Monday, September 21, 2009

Movin' on Up .. or over

After doing a full grocery shop, we hurried back to the condo, aware anything which could melt, would melt, in the trunk of the car. We grabbed a luggage cart and hauled the bags up to the condo. I put all of the food away.

Let me repeat: I put all of the food away. I made a pot of coffee and was ready to chill and read my book.

The phone rang.

It was the front office. The woman was talking and talking and talking. All I heard was, "You'll have to move to another unit."

I kept saying, "but I did my grocery shopping."

There was no hot water. There would be no hot water until Tuesday. I kept the phone to my ear and I was thinking, 'who needs hot water, it's hot as hell outside.'

It's like she heard my thoughts. "Ma'am you can't live there without hot water until Tuesday."

Why not? I did grocery shopping. I put all of the clothes away.

I asked if the unit was better than I had now and she said she had two available. I left Victoria napping, and went over to the office and they showed me the two units. I took the unit with the better balcony and view. I went back to the condo and packed up.

Packed up the groceries too. Packed up the clothes. I knew it was too good to be true, to have our unit ready in the morning. I just knew it. I spent the next few days running back and forth to buildings, looking for items we had left behind. What a complete nightmare that was, unpacking twice. I don't recommend it.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Review of Grand Beach I

I traded one of my timeshare weeks for the Grand Beach I in Lake Buena Vista near Disney. I reserved it a year ahead of time to spend the week after our cruise there. It was a great option for space and location.

Setting
The buildings are white with red roofs. It's not very visible from the road but most of the property has some view of a large lake called Lake Bryan. The landscaping is typical Florida landscaping, and the there is a gazebo/dock to fish or just hang around.

There are two pools, though it appears the oasis pool is rarely used. The pool situation outside of the lobby area is the one open morning through evening. There are activities scheduled throughout the day though I don't know why. Most people seemed to use the units as a launching spot to the Orlando attractions.

There is a small store off of the registration desk which can offer you milk/bread/eggs but not anywhere you'd want to do a full shop.

Parking looks difficult but it was nice to have parking under the building because it meant your car did not sit outside in the sun all day. There were never many spots open.

There are elevators on the outside of the building to get up to the floors. I think there are 6 units on each floor. You needed your key to access the door to get into the floor of your building. Your key would not work to get into your building on another floor.
Location
The location is excellent, it's between the Crossroads and the Lake Buena Vista outlet on 535. To get to Disney or anywhere, you can completely avoid 192. Going to the parks only requires a turn down World Drive and follow the signs. The entrance to I4 is just down the street, should you desire to visit any of the other Orlando parks.

Units
Most of the units are three bedrooms. I did read they have one bedroom units but I'm not sure where those are located. Each three bedroom unit has two identical master bedrooms with shower stall, whirlpool tub and sink within the bedroom. There is also a bedroom with two twin beds with a bathroom across the hall from it. The kitchen/dining/living room is very large and has seating for five people in the living area, and six people at the large dining table. There is also a screen porch off the living room with french doors, giving the space lots of light. It was really too hot to enjoy the porch much but it was pretty. There were five ceiling fans in the units, one in each bedroom, one in the living area and one on the porch.

Debarkation

I was awake before the Mickey wake up call. This was a fast cruise, and a different one that I had imagined. Having four port days really accentuated the hot summer weather and we spent less time enjoying the sea breeze.

I finished getting everything together. Rather than drag our stuff up to the dining room, we opted to leave our room at 7:00am and went up to deck 9 for breakfast. There was a breakfast buffet and we sat on a very empty deck 9 eating breakfast. It was very leisurely and away from the hustle and bustle of the last minute activity on deck 3.

After breakfast, I sat a bit and read my book while Victoria watched cartoons on the Dumbotron. At 8am she was falling asleep so we headed down to deck 3 where we shuffled off the ship. We passed Lynn who yelled goodbye and we waved. I hate goodbyes. I really did enjoy the quiet of deck 9 for the last morning. As long as you don't have to rush off the ship, why not be leisurely.

We went down the ramp and grabbed a porter. He collected our luggage and we went outside to an area close to the exit, the same spot we dropped folks off in. This seemed a lot closer than previous times, where we walked into the parking lot to a covered tent area. We tipped our porter and a Budget Rental Shuttle arrived quickly. We tossed our luggage into the vehicle and were at the rental office by 8:30am. The driver of the shuttle seemed surprised to receive a tip. He handled all of our luggage and out of four families we were the only ones to tip. And we had the fewest amount of bags! C'mon people, whoever handles your luggage should be tipped!

Except in hotels where they pull a fast one on you now. Remember when you drove up to the hotel and someone took your luggage, waited while you checked in, and helped you upstairs? When did it turn into double tipping? Nowadays it seems there is one person to remove the luggage from your vehicle and another who brings it up to your room. Hmmmph!

Anyway, the rental office was pretty empty, which was exactly what we were hoping for by getting off the ship leisurely. We were on the road at 8:30am, relaxed and feeling good about having another week in Florida. The ride is pretty boring and pretty straight.

We discussed things we could do, and ended up in a shopping area at 9:30am. The stores were not open until 10am, so we drove down the street to check out our condo. Darlene, Stan and Sandy were dropping Lynn and Mary off at the airport and would meet us later. We pulled into the Grand Beach I timeshare on 535 and were impressed with the buildings and set up. We walked around the area, while we waited for the front desk to clear out. People were checking out at 10am.

Just for kicks, I checked if our unit might be ready, though I did not think it was likely. Low and behold it was ready! We were excited! We went up to our unit and called Darlene to tell her we could check in. We unpacked and waited for Darlene and family to arrive at around 11am. They had plans to meet Darlene's son and family at Downtown Disney. We compiled a grocery list and agreed to meet up later.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Castaway Cay (Again)

We slept in a bit after moving the clocks forward. We got up at 8am and had breakfast by 9am. We took the snorkel equipment with us and Victoria spent about a half an hour snorkeling around. She stayed very close to the edge and said she did not see any fish. I told her she had to go out a bit to see some. She went about 200 feet out and I spotted her splashing around and making a serious swim towards shore. She had insisted on keeping on jewelry and she said the school of fish was attacking her anklet. Satisfied she had seen fish, we walked over to the spot where we found Darlene and Sandy already there. Erica and Benita set up their chairs and headed over to the snorkel area to enjoy. Lynn and Sandy joined us later.

We had lunch at headed back to the ship pretty early, about 1pm. We took the tram back and we showered and began the task of packing. I wasn't feeling my usual blues about the ordeal, because we were not flying home. What a nice feeling!

The girls all ended up in our room doing each others hair and makeup while I continued to pack. Having six people in an inside room is quite a squeeze. I told the girls I was heading up to get an iced coffee and showed them how to be sure the flat iron sat on a flat surface, away from anything that could burn.

I went up to deck 9 and grabbed some lemonades for the kids, along with some goodies from Cove Cafe. Lynn found me and helped me carry the party items back to the cabin. Lynn was starving so she got some lunch and we chilled out, literally, in Cove Cafe and had a nice chat.

We tipped our servers and said goodbye to them on our last night at dinner. My room steward, an ok guy, was sort of absent this cruise. Typically these are my favorite people and those who always get above and beyond the suggested tip. This time, he got the expected tip.

I bought a few pictures in Shutters. I like the wait the full week or so before choosing which pictures to buy.

After dinner we all scattered and did our thing. The kids made a last dash to Ocean Quest, trying to finish everything they felt they needed more of before debarking. We went to bed at 11pm, with the alarm set for 6:30am.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Day at Sea

Thursday, our second day at sea. I'm not used to more port days than sea days. I like the sea days.

We had brunch reservations for 10:30am in Palo. As Sasha had suggested, 'no breakfast, just coffee.' The girls all went to Ocean Quest for the morning.
We had another great table for brunch with beautiful views. Never again will I eat in the private dining room, it was so pleasant being out in the open area.

We ordered one of each type of pizza for the table. I think the Italian sausage one is still my favorite. They are very thin crusted and delicious. I ordered the chicken parm, which used to be done without a tomato sauce, but they've changed their presentation of the dish. It was served over risotto. Like most freshly prepared meals at Palo, this one was great. The stolen bread, fresh berries and whipped cream would have made a good dessert if I hadn't eaten the almond/chocolate and other sweet offerings as well.

We rolled out of Palo, saying goodbye to Sasha and PJ, and picked up the girls.

Dinner was semi formal and again everyone looked lovely. The girls wanted to take some photos together and spent quite a bit of time in line. A photographer, no lie, spent 25 minutes with one family.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cozumel

Victoria and I agreed we'd get off the ship early in the morning and walk around the port. We did not get off the ship in 2006 while we were in the port. After breakfast at Topsiders, we wandered off the ship around 9am. It was already very hot.

Victoria decided she wanted to do some shopping in port. She haggles with a lot more ease than I do. We wandered around the port and down a few streets. I bought my nephew a shirt, parents some magnets, and vanilla for everyone at work. Victoria bought little trinkets, but she did not find the purse she was hoping for.

Diamonds International, the store which appears in most Carribean ports, gave Victoria a charm bracelet. "Hey Lady!" was the phrase of the day in this port. Nearly every shop featured rope bracelets with your name woven into them. After a few hours and a few pictures, we went back to the ship. We knocked on Darlene's door and interrupted her nap. Ooops!

Victoria and Sandy splashed around in the pool. It was so hot on deck. I got another iced coffee and some treats from the case and just hung around, watching Disney movies. One of the days featured an ice carver. It was mildly entertaining, watching a guy use a chain saw to carve a block of ice.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Grand Cayman Port

Lynn was looking forward to this port. I wasn't thrilled to hear it was a tender port.

After much discussion, Victoria and I agreed we would not do any excursions or go to the beach. Two days at Castaway Cay and lots of time on deck 9 were enough sun for our fair skin. Victoria was looking forward to a day on the ship sans crowd.

We had breakfast on deck 9 and Victoria took a swim. We agreed we'd read for awhile then wander off the ship later to check out the port a bit. At around 11am, we went down to deck 1 and got on a tender. And waited. And waited for the tender to fill up with people. As we sat below, the only spot with seats, we rocked back n forth, forth n back. Blech. By the time we got to the port, I was thoroughly green at 11:45am.

It was hot as hell. The port looked like all the other ports to me. People approached us offering tours and such but we just wandered around, checking out the shops. There was a Margaritaville, Senor Frogs and a Hard Rock Cafe I think. When did all of the ports become identical? Victoria bought a pair of flip flops and something else, and we decided to go back to the ship. It was raining a bit and there were dark clouds in the sky, threatening an interesting tender boat trip back.

We sat on top of the tender boat back and it was a much more pleasant experience. We went to Lumiere's for lunch at 1pm and spotted Marcelito. He's a pip and a half of a server and we seemed to bump into him everywhere on the ship at breakfast and lunch. He'd be a good person to request as a server.

Victoria changed for the pool and we headed up to deck 9. There was a lot of black clouds and lightening in the distance which made for some good lazy-viewing. We didn't spot any of our crew the rest of the day until dinner.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Cruise cont.

After getting back to the ship, we showered and changed. The girls hung around on deck 9 playing ping pong and such, and I enjoyed another iced coffee from Cove Cafe. Though I didn't spend much time in Cove Cafe, I did spend more time there than any other cruise. Did I mention it was hot? Inside Cove Cafe are comfy chairs and it's air conditioned.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay. They changed the dining rotations for some reason so we did not follow a 3 restaurant schedule. They kept saying not everyone was getting the right rotation and it didn't make sense to me. I don't remember the exact rotation but we ended up eating at Lumiere's the most I think. Our location and the crowded tables made Animator's too stuffy for me. The lack of windows in the place doesn't help either.

We enjoyed a day at sea on Monday, which I was looking forward to because it meant no schedule, nowhere to be and just relaxing! We spent some time on deck 9 and the girls always seemed to be making plans. This may have been the day the girls went to the theater to enjoy the Hannah Montana movie. The other adults watched the Proposal in the theater and I finally got to see Star Trek. I had missed it in theaters but really enjoyed the movie.

Palo

Victoria and I took a picture together, an event which only seems to happen when we cruise, then wandered around before dinner. Having dinner at 5:45 seems to shorten the day and the character-photo opportunity a bit. We brought the girls to dinner on Monday night in Lumiere's where they had a table for four. Another family wanted main dining but had late, so they gave them our table since the adults were dining in Palo. It was formal night and everyone looked lovely. We were told the girls were excellent during dinner. We would not have allowed them to dine alone, unsupervised by parents if they had not demonstrated an ability to be aware of surroundings, knowledge of the ship, and to stick together all the time.

We had Palo reservations for 6pm and we arrived on time. We spotted Sasha, who had served us three times our last cruise, and PJ quickly re-arranged the tables so we could have him again. Sasha is a great server. The view was incredible and we enjoyed the sunset during dinner. We had some antipasto for the table and breads for dipping. I had tuna (again) and it was the best prepared tuna of the cruise. The table had some risotto and we shared other foods I can't remember. Most folks had the chocolate souffle for dessert, while I had the panna cote served with berries. I really enjoyed dining in the main dining area. The last couple of cruises, we've dined with a larger group and had the private room reserved. I prefer the dining room.

After dinner we met the girls in Studio Sea where they were for family kareoke..karoke... singing! We all went to the Golden Mickeys show. I had skipped this show the last couple of cruises so it was good to see it. Sometimes the rocking of the boat while looking at the stage bothers me a bit but I was ok that evening.

The girls did not want the night to end so they all went to Ocean Quest. The adults dispersed and did their own thing. Sandy brought Victoria back to the room at around 10pm and we called it an evening.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Castaway Cay

I slept until 8:30am and read my book for about a half an hour. I woke up Victoria and we had breakfast at Topsiders, on deck 9. We were dressed and ready for Castaway Cay. It was hard to believe it's been an entire year since I'd been to this island.

We were able to go on the island at 9am, and we strolled off leisurely at 9:30am. We stopped and took some pictures. Typically, we race along to get a 'spot.' Victoria announced she wanted a Castaway Cay t-shirt and she bought one. Disney is pretty clever about selling CC exclusive merchandise on the island only.

Met up with Darlene, Erica and Benita at our spot. It was high tide, and very hot so you only had to take a few steps into the water to be cool. It felt very refreshing, not too salty like in other years. Lynn and Mary joined us, and Stan met up with us for lunch.

Darlene stayed at beach and we returned to the ship at 2pm.

Ship pulled out at 5pm.