The downside to vacation - the desk over flows. 
Which keeps me from doing official trip reports.
I enjoyed everything about the cruise except one thing. When they made me get off the ship.
Pre-Cruise: Arrive at AKL - we got in early this evening. That's never happened before so we happy right off the bat. Up to the lounge for some yummy treats. Nothing special today we're hitting AK first thing in the morning. I must say I didn't like the pool view CL room. Definitely request savannah. I don't think they have many pool rooms but they are smoking rooms. We were lucky it didn't have an odor but we smelled it when our neighbors came home since it was a connecting room. AK - We got there right at opening. We headed to Expedition Everest. Grabbed a FP then hit the stand by line. DS loved it of course. Dinosaur & Primeval Whirl then back to Expedition Everest. We head back to the lodge for some pool time before going to FW. Joey gave me the insider tip where to find the red river hogs and we finally get a glimpse but it was raining and we only had 15 minutes before leaving to the Hoop Dee Doo so I didn't get a chance to take pictures. Hoop Dee Doo was so much fun. Oh, I want to do it again. We came all the way from VA to get some chicken in us. I got to meet up with Sue from IPO before we left on Saturday. She happened to be working in the lounge that morning. I hadn't seen her in a while so that was very cool. Down to our traditional Boma's breakfast. YUM!
Embarkation - Ok I got there a bit late - 10:45 a.m. and this place is buuussssy. Oh my! We got boarding #9. I want to be in that concierge lounge that's roped off with boarding #1 please.
Okay, okay - I need to stop that! I did snag the spa villa with the wrap after getting onboard. All the sea days are taken of course, but I snag one for tomorrow on our way to Key West so that'll work. I'll get to that in a moment. You'd think a Cat 4 would be okie dokie. I'm really just a spoiled brat. I'm beginning to wonder what I signed myself up for. I thought the split bath was a grand idea. Until I saw it. LOL! There is no way I can do my hair in here. I'm so glad I brought that extension cord after all. The good thing is that they have ample storage space. Another brownie point for the DCL. Dinner at Animator's Palate first. Hey, look at that I'm getting my sea legs. 
I was really rocking in that room earlier. Our server is Sachin, Asst Server - Kendall and Host is Efren. Drink of the Day - Bay Breeze - These are butt kickers. Whew doggie! I feel the burn baby. Good news - no water downed drinks here so I won't need to buy a bunch of them. Another brownie point for DCL.
Key West - I have that spa appointment this morning. I forgot my camera. Grrr! Let me give you the run down on this. It's a must do! You get into your bathing suit and robe upon arrival. You sit out on the balcony in a comfy chair and put your feet into a nice foot soak. I had Jolene as my therapist. She was great BTW. She came out to do a quick foot scrub which felt really nice. Then you get to hop in the jacuzzi for some alone time. I was watching the water change to a beautiful crystal blue while soaking. Then it's time to do the wrap. I choose the one for stress relief/muscle relaxation. The paper panties are just so cute and oh so flattering.
I'm on a floating bed. It's the only one they have. Now this is all in the same room. I'm painted on, wrapped up and then the bottom gently comes out from under you. You feel weightless. It's so cool! And relaxing. Then it's time to shower off outside. Yep, in the buff outside. The curtains are pulled, but if I can see people at port I'm positive they can see me. Hurry, hurry - get this stuff off of me. 
The water really is beautiful here. Then I get back inside where you get a full body massage. Awesome! After this you get your robe back on and head outside to sit on the very large padded lounger. Jolene brought out the tea and sliced fruit to enjoy by myself to wrap the session up. Totally worth the money. 
Oh, yeah - we went into port and did the Conch Train tour. We bailed at break time to grab a seafood lunch and beer. 
It was a good tour but a bit long for us. It wasn't the wiggly kid syndrome, but the wiggly parent syndrome. We of course had to get a slice of key lime pie. Picked up some juice to bring home so I can make my own. We were so pooped that we skipped dinner tonight and opted to order room service and just chill.
Lesson #1 - Deck 10 is not skirt proof. It's definitely a no skirt zone. Story on why I know this later.
1st At Sea Day - We awoke late and ordered DS some breakfast and us some coffee to get us through until we had our brunch at Palo's. Sue at AKL suggested to request her favorite server, Marco, once we arrive. We were a few minutes early and they were just beginning to open the doors. Since they were seating the line of people we decided just to go with the flow. Who knows we may end up with the infamous "Marco." As luck would have it, we didn't get Marco but a very friendly and lovable Girish. He's in my web shot album, too. The album isn't complete as I have to scan our pictures taken with the underwater disposable camera. They mean every word of "go in hungry." Oh, My, Goodness! Complimentary glass of champagne to start. I had mine with the melon liquor in it. Fab-u-lous! The only place you can get caviar on the ship is here. It was tasty.
My favorite of the entire brunch is the German christmas gift bread - stollen bread (don't know if I spelled that right) with fresh fruit and whipped cream. It is to die for. DH had their pasta and I tried their chicken which was equally de-lish. We even tried a pizza between each other. Top this off with an espresso for DH and cappucino for myself. Needless to say, we didn't eat but so much for dinner that night. The effects of brunch was still lingering. After that it was pretty much a pool day. It was formal night and we got a pretty good photo of the us together. Yet another thing I need to scan in. We saw the Golden Mickey's show which we all enjoyed.
Grand Cayman - We hit Parrot Cay for breakfast before we were to meet for our excursion in Studio Sea. We did the Island Tour with Sting Ray city snorkel. We hit Hell, Rum Cake Factory and the Turtle Farm before heading to the marina for the snorkeling tour. I thought the snorkel was a little short. They only give you half hour here, but all in all it was a good excursion. Our driver/tour operator dropped us off right up front and was very pleasant. Phyllis was her name. I've got her in a turtle farm picture. She just didn't know it. She was a very pleasant woman. DH sat up front of the bus with her and they chatted about the island and her upbringing. Quite fascinating. After all this we were quite pooped. It was pretty much an all day tour.
Cozumel - Rise and shine! Okay, we're not shining. We are ditching our beach break excursion and seriously contemplating just staying the ship and enjoy the pools, etc. After much waivering, we can't just come to Cozumel for the first time and not get off the ship. We decide to do a little shopping then head back to the ship to catch a movie. One ring, a few t-shirts and several other small souvies later we are heading back to the ship. We caught Eight Below at the theatre. They were premiering Cars but DS had seen the day we left before heading to the airport. He'd spoil it for us so we picked something none of us has seen. It was a good movie and the theatre was practically empty. You should see the size of the bag of M&M's they were selling. Golly day! It's like a 2 lb'r. We'll pass on that before DS catapults out of his seat and bounces like a rubber ball all over the ship. Pirate Night! The show wasn't quite what I expected but fairly good. The fireworks were cool and better than we had expected. DS didn't take a nap so we had to skip the buffet. I was looking forward to seeing if not tasting some of the creations there, too. Oh, well. Next time I will strap him to the bed, close the curtains and will him to sleep. Just kidding!
Dinner in the dining room was lively and they do their own little show - LIMBO everyone! 
2nd At Sea - Everyone is recouping from the past two days and Pirate night. I see others on the ship aren't venturing out until late. The pools at 11 a.m. are looking a little like a ghost town. Perfect for us! A little breakfast at Topsiders, a little mimosa from the waiter and a book while lounging next to the pool. Really, it can't get any better than this. So lots of lounging and arcade spending here today. We put DS in the club mid-afternoon as it's our Palo night. I cancelled High Tea today since DH didn't want to join us. We have dinner reservations tonight there though. Come to find out according to Girish we would've been too stuffed to eat dinner if we had. We had a wonderful evening here tonight. We had to take an earlier seating so we can be served by Girish and get that super table we had at brunch. So we took the couple of hours before dinner to hang out around the ship, buy some goodies and take a cat nap on Deck 4. Dinner at Palo's was every bit of good as the brunch. So many choices. An overeater's (like myself) dream.
The martini's and wine flowth. The chocolate souffle was rich but there was another dessert that was just as good and if not a teeney bit better. I can't remember the name, but it had berries in it. I'll know it when I see it. Funny thing about Girish. He'll makes terrific suggestions. If you don't order all his suggestions he will still bring it to you to taste - whether you asked for it or not.
Afterwards we head back to our room to ditch the dress and tux back into the ever so comfy shorts and t-shirts to just hang out. Later on in the evening, our room was beautifully decorated with rose petals everywhere as part of the special turndown service from the romance package. The guy did a eye popper of a job. It was on the thresholds of the bathroom, in the sinks, tub and bed. Pics are in my album too. DS is still in the club so we are taking full advantage of the much needed alone time. That wraps this day up. And, yes, we retrieved DS from the kids club. I assure you we didn't leave him there all night.
Castaway Cay - By far our favorite. I can live here. I can cruise here for a day or two and not go anywhere else and it'd be blissful. DCL are reading this? WE WANT MORE TIME HERE! BRING BACK DOUBLE DIPS IN THE FUTURE!!!!! Okay, where to begin? Oh, yeah - we got off the ship.
We headed to the family beach for about an hour and then I headed up to do my parasailing excursion. That was scary and thrilling all at the same time. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I have to scan those pictures in later, too. Then DH and I head to our couples cabana massage. We were late because of our timing being off, but it was still great. I'd do this again in heartbeat too. The breeze blowing over you, the scent of the salt water. Serenity Bay is so peaceful. DH and I already have plans to let DS stay in the kids activity and we enjoy at least 1/2 day here complete with a massage. We then got DS and we all enjoyed the bike ride around the island. More swimming and then off to try a Konk Kooler which are da bomb! What do you know, the day is over and it's time to go back. 
Last night for dinner on the ship. We are going over the week's events. They do an international theme. My advice - skip the desserts on the menu and stick with the Baked Alaska. None of us ordered the baked alaska and our server brought some for everyone to taste. We liked it so much better than the desserts we had.
Post Cruise: It's time to to go home. Disembarkation was a piece of cake. We had to wait for a porter. We had like 9-12 bags with all the little things like camera bag, etc. There's no way I was going to try to lug it all out there. Our porter was great and helped us load into the back. I didn't like hearing the CM's wave us off and being so cheery while saying thank you and come back us and see us. The nerve! Where are the tears and heartfelts please don't leave? Okay, that was must've been my dream? Sorry! We get back in the truck and roll down the highway Contemporary bound. We arrived and our room wasn't ready and being 10:30 in the morning I had completely expected this. We have a lunch reservation in Epcot in Italy so we head there. Lunch was not as good as we expected, but still tasty. We took our traditional ride on Maelstormer then went to the pin trading station and let's not forget to do Leave a Legacy this time. I'll know where we are in the next couple of months. We head back to CR and we got to ride up front on the monorail circuit. Just in time for a storm, but we didn't get wet. 
They weren't allowing anyone else to ride up front and we would've been kicked off at MK but we were one stop away. Our driver was Frank. He was great! Of course we didn't have our camera as it was with our luggage. Just as luck would have it. Ok, it was a great memory for us and we have our co-pilot license. 
We get back and our room is ready. It's close to the lounge and a MK view. Good job CR! The rooms are spiffy here. I really like them - ALOT. The sliding doors, the entertainment center really opens the room up and it just has a larger feel to them. While I love the rooms are hearts are in AKL so it looks like AKL is going to be our "home" resort so to speak. Not that it wasn't before, but this kind of sealed it's fate with DH trying these different resorts. We hit MK that night and it is packed to the gills. No shocker here - POC is not open for any type of soft opening. We checked out Tom Sawyer's island for the first time and enjoyed it. We also did the transit authority. Nice break from walking. Once the fireworks hit we had free range of our favorite rides including Space, Buzz, Winnie, Peter Pan, etc. We waited quite some time at Splash Mountain before the fireworks, but we had no real plans so we took it all in stride. Since they slowed Thunder RR down, we choose to skip it now. It's just not as fun to us anymore. I'm sure they do it for safety reasons though. We are officially exhausted and head back to CR at closing. We hadn't even eaten dinner yet. Everyone seems to have the same idea - Room service. Ordered up some sandwiches, showered, ate and hit the sack. Woke up late and got the okay for a late check out. Headed back to the airport and got home 3 hours later than expected. FL storms - they always get us.
And that's the long and short of things. I know I missed the tiny details. The food was great and we'd cruise again on DCL anytime.
Web shot album link: http://community.webshots.com/user/harlow23024
Which keeps me from doing official trip reports.I enjoyed everything about the cruise except one thing. When they made me get off the ship.
Pre-Cruise: Arrive at AKL - we got in early this evening. That's never happened before so we happy right off the bat. Up to the lounge for some yummy treats. Nothing special today we're hitting AK first thing in the morning. I must say I didn't like the pool view CL room. Definitely request savannah. I don't think they have many pool rooms but they are smoking rooms. We were lucky it didn't have an odor but we smelled it when our neighbors came home since it was a connecting room. AK - We got there right at opening. We headed to Expedition Everest. Grabbed a FP then hit the stand by line. DS loved it of course. Dinosaur & Primeval Whirl then back to Expedition Everest. We head back to the lodge for some pool time before going to FW. Joey gave me the insider tip where to find the red river hogs and we finally get a glimpse but it was raining and we only had 15 minutes before leaving to the Hoop Dee Doo so I didn't get a chance to take pictures. Hoop Dee Doo was so much fun. Oh, I want to do it again. We came all the way from VA to get some chicken in us.
I got to meet up with Sue from IPO before we left on Saturday. She happened to be working in the lounge that morning. I hadn't seen her in a while so that was very cool. Down to our traditional Boma's breakfast. YUM!Embarkation - Ok I got there a bit late - 10:45 a.m. and this place is buuussssy. Oh my! We got boarding #9. I want to be in that concierge lounge that's roped off with boarding #1 please.
Okay, okay - I need to stop that! I did snag the spa villa with the wrap after getting onboard. All the sea days are taken of course, but I snag one for tomorrow on our way to Key West so that'll work. I'll get to that in a moment. You'd think a Cat 4 would be okie dokie. I'm really just a spoiled brat. I'm beginning to wonder what I signed myself up for. I thought the split bath was a grand idea. Until I saw it. LOL! There is no way I can do my hair in here. I'm so glad I brought that extension cord after all. The good thing is that they have ample storage space. Another brownie point for the DCL. Dinner at Animator's Palate first. Hey, look at that I'm getting my sea legs. I was really rocking in that room earlier. Our server is Sachin, Asst Server - Kendall and Host is Efren. Drink of the Day - Bay Breeze - These are butt kickers. Whew doggie! I feel the burn baby. Good news - no water downed drinks here so I won't need to buy a bunch of them. Another brownie point for DCL.Key West - I have that spa appointment this morning. I forgot my camera. Grrr! Let me give you the run down on this. It's a must do! You get into your bathing suit and robe upon arrival. You sit out on the balcony in a comfy chair and put your feet into a nice foot soak. I had Jolene as my therapist. She was great BTW. She came out to do a quick foot scrub which felt really nice. Then you get to hop in the jacuzzi for some alone time. I was watching the water change to a beautiful crystal blue while soaking. Then it's time to do the wrap. I choose the one for stress relief/muscle relaxation. The paper panties are just so cute and oh so flattering.
I'm on a floating bed. It's the only one they have. Now this is all in the same room. I'm painted on, wrapped up and then the bottom gently comes out from under you. You feel weightless. It's so cool! And relaxing. Then it's time to shower off outside. Yep, in the buff outside. The curtains are pulled, but if I can see people at port I'm positive they can see me. Hurry, hurry - get this stuff off of me. The water really is beautiful here. Then I get back inside where you get a full body massage. Awesome! After this you get your robe back on and head outside to sit on the very large padded lounger. Jolene brought out the tea and sliced fruit to enjoy by myself to wrap the session up. Totally worth the money. Oh, yeah - we went into port and did the Conch Train tour. We bailed at break time to grab a seafood lunch and beer. It was a good tour but a bit long for us. It wasn't the wiggly kid syndrome, but the wiggly parent syndrome. We of course had to get a slice of key lime pie. Picked up some juice to bring home so I can make my own. We were so pooped that we skipped dinner tonight and opted to order room service and just chill. Lesson #1 - Deck 10 is not skirt proof. It's definitely a no skirt zone. Story on why I know this later.
1st At Sea Day - We awoke late and ordered DS some breakfast and us some coffee to get us through until we had our brunch at Palo's. Sue at AKL suggested to request her favorite server, Marco, once we arrive. We were a few minutes early and they were just beginning to open the doors. Since they were seating the line of people we decided just to go with the flow. Who knows we may end up with the infamous "Marco." As luck would have it, we didn't get Marco but a very friendly and lovable Girish. He's in my web shot album, too. The album isn't complete as I have to scan our pictures taken with the underwater disposable camera. They mean every word of "go in hungry." Oh, My, Goodness! Complimentary glass of champagne to start. I had mine with the melon liquor in it. Fab-u-lous! The only place you can get caviar on the ship is here. It was tasty.
My favorite of the entire brunch is the German christmas gift bread - stollen bread (don't know if I spelled that right) with fresh fruit and whipped cream. It is to die for. DH had their pasta and I tried their chicken which was equally de-lish. We even tried a pizza between each other. Top this off with an espresso for DH and cappucino for myself. Needless to say, we didn't eat but so much for dinner that night. The effects of brunch was still lingering. After that it was pretty much a pool day. It was formal night and we got a pretty good photo of the us together. Yet another thing I need to scan in. We saw the Golden Mickey's show which we all enjoyed. Grand Cayman - We hit Parrot Cay for breakfast before we were to meet for our excursion in Studio Sea. We did the Island Tour with Sting Ray city snorkel. We hit Hell, Rum Cake Factory and the Turtle Farm before heading to the marina for the snorkeling tour. I thought the snorkel was a little short. They only give you half hour here, but all in all it was a good excursion. Our driver/tour operator dropped us off right up front and was very pleasant. Phyllis was her name. I've got her in a turtle farm picture. She just didn't know it. She was a very pleasant woman. DH sat up front of the bus with her and they chatted about the island and her upbringing. Quite fascinating. After all this we were quite pooped. It was pretty much an all day tour.
Cozumel - Rise and shine! Okay, we're not shining. We are ditching our beach break excursion and seriously contemplating just staying the ship and enjoy the pools, etc. After much waivering, we can't just come to Cozumel for the first time and not get off the ship. We decide to do a little shopping then head back to the ship to catch a movie. One ring, a few t-shirts and several other small souvies later we are heading back to the ship. We caught Eight Below at the theatre. They were premiering Cars but DS had seen the day we left before heading to the airport. He'd spoil it for us so we picked something none of us has seen. It was a good movie and the theatre was practically empty. You should see the size of the bag of M&M's they were selling. Golly day! It's like a 2 lb'r. We'll pass on that before DS catapults out of his seat and bounces like a rubber ball all over the ship. Pirate Night! The show wasn't quite what I expected but fairly good. The fireworks were cool and better than we had expected. DS didn't take a nap so we had to skip the buffet. I was looking forward to seeing if not tasting some of the creations there, too. Oh, well. Next time I will strap him to the bed, close the curtains and will him to sleep. Just kidding!
Dinner in the dining room was lively and they do their own little show - LIMBO everyone! 2nd At Sea - Everyone is recouping from the past two days and Pirate night. I see others on the ship aren't venturing out until late. The pools at 11 a.m. are looking a little like a ghost town. Perfect for us! A little breakfast at Topsiders, a little mimosa from the waiter and a book while lounging next to the pool. Really, it can't get any better than this. So lots of lounging and arcade spending here today. We put DS in the club mid-afternoon as it's our Palo night. I cancelled High Tea today since DH didn't want to join us. We have dinner reservations tonight there though. Come to find out according to Girish we would've been too stuffed to eat dinner if we had. We had a wonderful evening here tonight. We had to take an earlier seating so we can be served by Girish and get that super table we had at brunch. So we took the couple of hours before dinner to hang out around the ship, buy some goodies and take a cat nap on Deck 4. Dinner at Palo's was every bit of good as the brunch. So many choices. An overeater's (like myself) dream.
The martini's and wine flowth. The chocolate souffle was rich but there was another dessert that was just as good and if not a teeney bit better. I can't remember the name, but it had berries in it. I'll know it when I see it. Funny thing about Girish. He'll makes terrific suggestions. If you don't order all his suggestions he will still bring it to you to taste - whether you asked for it or not. Afterwards we head back to our room to ditch the dress and tux back into the ever so comfy shorts and t-shirts to just hang out. Later on in the evening, our room was beautifully decorated with rose petals everywhere as part of the special turndown service from the romance package. The guy did a eye popper of a job. It was on the thresholds of the bathroom, in the sinks, tub and bed. Pics are in my album too. DS is still in the club so we are taking full advantage of the much needed alone time.
That wraps this day up. And, yes, we retrieved DS from the kids club. I assure you we didn't leave him there all night. Castaway Cay - By far our favorite. I can live here. I can cruise here for a day or two and not go anywhere else and it'd be blissful. DCL are reading this? WE WANT MORE TIME HERE! BRING BACK DOUBLE DIPS IN THE FUTURE!!!!! Okay, where to begin? Oh, yeah - we got off the ship.
We headed to the family beach for about an hour and then I headed up to do my parasailing excursion. That was scary and thrilling all at the same time. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I have to scan those pictures in later, too. Then DH and I head to our couples cabana massage. We were late because of our timing being off, but it was still great. I'd do this again in heartbeat too. The breeze blowing over you, the scent of the salt water. Serenity Bay is so peaceful. DH and I already have plans to let DS stay in the kids activity and we enjoy at least 1/2 day here complete with a massage. We then got DS and we all enjoyed the bike ride around the island. More swimming and then off to try a Konk Kooler which are da bomb! What do you know, the day is over and it's time to go back. Last night for dinner on the ship. We are going over the week's events. They do an international theme. My advice - skip the desserts on the menu and stick with the Baked Alaska. None of us ordered the baked alaska and our server brought some for everyone to taste. We liked it so much better than the desserts we had. Post Cruise: It's time to to go home. Disembarkation was a piece of cake. We had to wait for a porter. We had like 9-12 bags with all the little things like camera bag, etc. There's no way I was going to try to lug it all out there. Our porter was great and helped us load into the back. I didn't like hearing the CM's wave us off and being so cheery while saying thank you and come back us and see us. The nerve! Where are the tears and heartfelts please don't leave? Okay, that was must've been my dream?
Sorry! We get back in the truck and roll down the highway Contemporary bound. We arrived and our room wasn't ready and being 10:30 in the morning I had completely expected this. We have a lunch reservation in Epcot in Italy so we head there. Lunch was not as good as we expected, but still tasty. We took our traditional ride on Maelstormer then went to the pin trading station and let's not forget to do Leave a Legacy this time. I'll know where we are in the next couple of months. We head back to CR and we got to ride up front on the monorail circuit. Just in time for a storm, but we didn't get wet. They weren't allowing anyone else to ride up front and we would've been kicked off at MK but we were one stop away. Our driver was Frank. He was great! Of course we didn't have our camera as it was with our luggage. Just as luck would have it. Ok, it was a great memory for us and we have our co-pilot license. We get back and our room is ready. It's close to the lounge and a MK view. Good job CR! The rooms are spiffy here. I really like them - ALOT. The sliding doors, the entertainment center really opens the room up and it just has a larger feel to them. While I love the rooms are hearts are in AKL so it looks like AKL is going to be our "home" resort so to speak. Not that it wasn't before, but this kind of sealed it's fate with DH trying these different resorts. We hit MK that night and it is packed to the gills. No shocker here - POC is not open for any type of soft opening. We checked out Tom Sawyer's island for the first time and enjoyed it. We also did the transit authority. Nice break from walking. Once the fireworks hit we had free range of our favorite rides including Space, Buzz, Winnie, Peter Pan, etc. We waited quite some time at Splash Mountain before the fireworks, but we had no real plans so we took it all in stride. Since they slowed Thunder RR down, we choose to skip it now. It's just not as fun to us anymore. I'm sure they do it for safety reasons though. We are officially exhausted and head back to CR at closing. We hadn't even eaten dinner yet. Everyone seems to have the same idea - Room service. Ordered up some sandwiches, showered, ate and hit the sack. Woke up late and got the okay for a late check out. Headed back to the airport and got home 3 hours later than expected. FL storms - they always get us. And that's the long and short of things. I know I missed the tiny details. The food was great and we'd cruise again on DCL anytime.
Web shot album link: http://community.webshots.com/user/harlow23024
