Double Dip with 2 Ships - 11/22-11/29

[lexandme]

I am loving it!!!!
Keep it going...
I promise I am going to post my journal as soon as I can!

Judy ºoº

(Pssst - Go Stillers!)

 

[DisVillainFan]

Yeah Michael, we are all up and running now. Just to let you know, I filed for the disability, the insurance may fight it, but I'll try. Either way it's March 1st and I'm done. ::cop:

 

[love2travel]

Are you ready for some football, oh sorry I mean trip report. I have football on my mind. GO STEELERS!!!!!!

Wednesday - Grand Caymen - Celebrating all Around

Today was a very special day, it was Suzymouses DH birthday and Cheysdad and his wife (Cathe) are renewing there wedding vows (15 years) on the beach in Grand Caymen.

We had our usually breakfast at Topsiders. I think it was while we were at breakfast and Christian (the CD) came over the loud speaker and announced that we were going to be delayed getting into Grand Caymen. We all had some slight panic because we were all to be off the ship with Cheysdad and our big group to meet up with Wedding Coordinator in Grand Caymen and he had a set time to meet her. He went down to Guest Services and explained and he met up with one of the officers, I believe her name was Vanessa, very nice lady. She kept saying to him don't worry everything will be fine and of course Disney came through with flying colors. We all met up in the lobby and as soon as the 1st tender was available to go ashore, Vanessa made sure that the wedding party and all the guest were on the tender first. It was true Disney Style!!! It also made everybody feel really special. We arrived on Grand Caymen and we met up with the wedding coordinator (Joy) and she arranged for all of us to go in a small van while she took the wedding party in her van to Governers Beach where the vow renewal would take place. We arrived at Governers Beach and what a sight, it was absolutely beautiful. I haven't seen a beach in Grand Caymen that is not gorgeous. It was time for the renewal to take place, it was such a special event and we were truly blessed to be part of it, thanks Cheysdad and family for inviting us. I had the pleasure of signing the wedding certificate along with Suzymouse and Cheysdad DD. After the renewal, we made our way over to Margaritaville, it was quite crowded. Cheysdad went in and bought a few t-shirts and we all made our way back to the ship. My DH was tired so he went back to the room to nap while we went and had lunch. It was mexican buffet day and it was mighty tasty! After lunch the adults made there way to the adult pool, and of course the bar to visit with Jerome. I think I was drinking Margaritas that day . It was time to go back and get ready for dinner, tonight was Pirate Night. We didn't bring our pirate outfits this trip because we were told that pirate night was going to be on Tuesday night and we were going to Palo, but once we got onboard we found out that it was on Wednesday, oh well, maybe next trip. Dinner was good, and of course you will not be shocked by this but I don't remember what I had to eat, maybe it was too many margaritas. But, I do remember when it was dessert time that Cyprian (our server) brought out two cakes, one for Suzymouses DH birthday and one for Cheysdad and Cathe to celebrate there vow renewal.
After dinner we went to see the Illusionist Jason Bishop, the show was pretty good. After the show we called it a night. Another lovely day on the Disney Cruise!!!

 

[love2travel]

Thursday - Day at Sea - Thanksgiving Gooble Gooble Day!!!

We had an absolulety wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We spent our day on Deck 10 and never moved except for getting Sushi and German Chocolate Cake at the Seafood Buffet and for going to the bar, had to visit Jerome a few times. We watched Tennessee crush Detroit on the big screen and drank some more and some more, do you see a pattern!!! LOVING THE LIFE OF A DISNEY CRUISE!!!!

Dinner tonight was semi formal so we made our way back to the room to prepare. Went down to the lobby for more photos, I'm a sucker for photos, bought way too many this trip and we are they now, still in the Disney Cruise folder they gave me. Maybe that should be my next project, getting frames for my photos. Ok anyway..... on the way to dinner we stopped to watch a chef icing the gingerbread house in the Promenade Lounge, it was very cool to watch.

Thanksgiving Dinner, we had beautiful menus that we were allowed to take home, nice keepsake. Before dinner arrived we all took turns going around the table to say what we were thankful for. It was really nice, a few tears here and there. One thing we were all thankful for was to be travelling with a great group of people!! I know you will not believe this but GUESS WHAT, I know what I had to eat for dinner tonight. I had the lobster and the vension, both were good. After dinner we went shopping in Mickey Mates. The girls went to the show with Suzymouse and then we called it a night. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving, thanks to all of our great friends and the Disney Cruise.

 

[HerrQSmee]

What a great trip report! Makes me feel like I am back on the boat again!
Suzanne

 

[love2travel]

Friday - 2nd Stop at Castaway Cay

We all met at Topsiders for breakfast. We got tables outside so we would have a nice view of us pulling up to CC. We pulled up to see CC all decorated with Christmas trees and snowmen, what a sight!!!! We met up with lexandme while we were pulling into CC and chatted for a few minutes and took a few photos together. We went back to our rooms and gathered up everything we would need for the day and met back up downstairs. Upon getting off the ship, we stopped and took several and I mean several photos in front of the snowmen and Christmas tree. They even had a snow machine, it was so cool . It was an absolutely beautiful day, warm sunny weather. We rented floats and enjoyed the beautiful water, a little chilly but for us New Jerseyans it was no big deal. I brought my IPOD with my little speaker and we sat back in the lounge chairs and listened to Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffet while we had our cocktails. Could it get any better than that? We enjoyed our lunch at CC once again and chilled out on the beach. Did some shopping before heading back to the ship. We were all sad that we had to leave CC, but who isn't??

Friday night - our last night on the ship.

We all met back up for dinner, our last dinner was in Parrot Cay. We chatted with our servers and Cyprian told us that he was leaving the ship the next day to go home (India) for his six week vacation. He shared pictures of his son with us, what a darling little boy. We all enjoyed our dinner and said our farewells to our servers, it's always a sad time I think. After dinner we all decided that we would all meet up and go to the Remember the Magic show.
It's always a good show and it had Jason Bishop, the illusionist and the comedian Jeff Civillico in it. I think Jason Bishop was better in this show than he was the previous night and Jeff Civillico was really funny and talented. We went back to the room to finish up our packing and prepare to leave the ship.

 

[love2travel]

Saturday - time to go home

We all met up for breakfast at Topsiders. Suzymouse advised us that she found her lost bra while she was packing up. She never did find the missing sock, though. Then we said our goodbyes , but the good thing was we all knew that we would see each other in another week at Suzymouses DD Bat Mitzvah, so it wasn't too bad. We made our way off the ship, it was a little chilly in Port Canaveral. We waited for our limo to arrive. They arrived a few minutes early and we were off to the Orlando Airport. I was a little nervous because we had a 12:10pm flight out of Orlando and it was Thanksgiving weekend. When our limo pulled up at the USAIR curbside checkin there was nobody there, I mean not a single person. I couldn't believe it, within 20 minutes we were checked in and thru security and at our gate. We had plenty of time, thank goodness. Our flight home was a little bumpy and I hate turbulance so I was freeking out just a little,
but we arrived home safely.

Overall observations of our Disney Cruise -

Food - Excellent
Service - Excellent
Friends & Family - Priceless, it was a trip that we will all remember and we were truly blessed to be able to share it with all of you. Thanks for everything!!

I don't know when our next Disney cruise will be, with DD being in middle school now, it will probably have to be in the summertime from now on. But, I think our next trip will be to Disney World, this coming summer. It was great meeting all of the DISers and thanks again for all the great FE gifts. If anybody has anything to add, feel free. Take care of yourselves and make good choices!!! GO STEELERS!!!! THE END!!!!!!

 

[lavawalker]

I don't know when our next Disney cruise will be, with DD being in middle school now, it will probably have to be in the summertime from now on.

Since I was on this cruise also, I have been reading your trip report with interest.... it was a GREAT cruise, wasn't it?

Anyhow, just curious - we live in CA and a lot of the schools here have Thanksgiving week off, so this was the perfect cruise for us. Are the schools where you live in session that week? Not sure if maybe having that week off is just a regional thing. I know other parts of the country have some sort of a "ski week" or something like that and have a week off in Feb. I'd love to have that time off for a tropical vacation!

 

[love2travel]

Since I was on this cruise also, I have been reading your trip report with interest.... it was a GREAT cruise, wasn't it?

Anyhow, just curious - we live in CA and a lot of the schools here have Thanksgiving week off, so this was the perfect cruise for us. Are the schools where you live in session that week? Not sure if maybe having that week off is just a regional thing. I know other parts of the country have some sort of a "ski week" or something like that and have a week off in Feb. I'd love to have that time off for a tropical vacation!

We are in NJ and we have school part of Thanksgiving week, 1/2 day on Wed. and then off Thursday and Friday. So our DD missed 3 1/2 days, which wasn't too bad. We don't have any length of time off now until April for spring break.

 

[jsfein]

Teresa -- what a great way to relive the cruise many weeks later. Thanks for putting together your report. It was a real pleasure bumping into you and Ken, Sue and Howard, Michael and Cathe, and all of your kids (I saw the three girls together everywhere I turned, as well as Howard's mother and her husband) throughout the cruise. Have a happy and healthy 2009!!

 

[love2travel]

Teresa -- what a great way to relive the cruise many weeks later. Thanks for putting together your report. It was a real pleasure bumping into you and Ken, Sue and Howard, Michael and Cathe, and all of your kids (I saw the three girls together everywhere I turned, as well as Howard's mother and her husband) throughout the cruise. Have a happy and healthy 2009!!

Hey Jason, Happy New Year to you and your family. Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[lexandme]

Teresa and Ken -

Do yinz have enough Terrible Towels?

Judy
Go Stillers

 

[love2travel]

Teresa and Ken -

Do yinz have enough Terrible Towels?

Judy
Go Stillers

Hey Judy,

Yup we have our towels, jerseys, blankets. figurines, you name it, we have it. Even the dog has a steelers bandana. GO STEELERS!!!

 

[Suzy Mouse]

Gosh!!! I'm sick for a few days...off the DIS...now when I'm back the trip is totally over!!AHHH!!!!

Just one clarification and one comment...

the bra was found when I got home. DH did all the laundry and when I went into my drawer and there it was??? Luckily it was only my running bra and I can get away with wearing just a tank. Sorry if this is too much info!!

Now for my comment...uh Teresa...what about the 2 ships part??? The second trip brought along the second ship..and of couse me running around like a crazy lunatic!!!

Good luck to all the football fans out there. My Giant fan sister will be at the Giants/Eagles game with her Eagles Fan boyfriend ...(yes they are ok!)

 

[love2travel]

Gosh!!! I'm sick for a few days...off the DIS...now when I'm back the trip is totally over!!AHHH!!!!

Just one clarification and one comment...

the bra was found when I got home. DH did all the laundry and when I went into my drawer and there it was??? Luckily it was only my running bra and I can get away with wearing just a tank. Sorry if this is too much info!!

Now for my comment...uh Teresa...what about the 2 ships part??? The second trip brought along the second ship..and of couse me running around like a crazy lunatic!!!

Good luck to all the football fans out there. My Giant fan sister will be at the Giants/Eagles game with her Eagles Fan boyfriend ...(yes they are ok!)

Suzanne, so to hear you were sick, hope your feeling better.

I swore you told us that you found your bra on the ship when you were packing up, oh well maybe I was dreaming and I know Cathe won't come on here to post one way or the other.

I can't believe I forgot the part about the 2 ships, sorry. Well, everybody that's reading this was probably there so they know we saw the two ships together. It was a great sight to see and yes you should have seen Suzymouse take off running to get a good picture of the ships. All I said was I'll meet you back at the beach, I wasn't running anywhere. it was vacation after all.

Glad to hear your sister and her boyfriend are doing well. We'll have to catch up on all the details. GO STEELERS!!!! Everybody have fun today watching the games!!!

If anybody else has anything to add feel free. Suzanne thanks for the clarification and comment.

 

[lexandme]

I'm making the time to post my recollections. But before I do....
Go Steelers!!!
Here's the beginning of my journal:
11/21/08
6:15am flight from Pittsburgh (Go Steelers) on AirTran to Atlanta. What was to be a 30 minute layover turned into 1.5 hours. We had to wait for a part to deliver to a plane in Orlando. Finally landed at 11:00am. Took the Magical Express to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are really poor people and usually stay in a value resort. We have stayed at Port Orleans and Caribbean Beach but nothing could have prepared us for AKL. We booked a Savannah room and, being animal lovers, we were blown away. Sitting on our balcony and watching giraffes, zebras, ostrich and buffalo grazing right below us was amazing. Not to mention the sheer beauty of the lodge itself. We decided to take the bus to Downtown Disney and do some shopping. Spent a few hours there and then back to AKL to dress for MVMCP at the Magic Kingdom. Because Tim is a teacher we are limited to travel only during the summer and Nov or Dec holiday time. We always go to WDW in the summer we are used to heat and crowds. The eve at MK was amazing. We walked right on every ride - no waiting!!! Ate cookies and hot chocolate. It was very cold that evening. I wore a wool sweater and gloves and I could have used a jacket and ear muffs as well. (I hate cold weather.) The parade was fun but the castle was just beautiful; all dressed up in twinkle lights. The fireworks were great as usual. Prior to the fireworks we met up with Susan (Disneypoor) and Stacie (Momtosupers, etc) beside the castle. We shopped some more on Main Street and then back to AKL around midnight. In bed and tried to get a good night's sleep so we could be ready for the Magic in the morning!!

 

[lexandme]

Saturday, 11/22/08
Up early and walked around AKL. Ate breakfast, got our luggage together and then on the DCL bus. Arrived at Port Canaveral, through boarding and onto the Magic! The boarding process was quick and easy. No waiting in line and we walked right on (around 1:00). I preferred that to waiting in line.
Put our luggage in the room and went to the DIS meet. It was great fun meeting everyone and being able to put a face with the names.
Because we were running around looking for each other and for dolphins, Tim and I missed the sail-a-way-party. Spent the rest of the evening walking around the ship. Late (8:30) dinner in Animators Palate. Our head waiter "Melroy" dropped full plates of food by our table. China and food flew everywhere! I had vegetable stuffed chicken, squash soup, peach ginger cheese cake and a Mickey Bar! I was so full I could only eat his ears! I knew at that point my diet was blown to hell! See ya in a week Weight Watchers! After dinner Tim and I went to "Match Your Mate." We had a few drinks and then to bed by 1:00am.

Sunday, 11/23/08
I was up early and sat on deck 10, listening to Marley on my Ipod while we pulled in to Castaway Cay. Met Linda (Plutoluvsfifi) for breakfast at Parrot Cay. I tried to eat healthy. Does a handful of All-Bran count? All the delicious pastries, pancakes and my favorite - Mickey Waffles!! (Why does food taste better when it's shaped like Mickey Mouse?) Went back to our cabin and escorted Tim and Ian to breakfast at Parrot Cay. Our waiter dropped a full glass of OJ on Tim but he didn't let it stop him from eating!
Left the ship and went to the family beach. Tim floated on a tube and I splashed around in the cold water for a while. Ian never left his lounge! Ate lunch at Cookies BBQ and layed on the beach some more. I bought a DCL beach towel on our way off the island. Back on board, showered and changed and made our way to Deck 9. Had a few drinks and relaxed some more. Went in the pool and hot tub. Relaxed some more. Ian left us to connect with his friends and Tim and I went to bingo. Tim won color changing hair clips which he immediately gave to a little girl that was there with her grandparents! Later we went off to dinner at Parrot Cay. I had chicken, mango soup,crab dip, chocolate/vanilla s'mores cake. (We booked the early dinner seating for our next cruise. We decided that eating that late made us tired and it was harder to stay awake for all of the later evening activities.) Went to Rockin' Bar D for "One Hit Wonders" I must post that it was either Saturday or Sunday night, in Rockin' Bar D that we saw Ken (Seadooken) wearing his wife Mich's bra. It was a sight to behold! Ken - you looked lovely!!Just like a princess!!

I will be back later with the remainder of my journal! (Have to get ready for the game. Go you know who!!)
Judy ºoº

 

[lexandme]

Monday 11/24 Day at Sea

My journal says it was partly cloudy and warm, waves 4-8 feet, very calm seas. I was sitting on Deck 10, listening to Marley, watching Cuba slide by to my left. Does it get any better? Ate brunch at Palo - wonderful time! The food was excellent and the company better! Many Disers there - Ken and Mich, Russ and Jeanette, Mark, Linda, and the private room was full of you guys! The rest of the day was spent laying by the pool, walking around the ship and delivering FE gifts. I know I was scheduled for delivery on Fri but we decided to do it early because we had tubes of glow bracelets for Pirate night that had to get distributed. I misplaced my FE list so I had Tim help me and we went from deck to deck just dropping them in any FE we saw. While we were walking I kept hearing a metal clanging noise but didn't think anything of it. At one point we ran into a young girl, approx 8 years old. We had no idea who she was but Tim, being the nice guy teacher, said "Here little girl, would you like one of these tubes?" She gave him a funny look, and timidly took the tube of bracelets, quickly said thank you and ran into her stateroom. We kept walking. About halfway down the hall, I turned to ask Tim something. It was only then that I saw his belt was not buckled and was hanging down from his shorts. His fly was open and his t-shirt was tucked in!! No wonder the poor child was scared! Billy-Bob/Bad Santa was standing there looking like some kind of freak! If anyone reading this knows who the child belonged to, please reassure them it was all a misunderstanding!
I don't recall where we ate that night or what I had. I'm sure it was good!

Tuesday 11/25 Cozumel
Up early and ate breakfast at Topsiders. Met for our Dolphin swim excursion at 10:15. Off ship and walked to catch a cab to Dolphinaris. Long tedious process to get registered and into the water. The swim was incredible. We spent quite a bit of time just bobbing in the water and petting the dolphin (Tinko) as he swam past. The one by one we got to give him a kiss and then receive one back. We held onto his flukes and danced with him and finally - we held onto his flippers as he swam past and we went for a belly ride. They are extremely powerful and the ride was incredible. We were in the water for almost an hour and it was worth every penny! I would do it again in a second.It was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. After the dolphin swim we shopped. Bought t-shirts and souvenirs and Tim bought me a tanzanite, opal and white sapphire ring for a Christmas gift. One store we shopped in kept pushing free shots of tequila on Tim. I guess they thought if they got him drunk he would buy more! He only drinks beer so all their efforts were in vain!
That evening we went to see "Twice Charmed." Tim and Mark decided they didn't feel like a big dinner so Linda and I went to Lumiere's alone. Ian decided on Sunday he would rather eat on the run and hang with his buddies than eat with us. We saw very little of him on this trip. Only when we insisted. And to think he was anxious about not knowing anyone and thought he wouldn't have any fun!

Judy ºoº

 

[love2travel]

Judy, How about them STEELERS!!!

I am enjoying your report, thanks for sharing.

Suzymouse sorry about the Giants, I think it might just be a PA superbowl.

 

[lexandme]

Judy, How about them STEELERS!!!

I am enjoying your report, thanks for sharing.

Suzymouse sorry about the Giants, I think it might just be a PA superbowl.

Teresa - Didn't they kick butt all over the field?!!! Now we're gonna take care of Baltimore!
Suzanne - I too send my condolences for the Giants ( I wanted them to beat Philly). There's always next year.

I'll get back to the report; hopefully tomorrow. I know I'm forgetting some details but I'll add them as I remember. I had surgery on Friday and I'm still taking pain medication. I get a little sloppy and forgetful. Happy, but forgetful!

Judy ºoº