April 10-15 Dream trip report, Hyatt, transfers, Cabana oh my! (COMPLETED 4/29)
- Thread starter strega7
- Start date
It was crowded at Atlantis. I really enjoyed the not so lazy river though. I am not sure if I would have gone for the other slides even if they weren't crowded, I am kinda a wimp. I was wondering if it was just really crowded where we were at because we didn't walk far enough. The place is huge and I know I missed a lot of it. Oh well, guess we will have to go back so I can explore more of it
.As far as the shows, it is not that I didn't enjoy them, after all we only got to see Villans. I wish we would have gotten to see the other two, poor time managment. I think I just prefer shows like the magic show, or one time I saw a comedy. I think disney does do a great job with the live shows, it always amazes me how they can put all of that on on a ship. If I were to go again, I would definatley try to catch more of them especially since DH and DS really enjoy the shows.
Marci
ProudMommyof2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2007
- Messages
- 2,709
Love your TR! Did your DS spend any time in the Edge kids club? Did you think the cabana was worth the price?
Hello, no, DS didn't even step foot in the Edge. In his pre-teeness, he has kinda become very self concious. He doesn't put himself out there to meet other kids, and so he did not want anything to do with the Edge. I didn't force him to go either. And yes, I think the Cabana was totally worth it. I loved everything about having a Cabana. I have more pictures coming up on our second sea day. The report is written, I just have to add the pictures and then I will post. This week has been crazy, hopefully tomorrow night I will get it posted.
Marci
Saturday April 14, 2012 Castaway #2 hopefully
.
Unable to dock at Castaway the night before, I felt the ship vibrate a little early in the morning at some point. I was guessing that we were trying to dock again, and later that day the captain confirmed the he had tried early in the morning, does he ever sleep? When I woke up, I ran out to check to see if we were there, and there was nothing but ocean. Bummer! It looks like it was going to be a fun filled day at sea. I didnt order coffee this morning but rather just hung out on the deck while everyone awoke. Then my dad pointed out that there was land in front of us hmmm but the T.V. said we were 73 miles away from Castaway Cay. My DH informed me that he noticed it being wrong from time to time. Yippeee there was hope! And then the ship started to turn. And there it was, my favorite island!
View of our cabana while backing in:
We were going to try for a third time. He started backing in, very slowly. And we waited. Then I think we were still backing up, the thrusters were on and off constantly. And we waited. Then I decided to take my shower. When I got out, we may have been slightly closer. And we waited. Then we went to Cabanas and got some breakfast. I couldnt look anymore as the suspense was killing me. But my husband grabbed us a table by the window. When I sat down with my plate, it appeared to me that we had made it.
View from where we sat at breakfast:
Not soon after, the captain came over the speaker and confirmed that we had indeed had made it in to dock. He said it had been his trickiest docking, every passenger could tell he really worked to get us in for our second day at CC. We were so relieved and very excited. He said that the winds were pushing really hard, he was about to abandon docking, when an eddy helped him push against the wind allowing him to dock. We finished up breakfast while we were tied in. Sat back and admired the view for awhile, then, headed down to the rooms to get our stuff together for a second day on the island.
When we got off the ship, he was correct, it was really windy. We did the same as day #1, took the tram to the pelican plunge stop, and checked into the same Cabana we had last time. This time, DH and I grabbed the snorkel vests first, and walked to the Cabana, while the rest of the family took the cart. I think they just really liked riding on the golf carts. When we got to the Cabana, there was no water in front of it today, it looked rather rocky, and nobody took a picture, oh well. The cast member told us that the water would usually come back in later in the day, and he was right. It didnt take too long and it had come back in. We talked to him a bit this morning and he told us how island was pretty much all rock before Disney got a hold of it. He told us how they blasted thru the rock to make the beach areas, and brought sand in to make the beaches. He said they are continually adding sand by dredging out the docking area that they have to keep clean, as the thrusters put sand back in the channel, and they use that sand to put back on the beach. Interesting. I was thinking maybe that is why some people think the sand is rougher than other people, because at times it might be a rough load of sand coming in. But I digress. I spent a bit of time in the hammock enjoying the warmth of the sun and the breeze going by. We headed with our stuff to the swim area, where we grabbed a chair or two, some inner tubes, and headed out to the water. The strong wind was making the water feel a lot cooler today, but it was fun putting the tube way far over on one side of the swimming area, and letting the wind blow you across to the other side. We spent awhile just playing in the wind and current.
So windy the inner tubes kept floating away, here they are retrieving some:
Random pics of our cabana and just relaxing:
Pic of beach in front of #17:
The boys decided to take their hand at snorkeling, so they geared up and snorkeled around, while I floated next to them taking pictures. There really is nothing to see where we were at; they were just having fun looking around. It was defiantly just a lazy, relaxing day of playing in the water. When it was time for lunch, we decided to go up and eat at cookies 2 this time. We like it a lot better than eating in the Cabana. It was nice having tables close by, and there was plenty of room. When we were done DH, my sister, DS and I headed back to the cabana but stopped and grabbed an ice cream cone before going back. We sat on the steps of the cabana and enjoyed our treat, then headed back to the beach to swim for awhile longer. Later that afternoon, we walked around and took more pictures, and too quickly our Castaway day was done, and it was time to face reality that we were headed back home the next day. We got our stuff together, said goodbye to the Cabana guy, walked up to the tram stop, and rode the tram back to the ship.
Now, we had become Bingo addicts from the day before, so we decided to go try our luck one more time with the mega Bingo thing. DH and DS ran up to ride the AquaDuck as DH hadnt done it yet, while I went and changed clothes, grabbed us a seat, and some game boards. I was starting to get a little nervous because DH and DS were taking their time showing up. Just in time, in they walked, and moments later, the game began. Of course we didnt win, but it was sure fun trying. We ran up to our staterooms and got ready for dinner. Our last night was in Animators Pallet. We were surprised that there was no Crush tonight. I think DH was especially sad, as he really had enjoyed being singled out by him. Ok .maybe he didnt enjoy it, but I sure did. After dinner, we joined what felt like everybody else on the ship in shutters to get our pictures. It took awhile, and it was an utter mad house there, but not sure how they could make this easier. There were pictures taken that day at Castaway Cay that I know I was going to want, so there was no choice but to join the tons of people there and grab my photos. We wanted to see the last show, but we hadnt even begun packing yet. We were using onboard checkin as we had an 11:45 flight the next morning, and didnt want to have to deal with checking in our luggage at the airport. We got our bags together, put the onboard check in tags on our bags, and not the rounded character ones that were left on our bed. My mom was a little nervous that her bag would be overweight, so guest services sent up a guy who weighed them for us. How cool is that. We turned out to be fine. We watched TV for a bit and soon it was time to go to bed for the last time on the dream. The next day of traveling home was going to be a long one .
Unable to dock at Castaway the night before, I felt the ship vibrate a little early in the morning at some point. I was guessing that we were trying to dock again, and later that day the captain confirmed the he had tried early in the morning, does he ever sleep? When I woke up, I ran out to check to see if we were there, and there was nothing but ocean. Bummer! It looks like it was going to be a fun filled day at sea. I didnt order coffee this morning but rather just hung out on the deck while everyone awoke. Then my dad pointed out that there was land in front of us hmmm but the T.V. said we were 73 miles away from Castaway Cay. My DH informed me that he noticed it being wrong from time to time. Yippeee there was hope! And then the ship started to turn. And there it was, my favorite island!
View of our cabana while backing in:
We were going to try for a third time. He started backing in, very slowly. And we waited. Then I think we were still backing up, the thrusters were on and off constantly. And we waited. Then I decided to take my shower. When I got out, we may have been slightly closer. And we waited. Then we went to Cabanas and got some breakfast. I couldnt look anymore as the suspense was killing me. But my husband grabbed us a table by the window. When I sat down with my plate, it appeared to me that we had made it.
View from where we sat at breakfast:
Not soon after, the captain came over the speaker and confirmed that we had indeed had made it in to dock. He said it had been his trickiest docking, every passenger could tell he really worked to get us in for our second day at CC. We were so relieved and very excited. He said that the winds were pushing really hard, he was about to abandon docking, when an eddy helped him push against the wind allowing him to dock. We finished up breakfast while we were tied in. Sat back and admired the view for awhile, then, headed down to the rooms to get our stuff together for a second day on the island.
When we got off the ship, he was correct, it was really windy. We did the same as day #1, took the tram to the pelican plunge stop, and checked into the same Cabana we had last time. This time, DH and I grabbed the snorkel vests first, and walked to the Cabana, while the rest of the family took the cart. I think they just really liked riding on the golf carts. When we got to the Cabana, there was no water in front of it today, it looked rather rocky, and nobody took a picture, oh well. The cast member told us that the water would usually come back in later in the day, and he was right. It didnt take too long and it had come back in. We talked to him a bit this morning and he told us how island was pretty much all rock before Disney got a hold of it. He told us how they blasted thru the rock to make the beach areas, and brought sand in to make the beaches. He said they are continually adding sand by dredging out the docking area that they have to keep clean, as the thrusters put sand back in the channel, and they use that sand to put back on the beach. Interesting. I was thinking maybe that is why some people think the sand is rougher than other people, because at times it might be a rough load of sand coming in. But I digress. I spent a bit of time in the hammock enjoying the warmth of the sun and the breeze going by. We headed with our stuff to the swim area, where we grabbed a chair or two, some inner tubes, and headed out to the water. The strong wind was making the water feel a lot cooler today, but it was fun putting the tube way far over on one side of the swimming area, and letting the wind blow you across to the other side. We spent awhile just playing in the wind and current.
So windy the inner tubes kept floating away, here they are retrieving some:
Random pics of our cabana and just relaxing:
Pic of beach in front of #17:
The boys decided to take their hand at snorkeling, so they geared up and snorkeled around, while I floated next to them taking pictures. There really is nothing to see where we were at; they were just having fun looking around. It was defiantly just a lazy, relaxing day of playing in the water. When it was time for lunch, we decided to go up and eat at cookies 2 this time. We like it a lot better than eating in the Cabana. It was nice having tables close by, and there was plenty of room. When we were done DH, my sister, DS and I headed back to the cabana but stopped and grabbed an ice cream cone before going back. We sat on the steps of the cabana and enjoyed our treat, then headed back to the beach to swim for awhile longer. Later that afternoon, we walked around and took more pictures, and too quickly our Castaway day was done, and it was time to face reality that we were headed back home the next day. We got our stuff together, said goodbye to the Cabana guy, walked up to the tram stop, and rode the tram back to the ship.
Now, we had become Bingo addicts from the day before, so we decided to go try our luck one more time with the mega Bingo thing. DH and DS ran up to ride the AquaDuck as DH hadnt done it yet, while I went and changed clothes, grabbed us a seat, and some game boards. I was starting to get a little nervous because DH and DS were taking their time showing up. Just in time, in they walked, and moments later, the game began. Of course we didnt win, but it was sure fun trying. We ran up to our staterooms and got ready for dinner. Our last night was in Animators Pallet. We were surprised that there was no Crush tonight. I think DH was especially sad, as he really had enjoyed being singled out by him. Ok .maybe he didnt enjoy it, but I sure did. After dinner, we joined what felt like everybody else on the ship in shutters to get our pictures. It took awhile, and it was an utter mad house there, but not sure how they could make this easier. There were pictures taken that day at Castaway Cay that I know I was going to want, so there was no choice but to join the tons of people there and grab my photos. We wanted to see the last show, but we hadnt even begun packing yet. We were using onboard checkin as we had an 11:45 flight the next morning, and didnt want to have to deal with checking in our luggage at the airport. We got our bags together, put the onboard check in tags on our bags, and not the rounded character ones that were left on our bed. My mom was a little nervous that her bag would be overweight, so guest services sent up a guy who weighed them for us. How cool is that. We turned out to be fine. We watched TV for a bit and soon it was time to go to bed for the last time on the dream. The next day of traveling home was going to be a long one .
jecskc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2010
- Messages
- 4,887
Just getting caught up on your TR. I loved your cabana photos. How nice it must have been to have one of those. We lost one our floats to the wind on the 2nd Castaway Cay day as well. DH was worried that they would make us pay for them, but we were relieved to find out we wouldn't and could get another one if we wanted.
April 15th 2012,
I won't bore you with our full day home as it was a long day of airports that took 21 hours to achieve. Luckly, we made it on all flights even though every flight was filled. Here is the part that pertains to getting off the disney ship
Time to say goodbye. Sunday morning we had a 6:45 show time for breakfast at animators palette were we ate the night before. We had an 11:45 flight to catch, and were using Disney transfers and also Onboard check in. I got up around 5:30, unable to sleep. DH, was determined that he would not get out of bed before 6:00. I wish I could have done that. So up and dressed and ready to go, our whole group went to the lobby with our carryons. We wanted to be one of the first off the ship and on to our bus because we wanted to get to the airport ASAP. When we made it to the lobby, there were already people lined up to get off the ship. We decided to forgo breakfast and stand in the line. Everybody had their entire luggage with them, and come to find out; we were in line for the express debarkation. Only problem is that in order to use this option, you must carry all of your luggage off the ship. Here is where a little confusion set in technically we were carrying all of our luggage off the ship, because we did onboard check in, and we didnt have to find any of our luggage to take with us thru customs, so we were in the correct line right? WRONG. We didnt have to find our luggage, but we also didnt have all of our luggage with us, so we had to wait till the express people made it off, then they opened the line up for the rest. Technically we probably could have gone and had breakfast, because we didnt start getting off the ship until 7:30. We were at the beginning of the line, so when they opened the doors for us, we walked thru the baggage area and straight to a customs agent. It was so super easy, I think we were the first people to hit customs. We went straight thru customs and followed the signs for the Disney bus. There were tons of cast members there to point us to our bus to the airport, we hopped on, and in no time at all, we were headed to the airport. We arrived at the airport right around 9:00 or a bit sooner, so we stopped and had breakfast at McDs before going thru security. All went so smoothly that we were sitting waiting at our gate by 10:00 am. I would defiantly use onboard check in, as when we got home our luggage was there. It was so nice not having to deal with checking in at the airport, and lugging our luggage around.
Well, I think this officially ends the trip. We had an amazing time, and even now I am having serious vacation withdrawal. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I hope you enjoyed my TR.
I won't bore you with our full day home as it was a long day of airports that took 21 hours to achieve. Luckly, we made it on all flights even though every flight was filled. Here is the part that pertains to getting off the disney ship
Time to say goodbye. Sunday morning we had a 6:45 show time for breakfast at animators palette were we ate the night before. We had an 11:45 flight to catch, and were using Disney transfers and also Onboard check in. I got up around 5:30, unable to sleep. DH, was determined that he would not get out of bed before 6:00. I wish I could have done that. So up and dressed and ready to go, our whole group went to the lobby with our carryons. We wanted to be one of the first off the ship and on to our bus because we wanted to get to the airport ASAP. When we made it to the lobby, there were already people lined up to get off the ship. We decided to forgo breakfast and stand in the line. Everybody had their entire luggage with them, and come to find out; we were in line for the express debarkation. Only problem is that in order to use this option, you must carry all of your luggage off the ship. Here is where a little confusion set in technically we were carrying all of our luggage off the ship, because we did onboard check in, and we didnt have to find any of our luggage to take with us thru customs, so we were in the correct line right? WRONG. We didnt have to find our luggage, but we also didnt have all of our luggage with us, so we had to wait till the express people made it off, then they opened the line up for the rest. Technically we probably could have gone and had breakfast, because we didnt start getting off the ship until 7:30. We were at the beginning of the line, so when they opened the doors for us, we walked thru the baggage area and straight to a customs agent. It was so super easy, I think we were the first people to hit customs. We went straight thru customs and followed the signs for the Disney bus. There were tons of cast members there to point us to our bus to the airport, we hopped on, and in no time at all, we were headed to the airport. We arrived at the airport right around 9:00 or a bit sooner, so we stopped and had breakfast at McDs before going thru security. All went so smoothly that we were sitting waiting at our gate by 10:00 am. I would defiantly use onboard check in, as when we got home our luggage was there. It was so nice not having to deal with checking in at the airport, and lugging our luggage around.
Well, I think this officially ends the trip. We had an amazing time, and even now I am having serious vacation withdrawal. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I hope you enjoyed my TR.
Wonderful TR
Thanks for taking the time to do this
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Wish I was back on vacation now!
hbg4
Ask me where I'm going on my next vacation ? Disne
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2005
- Messages
- 793
I love your trip report. You were part of my FE and disboard group. Pity we didn't get to meet.
I managed to book a cabana for our August cruise. I'm glad I did now and I'm not going to cancel after seeing how much you enjoyed it.
I managed to book a cabana for our August cruise. I'm glad I did now and I'm not going to cancel after seeing how much you enjoyed it.
I was bummed I didn't get to meet you either. That is my one regret, next time I will definately make it to the meet and greet. We loved the Cabana so much, my husband is contemplating booking conceirge so we have a better shot
I am not completely sold on that idea yet. I hope you enjoy yours as much as we did ours, I know they are pricey, but hey, it's vacation right?-
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