July 1st, 2006 070106 07/01/06 20060701 07012006

[Deb in IA]

I'm back at work too. I can sympathize with the 1000 e-mails . . . I get the Viagra ones too, and the ones from Nigeria, offering me 10 million US dollars .


I must have seen you guys on the ship, but we need a better way of identifying ourselves!!

It was an awesome cruise, wasn't it? 4th of July, Prem-EAR of Dead Man's Chest, seeing the Flying Dutchman . . . I just wish the shuttle launch wasn't scrubbed.

Our trip got off to a scary start. We get up at 3:30, out the door at 5 am for a 7:15 am flight on Friday. We get to the airport, get checked in, go to the gate . . . uh oh, no plane. After 5 minutes, they announce that the Delta flight to Orlando . . . IS CANCELLED!!!! Please report to the ticket counter for re-booking!!!!

So we get to the counter, and find out that the flight attendant GOT FOOD POISONING the night before, and is too sick to fly today!! ARRRRGGGHHH!!! We try to tell them that it was OK, and we could get our own drinks, but no, we can't go. So some people are rebooked to the next day, some are put on buses to Chicago and Cedar Rapids to catch other flights. We tell them we HAVE to be there that night, as our cruise leaves the next morning, so they rebook us on an AirTran flight . . . but it doesn't leave until 4:30 pm!! Since it is still 7 am, we decide to go back home, take a nap, finish last minute laundry and dishes, etc. then go back to the airport that afternoon. Worked out OK, except my plans to go to SeaWorld the day before the cruise is now shot . . . oh well, I have a year to use our vouchers. So we get into MCO at 8:15 pm, instead of 11 am. We still get our car and drive over to Radisson, get in by 10 pm, order some pizza, and crash.

Thankfully, the rest of the cruise was great!!! We had some great sailing weather . . . no storms at all to ride out!! Great to meet some of you, and sorry to have missed the others!!!

DS Mark is already asking to go on another cruise!! He stayed at the Oceaneer Lab until it closed at midnight on Friday night. As he and I walked out, he said wistfully, "I'm gonna miss this place . . . "

 

[ldb1030]

DS Mark is already asking to go on another cruise!! He stayed at the Oceaneer Lab until it closed at midnight on Friday night. As he and I walked out, he said wistfully, "I'm gonna miss this place . . . "

I think I'm going to go cry now!!

 

[LongIslandMouse]

Hi Laura,
I walked by your room many times...I remembered your "mousecateer" on your door! I was in 7634 at the aft end of the hall. We stayed briefly for the sailaway party, but we were so tired (from the extended magic hours the night before at MK) that we went back to the room early. I met a few dis-ers while we were there, but never was able to find anyone again.
I loved the pictures from Betsy...I was waving to her from our balcony in our room! I can see us in the picture!! Thank you!
We had a blast on our first cruise...I rarely saw my daughter and I was able to relax. Spent a lot of time in the spa and in Diversions (beer tasting, margharita/ tequilla tasting ), I read two books and got a great tan.
Hope you all had a great time together
Karen

Karen, that is too funny. Did ya hear any yelling inside, there were a couple of times both dh and I were yelling.... about what I don't remember. Can you believe somebody stole one of our Mickey magnets with Jack's name from our door!! Friggen looser can't make your own magnet! We didn't make the sail away party because the little ones were tired and just wanted to go swimming when we got on board. We went to the spa too for a couples massage and went to both auctions thereby missing the margauerita tasting, boo hoo. But, we did win a couple of beautiful Alexander Chen paintings and had free martinis, woo hoo!

I didn't see any door magnets in my travels other than the one they gave for Disney Vacation Club which I think was a life preserver magnet. I must go catch up on my sleep before I get back to the daily grind

 

[happyatdisney]

Settling back into the grind here too. Amazing how quickly a wonderful vacation can go! We ended up at MGM on Saturday, since we had an evening flight, and had a great day to end our vacation. I was amazed how it was quite comfortable at the park, considering it was July in FL. DH never broke a sweat. The weather the entire week was really perfect, wasn't it? I'm with whoever said the only thing to make it more perfect would have been to see the launch.........

Mr. Shiny, we finally got a Pirates premier pin at MGM on Saturday: not what I was hoping for with seeing the PremEar on the ship, but oh well, at least we got one.

So now, we're home, the laundry is all done, got the dog, picked up the mail (YIKES, a LOT of bills), and went back to see how our store made out. Turns out they didn't even miss me! (Does that mean I can take another vacation in the near future??)

DH, seeing the long faces and continual sighing around here, mentioned something about "planning our next vacation" as a way to cheer me up. It worked. Looking at a WDW trip in the next 6 months hopefully. Cruising for us will likely be 2008 or later, depending on what Melissa wants to do when she graduates in 2 years.

It was great meeting those of you I did meet! It was such fun to put faces to all of your posts!!

 

[MrShiny]

Mr. Shiny, we finally got a Pirates premier pin at MGM on Saturday: not what I was hoping for with seeing the PremEar on the ship, but oh well, at least we got one.

It bugs me that the Wonder (which left 7/6) did get the DCL PotC pin (Davy Jones), and I bet the 7/8 Magic did too! Guess it wasn't ready by 7/1!

 

[ldb1030]

Settling back into the grind here too. Amazing how quickly a wonderful vacation can go! We ended up at MGM on Saturday, since we had an evening flight, and had a great day to end our vacation. I was amazed how it was quite comfortable at the park, considering it was July in FL. DH never broke a sweat. The weather the entire week was really perfect, wasn't it? I'm with whoever said the only thing to make it more perfect would have been to see the launch.........

Mr. Shiny, we finally got a Pirates premier pin at MGM on Saturday: not what I was hoping for with seeing the PremEar on the ship, but oh well, at least we got one.

So now, we're home, the laundry is all done, got the dog, picked up the mail (YIKES, a LOT of bills), and went back to see how our store made out. Turns out they didn't even miss me! (Does that mean I can take another vacation in the near future??)

DH, seeing the long faces and continual sighing around here, mentioned something about "planning our next vacation" as a way to cheer me up. It worked. Looking at a WDW trip in the next 6 months hopefully. Cruising for us will likely be 2008 or later, depending on what Melissa wants to do when she graduates in 2 years.

It was great meeting those of you I did meet! It was such fun to put faces to all of your posts!!

Hi Nancy!!
It was so great talking to you on our stingray trip! That day was so much fun but I felt like we hardly had any time in Grand Cayman! Would love to go back!
We rebooked on board but like you, it'll be 2008 or later before we can save enough money! Alexa will graduate in 2009 and we told her we'd take her for graduation if she wanted!

 

[happyatdisney]

Hi Lisa!! It was great chatting on the stingray trip! I hope poor Alexa has recovered. I felt so bad for her. Grand Cayman was indeed just beautiful, and like you, I did not have nearly enough time there. I would love to go back some day, and just spend a week there....maybe in one of those homes we saw as we left on the stingray excursion!!

 

[Husker4040]

Hi Lisa!! It was great chatting on the stingray trip! I hope poor Alexa has recovered. I felt so bad for her. Grand Cayman was indeed just beautiful, and like you, I did not have nearly enough time there. I would love to go back some day, and just spend a week there....maybe in one of those homes we saw as we left on the stingray excursion!!

We loved GC also! I would have given up Key West to spend more time in the other ports.

Is everyone back into their daily routines? I am here, but it's very hard! I forgot how hard it was to get up for work at 4:45! By the time I walk after work and finally get home, I'm exhausted and still have many hours of stuff to do. Going back to the gym on Monday just about killed me! I had missed 3 classes (1 1/2 weeks) and I have never missed that many in 1 1/2 years. I was just recovering from Monday, and realized today is Wednesday and it's time to do it all over again.

Have a great week everyone!



Patti

 

[LongIslandMouse]

Did any of you do the Native Way excursion in GC? We went out on a 32 ft. boat with about 10 people and it was really nice. The sting rays were so cool! Then we went to rum point beach and had lunch and played in the water there, it was a beautiful beach. I think it cost us $260 for 6 people. I don't know how much the Disney excursion was because we were so late in booking, anyone know?

 

[Husker4040]

Did any of you do the Native Way excursion in GC? We went out on a 32 ft. boat with about 10 people and it was really nice. The sting rays were so cool! Then we went to rum point beach and had lunch and played in the water there, it was a beautiful beach. I think it cost us $260 for 6 people. I don't know how much the Disney excursion was because we were so late in booking, anyone know?

Sorry, don't know. We did Stingrays with Deb in CT. It was a BLAST! I was the only one brave enough in my family to feed one. Normally I am really weird about stuff like that, but since they wouldn't do it, I figured I had better. However, the centipede I saw in my bathroom at 4:45 this morning was another story! EEEWWWW! I had seen him before, but just as he was heading under the pantry door. He had a fatal altercation with a trash can this morning. You didn't think I was going to touch it, did you?



Patti

 

[MrShiny]

Did you do G08, the Stingray City snorkel? Morning or afternoon? We were on the morning one.

 

[DVC98]

Hi Laura,
I walked by your room many times...I remembered your "mousecateer" on your door! I was in 7634 at the aft end of the hall. We stayed briefly for the sailaway party, but we were so tired (from the extended magic hours the night before at MK) that we went back to the room early. I met a few dis-ers while we were there, but never was able to find anyone again.
I loved the pictures from Betsy...I was waving to her from our balcony in our room! I can see us in the picture!! Thank you!
We had a blast on our first cruise...I rarely saw my daughter and I was able to relax. Spent a lot of time in the spa and in Diversions (beer tasting, margharita/ tequilla tasting ), I read two books and got a great tan.
Hope you all had a great time together
Karen

(2nd try - computer issues)
Karen - I walked up to a woman and her daughter at dinner after seeing them sitting by themselves for 2 nights - and asked if she was from Mass. She said "yes" - I asked if she was from Reading and the DIS Boards (told her I was from Norton) - she said she was from Manchester (MA) and gave me a strange look about the "DIS" boards!! Anyway, just a coincidence she was also from Mass. - sorry we didn't get to meet.

Sheila

 

[DVC98]

Hi!

We're back home - went to WDW for 3 days after the cruise, would go before the cruise next time - the cruise spoils you so much with service, cleanliness, etc that when you go to WDW and don't get that personalized attention, it's tough

We had a great time on the cruise, probably the best one yet. We were also interested in doing the Christmas 2007 cruise but haven't decided yet. Typically we spend Christmas at WDW or HH so we'll be giving the cruise some thought.

The excursions we did; stingrays (GC) & jeep tour (Coz.) were a lot of fun - and I agree, I'd like to be able to spend more time on GC. Meeting those I did made for a fun time - sorry to have missed others.

Sheila

 

[MrShiny]

So was anyone else on the morning stingray city excursion with me? Maybe I have your picture!

 

[Husker4040]

Did you do G08, the Stingray City snorkel? Morning or afternoon? We were on the morning one.

We did Stingray City Snorkel in the morning. We had dh and I, my 2 teenage daughters, Deb from CT and her 2 daughters, my brother, his wife and 6 year old son. Mine was the girl in the water crying as soon as the stingrays started coming around. She is my daredevil normally.



Patti

 

[Husker4040]

Hi!

We're back home - went to WDW for 3 days after the cruise, would go before the cruise next time - the cruise spoils you so much with service, cleanliness, etc that when you go to WDW and don't get that personalized attention, it's tough

We had a great time on the cruise, probably the best one yet. We were also interested in doing the Christmas 2007 cruise but haven't decided yet. Typically we spend Christmas at WDW or HH so we'll be giving the cruise some thought.

The excursions we did; stingrays (GC) & jeep tour (Coz.) were a lot of fun - and I agree, I'd like to be able to spend more time on GC. Meeting those I did made for a fun time - sorry to have missed others.

Sheila

We did the jeep tour also! I loved it!! Were you in the group with the woman that said she hated the off road part? She is definately from the city and would never survive a REAL off road experience!! We thought it was fun, even though it was nothing more than a dirt road. My dh was aiming for all of the "water hazards", holes and swerving over so Sara could hit the baby trees as we went by. It was pretty tame compared to what we are used to.

Ok, no one else has brought it up, so I have to ask. Did anyone else see those 3 guys that thought they were the Backstreet Boys? We saw them EVERYWHERE!




Patti

 

[Deb in IA]

Hi Shelia!!! It was great to meet you and your DH and Brianna and Kelsie.

Mr Shiny and Patti, we were in the 7:30 Stingray City Snorkel tour at Grand Cayman!!! The Don Foster tour, right?

We were the family of 4 with the Asian mom (me, my parents immigrated from China), the Caucasian dad (my DH), the 15 year old daughter who, when she first got into the water, shuffled around, saying, "Oooooh, scary, scary, scary . . . ", and the 11 year old boy who just had a blast!!

Post your pics and I'll see if I can find us!!!

 

[DVC98]

So was anyone else on the morning stingray city excursion with me? Maybe I have your picture!

We were in the morning - I think there were a couple groups - we left @ 9:15ish, I know there were several different buses. The boat we were on had a couple of younger guys - they were very nice, very gentle w/the stingrays...I remember a little blonde girl next to us that was snorkeling - she was talking w/us on the boat ride.

Sheila

 

[DVC98]

We did the jeep tour also! I loved it!! Were you in the group with the woman that said she hated the off road part? She is definately from the city and would never survive a REAL off road experience!! We thought it was fun, even though it was nothing more than a dirt road. My dh was aiming for all of the "water hazards", holes and swerving over so Sara could hit the baby trees as we went by. It was pretty tame compared to what we are used to.

Ok, no one else has brought it up, so I have to ask. Did anyone else see those 3 guys that thought they were the Backstreet Boys? We saw them EVERYWHERE!




Patti

Patti - I think we were on the same tour - that woman's husband almost came into the back of us - he had to swerve on the off-road part to avoid hitting us. I drove after the off-road, in those heavy downpours, it was very tough to see with all that rain coming in.....the tops didn't go up until we were almost back at the beginning! But it was a lot of fun, we had a great time. Were those the boys w/the woman who didn't like the off-roading?

I had thought it would've been a great idea to sell (or give) the passengers t-shirts that said something recognizing we were the first to see the POTC movie - we saw so many shirts at WDW and thought how great it would've been to have had a special one just for us cruisers as a souvenir!

Sheila

 

[MrShiny]

I hope you were not "innappropriate swimsuit couple" (they had boys, so I think I'm safe!)

My D7 loved it, but my DD11 (skinny, glasses, blue & green suit) watched from the boat after a minute.

Here are some group shots of the boat (we aren't in these, but maybe you are!) I aso have a coule of pics of them explaining the rays with other folks in them.