Nightmare Before Cruisemas -A HOTHS 7 Night Western PTR

nearlyfallinstar

The line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me!
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
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WHAT IS THIS?
This is my first pre-trip report and I'll be rambling on about our upcoming
Halloween On The High Seas, 7 night Western Caribbean that sets sail
on September 1st, 2018! We will be visiting Cozumel, Grand Cayman,
Falmouth, and Castaway Cay.

I am 35 years old and will be cruising with my husband and our three girls
aged 6, 8, and 9. My parents are also going with us on this trip!
We have connecting verandah staterooms 7656 and 7658 booked on the Fantasy.

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Our plans are:
Pre-Cruise

  • We are flying to Orlando non stop from Ohio on Southwest Airlines
  • We hired Access Transportation to drive us to Cocoa Beach
  • We will be staying at La Quinta Oceanfront
  • We will take the hotel shuttle to the port in the morning
Day 1 – September 1, 2018 – Port Canaveral

Day 2 – September 2, 2018 – At Sea
Remy Brunch
Formal night is definitely in the making!

Day 3 – September 3, 2018 – Cozumel
We are going to Mr. Sanchos while in port. This will involve some horseback riding on the beach and lots of all-inclusive drinks!

We plan to say boo with simple Inside Out costumes for the whole family.



Day 4 – September 4, 2018 – Grand Cayman
Disney Jr. Character Breakfast
We are visiting the Cayman Turtle Farm because I want to hold a sea turtle please!


Day 5 – September 5, 2018 – Falmouth
Right now the plan is to stay onboard and ride the Aquaduck endlessly!


Full pirate costumes will also be happening!

Day 6 – September 6, 2018 – At Sea
Frozen Meet & Greet
Princess Gathering
Palo Brunch
Margarita Tasting


Day 7 – September 7, 2018 – Castaway Cay
Will the girls stay on the beach? Will I see Serenity Bay again? Will DH run the 5K?



Some extra things that we plan on doing that I may be talking about as I go along:

  • FE gifts
  • Wine package
  • Placeholder booking
 
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So tomorrow is my birthday and I am turning 35.
My DH gave me my birthday present a tad early so that I could have it during my birthday.
He gave me eight bottles of wine off of DCL's basic wine package!

:cool1:
I have these wines to try:

White Wines and Sparkling
Kendall Jackson Chardonnay Vintner's Reserve California, USA
Castello del Poggio Moscato Lombardy, Italy
Simi Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County, USA

Red Wines
Layer Cake Shiraz South Australia, Australia
Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles California, USA
Seven Daughter Pinot Noir California, USA
Tangley Oaks Merlot Coastal California, USA
Cune Crianza Rioja, Spain

I am not a wine connoisseur, but I will probably give my honest opinion about each
wine as I try them. My reviews will not be fancy, but it may provide some information.
Also, to be fair, I prefer red wine and enjoy a good port. However, I have been
known to try just about anything, so my palate is not entirely biased!


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Last week I opened my first bottle of wine, the Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay.
This is the winemaker's notes:
America's #1 selling Chardonnay for 25 years and counting! It's no wonder Vintner's
Reserve Chardonnay is the most popular release. Handcrafted in small vineyard lots
throughout the entire winemaking process, the grapes are from California’s cool, coastal
growing regions.

The Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay is fruit-forward, divinely complex, approachable and
exceptionally food-friendly.Tropical fruit flavors such as pineapple, mango and papaya, with
citrus notes. Aromas of vanilla and honey. A hint of toasted oak and butter.

Pairs perfectly with lobster and alfredo.

Like I said previously, I am not normally a white wine drinker. I did find this Chardonnay

pleasant though. Very fruity with an initial bite to it and then finishes very smooth. This
baby rocks a 13.5% ABV so one glass will do a fine job warming you up. I would definitely
be willing to get a bottle of this to drink with my seafood dishes while on my cruise!
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This past weekend I was able to book my onboard activities! Granted, I was not booking excursions since everything we want to do is outside of Disney and a cabana is also something that we don't care to get right now (even if it was a remote possibility). I was able to get everything that I wanted though! We are scheduled for a Remy brunch and a Palo brunch. This will be our first experience with any of the adult dining. My mom and I are going to Remy together since she love fine dining. My husband and I are going to Palo together and I am looking forward to the alone time since we don't often get that with our three girls. I was also able to book the Disney Jr. Character Breakfast on the morning before we go to Grand Cayman. I was afraid that my girls would be too old for the experience, but they really wanted to go and convinced me to sign up for it. I had asked a DCL board if they thought my girls at 9, 8, and 6 would be on the slightly older side and the general consensus was that they are only young once and if they want to go I should sign them up! So we have that in our future now. I managed to book great times for the Frozen meet & great and the Princess Gathering as well. Oh! And a margarita/tequila tasting for mom and I, too! It looks like it is going to be a great trip!
 
Over a year ago, I designed our t-shirts for this cruise. The last set of t-shirts for our family cruise had all of our favorite characters in full color. This time, I wanted to do something that looked very different from our last family logo, so I did all of our favorite characters in silhouette. There were some character changes on this shirt. I switched my favorite character from Crush to Cheshire Cat, my oldest girl chose Joy over Anna, my middle girl decided Minnie is her favorite instead of Merida, and DH wanted Mr. Incredible to replace Wreck It Ralph. My parents kept their old favorites Mickey and Chip N' Dale. I chose different shades of red and blue for all of our shirts to coordinate with DCL's colors and the hairbows that I purchased off of Etsy for my girls. I used a printing company that I have used for many years, Customized Girl. Their quality has always been excellent and their customer service is top notch! I'm so happy that we are close enough to our cruise date that I was finally able to order our family cruise shirts! They turned out pretty fantastic!


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