The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[jenseib]

I don't know if that is new or not, but I have heard that more lately too, about being charged for each and every day, even if you are leaving at the crack of dawn.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Bummer about the sea sickness. I need to remember to not pack away meds like that too for the future. Or at least keep out the bag of ginger snaps.

I know! Not the way you want to end a cruise. I will know better next time though! I found out later though that you can get free motion sickness meds at any time from the ship's doctor.

Well I have just LOVED your TR so far...and then that last post...oh how terrible! Good to know about the meds though...and something to keep in mind if I can convince my own mom to attend our cruise in November. She gets terrible motion sickness...but is actually considering going on the cruise with us now after reading something about the size of the ship and thinking she'd be fine. Of course, right now some other health concerns have made us not even bring up the thoughts of the cruise again until she gets past that...but I am still hoping she'll go with us.

Can't wait to hear about the land portion next!

Well I hope everything works out so your mom can go with you. That is such a great trip to share with family. I'd love for my mom to go with us someday too. And I hope she doesn't get sick! Just remember that you can get meds from the ship's doctor at any time. Sure wish I had known that little tidbit of info!

I don't know if that is new or not, but I have heard that more lately too, about being charged for each and every day, even if you are leaving at the crack of dawn.

I don't know either but I think that's crazy! I say you shouldn't be charged if you are gone before 9:00.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I don't know how you guys got up and to breakfast that morning after the night you had. They would have had to have come in and carried me out of the bed!!

I can't believe they charge you to park on the last morning. That is ridiculous!!



Thanks again for sharing your cruise experience with us. I have really enjoyed it. And I am looking forward to hearing all about WDW and CBR!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my word! I did this when I saw the picture you took when heading into the luggage storage/customs area. How the heck do you know where to go to get your luggage?

 

[Woth2982]

Is it bad I am feeling the "let down" of you all getting off the boat? However I also sense that lingering excitement about going back to WDW lol. Looks like you all got a great haul in the FE! Such a great idea!

 

[marDgreen88]

I really enjoyed hearing about your cruise! Looking forward to the WDW section as well! OH and by the way, the fish extender gifts you made were precious and so creative!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I don't know how you guys got up and to breakfast that morning after the night you had. They would have had to have come in and carried me out of the bed!!

I can't believe they charge you to park on the last morning. That is ridiculous!!



Thanks again for sharing your cruise experience with us. I have really enjoyed it. And I am looking forward to hearing all about WDW and CBR!!!

Thanks Shelly!

Believe me, I was completley exhausted. I felt like a walking zombie. It caught up with me very quickly though as you will see in the next update.

That parking fee IS ridiculous! (The parking garage is owned by the port, not Disney.) But it is crazy to make someone pay for a whole day when they are gone by 7:30 am! When you don't have a choice, I guess they can charge whatever they want. There is a park and ride service though I have since found out about and we will probably use that next time. I think it is $6 a day.

Oh my word! I did this when I saw the picture you took when heading into the luggage storage/customs area. How the heck do you know where to go to get your luggage?

That luggage area is insane! They have it divided into sections though. We were in the orange Goofy section, so it was actually very easy to find our bags. They gave us tags to place on our luggage before we put them in the hall the night before that were orange with goofy on them so we just had to find that section when we got there. I bet we found our bags in less than 2 minutes!

Is it bad I am feeling the "let down" of you all getting off the boat? However I also sense that lingering excitement about going back to WDW lol. Looks like you all got a great haul in the FE! Such a great idea!

I know. I had mixed feelings too. I hated to leave the cruise but I was so happy to be on dry land right at that moment. And I was excited about going to Disney too. As much as I loved the cruise, nothing can take the place of Disney World for me.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I really enjoyed hearing about your cruise! Looking forward to the WDW section as well! OH and by the way, the fish extender gifts you made were precious and so creative!

Well thank you! I can't take credit for the ideas though. I found a thread here on the DIS full of homemade FE gifts and I used some of their ideas and just made them my own way. We had fun making them though. Boy were all those glass bottles HEAVY though when we were walking around that ship making deliveries!

 

[Goldeelox9]

Your Cruise sounds great. It really made me miss the Disney Dream! We had Roque for part of our B2B. Can't wait to read more!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wow, great last evening on the cruise! Right up until the storm hit! I loved the show Believe too - and I was one who needed a tissue!

I am prone to motion sickness so my solution on cruises is to just take the non-drowsy dramamine each day no matter what. It sure helped when we were on the Wonder in Dec. 2009. We hit a rough patch on the way back into port on our last night. It wasn't terrible (I'd experienced worse on the Carnival cruise first night), but my SIL freaked out and basically had a panic attack. Since I didn't have a problem with taking the dramamine I figured better safe than sorry. Now I always take it for cruising, or even if I know I'm going on certain rides at WDW. I'll take it when we go on the train from London to Paris too.

You got some lovely FE gifts!! Isn't that a fun thing?

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

By the way - going back to POR Mansions (I've been away) - We stayed in Parterre Place, right on the water and didn't think it was too much walking to the food court etc. The bridge wasn't too far from our building.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Your Cruise sounds great. It really made me miss the Disney Dream! We had Roque for part of our B2B. Can't wait to read more!

Well hello and welcome aboard! You have some gorgeous wedding photos in your signature!

It was a great cruise, even with the bumps! And Roque took such good care of us. They really spoiled us!

Wow, great last evening on the cruise! Right up until the storm hit! I loved the show Believe too - and I was one who needed a tissue!

I am prone to motion sickness so my solution on cruises is to just take the non-drowsy dramamine each day no matter what. It sure helped when we were on the Wonder in Dec. 2009. We hit a rough patch on the way back into port on our last night. It wasn't terrible (I'd experienced worse on the Carnival cruise first night), but my SIL freaked out and basically had a panic attack. Since I didn't have a problem with taking the dramamine I figured better safe than sorry. Now I always take it for cruising, or even if I know I'm going on certain rides at WDW. I'll take it when we go on the train from London to Paris too.

You got some lovely FE gifts!! Isn't that a fun thing?

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

By the way - going back to POR Mansions (I've been away) - We stayed in Parterre Place, right on the water and didn't think it was too much walking to the food court etc. The bridge wasn't too far from our building.

I don't know how anyone could watch that show and not need a hanky. It was so touching and I think most parents can relate.

I think I may take your advice next time and just take the meds whether I feel sick or not. I actually asked my doctor for the patch before we left and she called it in for me, but when I went to pick it up, the pharmacy said they don't make them anymore. I think they were lying to me b/c I saw lots of people wearing them on the ship. I think the only thing that could've saved me that night though would've been a whole bottle of rum!

Thanks for the advice on POR. I showed DH a video on it this weekend and he said it didn't look as nice as CBR! He seems to want to stay at CBR again, but I really want to try some new places. But, I was going through my photos over the weekend from CBR and just kept thinking, 'man that place was awesome!' So who knows what we'll do. Maybe I'll do a split stay between CBR and POR!

You must be down to about 2 weeks before your trip by now... you better get going on that list and quit hanging out here!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

The cruise was lovely! Can't wait to hear how the land portion went. Loved all the photos.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Oh no Rinky! I was so sorry to read that you and DH both got seasick on that last night!

I'm sure that was miserable....

I hope those bad memories fade and you are able to book another cruise, I'm sure the good times outweighed the bad!

 

[katt789]

Definitely just read all of the TR that's up so far! I love it! I had yet to read anything of Cruise tr's, and am becoming more & more interested in taking a cruise. I'm looking forward to the WDW portion of the TR!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The cruise was lovely! Can't wait to hear how the land portion went. Loved all the photos.

Thanks! It was a fantastic trip, even with the unexpected 'issues.'

Oh no Rinky! I was so sorry to read that you and DH both got seasick on that last night!

I'm sure that was miserable....

I hope those bad memories fade and you are able to book another cruise, I'm sure the good times outweighed the bad!

It was miserable. I sure thought I was home free on the seasickness by the time we got to that last night. I was so proud of myself for not getting sick, and then... Oh well, you live and learn! But yes, the good did outweigh the bad and I really do want to sail again. I had planned to rebook the 7 night Eastern Caribbean while on board, but I am so glad that I didn't. I am not ready for a cruise that long just yet. I think we will try another short cruise, see how that goes and then think about a longer one.

Definitely just read all of the TR that's up so far! I love it! I had yet to read anything of Cruise tr's, and am becoming more & more interested in taking a cruise. I'm looking forward to the WDW portion of the TR!!

Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed reading along! But let me warn you... if you keep reading cruise reports, you will give in and book one! It's just too tempting! But I do think the 3 night cruise is a great way to try out DCL and see if it's your thing or not. You can do a land/sea combo trip and get the best of both worlds without commiting the whole vacation to a cruise.

 

[sharonW]

So loved your cruise adventure and can't wait to hear about the land fun!!!
So much magic....I'll try and be patient!!

 

[MEK]

That's a hefty parking fee for 3 nights, but what are you going to do unless you have your own driver. I guess those park and ride hotels for the night before the cruise make sense once you factor in the cost to park. Good to know!

Well, again, I am sorry your last night was so awful, but I'm so glad your cruise experience was great. I will have to come back later to see your pictures (photobucket is blocked at my current location ). Really looking forward to your week at the world!

 

[HulaHoopy]

I just found your trip report and itis great! Your DD is so cute too!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

So who’s ready to head to the World!?!?

ME TOO! Let’s go!

We left Port Canaveral and were on the road by 7:45. It wasn’t long before we came upon a toll booth, and that’s when I realized that I had forgotten to bring change! Me, the planner extraordinaire, completely forgot about the toll road!

I dug out all the change that I could scrape up from my bag and DH’s wallet, but it wasn’t much. It got us through the first couple of toll booths though. The ‘plan’ was to stop at the next gas station for some change, but there was nothing around. I do believe we were knee deep in Florida's swamp land!

We were at another toll booth before we knew it, but the change was gone! Thankfully DH remembered that there might be some more in his ash tray. Sure enough, I found a few more quarters and some Chuck E. Cheese tokens in there, but that was the end of the stash for sure. (And yes, I fully intended on using the CEC tokens as a desperate last resort! )

Again we drove and drove and there was nowhere to stop for change. I felt like we were on an episode of Candid Camera or something! I was starting to freak out a little. I mean, I wanted to go to Disney World that day, not prison!

I could see the next booth down the road and there were no exits on the approach. I was just about to panic when I saw a wonderful sight, a human being in the booth! All the others had been automated and only took exact change, but this one actually had a human who could take bills! We told her about what had ensued for the last 20 minutes of our journey, which gave her a good chuckle, so she gave us some extra change for the road. Thank the Lord… prison time averted!

It took about 30 more minutes before we saw this beautiful vision!

And our trusty GPS led us straight to…

First stop, check-in desk…

I wondered if this bus was headed out for the Dream’s next sailing.

I have to say that it was love at first sight for me at Caribbean Beach Resort. It is absolutely beautiful! Tropical flowers abound and everything is so cheery and colorful.

The lobby was practically empty, so we had no wait to check in.

I had requested to be in building 45 in the Jamaica section. That building is closest to the bridge that leads to the main pool and food court area. I also think it is the best location you can get without paying for a preferred room. I was really crossing my fingers that we would get what we asked for, but we didn’t…

We got MORE than we asked for! We were upgraded for free to a water view room in Jamaica 45!!!!!!

I may have shouted out a WOOT WOOT right there in the lobby!

So let’s go check out that room!

Back to the car…

We found our section pretty easily, parked and started unloading the car. DH had the bright idea of piling all the luggage on top of our large rolling bag so that we could get it all in one load. He might have actually pulled it off until he decided to plop our case of soft drinks on top of it all. I told him he was overloaded, but… well, you know how that goes. He made it all of 5 feet before it all came tumbling down. Mountain Dews went flying all over the parking lot. Several of them were punctured and began shooting mile high streams of sticky syrup everywhere. But did I say, “I told you so?”

Of ‘course I did!

Hey, he would’ve done the same for me… that’s just how we roll!

Finally, here we are! I think the Jamaica section is so pretty with the yellow, white and blue color scheme.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Railing detail…

I was thrilled with our room location. We walked out of our door and were literally right next to the bridge! It was fantastic!

We had a standard room with a Finding Nemo theme, which we loved because that is our favorite Disney movie. I believe all the rooms at CBR are Nemo themed except for the Pirate rooms in Trinidad South.

Bedding details…

Wallpaper border at the ceiling…

An appropriate picture for our room…

Continued in next post