cmcvean
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2003
- Messages
- 305
Smiths 3 Day Wonder Cruise Aug 30th 
DH, ME, DD9, DD7, DD6, DD5
Monday August 27th Sunday September 2nd
Monday JetBlue from DC arrived 11am. Forgot my confirmation for the rental car and couldnt remember what company I used. I had an Entertainment book rate. Checked all the counters, no one had my reservation. I ended up calling Payless from the phone in the lobby and they didnt have it either. Although she said she could give me pretty close the same rate, so I go with it (BIG MISTAKE). We get on the shuttle, go to a gross place to get the car which for an additional $80 I get power windows, a Grand Caravan instead of just Caravan, and air in the back nice (kinda what I expected to get in the first place, with 6 people and luggage!). Get the car which is dirty, but we are tired of waiting so we take it. Worst minivan I have ever rented. So word to the wise Dont use Payless!!!
We were all hungry so we stopped at the TGI Fridays on the same street as Payless. Pretty good food, but we sat in the bar in a booth kinda smelled like the night before if you know what I mean.
We arrived at the Nick Hotel around 3pm. The rooms were okay, we had the SpongeBob theme room which the girls loved. Had some little tiny bugs crawling around the tub (saw about 3 of them) but other than that it was okay.
We went straight to the pool to swim. The girls loved it. The show was going on and they got slimed a little later. Around 5pm I went down the street to the Walmart (very easy to get to from the hotel). Got drinks and snacks for the room. We made it an early night.
TUESDAY, August 28th.
Tonight we go to the Princess and Pirate Party
. We swam in the morning, had lunch by the pool and DD7 got a hair wrap poolside. Lunch there which was expensive and not that great, but convenient. $8 for grilled cheese, fries and a drink. A very NORMAL grill cheese sandwich !
Got to the PPP around 4pm, got our 2 free double strollers and headed to the Barber Shop so my DH could get a haircut (didnt have time before the trip). It was crowded because everyone was getting Pixie Dust in their hair for the party.
Party was great as usual. We had dinner at Caseys and watched the show. Although we sat outside with all the gross goose poop YUCK! We spent most of our time in Fantasy Land, Tomorrow Land and Toon Town. We really enjoyed the new Monsters Inc. show. Of course the girls and DH were telling the SAME jokes over and over that they heard there for the ENTIRE vacation! What is a pirates favorite letter?? Arghhhhhh (R) . Yes ARGHHHHHHHH!! I could have heard that one 2,000 less times !!
We ended up watching the fireworks as we walked over to Toon Town and did some shopping and the girls rode Goofys Barnyard roller coaster. We hung out in Minnies house for a while, not too busy, although they had a treasure spot in her backyard, so a lot of people passing through. Nothing better than walking around MK on a beautiful night!
We left MK around midnight. Got back to the room and they had messed up our reservation and we were locked out of our room. Nice As you can only imagine, 4 very cranky tired girls lying on the cement floor in front of the room waiting for my DH to get a new key!
WEDNESDAY, August 29th
Woke up late and spent the early afternoon at the pool. It started to thunder so they closed the pool right after the show started. We got dressed and headed to Downtown Disney for an early dinner. Everywhere was booked so we ended up at the Blues place for dinner. I wasnt very impressed. Maybe I just wasnt hungry enough. Very so so. We did some shopping and headed back to the hotel to get ready for our cruise the next morning!!
THURSDAY, August 30th
Our 10 year anniversary!! Wow, how time flies!! We get up and head to Port Canaveral!! The girls start screaming as we come over the bridge and they can see the ship!! AWESOME! We arrive around 11:30. Received #5 group to board. Got our pager and the girls ID bracelets. After we boarded we went up to BBB for lunch and the girls wanted to sit outside. The food was okay I thought. I dont know I think I just ate so much on this trip that I never allowed myself to get hungry enough to enjoy my food!!! Except for Palos of course!!!
We find out we have been switched to the early seating for dinner, thank goodness!! We look around the ship, check out the Spa. Realzing that I HAVE to have the treatment with the special room with the whirlpool cabana thing. Figured this was my anniversary present, and after being at the Nick with four kids I NEED it. Booked it for the next morning at 10:30.
Get into our rooms at 1:30 (6572/4), the girls go crazy over the verandas and fight over beds. We go down to visit the kids clubs. Which is located right under our staterooms. Great location. Tough to get the girls out of there!!
We went to the Sail Away party. I pretty much teared up when they blew the horn what a great sound!!! It was kinda crowded and hot so we didnt stay too long, also we needed to get ready for dinner (5:45) at AP. I was so happy to get the early seating so we could actually go to AP, even though DH and I had reservations at Palo at 8:30.
Boniface and Fredrick (I think that was his name, we really liked him) were our servers. I had to laugh, as I order soup and salad and say we are eating at Palos so that is all I want, my DH orders Soup/Salad/Entrée and asks if he can order his dessert now or later??... Cracking me up!!! Took the kids to the kids club so we could go to Palo. Also gave the CMs in the Oceaneer Club a 2lb bag of Twizzlers I think they really liked it. I need to remember to bring a couple more next time, they are easy to pack.
Palos was GREAT. Zoran was our server and he was outstanding!! We had the warm shrimp salad and a mushroom thing. The shrimp was great. I had the Monk fish which was excellent and DH had the filet mignon. We had the soufflé for dessert which was very good! So after our dessert we hear this load beeping noise that sounds like it is coming from across the restaurant. A group of people a few tables over start asking who has kids and whose pager is beeping. So my husband checks his and from the second he starts to pull it out the noise gets louder and louder. How embarrassing is that!!! Afraid to look at it, it says that my 9 year old would like to be picked up!! Well at least the timing was good. Although a nice late night walk on deck would have been nicer!
FRIDAY, August 31st
DH got up very excited to go to a spin class at 9am. Unfortunately only one other person was there so they didnt have a class. I dropped off two children in the child care and was off to the spa for my treatments!!! Leanna was great. I went into the little room, got my robe on, went out to the veranda sat on the bed and had my feet washed in a little tin bowl, then off into the whirlpool tub. I think the Carnival cruise line across from us got quite a show as I climbed in the tub!!! I wish that ship wasnt there, the view would have been much better. But, if I looked to the side I could see parts of Nassau. I soaked for awhile then into the other room to get my detox treatment. I laid down on a sarong which was on top of a metal paper type covering. I sat up and she slathered algae seaweed stuff all over my back, then pulled the sarong out from under me as I laid down to get the front of me slathered. So, this is the interesting part. She wraps me up in the metal paper blanket thing (like the thin sheets they give marathoners after the race). And starts to fill up the big plastic duvet type thing with water. It hugs around my body, and my arms are straight to my side. Then she puts the two sides of the water thing over me to cover me up. A thin sheet of cotton paper stuff over my eyes and I start to FREAK OUT! Wow, didnt expect that!!! I couldnt move my arms and I felt trapped!! I told her this as calmly as I could , and she let me have my arms crossed with my hands on my stomach and didnt put the sides over me. It probably would have been better for my body the other way, but this was so much more relaxing. I could still feel the water under me and it was soothing. She massaged my feet and scalp while I was in there. After that was done I got on the table for my massage. Oh yeah, I showered first! After the massage I was out on the veranda eating fruit and drinking hot tea and watching the water, beautiful sky and the Bahamas. Wow, what a great experience. It felt like I was there forever!! I highly recommend it!
Back to the room, DH looked like he had his hands full. We made the girls go into Nassau just to check things out. We walked around the block and came right back on the ship. Kinda yucky. Pretty much what I thought it would be. It would have been nice if we had an excursion, but just to walk around it was not great.
Back on the ship, DD6 wants to go back to the club. She ends up staying there until after the Golden Mickeys. She loved going to lunch and dinner with all the kids. MyDD9 had a good time making cookies and doing the Kim Possible activity. DH & I took the other two to see Underdog. It was a good movie, my DH and DDs had already seen it. Dinner at Parrot Cay was really nice, better than at AP for us for some reason. I think the servers knew us better and that was enjoyable. The Golden Mickeys was a great show. We all enjoyed it. Went back to the room to bed after that.
SATURDAY, September 1st
Castaway Cay Ate breakfast at Parrot Cay, which was good. Headed out to the beach and sat towards the end of the family beach. It was less crowded down there. Before I got done running here and there my DD7 got stung by a jellyfish. Took her to the First Aid station, which was PACKED with people with stings. They couldnt get over the numbers, said that they were none the day before. They were so sweet, we got a voicemail when we returned apologizing and free smoothies at dinner. They just put vinegar on the sting and then some cream to numb it a little before we left.
Mailed some postcards from the post office. Make sure you buy your postcards and have some cash ready before you get off the boat. I ran in to buy some and forgot the stores were closed while in port!! Got the ones from the room and mailed those. The post office closes at 4pm! While heading back up to the room I decided to find the rebooking desk. Got there and she was all alone. About 2 minutes after I sat down the line started. It was about 8 or 9 deep when I left talk about good timing! We rebooked for a 7 day Eastern on November 8th, 2008. Cant wait. Got our same rooms! We are taking our moms with us on that one, I think they will really enjoy it, I know the kids will love having them there.
Last dinner of the night. We enjoyed Tritons and our servers got better and better as we went along. Saw the last show which was fabulous. Although, probably the only big drinkers on the boat were all in the row behind me, reeking of alcohol and talking through the ENTIRE show! Oh well, the kids didnt notice.
Went up to get pizza around 11pm and they were playing HSM2 on the big screen, it was such a beautiful night. So wished we were on a longer cruise!! Got our bags packed and out in the hall. Bid a farewell to the Bahamas and tried to go to sleep!!
Sunday, September 2nd.
Woke up earlier (not easy) went to breakfast in Tritons, had our same servers, at 7am. Got off the boat and headed unexpectedly to EPCOT. Our flight wasnt until 9:20, so we took advantage of the day. I know now why people say to do the cruise after the parks! We had a blast though. Lots of walking!! Crowds werent too bad, we just took advantage of the fastpasses and had fun.
So, that was our trip. This is my first ever trip report!! I always love reading everyone elses, I hope you enjoy it!
DH, ME, DD9, DD7, DD6, DD5
Monday August 27th Sunday September 2nd
Monday JetBlue from DC arrived 11am. Forgot my confirmation for the rental car and couldnt remember what company I used. I had an Entertainment book rate. Checked all the counters, no one had my reservation. I ended up calling Payless from the phone in the lobby and they didnt have it either. Although she said she could give me pretty close the same rate, so I go with it (BIG MISTAKE). We get on the shuttle, go to a gross place to get the car which for an additional $80 I get power windows, a Grand Caravan instead of just Caravan, and air in the back nice (kinda what I expected to get in the first place, with 6 people and luggage!). Get the car which is dirty, but we are tired of waiting so we take it. Worst minivan I have ever rented. So word to the wise Dont use Payless!!!
We were all hungry so we stopped at the TGI Fridays on the same street as Payless. Pretty good food, but we sat in the bar in a booth kinda smelled like the night before if you know what I mean.
We arrived at the Nick Hotel around 3pm. The rooms were okay, we had the SpongeBob theme room which the girls loved. Had some little tiny bugs crawling around the tub (saw about 3 of them) but other than that it was okay.
We went straight to the pool to swim. The girls loved it. The show was going on and they got slimed a little later. Around 5pm I went down the street to the Walmart (very easy to get to from the hotel). Got drinks and snacks for the room. We made it an early night.
TUESDAY, August 28th.
Tonight we go to the Princess and Pirate Party
. We swam in the morning, had lunch by the pool and DD7 got a hair wrap poolside. Lunch there which was expensive and not that great, but convenient. $8 for grilled cheese, fries and a drink. A very NORMAL grill cheese sandwich !Got to the PPP around 4pm, got our 2 free double strollers and headed to the Barber Shop so my DH could get a haircut (didnt have time before the trip). It was crowded because everyone was getting Pixie Dust in their hair for the party.
Party was great as usual. We had dinner at Caseys and watched the show. Although we sat outside with all the gross goose poop YUCK! We spent most of our time in Fantasy Land, Tomorrow Land and Toon Town. We really enjoyed the new Monsters Inc. show. Of course the girls and DH were telling the SAME jokes over and over that they heard there for the ENTIRE vacation! What is a pirates favorite letter?? Arghhhhhh (R) . Yes ARGHHHHHHHH!! I could have heard that one 2,000 less times !!
We ended up watching the fireworks as we walked over to Toon Town and did some shopping and the girls rode Goofys Barnyard roller coaster. We hung out in Minnies house for a while, not too busy, although they had a treasure spot in her backyard, so a lot of people passing through. Nothing better than walking around MK on a beautiful night!
We left MK around midnight. Got back to the room and they had messed up our reservation and we were locked out of our room. Nice As you can only imagine, 4 very cranky tired girls lying on the cement floor in front of the room waiting for my DH to get a new key!
WEDNESDAY, August 29th
Woke up late and spent the early afternoon at the pool. It started to thunder so they closed the pool right after the show started. We got dressed and headed to Downtown Disney for an early dinner. Everywhere was booked so we ended up at the Blues place for dinner. I wasnt very impressed. Maybe I just wasnt hungry enough. Very so so. We did some shopping and headed back to the hotel to get ready for our cruise the next morning!!
THURSDAY, August 30th Our 10 year anniversary!! Wow, how time flies!! We get up and head to Port Canaveral!! The girls start screaming as we come over the bridge and they can see the ship!! AWESOME! We arrive around 11:30. Received #5 group to board. Got our pager and the girls ID bracelets. After we boarded we went up to BBB for lunch and the girls wanted to sit outside. The food was okay I thought. I dont know I think I just ate so much on this trip that I never allowed myself to get hungry enough to enjoy my food!!! Except for Palos of course!!!
We find out we have been switched to the early seating for dinner, thank goodness!! We look around the ship, check out the Spa. Realzing that I HAVE to have the treatment with the special room with the whirlpool cabana thing. Figured this was my anniversary present, and after being at the Nick with four kids I NEED it. Booked it for the next morning at 10:30.
Get into our rooms at 1:30 (6572/4), the girls go crazy over the verandas and fight over beds. We go down to visit the kids clubs. Which is located right under our staterooms. Great location. Tough to get the girls out of there!!
We went to the Sail Away party. I pretty much teared up when they blew the horn what a great sound!!! It was kinda crowded and hot so we didnt stay too long, also we needed to get ready for dinner (5:45) at AP. I was so happy to get the early seating so we could actually go to AP, even though DH and I had reservations at Palo at 8:30.
Boniface and Fredrick (I think that was his name, we really liked him) were our servers. I had to laugh, as I order soup and salad and say we are eating at Palos so that is all I want, my DH orders Soup/Salad/Entrée and asks if he can order his dessert now or later??... Cracking me up!!! Took the kids to the kids club so we could go to Palo. Also gave the CMs in the Oceaneer Club a 2lb bag of Twizzlers I think they really liked it. I need to remember to bring a couple more next time, they are easy to pack.
Palos was GREAT. Zoran was our server and he was outstanding!! We had the warm shrimp salad and a mushroom thing. The shrimp was great. I had the Monk fish which was excellent and DH had the filet mignon. We had the soufflé for dessert which was very good! So after our dessert we hear this load beeping noise that sounds like it is coming from across the restaurant. A group of people a few tables over start asking who has kids and whose pager is beeping. So my husband checks his and from the second he starts to pull it out the noise gets louder and louder. How embarrassing is that!!! Afraid to look at it, it says that my 9 year old would like to be picked up!! Well at least the timing was good. Although a nice late night walk on deck would have been nicer!
FRIDAY, August 31st
DH got up very excited to go to a spin class at 9am. Unfortunately only one other person was there so they didnt have a class. I dropped off two children in the child care and was off to the spa for my treatments!!! Leanna was great. I went into the little room, got my robe on, went out to the veranda sat on the bed and had my feet washed in a little tin bowl, then off into the whirlpool tub. I think the Carnival cruise line across from us got quite a show as I climbed in the tub!!! I wish that ship wasnt there, the view would have been much better. But, if I looked to the side I could see parts of Nassau. I soaked for awhile then into the other room to get my detox treatment. I laid down on a sarong which was on top of a metal paper type covering. I sat up and she slathered algae seaweed stuff all over my back, then pulled the sarong out from under me as I laid down to get the front of me slathered. So, this is the interesting part. She wraps me up in the metal paper blanket thing (like the thin sheets they give marathoners after the race). And starts to fill up the big plastic duvet type thing with water. It hugs around my body, and my arms are straight to my side. Then she puts the two sides of the water thing over me to cover me up. A thin sheet of cotton paper stuff over my eyes and I start to FREAK OUT! Wow, didnt expect that!!! I couldnt move my arms and I felt trapped!! I told her this as calmly as I could , and she let me have my arms crossed with my hands on my stomach and didnt put the sides over me. It probably would have been better for my body the other way, but this was so much more relaxing. I could still feel the water under me and it was soothing. She massaged my feet and scalp while I was in there. After that was done I got on the table for my massage. Oh yeah, I showered first! After the massage I was out on the veranda eating fruit and drinking hot tea and watching the water, beautiful sky and the Bahamas. Wow, what a great experience. It felt like I was there forever!! I highly recommend it!
Back to the room, DH looked like he had his hands full. We made the girls go into Nassau just to check things out. We walked around the block and came right back on the ship. Kinda yucky. Pretty much what I thought it would be. It would have been nice if we had an excursion, but just to walk around it was not great.
Back on the ship, DD6 wants to go back to the club. She ends up staying there until after the Golden Mickeys. She loved going to lunch and dinner with all the kids. MyDD9 had a good time making cookies and doing the Kim Possible activity. DH & I took the other two to see Underdog. It was a good movie, my DH and DDs had already seen it. Dinner at Parrot Cay was really nice, better than at AP for us for some reason. I think the servers knew us better and that was enjoyable. The Golden Mickeys was a great show. We all enjoyed it. Went back to the room to bed after that.
SATURDAY, September 1st
Castaway Cay Ate breakfast at Parrot Cay, which was good. Headed out to the beach and sat towards the end of the family beach. It was less crowded down there. Before I got done running here and there my DD7 got stung by a jellyfish. Took her to the First Aid station, which was PACKED with people with stings. They couldnt get over the numbers, said that they were none the day before. They were so sweet, we got a voicemail when we returned apologizing and free smoothies at dinner. They just put vinegar on the sting and then some cream to numb it a little before we left.
Mailed some postcards from the post office. Make sure you buy your postcards and have some cash ready before you get off the boat. I ran in to buy some and forgot the stores were closed while in port!! Got the ones from the room and mailed those. The post office closes at 4pm! While heading back up to the room I decided to find the rebooking desk. Got there and she was all alone. About 2 minutes after I sat down the line started. It was about 8 or 9 deep when I left talk about good timing! We rebooked for a 7 day Eastern on November 8th, 2008. Cant wait. Got our same rooms! We are taking our moms with us on that one, I think they will really enjoy it, I know the kids will love having them there.
Last dinner of the night. We enjoyed Tritons and our servers got better and better as we went along. Saw the last show which was fabulous. Although, probably the only big drinkers on the boat were all in the row behind me, reeking of alcohol and talking through the ENTIRE show! Oh well, the kids didnt notice.
Went up to get pizza around 11pm and they were playing HSM2 on the big screen, it was such a beautiful night. So wished we were on a longer cruise!! Got our bags packed and out in the hall. Bid a farewell to the Bahamas and tried to go to sleep!!
Sunday, September 2nd.
Woke up earlier (not easy) went to breakfast in Tritons, had our same servers, at 7am. Got off the boat and headed unexpectedly to EPCOT. Our flight wasnt until 9:20, so we took advantage of the day. I know now why people say to do the cruise after the parks! We had a blast though. Lots of walking!! Crowds werent too bad, we just took advantage of the fastpasses and had fun.
So, that was our trip. This is my first ever trip report!! I always love reading everyone elses, I hope you enjoy it!
! That is AWESOME, I never even imagined such a wonderful thing. I'm a BIG fan of girls nights out and this just takes it to the extreme - good for you!!!!
!!
