The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[dolphingirl47]

That sounded like a real ordeal. I am glad that you made it safely. Breakfast looked nice. What a shame about the busted zip. It is so annoying when this happens.

Corinna

 

[pkondz]

No, no, no. I must have said something to mislead you. We do not pay for airfare. We travel on miles, so technically we are only paying the $10 airport fee. We get three bags for free, and they must weigh under 70 lbs each.

Oh! I knew you traveled on points and was surprised you had to pay extra for bags.
Now I'm on the same page.

I plan to try Oysters Rockefeller at the place that invented them in about a week!

Cool!

When she handed it to me, the thought that went through my mind was, "This is the weapon they used on 9/11"

Me too!

 

[Leshaface]

I also got to add three new states to the visited list!

Doesn't it feel great when you're able to knock off another state from your list? We're hoping to do Baseball Spring Break in Arizona next year

I wanted to take a shower and since I wasn't going to be impacting California's water supply for the next 11 nights, I decided to get it all in on this particular morning and took a bath. I've become adept at using my walk in tub as a shower since it has a hand held shower head. I figure if I'm going to use that much water, I better make sure I don't need a shower for a few days and wash my hair and everything. So that way I get double the bang for my water bucks.

Ha us Californian's think the same way Well, at least me and you do, hopefully others do as well. I now have a medical excuse to take a bath one of my ribs on my left side keeps popping out but I can only get it adjusted once a week so hot baths are helping me. But I wash my hair every 3 days so my thinking is, i'm saving water there from having to rinse out shampoo and conditioner

I found a space in Lot C right off (@Leshaface doesnt have that kind of luck and I don't get lost like her DH!)

You need to give DH some lessons please

I was sad to see that the brand new garment bag that I took out of its box yesterday had burst the zipper on the exterior of the bag. At least her jacket hadn't fallen out of the pocket.

That sucks!

"seeing out through the rear view mirror is optional,"

Here is where Disney goes above and beyond. Even if your room isn't ready, you still get your room key and then once it's ready you get a text with the number and boom! You go directly to your room. No, not here, they were going to call me when it was ready and then when it was ready, I could go back and wait in line to get my keys and find out the room number.

You're right never thought about that! When we arrive some where, it's well past Check-In time so it never occurred to me to have to return in case your room wasn't ready. We're spoiled

 

[pkondz]

And now we move into the 100% All New Trip!

Yippee!

So that makes 30 of the 50 United States that I can say I have set foot on Terra firma.

Not bad!

except for the crazy idea that we decided to take a 5AM flight. In hindsight we both agree never to do it this way again

Oh, dear.

I was quickly becoming a basket case.

Poor Alison!

I'm glad I had my business in order before I fell asleep because my memories start again while I was parking the car.

Whoo, boy. That's what you want to hear when you're driving!

Back at the airport my memories are still fuzzy but I know we both got TSA PRECHECK on our boarding passes so it was like we had a FP for security!

Nice! I've never gotten one of those.

I really couldn't stay awake and kept falling in and out of consciousness.

I call those "micro-sleeps".

They brought us breakfast and it was surprisingly delicious!

Delicious airplane food? What sorcery is this?

I hope no one out there hasn't seen it yet, but you know, the part with Han Solo and then the big explosions.

You could probably say that about the first three (well, 4-6) movies.

For whatever reason we were issued new boarding passes and they had me sitting one row behind Fran in the seat that would have been next to her

Weird. Glad it got fixed.

This time we were on a puddle jumper.

You and I have very different definitions of "puddle jumper".

I played spider solitaire

I've been playing that quite a bit of late.
Addictive little sucker.

In fact your bags are left rotating on a lonely belt all by themselves.

I hate that. I always think someone's going to steal them.

I was sad to see that the brand new garment bag that I took out of its box yesterday had burst the zipper on the exterior of the bag.

Warranty?

At home when packing the car Fran always tells me, "seeing out through the rear view mirror is optional," and usually impossible.

Was she a race car driver in an earlier life?

I’m going to stop here because it takes like 5 minutes (maybe 10) per picture to upload we are so far out in the boonies and the WiFi is so weak. We’ll have to get closer to civilization for me to be able to post updates with photos. (and believe me, I got a lot of em!)

yuck.
Then again. I remember when it would take close to an hour to download a picture.

 

[chirurgeon]

As far as TSA Pre-check goes, I'm applying for the Global Entry. It's $100 and good for five years. I figure if I only use it once a year, the $10 per side of trip makes it worth it to guarantee going thru the pre check lane. Especially in Orlando. And I'm driving to Toronto to see a Chiully exhibit and this lets me drive thru a "fast pass" lane.

 

[skier_pete]

Ugh 5 AM flight - I am doing that to go out to Seattle in July for a reunion of college buddies. Three of us are flying in from Boston, Houston, Buffalo. To get everyone into Seattle at roughly the same time, I took one for the team and have a 5:25 AM flight. Fortunately, flying out of Buffalo is pretty easy, so if I get up at 4 AM I should be good to go. The one guy flying out of Boston has a 7 AM flight but it is direct. He'll probably also have to leave his house at 4 AM. We will be pretty pooped out considering the time change goes in the opposite direction, as we get into Seattle at like 10:45 AM, having already be awake for about 10 hours.

Anyways, the trials of your travels don't sound THAT bad. I am a little surprised that the hotel would make you wait in line a second time for your keys, not just come right to the desk when you are called. Disney's new policy of sending you your room number and allowing you to go right to it is pretty awesome, but it is an exception to the norm, that's for sure.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[dhorner233]

Well you are on your way! That sucks about the zipper on the brand new garment bag!

I'm looking forward to your pictures! I have seen on Facebook that the ship is gorgeous!

 

[franandaj]

That sounded like a real ordeal. I am glad that you made it safely. Breakfast looked nice. What a shame about the busted zip. It is so annoying when this happens.

Corinna

I think part of the challenge is needing to manage all of Fran's carry ons and being the one who is mobile so I have to do all the checking in and waiting in line. That's the part that wears me out.

Oh! I knew you traveled on points and was surprised you had to pay extra for bags.
Now I'm on the same page.

Doesn't it feel great when you're able to knock off another state from your list? We're hoping to do Baseball Spring Break in Arizona next year

Yeah! The next ones are going to be hard. Maybe we should do a trip to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. We could throw in Boston to visit my birthplace.

Ha us Californian's think the same way Well, at least me and you do, hopefully others do as well. I now have a medical excuse to take a bath one of my ribs on my left side keeps popping out but I can only get it adjusted once a week so hot baths are helping me. But I wash my hair every 3 days so my thinking is, i'm saving water there from having to rinse out shampoo and conditioner

I'm not going to say how often that I wash my hair or no one would want to meet up with me any more! Let's just say I'm doing my part in water conservations!

You need to give DH some lessons please

Two words. Pay attention.

You're right never thought about that! When we arrive some where, it's well past Check-In time so it never occurred to me to have to return in case your room wasn't ready. We're spoiled

We would have arrived well after check in if we had taken a reasonable flight. Next time, late flight a day earlier!

 

[franandaj]

Oh, dear.

Poor Alison!

Where is your "world's smallest violin?"

Whoo, boy. That's what you want to hear when you're driving!

Well, I was only driving from the Departure Level to the parking lot. It should be a really quick drive, unless you are @Leshaface's DH and miss the turn 3 times! :rotfl2

Nice! I've never gotten one of those.

I think it's the scooter. Either that or they have a dossier on my foot odor.

I call those "micro-sleeps".

Good description.

Delicious airplane food? What sorcery is this?

Tell me about it! I was incredibly surprised at it's tastiness!

You could probably say that about the first three (well, 4-6) movies.

OK, the part where Han Solo gets the worst possible news in life. Then explosions.

Weird. Glad it got fixed.

I don't know why you would split a party up like that!

You and I have very different definitions of "puddle jumper".

Yeah, you probably mean the things we are going to be flying on in Alaska.

I've been playing that quite a bit of late.
Addictive little sucker.

It sure is.

I hate that. I always think someone's going to steal them.

I know! Me too, I mean I have so many valuables in there. Everyone wants Plus sized clothing!

Was she a race car driver in an earlier life?

I think a moving van driver!

yuck.
Then again. I remember when it would take close to an hour to download a picture.

Don't remind me about "Dial up!"

As far as TSA Pre-check goes, I'm applying for the Global Entry. It's $100 and good for five years. I figure if I only use it once a year, the $10 per side of trip makes it worth it to guarantee going thru the pre check lane. Especially in Orlando. And I'm driving to Toronto to see a Chiully exhibit and this lets me drive thru a "fast pass" lane.

We keep talking about getting registered for that. We plan to do a lot of traveling in the next couple years and it would pay off in a year or two.

Ugh 5 AM flight - I am doing that to go out to Seattle in July for a reunion of college buddies. Three of us are flying in from Boston, Houston, Buffalo. To get everyone into Seattle at roughly the same time, I took one for the team and have a 5:25 AM flight. Fortunately, flying out of Buffalo is pretty easy, so if I get up at 4 AM I should be good to go. The one guy flying out of Boston has a 7 AM flight but it is direct. He'll probably also have to leave his house at 4 AM. We will be pretty pooped out considering the time change goes in the opposite direction, as we get into Seattle at like 10:45 AM, having already be awake for about 10 hours.

That still sounds icky, but you only have to worry about yourself. The hardest thing is making sure we are in the right place, having four carry ons that I have monitor through security, two with lap tops. Thank goodness we didn't have to do the shoe dance this time.

Anyways, the trials of your travels don't sound THAT bad. I am a little surprised that the hotel would make you wait in line a second time for your keys, not just come right to the desk when you are called. Disney's new policy of sending you your room number and allowing you to go right to it is pretty awesome, but it is an exception to the norm, that's for sure.

Not only did you have to wait in line, but for most of the time, there was only one staff member checking folks in, so the line was at least 7-10 people deep, so there was no choice about the second line.

Enjoy your trip!

Thank you!

Well you are on your way! That sucks about the zipper on the brand new garment bag!

I'm looking forward to your pictures! I have seen on Facebook that the ship is gorgeous!

While the other folks are off the ship, Fran and I are kicking it in the room and the Internet is a lot faster with less people on it! So I'm getting a chunk done, but we're a couple updates away from the boat.

 

[Steppesister]

Excellent start and I heartily agree about the 5 AM flights. No fun whatsoever! But glad you got all you needed to get done, done, before heading out. I totally understand the stress of that.

I wanted to comment more, but Mom and Dad have me out the door again... sigh. Maybe a bit more later tonight.

 

[rentayenta]

Nice update. You are well there by now. HHope you're having a blast! Bummer about the new bag tearing.

Early morning flights are the total worst!

 

[franandaj]

We had just checked in to find out that our room was not ready, so we found some chairs and I sat down to play on my phone. If I had slept a bit better, I might have pulled out the computer and worked on catching up with other's TRs. But I didn't have the brain capacity for that, so I browsed FB, played a few rounds on the Games forum of the DIS and just tried to kill time. At least we had an outlet to charge our phones. 4PM came and went and still no phone call. At 4:07 I got in line at the front desk to find out what the problem was. Evidently their housekeeping staff are just idiots and can't get things done on time. Maybe they are understaffed. I don't know. But by this point I'm absolutely starved. Fran (who has been sleeping in her chair the whole time) is so sore that she can't get up to come to the bar/tavern to get food with me. Besides she isn't even hungry. So I head to the bar to find out if I can get something to go and they are happy to oblige. I ordered and had a glass of wine while I waited. While I waited, I got a call from the manager saying that they could give me a room with two double beds that was not HA or I could wait for a king. He had his maids working solely on King rooms and expected 15 to come up soon, so I told him I'd wait. Then my Turkey Club was ready, so I paid the bill and took it back to where Fran was sitting. Yes @Flossbolna this is your doing!



I was halfway through the first chunk of sandwich when I got the call that our King HA room was available. I finished that piece and got in the line once again to get our keys. They really need to fix this situation.

Finally, keys in hand, I retrieve Fran from her chair in the lobby and we head up to the room. It was nothing special, standard hotel room, but the linens were definitely comfy.









And this was our view.





While we waited for our bags, I ate another quarter of the sandwich and started to unwind. Our bellman points out the fridge (which wasn't there) and immediately calls down to have one delivered. We put on the Travel channel and sort of zoned out. Luckily they were quick with the fridge delivery and finally I could remove the clothes I'd been traveling in for the last 17 hours. I put the sandwich in the fridge and Fran fell asleep immediately. I played around on my phone before succumbing to sleep. I was awakened about an hour later with a call from the vet regarding our visit last week. It was then that I remembered that I still needed to fill out our luggage tags. Baggage will be picked up from the hotel room after 8AM on embarkation day. Most likely while we are at breakfast between 6-9AM. Luggage tags filled out, I sat around working on writing up the days activities on my phone and watching "Mysteries at the Museum".

My booking window for dining, spa treatments and excursions opened at 11PM that night for the Alaskan cruise. Finally, being a gold cruiser at the time of booking I wanted to take advantage of my new status. We have some adventurous choices, well they are all categorized as Mild activity level, but they are still pretty thrilling in our book.

As I was finishing the booking, Fran got her second wind. She woke up and was finally hungry so she ate the rest of my sandwich. Good thing she ate it this soon, the refrigerator wasn't cooling a bit!

Then she started futzing with her carry on. While I had slept the night before we left, she just threw things in her carry on willy nilly and now she wanted it organized. I was ready for bed. By this point I had switched the TV to a CSI: Miami marathon. I was ready for bed, but she kept going for another 30-40 minutes, as I drifted off to sleep.




The next morning I woke around 5AM. I figured I had enough sleep for the most part, plus I couldn't seem to get back to sleep. I turned on the local news and chuckled about them talking about things warming up. It was supposed to hit 59 degrees during our sail away this afternoon! I decided that I would enjoy the wine I ordered for sail away from the inside of our cabin instead of outside on the patio.

Sunrise photo from our hotel room.



I got dressed and grabbed the back pack we had in the suitcase. I put the luggage tags on the suitcases and got everything ready to go. By the time I rustled Fran out of bed and got her ready to go it was 7:25 AM. Our bags had been placed just inside the door of the hotel room with tags and all ready to go.

Breakfast was a relatively simple affair. It was served in the lobby of the convention center attached to our hotel. It was across Main Street from the hotel and was connected by a breezeway.



Their signage was always great. You never had any doubt where you should be going.



We had been given a voucher at check in that covered our breakfast. There were pastries and muffins, fruit, scrambled eggs, potatoes o'brien, biscuits and sausage gravy and bacon. This was my plate.



On another table they had oatmeal, cereal, possibly more. Then there was a coffee area with juices, coffee and tea. It wasn't anything like on the Disney ships, but it did the trick and I couldn't finish everything I took, I was so full. It wasn’t anything fancy, just your standard Convention Center Lobby.



It was just after 8AM and we went back to the room for a bit. Check in for the cruise opened in the same location at 9AM, had we hung around the Convention Center and waited we could have been on the first bus to the port, but we went down at around 9:10 and there was a big line. We got our room keys and vouchers to board the 4:00PM bus to the ship. It seemed to me that was cutting it a little close if the muster drill starts at 4:30 and we were just leaving the hotel at 4:00PM. I don't think they estimated how slowly Fran moves. On our way back to the room we saw the buses for the Steamboat Company, they would be taking some people on a pre-cruise excursion to Graceland. We wanted to do something less structured on this day, so we opted not to do this.



We went back to the room again and I wrote up the report on my phone and caught up on the DIS. I reminded Fran that I wanted to check out Beale street if at all possible. She wanted to visit a Walgreens that was half way on the route there so we decided to walk/scoot to the store and see if I could walk the other four blocks to Beale street. Then we could hopefully catch a cab back to the hotel and head off to the ship.

It was cold outside, but not too bad. The downtown area seemed very quiet for a Monday morning. We came upon this park and stopped for some pictures.







Squirrel!



Walgreens was on the next corner so we headed towards it and Ahhhhhhhh.....splat. it happened so fast but yet in slow motion. Old brick streets have uneven spots and my foot caught on one and next thing I know I'm on the ground. Good thing the camera was there to break my fall. Doh! I took one look at it and my heart sank. There was was a visible crack in the lens. Oh man! Two for two.

By this time a police officer came to check on me as well as several other bystanders. I explained that the worst was probably a skinned knee and some bruises. I was more worried about the camera and more so my Sigma 18-250 lens! It turns out that I only broke the filter and the lens itself was still intact. Once the concerned folks moved on, I took half of one of Fran's midlevel pain pills and we went into Walgreens.

Just FYI, the bruise on my knee has really developed nicely.



We got some house brand spray on neosporin and a whole bunch of Mtn Dew.

We noticed these Trolley buses and stopped to talk with one of the city ambassadors. It turns out that they are all equipped with Handicapped lifts, so we could take one back to the hotel. I could already tell that my left knee and right hip were gonna be hurting A LOT later, plus I somewhat braced my fall with the right elbow. So ouch, I didn’t want to walk back.



A few blocks later we reached Beale street.





You know you’re in Memphis, when you see Elvis!






I’m going to wrap up this chapter here. I was lucky with these uploads. I’ve uploaded them over the space of the past two hours, two at a time. I’ll work on the pictures for the next update when I wake in the middle of the night or while everyone is on shore excursions and Fran is taking her nap. It’s much faster than when everyone is back on the boat!

Sorry about the sideways pictures. I fixed them on my computer before uploading them and PB turned them again. Next time I will put them back and see if PB shifts them again.

 

[dhorner233]

I think part of the challenge is needing to manage all of Fran's carry ons and being the one who is mobile so I have to do all the checking in and waiting in line. That's the part that wears me out.

I hope she appreciates you enough! She is so lucky to have you!

Sounds like sort of a rough start so far. So sorry you fell. I know exactly what you mean about the uneven streets. Apparently I don't pick my feet up enough when I walk and have the same problem.

Thank goodness you only cracked the filter on your lens! I would have sat there and cried if I broke my camera before I even got on the boat!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Sounds like you had a very rough check in day! That sucks that they didn't have your hotel room ready by the 4PM Check In Time.

Glad it was just your lens filter that broke and not the lens. Hopefully you are feeling better later in your trip as you heal up from those bruises! That looks painful.

Hope you are having a great time sailing the Mississippi!

 

[rndmr2]

I would say nice start to your trip but then you had your fall, so sorry, hope you started feeling better quick. I know a little bit about falling as I have had my share of them over the years, LOL.

Glad the actual lens of the camera was ok.

Crazy that you had to wait so long past check in time for your room to be ready. That bed did look comfy.

 

[rentayenta]

Oh goodness friend, that bruise is a doozy.

ELVIS!!!! He was a hunka hunka burnin love.

 

[Leshaface]

Well, I was only driving from the Departure Level to the parking lot. It should be a really quick drive, unless you are @Leshaface's DH and miss the turn 3 times! :rotfl2

I wish DH would get on the DIS so he could see how much we're all beating him up!

Our bellman points out the fridge (which wasn't there) and immediately calls down to have one delivered.

What the heck is up with that hotel?

I could remove the clothes I'd been traveling in for the last 17 hours.

Doesn't it just feel gross being in the same clothes for that long? Try almost 30 hours

Finally, being a gold cruiser at the time of booking I wanted to take advantage of my new status.

Way to go!

Walgreens was on the next corner so we headed towards it and Ahhhhhhhh.....splat. it happened so fast but yet in slow motion. Old brick streets have uneven spots and my foot caught on one and next thing I know I'm on the ground. Good thing the camera was there to break my fall. Doh! I took one look at it and my heart sank. There was was a visible crack in the lens. Oh man! Two for two.

Oh goodness, i'm so sorry!

Hope it goes away quickly

 

[bbak30]

Is this the cruise that ends in New Orleans?
I work in an ER just outside of Baton Rouge, one of the local stops is in White Castle at Nottoway Plantation. We always get patients off this cruise! Everyone says it's such a great time.
Hope you guys are having fun, can't wait to hear more about it!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Fran was still asleep after I fed the cats, but in the middle of the night she had arranged to purchase a Mater alarm clock from someone off Craigslist this morning.

Because sometimes you really need a Mater alarm clock.

I know we both got TSA PRECHECK on our boarding passes so it was like we had a FP for security

That's the best!! Like winning the lottery!

I was sad to see that the brand new garment bag that I took out of its box yesterday had burst the zipper on the exterior of the bag.

That bites.

At home when packing the car Fran always tells me, "seeing out through the rear view mirror is optional," and usually impossible.

I was halfway through the first chunk of sandwich when I got the call that our King HA room was available. I finished that piece and got in the line once again to get our keys. They really need to fix this situation.

Man, that was a brutal wait. It would at least be nice to have good communication.

Our bellman points out the fridge (which wasn't there)

That's a neat trick.

I reminded Fran that I wanted to check out Beale street if at all possible. She wanted to visit a Walgreens that was half way on the route there so we decided to walk/scoot to the store and see if I could walk the other four blocks to Beale street.

Beale St. AND Walgreens? Now that's livin'!

Walgreens was on the next corner so we headed towards it and Ahhhhhhhh.....splat. it happened so fast but yet in slow motion. Old brick streets have uneven spots and my foot caught on one and next thing I know I'm on the ground. Good thing the camera was there to break my fall. Doh! I took one look at it and my heart sank. There was was a visible crack in the lens. Oh man! Two for two.

Oh no!!! That must have been sickening!

It turns out that I only broke the filter and the lens itself was still intact.

Whew.

Just FYI, the bruise on my knee has really developed nicely.

Yikes! That looks pretty nasty. I can understand not wanting to walk back, for sure.

 

[IowaTater]

Just FYI, the bruise on my knee has really developed nicely.

Ouchie!! That's a doozy. I'm glad there were some people close by to help you and that your lens wasn't broken as badly as it could have been. Those brick streets/sidewalks are treacherous. We have an area close by that we go Christmas shopping at every year and I trip at least once every. single. year.

Your pictures are great! Memphis has been on my travel bucket list for a long time so it's nice to see the scenery.