moomy-san
I'd rather be in O'Gills.
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2010
- Messages
- 823
Being our first ever cruise I thought I should document all the wonderful fun we had... and if I'm going to do that I thought 'why not a trip report?" so here it goes...
Our plans for this cruise actually began in May 2010... as a cruise to Alaska in May 2011. But we are from Northern Alberta where it is quite regularly -30 to -40, so going someplace COLD in the spring seemed backwards. A quick look at airfare and prices for a MR cruise plus a bonus few days at DLR made us realize it would only be a bit more to do a WARM trip. The decision from that point was EASY!!
Joining me (Roxanne) on this trip was my husband, Mike and 2 daughers, Mikhaila who was 10 and Dannan who was 6.
We have been to DLR for the past 5 years in January/February so we knew we would need to add a few days there before or after our cruise. We left home at 5:30 AM on Wednesday Feb 2... arriving at LAX @ noon. We went to the park for 3.5 days before we left on the cruise. We always stay at the Candy Cane Inn, so it was like going to our home away from home! During those 3.5 days we saw World of Color for the first time, and Fantasmic for the first time.
To do all of our airport and port transfers we had hired Execucar and I think we'll always do that from now on. Amazing service. They picked us up on Sunday morning, and we arrived at the port @ noon.
I was quite impressed by how easy the whole check-in process was. The computers were down for @ 15 minutes while we were in line but since we knew the ship wouldn't leave without us on it I wasn't too stressed out. We also had snacks and water with us so that helped with the kids!
Once we were all checked in, and had out KTW cards we walked as quick as possible to the ship! I was anxiously awaiting hearing our name called as we entered. Tears came to my eyes as we walked on board and heard "... The PEARCY family..." but I don't think my kids even heard it!
Once we got our bearings we went to Parrot Cay for lunch. The kids were thrilled with the kids buffet... and I have to say I am sad that that was the only day that we saw a dedicated kids buffet in Parrot Cay. By the time we were done lunch our room was ready and we had fun finding our room, #8042. As soon as we opened the door the kids bounced on everything, opened every door and drawer and explored our veranda.
Once the exploring was done I picked up the phone and fulfilled the first of many promises we had made... I ordered us all Mickey Bars from Room Service!! Thrilled my 2 little princesses to have ice cream delivered. from that point on, my youngest daughter's answer to 'what should we do now?' was always"'Order room service!!"
After our Mickey bars were gobbled up we went out to explore... only to find Superbowl on every TV on the ship. Grrr. It was so loud. I realize it was nice for FB fans to have a place to watch, it made the whole sail-away situation (AKA no Sail Away party) just blah to me. Nevertheless, we watched sail away from deck 10, ate the first of many chicken fingers and had a lovely drink as we passed the lighthouse.
Sometime that afternoon we explored the kids clubs… the Club for Dannan and the Lab for Mikhaila. Mikhaila was NOT impressed at all. She is a grade ahead of other 10 year olds and about a head taller, so I think she felt it was just too juvenile. Dannan was in LOVE!! She couldn’t wait to get to the Club… so much so that when we went to get ready for the 6:15 show followed by dinner… she cried. She was devastated she couldn’t go to the Club instead of the show. I was about ready to let her go… it’s her vacation too! Instead she decided to come with us and later, as she sat on the edge of her seat enjoying the show she looked up at my husband and said, “Thank you for making me come, Daddy”.
Dinner that night was at AP so we eventually made our way there after exploring the ship some more. When we arrived the waiter that was supposed to show us to our table took us on a hunt for our table # because he had no idea where it was. When he finally found it he turned to us and said “Ahhh- table 62. It’s in MY section!” Yes, that was indeed a sign of things to come. Not exactly the greatest server in the world! We were sharing a table with another family of 4… but they didn’t show that first night. We did have a nice chat with our server, but throughout the entire meal I felt like we were inconveniencing him in some way when we requested simple things like ketchup. Dinner was good. The mushroom risotto very yummy, and the chicken was good too. They did the whole AP show that night and we thought that was quite cool. Too bad our youngest missed it because Daddy took her to the Club the minute she was done eating.
We wandered the ship some more and our oldest daughter insisted she wasn’t going to the Lab. So we asked at the registration table about activities etc. for girls in the Lab. After a lengthy conversation with the girls at the table (they were both from Canada, too) they made a quick call and registered Mikhaila in the Edge, where she could be with kids in her own grade. I didn’t ask for this change and they said they would only do it because it was VERY clear Mikhaila wasn’t going to be happy in the Lab with 7 year-olds playing Wii. Equipped with the Wave phone and VERY strict instructions from her loving parents, she would be able to have the freedom she was looking for and be able to hang out with kids who were interested in the same things as she is. She was so happy she couldn’t stop smiling. She’s a professional musician and quite shy- so the Lab just wasn’t the atmosphere that she could relate to. The Edge on the other hand was quite quiet most of the time. Less running and shouting!! We tried all week to get her to take part in the Lab activities just for fun… you guessed it… NO WAY!! Day # 2 in the Edge another girl approached her and they were fast friends.
So what did the adults do that night while the kids were busy in their clubs? Played Yahtzee in (a very empty) Diversions until 11:30!! The bartenders and servers down there are so nice- and it’s quiet and relaxing. I kicked my hubbies butt, if you’re wondering!! We returned many times over the week to play games down there. I loved it, and Keon is so nice. Go down and say hi... I don't think they get to know too many passengers down there... it never seemed busy.
Sometime in the day we met our room host Jay. He was nice enough. Not happy with us when we asked hm to split the bed into 2 twins, but he did it by the time we came back from dinner.
Bedtime was @ 11:45... both the kids fell asleep very quickly. For the first while we heard noise from the pool deck directly above us but not for long. I unfortunately stayed awake until @3:00 trying to sleep with 3 people in my room and the rocking of the boat. I do not like change!!
I forgot to mention that on Day 1 we did our cruise meet in the Promenade Lounge. It was nice to put some friendly faces to the names we’d seen on our thread, and we saw many of these lovely folks dozens of times throughout the week. My youngest daughter adored having ‘instant friends’ when she met sweet little 7-year twin girls, and their parents were so friendly…. it was always nice to run into them!
Day 2 At Sea
After a very restless night we got up and went to Triton’s for breakfast. It was pretty good- I had the Eggs Benedict that I’d heard rave reviews about. It was good…. coffee took a while to get used to. I think after breakfast we took our youngest DD to the club and went to take some pictures around the ship. at 10:45 we had the boat drill that was postponed due to Superbowl. Thank goodness we didn’t have an emergency before then!! We would have all drowned! After that they did the Adventures Away party. It was fun, but I bet it would be a whole lot better if it was actually a Sail Away Party as opposed to an ALREADY Sailing Party! That day is kind of a blur- except I do remember having a nap!! Ah… the luxury of being on a holiday! Oh, and I know that my husband did the beer tasting and then we did the Tequila tasting together. Maybe that’s why the afternoon is a blur?
Show that night was Golden Mickey’s (which I enjoyed but didn't LOVE) and it was formal night, so we also enjoyed cocktails at the reception in the atrium. Another reason why that day is a bit blurry!
A tip for parents... if you're kids go to the clubs on a sea day and you are hoping for some quiet/coffee/reading time while they are occupied... DO NOT go back to your room to straighten up/change clothes/nap (unless a nap is what you need!) Instead RUN to coffee bar and hide out there until you receive the dreaded "your child would like to be picked up from the Club" text. I made the mistake of doing a few things before I went for my coffee/book time and my butt hit the couch and I got the text!! I couldn't decide: pick up daughter or let her be miserable while I enjoyed my mocha? My husband was at the beer tasting so it only seemed right that I have fun too... but the thought of my daughter languishing in the club finally won me over and I went and retrieved her. So much for Mommy time!!
I'll edit this first post to add more of our TR soon!
Our plans for this cruise actually began in May 2010... as a cruise to Alaska in May 2011. But we are from Northern Alberta where it is quite regularly -30 to -40, so going someplace COLD in the spring seemed backwards. A quick look at airfare and prices for a MR cruise plus a bonus few days at DLR made us realize it would only be a bit more to do a WARM trip. The decision from that point was EASY!!
Joining me (Roxanne) on this trip was my husband, Mike and 2 daughers, Mikhaila who was 10 and Dannan who was 6.
We have been to DLR for the past 5 years in January/February so we knew we would need to add a few days there before or after our cruise. We left home at 5:30 AM on Wednesday Feb 2... arriving at LAX @ noon. We went to the park for 3.5 days before we left on the cruise. We always stay at the Candy Cane Inn, so it was like going to our home away from home! During those 3.5 days we saw World of Color for the first time, and Fantasmic for the first time.
To do all of our airport and port transfers we had hired Execucar and I think we'll always do that from now on. Amazing service. They picked us up on Sunday morning, and we arrived at the port @ noon.
I was quite impressed by how easy the whole check-in process was. The computers were down for @ 15 minutes while we were in line but since we knew the ship wouldn't leave without us on it I wasn't too stressed out. We also had snacks and water with us so that helped with the kids!
Once we were all checked in, and had out KTW cards we walked as quick as possible to the ship! I was anxiously awaiting hearing our name called as we entered. Tears came to my eyes as we walked on board and heard "... The PEARCY family..." but I don't think my kids even heard it!
Once we got our bearings we went to Parrot Cay for lunch. The kids were thrilled with the kids buffet... and I have to say I am sad that that was the only day that we saw a dedicated kids buffet in Parrot Cay. By the time we were done lunch our room was ready and we had fun finding our room, #8042. As soon as we opened the door the kids bounced on everything, opened every door and drawer and explored our veranda.
Once the exploring was done I picked up the phone and fulfilled the first of many promises we had made... I ordered us all Mickey Bars from Room Service!! Thrilled my 2 little princesses to have ice cream delivered. from that point on, my youngest daughter's answer to 'what should we do now?' was always"'Order room service!!"
After our Mickey bars were gobbled up we went out to explore... only to find Superbowl on every TV on the ship. Grrr. It was so loud. I realize it was nice for FB fans to have a place to watch, it made the whole sail-away situation (AKA no Sail Away party) just blah to me. Nevertheless, we watched sail away from deck 10, ate the first of many chicken fingers and had a lovely drink as we passed the lighthouse.
Sometime that afternoon we explored the kids clubs… the Club for Dannan and the Lab for Mikhaila. Mikhaila was NOT impressed at all. She is a grade ahead of other 10 year olds and about a head taller, so I think she felt it was just too juvenile. Dannan was in LOVE!! She couldn’t wait to get to the Club… so much so that when we went to get ready for the 6:15 show followed by dinner… she cried. She was devastated she couldn’t go to the Club instead of the show. I was about ready to let her go… it’s her vacation too! Instead she decided to come with us and later, as she sat on the edge of her seat enjoying the show she looked up at my husband and said, “Thank you for making me come, Daddy”.
Dinner that night was at AP so we eventually made our way there after exploring the ship some more. When we arrived the waiter that was supposed to show us to our table took us on a hunt for our table # because he had no idea where it was. When he finally found it he turned to us and said “Ahhh- table 62. It’s in MY section!” Yes, that was indeed a sign of things to come. Not exactly the greatest server in the world! We were sharing a table with another family of 4… but they didn’t show that first night. We did have a nice chat with our server, but throughout the entire meal I felt like we were inconveniencing him in some way when we requested simple things like ketchup. Dinner was good. The mushroom risotto very yummy, and the chicken was good too. They did the whole AP show that night and we thought that was quite cool. Too bad our youngest missed it because Daddy took her to the Club the minute she was done eating.
We wandered the ship some more and our oldest daughter insisted she wasn’t going to the Lab. So we asked at the registration table about activities etc. for girls in the Lab. After a lengthy conversation with the girls at the table (they were both from Canada, too) they made a quick call and registered Mikhaila in the Edge, where she could be with kids in her own grade. I didn’t ask for this change and they said they would only do it because it was VERY clear Mikhaila wasn’t going to be happy in the Lab with 7 year-olds playing Wii. Equipped with the Wave phone and VERY strict instructions from her loving parents, she would be able to have the freedom she was looking for and be able to hang out with kids who were interested in the same things as she is. She was so happy she couldn’t stop smiling. She’s a professional musician and quite shy- so the Lab just wasn’t the atmosphere that she could relate to. The Edge on the other hand was quite quiet most of the time. Less running and shouting!! We tried all week to get her to take part in the Lab activities just for fun… you guessed it… NO WAY!! Day # 2 in the Edge another girl approached her and they were fast friends.
So what did the adults do that night while the kids were busy in their clubs? Played Yahtzee in (a very empty) Diversions until 11:30!! The bartenders and servers down there are so nice- and it’s quiet and relaxing. I kicked my hubbies butt, if you’re wondering!! We returned many times over the week to play games down there. I loved it, and Keon is so nice. Go down and say hi... I don't think they get to know too many passengers down there... it never seemed busy.
Sometime in the day we met our room host Jay. He was nice enough. Not happy with us when we asked hm to split the bed into 2 twins, but he did it by the time we came back from dinner.
Bedtime was @ 11:45... both the kids fell asleep very quickly. For the first while we heard noise from the pool deck directly above us but not for long. I unfortunately stayed awake until @3:00 trying to sleep with 3 people in my room and the rocking of the boat. I do not like change!!
I forgot to mention that on Day 1 we did our cruise meet in the Promenade Lounge. It was nice to put some friendly faces to the names we’d seen on our thread, and we saw many of these lovely folks dozens of times throughout the week. My youngest daughter adored having ‘instant friends’ when she met sweet little 7-year twin girls, and their parents were so friendly…. it was always nice to run into them!
Day 2 At Sea
After a very restless night we got up and went to Triton’s for breakfast. It was pretty good- I had the Eggs Benedict that I’d heard rave reviews about. It was good…. coffee took a while to get used to. I think after breakfast we took our youngest DD to the club and went to take some pictures around the ship. at 10:45 we had the boat drill that was postponed due to Superbowl. Thank goodness we didn’t have an emergency before then!! We would have all drowned! After that they did the Adventures Away party. It was fun, but I bet it would be a whole lot better if it was actually a Sail Away Party as opposed to an ALREADY Sailing Party! That day is kind of a blur- except I do remember having a nap!! Ah… the luxury of being on a holiday! Oh, and I know that my husband did the beer tasting and then we did the Tequila tasting together. Maybe that’s why the afternoon is a blur?
Show that night was Golden Mickey’s (which I enjoyed but didn't LOVE) and it was formal night, so we also enjoyed cocktails at the reception in the atrium. Another reason why that day is a bit blurry!
A tip for parents... if you're kids go to the clubs on a sea day and you are hoping for some quiet/coffee/reading time while they are occupied... DO NOT go back to your room to straighten up/change clothes/nap (unless a nap is what you need!) Instead RUN to coffee bar and hide out there until you receive the dreaded "your child would like to be picked up from the Club" text. I made the mistake of doing a few things before I went for my coffee/book time and my butt hit the couch and I got the text!! I couldn't decide: pick up daughter or let her be miserable while I enjoyed my mocha? My husband was at the beer tasting so it only seemed right that I have fun too... but the thought of my daughter languishing in the club finally won me over and I went and retrieved her. So much for Mommy time!!
I'll edit this first post to add more of our TR soon!
I'm over joyed reading this! thank you for posting!
Thanks for taking the time and sharing.
