April 13, 2008 (4/13/2008) Anyone else?

[JAZ2525]

I could not make the meet either. I am so upset about not getting to CC. This cruise did not live up to my first at all. Next time we will just spend the week at WDW.

 

[Smiley Riley & Folks]

Hi everyone,
Sorry -- we didn't make the meet either...busy signing Riley up in the O/Lab and then the drill. Despite the disappointment over not docking at CC we still had a good time. On Monday we went to the Atlantis Aquaventure and had a blast. So much fun but the boys got a bit too much sun despite gobs of sunscreen. We loved all the shows -- such talented performers and the costumes/sets etc. were fantastic. Loved Michael Harrison as well -- caught all of his shows and in fact he was on both of our flights home on Thurs. Turns out he lives about 1/2 an hour away from us!

We managed to keep the surprise of where we were going until we got to the airport. The limo driver opened the car door and when Riley realized where he was (didn't know as the windows had fogged up) and we told him where we were going, he bounced around in circles and ran up and down the sidewalk jumping and high-fiving everyone! It was really worth all the planning, etc. to pull it off.

Also had a fantastic 5 days in the theme parks -- they're huge!! much, much bigger than Disneyland! We averaged walking 10 miles/day so didn't feel guilty at all eating on the ship! We saw some terrific shows and attractions and just had a really great time.

Time to put the bags away, do all the laundry and start dreaming about the next trip. Take care everyone! --Cathy Bye!

 

[lovetoscrap]

well anyone else a bit dissapointed with all all?
im gutted we didnt get to dock at Castaway cay, i didnt make the meet either, the baby was soo grumpy that day

I saw your door! You were just a bit down the hall on deck 2 from us.


I really enjoyed meeting all that I did. DD8 had a great time with lanegang's daughter, and DD12 is already emailing with her new friends she made in the Lab. Funny, I was most worried she would be bored in the Lab and she absolutely loved it.

I am afraid that this was probably my first and last cruise also. I am going to keep my feet on land. If the first few days weren't bad enough that last night was just the capper. DH said he saw crew members getting sick. DD8 and I are very prone to motion sickness and I think cruising is just not for us.

Cathy, I thought of you all several times on the cruise and wondered how Riley had taken the surprise. I am sorry we didn't get to meet up.

 

[HelloPhoto]

If the first few days weren't bad enough that last night was just the capper. DH said he saw crew members getting sick. DD8 and I are very prone to motion sickness and I think cruising is just not for us.

Did we have no luck on this cruise or what? I was talking with someone at breakfast on the AM of debarkation and she said she's done a Disney Cruise before and it was nothing like our cruise (in terms of rocky ship movement). Does anyone know if this was common or not? I'd like to do another cruise, I'm just hoping it's not as wild as this one!

 

[Smiley Riley & Folks]

Did we have no luck on this cruise or what? I was talking with someone at breakfast on the AM of debarkation and she said she's done a Disney Cruise before and it was nothing like our cruise (in terms of rocky ship movement). Does anyone know if this was common or not? I'd like to do another cruise, I'm just hoping it's not as wild as this one!

I was quite surprised at the movement as well. We were on a Med cruise last August on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas and it was so smooth you really had to look out to see if you were moving. Don't know what it would've been like in the same water but the stabilizers on the Brilliance worked really well. We're not really big cruisers, but have been on a handful of other ones in all different locations and have never had a problem. That includes a couple of times up the Pacific coastline which is supposed to be generally rougher seas than in the Caribbean area.

I'm not sure we'd do another Disney cruise. While we love kids, all those little people sure made the trip seem a bit hectic. For instance, I've never seen so many line-ups on a cruise nor have I ever seen a swimming pool so crowded -- they looked like little sardines packed in there! Riley has had a blast on other cruises where there have only been 100 or so kids. Celebrity's kid's club is great and a much better counsellor/child ratio so they all really get to know the kids and vice versa (longer trip helped too).

 

[lovetoscrap]

I talked to quite a few people on board that were repeat Disney cruisers and they all said that they had never experienced anything like that before. And I talked to a CM that said that it is very rare that the Wonder doesn't make it into Castaway Cay on the second day if they can't on the first. He said the last time he remembered it happeneing was about 5 or 6 months ago.

I think we really did just experience a very freak weather pattern unfortunately.

 

[lanegang]

I am bummed out like the rest of you that we did not dock into CC. I have been dreaming about this cruise since I booked it over a year ago and not getting to set foot on that island was a total bummer.

When we got off the ship, our porter told us this was a fluke cold front that came through and actually set the record low for Port Canaveral since the 60's.

Overall, we had a great time and my dh says we will do it again in hopes of getting to CC. (originally this was going to be a one time thing).

I started drugging my family with bonine a day before getting on the ship so other than a couple times their heads felt heavy, no sickness for us.

My dd's had an awesome time on the ship. DD (8) loved playing with lovetoscrap's daughter as well and had fun in the lab. My dd (6) had an awesome time in the club and wanted to be dropped off first thing in the morning and never wanted to be picked up. I was worried she would not like the club, thinking it was too "young" for her but that was far from the case.

We went and spent the next few days at Disney and the weather was perfect (not too hot! - June to Aug are plain miserable with the heat). I gave my sad tale of CC to the girl when we checked in and they upgraded our room to a water view. (Bonus to be had!!) I laid out by the pool every afternoon to a light breeze (as opposed to our gale force winds).

I am not sure when we will repeat the cruise. Perhaps when the new ships are done we will check out the different options. We will chuck this one up to dumb luck and try it again. Now, it's time for laundry.

Lolita

 

[lovetoscrap]

My dd's had an awesome time on the ship. DD (8) loved playing with lovetoscrap's daughter as well and had fun in the lab. My dd (6) had an awesome time in the club and wanted to be dropped off first thing in the morning and never wanted to be picked up. I was worried she would not like the club, thinking it was too "young" for her but that was far from the case.



Lolita

DD loved playing with your daughter also! She loved seeing pictures in Shutters of your family and wanted me to buy one of them for her! Did you happen to get any pictures of our girls together? I am not sure if we got any? I haven't had time to go through them.

I am not sure when we will repeat the cruise. Perhaps when the new ships are done we will check out the different options. We will chuck this one up to dumb luck and try it again. Now, it's time for laundry.

As someone that took 4 Dramamine in one day on this cruise and was still feeling could you please avoid using the words "chuck" and "up" in the same sentence?

 

[kaylajr]

and to top off our not so "wonder"ful cruise

I got SICK at the Swan and we had to leave early
and missing my second ever DIS meet in Richmond.
and whatever it is it is working its way thru the family
now DH is sick..........

Ya know the cruise directer "Peter" said
a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work but ya know
I am not so sure.........

 

[lanegang]

DD loved playing with your daughter also! She loved seeing pictures in Shutters of your family and wanted me to buy one of them for her! Did you happen to get any pictures of our girls together? I am not sure if we got any? I haven't had time to go through them.


I will go through my pictures as I am certain that I did get them together at the hot tub. I wish they would have made available the photos taken in the lab as I saw at graduation one of the two of them together!

 

[lovetoscrap]

I will go through my pictures as I am certain that I did get them together at the hot tub. I wish they would have made available the photos taken in the lab as I saw at graduation one of the two of them together!

Oh man! I missed that one! I was going to go to the Lab and ask if they could email us the pics or something but we had to go straight to dinner and after that was when things started to get bad so DD and I were both back in the room pretty fast.

I wonder if anyone knows if we can get those photos? I will ask on the Main Forum.

 

[patsal]

We are finally back home and all I can say is this was the mother load of anything that could possibly not be planned for happened cruise/vacation. I talked with several crew members and they concurred that this was not the norm at all.
We were very fortunate not to experience the horrible sea sickness reported by many of our friends. I did start the family on ginger pills the morning before the cruise and every four hours for the most part. On Wednesday night though we were really feeling it quite hard as well and just called it an early night and crashed.
Biggest disappointment after the Castaway bummer was that the loft was not anything like we had hoped. Sarah spent a very small amount of time int he kids club--enroute home she said she was afraid it would be like daycare. She had a hard time catching up with her friends as we had the late dinner seating (never again on that, but more later in a trip report). Josh just said the loft was not someplace he enjoyed and he spent more time on his own reading and relaxing.
We spent the three nights after the cruise at AKV. They are beautiful and we will stay there again! We did the club level to wrap up DH's best birthday eva--not quite Thursday was relaxing by the pool and a trip to DTD. Friday a full pool day, Saturday started out great , a trip to the outlets, then a pretty bad car accident when another drived failed to yield and knocked us off the road and down an embankment--very scary . Everyone was ok, no injuries to either parties which was very good. After a few hours of paperwork and returning the rental car to trade for a new one we were back on track by about 3pm--the accident was at about 11am or so. We needed to return to the room to check in for our flight--Southwest. The rest of the day went well, but after that adrenline rush I was exhausted!
It was great to meet Lovetoscrap and family, Kayla and family and Lanegang and family! Both Josh and Sarah really enjoyed the time they spent with others most especially at the Pirate Party.

 

[lovetoscrap]

OMG! How scary for you guys and the kids! That is awful! So glad to hear that you are all okay.

 

[patsal]

Thanks, are you all feeling better? I know those waters were really rough on Wednesday night.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Rough is an understatement! The whole world continued to rock for DD8 and I for another 2 days. She actually ended up with a stomach virus the night before we left Orlando and had a pretty miserable ride home with a high fever and tummy ache. But she is fine now. DH and I both have upper respiratory infections, I just got back from taking him to the Dr.

DD12 came home to emails from some of the girls she met on the cruise and was so excited that they "didn't forget her"! I have a feeling she and your DD will continue to be email buddies!

 

[rachelmarsh70]

Just reading through this thread. Sorry to hear all the complaints and that to most of you your cruise was a disaster!

For those that said this was their first and last cruise, you are not making a completely informed decision and are truly missing out on a wonderful vacation. I have been on 10 cruises. The first 2 in December and February respectively when I was a teenager and would never do that again. I book all my cruises the last week of April or first or second week of May. Usually those times are also the cheapest. I also only go on 7 day cruises. If I could not afford a 7 day then I would not go on a 3 or 4 day PERIOD. Due to the frequent turnaround of guests the ships are just not kept up enough and cruise employees are not the same caliber as the 7 day. You simply don't get the same kind of service. Of course I'm speaking in generalizations. AND I would go when the weather is optimal, like END of April or May. I'm shocked at how surprised many of you are that your weather wasn't great.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Hi Rachel and to the DIS. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us.

I think my friend Kayla and I are the only 2 on here that said that we would not cruise again. We know that we definitely got a very fluke weather system and that really the chances are it wouldn't be that bad again. But for both of us we went into this not really knowing if cruising was the right type of vacation for us and our families. Our children were aprehensive and our husbands were not really on board with this cruising concept (excuse the pun!).

We all did enjoy many parts of the cruise, but also found some parts--beyond the weather caused problems-- to just not be for us. Cruising is something that is great for some people but for others it just isn't their thing. We both have people in our family that are very susceptable to motion sickness and even when the waters weren't too bad we found that, despite taking all the precautions we could, that motion sickness couldn't be overcome.

My mother and sister are both avid cruisers and they were shocked when they found out we were going on this cruise. They know me and my family and our personalities and were pretty sure that a cruise would not be the ideal vacation for us. They were right.

It is just a personal choice. Cruising was something that I had always wanted to try and I am very glad that I got that opportunity, but I know now that we will keep our feet on dry land from now on. And hey, I really don't ever say never. Maybe sometime in the future the opportunity will come up and I may try it again. But I doubt it.

So we are looking at it as a learning experience and figure we are just opening up 2 cabins on the ships for those of you that really love to cruise!

 

[BirdLover]

Hi there LOVETOSCRAP. Well it's good that you tried crusing and now know what it's all about. I have found in my travels that those that say they do not like crusing are usually the ones that have never been on a cruise...but...you have proven me wrong. If you are suseptible to seasickness then by all means a cruise is not for you. Luckily I do not have that problem. Again I'm sorry that your first experience was not all that mine have been but everyone find their own niche with vacations and I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post.

 

[dixiefriend]

We are finally back home and all I can say is this was the mother load of anything that could possibly not be planned for happened cruise/vacation. I talked with several crew members and they concurred that this was not the norm at all.
We were very fortunate not to experience the horrible sea sickness reported by many of our friends. I did start the family on ginger pills the morning before the cruise and every four hours for the most part. On Wednesday night though we were really feeling it quite hard as well and just called it an early night and crashed.
Biggest disappointment after the Castaway bummer was that the loft was not anything like we had hoped. Sarah spent a very small amount of time int he kids club--enroute home she said she was afraid it would be like daycare. She had a hard time catching up with her friends as we had the late dinner seating (never again on that, but more later in a trip report). Josh just said the loft was not someplace he enjoyed and he spent more time on his own reading and relaxing.
We spent the three nights after the cruise at AKV. They are beautiful and we will stay there again! We did the club level to wrap up DH's best birthday eva--not quite Thursday was relaxing by the pool and a trip to DTD. Friday a full pool day, Saturday started out great , a trip to the outlets, then a pretty bad car accident when another drived failed to yield and knocked us off the road and down an embankment--very scary . Everyone was ok, no injuries to either parties which was very good. After a few hours of paperwork and returning the rental car to trade for a new one we were back on track by about 3pm--the accident was at about 11am or so. We needed to return to the room to check in for our flight--Southwest. The rest of the day went well, but after that adrenline rush I was exhausted!
It was great to meet Lovetoscrap and family, Kayla and family and Lanegang and family! Both Josh and Sarah really enjoyed the time they spent with others most especially at the Pirate Party.

Wednesday nite was abosolutly horrible...All I can say was thank god for the split bathrooms.....poor hubby almost did'nt make it....I was taking a shower through it all( him getting sick)...Thank god for rails in the shower because I was all over the place!!!! After that I was praying to just fall alsleep, fortuatly the kids fell asleep before it got real rocky!!!