Trip Report Loco’s sweaty summer adventures(of the seas).

Greetings my friends. Have you missed me for the last year? Wondering where I’ve been? Seen a random sighting of me in a @Tuvalu TR and wondered why I wasn’t doing an awesome TR myself? Have no fear! I am here to report on not one, but two summmer trips!

Trip one June 9-13(plus a cruise June 13-21).

Due to the excessive length of this vacation and the large amount of luggage needed, we decided we’d just make the road trip down to Orlando. We departed at approximately 3 AM on June 8, with plans to just stop wherever I got tired of driving. The wherever ended up being the Fairfield Inn by Marriott at Flamingo Crossings just outside the Western Way entrance to WDW at around 7:45 pm local time. Total travel time was 15 hours and 45 minutes. Total distance was 961 miles. Needless to say the sleep came quickly and easily for me that evening!

The hotel was quiet, clean, and convenient for anyone looking to stay near WDW without breaking the bank. I had enough CC points to cover the room for the night, but rates were as low as $100 the night we stayed. A tremendous value for that room!

June 9, 2025.

After a solid nights sleep we were up early enough to enjoy the complimentary breakfast at our hotel before making our way to WDW proper. We passed under the Western Way entrance around 7:30 AM

Our first park of the trip.

We were early enough to enjoy early entry this day and joined the masses on the way over to Gaurdiams. We were on the ride and off right at 9 AM. Our song was “I Ran”. The Tears for Fears song still eluded us on this day.

Our next stop was the Land pavilion. After a quick ride on Soarin we made our way through the greenhouse.

Back out into the heat to make our way toward Imagination. There were remnants of F&G still visible.

The queue for for imagination was surprisingly long, but we didn’t mind waiting in the AC for a bit.

Figzilla had just began greeting guests as we exited the ride. We stopped for a quick pic. Apparently I’d already been sweating profusely(a common theme in this TR)

What better way to cool down than to grab a drink and cool off in the DVC lounge? We were among the first guests of the day.

 

[Loco_driver]

Thursday June 12.

Our late night fun the previous night kept us up past 1 AM. We had a much needed late start to our last day on Disney property. We had made plans for a late breakfast/early lunch at Tusker House. Since we had our own vehicle we opted to drive to DAK.

There was time for a quick trip back in time on Dinosaur.

The on ride photo spot is obviously in a great location.

It was time to take advantage of another 40% AP dining discount.

The characters at Tusker House were much more interactive than at Hollywood & Vine.

We’ve eaten here at least three times that I can remember, and we’ve been seated at the same table every time.

The characters were much more spaced out here, which allowed us to visit the buffet without worrying about them passing our table by.

Goofy was the last to visit, and hilariously held up the little parade they do every half hour so he could hang out with us for a few minutes.

It was another great meal at Tusker House!

 

[Loco_driver]

Better late than never! Finally here and enjoying your trip!

Better late than never. Glad to have you!

 

[Loco_driver]

June 12 continued.

After lunch we headed to the safaris.

The baby elephant was the star of the show.

Next up was a trip to the petting zoo.

There was some sort of day camp group at Rafikis when we arrived. The animals were not big fans of the kiddos.

We always try to do the animation experience when we can. I’ll let you figure out which picture belongs to me and which one belongs to A.

Goofy was one of the more fun characters we’ve gotten to draw.

We contemplated trying the single rider line for Everest, but the skies were getting darker by the minute, so we headed for the car instead. We stepped inside the WL lobby just as the storm began. It made for ideal afternoon napping.

Once the skies cleared that evening it was time to take the boat over to MK.

Gotta get a quick pic before the sweat comes back!

I don’t have a lot of photos from that evening, but I know we at least took a spin on the people mover and did Monsters Inc before enjoying the fireworks dessert party. An upcharge I will often pay for because I hate fighting the crowds for fireworks. It’s totally worth it to keep me sane.

After the fireworks we made our way down the Main Street bypass and out of the park. There was a large boat waiting on us at the dock. It had been an enjoyable 4 days at the parks, but we were ready for our cruise!

 

[littleroo]

Dang I always forget about the petting zoo. I have to put it on my list.
Trust me, I love the name of your TR because I am a sweat monster! My hair always looks like I just got of the shower!

 

[Loco_driver]

Dang I always forget about the petting zoo. I have to put it on my list.
Trust me, I love the name of your TR because I am a sweat monster! My hair always looks like I just got of the shower!

Haha. Wait until you see the July trip pictures!

 

[Loco_driver]

June part 2.

It was time to embark on another adventure. We were off to Port Canaveral for part two of our June vacation.

Which ship would we be boarding? Neither of these beautiful Disney Ships. I think DCL offers a great product, but it’s not for us.

Our vessel for the week would be the appropriately named Adventure of the Seas.

She’s an older ship, but is still in good shape and has the right balance of amenities without being one of Royals massive mega ships.

We had a GTY ocean view room. We were assigned a room on deck 2. This actually turned out to be a great spot for us. It was quiet and close to the main dining room and only a few decks from our favorite bar and the QS cafe.

Our room steward Grace did a fine job of keeping us comfortable for the long journey south and leaving some interesting towel animals on occasion.

The main dining room.

Despite this poor effort, we would actually win a name that tune trivia(hits of the 00s) later in the cruise!

The first two sea days were very windy. We had a hilarious round of mini golf while fighting it!

We do clean up good when we aren’t sweating it out at a theme park!

 

[Loco_driver]

More from our days are sea.

A meal at Chops steakhouse is always a must for us on Royal Caribbean. This little fillet was the best thing I ate on the cruise and it wasn’t even close.

The waiter told us not to worry about picking a dessert, and just brought all of them to our table.

Our lower room allowed us a unique view of the pilot boats. The pilots would board directly under our window.

Our first port after almost three days at sea was Curaçao. Here’s a view from atop the Queen Juliana Bridge. Our ship is to the right.

I have no idea if the McDonalds was offering a good deal or not.

A brief stop at the blue Curacao factory on our way to the beach.

They offered plenty of free samples.

Here are the free sample offerings for that day.

 

[Loco_driver]

More from Willemstad, Curaçao.

We spent the afternoon at Mambo Beach.

The water was cool and clear.

The wave break was a nice touch.

The only small issue was the beach was a bit rocky. I kept my shoes on so it didn’t bother me much.

It felt good to be on land. You can tell in this photo that the wind was still pretty strong this day.

We had a guided tour of the historic sites in the city on our way back to the ship. The colonial dutch buildings were all incredible.

We were dropped off at the port with plenty of time to do some more exploring.

 

[Loco_driver]

Curaçao continued.

The cruise port is within easy walking distance of Fort Rif.

The old Dutch fort now serves as a large shopping and entertainment complex. You can still climb to the top to enjoy the view of the bay.

The area around the fort was very nice.

The famous Queen Emma pontoon bridge connects the Punda(point) with the Otrobanda(other side)

The bridge also swings open to allow ships to pass through the bay.

It also makes for some great phot ops.

Some friendly locals were kind enough to take our picture.

The queen Juliana bridge rises high above the bay and carries the main highway for the island.

 

[Loco_driver]

Curaçao continued.

Further into town there is a floating market that sells fresh seafood and produce daily. There were only a few boats left late that afternoon.

We meandered through town checking out all the little stores and restaurants. Unlike many other Caribbean ports, the residents here were very laid back and there were no pushy vendors in the streets.

Dushi is a term of endearment in Papiamentu, the local language.

This building is not a church anymore. It houses the public persecutors offices.

This area is a popular gathering spot known as Wilhelminaplein Punda.

In Caribbean culture the eldest daughter in the family is known as a chichi and plays a vital role in the home, often acting as a second mother to the younger siblings. The island had several sculptures dedicated to the chichi.

Looking back at Otrobanda from the pontoon bridge.

 

[littleroo]

I am enjoying all of your knowledge of Curaco especially how laid back it seems! What were the temperatures like here?

 

[Loco_driver]

I am enjoying all of your knowledge of Curaco especially how laid back it seems! What were the temperatures like here?

It wasn’t bad at all while we were there. The ocean is deep and cool, and there was always a breeze(or gale force winds at times). It did rain that morning which is not common for June, so temperatures may have been affected by that.

 

[Loco_driver]

our ship wasn’t scheduled to depart for Aruba until 9 PM, but we were both really tired from a busy day. We headed back a little earlier than we wanted to.

There’s a baseball field right by the dock. The outfield wall had a mural of all the MLB players to come from the island.

That was a wrap on port day number one. I look forward to returning to Curaçao one day!

 

[Loco_driver]

Port #2.

We didn’t have far to sail for our second port.

Stop number one was Casibari rock formation. A rare rock formation on a pretty flat island.

Would I make through the tunnel on the way up?

Sure would.

There were some nice views from up top.

The desert landscape in the middle of the ocean was unique.

You don’t see a ton of cacti in the Caribbean.

We made a friend!

 

[Loco_driver]

More from Aruba.

Next up was the natural bridge area.

The large natural bridge rock formation sadly collapsed back in 2005.

There is a smaller bridge still standing. You are not allowed onto the bridge for obvious reasons.

The ocean provides a cool breeze in this arid region.

Next up was the California lighthouse.

It’s named after the S.S. California, which sank in the area in 1891. The lighthouse was constructed to prevent any similar accidents.

Even Aruba has hidden Mickeys if you know where to look!

 

[Loco_driver]

More from Aruba

Final stop was Eagle Beach. The water was so pretty here and the sand was the best I’ve ever walked on. Fluffy without being sticky.

There was no wave break here, so selfies could be a challenge.

After about an hour of playing at the beach we had to head back to the port. Unfortunately our itinerary had been changed a few weeks before our sail date, shortening our time in Aruba by several hours. We would’ve liked to have more time to explore the town of Oranjestad.

I do remember this night on the ship. Seas were very rough. So much so that they had to put these bad boys out on the stairwells. Never a good sign. Lucky neither of us needed to use them!

The reason our time in Aruba was cut short was to add Cabo Rojo, a new port in the Dominican Republic. The port is not near any city, and was created exclusively for cruise ships by Alcoa(they operate a bauxite mine not far from here)

Everything was still very shiny and new.

We weren’t in the mood for an hour long bus ride through the desert, so we opted for the beach club that’s attached to the port instead. This is where we ran into a slight issue. Instead of allowing people to just walk to the beach club at their leisure, they assigned us a meeting spot and time. This ended up eating up over an hour of time because the port workers were super disorganized and didn’t know who belonged in which group. After a lot of standing in the hot sun and signing a waiver, we were herded like cattle to the beach club. Once we arrived we were free to roam the beach and pools.

The walk was about a half mile through the port.

We found some nice chairs underneath a shade tree.

The water here was much warmer and shallow. This wasn’t a great beach, but there was some good wildlife to spot.

Admission included an open bar, but service was so slow that it was hard to get much use out of it.

I think Cabo Rojo had decent potential as a port if they can get some kinks worked out. As it stands I would’ve rather had more time in Aruba and an extra sea day.

 

[Loco_driver]

One last cruise post.

We had one sea day between Cabo Rojo and our final port. We’d planned on seeing the ice skating show the night before, but the rough seas prohibited them from being able to perform. Luckily they’d calmed a bit by the next afternoon.

I never really know what the story is on the Royal Caribbean ice shows, but the skaters are always fun to watch!

The second to last night is always “Royal Night” in the main dining room. It once featured unlimited lobster tail, but now you only get one before you have to pay extra.

I did supplement it with a steak.

The baked Alaska is one of my favorites.

We were having a blast at sea, but two weeks of traveling was starting to wear me down. Also look how incredible my wife looks with her hair down.

Our final stop was Royal’s private island, coco cay.

We were docked alongside the Icon of the seas. The world’s largest cruise ship dwarfed our ship.

Our destination would be the south beach.

It was a bit of a hike.

Despite sharing the island with our massive sister ship, there were plenty of beach chairs available. One major perk of the island is that your drink package from the ship carries over onto the island. We enjoyed several of the signature coco loco cocktails.

That’s a wrap on our June travels! We debated stoping by WDW for a few hours on our way home, but we’d both had enough of the crowds. Not to worry, we’d be making a return trip in just over a month!

 

[amjt660]

Great report

The questions have to be asked?

Who is the mini putt champ?

And

How loco did the coco loco cocktails make @Loco_driver ?


Max

 

[Loco_driver]

Great report

The questions have to be asked?

Who is the mini putt champ?

And

How loco did the coco loco cocktails make @Loco_driver ?


Max

1. I believe it was A. I have no short game!

2. After 7 nights with the drink package, the coco locos weren’t making me even poco loco.

 

[riverside]

We were docked alongside the Icon of the seas. The world’s largest cruise ship dwarfed our ship.

At least your slide didn’t break!!

Also look how incredible my wife looks with her hair down.

A looks great!! I don’t think I’ve ever seen her hair down(says the girl who’s hair is ALWAYS pulled back)!!