bubba's mom's annual trip report to Univ...wait! WHAT?! NO Universal?!?!?!?!

[bubba's mom]

at least one pic didn't show up on this trippie.....

talking about when keisha used your camera when you went to the RR when we were doing our meet up............

that pic isn't showin up cuz I don't have it!

i believe you are mistaken for MY husband using HER camera

 

[bubba's mom]

okay guys....

Kudos for makin' it this far. You have survived Brab's boring family part.

Up next, the more interesting part: our cruise.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Gorgeous Shepherd!

Looking forward to hearing about the cruise!

 

[rpbert1]

A lovely few days spent with the family.
loved the SIls parents house, it is huge, actually thought someone had broke in and ransacked bils bedroom
Looking forward to the cruise starting.

 

[keishashadow]

at least one pic didn't show up on this trippie.....

talking about when keisha used your camera when you went to the RR when we were doing our meet up............

that pic isn't showin up cuz I don't have it!

i believe you are mistaken for MY husband using HER camera

video of the launch is better than nada, thanx for posting it

school day in July?

im liking the planning the trip in a year thing u got goingyou have the stuff, now you have to do it!

 

[bubba's mom]

Gorgeous Shepherd!

The shepard is Diva (she had the glowing eyes in the house at night).

loved the SIls parents house, it is huge, actually thought someone had broke in and ransacked bils bedroom
Looking forward to the cruise starting.

yeah...they was bein sloppy Lily BETTER read & consider a cruise after she sees the trip report

video of the launch is better than nada, thanx for posting it

school day in July?

im liking the planning the trip in a year thing u got goingyou have the stuff, now you have to do it!

first, you are welcome.

second, the homework is for karate. Since he is in Leadership there, there is homework every month

third, sailing trip is supposed to be being planned. I *think* we have actual dates, not sure if firm w/ rental place yet? We'd better go...since BIL got DH all the crap he needs for it! Besides...I gotta have somethin' to look forward to! How can I get thru the days without knowing when vacation will be?? You think I'm on the ball planning next year...we're already planning 2013! Oh yeah...we gots a PLAN sista!!

 

[jenseib]

third, sailing trip is supposed to be being planned. I *think* we have actual dates, not sure if firm w/ rental place yet? We'd better go...since BIL got DH all the crap he needs for it! Besides...I gotta have somethin' to look forward to! How can I get thru the days without knowing when vacation will be?? You think I'm on the ball planning next year...we're already planning 2013! Oh yeah...we gots a PLAN sista!!

Welcome my life.

I am loving all the updates. I am so happy you got to see the shuttle launch. What a neat experience.
SIL's parents house is so neat. Of course if we had a nice house like that, Skip would be walking all over it with his gross cow boots.
I aggree, those were flipflops with leg warmers.

 

[natebenma]

What a great stretch of family time before your cruise! Grumpy and Nonna's house is beautiful and seems like a great place for a large get-together.

Gorgeous dogs!!! And they double as really unique pool toys!

Even if it wasn't a really long view, it is so cool that you got to see the shuttle launch! We saw one once, 2009, when we were in EPCOT. We were in Canada and saw the shuttle briefly as it lifted up over the Mexican pavilion. Clouds really interfered with a decent viewing for us, too.

I am with you about the necessity of having a trip booked to look forward to! We are never really happy until we have "one in the hopper". A couple of weeks ago we booked a 5 night trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas for April 2012.

Looking forward to hearing all about the cruise!!!

 

[jenseib]

What a great stretch of family time before your cruise! Grumpy and Nonna's house is beautiful and seems like a great place for a large get-together.

Gorgeous dogs!!! And they double as really unique pool toys!

Even if it wasn't a really long view, it is so cool that you got to see the shuttle launch! We saw one once, 2009, when we were in EPCOT. We were in Canada and saw the shuttle briefly as it lifted up over the Mexican pavilion. Clouds really interfered with a decent viewing for us, too.

I am with you about the necessity of having a trip booked to look forward to! We are never really happy until we have "one in the hopper". A couple of weeks ago we booked a 5 night trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas for April 2012.

Looking forward to hearing all about the cruise!!!

I am so jealous! I ahve always wanted to go there for a couple of nights.

 

[natebenma]

I am so jealous! I ahve always wanted to go there for a couple of nights.

Sorry to jack your thread, Barb!!!

We stayed for 5 nights back in Feb 2009. It was a blast! The aquariums are amazing and the water park is unbelievable. How old are your kids? I would say from age 8 and up are good ages, depending on how adventurous they are.

February was a little bit cold, especially in the evenings. The water park was fine and you could get into the ocean, but we think April will be a more pleasant time to visit.

We stayed at the Beach Towers in Atlantis before, this time we are staying at the much much less expensive Comfort Suites, right across the street, but with full Atlantis privileges.

 

[jenseib]

Sorry to jack your thread, Barb!!!

We stayed for 5 nights back in Feb 2009. It was a blast! The aquariums are amazing and the water park is unbelievable. How old are your kids? I would say from age 8 and up are good ages, depending on how adventurous they are.

February was a little bit cold, especially in the evenings. The water park was fine and you could get into the ocean, but we think April will be a more pleasant time to visit.

We stayed at the Beach Towers in Atlantis before, this time we are staying at the much much less expensive Comfort Suites, right across the street, but with full Atlantis privileges.

Awesome. My youngest is 6 right now and she is the only one who travels with us anymore (my other 2 are adults). I'll wait at least a few moe years then. I kind of thought that maybe early teen years might be more fun for her.

Hijack over!

 

[keishashadow]

first, you are welcome.

second, the homework is for karate. Since he is in Leadership there, there is homework every month

third, sailing trip is supposed to be being planned. I *think* we have actual dates, not sure if firm w/ rental place yet? We'd better go...since BIL got DH all the crap he needs for it! Besides...I gotta have somethin' to look forward to! How can I get thru the days without knowing when vacation will be?? You think I'm on the ball planning next year...we're already planning 2013! Oh yeah...we gots a PLAN sista!!

hmmph, u haven't shared u'd be right @home working w/DVC points lol. i'm so far behind, have yet to book anything past October (oh the shame)other than a dummy DCL cruise i'll keep walking forward to keep the 10% discount

re atlantis, it's so beautifuland the lazy river is a hoot! we hit it every time ship docks in nassau & usually book a room @ choice vs paying for excursion

 

[bubba's mom]

I aggree, those were flipflops with leg warmers.

okay...that's 2 now. I WIN!

... we booked a 5 night trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas for April 2012.

We came thisclose to booking that for October (this year). Then along came Irene and well...you can probably figure out the rest....

Sorry to jack your thread, Barb!!!

Hijack over!

pphhbbttt... I don't mind...."jack" away....

hmmph, u haven't shared u'd be right @home working w/DVC points lol. i'm so far behind, have yet to book anything past October (oh the shame)

hey....about that trippie missy

 

[RAPstar]

Wow that is a nice house! And the dogs are awesome too.

 

[keishashadow]

i've yet to upload all my pics

 

[bubba's mom]

i've yet to upload all my pics

YOU said....once son is deposited at skool....

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 10 -- Sunday, July 10

Cruise Day 1 -- Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas...Western Itinerary

Today's Compass.

CRUISE DAY! We were up at 8am, showered, got ready and threw the last of our things in the suitcase. BIL had bacon & eggs a'cookin for breakfast, along with some fixin's....english muffins, blueberry muffins, etc..... That didn't take long to eat and within the half-hour of breakfast, we were ready to leave for Port Canaveral. I thought we were supposed to hit the road by 10:30, DH told me he had wanted to get going by 10am. ...did not know that!

We had a rather expensive ride to the port from Winter Springs. Seems the main road to the port area (528/Beachline Expy) has quite a LOT of tolls. Mostly $.75, but one was $1.50! I was afraid I'd run out of quarters, but I didn't. I'll bet we were close to $5 poorer by taking that road to the port. He was also concerned he was going to run out of gas. (Had we not driven to Winter Springs first, and come straight from BIL's instead, we'd been okay on gas.) Now, we are not normally the type of people who take chances on vacation. "Better be safe than sorry" and "rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it" are our mottos. DH was sweating out the last 15 minutes or so of the ride because we had gotten below 1/8th tank of gas! We even sweated it more when we were heading over the causeway to Merritt Island and the "Low Fuel" light came on! I snapped a quick couple pictures of our ship while driving down the road to find a gas station. Not bad, but not great pix.
After all, we were in a moving car!

DH said "I'm stoppin for gas the first place I see." Well...of course you are! We had planned to fill up at the 7-Eleven across from the car return office, but we came across a Racetrack gas station not too far onto the island. I was surprised it was only $3.47/gallon. I thought because of their location (like on a turnpike or major highway like I-95) they'd be more expensive....surprisingly, they weren't. So we filled up and headed further south to return the car. It wasn't but a few minutes and we were already there.

I will give kudos to Thrifty here. When we pulled in, there were a bunch of people and bags outside. I figured they were all waiting to board the shuttle to their ship. I figured there was no way we were going to make this shuttle, we'd have to wait for the next one. Not a big deal, we had plenty of time.
Someone came out to greet us. He checked our mileage, our paperwork and handed our paperwork back to me and told us to go inside and they'd take care of us. I was in and out in no time and I checked my paperwork....all correct. I came out of the office and DH said we were on the next shuttle. Wow. Really? On our luggage went and we followed it. Guessing some of those people that were there were coming from a ship and/or waiting for a ride?

It was a short ride to the ship. Maybe a few minutes? We were dropped off and made sure our luggage was acknowledged by a porter and headed for the terminal.

If I recall correctly, this was around 12pm? The line didn't seem too bad; we were almost at the door to the terminal. DH had to call his brother to let him (& Grumpy) know we made it to the port. While he was on the phone, someone working outside the terminal doors told us to go to the other door, there was 'no line' he said. My husband interrupted his conversation for a second to tell him we were fine where we were and he didn't want to walk down to the other door. He was rude to us and "told" us to go to the other entrance...."no line" he kept saying.

Well, he lied. Not only WAS there a line, it was longer! DH was (and off the phone by now). We were closer to the door where we were before! "No line" my a$$!! Not off to a good start....but, I held out hope things would get better.

Approaching the door to the terminal (again), I could understand the hold-up. There are NO signs, or anyone telling you while you are waiting, they want to see your passport/ID and Set Sail Pass. If people would just have this ready, and their entire party together, the line would move so much quicker.

Next was going through security. I will tell you this about carrying water on: you can absolutely do it. The family in front us had a 6 pack of (large) bottled water in a plastic grocery bag and put it in the bin to go thru the x-ray. The TSA lady even helped him with it! I also had to carry-on a gallon jug of distilled water. The only thing RCI told me about it (when I called to ask about the water) was that it had to be "sealed/unopened in it's original container". I'm thinking ALL water needs to be "sealed/unopened in it's original container". If 'originally sealed', you can't substitute it's contents (and the water bottles I packed in our luggage made it too.)

The line inside wasn't too bad, we were maybe in the 3rd or 4th row to check-in. DH called Dad this time, while we were in line, to let HIM know we made it. (He had asked us to call from the port when we got there.) We were in line for about 1/2 hour before we made it to check-in. Actual check-in was quick & smooth and then we were directed to board the ship.

We arrived onboard just after 1pm and our first stop was to find a bathroom. We went the opposite direction of the crowd and went toward the casino. I can say I think I was the first person to use this potty in the casino this cruise. (Tricia's picture).

After that, we decided to drop our carry-on bags in the room and then seek out something to eat. We headed to our cabin, 2330. On the way, we passed: the Arcadia theater, the inside, the Schooner Bar, the Crypt (which is a two-level nightclub) and came across our dining room. While here, figured we'd go find out where our table was. Middle level (deck 4), balcony table. Turns out, we were only two decks below our dining room, so we just walked down the two decks to Deck 2. The touchscreens in each elevator lobby are very convenient. A nice addition during the March drydock.

The cabin was nice...roomy. I wasn't impressed with the size of the closet, but everything else was okay. Except that darn glass coffee table....totally in the way. They need to not have that in the room in the first place! The next day I would leave a note for the cabin attendant to take that table out, and he did. Gave us so much more room! (especially with 4 suitcases...and only 1 would fit under the bed. There was a bunch of mattress pads and blankets under there.)

Pix of our cabin: our bed, vanity (notice Bubba's soda cup sitting on the vanity), vanity storage, closet, safe, bathroom, shower, bathroom storage and the shoe organizer that I use to 'hang' our crap. (sunblock, toothbrushes, hair stuff, shaver, etc....) Extra pix: shower-doors closed, shower-looking down at the floor and just another shower pic.
We didn't stay long when we first got here, and we didn't leave our valuables (carry-on's) when we left. Turns out, our cabin was adjoining (which, I knew, but forgot about) and that adjoining door was open. I left a note for them to 'please lock adjoining door' while we went to get lunch.

Speaking of lunch....that was next stop. We headed to the Windjammer and the line was relatively short. I took a couple of pix of the buffet and we were lucky to score a table by the window. Right near the "beverage" station, so of course, I took a picture of that too. I also took a few pix at lunch and some pix of the buffet: hot dogs buns with the fixin's for burgers, their famous honey stung chicken & pasta, fries, mashed taters & string beans and some fruit & desserts. The soup & sandwich station, the deli and a picture of one of the serving stations. It wasn't elaborate, but it was hot and filled us up. My husband...not hungry anymore. Bubba really enjoyed the soda package we got him. Definitely worth the money!

After lunch we planned to head back to our cabin to see if the adjoining door was locked. On our way out of Windjammer, just before we left, I noticed this ship coming up the waterway. I looked ahead of it to see where it was going, but there was land ahead of it. Guess it wasn't going too far! I also noticed the bridge was up...waiting for this ship to pass. Turns out, it was a NASA ship recovering one of the boosters from the launch Friday. How cool.

Back in our cabin, that adjoining door was locked, so we left our valuables there this time and grabbed our cameras to check out the ship and take pix.
We were aft on the ship (back for you landlubbers) so, we started there.

We went up to the top deck and saw the Disney Dream sitting there waiting to fill up and leave. I believe she left behind us. Disney Dream: 1, the Dream at port, our son checkin' it out and wishing he'd put his sunglasses on!

The Carnival Sensation was also there. We ended up following her out of port to sea.

We started to walk toward the bow (front) of the ship. Passing the kid's play area along the way. H20 Zone and here.

Still walking toward the bow, we came upon Johnny Rockets before going inside to the Living Room. We stopped in to check out the older kids area.
We also checked out the arcade, which was much bigger and better than the arcade on the other cruiseline we were on last year.

Arcade pix: 1, 2, 3 and 4. This is the machine that you MUST buy "arcade credits" onto your Seapass card before you play any games. Also, you swipe the barcode on the back of your Seapass card on the game you want to play, NOT the magnetic strip. Machine 2 and 3.

While in the area, we also poked our head into Fuel...the other 'older kid' hangout. There's not much inside, just a literal 'hangout'.

We didn't go in, but saw the Explorers Room and the Royal Babies & Tots room. Aquanaunts and Adventure Ocean were nearby also.

Next we found ourselves back at the pool area. Here's a shot of the new bigscreen at the pool that they installed during drydock.
Pool pix: 1, 2, 3 and 4.
I thought this bar was a good idea at the pool. Better spot might be near the gym though. We had Bubba follow the directions on how to get soda from the self-serve at the pool area. When you pre-order the soda card package, you get this cup. In the bottom of the cup is a chip that you place on the machine under the flavor soda you want. The machine reads the chip and will only dispense a cup-full of soda at a time. Apparently, most people do not know this and when they pass by, they think 'free soda!'. They then try to fill any cup and it doesn't work and they can't figure out why. According to reports, it's pretty funny to watch. Bubba didn't have any problems though, it worked first time for him.

Here is the towel station (...which, we didn't use. We had bought some cheap beachtowels at Walmart when we were at Dad's and brought them with us. I wasn't about to chance paying $25 per lost towel! I also overheard a couple talking a couple days later that they actually ran out of towels! But, I guess not for long because they had some not too long after I heard her telling her husband that they'd run out.) Next we happened upon the Solarium area. The adults only area was very nice. Offering a quiet pool, lounges in the full sun or undercover in the shade. We also took some pix of the cantilevered hottub there too. 1, 2 and 3.

After checking out the pool areas, we found ourselves in the gym. We had planned to make good use of it, but never did. Eh..it's vacation. Exercise can wait till we get home. Gym pix: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the spin bikes and the boxing ring.
Our son trying to look tough...but then figured he'd go for 'cute'. Interestingly, they also had water and Powerade for puchase. Weird to see a vending machine there, don't know why, just seemed weird. They also had a huge aerobics room too. Bubba would use this our last day at sea to work on some of his forms for taekwondo.

We wanted to go back outside and find the helipad. We walked upstairs out to the top deck. I took a picture of the Disney Dream again, this time from a different angle. We walked toward the bow of the ship, taking in the scenery along the way. When we got forward, we saw where we wanted to go! So, down to Deck 4 we went and walked all the way forward and up the stairs to Deck 5.

We were all alone out on the helipad! Nobody else was there. My husband taking my picture and me taking his! There's one of those every year! DH wanted Bubba to do a Titanic..."King of the World" moment... this is what he got! We took a picture of the front of the ship and the bridge and the water below. I always think that Florida water is so much better than New Jersey water. THEN I get to the caribbean. Then I think how much Florida water looks like crappy New Jersey water!

At 3pm, we headed to the Sky Bar at the pool for a Cruise Critic tween/teen meet. This would give them an opportunity to meet some of the other kids before the 'official' Mix & Meet at 8pm at the Living Room. Almost everyone made it. Introductions were made and then we all headed to the open house at the Living Room. We stood around and chatted for a bit before we had to make our way to our muster drill stations.

Drill wasn't too bad...little warm/stuffy, but bearable. We were on the end line of the group, so we had some air. We had a couple of people/cabins missing, but it was over about 4:20 and we were getting ready to set sail. Since we weren't far from our room, we ran down to leave Bubba's bag there and grab extra batteries before setting sail.

Signs in the elevator lobby let you know where you were supposed to be. While we were at our cabin, we quickly decorated our door with the magnets my DH had made. Our door was now colorful and easy to spot! (and, if you're wondering, the answer is 'yes!' They ALL survived the entire trip)

I asked DH where he preferred to go for sail away: helipad or pool. He said helipad so that's where we went....very bow of the ship. It looked like the afternoon rain was coming, so I was hoping we'd beat it out...and, we did. It was pretty cool to see us leaving from that view, although it was very windy!

Along the way people along the shoreline were waving and such....a sheriff even had his lights on and let his siren wail once or twice. Freedom replied right back with her horn. I snapped a pic of Fishlips and many other pictures as we sailed out to sea: Carnival Sensation, heading out, 1, 2, 3, peeps on the beach waving good-bye to us, 4, 5, 6 and 7. That Carnival ship still ahead of us!

We stayed on the bow of the ship for quite awhile. Then I remembered the Sail Away Party at the pool. I suggested we head over to the pool and see if it was over, or we could catch the end of it. Looked like it was still going on, but it turned out to be the beginning of the end. We did see Gloria & King Julien dancing around: here and here. It seemed Shrek and Fiona were the finale and they came out at the end.

Once out to sea, we went exploring the ship some more. Somewhere along the way, the guys spotted this certificate. I'm not sure where it is, but I know it's not a record anymore.

After a while, Bubba said he was hungry...already?? He said he wanted pizza, so we stopped into Sorrento's for a slice... or two. Their menu today. The crust is sort of dough-y, not thin and crispy, but it was hot and it was good. Bubba seems to like the whole soda-card thing.

Now here is one place we hadn't been to yet. The Promenade. After filling up my growing boy at Sorrento's, we took pictures of the Promenade. End of the Promenade on the wrong camera setting, and now on the right setting. Vintages Wine Bar: without the car in the picture, with the car in the picture. I only use a point and shoot camera, so I was toying around with the different settings for awhile. Throughout the rest of the cruise, there are more pictures from the Promenade. After so many days, you just take the picture or you can't remember what pictures you've already taken (as was my case...!)

Further down, the Bull & Bear pub. I remembered to look up and take the diver's picture...a few times: 1 and 2. Next up we have Ben & Jerry's. We never did eat here, but it usually had some people sitting out front eating ice cream. I did take plenty of pictures of it throughout the week though. I took pictures of all the flavors they had (easier than me typing them all): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. And the menu: 1, 2 and 3.
I wanted pictures of the Cupcake Cupboard and the Cafe, but I ran out of battery on my camera. We had to return to the room to get new ones.

When we returned to the room, we discovered our luggage had arrived. I started to unpack just the dinner clothes so they wouldn't be too wrinkled, but decided to just keep going. Now, here I am, unpacking, again I think I've done it so many times in the last week and a half, I'm gettin pretty good at it because it didn't take me too long. While in the room, we noticed that Carnival ship was still out there. Although, it seems we've surpassed her.
At the end of unpacking, Bubba left to explore the ship and we went back to the Promenade to finish taking the pictures I didn't get when my batteries died.

Cupcake flavors of the day: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. If you take a class, you can learn to decorate a cupcake. Another example.

Next up (across the hall) was the Cafe. Sandwiches, cookies, desserts, a bar, etc.... All offered 24 hrs and all pretty good. Seating inside and out on the Promenade.

That done, we left the Promenade area and headed to the Arcadia theater to catch the "Welcome Aboard" show.

On the way, I remembered about the carpet. Our cabin was on the side of the ship with the red carpet. So I knew if I was on the blue carpet, I was on the wrong side of the ship. This was pretty handy info to have!

This show was pretty good. We were introduced to the Cruise Director, Graham Seymour, and his staff. Then a dance couple came out. Laetitia & Artur. Here is their website and the acrobatics they did tonight (click on "acrobatic adage" and then scroll down and click "watch video"). I shouldn't label them "dance"....more acrobatic awesomeness. I swear this girl has NO bones. She is completely 100% "bendy" They've traveled the world performing...not sure what they're doing on a cruiseship then? They were VERY good. I was looking forward to catching their show later in the week. There was also a comedian, Jim Collington. All in all it was a good show, and now I was getting hungry!

Oh lookit that! It was time for dinner after the show. We met Bubba at dinner, and he was on time.

Dinner was good. We requested a table for 4, and sorta got it. We were actually seated at a table for 6, but the other 3 never showed up. Fine by us.... had the table to ourselves for the entire cruise.

Here's what was on the menu for tonite: the Vitality Menu (healthy), Appetizers, Entrees and Desserts.

We ordered: the Vidalia Onion Tart, ceasar salad and I think the hot & sour shrimp soup for starters.

Our entrees were: slow-roasted prime rib and the aloo gobi methi. It was hot food and it was good. No complaints. We were too full after dinner for dessert, but we did get the blueberry & peach cobbler to try.

After dinner, Bubba left in a hurry for the 10pm free arcade courtesy of the Living Room. We checked the interactive screen outside the dining room and we decided to go to the On Air club to see the 'Finish the Lyrics' show. They were all pretty good, and brave, for getting up in front of everyone!

After that, we went to score a spot for Dreamworks parade. On our way, we happened to pass the Ben & Jerry 'Sweet'. I took a picture of it with the room number so we'd remember it...just in case we'd like to stay there sometime. Anyhow, someone working on the ship told us which direction the parade went. I think he was wrong because we seemed to be at the wrong end. I guess it didn't really matter because the characters seemed to make a loop and come back our way. It was okay though, we knew the same parade ran at the end of the cruise, just at an earlier time.

We were standing up on Deck 7 or so, and we saw Bubba right before parade started. DH whistled at him and he came up and watched it with us. It was funny that nobody BUT Ryan turned around when DH whistled. Bubba said, "I know that whistle anywhere."

It was a cute parade...a lot of characters. More for the kids I'm guessing? Getting ready to start, almost time for the characters, not a good shot of King Julien, and Po came out for the finale. I don't have great pictures because the characters came out to the Promenade from below us, so their back was to us right away. By the time the made their way back, it was so crowded and 'busy', it was hard to get any decent pictures. DH has better video.

After the parade, Bubba left for a Scavenger Hunt with the Living Room gang and we headed back to our cabin because we were having an issue with our camcorder. It seemed our button for zooming decided to stop working. Great. Night 1 of the cruise and it decides to happen now. Back in the cabin, DH messed with the button a bit and figured out if he pushed down on the button really hard, while zooming, he could get it to zoom. Jumpy, but he could get it work a little. We were pretty sure we had the extended warranty on it and figured we may as well make the best of it and just get it fixed when we got home. (which, we did have the extended warranty and did send it in and got it fixed)

We watched a movie in our room and got ready for bed. I called housekeeping for an extra blanket for our bed. Bubba's bed was turned down and ready for him. Housekeeping was very prompt and we were tired, so we were ready to hit the hay.

Bubba rolled in right before (1am) curfew and got ready for bed himself.
I did some stuff on my laptop (non-internet) and DH ran outside to catch the clear sky tonight. He was looking for stars. He wasn't gone long.....
It was about 1:45am before we finally got to bed.

I'm not sure how the last part of the evening got away from us....I thought it was gonna be an 'early night' That's okay, tomorrow was a sea day...no need to get up early.

 

[SharonK0527]

All caught up and am loving hearing about the cruise! We are a cruising family too - have been on Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian and Carnival. Love seeing your pics around the ship!

Now I have to ask you about the swimming dogs because my sister's dogs swim too - when the dogs are behind that fence watching other people in the pool, were they whining and complaining because they couldn't go in? My sister's dogs go NUTS if there are people in the pool and they're not allowed to go in

Can't wait for the next update!!

 

[keishashadow]

sigh, u never forget anything lol

crap on the camera going south, was it the waterproof one?

king julien - now way! did they have the penguins too?

ship really looks nice but trying to figure out the theme being nightclub named the crypt

did i mention that when we arrived for our cruise on 6/23 there was an announcement on the electronic billboards that 'your' ship had a delayed departure of 8 pmish and that security delays were possible

 

[RAPstar]

Great update! This is making me really want to do a cruise next year. I'm torn between Royal or the new Carnival Magic out of Galveston (or if I really want to splurge one of the new Disney Galveston cruises!). Can't wait for the next update!!