We put the DYS in Functional, Completing our ABC’s

jenseib

Mommy to Claire
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Hello again!


For those that don’t know me, I am Jen…For those that do…Glad to see you!


It’s time to write up my latest trip report! I am still working on editing pictures, so like usual, it does take me a while to get everything posted.

I will be changing some people’s names or referring to them with an initial to keep their privacy and some events will not be detailed for some of the same reasons….but for the most part, I tell it like it is to the best of my memory.


This trip took place Jan 25-Feb. 4, 2019. We sailed the Disney Wonder, which was our Grand Slam cruise.


If you have read any of my former reports, you probably know we usually have a hiccup or 2 each trip. I always say if someone says they had a perfect trip they are lying! Well maybe that is because we usually have at least one issue, and I can’t imagine anyone could have everything go perfectly. Or maybe we just have that kind of luck?

This trip did not disappoint and we had a few hiccups and one major hiccup, which all worked out in the end.


I will start by giving some background info and some of the “players” in this report. The background part can be a little boring, but it will set the stage for all about to come later in the actual report part. There will be a lot of writing in the first couple updates, but once we get going there will be lots of pictures too!


I will start by introducing my family.

There is me. I am lucky enough to work from home and I have my dream job! That being said, there are days I want to scream and I can put in long hours and then there are days where I don’t do anything. Because of the nature of the business, you can’t always predict your hours or level of business. I will say that once I plan a vacation, I tend to get slammed with business and the week leading up usually is crazy.

One of the trade offs for my crazy business is that when you reach a certain level in the business you can sometimes get perks and/or discounts. These are similar to Florida Resident Rates, Military Rates, Cast Member rates, Interline rates…..you get the idea. These are not always available, so it’s not something to count on, but I check from time to time to see if anything might be available for a time I would like to vacation.


Next up is Claire, my 14 year old daughter. She usually travels with me if I am not traveling for business. She loves to travel and knows she is spoiled rotten. This cruise was her 7th Disney cruise I believe.


Then my husband, Skip. Skip is a farmer. He has been a dairy farmer his whole life and last year they sold the dairy cows and have made the transition to beef cows. He doesn’t vacation with us often and this was going to be our first family vacation in many years….our last one being an Alaskan Cruise on Norwegian.


We also had some friends join us this sailing….friends I have sailed with before and was delighted to have the chance to sail with them again.


J, who I have sailed my last 2 cruises with (our last being in July of 2018) and her new boyfriend MK. Then PT (who J and I also sailed with in June/July of 2017) and her husband F and one of their sons, Z. And then T and her new husband D. I met T last summer after our cruise. She is a friend of J’s and she was already on this sailing long before we booked.


Now you know the basic players….or do you? Wahhhahhhhahhhh!!!!!!
 
YES! I am here! Can't wait to read all about it. (Just got back from DLRP and need some distraction before we return to WDW!) :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:
 


YAY!!! So glad you started this TR. :) Sounds like a great group to travel with although I'll miss your mama tagging along.
 


I enjoy your TRs. Looking forward to this one!
 
Thanks everyone for joining! I am off to a slower start than I planned. The flu hit me this weekend and I am finally feeling well enough to sit up and "think". It seems like when you are sick, any thinking involved just kills the brain!

YES! I am here! Can't wait to read all about it. (Just got back from DLRP and need some distraction before we return to WDW!) :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

Woohoo. That sounds like fun! I'll have to watch for a TR...I've been bad about reading lately.

I am ready to Cruise along with you.

Welcome

Joining in! Just also read your whole last trip report. Loved it!

Thanks! I will have this one and then should be able to start another soon after I finish...which is exciting!

Yes! I'm in!! :cool1:

Welcome!

Yay! We leave in about 25 days and this should help keep me distracted.

We looked at those Magic cruises....and i really wanted to go on one, but booking last minute was just too pricey unfortunately.

YAY!!! So glad you started this TR. :) Sounds like a great group to travel with although I'll miss your mama tagging along.

I think my Mom secretly wanted to go...and honestly she probably could have...but she had plans the weekend we left so that was out. But I am getting ahead of myself now......

Joining in!

Jill in CO

Welcome!

Following along!

Did you have your surgery yet? Hope you are recovering.

I enjoy your TRs. Looking forward to this one!

Thanks! And Welcome

Im joining in also!!!

Welcome!!!
 
How this trip came about…..

Well when it comes to travel and cruising, I pretty much want to go all the time.

Last summer we did get a discounted rate to sail the 3 night sailing on the Fantasy. (I did write a report on that one as well). J sailed with us that time and we celebrated her 50th birthday then. Our other friend “P” also sailed with us that sailing, celebrating her 50th as well. We had such a great time and I was hoping to do a cruise for my 50th.


In Sept. a fabulous discounted rate came out and J and P sailed on the Magic. I REALLY wanted to go…like really really badly! Skip said no. He wanted to do a family vacation this winter and if I held off, we would plan one for early 2019. I behaved and stayed home…but I wasn’t happy about it.


Let’s fast forward now to Dec. of 2018. I noticed that the Wonder sailing out of San Juan had a discount and it was actually a really good one. I priced it, J priced it, P price it, PT priced it. Yeah, we had a lot of conversations about possibly going, but with Christmas coming and so many other things going on, we didn’t do much.


Christmas Eve….we have a tradition of exchanging a few small gifts as a family in the afternoon. Santa still brings all of Claire’s major gifts, but it is nice to get a little something on Christmas Eve. We also bought Skip a few small things, but Skip and I had decided we wouldn’t do gifts and just plan a vacation eventually.

As gifts were passed out, Skip did mention that he didn’t buy any gifts since we planned to vacation…and I said yes! And I would not let him push it aside and “forget” about it.

“In fact, there is a sailing Jan. 27 out of San Juan for $.... for all 3 of us and I can’t say how long it will last, but I do have enough in gift cards to pay for the whole thing today”.

Skip thought about it and said that the air probably would be high. I told him I would check, as I had quite a few points and we might be able to get the majority of the flights paid with points.

I looked and I actually had enough to get all 3 of us roundtrip flights if we flew home a day later. It would take almost all my points, but it would cover us. We would just need to pay for hotels, transfers and excursions and spending money. (If you read my July 2018 cruise report, I did cruise for practically free, and this one was going to be similar).


Now Skip can’t EVER make his mind up about stuff and when he does, he changes his mind over and over. This rate is non-refundable. You go or you lose it basically. He hemmed and hawed a bit and said book it!


What?!!!???


Wait? Right now?


I ran to the phone and put the cruise on hold and then went and gathered my gift cards and combined them to make the payment. I then booked our flights. I was NOT taking a chance he would change his mind.


Wooohooo! We are going on a cruise!...On the Wonder!!!!!!...This would make a Grand Slam for Claire and I…we now will have sailed all 4 ships! And out of a new port…and 3 of the 4 stops would be new to us as well.


Merry Christmas to us!!!!! And Happy 50th birthday to me!
 
How this trip came about…..

Well when it comes to travel and cruising, I pretty much want to go all the time.

Last summer we did get a discounted rate to sail the 3 night sailing on the Fantasy. (I did write a report on that one as well). J sailed with us that time and we celebrated her 50th birthday then. Our other friend “P” also sailed with us that sailing, celebrating her 50th as well. We had such a great time and I was hoping to do a cruise for my 50th.


In Sept. a fabulous discounted rate came out and J and P sailed on the Magic. I REALLY wanted to go…like really really badly! Skip said no. He wanted to do a family vacation this winter and if I held off, we would plan one for early 2019. I behaved and stayed home…but I wasn’t happy about it.


Let’s fast forward now to Dec. of 2018. I noticed that the Wonder sailing out of San Juan had a discount and it was actually a really good one. I priced it, J priced it, P price it, PT priced it. Yeah, we had a lot of conversations about possibly going, but with Christmas coming and so many other things going on, we didn’t do much.


Christmas Eve….we have a tradition of exchanging a few small gifts as a family in the afternoon. Santa still brings all of Claire’s major gifts, but it is nice to get a little something on Christmas Eve. We also bought Skip a few small things, but Skip and I had decided we wouldn’t do gifts and just plan a vacation eventually.

As gifts were passed out, Skip did mention that he didn’t buy any gifts since we planned to vacation…and I said yes! And I would not let him push it aside and “forget” about it.

“In fact, there is a sailing Jan. 27 out of San Juan for $.... for all 3 of us and I can’t say how long it will last, but I do have enough in gift cards to pay for the whole thing today”.

Skip thought about it and said that the air probably would be high. I told him I would check, as I had quite a few points and we might be able to get the majority of the flights paid with points.

I looked and I actually had enough to get all 3 of us roundtrip flights if we flew home a day later. It would take almost all my points, but it would cover us. We would just need to pay for hotels, transfers and excursions and spending money. (If you read my July 2018 cruise report, I did cruise for practically free, and this one was going to be similar).


Now Skip can’t EVER make his mind up about stuff and when he does, he changes his mind over and over. This rate is non-refundable. You go or you lose it basically. He hemmed and hawed a bit and said book it!


What?!!!???


Wait? Right now?


I ran to the phone and put the cruise on hold and then went and gathered my gift cards and combined them to make the payment. I then booked our flights. I was NOT taking a chance he would change his mind.


Wooohooo! We are going on a cruise!...On the Wonder!!!!!!...This would make a Grand Slam for Claire and I…we now will have sailed all 4 ships! And out of a new port…and 3 of the 4 stops would be new to us as well.


Merry Christmas to us!!!!! And Happy 50th birthday to me!

Love an almost free trip! Yay for getting Skip to agree and what a great way to spend a birthday!

Jill in CO
 
Hi! Yes I had the surgery on the 13th. I have 34 staples in my stomach, they go in through the front on this one! The first week was rough, but I am feeling good right now. The pain from the injury seems to be gone, I think I may have a pinched nerve, but I see the doctor for my follow up on Wednesday so I am thinking this is all normal as of right now. Most of the surgical pain is gone. Worst part now is coughing and sneezing!
 
can't wait to hear about your trip.

:flower1:

I'm here! I love your trip reports and look forward to reading along.

Hi Lisa!

Love an almost free trip! Yay for getting Skip to agree and what a great way to spend a birthday!

Jill in CO

It was shocking he agreed without much argument.

How exciting! Can't wait to read along.

:sail:

Hi! Yes I had the surgery on the 13th. I have 34 staples in my stomach, they go in through the front on this one! The first week was rough, but I am feeling good right now. The pain from the injury seems to be gone, I think I may have a pinched nerve, but I see the doctor for my follow up on Wednesday so I am thinking this is all normal as of right now. Most of the surgical pain is gone. Worst part now is coughing and sneezing!

Oh gosh! I hope the pain dies fast and you can heal soon.


Can't wait for the next update!

:stir:
 

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