Dznyjenn's Trip Report 4/22 Western LONG
- Thread starter Dznyjenn
- Start date
Queen2
Sometimes you will never know the true value of a
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2006
Dznyjenn is doing a GREAt job telling about our trip. I'm in bed with a Mega head cold, & it hard to think.
eeyoregon we watched the sail boat for about an hour. It sure was spooky. Pirate night rought seas& see a sail boat in distress. the sail boat was rocking back&forth, I thought is was going to tip over many times. We had a balcony so we watched most of it. It was awesome to see the life boat go down.
the second picture is the sail boat, in rough seas. The red streak is the light before it went out. It acually got really close to us.
eeyoregon we watched the sail boat for about an hour. It sure was spooky. Pirate night rought seas& see a sail boat in distress. the sail boat was rocking back&forth, I thought is was going to tip over many times. We had a balcony so we watched most of it. It was awesome to see the life boat go down.
the second picture is the sail boat, in rough seas. The red streak is the light before it went out. It acually got really close to us.
Day 4- Tuesday Grand Cayman
Had a room service breakfast because we were going up to the Buena Vista Theater to prepare for tendering early. As we ate, we watched the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas pull up alongside of us. Kind of freaked us out to see a big old dent on the side, but everything else seemed normal.
We dropped off DD-3 months at Flounders. Grandma was staying aboard, and would be picking her up around 1pm. We got boarding card 4 for our tender. We waited in the theater for a while, and they called rows to head down to deck 1. Not sure why they do it this way, no one checked our tender cards, and the group moved so quickly from deck 5 to deck 1 that Im sure we lost people along the way. Eeyoregon stopped to help a Dad maneuver his stroller down the stairs since the elevators were full and slow.
This was our first tender experience, a little nerve-wracking to be out on an open boat but it went quickly and we pulled up to the dock. Vendors and transportation providers here were VERY aggressive, shoving placards for 7 mile beach in our faces, one right after the other. I hung onto DD-3 and my bag very tightly.
We asked a van/taxi (there were 8 of us) how much to get to the Turtle Farm. They quoted us $12 per person just for the transportation. We said No thanks. Eeyoregon had information on how to use the city bus system, and we moved over to the side to start figuring out how to get to the bus stop. The taxi drivers started taunting us, asking how much we were willing to pay. As the city bus prices were $1.50-$2.00pp, I said Wed pay you $20.00 for the whole group They got hostile then, and started yelling that we werent in Mexico, and that was ridiculous, and how $20 was two gallons of gas for them. It was really awful. We started walking, and they were laughing at us about how we were going to walk to the turtle farm. We ignored and walked the 3-4 blocks to the bus station, where we happily caught a bus for $2.50 per person! SCORE!
Got to the turtle farm, which is in a period of rebuilding. They were originally right along the beach, and were apparently destroyed in one of the hurricanes. Now, they are set back across the road, and the main building (snack bar, gift shop) is done. Looks very nice, much like a science museum or zoo building here in the states. You head outside to the tanks, and are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of TURTLES!! The first tank holds the giant ones thousands of them. Pretty amazing. We wandered over to the smaller tanks, where you could pick up turtles that were the approximate sizes of turkey platters. Eeyoregons DS-10 became quite the turtle-handling expert, and was reaching in to take them out to hand to less-brave people. All the kids and the parents got the chance to hold as many turtles as they wanted.
We eventually got a few snacks, spent too much money in the gift shop and caught the bus back to town. The whole right-hand drive thing is freaky..and I sat in the front seat where the steering wheel would normally be, and took video of us driving on the wrong side of the road.
Got back to the ship. Did lunch on Deck 9- So happy to discover that Goofys Galley also serves pasta! I love plain noodles with butter, and Sameer was bringing this to me every night, but I found that if I was sick of hotdogs, Goofys Galley could provide the same thing. DH went to play basketball for a while, the teenagers didnt end up joining him, but he found a nice family to play with.
I took DD-3 back to the cabin for a nap, along with her new beloved plastic turtle. When DH arrived, I called the spa to see if they had any last-minute openings. If you can get here in 5 minutes, weve got a 50 minute massage opening. HOT DOG!!!! Ive never moved so fast!
Absolute heaven ..I think I actually fell asleep at one point, because it seemed over too quickly. I took my time getting dressed and used the shower with the giant rainfall-type showerhead ..so nice! Im not a big rainforest room-type gal so I skipped that but maybe on my next child-less cruise Ill try it out.
Back to cabin to get DD3- Oceaneers Club was willing to evaluate her ability to stay with them unaccompanied, and wanted me to bring her to Snow Whites Do-si-do. Apparently, they like to see how they do in a program that has lots of instruction/direction. Perfect..except guess what? Little tantrum queen is REFUSING to put on regular underwear. 100% potty-trained at school 100% NO LONGER potty trained for us. NICE. Big sigh, and I just took her up there and stayed with her through the program. It was nice, but there was very little interaction with Snow White. They tell the Snow White story, teach them the little dance, and then Snow White comes out, does the dance in the middle of the circle, and then tells them a little more of the story. I thought that the characters should spend a little more time with the kids if theyre going to go in there, but then again, they probably have their logistical reasons why they cant. It just seems to be that on a cruise, there is lots of opportunity for more intimate character experiences. They could set up 1:1 meetings with kids from a list of characters, and give that child uninterrupted 15 minute blocks in a meeting room. Would be heaven for some kids not to be rushed, or wait in line. Appointments set up throughout the week kind of like the Tea Party but just one family at a time. Just my little idea of the day.
Although dinner was in Animators Palate, and we really wanted to go, in order to do Snow White, we had to miss our showing of Twice Charmed. We wanted to see this show too, so we skipped the dining room altogether, saw Twice Charmed while the rest of our group had dinner, and then went up on deck and ate at Pinocchios.
I thought Twice Charmed was good, but Im still a devoted Hercules fan from my Wonder trip in September. Better music, funnier lines although I thought the Fairy Godfather was good, and could have been used more. That slick used-car salesman schtick could have been leveraged better.
The 80s dance party was this evening, and I had told my DD-11 that Id like to go. My mother called and said Shes crying because the dance party started and youre not there. OY. It took me a while to find her, but find her I did, along with eeyoregons DS10..and we danced. Alone. Yep the 80s dance party was not very well attended. There was a small group of teenage girls who kept to themselves and danced in one corner of the floor, but they left eventually.
Made plans for tomorrows trip to Cozumel with all parties. Had Flounders ressies for DD-3 months and DD-3 from 10-4. Decided to swing by to see if I could extend it by 2 hours and not have to rush back. Was stunned and a little annoyed to find out that their hours had been altered since I made the reservations, and they were closing at 3pm. So now, not only was I not going to get to extend my day on Cozumel, I was actually going to have to come back even earlier! Since Id told everyone we could tender out at 10am, it was going to result in less than 4 hours at the beach for us, or at least me. UGH! I got a little snarky to the gal sitting there, and asked why I hadnt been told. She informed me that it was on the board outside. Nice. I know it wasnt her fault, but heres my other thought of the day .Why cant Flounders have steady hours it doesnt have to be as late as Oceaneers Club..but why cant they staff enough substitutes to cover lunches? Thats why the gal told me they close for two hours..so the Cast Members can have lunch. Well, on a shore excursion day..it really affects how parents are able to make plans.
Ok..stepping off soapbox now. Apologized for snarkiness, and explained it was really just frustrating to me as now it was too late to make plans to meet earlier. Everyone was in bed.
Went back to the cabin and got stuff ready for tomorrows trip to Cozumel without the two smallest children. Really looking forward to concentrating energies and time on bigger kids.
Does anyone sense a little foreshadowing here????
My view of the tender and a Carnival ship in the background
DD-11 with the wind in her face
On our $2.50pp bus trip...Yay!!!
The whole group (minus me) at the Turtle Farm
DS-14 and DD-11 with their Turkey-Platter Turtle!
DH and DD3 on the return Tender.
NOT following directions at Snow White's Do-si-Do.
"are you under that hat somewhere??"
Had a room service breakfast because we were going up to the Buena Vista Theater to prepare for tendering early. As we ate, we watched the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas pull up alongside of us. Kind of freaked us out to see a big old dent on the side, but everything else seemed normal.
We dropped off DD-3 months at Flounders. Grandma was staying aboard, and would be picking her up around 1pm. We got boarding card 4 for our tender. We waited in the theater for a while, and they called rows to head down to deck 1. Not sure why they do it this way, no one checked our tender cards, and the group moved so quickly from deck 5 to deck 1 that Im sure we lost people along the way. Eeyoregon stopped to help a Dad maneuver his stroller down the stairs since the elevators were full and slow.
This was our first tender experience, a little nerve-wracking to be out on an open boat but it went quickly and we pulled up to the dock. Vendors and transportation providers here were VERY aggressive, shoving placards for 7 mile beach in our faces, one right after the other. I hung onto DD-3 and my bag very tightly.
We asked a van/taxi (there were 8 of us) how much to get to the Turtle Farm. They quoted us $12 per person just for the transportation. We said No thanks. Eeyoregon had information on how to use the city bus system, and we moved over to the side to start figuring out how to get to the bus stop. The taxi drivers started taunting us, asking how much we were willing to pay. As the city bus prices were $1.50-$2.00pp, I said Wed pay you $20.00 for the whole group They got hostile then, and started yelling that we werent in Mexico, and that was ridiculous, and how $20 was two gallons of gas for them. It was really awful. We started walking, and they were laughing at us about how we were going to walk to the turtle farm. We ignored and walked the 3-4 blocks to the bus station, where we happily caught a bus for $2.50 per person! SCORE!
Got to the turtle farm, which is in a period of rebuilding. They were originally right along the beach, and were apparently destroyed in one of the hurricanes. Now, they are set back across the road, and the main building (snack bar, gift shop) is done. Looks very nice, much like a science museum or zoo building here in the states. You head outside to the tanks, and are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of TURTLES!! The first tank holds the giant ones thousands of them. Pretty amazing. We wandered over to the smaller tanks, where you could pick up turtles that were the approximate sizes of turkey platters. Eeyoregons DS-10 became quite the turtle-handling expert, and was reaching in to take them out to hand to less-brave people. All the kids and the parents got the chance to hold as many turtles as they wanted.
We eventually got a few snacks, spent too much money in the gift shop and caught the bus back to town. The whole right-hand drive thing is freaky..and I sat in the front seat where the steering wheel would normally be, and took video of us driving on the wrong side of the road.
Got back to the ship. Did lunch on Deck 9- So happy to discover that Goofys Galley also serves pasta! I love plain noodles with butter, and Sameer was bringing this to me every night, but I found that if I was sick of hotdogs, Goofys Galley could provide the same thing. DH went to play basketball for a while, the teenagers didnt end up joining him, but he found a nice family to play with.
I took DD-3 back to the cabin for a nap, along with her new beloved plastic turtle. When DH arrived, I called the spa to see if they had any last-minute openings. If you can get here in 5 minutes, weve got a 50 minute massage opening. HOT DOG!!!! Ive never moved so fast!
Absolute heaven ..I think I actually fell asleep at one point, because it seemed over too quickly. I took my time getting dressed and used the shower with the giant rainfall-type showerhead ..so nice! Im not a big rainforest room-type gal so I skipped that but maybe on my next child-less cruise Ill try it out.
Back to cabin to get DD3- Oceaneers Club was willing to evaluate her ability to stay with them unaccompanied, and wanted me to bring her to Snow Whites Do-si-do. Apparently, they like to see how they do in a program that has lots of instruction/direction. Perfect..except guess what? Little tantrum queen is REFUSING to put on regular underwear. 100% potty-trained at school 100% NO LONGER potty trained for us. NICE. Big sigh, and I just took her up there and stayed with her through the program. It was nice, but there was very little interaction with Snow White. They tell the Snow White story, teach them the little dance, and then Snow White comes out, does the dance in the middle of the circle, and then tells them a little more of the story. I thought that the characters should spend a little more time with the kids if theyre going to go in there, but then again, they probably have their logistical reasons why they cant. It just seems to be that on a cruise, there is lots of opportunity for more intimate character experiences. They could set up 1:1 meetings with kids from a list of characters, and give that child uninterrupted 15 minute blocks in a meeting room. Would be heaven for some kids not to be rushed, or wait in line. Appointments set up throughout the week kind of like the Tea Party but just one family at a time. Just my little idea of the day.
Although dinner was in Animators Palate, and we really wanted to go, in order to do Snow White, we had to miss our showing of Twice Charmed. We wanted to see this show too, so we skipped the dining room altogether, saw Twice Charmed while the rest of our group had dinner, and then went up on deck and ate at Pinocchios.
I thought Twice Charmed was good, but Im still a devoted Hercules fan from my Wonder trip in September. Better music, funnier lines although I thought the Fairy Godfather was good, and could have been used more. That slick used-car salesman schtick could have been leveraged better.
The 80s dance party was this evening, and I had told my DD-11 that Id like to go. My mother called and said Shes crying because the dance party started and youre not there. OY. It took me a while to find her, but find her I did, along with eeyoregons DS10..and we danced. Alone. Yep the 80s dance party was not very well attended. There was a small group of teenage girls who kept to themselves and danced in one corner of the floor, but they left eventually.
Made plans for tomorrows trip to Cozumel with all parties. Had Flounders ressies for DD-3 months and DD-3 from 10-4. Decided to swing by to see if I could extend it by 2 hours and not have to rush back. Was stunned and a little annoyed to find out that their hours had been altered since I made the reservations, and they were closing at 3pm. So now, not only was I not going to get to extend my day on Cozumel, I was actually going to have to come back even earlier! Since Id told everyone we could tender out at 10am, it was going to result in less than 4 hours at the beach for us, or at least me. UGH! I got a little snarky to the gal sitting there, and asked why I hadnt been told. She informed me that it was on the board outside. Nice. I know it wasnt her fault, but heres my other thought of the day .Why cant Flounders have steady hours it doesnt have to be as late as Oceaneers Club..but why cant they staff enough substitutes to cover lunches? Thats why the gal told me they close for two hours..so the Cast Members can have lunch. Well, on a shore excursion day..it really affects how parents are able to make plans.
Ok..stepping off soapbox now. Apologized for snarkiness, and explained it was really just frustrating to me as now it was too late to make plans to meet earlier. Everyone was in bed.
Went back to the cabin and got stuff ready for tomorrows trip to Cozumel without the two smallest children. Really looking forward to concentrating energies and time on bigger kids.
Does anyone sense a little foreshadowing here????
My view of the tender and a Carnival ship in the background
DD-11 with the wind in her face
On our $2.50pp bus trip...Yay!!!
The whole group (minus me) at the Turtle Farm
DS-14 and DD-11 with their Turkey-Platter Turtle!
DH and DD3 on the return Tender.
NOT following directions at Snow White's Do-si-Do.
"are you under that hat somewhere??"
Oops! Yes...She'll BE 3 this month....guess I'm just ahead of myself a little bit! 
You are otherwise perfect so I have to pick on you some time 
Day 5 Cozumel-Pirate Night-Parrot Cay
Cozumel appeared out of our window, a bright beautiful day. We couldnt see much of it, as the ship was positioned more starboard, but still we were excited. We took the little girls upstairs to Topsiders for breakfast around 9am. Back to the cabin to grab our things, and on up to Flounders. Today we were going to leave both of the young ones. Casadie threw her biggest tantrum yet on this day. We still cant quite figure out why. Shes been going to daycare since she was 6 weeks old, and doesnt usually display any separation anxiety problems. They took Delanie and then Casadie started screaming. Once they took her inside (no parents please it upsets the other children) she just kept screaming and trying to escape. We stood outside where she couldnt see us and listened, our hearts breaking, and our tempers flaring at the same time. DH couldnt stand it, and went for a walk.
I went back in, and tried to hold her for a bit to calm her down. She clung to me like a koala bear. I told her how much fun she was going to have, etc..and we tried again. The screaming started right back up.
By now, I was getting emotional. DH decided wed just take her with us, and went to go get her bathing suit, etc. This really bothered me, because as I mentioned in yesterdays report, this was my day to spend exclusive 1:1 time with my older two kids..doing what THEY wanted to do, like snorkeling and kayaking, etc. I was on the verge of tears, just outside Flounders (next to the tendering theater) and a CM was helping with the tender process. She normally works in Oceaneers Club and she recognized me from the times Id brought Casadie in to play. She asked what was going on. I explained that we didnt want to take her to Cozumel with us, but she was throwing a tantrum, etc. She asked if Casadie wanted to play in the Club instead. I said Im sure shed love that, but shes not fully potty-trained this trip, and is refusing to wear underwear instead of pull-ups. The sweet wonderful CM then said she was off her tendering post in a little while, so she could bail early, and shed go get Casadie and play with her 1:1 in the club until she calmed down. I couldnt believe shed offer to do that, and I started crying in gratitude. It made Eeyoregon cry, and then the CM said Oh geez, now IM crying! I hugged her, and off she went to make magic for my little girl. I went to the restroom to dry my eyes. I came back and eeyoregon said Um..Jenn .they tried to take her to the club, but she threw up from crying so much. WHAT??? OH GOD.
I went in and got her, and she calmed down immediately. The only real solution at this point was to either go back to the cabin and lose the entire day, or take her to cozumel, assuming that the vomiting was from the tantrum. Since she perked up immediately with a big old smile on her face, we figured we were good in the health department. Flounders club was gracious enough to say No worries at my multiple apologies, and said they wouldnt charge her for today.
Little stinker won the battle. She would get to see Mexico. *sigh*
Caught our tender. Sailing past the docks was a sobering experience. They were utterly destroyed. There were dozens and dozens of construction workers swarming over the docks, and that was encouraging to see. All along the pier though, you could see some buildings were fine, others were smashed to smithereens. So sad.
We caught a Yaxkin Taxi for $35 one way for our group of 8. Casadie was not charged as she was so young. Our driver was great, answering all my questions about the hurricane and surrounding areas. We asked him about the difference in Paradise Beach and Mr. Sanchos, as we had read about both. He recommended Paradise Beach and took us there.
There, we paid $8.00 per person for the wristbands, entitling us to beach chairs with umbrellas and all the recreation (kayaks, snorkel gear, the water trampolines, etc.)
We got to our chairs, and eeyoregons DS-10 realized he didnt have his lanyard on him with his room key anymore. A quick search ensued, and then panic and worry set in, with hows he getting back on the boat? We figured this has happened before, and there was a process, but we worried it would involve an adult tendering back to the ship for documentation and then tendering back, taking a long time.
DH chased after Casadie (known as stinkerbutt the entire day) I went out snorkeling with DD-11 and eeyoregons DS-10. DD-11 couldnt get up on the water trampoline, and decided to go back in.
As we were swimming toward our chairs, (very near the swimming dock), DD and I began to realize there were huge, rough rocks all through the area. From our perspective in the ocean, I could not find a clear path, so we just drifted over them. It was awful. The tide was banging us against them, and DD was panicking. Im a very strong swimmer, so I was comfortable letting the water do the work, and going butt first backwards. DD could not do that and kept screaming every time she was knocked against a rock. We finally got over them, banged-up and bloody. Some jerks along the shore were snickering at us. Apparently, from the beach, the rocks are pretty visible, we just hadnt paid attention before going in.
Later, the owner of the joint would walk around telling everyone near the swimming pier not to enter/exit the water right there because of the rocks. He suggested a spot several dozen yards down the beach were there was probably 20 feet wide section where it was just sand. I wasnt real happy with my Paradise experience thus far. Found nothing to do worth $8 per person. I guess the bigger kids enjoyed the kayaks, but that was it.
I was sitting on my chair, all alone guarding our stuff, when I see our taxi driver walking along the beach. I waved at him, and he looked so excited! He walked over to me, and presented me with eeyoregons sons lanyard! YAY! I dug through my bag and gave him the last $10 in cash that I had, and thanked him profusely. He saved the day!
Speaking of the kayaks DD-10 decided to go out one more time before we left (early!) and of course began panicking when the tide started taking her out to sea .DS-14 had to swim out and save her. OY.
We packed up to head out, truly disappointed with this day. We figure the beach used to be wonderful, but the hurricane stripped volumes of sand from the beach, exposing the rocks. No vegetation was left on the trees, so essentially youre on a blank, ugly beach, unable to swim or wade in front of your chairs. Even the original buildings are gone from what our waiter told us. Just one open-air bar left.
Our taxi driver waited for us, and took us back to the dock. He got a big fat tip for being awesome, and posed for a picture with Eeyoregons son. He truly was the best part of this day.
We had an extremely long wait on the tender..we were first on, and ended up being the last off because of the way the tender had to unload from the top deck. The diesel fumes were unrelenting, and I think we all just had had enough.
All of us went straight to deck 9 for lunch. While sitting with Casadie, Goofy and Max came out a side door and posed with her. Later, they came over and posed for a Father/Son picture with DH and DS.
Took Casadie back to cabin for a nap. She fell asleep rather quickly due to her exhausting day. Went to shutters to spend lots of money on photos..also talked with them about a private session on Castaway Cay. It was $85 for an hour with a photographer. I signed up immediately for 9:30-10:30 Friday morning.
Back to cabin after picking up Delanie from Grandmas. Grandma teased that she had had a WONDERFUL day of fruity drinks and an empty ship blah blah blah!!!!!!
Got ready for pirate night. Yep..we went all out! We got lots of great comments, especially about the baby, who wore a red tropical dress, and a pirate Mickey hat.
Dinner was at Parrot Cay, but Casadie was all keyed up, and would not settle down, even with the little surprises Grandma was bringing out. I was hot, sunburned and tired, and couldnt deal with it, so I just took her back to our cabin, missing the rest of Pirate night activities. Our head server brought my dinner to our cabin, which was very nice, although he didnt seem happy about it..? Just brought it in, plopped it down and left. I would have tipped him (I was surprised, so not ready with cash) but he left before I could even walk over by our safe. No condiments, no salt/pepper, or ketchup for Casadies chicken strips/fries..so it was very bland and not really worth his effort. We ended up ordering room service.
DH came down with Delanie, and said many of our group had left the table early. Cozumel just knocked the wind out of us. Apparently, our sunscreen was not very good quality, and all of us just got baked and were not feeling exceptionally well. DH went back up to the party and I got the girls ready for bed. I was up late..but never did see the sailboat that eeyoregon mentioned. I WISH someone would have CALLED ME .HINT HINT!
Later this evening, I will wrap up with Day 6-Day at Sea, Day 7-Castaway Cay and Day-8 Debarkation day!
Cozumel appeared out of our window, a bright beautiful day. We couldnt see much of it, as the ship was positioned more starboard, but still we were excited. We took the little girls upstairs to Topsiders for breakfast around 9am. Back to the cabin to grab our things, and on up to Flounders. Today we were going to leave both of the young ones. Casadie threw her biggest tantrum yet on this day. We still cant quite figure out why. Shes been going to daycare since she was 6 weeks old, and doesnt usually display any separation anxiety problems. They took Delanie and then Casadie started screaming. Once they took her inside (no parents please it upsets the other children) she just kept screaming and trying to escape. We stood outside where she couldnt see us and listened, our hearts breaking, and our tempers flaring at the same time. DH couldnt stand it, and went for a walk.
I went back in, and tried to hold her for a bit to calm her down. She clung to me like a koala bear. I told her how much fun she was going to have, etc..and we tried again. The screaming started right back up.
By now, I was getting emotional. DH decided wed just take her with us, and went to go get her bathing suit, etc. This really bothered me, because as I mentioned in yesterdays report, this was my day to spend exclusive 1:1 time with my older two kids..doing what THEY wanted to do, like snorkeling and kayaking, etc. I was on the verge of tears, just outside Flounders (next to the tendering theater) and a CM was helping with the tender process. She normally works in Oceaneers Club and she recognized me from the times Id brought Casadie in to play. She asked what was going on. I explained that we didnt want to take her to Cozumel with us, but she was throwing a tantrum, etc. She asked if Casadie wanted to play in the Club instead. I said Im sure shed love that, but shes not fully potty-trained this trip, and is refusing to wear underwear instead of pull-ups. The sweet wonderful CM then said she was off her tendering post in a little while, so she could bail early, and shed go get Casadie and play with her 1:1 in the club until she calmed down. I couldnt believe shed offer to do that, and I started crying in gratitude. It made Eeyoregon cry, and then the CM said Oh geez, now IM crying! I hugged her, and off she went to make magic for my little girl. I went to the restroom to dry my eyes. I came back and eeyoregon said Um..Jenn .they tried to take her to the club, but she threw up from crying so much. WHAT??? OH GOD.
I went in and got her, and she calmed down immediately. The only real solution at this point was to either go back to the cabin and lose the entire day, or take her to cozumel, assuming that the vomiting was from the tantrum. Since she perked up immediately with a big old smile on her face, we figured we were good in the health department. Flounders club was gracious enough to say No worries at my multiple apologies, and said they wouldnt charge her for today.
Little stinker won the battle. She would get to see Mexico. *sigh*
Caught our tender. Sailing past the docks was a sobering experience. They were utterly destroyed. There were dozens and dozens of construction workers swarming over the docks, and that was encouraging to see. All along the pier though, you could see some buildings were fine, others were smashed to smithereens. So sad.
We caught a Yaxkin Taxi for $35 one way for our group of 8. Casadie was not charged as she was so young. Our driver was great, answering all my questions about the hurricane and surrounding areas. We asked him about the difference in Paradise Beach and Mr. Sanchos, as we had read about both. He recommended Paradise Beach and took us there.
There, we paid $8.00 per person for the wristbands, entitling us to beach chairs with umbrellas and all the recreation (kayaks, snorkel gear, the water trampolines, etc.)
We got to our chairs, and eeyoregons DS-10 realized he didnt have his lanyard on him with his room key anymore. A quick search ensued, and then panic and worry set in, with hows he getting back on the boat? We figured this has happened before, and there was a process, but we worried it would involve an adult tendering back to the ship for documentation and then tendering back, taking a long time.
DH chased after Casadie (known as stinkerbutt the entire day) I went out snorkeling with DD-11 and eeyoregons DS-10. DD-11 couldnt get up on the water trampoline, and decided to go back in.
As we were swimming toward our chairs, (very near the swimming dock), DD and I began to realize there were huge, rough rocks all through the area. From our perspective in the ocean, I could not find a clear path, so we just drifted over them. It was awful. The tide was banging us against them, and DD was panicking. Im a very strong swimmer, so I was comfortable letting the water do the work, and going butt first backwards. DD could not do that and kept screaming every time she was knocked against a rock. We finally got over them, banged-up and bloody. Some jerks along the shore were snickering at us. Apparently, from the beach, the rocks are pretty visible, we just hadnt paid attention before going in.
Later, the owner of the joint would walk around telling everyone near the swimming pier not to enter/exit the water right there because of the rocks. He suggested a spot several dozen yards down the beach were there was probably 20 feet wide section where it was just sand. I wasnt real happy with my Paradise experience thus far. Found nothing to do worth $8 per person. I guess the bigger kids enjoyed the kayaks, but that was it.
I was sitting on my chair, all alone guarding our stuff, when I see our taxi driver walking along the beach. I waved at him, and he looked so excited! He walked over to me, and presented me with eeyoregons sons lanyard! YAY! I dug through my bag and gave him the last $10 in cash that I had, and thanked him profusely. He saved the day!
Speaking of the kayaks DD-10 decided to go out one more time before we left (early!) and of course began panicking when the tide started taking her out to sea .DS-14 had to swim out and save her. OY.
We packed up to head out, truly disappointed with this day. We figure the beach used to be wonderful, but the hurricane stripped volumes of sand from the beach, exposing the rocks. No vegetation was left on the trees, so essentially youre on a blank, ugly beach, unable to swim or wade in front of your chairs. Even the original buildings are gone from what our waiter told us. Just one open-air bar left.
Our taxi driver waited for us, and took us back to the dock. He got a big fat tip for being awesome, and posed for a picture with Eeyoregons son. He truly was the best part of this day.
We had an extremely long wait on the tender..we were first on, and ended up being the last off because of the way the tender had to unload from the top deck. The diesel fumes were unrelenting, and I think we all just had had enough.
All of us went straight to deck 9 for lunch. While sitting with Casadie, Goofy and Max came out a side door and posed with her. Later, they came over and posed for a Father/Son picture with DH and DS.
Took Casadie back to cabin for a nap. She fell asleep rather quickly due to her exhausting day. Went to shutters to spend lots of money on photos..also talked with them about a private session on Castaway Cay. It was $85 for an hour with a photographer. I signed up immediately for 9:30-10:30 Friday morning.
Back to cabin after picking up Delanie from Grandmas. Grandma teased that she had had a WONDERFUL day of fruity drinks and an empty ship blah blah blah!!!!!!
Got ready for pirate night. Yep..we went all out! We got lots of great comments, especially about the baby, who wore a red tropical dress, and a pirate Mickey hat.
Dinner was at Parrot Cay, but Casadie was all keyed up, and would not settle down, even with the little surprises Grandma was bringing out. I was hot, sunburned and tired, and couldnt deal with it, so I just took her back to our cabin, missing the rest of Pirate night activities. Our head server brought my dinner to our cabin, which was very nice, although he didnt seem happy about it..? Just brought it in, plopped it down and left. I would have tipped him (I was surprised, so not ready with cash) but he left before I could even walk over by our safe. No condiments, no salt/pepper, or ketchup for Casadies chicken strips/fries..so it was very bland and not really worth his effort. We ended up ordering room service.
DH came down with Delanie, and said many of our group had left the table early. Cozumel just knocked the wind out of us. Apparently, our sunscreen was not very good quality, and all of us just got baked and were not feeling exceptionally well. DH went back up to the party and I got the girls ready for bed. I was up late..but never did see the sailboat that eeyoregon mentioned. I WISH someone would have CALLED ME .HINT HINT!
Later this evening, I will wrap up with Day 6-Day at Sea, Day 7-Castaway Cay and Day-8 Debarkation day!
NurseChell
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2006
Sorry you had such a rotten day at cozumelDznyjenn said:
Loving your reports though, cant wait for more.Your families pirate attire was wonderful though..My DD-8 absolutely loved it
What kind of sunscreen did you have? I'm a fair complected red head, and worry about getting blistered on our trip.
Queen2
Sometimes you will never know the true value of a
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2006
Dznyjenn, I saw your pirate picture looking for mine. I wrote on another thread I thought I had seen it. The baby was the first clue. Great picture.
The pictures they took in the dinning rooom of our family got deleted some how. I was so upset. Oh well life goes on.
The pictures they took in the dinning rooom of our family got deleted some how. I was so upset.
Oh well life goes on.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2003
Looking forward to reading the rest of your TR, keep up the good work, enjoying your pics as well!!! 
Cruise Day Six- Day at Sea/Lumieres
I regret that for this day, and Castaway Cay, I didnt take as thorough notes as I normally do. I will just go down through the activities of the day, and try to recall some stories to share. I really enjoy days at Sea, and with our questionable experiences in Key West and Cozumel this year, I would do well to remember that in the future.
We slept in, as there were no real activities scheduled until 9:30am. Our Palo brunch was at 10:30am (or maybe 11am) and we took the girls up to Grandmas cabin. We went to Palo which was beautiful. The food was presented well, the views were stunning, but I did notice a stellar lack of service compared to other peoples trip reports of Palos. Honestly, the server had more personality and life than our assistant server at night, and the service wasnt terrible, but it wasnt out of this world as I had heard from others. We got the grand tour of the brunch items, and returned to our seats. It took quite a while for the drinks to arrive, and I discovered my straw (for my soda..I dont drink champagne) had a hole in it. I asked her for a new straw, and she immediately left to get me one, and never returned. She took the plate of a gentleman behind us, with his silverware still on it, and he had to wait a very long time to get replacement silverware. My husband had to get up and hunt someone down to get coffee and ketchup for his omelette. Im not much of a fancy food eater, and I was disappointed that the breakfast portion of this brunch was limited to omelettes and danishes. I would have loved some additional breakfast offerings, involving bacon and hashbrowns made fresh, rather than the patties downstairs.
I did have the pizza, and have to say it rocks! Its the closest thing Ive found to a little out of the way place in Salem Oregon that I love, called Walerys. The sauce was a little exotic (seemed more like a bean paste than a tomato sauce) but other than that, I could have eaten that alllllll day! Wish I had found it earlier in the week, and I would have asked if I could have ordered it some other time. Palo take out!
After brunch, DH and I just walked, enjoying the time alone. We went to the Internet Café, where I had to move to three separate computers just to get on AOL. Unfortunately, I found that one of my ebay buyers was disputing the auction, because her item had arrived damaged in shipping. She didnt buy insurance for a $90 item..and had the nerve to accuse me of misrepresenting the description. 100% positive feedback, thank you very much! That soured my morning a bit, but I resolved to forget about it for now, and deal with it when I got home. Went to Guest Services to have the 3 attempts at internet connection taken off my bill except for the one where I actually got on. While I was there, picked up a copy of the bill for our two staterooms. There were some mix-ups due to the fact that my name was originally on my Moms stateroom, but I moved the first day. Well, the account followed me, so all of my mothers purchases, and the things she let the kids get were on my account, but linked to her credit card. THAT was fun!
Picked up the little girls, and took them back to the cabin. I was planning on meeting DD-11 at the Towel Folding presentation, and DH didnt think he should try taking the little ones out by himself. (The channel that plays continuous Disney Movies was a lifesaver on this cruise!)
I showed up to Studio Sea a bit late. DD-11, DS-14, Grandma and Eeyoregon and her DS-10 were there. We each got a stack of towels, and a hand-out with three towel animals on it. The presenter was great, and made like 10 different things and lined them up on the table. Then, she worked with the crowd to make a dog. All the kids were down on the floor, and most of my group made presentable dogs. That was all she showed though, and it was over in a quick 30 minutes. For this presentation, my only suggestions would be to make it longer, with more hands-on projects, and a few more handouts.
DD-11 (a very sensitive girl) went back to the cabin. She probably was the one in our group that got the biggest kick out of the towel animals, so she was really excited about knowing this. She tried to replicate the dog, but couldnt..and it wasnt in the directions that were handed out. It really upset her. Later, during a stop to Guest Services to check lost and found, I asked Andrew about the towel animal handouts. I asked if someone, somewhere might have a more comprehensive list, perhaps in a training manual, that I might be able to get my hands on. He wasnt sure, and said he would talk to Housekeeping later. (Hours later, an additional pack of 5-6 more instruction sheets wound up in DD-11s room. Andrew is my hero!)
At 4pm, it was time for Tea with Alice. As usual, we were running behind a bit, and showed up after things had gotten started. We were seated in the back and DD-2 couldnt quite see, so I dont think she realized real characters were there. She could only see the monitors. Alice and Mad Hatter instructed the kids on how to pour tea, use napkins, use manners, etc. Casadie really got into it when it was Clean Cup..Move down!!! and ran around the table like a banshee. A cute event.
Today was the day I wanted to do lifestyle portraits on the white background. We had planned to meet at 5pm in the lobby but we quickly realized Beth wasnt around. My mother said eeyoregons DS-10 had talked her into being in the Celebrate the Journey show, even though the two of them had only barely stepped into the Lab on the first day, and never since then. AAAARRRGGHHH!! Ok..now I have to go see a show that my daughter is in, and act supportive even though she didnt listen to me about having pictures done tonight. Everyone else is all dressed up .not her.
Ok..ok..get over it Mom .go be happy..Beths enjoying this. There she is waaaaaay in the back. Not in any of the photographs, because she didnt go to any programs. Casadie enjoyed Mickey coming out in his graduation outfit, but then wait he runs RIGHT PAST her up the aisle, and she bursts into a wail because he didnt stop to say hello. Oh GEEZ.
We take her to visit a few characters, making up for the Mickey snub ..while waiting for Beth to change and meet us for family photos. We had the boys dressed in blue shirts and denim, and the girls in white shirts and denim, with the exception of Delanie, who was in a little denim dress. Casadie mostly cooperated, but we did have to act fast.
After that, it was time to get ready for Disney Dreams. I was a little tired, and wasnt particularly enthralled with this one when I saw it on the Wonder. I opted out, but DH still wanted to take Casadie. I stayed in the cabin, and sure enough, before long, DH arrived, with a sleeping Casadie in his arms. She conked out early on in the show.
Grandma called and said she didnt feel like doing semi-formal night, and offered to come watch the little ones so Bill and I could have one uninterrupted dinner experience. THANKS MOM! We dressed a little (ok..its day 6..were exhausted and sunburnt..but I still put on nylons..I get points for that) and went to Lumieres.
Eating without Casadie and Delanie was like coming out of a fog. I was able to actually carry on conversations with our group, and observe other families and serving teams. As Ive said, Sameer improved greatly by the second day, but as eeyoregon mentioned, he still wasnt on the same level as other servers. Ivelina still was lifeless. I cant tell you how many times we had to tell her No BOTH boys have a Roy Rogers please She would bring one for one boy, and not the other then shed switch them around .never bringing out the other. (This was after she told us they didnt HAVE Roy Rogers..only because she didnt know what they were. We explained to Sameer what they were, and of course were able to get them.)
Never did make it to any adult programs or shows. Kind of wanted to do Match Your Mate or Whos the Boss..but thats the downside to cruising with toddlers/pre-schoolers who are refusing to go to Flounders or wear underpants for inclusion at Oceaneers Club. OY.
Stopped by Shutters on the way back to our cabin to pick up any stray photos. Spoke with the manager about our private photo session the next day. I said with a smile Since Im paying for it, youre giving me the best photographer, right? Someone who can work with an unruly toddler? He laughed, and told me I was getting Ovi, the guy from the lab. What?? Apparently, Ovi was not even taking any photos on the ship this time, and was the lab rat who processes all of the pictures. Nice. Oh well well see what we get.
Went to bed, dreaming of Castaway Cay the next day.
AAAAAHHH!!! SISTERS!!!!!!!
I regret that for this day, and Castaway Cay, I didnt take as thorough notes as I normally do. I will just go down through the activities of the day, and try to recall some stories to share. I really enjoy days at Sea, and with our questionable experiences in Key West and Cozumel this year, I would do well to remember that in the future.
We slept in, as there were no real activities scheduled until 9:30am. Our Palo brunch was at 10:30am (or maybe 11am) and we took the girls up to Grandmas cabin. We went to Palo which was beautiful. The food was presented well, the views were stunning, but I did notice a stellar lack of service compared to other peoples trip reports of Palos. Honestly, the server had more personality and life than our assistant server at night, and the service wasnt terrible, but it wasnt out of this world as I had heard from others. We got the grand tour of the brunch items, and returned to our seats. It took quite a while for the drinks to arrive, and I discovered my straw (for my soda..I dont drink champagne) had a hole in it. I asked her for a new straw, and she immediately left to get me one, and never returned. She took the plate of a gentleman behind us, with his silverware still on it, and he had to wait a very long time to get replacement silverware. My husband had to get up and hunt someone down to get coffee and ketchup for his omelette. Im not much of a fancy food eater, and I was disappointed that the breakfast portion of this brunch was limited to omelettes and danishes. I would have loved some additional breakfast offerings, involving bacon and hashbrowns made fresh, rather than the patties downstairs.
I did have the pizza, and have to say it rocks! Its the closest thing Ive found to a little out of the way place in Salem Oregon that I love, called Walerys. The sauce was a little exotic (seemed more like a bean paste than a tomato sauce) but other than that, I could have eaten that alllllll day! Wish I had found it earlier in the week, and I would have asked if I could have ordered it some other time. Palo take out!
After brunch, DH and I just walked, enjoying the time alone. We went to the Internet Café, where I had to move to three separate computers just to get on AOL. Unfortunately, I found that one of my ebay buyers was disputing the auction, because her item had arrived damaged in shipping. She didnt buy insurance for a $90 item..and had the nerve to accuse me of misrepresenting the description. 100% positive feedback, thank you very much! That soured my morning a bit, but I resolved to forget about it for now, and deal with it when I got home. Went to Guest Services to have the 3 attempts at internet connection taken off my bill except for the one where I actually got on. While I was there, picked up a copy of the bill for our two staterooms. There were some mix-ups due to the fact that my name was originally on my Moms stateroom, but I moved the first day. Well, the account followed me, so all of my mothers purchases, and the things she let the kids get were on my account, but linked to her credit card. THAT was fun!
Picked up the little girls, and took them back to the cabin. I was planning on meeting DD-11 at the Towel Folding presentation, and DH didnt think he should try taking the little ones out by himself. (The channel that plays continuous Disney Movies was a lifesaver on this cruise!)
I showed up to Studio Sea a bit late. DD-11, DS-14, Grandma and Eeyoregon and her DS-10 were there. We each got a stack of towels, and a hand-out with three towel animals on it. The presenter was great, and made like 10 different things and lined them up on the table. Then, she worked with the crowd to make a dog. All the kids were down on the floor, and most of my group made presentable dogs. That was all she showed though, and it was over in a quick 30 minutes. For this presentation, my only suggestions would be to make it longer, with more hands-on projects, and a few more handouts.
DD-11 (a very sensitive girl) went back to the cabin. She probably was the one in our group that got the biggest kick out of the towel animals, so she was really excited about knowing this. She tried to replicate the dog, but couldnt..and it wasnt in the directions that were handed out. It really upset her. Later, during a stop to Guest Services to check lost and found, I asked Andrew about the towel animal handouts. I asked if someone, somewhere might have a more comprehensive list, perhaps in a training manual, that I might be able to get my hands on. He wasnt sure, and said he would talk to Housekeeping later. (Hours later, an additional pack of 5-6 more instruction sheets wound up in DD-11s room. Andrew is my hero!)
At 4pm, it was time for Tea with Alice. As usual, we were running behind a bit, and showed up after things had gotten started. We were seated in the back and DD-2 couldnt quite see, so I dont think she realized real characters were there. She could only see the monitors. Alice and Mad Hatter instructed the kids on how to pour tea, use napkins, use manners, etc. Casadie really got into it when it was Clean Cup..Move down!!! and ran around the table like a banshee. A cute event.
Today was the day I wanted to do lifestyle portraits on the white background. We had planned to meet at 5pm in the lobby but we quickly realized Beth wasnt around. My mother said eeyoregons DS-10 had talked her into being in the Celebrate the Journey show, even though the two of them had only barely stepped into the Lab on the first day, and never since then. AAAARRRGGHHH!! Ok..now I have to go see a show that my daughter is in, and act supportive even though she didnt listen to me about having pictures done tonight. Everyone else is all dressed up .not her.
Ok..ok..get over it Mom .go be happy..Beths enjoying this. There she is waaaaaay in the back. Not in any of the photographs, because she didnt go to any programs. Casadie enjoyed Mickey coming out in his graduation outfit, but then wait he runs RIGHT PAST her up the aisle, and she bursts into a wail because he didnt stop to say hello. Oh GEEZ.
We take her to visit a few characters, making up for the Mickey snub ..while waiting for Beth to change and meet us for family photos. We had the boys dressed in blue shirts and denim, and the girls in white shirts and denim, with the exception of Delanie, who was in a little denim dress. Casadie mostly cooperated, but we did have to act fast.
After that, it was time to get ready for Disney Dreams. I was a little tired, and wasnt particularly enthralled with this one when I saw it on the Wonder. I opted out, but DH still wanted to take Casadie. I stayed in the cabin, and sure enough, before long, DH arrived, with a sleeping Casadie in his arms. She conked out early on in the show.
Grandma called and said she didnt feel like doing semi-formal night, and offered to come watch the little ones so Bill and I could have one uninterrupted dinner experience. THANKS MOM! We dressed a little (ok..its day 6..were exhausted and sunburnt..but I still put on nylons..I get points for that) and went to Lumieres.
Eating without Casadie and Delanie was like coming out of a fog. I was able to actually carry on conversations with our group, and observe other families and serving teams. As Ive said, Sameer improved greatly by the second day, but as eeyoregon mentioned, he still wasnt on the same level as other servers. Ivelina still was lifeless. I cant tell you how many times we had to tell her No BOTH boys have a Roy Rogers please She would bring one for one boy, and not the other then shed switch them around .never bringing out the other. (This was after she told us they didnt HAVE Roy Rogers..only because she didnt know what they were. We explained to Sameer what they were, and of course were able to get them.)
Never did make it to any adult programs or shows. Kind of wanted to do Match Your Mate or Whos the Boss..but thats the downside to cruising with toddlers/pre-schoolers who are refusing to go to Flounders or wear underpants for inclusion at Oceaneers Club. OY.
Stopped by Shutters on the way back to our cabin to pick up any stray photos. Spoke with the manager about our private photo session the next day. I said with a smile Since Im paying for it, youre giving me the best photographer, right? Someone who can work with an unruly toddler? He laughed, and told me I was getting Ovi, the guy from the lab. What?? Apparently, Ovi was not even taking any photos on the ship this time, and was the lab rat who processes all of the pictures. Nice. Oh well well see what we get.
Went to bed, dreaming of Castaway Cay the next day.
AAAAAHHH!!! SISTERS!!!!!!!
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