moinab

How horriffic. The speed is just unbelievable.

Totally agree!!! I completely foresee sailaway being delayed while the staff tries to ferret out an unaccounted for visitor. We were a party of 4, on our first cruise (DCL.) They seated us with a woman and her young niece, the first night. They never showed up, again, so we ended up with our own table. Our second cruise (also DCL,) we had our own table for the four of us. We also had our own table, for the five of us, on Robb's birthday cruise, but we were all seated as part of the group, so they didn't put any strangers with us. I wouldn't let that keep you from trying other cruise lines. They really do try to accomodate any requests, and there are always other options, such as the specialty restaurants, buffet, and even room service.

Wish I hadn't felt so crappy that day in Mazatlan. It was fun, though, watching Elissa barter with the purse vendor!

That's unfortunate, about your experience with the character lines. In our experience, they generally cut off the line at the end, before you stand and wait 15 minutes for nothing, and they usually will tell you the character will be back in x minutes. We had this happen one time at Animal Kingdom, with Pluto and Goofy. The kids wanted to wait for them, and when they came back, we received extra attention from the characters, for waiting for them. Sounds like the handlers weren't handling very well.

Ooooh! I'll have to check this out! Our local McDonalds totally rocks - they do all the deals!

^^^^Literally spit my coffee out, here at work!

I've done one 3-night (DCL,) one 4-night (DCL.) and one 7-night (RCCL.) I think the 3 and 4 night cruises are good for those of us who are fortunate enough to be within easy driving distance of the port, although the 3-night really did seem too short, for us. The 4-night was a nice getaway. I didn't even get off the ship at Nassau. My second trip to Castaway Cay, I just did the power walk that was offered, had lunch at the buffet, and headed back to the ship. I'm pretty meh about Castaway Cay. I didn't find it to be quite as wonderful as most people, but then, I live on the beach, so I'm pretty spoiled, that way. I think I may try the patch, on my next cruise. I used Bonine on the Mexican Riviera cruise, and I found that it made me very lethargic. I only need it when the ship is rocking, but I hate that groggy feeling. It pretty much wrecked my day in Mazatlan.

^sent you a message, to keep this thread on topic. Sorry for the temporary derailment!

Well me personally, I only work part time to begin with and am starting nursing school in the fall which will cut my hours even more. Not to mention it'll be $25,000 a year. I think there are some legitimate reasons why people can't afford it, but of course that won't stop me from trying to. My nursing degree cost less than $6000, total, and I graduated only 3 years ago!

I've only been on 2 DCL cruises, and one RCCL. We found that both had their pros and cons, but I think I actually give RCCL the edge, for what is important to us, value and overall experience. On our second DCL cruise, we already were getting a "been there, done that" feeling. I don't feel we've even scratched the surface of what RCCL has to offer. DCL gets the edge for children's services. No surprise, there, but RCCL's is good, too. It just pales, a bit, in comparison to Disney. I don't know if we'll consider other cruise lines, until the kids are older and we can go on our own. DCL and RCCL seem to be the best family lines.

We used to always eat at that McDonalds, until I discovered the joy of the Caprese at Earl of Sandwich! No chicken place is going to pull me away from my fresh mozzeralla salad on bread!

I don't find it funny at all. If that happened to me, I'd break his f*cking arm. Unwanted groping is felony sexual assault. Ha ha.

I'm glad that you decided to watch SpectroMagic - it's one of my favorites! I could never do the dining plan - I couldn't eat 1/4 of the amount of food you get ! Looking forward to the rest of your report. I hope you didn't freeze. It's been so dang cold, here, this past month!

I've never had it checked, beyond the normal school screenings. I know that he has heightened sound sensitivity, though. Certain things drive him crazy - we had a ceiling fan in our old house that really bothered him, and we couldn't take him into any theatres for a long time, because it bothered his ears. He seems to be outgrowing some of that, though. The fire drills don't seem to bother him anymore. His school was very accomodating, though. They would always come and take him out of the classroom and bring him outside, before they set off the alarm.

Great post, Cameron! I'm not a tech geek, nor have I ever used any apple product, and I just couldn't see the point of this product, but you brought up a lot of interesting points. Thanks!

Heights. I'm working on that one. Surprisingly, I wasn't afraid at all, on the Cabo zipline excursion, so I guess I'm getting better. Claustrophobia - this one is pretty severe, and leads into my hatred of crowded busses. I almost had a full-blown panic attack on a crowded WDW bus, a few years ago. Dentists - I am really ashamed to say that, from age 18 until age 40, I went to the dentist only twice. Last year, I had a severe tooth infection and needed an extraction. It was a nightmare. I lived with that pain for over a month, before I finally got up the nerve to make an appointment. The weird thing is, I have no fear of actual dental work. It's just going to a dental office, sitting in the chair, and having to face the dentist that freaks me out. I think it's a disapproval thing - that I'm afraid they are going to think, "what a horrible person who neglects her dental health!" Social anxiety - I'm fearful of talking to people in social situations. Etiquette confounds me, and I'm always afraid I will say/do something offensive or embarrassing. Again - disapproval issues. Since my son has been diagnosed with high functioning autism, though, I've noticed a lot of my quirks in him, and wonder if I have some underlying Asperger's, or something. Sudden loud noises - this is one of the things I have in common with my son. Fire alarms, balloons popping, fireworks, gunshots, etc. I remember being in school, knowing there would be a fire drill that day, and not being able to focus on anything because I was so freaked out about the alarm going off. I'm sure there are some that I'm forgetting, but those are the biggies.

Thanks for sharing your collection! I had a box full of WDW stuff, from my trip in 1978, including an unused E ticket. I hauled that box from move to move for 15 years, and then decided to toss it about 12 years ago, when I had little use for anything Disney related. Of course, now I absolutely hate myself for it!

^Thanks! And agreed! Even after all I had heard about LAX, it was still truly shocking to see just how awful it is, in person! What a dump!

Now's the time to say goodbye To all our company Through the years we'll all be friends Wherever we may be … See ya real soon! Time to wrap up this trip report, and say goodbye to our awesome vacation. We didn’t have anything planned for Puerto Vallarta. Christian and Rhiannon chose to stay in Adventure Ocean, all day. We took a taxi from the port to downtown. Charlotte thought that was a very fun ride, especially without a car seat! I think I earned a few more gray hairs! We just poked around some of the shops. Todd was going to buy me some silver jewelry, but I couldn’t find anything. I spent some time online, in Starbucks, checking in with my online class, and deciding to drop it, because there was no way I could catch up with all the first week assignments before they were due on Sunday. We headed back to port and went to Wal-Mart, where we promptly ran into Robb, Elissa, and the rest of the group! After picking up some Mexican candy treats for the kids’ classmates, and some tequila for us (margaritas at home, the week after the trip, help ease some of the transition pangs, FYI,) we headed back to the ship. We had a nice lunch at Windjammer. I loved the Jade section which featured various Asian-type food. I was particularly fond of the Indian curries, rice, and dals. YUM! I have no idea what we did, the rest of the afternoon. It probably involved a nap. After picking the kids up from Adventure Ocean, we got ready for dinner and headed up to try to catch the sunset. Todd was able to enjoy the Vikings annihilation of the Cowboys, while we waited for our flight. Apparently, one of the Southwest gate agents at our gate did, too! Back home, back to reality. Thank you, Elissa, for inviting us to join in on this amazing trip, and everything you all did to make it even more amazing! Looking forward to IntimadaTour, or “TTT - toddler TPR takeover!” Thanks for reading! Lines for TSA, which extended outside, almost as bad as the Southwest line. Someone from TSA spotted us, though, and let us bypass the line, directing us inside to the family/medical security check-in area, which had maybe 8 people in line! Horrific line for Southwest check-in (This is only a small part of it.) Thankfully, we had plenty of time, but this was no fun with 3 kids and 10 pieces of luggage, plus a car seat. When I took this photo, a woman in line said, "you don't really want to remember this, do you?" Final breakfast, before debarkation, back in grimy LA. Yes, we were getting a bit buzzed, here. This was the extent of our wild drunkeness, for the week. (Not Charlotte - she was just grabbing a quick snuggle, before chasing after Kristen, again!) Thank you so much, to Elissa, for hosting this party! Love this photo with Big Mike! I can’t remember who took it - Ryan, maybe? As you can see, there was plenty of room for the kids to run around. It was nice for them to be able to cut loose in the space, while the adults socialized, without worrying about disturbing anyone. (Except maybe the inexplicably sullen wait staff, who deserved to be annoyed, as far as I’m concerned.) Very special thanks to Mare, for taking this nice photo of us. We’ve been married for 11 years, on Valentine’s Day, and we have almost no photos of just the two of us! We were late for the private party, the final night. (Ugh. I hate being late!) It was a challenge, getting us all ready for dinner, every night. We were very grateful to have two bathrooms! As soon as we arrived, we all went out to the stairs, for the group portrait. The photographer took forever to meticulously arrange each person, one by one. I think it was a calculated move to reduce the alcohol consumption! The kids spent most of the party running laps around the lounge. This was during an enforced break, because poor KT’s face was beet red, from all the running! Rhiannon became fascinated with this extremely inappropriate (for a 6 year old) arcade game. She wanted to stop and watch it, every time! We had to walk the gauntlet of arcade games up to 12 times a day, going back and forth, dropping the kids off and picking them for the morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. It got old, very fast. (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) One thing I did not like was that you had to walk through the arcade to get to the entrance for Adventure Ocean. Grrr. (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) I laughed when I saw Dan’s photo of the dessert table in Windjammer, because I did some SERIOUS damage to that Boston cream pie! (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) Knit swanscape. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the pieces on the bottom, which were various knitted items, such as mittens, in various states of unraveling. Swimming in corrugation. These were some of my favorite pieces of art, from “our” stairway. There’s art all over the ship. It’s cool to just walk around and see what you can find. Elephants. We were just beyond that green exit sign. Looking up, toward our rooms, from in front of Café Promenade. (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) This is basically the view, when we stepped out of our room, and took a couple of steps toward the landing. (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) Since Dan’s photos are way better than mine, I’m borrowing some of his! Our staterooms were just upstairs from the 24-hour Café Promenade. It was awesome - like walking downstairs to our kitchen! (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) I spent most of Saturday morning packing, while Todd took Christian and Rhiannon to Adventure Ocean, and Charlotte to toddler playtime. After packing, I walked around the ship, taking photos. I know you’ve seen the door signs, already, but here is our door sign. One of them, anyway! Awwww….do we really have to start thinking about packing? Our second formal night dinner, and another huge plate of plain pasta, for Charlotte! Beautiful! (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) I didn’t get any photos, so I’m borrowing Dan’s awesome photos. None on this side! Then, we switched to the starboard side of the ship and saw loads of them! Looking for dolphins. KT and Charlotte had a great time, playing together. They are great “friendies!” Every morning and afternoon, on sea days, the RCCL children’s staff would provide a toddler playtime, for 18-36 month olds. (They had a separate playtime for babies, too.) We loved having a table next to the window, especially on port days, when they opened the curtains, as we sailed away from port during dinner! We had a really nice walk, around the deck, before dinner. Barely made it!

I was so glad that you did! As soon as you took the picture, I knew I would have to borrow it from you! They had so much fun with that mud!

I wanted to try ice skating and inline skating, but I was having enough trouble walking, with the motion of the ship, those last two days! I should have tried on the first sea day. Oh well - next time, for sure! Congrats, again! What a wonderful memory from such a great trip!

Wednesday - Mazatlan! Our plan for Mazatlan was for Todd and Rhiannon to do the ATV excursion, and I would take Christian and Charlotte to the beach on Stone Island, where we would meet up with the ATV group. Todd and Rhiannon left to meet the group at Robb and Elissa's suite, at 9AM. I had a leisurely breakfast with Christian and Charlotte in Windjammer, and headed out for Stone Island. We didn't want to do the boat tour, so we walked from the port to the water taxi stand. The water taxi is only $2 per person, but you do have to walk several blocks to get to it, and then a long walk to get to the beach, once you're on Stone Island. You can always grab a taxi, but I like walking, getting extra exercise, and saving money! Yet another great day! I really loved the "rusticness" of our Stone Island day. I just wish I hadn't been so exhausted that day, so I could have enjoyed it, more! (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) Up next - finishing up the cruise! At least we're not on the "Titanik!" (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) Yet another deluxe boat ride, back to the port! (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) In the meantime, Rhiannon and Charlotte had lots of fun flinging mud, with KT! (Thanks to Big Mike, for the photo.) I never ended up pulling out my camera at Stone Island, so I'm very grateful for these photos. I was really wiped out, that day, and ended up heading back to the ship early, with the girls. Fun! Open throttle, down the beach! (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) Heading out! (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) We all arrived at the palapa around the same time. Rhiannon changed her mind about the ATV ride, so Christian was happy to take her place. I was a little nervous about his lack of proper footwear (he had flip-flops,) but he was fine. That is, until the horrible woman (who had pitched a hissy fit and forced the TPR group to split in two for the ATV ride, so that her group could go first,) ignored the guides instructions, started up her ATV, and promptly ran into Todd and Christian, smashing Christian's hand. After some tears were shed and ice was applied for the swelling, he was ok, and headed off for his ride! Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of her face, to vilify her in cyberspace, but here they are, lined up behind Todd and Christian. *hiss* (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) Not to be outdone by the ATV group, who were also riding in style! (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) Another beautiful day! Riding in style! Pulling away from the water taxi stand. Meanwhile, we headed out for the water taxi. Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip That started from this tropic port Aboard this tiny ship. (Thanks to Chuck, for the photo.) Todd and Rhiannon. (Thanks to Big Mike, for the photo.) Rhiannon and Big Mike, waiting at the port for transportation to Stone Island. (Thanks to Big Mike, for the photo.)

Thank you! You should definitely go on a RCCL cruise! They are great! There are soooo many things to do, as you can see in the other reports (rock climbing, inline skating, ice skating, shows, contests, etc.) or you can just chill, see a movie in the theater, hang out by the pool, or constantly stuff your face with yummy food! Elissa - Charlotte asks us almost every day, "Where's Kristen?" Eric - I wish I had thought to send you a message about when we were going. It would have been nice to meet up! Thank you all, for the nice comments!

^Thanks! When we got to our hotel in Carlsbad, I was horrified to discover that I forgot to pack my Aveda shampoo and conditioner! I'm not a high-maintenance girl, by any means, but this is one indulgence I can't live without. I don't color my hair, but I use Aveda's color enhancing conditioners, which really help cover the gray hair that's creeping in. We found an Aveda salon, not far from the hotel, so we stopped off, on the way back from Legoland. There was a Ralph's, next door, so we also picked up some food for dinner in our room, and some instant oatmeal for breakfast, to save a little money on meals. This little sidetrip was my first "real" experience with SoCal culture! I didn't think it would be all that different from coastal Florida, but I was wrong! It was interesting to see! Actually, I have to say our experiences with the staff in the hotel and stores in Carlsbad were very positive. They were very friendly and helpful. After dinner, we tried to do a load of laundry at the hotel. The washer didn't drain properly, so the clothes were very wet, and the dryer barely worked at all. After an hour and a half, our clothes were still wet. The housekeeping staff took our clothes and dried them for us in their industrial dryers. In contrast with our experience at the Doubletree San Pedro, the Courtyard in Carlsbad was far superior. We also loved the free internet in the room and the 24 hour coffee station in the lobby. Saturday morning, we packed up and drove back to LAX, to return the rental car. After several failed attempts to find an In-and-Out Burger for lunch, we ended up at McDonalds. Our booked shuttle from the airport to the Doubletree got screwed up (still trying to get our money back - in addition to leaving us stranded at the airport for over an hour, they double charged us. Grrrr.) We had multiple issues with the Doubletree, and would not stay there again. For a supposedly "nice" hotel, we thought it was crap, and the staff was terrible. 'Nuff said. Sunday morning meant packing up again, and heading to the port! Woohoo!!! After unloading all of our luggage from the shuttle, Todd spotted a porter and asked him about how we could get someone to help us. The guy went ahead and helped us. Only after that, did we discover the HUGE line of people waiting for porters! Glad that we tipped him well, anyway! Getting on the ship was a breeze. We were herded up to Windjammers, along with everyone else, being very careful to look out for Robb. Incredibly, I ran right into Janice in the crowded buffet, looked over, and immediately saw Robb, Kristen, and Russell. D'oh! I don't think any of them saw us or recognized us, though. It was hell, trying to find a place to sit. Two older couples took pity on us, and let us squeeze onto 3 chairs at their table. We didn't have much time before we were supposed to meet everyone in the ship's library, so we just stuffed some food in our faces and headed out. The funny thing is that it really seemed to irritate her, when he put sunglasses on them. Every time, she would rip the glasses off, in frustration, saying, "Daddy's sunglasses!" We loved having the connecting staterooms. It was almost like having a suite! Coming soon - ATVing in Mazatlan! Charlotte was fascinated with the towel animals. We got a dog, on Cabo night. Rhiannon, taking a break from the club. While we were off on the excursion, Rhiannon chose to spend the day in Adventure Ocean, while Todd explored the port with Charlotte, until she zonked out. Russell happened to catch them (on the far left,) walking by, after she fell asleep. The girl just can't hold her tequila! (Thanks to Russell, for the photo.) We made it! Time for some amazing nachos! (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) End of the line! We were instructed to start braking "after you go past the part where you come close to the cliff, when you go over the palm trees." Here is Christian, over the palm trees. You are actually a lot higher over the trees than it looks, here. (Thanks to Hanno, for the photo.) That tiny speck of red in the middle is Christian. Cactus dog. Final zip line - "The Big One." I just wish somebody had got a photo of my freestyle. The 5th line is the freestyle line, where they encourage you to do a running jump and dive off the platform. Instead of holding on to the pulley mechanism, like I am, here, on the freestyle line, you can let go and just hang your head and arms back in the breeze, and spin around. It was incredible! Then, you are subjected to the tow of shame, when the guide comes out and pulls you the rest of the way. We kept getting stuck, at the end. When you don't quite make it all the way to the end of the line, you have to grab the cable, turn yourself around, and start hauling yourself toward the end. We had a little difficulty with our tandem zips. Seriously, this is amazing FUN! I would love to do this excursion again. Christian having a blast! And they're off! Allison and Bike Mike, set up for a tandem zip. Wagner and Stephanie, after the long hike. Another big cactus. (Sorry my captions are so lame!) Zoom view, so you can actually see it! That little structure in the middle is where we are headed for. This was after we had already been hiking for a little bit. Big cactus. Hiking to the next line. There was a significant amount of hiking, in between some of the lines. It was a good workout - my legs were surprisingly sore, the next day! The scenery was amazing, though. My turn! ((Thanks to Dave, for the photo.) ...go! ...set... Ready... Christian's turn - he couldn't wait to go! Go Big Mike! Our first zipline (out of 8, total.) The staff at Wild Canyon was great! (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) Zip school. (Thanks to Dan, for the photo.) Show off those sexy gloves! Is this right? Our awesome group! Let's do this! I had a little anxiety attack, riding up to the canyon, thinking this was going to be way too scary for Christian, but he didn't show an ounce of fear! He was so excited and couldn't wait to get started! Geared up! I think Christian was disappointed to find out this wasn't part of our adventure! Walking up to our adventure! (Thanks to Hanno, for the photo.) "Don't step on that." Road up to the canyon. On the ride to the zipline excursion! Looking back, after pulling away from the ship. Cabo, from the tender. It was a gorgeous day, after leaving record cold temps in FL! Tuesday morning - taking the tender into Cabo! Christian loved the cheese ravioli. He ordered it every night, for the rest of the week! lol Each night, we'd take Christian and Rhiannon back to the kid's club, until 9 or 10PM, and we usually would just hang out in the stateroom, watching movies, after putting Charlotte to bed, or take turns walking around the ship. No night life for us! Charlotte enjoyed a plate of plain pasta bigger than her head! Rhiannon was unsure of the non-Kraft-style mac and cheese. First formal dinner. (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) They really enjoyed this. They couldn't wait to get to the kids' club, each day! Rhiannon was the magician's assistant, and got to be in a disappearing act. He didn't want his face painted, so he held the "ring of fire," for the tigers to jump through. Monday was a day at sea. Christian and Rhiannon spent the day in the kids' club. While I took Charlotte to the Fisher-Price Royal Tots playtime, Todd went to see their circus performance, on the promenade. Here is Christian, about to introduce himself. After the sailaway, it was time for our first dinner. Yum! (Thanks to Robb, for the photo.) I think Christian stood in this spot, taking in the view, for about an hour! Sharing toys - they did pretty good, for 2 year olds! lol The kids got along very well, right away. They didn't waste any time, getting into jumping on the bed! Elissa going over some organizational info. (I'm sitting on the floor, with KT and Charlotte.) The girls getting to know each other at the sailawy get-together in Robb and Elissa's suite. Joey helping KT with her bag. This nice lady helped Rhiannon with her gift bag. I didn't realize until later that she wasn't with our group! lol Janice sewed gift bags for everyone. She and Elissa stuffed them with little toys and treats for the kids, and lots of useful, thoughtful stuff for the adults! Surprising Robb with all the birthday cruise guests, in the ship's library.

While I totally agree with the stupidity of this particular case, we just had a negative experience with height restrictions at Legoland. I watched 3 children (at different times,) the same size as my daughter (below the height requirement,) ride the frog hopper. So, we thought, "what the hell - if they can ride it, maybe she can." The ride op let us on without measuring her, put the restraint on, changed his mind, made her get off, measured her, and turned us away. We didn't question or fight it, at all, but it did seem ridiculous, to me. She couldn't go on the slide or the teacup ride, either, even though, at other parks, she would be allowed (no height restrictions on the teacups at Magic Kingdom - I took my older daughter on them when she was 1 year old.) I completely understand the need for height requirements for rides such as coasters, but not for slides and teacups!