celeste_rose
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2004
- Messages
- 3
May 27th Day at Sea: Another lazy morning, DS didnt go to bed until 1AM so he slept until 9:30. Late breakfast and then DS was off for the day. Met up with DS at the ventriloquism and magic workshop in the afternoon (Lab was doing it to) and then he was off again until showtime when we went to retrieve him from the lab. DH and I had a lazy day reading, wandering the ship, and learning to play shuffleboard badly. Disney Dreams was cute, but DS covered his face during the mushy scenes. First time Ive seen him do that so hes growing up I suppose
sigh
After the show we went and saw the family show of the ventriloquist/magician. Very similar at the beginning to his workshop, but different from then on. DS is still talking about it and asking if we have any tennis balls that he can cut into puppets. Dinner was back in Lumieres , very nice in there, but there were all levels of dress. DS complained that I looked so nice, but had forgotten to change from my comfy sandals into my dressy ones. He seemed to be getting into the dressing up thing. DS went off to a private pool party and such and we went to see the adult version of the ventriloquist. Really quite entertaining without being crude. We were wondering just how adult was adult. DS closed out the Lab again and came back very wound up but I feigned sleep so he settled down quickly and was out almost instantly.
May 28th Castaway Cay: Only let the boy sleep until 9 before we drug him out of bed for breakfast. Decided we didnt need to take showers this morning since we planned on going snorkeling first thing. Had breakfast and got onto shore about 10:15. All of the umbrellas were claimed at that point, so we just dropped our gear on a couple of chairs, grabbed the snorkel vests off of the lifeguard station and went snorkeling. We bought gear for DS a month ago and had him start practicing in the pool to get ready for this. He did very well, but stopped to rest on me about every 5 minutes or so once we got past where he could touch his feet down. The only side I burned on was where I was holding onto him and the sunscreen rubbed off. We saw lots of different types of fish and neat surprises under the water. Nobody was tired yet, but I mentioned that we should probably head back in since it was a long swim back. DH seemed to try to make it a forced march (or swim) and just kept going until he wore himself out and had to hang onto the ropes in between. Id been rest swimming at times (spent my teenage years boogie boarding and body surfing) and treading water with DS while he caught his breath. DS and I caught up to DH at the lifeguard tower in the water and she was kind enough to let DS rest on her board for a bit before heading back in. DS and DH then used the rope to pull themselves back into where they could walk and we headed up to the beach to our chairs. DS took off his gear and decided he wanted to just go play in the water. He met up with some kids from the lab and they went to work constructing float and tube creations in the water. DH went up to the water ask DS to come back in for more sunscreen (he still burnt his lower back where his trunks rubbed pretty bad though) and snagged a couple of chairs under an umbrella right behind the lifeguard station. This made it very easy for DS to find us throughout the day. DH stayed with the chairs (he was convinced that someone would take the shade if we all left) while DS and I went to get some lunch. DS got a hotdog (nothing else, just a hotdog) and I got hamburgers and such for DH and I since theyd be easy to eat on the beach. DS ran into his friends and ate lunch with them. We werent very impressed by the food on Castaway Cay, but we also didnt get the ribs, which others said were very good. It was the only food disappointment we had on the whole cruise. DH and I hung out people watching in the shade while DS went over to play on the jungle gym like equipment in the water and some more swimming. DS finally tuckered himself out and he flopped himself down on the chair while DH and I wandered over to the game area to check it out. It has pool tables, and shuffleboard, and chip golf, and foozball, and other games and had lots of teenagers having a good time there. We didnt make it over to serenity bay, but others said it was very quiet, but showed me that their feet were pretty cut up from the bottom. We had planned on heading over there when DS went off to the Lab for a treasure hunt and water games, but he wasnt interested and just wanted to swim. He was asleep on the chair when we got back (only gone 20 minutes or so) and decided he was done. We bought a couple of t-shirts and then went back to the ship. Showers followed by more ice cream (amazingly no-one was sick of ice cream hmm I wonder why not). Then off to see a show combining the ventriloquist and the juggler in one show which was great. Then DS was off to the lab before dinner while DH and I went to start packing (how sad). Dinner was again wonderful and we gave our tip envelopes to our waiters (wed paid at the guest services desk the day before which is very convenient). DS was too tired to go back to the lab and DH and I finished the last of the packing and set our bags out for pickup.
May 29th Disembarkation Day and Kennedy Space Center: We set the wake-up call for 7 and quickly took showers, packed our night things and went down to breakfast one last time with our waiters. We were ready to disembark by 8:20 and were off the ship and with our bags by 8:45. Wed rented another car from Budget so we could go see Kennedy Space Center before our flight home in the evening. Unfortunately, this was our longest wait of the whole trip. Budget was only running one small passenger van (7 people + driver) and had to make several trips before it got back to us. We finally got over to Budget at 10:30 and got our car. I was nervous because Id made reservations for an in-depth tour at KSC for 11:20. We got there with enough time to go through a very long security check (you have to prove that your cell phones and walkie talkies and cameras all work, even after going through the metal detector and having your bags searched), walk through the rocket garden and take a bathroom break before the tour. The tour was very good and it ends at the Saturn 5 building, which is phenomenal. Im a big sap and cried during the lunar landing piece, but some big burly guys were wiping tears too, so I guess its okay. We had lunch, did some shopping and headed off to the airport. I had planned on having more time there, but I hadnt expected the Budget trip to take so long, especially since the trip to the port was so efficient. On a side note, Hertz had several small vans running (with very few people in line either), and Avis has larger minibuses to take people, but appeared to be running only one. The Radisson van showed up about every 10 minutes while we were there, so that seems very efficient. The check in for Budget at the airport was very efficient and went smoothly, but they are undergoing some reconstruction at the airport so it was a bit confusing at first to find the right ticketing counters to check in luggage. We checked our bags and went to find our gate. DH had a nice little rant about the size of the waiting area, there were people sitting on the floors everywhere. Several full-size planes were in the normally small commuter plane area so there were only 20 or so seats in each area for waiting. And all the planes seemed to be leaving around the same time. I left DH and DS to go find some drinks and came back with Starbucks smoothies for everyone. That and some seats finally opening up on a different gate (still close to ours) helped calm DH down. (He hadnt had a rant in over 2 weeks, he had to do something). Our planes were on time and all of our luggage again arrived (Woo Hoo, again!). The trip was over and wed had our most wonderful vacation ever. All of us are interested in taking another Disney cruise in the future. I hope they keep adding new ports.
I hope you enjoyed my attempt at a trip report. I enjoyed reading others before my trip and all the information from the boards. Thank you for having these boards available.
May 28th Castaway Cay: Only let the boy sleep until 9 before we drug him out of bed for breakfast. Decided we didnt need to take showers this morning since we planned on going snorkeling first thing. Had breakfast and got onto shore about 10:15. All of the umbrellas were claimed at that point, so we just dropped our gear on a couple of chairs, grabbed the snorkel vests off of the lifeguard station and went snorkeling. We bought gear for DS a month ago and had him start practicing in the pool to get ready for this. He did very well, but stopped to rest on me about every 5 minutes or so once we got past where he could touch his feet down. The only side I burned on was where I was holding onto him and the sunscreen rubbed off. We saw lots of different types of fish and neat surprises under the water. Nobody was tired yet, but I mentioned that we should probably head back in since it was a long swim back. DH seemed to try to make it a forced march (or swim) and just kept going until he wore himself out and had to hang onto the ropes in between. Id been rest swimming at times (spent my teenage years boogie boarding and body surfing) and treading water with DS while he caught his breath. DS and I caught up to DH at the lifeguard tower in the water and she was kind enough to let DS rest on her board for a bit before heading back in. DS and DH then used the rope to pull themselves back into where they could walk and we headed up to the beach to our chairs. DS took off his gear and decided he wanted to just go play in the water. He met up with some kids from the lab and they went to work constructing float and tube creations in the water. DH went up to the water ask DS to come back in for more sunscreen (he still burnt his lower back where his trunks rubbed pretty bad though) and snagged a couple of chairs under an umbrella right behind the lifeguard station. This made it very easy for DS to find us throughout the day. DH stayed with the chairs (he was convinced that someone would take the shade if we all left) while DS and I went to get some lunch. DS got a hotdog (nothing else, just a hotdog) and I got hamburgers and such for DH and I since theyd be easy to eat on the beach. DS ran into his friends and ate lunch with them. We werent very impressed by the food on Castaway Cay, but we also didnt get the ribs, which others said were very good. It was the only food disappointment we had on the whole cruise. DH and I hung out people watching in the shade while DS went over to play on the jungle gym like equipment in the water and some more swimming. DS finally tuckered himself out and he flopped himself down on the chair while DH and I wandered over to the game area to check it out. It has pool tables, and shuffleboard, and chip golf, and foozball, and other games and had lots of teenagers having a good time there. We didnt make it over to serenity bay, but others said it was very quiet, but showed me that their feet were pretty cut up from the bottom. We had planned on heading over there when DS went off to the Lab for a treasure hunt and water games, but he wasnt interested and just wanted to swim. He was asleep on the chair when we got back (only gone 20 minutes or so) and decided he was done. We bought a couple of t-shirts and then went back to the ship. Showers followed by more ice cream (amazingly no-one was sick of ice cream hmm I wonder why not). Then off to see a show combining the ventriloquist and the juggler in one show which was great. Then DS was off to the lab before dinner while DH and I went to start packing (how sad). Dinner was again wonderful and we gave our tip envelopes to our waiters (wed paid at the guest services desk the day before which is very convenient). DS was too tired to go back to the lab and DH and I finished the last of the packing and set our bags out for pickup.
May 29th Disembarkation Day and Kennedy Space Center: We set the wake-up call for 7 and quickly took showers, packed our night things and went down to breakfast one last time with our waiters. We were ready to disembark by 8:20 and were off the ship and with our bags by 8:45. Wed rented another car from Budget so we could go see Kennedy Space Center before our flight home in the evening. Unfortunately, this was our longest wait of the whole trip. Budget was only running one small passenger van (7 people + driver) and had to make several trips before it got back to us. We finally got over to Budget at 10:30 and got our car. I was nervous because Id made reservations for an in-depth tour at KSC for 11:20. We got there with enough time to go through a very long security check (you have to prove that your cell phones and walkie talkies and cameras all work, even after going through the metal detector and having your bags searched), walk through the rocket garden and take a bathroom break before the tour. The tour was very good and it ends at the Saturn 5 building, which is phenomenal. Im a big sap and cried during the lunar landing piece, but some big burly guys were wiping tears too, so I guess its okay. We had lunch, did some shopping and headed off to the airport. I had planned on having more time there, but I hadnt expected the Budget trip to take so long, especially since the trip to the port was so efficient. On a side note, Hertz had several small vans running (with very few people in line either), and Avis has larger minibuses to take people, but appeared to be running only one. The Radisson van showed up about every 10 minutes while we were there, so that seems very efficient. The check in for Budget at the airport was very efficient and went smoothly, but they are undergoing some reconstruction at the airport so it was a bit confusing at first to find the right ticketing counters to check in luggage. We checked our bags and went to find our gate. DH had a nice little rant about the size of the waiting area, there were people sitting on the floors everywhere. Several full-size planes were in the normally small commuter plane area so there were only 20 or so seats in each area for waiting. And all the planes seemed to be leaving around the same time. I left DH and DS to go find some drinks and came back with Starbucks smoothies for everyone. That and some seats finally opening up on a different gate (still close to ours) helped calm DH down. (He hadnt had a rant in over 2 weeks, he had to do something). Our planes were on time and all of our luggage again arrived (Woo Hoo, again!). The trip was over and wed had our most wonderful vacation ever. All of us are interested in taking another Disney cruise in the future. I hope they keep adding new ports.
I hope you enjoyed my attempt at a trip report. I enjoyed reading others before my trip and all the information from the boards. Thank you for having these boards available.
