50 Years, 9 Nights, 5 Beds and 1 Big Fat Mistake

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

The food looks great.  Your MIL is beautiful, and your FIL is very handsome.

[lklasing 16]

Ok, I was behind but now I'm caught up.

 

I agree with everyone about CHOGS.  I'm definitely pro-moving-their-crap and anti-CHOGS.

 

That pic of Anna.  To die for.

 

Those freckles on Stella.  And the pictures of all your girls.  They are all so beautiful.

 

I'm with TCD on the vegetarian front, though I've learned to live with a vegetarian (Danielle).  As long as you're not going all the way to the vegan side, then it's doable.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the report, whatever all it holds. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That doesn't look gross to me.  I'd be on that like a bum on a baloney sandwich.

 

TCD

 

:barf:

 

The food looks great.  Your MIL is beautiful, and your FIL is very handsome.

 

They're alright.  LOL.

 

Ok, I was behind but now I'm caught up.

 

I agree with everyone about CHOGS.  I'm definitely pro-moving-their-crap and anti-CHOGS.

 

That pic of Anna.  To die for.

 

Those freckles on Stella.  And the pictures of all your girls.  They are all so beautiful.

 

I'm with TCD on the vegetarian front, though I've learned to live with a vegetarian (Danielle).  As long as you're not going all the way to the vegan side, then it's doable.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the report, whatever all it holds. 

 

Oh, I'm well beyond vegan.  :clint:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Oh, I'm well beyond vegan.  :clint:

Whoa!

You've gone Freegan?

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

But, but, but what about

 

BACON???

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Whoa!

You've gone Freegan?

TCD

 

Eww, no. 

 

But, but, but what about

 

BACON???

 

Nope. 

 

And I'm not really vegan, but there are similarities from a food standpoint.  It's not really a new thing for us.  I know there are Fiends that know about it....we went through a GG eating this way.  But no, we don't eat any animal products.  Or anything highly processed, or any oils.  Most people find it weird, and I don't want to hijack my own trip report with a nutritional discusion.  But if anyone is curious I'd be happy to discuss it elsewhere. 

[Lou... 3,118]

But if anyone is curious I'd be happy to discuss it elsewhere. 

 

Thanks, but I'm busy with my ping pong ball collection................... for the foreseeable future.

Gotta go, the pig I'm roasting is done.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Thanks, but I'm busy with my ping pong ball collection................... for the foreseeable future.

Gotta go, the pig I'm roasting is done.

 

Nice to see you posting in a trip report, Lou.  Enjoy playing with your balls. 

[Lou... 3,118]

Nice to see you posting in a trip report, Lou.  Enjoy playing with your balls. 

 

Finally someone took me up on that opening.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I know you and INC began this lifestyle change during Lent. I would be interested in knowing what led to it and the benefits you have both noticed. But like you said not here. Perhaps a new thread in the community section.

[Beckers 1,136]

I know you and INC began this lifestyle change during Lent. I would be interested in knowing what led to it and the benefits you have both noticed. But like you said not here. Perhaps a new thread in the community section.

Me too

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Finally someone took me up on that opening.

 

I've thought about it many times, but it was too easy.  Today must be your lucky day. 

 

I know you and INC began this lifestyle change during Lent. I would be interested in knowing what led to it and the benefits you have both noticed. But like you said not here. Perhaps a new thread in the community section.

 

 

Me too

 

We played with it before Lent, but Ash Wednesday was when we decided to dive in completely.  We can discuss it at some point.  It's been life changing for us. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Shall we move on? 

 

We've reached the final morning of our cruise.  Any of you that have cruised before know how that goes.  You get up early....they feed you some breakfast....then it's basically "get the heck off our ship."

 

But before that point....I have more photos to share. 

 

I was awake before dawn and peeked out our porthole....surprised to see we were still in open water. 

 

On our Disney cruise, we docked at Port Canaveral during the night, so when I awoke around 5am I sat in our window watching the forklifts unload and reload the ship.  But on this cruise, we were still steaming into port at that time.  So I went upstairs to watch.

 

There's the Florida coast in the distance.

 

 

Blurry picture of a pilot boat that came out to guide us in.

 

 

This one's a little better.

 

 

Considering I took these pictures on my phone, they aren't horrible. 

 

I adjusted my settings a bit and this came out better.  Note the buoys.

 

 

 

 

Looking behind us toward the east....I can see that we won't be treated to a nice sunrise today. 

 

 

Now that I had a cell signal, I checked the weather on my phone and there were strong storms just to our east.  Our Captain did a nice job avoiding them and giving us a smooth final night.  That may be the reason we were coming into port later than I expected.

 

Making progress...

 

 

I zoomed in a bit....looks like a Carnival ship beat us in. 

 

 

 

 

As much as I was enjoying watching us come into port....I had to get back downstairs and wake up the ladies to get dressed and out of the room...and to breakfast. 

 

We had our final breakfast in the main dining room.  On DCL, we had a very limited breakfast menu the final morning, but they seemed to have the regular full menu available on RCCL.  So INC and I got our usual oatmeal, and the kids got a variety of things.  And then, it was over.  We went to our scheduled meeting place to disembark, waited for our group to be called, and we were off the ship and into our car. 

 

So, at this point, I'll give you my final thoughts on our cruise before I move on with the trip report (because this trip isn't over yet). 

 

You may have noticed something throughout the cruise portion of this report....the first 1 to 2 days you read quite a bit of complaining and comparing to DCL from me.  I noticed in many of the comments that people have opinions one way or the other on that issue.  It was very interesting to me. 

 

When I write a trip report, I basically just "brain dump".  I give you my thoughts, pretty much as they are in my head and unfiltered.  So what you were reading is exactly what I was thinking.  The first 2 days of the cruise I really struggled with the comparisons, even though I knew that RCCL was 1/2 the price of Disney.  I couldn't help what I was thinking. 

 

I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but in my reporting of the last 2 days of the cruise, there were far fewer negatives.  On the ship, we really came to appreciate the level of service we were receiving, the dining experiences, the various entertainment available to us and the overall cleanliness of the ship.  No, this wasn't the Dream.  Like TCD said early in the report....I knew that going in.  But it was very nice.  And I recognize that we chose an older, smaller ship so comparisons to a newer Disney ship are not fair.  So the end result is, we had a great time! 

 

Now, would I do it again?  By that, I mean would I cruise RCCL again?  I have to say "maybe".  I wouldn't cruise this ship again.  It just didn't have much to offer.  4 days was plenty of time to do all there was to do and see all there was to see on this ship, whereas when we left the Dream we were bummed because there was so much we never got around to.  I'd consider another RCCL cruise on a newer, larger ship.  But overall, my thinking is that; if I am fortunate enough to cruise a handful of remaining times in my life, my preference would be for those cruises to all be on DCL.  If  my extended family or INC's family want to all get together on a future cruise and not everyone is interested in or can afford DCL, then by all means I'd cruise another line.  But Disney just does everything right IMO.  So I'd prefer to just stick with Mickey. 

 

So, there you go. 

 

Our cruise is over.  But our vacation, and this report, is not.  Our girls didn't know it yet....but a big surprise awaited them.  Going back to the title of this report....we've gotten through 7 nights and 4 beds, so 2 nights and 1 more bed remain.  Plus a big fat mistake is still hanging out there.  And it's NOT choosing Royal Caribbean for our cruise!  How many of you thought that??  So what was it?  Could it have anything to do with Lou?  We'll get to that.   

[Beckers 1,136]

How did Anna do sleeping? Doesn't she get up way early?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I love the early morning photos. I've never been aboard a ship and watched it pull into Port Canaveral before.

 

I did think that sailing RCCL was going to be the big mistake. I'm glad that it wasn't.  I love DCL too, but the prices on other cruise lines are sure tempting.

 

So, what's the big fat mistake, then?  I know that you ended up at the Yacht and Beach Club, so my guess is that the mistake is that it was so nice that nobody wants to camp at the Fort anymore.

 

TCD

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Cliffhanger!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm wondering about the big mistake too.

 

I found it interesting that you thought RCCL's food was comparable to DCL's.  And am happy that the mistake wasn't cruising RCCL.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

 

 Note the buoys.

 

 

 

I always figured you would rather watch the gulls than the buoys.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

How did Anna do sleeping? Doesn't she get up way early?

 

She slept like a champ!  She wasn't waking up until around 7 or so.  Could be that she is a Central time gal, and that's really 6 for her.  Or more likely it was all the activity and she was just wiped out. 

 

I love the early morning photos. I've never been aboard a ship and watched it pull into Port Canaveral before.

 

I did think that sailing RCCL was going to be the big mistake. I'm glad that it wasn't.  I love DCL too, but the prices on other cruise lines are sure tempting.

 

So, what's the big fat mistake, then?  I know that you ended up at the Yacht and Beach Club, so my guess is that the mistake is that it was so nice that nobody wants to camp at the Fort anymore.

 

TCD

 

I've duly noted your guess.  We'll just have to wait and see if you are right. 

 

Cliffhanger!

 

Hey, with all the competition for views from the Luckow family, I need a cliffhanger to keep people coming back.  :rofl3:

 

I'm wondering about the big mistake too.

 

I found it interesting that you thought RCCL's food was comparable to DCL's.  And am happy that the mistake wasn't cruising RCCL.

 

I've never been one to say that DCL's food is phenominal.  It's very good.  The service IMO is phenominal on Disney.  I'd say the food and service on RCCL were both "very good". 

 

I always figured you would rather watch the gulls than the buoys.

 

:rofl2:

 

You got me there. 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I really enjoyed the cruise portion of your trip. We love the beach/yacht club and can't wait to hear stay.

My guess on the big mistake is that y'all tried to eat the entire kitchen sink at Beaches n Cream.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I really enjoyed the cruise portion of your trip. We love the beach/yacht club and can't wait to hear stay.

My guess on the big mistake is that y'all tried to eat the entire kitchen sink at Beaches n Cream.

 

You could be right.....we were in very close proximity to Beaches and Cream.  We shall see.  

[disney4dan 68]

I think the big mistake was going to Florida and not going to a WDW park?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dvccamper 32]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.  I think I would feel the same way as you did if I had cruised DCL already.  I have only been on RCCL so am okay cruising them again next year.  But I can't deny that part of me really, really wants to cruise Disney.  I just wish their darn prices weren't so high.  I think our opportunity may have been when the kids were small, having teenagers is just so expensive (I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know).

 

Looking forward to the next part of your adventure.  We stayed at the Yacht Club a few months ago (I won the trip and that was the resort we decided on), and we loved it!  But I have no guesses on what the big mistake was.

[Beckers 1,136]

I really enjoyed the cruise portion of your trip. We love the beach/yacht club and can't wait to hear stay.

My guess on the big mistake is that y'all tried to eat the entire kitchen sink at Beaches n Cream.

I'm with Ray

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I think the big mistake was going to Florida and not going to a WDW park? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Another good guess!  We'll see....

 

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.  I think I would feel the same way as you did if I had cruised DCL already.  I have only been on RCCL so am okay cruising them again next year.  But I can't deny that part of me really, really wants to cruise Disney.  I just wish their darn prices weren't so high.  I think our opportunity may have been when the kids were small, having teenagers is just so expensive (I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know).

 

Looking forward to the next part of your adventure.  We stayed at the Yacht Club a few months ago (I won the trip and that was the resort we decided on), and we loved it!  But I have no guesses on what the big mistake was.

 

You ain't kidding about teenagers being expensive.  I always tell them they are sucking us dry.  I think they believe I'm joking.  LOL.  

 

That's awesome that you won a stay at the YC.  

 

I'm with Ray

 

Alright, we'll find out before too long if any of your guesses are right.