July 18 Tortola cruise part 3

[BomaGreg]

Oh, man... Residual cruise blues. I automatically went for my keycard sitting next to my wallet and keys. Who needs a wallet when you can charge everything to your room!?!?! If only the rest of the world worked that way...

 

[BomaGreg]

Hey all, just back from NYC. We drove up on Sunday to meet MrsG and some DISers from the Med cruise including Helen and Dave from the UK. It was so cool to see them after two years. Some of the group are sailing in August on the Magic, so it was fun to share tips and highlights from last week's cruise. I will definitely write a trip report hopefully with pics when I wake up.

We ate at Tavern on the Green in Central Park and saw a bway show together. Very cool!

Is anyone else as exhausted as I am today?

Welcome back (home)! Looking forward to the pics!

 

[disnutz]

Ugh first day back at work today. Blah!

Greg - can't wait to read your report. Have to thank you as well - I got my grab bag by knowing you were after the pirate!!

Got all the laundry done and started sorting all the scrapbook stuff and some FE gifts that the kids hadn;t already pillaged.

Kelly - sorry to hear Noah got sick. Good thing you didn;t do the ferry to Virgin Gorda - Rachel was really sick on the way over (and she doesn;t suaully get sick at all). And coming back, Shirley, her kids, and we were thining we were going overboard. I was looking for life jackets.

We have definately decided we are fine with no veranda but need to be more middhip next time. Too much rocking up front!

I also forgot to say had a great brunch with our Thursday group! You guys are too fun! (Even though Ramule's wife admitted she thought we were a littel crazy!)

 

[BomaGreg]

Ugh first day back at work today. Blah!

Greg - can't wait to read your report. Have to thank you as well - I got my grab bag by knowing you were after the pirate!!

Got all the laundry done and started sorting all the scrapbook stuff and some FE gifts that the kids hadn;t already pillaged.

Kelly - sorry to hear Noah got sick. Good thing you didn;t do the ferry to Virgin Gorda - Rachel was really sick on the way over (and she doesn;t suaully get sick at all). And coming back, Shirley, her kids, and we were thining we were going overboard. I was looking for life jackets.

We have definately decided we are fine with no veranda but need to be more middhip next time. Too much rocking up front!

I also forgot to say had a great brunch with our Thursday group! You guys are too fun! (Even though Ramule's wife admitted she thought we were a littel crazy!)

Ah hah! I wondered who won that question! Did you get an awesome grab bag?!?!

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Here is another interesting fellow from the same area:

What kind of wp camera did you use for these -- they are great!

 

[Dizzyworld]

Hey all, just back from NYC. We drove up on Sunday to meet MrsG and some DISers from the Med cruise including Helen and Dave from the UK. It was so cool to see them after two years. Some of the group are sailing in August on the Magic, so it was fun to share tips and highlights from last week's cruise. I will definitely write a trip report hopefully with pics when I wake up.

We ate at Tavern on the Green in Central Park and saw a bway show together. Very cool!

Is anyone else as exhausted as I am today?

I am impressed that you had the energy to do all that so soon.

I am so tired and this cold that came home with me isn't helping.

 

[MickeyMo'sBo]

What kind of wp camera did you use for these -- they are great!

Thanks! I had just bought a Canon G10 the day before the cruise in Florida. In St Thomas I found the Canon underwater housing for it so I only had it to play with on CC. I will post more once I get them cleaned up -- I still have a ways to go technique wise especially while trying to stay down when snorkelling.

 

[MickeyMo'sBo]

Found out that this dude is a Shortnosed Batfish and although he is ugly he is harmless.

Here is another interesting fellow from the same area:

 

[BomaGreg]

Thanks! I had just bought a Canon G10 the day before the cruise in Florida. In St Thomas I found the Canon underwater housing for it so I only had it to play with on CC. I will post more once I get them cleaned up -- I still have a ways to go technique wise especially while trying to stay down when snorkelling.

I think I mentioned elsewhere that for the last cruise I was on I had an underwater Canon, and had a blast using it. It ended up breaking right before the Costco return policy was up, and I ended up trading up to an SLR (Canon XSi). I'm really glad I did, but I really miss the ability to take my camera everywhere and anywhere. I have some great underwater shots, movies, and even a bunch of great shots and movies from the waterparks. I'll see if I can dig some up in short order if you're interested in seeing them. Nothing's cooler than getting a virtual trip down the water slides at Typhoon Lagoon.

Your camera shots turned out fantastic!!!

 

[jlawall]

I am impressed that you had the energy to do all that so soon.

I am so tired and this cold that came home with me isn't helping.

Well, I agree, the fatigue has definitely hit. I tried to do most of the laundry. The good thing was it was hard to be sad when we got off the ship b/c we made these plans a day later!

Now, I have to face all the doctor appointments before I go back to school late next month........

 

[Dizzyworld]

For those of you that went to the Grand Gathering at EPCOT, could you post details? I forgot to ask about it while on board. Would you do it again?

 

[AZDLDAD]

We had a blast and thanks for all of the unique FE gifts. We were able to meet a few families on the FE list last week.

We had some problems with FL Tours picking us up Saturday. We had to wait 2.5 hours for them to return to pick us up. For a Disney recommended company this is unacceptable. We communicated when making reservations and the week prior that we wanted a 10am pickup and debarkation morning we told them we would be ready early at 9:15a after eating and customs. Our driver left the port and drove all the way back to WDW then back to airport and then came to get us. We were able to negotiate a $90 refund from them. We did have to call them at least a dozen times Saturday to get a pickup and secure the refund.

Who do you experienced cruzers recommend next time? As we were not flying out, thankfully, on Saturday. Thanks.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Thanks! I had just bought a Canon G10 the day before the cruise in Florida. In St Thomas I found the Canon underwater housing for it so I only had it to play with on CC. I will post more once I get them cleaned up -- I still have a ways to go technique wise especially while trying to stay down when snorkelling.

Well, the ones you posted are great -- great color and clarity!

 

[AZDLDAD]

Team Fisher? I think took a hit at the terminal customs building, somehow taking two of their bags and loading them into a transfer company town car and driving off. I hope they or someone has an update on this unfortunate event. We are praying that the company or persons involved did/will contact them.

 

[lwilliam]

Mrs. Team Fisher will report on this, but I can tell you, luggage was returned and received!

It happens everywhere. My DH had to fly to Dallas, TX on Sunday afternoon (we returned home Saturday night), and as of now, Monday, 5:00, noone on that flight has their luggage. How can an airline lose a whole plane of luggage?! Let's just say, he is NOT ready to fly American Airlines, not only for the luggage situation, other issues too in Dallas (no representative for 45 minutes once they landed in Dallas to open the plane doors!).

Team Fisher had a horrible day returning home.....Jenny, wanna report?

We have a wonderful driver Team Fisher introduced us to....maybe she can PM you the phone number. We use him alot, as does jlawall, when we are in Disney.

 

[Dizzyworld]

We had a blast and thanks for all of the unique FE gifts. We were able to meet a few families on the FE list last week.

We had some problems with FL Tours picking us up Saturday. We had to wait 2.5 hours for them to return to pick us up. For a Disney recommended company this is unacceptable. We communicated when making reservations and the week prior that we wanted a 10am pickup and debarkation morning we told them we would be ready early at 9:15a after eating and customs. Our driver left the port and drove all the way back to WDW then back to airport and then came to get us. We were able to negotiate a $90 refund from them. We did have to call them at least a dozen times Saturday to get a pickup and secure the refund.

Who do you experienced cruzers recommend next time? As we were not flying out, thankfully, on Saturday. Thanks.

When we made reservations with FL Tours, we were told the earliest they would pick up from the resorts was 10 AM and the latest they would pick up at the ship was 8:30 AM. (We used the DCL bus for the return.)
BTW, FL Tours is a DU sponsor. I'm surprised that Disney would recommend anyone outside their world.
Sorry you had problems. Hope you had a great cruise.

 

[AdventureBlondeBoy]

Hey just wanted to say Hope everyone made it home safe and sound. I really want to thank everyone for the fun FE gifts! My kids had a ball with them! That really was alot of fun. And GeorgiaJamie....Wow! Thankyou notes! I am really impressed. Take care everyone. Hope to See you real soon!

 

[MrsG]

First of all, thank you to everyone for making this such a wonderful cruise!!! It was the first time that we participated in the FE's and we were overwhelmed with your generosity and creativity!!!! Best of all, we enjoyed meeting everyone. What a great group!!!!!!

For those of you that went to the Grand Gathering at EPCOT, could you post details? I forgot to ask about it while on board. Would you do it again?

I thought the GG was better than we ever expected. The food was buffet and was very good, there was also a show during dinner (comedy, etc.) and then Minnie and Goofy joined us for pics. Hopefully someone will post the GG pic as we didn't have photopass. Then, they took us to a roped off section right by the opening of the international gateway where dessert awaited us. We got to see illuminations up close and personal!! Well worth it.

Special thanks to Melissa for organizing this. And I also have to say that Lissa, Matt, and their mom Nancy were some of the nicest people we met. We enjoyed spending time with them.

We had a blast and thanks for all of the unique FE gifts. We were able to meet a few families on the FE list last week.

We had some problems with FL Tours picking us up Saturday. We had to wait 2.5 hours for them to return to pick us up. For a Disney recommended company this is unacceptable. We communicated when making reservations and the week prior that we wanted a 10am pickup and debarkation morning we told them we would be ready early at 9:15a after eating and customs. Our driver left the port and drove all the way back to WDW then back to airport and then came to get us. We were able to negotiate a $90 refund from them. We did have to call them at least a dozen times Saturday to get a pickup and secure the refund.

Who do you experienced cruzers recommend next time? As we were not flying out, thankfully, on Saturday. Thanks.

We always us ME. We find it is worth the money. We didn't have to wait long for them to fill the bus and it is a comfortable ride.

We hope to post our pics soon. Yesterday was spent with JoAnn#1 and her DH, plus friends from our Med cruise. We had a wonderful day but haven't had much of a chance to do anything but laundry and pick up our cat from DD's.

Look forward to reading all trip reports.

And congrats on the Add-on at BLT, Lucy!!!!!!

 

[WVMD]

Hi all - finally made it home last night at 2am. Flight delay out of Charlotte.... It was great meeting everybody and the FE gifts were awesome... there are some talented and creative people in this group.

We used FLTours and had no issues at all... I'm sorry for those that did...

I'll try and post links to pictures later.

Virgil

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

We had a blast and thanks for all of the unique FE gifts. We were able to meet a few families on the FE list last week.

We had some problems with FL Tours picking us up Saturday. We had to wait 2.5 hours for them to return to pick us up. For a Disney recommended company this is unacceptable. We communicated when making reservations and the week prior that we wanted a 10am pickup and debarkation morning we told them we would be ready early at 9:15a after eating and customs. Our driver left the port and drove all the way back to WDW then back to airport and then came to get us. We were able to negotiate a $90 refund from them. We did have to call them at least a dozen times Saturday to get a pickup and secure the refund.

Who do you experienced cruzers recommend next time? As we were not flying out, thankfully, on Saturday. Thanks.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

I think FL Tours is a DIS-Board approved company and not a Disney recommended one, though.