Our MEGA vacation FOS pre-trip report with pictures

[Tinkers70]

CONTINUED......

 

So continuing on, I imagine our visit to Cococay will be a relaxing one. I'm not much of a beach person though so will have to find something else to distract me

 

I'm not sure if i'm looking forward to the tender boat and i've got everything crossed that i'm not queesy on it.

 

Tuesday 9th October

 

Today is a sea day so will probably find somewhere quiet to settle down with a book. I'm not a reader actually but i've heard about a certain collection of books out just now about a certain 'Mr Grey'. I'm not sure if there is the same buzz about these books in the States just now but back here in the UK they are 'the' books to read. I might just buy the 3 of them and take them with me ;)

 

I think tonight is Formal night on the cruise. I'm very nervous about this incase I don't pack the correct clothes. So i'll probably check out the rest of my fellow cruisers on the ship before we venture in. If I feel we are under dressed in anyway then it'll be the WindJammer for us!

 

I'll be packing a couple of nice cocktail type dresses for me......nothing too fancy, but they are really nice. For my 2 sons I was just going to pack their black trousers, white shirts and a tie each and my husband will be in something similar. Please feel free to let me know if this isn't suitable, I know there's lots of mixed views on this forum.

 

Do the boys and my husband need to wear a suit jacket on formal night or are they fine with just their collared shirts and tie on?

 

Soooooo onwards and upwards to........

 

Wednesday 10th October

 

This morning we are due to arrive at St. Thomas.

 

 

As far as I know we should dock at 11am.

 

Just last week I was reading a fabulous review on here (can't remember her username but the trip was names something like a 'middle aged drama queen')

 

Anyway, I was reading her review and she had did the same cruise that we're doing. I really didn't know what to do when we arrived at St. Thomas or St. Martin, we just guessed that we would do a bit of shopping and have a walk around. Then I read this review and booked the same tour that this lady and her daughter did.

 

It's an island tour with Sunny Liston and they meet us once we dock. We then get taken to Charlotte Amalie for some shopping time for an hour or so. We then take a trip up to Mountain Top for a birds eye view of the island (hopefully we'll see our ship from way up there!)

 

We also have a visit to 1 of 3 beaches. I really like the look of Megan's Bay Beach. I know it will be over populated with people and we'll also have to pay for the privilage but it's the one I like the look of most. Plus.....I like being around lots of people and doing a spot of people watching.

 

We should be back in plenty of time for our ship departing again at 7pm.

 

Thursday 11th October

 

Today is another island day and this time it's St. Martin. All going well we should arrive at 8am. Again i'm looking forward sitting on the balcony and watching us arrive at Philipsburg.

 

Today we will be doing a Bernards tour and getting picked up at the pier around 9am.

 

We will be having a brief stop off at an Iguana farm where we'll look at erm.....Iguana's!

 

When I first booked this tour I asked my youngest son Scott if he knew what an Iguana was. He said he thought it was a fruit! He seen the look on my face and swiftly changed his answer to a flower!!!!. I then asked my eldest the same question and he thought it could be a kind of 'Lama'!!! OMG, my kids could do with more education! lol. Although in their defence we don't often see Iguana's walking around in Scotland :D

 

So this is only a brief stop off for some photo's then we make our way to an Oyster pond where I imagine we'll see some Oysters??. We then have a 15 minute visit to Orient Beach for some more photo opportunities. After this we are off to Marigot Market. Now this is my kinda place. I love markets and really looking forward to a caribbean one. I'll probably spend a fortune

 

Next we head to Maho beach. Now, this is the whole reason I booked this trip. The boys are sooo excited about seeing some planes landing right about our heads. Although I think we'll be standing quite a bit to the side as i'm a bit of a whimp:o

 

[Tinkers70]

All going well (everything crossed!), we should arrive back in plenty of time for the ship departing. I'm a little bit nervous though as I know sometimes the traffic can be a bit hectic on the way back.

 

Friday 12th and Saturday 13th

 

Both these days are sea days. I'm sure i'll spend a bit of time with 'Mr Grey' on these days. I'd also like to have a half hour in the solarium, just to try it out.

 

I imagine we'll be eating lots on these days and also want to see some of the shows and the boys are wanting to try the ice rink. Both of them can skate but I just hope they don't get too cocky and fall over and break anything.....that would be a disaster.

 

Sunday 14th October

 

Today we will wake up for the last time on the ship. I'm hoping to have most things packed the night before so it will just be a matter of getting up, washed, dressed, breakfast and then we're hoping to get off the ship as quick as we get on it!

 

We have a very long day ahead of us today and I want to make a quick start. The quicker we get away the quicker we arrive in Tennessee.

 

For the last year we have constantly changed our minds on how we're going to get to Tennessee. At one point I was thinking of cancelling our trip up there and just having another week in Disney World.

 

At first we were going to drive up and stop half way for an over night stay. I did searches on google maps and it's approx 600 miles and a 12 hour drive. So we thought if we drove for 6 hours (3 hours each) it should take us half way and we'd stop over in a hotel for the night and continue our journey the following day.

 

I always wanted to do a mini road trip in the States but I was also desperate to get to Tennessee asap.

 

I then started looking at flying up there. Jeezo it's not so easy eh?? No-one (that I could find), flies direct to Tennessee on a Sunday from anywhere near Port Canaveral. We'd have to fly indirect view Atlanta or Newark or elsewhere and we wouldn't arrive in Tennessee until later that night. It was also going to cost us approx £500 ($700...I think) for one way flights.

 

I then looked at stopping over in Orlando on the Sunday night and flying direct on the Monday with a budget airline. But once we added on the price of the overnight stay in the hotel, the flights, and all the added extra's like excess luggage etc it just seemed like a waste of a day and was going to be even more expensive.

 

Soooooooo, we have finally decided to just drive up on the same day. I reckon we'll be fine doing this as me and my husband are very confident drivers in the States and we drive constantly in our own country too that it doesn't really faze us.

 

Some people on here encouraged us to do the drive on the same day as it's quite an easy drive (aparently).

 

I'm hoping to do it in under 12 hours........fingers crossed for a 10 hour drive! So if we can get off the ship and have the car collected again by 9am then we should be in Tennessee for 7pm? This might be a bit unrealistic but this is what we're aiming for.

 

If we get too tired then we'll pull into a motel for the night and just have a sleep over half way. I would never jeapordise our safety on the roads.

 

But.......if all goes to plan then we should arrive in Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg at approx 7pm.

 

I have booked us a drop dead gorgeous log cabin high up overlooking the Smoky Mountains. We have booked the cabin through Sugar Maple Cabins. I've heard so many rave reviews about the company and also the cabins they rent out.

 

Believe it or not it took me longer to decide on which cabin to have than it did to decide on the cruise, flights, disney hotel etc all put together. We kept looking at their website and going through every cabin they had that could accomodate us.

 

We decided that a one bedroom cabin would be fine for us as most of slept approx 6 people anyway as they all have sofa beds.

 

We narrowed it down to 4 cabins but trying to choose out of the 4 was incredibily difficult.

 

So with the help of Scott we decided on this one ......

 

http://www.sugarmaplecabins.com/cabin.asp?property_id=2247

 

So I have booked us 4 nights here. I can just imagine me sitting in the hot tub with 'that' view!

 

 

I also love the look of the inside of the cabin too.....it's stunning!

 

 

Our bedroom!

 

 

Games room

 

 

I'll post loads of photo's of our cabin when we return, these are the ones from the website. The kitchen looks amazing though and there is a washing machine and dryer so it'll be good to get some of our clothes washed as we won't get to do it on the cruise

 

I've still to work out exactly what we're going to be doing in this area. I go on the Tennessee Tourist Board's website quite a look and they've very kindly sent me their magazine which lists lots of things to do.

 

I'm open to any suggestions from anyone on here that knows the area.

 

I know we are definitly going to do Dollywood

 

 

My eldest son Callum is a roller coaster freak so this should be right up his street. I also love Dolly Parton so wouldn't miss this place for the world since we're right on the doorstep anyway.

 

I went to see Dolly about 20 years ago when I was in Vegas......gawd that woman doesn't age does she! She looks the same now as she did back them. I'm soooo jealous! What's her secret (except lots of money lol).

 

We will also be making at least a couple of trips into the Smoky Mountain National Park

 

 

I'm a bit scared of wildlife and wasps! (yellow backs I think you call them in the States). Literally i'm soooo petrified of those little yellow and black things. I think that's the reason I always like to keep on the move. If I stand still I always attract them and I end up freaking.

 

So if anyone wants to re-assure me that I won't encounter any on our visit to Tennessee then it will be a welcome response. I know that there is some there though as i've researched the area and it says they are definitly there

 

Thursday 18th October

 

Today is the day i'm not looking forward to. Coming back to Scotland *insert's sad face*

 

We'll head to Knoxville Airport at approx 12 noon to return our hire car. We've got an addition $300 to pay as we are picking the car up in Florida and dropping it off in Tennessee.

 

Our flight leaves Knoxville at 2.30pm and we arrive in Newark at 5pm. We then get on our final leg of our mega journey back to Edinburgh at 8pm. We are return back to Edinburgh with Continental Airlines. We'll be travelling through the night and arrive back in Edinburgh on Friday 19th October at approx 7am (local time)

 

So folks, that's an insight into our 2012 vacation. We love to spend more time in Tennesssee but our kids go back to school on the Monday after we return so it's not possible.

 

I'm sure we will love our visit and will see and do so many things

 

I would appreciate any hints or tips if anyone has any. We'll certainly take all comments on board and hopefully they will make our vacation a more enjoyable one (if that could be possible)

 

Once we return I will do a FULL review (trip report) with lots of photo's of our travels

 

Marion xxxx

[Wriggler]

So this is only a brief stop off for some photo's then we make our way to an Oyster pond where I imagine we'll see some Oysters??.

 

Hi

 

Oyster Pond is where the border is between the French and Dutch sides.

 

We're on this same itinerary 2 weeks after you - looking forward to reading your review :)

[Arzeena]

Tinkers70,

If your pre cruise report is this much fun and exciting, I think your post cruise report will be fantastic! Can't wait for it! Have a great cruise and post post post when you get back.

[cruisegalsince77]

Hi Marion! Looks like a fabulous vacation you have planned! We are booked on your sailing as well and I also read the "Middle Age Drama Queen"'s review of the FOS and am so looking forward to it. The excursions she did look fabulous, but we will have a toddler with us and will need to do something a little more tame.

We have also stayed in a cabin in Pigeon Forge (many years ago). There are lots of things to do in Gatlinburg. It is a little town with shops and restaurants and a little creek going by. We did some hiking, went to a place called "Rainbow Falls". And you are not that far from the beautiful Biltmore which is over the border in North Carolina. And you will see he leaves change! Something we don't really get here in Florida!

Definitely take "Mr. Grey" with you. It is an easy read and you can see what all the fuss is about!;)

Hope to see you onboard. We have a 9 year old son as well as the toddler.

[Tinkers70]

Hi

 

Oyster Pond is where the border is between the French and Dutch sides.

 

We're on this same itinerary 2 weeks after you - looking forward to reading your review :)

 

Oh this should be interesting to see the border. Wonder if there's a difference between the French side and the Dutch side.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise, by the time you're on the ship we'll be back here in Scotland again

 

Tinkers70,

If your pre cruise report is this much fun and exciting, I think your post cruise report will be fantastic! Can't wait for it! Have a great cruise and post post post when you get back.

 

Awww thank you and we will take photo's of everything! We're always snap happy on our holiday's but will be more so on this one.

 

I can't wait to come back and do a full review, it'll be lovely to look back on it in years to come x

[Tinkers70]

Hi Marion! Looks like a fabulous vacation you have planned! We are booked on your sailing as well and I also read the "Middle Age Drama Queen"'s review of the FOS and am so looking forward to it. The excursions she did look fabulous, but we will have a toddler with us and will need to do something a little more tame.

We have also stayed in a cabin in Pigeon Forge (many years ago). There are lots of things to do in Gatlinburg. It is a little town with shops and restaurants and a little creek going by. We did some hiking, went to a place called "Rainbow Falls". And you are not that far from the beautiful Biltmore which is over the border in North Carolina. And you will see he leaves change! Something we don't really get here in Florida!

Definitely take "Mr. Grey" with you. It is an easy read and you can see what all the fuss is about!;)

Hope to see you onboard. We have a 9 year old son as well as the toddler.

 

If you see us on board please come and say 'Hi' to us. Maybe your son will buddy up with my son!

 

You should find me easily enough, i'll be the one sitting somewhere discrete with dark glasses on, a big floppy hat and a certain book in my hands :D

[IrishLassie]

Your trip sounds like so much fun, can't wait to hear your review when it's over. I did want to tell you that your drive from the port up to the Smokies might take a bit longer than 12 hrs. so just be prepared. You have good highways almost all the way, but once you get to the mts. depending on what route you take, could add some time. Also, on the day your leaving to go home, make sure you allow enough time to get back to Knoxville, the traffic can be heavy. Just some thoughts for you for your planning. Oh, and the cabin looks GREAT! You'll also LOVE the outlet malls in P.F. ! :D We've spent some really fun times up there. :)

We sail on FOS in Oct. but I think after you. Have a really fun time.

(some of my DH's family is from Scotland, his Grandfather was born there but then went to Ireland).

[awsum9]

We live in Knoxville and have driven to Port Canaveral several times, have never done it in less than 11 hours. I would say your easily looking at 11 to 12 hours to Pigeon Forge, depending on which way you go; up 95 to 26 to 40; or up 75.

[wallis7219]

Wow Marion

Thats one great trip planned. That drive up the mountains looks like a bit of a slog, but the cabin you have booked looks well worth the effort.

We went the opposite way and drove down to Key West, which was stunning and that took about 8 hours.

 

Your Formal wear for FOS sounds Ideal. You will see All sorts of dress in the MDR ;)

 

We Did Bernards tour in St.Martins a few years back and they were great, you will love it, watching those planes come in at Maho Beach is fun to watch, although your ankles can get a little sand blasted if you get too close to the jet wash.

 

Look forward to seeing your Post Trip report

All the best

Gary

[Ren1216]

Hi Marion,

 

I just have to tell you that we LOVE the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area of TN! We've been there twice and are planning a family land-trip to that area for next year. Those cabins are the way to go! We rented one both times, forget the name of the company right now, but I saved my receipts. Ours looked just like the one you pictured, same kind of style and view, LOVED it! You mentioned a fear of wasps, I don't recall wasps in that area but..... there are scorpions. I went into the bathroom before bed on our first night and there was one in the tub. I had no idea! So of course, I was scared the rest of our time about them getting into my shoes or whatever. Don't mean to frighten you, but it was a little unnerving to me since we don't have them where I live. We saw them on both summer trips but never actually had any problems with them, so try to not worry - just dump your shoes over every time before putting them on and be watchful of where you're stepping and putting your hands.

 

The Blue Ridge Mnts are lovely! We've not visited Dollywood yet, probably next year. But definitely check out Gatlinburg which is basically the gateway to the park, and of course, Smokey Mnt Nat'l Park. Out the east side of SMNP into North Carolina, take a little drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We traveled it all the way up to it's northern end in Shenandoah Nat'l Park and really enjoyed the trip. You wont have time to go that far but there are some really neat historical sites along the parkway. Also, heading southwest from Gatlinburg (about 25 miles), we took a neat horse-drawn carriage ride in Cades Cove which is inside SMNP. That would be especially great if you are there during the fall colors, not sure when that is though, and this year may be a little off due to our unusual weather. Back in Pigeon Forge, try dinner at Huck Finns. It's a very casual restaurant that gives you a feel for the area (they had live music on the weekend, drinks served in mason jars, etc).

 

I'm more than happy to share photos with you if you want to email me at the address in my signature. TN is a beautiful state, this will be a nice, relaxing wind-down from the activity and excitement of Disney and your FOS cruise. By the way, we're also sailing on FOS this October... two weeks after you, also the eastern route.

 

I do hope your family has a wonderful vacation!

[Ren1216]

Marion -- forgot to mention, we've done both Sunny Liston's tour in St Thomas and Bernard's tour in St Maarten (back in 2006). I can highly recommend BOTH. Good, dependable choices.

[waterbug123]

I'm sure i'll spend a bit of time with 'Mr Grey' on these days.

 

 

I'm a bit scared of wildlife and wasps! (yellow backs I think you call them in the States). Literally i'm soooo petrified of those little yellow and black things.

 

I think you mean yellow jackets. They are small-ish, and yellow & black. But we also have wasps, which are not the same. They are larger, but you don't want to mess with either!

 

Yellow jackets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket

 

Wasps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp

 

 

Mr. Grey is all the rage here in the states, and the attire you described for formal night will be absolutely fine. :)

[BillOh]

a

 

We love flying with Continental. .

 

Whom did you get to follow behind and take the photo of your flight?

[tamilyn]

We live in Knoxville and have driven to Port Canaveral several times, have never done it in less than 11 hours. I would say your easily looking at 11 to 12 hours to Pigeon Forge, depending on which way you go; up 95 to 26 to 40; or up 75.

 

 

I totally agree. We live in Tennessee also and would allow at least 12 hours from PC to Gatlinburg, and that might be pushing it. You'll enjoy it once you get there though - totally worth the drive. Nothing like the hills of Tennessee - except maybe the beaches in the caribbean!!!

[Jetdriver787]

Whom did you get to follow behind and take the photo of your flight?

 

Somebody from the future! The picture is a Boeing 787, and CO haven't taken delivery of any of those yet. :)

 

Nice review by the way.

[Pomperaugrr]

The OP's cruise is not even until October. This is a pre-cruise trip report.

 

 

 

Eric

[Jetdriver787]

Somebody from the future! The picture is a Boeing 787, and CO haven't taken delivery of any of those yet. :)

.....and of course they never will, because they were taken over by United airlines in 2010.

[Dall]

You have such a lot packed into 2 weeks, I'm sure they'll fly by. We have toured with Sonny Liston twice. He is a riot, if he has more than one bus going try to get on his. We have also done the tour with Bernard. We have been to Maho Beach 3 times I think. The last time was 2 years ago, the beach had eroded quite a bit but still a fun time watching the planes. Both tours are good options:) You mentioned packing a little the night before the cruise ends, actually you will need to put your luggage outside your cabin (usually no later than midnight I think) - unless you plan on carrying all your luggage off the ship. Have a wonderful time, can't wait to read your trip report when you get back.

[JM-1972]

All going well (everything crossed!), we should arrive back in plenty of time for the ship departing. I'm a little bit

At first we were going to drive up and stop half way for an over night stay. I did searches on google maps and it's approx 600 miles and a 12 hour drive. So we thought if we drove for 6 hours (3 hours each) it should take us half way and we'd stop over in a hotel for the night and continue our journey the following day.

 

Some people on here encouraged us to do the drive on the same day as it's quite an easy drive (aparently).

 

I'm hoping to do it in under 12 hours........fingers crossed for a 10 hour drive! So if we can get off the ship and have the car collected again by 9am then we should be in Tennessee for 7pm? This might be a bit unrealistic but this is what we're aiming for.

 

 

Hi Marion

 

Your trip sounds fantastic! We did Disney and Freedom in Oct 2010. I love Florida in October, like you we are also Scottish and crave some sun!

We did the drive from 10 - 11 hours drive from Southampton to Inverness after coming off a cruise in July, we had planned to stay overnight but wanted home so we all took a vote at Carlisle to continue on. Left at 9.30am and arrived 10.15pm with restroom stops and for meals.

 

Have a fantastic time!

[K1200S]

I have booked us into Country Inn and Suites.......

 

 

 

 

 

I've booked the cruise and park package at the hotel so they will keep hold of our car until we return. I can't remember how much this cost but it wasn't that expensive.

 

And as far as I know the hotel offers transfers to the ship on the morning of your sailing *makes a mental note the check this out with the hotel*

We stayed there last month and did the park and cruise package. Make sure you tell them at checkin you are doing the park and cruise. You will receive two slips of paper. One is to get you on the shuttle to the port in the morning. The second gets you the shuttle getting back to the hotel. The getting back slip has a phone number on it of the shuttle driver. Once off the ship you have to call him and let him know you are ready for pockup. Both slips have the dates on them and the number of people. Don't loose the return slip.

[Tinkers70]

Your trip sounds like so much fun, can't wait to hear your review when it's over. I did want to tell you that your drive from the port up to the Smokies might take a bit longer than 12 hrs. so just be prepared. You have good highways almost all the way, but once you get to the mts. depending on what route you take, could add some time. Also, on the day your leaving to go home, make sure you allow enough time to get back to Knoxville, the traffic can be heavy. Just some thoughts for you for your planning. Oh, and the cabin looks GREAT! You'll also LOVE the outlet malls in P.F. ! :D We've spent some really fun times up there. :)

We sail on FOS in Oct. but I think after you. Have a really fun time.

(some of my DH's family is from Scotland, his Grandfather was born there but then went to Ireland).

 

Thanks for the tip about adding extra time onto Knoxville airport. We'll be sure to leave in plenty of time for our flight.

 

We live in Knoxville and have driven to Port Canaveral several times, have never done it in less than 11 hours. I would say your easily looking at 11 to 12 hours to Pigeon Forge, depending on which way you go; up 95 to 26 to 40; or up 75.

 

Thank you for this info. It was a poster on here a couple of months ago said it can be done in 10 hours. If it takes longer and we're still ok to drive then we'll still do it but if we're starting to get tired then we will stop off overnight at a hotel on the route.:)

 

Wow Marion

Thats one great trip planned. That drive up the mountains looks like a bit of a slog, but the cabin you have booked looks well worth the effort.

We went the opposite way and drove down to Key West, which was stunning and that took about 8 hours.

 

Your Formal wear for FOS sounds Ideal. You will see All sorts of dress in the MDR ;)

 

We Did Bernards tour in St.Martins a few years back and they were great, you will love it, watching those planes come in at Maho Beach is fun to watch, although your ankles can get a little sand blasted if you get too close to the jet wash.

 

Look forward to seeing your Post Trip report

All the best

Gary

 

Thanks for re-assuring me about our dress code on Formal night. Just need to get it all ironed and packed now and buy my youngest a tie as I think my husbands might be too big for him :D

[Tinkers70]

Hi Marion,

 

I just have to tell you that we LOVE the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area of TN! We've been there twice and are planning a family land-trip to that area for next year. Those cabins are the way to go! We rented one both times, forget the name of the company right now, but I saved my receipts. Ours looked just like the one you pictured, same kind of style and view, LOVED it! You mentioned a fear of wasps, I don't recall wasps in that area but..... there are scorpions. I went into the bathroom before bed on our first night and there was one in the tub. I had no idea! So of course, I was scared the rest of our time about them getting into my shoes or whatever. Don't mean to frighten you, but it was a little unnerving to me since we don't have them where I live. We saw them on both summer trips but never actually had any problems with them, so try to not worry - just dump your shoes over every time before putting them on and be watchful of where you're stepping and putting your hands.

 

The Blue Ridge Mnts are lovely! We've not visited Dollywood yet, probably next year. But definitely check out Gatlinburg which is basically the gateway to the park, and of course, Smokey Mnt Nat'l Park. Out the east side of SMNP into North Carolina, take a little drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We traveled it all the way up to it's northern end in Shenandoah Nat'l Park and really enjoyed the trip. You wont have time to go that far but there are some really neat historical sites along the parkway. Also, heading southwest from Gatlinburg (about 25 miles), we took a neat horse-drawn carriage ride in Cades Cove which is inside SMNP. That would be especially great if you are there during the fall colors, not sure when that is though, and this year may be a little off due to our unusual weather. Back in Pigeon Forge, try dinner at Huck Finns. It's a very casual restaurant that gives you a feel for the area (they had live music on the weekend, drinks served in mason jars, etc).

 

I'm more than happy to share photos with you if you want to email me at the address in my signature. TN is a beautiful state, this will be a nice, relaxing wind-down from the activity and excitement of Disney and your FOS cruise. By the way, we're also sailing on FOS this October... two weeks after you, also the eastern route.

 

I do hope your family has a wonderful vacation!

 

OMG.....scorpions!!!:eek: I certainly keep a look out for them and will check our shoes before we slip our feet into them. If I do find any in our cabin how do I get rid of them? I don't fancy trying to pick one up lol

 

Marion -- forgot to mention, we've done both Sunny Liston's tour in St Thomas and Bernard's tour in St Maarten (back in 2006). I can highly recommend BOTH. Good, dependable choices.

 

That's great, thank you. I've heard lots of fab reports about both of these tours so really looking forward to them :)

 

I think you mean yellow jackets. They are small-ish, and yellow & black. But we also have wasps, which are not the same. They are larger, but you don't want to mess with either!

 

Yellow jackets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket

 

Wasps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp

 

 

Mr. Grey is all the rage here in the states, and the attire you described for formal night will be absolutely fine. :)

 

Why did I have to click on those links lol......I can barely even look at a photo of one without hyper ventilating :D

[Tinkers70]

I totally agree. We live in Tennessee also and would allow at least 12 hours from PC to Gatlinburg, and that might be pushing it. You'll enjoy it once you get there though - totally worth the drive. Nothing like the hills of Tennessee - except maybe the beaches in the caribbean!!!

 

So I guess we'll plan for at least a 12 hour drive. If needs be we will stop overnight somewhere if any of us get too tired. We're really looking forward to the drive as it will let us see a bit of the country from the roads rather than from up above on the flight

 

You have such a lot packed into 2 weeks, I'm sure they'll fly by. We have toured with Sonny Liston twice. He is a riot, if he has more than one bus going try to get on his. We have also done the tour with Bernard. We have been to Maho Beach 3 times I think. The last time was 2 years ago, the beach had eroded quite a bit but still a fun time watching the planes. Both tours are good options:) You mentioned packing a little the night before the cruise ends, actually you will need to put your luggage outside your cabin (usually no later than midnight I think) - unless you plan on carrying all your luggage off the ship. Have a wonderful time, can't wait to read your trip report when you get back.

 

Oh I didn't realise you had to put your luggage outside your cabin so thanks for that tip too :)

 

All going well (everything crossed!), we should arrive back in plenty of time for the ship departing. I'm a little bit

At first we were going to drive up and stop half way for an over night stay. I did searches on google maps and it's approx 600 miles and a 12 hour drive. So we thought if we drove for 6 hours (3 hours each) it should take us half way and we'd stop over in a hotel for the night and continue our journey the following day.

 

Some people on here encouraged us to do the drive on the same day as it's quite an easy drive (aparently).

 

I'm hoping to do it in under 12 hours........fingers crossed for a 10 hour drive! So if we can get off the ship and have the car collected again by 9am then we should be in Tennessee for 7pm? This might be a bit unrealistic but this is what we're aiming for.

 

 

Hi Marion

 

Your trip sounds fantastic! We did Disney and Freedom in Oct 2010. I love Florida in October, like you we are also Scottish and crave some sun!

We did the drive from 10 - 11 hours drive from Southampton to Inverness after coming off a cruise in July, we had planned to stay overnight but wanted home so we all took a vote at Carlisle to continue on. Left at 9.30am and arrived 10.15pm with restroom stops and for meals.

 

Have a fantastic time!

 

Oh wow......Southampton to Inverness, that is some drive!! We'll just take it easy and go with the flow and if we need to stop overnight somewhere then that's what we'll do :)

[Tinkers70]

We stayed there last month and did the park and cruise package. Make sure you tell them at checkin you are doing the park and cruise. You will receive two slips of paper. One is to get you on the shuttle to the port in the morning. The second gets you the shuttle getting back to the hotel. The getting back slip has a phone number on it of the shuttle driver. Once off the ship you have to call him and let him know you are ready for pockup. Both slips have the dates on them and the number of people. Don't loose the return slip.

 

 

Thanks for this info. I'm so glad I did this pre-trip report as i'm learning lots of things that I didn't know before and probably would never have thought of asking

 

I'll make sure I inform them that we are on the park and cruise package:)