Excuse me, you'll need to see security. What has Mickeystoontown done? Update 3/25x2

[pwdebbie]

I fully understand why they don't allow irons. In 1968 (give or take a year or two) at the ripe old age of 13 (give or take a year or two) I placed a hot iron on a hotel room rug and left a huge iron print. My parents tried desperately to hide it by moving furniture, but of course that didn't work. The hotel, btw, was the Eden Roc in Miami Beach -- at the time it was the second most expensive hotel in Miami. We didn't normally travel that way but my father's company paid for this trip, so we were treated to a vacation like none other we ever took. Irons are evil and will make bad things happen.

 

[deedeew80]

Hi Lisa! An IRON!!!!! What are we going to do with you, you bad bad girl!!!???!!!! I guess you will be triple checking if you are allowed to bring an iron on any future trips anywhere!!!!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Tsk, tsk, tsk!!!!



Oh too funny! I hope you were able to retrieve your iron out of "jail" at the end of the cruise!

 

[GaRain]

I don't believe I have ever known anyone that packed an iron when going on vacation....but at least I know for my cruise later this year to leave that at home!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I don't believe I have ever known anyone that packed an iron when going on vacation....but at least I know for my cruise later this year to leave that at home!

It's odd that I pack an iron because I hate ironing. Definitely make sure you don't take the iron with you on the cruise.

Tsk, tsk, tsk!!!!



Oh too funny! I hope you were able to retrieve your iron out of "jail" at the end of the cruise!

I debated on whether or not to even stop and get the iron. Was the humiliation of going to security really worth a $35 iron?

Hi Lisa! An IRON!!!!! What are we going to do with you, you bad bad girl!!!???!!!! I guess you will be triple checking if you are allowed to bring an iron on any future trips anywhere!!!!!!

What can I say? I'm a rebel!

I fully understand why they don't allow irons. In 1968 (give or take a year or two) at the ripe old age of 13 (give or take a year or two) I placed a hot iron on a hotel room rug and left a huge iron print. My parents tried desperately to hide it by moving furniture, but of course that didn't work. The hotel, btw, was the Eden Roc in Miami Beach -- at the time it was the second most expensive hotel in Miami. We didn't normally travel that way but my father's company paid for this trip, so we were treated to a vacation like none other we ever took. Irons are evil and will make bad things happen.

Oh my goodness! I wonder how much they ended up having to pay the hotel for the iron print.

Yes, Ben was sad when they took his toy gun.

And then my helpful husband commented "We'll never see that again!" and sent both boys into hysterics!

But sure enough, there it was in Miami when we went to claim it.

That sounds like something John would have done. Sometimes, we don't realize that we are making a situation even worse.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hahahaha I had no idea you couldn't bring an iron on board! At least you found that other iron in case of wrinkle emergency!

I didn't know that bringing an iron onboard was a no-no!

LOL I just knew it would be the iron too! Sorry you had to have security involved, I would have thought that the cabin steward would be able to take care of it and not have to involve the security officer.

Glad you liked your first dinner! That is a beautiful dining room. Sorry the tables were cramped.

I'm not sure if Mr. White Uniform was a security officer or what his exact title was. I'm thinking he wasn't because we had another Mr. White Uniform help us find our restaurant the next night.

The tables in the back of The Enchanted Garden were pretty tightly packed but at least the people beside us were nice.

So, the iron was the culprit, eh?! Imagine, getting hauled off to security for wanting to be pressed! Sad that they couldn't fix the odor problem instead of merely acknowledging that their was one. Same sort of thing happened to us at Coronado Springs. I knew it was the shower curtain smelling like old sour towels-told housekeeping and all she did was turn on the fan. I could have done that much.And it didn't help. Guess they aren't much for fixing smelling problems.

A gosh darn iron caused such a ruckus! Can you believe it!?!

Sour towel smell? YUCK! Uh, yeah, you could have turned on that fan all by yourself. You'd think they would have at least sprayed it down with some Lysol or bleach or something.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We climbed Chitzen Itza. I don't think they let people go up anymore. Maybe due to my panic attack? My story is one people love for me to tell...it includes strangers' sharing their water, DH thinking we were going to have to relocate since I was never going down and meeting a complete stranger from Ireland that helped me down (along with DH) step by step on our rumps while my eyes were clamped closed...it wasn't a pretty moment. More shameful was as I was collecting myself at the bottom we see this nice little 90 year old woman from our ship (who used a walker and people helped her on and off the elevator climbing down BY HERSELF!!! Yeah, again not my finest moment!! I am sorry also for that hijack Lisa!!

Love the sea life viewing!! I would have been mesmerized! And that panini looked very yummy!!

I never iron! It is against my religion and now I have an even better reason....I could have it confiscated!! Hunter's comment could have come directly from Madison's mouth! And John's reaction would have been Keith's...for that matter I would have thrown my shoes at them too!! Great story!!!!

Definitely no need to apologize for sharing your story 'cause it was funny! I am sorry but I did.

Hum, I was raised Church of God and John was raised Assembly of God.....wonder if there's a clause about ironing that I didn't know about. I need check that out since Somebody up there may be telling me to stop ironing. Just kidding!

Hunter and his Dad wasted no time, whatsoever, in getting their jabs in at me. (Like I would expect any different. )

Here is my reason for Not Ironing !!!! lol love it!!

An iron! I had a feeling that was it when you told the story about ironing John and Hunter's pants.

A quick story about rough waters---During the only cruise I've ever been on, we apparently hit a rough spot heading to Nassau. The water was sloshing out over the edge of the pool!

Oh my word! I don't know that I could have handled seas that rough.

 

[rndmr2]

Oh my word! I don't know that I could have handled seas that rough.

Well, don't go to Bermuda on a cruise then, LOL! I have been on a few of those, from Philly, NYC and NJ and let me tell you, every time at least one direction is very rough (there or back). The water sloshing over the sides of the pool, sloshing in the water glasses at dinner, etc. One time they had the sea sick bags all down the hall in the handrails. Another time they were making announcements to not go outside and for ladies to avoid wearing high heeled shoes!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Well, don't go to Bermuda on a cruise then, LOL! I have been on a few of those, from Philly, NYC and NJ and let me tell you, every time at least one direction is very rough (there or back). The water sloshing over the sides of the pool, sloshing in the water glasses at dinner, etc. One time they had the sea sick bags all down the hall in the handrails. Another time they were making announcements to not go outside and for ladies to avoid wearing high heeled shoes!

Yikes! That sounds like the cruise my sister went on. She said that there were so many people that got sea sick that their stateroom host said only about 30% of the people were actually well enough to dine in the restaurants.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I spent quite some time this afternoon writing an installment and then it was time to shut down the office. I thought that I had forwarded the document to myself but I guess I didn't so I'll have to finish it up and post it tomorrow.

Hope that everybody is keeping cool. It was 113 in the car this afternoon and had only cooled off to 107 by the time I got home. Our outside thermometer says 103 and it's cloudy out.

 

[francis6306]

An iron! Whodathunkit? Hahaha… Well, at least you were in trouble for something "good"!

 

[mickeystoontown]

An iron! Whodathunkit? Hahaha… Well, at least you were in trouble for something "good"!

Yeah, an iron? I wouldn't have ever thunk it either.

 

[mickeystoontown]

What shall we Sea and See today? Amazing scenery? Beautiful sea life? Armed Port Police?

You may notice that the title of this installment is different than the one that I left you with on my last installment. I didn’t realize how many pictures I took during our Nassau excursion until I went back and looked at them on Photobucket. It was then that I realized I wouldn’t be able to get to the “Now I Know How The People On The Amazing Race Feel! Look Out” installment today. So, we had a little title change.

When I left off, I had just gotten in trouble for bringing along the very worst thing you can pack when going on a cruise....something that could land you in a lot of hot water......an iron. Hunter and John were still razing me about it as Hunter opened the stateroom door. Nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in..............ooh, there’s that smell again! I immediately picked up the body spray and sprayed the room while Hunter and John were busy checking out the chocolates left by our stateroom host. I shooed them away and told them that the candy was off limits until I could get a picture. Guarding the chocolates and our Navigator was a cute little elephant who was wearing John’s sunglasses:

Once I had taken the pictures, they set to work on the chocolates and Hunter turned on the television. One of the channels was very interesting (at least it was to us but I can see why it would be boring to others). It showed a map and where we were at that exact time. It gave specifics on our longitude and latitude, how far we were from the Port, how far we were from our next destination, how fast the ship was moving and the water depth.

At 11:04 p.m. on May 24th, the ship was moving at a speed of 17.2 kts. We were 183.7 nautical miles from Nassau and 96.3 miles from Port Canaveral. The sea depth was 2190 feet. Geeze Louise! That’s some deeeeeep water!

I was getting a bit of a headache and felt a little yucky in the stomach and I was pretty sure it was just a sinus headache but I took one of the motion sickness pills just to be on the safe side. We could feel the rocking of the ship and we could see a bit of lightning off in the distance. Yep, there was a storm brewing and I hoped that it didn’t disrupt our plans to see Nassau. We said goodnight like the Waltons.

Good night Hunter! I love you! Say your prayers. See you in the morning in a different country.

Good night John Boy! I love you! Tomorrow, we’ll be in the Bahamas.

Good night Mrs. My Iron Was Confiscated! Love You! See you in your wrinkled clothes in the morning!

Would I ever live this down?

The next morning, I woke up before the guys did and I turned on the television to see where we were. At 7:09 a.m. on May 25th, we were 252.4 nautical miles from Port Canaveral, 27.5 miles from Nassau and the sea was 7260 feet deep! And I thought 2190 feet was deep!

I roused the two men and told them that they needed to get up. I informed them where we were and that I was about to get in the shower. By the time I was done in the shower, the boys were up and starting to get out their clothes for the day. I looked at the television again and it was 7:31 a.m. We were 20.7 miles from Nassau and the sea depth was 7990 feet. I continued to watch the channel while getting ready for our day and at 7:49 a.m., the sea depth was 9300 feet. (Yes, I took notes because I was so amazed by the info.)

I took these pictures from our porthole as we approached Nassau:

Soon, we were all ready to go and we figured we’d grab a bite to eat before heading out to Nassau for the day. When we reached Cabanas, we were, once again, given the hand sanitizer wipes by the castmembers standing guard at the doors. As we walked in, we could see a line to the left and a line to the right. We went to the left and as we got to the end of the line, a castmember was telling everybody that the line on the right was shorter and directed everybody that way. So, we turned around and went swimming upstream to the line on the right which was, by now, significantly longer than the left line.

I don’t know if we caught it at the wrong time or if the guests were confused, being rude, or what but instead of everyone getting in one long line and going down the buffet, some were cutting in line at each station and getting what they wanted. I thought that was odd but hey, maybe that’s the way it works. We didn’t know for sure but the people in front of us and behind us thought that it was “cutting” too.

By the time we made it through the line, the food that we got first had gotten cold but we aren’t big breakfast eaters so we dealt with it. All of the tables seemed to be taken so we found three chairs along the “bar” type seating area. Like I said, we aren’t big breakfast eaters so Hunter stuck to a couple of doughnuts. I had a few things and John had a plate full of various breakfast items. Again, I took no pictures. I barely had room to get on the tall chair and skootch in and the ledge on the bar wasn’t much wider than our plates so I certainly wasn’t trying to take out my camera and take pictures. While the food wasn’t outstanding, it filled up our tummies and that’s all that really mattered.

As we were getting up, somebody was right behind us waiting for our spot. The restaurant had become pretty crowded by the time we were finished.

It was nearing time to check-in for our excursion so we made our way down to 687 Lounge which is where we were to meet. After getting turned around a little bit, we found the lounge and were greeted by a castmember on a microphone. He told us that we were very early (only 25 minutes but I guess they thought that was very early) and to just have a seat. They were checking in guests for other excursions first.

As we sat there, the castmember was on his microphone telling the guests on the other excursions that they would need to have their i.d. and room key with them in order to leave the ship. Notice I said “on his microphone”. They made this announcement quite a few times while they checked the others in.

When it came time to check our excursion in, the castmember announced that they were checking in the guests going on the “See and Sea” excursion and that one person in the group could bring all the I.D.’s and room keys and line up. No need for everyone in the group to join the line. I told John to hand over his driver’s license and room key. That’s when he said “I don’t have my driver’s license.” What? You’re kidding me? This was the one thing that I had drilled into both John and Hunter’s heads. We can’t leave or get on the ship without I.D.’s and room keys. I knew better than to send John or Hunter to the room for John’s driver’s license. They are both slowpokes. If we wanted to get checked in in time to take the tour, it was me who was going to do the “go get the license run”. I told John that if the line got down to just one or two people, he had to tell them that I would be right there. Beg ‘em to wait if he had to. Or grab hold of the tour leader's leg and hang on tight until I got back.

I practically ran out of the lounge and did do a slight jog once people were out of the way. I ran up four flights of stairs, down the hallway and to our room. I opened the door to the slight poop smell, punched in the code on the safe, grabbed John’s license and was out the door in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. I hoofed it back down the hall, practically flew down the four flights of stairs and, thank you God!, found 687 again. To say that I was out of breath was a slight understatement. John and Hunter looked over to see me coming in and I could see a sigh of relief on both of their faces. Hunter’s look was one of “Thank goodness! I’m going to grow up and still have a Daddy.” John’s look was one of “Thank goodness! I don’t have to call a divorce lawyer.”

There were three or four people still in line to check in so I had a minute or two to catch my breath. I gave the castmember my name and they gave us a pretty little sticker to put on our shirts. I believe it was a 101 Dalmatian sticker. I handed Hunter his ever so gently and then pulled John’s off and stuck it not so gently in the center of his chest. Nah, not really. I handed John’s to him as well as his driver’s license.

The castmember told us to look at our stickers and we’d see our Disney character. We were to follow the castmember who was holding up a large paddle/sign with that Disney character on it. No problem! Actually, there was a slight problem. Every tour was, apparently, going the same way so we would catch sight of the paddle holder lady and then we’d lose sight of her. The people in front of us were going on the same tour so we all pretty much stuck together and helped keep an eye out for the Dalmatian sign.


**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

We got to security and then walked out to semi-cloudy skies. We caught sight of Dalmatian Paddle Woman again and went to join the line. I guess we waited there about 10, maybe 15, minutes and we were told to follow the castmember again. We were escorted along the walkway to our awaiting boat. Alongside the walkway were two gray ships/boats and I realized that they were police/coast guard/some sort of military boats. The people onboard and standing on the walkways were in uniform. One of those uniformed officers followed us to our boat.

As we were boarding the boat for the first portion of our excursion, we felt a few drops of rain. Oh no! Please don’t let it rain! Some of the boat was under cover so everybody moved in a little so we could all get under the cover. I turned and took a few pictures as we pulled away and then went near the Disney Dream:

You can see one of the gray boats I was talking about in this next picture:

Thankfully the rain held off and we only got a few raindrops as we pulled out of Nassau to start the first portion of our See and Sea Tour. We passed by Atlantis Resort:

Our tour guide told us facts about the Atlantis Resort that could have been true or could have been fiction. How were we supposed to know any different? He told us that this cross section between these two buildings was called the Michael Jackson suite and that it cost $25,000 a night with a minimum 5 night stay. Fact? Or Fiction?

More buildings along the shoreline:

Our guide told us that the residents of Nassau used boats to get around and that, because most of the people who owned houses here were celebrities or the extremely rich, they had yachts, not little boats, as their mode of transportation:

This boat passed by us and we could see the large fishing poles:

The tour guide pointed out several homes and told us that one was owned by a major beer company owner and one was owned by a major gun retailer. We were also shown Tom Cruise’s home and the homes, yes I said homes, owned by Oprah Winfrey. I was snapping pictures the entire time like the gawking, slack jawed tourist that I was:

**Up next: Under the Sea! Under the Sea! Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter! Wait a minute...We’re going to get wet?

 

[DisneyMom5]

Those houses...WOWZA. LOL

Looking forward to more updates!

 

[MHTeacher]

Great update, Lisa!

I would be snapping up the pictures of all those gorgeous homes too! I believe the Michael Jackson suite is fact! Several years ago, my sister was staying at Atlantis. She and her family had a room issue and had to be moved. While the bell services guy was moving their luggage, walking them to their new room, they went by the suite and housekeeping was in there cleaning. He told them the same story about MJ suite and let them look in! (You thought I was going to say they got upgraded to the suite, didn't you?)

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Lisa. I cannot believe John forgot the one thing you told him to always have.

I can just seeing you jogging back to the room and wondering if you need to go forward, aft, etc.

Glad you got back in time.

Those houses are stunning (remind me of some of the "mansions" on Marco Island. WOW!

 

[MEK]

I know this was a great update, but I really need to come back to see the pictures. My imagination is just not cutting this afternoon.

Can't wait to follow you along on your excursion.

I am still so disturbed by the smell in the bathroom. Did it ever get better????

 

[shan23877]

Great update! I can't believe that John forgot his ID! Maybe he was using his 'selective hearing' when the CM was announcing that really loudly?

Love the fancy houses! Thanks for sharing. I wouldn't mind using a yacht to get around when I visit one of my vacation homes.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Those houses...WOWZA. LOL

Looking forward to more updates!

I know! The grounds around the homes were immaculate.

Great update, Lisa!

I would be snapping up the pictures of all those gorgeous homes too! I believe the Michael Jackson suite is fact! Several years ago, my sister was staying at Atlantis. She and her family had a room issue and had to be moved. While the bell services guy was moving their luggage, walking them to their new room, they went by the suite and housekeeping was in there cleaning. He told them the same story about MJ suite and let them look in! (You thought I was going to say they got upgraded to the suite, didn't you?)

I actually did think maybe they were putting your sis up in the MJ suite. So, I guess the tour guide was not feeding us a line of bull marlarky after all.