Freedom from the Polar Vortex... The GDF family sails RCCL

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

The Caymans are absolutely beautiful. It always ranks in the top 5 best dive sites in the world.

I've had over 100 ft of visibility on several dive trips.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

And I second the story about the fishermen cleaning their fish Attracting the stingrays.

Now when the boats arrive the rays show up.

It's pavlov's dogs with boat motors instead of a bell.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I'll give 10-1 odds that the dolphin Z kissed was an older woman.

He's the man!!!

No he's the Z-man!!!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Does that make up for my lack of posting?

I feel so shameless! Lol

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I never knew what the tender boats were called. All I knew was that we needed to be back on one in time or we'd be left in a foreign country. Cool to know what they are.

 

Glad I could help you out in that regard. And you're right.... missing them would be a problem!

 

He had a game last week and he win 5-3.

He was 1-1 and walked three times. He scored three runs.

He also made a couple nice plays in the infield and pitched one inning (no hits-no runs-2 strikeouts)

Our latest getaway was just a trip 3.5 hours north to hang at the cabin, in the woods, etc.

 

That sounds successful on the baseball front! Yay!

 

BUT.... where's the cabin TR?

 

All of this.

I know Steve was doing something stupid but you couldn't pay me to get in the water with them. I am a chicken.

 

Yeah, I get it. What we were doing was a lot different than what he was doing, but there's risk in anything. A lot of us have dogs, but even they've turned on people. These guys, while wild, obviously enjoy human interaction. 

 

Loving your trip report! I have never been on a cruise. I need to change that. The water is Beautiful! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for commenting! The water was beautiful! I would suggest giving cruising a try. I think it's generally a good value, especially considering international airfare cost. 

 

Being in the water with them is perfectly safe as long as you shuffle your feet and don't step down on one of them at the wrong place.  The rays are like puppies.  They love to play with people.  They will swim between your legs and brush up against you to get attention.

 

Ha ha! The water was so deep, we didn't have to shuffle. I could barely stand!

 

Sister Kelly, I come before you for I have sinned... I have been reading but not commenting... Please forgive me...

Since I am partially brain dead, but I could have sworn that when we went to the Cayman's several years ago on DCL, the ship pulled up to the dock and tenders were not used.... but I could have been wrong Were there other ships that were allowed to dock?

 

No ships dock in Grand Cayman because of some protected reefs etc. there. Some cruise lines have quit going there because of the tender process, and the largest ships from Royal can't tender. Disney and Royal both still go there though. 

 

Ok. Caught up. Again.

Lots to comment on.

 

It's great that Z enjoyed hanging out at the Adventurers Club. Allowing y'all to have some adult time.

 

Z scores a older pirate wench.

Jason your raising right. lol.

 

And I second the story about the fishermen cleaning their fish Attracting the stingrays.

Now when the boats arrive the rays show up.

It's pavlov's dogs with boat motors instead of a bell.

 

Ray makes things happen! Thanks Ray!!!

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I'll give 10-1 odds that the dolphin Z kissed was an older woman.

He's the man!!!

No he's the Z-man!!!

 

Winner! Winner! You are correct! Her name is Luna, and we now have a stuffed animal dolphin named Luna as well.

 

Does that make up for my lack of posting?

I feel so shameless! Lol

 

Absolutely! Feel free to be shameless! 

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

The cabin is a hunters cabin and nothing to look at.

Otherwise it would be pictures of some snow, trees, four wheelers, and kids.

I do have a few but they include my nieces and nephews so I am not going to post them here.

It seems after the recent exodus there are not many people reading (maybe they are reading but just not commenting?) Disney related TRs let alone non-Disney related ones.

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Great pics again. Z with the dolphins is amazing! I'm betting those pictures will be framed somewhere soon :)
Also, that water color is amazing. I'm thinking I need to get someplace where I can see water that color.

[dvccamper 32]

It seems after the recent exodus there are not many people reading (maybe they are reading but just not commenting?) Disney related TRs let alone non-Disney related ones.

There's been an exodus? I must be out of the loop.

BTW, I think I have talked my DH into taking this very cruise you took next January. Only difference seems to be that it leaves from Port Canaveral (I forget, was yours from Miami?). He just won't bite on the Disney cruise, just too expensive.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

The cabin is a hunters cabin and nothing to look at.

Otherwise it would be pictures of some snow, trees, four wheelers, and kids.

I do have a few but they include my nieces and nephews so I am not going to post them here.

It seems after the recent exodus there are not many people reading (maybe they are reading but just not commenting?) Disney related TRs let alone non-Disney related ones.

 

OK, fine. You don't HAVE to do a TR. 

 

I think a lot of people read and don't comment. When I click on this report during the day, 2-5 people are reading it but many don't comment. That's why I had to call them out. Ha ha ha!

 

Great pics again. Z with the dolphins is amazing! I'm betting those pictures will be framed somewhere soon :)

Also, that water color is amazing. I'm thinking I need to get someplace where I can see water that color.

 

I give you permission to visit Grand Cayman! Go ahead. It's expensive though, so a cruise is probably your most reasonable option. 

 

There's been an exodus? I must be out of the loop.

BTW, I think I have talked my DH into taking this very cruise you took next January. Only difference seems to be that it leaves from Port Canaveral (I forget, was yours from Miami?). He just won't bite on the Disney cruise, just too expensive.

 

Yay for talking your husband into a cruise! Very exciting! We actually left from Port Canaveral, so it's probably the exact same one. I understand about the expense of a Disney cruise. That's why we ended up on this one. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Update time!

 

We're getting close to 250, so I think I'll break my record. 

 

And should I keep calling out Jason for reading and not commenting until he does? I do like torturing my husband. And honey, I’m about to talk about you, so get ready.

 

We left off when it was almost time for formal night. After doing more of this, it was time to get cleaned up.

 

 

I’ve already explained that Jason is anti formal night. He wasn’t excited about dressing up a second time. So, being a good wife, I kind of let him off the hook. I told him I was going to wear my short black dress, and he could wear anything that would look OK in the dining room. It was lobster night, and I didn’t want to miss it.

 

And I wanted to take pictures.

 

He agreed.

 

Here are some of our pictures. Z got kind of mad because the family before us took about 100 different poses with many combinations, so he doesn’t look too happy in the pictures.

 

 

 

 

Look, Jason doesn’t look mad at me at all, right?

 

 

I think he secretly likes dressing up but won’t admit it to himself.

 

 

This one cracks me up because you can really see Z’s personality.

 

 

We got to dinner and walked right into My Time Dining without a reservation. We got our usual servers.

 

Jason (the waiter) was great with Z!

 

 

Here’s the menu for the night.

 

 

I already knew what I’d be ordering…. Lobster!

 

Here’s my salad appetizer. It was good, but getting the crab out of the shells was kind of a pain.

 

 

My entrée

 

 

I've heard mixed things about the lobster but both it and the shrimp were good. Now my plan going in was to order more lobster, but darn it, I was full. Eating a lot more than usual over a period of days was getting to me.

 

I don’t remember what Z ate for dinner. He ordered off the adult menu about half the time. But he had ice cream for dessert!

 

 

Family dinner photo

 

 

After dinner, we took Z to Adventure Ocean, so we could have some adult time.

 

 

Apparently we walked through the casino at some point. We thought we’d gamble a little during the cruise, but we never did.

 

 

We had some time to kill before Quest, so we headed to Boleros to see our favorite bartender, Agnes.

 

Here’s the drink menu. Prices seem pretty good to me.

 

 

 

 

 

They have live Latin music there, so it’s a pretty fun place.

 

 

Some people dance. We just relaxed at the bar. We headed to Studio B to see The Quest around 10:00. They cover the ice rink and use that area for some of the shows. I can’t fit that all in this post, so that will be in the next update.

 

[dvccamper 32]

Wow, great pictures of you all! It looks like the photographer took some time with you, you all look so relaxed.

Sorry I thought you left from Miami. I think that was where the Disney Wonder leaves from, the one we were kind of considering. I better go back and start rereading your report! You had such a great cabin, did you feel a lot of motion in the back of the ship? I think we are going to book a balcony for the two of us and put our three daughters across the hall in an inside stateroom. They're not too thrilled with it, but hey, it's our anniversary and we can't afford two balconies!

Also, those drink prices are not bad. Do you remember what the prices are for beer or wine? I remember we couldn't bring any on board with us last time we cruised RCCL.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Thanks for the pics of the menu.  It's good to see all the various options they have for those following different diets (gluten or lactose free, and vegetarian).  Do you know if they allow you to make special dietary requests ahead of the cruise, or is there an option to discuss needs with a chef at some point, similar to how Disney does it at WDW? 

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Those are some great family photos Kelly

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Kelly, the pictures you had taken at dinner are wonderful!

 

I'm drooling over the menu.  I would have ordered just what you had plus maybe escargot or duck consomme.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Wow, great pictures of you all! It looks like the photographer took some time with you, you all look so relaxed.

Sorry I thought you left from Miami. I think that was where the Disney Wonder leaves from, the one we were kind of considering. I better go back and start rereading your report! You had such a great cabin, did you feel a lot of motion in the back of the ship? I think we are going to book a balcony for the two of us and put our three daughters across the hall in an inside stateroom. They're not too thrilled with it, but hey, it's our anniversary and we can't afford two balconies!

Also, those drink prices are not bad. Do you remember what the prices are for beer or wine? I remember we couldn't bring any on board with us last time we cruised RCCL.

 

I didn't feel a lot of movement. There was a little vibration a couple of times, but I'm a really light sleeper, and it never bothered me. For that room, you have to have 3 people, so you'd have to book one of your kids with you (but then have them sleep in the other room). We saw lots of families that had a balcony and an inside. 

 

The drink prices really aren't too bad. If you want to see the beer prices, look back to where I posted the pub menu... Day 2 I think. That place has the most beers, and the beers are the same prices all over the ship. 

 

Thanks for the pics of the menu.  It's good to see all the various options they have for those following different diets (gluten or lactose free, and vegetarian).  Do you know if they allow you to make special dietary requests ahead of the cruise, or is there an option to discuss needs with a chef at some point, similar to how Disney does it at WDW? 

 

There is an email address for special diets. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure Jason could tell you. I'm not sure about the chef coming out since we dined alone and don't have any restrictions. 

 

Those are some great family photos Kelly

 

Thanks!

 

Kelly, the pictures you had taken at dinner are wonderful!

 

I'm drooling over the menu.  I would have ordered just what you had plus maybe escargot or duck consomme.

 

Thanks! I should have mentioned that the salad I ate was actually an entree. Maybe that's why I was full. ha ha ha

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Great pictures.

Are those the pictures you bought or did you have the photographer or some take them for you?

I know some are bought but are they all?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

By the way this is the 242 reply.

Not that anyone is counting.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

And if your reading this, Jason. If you time it right you could be the 250th reply.

Women like that stuff.

But I'm sure you know that.

Z had to learn his skills from you.

Or was he born with those skills?

Either way he got it from you.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Kelly.

Do you think that last post might pull Jason out from lurkdom?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I better quit posting before I take up Jason's 250th post position.

Post Jason post!!!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

This is 246.

Just in case Jason is interested. Lol.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Hey, i am 247

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Go Braves

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Matthew Stafford rules!

250 is there for the taking Jason.