When You Wish Upon A Star...POOF your teens vanish!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

Selfie with my "baby" waiting for the elevator down:

Lumiere's wasn't yet open for second seating so we stood outside waiting. Here's Chandler with a model I'd never noticed before:

Brian was there with some of his friends who also had the same restaurant at the same seating. The parents we had just met were off to Palo so the friends had invited Brian to sit with them at dinner. Okay by us. Here's the boys with their friends. From left to right we have: Chandler, Carter, Allison, Christian, Andrew, and Brian:

Carter was especially outgoing! He walked right up to us, introduced himself, and offered his hand to shake. Cool kid. He told us they'd had such an amazing time and thanked us for letting Brian bring canned sodas to them out of our fridge. He was telling us about the fun they'd had and showed me a video. It was so crazy! I bugged the crap out of Brian when we got home to get Carter to send me that video so I could show you. So, for your viewing pleasure, I have a little peek at one of the things the teens do on THEIR cruise! Lemme explain what you're going to see. On the night of our Key West day there was a "Ship Factor" (think about the old Fear Factor on tv) war between the teens in Vibe and the tweens in Edge. Here's a video of Chandler and Andrew spanking the younger kids at one event. They had to race to drink a cocktail of salsa, salt, chocolate sauce, and caramel topped with whipped cream through a straw! My son was the big winner! His victory lap was so funny! You'll also see Brian at the very end hanging with friends. ((Sorry I had to just put a link below...for some odd reason my embedding from YouTube isn't working. Weird.))

http://s228.beta.photobucket.com/us...agic Cruise/Jan 25 - At Sea/IMG_2413.mp4.html

TheMouseFan · Feb 6, 2013

Great TR! So sad it's coming to an end!

I love reading all of the cruise trip reports, but especially yours. It brings back fond memories of the Disney cruise I took with my brother and parents when I was in high school. That was 23 years ago!

A lot has changed since. For starters, there was no DCL, it was through Premier Cruise Lines. There also was no Castaway Cay! They had a private beach they took us to and I remember it being nice, but nothing along the lines of CC! We have decided that our next Disney vacation will be either Disneyland or a Disney cruise. The only problem is, my husband is only interested in doing an Alaskan cruise, which unfortunately doesn't include a stop at Castaway Cay!! Love how thoughtful your boys are. I can only hope my three kids will be that way when they get older. I love that you are able to just let them go do their own thing while on the ship. Mine are still too young to be able to do that if we get to go anytime in the near future. Can't wait to read the ending!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

flynnibus said:
your TR stamina is impressive

And waking up at 7am or earlier? You guys are nuts

Well, thank you. I'm actually trying to get it finished up because I've got other things I really need to be taking care of.

TheMouseFan said:
Great TR! So sad it's coming to an end! I love reading all of the cruise trip reports, but especially yours. It brings back fond memories of the Disney cruise I took with my brother and parents when I was in high school. That was 23 years ago! A lot has changed since. For starters, there was no DCL, it was through Premier Cruise Lines. There also was no Castaway Cay! They had a private beach they took us to and I remember it being nice, but nothing along the lines of CC! We have decided that our next Disney vacation will be either Disneyland or a Disney cruise. The only problem is, my husband is only interested in doing an Alaskan cruise, which unfortunately doesn't include a stop at Castaway Cay!! Love how thoughtful your boys are. I can only hope my three kids will be that way when they get older. I love that you are able to just let them go do their own thing while on the ship. Mine are still too young to be able to do that if we get to go anytime in the near future. Can't wait to read the ending!

I know! It stinks when the vacations come to an end but, sadly, they all have to at some point. Thanks for reading along with all my prattle. We'd loooove to do an Alaska cruise so I think skipping Castaway Cay isn't so terrible. Maybe show your hubby what the island is like and you can at least get him to go for a short 3-night on the Dream. I'm more than willing to help you plot! Our next vacation is going to be another Disney cruise then we're sorta throwing around squeezing in a quick run to the west coast for our 20th anniversary in the fall before we have to do the Allure of the Seas for Thanksgiving week with Tracey's family. The west coast is just conversational at this point but we're working numbers a little. Looks like Tracey is going to a 7 - 12 schedule so it may be doable. You know, even if your kids have to be signed in and out of the clubs I hear the kids beg to be there as much as possible (normally) so you could still score some serious quality time with your honey in the deal. Another angle to pitch, perhaps??? LOL!

heatherkatheleen · Feb 6, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
Fellas, y'all can move on if you like. I gots ta show my girls what I GOT! I got the Logan Dress in the Shorely Blue Lazy and Hazy fabric:

Then I got the Tina Top Solid in the Shorely Blue color to go with the Callahan Short in the Mini Coral Cocktail print:

Dontcha just love even the names of the fabric patterns?!?! Squeeeeeeee!!!!

I have never in my life spent that kind of money on 3 articles of clothing so it was a huuuuuge splurge. Since I've been home I've been combing eBay for Lilly clothes and think the bulk of what I get if I get more from here on out will have to come from there. But, ya know, I wanted to have the experience and I did. It was an awesome, awesome thing to do and I'll never regret it. Worst case, the stuff does hold some amount of value and I could easily get more than just a couple bucks back outta the pieces if I ever needed to. Right?

Well... My 5/25 cruise on the Fantasy doesn't have a stop at Key West... But thanks to you I just spent $300 on Lilly Pulitzer.com shopping for cruise shorts (I'm desperate for new ones!) Blast! At least I'll be wearing cute shorts all vacation long....

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

When Lumiere's finally opened for seating we made our way in. Brian went to sit with his friends at their table not too terribly far from us. We sat down and the last night menus were brought to us:

We reflected a bit on the cruise and our meals. We had a good last night laugh over our table number this cruise. Tracey and I couldn't leave without a pic for posterity. No we aren't teenagers anymore but whether we're juvenile or not is completely open to debate:

Saying goodbye to my favoritest light fixtures:

I started out with a nice salad:

For my entre I threw all sensibility to the wind. I had the lamb dish and a small portion of the beef wellington. When ordering the wellington Chandler and I were giggling over the magical thought of Chef Ramsey back in the kitchen screaming & cursing at everyone:

For dessert I had the Celebration Cake which I promptly forgot to take a picture of before devouring it. Malwyn also brought us a slice of the Baked Alaska to try which I did get a pic of before I tried it. Not something I would order for myself but not terrible either:

After dinner both boys headed for the last night parties in Vibe. Tracey and I had to finish our packing. By the time we were ready to go to bed (11:30 pm) we were approaching the Texas Gulf coast. Bummer. Oh well. It has to end sometime.

Both boys rolled in around 2:30 a.m. I expected at least Brian to stay out around the horn into morning but their friends were either too tired or they all had a curfew.

Can't believe it's almost over now.

joanna71985 · Feb 6, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
I think Tammy & I are definitely in for the cabana. The cost is $499 for the first 6 people and $50 for each additional up to 10. That makes the max cost per person about $85 as long as we can get a minimum of 6 ladies commited. I don't care how many or who jumps in. Even if I'm by my lonesome at $499, I'm doing it. LOL! Spoiled much? You dang skippy!

I'm definitely bringing my Goonies tee! Prob'ly gonna get some fun ribbons for my hair and will wear my pirate skirt that I made for last May. Oh yes! It's gonna be FUN!

Ooo, I'm up for sharing!!

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to bring my full pirate costume, or just go with a pirate shirt and hat

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

heatherkatheleen said:
Well... My 5/25 cruise on the Fantasy doesn't have a stop at Key West... But thanks to you I just spent $300 on Lilly Pulitzer.com shopping for cruise shorts (I'm desperate for new ones!) Blast! At least I'll be wearing cute shorts all vacation long....

That's frickin' awesome!!! If it makes you feel any better, I've bought 2 more Lilly dresses off eBay since we've been home and tomorrow I'm probably buying 2 more pairs of shorts, too. I'm kinda afraid to buy too much because I fully intend to drop a solid 15-20 lbs. before our next cruise. The dresses are such a simple construction I can easily take them in. The shorts would be a lot more involved if not impossible. I figure worst case I'll put 'em back out there on eBay. I sure wish Steve had a "For Sale" and "Looking For" board somehow because I've got Disney crap galore I could sell. And designer clothes, too.

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

joanna71985 said:
Ooo, I'm up for sharing!!

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to bring my full pirate costume, or just go with a pirate shirt and hat

I think Tammy's gonna do a list for cabanas sometime soon. She & I both will be gold status so we can book them at 105 days. Pam being concierge can snag 'em as early as 120 days, too. We'll make sure everyone who wants a cabana gets in one somehow. We just gotta work out all the details and all.

I'm definitely going for Pirate-themed vs. costume although it would be fun to do the costume, too! Do whatever you like best!

heatherkatheleen · Feb 6, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
That's frickin' awesome!!! If it makes you feel any better, I've bought 2 more Lilly dresses off eBay since we've been home and tomorrow I'm probably buying 2 more pairs of shorts, too. I'm kinda afraid to buy too much because I fully intend to drop a solid 15-20 lbs. before our next cruise. The dresses are such a simple construction I can easily take them in. The shorts would be a lot more involved if not impossible. I figure worst case I'll put 'em back out there on eBay. I sure wish Steve had a "For Sale" and "Looking For" board somehow because I've got Disney crap galore I could sell. And designer clothes, too.

Hey... send me a PM with any stuff you're looking to sell. I'm a shopaholic and may be able to take a few things off your hands

Disneyfalcon · Feb 6, 2013

Elevator toes!!

I'm so glad you saw Disney Dreams! Isn't it wonderful? I love it too. Love the Ketchup-on-poodles part. We still sing Circle of Life crazy because a comedian on our first cruise did it.

Your boys are so sweet. That was just awesome and I'm so glad you saved the notes!

Oh my word he had so much lobster! Lol!

sweetpee_1993 said:
After class we chatted up another couple about the cruise and different things about it. This was their first ever cruise with their 5 & 7 yro daughters. The Mrs. had kinda a bad taste going because she booked through a friend who is a Disney-specific agent over a year ago. They paid full price for the cruise and were never told anything about the Kids Sail Free promotion that it seemed most of the cruisers onboard had booked under. They waaaay overpaid. She was a little miffed with her friend to say the least. Overall they weren't very wow'd which was sad to hear. They said the kids club their daughters were in was so packed with kids bouncing off the walls the counselors seemed overwhelmed as did their daughters. Neither of them even wanted to go back after the first day. We tried to share experiences about our past 3 DCL cruises and commisserate over how different some things they didn't like were from the norm with the Kids Sail Free promo sailing. Very nice couple. We suggested if possible they slip away and do a short run on the Dream by themselves to get a whole different vibe. And I strategically mentioned Kingdom Konsultants! LOL!

Go Kelly!! Lol!

Tawanda rocks.

I can't see the video!!

sweetpee_1993 said:
I think Tammy's gonna do a list for cabanas sometime soon. She & I both will be gold status so we can book them at 105 days. Pam being concierge can snag 'em as early as 120 days, too. We'll make sure everyone who wants a cabana gets in one somehow. We just gotta work out all the details and all.

I'm definitely going for Pirate-themed vs. costume although it would be fun to do the costume, too! Do whatever you like best!

We will definitely do a list! So far I think everyone has said yes, lol!

joanna71985 · Feb 6, 2013

Just saw the post about the surprise from Brian and Chandler...awwww! That is sooooo sweet!

sweetpee_1993 said:
I think Tammy's gonna do a list for cabanas sometime soon. She & I both will be gold status so we can book them at 105 days. Pam being concierge can snag 'em as early as 120 days, too. We'll make sure everyone who wants a cabana gets in one somehow. We just gotta work out all the details and all.

I'm definitely going for Pirate-themed vs. costume although it would be fun to do the costume, too! Do whatever you like best!

Good to know! I'll be watching

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

heatherkatheleen said:
Hey... send me a PM with any stuff you're looking to sell. I'm a shopaholic and may be able to take a few things off your hands

I'll get in touch with ya. I've got a few Disney Dooneys (amoungst other things) I don't use anymore I'm looking to sell and I hate eBay. Between the listing fees, final value fees, then fees to take payment via PayPal you aren't left with much of anything. And they charge final value fees on shipping. WTH?!?! Then if you have any sort of bad experience with a flaky buyer (which has happened to me several times) eBay's policies totally favor the buyer from the get-go. It's just not worth selling there if I can avoid it. Ya know?

Disneyfalcon said:
Elevator toes!!

I'm so glad you saw Disney Dreams! Isn't it wonderful? I love it too. Love the Ketchup-on-poodles part. We still sing Circle of Life crazy because a comedian on our first cruise did it.

Your boys are so sweet. That was just awesome and I'm so glad you saved the notes!

Oh my word he had so much lobster! Lol!

Go Kelly!! Lol!

Tawanda rocks.

I can't see the video!!

We will definitely do a list! So far I think everyone has said yes, lol!

OMGosh! Disney Dreams is beyond words. I loved it so much.

Yes, Chandler can eat his weight in lobster. He loves it! I fault his Poppa for that one. When Chandler was a squirt one of the many meals we had with Tracey's folks at Outback Steakhouse Poppa had a lobster tail with his steak. He let Chandler try a bite. It's been all downhill from there.

I just posted a link to the video. I don't know why it wasn't showing up. Originally I could see it okay. I checked and rechecked my embedding but it vanished for me, too. Computer goblins again, I suppose. LOL!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 7, 2013

Saturday, January 26 - Crashing back to real life. It blows.

No navigator to start today. The end is near.

I woke at about 5:00 a.m. because Tracey wasn't in bed. He was in the bathroom shaving. Ugh. First big slap of reality. Tracey rarely shaves on vacation. I got out of the bed and started getting myself as dressed as I was going to for today. We only had a short 20 minute drive home from the port then nothing else really pressing so I didn't even bother with another bath (I took one before bed) or makeup. Just throw on the sloppy sweats, pull my hair up, brush my teeth, wash my face, and done.

The ship was pulling into the port around 5:30 or 6:00.

We had everyone up, dressed as we were getting, and all our bags set to go sometime after 6:00. We left all our bags in the room and headed up to hit Topsiders for a quick breakfast. The pic I took on our way to breakfast is the one I used for my sad Instagram post. "Every adventure has to end so the next one can begin."

We got to Topsiders just before they opened. 6:30, I think? There was a handful of people waiting outside the doors, too. As everyone started shuffling in I stood watching the trays with plates & flatware being handed to each person and my stomach turned. I couldn't fathom eating. I skipped the trays, fixed a last cup of Nes-Crappe, and found a table for us. I don't think any of the guys ate much of anything.

We didn't waste much time in Topsiders. In fact, we were out in record time. We went back to our stateroom to do a last sweep to make sure we weren't leaving anything behind and figure out who was going to carry or pull which bags down to wait for express debarkation.

One last pic from our balcony as the ship was pirhouetting. Looks like the Crown Princess was in ahead of us this morning.

Tracey called his cousin who had stayed at our apartment and dog-sitted for us to have him get ready to head back to the port to pick us up. We managed to get all the luggage and us down to Rockin' Bar D by 7:10. Yep, all 6 suitcases, 1 rolling duffle, and 4 backpacks worth.

@Disneyfalcon, Seriously overpacked toes shot!

I agree, Brian. It's too dang early for this depressing stuff:

We walked off the ship along with the rest of the express debarkation passengers at 7:45. I had our passports and declaration form out and ready to hand to the customs agents but all they did was collect our customs form without even really looking at it as we passed. The lady didn't want to see anything and was waiving us on by. That was kinda cool...or not...depends on the perspective, I guess.

We walked out to the curb outside the terminal and waited only a few minutes before Tracey's cousin was pulling up in our Tahoe to get us. In those few minutes I took this picture that I Instagram'd and finally had some tears rolling.

The caption: "Aaaaand this is about when I cried...miss my sweetness already."

We loaded up in the truck at 7:45 and arrived home at 8:10. It took 5 extra minutes to get home because the fog was so super dense across the marsh on the drive home.

Tracey made sure we got all the luggage upstairs, changed into his FRCs, grabbed his work cooler, and was off to work at 8:30. That's why I missed my sweetness already. Talk about a crazy crash back to real life! Step off the ship. Hubby has to go straight to the refinery. Fun. But, hey, who's griping??? That's one step closer to the next adventure, right?

Final entry in my notes which ended on the second to last page in my book, no less:

- Trip is done. THE BEST!

Disneyfalcon · Feb 7, 2013

I'm so sad for you!! And getting off and going right to work? That's for the birds!!

I love the overpacked toes!! Lol!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 7, 2013

Disneyfalcon said:
I'm so sad for you!! And getting off and going right to work? That's for the birds!!

I love the overpacked toes!! Lol!

It sure is for the birds!

You know your tip about lay everything out then put half of it back away? We should've laid everything out then put 3/4 of it back away. LOL!

Disneyfalcon · Feb 7, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
It sure is for the birds!

You know your tip about lay everything out then put half of it back away? We should've laid everything out then put 3/4 of it back away. LOL!

Lol! Stephen read through my tips to proofread a few months ago and when he saw that one, he said "Why don't we ever do that one?" Lol!!

Kristia · Feb 7, 2013

I know there was lots of stuff I wanted to comment on, but one of the last things that I read was about the Beef Wellington! Haha! Hell's Kitchen is one of our favorite shows. When we were on our cruise Dan had to have that and the risotto because of that show! He said Chef Ramsey would have approved of his meal as it was awesome!! That menu on the last night is great! Did that make it into your suitcase?

We have our 20th anniversary in 2015. Dan wanted to just go to the parks and kind of recreate our honeymoon trip, but I think I have him talked into doing a park trip and a cruise trip combo. I have to start saving my pennies for that one!

Disneyfalcon · Feb 7, 2013

Kristia said:
I know there was lots of stuff I wanted to comment on, but one of the last things that I read was about the Beef Wellington! Haha! Hell's Kitchen is one of our favorite shows. When we were on our cruise Dan had to have that and the risotto because of that show! He said Chef Ramsey would have approved of his meal as it was awesome!! That menu on the last night is great! Did that make it into your suitcase?

Lol! Had to jump in!! I think of Gordon Ramsey every time I have Beef Wellington or Risotto!!

Disneyfalcon · Feb 7, 2013

I just watched the video! So fun! And ewwww!!! He's a beast!

Pooh'sBuddy · Feb 7, 2013

(Oh, I hope I remember all the comments I want to make.)

Also, I think your sons' choices of friends shows alot about them, which also shows what a great job you've done raising them.

That mixology class seemed really blah! Not like your last, practically private class. That would be great if they gave you a syllabus or something in advance. But the drinks looked pretty.

That's too bad the couple you met had a bad experience. I do think it's a little on them for not keeping an eye out for discounts and calling their friend on it, but you'd think DCL would have staffed better fully knowing how many kids were booked. I would have been verbally informing somebody of this lapse of judgment.

EDIT: No, I didn't.

Oh, that 80s/90s trivia contest looks fun! I guess I think I know alot about that era of music, but I have no clue who sang "Video Killed the Radio Star." I just remember it was the first video MTV showed. Some of your notes are hilarious! I can't make out the very top, but I laughed at your 'this song blows' comment.

And those pics do look creepy.

When You Wish Upon A Star...POOF your teens vanish!

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