oklamomof4boys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2006
- Messages
- 1,317
Well we just got back from our first cruise- actually we haven't even made it home yet. It was me, DH and 4 boys ages 15, 12, 10 and 8. We also had friends go with us ( our first time to vacation with friends) -they have 2 kids, DD17 and DS12.
We had already been vacationing in Florida for a week, but we were anxious for the main event. We stayed at the CI&S the night before and it was great-very clean and reasonably priced. We wanted to soak in as much of the cruise as possible, so we arrived at the terminal early- a little before 10:00am. The husbands dropped off the rest of us and our luggage at the port and went back to park at the hotel-riding the shuttle there. This worked perfectly. Around 10:00 or so, the porters came out and took our luggage and we made our way into the terminal. We got boarding pass #2 and our husband joined us shortly. we brought a deck of cards to keep the kids entertained and the time went by quickly- it was finally time to get on!
Since we got on so early, the buffet was empty! We enjoyed the food- nothing tremendous, but certainly good enough. The boys ate quickly and they were ready to swim. They enjoyed the slide for a little bit, but were quickly bored with the pool. We went to guest services to check on a few things and went exploring the boat- it is so beautiful. We went to find our rooms and were surprised to find our luggage already there. We were very pleased with our staterooms. We did connecting category 10 and I was worried about feeling closed in- but we didn't at all. I think having the connecting door open really helped. We actually really liked having an interior room. My boys slept better than they ever have- I guess it was the dark room. The beds were extremely comfortable! We had a lot more storage space than I expected.
We then went up for the Sail away party. We went up to deck 10, which was much better for us. Our kids are older and didn't really care if they were in the middle of things. Deck 10 was much less crowded, and we could still see everything. We had 5:30 dinner so we had to rush back to the room to dress for dinner. Never having cruised before, everybody took my advice on how to dress ( based on advice here). The 3 females wore capris or a skirt and all the males wore khakis and a polo type shirt. The boys and my friend's husband were not thrilled about having to dress up. And when we walked into Triton's we noticed very few people were as dressed as us-lots of shorts and t-shirts. I could feel all the eyes of our reluctant boys glaring at me. I didn't care so much about what my boys thought, but I was worried about my friend's husband being upset- but he was great about it. He said maybe eveybody else didn't have time to change clothes after the sail away party ( and people were a bit dressier the other nights). We didn't particularly care for the food at Triton's but we certainly didn't leave hungry- and we loved our servers.
we had all been taking bonine so we were feeling fine- except for DS15. He was very queasy. Our friends had brought patches and he tried those and it worked great.
After dinner, the kids went to check out the lab and the teen hang out. I was worried about DS8 and the lab becuase he has some health issues. But I talked to the CM when I took him and he took extensive notes and really put me at ease. DS15 and friend's DD17 did not like the teen club. They said it was a lot of younger teens. I'm not sure they really gave it much of a chance-they did go back a couple of other times- but I didn't worry about it. They always found plenty to do and we enjoy hanging out with them. I was surprised that the other boys weren't that crazy about the lab. They went for some specific activities ( they really liked Mickey Mania) but didn't really hang out there much. But again, they were never bored.
We went to the comedian, Michael Harrison ( I think that was his name) and absolutely loved him. We caught all of his shows and they were all great.
We went to bed that night full of excitement about being on the cruise.
Sorry this is so long- I just start typing and don't stop!
We had already been vacationing in Florida for a week, but we were anxious for the main event. We stayed at the CI&S the night before and it was great-very clean and reasonably priced. We wanted to soak in as much of the cruise as possible, so we arrived at the terminal early- a little before 10:00am. The husbands dropped off the rest of us and our luggage at the port and went back to park at the hotel-riding the shuttle there. This worked perfectly. Around 10:00 or so, the porters came out and took our luggage and we made our way into the terminal. We got boarding pass #2 and our husband joined us shortly. we brought a deck of cards to keep the kids entertained and the time went by quickly- it was finally time to get on!
Since we got on so early, the buffet was empty! We enjoyed the food- nothing tremendous, but certainly good enough. The boys ate quickly and they were ready to swim. They enjoyed the slide for a little bit, but were quickly bored with the pool. We went to guest services to check on a few things and went exploring the boat- it is so beautiful. We went to find our rooms and were surprised to find our luggage already there. We were very pleased with our staterooms. We did connecting category 10 and I was worried about feeling closed in- but we didn't at all. I think having the connecting door open really helped. We actually really liked having an interior room. My boys slept better than they ever have- I guess it was the dark room. The beds were extremely comfortable! We had a lot more storage space than I expected.
We then went up for the Sail away party. We went up to deck 10, which was much better for us. Our kids are older and didn't really care if they were in the middle of things. Deck 10 was much less crowded, and we could still see everything. We had 5:30 dinner so we had to rush back to the room to dress for dinner. Never having cruised before, everybody took my advice on how to dress ( based on advice here). The 3 females wore capris or a skirt and all the males wore khakis and a polo type shirt. The boys and my friend's husband were not thrilled about having to dress up. And when we walked into Triton's we noticed very few people were as dressed as us-lots of shorts and t-shirts. I could feel all the eyes of our reluctant boys glaring at me. I didn't care so much about what my boys thought, but I was worried about my friend's husband being upset- but he was great about it. He said maybe eveybody else didn't have time to change clothes after the sail away party ( and people were a bit dressier the other nights). We didn't particularly care for the food at Triton's but we certainly didn't leave hungry- and we loved our servers.
we had all been taking bonine so we were feeling fine- except for DS15. He was very queasy. Our friends had brought patches and he tried those and it worked great.
After dinner, the kids went to check out the lab and the teen hang out. I was worried about DS8 and the lab becuase he has some health issues. But I talked to the CM when I took him and he took extensive notes and really put me at ease. DS15 and friend's DD17 did not like the teen club. They said it was a lot of younger teens. I'm not sure they really gave it much of a chance-they did go back a couple of other times- but I didn't worry about it. They always found plenty to do and we enjoy hanging out with them. I was surprised that the other boys weren't that crazy about the lab. They went for some specific activities ( they really liked Mickey Mania) but didn't really hang out there much. But again, they were never bored.
We went to the comedian, Michael Harrison ( I think that was his name) and absolutely loved him. We caught all of his shows and they were all great.
We went to bed that night full of excitement about being on the cruise.
Sorry this is so long- I just start typing and don't stop!
