Our Land and Sea Vacation 3/21-27 Update 7/5 P.16 The last night

[amandaw]

Reason #1 I told my husband the next cruise must be longer than 3 days - no time for the rainforest room!!!

I completely agree! Now that I got my DH loving cruising with DCL, we'll definitely be doing a longer cruise next time. There's just so much to do!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

For those who aren't aware the rainforest room is an area of the spa for which you can buy a daily entry pass. Its about 16 Per Person per day. It's named because there are a couple different showers in it. You might be thinking 16 bucks to use a shower? Even with the Disney premium that seems high.

Yes. Yes, it does.

<Random side note> The rest of the services at the Spa were much more expensive than $16 and the products they sold were also very expensive. While we were purchasing our passes, a gentleman was returning the products his masseuse sold him during his treatment. He said he was surprised when he got back to his room to find out she had sold him $1000 worth of product. That must be some shampoo.

I was shocked after our cruise to discover that my FIL got a massage there and then spent $120 on massage "products". Hopefully there was a TV included in there somewhere.

You just walk into a shower and press a button for one of the different themes and it runs through a program. It was fun trying all the different cycles in all of the showers. Be warned most of the different cycles are with cold water.

$16 for a cold shower? For $16 I can cool off with 3-4 Dole Whips. Keep working.

Well behold, the entry to the rainforest room. Take note of the all you can drink cucumber or lemon flavored fancy water on the left.

Oh, I get it...a cold shower AND cucumber water. Nope, I'll stick with the Dole Whips.

(If you read that in Heinz Doofensmirtz's voice it works better. On second thought everything works better in Doofensmirtz's voice, so it be better if you just imagined he was narrating the entire TR.)

Well, I have to agree with that. I will now read every future TR in Doofenschmirtz's voice.

Still not convinced? Well then check this out. Semi-private hot tubs and check out that view.

Ok, now I'm starting to get interested...

Be careful there is no glass in the middle section. I went to lean up against "the glass" and got a nice scare. This section was almost titled, dad falls overboard.

Perhaps you missed my write-up of my experience on the Tot. Back to the Dole Whips!

If this hasn't convinced you, they also have bathrooms there in the spa with showers much larger than the ones in the rooms and slightly nicer grooming supplies. Who can resist a free disposable razors and upscale shaving cream?

Getting better...but are those razors really "free"?

At this point there is only one thing left in my persuade people to use the Rainforest Room Arsenal and that is "the chair".

I am a self proclaimed hater of sitting still, but those chairs were amazing. The tile is just slightly heated. Laying on one of those chairs was by far the most relaxing thing I did on that trip.

Hmm...well, if it got you to stil still, maybe it is worth checking out...

You ate at the "Anator" restaurant?! This really is Doofenschmirtz's TR!

I'm pretty sure it was Filet Minion as I can not resist a good steak.

This dining experience was one of the highlights of our trip.

Boy, that place looks great. Really interesting to see how different it is from the version on the Wonder.

Holy cow, that's a beautiful shot.

Coming up next Castaway Cay day.

Woohoo! My favorite part of the cruise. Can't wait to see what you thought of it.

 

[IamTrike]

Another great update! Man, I'm so mad I didn't have time to go to the Rainforest room. And especially now that you had to go & show those awesome looking chairs! And did you say they are slightly heated? I would just die! Well, guess that's yet another reason for us to cruise again....one day!

You definitely need to go again and make time for it. We had read somewhere on this board that the chairs weren't heated that they just warm up based on body heat. That information was wrong. The chairs are heated. Its like a warm cocoon of happiness.

Reason #1 I told my husband the next cruise must be longer than 3 days - no time for the rainforest room!!!

Yes it should be. I think you should try and get one of those 5 day double dip cruises. 3 days is really too short.

I completely agree! Now that I got my DH loving cruising with DCL, we'll definitely be doing a longer cruise next time. There's just so much to do!

 

[IamTrike]

I was shocked after our cruise to discover that my FIL got a massage there and then spent $120 on massage "products". Hopefully there was a TV included in there somewhere.

It was fun being a fly on the wall listening to the gentleman try and return the products. I guess they need a manager to handle returns and there wasn't one there. He was not amused. All I could think was "4 bottles of stuff for $1000.... he's washing his hair with printer ink".

$16 for a cold shower? For $16 I can cool off with 3-4 Dole Whips. Keep working.

You shower with Dole Whips???

Oh, I get it...a cold shower AND cucumber water. Nope, I'll stick with the Dole Whips.

Hey it had lemon in it too. If I told you they imported it directly from the Magic Kingdom, would that make it more enticing. (Thankfully they don't)

Perhaps you missed my write-up of my experience on the Tot. Back to the Dole Whips!

I did miss this.... I'll go look for it today.

Getting better...but are those razors really "free"?

They are free....once you pay for Spa entry. Think of a cheap knock off of a bic disposable razor and that's about the quality that you get.

Hmm...well, if it got you to sit still, maybe it is worth checking out...

Yup short of being asleep I think that's the longest I've ever sat anywhere not doing anything.

You ate at the "Anator" restaurant?! This really is Doofenschmirtz's TR!

hmmm looking at the pic it looks like the Late Anator restaurant.

Boy, that place looks great. Really interesting to see how different it is from the version on the Wonder.

Well for one thing the waiters don't change into colored outfits through out the night. We had read about that and were a little bit sad that it didn't happen. Even still it was our best dining experience on the boat.

Holy cow, that's a beautiful shot.

Thanks that's one of my favorite pics from the whole trip.

 

[afwdwfan]

The kids had seen that they would be having "Super Sloppy Science" in the kids club at 2:30 and really wanted to go.

That sounds like fun. Do they allow big kids?

You might be thinking 16 bucks to use a shower? Even with the Disney premium that seems high. I didn't get it either, but then we went.

It sounds high to use a shower, but I guess I don't expect much of anything to cost less than 20 bucks when they've got you held captive.

He said he was surprised when he got back to his room to find out she had sold him $1000 worth of product. That must be some shampoo.

I hope that price included a water cooler size bottle of water from the fountain of youth.

Be warned most of the different cycles are with cold water.

Are they sound proof or do you get to enjoy hearing people discover the cold water cycles?

I didn't take any pics in the bathroom though, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I'm glad to see that not all the DIS Dads are starting to get into the trend of using bathrooms as the subject of photographs.

We did however, really enjoy the fireworks.

Nothing entertains a DIS Dad like controlled explosions!

By the time the fireworks ended it was after 10 PM, so we headed back to the room with 2 very tired kiddos. (Mom and Dad may have been tired too).

Quite a full day on the boat. I've never been on a cruise myself, so I kind of wondered what you'd do if you didn't want to get off at the port. Looks like there's plenty to keep busy and have fun with.

 

[dvczerfs]

again,great update trike. nice pics!! as i said before, i dont like boats. i think if i would of seen the "fireworks", i would of been lowering a life boat thinking its an sos flare!!

 

[ZZUB]

Take note of the all you can drink cucumber or lemon flavored fancy water on the left. (If you read that in Heinz Doofensmirtz's voice it works better.

As a matter of fact, I didread it in Dr. Doofensmirtz's voice and it was hilarious.

As for the spa, if I understand correctly, for $16 you get a cold shower, flavored water and free razor blades. Seems reasonable to me.

didn't watch much of the Pirate party. Mom and I may be a little bit too serious about stuff, but just a few weeks prior 4 americans had been killed by pirates and so we didn't really feel like celebrating Piracy.

Well said, and I appreciate that you said it. I struggle sometimes with what messages we're sending our kids. The things we choose to laugh at.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

You shower with Dole Whips???

If money was no object...

 

[IamTrike]

That sounds like fun. Do they allow big kids?

I wish. Unfortunately it was kids only. Growing up I used to love going to the Physics is Phun lectures at the University of Maryland. (If we start a disdads nerd thread, I'd be on that like at atom sharing an electron with it.)

It sounds high to use a shower, but I guess I don't expect much of anything to cost less than 20 bucks when they've got you held captive.

To be fair there were 4 different showers and each shower had about 4 different cycles.

I hope that price included a water cooler size bottle of water from the fountain of youth.

Either that or marriage counseling. I don't think many wives would be understanding if you said you spent $1000 while getting a massage.

Are they sound proof or do you get to enjoy hearing people discover the cold water cycles?

Nope they're all open. So technically for $16 you get to share a shower room with a couple other people.

I'm glad to see that not all the DIS Dads are starting to get into the trend of using bathrooms as the subject of photographs.

I was actually disappointed that I didn't have pics of all the different themed bathrooms on the boat, but since I don't have them I can pic on people that do photograph restrooms. <cough> Barry </cough>

Quite a full day on the boat. I've never been on a cruise myself, so I kind of wondered what you'd do if you didn't want to get off at the port. Looks like there's plenty to keep busy and have fun with.

There was a ton to do everyday. We were pretty consistently busy from breakfast till 10:30 or 11pm every day.

 

[IamTrike]

again,great update trike. nice pics!! as i said before, i dont like boats. i think if i would of seen the "fireworks", i would of been lowering a life boat thinking its an sos flare!!

Thanks Dave.
Some of the fireworks were flare like but for the most part they were just really neat. The only hard part was figuring out which side of the boat they were gonna be on. Most of the time the dream hardly feels like a boat. If you go on a cruise, just imagine your staying in a really big hotel that happens to be surrounded by a giant moat.

As a matter of fact, I didread it in Dr. Doofensmirtz's voice and it was hilarious.

Maybe I need to start including more semi-related backstories into my trip reports. Musical numbers would probably help too.

As for the spa, if I understand correctly, for $16 you get a cold shower, flavored water and free razor blades. Seems reasonable to me.

You also get the chance to sit down.

Well said, and I appreciate that you said it. I struggle sometimes with what messages we're sending our kids. The things we choose to laugh at.

It was a hard choice. We want Sis and Bro to have a sense of adventure and really enjoy their imaginations. We want them to have a sense of wonder and enjoy fantasy. At the same time we want to be careful of the role models we set for them, and it becomes especially tough when the modern day equivalent of the fantasy characters are plastered across the news in all their vileness.

If money was no object...

If money was no object I might have a dole whip machine (although mom would probably lobby hard for a 7-11 slurpee machine). I definitely wouldn't be installing it in the shower though.

I imagine you ringing a little silver bell to call your dole whip attendant. "Fill the Dole Whip shower my good man, chop chop" and then you'd wink through your monocle and skip out of the room.

 

[afwdwfan]

Nope they're all open. So technically for $16 you get to share a shower room with a couple other people.

Yeah, that's what I get for commenting from work before I see the pictures. I figured it out when I looked at them last night.

Thanks Dave.
If money was no object I might have a dole whip machine (although mom would probably lobby hard for a 7-11 slurpee machine). I definitely wouldn't be installing it in the shower though.

I imagine you ringing a little silver bell to call your dole whip attendant. "Fill the Dole Whip shower my good man, chop chop" and then you'd wink through your monocle and skip out of the room.

As ridiculous as this whole concept is, I just can't get over the thought of how sticky a Dole Whip shower would be.

 

[IamTrike]

As ridiculous as this whole concept is, I just can't get over the thought of how sticky a Dole Whip shower would be.

Its like your whole body would be the as sticky as the floor in club cool.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I'm late to this entry so all of the funny responses have been taken.
So I'll be brief:
pictures: awesome
Bro's waitress friend: Nice job, kid.
$16 Shower: insane
$16 Cold Shower: out of your mind
$16 Cold Disney Shower: Yeah, I'll pay it.

 

[IamTrike]

I'm late to this entry so all of the funny responses have been taken.
So I'll be brief:
pictures: awesome
Bro's waitress friend: Nice job, kid.
$16 Shower: insane
$16 Cold Shower: out of your mind
$16 Cold Disney Shower: Yeah, I'll pay it.

I'll post another update soon and anxiously await a full dose of the funny from you.

Thanks for the pic appreciation

Bro has always liked making friends with girls. On one of his first visits to the dentist he told the hygenist "I'm a lover not a fighter".

 

[IamTrike]

As any self respecting disdad should be, I am giddy like a little kid on Christmas Eve before any Disney day(cruise or parks). Well this night I was giddy like a little kid on "Super-Double Presents and Whip Cream Christmas Eve." Yup we were heading to Castaway Cay in the morning.

I managed to wake everyone early and we headed to breakfast. Bro may have snuck off to enjoy the luxury of the Remy bathroom. I'm not really sure what everyone else ate, but I know that among the piles of food I gathered there were bacon and eggs benedict. Bacon = Good. So basically at this point you're thinking you went to the same place for breakfast again? Why not try the Enchanted Garden? It's gotta be magical, it has enchanted right in the name. Well I do like the magic, but Enchanted Garden doesn't have windows and this was our view from breakfast.

See redundancy has its privaledges.

After breakfast we hurried downstairs to the lower level where you exit the boat. We were about 30 minutes early, so we were one of the first families there. As it got closer to time to disembark it got really crowded and the lines backed up the stairs.

We were anxious to be off the boat because Noah and I wanted to run the Castaway Cay 5k at 9am and wanted to get our stuff situated before that. For some reason Mom didn't think leaving 30 pounds of snorkeling gear with her to drag down to the beach was fair.

They opened the door and we hurried* to find a spot.
*Hurried = Mom stopped to take 50 or 60 pictures. The Aquaduck managed to sneak into this one, he's quite a prankster like that.

We had heard that it can be a little bit more peaceful, if you head to the second set of chairs. Do you think it worked?

I'd consider that a yes.

See wearing those "I heart smallpox" t-shirts worked.
While Bro and I got ready to run, Sis got to explore "her" island.

She's kuku for coconut

I'm starting to wonder about all those posts I read about not being able to find a chair.

Hmmm maybe the snorkelling area is more crowded?

Bro and I headed to the 5k start area. We met the CM that was organizing it. Talking with him was very interesting, he told us about the Triathlon they have in the CM area on Castaway Cay days. I really wish that was open for regular guests.

The 5k course heads out to the runway and then runs around the loop to the observation tower, heads to the end of the runway and then heads back to the start.

Bro was very excited to be running his first 5k.

It was really hot ,so his excitement was tempered not long into the race. Fortunately along the race course there are water coolers and there are neat things to see.

It took some encouragement, but we survived the whole run. We may have had a water fight at one of the coolers midway through the course.

After the run we settled in to really enjoy the island.

We headed over to the snorkeling beach and put our gear on. My what big feet you have.

We all headed out to the buoys, we waster a lot of energy trying to snorkel closer to the beach, but we didn't really start to see interesting things underwater until we rounded the corner closer to the buoys. We all really enjoyed snorkeling. I am a pretty poor underwater photographer but we managed to get a couple decent pictures.

After snorkeling we headed to lunch.

Hey look, Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was good but not as good as the ribs or the fish in paradise.

This also gave us some time to explore the restrooms and yes I even have a picture of them. It seemed like a very masculine bathroom. (In a wood panelled rustic sort of way, not in a smelly and noisy way)

After lunch we swam and snorkeled a bit more.

Too soon we were running out of time on the island and we started walking back to the boat. We wanted to take our time on the way back and explore the island as we walked.

The island was amazing, but there was a ton we didn't get to do. We had hoped to rent bikes and ride around the island, the kids wanted to play at the excavation station and we wanted to see the adult beach. Ohh well next trip we'll have to do a double dip.

Coming up next: Our last night on the boat, and "the tragedy". Dun Dun Dah!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I'm not really sure what everyone else ate, but I know that among the piles of food I gathered there were bacon and eggs benedict. Bacon = Good.

Hmmm....I don't believe I've seen this particular equation before. I shall have to conduct highly scientific experiments to see if it is in fact true.

We were anxious to be off the boat because Noah and I wanted to run the Castaway Cay 5k at 9am and wanted to get our stuff situated before that. For some reason Mom didn't think leaving 30 pounds of snorkeling gear with her to drag down to the beach was fair.

What? You can't run a 5k with 30 pounds of snorkeling gear?

Hey look, Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was good but not as good as the ribs or the fish in paradise.

Oddly enough, Margarettaville was playing on the radio as I read this. I'm not sure there is any significance to that, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. (Great food pic too, by the way!)

This also gave us some time to explore the restrooms and yes I even have a picture of them. It seemed like a very masculine bathroom. (In a wood panelled rustic sort of way, not in a smelly and noisy way)

Nice! I'll be sure to check that one out when we're there. Or I'll swim out where it's a little deeper.


I know last time I promised more funny comments, but let's face it, it's 6:25am here and my funny is still sleeping.

 

[IamTrike]

Hmmm....I don't believe I've seen this particular equation before. I shall have to conduct highly scientific experiments to see if it is in fact true.

I suggest submitting it to rigorous and frequent testing.

What? You can't run a 5k with 30 pounds of snorkeling gear?

I can't do that and carry Bro too. He rode on my back for part of the 5k. I was looking at my pictures last night and Bro is soaked in the last couple pics. In looking at them I felt really bad thinking I can't believe I made him do something that made him sweat that much. It took me a minute to remember that we had just had a water fight, he was soaked but it wasn't sweat.

Oddly enough, Margarettaville was playing on the radio as I read this. I'm not sure there is any significance to that, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. (Great food pic too, by the way!)

It's nice when radio stations sync their playlists to my trip reports. I think the significance is you're listening to Jimmy Buffet at 6:30 in the morning. You're obviously setting yourself up for a mellow day.

Nice! I'll be sure to check that one out when we're there. Or I'll swim out where it's a little deeper.

Hey did the water just get warm all of a sudden? Be prepared with the " Uhhh yeah there is a slight change in coloration in the sea floor here. It results in more sunlight being absorbed heating up the water in just the general vicinity" excuse.

I know last time I promised more funny comments, but let's face it, it's 6:25am here and my funny is still sleeping.

It was nice of you to blame it on the time (works better than blaming it on the rain), but I know the painful truth. I just didn't give you much to work with. If you were to give da Vinci, an etch-a-sketch would you expect him to create a masterpiece? Maybe, but he'd probably also turn it into some sort of flying catapult too. Next time I'll try and give you something better to work with.

 

[afwdwfan]

Well this night I was giddy like a little kid on "Super-Double Presents and Whip Cream Christmas Eve."

Wow, that's some serious giddiness. I hope you weren't rocking the boat as you were bouncing off the walls.

I managed to wake everyone early and we headed to breakfast.

Translation: Nobody could sleep because dad couldn't lay still and stop giggling like a 5 year old loaded up on pixie sticks.

Bacon = Good.

Obviously!

So basically at this point you're thinking you went to the same place for breakfast again?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

They opened the door and we hurried* to find a spot.
*Hurried = Mom stopped to take 50 or 60 pictures.

She takes very good pictures though and if it wasn't for her stopping to take all those pictures, your TR would suffer.

See wearing those "I heart smallpox" t-shirts worked.

I've got to remember this idea for later....

We may have had a water fight at one of the coolers midway through the course.

I wouldn't expect anything less from a Disdad.
That's awesome that you and your son got to run (horseplay) together for his first 5K. Especially with it being on Castaway Cay!

Hey look, Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was good but not as good as the ribs or the fish in paradise.

This also gave us some time to explore the restrooms and yes I even have a picture of them.

Really, you're doing a great job on the TR. You don't have to use puns and bathroom pictures like somebody else.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Well this night I was giddy like a little kid on "Super-Double Presents and Whip Cream Christmas Eve." Yup we were heading to Castaway Cay in the morning.

I'm giddy just anticipating reading about it! Or maybe that's the coffee.

Bacon = Good.

Barry, I've been able to verify this hypothesis through independent field tests.

So basically at this point you're thinking you went to the same place for breakfast again? Why not try the Enchanted Garden? It's gotta be magical, it has enchanted right in the name. Well I do like the magic, but Enchanted Garden doesn't have windows and this was our view from breakfast.

Exactly. We did the buffet every morning just to sit on the deck and enjoy the view/weather. Not so much the seagulls, but nothing is perfect.

They opened the door and we hurried* to find a spot.
*Hurried = Mom stopped to take 50 or 60 pictures.

Ah, you're on island time now.

We had heard that it can be a little bit more peaceful, if you head to the second set of chairs. Do you think it worked?

We found the same thing you did on our cruise. I think the real secret is to wake up in the morning, rather than at lunchtime.

See wearing those "I heart smallpox" t-shirts worked.

It took some encouragement, but we survived the whole run. We may have had a water fight at one of the coolers midway through the course.

We all headed out to the buoys, we waster a lot of energy trying to snorkel closer to the beach, but we didn't really start to see interesting things underwater until we rounded the corner closer to the buoys. We all really enjoyed snorkeling. I am a pretty poor underwater photographer but we managed to get a couple decent pictures.

Wow, you did the snorkeling after running a 5k? That's impressive. I was amazed at how far you had to swim just to get out to where the buried treasures were.

Too soon we were running out of time on the island

Yeah, that's a problem...

The island was amazing, but there was a ton we didn't get to do. We had hoped to rent bikes and ride around the island, the kids wanted to play at the excavation station and we wanted to see the adult beach. Ohh well next trip we'll have to do a double dip.

I like the double-dip idea. My kids LOVED the bikes, although you pretty much saw the whole bike path on your run. But anything that results in more island time is a win.

Really, you're doing a great job on the TR. You don't have to use puns and bathroom pictures like somebody else.

 

[IamTrike]

Wow, that's some serious giddiness. I hope you weren't rocking the boat as you were bouncing off the walls.

I wasn't rocking it too much

Translation: Nobody could sleep because dad couldn't lay still and stop giggling like a 5 year old loaded up on pixie sticks.

Sadly this is quite possibly the most accurate description of me ever.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Yeah and to be fair Cabanas is a huge buffet. It seemed like there were 5-7 unique meal types.

She takes very good pictures though and if it wasn't for her stopping to take all those pictures, your TR would suffer.

I know. We all appreciative of Moms pics. She's made shutterfly books of most of our recent vacations and they are all awesome.

I've got to remember this idea for later....

Never underestimate the power of smallpox

I wouldn't expect anything less from a Disdad.
That's awesome that you and your son got to run (horseplay) together for his first 5K. Especially with it being on Castaway Cay!

It took a little longer than I was hoping, but if you're a runner/jogger/Walker/really good with a hoverround I'd suggest it.

Really, you're doing a great job on the TR. You don't have to use puns and bathroom pictures like somebody else.

I thought I read in the fine print those were required.