September 16-23 Double Dip

[SmoothSailing]

Saturday

We (husband, and three daughters 2, 5, and 7 and Brother and sister-in-law, and niece) arrived at the terminal a bit early and had to wait outside in the hot sun on Saturday. The terminal was nice and cool once we got in. There was a line forming, but we weren't sure what it was for. It turns out it was a luggage drop off line. After we completed that line we had to get in the line with ID's to enter the terminal. Boarding ticket #4. The computers were down, so the cast members couldn't do much as we waited in line. The kids were with my husband while I waited. Donald Duck and Pluto both came for pictures once the line began to move. We got the Castaway Member lanyards and went to get wristbands for daughters. Once on board, we went to lunch at Topsiders then on to the pool. We went to add two to our Palo reservation because we could only get two on-line. Baby did not like the life-vest drill. I have a funny picture of her about to cry in the vest. At least our staging area was Animator's Palate. Nice and cool! Had fun at sail away party. After that took our baby down for a nap. Sisters and husband woke here up after about 2 hours. Darn it! We got ready for dinner. Our rotation was LAP--not the best for theme night rotation. Enjoyed our server Oka! We went to the Welcome show, but 2 year old got impatient. My husband took her back tot he room for bed.

 

[SmoothSailing]

Sunday
It's hard to believe it gets to be such a blur so quickly! We were at Castaway Cay. We did the Stingray Excursion. We were assured thoroughly that their rays are safe by their marine expert in the pre-water presentation. (This was shortly after the Crocodile Hunter incident.) Our two older daughters 5 & 7 went with us while the baby was with my brother's family. Thank you! They let you feed the stingrays when they come up the ramp. They show you how to hold the fish or shrimp correctly. Our DD 7 did it, but 5 year old wouldn't feed them. They bump up against your legs frequently while you are feeding them. Feels weird, but they are gentle. We all snorkeled afterwards. Nothing in that water except the rays and an occasional fish. Visibility was not great.

Seeing the Flying Dutchman was neat. They could really do some neat stuff with that there. A Pirate Show or something. The closest people could get was on jet skis.

We ate at Cookies BBQ. The girls ate a lot of ice cream during the week. We enjoyed our day at the beach. They swam and played in the sand. Nice day. For dinner we ate at Animator's Palate. We had seen the show before, but it's still nice. We didn't go to the show since it was the magician or comedian. I'm sure it was good, but not a priority for little girls.

It was our anniversary so my brother's family watched our kids sleep from their connecting room. We went to deck 4 and enjoyed the quiet night breeze on the cushy chairs.

 

[SmoothSailing]

A day at sea. It was nice to just use the ship's facilities more. The kids swam a lot and ate more ice cream. We had Palo brunch. It's so nice to have a quiet meal. I liked the dessert buffet--yum. My SIL and BIL went to Margarita tasting. They give you three different kinds of tequila so you can tell the expensive stuff from the cheap stuff. Then they give you two mixed ones strawberry and regular. Too much for me to drink during the day. All I had were the mixed ones. We missed the tea with Wendy because we went to Guest Services too late. Oh well.

We tried to make arrangements for Ella's first haircut onboard. Faith's first haircut was at the Magic Kingdom so we thought it would be fun. We had a reservation, but they called to cancel due to her age. They are "missing the boat" (ha, ha) on that one. Lots of parents would probably think that's neat.


It was formal night. The girls looked great! The baby started getting a taste for the butter packets at dinner each night. She couldn't wait for actual food. Sorry if you were sitting by us--at least she was quiet. We went to the Golden Mickey's. Kids were in the PJ's so they could go right to bed afterwards. Good show!

 

[SmoothSailing]

We went on our own with David and Ivann to Chacchoben. They took us to the Cat's Meow first. Majuhual (?) doesn't have much there. Small buildings/businesses by the ocean built kind of close together. Still neat to see. They we rode with Ivann. He told us about the ruins a bit on the way there. When we got to the park he gave us time for a bathroom break then we were on our way. It was HOT!!! The kids were pretty good. They liked climbing on the buildings. Ivann showed us where some buildings were still covered. He told us things about the different leaves and trees. There was one leaf that was used as a medicine in a tea that could knock you out for a few days if you took too much. Yikes! He really took time to explain things and let us explore on our own too. We were fool enough to bring our two year old because Flounder's hours didn't match our excursion. She did pretty well, but fell asleep after I carried her up and down the ruins toward the end. She slept most of the way back to the port.

The port is just an open mall around a salt water pool. The sellers didn't negotiate much so I didn't buy much. We did go into several shops.

Most of us went to Twice Charmed--7 year old was tired and sassy so she went to bed with my husband and baby Ella.

 

[SmoothSailing]

We went to Xcaret. We had to tender, but it went right to Playa del Carmen. We followed our guide through the streets until we could get on the bus. No time for shopping here!

They take your pictures with big parrots, but don't want you to use your own cameras. We did the underground (really caves) river first. It's quite a swim. My 7 year old did very well and finished first. I had to tell her to slow down. My husband had to ferry our 5 year old. No baby today--she's with SIL! We ate lunch afterwards. Choice of hot dog, hamburger, etc with ticket. We also had a Corona. Nice. Then I thought we should go snorkeling. My husband took girls to the bathroom while I went to get gear. We were supposed to meet in snorkeling lagoon. Once I got all the stuff I headed there. They're not there! They were by some other water. Wasted a lot of time trying to find them. Snorkeled a bit and then went to aquarium to cool off. We went through the aquarium and some of the animal exhibits and then it was time to go to the bus. No time to shop afterwards and no time to tender to Cozumel. Bummer.

It's pirate night. Some people go all out, but we just had T-shirts. Ella's said "Terror of the Seas" cute from Pirate Mod. We put the kids to bed after dinner. The menus and bandanas are kind of neat. Then, our plan was to wake the kids up for the pirate party. They woke up but were really out of it. They did like the fireworks and Mickey saving the day. We were up on deck 10 my SIL went early to save seats--good thing.

 

[SmoothSailing]

Another day at sea. We just enjoyed the pool again. My SIL went to the napkin folding, but I stayed with Ella while she napped. Still haven't gotten my copy of the cheat sheet yet.

We dressed up again for the Captain's Gala--not sure why it's named that. The captain wasn't there. We often had pictures taken with characters before or after dinner. They all liked doing that.

We went to Disney Dreams. Brooke-7 likes that show the best. It was a nice way to end the evening. They all like to see the characters sing and dance.

 

[SmoothSailing]

Our last day. Wah! We were at Castaway Cay. The weather was perfect our entire week. It never rained and was fabulous for swimming. We just had fun on the beach. Brooke and my husband and I snorkeled there. Faith-5 went to club with her cousin. We saw Mickey, but weren't sure what else there was. The buoys seem to mark the interesting spots. A map would be nice.

We ate a Cookies again. More ice cream. They did a Pirate Parade for the first time ever. It was more characters riding in golf carts than anything else. I'm sure they'll polish it up more in the future. They had a dance party and our 2 year old loved it. My sweet SIL took Ella back for a nap. We sat in the water on the chairs and drank Conch Coolers while the kids played. Heaven.

We didn't go to our usual dinner because we had Palo reservations. Probably not the best night due to the whole packing thing. It's ok that we missed the show though. I don't think it would be our favorite.

The baby couldn't/wouldn't sleep while we packed so I took her out for a walk. She saw Stitch and wanted to hug him. Unfortunately I was in a line for re-booking. We did work our way over to him in time for a hug. My husband had finished packing, but didn't know where anything was when I asked. I had started packing all dirty clothes and things we wouldn't need in the biggest bag, but he didn't keep with my plan. Maybe next time.

 

[SmoothSailing]

We got up early and got dressed for breakfast. It's a bummer to have to leave and pack up. We went through customs easily and waited for my husband and brother to pick up the cars at Avis. We were on our way to the Dolphin Hotel. Very nice, and we had an excellent rate $129/night. We were on the 12th floor with a good view of the Tower of Terror. Ella called it Sleeping Beauty's castle. We were able to store a bag of chocolate stuff at the hotel and check in early. Too bad we had to go to Sea World for the day. Brooke is an orca addict. She has pod in her bed.

It was a good day, but we got back late and couldn't enjoy the hotel as much as we would have liked. We left around 9 the next morning for the airport. We sat in Atlanta forever while they waited for the flight attendant to fly in. We came home exhausted! Started wash and unpacking.

 

[CruiseForFun]

Great report. I love it! Thanks for the review of the trip

 

[ktkberg]

thanks for sharing your trip report. My family and I are going on the DD in November. Would you mind telling what is a good time to get to the terminal? As a CC member did you say you got a special gift? Any information would be appreciated.

Tammy

 

[ibouncetoo]

Enjoyed your report, thanks for sharing.

How many people were on the David & Ivan tour (before you split upinto groups)? There are about 60 of us on the November double-dip!! Didn't know they could handle that many!
Tammy, the CC member gift is two-fold. When you check in at the terminal, you will get a laynard with two pins for everyone in your cabin. When you get to your cabin there will be a single gift there with lots of goodies......gee, don't you want to be surprised? It's only four more weeks Actually, there are pictures posted somewhere of what's 'in the bag'.

 

[SmoothSailing]

The group size was pretty big. It was probably around 30. Most rode on a large coach type bus. We rode in a larger SUV with Ivann. It seated about 10-12 passengers. The bus made it to the ruins before us because although they took us first, we went to the Cat's Meow. They went right from the port to the ruins.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[WendyJersey]

Great reporting. Made me feel I was there. Can't wait to leave for our cruise in a few weeks.

 

[Zitofamily]

thanks for sharing your trip report. My family and I are going on the DD in November. Would you mind telling what is a good time to get to the terminal? As a CC member did you say you got a special gift? Any information would be appreciated.

Tammy

Castaway Club members get a cloth bag and two net bags that can be worn as backpacks. The obvious intent is to use them at CC. They also include a couple of plastic drinking cups with lids and those plastic accordian straws. There a couple of small sun block (smaller than travel size) also in the nice little package and a door magnet that says Castaway Club on it. Oops - and how could I forget the lanyards for each person in the cabin with two of the same CC pins, one for keeping and one for trading.

As to when to get there, we were on last weeks DD cruise (10/14) and we got there later than I wanted at around 1:15 PM. Lines were short and it took no time to get on board. BUT we had booked a category 8 and I was hoping to be able to upgrade to a Cat 5. I had checked into this with DCL TA's several times prior to sailing and the price was over $800 to upgrade. At the port I was told the price was less than $400 ($350 I think) but those rooms were all gone by the time we got there. So, I think 1 PM is a good time to get there if you have you Palo ressies already and aren't trying to upgrade but you want to be there much earlier (10 or 10:30 AM) if you have a need to be one of the first people on. Later than 1 PM, you probably start to get the DCL busses rolling in.

 

[ktkberg]

Thanks for sharing you information. I'm glad their is two bags I have twins and it would have been a battle for them I think. As for getting their early I think we are going to shoot for around 1000 am since we are spending the night in Cocoa Beach. Thanks again.

Tammy

Oops I forgot on another thread someone was asking if the menu was the same both days on CC. If you remember drop a note please