One of the great things about cruising are the wealth of activities that one can participate in. You can literally do as much or as little as you want to do. I like to just pretty much go with the flow and you will rarely see me sitting still on ship. That being said, I feel I pay enough for my cruise that I don't pay to do much on ship. We usually do one excursion per cruise and limit our onboard spending as well.
These are the things we did on previous cruises
2004 RCCL Cruise
Grand Cayman--7 Mile Beach Break at Beach Club Colony and Hard Rock Cafe
Cozumel--Dune Buggy Tour
2006 DCL
Key West--Just walked around
Grand Cayman--7 Mile Beach--Sea Grape/Courtyard by Marriott
Cozumel--Paradise Beach--Dad and Tracy rented a jetski
Castaway Cay--Parasailing for Elaine and I, Dad and Tracy
For this cruise our cruise plans have been evolving over the past few months. Our itinerary is an Eastern Caribbean itinerary and we are excited about going there. I have not yet cruised to the Eastern, so I am getting jazzed up about it.
These are our plans so far.
St Maarten--Beach time at Great Bay Beach--possible jetski rental
St. Thomas--We will be going on the DCL St. John/Trunk Bay Snorkel and Beach Break
Castaway Cay--We will be just hanging out on the family beach. I will probably do snorkeling though. I want to get out to the 20K Leagues Submarine!
I have gone back and forth on the St. John shore excursion as to whether or not to keep it or just cancel. It is rather pricey for the 4 of us, but I figure if we stayed in St. Thomas we would spend probably half of what we are spending to get a tour to what has been called one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
On previous cruises we never ate at any of the alternate restaurants either. Well our first cruise didn't have any, but on our last DCL cruise we didn't try Palo. I think we were nervous about the kids staying in the kids clubs at their young age. I must confess to always being curious about how "good" the food really is at Palo.
This time, my sister and I started our lobbying process. We thought that we should try for brunch to test it out. My dad didn't want to miss a night in the dining rotation so that works for us. All of the parties that would be attending were in agreement and we decided to try to book a sea day brunch.
The day/minute our booking window opened up for CC club members was a busy time. I had a brief hiccup with my connection and was able to get on a few minutes after midnight eastern time. Literally our entire cruise meet thread was on booking excursions, spa treatments, and Palo reservations.
I got on and was able to score a Monday (sea day) Palo bruch at 11 am. I was excited about that. I am not much of a foodie, but I am looking forward to some of those gourmet pizzas among other things.
Another thing...My sister joined the camera frenzy and just purchased a Canon D10. From the sounds of it, it is a hard shell, waterproof point and shoot camera. She is hoping to get some great underwater shots.
Vacation Summary
10/22
3:15 PM--Pick up kids at School Dismissal
6:00 PM--Arrive in Maine at parents house
7:00 PM--Tracy and Sam to the mall for pedicures
10/23 Sleep In!!!!
11:30--Eat Early lunch
12:30--Head to Portland International Jetport
1:55--Wheels Up to Florida
5:07--Wheels down at Orlando International
5:30--Pick up Car at Budget
6:15--Arrive at Radisson--Check In
6:30--Dinner at Grills
7:30--DIS Meet at Radisson Pool
10/24
8:00 or so--Get Breakfast somewhere
9:30--Checkout and load cars
10:00--Go to the Port and hopefully score a #2 boarding card
11:45--Board the Magic
12:00--Eat at Topsiders or Parrot Cay
Wander the ship
1:30--Go to the room, check it out
3:00--DIS meet by the Mickey Pool
4:00--Muster Drill
5:00--Sailaway
5:45--Dinner with familly and friends
8;00--Welcome aboard show
Late--Possibly Rockin Bar D
10/25
Veg on the ship all day!!!
10/26
11:00--Palo Bruch
10/27
St. Maarten Beach Day
10/28
St. John Trunk Bay
10/29
veg out
DIS group photo
10/30
Castaway Cay!!!
10/31
9:00--Hop on
Avis shuttle and pick up a van
10:00--Arrive at Port Orleans Riverside, check in, look around
11:00--Head to DTD, check in at Rainforest Cafe
12:30--Go back to Port Orleans Riverside, relax, swim, maybe rent a boat
3:30--Hop a bus to MK for
MNSSHP
11/1
12:00AM--Take bus back to Port Orleans
7:30 or so--Wake Up
8:30--Head to MCO
9:00--Return van to Avis
10:30--Board AirTran flight 799 for Home
11:00--Wheels up for Maine
2:15--Wheels down at PWM
4:00--Head Back to Connecticut
7:00--Arrive Home in Connecticut
We're flying out the day after Turkey Day...and we're staying at the Radisson by the Port. My sis (she lives in VT, but we both grew up in CT) is also cruizin' with her family too. We juuuuuuuuuust booked this past week, so we're new to our cruise meet, but we're getting so pumped up by reading all the DIS stuff. We're also going to Disney World, and staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (plus the 'rents) Jan26-February 3rd...so we basically eat, sleep, and breath DISNEY as we plan both trips! Wooooot!
Packing has recommenced!!!
how long does it take to pack 7 red dresses?
