Clare D
Minnie Mania
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 1,376
Hi everybody,
What a trip. The cruise element of this trip was booked back in May 2010 so the trip has been a long time in planning.
The trip was 7 days at OKW, 7 days on RC Allure of the Seas doing the western Caribbean itinerary and then 2 nights at RPR at universal with tickets to do both universal parks.
Late last year my dad asked if he and his wife and their 2 kids both aged 11 could tag along. Why not I said as it would be company for my 2 aged 9 and 4.
BA flight from Gatwick was fine. We couldn't land upon arrival as the airport was shut due to lightening. This delayed us by about 45 minutes. This meant though that the arrivals hall was busy but the queues did move.
When we arrived at OKW the reaction from everybody was wow. On arrival the kids were given balloons in flowers and dogs which they thought were great. When we entered our room, we had separate studios booked, we had both been upgraded to 1 bed villas which were fantastic. Buses around the resort were fab. Most days we visited POR for breakfast.
Weather was sunny and hot in the morning with the usual rain in the afternoon. Thankfully managed to miss the rain except on last day at AK but this meant we saw so many more animals on safari. The lion was wandering around roaring his head off at us. We did have to shelter from the rain here but it soon learned up.
Parks were busy but manageable. We didn't get there most days until after opening due to being 8 of us. If just us we would have been up and out but difficult when others with you. Longest wait time we saw was 100 minutes for TSM. Thankfully we FP'd this.
DDP was great. We did CM, 50's prime time, Rainforest Cafe, Biergarten in EPCOT, whispering canyon cafe, breakfast with Donald at Tusker
House in AK and Raglan Road. Best CS meal we had was Wolfgang Puck Express though.
Would return to OKW again
Allure of the seas was fantastic. Food and service were excellent. Itinerary was changed due to TS Isaac so we did Nassau, Jamaica and Cozumel instead. We then spent 2 extra days at sea due to Port Everglades being closed. Thankfully RC opened up the wi-fi for free so we were able to change car hire to just 1 day and cancel the hotel at universal.
The weather on the cruise was excellent though. Only one day of rain but that was due to storm.
Due to TS Isaac we ended up going back to a sail boat that we had already stopped for. The captain was asked by the coastguard to go back for them and pick them up. He announced that 58 refugees from Haiti were on board the boat and had been at sea for 22 days sailing off the coast of Cuba when they were on their way to the US. A lifeboat had to go and pick them up with the coastguard flying overhead.
We booked the car hire through US car hire and they have been excellent. A week before we went I changed the car from a 12 seater to 8 seater Sienna after reading reviews. They did this straight away and refunded me the difference. They then refunded me for the car we wouldn't use and I was able to just book the 1 day.
We booked RPR through BA after reading the post from Wayne about a price error. My sister called them to let them know we needed to cancel as I couldn't find an email address for them and since then I have had a full refund of the hotel.
The tickets were booked through Florida tix and thankfully we hadn't signed them. We can return them and will be charged £25 each ticket cancellation.
2 extra days at sea meant we didn't get chance to squeeze any shopping in but we did manage to visit the cheesecake factory on way to airport and had a delicious meal there.
At the airport we saw Warwick Davis who was there with his family. We got chatting to them at the BA counter. They were lovely and very friendly. I saw him later at gatwick having his picture taken with a couple smiling away even though he was probably shattered like the rest of us after a very bumpy flight home.
We are still in bed and the kids are fast asleep. Sometimes there are positives for jet lag
Any questions please ask.
What a trip. The cruise element of this trip was booked back in May 2010 so the trip has been a long time in planning.
The trip was 7 days at OKW, 7 days on RC Allure of the Seas doing the western Caribbean itinerary and then 2 nights at RPR at universal with tickets to do both universal parks.
Late last year my dad asked if he and his wife and their 2 kids both aged 11 could tag along. Why not I said as it would be company for my 2 aged 9 and 4.
BA flight from Gatwick was fine. We couldn't land upon arrival as the airport was shut due to lightening. This delayed us by about 45 minutes. This meant though that the arrivals hall was busy but the queues did move.
When we arrived at OKW the reaction from everybody was wow. On arrival the kids were given balloons in flowers and dogs which they thought were great. When we entered our room, we had separate studios booked, we had both been upgraded to 1 bed villas which were fantastic. Buses around the resort were fab. Most days we visited POR for breakfast.
Weather was sunny and hot in the morning with the usual rain in the afternoon. Thankfully managed to miss the rain except on last day at AK but this meant we saw so many more animals on safari. The lion was wandering around roaring his head off at us. We did have to shelter from the rain here but it soon learned up.
Parks were busy but manageable. We didn't get there most days until after opening due to being 8 of us. If just us we would have been up and out but difficult when others with you. Longest wait time we saw was 100 minutes for TSM. Thankfully we FP'd this.
DDP was great. We did CM, 50's prime time, Rainforest Cafe, Biergarten in EPCOT, whispering canyon cafe, breakfast with Donald at Tusker
House in AK and Raglan Road. Best CS meal we had was Wolfgang Puck Express though.
Would return to OKW again
Allure of the seas was fantastic. Food and service were excellent. Itinerary was changed due to TS Isaac so we did Nassau, Jamaica and Cozumel instead. We then spent 2 extra days at sea due to Port Everglades being closed. Thankfully RC opened up the wi-fi for free so we were able to change car hire to just 1 day and cancel the hotel at universal.
The weather on the cruise was excellent though. Only one day of rain but that was due to storm.
Due to TS Isaac we ended up going back to a sail boat that we had already stopped for. The captain was asked by the coastguard to go back for them and pick them up. He announced that 58 refugees from Haiti were on board the boat and had been at sea for 22 days sailing off the coast of Cuba when they were on their way to the US. A lifeboat had to go and pick them up with the coastguard flying overhead.
We booked the car hire through US car hire and they have been excellent. A week before we went I changed the car from a 12 seater to 8 seater Sienna after reading reviews. They did this straight away and refunded me the difference. They then refunded me for the car we wouldn't use and I was able to just book the 1 day.
We booked RPR through BA after reading the post from Wayne about a price error. My sister called them to let them know we needed to cancel as I couldn't find an email address for them and since then I have had a full refund of the hotel.
The tickets were booked through Florida tix and thankfully we hadn't signed them. We can return them and will be charged £25 each ticket cancellation.
2 extra days at sea meant we didn't get chance to squeeze any shopping in but we did manage to visit the cheesecake factory on way to airport and had a delicious meal there.
At the airport we saw Warwick Davis who was there with his family. We got chatting to them at the BA counter. They were lovely and very friendly. I saw him later at gatwick having his picture taken with a couple smiling away even though he was probably shattered like the rest of us after a very bumpy flight home.
We are still in bed and the kids are fast asleep. Sometimes there are positives for jet lag
Any questions please ask.
