Stingray Hickies and Hidden Mickies -cruise report for September 23-30th

[yazee1]

You know that feeling you get after disembarking from the ship? I'm not talking about the crushing sadness that the fun is over. I'm referring to the swaying sensation as you tread on dry land. That feeling left me sometime last night or today . I noticed it this morning. It got me to thinking I should drop what I was doing and write a trip report before I forgot everything but the most brilliant moments of our trip like when we won pins for best team name in the vegetable race. (kidding). Since homeschooling is a bigger priority than hanging on the DISboard (by a slim margin), I put off the report until now. Even now, I am being interrupted constantly, so bear with me.

This was our second Disney cruise having done the same itinerary in April of 2005. We were having such a magical time we rebooked on board, keeping it a secret from our kids until a year before our sailing date. When we broke the news about another cruise to our kids - ds (11), ds (9) and dd (5)- the sentiment was unanimous. They couldn't wait to get back to the Lab and Club! That week the children and I created a countdown trip chain with the date and days left on each link. Each month was a different colored paper. The final product was so long that when my neighbor saw it hanging in the kitchen, she thought we were decorating for a birthday party.

Precruise Arrangements

Transferring reservations- I transferred our reservations to AAA for an additional discount and room credit. Between DCL and AAA, we had accumulated 625.00 in onboard credit.

Travel Insurance - I can't remember the exact cost but much cheaper through insuremytrip.com than what was available from DCL or AAA.

Hotel reservations precruise - We knew we wanted to stay at the Residence Inn this time. The Radisson was fine last year, but the rates (151.00 for a 2 bedroom suite with free breakfast bar) at the Residence Inn was more appealing.

Transportation - Costwise it was almost a tie between the Auto Train with its kids' ride free special and flying if we took advantage of the rock-bottom airfare available through Southwest's Ding program. We opted for the Auto Train. To us, it's a lot more fun, they feed you better, and having our car with us from end to end is very convenient.

Shopping - We didn't need much since summer had just ended and I still have enough brightly colored duct tape from our first cruise. LOL. I splurged just a little by buying pirate costumes for my boys at the Disney Store and what I call a pirate princess dress from Gymboree for my daughter. Instead of autograph books, I bought them blank journals from the Disney Store. The costumes were a surprise for them on Pirate night. The journals I gave them beforehand so they could start writing or drawing in them.

Packing - For various reasons, our goal was to have one suitcase per family member. It took a lot of willpower on my part not to pack all the "just in case" stuff. The final count was 3 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, one dive bag and one rolling soft-sided cooler. The trick was to embrace the fact that a cruise is not a fashion show. Being comfortable, clean and presentable are the most important things to us. Also, I don't mind doing laundry onboard.

Thursday, September 21st - ....The first incident of many instances where things didn't go as planned but turned out just as well - The plan was for the kids and I to leave NJ at 9:30am, pick up my husband in Virginia at 12:30, have a nice lunch on the road and to be at the Auto Train station by 2pm (because that's what Amtrak tells you to do). Unfortunately, dh was held up at work, we never got lunch and at 2pm, we were 50 minutes from the train station. This turned out for the best. Not only was there no line at check-in, our last minute decision to upgrade to a sleeping car was rewarded with a huge discount, less than half price. Family sleeping car for $199.00. SWEET.
Upon boarding, there was complimentary fruit, cheese, snacks and wine in the lounge car. I didn't try the wine but the cheese and snack mix were awful. It was a nice surprise that the dinner served in the dining car was delicious. After dinner, we opted not to watch RV in the lounge car. Instead, we played several games of Uno with the kids, read for a while, and then went to sleep.

Friday, September 22nd -more plans turned inside out
The plan was to get off the train at 9:30am. That would give our family plenty of time to tour Kennedy Space Shuttle during the day and then return to the hotel to meet up with my mom and her husband who were driving over from Tampa to have dinner with us and stay with us in our suite. It didn't happen. We were informed via morning announcements that the train was running two and a half hours behind. Looking on the bright side, we slept through the delay. If we had flown, that kind of delay in the airport or in a plane would have been hell. Also, instead of rushing our breakfast in order to depart the train quickly, we ate and then hung out in the dining car where the service was good and the view was excellent. Being so late to the station on Thursday had a surprising consequence. Since our car was the last one loaded onto the train, it was the FIRST one unloaded.

We made it to Cape Canaveral around one o'clock. There wasn't enough time to tour KSC before my mom's arrival, so we got lunch and checked in at the Residence Inn. Dh was thrilled to find our room had internet access. I was thrilled to find the suite as clean, spacious, and attractive as I was expecting it to be. Dh and the kids stayed in the suite while I went looking for Monique's Boutique, a shop I read about on line. It's just a few miles down Atlantic Avenue. Monique's Boutique has much that is unique, and it does not belong to Monique, it is owned by Joan. If any of you ladies stop in and Joan's there please tell her Monica sent you.

We ate at Grill's that night. Our meals were excellent, even the vegetable medley. (I usually don't enjoy vegetables) Our children loved the homemade New England clam chowder. They ate soup rather than order from the kids' menu. After dinner, the kids played cards with their grandmom until she was too tired to play anymore, I got on line for a bit, and dh ran out to Walmart for beer and water. I can't account for the fact that it took dh 2 hours to get back from Walmart. I'm guessing there must have been a Home Depot nearby.

(t's time to take dinner out of the oven. I'll be back later to finish this)

 

[nani]

Great report thanks for posting, can't wait for more

 

[JDBlair]

Eager to read more!

 

[yazee1]

Saturday, September 23
The breakfast strategy
Before we went to sleep Friday night, I told my mom we wouldn't need a wake up call because the kids are always up early. As Murphy's law would have it, dh and I were up by 7:30, but the children were fast asleep. Dh and I crept out the suite and took the elevator down to the lobby so dh could get some coffee. The breakfast bar was looking pretty appetizing, and there were very few people around. I quickly realized if dh and I wanted to eat a hot uninterrupted breakfast, now was our chance. Later, when the room was crowded and a turn at the waffle maker might be a ten minute wait, we could play waiter and waitress to the rest of our group. Our strategy worked.



A Disboard member saves me from fainting
At 9:55am, the kids and I said goodbye to my mom in the hotel lobby. Dh dropped us and the luggage at the port. It was while we were unloading the luggage from dh's car that I could feel my blood sugar dropping. I was having trouble following the directions on how to affix the labels to the bags, and my hands were shaking. Usually, I carry emergency snacks in my handbag, but I didn't that morning. I figured once we were all checked in, I'd go to the snack bar. In the few minutes it took to hand our bags to the DCL porter, have our ids checked at the gate and take the escalator up to the main lobby, I went from a little shaky to a lot shaky and a little dizzy. I had a hard time articulating when the kids asked me if they could sit on the couch and watch cartoons. Thank goodness all they required was a "yes". I know if I had any sense I would have made a B line for the snack bar at this point, but I didn't.

"The Castaway Club line is short, I'll be okay," I thought to myself. While I was standing in line, the room was beginning to feel hot and I was really zoning out. Just then a lady who looked familiar, but I couldn't remember why, introduced herself as Heidi from our meet thread. I apologized for my apparent stupidity and explained why. She immediately offered me one of her organic, high protein blueberry energy bars and thereby saved me from the embarassment of fainting in front of everyone. A few large bites of that energy bar and I was instantly alert and restored to health. Just then, it was my turn at the check in and my angel of mercy flew off to join her family. That's also when dh showed up toting the rolling cooler I didn't realize I left somewhere in the port.

How to waste 2 hours in the port
After check-in was completed, we had time to get the kids their wristbands for the Club and Lab, have their pictures taken with a couple characters, spend a few minutes watching the ship get loaded up with luggage and supplies, figure out our dinner rotation, put our new Castaway Club pins on our lanyards and do a little people watching. Shortly before it was actually time for embarkment to begin, we ran into another thread member, Valerie. (Now that my blood sugar was normal, I could actually recognize, name and talk to people). She and I both had boarding cards for group 3. We took her advice and got in line. Sure enough, the line so quickly, by the time we near the front of the line, the announcement was made for group 3 to embark.

You can lead a kid to the Magic but you can't make it magical for him
While we were in line, I witnessed a couple saying to their little son, "Aren't you excited? Isn't this great? We're getting on the boat now! You're going to see the big mouse!!" The boy, who looked to be about 3 or 4, didn't really seem to know what he was supposed to be excited about. On the other hand, right beside me, my middle son, Spencer, who is 9 and normally very low-key, was literally hopping up and down, saying, "Oh, boy! We're getting on Magic! We're almost on the ship!" I think I saw his spiky blond hair quivering with excitement. Is that possible?

There's No Hurry
With the kids already registered and banded for the Club/Lab and the Palo reservations already reserved on line, there wasn't anything urgent to attend to once we were onboard. So, we went to the Parrot Cay for lunch. We ate with a nice couple, Jim and Nan. We had the pleasure of running into them several times during the week. After lunch, dh stayed in one of our rooms with dd so she could have a nap before the lifeboat drill. I don't remember what the boys and I did but when we arrived at the promenade deck for the dismeet, there was no one around. We went up to deck 9 for ice cream then returned to the deck 4 to see if anyone had shown up. We didn't see anyone so we just watched the people in the atrium and all around us. That's when I told the boys about the hidden Mickeys. From that point on, they were on constant lookout for hidden Mickeys.

This time we're going to have a better spot
Another one of my plans. Last time we cruised, it was difficult to enjoy the sail away party. The decks were very crowded and because we started unpacking after the drill, we got to deck 9 too late to claim even a few inches of space for our family of five. Deck 10 was no better. So, this cruise, I proposed that we go immediately to deck nine following the drill (dropping off our life jackets first, of course). We did just that and there was no need for it. There was plenty of space. Lesson learned. The ship is much more crowded in April than it is at the end of September. LOL.

The best moment for us was when the horns blew and the streamers were shot up in the air and came floating down on top of us. I looked up at the sky, snapped a couple pictures of the streamers floating down, then looked at my children and thought of the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Willy Wonka says to Charlie something like "And you. Well, you're just glad to be here." That was us. We were all just glad to be there.


Meeting the tablemates
A couple months before our cruise, I asked two other families from our dismeet thread, who were not travelling with a group and who had a child or two around the same age as ours, to be our tablemates and they accepted my invitation. We dined with Cindy, Scott and their daughter Brooke and Angie and her son Alex and daughter Charlotte. Having a little something in common didn't prevent us from being a little nervous about meeting for the first time. It think the chattiest person at our table that night was our server, Kamur. He and Jonathon were our serving team. They proved to be an excellent team. Service was a little slow the first night, but from what I remember and from what Scott and Cindy remembered from their past Disney cruises, that's usually the case on the first night. Jonathon gave the kids a brainbender puzzle to figure out using the crayons on the table. All of us took a shot at it. Of course, it was one of the kids who figured out the answer.

Our dinners were good, not great, except for the shrimp which was bland. Dh and I thought the bread and the desert was so-so. Most dinners that week were of the same rating, good but not great. With nothing to compare it to, I can't say the food is any better or any worse than other cruiselines.

No Show

On our last cruise, we had a hard time staying up late enough to see a show or go out as a couple, and it was our plan to do it this time. No dice. We were all way too tired to stay up. After unpacking, we went to bed. The boys slept in a room across the hall. Our 5 year old daughter wanted to stay with her brothers but we insisted she stay in our cabin. I told her she would get more chocolate if she stayed in our room since dh doesn't eat it and I'm always too full from dinner.


to be continued

 

[JoRy]

great report, but I do have one question. How did you transfer reservations from DCL to AAA? Had you paid already or what?

Thanks

 

[yazee1]

great report, but I do have one question. How did you transfer reservations from DCL to AAA? Had you paid already or what?

Thanks

Transferring is simple. Call AAA and tell them you want to transfer the reservation. The TA will take care of it. People do it all the time. No, the trip was not paid for prior to us transferring the reservation. Once the reservation was transferred, we made the payments to AAA.

 

[jrose529]

Great trip report so far! I can't wait for more.

 

[yazee1]

Dh and I have been to Key West before and based on that experience, we decided, long before the cruise, we were not getting off the ship Sunday. Sunday was to be our family's "at sea day". The kids wanted to spend their day at the Lab and the Club. I had an appointment at the spa in the morning and dh and I had brunch reservations at Palo. Dh and I planned to spend the afternoon kid-free. Of course, things did not go as planned.

Sunday,September 24 - Key West but only for a few minutes

I started getting a tension headache Saturday night when I realized we would be trying to squeeze my morning walk, breakfast for the kids, my appointment at the spa and be at Palo into a space of 2 hours. I also got to thinking I'd like to run into Key West to find a balloon pump and balloons for my son who had his heart set on making balloon sculptures for the other kids but accidently left his pump and balloons at home. The store was only open until 3pm and we didn't know what our travel time would be. If we went to Palo for brunch would we make it to the store in time? I told dh I was going to cancel my spa appointment in the morning and asked him if he minded if I rescheduled brunch in order to free up our morning and not have the afternoon be a mad rush. He was fine with it.


Early Sunday morning, I called the spa to cancel and was reminded that the cancel penalty was 1/2 of the cost. It was suggested I reschedule, so I rescheduled later in the afternoon. I called Palo to reschedule brunch and was put on the waiting list. Our morning was now free! The kids knew nothing of what had been planned, canceled or rescheduled. The only thing on their radar was the Lab and the Club.

After a family breakfast in Lumiere's (slow but attentive service, so-so food), the boys fled to the Lab while dh and I took our Tigger-like daughter to the Club. Shortly after, dh and I walked off the ship to find a taxi to take us to the Party Time. (I had called ahead to make sure they had a pump for sale.)

(Note to self) Next time I have to go 3 miles in Key West, I'll rent a bicycle. The round trip taxi ride to the Key Plaza (with one stop at the Borders Express) with tip cost twice as much as the balloons and the pump! Yikes! But, our mission was accomplished and we felt good about that. Time to get lunch.

Leah learns what the pager is for
Leah paged us while we were eating. Dh went to get her but came back without her. She just wanted to say hi. She didn't want to leave. Dh told her she should page us if she wants to leave. She did this to us twice on Sunday, once asking for dh and the second time asking for me. The third time was on Monday or Tuesday (can't remember), but even though she didn't want to leave, dh checked her out and she stayed with us the rest of the afternoon. That was the last time she had us paged. LOL

The biggest waste of time

Dh and I were looking forward to going to the movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean. The title of this entry tells how we felt about it. At the end of the movie we both looked at each other thinking the same thing. What the heck?

Better than POC 2
Dinner was at Animator's Palate. I thought I remembered this restaurant as too noisy, but it wasn't bad at all. In fact, we all enjoyed the visit. Last time, our kids didn't enjoy the spectacle of what goes on at Animator's Palate. In fact it scared my daughter. This time they oohed and ahhed and really paid attention to it. That was gratifying to us. Our service was much faster tonight but not rushed. Things were a little more relaxed at the table now. The kids were getting to know each other. I was beginning to suspect that our five-year old daughter was more interested in being friends with Angie's 10 year old daughter than Scott's daughter who is only a year younger than Leah. After dinner, Kumar gave us a rundown of what to expect at the character breakfast the next morning and reminded us to apply plenty of sunscreen if we were going up to deck 9 during the day.

I can't remember if this was the night we saw Mike Harrison's ventriloquist act or not! I wish I had my Navigators here with me. His show was fantastic. We all thought he was funny. I do remember we went to a couple character appearance and walked around Mickey's Mates. Once again, dh and I were too tired to stay up and enjoy grown-up entertainment.

Monica learns how to use room service
For some reason, as tired as I was I couldn't sleep. Around midnight I got the idea that some hot chicken soup would help, but I felt embarassed calling room service for a measly bowl of soup. I'd never ordered room service in my life. I was ready though. I had a handful of ones in my top drawer. It was time to step out of my comfort zone. I also remembered someone posting about there being a cake of the day. Desert in the middle of the night?? Why not? I ordered soup, cake and lowfat milk. The soup was great, the cake, mocha I think, was blah and certainly not worth the extra calories. I'm not crazy about milk but it was good!

The warm soup did the trick. I was able to sleep. Or maybe, it wasn't the soup. Maybe it was how relaxed I felt overcoming my weird anxiety about calling room service. Speaking of sleep, it's midnight. More trip report tomorrow.

 

[vpalmer]

Great report Monica! How great that you were able to dine with some of our Dis meet thread friends. I had no idea that there were fellow Dis'ers at your table or I would have introduced myself! I can't wait to read more about your trip.

 

[msaseifert]

I love these reports, thanks for sharing!

 

[JoRy]

I had a handful of ones in my top drawer. QUOTE]


So we tip the room service people? I thought we only tipped at the end and everything else was part of the deal?

 

[Amlee]

I had a handful of ones in my top drawer. QUOTE]


So we tip the room service people? I thought we only tipped at the end and everything else was part of the deal?

The main dining waiter staff and your room steward are all tipped at the end of the trip. But any and all room service is tipped.

 

[yazee1]

Back to the report.
Monday, September 25 - At Sea -Didn't go as planned, went even better!

Heidi Saves the Day, AGAIN
I woke up early on Monday so I went downstairs to check my email. Who did I run into for about the fourth time in 3 days but Heidi, my angel with the protein bar. While we were chatting I told her how I had canceled our Palo reservation for Sunday and were on the waiting list. I thought there was a brunch each day but she corrected me that it's only offered on certain days. Uh, oh. Without skipping a beat, she said and her family had reservations for five but she was pretty sure her SIL and husband were not up to going. She offered to include us if that was the case. By the time I returned to my room, she had already called to let us know we were invited to go with them. Dh and I were so excited! Brunch was something we were really looking forward to on our trip and to be in the company of Heidi and her family was even better.

Who stole all the flip flops and sunglasses??

We took the kids to Topsiders for their breakfast that morning. Dh and I didn't eat but we did enjoy the mild weather and fresh air as the kids ate theirs. In general, breakfast on this trip was so much more enjoyable than last time. Was it the weather? Was it the fact that the ship was less crowded? Maybe. Or was it that our sons are old enough to carry their own trays through the buffet line?

While we were at breakfast I suggested we should all go to the pool today after lunch. I had made an appointment for dd and I to have our hair braided at 3:00pm. Dh didn't care as long as he had a good book and a cold beer. DD was into that idea because she is finally tall enough to try out the Mickey Slide. The boys, however, just wanted to stay at the Lab. (Going to the pool didn't interest them because they get enough pool time at home.) I insisted they meet us at the pool anyway. (mean old mom).

Remembering all the angry posts I read on this board about lounge chair "saving", I figured since it was nearly 9 o'clock when we came up for breakfast, by now almost every chair on deck 9 would be draped with towels or personal belongings. After breakfast, as we walked across deck 9 to get to the midship elevators, I noted the pools were empty and there were no sunbathers to be seen. I ogled just about every chair we passed looking for the flip flops, towels or sunglasses that mark a chair as "saved". Guess what!! There was only one chair that held evidence of being "saved", but as we were leaving the pool area, a woman in a bathing suit walked over to it and laid down. Let the record show that on the morning of September 25th, an At-Sea day, around 9am, no one was "saving" a chair by the pool.

Brunch - Good food, great service, great company

Dh and I arrived at Palo a little early. Dh and another man got into a discussion about the unusual light fixture outside of Palo. It's a good thing they hit it off because this man turned out to be Heidi's brother-in-law. Once all of the party was present, we ushered into the restaurant where we were offered complimentary champagne or champagne coctail. Kristian,our server, took us on a thorough tour of the brunch offerings and then left us to make our selections from the buffet.

The display of brunch items was elegant and impressive. Between the five of us I think we ordered almost everything the kitchen had to offer and sampled every dish and desert on the tables. Dh liked everything he tried especially the melon soup, the pizza with the balsamic vinegar, and the seafood. I could have eaten three bowls of the wild mushroom soup if it wouldn't have prevented me from having enough appetite for the pungent cheese whose name I can't remember, crab legs and salmon mousse. Of the deserts, I enjoyed the tiny cups of cappechino mousse the best. Nothing else, as far as deserts, stands out in my mind.

Palo is famous for its fine service as well as its food and I can understand why. So skillful and pleasant was the service that it seemed like used plates and utensils disappeared on their own. At Kristian's urging we even tried dishes we wouldn't have tried on our own. We didn't have a care in the world and were able to enjoy our tablemates as well as the meal.

This wasn't the Palo experience we planned when I booked our brunch on line last June, it was better. I don't know who deserves more thanks, Palo or Heidi for making it happen.

Beauty is Beastly

I have a sweet recollection of Leah, just barely four years old, serenely eating a big bowl of ice cream while the braider plaited her thin blond hair into six thick braids. That was a memory from April of '05. I knew right away this time was going to be different as we approached the braiding station and the first thing we saw a sad little girl in the midst of a obviously painful braiding appointment. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the braider pulled tightly and weaved the girl's hair into braids. Maybe our braider isn't as rough on the scalp, I thought to myslef. Leah obediently climbed into the chair and let the braider begin combing her hair. I brought dd a bowl of ice cream to eat while she was being braided but it wasn't effective. The braiding was painful. She winced occasionally and wiggled a bit, but endured it all knowing it how pretty it would look when it was done. She did look very cute with her hair in braids. I wish I could say the same about me. When my braids were finished, I looked ridiculous. I wore them while we were at the pool but had dh help me remove them when we returned to our room later.

Mickey Slide - Barely big enough
While Leah and I were at the torture chamber (I mean braiding station), dh and the boys were at the Goofy pool. Once we girls were finished, we all moved over to the Mickey slide. The boys took Leah up the stairs to the tope of the slide. I feared the slide attendant was going to deny her access. According to my measurements, she was 37". I warned her that it might not be her year yet for the Mickey Slide. So, I held my breath when I saw her reach the front of the line. I could see the attendant bending down to talk to her. I said to my husband, "I bet he's asking her how old she is." I guess a 5-1/2 year old just shy of 38" was acceptable because down she slid. Over and over for an hour the she marched up the stairs and slid down the slide.

Dinner and a movie
The children were very excited about Dh and I having reservations for Palo that night because that meant eating dinner with the Lab and Club. Not only is that a lot of fun but for oldest ds it meant he could eat chicken fingers. We set down a rule with him that when we ate as a family he was to pick foods from the adult menu but if he ate with the Lab, he could pick what he wanted.

Yeah! Palo for dinner, I had been waiting for this a long time. We arrived shortly before sunset. A table for two by the window set the mood for a fabulous dining experience. I don't have a huge appetite so I knew I would skip the bread, pizza, and soup in order to have an appetite for my main course and especially desert. I can't remember if I ordered an appetizer but I know dh ordered the portabella mushroom. He tried and it and urged me to try it, too. I'm not crazy about mushrooms but this was fantastic. For dinner, I ordered the mustard crusted rack of lamb which was the best I've tasted. Dh ordered the filet mignon just like last time and was not disappointed. We were going to share the crab-stuffed tortellini but I was starting to get full just eating my dinner so I only ate one bite of the tortellini. I didn't think much of it but dh said it was delicious. While we were eating, we asked Alexander, our waiter, from what Disney movie did Palo come. He told us it wasn't from a movie but he gave us a hint and joked that he would bring us extra desert if we figured it out. While he was attending to another table, the head waiter stopped at our table and we asked him. Alexander saw us talking to the head waiter and said, "That's cheating. No desert for you!"

For me, Palo = chocolate souffle. I asked Alexander to wrap up the rest of my lamb so I would have enough appetite for desert. Dh and I had each ordered souffles (one for him, two for me) and the panna cotta with berries to share. Both were fabulous although I've made the Palo's souffle recipe at home and I like mine just a tiny bit better.

Two unexpected occurances at Palo. One was running into a very nice couple ,Jim and Nan, we met on the first day of the cruise. I was pleasant meeting up with them again. The other was one of the servers remembering us from a year and a half ago. We were amazed. Once again, our Palo dinner was perfect. Just the right table at just the right time, excellent food and an excellent server.

We finished the evening by collecting the children and going to the theatre to watch Cars, something we all had planned to do when we found out it would be playing while we were onboard. Instead of complaining about taking them out of the Lab, the boys thanked us for taking them to the movies. LOL. Thanks to the Dismember who warned that the theatre is chilly, we were equipped with blankets from our room.

For our children who so cheerfully and promptly obeyed whenever we called them out of the Lab or Club, we ordered cookies and milk from room service before they went to bed. They were in hog heaven.

 

[yazee1]

September 26 Grand Cayman

Our plan for Grand Cayman was to pick up our reserved rental car from Andy's as soon as possible and spend as long as possible touring the island on our own before catching the 4:00 tender back to the ship. There were 4 stops on my A list - The Tortuga Factory, Pedro St. James "Castle", the Blowholes and some place distinctly known for island cuisine. Dh and the kids had one thing they wanted to do and that was return to Stingray City. As long as we did that, they were fine with going whereever I wanted to go afterward.

I'm pleased to say the rest of the family got their wish. We made it to Stingray City. Having the children enjoy it so much made it worth the hassle of everything that went wrong that day. Last time we went to Stingray City, the kids hated it. As I wrote in my trip report last year, it isn't a good idea to throw (not literally) your children, who have never donned a mask and fins, and one who couldn't swim at all, into the open ocean when they've never been in a body of water bigger than the shallow end of the community pool. The grit my children showed surprised us. Once they learned we were going on a Disney Cruise and one of the ports was Grand Cayman, they resolved to improve their swimming skills and master the use of snorkeling gear.

What Went Wrong

Nothing horrible happened in Grand Cayman. The long and short of it was everything that should have been over and done with by 11am took so much longer that we wasted most of the day waiting to do something instead of actually doing something. I'm usually flexible when things don't go as planned but this time I had my heart set on touring Grand Cayman, eating local food and buying some special souvenirs and artsy things and that didn't happen.

First of all, I had a bad feeling about Andy's before we left the States. In contrast to the other car rental agencies I called, the Andy's representative was evasive about what the charges were for a car. If I didn't already know that there are additional fees associated with renting a car in Grand Cayman, such as a temporary driving permit, I would have been led to believe our car was going to cost us 30.00 a day. The final cost was actually $57.00, a little cheaper than the quote by Hertz.

Since Dh was the only one driving (the idea of driving British style freaked me out), he was the only one who brought a license. When I went to pay for the car with my credit card, the clerk said she needed my license. I only had my passport but she said she couldn't accept that. I said, "Okay, then we'll have to go somewhere else." That changed things. She slipped behind the door for a few minutes to "check with her manager". When she came back she said it would be okay but we would have to pay an additional 30.00 security. I said, "No, we won't be paying that. I'll get a car from someone else," and I led my embarrassed husband and confused children out of Andy's.
Dh was wondering what I had in mind. Was I going to march us back to the pier? Was I intending to hitch hike around the island? No, I was going to cross the street. I knew there had to be a rental agency in one of the big hotels across the street from Andy's, and there was. Avis has a representative in the lobby of the Marriot. Unfortunately, we lost a big chunk of time waiting for the customer ahead of us to complete her rental transaction. Every time it seemed like she was getting up to go, she'd either change her mind about which car she wanted or ask the clerk for more advice or different directions. Furthermore, the kids and I were hungry. We were getting the grouchies. Finally, it was our turn. Avis had no problem with my credit card and renting the same car we would have rented from Andy's was $7.00 cheaper. The clerk told dh if we bring the car back to him by 3pm, he'd give us a ride back to the pier. At the time, it sounded like a good idea.

Our first destination was Captain Marvin's for the 2 stop trip to Stingray City. Finding Captain Marvin's storefront again took a little longer than we'd hoped. We missed the 9:15 excursion by forty-five minutes. but booked the next trip which was was at 11am. With an hour to kill, we went to the cafe a couple doors down for breakfast. I can't remember the name of the place but the menu was extensive, the food was good, and it wasn't terribly expensive. When we returned to Captain Marvin's, dh changed into his swimsuit and locked his clothes and wallet in the car. Bad move. He forgot to keep out some cash for tips and to buy the dvd of us snorkeling that they offer on the boat. To curtail any embarassment about the situation, once we reached the boat and met the mate and camerawoman, he asked how long they would be around at the end of the excursion because he would have to make a return trip to the boat to take care of things with them.

Stingray Hickies
This was our second excursion with Captain Marvin's. I highly recommend them for the Stingray City excursion. It's less expensive than the DCL arrangement and the group that you go out with is much smaller. Both times, the bus and the boat were punctual and clean. The staff is pleasant, too. Our bonus for the day, the captain of the boat was actually Captain Marvin. I wish I had taken his picture.
Snorkeling was a big hit with the kids. Right after Spencer, our middle son, stuck his face in the water for the first time and saw all the fish, he said to my husband, "Wow, dad! Why didn't I try this last time!" Leah was freaking everyone out because they were thinking they were seeing a 3-1/2 or barely four year old diving down into the water and swimming like a fish. She's 5-1/2, but like I wrote yesterday, she's only 37" high.

The second stop was Stingray City. At first we were all having fun. Leah was with Dh and me when the mate offered to let us hold the stingray and kiss the stingray. She was fine with holding it but kissing a stingray was "disgusting". While we were cuddling with the sea animal, William, our oldest, came over looking really hurt. A stingray mistook his spindly white arm for a piece of squid. He had a large and nasty mark on his arm. It looked like a cross between a bruise and a hickey. Spencer, our other son also had his arm sucked on. At that point they were through with the excursion and stayed in the boat.

The whole time we were on the excursion, both in the boat and in the water, the camera woman was at work. She interviewed the passengers, filmed the fish and the stingrays and filmed all the people as they swam, snorkeled and were engaged with the stingrays. On the way back to land, she played the dvd she had recorded. The dvd is $55.00 and is mailed to you supposedly in 2 to 3 weeks.

The bus returned us to Captain Marvin's storefront where I bought some gum (so I could have the change in Cayman money), we changed our clothes in the bathroom and then headed back to the boat so dh could tip the mate and pay for the dvd. Road construction made it tricky and slow to find our way back. It was nearly 2pm when we left the marina. We had an hour before returning the car. All the other places I wanted to go were out of the way and out of the question, so we went to Hell.

Homeschooling in Hell
We had been told there wasn't much to see in Hell, and it's the truth. I'm glad we went, though. Besides the fact that we can all say we've been to Hell and back again, we had an impromptu homeschooling session about island formation because younger ds thought the rocks were volcanic or maybe it had something to do with plate tectonics while older ds said they were actually coral. Now that we're home, they're going to have to follow up with a little research project. Leah's got one too because she thought the chickens that were running around the parking lot were exactly like ours until I pointed out that the feet were a different color and the combs were a different shape. She wants to know what kind of chickens live in the Cayman Islands.

We brought the car back to the hotel at exactly 3pm but the Avis rep was gone. The conceirge at the hotel was kind enough to call the Avis office up the road. The Avis employee at that office had us bring the car there and he gave us a ride to the port. We thought that was an outstanding gesture since he was the only one in the office and closed it to give us a ride to the port. I intend to write a thank you note.

Room Service Called William

We were back on the ship by 4:00pm. Dinner was too far away. William asked if he could order chicken soup from room service. So, we let him make his first ever room service order. He went back to his room and took care of the whole thing himself, tip and all. Spencer and I went up to deck 9 to get hot dogs and pizza for the rest of us. I hadn't eaten a french fry in months before the cruise, but the french fries at Pluto's Doghouse looked and smelled so good! The french fries on my plate disappeared somewhere between the 9th and 5th floor. They were fantastic. It's a good thing our room was close to the elevator or dh's fries would have disappeared, too. When I checked on William he was contendly eating his soup and watching tv.

Leah and Spencer ate in our room then drifted over to the boys' room to watch tv. Dh and I drifted out to our veranda and fell asleep in the chairs. Shortly before our 6pm dinner seating, I woke up. I went across the hall to tell the kids it was time for dinner and there they were watching tv with a stack of chocolate chip cookies and three glasses of orange juice sitting on the table. I was a little miffed about that because I didn't want the kids ordering food they didn't have permission to order. William said he didn't call room service for cookies, they called him! All three kids were staring at me openly. There was nothing in their face or body language that said they were lying. I didn't even bother to check because a) they rarely lie, b) they can't lie without giving themselves away and c) knowing Disney Cruise Lines, I really believe them that room service called my son back and asked him if he wanted cookies and probably milk, too. He probably told room service yes and his sister and brother want cookies, too but no milk, they like orange juice. I really didn't care if it spoiled their appetite for dinner. It was a vacation, afterall.

They're Dropping Like Flies

Even though they weren't hungry, we wanted the kids to come with us to dinner so they wouldn't be alone in the room that long. Ultimately, we took pity on William, who was clearly exhausted, and let him stay in the room. There were some very, very tired children at the dinner table that night. Shortly into the meal, one of Angie's children asked to be excused to their room. Then it became obvious Leah was not fit for company. She half heartedly whined for a Mickey bar but didn't protest when I told her I'd bring one up to her later. Dh took her to William's room so he could watch her and Warren could came back to the dining room to spend time with the adults. The other of Angie's children was next to leave. I think Scott's daughter bailed out too. I believe his wife took her back to their room. Spencer was the only child left at the table but he literally drooped over while eating his Mickey Bar.

We were asleep by 9 o'clock on this night.

 

[tjeagle]

I am loving your report! Keep it coming!

 

[yazee1]

Thanks. I know it's long winded and some people hate the wordy trip reports, but I realized last night, writing the report was as much for me as for anyone who wants to read it.

I'll be back tonight with more. We're moving very soon, and I have to get back to packing. Have a great day!

 

[yazee1]

September 27, Cozumel - The Best Day of the Cruise


The plan for today was that there was no plan. We hadn't rented a car or booked any excursions. We weren't interested in listening to the president of Mexico give a speech at the re-dedication of the pier. Hanging out at the beach didn't interest any of us. Dh and I didn't care if the kids wanted to stay in the Lab/Club all day long. The only thing I wanted from dh was to go with me at some point that day into town to do a little souvenir and gift shopping. Other than that, it was everyone's day to do what he or she wanted to do.

Breakfast - What a difference a year and a half makes.
Everyone wanted to eat at Topsiders again, so we did. It occurred to me that we had developed a new appreciation of Topsiders this trip. Last time, after two meals there, we avoided going back. It was crowded and finding a table or waiting for an employee to clear one or find one for us while our eggs cooled and our arms ached from carrying the tray was no fun. It was so noisy, too. Every third table seemed to have a kid throwing a tantrum or a family having a fight. Then there was the the presence of too many children who'd never been taught how to conduct themselves at a buffet restaurant. That made walking with a loaded tray or making a return trip to the buffet a perilous pursuit. It was truly nerve wracking eating there.

This time, the experience was completely different. The dining areas were not nearly as crowded and therefore were not nearly as loud or chaotic. The occasional domestic disturbance here and there is not nearly as disturbing to a person's digestion as a room full of them. One effect of this more serene environment was that dh and I thought the food was much better at Topsiders this time. It probably wasn't. We just enjoyed eating it more.

Monica strikes a bargain
During breakfast, Spencer said he wanted to go snorkelling again. Leah and William wanted to go to the Lab and the Club. Although, we're not enthusiastic about sitting on the beach, dh and I love to go snorkeling so we said we'd take him. We told William, who has check out privileges, he was not to leave the Lab while we were gone. That was probably a waste of breath since all he wanted to do was be at the Lab. LOL.

As I expected, finding a snorkeling excursion took all of 2 minutes once we hit the streets of Cozumel. No sooner had we reached the end of the pier, past the security point, a man with a book full of obviously color enhanced pictures of coral reefs, invited us to go on an excursion with his company. His outfit offered transportation, a glassbottom boat, 3 snorkeling stops with a guide, and open bar on the boat. $40.00 a person and 1/2 price for the child. No thanks. I led us away from him. He was on our heals shouting, "How much would you like to pay?" I turned around and said, "$30.00 and free for the child." He said, "1/2 price for your son". I said, "free". He cheerfully said, "Okay. I'll take you to the place," and he chatted with us as he led us to a spot a couple blocks away where he waited with us for the driver and we paid him.

Our transportation arrived quickly and turned out to be a beat up, old pick up truck that all three of us squeezed into with the driver. This rust bucket was a far cry from the air-conditioned van we thought would be coming, but a ride is a ride. As for the glass bottom boat with an open bar. The glass bottom was a stretch of glass (maybe plexiglass) about a foot wide that ran down the middle of the benched area of the boat. The open bar was a cooler with iced sodas, water and beer. Beer for dh and water for me is all we would have wanted anyway so it didn't matter where it came from. Dh and I thought the whole thing was funny, although I don't think it would have been if we had paid full price. There were two other couples on the boat with us, so we were not too crowded. They were pleasant company, too.

The snorkeling was not spectacular but we enjoyed it just the same. The return trip to the pier was not via pick-up truck. After the last snorkeling spot, the captain pulled up to a different marina from the one we started at and let the other two couples off the boat. Dh asked the mate how we would get back to the pier in town and the mate said they would take us in the boat. Nice! We motored along the coast, passed right by the Magic and landed at a small pier very close to the one where the Magic was docked. Warren tipped the crew and within minutes we were back on the Magic.


More Bargains and lots of rain


After a shower and a quick lunch with his parents, Spencer was ready to return to the Lab where he remained for the rest of the afternoon. Dh and I went to the Club to check on Leah who was extremely relieved when she found out we weren't there to pick her up. LOL.

Dh and I each had people for whom we wanted to buy some special gifts. I don't know how other people are about haggling, but I have to be in the right mood for it or else I just don't have the stomach for it. Dh doesn't like bargaining at all, so he lets me do the talking and he does the paying. On this day I was in the right mood, and once I got started I didn't stop until we ran out of cash. I don't know if I got good deals or not, but I think I did okay. I paid 42.00 for a ring that was originally 75.00. I also bought a pendant. The jeweler said it cost $215.00, but he settled for $105.00. We bought three wood bead necklaces off a street vendor for $5.00. Then we found some ceramic, handpainted crosses in a store that didn't bargain. I bought two crosses anyway. The last purchase was a earthenware serving set. We saw the set at the store that didn't bargain for $55.00. I knew I'd seen it somewhere else, so we went there. That place wanted $95.00, so I told the man I'd pay $40.00. He literally broke out in a sweat! I was bewildered by that but stood my ground. He made all kinds of claims as to why his set was superior to what I was seeing elsewhere, so I came up to $45.00 which he accepted.

That was the end of our shopping trip. It had started to pour down rain, our bags were heavy and our American cash was spent. We did have 500 pesos, though. In between buying jewelry and pottery, we had gone to the cash machine in Carlos & Charlie's. The instructions were in spanish, of course. I couldn't read the words on the screen but it appeared that the transaction fee was $7.50. I said to dh if we're going to pay such a huge transaction fee we might as well get a lot of cash out of the machine. We didn't need it all but we could take most of it to guest services to put toward our onboard account. So, I hit the key for 500.00. Warren and I were stunned when the machine spit out 500 pesos instead of $500.00. Dumb Americans!

We heard that Senor Frog's was a fun place so we ran over there to have a drink and wait out the rain. The place was empty except for another DCL family and a couple tables of serious partying types. We had a table by the balcony where we could watch the rain reek havoc on the streets below. Senor Frog's is directly across from the pier. We watched cruisers slogging their way down the street. Some people were running for all the good that would do. It was alarming how quickly the streets and the storm drains flooded.

Monica Experiences Culture Shock

I'm not sure Senor Frog fun is my kind of fun. The drinks we had were delicious and I enjoyed sitting there in the restaurant with my husband and getting a little silly, but the atmosphere was unsettling to me. There was a huge screen that continously shows videos of sexy women. It's not pornographic as much as I could tell, just not my cup of tea. Then there's the little ritual that goes with buying a shot. There's a woman who goes around hawking shots. She has a whistle and and a blindfold. If I remember the sequence correctly, she blindfolds you, you drink the shot, she takes the shot glass either puts it on the table or tucks it in your pants (I saw both), then while you're still blindfolded she blows the whistle loudly as she shakes your head vigorously. I also saw her standing behind the drinker (male or female), wrap her arms around the person and rub his/her body. It wasn't hard to imagine that she had another way of making money from the customers if you know what I mean.

Pirate Night

It was well past 4:00 by the time we finished our drinks. The rain was still pouring down, but we had to get back to the Magic. I needed a little time to set up a surprise for our children. I had smuggled pirate costumes from the Disney store into our luggage. I also had pirate trinkets from Oriental Trading for all the children at our table. My plan was to go to our dining table early and put trinkets at each child's place setting.

I did manage to surprise our kids with the costumes. I prepared myself mentally in case they weren't thrilled but they were. I didn't get to the dining room early enough to anonymously leave trinkets for all the kids. In fact, we were the last family to the table. When we arrived everyone was already reading their menus wearing their bandanas. Only on a Disney cruise would you see something like that. Spencer brought his balloon pump and balloons and made swords for the kids.

This pirate night I wanted to make special for us because we missed it on our last cruise. Last time, we got back from our dune buggy excursion so close to dinner time, there wouldn't have been time to shower and change before going to the dining room, so we went to Parrot's Cay instead that night. That was kind of depressing. Our waiter was obviously new at being a waiter, there was hardly anyone there, and we felt like everyone was at a party but us.

I'm glad the kids loved the costumes and enjoyed the festive dinner because other than walking around for a bit and having their picture taken with Jack Sparrow, that was it for Warren, Spencer and Leah. They were too pooped to party. I was too, but William had his heart set on going to the dance party. He's a dancing machine! It wasn't that crowded, so I was able to leave him long enough to throw some clothes into the washing machine without worrying about being able to find him when I came back. We danced through the washing time. I left to switch the clothes to the dryer, then we danced through the drying time. He was finally running out of steam by the time I had to return to the laundry for the dry clothes. We both folded the clothes and returned to our rooms for some much needed sleep.

 

[disneydancer1969]

so far so great!

 

[Jennifer48]

This is a great trip report so far. Looks like you did an extensive amount of homework for your excursions. I love it!

 

[yazee1]

September 28 - At Sea Day - (busy day -everyone's carrying a walkie talkie)

I know for a fact a family with little kids can have a perfectly wonderful Disney cruise, with no regrets, without attending a single character appearance or getting a single autograph. Been there, done that. On this cruise, however, my kids wanted the autographs, brought their little notebooks for that purpose, and studied the Navigator daily in order to attend the character appearances of their choosing. Between the three of them, I think they chose to meet every single one. LOL.

At sea day was the perfect time to fill up the autograph books. The best move, in my opinion, was having one line for the opportunity to meet three princess, one after the other. We got in line early enough to not have to wait very long for our turn, but even if the line were twice as long, I wouldn't have minded. Getting three princesses out of the way in one shot would have been worth it.

We also did our shopping on this morning. Throughout the week, we visited Mickey's Mates for browsing purposes. I purposely made them wait until the end of the week to actually buy anything. It didn't appear that the store was running out of any of the pins or toys that the children liked best, so it was safe to assume shopping could wait until the end of the week. Less time to lose, break or get bored with whatever they bought.

The kids had recieved spending money from two sets of grandparents which I had applied to our onboard credit, so they did have considerable spending power at their disposal. They all picked out a pin. I bought one, too. A fifth pin was available for one dollar if you bought four. There were three to choose from. Instead of a toy, William picked out a second pin. Spencer chose an annoying pirate gun that makes noise and projects an imagine when you pull the trigger. Dh wanted to forbid that purchase, but I asked him to allow it as long as Spencer didn't use it near him. Dh HATES noisy toys. (When the kids were very little and had books and toys that played songs, he'd wait until the kids were asleep and remove the batteries) Leah chose two coloring books. One for herself and one for her friend at home. Since none of the kids asked if they had money left over, I didn't tell them that they did. I didn't want them to buy junk just for the sake of buying it, especially the skulls you can buy and fill up with cheap little toys.

The Piston Paire and their Vegetable Car

The Vegetable Race. Our team consisted of Spencer and his dad. I just watched. They let me name their team The Piston Paire. I didn't mispell the second word. It's our last name. I don't remember if Leah and William were at the club or at the movies at this point.

Mechanical design. Here's something you won't find on the cruise packing list. How many people do you know bring a caliper? I know one, my geeky husband. He didn't really mean to bring it. He was drawing something for work while we were on the train to Florida and he never took it out of his laptop case before we got on the ship. Before the activity director reminded us that we can only use the tools on our tray, dh had raced up to our room to get it so he could measure the width of the lanes on the track. Did the use of an expensive high precision tool help us win the race? No. We came in second. We did win for most creative team name.

One thing I want to say about this event. I was saddened that more families didn't clap for each other when winners of the heats were announced. Maybe that sounds odd, but we're used to a lot more spirit and sportsmanship. It was still fun. The activity directors did a great job.


I'm a Horrible Mother

A good mother will do anything for her child right? Like most mothers I've endured a lot of awful things for my kids. Barnie videos comes to mind. So does sitting through Sharkboy and Lava Girl twice. Leah was begging us to take her to see Chicken Little. Dh had no problem turning her down. I felt guilty. There wasn't much I'd rather do less than sit through Chicken Little again. So, I delegated the job to my oldest son. Equipped with one of our Motorola walkie talkies and permission to buy popcorn, off they went to the movies.

Quiet Time at Quiet Cove

I can't remember what we did for lunch, but I know all the kids wound up back at the Lab and the Club by the afternoon. Dh was on the wait list for one of the tasting. I can't remember if it was beer or wine. He didn't get called, so he and I took our books and his beer up to Quiet Cove. There were very few people at the pool. It was so perfectly relaxing, dh fell asleep on a lounge chair. It was no longer quiet in Quiet Cove then. I woke him up so he could resume his nap in our room. I eventually fell asleep on the lounge chair too. Finally, an afternoon nap. Isn't it a shame by the time you've really relaxed and gotten into a vacation frame of mind, the vacation is almost over?

I didn't realize there were that many kids

At 5:00, dh and I were in the Disney Theatre along with about a thousand other parents ready to watch their kids "graduate" from the MU. The ship was noticeably less full this week so it was a surprise to see the children fill up the stage shoulder to shoulder without an inch to spare. We had very few glimpses of our own children amidst the see of bodies on stage. I like the slide show of the pictures taken during Club/Lab activities. I do wish there were more shots of actual activities in progress and not just head shots of kids bunched together.

Dh and I were sitting a few rows back from the stage close to a side door, so we witnessed more than a few instances of the youngest children getting stage fright right before or as they approached the stage. The patience and compassion of the counselors with these young Club members was commendable.

If you can't do it right, just don't do it

I'm talking about the lobster. All of us ordered the lobster at dinner. Last time we cruised, I remember the lobster being too dry, so this time around I ordered a second entry in addition to my lobster. Good thing. The lobster was very dry, again. I'm glad I had a spare entry that night. I don't remember what it was, though.

Since I'm at the dinner section of this day's installment, I want to mention our serving team, Kumar and Jonathon. If DCL called us before our next cruise and said we'll give you either an upgrade or your choice of serving team, I choose the latter and ask for Kumar and Jonathon. We had excellent service from these two. If my thumb wasn't hurting so bad right now, I'd tell you why we were so impressed. Instead, I'm going to wrap this up.

I was hoping by the time I got to the end of this installment I'd remember what we did after dinner but I don't remember! Maybe, that's for the best since I can't type anymore anyway.