May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 5

[granmaz]

We did the Pirate Adventure in PV on our 2005 DCL cruise and I can highly recommend it. Yes, it was a 2 hour boat ride but they put on a pirate show in both directions and it was a blast. Part of the show was a gun duel and they also had a small boat pull along side the Margilante and board her as if they were taking it over...it was very exciting. Breakfast was OK, lunch was great. The private beach was loads of fun and they also had banana boat rides. It was AWESOME!

That sounds a lot of fun, but I think I'll give it a miss!!!

 

[LiserAnn]

Great I think that is what we'll do then. Was it available to book through DCL and was there anytime for shopping or are there shops close to the port?

It was available to book through DCL although I booked it well in advance through www. vallarta online. com (take the spaces out) and saved a bundle. We walked to the Margilante on our own so we boarded before the DCL people and had a front row seat. The DCL people all had to collect on Deck 1 before they could leave....we breezed right past them, that was the way to go. If you decide to book it outside of DCL, pm me and I'll give you additional tips.

 

[lillygator]

We want to do the zipline but it would mean we'd have to leave the kids onboard (they'd be too scared to do it)...what was your fiasco if you don't mind me asking?

we had a tour planned to visit the pyramids with other DIS'ers and it wasn't a DCL sponsored tour. Samantha was in the club and Haley was in Flounder's - which closed in the early afternoon. The end of the tour we were stoppiing in a small village to drop off school supplies and we hit a power line with our bus and were late getting back to the ship. John had dropped off the girls and didn't tell the clubs we would be off the ship and we were like an 1 and 45 minutes past the closing of Flounders...I was not sure what would happen but they took Haley to the club to be with Samantha. I was a wreck though and I just know I would worry if I left them on again. DCL was great though and Haley was so excited to be in the club.

 

[HollyTyler]

how cool. My bday falls on a Tuesday this year!

Do you get Tyler every other weekend?

He goes to his dad's every Wed, Thurs, Fri. His dad picks him up from my house after work every Wed. & I pick him up from his dad's every Saturday at 5pm.

 

[LiserAnn]

we had a tour planned to visit the pyramids with other DIS'ers and it wasn't a DCL sponsored tour. Samantha was in the club and Haley was in Flounder's - which closed in the early afternoon. The end of the tour we were stoppiing in a small village to drop off school supplies and we hit a power line with our bus and were late getting back to the ship. John had dropped off the girls and didn't tell the clubs we would be off the ship and we were like an 1 and 45 minutes past the closing of Flounders...I was not sure what would happen but they took Haley to the club to be with Samantha. I was a wreck though and I just know I would worry if I left them on again. DCL was great though and Haley was so excited to be in the club.

Got it...we did decide that if we did a zipline tour it would have to be through DCL for that very reason. We were told by DCL that if you're on a DCL sponsored tour and you're late getting back they'll hold the ship. That's my concern about being on a non DCL tour--leaving the kids behind and somehow being late and the ship leaves with my kids on it and not us. That would be just awful!!!

 

[lillygator]

Got it...we did decide that if we did a zipline tour it would have to be through DCL for that very reason. We were told by DCL that if you're on a DCL sponsored tour and you're late getting back they'll hold the ship. That's my concern about being on a non DCL tour--leaving the kids behind and somehow being late and the ship leaves with my kids on it and not us. That would be just awful!!!

Yes, I would just worry too much, plus I want them to experience it all as well. They drove around in the jeep with us on Cozumel and had a blast, both fell asleep on the way back to the ship.

 

[lillygator]

we leave for Disney next Tuesday afternoon. We have all our ADR's set but I am not planning much as I want to be lazy and have fun...maybe even just go to the water parks during the day and theme parks in the evening.

 

[threebritts]

Thank you! By the way, this is another record for you! 5 or so posts in a day?! Dang girl, you need to have days off work more often! LOL!!!!!

I know , scary huh LOL
Well next 4 days will be work and sleep LOL
I think im getting too old for nights though, dont sleep as good as I used to during the day but love not dealing with the hospital politics day nurses have to.

Im thinking we might do that pirate excursion too, my "2" kids ( dh and dd lol) would love that one.

Anyone know of the Aruba excursions to do with kids? Know alot of people go there for the bar scene, which is fine but we'll have Beth.
Dont worry though Holly I can help you stagger back to ship if need be LMAO

 

[katypop]

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Yippee! I just realized my birthday falls on a Friday this year, for the first time in a long time! So I'm going to ask for that day off work and start celebrating Thursday, since Tyler will be at his dad's anyway until Saturday. BUT it's also Labor Day weekend, and Labor Day just happens to be his dad's holiday this year, so whenever that happens, I always let him keep him straight through instead of bringing him home, to avoid uprooting Tyler even more with the back and forth garbage. So I'll have a whole weekend long birthday celebration!

So Holly, your birthday is Aug31? Mine too! Of course mine will be the big 50

yes, I would like to do the zip line and the dolphin swim, there is one dolphin swim I can book that has something for both girls as well. I am sure Samantha would love it.

I am interested in both of these too. I am starting to stress about the "little things" though, not having done a cruise before. Since I'm solo, anyone know if I can safely leave whatever I need to bring for the day somewhere? Assuming I'll need a little money, sandals (some excursions say closed toe shoes and I won't want to be stuck in them all day) camera, sunscreen ...

 

[lillygator]

you shouldn't have a problem leaving things...we left stuff on the bus and it was fine. I wouldn't leave anything I wouldn't want to get stolen as there is always that chance.

 

[granmaz]

we leave for Disney next Tuesday afternoon. We have all our ADR's set but I am not planning much as I want to be lazy and have fun...maybe even just go to the water parks during the day and theme parks in the evening.

Oh, I hope you have a great time. Where are you eating?

We are staying at POP for 4 nights in December so would be interested in your thoughts.

I know , scary huh LOL
Well next 4 days will be work and sleep LOL
I think im getting too old for nights though, dont sleep as good as I used to during the day but love not dealing with the hospital politics day nurses have to.

I trained as a nurse, though have forgotten more than I learnt now! I loved nights when I was training, but once married and back at work the sleeping during the day was a problem.

I always found the night staff were blamed for everything. The consultant got cross with the next in line down, then they got took it out on the one below him, and so on till it reached the head nurse, who blamed her deputy, and eventually it all became the night nurse's fault!!

 

[katypop]

you shouldn't have a problem leaving things...we left stuff on the bus and it was fine. I wouldn't leave anything I wouldn't want to get stolen as there is always that chance.

Thanks, good to know

 

[lillygator]

We like Pop a lot....it's fun and something different. The rooms aren't overly huge but still easy to get around in and the pools are fun themes as well.

 

[threebritts]

Oh, I hope you have a great time. Where are you eating?

We are staying at POP for 4 nights in December so would be interested in your thoughts.



I trained as a nurse, though have forgotten more than I learnt now! I loved nights when I was training, but once married and back at work the sleeping during the day was a problem.

I always found the night staff were blamed for everything. The consultant got cross with the next in line down, then they got took it out on the one below him, and so on till it reached the head nurse, who blamed her deputy, and eventually it all became the night nurse's fault!!

Oh you are so right and didnt realize as much until I took a charge position and now its your nurse did that and not that. I often have to remind them that we do the chart checks on nights and find all the missing orders not done on days.Not only that they think the patients sleep all night HA! especially here because the elderly get sundowners and are confused at night.

 

[gydell]

Paradise resort is wonderful! It even has a mall in it. The desciption says it's a 4 hr excursion. Why couldn't you stay all day? Or am I reading it wrong?

 

[Ginamarie]

Gydell- glad you got the picture thing to work!

Holly- Cute pictures.. looks like you guys had a great time.

John- Sounds like you guys had a great time in NYC. I loved Wicked too. We saw it twice because after I saw it, I had to go back to see it again with my sisters!
Great pictures!!

Kaylee- That’s so funny that we had the same conversations about Miley Cyrus at the end of the movie. I still have to apologize to my sisters!

Deb- I bet you’re going to love Las Vegas. DH and I went there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. There’s a lot to see and do!


Oooh, we actually have a supersuppers here now- it’s new. For anyone who’s done it- how many people can you serve with an entrée realistically? They want like $140 for six entrees.

I’m going to pretend no one mentioned Christmas! I actually did a little shopping for the kids, but I need to take it easy with the gifts as I usually go overboard and can’t afford to do it when our cruise deposit is going to be due!

 

[granmaz]

We need to support each other in our withdrawal symptoms of cutting down on Christmas shopping!!

 

[LiserAnn]

Oooh, we actually have a supersuppers here now- it’s new. For anyone who’s done it- how many people can you serve with an entrée realistically? They want like $140 for six entrees.

Ginamarie-Well, I've been to Dream Dinners, but they're all the same, from my understanding. Normally the recipe serves 6 people, which is why I split my meals, because we're a family of 4. So for example, if it's a chicken breast dish, I split it when I'm at the shop preparing the meal and when I take it out of the freezer, I also take out a chicken breast that I've frozen on it's own. I prepare the meal as the directions say, just adding the 4th chix breast.

If it's a casserole style dish, I split it and split it usually has at least 4-5 servings. (The unsplit dish is put in a 9x13 to give you an idea, so while they say it serves 6, we all know a 9x13 serves way more than that). Most of those places offer a "try me" sample. I would do that to make sure the concept works for you and your family.

So, bottom line, if you do the six entree and split them, you can get 12 meals for $140, which isn't bad!

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

speaking of excurscions, I don't know if anyone is interested, but I read about one in PV I think that's actually swimming with sea lions. I'll try to find the info again and post it. I think it was like half snorkeling and half swimming with the animals.

 

[GatorFamily]

V-have you ever heard of Dream Dinners (www.dreamdinners.com) or super suppers (www.supersuppers.com)? Basically you go there and prepare 12, six serving meals that you then take home, freeze and thaw out when you're ready to cook them. When you go to prepare your food, they have stations where the recipe is listed and all the fresh ingredients are already cut, diced, etc. there for you...all you have to do is measure, prepare and put it in the container and slap an instruction label on it. It costs around $200 and the times I went, I split my meals into two containers so I came home with almost 24 meals. They taste much better than frozen dinners and it's great to have it all ready to cook...something to check out if you're household is busy!!!

I used to go there all the time. I've been to both(we have one in our neighborhood) and they have great food. I don't know if they both do it but supper suppers will even put the food together for you so you don't have to...that's what I do if I'm bringing a meal to someone who's sick or just had a baby. I only do it as gifts not for my family anymore because like having a cleaning lady you get dependent on it. It's a nice treat and good food though