an added night to the land portion. Our adventure started very early Apr 30th as we caught the 6:00 am bus from Rockford IL. and it was pouring down rain, yuck!!! We arrived into Chicago Ohare around 7:50. The security at Spirit was awesome and very smooth. We had put our own zip ties on our suitcases and they removed them to put their own on. They stated this was their policy. We made it threw the security with no one setting off the metal dectors, yippee!!!! Our flight was scheduled for 10:50, but the plane coming in was running late and when we finally got on the plane it took us about 1 hour to taxi. The airport was backed up, I guess thats what happens when you fly from Chicago. We made it into Orlando a little over a hour late. The weather was cloudy with scattered showers. I was very concerned because we had Happy Limo picking us up. Well as soon as we landed I called and they stated they knew of the delay and someone was on their way. Went to pick up luggage and guess what
they sent our garment bag to Tampa instead of Orlando. Well I told them at least it was the garment bag, because we didn't need the clothes in the bag until Sunday. Made arrangements to send the bag to CBR. Got to the van finally, we reserved the 10 passenger van because we had 6 people and all of our luggage. The van was nice and spacey, very nice after being stuck in the airplane all day. The driver was very quiet but nice. It took us about 30 minutes to arrive at CBR. We checked in without any problems. We got put in Barbados building 15 room 1520, my sister was right next door in 1519. 1520 was a corner room, very nice. We went to DTD for dinner and shopping for the night. Ate at Planet Hollywood, what a very cool resturant. It rained off and on all night, but not too bad. The rest of the land portion went off without any major problems other then it was rainy all morning May 1st while we were in Epcot. But we were able to walk on too all the major rides that morning. The weather was hot and humid the rest of the week in the parks.
Oh, one note!! Thursday morning when I checked into the cruise desk, I was standing next to the Brown Family and didn't know it. Until Mr. Brown asked if I was VicnMickey. What a great way to meet a fellow diser, but by surprise. I kept bumping into the Brown Family, threw out our vaction.
Now to the best part:
Sunday we spent the morning at Animal Kingdom until 12:15. We said goodbye to my sister and nephew, they didn't cruise with us this time
wish they could have. Boarded a DCL bus and headed to the port.The first glimpse of the ship was amazing, I got teary eyed when I say her. What a beautiful ship, I had seen her a million times online and in pictures, but its totally different to see her in person. Can you tell I fell in love with Disney Wonder
Got to the terminal around 2:00 pm. What a great building, looked around for a few minutes, but we were ready to get on board. Did not have to check in because we did the land/sea package. But we did end up having to get new KTTW cards, for some reason our cards did not work for the ship. Boarded the ship around 2:30. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Went to our stateroom Inside Cat 11 6605. Dropped our carry on's off and the kids opened the gift from the Perfect Gift. It was very well done. I got the kids the tote with snacks in it.
We headed up to deck 9 for the Beach Blanket Buffet. Yum, what great food. Ate outside even though it was very warm, didn't care it was beautiful outside. After we ate, walked around the ship a little and checked things out. Joined in the sail away party for a short time and then headed up to Deck 10 forward to watch the ship pull out of port. I was waving to all the disers watching the port cam, did you see me
Headed back to our room to try to unpack and get ready for supper. We had first seating 6:00 pm our rotation was TAPT table 51. Our servers were Deniz(Turkey) and Iveta(Bulgaria) they were fun. The first night at Tritons, none of us ate very much because we had ate late boarding the ship for lunch. After dinner we went and signed the kids up for the Oceaneers Lab. Did a little more exploring of the ship. We swam for little while and then headed back to the stateroom to crash, we were all exhaused.
Nassau, Bahamas:
Ate breakfast at Beach Blanket out on deck and watched the ship pull into port. Its very cool how the Captain backs that big ship into port. We disembarked the ship and headed for the taxi's. The side of the dock we were on was very run down and very shabby looking. I would think they would try to keep it up considering all the ships that dock there. We got lucky on a taxi, there was another family waiting to go to Atlantis so we shared a taxi. We didn't have to wait to fill a taxi, this was nice. I think we got asked a million times if I wanted to get my daughter's hair braided. I just told my daughter to ignore them and keep walking. The taxi driver dropped us at Atlantis and we headed for the casino. We did the Dig(aquariums on our own). I would say this is something I would not do again. Don't get me wrong the hotel is beautiful and very well kept. But the price to see the Dig was not worth what you see, in my opinion. My mom said the same thing. We walked around the grounds of the hotel and explored. Ate ice cream by the marina, the boats docked there were huge. We walked out to the beach, took our shoes off and walked in the beautiful blue water. Did some more exploring and then headed back to Nassau. We wanted to do some shopping. Went to the straw market, mistake, I have been to Mexico and have never been treated or pressured like these people treat you. I had a couple women screaming that they had better prices and I should buy from them. I finally just stopped at one of the ladies picked out a couple t-shirts and a straw bag. It didn't help that it felt like it was 110 inside the tent the straw market is in. We headed back to the ship, stopping at a couple of the small shops on the way. Everyone had the same stuff in every store. So to say the least I was not impressed with Nassau, we should have stayed on the ship. But you only live once and now I can say I was in Nassau
Went back to the ship and swam the rest of the afternoon. We ate dinner at Animators Palate, that night. Celebrated my son's b-day, it was a very good night. After dinner my mom and son went to see the Lizzie McGuire movie. My daughter and I explored the ship some more and went back to the stateroom and fell asleep. We missed the Tropical Deck party and I really wanted to go. Oh, well maybe next time
Freeport, Bahama's:
We had room service for breakfast because we had the Dolphin Encounter booked and had to be in Wave Band's at 8:15 am. We disembarked and got on a bus to Port Lucaya, were the Dolphin Encounter was. The bus ride was nice, let me say Freeport was alot nicer than Nassau, it just looked alot cleaner. After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrived a Port Lucaya. We walked threw the little shopping area and headed over to Uniexso Dolphin Encounter. We had to take a boat out to were the dolphins were. The boat ride was nice, I have never been out on the ocean in a small boat like that before. The dolphin encounter was at small quiet cove off the ocean, the instructor was very nice and informative. We were only in the water with dolphins for about 10 minutes. Let me say this was fun, but I didn't think you got enough time in the water with the dolphins for the price you pay. But hey, you only live once. Took the boat back to the main office. Once we got on the boat my son started to complain his arms were itching. I noticed he had heat rash, really bad on his arms. When we got back to Port Lucaya, we found a pharmacy and bought some hydrocortosine. Went and ate lunch at one of the small resturants, can't remember the name. My son and I headed back to the busses because his arms were getting worse at this time. My mom and daughter stayed to do some shopping. I wish I would have because the shops were alot nicer than the crazy straw market at Nassau. My son and I arrived back at the ship and were going to go the ship docter but it was closed. So I treated him myself, with some benedryl and a long hot shower. My mom and daughter got back and we all took a nap for a short time. We ate dinner a Parrot Cay, my favorite resturant and celebrated my daughter's b-day. My son ended up leaving dinner early he was not feeling well. He went to sleep at 7:30 pm and slept till 7:00 am the next morning. He was very upset because he miss Hercules and some of the activities in the Lab.
Me, mom and my daughter went to see Hercules. A very good show!! Did some shopping and pictures with characters. We ended up falling asleep early again. I guess known of us are night people.
Castaway Cay: We had breakfast in Parrot Cay. Very good food and I love the resturant. We disembarked the ship around 9:00 am, took the tram over to the family beach. Got a couple of chairs under a palm tree, dropped our stuff off. Headed over to get our snorkeling equipment. Known of us had snorkeled before so this was very interesting. My daughter made it to about chest high and went no further. My son went out pretty far and wanted to go back. My mom started getting leg cramps, so her and my son headed back. Well I headed out for Mickey. I was determined I was going to get pictures of Mickey. I made it and it was alot fun. The swim was hard at times, but not to bad. I am glad I did this and will do it again. Meet up with the family and we swam for a short time. Ate lunch, I loved the fresh fruit they cut right there at Cookies Barbacue. We did a couple pictures with characters. Son went to the lab for sand castle building. Me, mom and daughter took a bike ride, this was fun, it was a nice way to see more of the island. I wish my son would have gone with us, he would have liked it. We swam the rest of the afternoon. We headed back to the ship around 3:00, all of us had enough sand and sun. Back to the stateroom, did some laundry and skipped the disembark talk (thanks to the boards I knew I could watch it on tv). Did some packing and got dressed for supper. We ate at Tritons, I enjoyed the resturant this time around. I think the first night I was just plan tired. Said our goodbyes to our servers, because we were not planning on coming back for breakfast the next morning. What a sweet sorrow, it was hard saying goodbye. Our servers were amazing and treated us very well. It was like saying goodbye to family. We headed up to deck 10 forward to watch the sunset. Wow, how beautiful. Took pictures of the sunset and more pictures of the sunset
When we got back to the stateroom, we had realized we missed Disney Dreams I had heard so much about the performance from the disney boards I was so looking forward to seeing it. Went to the theatre and there was no seats The CM informed us it would be playing on the tv for the rest of the night. So headed back to the stateroom for some power packing and to watch Disney Dreams. Let me say the hallways get very crowded with all that luggage out there. We did some last minute exploring of the ship and headed for bed. Time to leave
: We woke about 7 a.m. got dressed and made sure we didn't leave anything behind in our stateroom and headed up to Beach Blanker Buffet for breakfast. It was sad to close the door on our stateroom for the last time.
Ate breakfast, no one in the whole place had smiles on thier faces, you could feel the sadness in the air. About 8:00 am we got the go head to disembark. Said our goodbyes and headed off the ship. We picked our luggage up and were on the buses by 8:30 am. I watched the ship disappear as we drove away and I got tears in my eyes. I didn't want to say goodbye and finally realized how DCL can become addicting.
Our vacation was amazing. It was more than what we could have ever imagined and then some. I looked at my mom as we sat in the airport and said you ready to go again. Of course her answer was yes, but we both agreed it had to be a 7 night cruise.
I wish we would have did more of the activities on board. The kids didn't really spend much time in the kids programs. My daughter only went once and my son only a couple times. We spent alot of time together on the islands. I think on a 7 night we would have had more time to do things on the ship.
