calmom
Just a dream and a wind to carry me...
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2005
- Messages
- 2,159
We arrived yesterday from California to stay at the Nick Hotel prior to sailing out tomorrow. Quick report on the Nick Hotel:
First us: My husband and I have cruised a bit (RCCL, NCL, Princess, Celebrity, DCL). We have 4 children under 8, two of which have gone on three other cruises. However, they just have memories of the recent one - DCL summer 2005 when it was on the West Coast. Now, to the Nick Hotel:
I had expected noise everywhere and at all hours from the reports but we were pleasantly surprised. We checked in at 9pm on Thursday. The lobby was completely empty, just some teenagers behind the desk. There is a tv in the lobby off to the side with pillows on the ground. The kids quickly went there while I made sure I got my special requested, and higher cost "Spongebob Room." First tip: don't pay extra for a Spongebob room. All the rooms are decorated fun, there is Spongebob stuff everywhere, and I truly don't think my kids would have cared if they didn't have Spongebob on the wall. It cost $25 more a night to a Spongebob room. Save it for the pricey drinks. SIDE NOTE: If you want to see characters, you need to pay for a character breakfast or dinner as we did not see any characters "walking around." More about the food though later.
The room was very clean and the set up is great - one bedroom with Queen bed, one bed room with bunk beds, and one sofa bed in the living area. there is a small vanity area in the master bedroom with one of those nice vanity mirrors. There is free internet access if you have a laptop. It does seem nicer than a Holiday Inn although it is for sure not a high class joint. We had asked for a crib when we checked in and it quickly arrived. There is a microwave and an empty refridge (no mini-bar). By the time we got settled in the room, we called room service and all they had at that hour was pizza. I think during high season they would have more options. Anyway, the Pizzahut pizza worked great and kids finally got to bed at midnight (9pm California time).
We got up early in the hopes to get the kids in the right time zone. But now as I write, it is 10:45pm and my 4 year old just came in my room asking for his plane ticket (who knows why - at this hour, I have no plans asking). The hardest thing with traveling with 4 young boys across the country is the time zone. I'm hoping by tomorrow, we can get in sync for while we are on the cruise. ANOTHER TIP: If you are traveling from the West Coast, fly in a couple days before the cruise. You don't want to be wasting time on the cruise with kids jet lagged. Back to the morning, we had an excellent time by the pool after a not-so-great breakfast. As you will read, the food at the hotel is not the best and could quite possibly be the worse in town. It was about $22 for my husband and I for breakfast and the kids were free (under 12 although they told us at the front desk it is now only free for under 5). Truly, it was not worth the $22. My sister and her family had the dinner buffet the night before for about $60 (same deal, kids free) and they said it was just awful. So plan on ordering Pizzahut everyday/night or taking a taxi/drive to downtown Disney or something to that nature. Back to the pool, we had a great time - pool temp was at 85 degrees, it was not that busy and the kids participated in the the afternoon show. They asked for volunteers from the pool. This was at 3:30. We were also selected (not many people put their names in) to participate in the "Nick at night" show in the Nick Studio. They ask you to complete a form and write down 2-3 sentences about something funny regarding your family. We couldn't think of anything funny but since they had limited volunteers, they took us. You need to turn that form in to Guest Services by 2:30. After the 3:30 show, it started to get a bit cold as the entire pool area was now in the shade. But still comfortable in shorts and t-shirt - just a bit too cold for adults to swim in my opinion. But kids -they could swim in Alaska. We stayed until 4:45 when they do a big slime dunking event, and then went back to our room to prepare for the 5:30 show.
I forgot to mention, this was after I called security and told them my Sony digital camera was stolen. They came by, asked if anyone in my party could have taken it. I said of course not. I went back to my room with the baby, at the same time my sister came down from her room to the pool. My husband was talking to the security about the camera while my sister said "oh this?" And gave my camera back. Apparently I had put it in her purse. Luckily I was hiding back in the room so didn't need to face security.
At the 5:30 show, our kids had a blast participating. During the event, my sister stood up to dance and then noticed her Blackberry gone. After the show, the gentlemen behind us tried to help us find it but my sister kept giving me these looks. The guy left and my sister said "I think he took my Blackberry." Her husband went to go find the guy as we finished packing stuff away. My sister reached into her son's stroller and low and behold...yes, now we had two "stolen" items but this time we had actually convicted a man. My sister's oldest son went running out to stop his dad from attacking the guilty until proven innocent man. All ended up safe.
We then went to Margaritaville which was very nice. About a $40 taxi ride. If you call for a taxi, always ask to have one with WORKING seat belts. Seems like every taxi here doesn't have all its seat belts. We called the restaurant ahead and they gave us a "standing" reservation. When we got there, we got seated right away. We heard them tell the people behind us that it was an hour wait so it really helped to call ahead of time.
Well, now it is almost 11pm and the room is quiet. I have all our tags on our bags, and a backpack with our swimming suits ready. In just over 12 hours, we will be walking on board to hear the Magic. I will try to sneak away and get on-line to give a report. Hopefully, none of our bags will be "stolen" by the porters.
First us: My husband and I have cruised a bit (RCCL, NCL, Princess, Celebrity, DCL). We have 4 children under 8, two of which have gone on three other cruises. However, they just have memories of the recent one - DCL summer 2005 when it was on the West Coast. Now, to the Nick Hotel:
I had expected noise everywhere and at all hours from the reports but we were pleasantly surprised. We checked in at 9pm on Thursday. The lobby was completely empty, just some teenagers behind the desk. There is a tv in the lobby off to the side with pillows on the ground. The kids quickly went there while I made sure I got my special requested, and higher cost "Spongebob Room." First tip: don't pay extra for a Spongebob room. All the rooms are decorated fun, there is Spongebob stuff everywhere, and I truly don't think my kids would have cared if they didn't have Spongebob on the wall. It cost $25 more a night to a Spongebob room. Save it for the pricey drinks. SIDE NOTE: If you want to see characters, you need to pay for a character breakfast or dinner as we did not see any characters "walking around." More about the food though later.
The room was very clean and the set up is great - one bedroom with Queen bed, one bed room with bunk beds, and one sofa bed in the living area. there is a small vanity area in the master bedroom with one of those nice vanity mirrors. There is free internet access if you have a laptop. It does seem nicer than a Holiday Inn although it is for sure not a high class joint. We had asked for a crib when we checked in and it quickly arrived. There is a microwave and an empty refridge (no mini-bar). By the time we got settled in the room, we called room service and all they had at that hour was pizza. I think during high season they would have more options. Anyway, the Pizzahut pizza worked great and kids finally got to bed at midnight (9pm California time).
We got up early in the hopes to get the kids in the right time zone. But now as I write, it is 10:45pm and my 4 year old just came in my room asking for his plane ticket (who knows why - at this hour, I have no plans asking). The hardest thing with traveling with 4 young boys across the country is the time zone. I'm hoping by tomorrow, we can get in sync for while we are on the cruise. ANOTHER TIP: If you are traveling from the West Coast, fly in a couple days before the cruise. You don't want to be wasting time on the cruise with kids jet lagged. Back to the morning, we had an excellent time by the pool after a not-so-great breakfast. As you will read, the food at the hotel is not the best and could quite possibly be the worse in town. It was about $22 for my husband and I for breakfast and the kids were free (under 12 although they told us at the front desk it is now only free for under 5). Truly, it was not worth the $22. My sister and her family had the dinner buffet the night before for about $60 (same deal, kids free) and they said it was just awful. So plan on ordering Pizzahut everyday/night or taking a taxi/drive to downtown Disney or something to that nature. Back to the pool, we had a great time - pool temp was at 85 degrees, it was not that busy and the kids participated in the the afternoon show. They asked for volunteers from the pool. This was at 3:30. We were also selected (not many people put their names in) to participate in the "Nick at night" show in the Nick Studio. They ask you to complete a form and write down 2-3 sentences about something funny regarding your family. We couldn't think of anything funny but since they had limited volunteers, they took us. You need to turn that form in to Guest Services by 2:30. After the 3:30 show, it started to get a bit cold as the entire pool area was now in the shade. But still comfortable in shorts and t-shirt - just a bit too cold for adults to swim in my opinion. But kids -they could swim in Alaska. We stayed until 4:45 when they do a big slime dunking event, and then went back to our room to prepare for the 5:30 show.
I forgot to mention, this was after I called security and told them my Sony digital camera was stolen. They came by, asked if anyone in my party could have taken it. I said of course not. I went back to my room with the baby, at the same time my sister came down from her room to the pool. My husband was talking to the security about the camera while my sister said "oh this?" And gave my camera back. Apparently I had put it in her purse. Luckily I was hiding back in the room so didn't need to face security.
At the 5:30 show, our kids had a blast participating. During the event, my sister stood up to dance and then noticed her Blackberry gone. After the show, the gentlemen behind us tried to help us find it but my sister kept giving me these looks. The guy left and my sister said "I think he took my Blackberry." Her husband went to go find the guy as we finished packing stuff away. My sister reached into her son's stroller and low and behold...yes, now we had two "stolen" items but this time we had actually convicted a man. My sister's oldest son went running out to stop his dad from attacking the guilty until proven innocent man. All ended up safe.
We then went to Margaritaville which was very nice. About a $40 taxi ride. If you call for a taxi, always ask to have one with WORKING seat belts. Seems like every taxi here doesn't have all its seat belts. We called the restaurant ahead and they gave us a "standing" reservation. When we got there, we got seated right away. We heard them tell the people behind us that it was an hour wait so it really helped to call ahead of time.
Well, now it is almost 11pm and the room is quiet. I have all our tags on our bags, and a backpack with our swimming suits ready. In just over 12 hours, we will be walking on board to hear the Magic. I will try to sneak away and get on-line to give a report. Hopefully, none of our bags will be "stolen" by the porters.
Have a MAGICal time
. Our daughter got a terrible case of some type of stomach flu and was hospitalized for 3 days
...we are home today, Saturday, the day of the sailing! We are very disappointed in not being able to travel but even as much as we were anxious and excited to be cruising, our daughter and her health is our priority. I can only imagine it happening on the ship...Thank God for timing huh...and 
