MR cruise - Jan 22/12

[Merryweather11]

I just packed my FE gifts...they take up a whole carry-on. For a second there, I thought they weren't going to fit. I'm borrowing two extra carry-ons from friends so we all have one to roll on the ship Sunday. I think we're getting by with three checked bags. We're not packing a lot of fancy dresses, etc--the girls have some sundresses and I have one black skirt that I'm going to put with different blouses. Trying to go really simple.

 

[lesos69]

I guess I am an oddity! We are bringing everything in 4 carry on suitcases. I went with those that said whatever you pack take out half. I figure we will be in Bathing suits/shorts most of the time. And our clothes for dinners are easily compactible. I may have to do some ironing and laundry, but I always do that on our WDW trips and it doesn't interfere too much with my vacation....Yes I am one of those people who can sit on a deck lounger for about 30 mins then I get twitchy...I need to do something!

 

[Merryweather11]

I guess I am an oddity! We are bringing everything in 4 carry on suitcases. I went with those that said whatever you pack take out half. I figure we will be in Bathing suits/shorts most of the time. And our clothes for dinners are easily compactible. I may have to do some ironing and laundry, but I always do that on our WDW trips and it doesn't interfere too much with my vacation....Yes I am one of those people who can sit on a deck lounger for about 30 mins then I get twitchy...I need to do something!

I don't mind doing laundry on my trip, either. I don't think you're an oddity at all--we always pack too much, and with two teenagers it's hard to encourage them to just bring shorts and a few tops--they like to create the whole look. Not me--but I have all the extra things in my bag like the sound machine, toiletry bag, hair dryer, flat iron, movie candy, etc etc etc. Hopefully all the bags will fit under the bag like I've been reading.

 

[tditter]

I am sure I am overpacking, but I cannot stop myself!!! Everytime I take something out, I put something else back in. Shoes are a problem for us too!! And I have a little suitcase full of FE stuff as well. Oh well. This is our first cruise and next time I will know what not to bring!!! It doesn't help that it is 11 degrees here and those summer clothes are making me dream of the sunshine!!!

 

[tditter]

Oh...and is anyone going to meet at 3;00 on Promenade Lounge?

 

[Merryweather11]

Oh...and is anyone going to meet at 3;00 on Promenade Lounge?

I will say a qualified yes--I doubt my family will want to (internet strangers? Huh?), so if the timing is right I might sneak away.

 

[KS Prarie gal]

I'll meet you at 3:00 sis! If nothing else, I will introduce you to a BBC!
Looking forward to meeting others too! It seems like we have a little community here planning our trip! Had to check that forecast again, and it looks like no rain!

 

[tditter]

We are leaving in 20 minutes for our 5 hour drive to Denver so we can get on a plane!! I am sooo excited to leave this COOOOOOLD weather! Only 13 today!! I love living in the sticks of Kansas, but this cold weather and airports miles away make it difficult at times!!lol See ya all on Sunday!!!

 

[Jackson's grammie]

I will say a qualified yes--I doubt my family will want to (internet strangers? Huh?), so if the timing is right I might sneak away.

Irons are not allowed on board. They will confiscate it. There are irons in the laundry room that you can use.

 

[Merryweather11]

Bye everyone! We're going to be getting in the car and driving up to LA Sunday morning and leaving the car there. Frantic packing and organizing tomorrow. Can't believe this is the weekend--SO excited!!

 

[nsiordia]

Oh...and is anyone going to meet at 3;00 on Promenade Lounge?

I will be there! We will all have white shirts with different mickey heads on them

 

[LKFan]

home! Hope everyone had a wonderful cruise.

We leave in 3 weeks and I was wondering if anyone saved their navigators and can post them. We're trying to figure out times/activities when our meet group might be able to get together. I'm also curious if they have changed the kids clubs open houses at all.

Thanks in advance for whatever information you can share.

 

[Merryweather11]

home! Hope everyone had a wonderful cruise.

We leave in 3 weeks and I was wondering if anyone saved their navigators and can post them. We're trying to figure out times/activities when our meet group might be able to get together. I'm also curious if they have changed the kids clubs open houses at all.

Thanks in advance for whatever information you can share.

Yes, we had a great time!

I have the navigators but the scanning feature is broken on my printer. If you have any specific questions I can try to answer--we had teens on the trip so are not familiar with the young kids' activities.

On another note, a big thank you to all of you for the FE gifts! We had a wonderful time finding them in the bag! You all did a wonderful job!!

 

[Kencad MOM]

Did you do any excursions in PV or Cabo?? Do you have any recommendations/suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Merryweather11]

Did you do any excursions in PV or Cabo?? Do you have any recommendations/suggestions? Thanks!

We did the whale watching on the large catamaran in Cabo--it was great. That was the only reserved excursion that we had planned and we were happy we did it. The boat was really nice, everything was clean, the people were friendly and helpful. We got pretty close to the whales and saw some beautiful scenery. I did regret not going to the glass factory in Cabo while we were there but we spent the first day on the boat by the pool and it was very relaxing and restful--no wind and perfect weather--mid 70's. In Cabo it seemed very easy to catch water taxi's wherever you wanted to go and many people went over to Divorce beach--very beautiful. We got some great pictures of the rocks and beach from both the boat and the catamaran.

In PV we did not have anything planned, but ended up taking a city tour with a taxi driver for about 2 hours, and he would take us places, let us out for a while and then drive us somewhere else. We saw some beautiful views and took some good pictures. We did see the resorts in PV that people had recommended we walk to and they looked very easy to get to. It was very hot and humid the day we were in port so after our city tour we had lunch and got in the pool on the ship!

Hopefully people will chime in with their excursions--we did not want to spend a lot of extra money on them so we went the simple route.

 

[lesos69]

We had a great time!

We did the Pirate Ship in PV we had an awesome time on that. Saw some whales and got to go to the beach for a while. So it was like 3 in 1. My husband did Sport Fishing in Cabo. He had a great time and caught a nice sized Durango. They almost had a Marlin, but it was not biting the bait they had.
We then went and walked around town for a bit so I could find my trip treasure! Walking from the ship to town is like running the gauntlet. Be prepared to say No at least 150 times. But, it was worth it as I found a wonderful wooden mask in town.

 

[SanDiegoSteph]

Do you happen to have Navigators from your cruise that you could scan and post?

I am dying to know the times on each day that the Oceaneer's Club and Oceaneer's Lab had "Open House"

Much appreciated!
Stephanie

 

[lesos69]

Do you happen to have Navigators from your cruise that you could scan and post?

I am dying to know the times on each day that the Oceaneer's Club and Oceaneer's Lab had "Open House"

Much appreciated!
Stephanie

Sorry didn't keep mine. My kids had a blast in the kids clubs and it was never an issue with the open houses. They had things going on for all ages all the time. I never heard a complaint from my 9year old once.

 

[KS Prarie gal]

I'd like to say thanks for all the FE gifts as well. Even DH would kind of check the FE as he walked into the room! We had the most fun when we actually got caught delivering them!

Walking the gauntlet was a good way to describe the beach in Cabo. I literally had bracelets on my wrist to my elbows while dear sis was making a deal to get us some beach chairs! I looked at my husband and said "help" and he just looked at me like . What a great help he turned out to be! We did stuff on our own, but we heard the Pirate Ship in PV was great. The banana boat ride at Cabo was also a big hit with our 10-14 year olds and we got that for $6 per person. We had talked with one vendor about whale watching and he quoted us $16 per person, so you can deal on almost anything. We did not end up doing it though. We got a little overwhelmed with all the soliciting, and decided to stay on the ship and enjoy the pools. We were able to spot some whales from the ship as all the excursion boats kind of encircled the areas where the whales were. We saw the spouts go up, and with binoculars you could see them surface.

 

[Merryweather11]

We got a little overwhelmed with all the soliciting, and decided to stay on the ship and enjoy the pools.

That was the main thing I didn't care for on our port stops--I live right on the border of Mexico and I've grown up going to TJ with my folks, but I have never gotten used to that style of salesmanship. I'm the kind of person who dreads people outside of the Target trying to get you to sign things--I'm just weird that way. Plus I hate bargaining--it might be a guilt thing--these people clearly depend on tourism and need the money and I feel really stingy trying to bargain them down, even though they expect it. It just makes me feel so uncomfortable!

So we didn't do a lot of shopping in Mexico, needless to say. We did get some vanilla to give to my mom and sister, and a little jewelry for the girls--oh, and we walked to the Walmart in PV to get birthday stuff for my husband's birthday that night and some candy for our servers. That was an interesting experience-- Not like our Walmart at home, for sure.