“On the Disney Cruise...FINAL THOUGHTS 02/13

[anewmac]

You just wanted a wild VEGAS story, everyone has to have one LOL sadly I have pee'd with men too but i blamed it on the alcohol at a bar.. down the street LOL

 

[MAGICFOR2]

You just wanted a wild VEGAS story, everyone has to have one LOL sadly I have pee'd with men too but i blamed it on the alcohol at a bar.. down the street LOL

I was realizing yesterday that peeing in the men's room is a theme for this TR, even though it was two different trips. I'm getting worried about my next trip.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Thanks for your patience everyone - I have one Vegas day and I think one more cruise day to post. I'm too tired tonight, but I promise to finish this weekend. Maybe I will start a PTR for our April cruise next

 

[anewmac]

Thanks for your patience everyone - I have one Vegas day and I think one more cruise day to post. I'm too tired tonight, but I promise to finish this weekend. Maybe I will start a PTR for our April cruise next

no worries hun... cant wait to hear more.

Im all for the pre trip report!!!! you know i love hearing all about the planning!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

no worries hun... cant wait to hear more.

Im all for the pre trip report!!!! you know i love hearing all about the planning!

Thank you! Planning is the best part for me - almost! Trying to keep the thread going in between the planning is the hard part for me. We don't have a real exciting life here in the sticks.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Okay, I'm going to wrap up Vegas, and then I can finish up our cruise!

Thursday we had another jam-packed day of training and inspiration and then on to our evening of fun with Kevin Costner!!!! During our lunch break, I went outside to a little patio area above the (closed) pool, surrounded by palm trees - It was about 65 degrees out and sunny - so nice. The photographer came out and took some pics - he used the one with the back of my head:

I now realize this happened the day before by the dates on the Facebook page, but it still happened!




Did you know Kevin Costner has a band? It is called Modern West. Our company always ends or conference with a concert by someone famous. A couple of years ago it was Tim McGraw! So I was a littlel surprised to see Kevin Costner Didn't know he could sing. Well, when I listened to his website, I decided he couldn't. I was wrong!

Karen and I headed up to the room to take a little nap so we would be fresh for Kevin! We got all dressed up and didn't really have time to do a nice dinner, so we grabbed cheese steak sandwiches in the food court

Before the concert, they have the Grand Awards for all the super achievers - we were all dressed up and ready to party! I stopped at the bar outside our entrance inside the arena, and ordered a shot of rum to dump in my coke from the food court. The bartenders were really friendly and chatty. After I gave him a $2 tip, my server took my glass and proceeded to "freshen it up" with another shot and more coke! I now had a nice 16 oz drink going in!

Here we are, ready for fun!

Here's my BFF Teresa and her DH James:

My central team from here:

After all the awards, they had a little intermission and set up the stage for the concert, and then with some fanfare, Kevin walked in from the back of the floor area, stopping to talk with different ladies and take a few pics - it probably took about 5 minutes for him to reach the stage.

Kevin was very humble, thanked us for buying tickets to his movies all these years, and said he is just singing because this is what he always wanted to do, and because he can! They performed all their own music and told stories about almost all the songs. At first, it seemed to start out a little slow, but as the night went on, they really found their sound! Toward the end, they performed two songs that had only been heard at his birthday party the night before! At the end, he opened a bottle of champagne and toasted the audience. I would have left a little early, but Karen was really starstruck so I stayed with her. We were the only ones left in our seats in our section. I'm really glad we stayed - the best was at the end!

continued next post

 

[MAGICFOR2]

We got up to our room at 12 and had to get up at 3:30 to catch our airport shuttle! We still had to finish packing, so it was 1 when I fell asleep. The alarm was pretty confusing at 3:30.

We were the first ones down to the shuttle station at 4:10, so we got to wait by the patio heater! The early bird gets the heat!

I guess they were doing scans in Vegas, but I didn't see any signs - there were tons of people there at 4:30 am! Jenny got TSA molested because the waist band on her yoga pants was a little thick I didn't know that was a concern if you went through the scan.

Karen and I went to Ruby's for breakfast - why we were hungry at that hour, I have no idea! It was really like we were still up from the night before.

We all met up bleary-eyed, but make-up on at the gate. We were quite a bit quieter for this flight We made it to our airport 1/2 hr late, which I didn't realize. I didn't call Jim until I had found my car (I had to use my key fob) and loaded up the girls. He wanted to hear we had landed safe and sound, so he wasn't happy with me. You would think he would be used to it by now. Girls just want to have fun!

We had a nice lunch at a mom and pop diner and then headed back to this side of the mountain. I walked in the door at 1pm. Not too bad. Jim was at work, but the dog was happy to see me!

Next, back to the ship!

 

[YukiPhnx]

What a fun group of girls you got to spend time with! Sounds like so much fun!

Wow....a private concert from Kevin Costner, that's pretty cool.

This mini TR of yours makes ma really want to go back to Vegas soon.

 

[marvali]

Costner played in the BMW Charity Pro Am here locally almost every year (had conflicts with filming lately) and his band always played a charity concert while they were here. I've seen a lot of him, and he really plays to the crowd because he knows a lot of them buy tickets because he is there. He is very good at stopping and taking pictures, etc. And I've seen him do some pretty generous things at times. I'm not big at celebrity adoration, but KC does seem to be a rather nice guy in public. I could also tell you that about a number of the celebrities who come and play in that tournament though......

 

[anewmac]

that sounds like an awesome way to end the vacation, the concert, the late night, the early morning, snack and lastly being molested at the airport by TSA... (ok sorry a lil sarcasim for the last one, seariously her band was to thick? killing me) Ill have to remember to wear my bathingsuit only when I go LMAO Hey if they dont mind seeing the fat rolls I dont mind sharing them if it means I dont have to get felt up. unless they buy me a drink 1st LOL.

Sounds like a fun group of gals that you go with!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

What a fun group of girls you got to spend time with! Sounds like so much fun!

Wow....a private concert from Kevin Costner, that's pretty cool.

This mini TR of yours makes ma really want to go back to Vegas soon.

We do have a great time together! Such a positive, strong group of people! You either have to get nice or get out! (Like the grouchy girls at the restaurant)

Hey, you could come with me to Vegas next year!

Costner played in the BMW Charity Pro Am here locally almost every year (had conflicts with filming lately) and his band always played a charity concert while they were here. I've seen a lot of him, and he really plays to the crowd because he knows a lot of them buy tickets because he is there. He is very good at stopping and taking pictures, etc. And I've seen him do some pretty generous things at times. I'm not big at celebrity adoration, but KC does seem to be a rather nice guy in public. I could also tell you that about a number of the celebrities who come and play in that tournament though......

That's good to hear he is genuine.
I can imagine some people really let fame get to their heads.

that sounds like an awesome way to end the vacation, the concert, the late night, the early morning, snack and lastly being molested at the airport by TSA... (ok sorry a lil sarcasim for the last one, seariously her band was to thick? killing me) Ill have to remember to wear my bathingsuit only when I go LMAO Hey if they dont mind seeing the fat rolls I dont mind sharing them if it means I dont have to get felt up. unless they buy me a drink 1st LOL.

Sounds like a fun group of gals that you go with!

Maybe they should set up an open bar prior to TSA, then give you a voucher and you go through the "feel you up cuz we bought you a drink" line!

Fantastic people - all the way to the top! We really do attract the best Thanks for saying so.

 

[eandesmom]

waistband on the yoga pants too thick? What in the world would that have to do with anything unless it was lined with Titanium? That is the weirdest thing I've ever heard!

Kevin sounds like a lot of fun but oh, the next morning, not so much!!!!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

waistband on the yoga pants too thick? What in the world would that have to do with anything unless it was lined with Titanium? That is the weirdest thing I've ever heard!

Kevin sounds like a lot of fun but oh, the next morning, not so much!!!!!!

I know! Maybe the lady who wore the bikini through has the right idea. She said they told her they were on high alert that day, but maybe she just asked too many questions, so they told her that so she'd feel important??? That's how she rolls.

I was glad I had a chance to take a nap that afternoon before Jim got home.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I had no idea Kevin Costner had a band! Very cool!

 

[marvali]

That's good to hear he is genuine.
I can imagine some people really let fame get to their heads.

Most of the celebrities that come to that tournament, at least of the ones I've dealt with, are pretty good about being genuine thankfully! There are only a couple of them I wouldn't want to deal with again if I can avoid it.

 

[CRdisMom]

im in trouble if they feel you up for having a thick waist band...ugh!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I had no idea Kevin Costner had a band! Very cool!

You can tell he's having alot of fun with it.

im in trouble if they feel you up for having a thick waist band...ugh!

I'm telling you - just go for the string bikini!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Now back to our regularly scheduled program - we were on a cruise, weren't we?

This being the last day of the cruise, we found bargain tables everywhere! Funny, I didn't mind all the sales when they were, well, SALES!!!

We had planned to purchase clean T-shirts for Jim to wear on the next two days home, but never really found any in port. So we found a bargain table out by the pool and got a Jamaica shirt and a RCL shirt of our cruise ports for him. I needed a shirt to wear home, too, so I got a matching RCL shirt. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, but when we were sporting them around the airports, I felt like I was 80 instead of 50! (not that there's anything wrong with being 80 - that's a good thing - just not always the same fashion choices!)

We found a table with little blue washcloths folded up into towel animals and then sewn to secure them - really cute! We bought them for the grandkids. I bought a few more toys. Lesson learned: wait until the last day to shop on the ship EVERYTHING was on sale - jewelry, liquor, clothing, towels, etc. I think they must have so much inventory to move each cruise

We stopped by the Guest services desk to ask again about the procedure for getting the shuttle to the hotel we paid for (remember - hotel for the day, shuttle to the airport for a late flight - person who sold it to me spoke almost no English?) I was greeted in line by a helpful supervisor who spoke good English, She said all we would do was collect our luggage and go through customs and then tell the porter or traffic coordinator (?) We were doing the Extended Stay and they would get us on the right bus. We didn't need a voucher because we would be on a list. DA-DA-DA-DA (more on that later)

We headed up to our room to start packing and get ready for dinner. We had our last dinner with Richie, I mean Ron and Haven Howard - such a sweet couple. There was a little boy behind us whose mommy had presented some of our training - it was his birthday, so they brought him out a cake, and we all sang. Our company president came out to wish him Happy Birthday and kiss his little cheeks

Our tips had been covered by the company, but we gave extra cash in envelopes to our cabin Steward, James and our servers, Gerland and George. We actually took a last photo with them, I've already posted it:

Oops! Looks like someone had a little too much to eat and already packed her jewelry! I guess the food couldn't have been all bad, I gained 4 lbs.

After dinner, we went by the piano bar for a little bit, then headed to the Sphinx to get a seat for the kareoke

- we were sure all of our favs would be singing. We listened to the last of the big band sounds and Bev and Jenny and the DH's came to join us. Jenny was bound and determined to finish the rest of her rum so she didn't waste it - she wanted to have a serious talk about my business - I told her I would discuss it after we got home! I helped her out with her rum.

We had chosen to skip the farewell show, it was a variety show with a juggler and a comedian the Entertainment staff. Jenny went on and on about how good the show was. Bev leaned over and whispered - "it was so stupid!" We were glad we didn't rush right over to that show.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SING? started. I was really looking forward to this night, but it was funny it seemed like all the people from the audience who didn't have the nerve to get up before, suddenly decided they could sing and it was their last chance at fame before the cruise was over!

A couple of people could sing, the rest? Um, remember when you didn't have the nerve? There's a good reason for that.... Even the CMs couldn't salvage the evening. The show started at 10:45 and was going until 12. We lasted until about 11:25 and we all said our goodbyes in case we didn't meet up in the morning. When we came back to the cabin, our bags were still out in the hall, but crew members were starting to pick them up.
I went out and enjoyed the balcony one last time - it had gotten warmer throughout the day as we got closer to Florida again. Finally, we decided we'd better get some sleep and set our alarm for 7 so we could be up and at it.

NEXT: YOU WANT TO GO WHERE???

 

[anewmac]

LOL gonna tell E he looks 80 next time he buys a shirt of where weve been. He always does it but I tell him he looks like the ultimate tourest LOL.

So the company covered the cruise AND tips.. ?? or was I missing something?

You have to figured everyone has to finish all their alcohol on the last night so their liquid courage is in full effect.. only way i would be caught singing or dancing on stage lol

aww so sad its over (again lol for you) but cant wait to hear about the next "adventure"

 

[MAGICFOR2]

LOL gonna tell E he looks 80 next time he buys a shirt of where weve been. He always does it but I tell him he looks like the ultimate tourest LOL.

So the company covered the cruise AND tips.. ?? or was I missing something?

You have to figured everyone has to finish all their alcohol on the last night so their liquid courage is in full effect.. only way i would be caught singing or dancing on stage lol

aww so sad its over (again lol for you) but cant wait to hear about the next "adventure"

Just make sure you don't have the matching shirt, or then you'll be 80 too!

Yes! The company paid for the cruise and the tips - we even had a private reception with an open bar! I'm planning to be on the company trip to Atlantis this year!

Maybe that was it - liquid courage

Thanks for reading Drea! I hope we have some fun things to report from our West Coast Repo. I'll be leaving from San Pedro if you're in the neighborhood!