Traveling the WB Repo 2008 with an ex - FINISHED with PICS

[littleaussie]

Hey everyone,
We disembarked today

I'll try to update the 2 sea days and today's events later this afternoon. We are staying at the Sheratin close to the airport today and flying home tomorrow. We were off the ship so early, we almost decided to go to Disneyland today but figured the crowds would be horrendous.

Be back online in a while. . .

 

[Joy2theWorld]

I'm looking forward to your update!! I enjoyed reading about your adventures. Thanks for sharing and have a safe trip home!

 

[BeachyGirl]

Wow-Jolene, incredible trip report. I really, really enjoyed it. I was late to work and getting the kids to school because I couldn't tear myself away from the computer.
We'll be on the Magic in July. Would love a bit more info on your taxi guy in PV. I will be traveling with my in-laws and family of four so it sounds like a good option for us as well.
Can't wait for your update. You should be a writer! You are very entertaining.
Regards,
Rene'

 

[woody73]

. . . I haven’t met too many dismembers at this time. I meet people but they don’t seem to remember me! But seriously, it is hard I suppose to remember everyone with so many people from the disboard on here.

Jolene -- Of course I remember you. I enjoyed our chats.

Woody

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Jolene -- Of course I remember you. I enjoyed our chats.

Woody

Hay Woody,

I saw you mentioned in Steph's report. Will you be making a report on your trip? Please post your link.

Hope you had a great time.

 

[amesmom]

I'm enjoying your trip report. You mentioned how much you enjoyed the choreography of the shows and would like to meet the choreographer. I don't know if she is THE choreographer or just one of them, but she was actually on the ship for this cruise (although she said she usually isn't). Her name is Nikki and she organized the Dancing with the Officers for the crew talent show. Did you get a chance to meet her?

She also taught the ballroom dance classes and a special dance session the last day, where she taught us a routine from one of the shows. It was a blast, but she had us completely worn out. She was really nice and answered lots of our questions about the shows.

 

[DiaLady]

Jolene --

Thanks for sharing so much of your trip. I'm another EB and stayed up late tonight to read your whole report!! WE can't wait!! Sounds like you and your family definitely had a TOAL. And just like with weddings, seems likes there is always something (like a sick child) to put a wrench in your best laid plans. You seemed to handle everything beautifully!

Can't wait to hear the end of the story

 

[littleaussie]

I'm enjoying your trip report. You mentioned how much you enjoyed the choreography of the shows and would like to meet the choreographer. I don't know if she is THE choreographer or just one of them, but she was actually on the ship for this cruise (although she said she usually isn't). Her name is Nikki and she organized the Dancing with the Officers for the crew talent show. Did you get a chance to meet her?

She also taught the ballroom dance classes and a special dance session the last day, where she taught us a routine from one of the shows. It was a blast, but she had us completely worn out. She was really nice and answered lots of our questions about the shows.

Hey!!! I was at the session where she taught us that fun routine. I was by myself but really enjoyed it. It was so upbeat! I didn't stick around but she was fun to listen to for those who had questions.

I didn't go to any of the ballroom sessions because it was just me. Would have felt funny just watching them. But I would have liked to see what you guys did. Glad you had fun, I did too!

 

[littleaussie]

Jolene -- Of course I remember you. I enjoyed our chats.

Woody

Woody,
I am glad I got to meet you guys on the ship. I wanted to tell you but I kept forgetting that I LOVED your comments on our meets thread. You always had those one-liners that had me in stitches. I so wanted to meet you and was glad I bumped into you in the hall that one day.

Glad you made it home safe.

 

[littleaussie]

This morning we woke up around 7:30 a.m. as we turned our clocks back 1 hour last night. Today is Cabo! We were pretty slow to get up and going. The 4 of us went up to Topsiders for breakfast. DD 6 felt a lot better but still had that nagging cough and the cough medicine had little effect on it.

After breakfast, the girls and I were ready to go into town. But my parents and X were slow to respond. So I decided to take the girls in on my own. Cabo is a tendering port and it was about 9:30 a.m. when we decided to go in. I loaded up a backpack of sand toys and beach gear and went down to the Walt Disney Theater. They were still issuing numbers for tenders so we went down there and got a ticket. We were seated in the theater and waited about 20 minutes for a tender to become available. Shore excursions booked through Disney had first priority to go ashore.

Our number came up and we went down to deck 1 to load the tender. I was nervous about doing this by myself but the workers lifted the girls into the boat and a kind man helped us get settled. The boat ride was about 5 minutes to the shore and wasn’t rough really. I had heard they had cancelled snorkeling excursions today because the seas were a little rough.

Cabo is very dry! An abundance of cacti growing everywhere and lots of rock and desert. We arrived at the pier and port and our bag was searched partially to make sure we didn’t have any food in our packs. Luckily, I didn’t bring an apple for the girls this time.

We made it through the gates and explored the market area a little bit. A lady pounced on us and showed me a resort timeshare they were doing. I was really tempted because it was beautiful and they offered me: $100 cash, free water taxi to and from, all day pass to use all their facilities. But eventually I said no because I didn’t want to drag my kids to the 90+ minutes of sales pitch.

So we started walking down the harbor around to the other side where the beach area was. The kind man from the boat was going the same way as we were and helped me herd the kids for a time. The info lady told me it was about 35 minutes walk to the other side with the beach. A few minutes of walking made me stop and ask a guy how much the water taxi was. He said $6 for the 3 of us. I said ok but I was very nervous about following him down through the gates and on the dock. Our captain spoke no English and we had to pass a bunch of natives lounging around on the dock. We were the only passengers but we made it ok. It took about 5 minutes to get to the beach. The whole time I was thinking he was going to hold us hostage for more money or something. Must be watching too many suspense movies because nothing happened.

After we returned to the harbor area, I noticed on all the gates down to the docks there is a sign that says each passenger has to pay $1 fee and to get a receipt for it. Well the guy who led us down never said a word about it and we passed guys guarding the gate and they never stopped us so I don’t know what that was all about. Great, so now I am probably wanted by the harbor police for evading their dock fees!

The main beach area had some really beautiful sand. It was cooler today, high 60s in the morning. To me, it was a nice change from the heat but most everyone was wearing jackets in the morning. The girls and I settled on the beach and they played and played. Every 5 minutes or so, someone would come along and try to sell us something. It got a little annoying in the end. A guy tried to rent us an umbrella for $10 for the day but I said no. The water was a little rough, the waves were pretty strong. DD 3 was initially scared of the water but soon got the hang of it.

After a few hours, my parents and X showed up. Don’t know how they found us because the beach stretches on for a few miles. And I didn’t really tell them which beach I was going to, because I didn’t know myself. So we sat for a while but I was getting sick of the peddlers on the beach so we decided to walk back to the pier. It was a long walk and the whole way people are hanging around trying to sell you something. We got separated and my mom and girls and I found a Burger King so we went in and got them something. Paid in dollars and got pesos back, good souvenir I thought!

So many women sitting on blankets with trinkets and their kids running up with the gum to sell you. And both DDs got another bobble head turtle to add to the collection. I think this makes 6. I bought one of those purses made out of candy wrappers.

We shopped around the market again once we got back to the pier and bought both our servers a small gift to say thank you. We have this running war with the assistant server and the salt shaker. We hide it each night and he has to figure out where we stashed it. So I bought him a salt shaker painted from Cabo. I thought it was appropriate.

Headed back to the boat around 2 p.m. and I was forced to do laundry. DD 3 did not have any clean unmentionables so I did a few loads. Took a while as it was pretty busy for a port day. I keep running into Ducky Williams today, he must be with us for the rest of the trip. I have not seen Joey Fatone or any other performers we have had. But I don’t get to roam the ship as much as I like so they could be out and about and I am just missing them.

Tonight was pirate night. Bought the girls some pirate head gear. That was the extent of our dressing up. The girls and I took photos with Captain Jack, because I bribed them with a promise to go to Mickey’s Mate and get something.

Saw Captain Mickey and DD 6 wanted a picture with him too.

Tonight’s menu was Pirates. Started with the pasta. Had a Caesar salad and the roast for main. Tonight’s dessert was Triple chocolate, which was too rich for me.

Mike Super was our performer tonight. He is a magician and is pretty darn good. Made a woman float on a board. Did some card tricks. Made it snow and stuff like that. I guess he is doing an adult show tomorrow night, late, which I will try to go to.

The deck party was tonight and X decided to go. It’s been good to take turns going out at night.

Random Thought: I’m about ready to go home. Our cabin is getting smaller and smaller as our souvenirs and junk keeps spreading more and more around the room. I have loved every minute of the experience but the girls are really tired of living like this. I really am glad for the most part I have X to help with the girls, that way it gives each of us a chance for a break now and then. And I have enjoyed the ports and the Canal a lot. I don’t think I will be able to experience Disney Cruise line again for several years so I am trying to justify a last shopping spree down at Mickey’s Mates.

 

[littleaussie]

To everyone who posted questions: I will go back this week and quote you all and try to answer them all. Don't think I have forgotten them or am ignoring them, I'm still on Margarita time though so please excuse my flakiness.

 

[jns]

Loved all of your report
thanks again for taking us along with you on your holiday
any photos now you are back home

 

[littleaussie]

Hi everyone,

Here are some photos of the gifts we received for our cruise.

The Litho is from Ducky (of course) and says the date of the cruise in blue near the bottom (can't see very well). We only got 1 for our stateroom.

On the last night (or maybe it was the second to the last night), we came back to our room and our host was just doing up the room and came in with 2 trinket boxes for us. I think they usually allow only 1 per stateroom but he knew the situation in our room and gave us two.

Side view - it also said the date of our cruise on the 3rd side

I am slowly adding pictures to each of my journals so read through them again to see the pics.

 

[littleaussie]

I am really enjoying your cruise report. I leave for my very first cruise next May.

Are you wearing a sea sickness patch? I may need one of those.

I did wear a sea sickness patch. Got it from the doctor. It was a 14 day supply and I wore each one for 3 days. I got a little queasy some nights but I also think that was because I got a cold too.

The Pacific side was rougher than the Atlantic side. Very noticeable once we passed through the canal.

 

[littleaussie]

any chance you will get back together with your ex?

Well it didn't happen but I am happy to say we survived and have mostly good memories of our trip. Sorry to disappoint you guys but at least we are not scrambling for our lawyers to make some waves!!!

 

[littleaussie]

Hi, Was your 5 x 7 lithograph by Don Williams?
TK

During the cruise, sometimes at the shops on board they would give you a 5x7 postcard type picture with a Disney scene and the changing effects on it. One was of the little Mermaid under the Disney Ship and when you tilted the card, she would swim up, up, up towards the ship. Another was of lilo and stitch and they were dancing. Those are the types of things I meant when I talked about receiving a lithograph (sorry for the confusion). We also had 2 waiting on our bed one night. I think in total we received about 10 during our trip.

 

[littleaussie]

Can you try to find out who will be the cruise director in July, just want to find that out

Sorry I wasn't able to find out this information. I think I read on another board that Christiaan was going to come on board sometime as CD? I could be wrong so don't quote me on that. I wasn't able to ask Brent about it.

 

[littleaussie]

I am loving your trip report!! Questions, was the sleepover to be an all night sleep over, or just till 12 type thing. Was the chocolate slipper like the ones from WDW?? What did the boys where on Princess and Prince night??

Thanks.

The sleepover was an all night thing for ages 5-12 I think. It started around 9 p.m. and ended at 9:30 the next morning. The kids were supposed to wear their pjs, bring an blanket, pillow and any other comfort type thing to sleep with. When they checked in, stickers were printed with their name on it and attached to the items they brought with and stacked together. The kids went up on deck 9 and played some games and were divided into younger and older groups. There were a ton of older kids (maybe ages 8-12) on the covered Goofy pool and about 30 or so younger kids (maybe ages 5-7) that were behind Topsiders. DD 6 reported that Stitch came out and they were trying to feed them Mac and Cheese so she wanted to leave and I got the page. I picked her up on deck 9 and went down to the club to get her stuff. There were about 10 kids in the club sleeping or just laying down so I don't think they had to go on top if they didn't want to.

I didn't get to see my chocolate slipper but my server asked if I wanted a left or right one. Then I had to leave the table and my tablemates ate it so I didn't get to see it.

The boys were dressed up in various outfits for prince and princess night and the special tea afternoon. Some were dressed just like the princes in the movies, some were in church-type outfits, some were in sailor outfits, and some were dressed in rennaissance clothing (which was really really cute).

 

[littleaussie]

As another EB cruiser, I'm really enjoying your report, especially since our kids' ages are almost identical to yours, so it helps prepare our expectations to reasonable levels (though I never expected DS4 to tolerate too many sit down meals in a row).

We are also signed up for our cruise's secret mickeys, so I was curious how you were leaving your gifts, just in the fish extenders or did you have other ways of doing it?

Thanks again for all your posts.

With the secret Mickey exchange, I never had any really big items to give. Once the item was too big for the fish extender so I tucked it in the top of the fish extender in the clip part.

I have been told that you can also find a stateroom host/hostess and ask them to put it in the room for you if it is too big.

 

[littleaussie]

Jolene...

We are on the EB Repo and are booked for the same tour in Acapulco. Did you think it was worth the money? Do you think you saw enough or do you think that too much time was devoted to shopping? I'm really enjoying reading about your trip.

Thanks,
Kim

Hi Kim,
With the tour, I think it is an ok way to spend time in Acapulco if you have no idea what to do, like we did. If I ever go there again, I wouldn't re-book it. But, I was told by our tour guide that the cliff divers had a special show just for the tour groups at 3:30 and had extra divers. So that was a plus. There was not a lot of time devoted to shopping, just at the end and several people left our group and wandered around on their own. We were close enough to the ship that they could walk back.
My little girls were mostly bored but we were moving all the time so they didn't get too whiny. The only part that was really bad was the tour of the Fort San Diego, what a waste of 45 minutes of my life. Only because of the tour guide, he was terrible. All the kids in our group went stir-crazy in the fort, because they were so bored.
All I can say is if you have no idea what to do or where to go, this is a safe way to see some of the city and see the cliff divers.
Hope that helps.