The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

seahawk7

Well-Known Member
After our breakfast we decided to take one more glance through the gift shops. I bought two more shirts and a travel mug for myself and my daughter bought some Dr. Seuss pencils, a sharpener and a magnet. :) One store was having a special jewelry/accessory sale buy three/get one free and the older ladies were snapping them up. (Somehow I don't think they were souvenirs for the family. :D )

We needed to get our suitcases packed but decided we were suffering from "packing procrastination" as we call it. If you're packing up that means your trip is coming to a close and we were trying to not face reality. ;) If you opt to use the steward service (and not carry all your own luggage off the ship--that was not happening!) you are to put your luggage outside your room by 10:30 p.m. and they come with carts and pick them up. Then you retrieve them the next morning when you are off the ship at customs. With our dinner being at 8:15 p.m., we knew we had to have them done early. Did we pack when we should have? No. :p We went to the Thrill Theater!

After one last time being sprayed with water, bumped around and blasted with cool air (I will miss the 4-D experience :( ) we went to the sports deck one more time. Unfortunately many people had the same idea. :grumpy: My daughter and a friend played minigolf and foosball while we people watched. Really I was just soaking in the sun and trying to stay awake. :oops:

The rumbly in the tummy soon started and it was time to visit Fat Jimmy's BBQ which is only open for a few hours on sea days so if you snooze you lose. Time for me to not snooze! They have quite a selection and we filled our plate with a little of everything: pulled pork, kielbasa, Italian sausage, boneless chicken br east, cornbread, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, creamed corn and grilled veggies. :hungry:

View attachment 90218

While eating we were able to sit in on a few rounds of "General Trivia" but didn't do so well. We decided that our attention was more on our delicious bbq than thinking at the moment. (At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :angelic:) Soon after it was time to overcome our packing procrastination before a last swim. I was proud of myself I got it all done. Why does it take forever to pack for a trip but when you are coming home it breezes by? o_O

We spent the next several hours at the pool and lounging. Funny story about the smoking guy. While my daughter and friend were in the pool, I told my other friend I was going to get a pop. When I came back he had sat on the lounger right beside us. :bored: Out of all the empty chairs! So we ignored him to best of our ability until his wife came to ask why he had moved so far away from her chair and he left. I was just thinking then "I hope they're not on their honeymoon!" :hilarious:
That food looks amazing. I hope you will post pictures of your souvenirs. I'm quite behind so you might already have.
 

seahawk7

Well-Known Member

MinnieM123

Premium Member
since the other one is fixed.. will it imitate the noise of the motor and wiggle sideways? (like those thingies you see outside super markets to entertain little kids
STK516039.jpg
)

Have a funny confession to make. Even though I've been an adult for quite a few years, I still (secretly) want to ride those silly rides they have outside of grocery stores, or in malls, etc. There's a little merry-go-round in front of a grocery store near me, and I see toddlers on it. (Maybe if I went over there late at night when the store was closed, I might be able to sneak on the ride without anyone seeing me? :hilarious: )
 

seahawk7

Well-Known Member
The last night of the cruise they had a Final Four tailgating poolside party before they showed the basketball games on the jumbotron. (No movies tonight. :( ) There were games like cornhole, ring toss, etc. (There were many Kentucky fans onboard.) Cruise Director Matt passed out small water pistols to the kids in the pool. He also had the neatest thing. It was a camera that instantly put the pictures he took of those at the party on the movie screen. I was sitting in my lounger when my daughter's picture showed up. :jawdrop: Her and a boy were in an intense water battle. :joyfull: Not being basketball fans we left when the actual game started. On our way to our room, we ran into the Easter Bunny posing for pictures. :cat: Honestly, I had forgotten the next day was Easter.

We returned to our room to find our luggage tags and customs papers to fill out. Yep, reality that it was our last day was sinking in. :bawling: The last things to put in our suitcases were wet swimsuits/swim shoes and we were living out of our carry-on for the evening. (Thank goodness I remembered to pack gallon ziploc bags for the wet stuff.)

The time had come to enjoy our final sitdown dinner. :cry: (I had thought to myself, why don't they have Cruise Elegant on the final night?, but it makes sense they don't since some cruisers dress in formal gown/tuxedo, who wants to pack all that up with a very short time after eating.) It was also sad that I had gotten spoiled not having to cook or wash dishes. ;)

For our meal this evening I had French onion soup, my daughter had shrimp cocktail, we both had Italian herb chicken br east, pea/carrot mix, mashed potatoes with gravy, I had carrot cake and she had chocolate ice cream for dessert. :hungry: We were served our bread basket (oh bread basket.....how I miss you! :inlove:) and we heard "wait staff prepare for the show". :geek:

The music to Leaving On A Jet Plane began and the whole wait staff sang a farewell song with the lyrics changed to the fact you are leaving their Fun Ship. I must say it put a lump in my throat because I had thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Then as that song ended.....a dance party broke out. :eek: The song Gungnam Style started and some waiters hopped on unused chairs or empty tables and did the routine to that song. They also were pulling diners up to dance with them. Yes......I admit it......I figured oh what the heck, nobody on this cruise will see me again....so me and my daughter got down with our bad selves. :oops: :p (But not on any furniture!)

Sadly it was time to leave the restaurant and we took one final stroll around the ship. We stopped briefly to watch the Latin music group performing in the atrium lobby before heading to our room. Many people had their luggage outside their doors so we added ours too and it was picked up ten minutes later. Funny I slept like a baby every single night of the cruise and this night, our last, I couldn't no matter what I did. :in pain:

TO BE CONTINUED one final time with customs, Easter and "Is it really 2:30 a.m.?"
It's very sad when trips end. I'm so glad you guys had so much fun.
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Hahaaa...!
I've already told y'all about the outhouse/cane patch situation at my grandparents on my moms side. Also, when we were little, we used to take baths in a large galvanized bucket/tub with well water heated from the stove, 'cause they had no running water. In later years, we'd go take a bath or shower at one of two aunts and uncles places just down the road.
On pops side, they had running water, and a bath tub within the original footprint of the main house, and a toilet room that was later added to a screened-in back porch. Still, no running hot water, It, also, came from the stove.
Good memories of a simpler time, actually. :)

Heh, heh . . . you know, it all seems like so much extra effort when you don't have running water, etc. But when that's all people had, it wasn't any effort at all.

Years ago, my elderly aunt and uncle lived in an old farmhouse up in Maine. They used to pump their own water from a well, and heat up water from the stove. They also had an outhouse. One summer, the family went up to visit them for a few days, and stayed at their house. It was quite the adjustment for us city slickers. I was only about 5 at the time, and I was perplexed by the fact that there were newspapers and magazines on the shelf of the outhouse. Since there was no light in the outhouse at night (except for a little light from an open window), I recall asking my mother how a person could read a newspaper in the dark? I was concerned. :D
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Yikes! :jawdrop:

BRENHAM, Texas, April 20, 2015 –Blue Bell Ice Cream of Brenham, Texas, is voluntarily recalling all of its products currently on the market made at all of its facilities including ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Saw a report about this on the news this morning. They're still trying to locate the exact cause of the listeria. All products have been recalled.
 

seahawk7

Well-Known Member
Our final time on the Breeze (at least for this trip ;) ) had come to an end. We had to be up and out of our room by 8:30 a.m. but the breakfast buffet was open until 9:30 so that gave us an opportunity to waste some time until our deboarding number was called. With your luggage tags you are assigned a group number so everyone doesn't try to leave the ship at once. (What a mess that would be! :bored: ) Our group was #18 so we knew we had plenty of time for that last croissant.....that last bit of bacon.....:oops:

After our number was called we made our way off ship and to the customs building to retrieve our luggage. Once inside there are carousels (just like an airport) that are numbered according to which deboarding group you were in. Once you claim your bags you must get in the customs lines. We found out the best and the quickest way to get through that line....get a porter!!! :D Those guys and gals pushing the carts have their own line and instead of waiting thirty minutes, it took us less than ten! So worth paying the little extra in tip money to not have to wait. :cool: Going through customs was a breeze too. The employee barely looked at my passport and the customs papers he just put in a pile. I literally think you could have written "Joe Schmo from Anywheresville, USA" and it wouldn't have gotten caught.

View attachment 90372

BYE BYE BREEZE!

My friends had rented a car for our drive back to Ft. Lauderdale because we had nine hours to wait between leaving the ship and being at the airport. The shuttle picked us up and on our way to the rental place we got to see a lot of downtown Miami. It was funny because when we arrived at the rental agency we recognized other people from our cruise :confused: (that weren't on our shuttle) that were doing the same thing.

The drive to Ft. L went fast and we found ourselves visiting the same area where we had stayed prior to leaving for the cruise. We had our "Easter dinner" at TGIFriday's :hungry: and went to the movie theater near there and saw the movie, HOME. (Which was awesome! :inlove: ) We timed it just right because the movie ended and it was time to head to the airport. :arghh:

For all the ease of coming into Ft. L at the beginning, it was a huge mess going through security to get to our gate on the way out. They had sent us down to assisted screening because I had the walker and I kept my daughter by my side because the place was busy and my friends were routed to another line. :cautious: Then the security had us right in front of a full body scanner, which I know they don't put children through. I was told I had to go through the scanner which I had no problem doing but I was worried what they were going to do with her. (Honestly she wouldn't have given a darn about it but it was the principle of the thing.)

So I told her it was okay and the guard helped me through and I turned to look for my daughter and she wasn't there! :jawdrop: Oh yeah, I almost had one doozy of a hysterical panic attack!!! :bawling: (I am such a momma bear! :joyfull: ) It took just short of a minute for me to see the security had walked her over to my friends line. I WAS PI**ED! They realized too late she was with me and couldn't go through that scanner. :facepalm: (Really? To quote Red Foreman, "Jacka**!" )

The rest of the time was uneventful. We had Auntie Anne's pretzels for dinner and our plane was on time. Once on onboard we found seats in the very back (again :p) but this time had no smoking guy to deal with. After we had our drinks and snacks (which was peanuts or pretzels and a bag of Ritz chips) we all fell asleep until we heard the captain making the weather announcement for Pittsburgh. :cat: We claimed our luggage, got the car from extended parking and started the drive home. :cry:

Finally reaching my house my daughter was so excited the Easter Bunny hadn't forgotten her basket while she was away and there were plastic eggs hidden all over our livingroom. (Makes me think of that old commercial, "Thank you Easter Bunny, bawk, bawk!":) ) My friends decided they were awake enough to drive their extra hour home instead of crashing at our place so we said our good-byes. My daughter, being the sly one that she is, gets in bed and says "Mom....is it really 2:30 a.m.?" o_O "Yes it is," I answered. Long pause...."Can I have some Easter candy?" :cyclops:......"Sure as long as you're going to share!" :hilarious:

Thank you everybody who read my posts and helped me relive our vacation through them! You guys are the best! :happy:
Thank you for sharing!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Yes I think you could say I overreacted. I think I was so touchy because I was under a lot of stress with my second job, in danger of losing it due to not having one of my certifications up do date due to fault on the instructors part, and I misdirected my frustration. I was very embarrassed after a couple of days of reflection and I apologize if I was rude or inappropriate.

Welcome back!! :happy: There was nothing inappropriate about your response at the time. I figured you were probably under stress from something unrelated; and I knew once you read the responses from your buddies here, you'd feel better.

As a side note, I find it amusing that so few people here elect to use the DDP. Perhaps WDW needs to revamp that whole concept. I think at most, if I was to ever buy it, I'd probably just do the QS one.
 

seahawk7

Well-Known Member
Have a funny confession to make. Even though I've been an adult for quite a few years, I still (secretly) want to ride those silly rides they have outside of grocery stores, or in malls, etc. There's a little merry-go-round in front of a grocery store near me, and I see toddlers on it. (Maybe if I went over there late at night when the store was closed, I might be able to sneak on the ride without anyone seeing me? :hilarious: )
Do it during the day but just wear a bathrobe and curlers in your hair and people won't ask questions.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom