The "Double Double-Dip" 17 Day Florida Vacation - 1,233 Pictures Report

[d4est]

I have another question...about transportation.

You used a car service to get to Comfort Suites (at the airport?). Then you used a shuttle (airport? $3/pp is wicked cheap!). Did you use the same shuttle to return to MCO for your flight home? I am trying to figure out the best/cheapest form of transportation that will allow us to stop for beer and water.

Thanks!

 

[t-and-a]

Barb,
I just have to say.........you do the bestest trip reports in the world!

 

[bubba's mom]

I have another question...about transportation.

You used a car service to get to Comfort Suites (at the airport?). Then you used a shuttle (airport? $3/pp is wicked cheap!). Did you use the same shuttle to return to MCO for your flight home? I am trying to figure out the best/cheapest form of transportation that will allow us to stop for beer and water.

Thanks!

Yep...I booked the car service 3 ways: mco to PBH, PBH to CI&S (at Port Canaveral) ...shuttle from CI&S to port is $3 each way....(after cruise we rented a car to take for the week to my FILs and back to PBH). Then, he picked us up at PBH to MCO. Worked great.

(please email me if you'd like the name of the wonderful car service company I used.....cannot post it here)

 

[bubba's mom]

Barb,
I just have to say.........you do the bestest trip reports in the world!

 

[macraven]

ahem.........the post times are screwed up on the dis.

they are still way off........

 

[keishashadow]

good to know about the pics!

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 6 - Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Nassau Day

Today was a late start. We've been up earlier than what we like to be (on vacation) the past few days, so we thought we'd sleep in a bit, take our time, have a leisurely morning and catch the buffet at Beach Blanket for breakfast... but they closed before their posted time of 10:30. We were there by 10:20 and told they were no longer serving, head to Parrot Cay's buffet breakfast. okay.... So, back down 6 decks we went (via elevator) to Parrot Cay. We waited a couple minutes to be seated because I had requested a table for 4, not a larger table. Like I said, it was just a few minutes and then we were seated.

No shortage of food selection here either. Fruit, muffins, eggs (which, come to think of it, weren't 'done'. How do you undercook scrambled eggs? ) There was an omlet station and all the usual fixin's of pastries, bacon, etc.... It only took about 30-40 minutes to eat and then we had planned to go into Nassau and show Bubba another country. (He's never been out of the United States.)

Well, we realized it was raining

a bit too hard to head into town....so, we looked for something else to do. Picture of Atlantis from the ship in the rain. We ended up in Diversions. They had a family Wii competition scheduled. Now, we don't own a Wii and I don't think Bubba has played it very much at friends' houses, so he was willing to give it a whirl. He happened to give it a whirl against a younger girl who DOES have a Wii at home and is pretty good at it.

First, she beat him at bowling. I can't remember his score, but for never playing it before, he did pretty well we thought!

Next, they tried their hand at tennis. What a riot this was! Bubba had a lot of fun with this game. He was so physcially 'into' it....a bit humorous to watch. While they were playing tennis, some other kids and their families gathered in and it was time to take turns. The CM played in the foursome on the last round of tennis. What she didn't tell the rambuncous boys that were playing was that she plays tennis regularly...and, she's really good at it on the Wii Needless to say, rambuncous boys lost...and not gracefully After that match, the CM put the Wii away, as I think she needed to run to another activity.

It was still raining, so we decided to hang out in Diversions. They have all sorts of games in this room. Board games around the edge of the room. Chess. Checkers. Backgammon. That giant Jenga I was tellin' ya about....although, Bubba kept yelling JengO! They even had a putt-putt there that we all gave a whirl at...and, yes, we all stink!

We even noticed a RCCL ship pulling in next to us...think it was Majesty of the Sea.

We checked again around 1pm, and the rain finally let up. Now was our chance to take Bubba ashore. BUT, we only had less than an hour to do so, because at 2pm, the Oceaneer Lab was scheduled to make cookies...something he wanted to do. Okay...so, we buzzed off the ship and took a long walk around a few blocks of Nassau.

Random Nassau pix.

Aft of Wonder. Aft a little closer. A little closer yet. My son's first visit to Nassau. Our family in Nassau. Mom and Bubba and all of us.

Walking around Nassau. Bubba at Hard Rock. More Nassau. Still walking around Nassau.

While we were walking around, Bubba starts laughing and tells me to take a picture of this sign. Our running family joke is my DH always takes a picture of me taking a picture! ...he chooses this moment!

This was an interesting tree. Not sure what this building was, but that's what you get when you don't pay for the 'guided' tour .

Sightseeing. My son & Bacardi.

We kept an eye on the time and headed back to the ship to ensure Bubba would be on time to make those cookies.

We made it just in time...they were just starting.

Just after 2pm, with Bubba happily deposited back in the Lab for his cookie-makin', DH & Mom wanted something to eat themselves. We stopped by the cabin to pick up Shrek so we could take his picture after lunch and noticed we had a nice platter of cheese, crackers and fruit there. Again...nice surprise. After picking up Shrek, and sampling that nice plate of munchies, our plan was to head up to Goofys for a cheeseburger because we thought Beach Blanket Buffet was closed.

When we got off the elevator and we noticed Beach Blanket Buffet was actually open, so, we decided to eat there instead.

Nice lunch spread and we ate outside on deck. Too bad it was cloudy and rainy that day....a sunny day would have been nice. A view of Atlantis while eating lunch...sure beats the cafeteria at work! We could also look down on secret Deck 7 & 8 from Beach Blanket Buffet....and somebody's verandah It's a beautiful view from the aft at Beach Blanket Buffet, I highly recommend a meal out there if you have a nice view!

DH had the (imitation) Philly cheesesteak and some crab legs....I forget what Mom had, but took a picture of her dessert.

After lunch, Mom went back to her cabin to rest, while we went to secret Decks 7 and 8 and took some pictures. (This would be where we went around the ship and took ALL of our Shrek's Vacation pictures...thank you Penny! )

Here's a picture of Nassau from Deck 7. Here's a picture of the room next door's verandah. I even found another DISer...on her honeymoon! I ended up leaving her a note in her fish congratulating her and wishing her a wonderful honeymoon (new husband prolly thought she & I were off our rocker.. !)

In addition to Shrek pictures, we also took some shots of the ship too! 1 , 2 , stairs to nowhere and stairs to somewhere.

Random ship pix:
Pinocchio's , Pluto's Dog House and menu, the 24hr. drink station on Deck 9, (drink station 2) and (drink station 3) , lobby outside of Beach Blanket Buffet, a few shots of Palo...that we didn't eat at, Palo 1 , Palo 2 , and Palo 3, the Buena Vista theater , (and inside) , Triton's and atrium 1, and atrium 2 , Guest Services (where I applied my OBC), hallway to the Promenade Lounge, Walt Disney Theater, Treasure Ketch and Mickey's Mates SHOPPING!, the "lobby" area of Diversions, WaveBands and Cadillac Lounge...love the whole Rte. 66 themeing!

Have to love their attention to detail. Picture of the atrium/Triton's and chandelier.

About 4:30, we decided we better retrieve the boy and head back to start getting ready for dinner. This was the view from our cabin...the gangway was just below our window (well, 1 over!)

Dinner was the same restaurant as last night...Parrot Cay. I think it was Canada Day or something...Bubba wanted to take this picture of a cake on the way in....and the chocolate Mickey.

This was also considered 'dress' night. But, it was the most casual 'dress' night I've ever seen. I don't think I saw anyone in a suit...maybe a tie/shirt for the guys, but that was it. Girls had on sundresses or capri's. I remember my Mom asking a CM the first day aboard about dressing for dinner (as she was comfy in her shorts and didn't want to change) and the CM told her it was more of a 'guideline' than anything. So, I guess you are able to dress more casual/comfy at dinner than we think.

For 'dress' night, my son and husband wore nice/dress/polo shirts with jeans...and let me tell you, they fit right in with everyone else in the dining room!

We had a nice dinner at Parrot Cay tonight. DH had the Baked Crab Martinique appetizer , Bubba ordered the Pasta shells with a mushroom cream sauce (and liked it very much), DH had the Island Roasted Rib-Eye of Beef with a double baked potato & green beans, I had the Mixed Grill which consisted of: grilled beef tenderloin, lambchop, bacon wrapped sausage and jumbo shrimp w/ a cabernet mushroom sauce and Mom had the Baby Back Pork Ribs with prickly, pear bbq sauce and sweet potato fries. Dessert consisted of: creme brulee cheesecake, which, Mom didn't want 'brulee cheesecake', so the server ran to Tritons and got her regular creme brulee. I had an ice cream sundae and I can't remember what Bubba had...but here's a picture of it and him eating it!

After dinner, on our way back to deposit Bubba back in the kids Lab, we saw the long lines for photos with Mickey and Minnie down in the atrium....they were dressed in their fancy duds.

We stopped by our cabin to (see our monkey and) grab our videocamera and tripod. Our plan was to go ashore and take some night pictures while in Nassau.

We left Mom onboard, Bubba in the Lab and we headed off the ship about 8:30 to get some pictures. It was a beautiful night and since the second seating of dinner was getting under way, it wasn't crowded.

Random night pix in Nassau: Our cabin is the lit one (above & right to gangway) with the red shirt (Thing 4 shirt) hanging in the window , Disney Wonder, navy ship , straw market in background, Atlantis at night, closeup of Atlantis, RCCL Sovereign of the Seas (interestingly enough, this was the EXACT ship DH & I were on 5 years ago. I remember being docked in Nassau those 5 years ago and seeing the Disney ship and thinking "one day we'll be on THAT ship". How 'bout that?) Carnival Sensation was docked there too.

Pix of the Wonder at night docked in Nassau:

1 , 2 and 3.

Here's a pic of us...didn't come out, but still funny!

About 9:15pm, we decided to head back on board.

And, while we were at it, take some night pictures aboard the Wonder. Mickey (kiddie) pool. Goofy (family) pool. A few pix of a rather empty Quiet Cove (adult) pool.

Then, we headed up to Deck 10. Looking off the front of the ship (not so windy this time, we were still docked in Nassau).

After taking pictures, we headed to Wavebands for Lynn Trefzger's adult show. Very good show....very funny! Her show was 1/2 hour and then they had Rock and Country hour. We stayed for a little while, then headed up on deck to enjoy the view and quiet.

I remember sitting in our cabin waiting for 1am to roll around so we could pick Bubba up from the kids lab. We wanted him to be there as much as he wanted and possibly could, as I don't think he'll ever get the chance to go back. We picked him up at 1am and it was him and 3 or 4 other guys left there. They were having a blast on the one computer with Rollercoaster Tycoon. We hated to break up his fun, but the Lab was going to close in 10 minutes anyway, so we told him we had to get ready to go.

We headed back and got ready to hit the hay.

Not an overly 'exciting' day....but busy nonetheless.....

 

[macraven]

kewl !!

 

[d4est]

Another awesome installment!

This pic is great:

You look like ghosts...wondering howd'ja do that???

 

[RVGal]

Another awesome installment!

This pic is great:

You look like ghosts...wondering howd'ja do that???

I was going to say the same thing! Barb, did you decide to leave yours and & Randy's spirits behind to haunt Nassau?

 

[tlinus]

what a great installment and AWESOME night shots!! You used a tripod for them?? I need to get me a small tripod - my hands shake too stinkin much for night shots!

thanks for sharing - and always remember to protect ya tings!!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Loving the latest installments Your trip report has got me really excited for our next cruise - and we still have 14 months to go. Phooey

 

[loribell]

Oh boy! Another update! Thanks so much for all the info.

 

[bubba's mom]

Barb, did you decide to leave yours and & Randy's spirits behind to haunt Nassau?

what a great installment and AWESOME night shots!! You used a tripod for them?? I need to get me a small tripod - my hands shake too stinkin much for night shots!

okay....story behind the 'ghost' picture.....

Randy set the camera on timer on the tripod and ran to stand next to me before the picture took. When you have the nightshot on the lens is open longer to capture the low light...and anything that moves turns out blurry. That was the first shot that I didn't post....the picture I DID post was similiar as we set the camera up and BOTH ran before the timer ran out. We figured out the more ya move, the blurrier you get! So, we ran with it and had some fun altho....I wouldn't mind leaving a piece of me behind in the caribbean

Tracie...yes, when using your nightshot, just pressing the shutter button will cause blurriness...you have to use a tripod and I highly recommend you use the timer too. We got ours at Walmart...a Targus $12 that is about 9" folded up, but 43" when fully extended

 

[macraven]

i love your stuff

 

[tlinus]

oh and BTW - guess who watched the Disney Cruise Line Special on the Travel Channel Saturday and read Navigators that some special person mailed and is now very "intrigued and interested" in doing a 4 night next September

still insists on the whole rogue wave theory - but he can get over it, he laughs while saying it now!!

will look into the tripod and the rolling cooler at Walmart this week

 

[ashleylovesthebeach]

Loving your trip report! I have been on Disney once but did not take my children. I am glad to hear some one give a report who's child actually enjoyed the clubs. While on the cruise I saw many children who appeared to be having a great time at the clubs however, on here I hear a lot of people say their children weren't interested. I am going to try and plan a family cruise next year and am very excited!

 

[keishashadow]

oh and BTW - guess who watched the Disney Cruise Line Special on the Travel Channel Saturday and read Navigators that some special person mailed and is now very "intrigued and interested" in doing a 4 night next September

still insists on the whole rogue wave theory - but he can get over it, he laughs while saying it now!!

will look into the tripod and the rolling cooler at Walmart this week

we bought one out @ Sams ($21) has a detachable beach bag & tested it out last week ; stuff still cold as promised the next day. the 1/2 off deposits end soon, can't remember when...details on cruise board.

barb - ur a great storyteller . How cool to stay so late in Nassau, looks better @ night . As usual a Q...was that rib steak still mooing?how did Randy order it - over easy ? seriously, did he order it rare?

 

[yankeepenny]

For anyone of you wondering

SHREK

is still sleeping off his vacation.

 

[bubba's mom]

oh and BTW - guess who watched the Disney Cruise Line Special on the Travel Channel Saturday and read Navigators that some special person mailed and is now very "intrigued and interested" in doing a 4 night next September

still insists on the whole rogue wave theory - but he can get over it, he laughs while saying it now!!

will look into the tripod and the rolling cooler at Walmart this week

Happy Birthday....in style! How kewl would THAT be?! Having the kids there, but NOT!

I am glad to hear some one give a report who's child actually enjoyed the clubs. While on the cruise I saw many children who appeared to be having a great time at the clubs however, on here I hear a lot of people say their children weren't interested. I am going to try and plan a family cruise next year and am very excited!

My son LOVED the club. He wants to go back! He enjoyed the activites and the computer games there! He even participated in the Wii Mario Cart competition....now he tells me he doesn't care for the game? BUT, had fun while doing it there! I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but Bubba is an only child and has always easily entertained himself He makes friends easily too. But, he loved it...couldn't wait to be there, didn't want to leave! He "closed down" the club every night except the first night (because we had an early morning the next day!). I don't know how old your kids are, but I'm sure they wouldn't be bored!

As usual a Q...was that rib steak still mooing?how did Randy order it - over easy ? seriously, did he order it rare?

nope...he ordered it medium...delicious too he said! (sez he orders 'medium' if he thinks the place knows what they're doing. if not, he orders 'well')

For anyone of you wondering

SHREK

is still sleeping off his vacation.

WOW! How is he feeling by the way? He fell while on the trip....