Dr. Jones and the Spitting Camel - Link to Alaska Cruise TR 9/18

[mrp4352]

Ok guys, join us as we WONDER up to alaska!

You'll never get me on a cruise. Unless it's to ALASKA!

WOOHOOO!!! Thank you!

 

[eandesmom]

What a royal checkin pain!!! So NOT what you want to be doing with last few precious hours.

Not to mention stressful!

I love the menus at the Beach Club! Great theming!

It was a very very yummy lunch! And a lovely setting

Your post brought me back to our time at the Portofino. It seems like just yesterday... Or maybe a couple of weeks ago!

It is really a pretty resort, but I think we would have preferred the Hard Rock or RPR- the theming is more to our style. We are more Rock-n-Roll and South Seas than Opera and gondolas!

The pool was a lot of fun. The slide was great! I liked that it was an open (not enclosed) tube slide.

The extra touches like the citrus water at the pools were really nice.

I can't imagine what those balcony rooms run! My research showed that only 9 % of the Portofino rooms have balconies, and only 2 in the concierge wing, where we stayed.

Would you have had to pay an upcharge if you'd have gotten one? There certainly aren't very many of them and I didn't see it as a booking option (not that I looked all that hard lol). I really think we will do RPH next time, if we stay at Universal at all. We really liked the Hard Rock and would be fine staying there again but I'd like to check out RPH as well. Although...I did like the benefits of our all access pass...

Portofino would be nice if it was an adult only trip but I don't think I'd like it as much as the others with kids either.

WOOHOOO!!! Thank you!

Hope to see you over there!

 

[Poolrat]

Now that you mention it, that's probably the real reason we took the pedi cab! You need to post that picture, I bet it's a riot!

When I read that I seriously wondered where those pictures were. once we went digital, I can tell you where most of the pictures are and can do the same for all the prints but that bit of inbetween the prints and digitals i always struggle. I had to take digita of these prints.

If I had to guess - and I do since the pictures are not date stamped This was '99. Oct during hurricane Irene. ( I checked the archives) Not a direct hit but lots of rain.


DS walking Marmaduke- the rope was much shorter and well he was little.

This one says - I am going to need a vacation from this vacation

This one is my favorite. The expressions on my kids faces are priceless. So representative of their personalities.

 

[MEK]

Cool Pool! Not to mention the 4 inch thick cushion on the lounger.I would love to stay there too, but I am very sure it's not in my budget as well.

Did I tell you I got a 40% of code for the Universal resorts. Very tempting. In fact, I almost called, but I have to stick with using my points since I purchased more.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Hey Cynthia! I finally had time today to catch up on the last few days of your trip. Can't believe you are almost to the end! So, what did you decide about the Cruise? PTR or just TR? I tried to click on the link in your siggie, I guess its not active yet? Anyway, hope everything is well with you and you're having a great summer!

 

[eandesmom]

When I read that I seriously wondered where those pictures were. once we went digital, I can tell you where most of the pictures are and can do the same for all the prints but that bit of inbetween the prints and digitals i always struggle. I had to take digita of these prints.

It's so frustrating isn't it, to not have immediate access and actual scan prints! How spoiled we are. I know I've scanned many a picture over the past few years.

If I had to guess - and I do since the pictures are not date stamped This was '99. Oct during hurricane Irene. ( I checked the archives) Not a direct hit but lots of rain.


DS walking Marmaduke- the rope was much shorter and well he was little.

This one says - I am going to need a vacation from this vacation

This one is my favorite. The expressions on my kids faces are priceless. So representative of their personalities.

Those pics are a riot! Man, you guys look SOGGY!

Cool Pool! Not to mention the 4 inch thick cushion on the lounger.I would love to stay there too, but I am very sure it's not in my budget as well.

They were some comfy loungers! Nicer than the ones at HRH for sure.

Did I tell you I got a 40% of code for the Universal resorts. Very tempting. In fact, I almost called, but I have to stick with using my points since I purchased more.

Oh man, I'd be SO tempted to do 1-2 nights at that price, that FOTL pass is worth it's weight in gold.

I may have need to rent some points for April...if you end up with extra. Just sayin'

Hey Cynthia! I finally had time today to catch up on the last few days of your trip. Can't believe you are almost to the end! So, what did you decide about the Cruise? PTR or just TR? I tried to click on the link in your siggie, I guess its not active yet? Anyway, hope everything is well with you and you're having a great summer!

Rebecca! So great to "see" you. It only took me a year but I will get it done before the cruise.

ok that's odd, the link was active! I'll check it out, but you can find the PTR/TR here

I hope you are having a great summer too!

 

[natebenma]

Would you have had to pay an upcharge if you'd have gotten one? There certainly aren't very many of them and I didn't see it as a booking option (not that I looked all that hard lol). I really think we will do RPH next time, if we stay at Universal at all. We really liked the Hard Rock and would be fine staying there again but I'd like to check out RPH as well. Although...I did like the benefits of our all access pass...

Portofino would be nice if it was an adult only trip but I don't think I'd like it as much as the others with kids either.

I love having a balcony, and I did put a request on my reservation for one (one of the two available), but I wouldn't pay extra for it here.

The main reason I like a balcony is to have a place to go with my coffee and book before everyone gets up. But with early entry at IoA two days (7 am) and catching up on e-mails and the BC Dis thread on my phone in the mornings, I didn't really need that space.

I meant to comment on the picture of Neptune spouting water at the pool. I have that shot too. I haven't posted it yet, it is from Thursday of our trip.

 

[eandesmom]

I love having a balcony, and I did put a request on my reservation for one (one of the two available), but I wouldn't pay extra for it here.

The main reason I like a balcony is to have a place to go with my coffee and book before everyone gets up. But with early entry at IoA two days (7 am) and catching up on e-mails and the BC Dis thread on my phone in the mornings, I didn't really need that space.

I meant to comment on the picture of Neptune spouting water at the pool. I have that shot too. I haven't posted it yet, it is from Thursday of our trip.

We are huge balcony people for exactly that same reason. It was a requirement for the cruise. We also like it in the late afternoon for a drink and chips and salsa. I missed it in the afternoons but not in the mornings at HRH. I did miss it though.

 

[Native NYer]

What a relaxing last day.
PBH looks beautiful! Are you planning another Universal stay?

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Wow! What a nice way to end your trip! I love that pool at Portofino. If it was in the budget, I'd actually be tempted to actually go to US again!

Pat! You look like a drowned Poolrat in the Poncho pic! Those are some great shots of your kiddos!

 

[eandesmom]

What a relaxing last day.
PBH looks beautiful! Are you planning another Universal stay?

I honestly have no idea what's up with trips right now, other than a girls trip for F&W in 2012. Lots of moving pieces. So maybe, someday, who knows!

Wow! What a nice way to end your trip! I love that pool at Portofino. If it was in the budget, I'd actually be tempted to actually go to US again!

Pat! You look like a drowned Poolrat in the Poncho pic! Those are some great shots of your kiddos!

The pool was just lovely, I may like it better than SAB. Shhsh! Partially b/c it was just SO peaceful and SAB is a lot of things but not necessarily peaceful.

YC still has my heart though.

 

[eandesmom]

Leaving PBH we sailed quietly by HRH but it wasn’t quite time to get off

I decided to do some shopping. Guess where?

I may have had a Margarita…it was happy hour after all.

The boys look thrilled don’t they?

We putzed around a little, got Taylor a coffee and really, that was the extent of it. Heading back we had just enough time get one of these

There is a great little ice cream shop at the Hard Rock, kind of an ice cream/espresso bar kind of place. I can’t think of the name but it has some really fun flavors, all named after songs. Bye Bye Miss American Pie, etc. I’d had my margarita, Taylor his frappuccino, the least I could do was get the E’s one last ice cream.

Ice cream eaten, we collected our things and went out to load up into our towncar. While we waited, Taylor and I SWEAR we saw Hulk Hogan. In this car.

You believe me right?

Neither of us could dig out a phone or a camera fast enough to catch it. Oh well.

Finally we could take pictures of the famous fountain. It’s an icon for the hotel but really, as we never went in and out the front door, we never saw it after our arrival…until departure time.

The rocker

With that it was time to load up for what would be a rather long town car ride. Not that the ride itself was long but our driver felt compelled to give us his life story (retired to FL, great gig driving around, grandkids etc…all of which was fine) and then went into a whole political diatribe. Not fine. Check in was smooth and we took time to change clothes and grab a bite to eat. Too soon, we were at the gate.

Lugging just a few extra bags of things

Now I must say...the amount of extra stuff we were lugging home was ridiculous and Taylor truly annoyed me. Didn't offer to help carry a darn thing. Obviously I should have sent more with Jeff and Kendall but I confess to being a bit cranky about the whole thing but also didn't have the energy to deal with it.

The flight was uneventful as was the ride home.

A bit anticlimactic I know!

I still have a few things coming up!

Souvies
How did we do? The BFP versus reality
Resort Comparison
A belated Germany DISmeet report
And....when is the next trip?

If you haven’t stopped by yet, come join me on the new cruise PTR/TR here

 

[KatMark]

Cynthia, that pool looks really cool. And love that you went shopping at Margaritaville.

What is with older kids and NOT offering to help carry things?

Looking forward to your wrap-up.

 

[Native NYer]

A margarita is the PERFECT final vacation drink!
Ohh I totally hate when people go into a whole political thing!
Can't wait to see the souvies and read the resort comparison.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

So sad your trip is over. At least you all got one last treat.

Too bad about the non-help. Sometimes you just have to insist they help - teens can be pretty thoughtless. You will be on your next adventure before you know it!

 

[DisMomAmy]

So sad it's over. But you still have the girls trip report & the Alaska PTR to keep you busy!

 

[mom3sonstt]

How long have you been "stepping"? How old was Taylor? I've been at it for 23 years when the older boys were 11 & 15. I'm only 6 years older than the oldest so I never attempted to "mother" them, but would also get very frustrated when they pulled the lazy teenager routine. My one daughter in law has siblings older than me so we are just friends and don't even attempt to have a mil/dil relationship. My youngest son is 2 1/2 years older than his oldest nephew, but ironicallyactually has a closer relationship with his brother who is 21 years older than him

 

[MEK]

Wow - you're done. Somehow it just doesn't seem right! I will miss this TR but I'm glad you have a cruise right around the corner.

I love that fountain.

It probably was Hulk Hogan. I believe you!

Taylor - ugh - not carrying anything. I can relate.

Love the whole TR. Very fun. Great job!

 

[englishrose47]

I will be asking you for Universal advice for next year !!!

 

[natebenma]

Back to Margaritaville! Oh, that puts a dagger through my heart!

Great last few moments in Orlando.

Look forward to hearing your wrapups. For a minute there, I thought I would finish my TR before you did!

Totally Hulk Hogan! Doesn't Universal host some sort of wrestling thing, maybe at the Studios?

I'm so glad to hear the Yacht Club was your favorite!