Thank you! I promise to take lots of pictures. I'm so excited! I can't believe we'll be on the ship tomorrow.
Cruising, Wining, and Disney Dining - Two 2012 PTRs in One! **TR LINK UP**
- Thread starter jenny105
- Start date
Thank you! I promise to take lots of pictures. I'm so excited! I can't believe we'll be on the ship tomorrow.
Imagineer5
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
- Messages
- 3,418
Great Scotland update!! Can't believe your cruise is practically here! Hope you have a great time and enjoy every minute!
Hi everyone! OUR CRUISE IS TOMORROW! I can't believe it! DCL updated our itinerary and it now includes a Pirate Deck Party which is awesome. I hope they shoot off the fireworks. I went through all my travel size stuff & samples on Wednesay & packed those up but I still have to figure out what I want to wear to dinner and get my clothes packed. I'll do that tonight!
This is my final Scotland post!
This is it, our last day in Scotland. To be honest, this day was pretty uneventful. They had us scheduled to attend an Expo which none of us were too crazy about attending. We boarded the bus and arrived by 9AM. There was a huge Scottish band waiting to welcome us as well as other travel agent groups.
The expo was supposed to last until 4 and I think we stayed for about an hour tops. We visited the Holyrood Hotel people and chatted with them, took brochures from a few people, and then became bored. Sarah wasn't feeling well so Christina, Teresa, and I decided to accompany her back to the hotel. We hailed a cab and were on our way.
The best thing about the expo? I was able to have my picture taken with the queen!
The other option was Sean Connery. He just makes me think of celebrity Jeopardy.
These two were also hanging around outside.
The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing. Sarah wasn't feeling well and Christina & I were exhausted because we were out so late the night before. I pretty much slept the afternoon away.
We were supposed to attend an expo networking event that night but our tour guides realized no one wanted to go & arranged for us to have dinner in a pub in Edinburgh. The pub was called the Mitre and it was located right on the Royal Mile. Our tour guides bought everyone a drink and we were on our own for food. I love cider beers so I ordered a Magners. I ended up getting 2 1/2 drinks out of this. It was the size of a champagne bottle!
I can't escape the haggis!
I ordered shrimp scampi and it was delicious! It's different from the scampi here. It's fried & all the scampi sauce is on the inside. Very tasty!
A (dark) shot of our group.
After dinner, the guides had arranged for us to take a haunted tour of Edinburgh. She told us backstories of some of the ghosts that haunt particular buildings. We didn't know this last night but the Grass Market, where we hung out, was the old site of the gallows. They even have a little circular monument to represent where they used to stand. That's not morbid or creepy at all! She pulled two guys up from our group and demonstrated how they used to torture people back in the old days. It was quite comical actually. The rest of us pretended to be an angry mob.
The Grass Market
Demonstrating the torturous ways of the gallows
Since the tour ended in the Grass Market, Christina and I decided to stay and have a drink. Everyone else boarded the bus and we headed into one of the pubs across the way. We grabbed a beer, found a table, and realized everyone was watching soccer. I was utterly confused and remember saying 'can someone put on the hockey game so I know what's going on?'
Our table was right in front of a window and creepy guys were passing by on the street drawing hearts on the window & leering at us so we decided to leave. We heard karaoke and headed into that place. Let me tell you, it is absolutely hilarious to hear people butcher American songs in a Scottish accent! A couple of people sung Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra and I started singing along. Christina was staring at me blankly. How do you not know any Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra songs?!? Do you live under a rock?? They revoke your NJ license if you don't like Sinatra. So instead of singing the songs to her, I turned and started singing the songs to an older gentlemen who was singing along. Turns out he was from New Zealand and in Scotland for his holiday. Very nice guy! We chatted for awhile & he left and shortly after, we left. We pretty much rolled into our hotel with 30 minutes so spare until we had to catch the bus to the airport. 
Our flight home was uneventful. I was dozing off in the airport but wasn't able to fall asleep on the plane so I mostly watched tv. Before I knew it, I was going through customs back in NJ. I felt so bad for the other girls because they were all on connecting flights and lucky me only lived 20 minutes away! We said our goodbyes and shared a few hugs & I met my sister outside the airport. She took me back home where a welcome home cake was waiting for me from Kris
I managed to fall asleep at home and woke up to Kris tackling me because he was so happy I was home.
And that brings my Scotland journey to a close. Fabulous trip, beautiful country, wonderful people. What more could you ask for? My sister is already asking about going to Ireland & England next year so a return to Europe may be in the near future. This time Kris is coming with!
WE CRUISE TOMORROW!
This is my final Scotland post!
This is it, our last day in Scotland. To be honest, this day was pretty uneventful. They had us scheduled to attend an Expo which none of us were too crazy about attending. We boarded the bus and arrived by 9AM. There was a huge Scottish band waiting to welcome us as well as other travel agent groups.
The expo was supposed to last until 4 and I think we stayed for about an hour tops. We visited the Holyrood Hotel people and chatted with them, took brochures from a few people, and then became bored. Sarah wasn't feeling well so Christina, Teresa, and I decided to accompany her back to the hotel. We hailed a cab and were on our way.
The best thing about the expo? I was able to have my picture taken with the queen!
The other option was Sean Connery. He just makes me think of celebrity Jeopardy.
These two were also hanging around outside.
The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing. Sarah wasn't feeling well and Christina & I were exhausted because we were out so late the night before. I pretty much slept the afternoon away.
We were supposed to attend an expo networking event that night but our tour guides realized no one wanted to go & arranged for us to have dinner in a pub in Edinburgh. The pub was called the Mitre and it was located right on the Royal Mile. Our tour guides bought everyone a drink and we were on our own for food. I love cider beers so I ordered a Magners. I ended up getting 2 1/2 drinks out of this. It was the size of a champagne bottle!
I can't escape the haggis!
I ordered shrimp scampi and it was delicious! It's different from the scampi here. It's fried & all the scampi sauce is on the inside. Very tasty!
A (dark) shot of our group.
After dinner, the guides had arranged for us to take a haunted tour of Edinburgh. She told us backstories of some of the ghosts that haunt particular buildings. We didn't know this last night but the Grass Market, where we hung out, was the old site of the gallows. They even have a little circular monument to represent where they used to stand. That's not morbid or creepy at all! She pulled two guys up from our group and demonstrated how they used to torture people back in the old days. It was quite comical actually. The rest of us pretended to be an angry mob.
The Grass Market
Demonstrating the torturous ways of the gallows
Since the tour ended in the Grass Market, Christina and I decided to stay and have a drink. Everyone else boarded the bus and we headed into one of the pubs across the way. We grabbed a beer, found a table, and realized everyone was watching soccer. I was utterly confused and remember saying 'can someone put on the hockey game so I know what's going on?'
Our table was right in front of a window and creepy guys were passing by on the street drawing hearts on the window & leering at us so we decided to leave. We heard karaoke and headed into that place. Let me tell you, it is absolutely hilarious to hear people butcher American songs in a Scottish accent! A couple of people sung Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra and I started singing along. Christina was staring at me blankly. How do you not know any Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra songs?!? Do you live under a rock?? They revoke your NJ license if you don't like Sinatra. So instead of singing the songs to her, I turned and started singing the songs to an older gentlemen who was singing along. Turns out he was from New Zealand and in Scotland for his holiday. Very nice guy! We chatted for awhile & he left and shortly after, we left. We pretty much rolled into our hotel with 30 minutes so spare until we had to catch the bus to the airport. Our flight home was uneventful. I was dozing off in the airport but wasn't able to fall asleep on the plane so I mostly watched tv. Before I knew it, I was going through customs back in NJ. I felt so bad for the other girls because they were all on connecting flights and lucky me only lived 20 minutes away! We said our goodbyes and shared a few hugs & I met my sister outside the airport. She took me back home where a welcome home cake was waiting for me from Kris
I managed to fall asleep at home and woke up to Kris tackling me because he was so happy I was home.And that brings my Scotland journey to a close.
Fabulous trip, beautiful country, wonderful people. What more could you ask for? My sister is already asking about going to Ireland & England next year so a return to Europe may be in the near future. This time Kris is coming with!WE CRUISE TOMORROW!
ziggystardust
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Messages
- 2,602
How exciting! I've been trying to trick my boyfriend into going to WDW for the food and wine festival. He wants nothing to do with it, but I'm not giving up yet.
Anyways. Have a great great time! can't wait to hear all about it.
Anyways. Have a great great time! can't wait to hear all about it.
Does he want nothing to do with WDW or the festival? The festival is a blast!
Thanks!
amandaluvsgoofy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2009
- Messages
- 1,018
Awesome Scotland TR!! I did the haunted tour when I was there (in like 1998). Did they scare people on your tour??
That's great that your flight home and go through customs was uneventful. I remember when we went several of our group got asked to step to the side and were more or less harassed (and this was pre-9-11)!
So excited for your cruise!! I can't wait to hear all about it!! Be sure to take tons of pictures!!!
That's great that your flight home and go through customs was uneventful. I remember when we went several of our group got asked to step to the side and were more or less harassed (and this was pre-9-11)!
So excited for your cruise!! I can't wait to hear all about it!! Be sure to take tons of pictures!!!
Awesome Scotland TR!! I did the haunted tour when I was there (in like 1998). Did they scare people on your tour??
That's great that your flight home and go through customs was uneventful. I remember when we went several of our group got asked to step to the side and were more or less harassed (and this was pre-9-11)!
So excited for your cruise!! I can't wait to hear all about it!! Be sure to take tons of pictures!!!
Nope they didn't scare us. I think because we weren't paying customers, we got the cliffs notes version. It was pretty interesting though.
Customs wasn't bad. They just asked a few questions and let me go on my way.
I promise TONS of pictures! I'm sure I'll be uploading some to facebook using my phone before we leave port so look out for those
ash-n-brensmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2008
- Messages
- 2,198
Again, awesome update from Scotland. And how cute that he tackled you!
Can't wait to hear all about your cruise...we really enjoyed the pirate party BTW..it's awesome!!
Have a great time!
Can't wait to hear all about your cruise...we really enjoyed the pirate party BTW..it's awesome!!
Have a great time!
ziggystardust
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Messages
- 2,602
he's not a huge disney person. He puts up with it for me and has a great time when we are there. We went last year for my 30th birthday and for a quick weekend trip when we first started dating like 3 years ago. So he says he's been there done that, but he humors me. When I tell him about our plans and my incessant random questions about hotels or dining plans, he answers happily and gets into it.
Enchanted88
A dream is a wish your heart makes
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2011
- Messages
- 400
Great Scotland post!! I want to go now!! haha
I hope you are having a great time on your cruise! Can't wait to hear about it!
I hope you are having a great time on your cruise! Can't wait to hear about it!
smile4stamps
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 4,427
Scotland looks wonderful! Hopefully some day....
Can't wait to hear about the cruise!!
Can't wait to hear about the cruise!!
Again, awesome update from Scotland. And how cute that he tackled you!
Can't wait to hear all about your cruise...we really enjoyed the pirate party BTW..it's awesome!!
Thanks! Cruise was a blast
Gotcha. My boyfriend is not a Disney freak like I am and let's me plan everything. He thinks I'm crazy making the plans so far in advance but he's all smiles once we're there. I think he secretly loves it
Loved every single one of your Scotland pics. It's so beautiful!! Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.
Have a FANTASTIC cruise!! Can't wait to read all about it!!
It was my pleasure
Cruise was great!
Biggest Magners I've ever seen! I was like 'Wow, I love Scotland.'
Great Scotland post!! I want to go now!! haha
I hope you are having a great time on your cruise! Can't wait to hear about it!
I bet seeing Brave will making you want to go even more!
I hope you get to go some day! It's amazing.
Well, I'm back! The cruise was fantastic even though it was way too short. The only thing I cared about was whether Kris was going to like it or not because he'd never cruised before. I'm happy to report he loved it especially the food & spa. He's hooked on spas now! I'll share more about our trip when I write the TR. Hopefully I can start it within the next day or two. Thanks for all the well wishes!
It was a great time!Now to concentrate on Disney World. 104 days to go!
ziggystardust
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Messages
- 2,602
Can't wait to hear all about it! Happy you had such a great time!
Enchanted88
A dream is a wish your heart makes
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2011
- Messages
- 400
I CAN NOT wait to hear about your cruise! haha That's too funny that Kris likes spas now! I don't think I'll ever get Ben to even try one! lol
I can't wait to see Brave!! We are going to go see it in the drive-in theatre this weekend! I can't wait!
You are almost in the double digits! I'm super excited for you!
I can't wait to see Brave!! We are going to go see it in the drive-in theatre this weekend! I can't wait!
You are almost in the double digits! I'm super excited for you!
Thank you!
That was the first time I ever tried a spa and it was awesome!
We're going to see it next Tuesday. I've never missed a Pixar movie! Did you see that next summer they're releasing a prequel to Monsters Inc?
Hi everyone! Today marks 101 days until Disney World. Almost in double digit territory. I already received the commission from our cruise so I went ahead & used that to pay for our MNSSHP tickets. We'll be attending on 9/30, the day we get in! How fun!
Kris's birthday was yesterday and I took him to the Melting Pot to celebrate. He had never been there before so it was a completely new experience. We got the Big Night Out which is a 4 course meal - cheese fondue, salad, meat, and chocolate fondue. We were stuffed when we left and Kris really enjoyed it. Tonight we're going out to dinner with his parents. We also have a wedding to go to this weekend down the shore that I'm not really looking forward to. To keep a long story short, the girl is a bridezilla. Ugh.
Now here it is - our DCL TR!
We left our house around 10AM. We only live about 25 miles from New York City but because it was a Friday, we weren't sure what kind of traffic we were going to face. The parkway was no problem, there was a bit of traffic getting on the Turnpike, and I thought we were homefree as I sped through the Lincoln Tunnel. Until I saw the barrage of breaklights in front of us.
From there on our, traffic was a nightmare. The cruise terminal is only a few blocks away from the tunnel but it took us about an hour to navigate through the traffic. When we turned onto 12th Ave, we could see the ship but you have to go down and swing back around for the entrance. It took 30 minutes to go 10 blocks! We were originally going to have my sister drop us off and I'm so happy we decide to drive ourselves. I would've felt so bad if she had to sit through that only to turn around and come back home.
I think we got one of the last parking spaces and $70 & a bomb/drug sniffing dog later, we were rolling our luggage toward the terminal.
The Intrepid from the parking deck
There it is!
We made our way into the terminal & through security with no problems. At check-in, we were directed to the Castaway Club queue - no line! The guy that checked us in had the thickest New York accent; it was hysterical! We were in boarding group number 6. We had just found seats when boarding groups 1-7 were called! After a lousy morning in traffic, we were on board by 12:15. Nice!
We didn't see any porters in the terminal so we had to carry our luggage around with us until our rooms were ready. The ship was pretty empty when we boarded so we stashed our stuff at a table outside on deck 9 & hit up Topsiders Buffet for some lunch.
Relaxing with some Paradise Punch
Showing off my Castaway Club lanyard. I've only cruised with them once before so I was silver level. I saw someone with a platinum lanyard. I think you need 25 cruises for that!
We decided to hang out for a bit and have a couple drinks until our room was ready at 1:30. We searched everywhere to track down Margaritaville Lime tequila (it's not easy to find!) and brought it on board with us so in addition to Paradise Punch, we were making loaded Coronas. Try it sometime, they're wonderful!
Up next - our room, exploring the Magic, & the Sailaway party!
Kris's birthday was yesterday and I took him to the Melting Pot to celebrate. He had never been there before so it was a completely new experience. We got the Big Night Out which is a 4 course meal - cheese fondue, salad, meat, and chocolate fondue. We were stuffed when we left and Kris really enjoyed it. Tonight we're going out to dinner with his parents. We also have a wedding to go to this weekend down the shore that I'm not really looking forward to. To keep a long story short, the girl is a bridezilla. Ugh.
Now here it is - our DCL TR!
We left our house around 10AM. We only live about 25 miles from New York City but because it was a Friday, we weren't sure what kind of traffic we were going to face. The parkway was no problem, there was a bit of traffic getting on the Turnpike, and I thought we were homefree as I sped through the Lincoln Tunnel. Until I saw the barrage of breaklights in front of us.
From there on our, traffic was a nightmare. The cruise terminal is only a few blocks away from the tunnel but it took us about an hour to navigate through the traffic. When we turned onto 12th Ave, we could see the ship but you have to go down and swing back around for the entrance. It took 30 minutes to go 10 blocks! We were originally going to have my sister drop us off and I'm so happy we decide to drive ourselves. I would've felt so bad if she had to sit through that only to turn around and come back home. I think we got one of the last parking spaces and $70 & a bomb/drug sniffing dog later, we were rolling our luggage toward the terminal.
The Intrepid from the parking deck
There it is!
We made our way into the terminal & through security with no problems. At check-in, we were directed to the Castaway Club queue - no line! The guy that checked us in had the thickest New York accent; it was hysterical! We were in boarding group number 6. We had just found seats when boarding groups 1-7 were called! After a lousy morning in traffic, we were on board by 12:15. Nice!
We didn't see any porters in the terminal so we had to carry our luggage around with us until our rooms were ready. The ship was pretty empty when we boarded so we stashed our stuff at a table outside on deck 9 & hit up Topsiders Buffet for some lunch.
Relaxing with some Paradise Punch
Showing off my Castaway Club lanyard. I've only cruised with them once before so I was silver level. I saw someone with a platinum lanyard. I think you need 25 cruises for that!
We decided to hang out for a bit and have a couple drinks until our room was ready at 1:30. We searched everywhere to track down Margaritaville Lime tequila (it's not easy to find!) and brought it on board with us so in addition to Paradise Punch, we were making loaded Coronas.
Try it sometime, they're wonderful!Up next - our room, exploring the Magic, & the Sailaway party!
my2boysrtwicethefun
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2006
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- 887
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