One more May 27 report

[whnim64]

This was our second Disney Cruise - me, DH and DS(11).



Friday, May 26, 2006

We are up early and packed for our drive to Cocoa Beach from Orlando in the convertible. DH is the navigator and we’re on our way, but have to take a detour off of the main road due to a road closure. We went on a timeshare tour of Ron Jon’s Cape Caribe instead of exploring the National Seashore. It was a beautiful resort with lots of amenities, but the price tag was a bit too much for DH to justify for one week a year vacation. I probably could have been talked into buying in, but we didn’t. By 2 pm we were done with the tour and actually got checked into our room at the Radisson. We left around 2:30 for our hour-plus drive up to meet fellow cruisers. We had a great time. DS met new friends. We got back to the Radisson around 8 pm for another mini-meet by the pool, but the thunder and lightning in the area moved us into the lobby. DS and another DISer's son played for awhile before we headed to bed.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

DS and I returned the convertible and walked the couple of blocks back to the Radisson. We met DH, and we all walked across the street to the slowest McDonalds in the US. We stood in line at least 20 minutes before getting to place our order. We finally did get served and back to the hotel to wait for the 10 am shuttle with several other DIS families. We arrived at the terminal and joined all the other ash-colored shirt people in the waiting area. I got DS signed up for the lab and got the pager after getting us checked in. We then started getting acquainted with the other DISers while waiting for our number (2) to be called to board. We finally got onboard around noon, but couldn’t go to the staterooms until 1:30. We headed to Parrot Cay for lunch, then DH and I sat around on deck nine while DS went exploring. It was nice to get settled into our room and get unpacked. All luggage and the 2 boxes with some things that I had mailed made it safely onboard. We met our stateroom hostess, Margaret, from Jamaica, went to the DIS meet at 3 pm on deck 10, did the lifeboat drill (in Animator’s Palate), watched part of the sail-away, then went to dinner. I can’t believe that we missed the ship’s horn! In fact we only heard it once the entire cruise. We had early seating for dinner with Ivan from Romania as our server and Bosari from Indonesia as his assistant. Our head server, Alexandra was from Netherlands. We met our delightful tablemates who where also DISers. We didn’t have a very good table to see the ‘show’ in Animator’s, and most of the other DISer’s tables were too far away to be able to socialize, but we had a great time anyway. DH and I went to the welcome aboard show while DS was off exploring the new Ocean Quest on deck 2. We were all pretty tired, so went to bed around 10:00.

 

[whnim64]

Sunday, May 28, 2006

I woke up around 6:45, took a walk up to Topsiders for breakfast then watched the ship dock from the secret deck 7, then from our verandah. I woke up the ‘boys’ to let them know we were docking at Castaway Cay. We were some of the first passengers off of the ship and found chairs close by. We had the stingray encounter at 10 am along with some other DISers. We fed the stingrays on special Mickey head ‘plates’ by holding the fish or shrimp between our fingers and laying our hands flat on the ‘plate’. The stingrays have been taught to swim over and suck up the food. We all got to feed them as many times as we wanted. After that, we all put on our snorkel gear that was provided and got to snorkel in the stingray area with them. We ALL snorkeled. Even DH tried to snorkel, but he didn’t have a good seal on his mask with his beard. I snorkeled for the very first time and enjoyed it after I got used to it. We used up an underwater camera and got some fantastic pictures and had a great experience. After the stingrays we headed back to our beach chairs. DS found friends to play with all afternoon, while DH and I enjoyed the food from Cookie’s BBQ for lunch and looked around the shops. I got in the water with DS for awhile and finally convinced him to get something to eat. We still hadn’t learned to re-apply the sunscreen often enough and all of us got some sunburn. DS got the worst of it, though, on his face and back. We all had dinner together in Parrot Cay. As soon as he was done eating, DS took off to be with his friends. DH and I went to the ventriloquist show and found it very funny and entertaining. We let DS stay up until midnight and he did and was thrilled that he got to play longer in Ocean Quest.

 

[whnim64]

Monday, May 29, 2006

Today was a sea day. I woke up at 6 am and, got my diet coke and hung out until 7:30 for breakfast at Topsiders with DH. We woke DS up for breakfast at 9:15, then we all went to see Don ‘Ducky’ Williams draw the characters and talk about his career with Disney. We weren’t lucky enough to win any of his drawings in the raffle, though. After lunch DH and I went to the art auction for awhile (until we figured out you really needed to be rich $$$$ to participate). We then proceeded to lose at bingo for the first time. We then got dressed up for formal night and a great dinner at Lumieres and had some good looking pictures taken of us in our duds. The show was the Golden Mickeys, which we had missed during our last cruise due to my seasickness. We all tried to get to bed early since we have a long excursion planned for tomorrow.

 

[whnim64]

Long one, and very detailed about David and Ivan's Mayan Experience tour...

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

I was up at 6 am and talked to another DISer for awhile. I got fruit and pastry at Goofy’s Galley for breakfast and watched the Magic dock at Costa Maya. The Magic was the only ship in port that day. After DS and DH were up and going we got off of the ship with 2 other DISers. We all took a bus into town to the Cat’s Meow where David greeted us. Another DIS family joined us there. We all shared a van with one of our guides, Carolina. She sat in the front and told us all about the area and villages along the way. About ½ through our 50 minute ride, she switched to the other van that was in our group. When we arrived at the ruins, Ivan took over as our guide. We were all given water/juice and waited for the cruise tours to get ahead of us. Ivan explained the Mayan way of life in great detail and answered any questions that came up. He took his time showing us the amazing ruins of 300 AD. He explained how the temples were always facing to the east because the east symbolized birth as the west symbolized death. He said even in the cemeteries, the graves were laid out so the headstone faced west. We were at the ruins for around 3 hours. Ivan had insect repellant ready for us for the trek through the jungle. During this time he explained how the houses would have been built around the square and also explained how the Mayan women cooked over the fire using 3 large stones and controlling the heat by adding or removing sticks. After finishing the tour we shopped for a bit and bought 2 hammock chairs at the shopping area at the ruins. David said the prices there were better than at the port. We took about a 20-30 minute ride to a small Mayan village where we had lunch at the home of Victoria and her husband (they called him ‘black hat’ in Mayan, but I can’t remember his name) who spoke mainly Mayan and a little Spanish. We were also served by their 2 daughters, Lupe and ?. We were shown by Carolina how to wash up with soap and a bowl of water, which is very precious to them. DS got to make a tortilla and place it on the griddle to cook. The food was very good and consisted of tortillas, chicken in sauce, tamale, rice and sauces. For dessert were fresh bananas, a coconut ‘cookie’ and a torte. We had kool-aid to drink. The family had a chapel by their house that started out to be a house for their son. He was in a very bad accident and when he recovered they turned the building into a chapel where they hold a celebration every December. They even had a satellite dish for television. The daughters were wearing beautiful hand-embroidered dresses and had small embroidery pieces for sale as part of their income. We purchased 2 to be framed. Carolina was once again our hostess back to port. She showed us her village and explained the diet of the Mayan people. They eat very little meat, but plant corn, beans and squash which is their staple. They don’t have meat mainly because there is no refrigeration available. They might catch small fish or iguana, and some do raise chickens. They have tortillas for every meal as they are a very versatile food. She also explained that they never let the fires go out as that is the way they cook all of their food. We were all shocked at how primitive the area is as their way of life has not changed much for 1600 years. The traditional houses are made of sticks with doors in the front center and back center to let the air circulate. During the day the one-room house is the living room, and at night the hammocks are hung for it to become the bedroom. The children eat first at a round table about knee high, and then the adults eat last. We were told how the Mayans have a very strong sense of family and believe in respecting each other. Ivan also explained a lot of the plants that were found among the ruins and Carolina had us taste a garlic leaf. Some of the plants were the leaves that Novocain is derived from, one like an emery board, and many others that were used for headache relief, upset stomach relief, fever reducers and many more medicinal plants.

After our long tour we decided to skip getting dressed up for dinner at Animator’s. Instead we did laundry and had dogs and fries from Pluto’s Dog House with ice cream for dessert. Tonight’s show was ‘Twice Charmed’. It was nice. DS was out until around midnight again with his friends.

 

[whnim64]

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

I was up at 5:45 and got pictures of the sunrise and the ship while all was quiet. I woke up the guys a little after 7 and down to Studio Sea to wait for the Jeep excursion. We had to tender into Cozumel since the pier has not been repaired, so there was a wait while they prepared for the tenders. The tender ride into Punta Langosa around 9:15 was too choppy for my taste, but at least it was short. The devastation to the pier and shopping mall area was sad to see. We remembered the pristine shops from the last time we were there that were no longer there. We met our tour guides, Eduardo and Jorge, whom highly suggested we all take a ‘pee-pee’ break before we go. We had a caravan of about 6 Jeeps leave from downtown Coz. DH drove the 6-speed 4-wheel Jeep first. We stopped at a small typical Mexican/Mayan village first where there were a few shops. Eduardo explained that the black coral that was sold there was only found in Cozumel and that supported the locals’ shops. I did buy me a handmade straw hat 'made by the shopkeeper's brother' to keep the sun off of me in the topless Jeep. DS had been riding up front, but I had such a hard time climbing in and out of the back that I made him switch so that I could sit up front (must be old age). We then drove along the East (Caribbean) coast of Cozumel after going off-road several times. Some of the off-road experience was simply where the roads used to be before the hurricane had washed them away. What was left of the original pavement was a good 4 feet above the rock/gravel road that we were driving on. Some of the other off-road was simply large dirt/rock bumpy roads just for fun. The drive along the coast showed off the beautiful blue colors of the Caribbean; light blue coast that changed to a darker blue out where the reef was located off shore. We finally stopped at a wonderful beach spot for a Mexican buffet lunch of nachos, fajitas, salsa and fruit. We got to swim for around an hour in a cove that was protected on each side by large limestone rock formations. The water was a perfect temperature for just relaxing. When it was time to leave, I go my turn to drive. We stopped at a small pee-pee station along the route back, but we decided not to buy anything there. We arrived back at the pier around 2 pm. We parked the Jeep and headed to one of the downtown shops to pick up some vanilla and a couple of bottles of hot sauce for the couple that was watching our house. We tendered back to the ship around 3 pm. It was a rough tender ride back. We napped for about an hour before having dinner in Parrot Cay. DS and I went to the Walt theater to see ‘The Wild’ as DH finished his book. The movie was really horrible for me, and I left a little early to go out on deck before the Pirates IN the Caribbean deck party. We hung out on deck 10 for the big deck party. The characters were all there dancing and having a great time. Mickey even did a great aerial stunt from the stack down to the stage to start off the fireworks. DH and I stayed up a while to watch Pirates of the Caribbean on the Ariel screen while we were IN the Caribbean. We told DS that he could stay up and watch the whole movie. With the time change back to EST, it was 2 am before he got in.

 

[whnim64]

Thursday, June 1

We had our character breakfast this morning. I was disappointed that the photographer was only taking pics of Minnie and Mickey instead of all of the characters; Pluto, Goofy, and Dale. We went back to the cabin for a nap. DH and I napped, but DS surprisingly just watched tv. DH and I had Palo brunch at 1 pm, but DH didn't have much of an appetite, and I should not have eaten breakfast before going to Palo brunch, so we ate just a very small amount. I hate how the servers make you feel so bad because you don’t order an entrée. I was full from all of the goodies that they had on the buffet. We decided to go ahead and cancel our Friday night Palo reservation. I read/napped in the deck chairs on deck 4 before running into another DISer on deck 9. They were playing left, right, center. It only took a couple of minutes for me to catch on, so I joined in. A couple of others joined us for a bit, too, and we played until time for the big bingo jackpot game at 3 pm. DH was feeling lucky enough to go to bingo, and DS decided to join us. We ended up spending more than we had planned on losing bingo cards. It sure would have been nice to win the $$$$ jackpot. We could have re-booked on board. It was semi-formal night and our rotation put us on Lumiere’s. I was a big pig and ordered 2 lobster tails for dinner. DH surprised me by having them bring us a ‘happy anniversary’ cake to share with the table for dessert. After dinner we got our pictures taken with Goofy then we went to watch ‘Disney Dreams’. I know we had seen it before, but it’s still my favorite show on board. We were in bed right after the show.

 

[whnim64]

Friday, June 2

I woke up at 3 am with really bad stomach cramps off and on. I got DS up around 9 am and told him that I couldn’t go on the banana boat ride with him. He decided that he would go by himself. DH went to see about canceling the cabana massage that we had scheduled at 1 pm. The only way we could cancel without a penalty was with a doctor’s note, so I went down to the medical deck. The doctor promptly put me on 48 hour quarantine with less than 24 hours left on our cruise , and on our second Castaway Cay day, too. I didn’t get to visit Castaway Cay or say goodbye to our dinner companions or explore the ship one last time, even though I didn't feel THAT bad. I was very depressed and had a good cry for awhile. I guess I was fortunate that it was just cramps with no appetite and no vomiting. DS and DH came back from the banana boat ride and DH had gone with DS. I was so proud of him. I know how scared he must have been because he can't swim and is petrified of deep water. They had their picture taken with Chip and Dale with the Magic in the background just for me. I started to pack things up while they went back to the beach. The post office was closed, again, so our postcards may or may not get mailed for another week. I spent a lot of time on the verandah watching people coming and going from the ship to the beach. Guest services brought a vcr to the room right away for me, but I just watched tv. DH and DS got back on board around 2:30. DS went to play with his friends, DH got him dogs and fries and spent the rest of the evening with me packing and watching tv. DS went to dinner at Animator’s with the rest of the group, and to hand out the tip envelopes. Alexandra called from Animator’s to get my order for dinner. I didn’t feel like too much, so ended up getting chicken noodle soup and plain rice. She did sent DH a dessert off of the menu. I hated for the cruise to end for me like this but didn't have much choice once I went down to the medical center.


Saturday, June 3, 2006

I called guest services to find out what they wanted me to do about my quarantine. They said it was fine that I went to Topsiders for breakfast, so that’s what we all did around 7 am. I guess they don't care about the people getting OFF of the ship! We brought our trays back to the room and ate on the verandah. We did one last check of the room, said goodbye to Margaret, and left the room. There was a line waiting to debark, so we sat up on deck 4 in comfy chairs and waited until around 8:15 to leave. We found our luggage after a short search, flagged down a porter who wisked us through customs in record time. We waited at the curb for about 20 minutes before our towncar got there to take us to the Hyatt. We had a pleasant drive to Orlando, got unloaded and settled into the room without even having to touch our luggage. Gotta love being waited on. We thought we’d swim, but all of us ended up sleeping until around 1:30. We ordered room service, then vegged out in front of the tv until 5:30 when the bellboy picked up our luggage and took it right to the terminal for us. Again, we didn’t have to touch it until we got to Indianapolis! We had about an hour wait in the terminal for our noisy flight home. The plane was full of cranky children. We took off around 7:40 pm and arrived in Indianapolis around 10 pm. We got to the La Quinta around 10:30 and loaded the luggage into the car. We all settled in to go to sleep around 11 pm. DH had caught a cold, so really just wanted to sleep. We were all rudely awakened around 11:30 by a bunch of loud drunks in the hallway. DH actually got up and yelled at them to be quiet. All was good until around 3 am when the same group came in loud and drunk and couldn’t find their room. They were profane and really disturbing the whole floor.

Sunday, June 3, 2006

I was up at 6 and went to get a waffle for breakfast near the front desk. The boys got up around 8 and had breakfast. I told DH that I’d drive home since he felt so bad. We got home around 10 am and found that our internet was out. We got unpacked and settled back into our house before picking up the dogs at the kennel at 6:30. Needless to say, they were both very happy to have us home, as was the cat, who won’t leave our sides. Vacation’s over.

 

[dzneprincess]

Sandy,
Thanks for the detail of the COZ excursion. Was there any beach time in that?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I loved reading your resport- thanks for sharing it with us!
You explained the excursion at Costa Maya way better and more detailed than I did!

I didn't know you got quarantined and didn't get to go to CC the 2nd time! That stinks.

 

[whnim64]

Sandy,
Thanks for the detail of the COZ excursion. Was there any beach time in that?

Yes, we had about an hour and a half for lunch and beach...

 

[professorandmom]

whnim64,
Thanks for the wonderful report - your trip is EXACTLY the same as my family will take in July (same excursions, too)...so I can't thank you enough. One quick question, I assume that the shopping areas you mentioned (both Coz and CM) only take cash - could you give me some ballpark of prices so I know amounts to bring??
Thanks
Barb

 

[WDWLVR]

Sandi - thanks for sharing you trip report. Sorry to hear you were stuck in the room on Friday.

 

[whnim64]

whnim64,
Thanks for the wonderful report - your trip is EXACTLY the same as my family will take in July (same excursions, too)...so I can't thank you enough. One quick question, I assume that the shopping areas you mentioned (both Coz and CM) only take cash - could you give me some ballpark of prices so I know amounts to bring??
Thanks
Barb

I'm sure that they take credit cards in Coz at most places at the port, at least they did 2 years ago. Probably the small shops where we stopped only take cash, but I'm not sure. The only thing that we bought at Coz, other than my hat, which we paid cash for, was vanilla and hot sauce, so we paid cash for that, also. We didn't shop at the port in CM, so don't know if they take cc or not. Amazing that you are doing the same excursions. Enjoy your trip; wish I were going back soon.