KC's Western POST trip report 4/19-4/26

[Hypermommy]

Hypermommy, will you be my new best friend? <snip> ... couldn't get any better and you said you were looking for a gown in forest green I was sure I had died and gone to heaven. That's my favorite color! Purplepeg turned to me and said, "see, she's you!" <snip> I don't have the internet at home, so Purplepeg and I gather on the phone after her children are tucked in tight and she reads your report to me over the phone and we have a great laugh!

Glad you're enjoying it and of course there's always room for new friends! No i'net at home?? I'd die!!! But I'm glad to know that you're having a fun laugh with your sis. Y'all must be getting terribly excited... only a few months now!

Hey! Wait a minute, Queenofallthings, HyperMommy is MY new best friend! Oh, I guess there's always room for another friend.....
Loving the report HyperMommy and KC and we're all missing you! Your pics are great, wish I knew how to post mine but I am picture-posting challenged!

We miss you too! We had so much fun!!! And of course there's room for another friend. Have you seen me, girl??? As big as I am, there's room for plenty of friends!!!

OMG! Where did you find the Tiger cub Mickey! I am a Tiger Den leader and would love one of those. You may remember we met at the Jeopardy game that only a few of us attended at Diversions. (sorry, me and dh did so well, lol) Anyway, it was so nice to meet you and your family and I wish I'd been more active in the meets, but my kids require a lot of my attention.

Actually, I was Committee Chair in my youngest's last year of Cubs (in addition to having been popcorn chair and advancement chair and a score of other things over the years... you know how it is) and during the year end picnic the pack gave it to me. One of the mom's special made Mickey's uniform. I don't know if she'd be willing to do another -- apparently it took quite a bit of time -- and I have no idea what it would cost, but if you're interested, I could ask her. Just let me know.

NP on you and DH doing so well... you deserved it! I had a bunch of fun!! And that's the important part, right? I was sorry for the MC that it was so poorly attended but I think the six of us had more fun than if there'd been a whole bunch of people. And as for your kids... that will go by soooooo fast. I remember when folks used to advise me to cherish the young years because of how fast they go by and I didn't listen. Now they're teenagers and hanging with Mom is just not cool. Oh, well... one day they'll "come back" I hope

LOL< Your first pic in the cruise terminal "DS12" has my husbands foot and my carry on with wine in the background. Wish I'd spoken to you then.

LOL!!! Don'tcha love it when you see something you know in a stranger's picture?

 

[King Charming]

Speaking of pictures, I finally picked out the best ones. It has been a couple of weeks since we've "been there" (the Castaway Cay postcard mailed to ourselves came yesterday!), and I've had some time to look them all over. This group of pics includes all 5 of the photos we bought from shutters for 88 bucks (4 formal attire poses and a semi-formal family pic w/ Mickey), and the great postcard quality shot DW took of the Mayan temple upon arrival w/ no people in it. Most folks like to give their pictures captions or titles, and I've done the same with my 3 favorites. Although not posted yet, my very favorite is called the $200 photo. It is the semi-formal pic taken w/ Mickey in the lobby. Second best is named $400 photo (pic #7 of post 120). Of the dozens of photos taken at Tulum, this one was far and away the best shot. Third fav, titled $500 photo (pic # 13 of post 103). This was the formal family shot in front of the full moon backdrop. These soon to be widely distributed among friends and family photos got their very appropriate names by rounding off the approx cost spent to achieve them. I figure close to 25% of what I spent for this free cruise showed up in these 3 pictures. I know I moaned about the total "dress-up" costs in the PRE TR, but as time passes the investment in our family and the resulting pics will grow in value and be treasured forever. The opportunity to take pictures of your kids while they are "young" disappears every single day, don't let it pass.

As you can see, DW is pretty good with a camera. Most people are. That being said, you really should plan and budget on buying photos from Shutters. Five 8x11 for less than 100 bucks, plenty of poses to choose from, especially if you make the effort to seek out the photo ops. They generally take more than one picture for each setting, and at least half of these photos will be keepers. Go by Shutters during the week, reviewing them and tossing out the so-so ones; picking out 5 will be easier. Yes, Shutters was jammed Friday evening, but when we needed a place to lay-out the final 8 or 10 for the final choice, or were ready to check-out, there were plenty of CM's waiting to help. Buy them, you will never regret this decision.

 

[purplepeg]

Speaking of pictures, I finally picked out the best ones. It has been a couple of weeks since we've "been there" (the Castaway Cay postcard mailed to ourselves came yesterday!), and I've had some time to look them all over. This group of pics includes all 5 of the photos we bought from shutters for 88 bucks (4 formal attire poses and a semi-formal family pic w/ Mickey), and the great postcard quality shot DW took of the Mayan temple upon arrival w/ no people in it. Most folks like to give their pictures captions or titles, and I've done the same with my 3 favorites. Although not posted yet, my very favorite is called the $200 photo. It is the semi-formal pic taken w/ Mickey in the lobby. Second best is named $400 photo (pic #7 of post 120). Of the dozens of photos taken at Tulum, this one was far and away the best shot. Third fav, titled $500 photo (pic # 13 of post 103). This was the formal family shot in front of the full moon backdrop. These soon to be widely distributed among friends and family photos got their very appropriate names by rounding off the approx cost spent to achieve them. I figure close to 25% of what I spent for this free cruise showed up in these 3 pictures. I know I moaned about the total "dress-up" costs in the PRE TR, but as time passes the investment in our family and the resulting pics will grow in value and be treasured forever. The opportunity to take pictures of your kids while they are "young" disappears every single day, don't let it pass.

As you can see, DW is pretty good with a camera. Most people are. That being said, you really should plan and budget on buying photos from Shutters. Five 8x11 for less than 100 bucks, plenty of poses to choose from, especially if you make the effort to seek out the photo ops. They generally take more than one picture for each setting, and at least half of these photos will be keepers. Go by Shutters during the week, reviewing them and tossing out the so-so ones; picking out 5 will be easier. Yes, Shutters was jammed Friday evening, but when we needed a place to lay-out the final 8 or 10 for the final choice, or were ready to check-out, there were plenty of CM's waiting to help. Buy them, you will never regret this decision.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. You will always have your memories but when they start to fade bring out your pictures and they take you right back and make you smile. We spent about $600-$700 on pictures alone. That was our biggest expense. We didn't buy too many souveniers and we don't drink much so we thought it was well worth it. We do plan on giving family some of these pictures but I have to scan and post them first

 

[King Charming]

Thursday was a fun, lazy, and good day in spite of feeling run down/over most of the day. I kicked around several possible explanations as to why I felt so disoriented and grumpy. The first reason was lack of Pepsi. Going from an average of 6 liters a day to 3 liters to zero sure bothered me, but not enough to have this bad an effect on me. The ocean has been progressively getting rougher, maybe I'm seasick! Naw, this can't be it because even though there is some sway to the ship, if this was the real cause I'd have been ill on Sat or Sun. I popped a Bonine just in case. I also ruled out food related illness because my body is fine, it is really all up in my noggin.

After smoking my last Cuban and feeling extra bad, I misdiagnosed it to be nicotine poisoning. From no cigs to a pack and a half a day, plus cigars, this had to be it. Plus I rather liked this conclusion as it would make walking away from cigarettes SO much easier after the cruise. It wasn't until I had been home for many days and had carefully reviewed everything that had happened for this TR that it became clear what had happened. Oh yeah, sun stroke baby! A mild heat stroke was visited upon me out in the hot Mexican sun. I had gotten dehydrated and slightly sunburned while looking at old piles of rocks and darn near addled my brain . My ever present big blue cup was empty from sharing and therefore left on the bus. It was no wonder I was drinking soda faster than I could buy it and wouldn't leave those beautifully shaded shops after leaving the walled in complex. I sure didn't need a doctor to tell me to take it easy for a few days as I couldn't have traveled anywhere even if I wanted to on Wed evening or most of Thur. By Thur evening I was eating again (not alot mind you), and felt generally good by Fri morning.

Granted, I can't do things like I did them 30 years ago, but I work most days out in the hot north Florida sun and this should not be happening to me! The lesson to be learned; stay hydrated! Bring along a canteen if need be, but don't think a hat and sunscreen are the only protection you need from a tropical sun. And not just for long excursions either, if you are unsure when or where your next drink might be, bring a stash. You might not need it, but there is a fair chance SOMEONE will.

 

[tksbaskets]

Granted, I can't do things like I did them 30 years ago, but I work most days out in the hot north Florida sun and this should not be happening to me! The lesson to be learned; stay hydrated! Bring along a canteen if need be, but don't think a hat and sunscreen are the only protection you need from a tropical sun. And not just for long excursions either, if you are unsure when or where your next drink might be, bring a stash. You might not need it, but there is a fair chance SOMEONE will.

Sage advise my DIS friend. I'll be sure to follow it when we are in Mexico in a bit over a month. Do they still offer the Shore Excursion Package for bottled water?

Loving your trip report! Sorry you felt rotten for a couple of days. Did you get your mug back or was it lost on the bus??

 

[Hypermommy]

Sage advise my DIS friend. I'll be sure to follow it when we are in Mexico in a bit over a month. Do they still offer the Shore Excursion Package for bottled water?

Don't remember anything about a Shore Excursion package of water but I do remember something about them having a bottled water package onboard. We didn't use it becuase we love our soda and aren't all that healthy anyway But I'm sure you could get the package and take some with you on excursions.

One thing we did definitely do is tell the boys not to drink anything, even soda on ice, unless it came out of a bottle in Mexico. Ahhhh, the ways in which travels opens up the young mind. Now they have some idea what Montezuma's Revenge is all about.

 

[tksbaskets]

Don't remember anything about a Shore Excursion package of water but I do remember something about them having a bottled water package onboard. We didn't use it becuase we love our soda and aren't all that healthy anyway But I'm sure you could get the package and take some with you on excursions.

One thing we did definitely do is tell the boys not to drink anything, even soda on ice, unless it came out of a bottle in Mexico. Ahhhh, the ways in which travels opens up the young mind. Now they have some idea what Montezuma's Revenge is all about.

I'll be sure to pack my Imodium AD too! I loved your formal pics. I'm the mom of two teen-aged sons so I can relate. You all looked great!

 

[Hypermommy]

Absolutely -- it's not often that I get to see them in something that's not wrinkled or dirty, you know. I loved the look of them all dressed up so much that I had to use it for a scrapping challenge (see what you get by encouraging me Purplepeg?)

 

[tksbaskets]

A scrapbooker too?? Now I know we are sisters from another mother

 

[Hypermommy]

A scrapbooker too?? Now I know we are sisters from another mother

Cool! We'll just have to take over KC's thread here for a minute. I'm terrible with keeping up with names... have you found the scrapping threads here on the DIS? Where else do you hang out for scrapping?

 

[King Charming]

Yes, I got my cup back. There would have been hell to pay if it ran off. Actually they said we could leave anything on the bus that we wanted to, as we would get back on the same bus. If I was going to do this one again I would have brought our soft sided cooler, slap full of drinks, since we don't have to tote it everywhere.

Hey DW, remember PM'ing? This is a TR, not scrap book central

 

[King Charming]

I'm not so sure there even was a Thursday morning . To those who insist there was, I kinda might agree, but... . The only reason I got up at the crack of lunch was so I wouldn't miss the entire day. With another absolutely perfect day, I nursed my imitation hangover up on deck. Today was the second (last) sea day and we had thankfully very little planned. A couple loads of laundry got done. The laundry room was only a few doors down from our second deck room. Washers, dryers, and soap all cost one dollar. We brought soap along (we brought EVERYTHING along for that matter), but didn't dig it out as it was simpler to just buy it. Washers run for 38 mins, dryers for 40. A high quality steam iron and ironing board are also in the room. Unless you enjoy waiting in/near a hot room (not vented as well as needed), do your ironing early on dress-up days.

The arcade got a good workout, both today and during the week. There was a good variety of games, and I was as guilty of tossing money away as the boys. Despite its name, the games take no quarters. To play, you must purchase a 'Disney Gamer' card that you swipe thru the card reader on each game. Most take 40-60 points, but a few take 100. The cost of a card is $10 for 500 points, $20 for 1500 points, and $30 for 2500 points. There are two machines that sell/re-charge these gamer cards, all you need is your KTTW card. I made the mistake of showing the kids the difference between the number of points you get for 10 & 20 bucks, so naturally they went the 20 & 30 dollar route. Further wasted money resulted in lost or mis-placed cards. For the boys this was no problem, just buy new ones . After packing up Friday night, 3 such cards were found.

 

[Hypermommy]

Further wasted money resulted in lost or mis-placed cards. For the boys this was no problem, just buy new ones . After packing up Friday night, 3 such cards were found.

Hey, they are my sons, dontcha know!

 

[tksbaskets]

Cool! We'll just have to take over KC's thread here for a minute. I'm terrible with keeping up with names... have you found the scrapping threads here on the DIS? Where else do you hang out for scrapping?

Favorite Scrappin' places:
Dmarie dot com. I have borrowed several poems and page layouts from there. Another is twopeasinabucket.kaboose dot com.

I haven't found the scrapping threads here - YET I do enought damage with between DCL and DVC threads!

Done with the hijack!

 

[purplepeg]

Absolutely -- it's not often that I get to see them in something that's not wrinkled or dirty, you know. I loved the look of them all dressed up so much that I had to use it for a scrapping challenge (see what you get by encouraging me Purplepeg?)

I love that page, it's great I have dreams of becoming a scrapper Thanks for indulging me.

 

[King Charming]

I again stopped by GS for a new bill printout. At nearly 2 pages it was darn difficult to verify each charge so I didn't try. I made a payment with a different credit card to make sure they didn't hit my primary card too hard. I then proceeded to run the bill right back up again .

While I'm here at Guest Services, let's go ahead and take care of the suggested tips thing. I figure we can pass them out a day early and be done with it; $325. DW's spa/massage today was another $125 w/tip. We haven't done much shopping, might as well get that over with too, as I'm willing to try most anything to clear my head. $40 for a polo shirt and postcards from one shop, then across the hall four T-shirts and 2 pins bought qualified for the DCL rolling carry-on case. (Buy $60 worth, get roller for $20). This added another $120. The final major injury to our account today was Bingo .

They play Bingo on ship at least once a day and have a roll-over jackpot for each session's last game. We are not Bingo players, but with the grand jackpot for the afternoons session above $8K, we will be today. A win today not only pays for this cruise, but is the ONLY way we will re-book! We didn't play any of the earlier times, but made sure we were in line before the doors opened in the big theater today. Upon entering you saw two large screens that showed the prices. If you played twice or more prior to this session you got a 10% loyality discount. Four games were played today and the number of cards listed was for all four games. Paper cards (punch-outs) were 6 for around $35. Hand held computers tied in to the wireless Bingo system were $69 for ones that hold 36 different cards, and $99 for ones that hold 72 cards per game. These hand held units are really neat as they show whichever of your Bingo cards has the most hits and therefore changes as a different card eventually has more called numers on it. It will actually tell you when you have a Bingo (or so I've been told). There is a limited number of these (why?) and late comers were S.O.L.. Once they swipe your KTTW card be sure to look for your name on the display screens. Once they get going and start explaining things for rookies, these screens display rules and called numbers.

During game one we needed only one number and were eagerly standing and yelling "shake it up!", when 12 (other) people split a 1K jackpot. (They have you stand when you need one number so the entire room knows they are nearing the end). Game 2 & 3 had 1K and 1.2K jackpots that we were never close to. Game 4 was a fill the card game (lots of #'s called), thank heaven for the computer as I don't want to mess this one up. Again not really close (but at least I was sure) and two elated people split $10.2K . Of course we went all out, doing the 72 card "good" deal. Trying to buy another cruise for 99 bucks seemed like such a good idea going in, but...

 

[King Charming]

I just love the picture featured in post # 155.

It is my forth favorite photograph of the over one thousand taken.

This one also has a name: PRICELESS!

 

[Daisy5115]

"We are not Bingo players, but with the grand jackpot for the afternoons session above $8K, we will be today. "

LOLOLOL!

I too caught the bingo bug while not normally a bingo player. I discovered after the first day that you could save money by buying only the last game each session and get more cards for that game. (for $19)This was the big payout anyway. If you came in early enough your name was in the raffles too. Not saying I won anything, but felt like I saved some money...

I wondered what those computers cost, but figured it was a fortune.

Enjoying your report!
Hey, Denise, don't worry about the Tiger Cub bear, I don't really need one but it sure is unique.

 

[King Charming]

We got to know this part of the ship real well (it is at Guest Services) as we checked in with them at least twice a day since Monday evening. That is when DS14 confessed to losing his sneakers! He said he was up on deck 10 playing a shoe-less game and when the activity ended his black tennis shoes were gone. He assured me they were gone BEFORE he left the deck which really had me scratching my head. When they didn't turn up within 36 hours I began to suspect they never would and that my eldest wasn't kidding when he said they were stolen. He was able to show me the exact spot where he left them and was bummed to lose such a "cool" pair of shoes. The part that I couldn't understand was how an extra pair of shoes could turn up inside one of the small staterooms and the parents not notice and wonder where they came from. This could have turned into a real problem since the only other shoes he packed were dress shoes and hard sole water shoes. Thankfully one of the very last things I did before driving to the port was buy myself a second pair of sneakers. There was no way I was going to make myself miserable and squish around the ship if my only pair got soaked. DS got to wear my hi-top black Converse sneaks to replace his lo-top black Cons with orders not to take them off. I was quite impressed and got a kick out of a CM's very politely raised eyebrow at GS on Fri night when I went there with a list of lost stuff. I'm sure he was dying to ask questions about my family (I would have), but merely replied "I'll go check, sir". The sneakers never did show up (I still can't believe it).

 

[Hypermommy]

Okay, so I'm behind again. I'll have to work on a TR installment at some point today. Maybe I can sneak one in at work If they would just learn around here that Disney and scrapping are the important things in life then we'd get along a lot better