We’ll blame the Force: The UnDisney family on their 5th cruise - SWDAS (Eastern) Jan 28-Feb 4, 2017

I enjoyed your trip report! We will be getting off the Magic the day you're getting on! We're doing the 7 nt Northern European one. Your cruise interested us, but it didn't work for multiple reasons...number one: our place holder expires on 8/14/18! Also, my oldest starts college that fall...no idea 'when' we'll need to drop her off or when she'll have orientation--most colleges seem to have them in mid-late June or late August, so a cruise ending on 8/26 is too late for us. DD17 really wanted to see Norway...but the thought of 'marzipan making' in Tallinn and 'feeding reindeer' in Helsinki make her happy. I'd love to visit Iceland someday, there is so much for this geology major to see...and I want to see the Aurora Borealis too... I hope you get to make this trip to work, sounds like a great one!

Oooh - I'll trust you'll leave the ship in good shape. :) We're cutting it a bit close with 8/26 with Conor's school (he would be most upset to miss day 1) but I think we'll just head straight back after, and hope he's not too jet lagged. (And/or send in wine for his teacher?)

Conor may yet be a geologist- he certainly LOVES rocks, and they appear all over my house ALL THE TIME.

Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

First, I ADORE your report and love your writing style! Second, your comment above made me laugh. Typically, we avoid packing (because it reminds us that we have to end vacation) until after the late show on the final night. Then we throw things into suitcases haphazardly (and a bit frantically) in order to get them outside the door by whatever deadline (10:00??). Maybe I'll try a different approach on the next cruise (if there ever is a next one - kids are old now and don't care anymore which is a little sad).

Off to finish reading . . .

Oh no, no, no - I could never do that! Do you fly that same day? This is definitely part of my stress ... my anxiety comes out with luggage rules and planes.

I'm glad you're enjoying it!
 
Oh no, no, no - I could never do that! Do you fly that same day? This is definitely part of my stress ... my anxiety comes out with luggage rules and planes.

I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Ha ha - no - we drive down (about 12 hours for us). So we just sort everything out when we get home. I hate packing!
 
Thanks for an another entertaining trip report!
So far the Alaska cruise has also been our favorite. We did an Northern Europe DCL and a week in Iceland with a free(!) layover with Icelandair on the way to Copenhagen. It was awesome and we just rented a car and a house via VRBO and did day trips from our base. It was awesome! Just an idea since you DH is interested in Iceland and two days is really not enough.
Where do you suggest vacationing in Newfoundland? We like to escape the heat in the summer (Texas) and your mentioning of Newfoundland put it on the list.

Thanks!
 


Thanks for an another entertaining trip report!
So far the Alaska cruise has also been our favorite. We did an Northern Europe DCL and a week in Iceland with a free(!) layover with Icelandair on the way to Copenhagen. It was awesome and we just rented a car and a house via VRBO and did day trips from our base. It was awesome! Just an idea since you DH is interested in Iceland and two days is really not enough.
Where do you suggest vacationing in Newfoundland? We like to escape the heat in the summer (Texas) and your mentioning of Newfoundland put it on the list.

Thanks!

Oh- I'd better not tell DH or I'd have to miss nearly a month of work! :)

St. John's is the capital of Newfoundland, and its main cultural hub - so I usually suggest that as a home base for a few days (depends on how long you are there)- lots to do, plus lots of day trips 'up the Southern Shore' (Bird sanctuary, archeological dig site, amazing hikes, drives, etc.). If you can stay longer, then it's nice to plan a road trip across the province to see Gross Morn National park- but that's at least a 6-8 hour drive. There are lots of other cultural attractions around the province though- amazing theater, for example (what most of my friends do).

It depends on what you like though. My friends are all mostly in St. John's, so we usually stay there and do day trips - but DH and Conor stay an extra week when I go back to work and they go see family 'out around the bay' - so if you liked Alaska, you'd probably like that too.

It would definitely cool you down (!) - but the people are amazing, there is great food (best meals I've had were at Raymonds in St. John's), and the scenery is breath-taking (when it's not covered in rain, drizzle and fog... locally known as RDF).

Thanks for reading and I'm glad you liked it!


I absolutely LOVE your trip reports!!

Thanks!
 
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Planning for the planners out there- AKA – Paying it forward - part 3.

We may actually be able to get us in the car after this post. We'll see!

Random bit of planning I forgot about in previous posts

There are always these things that I would forget ... except that they were on a list ... which I should have kept, it would seem. Ahem.

Ordering stuff from DCL:

Mostly, this is a step I never forget because it's how I get my coveted escape-from-the-Mouse card, otherwise known as a Rainforest Room pass. It's the stuff you can't order on-line, but you have to call or fax in something.

Since I was going to get getting my get-out-of-crowds-free card, (no, it's not free), I perused the other offerings. In the past, DH wanted a beer package, but since we would be stopping on our way to port- no need this time. However, I did check out the Star Wars room decorating packages, and decided that, in the interest of 'go big or go home', we'd give one of those a try. (Mostly, I was coveting the fuzzy looking throw, as I was generally working on my lists while sitting in freezing cold rinks during skating lessons.)

This to-do item was then delegated to DH, who, to my surprise, added a Rainforest Room pass of his own. That was all done.

Magnets:

My job is to find some ideas on-line and send to DH. He and Conor take it from there. Mickey Death Star was readied quickly.


Pack-a-palooza

Previous readers will remember that I live and die by spreadsheets whilst packing. Fortunately, having cruised a few times before (sigh), I have old spreadsheets to work from, so just as soon as the presents were opened on Christmas day (or thereabouts), they were taken out, dusted off, and updated. The nice thing is that they actually get smaller, mostly, as we realize that we don't need as much, and because Conor is older and thus requires a lot less by way of gear. Somehow, though, this does not translate into needing fewer suitcases.

My husband's packing strategy is as follows:
  • Get out suitcase full of summer stuff that he packed when it got too cold to wear shorts back in September/October or so. This happens on about December 31st- like a month before we leave.
  • Peruse it and admire, in self-satisfied fashion, his packing.
  • Somewhere around 3 days before we leave - add underwear and toiletries and 'things' (whatever that means).
  • Sit around looking smug that he is done.
Despite this, we remain married. Happily.

My packing strategy:
  • Perfect the spreadsheets a month or so out. Colour code items that need to be purchased, and purchase those.
  • Go through the basket of summer clothes to find items on the spreadsheet- and toss them in a suitcase (and I mean toss) - while carefully highlighting them on the spreadsheet in a different colour.
  • Find the other things on the spreadsheet- toss in suitcases.
  • In the evenings leading up to our departure, I take over the living room floor and carefully pack in a balanced fashion between suitcases, highlighting in my final colour when things are neatly packed. This is a somewhat zen process, that is done while listening to a nice audio book, and while sipping a beverage of choice. Yes, it does take up the whole living room. No, this is not annoying.

My spreadsheet categories now amuse me. In addition to the usual "tops", "bottoms", "sleep", "swim", "first aid", and "sanity for the plane", I now have "Star Wars", "Pirate?", and "That Darned Mouse" (Fish Extender stuff, for example).

DH alternates between amusement and frustration at my system, but I will note that my bags are always packed in a strategic fashion. Even he has bought into "everyone has at least 2 outfits in each suitcase"...

Mostly, we don't pack anything too unique or interesting, but for any novice cruisers, I'll note a few key things below that we have found helpful/needed....

  • Luggage scales
So
Planning for the planners out there- AKA – Paying it forward - part 3.

We may actually be able to get us in the car after this post. We'll see!

Random bit of planning I forgot about in previous posts

There are always these things that I would forget ... except that they were on a list ... which I should have kept, it would seem. Ahem.

Ordering stuff from DCL:

Mostly, this is a step I never forget because it's how I get my coveted escape-from-the-Mouse card, otherwise known as a Rainforest Room pass. It's the stuff you can't order on-line, but you have to call or fax in something.

Since I was going to get getting my get-out-of-crowds-free card, (no, it's not free), I perused the other offerings. In the past, DH wanted a beer package, but since we would be stopping on our way to port- no need this time. However, I did check out the Star Wars room decorating packages, and decided that, in the interest of 'go big or go home', we'd give one of those a try. (Mostly, I was coveting the fuzzy looking throw, as I was generally working on my lists while sitting in freezing cold rinks during skating lessons.)

This to-do item was then delegated to DH, who, to my surprise, added a Rainforest Room pass of his own. That was all done.

Magnets:

My job is to find some ideas on-line and send to DH. He and Conor take it from there. Mickey Death Star was readied quickly.


Pack-a-palooza

Previous readers will remember that I live and die by spreadsheets whilst packing. Fortunately, having cruised a few times before (sigh), I have old spreadsheets to work from, so just as soon as the presents were opened on Christmas day (or thereabouts), they were taken out, dusted off, and updated. The nice thing is that they actually get smaller, mostly, as we realize that we don't need as much, and because Conor is older and thus requires a lot less by way of gear. Somehow, though, this does not translate into needing fewer suitcases.

My husband's packing strategy is as follows:
  • Get out suitcase full of summer stuff that he packed when it got too cold to wear shorts back in September/October or so. This happens on about December 31st- like a month before we leave.
  • Peruse it and admire, in self-satisfied fashion, his packing.
  • Somewhere around 3 days before we leave - add underwear and toiletries and 'things' (whatever that means).
  • Sit around looking smug that he is done.
Despite this, we remain married. Happily.

My packing strategy:
  • Perfect the spreadsheets a month or so out. Colour code items that need to be purchased, and purchase those.
  • Go through the basket of summer clothes to find items on the spreadsheet- and toss them in a suitcase (and I mean toss) - while carefully highlighting them on the spreadsheet in a different colour.
  • Find the other things on the spreadsheet- toss in suitcases.
  • In the evenings leading up to our departure, I take over the living room floor and carefully pack in a balanced fashion between suitcases, highlighting in my final colour when things are neatly packed. This is a somewhat zen process, that is done while listening to a nice audio book, and while sipping a beverage of choice. Yes, it does take up the whole living room. No, this is not annoying.

My spreadsheet categories now amuse me. In addition to the usual "tops", "bottoms", "sleep", "swim", "first aid", and "sanity for the plane", I now have "Star Wars", "Pirate?", and "That Darned Mouse" (Fish Extender stuff, for example).

DH alternates between amusement and frustration at my system, but I will note that my bags are always packed in a strategic fashion. Even he has bought into "everyone has at least 2 outfits in each suitcase" to help mitigate when a bag is delayed (helps that he knows my luck). He fails to admire my other strategies though... including: ensuring that the stuff we need the first night at the hotel is always right there when you open the bag (so as to get Conor into bed pronto when needed), ensuring that we can quickly nab what we need on the plane at our seats and then stash the rest of the bag when on the plane, and, well, ensuring that we don't travel south in winter without swim shirts (yeah, bud, you're NEVER going to live that one down...)

Mostly, we don't pack anything too unique or interesting, but for any novice cruisers, I'll note a few key things below that we have found helpful/needed.

  • Booster seat: We do usually bring one for the boyo- not for busses, etc., but usually for rental cars, as we've had bad experiences with what rental companies provide. This is getting to be much less of an issue now that we have an almost 9-year-old of course, but we brought it this trip. (Yes you can gate-check it if you want.)
  • Pennies for "Penny Squishing" machines: there are some at port and at many Disney stores and it's always a pain if you don't have the right change (if you have a collecting kid). Since we Canadians fired the penny a year or so ago, we have a dwindling supply of US pennies now!
  • Packable extra suitcase/duffle - because it's cheaper to check an extra bag on the way back than to pay overweight! We have a nifty one from Mountain Equipment Coop that folds into a pocket but is still quite sturdy.
  • Luggage scales. 'Nuff said.
  • Pirate stuff - there is pirate night AND SWDAS - which was a surprise I learned from the boards. From when he was about 3, Pirates were HUGE in Conor's world ... and then that suddenly faded this year with the passion for Harry - but you may want to pack something to be all pirate-y.
  • Laundry bag: We've not found the pop-up hamper worth the room it takes up. We dedicate a drawer to laundry - when it gets full, we transfer to the laundry bag, and then (amazing) we do laundry.
  • Toys: Sounds obvious, but we still pack some favourites for in the cabin for our much needed downtime (away from screens too at times).
  • Binoculars: Purchased these for the Alaskan cruise, and loved them. Probably not essential for a Caribbean cruise, but still fun.
  • Maple syrup: That stuff on board is ... well, stuff. ICK. #WeAreCanadian
  • Small bag (kid-sized): Dude now likes to have his own bag with his own stuff- helpful as well to bring distractions as needed to supper. DCL conveniently provides a beach bag to Silver & up folks, so I don't pack that anymore. (This is in addition to our family trip backpack.)
  • First aid stuff/over the counter meds: I've reduced how much I pack in terms of clothes (laundry helps) but I have not reduced my 'kit'- and I've used just about everything in it at least once on some trip or other.
  • Snack bags/containers: We have fabric snack bags and plastic containers we use for lunch - we bring a handful of these and use them on the plane, and to store things we bring back from the buffet for room snacks.
  • Contigo hot/cold drink bottles: We love these things. They don't spill, keep drinks hot or cold. Fear not, we don't use them at the beverage station, but we do use them for just about everything else. One each and worth their weight in packing allowance!

In brief, regarding clothing:

  • We basically spend 90% of our time in shorts & t-shirts when not in swim wear or PJs, so that's the main focus.
  • Everyone packs 2 pairs of pants for suppers, plus 2-3 nicer tops. No, it's no longer required, but I mandate it most nights. This way we also all have pants for when it's cooler (they're not that dressy).
  • On that note- everyone has at least 1 hoodie/sweater/cardigan type thing for layering on the plane and at night, and 2 long-sleeve shirts. And socks. More on that below. This is in addition to some kind of light weight jacket (remember- we are leaving from 'depths of January cold'!)
  • We double-duty formal night and semi-formal night for the most part - this year I actually had a formal dress, but it was small and packed easily. Conor wears the same on both nights (pics to follow...) and DH just ditches the jacket on semi-formal night.
  • Shoes are the enemy of lightweight packing. We aim for one pair of dressy shoes (me and DH- Conor wears what he has), 1 good pair of walking shoes/hiking boots, 1 pair of runners (me), 1 good pair of sandals, 1 pair of flip flops, 2 pair of swim shoes (Conor). Mostly we don't succeed and at least one extra pair sneak in... how???? However, we toss all the shoes into the packed extra bag - which is smaller so can handle the weight of the shoes on the way back.
  • Conor gets 3 sets of swim wear (because sand)- the rest of us are fine with one.
  • One must pack one's Star Wars things of course. :)
  • We plan on laundry mid-way through and pack accordingly re: shorts & t-shirts.

I think that's it for packing (well, I could go on, but will elect to exert some self-control) so I will get us on the road in the next post. At this point, I'll be honest and note that I was about 80% packed by Wednesday night (we were heading out Thursday afternoon), comfortable in the knowledge that I would have most of Thursday morning and early afternoon to pack. Famous last words!

(There will be photos in the next post. Promise.)
so I've never been the most efficient packer... I have never even thought of the "two outfits in every suitcase"... amazing idea. And I'm super curious (as someone who does tend to overpack) what is a luggage scale?!?!! Something portable? Great details here, thanks for taking the time to post!!
 
Another wonderful trip report! Thanks for taking us along again (I've read all of the previous ones over the years). Alaska was our favorite as well and we're very tempted by the cruise to Iceland as well, even though we really do prefer warm weather. :goodvibes:
 
I did a search for the Baths excursion and stumbled upon your trip report. Then I got sucked in and read the whole thing today! I loved it, thanks! We share a lot of the same obsessive tendencies ;)

We are cruising the Eastern itinerary on the Fantasy in May and I was hoping to book the Baths excursion. After some research (and confirmation with your trip report) it looks like booking it on our own is the better option. I was also looking at Speedy's Ferry. Happy to see you reviewed them well. And I can really just buy tickets that day?

One question about the baths I have is what do you do with your stuff? You walk the caves and water filled rocky areas the whole way down to the beach, correct? So are there lockers at the top or do you lug it all down with you? It's not too intense for a beach bag, right? Or you don't really get that wet?
 
Another wonderful trip report! Thanks for taking us along again (I've read all of the previous ones over the years). Alaska was our favorite as well and we're very tempted by the cruise to Iceland as well, even though we really do prefer warm weather. :goodvibes:

I'm sorry- I missed this! Thanks. :)

I did a search for the Baths excursion and stumbled upon your trip report. Then I got sucked in and read the whole thing today! I loved it, thanks! We share a lot of the same obsessive tendencies ;)

We are cruising the Eastern itinerary on the Fantasy in May and I was hoping to book the Baths excursion. After some research (and confirmation with your trip report) it looks like booking it on our own is the better option. I was also looking at Speedy's Ferry. Happy to see you reviewed them well. And I can really just buy tickets that day?

One question about the baths I have is what do you do with your stuff? You walk the caves and water filled rocky areas the whole way down to the beach, correct? So are there lockers at the top or do you lug it all down with you? It's not too intense for a beach bag, right? Or you don't really get that wet?


I'm glad you enjoyed it! You can definitely just buy tickets the same day- that was very easy, and it wasn't at all full on the boat.

We brought minimal stuff with us- each of us had a small-ish back pack (or 2 of the 3 of us did, maybe?) - we were wearing our swim things and all we had was clean clothes, towels, sun screen, water and wallets/ID, camera (extra sandals would have been smart). I'd recommend a back pack vs. a beach bag, as you have to hike a bit through water, climb rocks, etc (if you go that way) and I definitely wanted 2 hands free. I handed my pack off to my husband once or twice I think to get through some tighter spaces.


The first part is just walking down the hill on trails- not super-easy, but not bad. But then- when you get to the rocks- it's harder. It's not a light hike. You have to actually climb up and down big rocks - including some slightly rickety ladders and rope ladders. Sometimes, the water was up to my thighs- I had shorts on over my swim suit, and they were wet (long shorts). I just hung them in a tree on the beach to dry off.

There were lockers at the bottom, but we didn't use them so I'm not sure how they work - they're next to the canteen, I think. (Just checked with DH- he agrees.) We generally always just have one of us sit on a towel (I volunteer for this) on the beach with our things, and take turns with Conor in the water.

The hike back up was much easier- so if you're worried, you can come down that way to the beach, and then just venture into the caves as far as you're comfortable and come back to the beach . Hope that makes sense.

If not... let me know!
 
Just wanted to wish you, Conor and DH a very Happy New Year. I finally got a chance to finish reading your last few posts about this trip. Thanks again for sharing your DCL memories and hard faught for travel knowledge lol!:worship:
 
Very detailed answer. Just what I was looking for. Thanks a bunch!

You're welcome! I went back and fixed the last few photos too.

Just wanted to wish you, Conor and DH a very Happy New Year. I finally got a chance to finish reading your last few posts about this trip. Thanks again for sharing your DCL memories and hard faught for travel knowledge lol!:worship:

Thank you - and Happy New Year to you too!
Love Love Love your trip reports.....thank you so much for sharing :tinker::mickeyjum:stitch::simba::goofy::darth::chewy:

Thanks!
 

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