Trip Report Surviving the Fantasy - Making the most of moments before they're gone...

Maybe other parents of teenagers can relate to yet another "season" of parenthood when your teenagers are busy people and time with them becomes less and less. You realize that the time you thought you had to do all those little things you put off when your kiddos were younger is growing ever-so short. Why does time speed up?! Ugh!

This trip was a journey of adversity before we ever left home. So many little things popped up that potentially jeopardized the whole trip beginning months prior. Even when intuition kept poking me and trying to tell me this trip isn't the thing to do, the petulant child in me refused to give in or give up. We went, by God, in the face of all the adversity that life could throw us we went. After all, time stops for no one. My boys and my brother's girls aren't getting younger and their individual lives aren't getting simpler. My favorite "big guys" in the whole world, my husband and big brother, aren't growing younger any faster than I am. Dues had to be paid, I suppose, for my stubborn nature and pay them I did. Looking back I have no regrets. I made it through with warm memories and fantastical stories to tell of our amazing adventure. Oh yes. We survived the Fantasy. No, we kicked the Fantasy's butt because we didn't let it kick ours. We went to places I never imagined I'd go and we did things I never thought I'd say I did. We did it all together as a family, a big, crazy family out to make the most of the moments we have before they're all gone.



Who?
-Me, the SweetPee
-Tracey, the devoted/entertaining husband
-Chandler, my 17 yro son
-Brian, my 15 yro son
-Jerry, my older brother (@obrienIII)
-Sydney, my 16 yro niece
-Sarah, my 14 yro niece

What?
-Family vacation, baby!

Where?
-2 nights @ Pop Century
-7 night Disney Fantasy Western Cruise (Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel, & Castaway Cay)

When?
-May 23, 2013 - June 1, 2013



So come along with me for a wild ride of highs & lows, teenager-filled fun, amazing activities, and wild rides. You won't be disappointed!

But first....@obrienIII....I have a question: Exactly what would you do if I posted some of those forbidden pictures in my report? I would like to calculate my options.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

You finished the report! You really have a wonderful way of telling the story of our adventure. Funny you said "I don't remember being sick, but all of the great memories." I feel the same way. When we all leave this earth, all we can take with us is our memories. Life is too short, and the kids are almost grown. We should all get together more. I miss my little sister, and we aren't as different as you make us out. I just like giving you a hard time, been doing a great job since the day you were born.

You also have done a great job raising my nephews, and couldn't have done a better job picking my brother in law (my bad, a husband). The girls and I miss you all, and can't wait to make more memories. I love you Kel!

I still can't find some of the pictures. I give up! If you want to add some, go for it. Just throw 'em up here. I don't even care. LOL!

What's with the Instagram Syd put up the other day??? A ring of some sort????

I'll be over in a week or so.

You enjoy giving me a hard time. I try NOT to give people a hard time. Different! Ha!

Thank you. Sometimes I think the boys are retarded. We all have our moments, I guess. I agree about Tracey. And, I can honestly say that you were 1 of 2 people in our entire family who trusted that I knew what I was doing when I married him. You and Gramma & Grampa. Everyone else rolled their eyes, laughed, or tried to talk me out of it. I knew. So did you and so did Gramma & Grampa. Tracey is an amazing man. Not perfect. Nobody is. He's a really great person and my perfect match. I wouldn't trade him for anything even when he's irritating the crap out of me. ((He's gonna read that and call me! ))

Love you, too. See you super soon!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I finally finished!! Oh how I loved it. I was so worried that it was an overall miserable trip with all the sickness. I was so relieved when I read it! You had so many wonderful things happen too! Even though I'm sure you were quite miserable at times, lol.
I'll comment on what I can remember!
First. I am sooooooooo excited by all the toes pictures. I thought you'd probably be too sick to do any! But you got so many awesome ones!
I love your cousins pictures. I grew up very close to most of my cousins. Roomed with one of them in college. I hope my kids always stay close to theirs.
The censored pictures cracked. me. up.
Your poor sunglasses!
That was me with the London phone booth on Instagram!! And that was some random dude commenting and being rude! I deleted that. Lol
It was my pleasure taking those screen shots of ya'll leaving! Seriously!! I was squealing when I saw you! Haha!
We never miss Jack Jacks. Hilarious. Every time.
You guys looked awesome in your formal wear. Even the unconventional formal wear.
Those tender shots of the Fantasy were gorgeous. Gorgeous!
All of your excursion reviews were great. We may have to try the Grand Cayman company. Not the Cozumel one, lol!
SO sad CC wasn't good.
That's all I can remember! Except that I loved it all. Thank you for spending so much time writing it all!

 

[plaz10]

KELLY.

I NEED A WARNING WHEN A GIANT SNAKE IS GOING TO BE PRESENT ON THE SCREEN. SCARED THE FRIGGIN DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME. Terrifying.

Seriously loving the TR...except for that portion. For reals - a little disclaimer...terrifying images of giant man eating snakes on the way...haha.

 

[dnylla]

Great job on the trip report Sweetpee! I really enjoyed it (and all of your others I've read while lurking )

 

[Gojira ゴジラ]

Best TR ever.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I guess I can understand where you are coming from with the missing family part. That's probably why it made me upset.
We are planning a move in the next few months that will put us very far away from both sides of our families. My husband has never lived more than 10 minutes from his momma and daddy. :0. Now we will be 12 hours away. It's a huge jump but something we have always wanted to do. (We're moving to Disney World !!!). I know they will visit and so will we it's just going to be different not having them close to us anymore.
After my father passed away my sister and I are really all we have. We help each other with everything. I'm sure she is really going to miss me cutting her grass and watching her baby when she is sick. I'm gonna miss that stuff too. But, sometimes you have to do what's right for you in your life and I feel like this is our time to do it.

I also feel that way about death. I can feel my dads presence with me a lot. Especially on really hard days. Kind of like he is picking me up and keeping me moving.

Good luck with your move! Living far from family is kinda a mixed blessing. Yeah, I miss them. But then I don't get tangled in any potential drama and I don't have to worry about anyone popping in unexpectedly. Well, other than my inlaws but they typically don't do that. One of the best things Tracey & I did not long after we were married was to move away from BOTH our families. It forced us to rely on each other more completely because we were all that we had. I honestly feel like it did wonders for us. The first 3-4 months we were married we were still in college & living in his parents' converted carport apartment. We fought like cats & dogs. It was awful. We moved away and we've been much better for it.

Sounds like a bitter sweet trip. You def got me amped for my trip on the dream in November!

Glad Riley is feeling better (my aunt has a golden with the same name)

So sorry to hear about people not feeling so hot on the trip.

Love how close you are to your family, it's inspirational. I live in NJ, my father lives in CO, we're not close at all. I don't speak to my mother, stepfather, or uncle (who was like a brother to me, only a 16 year difference). And my mother takes care of my 85 year old grandmother who has alzheimers, and my mother blackmails her not to speak to me. I am a happily engaged man, and I think if my future family can reach a point of closeness that's halfway between where I am with my folks, and where you are with your family, I'll be pretty damn lucky.

Can't wait for the next tr!

Yay for the Dream! Love that ship!

Riley always bounces back. Normally she tolerates baths but I think that late night bath we gave her when we got home was one she actually enjoyed. Seriously. I usually bathe her at least weekly because I cannot stand that dog-musky smell. When you call her to the bathtub she sorta slowly shuffles along and you have to call her lots of times. If I go longer and she starts to really get a funk going on it's different. I can walk past her on the way to the bathroom, say the words "bath time", and she'll follow me right over to the tub. The night we got in from Florida I said, "Ready for a bath?" and she put her paws up on the bathtub ledge as if to say, "Yes! Lemme IN!!!" She's just not used to being....gasp....dirty! LOL!

Family can be a mess on many levels. I know. Just yesterday my mom mentioned how hard it was to be decent about her ex (who is having health problems now). I'm not normally a preachy type girl but I explained to her how when I feel someone has wronged me the way I make peace with it and find a way to forgive is to approach it like this: in this life it is my duty to be as Christ-like as possible. Christ was forgiving. He knew He was giving His life even for the jerk-wads who were driving nails thru His hands and He was okay with that. I've done some pretty awful things in my lifetime that I have asked forgiveness for. Even if they weren't as awful or intentionally awful as others, it's still stuff I wanted to be forgiven for. So, in order for me to ask for and receive forgiveness I feel like it's something I have to find it within myself to do. I can't ask for something I can't or won't give. I tell my boys all the time to not judge even when they've been wronged because good people can make mistakes. Right? One thing my mother-in-law used to tell me all the time was to take what I learned from my own relationships and decide how I wanted to raise my family. You learn from those around you both what you do and what you don't want for your own family. If good comes from the bad in some of life's relationships then I've done all I could with those things. Right?

Oh my goodness, I just screamed out loud when I read about Riley's ringworm, what an end to your trip! Although WPE breakfast looked really good.

You guys are a fine example of "rolling with the punches".

Thanks, Siobhan! Yeah, I was pretty upset about Riley, too. I was crying and kept saying, "Really???? Really???? The dog, too?????" I dared not ask what else could go wrong. I didn't even want to know the answer to THAT question. LOL!

*looks at watch* WOW! I literally just finished your trip report.

It was so well-written and the pics added to the magic of it all. This is my first full trip report read and all I can say is I am impressed.

I cannot wait to read another trip report of yours in the future and last but not least, you may have triggered a need for me to book a Disney cruise. *LOL*

Thanks again from a newbie

That's how I even got curious enough to consider a cruise: reading trip reports from people who came back from the Inaugural Dream cruises. LOL! What I saw was so incredibly detailed. I HAD to see it for myself. So glad I gave it a shot. My world has been expanded exponentially!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh man, what an end to the trip! I think the saying "if it's not chickens, it's feathers" fits in here. I really hope your make-up cruise makes up for this one

I hope we paid our dues sufficiently on this voyage. I reeeeeaaally do! The redo cruise is comign so fast!

Reading your TR has been like a peek into the future (I hope). I have a big brother whom I love madly & we also bring out the clown in each other. We also have a crop of little crazies! My 2+ his 3= 2 five-year-olds, 2 three-year-olds & one two-year-old. They're already like a little posse! Seeing another batch of cousins with a bond has me looking forward to my family making similar memories.

Oh man! When the kids were little, those pictures of them as toddlers & mini-kiddies, they fought like cats and dogs. Seriously bad. They couldn't be together for more than a few hours before they'd be screaming and trying to hurt each other. Thank GOD they outgrew that. Chandler was saying just a few days ago that Sydney isn't like a cousin to him, she's more like a sister. Awwwwww......

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I finally finished!! Oh how I loved it. I was so worried that it was an overall miserable trip with all the sickness. I was so relieved when I read it! You had so many wonderful things happen too! Even though I'm sure you were quite miserable at times, lol.
I'll comment on what I can remember!
First. I am sooooooooo excited by all the toes pictures. I thought you'd probably be too sick to do any! But you got so many awesome ones!
I love your cousins pictures. I grew up very close to most of my cousins. Roomed with one of them in college. I hope my kids always stay close to theirs.
The censored pictures cracked. me. up.
Your poor sunglasses!
That was me with the London phone booth on Instagram!! And that was some random dude commenting and being rude! I deleted that. Lol
It was my pleasure taking those screen shots of ya'll leaving! Seriously!! I was squealing when I saw you! Haha!
We never miss Jack Jacks. Hilarious. Every time.
You guys looked awesome in your formal wear. Even the unconventional formal wear.
Those tender shots of the Fantasy were gorgeous. Gorgeous!
All of your excursion reviews were great. We may have to try the Grand Cayman company. Not the Cozumel one, lol!
SO sad CC wasn't good.
That's all I can remember! Except that I loved it all. Thank you for spending so much time writing it all!

I'm so glad you found the report, Tammy! I know when I was emailing with you on our way home it prob'ly did sound like complete misery. But you know me, I'm gonna find the good and make my peace. Just takes a little time to reflect...and get some solid rest.

The toes pictures! OMG! Jerry was video'ing at the Coral Gardens in Grand Cayman. One of the bits of video he's watching me try to get toes pics. It's so funny to watch. He told me later how he saw me kicking my feet out in front of me, stopping, my feet would slowly sink, I'd go into a frenzy of motion getting my feet back out in front of me, then I'd stop again. I repeated it a bunch of times. He said he was watching me do this several times wondering, "WTH is she doing????", because it looked like a series of spaz attacks. Then he realized I was taking toes pics. It's so funny to watch! It's really hard sometimes especially when snorkeling to get the toes shots because the currents and water movements are pushing you around while you're trying to keep your toes out in front of you and be still to get a picture that's not blurry. It's so frustrating! For every toe pic you see when I'm swimming I probably had to take it a dozen times. LOL! But it's FUN!!!

The censored pics were genius. I'm proud of those.

Oh! I need to send the sunglasses off for repair! Thanks for reminding me!

That's right! It was you taking pics in London that had the snarky jerk-face comment. I wanted to smack that guy. Just because something is ordinary or not special to YOU doesn't mean it's not interesting or special to SOMEONE ELSE! Some people need to get their heads out of their butts so they can hear the Golden Rule more often. Right?

Jack Jack's is a new must-do for us. We had the most fun watching. Heck, doing the pics and the play-by-play for the report had me giggling all over again. Next time I shall get video!!!!

Unconventional formal wear is awesome. So many of the cast and crew stopped us to compliment the guys. Worth it!

At first the idea of tendering was uncomfortable and I didn't want to have to do it. But then I saw pics someone took of the ship from a tender and I suddenly became excited to have the opportunity to see the ship that way. It's so amazing! Definitely a huge photo op but also just a really amazing thing to be able to see with your own eyes. I loved it!

Yeah, I don't think I'll be going back with the Cozemel company (Wild Tours). That's a one-n-done for me. Trying something different on the redo. Can't WAIT!

So glad you enjoyed the read! It wouldn't have happened without ya so give yourself a great big hug from all of us!

See ya real soon!!!!

KELLY.

I NEED A WARNING WHEN A GIANT SNAKE IS GOING TO BE PRESENT ON THE SCREEN. SCARED THE FRIGGIN DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME. Terrifying.

Seriously loving the TR...except for that portion. For reals - a little disclaimer...terrifying images of giant man eating snakes on the way...haha.

Giant snake??? OH! You mean that boa constrictor thing! I'm sorry. Well, you didn't have to hold it or touch it. I stayed a good distance away. I prob'ly would've felt better if I'd had a shotgun or maybe my .40. A pickaxe would've been nice although I don't know I'd want to get even that close. If that thing had hit the ground I would've been like RoadRunner on the old Bugs Bunny Show. Zip! GONE! Not a snake person at ALL! Did you watch those dumb movies about man-eating snakes??? Those are so duuuuumb!

Great job on the trip report Sweetpee! I really enjoyed it (and all of your others I've read while lurking )

So glad you enjoyed it! More reports will be coming sooner than later! WooHOO!!

Best TR ever.

Well, thank you!

 

[Disney80]

@sweetpee_1993 Ironically, back in May I was on a Carnival cruise *cough*new kids on the block cruise *cough* and while in port in Nassau, we were right next to the Dream and I kept looking at it. When it left port before us, the horns were Disney music and I just said right there: that's it! I have to get myself on a Disney cruise. My friend and I have a picture next to the Dream before we went back onboard... *sigh*

 

[Tidbit]

This sooooo looks like Pleasant Grove or Mrytle Grove area homes which is were my Mom lives.....I, on the other hand live in Navy Point.

[/quote]

 

[sweetpee_1993]

@Tidbit , it's veeeeery near Cordova & Sacred Heart.

 

[Tidbit]

@Tidbit , it's veeeeery near Cordova & Sacred Heart.

Man, she lives on the crazy part of town........it's busy over there!! BUT I have a feeling I know about where that may be too! My Daughter lives near University!

 

[Tidbit]

ok wicked fun TR to read! I have to tell ya I was very very mad that you guys got sick several times on your vacation!! I was like "that's soooo not fair, they don't get to see each other much, and now they are sick & drugged in Mexico! LOL"

love love love your brother's "twisted" sense of humor, and all of the censored pics that you did! OMG that is funny!

ok now here is where I want to thank you sooooooo much! I have a client that are going on a Disney Cruise soon, and they are driving to the Port......they keep asking me about this "parking place" near the Port...blah blah blah, and of course I just keep telling them it's probably better to spend the extra $$ to park "AT" the Port then at this "parking place" which just happens to be the one you are talking about!! You know safe then sorry bit! Now I can tell them ALL about your ummmm "fun" , and hope they listen..........thank God I talked them out of staying AT that hotel, and doing Disney instead!!! It's from "other's" TR that I have learned some really helpful "stuff" to tell my client's as well as for my own cruise! so THANKS!!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I'm so glad you found the report, Tammy! I know when I was emailing with you on our way home it prob'ly did sound like complete misery. But you know me, I'm gonna find the good and make my peace. Just takes a little time to reflect...and get some solid rest.

The toes pictures! OMG! Jerry was video'ing at the Coral Gardens in Grand Cayman. One of the bits of video he's watching me try to get toes pics. It's so funny to watch. He told me later how he saw me kicking my feet out in front of me, stopping, my feet would slowly sink, I'd go into a frenzy of motion getting my feet back out in front of me, then I'd stop again. I repeated it a bunch of times. He said he was watching me do this several times wondering, "WTH is she doing????", because it looked like a series of spaz attacks. Then he realized I was taking toes pics. It's so funny to watch! It's really hard sometimes especially when snorkeling to get the toes shots because the currents and water movements are pushing you around while you're trying to keep your toes out in front of you and be still to get a picture that's not blurry. It's so frustrating! For every toe pic you see when I'm swimming I probably had to take it a dozen times. LOL! But it's FUN!!!

The censored pics were genius. I'm proud of those.

Oh! I need to send the sunglasses off for repair! Thanks for reminding me!

That's right! It was you taking pics in London that had the snarky jerk-face comment. I wanted to smack that guy. Just because something is ordinary or not special to YOU doesn't mean it's not interesting or special to SOMEONE ELSE! Some people need to get their heads out of their butts so they can hear the Golden Rule more often. Right?

Jack Jack's is a new must-do for us. We had the most fun watching. Heck, doing the pics and the play-by-play for the report had me giggling all over again. Next time I shall get video!!!!

Unconventional formal wear is awesome. So many of the cast and crew stopped us to compliment the guys. Worth it!

At first the idea of tendering was uncomfortable and I didn't want to have to do it. But then I saw pics someone took of the ship from a tender and I suddenly became excited to have the opportunity to see the ship that way. It's so amazing! Definitely a huge photo op but also just a really amazing thing to be able to see with your own eyes. I loved it!

Yeah, I don't think I'll be going back with the Cozemel company (Wild Tours). That's a one-n-done for me. Trying something different on the redo. Can't WAIT!

So glad you enjoyed the read! It wouldn't have happened without ya so give yourself a great big hug from all of us!

See ya real soon!!!!

I was pretty confident you still found a way to have fun. I know you!

That toe story was so funny!! It is hard to take them when you're swimming!

That rude guy on instagram was just so random? Haha!
Wee you so so soon!!

 

[obrienIII]

Great trip, but I'm with Chandler. We should all have a redo with you guys. What do you think?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Great trip, but I'm with Chandler. We should all have a redo with you guys. What do you think?

$2112 VGT rate for 2.

 

[obrienIII]

$2112 VGT rate for 2.

Before or after my 10% discount?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Before or after my 10% discount?

No discount. That's a special rate that you can't double-down discounts on.

 

[GatorAsh]

Hey girl! Disneyfied_Ash from IG here. Just finished reading this particular report, since John and I will be doing a 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy in May. We're super excited. I have to say though, my biggest worry is that we'll have crappy weather on CC day. I did my first (and only, since) cruise with some girlfriends last August on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, and was all around disappointed. We had crummy weather for the private island day, so much so that we couldn't even stay at the island and had to poke slowly back towards Florida that day. The room was GROSS- moldy smelly shower curtain, wet hairs on the verandah floor (not ours, mind you), rust holes on the verandah, just gross. The staff were not friendly and really lacked any Disney 'charm.' The food was bleh. I'm really not a complainer, but man, it was the pits.
SO- I'm confident that Disney will do it better, but am just so nervous of having bad weather for our ports, especially CC. But, what can worrying do to prevent it? Nothing. So I'll just say my prayers and cross my fingers.
Thanks for all the time and efforts you put in to your reports. I'm tellin' ya, Disney should start throwing you a commission for how many people have booked cruises thanks to your TR's. I'm in that camp!
You'll probably be hearing from me with lots of questions leading up to our trip-- though we've got @Disneyfalcon working with us, so I know we're in good hands.
Love!