drewsmom123

Tacos

Shade spots

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Next, I ventured out into the water while DH kept the chair warm- he says he is people watching- I am aware that he is bikini watching. The water was pretty cold, and I was really glad to have my doodle (an inflatable Noodle), so I could just float. I had my Walmart Yeti in hand with the Doodle under my arms, it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. While floating I met a very nice family, the mom was very impressed with my bring your own float, so I loaned her one and we struck up a conversation about number of cruises and how to pick where to go. I mentioned my CC obsesion and this blog. She said that I should write about how there should be planned activities for an 18 year high school student. She explained that there really isn’t anything for her DD to do. She couldn’t go to the teen club because it is for 17 and under and even if they were comfortable signing for her to drink there really wasn’t a good way for her to meet others her age. I told her I would definitely explore that issue. That afternoon I went to customer service for the first time to check on my strawberries and while there I filled out a comment card for the hotel manager about the mom’s request. Before bedtime that day, I received a message from Nelson Martins, the hotel Director, saying he had read my request and since the Daily had already been printed for the following day he couldn’t do anything right away, but for the following day there would be a young adult get together. The following morning I got a call from Andre the Cruise Director assuring me that there would be something planned for the 18-21 year olds. I was very impressed and sure enough in the Day 4 daily, there was an Informal Social for 18-21 year olds in the Bliss lounge. I didn’t see that family again, but I hope the DD made some new friends and had a great cruise.

DH eventually joined me for a swim and then we were ready for lunch. We chose the taco stand. They had beef, chicken, and fish tacos, with fresh salsa and guacamole. We waited in line for about 30 minutes, it was all you can eat so we got several each. DH had all 3 kinds, I tried beef and fish. They were all very good - fish was my favorite.

After another swim we were ready to head back to the ship. The food stations were closed by 2:30. There were lots of shady spots to hang out in.

At the picture spot.

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Beach fun

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The ride over to the island was short and beautiful. There were crew there to greet us. They had lots of sand wheelchairs along with nice healthy fellas for pushing. We just wandered off and to started toward the right. First, was a trip to the bar (I got a Miami Vice and a Strawberry daiquiri- DH margaritas) . No line yet. Then we staked our territory. We chose a great spot far to the right (facing the water), in the 2nd row. There were plenty chairs- many were empty all day. Then we took a walk around the island, DH then packed up our bag and carried it with us so no one could steal anything (because ½ used bottles of sunscreen and Doodles are hot items on the Cruise Black Market, this trait of his annoys me, but he has never had anything stolen). The beach is really nice. There were planned activities going on- dance parties, snorkeling (you can bring your own gear), yoga on the beach, tug-of-war, volleyball, obstacle course, and beach sports. There were very nice floats for rent- family sized and individual. The cabanas were very nice, it was a 3 sided covered area with fans, tv, fridge, towels, fruit bowl, floats, and a bartender. I could never convince DH that we should spend hundreds of dollars to go to a private island in the Caribbean and sit in the shade about a football fields distance from the ocean so we can be waited on and get to use a float.

We located the buffet and the taco stand, visited a couple more bars- line was getting longer.

While wandering around we found a great picture spot- it even had a sign but I don’t remember exactly what it said. I recognized a fellow FBer so I said Banana Sandwich. It was PJ Morrissey of Cruieseveryday.com, he organized our CC Meet and Greet. His father took our picture for us, it was very nice meeting them- thanks for everything guys!!

Mudslide was definitely a favorite

RC at Co Co Cay

GSC from the ship

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I intended to get up and see the Easter sun rise, and since we were in bed early I didn’t think I needed an alarm. I missed the it by about 30 minutes. I felt bad that I didn’t make more of an effort, I guess the UBP was having an effect already. We stopped by the pool bar for Mudslides and Bloody Marys and then to the Great Outdoors buffet for breakfast (omelettes,bacon,sausage, fruit), got some island pictures, put on swim suits and packed our bag (sunscreen, towels, Doodles, water bottle, “Yeti”) and headed to the tender line on deck 4 by 9:30 (they had taken everyone with excursions already). We waited about 10 minutes for the tender to arrive. We were some of the first people on board so we waited about 15 minutes for it to fill up and then we were on our way. We met two sisters who were traveling in solo cabins on the trip over. I love meeting people and learning about their situations. On our first couple of cruises we mostly kept to ourselves, but the last 2 we have been determined to meet as many people as we can. We could see another ship at another island off in the distance- I think it was Royal Caribbean at Co Co Cay

Debarked from Epic 4/ with 5000 of my newest friends. Those who left very early made it through. We were not so lucky. 2 hours 15 minutes from "let's get in line" to getting in the shuttle. I will very much think twice before choosing a cruise out of there.

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We just stayed (3/31/18) at Days Inn Cocoa Cruiseport. They let you leave the car and shuttle you to and from. It was about $125 for a night. Call them directly for the best rates.

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What a way to start a vacation!!! Take always from Day 1 - don't travel on Good Friday, get to the terminal early, ask the bar tenders for recommendations, talk to people, UBP is a great idea- especially for the cheapskate- no worrying about price or how many. We went out to dinner last night and I really wanted to hand them my room key. We were in bed by 9. Apparently the UBP doesn't make us party animals.

The coolest bathroom ever. By the pool bar on deck 15.

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American Fare dinner

Climbing wall

Bowling Alley

Chandelier in Taste

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We had the hot tub and most of Spice to ourselves until the Sail Away party started at 4:15. They had chicken wings and wraps at the buffet in Spice so we had a snack. One of our favorite parts of cruises is Sail Away- from port and from stops. There was a dance party with fun music and we got company in the hot tub. The Disney ship followed us out. The hot tub was not extremely hot, a little better that luke warm.

A few drinks later, we headed to the Garden Cafe (American Fare) for dinner. Then a little exploring. The climbing wall looked like a lot of fun and we thought about trying it, but never did, I suffer with some vertigo issues so it probably wasn’t a good idea anyway. Deck 7 has the bowling alley. 3 lanes, $7, bring your socks. There was always someone bowling, it looked like fun.

Sail Away.

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After changing, picking up our towels, and a trip to the bar - the UBP thing is great, just hand them your key and they bring back whatever goody you ask for- we headed to the Spice H2O hot tub. You could get 2 drinks at time, which came in handy on Sea Days because the wait time could be awhile. Nothing to get upset over, just more than walking up and getting what you want right away. So we were often double fisting it. I saw people tipping extra every drink and I saw those who didn't. I really didn't notice that one got more attention than another. I did think that there was a shortage of roaming waiters so tipping might be an advantage to get them to come back more often, but we didn't have trouble with that either. There was always one around soon after we “needed” them. We didn't tip extra because we felt like the 20% gratuities we paid on our “free” perk was sufficient (I know cheapskate, I warned you about that earlier). DH was determined to try everything so he regularly had some weird beer- one was called Lil’ Sumpin and he really like Red Stripe- and a mixed drink. I used my Yeti type cup (Walmart version of course) so I could have a free hand.

Enjoying the read and great info! Thanks!

 

 

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Enjoying your review!!!

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Room 12290

Deck 15

Spice H2O

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Room 12290- inside cabin, approximately 4 rooms from the elevator and 4 from the back of the ship. I think it was the smallest cabin we have ever been in, there is about 1 ½ feet on both sides of the bed, so just enough to scoot around, however, my side ended at the countertop so that space was about 6 inches (usually just climbed in and out of bed from the end). However, it was everything we needed. The bed was comfy and big, the ac worked great (there is a control on the wall and we adjust it back and forth a couple of times), and there was lots of storage. I would suggest unpacking, I usually just work out of my suitcase, but there just wasn’t room for that, so I emptied it and stored it under the bed. The closet was huge, there were bins on the door that worked like shelving in addition to the shelving around the safe. You have to close the closet door all the way for the light to go out, this took me a while to figure out for some reason, also kept me awake the first night. There was a lot of floor space in the closet that was great for shoes, backpacks, souvenir bags. There are only 2 outlets and they are hiding under the cabinet. I had done my research and new about the bathroom situation, it didn’t bother me, but if you were rooming with a friend instead of a significant other I could see how that would not be ideal. There were several towel hooks and as well as a curtain that you could use to seperate the bathroom from the rest of the room. There was a very room medicine cabinet behind the mirror. We had our Latitudes perk wine and our Expedia perk sparkling wine - however, the chocolate strawberries were a no show. We went to customer service twice and they were going to fix the problem. However, after the second time, when we returned to our room I noticed that DH had left our notification indicator by the door on “Do not Disturb” so I’m sure someone else go to eat those.

I downloaded the iConcierge app before boarding and checked to make sure our Expedia perk of $25 onboard credit was there. It was along with a great surprise of $75 onboard credit. I don’t know where is came from and we waited all week to spend it just make sure it stayed there.

First drinks. First lunch. The Carnival and a Disney ship leaving the same day.

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We were onboard with first drinks in hand by 11, it was great. We had lunch at the Great Outdoors- burgers, dogs, grilled chicken, then explored deck 15. Favorite drinks for the day were- me-Miami Vice, DH-rum punch. The drinks were surprisingly strong and I was feeling great by noon. My school friend arrived onboard around 1:00, they had to wait in really long lines to board. We decided to sneak down to our room to see if it was ready. Our steward was in the room next door so we asked if we could change and leave our backpacks. He said that our room was ready so that was fine. I had packed everything we would need to hang by the pool in our backpack so we changed and headed upstairs.

DH's cruise shorts.

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Day 1

So I mentioned an issue at the hotel, I am happy to say that they corrected the problem. There was an issue with 3rd party site prices that go with the shuttle package. The district manager credited by credit card before we were even on board. Which was good because DH was ready to blame my “obsession” with using the internet instead of calling someone and he is always adding up those extra expenses that I didn’t tell him about. I would recommend staying at the Days Inn Cocoa Cruiseport. The hotel was great and the shuttle was on time for both legs of our trip. They informed us of exactly where we needed to be after the cruise, it was great.

Traffic on Good Friday was a nightmare (not our worst of the trip). Our 10 hour drive took 14. I thought I was prepared for it to be slow, but I really wasn’t, it was a lot of stop and go. We drove past a couple of accidents, and watched one happen right if front of us (it was minor, but a headache for those involved). We were very lucky and reminded ourselves regularly that it could be worse.

There was a Disney and a Carnival boarding at the same time as the Epic, so if we had driven to the port I think traffic would have been very heavy finding a parking place, however, our shuttle took us right to the “door”. There was a protest going on at the port. Some people had a huge, ugly blow up monster rat. They were protesting Disney wages. We gave our bags to a porter, watched him place them on the racks, then got in line. About this time someone on the FB page posted that their luggage never made it onto the plane and they were on their way to Walmart. He posted yesterday (Sunday after we returned) that they airlines was still working on it.

We were at the terminal and in line very early. I had joined a FB page for this cruise and the members decided to have a code word so we would recognize each other. It was a lot of fun putting faces to online profiles. So while we were in line, DH says “I think the woman in front of us is on your FB page.” So I said Banana Sandwich and friendships were formed. All week we exchanged drink recommendations and discussed the fun stuff we had done. It was great to have friendly faces around. They were from Michigan and their sons were hilarious- we spent regular elevator time with them. We were allowed to enter the terminal around 9:45 and we were checked in with key cards in hand by 10. We met some really nice people while waiting. The husband mentioned that he couldn’t wait to eat, and I shared our snacks with them. DH won’t buy snacks when we are on the road so I always carry something in my backpack. Everytime we saw them during the week they asked for a snack. I know that it isn’t likely that the Epic will be going back to Port Canaveral, however, if it does, I would suggest showing up really early or last thing. It was very crowded. There wasn’t enough room for everyone to sit down and this cause lots of people to be pretty grouchy.

I need to change the name of my review to the Epic traffic jams. We are finally home and I am going to compose my thoughts for the review. Today I had to cover my beautifully ranked skin with jeans and a long shirt. That wa tough. It is also going to be tough to go to work tomorrow. I hope to get the details of the trip started tomorrow. Thanks for following along it was a great trip and I can't wait to share it with you.

That should be tanned skin. Ranked?

I need to change the name of my review to the Epic traffic jams. We are finally home and I am going to compose my thoughts for the review. Today I had to cover my beautifully ranked skin with jeans and a long shirt. That wa tough. It is also going to be tough to go to work tomorrow. I hope to get the details of the trip started tomorrow. Thanks for following along it was a great trip and I can't wait to share it with you.