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

[Queenofthecastle]

Thanks for posting this. I love how you are updating everyday. We were supposed to be on this cruise, but my husband's work only allows so many people to be let off at a certain time. Wouldn't you know that someone else with more seniority than him booked this exact same cruise and got the dates. Hope they are having fun, because we sure would have!

Anyway, loving your report!! Have fun!

Oh my talk about life being unfair! I would have just quit and looked for another job when I returned. Joking! (sort of)

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Luv the report....................

 

[jns]

hope you are feeling better again
its good to have a chill out day

 

[Cobbo]

Count me among the lurkers whom have been enjoying your TR since it was a pre-trippie....glad to hear you're having a good time and that X appears to be living up to the crayon agreement (at least that we've heard...)....and that you haven't continued your trail of DCL violations that might've kept you quarantined....but in all seriousness, for taking the time during your trip to keep us posted....it's great, but giving me DTs for not being on board...and it doesn't help that there are occasion EB Repos avail at the moment....DW would not be happy with me if I get the bug...

 

[newfamilyman]

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.

 

[littleaussie]

This morning was the usual, wake up at 8:00 a.m. or so, Breakfast at Topsiders, then spent time at the pool. My dad went to Captain’s corner Q & A. He said it was very interesting but didn’t have a whole lot of news to tell me.

Spent most of the morning and afternoon at the pool.

Not so many kids in the afternoon for some reason. The Mickey pool never seems to get extremely crowded, and I can always find a lounger for myself. We left around 3 p.m. and shortly after that, there was another missile in the pool. It was closed again. We have been lucky so far to not be in the pool when that happens.

This night’s menu is Master Chef. I had a dill and sour cream soup which was pretty icky. No appetizer and had the spiced chicken for dinner. That was pretty good. Then some sort of banana cake dessert, which was excellent. The table of 8 next to us was missing so we had speedy service and our servers performed magic for the girls. They really enjoyed that.

This afternoon they had 2 for 1 DODs which were Deep Blue Sea. We had several of those because of the special!!!

Tonight’s show was The Art of the Story. It was just kind of like clips from some of the animated movies. But we all enjoyed it. The girls were enthralled the whole time. It was entertaining, but very loud.

At 10:30 p.m., I finally managed to catch the John Charles show. He did singing and made up lyrics to songs. Pretty entertaining. Apparently, he has extended his stay because all the cruisers enjoy him so much. Tonight was his last show before he gets off tomorrow in Acapulco.

Really nothing exciting to report except the X and I had a domestic this morning. Ooops! Was thinking we could actually pull this vacation off without arguing but I guess it couldn’t happen. Oh well, it wasn’t that bad, no blood or missing limbs so I guess we can make it to the end. . .

Up next: Acapulco – Shopping/Highlights/cliff divers tour – Los Caporales Folkloric show

 

[littleaussie]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for still following along! I have to say, the Sea Days are getting to me. Today was Aculpolco and we had a blast! My dad almost got arrested!!!! Wild times for sure, will have a good update in a few hours or so!

The sleepover the other night was for kids 5-12. 5-7 or 8 were in one group and the older ones were in another. They took the older kids up to the covered goofy pool and the little ones behind topsiders for some night activities. But when we went to get my DD 6's stuff, there were a few kids in the club sleeping too. DD 6 was pretty upset because they were serving mac & cheese and she does not like that!!!! I thought it was funny. The sleepover was from 9:30 - 9:00 the next morning.

I had a cold yesterday, so that's why I didn't do too much. Can't wait to update you guys on today's activities, they were fun!!!!

Stay tuned!

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

Really nothing exciting to report except the X and I had a domestic this morning. Ooops! Was thinking we could actually pull this vacation off without arguing but I guess it couldn’t happen. Oh well, it wasn’t that bad, no blood or missing limbs so I guess we can make it to the end. . .

Wasnt sure what you mean by "domestic" at first, my first thought was but then read it meant arguement LOL

 

[Mozart]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for still following along! I have to say, the Sea Days are getting to me. Today was Aculpolco and we had a blast! My dad almost got arrested!!!! Wild times for sure, will have a good update in a few hours or so!

Now, here's what I'm looking for! Grandpas Gone Wild!

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hi Jolene,

Being married 16 years, & I must say, most couples always have "domestic" when traveling. Very normal It's not easy for any 2 adults, to travel a few weeks, sharing a small room with 4 people.

We are all *loving* your report, & touched by your charm as well as honesty.

Again, thanks for sharing with all of us, we are enjoying every word and waiting for more.

 

[jns]

some times its good to clear the air
hope your cold isn't getting you down to much

 

[goofyforlife]

& I must say, most couples always have "domestic" when traveling. Very normal

My DH and I might need to get one of those quickie Mexican divorces after 15 days together..... (he's lucky we're on the EB with the carribbean at the end)

I apologize in advance to whoever is in room 5522 next to us....(at least it's not a connecting cabin.)

 

[goofyforlife]

Jolene...

Can't wait to hear about Aculpulco......

I have thought of going on our own just over to the cliff diving show....

Do you know anyone who did that and how much they paid? (i'm hoping to stay under $30 with taxi)

 

[littleaussie]

This morning, we woke up at our usual time of 8:00 a.m. It took quite a while to get everyone ready for our day in town so we didn’t leave our room until after 9:00 a.m. We went to Parrot Cay again for the buffet. I am getting tired of scrambled eggs, so maybe I should be daring tomorrow and order an omelet!!!

Finished breakfast around 10:15 and checked the navigator and saw that Pluto was going to be on deck 9! Yay! The girls wanted a picture with Pluto since day 1 so today was the day. Lots of people up on deck 9 watching us pull into Acapulco.

After the pictures we climbed to deck 10 and watched us arrive. The announcer came on and said they were going to blow the horn but still, we jumped out of our skins when they did! DD 6 started crying, we were close to a set of speakers. People were lined up on shore and pulled over on the road to watch us arrive and waved and cheered at us. Made me feel like we were celebrities. While we waited to get cleared, I saw 2 men and a lady with luggage coming up the walk. I don’t know who they were but I am assuming they are our entertainment for sometime. I didn’t see them close up.

We were cleared to go ashore around 11 a.m. but none of my group did. We were scheduled to meet our tour in the Rockin’ Bar D at Noon. We all met down there and got our instructions and stickers for our group. Apparently our tour is one of the most popular with the cruisers. There were probably 300 people there. We chose to do the City Highlights/Shopping/Cliff Divers tour.

They broke us up into groups and gave each family 1 disposable camera. They also tried to sell water to us but I was sure we got water sometime during the excursion. We all brought water with us anyway and I had taken 2 apples for the girls.

After we disembarked, we were broken up into smaller groups of around 20-30. A tour guide was assigned to each group (we were the orange group and had to wear the funky bracelets) and off we went. We walked across the street to the museum and old fort. On the way, these little girls were sticking their heads through some small circular openings and trying to sell us fans and pens. “Only 1 Dollar” was the phrase I heard all day. I did not buy anything because I’ve been told that the parents are exploiting their children this way and that there are programs available to help people like that.
DD6 thought she would fit through the holes like the peddler girls did:

Our museum/fort tour was long and hot. I didn’t find it very interesting at all. Mostly because of our tour guide. He went on and on. I know history is a hard subject to teach but I think it can be interesting with the right guide. JMO by the way.

After the tour, which was about 45 minutes, we walked back across the bridge to the gates again. The kids were still there. Before we got on a bus, they gave us water!!!! I knew I was right! I picked up 4 bottles.

We took a bus ride up and down the coastline and saw a lot of stuff. McDonalds, Burger King, Senor Frog’s, etc. . . The beaches looked beautiful. Our driver assured us there was no crime, that sounds familiar.

Then we went through a poor section of town that had a lot of garbage and bars on the doors. Even the shops were barred. If you wanted something from the shop, there was a little opening they would hand your stuff to you and take your money. If there is no crime, why those precautions?

We stopped at a resort on the cliff that was owned by a friend of our tour guide. There, we received coke, beer or water. I took a coke in an old-fashioned bottle. I kept the bottle. Dad took a Corona extra. I didn’t like the taste. The resort was beautiful, built on the edge of the cliff so there were many steps going up and down. Lots of coconut trees.
DD 6 with her stolen flower:

We stayed there about ½ an hour and then on to the cliff divers. Got there around 3 p.m. and waited ½ an hour for them to dive (in the hot hot sun!). There was 1 professional diver and about 5 or 6 amateur divers. I walked the 85 steps to the bottom to see it from that angle and the divers came down and went over the edge of the cliff, climbed down to the water, and then swam over to the other cliff and climbed it. That was pretty amazing in itself because the cliff was pretty steep, would be hard to get a hand-hold. There was a film crew there that day. The amateur divers dove from various heights on the cliff. There were little notches cut out like a platform at several places on the face of the cliff. 2 of them dived together. After they were done, they climbed back up our cliff.

It was pretty neat to see but we were all sunburned by the time they got around to diving. Then they ran up the steps and called out for tips when we climbed back to our bus. There were a ton of peddlers in the area, selling all sorts of things and being very persistent.

After that, we stopped at a market and got a popsicle and saw an old church. I stayed outside because I had on a tank top and I was afraid of offending the locals (although no one said anything about it). I saw many people crossing themselves as they walked by and tons of people chasing us down with things to sell us. One guy put a bracelet on DD 3’s arm and would not take it off again. We all had our hands full of junk and popsicles so didn’t want to get it dirty. Finally, he took it off but it was annoying!

Then we were taken to a ritzy shop that has the agreement with Disney to sell stuff to us. We could have coke, a margarita, or corona at this shop. I got a margarita first and then a coke and wandered around. It was mostly expensive silver and gemstone jewelry, out of my price league. I did buy a little souvenir, it was $20 but my dad bartered it for $15.

Then came the sad part of our journey. Most of our group went outside to wait and we saw a baby, probably no more than 1 year old asleep on the steps into a drug store. She was so cute but looked very hot and it was just sad to see it. Her mother and sister were across the street and when they saw all of us looking at the baby, they ran over with stuff to sell. A lot of our group came away with fans after that but I didn’t buy anything.

Further down the street, a little girl no bigger than DD 3 was walking up to us with chiclits. We crossed the busy highway and finally got to go to the touristy shops! DD 6 wanted to get something and this was the only place I could afford something! She got a bobble-head butterfly and DD 3 got another bobble-head turtle. I guess we will be collecting those turtles in each port.

The bus took us back to the port then but my dad was missing. The guide said he had gone with 2 of his (the guide’s) friends downtown to exchange some money and look for something. My family was worried but the guide said they couldn’t wait, as we were on a tight schedule.

We arrived back onboard at 5:25 and the girls and I decided to go eat at our rotation. We were all in tank-tops and shorts and hats but I thought it would be ok just this once to eat like that. I saw a lot of other people dressed the same. We took our hats off and sat at our table. Our servers were very grateful to see us because we were the only ones in their sections. About 5:45, my mom arrived after a shower and change. About 5:55, the X showed up. We had lost him in the tourist building inside the gates, turned out he had gone back up the street to purchase a trashy t-shirt.

After 6 p.m., my dad showed up with a horror story. The 2 guys took my dad into the city to a dubious section of town. Let’s just say that they entered a store and the worker called the police. Now the guide told us the police can speak English but these guys didn’t. They searched his bag and questioned him and detained him for a while. Now my dad is a cop so he was quite put out with being treated like this, although he didn’t act out with them. He just obeyed what they said and the 2 friends were talking rapid Spanish to the cops. Finally they let him go and the guys took dad back to the bus, only we had left a while ago for the ship. They walked him back to the ship and he said he had never been so glad to see Mickey as he was today.

Tonight’s menu was Mexican Riviera. I had the beef burrito for appetizer, the Mexican soup and the sirloin. It was all pretty good. Minnie came to the room with some Mexican dancers.

Tonight’s show was a Mexican forklore dance. I didn’t go, instead I went to the Narnia movie, I didn’t get to see the end last time. X and the kids said it was a bunch of dancing. X said they were good dancers but you have to be interested in that stuff to really appreciate it.

I think tonight they had a Mexican dance party on deck 9 but none of us went there. The attire was cruise casual. We were set to leave around 10 p.m. Our servers and our room host were able to go on shore for a while.

Random thought: the tour was ok. I enjoyed the bus ride and the divers but I think my kids had reached their limits. But there aren’t many excursions you can do with a 3 year old so we were limited in what we could do. I wouldn’t feel safe taking a tour like we did in Aruba because Acapulco is much larger and way more people.

Up next: Sea Day – Joey Fatone

 

[PURTYPAT1]

My DH and I might need to get one of those quickie Mexican divorces after 15 days together
I apologize in advance to whoever is in room 5522 next to us....(at least it's not a connecting cabin.)

LOL

Jolene...

Can't wait to hear about Aculpulco......

I have thought of going on our own just over to the cliff diving show....

Do you know anyone who did that and how much they paid? (i'm hoping to stay under $30 with taxi)

I do, my friend Steph (Taysmom) is on the Magic & she is writing a blog, which has included Aculpulco

Here it is:

http://tayandstephadventures.blogspot.com/

 

[VegasPixie]

What a day in Acapulco; your poor Dad! That's such a crazy story, I wonder what they were talking about, why they treated him that way.

I had to post to say that I am really enjoying your "real-time" trip report! I look forward to reading this every morning! Thanks so much for taking the time to share all of your experiences as they happen!

 

[littleaussie]

Our secret mickey gift exchange is going well. The organizer left it up to us how often to give, what to give but told us to keep the level down under $25. My dd 3 has gotten a little gift every day, mostly princess stuff. DD 6 has only gotten a few gifts on the cruise so it is hard for her to see her sister get more. The girls have given things like silly putty, funky chapstick, sand bracelets, stickers and we bought some stuff in Aruba to give to their kids too. I think we are going to give a big finale gift at the end, probably something with their favorite disney character. We've been giving gifts every other day or every 3rd day.

I know a bunch of disers went to the cliff divers on their own. I think a taxi costs around $10 each way? The passporter says they collect a $3 fee but I saw a sign that said $7 but am not sure what that was for. Our tour operation gave the diver's money and like I said, they stood there and called for tips afterwards. I know the restaurant has viewing there too, either 1 drink and a show or a buffet and a show. The name is Hotel Miradors and they have a website, I think? I know Gydell was going to lead a bunch of dissers that way.

 

[goofyforlife]

Thanks for another great report Jolene....

and thanks for the other info too on the port..

 

[MagicMe]

I'm really enjoying reading your report and that you are keeping up with it. It almost feels like I'm there!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Way Cool.. txs for sharing