Mandymouse's Fantasy Back2Back ~ Part 2

[mandymouse]

Starring ..

Me (Mandy, turned 50 earlier this year, and is trying my best not to act it ) & Hubby (Paul, 49, clinginging on to his 40's with both hands)

Also featuring ..

My Christian Louboutins, a present to myself (well if I've got to be 50, I may as well do it in style )

My trainers, I can honestly say I have never taken trainers on holiday before, but somehow I seem to have talked myself into running the deck a few times once onboard, hmm, we'll see about that

After an amazing two weeks on the Disney Fantasy last year (my trippy from last year HERE), we decided to book another B2B for this year

Itinerary

10th Sept ~ Head to Manchester for the night before flight
11th Sept ~ Fly to Orlando, stay at Pop Century
12th Sept ~ Shopping, Kennedy Space Center, stay at Ron Jon's Resort
13th Sept ~ Embark Disney Fantasy
14th Sept ~ Day at Sea
15th Sept ~ Cozumel
16th Sept ~ Grand Cayman
17th Sept ~ Falmouth, Jamaica
18th Sept ~ Day at Sea
19th Sept ~ Castaway Cay
20th Sept ~ Disembark then re-embark the Disney Fantasy
21st Sept ~ Day at Sea
22nd Sept ~ Day at Sea
23rd Sept ~ St.Maarten
24th Sept ~ St. Thomas
25th Sept ~ Day at Sea
26th Sept ~ Castaway Cay
27th Sept ~ Disembark Pop Century
28th Sept ~ Fly home
29th Sept ~ Land home, start planning next holiday


Wednesday 10th September 2014

It was going to be a busy, crazy day. So I was up at 6am, and after seeing hubby off to work and having a nice cup of tea while I caught up with Facebook and my emails, I then headed to Coventry to take my mum shopping

At 11am I had my hair appointment with the lovely Kelly, who was off to Vegas the next day and we both hoped to run into each other at Terminal 2 in Manchester Airport

Next I had my nails done

(Looking good)

I spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up and finishing off the packing. Paul came home, we had something to eat, then it was time to get going. We said our goodbyes to our girls, who we wouldn't be seeing for about a month, as they were off on an Hawaiian cruise the following week

It was a lovely evening driving up the M6 to Manchester, we arrived at the Trafford Centre Premier Inn around 9pm. We dropped our luggage in our room, then wandered over to the shopping centre where I had a glass of something fizzy at our favourite Champagne bar to mark the start of our holiday

After a couple of drinkies we headed back to our room about 10.30pm and I was really surprised how well I slept, as tomorrow we were flying to Orlando ~ Woohoo !!!

Tomorrow ~ VS75 & Pop Century

 

[mandymouse]

Thursday 11th September

I was up and about around 6am, and after a quick shower we left the hotel around 6.40. It's only a 15 minute or so drive to the airport, and we parked at Terminal 2 car park. We walked into the terminal just after 7, and the Virgin check-in desk was already quite busy. We were checked in quickly and headed up the escalator to Security. Normally there is a short line here and we're usually through in a matter of minutes, but today the line went right back to near the escalator. It took us a good 40 minutes to get to airside, I'm not sure if it was just the sheer volume of people, or whether it was because it was September 11th, but these things have to be done and at least the line kept moving

Once airside, we went to Frankie & Benny's for some brekkie. We both had a New England breakfast and tea, and I had a mimosa too. It was all very nice, and we had a 15% off voucher that we'd found on the Eat, Drink, Fly website, which came to about £30 including the tip

After breakfast we had a look around duty free. I bought myself some Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream perfume, and Paul bought me some lovely Tiffany sunglasses and himself some aftershave

We wandered down to our gate to see Ruby Tuesday being prepared for us, then walked back to the bar for a pre-flight drinky

We had one last wander through duty free, where I ran into Kelly my hairdresser, then we went to our gate, which had already started boarding Upper and Premium Economy. Our seats were near the stairs for 'the bubble' and seemed a good location to be in. Once seated the Captain announced the flight would be about 7hrs 50 mins (yay !!!), and we took off not long after 11am. Within no time the drinks were being brought round. I had a Bacardi & diet coke, and Paul had a lager, and we were also given a small bag of pretzels (Mmm)

I settled down to watch Godzilla, but there was a problem with it and after 20 minutes it turned into the Planes movie and seemed to have many clips from different movies on it. So I changed to The Fault in our Stars, which was good. During the movie dinner was served. I had the grilled chicken and Paul had Chilli Con Carne, it was ok

After the sadness of the first movie, I next watched Love Punch which was quite funny. The flight went really quickly for me. I watched X-Men Origins, and during it we were given a Fab ice lolly, then an afternoon tea was brought round, though neither of us fancied it, then I watched the flight map for the final hour. As we descended, we flew over the Kennedy Space Center, then landed at 2pm

It took a while to get off the plane and the line for Immigration was long. We waited for a while, then were able to use the new machines as we'd been there in the last few years on our ESTA, but the machine had a problem with my finger prints, so we had to line up to have my finger prints done again. Once my prints were taken thankfully our luggage was waiting for us, and quickly we were heading to the Alamo car rental garage to pick up our car. Even though it took a while to get off the plane and get through immigration, we were still driving away by 3.15pm

Half an hour later we arrived at the Pop Century. We had checked in on-line, so in no time we were given our Magic Bands and heading to our room near the Computer Pool. We dropped off our luggage and went to get something to eat

I had Rotisserie Chicken and Paul had a cheeseburger, then we hopped back in the car and headed for the Premium Outlets. I wasn't after anything in particular, but Paul wanted to look in some of the watch shops. After a good look round he treated himself to a fancy watch. We headed back to the Pop, dropped Paul's shopping off and caught the bus to DownTown Disney. DTD was heaving, and felt worse because some areas were under construction. We spent an hour looking around the shops, and getting ideas for when we did some shopping the following morning. We then caught a bus to the Beach Club where we were going to watch IllumiNations from a bridge. We were seriously flagging now, but watched the fireworks, which wasn't the best view as there were trees in the way. Once the fireworks were over, we walked over to the Boardwalk and thankfully there was a taxi available to take us back to the Pop

We had a couple of delicious Captain Mai Tai's from Petals Pool Bar, then it was time for bed

Tomorrow ~ Shopping, Cheesecake Factory, KSC & Cocoa Beach

 

[petals]

joining in. Sounds like a great flight and first day.

 

[stephensmum]

Enjoying so far and looking forward to more.

 

[Tink2312]

Yay, TR time Sounds like a great start to your holiday. Loving the nails too
Can't wait to read more

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Hi Mandy

Enjoying your report. Looking forward to more

I have your shoes in the photo when you had nails done

Hawaii. Did your daughters enjoy themselves?

 

[jjk]

Great Start Mandy, looking forward to the rest

 

[dolphingirl47]

Checking in. Sounds like you had a smooth travel day and I am amazed how much you got done after such a long flight.

Corinna

 

[mandymouse]

joining in. Sounds like a great flight and first day.

Enjoying so far and looking forward to more.

Yay, TR time Sounds like a great start to your holiday. Loving the nails too
Can't wait to read more

Thanks for reading along

Hi Mandy

Enjoying your report. Looking forward to more

I have your shoes in the photo when you had nails done

Hawaii. Did your daughters enjoy themselves?

My DD's are still on their holiday, their Hawaiian cruise is about to come to an end in LA tomorrow, they get home next Thursday, lucky things

Great Start Mandy, looking forward to the rest

Thanks Rach

Checking in. Sounds like you had a smooth travel day and I am amazed how much you got done after such a long flight.

Corinna

We have to keep going Corinna, we always try to stay up till about 10pm on the first night

 

[mandymouse]

Friday 12th September

We both first woke around 4am, but were able to fall back to sleep till 7ish. We got up, showered and packed the few things we had used. Our first stop was Walmart for the usual supplies of suntan lotion, nibbles, etc, we then went back to the Pop to pick up our luggage then did some serious shopping in DTD

Next stop was the Mall at Millenia for the Cheesecake Factory. This is one of our favourite restaurants, and once again it didn't disappoint. We shared some buffalo wings, both had shepherds pie, Paul had a side of fries and even though we were full to bursting, we shared a strawberry cheesecake. Altogether, with a couple of diet Cokes, it came to about $54. It was all lovely

We had a jaunt around the shops where Paul treated himself to some newfangled laptop from the Microsoft store, then left just as it started to rain. Bless him, Paul got soaked, but he kindly got the car for me

We had a quick stop at the Krispy Kreme shop, then headed to the Kennedy Space Center. It took us less than an hour to get there. We only had a couple of hours here, so we went straight to the Space Shuttle exhibition. Well we loved it. We always enjoy 'Spacey stuff" and have seen two Shuttle launches, so were really looking forward to this. We watched two short films, then the Shuttle Atlantis came into view. We took lots of photos and we'll definitely be back when we have more time

... Cont'd

 

[mandymouse]

...

We got to the old Ron Jon's Resort (now a Holiday Inn, though nothing else had changed) just after 4pm. Our room was a disabled one, and we did laugh that the beds were really just large single beds rather than double beds oh well, it was just for one night. We then sat out by the pool for an hour as it was lovely and warm

A little later in the evening we went to the Ron Jon's Surf Shop where Paul bought a shirt and I got a couple of tops

As the sun went down we had a couple of drinks at Grill's bar which is on the Port Canaveral estuary, then had a couple more at the Resort bar, we then called it a night

Tomorrow ~ Disney Fantasy Babyyyy !!

 

[Chilly]

I think you packed loads in that first evening, I never manage more than getting dinner somehow.

Never made it to the cheesecake factory yet in Orlando but I think we will next year.

Which cruiseline are your girls on?

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a busy day. I am now wondering if we should add a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre to our Florida roadtrip next year. In all our visits to Florida, we have never been. That bedroom arrangement looks odd.

Corinna

 

[Dimplenose]

I'm enjoying your report.

Love the photo of the shoes - I gained the expression "sitting down shoes" from these boards, might even have been from one of you reports.

We went to the Space Center on our first trip back in 1998. It was the only place that trip that I got insect bites - my legs were covered with them.

 

[ukintheus]

Yay!!! I just love your trip reports and have been looking forward to this one! I wish the girls would do one for their Hawaii cruise, I'd love to read all about it, too.

You had a couple of really busy days before the cruise, I can't imagine how tired you were on the day you flew in. Troopers that's for sure. We haven't been to Kennedy but we have the Johnson Space Center on our back door step, although it's still a really sore subject locally that we didn't get one of the space shuttles. ;-)

Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures on the high seas.

 

[mandymouse]

I think you packed loads in that first evening, I never manage more than getting dinner somehow.

Never made it to the cheesecake factory yet in Orlando but I think we will next year.

Which cruiseline are your girls on?

You won't be disappointed with the Cheesecake Factory Claire, the foods delish

They were on the Carnival Miracle, and by the sounds of it have had a fantastic time

What a busy day. I am now wondering if we should add a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre to our Florida roadtrip next year. In all our visits to Florida, we have never been. That bedroom arrangement looks odd.

Corinna

It was odd Corinna, but it was a disabled room, and we would've changed it if we had been there for longer

I'm enjoying your report.

Love the photo of the shoes - I gained the expression "sitting down shoes" from these boards, might even have been from one of you reports.

We went to the Space Center on our first trip back in 1998. It was the only place that trip that I got insect bites - my legs were covered with them.

Yes got to love my 'sitting down shoes' 'restaurant shoes' or 'cruise shoes' Libby

Yay!!! I just love your trip reports and have been looking forward to this one! I wish the girls would do one for their Hawaii cruise, I'd love to read all about it, too.

You had a couple of really busy days before the cruise, I can't imagine how tired you were on the day you flew in. Troopers that's for sure. We haven't been to Kennedy but we have the Johnson Space Center on our back door step, although it's still a really sore subject locally that we didn't get one of the space shuttles. ;-)

Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures on the high seas.

Next installment coming up Jenny

 

[mandymouse]

Saturday 13th September

We woke around 4.45am, and shortly after the Disney Fantasy sailed past our room. We took some photos, then Paul went back to bed while I chatted to the girls on Whatsapp

After showering and sorting our luggage out, we left around 8.30am. We took some photos near the port then stopped off for a McDonalds breakfast

Around 10 we took the car back to Enterprise. We were told that they weren't allowed to take us to the port before 11, so they rang a taxi for us. Unfortunately we waited a good while for the taxi, and the rental car park got busier and busier as people waited for the shuttle to arrive. Just before 11 the shuttle arrived and there was a mad dash for it with about 50 people heading for 20 seats. At that moment our taxi arrived, we were so pleased to see it, and set off to the port in comfort (note to self, next time arrange a taxi the day before)

Anyway, we arrived at the Disney Cruise Line terminal, dropped our luggage with the porter, and were guided up the escalators to the upstairs security. Once through we went to the Platinum/Concierge check-in desks and moments later left with our keys to the world. We just had time for a couple of photos out on the terrace, when boarding group 1 was announced

A few moments later we heard 'welcome aboard the Disney Fantasy the Martindale Family' and we were home We took the aft elevators up to deck 11 so Paul could get some lunch from Cabanas, I was still full from my sausage mcmuffin earlier, so just had a diet coke. After Paul's lunch we headed to the top deck for a sunbathe and the first of many cocktails. Today's drink of the day was the Bahama Mama, yay !! my fave !!!!

I also got our DCL phone app working (loved this)

So we had a couple of Bahama Mamas, and throughout the afternoon we had more cocktails, found our stateroom (#8551), emptied our cases as they arrived, had more cocktails, went to the muster drill at 4pm which was in the Walt Disney Theatre, and as the ship pulled out of port we were err having more cocktails at the Cove Bar We quickly popped up to the top deck where we were spotted on the Port Canaveral Webcam by our ever embarrassed daughter at home, the lovely Sue (floridasun) and our friend Jenny (ukintheus) in the US

... Cont'd

 

[mandymouse]

...

We returned our flag to our stateroom

And after another drink in La Piazza we got ready for dinner

Our dining rotation this week was ERAERRA, so tonight we were in the Enchanted Garden. We met our table mates, Dave And Becky from Denver, and Peter and Cora from The Netherlands. We had a lovely meal and we got to know each other. Paul & I both had the tomato soup to start, then Paul had the pan seared seabass and I had the chicken dish. To finish off I had a sundae and Paul had the Sweet Temptations

After dinner I changed into something a bit more casual and we headed to the Skyline Lounge as we were going to try their passport where you could get 7 drinks throughout the cruise for the price of 5. We both had a Paris 75 Cocktail and chatted to Lindsay from Essex who would be working there all week

After our cocktail we headed to bed to be gently rocked to sleep

Tomorrow ~ Day at Sea, Palo Brunch & Mixology

 

[ukintheus]

Good start to the cocktail count for the week!! Very impressive. . The situation with the car rental return sounds like it was chaotic, lucky you had got there early to get ahead of the game with the taxi.

It was fun it watch you on the webcam, they had you on there for quite a while.

 

[Chilly]

I bet you didn't take much persuading of the 7 for 5 offer