Michelle & Guy's Romantic Escape at Sea PreTrip DCL Wonder 12/14/08 About This Page:

[jagmom08]

After reading many trip reports, I decided to start a Pretrip report to extend the "magic." Every trip report makes me more and more excited for my cruise.

The Cast:
Me - Michelle, 29 (eek!), CPA and mother of 2 crazy kids, Jack (3) and Grace (1)
DH- Guy, 32, superhusband (he cooks, cleans, fixes cars, does home remodeling, and yard work-what more could I ask for!)

The Plan:

Dh and I had been talking about doing a cruise at some point in our lives. He would really like to do an Alaskan cruise. However, due to us never having been on a cruise, I thought we should do a Carribean cruise first, to test the waters.

Back in February, I had just started a new job and was dealing with my then 4 month old daughter who didn't want to sleep at night. I was very tired and frustrated. So what better way to improve my mood then to book a Disney cruise. I toyed with the idea of going on a non-kid oriented cruise line, since we would be leaving our children home with their auntie. However, after reading a few guidebooks and surfing the internet, I decided on a 4 night cruise on the Wonder in December. I probably should have waited until after the holidays, but I am glad I didn't. I really need a vacation. I didn't tell my dh at first because I wanted to surprise him. But, clueless though he maybe sometimes, he wouldn't let the idea of going on a cruise go, so I had to tell him around August.

We are both very excited, now that our trip is less than a month away.

[jagmom08]

We are doing the 4 night with stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay. We are renting a room at the Comfort Suites in Nassau so we can go to Atlantis. In Castaway Cay, we are going parasailing and maybe snorkeling. Dh really wants to try snorkeling but I am not so sure I will be comfortable under the water like that. Also, I hope it is warm enough for all of these water activites.

We booked Palo for dinner on Monday night, which is the day we are in Nassau. After reading the boards this weekend, I decided we should also try and do the brunch. I went online just today and lo and behold, there was a brunch spot open on our At Sea day, so I booked it. Its actually at 11:30, which is more like lunchtime for us, so I think that will work out great.

Another thing I decided was a must do after reading the boards was to book the "Exotic Rasul." Those appointments were mostly booked up, but I settled for 8 a.m. on our At Sea. I figured we are morning people anyway, so it will be a nice way to start the day.

I got the "Romantic Escape at Sea" plan so that we could book early for Palo, since we are first time cruisers. I do have a concern about the breakfast in bed, because I read on another thread that you can't get that until after 9:30. Not sure how that will work with our other plans, since dh and I usually like to get going earlier in the morning.

[jagmom08]

Picture of me, dh and our rugrats.

[mcc0313]

Sounds like some great plans...

[DyanKJ130]

Great start!! Your children are adorable!! Looking forward to more

[chezp]

Great start!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Michelle!!

[jagmom08]

Monday, November 24, 2008

Things to do

• Figure out what to wear on this cruise. I have been so busy thinking about what to wear for dressier clothes, that I neglected to consider daywear. I suppose I will be wearing my swimsuits a lot, but you still need clothes to wear around, right? Of course, now I have started to wonder about the weather. What if its too cold for swimming?
• Make an instruction manual about my kids for their auntie. Last time my sisters watched my kids for a couple of hours, they got confused and thought we had already fed my son, so he didn’t get an actual supper. Granted they fed him snacks, but he needs to eat regular meals. So, I think I should jot a few things down to help her remember the schedule and what to feed the rugrats.
• Possibly start packing. I don’t take long to pack once I put my mind to it, but since I am packing more summer clothes, it wouldn’t hurt to get started early.
• Maybe get dh another dress shirt to go with his suit. He has been wearing the same shirt with his suit for 5 years, it might be time for a new one.

I am sure there is lots more for me to do, but these are my hot buttons today. Plus I really need to get started on my Chirstmas shopping. eek! Think I can get everyone on my list a DCL t-shirt?

[FairySafara]

great plans! hope you have a great time!

[Kenny]

Sounds like great plans, Michelle! I'm glad you got the brunch! Don't worry, they have plenty of lunch items on the brunch menu. You can have a choice of three entrees each of breakfast or lunch, plus the buffets. I'm sure you can get your breakfast in bed earlier than 9:30... we had ours around 9:30-10, but you will get a door hanger with the menu and, I'm sure, other times.

[jagmom08]

Thoughts for today

Should I bring my laptop? I am becoming addicted to the internet, so maybe it would be a good idea to leave it home. On the other hand, its nice to have for playing games or watching movies or uploading photos. I am also hesitant to buy internet minutes, since I heard the internet is slow on the ship. Dh can’t stand slow internet and I am almost as bad. I guess that comes from having no patience. On the other hand, it would be nice to be able to communicate with my sister via email. Another thing that is holding me back from bringing it is the weight and size. I have a big laptop, which is more a desktop replacement, so its heavy and bulky. Not sure I want to be lugging that around the airport and the ship.

Should I keep our reservations for the Comfort Suites to be able to access Atlantis? If the ship doesn’t dock until 10 a.m. and we have reservations for Palo at 6:30 p.m., is that enough time to enjoy Atlantis? I am torn. I have considered just staying on the ship, but then I technically won’t have visited the Bahamas. I suppose we could cancel the Comfort Suites and just try to do a walking tour of Nassau. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

[Kenny]

I can't offer any insight to Nassau, since we did the Western Caribbean, but as for the laptop...
I took mine. I got it out twice during our whole vacation, I think, and it has become my favorite pastime. I took it with the excuse that I could download pictures from the cameras to the computer, and go online if we wanted to. We went online once to transfer money between bank accounts, and I moved some pictures once. I carry my laptop all the time and would feel lost without it... but it was certainly extra baggage on the cruise. I guess what I'm saying is it's a decision you have to make. I don't think you'll need it for entertainment, I don't think the internet was that slow (our dial-up at home is a lot slower), but it is pretty expensive.

[jagmom08]

I think I will probably bring the laptop, just in case.

[DyanKJ130]

I think I would probably bring the laptop, if not just for uploading your photos! We always bring ours just for that purpose and don't really move it once we get to the room - other than to lock it into a suitcase when we're out. I create a folder for the trip and then a folder for each day within that folder (and sometimes folders within that folder if we've been to different locations in the course of the day or if DS has taken some photos with his camera). I've found uploading them at the end of the day (or every other day if you have a few high capacity memory cards/sticks) saves a lot of time with the sorting of photos after the trip. Other than that, we really don't do much with the laptop, but we definitely find it worth it to have!

Hope this helps!

[chezp]

I would bring the laptop as well - it's invaluable for us for uploading photos.