Land/Sea Trip Report - I *Promise* to Inform and *Hope* to Entertain!

[wallyb]

I'm Up!

Daisy

is my fav character! She's hard to find.

 

[MtnRose23]

I'm new here and am considering a Land Sea Vacation in May/June 2009. Love reading your TR. You crack me up! Your daughter is adorable. My question -- I'll be booking the package separately. Any thoughts on booking land or sea first. I've received some feedback saying I should do land first and sea last (to recover from the hectic schedule of WDW). We will only be on cruise for 3 nights and at WDW for 4 nights (but actually getting to the parks for 5 days). By cruising first, I'll save about $500. Is it worth it? TIA

 

[Crystal_27]

I'm Up!

Daisy

is my fav character! She's hard to find.

Glad I could provide a little Daisy "eye candy," then.

I'm new here and am considering a Land Sea Vacation in May/June 2009. Love reading your TR. You crack me up! Your daughter is adorable. My question -- I'll be booking the package separately. Any thoughts on booking land or sea first. I've received some feedback saying I should do land first and sea last (to recover from the hectic schedule of WDW). We will only be on cruise for 3 nights and at WDW for 4 nights (but actually getting to the parks for 5 days). By cruising first, I'll save about $500. Is it worth it? TIA

MtnRose, first of all, welcome to The DIS and thank you so much for reading my TR, and for your compliments!! As to what to do first, I would say, all things being equal (i.e., price), do the parks first. That way, you can just kick back and relax on the cruise.

However, if you can save $500 by doing the cruise first, I would totally go that way, especially since your 5 days at the parks likely won't result in as hectic a situation as those who are trying to cram the parks into 3 or 4 days. Anyway, I hope that helps, and please feel free to ask any further questions you may have. Take care!!

 

[wallyb]

No one shakes a tail feather like...

 

[michellem1118]

I don't think I've posted here before, but I'm loving your TR Crystal! It's making me want to be on my own land/sea trip scheduled for this summer. You're such a good writer, and as MANY pp's have said, your daughter is absolutely precious!!!

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

I personally like doing the cruise first, because I can't handle getting off the boat sad1: so depressing!!!) and having to just go home . Going to a park after getting off the boat gives me something to look forward to .

 

[Crystal_27]

I don't think I've posted here before, but I'm loving your TR Crystal! It's making me want to be on my own land/sea trip scheduled for this summer. You're such a good writer, and as MANY pp's have said, your daughter is absolutely precious!!!

Thank you so much, Michelle! I know exactly what you mean about wanting to be there NOW! September can't come fast enough!!

I personally like doing the cruise first, because I can't handle getting off the boat sad1: so depressing!!!) and having to just go home . Going to a park after getting off the boat gives me something to look forward to .

Yes, I can see your point there too! Either way, though, ending a Disney vacation is sooooo depressing! At least we have DIS friends to fill in the time in between vacations.

 

[kalel29]

I personally like doing the cruise first, because I can't handle getting off the boat sad1: so depressing!!!) and having to just go home . Going to a park after getting off the boat gives me something to look forward to .

Yeah, we did the sea first then land. And if I think about it, I really would have been more depressed the other way around. We were so sad on the last night of the cruise, but knowing that we still had 3 days at POFQ kind of took the edge off. Oh by the way people, the wife has officially become a DW!!! Its been over a year since we went on our disneymoon and she's totally having Disney withdraws. She can't stop talking about how she wants to go back with the kids. She's even gone as far as to start putting money in a "special" savings account for the next trip. She was NEVER a disney fan before our trip. And reading wonderful TR's like Crystal's isn't helping much.

 

[Crystal_27]

Oh by the way people, the wife has officially become a DW!!! Its been over a year since we went on our disneymoon and she's totally having Disney withdraws. She can't stop talking about how she wants to go back with the kids. She's even gone as far as to start putting money in a "special" savings account for the next trip. She was NEVER a disney fan before our trip. And reading wonderful TR's like Crystal's isn't helping much.

YAY - another convert added to the Disney Fan Club - - congrats, Kalel!! If you have any ideas about how I can truly convert my DH, please feel free to share.

 

[wallyb]

Installment Time?

 

[kalel29]

YAY - another convert added to the Disney Fan Club - - congrats, Kalel!! If you have any ideas about how I can truly convert my DH, please feel free to share.

Hmmmm....are you telling me he hasn't converted yet even though you're having such a great experience? LOL I don't know. Keep trying I guess.

 

[allie_to_you]

While I enjoy reading trip reports, some of them get to be ho-hum after a while, but yours is great & has definitely kept my attention and has answered some questions I have had about the land/sea packages. I can't wait to eventually take a Disney Cruise.

Oh, and your daughter is absolutely a cutie-pie.

 

[Crystal_27]

Installment Time?

Okay, okay - I'm getting off my behind and posting it. Is that better??

Hmmmm....are you telling me he hasn't converted yet even though you're having such a great experience? LOL I don't know. Keep trying I guess.

Oh, yes, persistence is the key!

While I enjoy reading trip reports, some of them get to be ho-hum after a while, but yours is great & has definitely kept my attention and has answered some questions I have had about the land/sea packages. I can't wait to eventually take a Disney Cruise.

Oh, and your daughter is absolutely a cutie-pie.

Thank you very much, Allie! If you do have any other questions, please feel free to post them.

 

[Crystal_27]

Oh, the morning of December 11th was so gorgeous. See?

You know, it’s really funny that when we were daydreaming about our trip, I couldn’t stop thinking about how wonderful the verandah was going to be. In actuality, though, we probably only spent an hour total on it during our entire trip. If my dreams for a 2009 birthday cruise come to reality, I’m going to make sure that we get a lot more use out of our verandah. However, that morning we were all glued to the verandah because the sight of Castaway Cay and The Flying Dutchman coming closer and closer was so exciting.

We made record time getting our breakfast (Parrot Cay again) and I can definitively say that we were one of the first groups off the ship. We booked it to the family beach, totally by-passing the tram, and we had the incredible fortune to score a hammock on the beach. Castaway Cay was actually The Big’s first beach experience, and she was a little taken aback by the fact that the sand was sticking to her everywhere. Eventually, though, once we showed her how cool building a sand castle was, she was good to go. And, snuggling to DH in the hammock was pretty darn cool too.

Now, I haven’t mentioned this yet in my TR, but DH and I spent about 30 hours prior to our trip making a gorgeous scrapbook autograph book for The Big. We had so much fun with it – the characters all made a big deal out of it and we even had a few offers to purchase it. Anyway, because of the character breakfasts and due to the incredible availability of the characters on the boat, we were lacking only one autograph to make our scrapbook complete – Captain Jack Sparrow. Since Mr. Sparrow was going to be at the Flying Dutchman at 10:30 a.m., I sent DH on his way so he could obtain the final autograph for our book. Guys, my one true regret of our entire trip was that I did not purchase the Shutter’s photograph of DH with Captain Jack. DH was in his swim trunks and Jack was doing that thing with his hands but was giving DH the “this-guy-is-creeping-me-out” stare. I’m quite sure that Captain Jack does not often encounter a request for an autograph from a 30 year old shirtless guy with a scrapbook. Pure comic gold, that was!

Anyway, we probably spent another hour at Castaway Cay before The Big was ready to call it a day. The water was a bit too chilly to really enjoy swimming and we were all starting to feel a bit hungry as well.

When we got back to the boat, we rinsed off in the shower and headed to the Mickey Pool for some food and swimming (of course). DH and I found a lounge chair to plop ourselves in while The Big enjoyed the pool. She swam to her heart’s content for about 10 minutes and then proceeded to exit the pool and start wondering aimlessly around the deck. DH and I immediately thought “potty emergency” and ran to get her, but The Big surprised us both by declaring that she was just looking for the entrance to the slide. Let me just tell you that DH had been urging The Big to go on the slide since the moment he saw it yet The Big was totally dismissive and disinterested in the slide. Aren’t toddlers so hysterically fickle sometimes? Anyway, DH coaxed The Big out of her floaties and we both promised that we’d be waiting at the end of the slide when she came down. She squealed all the way down and then went down probably ten more times before deciding that she was done and headed back to the pool for more swimming. She actually was having so much fun in the pool that she forgot about the fact that she didn’t have her floaties on. Once we informed her of that fact, she just gave us a grin and was off again. Silly girl!

After swimming, we took The Big to the Oceaneer’s Club just so she could get familiar with it. Since DH and I had Spa and Palo reservations for the next day (our 10th Anniversary), I wanted The Big to at least have spent a few minutes in there so she (and we) would know what to expect the following day. So, armed with our pages and password, DH and I dropped The Big off in the Club, assuring her that she would have fun, fun, fun, and we headed back to our rooms to relax (oh, and to watch Transformers - -what is WRONG with us?).

The Big lasted longer than we expected her to in the Club – about 45 minutes – and, when we picked her up from the Club, we were all ready for a nap. That night was the Pirate’s IN The Caribbean Party and I knew that we needed to be especially rested for the late night ahead.

 

[wonderapril2007]

Wonderful TR. Thanks for sharing.

 

[matt&jakesmom]

I am still enjoying reading your TR. My DH and I have decided to get a WDW cruise next year for our 15th anniversary. Our DS's will be 12 and 10. I have done some checking in for pricing. I think we are going to stay at the POLY and on the ship have the cabin with the verandah.

I have a few questions for you

1. Did you have to have passports?

2. I don't recall but did you book with a TA or call WDW?

3. How soon should I book if going in late August of 09?

4. What is the one thing we should do or not do?

5. How much are the pics on board that they take?

Thanks ahead of time for comments. Tamra

 

[Crystal_27]

Wonderful TR. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you ma'am!

I am still enjoying reading your TR. My DH and I have decided to get a WDW cruise next year for our 15th anniversary. Our DS's will be 12 and 10. I have done some checking in for pricing. I think we are going to stay at the POLY and on the ship have the cabin with the verandah.

I have a few questions for you

1. Did you have to have passports?

2. I don't recall but did you book with a TA or call WDW?

3. How soon should I book if going in late August of 09?

4. What is the one thing we should do or not do?

5. How much are the pics on board that they take?

Thanks ahead of time for comments. Tamra

1. Yes

2. We used Dreams Unlimited Travel (a sponsor of this site). They gave us a stateboard credit with our booking, and were really great to deal with.

3. Well, the longer out you book from your trip, the cheaper the prices. However, when to book is *completely* up to you. If it helps, we booked in March, 2007 for our December, 2007 Land/Sea.

4. Hmmmm, that's a tough one. Do check in for your cruise portion at the resort. Also, do plan your park itinerary carefully as you aren't going to be able to see everything at the parks. Don't get intimidated by the towels in the lounge chairs.

5. I really can't comment on the specifics of the picture pricing since we didn't buy any, but I do recall that the package deal for ~$100 seemed like the best route if you were planning on buying any pictures. I want to say that individual pictures were $8 or so??

Please feel free to ask anything further. Hope that helped. Take care!

 

[wallyb]

Nice entry Doll!


Thanks.

 

[chepic]

Nice TR.....we have the creative memories 7 x 7 with the Mickey cover for our autograph books. We make certain that we take a picture of Max with the character, and then when I get home, I make a 2 page spread, one side with the signature, and the other with the picture....and you are right, everyone wants to buy it!!!

Cheryl

 

[RLccweems]

I sent DH on his way so he could obtain the final autograph for our book. Guys, my one true regret of our entire trip was that I did not purchase the Shutter’s photograph of DH with Captain Jack. DH was in his swim trunks and Jack was doing that thing with his hands but was giving DH the “this-guy-is-creeping-me-out” stare. I’m quite sure that Captain Jack does not often encounter a request for an autograph from a 30 year old shirtless guy with a scrapbook. Pure comic gold, that was!




This had me in stitches!!!

Also, I'd love to see your autograph book...