Oh the Places We Go, The People We See ...Dream Trip Report

[jenseib]

They then decided it was time to get dried off and find out if we had finished up with brunch.

Geoff took some pictures of his room at this point and I’ll share those.

[jenseib]

When I got back to my room, my bed was already set up for the night. That was very early, but I guess our guy had many things to do.

Now let me tell you about our stateroom host. On our first evening, I heard him go into Mom and Dad’s room and talk to them. I think I must’ve left or something, because I never saw him. And then we never saw him again at all. On our last day a guy stopped by and said hello and that he was taking our guys place that day and that everyday someone had been filling him for him as he had gotten sick and wasn’t able to work. That was fine, the guy was nice and our room was clean each day and I now knew they were probably really busy. Then a little later a guy came in and it was our actual stateroom host and he introduced himself and said he was back and that he had been very sick the last few days with blood pressure issues and I think he had passed out, so they kept him for observation and to try and maintain his pressure. He REALLY wanted to talk about it, which I thought was cute, and I listened and told him I hoped he got better. So I think our guy had made the bed up early to keep up with his chores since he still wasn’t 100% well.

Anyways, here is the picture I took.

I don’t remember if I went in search for Claire or if they came back to our room, but I do know we found her right away and she was dressed again.

We decided we had to do some shopping. We had been looking through the shops when we had time, but now was the time to buy.

I thought this Minnie sailor outfit was really cute, but just too high in price for the use we would get out of it.

We found other family members at the stores too and we kind of split up and looked at things and would run back into each other again. The shops were quite busy too.

Claire found a Rapunzel Barbie and a few other must haves and we purchased those. I asked her if she would like some Minnie ears in the headband form and she did, but I could tell she didn’t want to spend her own money on them. I told her I would buy then and then there was a big yes, so I got the black sparkle ears for her. I will warn you, those are super cute, but her head would hurt after wearing them for a while and your hair will get caught in the sparkles. We had a few times of tears as we tried to get the tangled hair out of the sparkles.

I was on a hunt for a watch. They had a white DCL watch I wanted, but it was one of those purchase so much and get it for $14.95. So I looked around and tried to think what else I might want for myself.

 

Alexis had joined us as we hunted around. I started looking at other watches and found one I really liked. The girls liked it as well and both said it was the one I should get and it was enough to be able to purchase the white watch as well.

Then Alexis disappeared. I asked Claire where she went and she said she saw family and headed off with them. Shame on her for not telling me. We had to wait in quite a long line to pay, as someone at the counter was purchasing dishes and every single one had to be wrapped and ready to ship.

Finally we got up there and I paid for both watches.

The funny thing is, even though Alexis helped me pick out the watch I bought, throughout the rest of the trip, she asked me like 3 different times where I got that watch and that she thought I was getting the white watch. I told her each time I bought this watch so I could get the white watch, so I ended up with 2 new watches and she seemed to forget each time. And a while after we got home, she saw me wearing the watch again and again asked me where I got the watch. LOL

 

There was also a sweatshirt I had been eyeing, but I just didn’t love it enough to get it for the price it was. Of course I regret not getting it now.

Edited May 3, 2013 by jenseib

[jenseib]

After our purchases were made we headed out to the atrium and I had Claire sit in the Princess chairs for a few pictures.

She was starving, you know to the point of dying, so it was time to find her a quick bite to eat.

[jenseib]

You guessed it, chicken strips it is!

Mom! Stop taking my picture.

And an ice-cream for dessert! I think I had one too.

We then ran into Katie and Vicki and they told me what a wonderful vacation this had been and they really were enjoying things. Katie said that her and Thad were going to rebook for the Fantasy and asked how that worked. I gave her some basic info on that and let her know that she could just make a dummy date for now and change it in the future. They were thinking sometime in 2014, which at that point the dates hadn’t been released yet.

I’ll let you know that they ended up changing it up to this coming Sept. and they have some friends coming along as well. And then last week Vicki decided she wanted to cruise again as well and her and her SIL as well as Vicki’s granddaughter from her other daughter are going on that cruise as well. It really makes me want to work a way to get on there too!

We headed back to the room and I basically have no more pictures for the rest of that afternoon. I think we did a lot of packing up and getting things straightened away. I think we also did a load of laundry with mom and just chilled out too.

The bad part about the last day is being sure that you are packed up and the short cruises are just way too short.

We then got cleaned up for dinner. Our last night and we were going to be in Animators Palate with the show tonight.

Katie and Thad were going to Remy tonight and she stopped by before they went and told me that Thad went and booked a cruise and she was all excited.

We headed out to dinner for one last time.

Claire was in her sailor gear tonight.

We headed down to Animators Palate and got seated. The boat was really rocking tonight. I was glad I was taking bonine daily. It really did help. I could feel the rocking, but not actually felt sick. Alexis on the other hand was feeling green tonight. That surprised me as she is pretty good with that type of stuff. Abby is the one who gets motion sickness usually.

Rolls were waiting for us at our table.

[jenseib]

Dad thought it was important that he display the butter that goes on the rolls. (Yes, my family makes fun of me for taking pictures of food)

While we sat there, I took several shots around the area from my seat.

[jenseib]

[jenseib]

Abby had a sailor dress on too for dinner! It was so cute and she loved matching up with Claire, and Claire loved it too.

Jude loved to color each night at dinner. I tell you that kid is an angel. Katie says he has lately been a terror though. It’s hard to believe, but recently they went to a waterpark nearby overnight and he decided he wasn’t going to sleep and she said it was so bad and he was not quiet about it, so she ended up leaving and driving him home to sleep.

We made our orders, and I’ll try my best to remember what we got. I think this is Claire’s soup, and I think its chicken noodle. Claire hates veggies in her noodle soup, so I usually have to eat those out of it for her.

I got the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes; Pasta purse filled with truffle scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce. I LOVE this stuff!

[jenseib]

Honestly the menu here is not my favorite either and I should’ve ordered like 2 or 3 of these.

Geoff had some sort of fancy drink.

For my salad course I had the Vine Ripe Tomato Salad; Bell peppers and onion, topped with micro greens and herb dressing.

Alexis was really feeling poorly now. She didn’t want to eat and she looked green. I told Gail to order her some ginger ale, but Gail said by the time Rasheeta got it to us, we would be done eating. So I used my pull with her. Remember, she really liked me. I flagged her down and asked for some and let her know Alexis was feeling very sick. The ginger ale came out immediately. Sadly that didn’t help a whole lot and Rob took her back to the room. Animators Palate is down on a lower deck and you can usually feel the sea more there, plus you feel more enclosed. She just wanted to get some air and feel better.

If I remember right, Rob told Gail to get him and Alexis Mickey bars though. LOL I think Gail also took his food to his room, but I could be wrong and maybe he ate his main meal before leaving.

Claire went wild with her main course tonight and did NOT get chicken strips. She got the macaroni and cheese instead.

But Jude went with the chicken strips.

Mom went with the Lemon-thyme Marinated Organic Chicken Breast with sour cream mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables and grain mustard jus. I have had this a couple of times before and it is very good.

I was not that hungry. Really it felt like we were eating ALL the time. I was half tempted to skip the main course, but instead I got the dinner portion of the appetizer of Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist, Served with parmigiano-reggiano. I really don’t think it is much bigger than the appetizer size, but it was enough for me and good as well.

[jenseib]

We made our dessert orders and then the show started. This is really fun, especially for kids. Crush comes on the screens and gets everyone involved chanting along with him.

Rasheeta picked Dad to buddy up with, which is kind of funny.

He finally felt the spirit of the fun and got into it, which was pretty hysterical.

She tried to get Abby into it too, but Abby wasn’t so sure about it.

That was fun! Time for dessert! I ordered Cookies and Cream Sundae; Vanilla ice cream, chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream. Now you know this is good when it has the wonderful chocolate chip cookies that they serve all over the ship. There is just something about those cookies that I just LOVE!!!!

Jude had the mickey bar once again and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think Gail then left to check on Rob and Alexis. It seemed like she was gone for a while and we were getting worried. I think in reality the time that went by was only like 10 minutes, but it seemed long. I headed off then to check on them. When I got to the room I saw a bowl outside their door with 2 Mickey bar sticks. I knocked and no one was there. Ok, maybe they went out for air somewhere.

I headed back to the dining room and I think Gail was back then. Though I don’t think she stayed long and headed back out. Alexis was feeling a bit better, though little Abby was now feeling sea sick as well.

Tonight we paid our tips to our servers as well. They now charge it to your onboard account unless you tell them otherwise. I typically let them do that and then add more if I feel they deserve it. Well I always add more, it’s just how much will depend on the service.

It was kind of funny as most of the family asked how this was done and I told them you just kind of know when to do it at the end of the meal. And they also wondered about the head server. Now he did check on us each night, but I told then, he WILL show up tonight for sure, you’ll know it when he comes and then he’ll be extra friendly. LOL And sure enough right on cue he did show up and we all handed him our tip envelopes. I will just say everyone did get a little more added, but some did not get much more at all. I just couldn’t reward bad service, but I felt bad about not giving her a least a bit extra.

We did have some play time again. I don’t remember what this trick was, but Claire was happy to have it all to herself tonight. I don’t remember if Jude was still there or if he had left at this point.

[jenseib]

 

Once again we did not get bills at the table like we should. I don’t think we had any specialty drinks tonight (well Claire and I that is), but we just never got a bill ever. We headed out and I ended up checking my account on the TV to be sure it was right and then I also checked at guest services and made sure my account was pretty much paid off.

 

I took a few pictures as we left.

 

 

 

The had sanitizer stations.

 

 

The bathrooms are just outside the entrance.

 

 

 

[jenseib]

We then headed back towards our room. I think Claire wanted to change.

I was shocked to find a new towel animal on our bed.

I guess we got an extra one earlier because he had been gone all week. But we never lacked in service what so ever. I had also asked him earlier if I could have an extra shampoo and conditioner because I just love the stuff and he made good on that too.

I started to put tags on our bags. Sadly it would soon be time to have our bags out in the hallway. BooHoo.

And the chore of taking off all my magnets. I hate to do that. I love coming to our room with all of them there, plus it makes it easy to find.

It was now time to head to the last show of the cruise. Tonight’s show was Believe. Another good one to see at least once. We all enjoyed it. I wish I could show you pictures. I hate the new rule about no picture taking. It’s so hard for me.

[jenseib]

Dad wanted to go to the adult show this night and wanted me to go. I debated, but in the end I just wanted to finish up packing and hang out. I did however have to walk dad to the area because he had no clue how to get there. LOL

Look at Geoff and Mary’s cute towel for tonight.

I think Dad actually had the time wrong and was really early if I remember right.

After that we did some more shopping around. Gail had decided to purchase the CD of pictures, plus print package and did so that afternoon. We debated on me getting one as well for an additional amount, but really the price was very high still, something like $150 more. In the end, we had noticed that most of my pictures were showing up on her account from facial recognition. I think because we had so many taken together, or at least the girls did, they put us all together. So we were on a mission. We needed to find any of the prints that had not been put in her folder earlier. I believe they told her she could come back and find them. So I was sly. Yep, any other pictures I found that had us in them I put in her folder too. Not all of our pictures ended on her CD, but most did, so it was only a few more. And I might have grabbed one or 2 of Geoff as well.

The one picture we could not find was the pirate group shots. I had a CM come up to me, …. I think he was watching me get pictures and put them in the folder …and asked if I needed help. I said well yes, my sister bought the CD/print package and we are looking for her prints but we can’t seem to find a group one. I also slipped in that she had the receipt on her if he needed to see it. Well he was not super helpful or really friendly. Let me take that back, he was fake friendly. He said not all pictures are printed. I don’t believe that. They print so many pictures and they decide not to print the posed professional shots? Well he was no help and I just looked a bit more and gave up.

In the mean time they were having the till we meet again party. Abby saw the characters out and started throwing a fit. Gail said she was going down to the atrium to meet some more one final time.

Geoff and I finished up looking for pictures and then just watched from above. (Now that I think about it, I think Alexis and Claire were with Aunt Mary playing games in her room.)

I tried for a few shots, but they were pretty awful. I spotted Gail and went down. Abby had gotten to see several characters, which was good. What was bad was that they now closed all the lines and Abby had not seen ALL of the characters that were out, plus she felt the need to see some twice. A melt down came soon after Gail told her they were done. Abby is one kid who needs a nap and she was not getting them, so the days were pretty long for her. Gail swooped her up and said good bye and headed back to her room.

I decided I wanted to see a little bit of the show. I think I spotted Geoff upstairs and went to find him, but if I remember right, he was gone by the time I got there. I happened to run into another facebook friend then, Bill. I don’t remember if Bill is on any of the boards I frequent, or how we became facebook friends, but I knew we both were sailing the same cruise, but he was involved with the podcast group. He had also stayed at AK prior to the cruise, like I did, but I never did run into him there. He had recognized me and introduced himself and we said hellos and he told me what a great time they were having. I asked him if he had seen Richard Sherman and he did. He said his get together was fabulous and he had played some music and talked. I was so jealous. I had been really hoping to see Richard somewhere on the cruise, even just a run in, but I never did. I just had to settle for Rob Sherman. ;)

So I just stayed put and watched the show a bit. My pics aren’t great as all I had on me was my point and shoot.

[jenseib]

[jenseib]

A few individual good byes as well.

I then made a quick last night stroll outside.

[jenseib]

I wish I could’ve stayed out later, but it was getting late and I needed to find Claire.

I ended up finding her in Geoff and Mary’s room. It was funny because Geoff and Mary were in bed pretty much, or at least ready for bed. Alexis and Claire were right there chatting up a storm. Neither of them looked one bit tired. Gail’s room was all quiet next door too.

Geoff told me that Amanda (my other sister) had emailed him and told him to let me know that my car that was sitting at her house had a flat tire. She had AAA (as do I) and if I wanted she would try to get it fixed. I told him to tell her yes. Ugh. This was not what I wanted to hear. Skip already wasn’t happy that I drove to Columbus for a flight. He has some weird ideas about going to “other” airports. He thinks we should only fly out of Toledo, but Allegiant didn’t even fly that month, so that wasn’t even an option. Well nothing I could do about it then, but I will tell you now, this flat tire ended up being a big pain in the rear end later on.

I collected Claire and headed off to bed. I was tired, as was Claire, but we did watch a bit of TV before going to sleep. She had a new little “girl stuff” type book from my Mom and she was into looking through that before bed as well.

It was another wonderful day. I tried some new things again and met some wonderful people as well.

We sailed in the Bahamas area for most of the day. No islands today, just beautiful blue waters.

Oh the places we go.

I met Bill today and it was such a pleasure. He really is a nice guy. I also met our stateroom host finally and he was a great guy as well and I hope his health has improved.

Oh the people we meet.

[theshowmestate]

This has been an amazing report. LOVE! all of you photos. What type of camera do you use?

[jenseib]

This has been an amazing report. LOVE! all of you photos. What type of camera do you use?

 

 

Thank you. I use a Canon 50D and I use photoshop to perk up the pictures. I am not to crafy in there, but I can get the lighting corrected and white balance and few small things like that.

[theshowmestate]

That's what I have. You editing is great! What lens did you use for most of your pics? I'm always looking for hints and tips to improve my own pics.

[jenseib]

That's what I have. You editing is great! What lens did you use for most of your pics? I'm always looking for hints and tips to improve my own pics.

 

I used my 18-55mm kit lens for a lot of the shots. I brought a few with me, but that was the one I kept on mostly, I believe.

 

I bought a more all in one type lens (18-200mm) recently and took it on our Williamsburg trip and I really liked it. I could get closeups and far away shots much easier without the hassle of changing lenses. It's heavy though and I had a neck ach most of the time, so now I need to find some new type of strap to make it more comfy. My friend has a suggested one to me and I need to look into it. That lens in photography terms is not the "best" but for what I used it for, I was happy and it will go on more trips with me and I'll take less of the others. It's just such a hassle to switch lenses out constantly and heavy to bring so many along.

[jenseib]

Nov. 8, Thursday, Day 8

All good things must come to an end, and today we were ending our cruise. Now we weren’t super sad as we still had a trip to Disney World. The family was staying till Sunday and Claire and I were staying till the next Wednesday!

I believe I woke up around 5:30 AM…yes you read that right! I know, what a fool I am, but I woke up and instead of rolling over I decided to look and see if we were in port yet. I ran out to the balcony and saw we were in the process of docking, so I quickly found my camera and took a few pictures.

I then got dressed quickly and ran up top to watch.

[jenseib]

It seemed to be quite a bit chillier this morning.

After a good look around I headed back to the room and got ready. We had decided we would skip the dining room this morning and go to Cabanas. It would let the kids be able to sleep in slightly longer and we could eat and get out fast.

Claire was good about getting up for the most part this morning. She knew we still had a lot of fun ahead of us.

Geoff and Mary took a few pictures of the luggage being loaded. Many are blurry, but I think they had actually spotted their luggage going off.

We all headed to Cabanas and had a quick breakfast. We kind of trickled in and out, not all of us eating at the same time. The selection was less than other mornings and I think only one side was open, but there was enough to keep us happy. After we ate we headed down to the atrium. We had no real plans to meet up, but luckily everyone found us and we gathered around. Of course there were bathroom stops needed and the bathroom closest to the atrium was pretty full, as in a line out the door. BUT we got smart and found out that the one down a ways near the Walt Disney Theatre was virtually empty.

[jenseib]

Finally we all were gathered. There might have been another bathroom break in there as well. We have a family of nervous bladders.

Mom also appeared to be coming down with sinus infection. She is not like the normal people who get them after an extended cold. She gets them right off the bat and she was worried how she would be feeling the rest of the week.

It was time to say goodbye to our home for the last 4 days. I think we started the process of getting off around 9.

We headed down the stairs and the porters were waiting. I had told the family that it might be wise to get one to help with the luggage, but every one of them ignored them as they walked by and looked lost. I wasn’t sure how they missed them or why they were walking by, but when Claire and I got down, the porters once again asked if we needed help and I said yes! Mom came out of her haze then and realized what I was doing. The porter told her he could get all our bags. The other families followed suit. I think we had 2 to 4 porters working with us if I remember right. Our guy was nice. He told us how he was going to be sailing with his daughter in a few weeks and that he planned to work that morning and make some extra money and then have her Mom drop her off and they would sail and he would be back to work again that day they got off. He was very excited about going.

We made our way through customs and when it was our turn the porter told us that we had a great customs officer who wasn’t too strict. We headed up and I gave him my passport and Claire’s birth certificate and my parents did the same. The officer then asked Claire what Feb 14th meant to her. My parents both at the same time said “it’s Valentine’s day”! Um, hello, mother who gave birth to me …… I told the officer that Claire probably didn’t know what it meant, but my parents surely should and that’s when they went oh. Yep that’s my birthday! But the first thing they thought of was Valentine’s Day. Oh brother!

We all headed out to the shuttle pick up with the help of our porters. They dropped our bags off and we tipped them.

We had a little wait, but not long at all.

Before we knew it the Residence Inn shuttle arrived. This time it was not a big bus, but a little bus with a trailer attached to the back for luggage. Luckily none of us lost our vouchers for the return trip. Once again Claire and I got the front seat.

And then we were off. It was so sad to see our ship one last time. But I still can’t get over how big she is.

[jenseib]

All too soon we were back at the Residence Inn.

They unloaded the luggage and Claire and I went off to pull the van up to get it packed.

Everyone was impressed with how smooth this whole process went. I was glad we had no kinks.

Once our vans were loaded we were all heading off to our next resort. We all had different ones. Gail’s family was staying at the Art of Animation in the Little Mermaid rooms. Katie’s was staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Pete and Vicki were heading to Pop Century, via Aunt Mary and Geoff dropping them off and Mary and Geoff were going to stay offsite at the JW Marriott.

And us, well I had a resort in mind right from the beginning of the planning of this trip. The thing is, it was an expensive resort. But I REALLY wanted to stay there. I did all sorts of figuring and scheming and research and I finally was able to get it for a decent price. At the time of booking it, it was just going to be for Claire and I.

Where is this dream resort? Well the Beach Club! Well I ended up finding a fabulous deal for the Beach Club Villas. Still more than I wanted to pay, but let’s just say I saved a TON of money on this room. And since it was just Claire and I, I booked a Studio. Well several months later, other family members decided they wanted to extend their stay as well, and started booking rooms. Mom did not want to stay at Pop again. She didn’t like the double beds. She looked at some options, but she just wasn’t sure she wanted to pay the price for the Beach Club or other deluxe resorts. I had mentioned that they could stay with us, but I was in a studio and that they would have to have the pull out couch. At first that was a big no, but after a while she decided it wasn’t so bad after all.

So off we go! It’s not a long drive at all, but when people drink coffee in the morning …ahem, mom …..They can’t go an hour between bathroom breaks and we had to make a stop.

Soon we pulled into the Beach Club and I went in to check in.

Once again our room was not ready and they said they would text us when it was. I will tell you now I never got that text either. We drove over the villas and parked the van.

The family was heading off to Animal Kingdom today. Katie had planned a pool day, but since it was so cold she ended up adding a day to her ticket and going to AK as well. Geoff and Mary had also planned on only 2 park days, but they also decided to add the 3rd day as well.

Mom and Dad headed off on their own. I told them that I wasn’t sure if we would see them there or not. It depended on what we decided to do once we got there. But first, Claire and I had something we had to take care of. Tickets!

Now I had said Claire and I were staying longer than the rest and on Sunday when everyone was leaving, we were switching over to Art of Animation to the Little Mermaid rooms. I was one of the lucky ones who got a pin for free dining. So that meant I had to get tickets with that package. So today we had to go over to the International Gateway and pick up our tickets early. (For those who don’t know, you can pick your tickets up, up to 3 days earlier than when your package starts).

We made our way over. I must say we had a slight skip to our step. We were excited to be back at Disney World again. The day was a little chilly though already. I was hoping for it to warm up, but for now it was sweatshirt weather.

We got in line at Guest Services there. I had done my research about this a few times and even had a print out on how it worked if the CM told me it couldn’t be done. I believe only 2 windows were open and one window had some clients that seemed to be having a major issue as they never left. Finally we made it to the other window and I told the CM what I wanted. He knew it could be done, so that was a plus. But he said it might take him a bit because it had been awhile since he last did it. That’s ok, we can be patient ….well sort of. He then realized that this system at the International Gateway was still an old system while all the park front ones were on a new system, so he had to make some calls and get it all figured out. He apologized several times, but I was just thankful he was doing it with a smile. Sadly the other window still had the other people, so the line behind us kind of grew and I did feel bad for the people behind us. Finally our tickets printed! YES! We were so excited. We now could go and play for 7 more days.

We walked off to the side to get situated and I took a picture of Claire with our tickets in hand!

And then we made our way back toward the Beach Club!

[jenseib]

That ends the Cruise portion of the Trip report. I have 7 more park days left at Disney world. I am not sure if you are interested in hearing that part or not. If you are, let me know and I'll continue on. If not, then I'll do a wrap up of the trip.

[dotheyes]

pure enjoyment

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