Like many others, I planned and planned our trip for over a year. But even the best-laid plans...
FRIDAY: Flew into MCO; toiletry bag DOES NOT ARRIVE with other 7 bags; mild panic sets in; airport Hyatt has NO CRIBS AVAILABLE despite request made months ago; we make do with pushing bed against wall and getting rollaway
SATURDAY AM: Father-in-law shows up at the door at 7 am with our toiletry bag, which he has just retrieved from United. Not sure where that bag had been all night or where it had gone, and United wasnt telling either! Anyway, two crises passed and we were on our way; Baby starts looking bad cold symptoms, getting cranky;
SATURDAY NOON: Board and go to our room to drop our stuff (three kids and its already a bit of a mess); go to Topsiders to eat. Go back to the room where there is a note on our door from the folks two doors down they had a misunderstanding with their reservations and would we be willing to change rooms with them so they could have connecting room with their family? Yikes wed like to be with our family, too, who is 6 doors away. Weve already drilled the stateroom numbers into our boys heads for the last week so theyd never get lost, etc. But, since we figured we dodged a bullet with the found toiletry bag, and wanting to be nice and wanting to avoid bad karma, we agreed to switch. They gave us a bottle of champagne for our trouble.
SUNDAY AM: Baby getting worse but sleeps on grandma on deck 9 by the Goofy pool while the kids play.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Go to Morty show, where Baby acts just fine and is having fun clapping etc. until 10 minutes into it proceeds to projectile vomit all over Mommy, just missing nice friendly man in front of us.
MONDAY AM: Go to health center where Baby is diagnosed with ear infection, and together the doctor and I decide he vomited from the cold, drainage, etc. Three days in, I am not having fun yet.
MONDAY NIGHT: Older boys go to show with grandma and grandpa. Son #2 wakes up at 3:30 am vomiting and continues to vomit until morning, followed by diarrhea.
TUESDAY AM: Son #1 vomits and has diarrhea. Woohoo were cruising! We spend the day in the room while everyone sleeps it off.
WEDNESDAY AM: Take #1 and #2 to health center as requested by documents upon embarking. Mandatory 48 HOUR ISOLATION, but doctor recognizes we have already served 24 hours of our sentence. Boys are obviously feeling fine. Guest Services send VCR to our room, with 3-page list of videos at our disposal upon request. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are FREE during our isolation (ok this could work). They provide an empty stateroom with two kids programming counselors for 5 HOURS, during which time my two older boys AND THE COUNSELORS jump on the bed, pull off the covers, play games, watch videos and learn how to make entire toilet paper rolls stream down the all-powerful toilets with a single flush. They order room service, Shirley temples, etc. and have an absolute blast while grandma and grandpa take care of Baby and Mommy and Daddy get off the ship for the first time in Cozumel. Guest services brings me a menu from dinner and my server brings it up to the room during dinner time.
THURSDAY: the boys enjoy a relaxing day at sea but cannot eat much and we dont send them to kids clubs or let them swim because they are still recovering and we certainly dont want to share this misery with anyone else. Baby continues to have diarrhea and we used all 68 diapers up (do the math: 68 diapers / 6 days) and had to buy diapers in Cozumel. Mommy doesnt leave the room except to eat quick breakfast and lunch.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Daddy and Mommy finally sneak away to Palo for a quite dinner (first night I have been to dinner in three days). One hour later Mommy gets the flu and proceeds to vomit for hours. Son #1 inexplicably has a relapse in grandma and grandpas room and does the same.
FRIDAY: Its Castaway Cay day! We were counting on this to salvage at least one day of our vacation, and Son #1 has been talking about going back to Castaway Cay for months. We wait until noon to get off the ship and enjoy four hours of bliss on the beach. Dont eat, dont touch anybody. We all feel fine and baby sleeps the whole time on the beach. On the way back to the ship, Son #1 complains his leg hurts. I suspect what it is, and we stop by first aid on the way back where the nurse confirms SEA LICE this poor kid cannot catch a break. A slather of hydrocortisone cream fixes him right up.
The weather was incredible, full and nearly-full moons in the clear sky every night. I didnt make even one show, not one sailaway party, sat in a lounge chair by myself for exactly 1.5 hours all week and had dinner in a restaurant only four nights. Travel insurance kicked in, at least, which we needed to heavily tip our poor stateroom host, who had to change our sheets three times. It was a bit of a bummer (okay thats what I say now, but during the cruise you can imagine my disappointment!). At least were all together and home safely. We need a vacation from our vacation.
The good news is: Disney really took care of us. They didnt have to provide us with anything while we were sick but they did, and that made it a bit easier to deal with.
FRIDAY: Flew into MCO; toiletry bag DOES NOT ARRIVE with other 7 bags; mild panic sets in; airport Hyatt has NO CRIBS AVAILABLE despite request made months ago; we make do with pushing bed against wall and getting rollaway
SATURDAY AM: Father-in-law shows up at the door at 7 am with our toiletry bag, which he has just retrieved from United. Not sure where that bag had been all night or where it had gone, and United wasnt telling either! Anyway, two crises passed and we were on our way; Baby starts looking bad cold symptoms, getting cranky;
SATURDAY NOON: Board and go to our room to drop our stuff (three kids and its already a bit of a mess); go to Topsiders to eat. Go back to the room where there is a note on our door from the folks two doors down they had a misunderstanding with their reservations and would we be willing to change rooms with them so they could have connecting room with their family? Yikes wed like to be with our family, too, who is 6 doors away. Weve already drilled the stateroom numbers into our boys heads for the last week so theyd never get lost, etc. But, since we figured we dodged a bullet with the found toiletry bag, and wanting to be nice and wanting to avoid bad karma, we agreed to switch. They gave us a bottle of champagne for our trouble.
SUNDAY AM: Baby getting worse but sleeps on grandma on deck 9 by the Goofy pool while the kids play.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Go to Morty show, where Baby acts just fine and is having fun clapping etc. until 10 minutes into it proceeds to projectile vomit all over Mommy, just missing nice friendly man in front of us.
MONDAY AM: Go to health center where Baby is diagnosed with ear infection, and together the doctor and I decide he vomited from the cold, drainage, etc. Three days in, I am not having fun yet.
MONDAY NIGHT: Older boys go to show with grandma and grandpa. Son #2 wakes up at 3:30 am vomiting and continues to vomit until morning, followed by diarrhea.
TUESDAY AM: Son #1 vomits and has diarrhea. Woohoo were cruising! We spend the day in the room while everyone sleeps it off.
WEDNESDAY AM: Take #1 and #2 to health center as requested by documents upon embarking. Mandatory 48 HOUR ISOLATION, but doctor recognizes we have already served 24 hours of our sentence. Boys are obviously feeling fine. Guest Services send VCR to our room, with 3-page list of videos at our disposal upon request. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are FREE during our isolation (ok this could work). They provide an empty stateroom with two kids programming counselors for 5 HOURS, during which time my two older boys AND THE COUNSELORS jump on the bed, pull off the covers, play games, watch videos and learn how to make entire toilet paper rolls stream down the all-powerful toilets with a single flush. They order room service, Shirley temples, etc. and have an absolute blast while grandma and grandpa take care of Baby and Mommy and Daddy get off the ship for the first time in Cozumel. Guest services brings me a menu from dinner and my server brings it up to the room during dinner time.
THURSDAY: the boys enjoy a relaxing day at sea but cannot eat much and we dont send them to kids clubs or let them swim because they are still recovering and we certainly dont want to share this misery with anyone else. Baby continues to have diarrhea and we used all 68 diapers up (do the math: 68 diapers / 6 days) and had to buy diapers in Cozumel. Mommy doesnt leave the room except to eat quick breakfast and lunch.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Daddy and Mommy finally sneak away to Palo for a quite dinner (first night I have been to dinner in three days). One hour later Mommy gets the flu and proceeds to vomit for hours. Son #1 inexplicably has a relapse in grandma and grandpas room and does the same.
FRIDAY: Its Castaway Cay day! We were counting on this to salvage at least one day of our vacation, and Son #1 has been talking about going back to Castaway Cay for months. We wait until noon to get off the ship and enjoy four hours of bliss on the beach. Dont eat, dont touch anybody. We all feel fine and baby sleeps the whole time on the beach. On the way back to the ship, Son #1 complains his leg hurts. I suspect what it is, and we stop by first aid on the way back where the nurse confirms SEA LICE this poor kid cannot catch a break. A slather of hydrocortisone cream fixes him right up.
The weather was incredible, full and nearly-full moons in the clear sky every night. I didnt make even one show, not one sailaway party, sat in a lounge chair by myself for exactly 1.5 hours all week and had dinner in a restaurant only four nights. Travel insurance kicked in, at least, which we needed to heavily tip our poor stateroom host, who had to change our sheets three times. It was a bit of a bummer (okay thats what I say now, but during the cruise you can imagine my disappointment!). At least were all together and home safely. We need a vacation from our vacation.
The good news is: Disney really took care of us. They didnt have to provide us with anything while we were sick but they did, and that made it a bit easier to deal with.
