End of the Magic... 9-23-9-30

[sftnslky]

We have been home for a day and a half now, but I have got to say...The time change is KICKING our booty... We are in Northern Ca, and after flying for 9 hours to Flordia, going ahead three hours..and then switching times back and fourth twice on the cruise, and then 9 hours flight back, and then loosing [?] three hours back to our regular time... I don't know if we are coming or going. Not sure we would do it again or not.... We have taken 5 cruises out of San Deigo and Los Angels and didn't have any problem [obviously lol] with the time change.

Hopefully by tomorrow I will be in a better [read non-sleepy] frame of mind and I will try to get started on our trip report...But warning... I am 100% SURE our family will be in the minority....We really didn't enjoy the cruise so much... And don't get me started on Palos... But again I will send more tomorrow.

 

[WolffDVC2004]

I look forward to hearing about your trip, the good and the bad. We might have the same opinion about Palo's...I will have to wait and see what you have to say.

 

[RoyalVizier]

Well I'm glad you're back home... hopefully you'll readjust soon.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about your cruise. Get some sleep then come back and share!

 

[JDBlair]

Can't wait to read your TR! One of my fears is the travel to and from Orlando while living here in PHX. Should be exhausting but I'm allowing time for adjustments. (Flying in the day before, flying home the day after the cruise!)

 

[Kcross3625]

I hate time changes! Even one hour in the fall and spring kicks my booty. We were on the same cruise and my husband and I got sick on Saturday after getting off the ship (vomiting, & frequent bathroom trips, if you get my meaning). Luckily DD did not get sick and we sent her to a friends house for the rest of the weekend. I am still not eating solid foods.

Am looking forward to your TR.

Kim

 

[yazee1]

I'm really sorry to hear this, you were so psyched about the trip. I'm also bummed I never got to meet you. It's alarming how many people on our cruise were sick while on board or right after. I'm pretty sure we were spared. So far, no one here is ill.

 

[sftnslky]

First off a little background....Orginally DH, myself, DH's Mother, and DH's older sister had a cruise booked for the very same time, but on a different cruise Line... One month after we booked DH's Mother found out she had stage 4 Lung cancer... The next day we canceled the cruise and sadly 5 weeks later A VERY LOVING soul passed away. A week before she past she made all of us [including DH's younger sister and her family] promise that we would NEVER stop loving each other, to ALWAYS stay close, and to "TAKE CARE OF MY GRANDKIDS".... She also set aside some money and made us promise that after we all felt up to it...to all go on a cruise together.... So.....here is that trip report.

The folks who went....DH, Me, DD 7 DD 10, DH's older sister...DH's younger sister, Her hubby, their DD 5 and DD 12 and at the very last moment their DD 17 had to cancel...so DH's older sister got the luxury of having her very own cabin ... pout pout pout

So here we go. Since we were flying in to Orlando from Sacramento Ca...We left at 6:30am on Thursday 9-21-06..and arrived in Orlando at 6:20pm. Picked up our luggage, jumped on the shuttle, and rented a small suv from Enterprise, and headed out to the Nickelodeon Hotel. It was VERY nice.. .We got a small two room suite, very cute Fairly odd parents theme, HUGE bathroom, and the pool, waterside, water fountain play area, hot tubs, and "sandy beach" right out side our front door....OUR GIRLS LOVED IT....if any of you have any questions regarding the hotel don't hesitate to email me.

Thursday night we let the girls swim, and simply ordered room service ... went to sleep early and got up at 7am the next morning...It took me a few hours to figure out "why in the heck am I SOOOO tired...Well my body was still on Ca time so we all woke up at 4am our time..LOL Anywho... take the girls to breakfast and head back to the airport...DH's older sister was flying in from Davenport Iowa and had to be picked up at 11am. Picked her up, dropped hubby and girls off at the hotel to let them play and swim, and sis-in-law and me headed to the outlet mall. Dooney and Burke and Kenneth Cole were SCREAMING my name

After spending a few $$$'s headed back to hotel, picked up DH and girls and headed back to airport, and meet DH's younger sister and her family, take them to the rental car place..and then we all head out to Steak and Ale for a nice dinner. We head back to Nick hotel, and DH's sister and family head to Port Canaveral to stay at the Residence Inn... Which we also had reservations for the day we get off the cruise... Sleep, get up, check out, and hop in the car.... Drive for what seems like FOREVER in the middle of nowhere...and then suddenly you "hit" this big bridge...and as you are near the top THERE YOU SEE HER...IN ALL HER GLORY...The Disney Magic..off to the left hand side.

We keep driving to the Residence Inn...They had graciously said since we had reservations for afterwards that we could park for the whole week for free .... We then jumped on the Cocoa Beach shuttle and off we go. Get to the port, hand over our luggage, have our id's checked at security ... go through the xray machine...head up the escalator, and check in. We got boarding pass 10... checked the girls in, got the wrist bands, and the pager...bought everyone lanyards..and 1/2 hour later it was time to board.

As we were walking down the long hall way...you could feel the tension...They took our family photo, and then they asked our name...told them to two families names, but that we were all related...they made the announcement, everyone clapped..and we ALL BUSTED OUT CRYING... It was Hubby's Mom's dream to do a Disney Cruise one day with all her grandkids. She had taken them all to Disneyland many times. I know she was looking down and smiling.

We then head off to Topsiders for a nice lunch..the peal and eat shrimp was YUMMY ... the other food was "good"...not bad but not great either....Which would set the trend for the WHOLE rest of the cruise. After lunch head to cabin we all were on Deck 2 Aft ... and had the split bathrooms. Some of our luggage was already there... I immediately head off to rocking d bar to make reservations for Palo. Got them for Wednesday night ... my bad that I TOTALLY forgot that Wednesday night was pirate night, but it all worked out. I then head back to our cabin, everyone put on life jackets and went to AP for the mandatory life boat drill. Now on a side note...why is there ALWAYS folks who think the drill isn't for them?? And the ship has to send an officer to retrieve you and your lazy family?? And it isn't just on DCL, we have been on RCCL and Carnival, and each time and each boat it will always happen... Anywhoosss 10 minutes later we are back in the cabin. We then decide to collect all the other family members and head up to deck 9 to let the kids swim, go down the Mickey slide while the adults grabbed a table by the side and enjoyed watching us pull out and the castoff deck party. The band was very good and everyone had a nice time.

Before we knew it, it was time to go to dinner. We had PLAPLAP rotation. So off to Parrot Cay we went. We had two tables 11&10 that were placed together for all of us to enjoy. We had Toney and Ranzel as our servers....THE ABSOLUTE BEST you could ever ask for....They LOVED all the kids and paid them EXTRA special attention. All of the kids except the 5 year old ordered off the kids and adult menus every night....our servers had no problem with it at all...in fact they encouraged it. I miss them soo much...Now I have to cut up all my kids meat and make the Mickey shape out of the ketchup on their plates now...And it is dang near IMPOSSIBLE to find the Mickey ice cream bars on land.. and forget about the rainbow sprinkles they put over them...

After dinner we all head to the Welcome show...it was sweet, and all the kids enjoyed it. But as you can imagine the time change and being jet lagged was catching up to us VERY quickly...So we decided to turn in early and ended up watching Chicken little on our in room TV...

Wow didn't realize I had typed you all a book so far... I need to go take the laundry out of the dryer, and put away some luggage....I will write more later...

 

[princessdaisy]

Great trip report! being from San Diego, I know the feeling about the time change especially with a 2yr old but we keep going back for more! going with a 4yr old and a teen this time around

 

[Lindy Loo]

more more please!

 

[JDBlair]

What a great 1st day!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[jrose529]

Great TR so far. I can't wait for more!

I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother-in-law.

I am really worried about jet lag myself. Next week I go to London for a week, back to CT and off to PA the next day for 3 days. The day after getting back from PA, I leave for CA for 5 days! My DCL cruise in April should be a breeze!!!

Do you have a hint for how to deal with jet lag?

 

[my3m]

 

[curlybop]

Keep on going! Great report so far.

 

[sftnslky]

Day two finds us in Key west...Now personally I'm not really sure why we would stop there?? But a lot of folks loved it... If we do this itinerary again we would NOT get off the boat ... as it was we only got off for 1 hour. It wasn't that we didn't "like" it...its just that it was VERY pricey for what you got. And secondly the humidity was UNBEARABLE... Now we are from Central California... We are very used to 100+ degree temps for 2+ months of the summer ... and this past summer we set many a record with 118+ degrees... BUT what I never really understood until our trip was, while we are just plain HOT...like standing in front of a huge bonfire hot ... we are a 'DRY' hot ... and while it was only in the mid 80's in Key west it felt MUCH worse... I will take the dry heat anyday

After an hour we all decided to go back and stay on the ship... We had lunch up at Topsiders, and let all the kids swim and do the Mickey slide. We then all decided to walk around and check everything out. Then there was open/family time in the lab..so I took my girls and we used the awesome machine that allows you to film your own short video clips...and they provide you with all kids on small toys..ie fish, trees, dinosaurs, etc. They LOVED it. Soon it was time to get ready for dinner.

We had dinner at Lumiers..which personally was my least favorite restaurant. Not much decor to look at, and it seemed a tad more "stuffier"..and those two are not exactly kid friendly. I really don't remember what we ordered, but can GUARANTEE you all the kids had Mickey bars for dessert. After dinner we all went to the show, which was a GREAT ventriloquist... I had tears in my eyes he was soooo good. And VERY kid friendly. After wards we went up to shutters, and was disappointed to see that they had only managed to take one photo of all of us...which was the boarding one. After shutters I was tired and headed back to the cabin, but hubby took the girls to karaoke, and then to have a slice of pizza.

Monday: Was a full day at sea...It didn't seem like they had very much for the adults to do. One day there was a galley tour, and a napkin folding demo, and a wine tasting..but we don't drink alcohol and they would have one session of bingo, that we never seemed to make it to.
Dinner was at AP which we all LOVED. It was very nice to see the "story" unfold, it not only kept the kids entertained, but the adults as well. After dinner we went to go see The Golden Mickeys..which was very cute. We had got there early, and all the kids had wanted to sit near the stage, so we let them, and they all got picked to be dwarfs in the show.... WE WERE SOOOOOO PROUD OF THEM!!!! After the show all the kids went back to the cabin and ordered room service, and the adults went to see the grown up show of the ventriloquist at the Rockin d bar...the place was PACKED ... which was a let down, but we were able to stand and watch his show ... it was still very nice, but personally we all enjoyed the family version much better.

Day 4..Grand Cayman. OMG again with the friggen humidity...We tendered over to the main land, and walked around for a bit...Stopped at Big Black Dicks...which we all got a kick out of, which DH and brother-in-law just had to get photos taken...LOL Then we stopped at a few shops..and after feeling like we had sweated out of every pour on our body we went back to the ship. After everyone took showers, we all went to DH's older sisters cabin, and just hung out... Ordered a few All Hands On Deck platters, and some coffee and just people watched from the window.

Dinner was back at Parrot Cay... We had some "island" fair which was nice, but a tad over powering at times in the spice area. After dinner I was feeling a tad drained from the heat so I went back to the cabin to read and just relax, DH took all the kids to see Twice Charmed, which they all [including hubby] agreed was the best show so far. Then they all went for a late night swim, got some hot chocolate and pizza and turned in for the night.

Day 5 Cozumel. OMG OMG OMG..I didn't think the humidity could get any worse... The weather report said 88 degrees with 98 percent humidity...I was in A G O N Y... just hated it. But we pushed on...We ended up hiring a driver with a huge suv for the day... 9 of us for 5 hours was $120. He took us EVERYWHERE we went to the ruins, to the different beaches, to the old part of town, showed us all the damage the hurricane had caused, and then took us to an out of the way, beach side "restaurant," and we had the BEST homemade chips and salsa we had ever tasted.

On our way back to the ship...The sky let loose..I mean an all out DOWNPOUR... By the time we started walking back the rain was up to our ankles. We all got ready for dinner which was at Lumieres...As my early report said...in my excitement to get Palo reservations I didn't even remember that Wednesday was Pirate night...But we dressed up the kids and took them down for dinner... And we all had a crab cake appetizer which was just delightful. After dinner took the kids to the clubs...Which if you have been following would be the VERY FIRST time they would go...They ALWAYS wanted to be with us...But we told them 2 hours wouldn't kill them... So the 5 adults to go Palo.

Now I no I'm not going to be very popular...and no flames please...but we DID NOT like Palo at all. Our waiter was just RUDE and SLOW and at times Disrespectful. The food was only so-so...In the beginning he asked..."is there any food restrictions I should know about" I informed him that I am allergic to alcohol and he was like "well I guess your going to have a hard time eating..since we use alcohol in all our cooking/sauces." Two of our family members ended up walking out and going up to Topsiders due to the bad service...and tell me again, why would we pay for someone to be snooty to us?? Any way others LOVE Palo and that is wonderful..I just know if we do another DCL we will not be having dinner there again.

After dinner we picked up the kids, and went back to our cabin and watched Brother Bear 2.

Ok the dryer just buzzed again, and I am getting hungry for lunch..So I will finish up later this afternoon.... Have a nice afternoon all.

 

[Kcross3625]

Great TR sftnslky. We also got stuck in the downpour and worried about what kind of water we were wading through. Did not really want to be wading through a Mexican sewer, you know.

We never even notice the humidity. I hate the dryness when I visit my SIL in Denver. My skin is so dry and I can't so a thing with my hair! I'll take the humidity any day. I have a T-shirt from New Orleans (my hometown) that says "It's not the heat, it's the stupidity."

I also agree that we would not get off the boat again if we stop in Key West. Having been there two times before (it was DD9's first time), there is nothing else I really want to do. We were too hot and tired to walk up to the Blond Giraffe for Key Lime Pie so that was one thing we missed. But didn't miss it too much.

Keep the reports coming!

Kim

 

[sftnslky]

Can't wait to read your TR! One of my fears is the travel to and from Orlando while living here in PHX. Should be exhausting but I'm allowing time for adjustments. (Flying in the day before, flying home the day after the cruise!)

That was exactly what we did...but it really didn't seem to help at all .... Sending pixie dust your way that you will have a much smoother time transition.

 

[yazee1]

Isn't writing a trip report exhausting? You're doing a great job! I'm shocked to hear about Palo and sorry to hear you all were treated that way. I'm right there with you about the food in the regular rotation. Good but not great.

We sat out the storm at Cozumel at a table by the balcony at Senor Frog's. The kids weren't with us. Thank goodness. There were only a few full tables. Another family from the ship was there enjoying chips and dip. (I bet yours were much tastier) At the other two tables the people had ordered shots. The little ritual that goes with ordering a shot was embarrassing to watch so we turned our attention to watching the rain and what was taking place at street level. It was alarming how fast the streets filled up with water! I can imagine how the water could be up to your ankles.

How are the chores coming along? I'm looking forward to reading more of your report.

 

[dlotter]

Isn't writing a trip report exhausting? You're doing a great job! I'm shocked to hear about Palo and sorry to hear you all were treated that way. I'm right there with you about the food in the regular rotation. Good but not great.

We sat out the storm at Cozumel at a table by the balcony at Senor Frog's. The kids weren't with us. Thank goodness. There were only a few full tables. Another family from the ship was there enjoying chips and dip. (I bet yours were much tastier) At the other two tables the people had ordered shots. The little ritual that goes with ordering a shot was embarrassing to watch so we turned our attention to watching the rain and what was taking place at street level. It was alarming how fast the streets filled up with water! I can imagine how the water could be up to your ankles.

How are the chores coming along? I'm looking forward to reading more of your report.

Hi! I was wondering what the "little ritual" that goes with ordering shots was? I don't know that it needs to really be an area of concern for me... my days of drinking shots are a thing of the past. Never the less, I'd like to know... just in case my second childhood kicks in while I'm vacationing!

Off topic: When I was a teenager I used to go to a famous restaurant in Chinatown, San Francisco, called Sam Woo's (I think). It was very crowded and narrow, and you had to travel up steep steps to get to the dining area. The yukky "ritual" was that Sam would kiss all of the (usually young) girls. I ALWAYS avoided him by positioning myself well out of his reach. Those were different times (I hope!) he would be shut down today.

- Denise (aka dlotter)

 

[yazee1]

Oh, Denise! Yuck about Sam. I just finished the latest installment of my trip report. In it, I described the ritual as well as my fatigued brain would allow. Happy reading.