Triple dip, triple surprise, big birthday blow-out Dream cruise - Page 5 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Just got off the auto train. Will update later if we have power(hurricane Irene is supposed to hit tomorrow)! It was a great trip - even though we were only about 36 hours ahead of the storm.
Did you feel any effects of the storm? Glad you made it home safely!
Wednesday night the water in the adult pool kept sloshing from one end to the other, creating a waterfall as it went. It looked cool, but wasn't safe to be in the pool. They actually shut down the Aquaduck because of the boat's pitching back & forth. We ended up in port at midnight so most of the ship seemed to be out watching our entrance to port. It isn't often the ship comes in at that time of night!
But other than Wednesday night, we didn't feel the storm. We truly were about 36 hours in front of it. I am hoping our luck continues back here at home - we're being told to brace for some heavy rain & winds.
I hope to post trip info this weekend, though!
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OK, so I am feeling SOOOO guilty for not starting the TR portion of this! In my defense, I had a LOT of other people's TRs to catch up on (don't EVER go away in the middle, or at the beginning of, of one of Chez's TR's! ).
The other thing I realized at some point floating in the Bahamas, this is not nearly as interesting a trip as last year's Baltic cruise. There, we were seeing amazing new countries and sites every day (except for those fabulous sea days). On a cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay, there's not really much to say that hasn't been said. I had every intention of journaling each night, but somehow that got away from me the minute we stepped on the Dream (couldn't be because one of my BFF's was sailing with her family along with us, could it?!). I did start writing about the trip on the auto-train, but now, almost a week after disembarking, I haven't even finished that!
So, any hopes I had of making this half as entertaining as a TR by Chez, or Princess Sharon, or Jillybean, or......(the list is ENDLESS!), are shattered!
But, only because I hate not finishing something, I will give you some semblance of a TR. DH & I have spent a fair amount of time comparing the Magic & Dream, and what we like better on one versus the other, so you'll at least learn something (OK, so you'll learn my silly little opinion, but it's SOMETHING, right!?!). I think I'll save that for the end though - just to keep you hanging on!
OK, so, we left our house Friday, August 12, and drove from the DC area to just outside Hilton Head (via our doggie sitter's in Front Royal). Since we were really starting the road trip from Front Royal, we opted not to back track to I95 around DC, and took "back roads" all through Virginia and North Carolina, hooking up with I95 around Florence, South Carolina. It was a really beautiful drive, and nice to see something new. The downside, was that there were far fewer food options and it was a little less certain how much time would pass between gas stations. We hadn't even thought about that, as accustomed as we are to the drive all the way on I95! DUH! But happily, we didn't run out of gas or starve at any point!
Not so happily, we stuck with our annual drive through a dangerous downpour in North Carolina. Now, I love NC. Really. But I don't understand why it is that EVERY YEAR on the way to Hilton Head, at some point in North Carolina, we hit rains so heavy that we can't see the front of the car. Seriously. Every. Year.
And one other thing you should know about me, is that I have some serious PTSD around driving in "weather." I was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler tractor trailer about 11 years ago, in the rain, and have had persistent back problems ever since. But worse than the back issues have been the anxiety I get when driving in rain (or snow). I hate it. And currently, I am the only driver in our house, since my husband's medical issues have him banned from driving. So, when the rain began, and every car on the highway was driving with their hazard lights on, through about 4 inches of standing water on the highway, I kept saying I was going to pull off the road. DH kept saying no, it's safer to keep moving - you might get rear ended if you are on the side of the road. I was going about 30 mph at this point (speed limit was 65 or 70 I think). Everyone else was also going this slow - don't think I was looking like some little grandma peering over the top of the steering wheel with everyone zooming by me! Finally, when I think DH noticed just how white my knuckles were (or how close I was coming to actually snapping my steering wheel in two), he said I could pull over, but only if I could find another stopped car to pull in front of. YEAH! That didn't take long, and we finally were off the road and I could hyperventilate in safety. The rain let up after 10 minutes or so, and we were back on the road.
We made great time, and arrived at our hotel in Bluffton about 10 hours after leaving Front Royal - and that included a stop for dinner at Cracker Barrel (a beach drive tradition), and a few other potty breaks along the way. We like staying the night at the Fairfield Inn in Bluffton, as it's only about another 45 minutes to the DVC property on Hilton Head from there, and we don't have to "waste" a day's worth of points to just spend the night.
After a great (free) breakfast in the morning, we were checking in at HHI - and hearing "Welcome Home!" by 10:30! Our room wasn't ready yet, but that was OK. I'd put the kids in their bathing suits before we left Bluffton, so we took off for Disney's beach house and spent the day enjoying the gorgeous weather, wonderful water, and just RELAXING!
Dinner was at our favorite HHI spot - the Sea Shack. We also realized our plans for eating there both nights weren't going to work! I'd forgotten they are closed on Sundays! Oh well, at least we got to eat there one night. DS had some kind of jerk fish; DH had red snapper; I had grilled scallops (I am in a serious rut there - I ALWAYS order the scallops!); and DD had shrimp. We all enjoyed the hush puppies, and I think we all also had the rice - but I can't remember what kind of rice it was....not your regular plain white or brown rice. Sadly, they ran out of the sweet potato bread pudding with the folks 2 people in front of us in line. That stuff is so goooood!
Sunday was spent much like Saturday - all day at the beach. The difference? We actually got evacuated FROM THE OCEAN! There was an afternoon storm that rolled through with BIG lightening, so the lifeguards were telling everyone OUT of the water! We spent the storm up at the beach house, under the roof, watching the rain fall. Well, more watching the rain pound the beach. But we salvaged another hour or two once that passed, then went out for pizza (why does pizza taste so much better at the beach?!).
Monday morning came too soon, as it was check-out day. We've never stayed such a short time at HHI, so we were all a little sad to be leaving so soon. But then we remembered - we're sailing on the Dream! TOMORROW!!
OK, that's where I'll leave this for now! I hope to be back sooner with my next installment. But tomorrow is open house at both kids' schools (although parents aren't invited to the one at the high school - my DS is going to be a freshman - HOW did that happen?!?!) before school starts next Tuesday; Friday I have a funeral to attend - our next door neighbor passed away the day we got back from vacation; and this weekend, of course, is another soccer tournament. So, if I don't get back to this over the weekend, I promise to work on it next week when the kids are back in school!
Oh, and maybe by then I'll upload some of my pictures to Photobucket to give this posting pictures within the report another try. I failed every time last year, despite Marnie's best efforts to help me with resizing!!
Great start to the trip! You can set your photobucket account to upload to a particular size. Then you won't have to go through and resize individually.
Great start to the trip! You can set your photobucket account to upload to a particular size. Then you won't have to go through and resize individually.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
In my defense, I had a LOT of other people's TRs to catch up on (don't EVER go away in the middle, or at the beginning of, of one of Chez's TR's! 
).
(except for those fabulous sea days). On a cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay, there's not really much to say that hasn't been said. 
I had every intention of journaling each night, but somehow that got away from me the minute we stepped on the Dream (couldn't be because one of my BFF's was sailing with her family along with us, could it?!
). I did start writing about the trip on the auto-train, but now, almost a week after disembarking, I haven't even finished that!
Now, I love NC. Really. But I don't understand why it is that EVERY YEAR on the way to Hilton Head, at some point in North Carolina, we hit rains so heavy that we can't see the front of the car. Seriously. Every. Year. 
And currently, I am the only driver in our house, since my husband's medical issues have him banned from driving. So, when the rain began, and every car on the highway was driving with their hazard lights on, through about 4 inches of standing water on the highway, I kept saying I was going to pull off the road. 
DH kept saying no, it's safer to keep moving - you might get rear ended if you are on the side of the road. I was going about 30 mph at this point (speed limit was 65 or 70 I think). Everyone else was also going this slow - don't think I was looking like some little grandma peering over the top of the steering wheel with everyone zooming by me! Finally, when I think DH noticed just how white my knuckles were (or how close I was coming to actually snapping my steering wheel in two), he said I could pull over, but only if I could find another stopped car to pull in front of. YEAH! 
That didn't take long, and we finally were off the road and I could hyperventilate in safety. The rain let up after 10 minutes or so, and we were back on the road.
by 10:30! Our room wasn't ready yet, but that was OK. I'd put the kids in their bathing suits before we left Bluffton, so we took off for Disney's beach house and spent the day enjoying the gorgeous weather, wonderful water, and just RELAXING! 
Oh well, at least we got to eat there one night. DS had some kind of jerk fish; DH had red snapper; I had grilled scallops (I am in a serious rut there - I ALWAYS order the scallops!); and DD had shrimp. We all enjoyed the hush puppies, and I think we all also had the rice - but I can't remember what kind of rice it was....not your regular plain white or brown rice. Sadly, they ran out of the sweet potato bread pudding with the folks 2 people in front of us in line. That stuff is so goooood! 
There was an afternoon storm that rolled through with BIG lightening, so the lifeguards were telling everyone OUT of the water! We spent the storm up at the beach house, under the roof, watching the rain fall. Well, more watching the rain pound the beach. But we salvaged another hour or two once that passed, then went out for pizza (why does pizza taste so much better at the beach?!).
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