PTR....Universal Adventures of Dreams and an Expanding world part 2 - Page 19 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Claire looks cute in her schoold uniform and she doesn't look disappointed about going back to school. The wedding shots are good. That is a nice dreamy shot of Claire at the rail. Your decision about the car sounds good giving you much more options.
Claire looks so cute on the first day of school! What grade is she in?
Thanks. She is in 2nd grade this year. Time is flying by...she's not my baby anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Congrats on renting a car! Great pictures, too!
Thanks. I think this works out better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Claire looks cute in her schoold uniform and she doesn't look disappointed about going back to school. The wedding shots are good. That is a nice dreamy shot of Claire at the rail. Your decision about the car sounds good giving you much more options.
She lots that spunk about day 2. I really love that dreamy shot as well.
So I had a talk with Claire the other day during one of our walks. When we go for walks she always has me tell exactly what is going to happen on our trip. I mentioned her cousins going to CRT. She asked if we were going as well, and I said not that day, do you really want to eat in the castle again? Oh yes...this was very important. .....UGH. I have a CRT ADR for our MVMCP day at 4:10. I booked it, just in case, but had all intentions of canceling it. Especially if I could get a Be Our Guest ADR...which obviously can't happen with my dates...though I will try for a walk up if they have preivews....even if it's just dessert or something light..
Looking at my little girl now though, I know I need to keep it. I have many reservations that I made for basically my own selfs wants, so I really should be fair. So we will keep it. BUT...and there is always a but.....I had figured when I canceled the Castle, I would then have 2 credits left, and could use on on our departure day since we don't leave on ME till around 3 PM. Being on the deluxe plan, I could use it for a counter service if I chose...and I figured the night of MVMCP we would do CS as well.
So I went over my ADR list...knowing right away which other ADR I would cancel.....Yachtsman steakhouse. Yes, I really want to try it, but the timing always had me worried. That is the night we will be seeing the Osborne lights, and I really was worried about cutting our time short at DHS to get to dinner on time. I didn't want to make it for later, because I didn't want to be out all hours of the night either. I took the plunge and canceled it.
Now we have freed up 2 more credits. I figure the best thing for that DHS night is to get back to AoA and get counter service. We have a big lunch at T-rex...and we can eat snacks in between if we are hungry.
1 credit is now left for departure day and I decided that we "could" probably fit in one last TS meal if we went early enough...but not too early. I found an 'Ohana opening at 10:30 AM.....I think this should work out just fine and Claire will get one last character meal before we go...and it will be a new meal for us to try as well. All set now...I won't be messing with dining anymore.....
Next up is my ticket situtation. I have 7 days tickets...I only need 6 now that my plans are finalized. I did this before the ticket price increase...and now with the new whacky rules, if I take 1 day off, the tickets will go to the new pricing, which means it would COST me money to take it off. So I am leaving it as is, and if we get done eating by 12 at 'Ohana, we may just pop into MK...even just for 1/2 hour to say good bye and use up that day. If we are up and ready early, we may pop in before 'Ohana, but I don't really see that happening.
So thats the new plans as of now. I will eventually recap all my days since it's been awhile since everything was posted.
I am down to 11 days before I sail the Magic...10 before I fly out. I am still struggling with the packing situation. I plan to pull everything out of the suitcase today and go through to see for sure that I need everything I have...possibly ligtening it up a bit...but I am doubtful and may just have to suck it up and have 2 suitcases in the way down, rather than packing one inside the other.
Glad you have your dining plans all settled! Definitely eat at CRT again before Claire gets too old. Mine doesn't want anything to do with the princesses right now... LOL.
Glad you have your dining plans all settled! Definitely eat at CRT again before Claire gets too old. Mine doesn't want anything to do with the princesses right now... LOL.
Thats what i figure. She is only young once and she still really believes these are REAL princesses, so need to soak in all the magic that I can before she grows up.
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I am about to go and take a nap..yep, 10:30 AM and I all tuckered out. I had one of those nights....I woke at 4 AM and could not go back to sleep to save my life, so I got up and played on the computer for awhile and went back to bed close to 5:30 and didn't fall asleep till about 6:15...and then the alarm goes off at 6:55 to get Claire up.
Edit...I wrote that this morning and I never hit enter till later today for some odd reason.....
I had some work to do this morning and of course my computer ...or more appropriately...the Disney site...was acting up, so I have to wait and try again later.
Why not tell you a little about my upcoming cruise on Sept 22 while I wait. Btw. I am officially in the single digits till I leave. Tomorrow wil lbe singel digits till I cruise!
Sept 21 is the day we fly down. I have an 11:10 flight out of Columbus...not too bad of a time...but wait...we have about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Columbus first. We will most likely leave somewhere between 6:30 and 6 AM. We'll meet up with my sister who lives down there and then she'll take us to the airport. We have a connecting flight and will finally arrive in Houston at 3:15. We'll pick up the rental car and head over to the Marriott near Hobby airport.
We'll probably rest and just hang out. Maybe find somehting near by to eat supper at. Brook and a few other girls we know will be arriving later that evening and we had talked about all going to get a bite together. We might do that, but it wil lbe late, and we might be hungry earlier and we may be too tired as well. The next morning we will drive over to the other girls hotel, which is basically around the corner. We'll pile all our luggage between the 2 cars and Brook plands to ride to the prot with us. We have recently found out that there is some sort of commissioning of a battle ship this same day. We are worried about traffic and parking. Carolyn, one of the girls we will be hanging with called and found out that we can most likely park as early as 9 AM. We may have some waiting around to do before we are let into the terminal....but unless it's pouring cats and dogs out, we should be just fine hanging out and looking at the ship from outside. My cabin, has Lisa and I, Brook is on her own, Carolyn has 2 friends and another girl, Mary, I think has 3 friends with her. All of us, BUT Brook has a port arrival time for 11:30. So we should be allowed to go in when they open for the most part. I think Brook has 12:30, but it should all work out and we won't shun her totally! LOL
No real plans for day one. My cabin is 5130. I was actually given another cabin. I had booked verandah...and they gave me a navigator verandah, which is enclosed with an open window. I was soooo mad. I called and they said, nope they can't move it, with this rate you get what they give you. But this wasn't lower than the class I had booked, but the "jerk" wouldn't budge and kept asking why I would complain when I got such a super price. Well because I was going to book ocean view...but the lady convinced me with a verandah and told me it would bet lower than such and such catagory. I gave up and let it go. When wonderful Mary told me I could go online and it was letting her modify her room. I don't know if this is a glitch or what, because technically it shouldn't. So I went and looked and sure enough I could move a few doors down and get a real verandah. All was happy in my world again.
Back to boarding the ship....We'll have lunch and my plan is to explore a bit. I would like to see the kids clubs, maybe check out the spa, and just get a feel for the ship. Our Muster drill is at 3:45, and we are sailing away at 4:30. Knock on wood there is NOT rain and I get to experience my first "outdoor" sail away party. (It poured the day we sailed on the Dream last year)
We have late dinner, so we'll catch the early show. I have dinner linked with all the girls....10 of us in all, I believe. It should be pretty fun.
I am not sure if Lisa is a night owl anymore or not. It's been years since we hung out later than 10PM.....is that a sign you are getting old?
I am guessing it will be a long first day, and I will be tired and not wanting to party all night long. I hope to try to keep current with journeling/taking notes each day, so I don't get too far behind and forget things....and I also will most likely be taking about 5 thousand pictures per day. LOL
Great find on getting the room changed. Sounds like you girls are going to have a lot of fun. Safe and Magical travels.
I am happy with the change...I think... It will be exciting just being on the ship, no matter which room I am in...but i was irked when they downgraded me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Sounds like you all will have a great time! And some for a better night's sleep.
I can't wait....1 week and I'll be getting ready to board my flight!!!!
It's getting so close now. I am going to do the happy dance! :dance3:
Skip asked me the other night when I actually go. He says I never tell him anything and his Mom had asked who I know knows because I told her many times) and he told her I don't discuss that stuff with him...Well jeez after the reaction he gave me when he first found out...who the heck wants to discuss it more with him.
(as a reminder...he didn't talk to me for days, even though he knew since may that I was going to take some sort of trip)
So I told him he knew it was the 21st..and he said, he knew I was gone the 21st, but didn't know if I was leaving then, coming home then or if that was the middle of my trip. Well if he had not been pouting, he would've heard that it was the day I was leaving....but I guess when you pout, your ears get turned off. :lmao:
On to my Galveston cruise planning. I left off with day 2 of my trip, the day we board.
The next day is a full day at sea. I plan to explore the ship and just enjoy myself...and an exciting thing...hang out in adult only areas. At 3 PM we have a group of us (from facebook) going to one of the bars for an open bar for 1 hour. I believe it costs something like $13.25 per person. We can get just about any kind of drink in that hour it sounds like. I figure if I have 2 drinks I have more than paid for the event. One of the girls in the group has made arrangements with Disney to do this. I never even knew such a thing existed.
I am not much of a drinker these days. in my younger years I was a weekend bar fly, but now, a beer here in there is a lot for me. I don't think Lisa drinks much either...but she was my other half in our bar fly days.
Brook has said she is a lightweight herself. So they may be peeling a couple of us right off the floor at the end of that hour.
It will be fun to mingle with people we have been talking with for the last month though. Note to self...do not get stinking drunk and make a fool of yourself...
I am not sure what the shwo schedule will be yet. But if it's a good one, I will try to catch it that night. I really want to see all the shows if possible.
I believe this is formal night. I have a nice black dress (I actually wore it on my Dream cruise last year) packed. I was over at my Mom last night and she showed me a dress she bought for a wedding this weekend. Very pretty and then she said I could take it on the cruise with me if I liked it. I did, so I most likely will be pulling a skirt outfit out of my bag and putting this dress in for Formal night.
I am really going to try and not overschedule myself and just enjoy the ship.
Day 4 of my trip is another day at sea. I am hoping at some point to catch a movie. I'm not sure what all will be playing. I was told I could call and ask, but never got around to doing so as of yet.
No other important plans today except to just enjjoy. I will look at the navigator and see if anything is offered that might interest me. I almost feel a panic of not knowing exactly what all wil lbe offered and how I will spend the day...but I'm sure I will make the best of the day and have fun. Also a nap isn't out of the question either.
Again, I will try to catch the show of the night and then have dinner with my friends.
Again I hope to keep up with some journeling each evening too. And lots of pictures.
After 2 days at sea, I am sure I will be ready for the next day....a port day...which I will talk about later!
Day 5 of my trip will be a stop off at a port...Very exciting. This cruise has 3 ports and 2 are brand new to me, one isn't but it's ben so many years ago since I went, I barely remember it and it has been changed a bit since a hurricane as well.
This day we arrive bright and eary at Grand Cayman. Our time is 7:30 -4.
When I first booked this cruise...my main goal was to experience new things...but cheaply...VERY cheaply. I knew I had the big family trip already planned and this was a bonus trip. I figured I would keep expenses down by not doing anything extra that costs...well you know how those plans work out....thrown out the door...somewhat...
I heard snorkeling is a big in hit here. They had many excursions that include snorkeling, among other fun things too. But I really needed to keep it cheap, so I decided on the cheapest one offered. The shipwreck and Reef Snorkeling. I'm sure it won't be as "spectacular" as some other excursions...but I'm no expert on snorkeling, so this will suffice me.
Lisas wasn't sure at first, but Brook said she would like to as well, so then Lisa said, go for it. I know she is a bit nervous about it, but I think she will be glad she is trying it out.
Our excursion meets at 7:15 AM.....Very early, but the plus side is after we are done, we will have time to walk around the island a bit if we choose to. The time alloted for this is 3 hours, so we should be done around 10:15. We can get changed and have lunch and off the ship again to explore.
This is a new port for me, so I hope to take lots of pictures. I have tried to read a bit about it, but honestly I have been so busy lately that I haven't put much time into research.
Once we come back and hit the great wide ocean again, we'll get ready for a show, if one is playing, and then have dinner. I must also add, I am so excited to have 8 days total of NO COOKING! I am not a great cook, but my family survives on what I make them to eat. But one of the BEST parts of any vacation for me is not having to cook while gone. I usually don't complain a lot about food, though some is better than others, but just the fact that I am not cooking makes it a little better. I know on the ships I can find something to eat pretty much at any time of the day. Even room service...which I do plan to order at least once. If the food is not great. I can survive the week on chocolate chip cookies and mickey bars. I'm sure some of those ingedients have nutrition hidden in thre somwhere...right?
This night is also listed as pirate night! I am not going in full pirate gear, but did have that skull Minnie t-shirt made for Lisa and I. I do think some of our traveling companions are going all out though.
It will be very interesting to see how this compares to the pirate night on the Dream. I am pretty sure they are ran differently. And I am not even sure if the Dream's pirate night is still running the same way it was when I sailed her last year.
One goal of mine is to try the pirate buffet. I will probably be full from dinner, but I'll try to restrain from gorging this night so I can have some sort of treat off the buffet. I also need to get pictures. I totally forgot about the buffet on the Dream last year, and never even got a glimpse of it or what they were offering.
I'm sure this will be a fun day all around and I will be dead tired by the time I hit the hay.
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Great pictures, too! 
Holly: 
for a better night's sleep. 
It will be exciting just being on the ship, no matter which room I am in...but i was irked when they downgraded me.
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