Cass, Rob & Kira - Universal & 10-night Southern Caribbean Cruise on Disney Fantasy 2017

[JenLovesMM]

Loving your trip report!

 

[Shanti]

Kira looks so sweet! I look forward to reading about your adventures on the Fantasy.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

So excited for the cruise portion! And so fun to get to do it with friends.
I can't believe photobucket, I hope there will be some new alternative, trip reports would not be so fun without all the great pictures!

 

[bcwife76]

I didn't know Jen and Claire were on this cruise with you!!!! Did @jenseib start a trip report yet and I missed it? Woohoo, this cruise is going to be even COOOOOLER now! I mean....not that you and Rob and Kira aren't cool on your own....*digsherselfahole*

Any who....yay for the Fantasy!!! Hello beautiful I love the Wonder but I am IN LOVE with the Fantasy

 

[lucas]

I'm excited to read about your Fantasy trip. But day 1 makes me kinda sad - that was the day we disembarked from the 11-nighter right before your cruise! It will be fun re-live our cruise thru you guys.

 

[TestingH2O]

Woohoo! Cruise day!

Did @jenseib start a trip report yet and I missed it?

I think she said she might not do reports any more because they take so much time.

 

[jenseib]

I didn't know Jen and Claire were on this cruise with you!!!! Did @jenseib start a trip report yet and I missed it? Woohoo, this cruise is going to be even COOOOOLER now! I mean....not that you and Rob and Kira aren't cool on your own....*digsherselfahole*

Any who....yay for the Fantasy!!! Hello beautiful I love the Wonder but I am IN LOVE with the Fantasy

I will. I am such a sucker and love to relive my trips! hahahah. But I am working on pictures still and want so many done before I start ....because we all know I am way slower at writing than Cass is. LOL. I think I will start it in the next week or so.

 

[jenseib]

Loving the updates Cass! And I am stealing some of your pictures too. LOL.
Here is our view waiting for you to get that picture.

embark14 by Jenseib, on Flickr

I am sorry Claire ended up being crabby pants. She was attached to me a lot this cruise. I was surprised, but after thinking it over....I realize that Claire Loves to listen to adults talk. She is super nosey, which explains why she doesn't do the kids club much on past cruises...except when we have sailed with Skip (he must be boring. LOL). But when I have been with other adults, she usually is in the thick of it listening. Even on our last cruise, when she hung with cousin Alexis, a lot of times they were also with my Aunt and Uncle or one of my sisters. I think she thinks she is going to "miss out" on something if she isn't with me or another adult. We had a little bit of an issue on Castaway Cay with her "missing out" on something and she was very emotional about it.
At home however.....I almost never see her these days. She is in the phase of staying in her room all day and complains when I make her come out. Oh the teen years are going to be a joy! hahahaha.

I see you are calling "J" ...J. LOL. I am debating on real names or not this time. In my last one I used the initial for that J's work reasons, but this time it's not work related.....so I will have to think it over.

I am so reliving everything about this trip through you right now. I am having the total post cruise blues.

And yes....we had some issues getting to the port that morning. Your morning just sounds so nice and relaxed.....mine was full of anxiety on my part and then once on the road I thought things would go smoother....well we know that was not right. Claire heard some colorful language that day. hahahaha.

 

[lucas]

Cass, I was just reading your 2009 trip report. The video links don't work. Is there some place else I can view them? I'd love to see them!

 

[cntkg1]

You guys are so photogenic! I love seeing all the pics of you all.

 

[cntkg1]

Cruise day!!! Yay! Now I can finally relate.

I notice your special little luggage tag was already missing on your pic. Someone must have liked so much that they made it theirs. lol!!

 

[lucas]

I will. I am such a sucker and love to relive my trips! hahahah. But I am working on pictures still and want so many done before I start ....because we all know I am way slower at writing than Cass is. LOL. I think I will start it in the next week or so.

I would love to read your report, too!

 

[krissy2803]

Wait..what?! My two favorite trip reporters together? I can't handle this.
This is gonna be epic! Can't wait for more. You guys keep my cruise blahs away and make the time between cruises so much more bearable. Thanks for that!
On that note...C'mon October 27th!!!

 

[Darkrobe]

And yes....we had some issues getting to the port that morning. Your morning just sounds so nice and relaxed.....mine was full of anxiety on my part and then once on the road I thought things would go smoother....well we know that was not right.

It was all in the app settings, if you didn't know how it was set in the deep background then how are you supposed to know what it's doing. I'm glad I got it fixed for you and now you know if something goes amiss again in the future what is going on

 

[Timon]

Loving your trip report!

Thanks Jen

Kira looks so sweet! I look forward to reading about your adventures on the Fantasy.

Thanks! She is 95% sweet

Just not on vacation

So excited for the cruise portion! And so fun to get to do it with friends.
I can't believe photobucket, I hope there will be some new alternative, trip reports would not be so fun without all the great pictures!

There are alternatives like Flickr but not sure for how long.

I am excited too

I didn't know Jen and Claire were on this cruise with you!!!! Did @jenseib start a trip report yet and I missed it? Woohoo, this cruise is going to be even COOOOOLER now! I mean....not that you and Rob and Kira aren't cool on your own....*digsherselfahole*

Any who....yay for the Fantasy!!! Hello beautiful I love the Wonder but I am IN LOVE with the Fantasy

LOL! We're not as cool as Jen, sorry She explores and does way more than I do

She's also way busier than me so give her some time, she writes for the same reason as I do, to relive her trip and to document her memories

I never thought I would say this but the Wonder is my fave ship

I'm excited to read about your Fantasy trip. But day 1 makes me kinda sad - that was the day we disembarked from the 11-nighter right before your cruise! It will be fun re-live our cruise thru you guys.

Well, you need to write a trip report so that we can all re-live our cruise through you

Woohoo! Cruise day!



I think she said she might not do reports any more because they take so much time.

Oh my dog! They do take up so much time

I will. I am such a sucker and love to relive my trips! hahahah. But I am working on pictures still and want so many done before I start ....because we all know I am way slower at writing than Cass is. LOL. I think I will start it in the next week or so.

I just have more time than you

Yours will be so much more fun, we hardly did anything really. We're boring

Loving the updates Cass! And I am stealing some of your pictures too. LOL.
Here is our view waiting for you to get that picture.


I am sorry Claire ended up being crabby pants. She was attached to me a lot this cruise. I was surprised, but after thinking it over....I realize that Claire Loves to listen to adults talk. She is super nosey, which explains why she doesn't do the kids club much on past cruises...except when we have sailed with Skip (he must be boring. LOL). But when I have been with other adults, she usually is in the thick of it listening. Even on our last cruise, when she hung with cousin Alexis, a lot of times they were also with my Aunt and Uncle or one of my sisters. I think she thinks she is going to "miss out" on something if she isn't with me or another adult. We had a little bit of an issue on Castaway Cay with her "missing out" on something and she was very emotional about it.
At home however.....I almost never see her these days. She is in the phase of staying in her room all day and complains when I make her come out. Oh the teen years are going to be a joy! hahahaha.

I see you are calling "J" ...J. LOL. I am debating on real names or not this time. In my last one I used the initial for that J's work reasons, but this time it's not work related.....so I will have to think it over.

I am so reliving everything about this trip through you right now. I am having the total post cruise blues.

And yes....we had some issues getting to the port that morning. Your morning just sounds so nice and relaxed.....mine was full of anxiety on my part and then once on the road I thought things would go smoother....well we know that was not right. Claire heard some colorful language that day. hahahaha.

Thanks for the pic, I hate pics of myself

It's no big deal! Claire is a just a mature 12 year old and 2 years at that age can really make a difference! Kira is the exact opposite, if she had found a buddy, we would never have seen her! She loves the club and doing things and is just now slowly experiencing some new found freedom, especially on the ship because she had her phone this time. It took her a few days adjusting because she thought she was going to have someone to hang with the entire cruise. We had a few....interesting days, she was just bummed but eventually she got out of that funk and enjoyed the rest of the cruise.

I am calling her J because I know she is very private whereas myself, you and Brook have our lives plastered all over the internet I'm not posting anything that a few thousand other people don't already know

Kira told us all about your very stressful journey to the port Sounds like you needed a good navigator

Cass, I was just reading your 2009 trip report. The video links don't work. Is there some place else I can view them? I'd love to see them!

Oh! Sorry, I took down a huge percentage of my personal website years ago. It's quite outdated and I no longer have the time to update it but I totally forgot I had some videos on there that were hosted on my site! I will go and upload the videos now!

I have all of my Trip Videos (the ones that I edited and added music to) on my YouTube channel though if you want to watch those

YouTube Cass327

You guys are so photogenic! I love seeing all the pics of you all.

Well, Kira and Rob sure are

Cruise day!!! Yay! Now I can finally relate.

I notice your special little luggage tag was already missing on your pic. Someone must have liked so much that they made it theirs. lol!!

Yes, I lost it on the way down But thanks to you, I now have a replacement!

I will secure them better next time

Wait..what?! My two favorite trip reporters together? I can't handle this.
This is gonna be epic! Can't wait for more. You guys keep my cruise blahs away and make the time between cruises so much more bearable. Thanks for that!
On that note...C'mon October 27th!!!

HAHAHAH! I don't know about epic but it was fun

Because this was a personal cruise with our families, we didn't spend as much time together as we have on previous trips.

October is just around the corner!!

 

[Darkrobe]

It was all in the app settings, if you didn't know how it was set in the deep background then how are you supposed to know what it's doing. I'm glad I got it fixed for you and now you know if something goes amiss again in the future what is going on

Guess I should note what went amiss for J. In your Google Maps or Apple Maps app, there are choices to make about whether or NOT to take Toll Roads. A 1hr drive turned into a 2+hr drive for J because it is automatically set to NO TOLL ROADS, hence the big drive for her.

On your iPhone for Apple Maps, you can change this setting here:

1. Goto Settings
2. Goto MAPS
3. Goto Driving & Navigation
4. TURN OFF "AVOID TOLLS" "AVOID HIGHWAYS" (not sure why you would want to avoid a highway but it's there).
5. You can also turn on "SHOW IN NAVIGATION: COMPASS" great way to see which direction you are going without opening the compass app.

Also located in this menu area for Apple is "NAVIGATION VOICE VOLUME", these being the following choices:

• No Voice
• Low Volume
• Normal Volume
• Loud Volume

and you can also choose to pause audio books & podcasts by selecting "PAUSE SPOKEN AUDIO" here.



In Google Maps

• Open the app and search for your destination.
  
  
• Tap the blue button or Route.
  
  
• Sidenote: you can tap the up and down arrows next to the search boxes to switch your “from” and “to” if needed.
  
  
• Enter your “from” address or use your current location.
  
  
• Tap the three vertical dots right of the search boxes.
  
  
• Select Route Options.
  
  
• Toggle on Avoid Tolls.
  
  
• To save your avoid tolls prefence in Google Maps, also toggle on Save current settings.
  
  
• Tap the back arrow to return to the map.
  
  
• Tap the blue circle with a white arrow pointing up to begin navigating.
  

Also, there are some additional features in Google Maps such as SAVE PARKING LOCATION.

1. Click the three bar menu button in the top left in the search area.
2. Click Settings from the drop down menu
3. Click Navigation Settings where you will find the following menu choices
   1. Mute State [Muted Alerts Only Unmuted]
   2. Guidance Volume [Softer Normal Louder]
   3. Play Voice over Bluetooth
   4. Play as Bluetooth phone call
   5. Keep map north up
   6. Save Parking Location
      1. Toggle the Save Parking Location near the bottom of the menu
   7. Color Scheme (Automatic, Day, Night)

Also of particular note is that you can do location sharing and Notifications here. If you want Google Maps to tell you when it's time to leave to your next location for where you are, it's under Notifications - Time To Leave.
Of note, Google Maps will be checking your location all the time in the background by turning this on.
Also, you will find Ride Services notifications here as well.

Hope that helps everyone out going forward.
Robe

 

[Timon]

Day 5, Part 2



We all headed up to Cabanas as J and Patty were saving us some seats. I was starving by now!

Found them and gave J a hug since I haven't seen her since 2011

We grabbed some food and sat down to visit with everyone.

Rob's plate...

And mine...

Kira was struggling with her shrimp

I got some dessert but I didn't care for it. Had one bite then gave the rest to Rob. And they changed their chocolate chip cookies!!!

The food was just bleh and I was really hankering for a hot dog.

Kira had gone with Claire to get their first ice cream of the cruise and then they came back. Rob was still eating so I left them there while I got my hot dog.

It was almost time for the rooms to open up so I headed down to deck 8. I told Rob to give me a 10-minute head start so I can get pics and video of the room before we mess it up. Kira was super impatient with me at HRH and CB with getting my pics so I wanted to get it done without her attitude this time

And here we are, room 8030..

Some people hate getting these rooms that have that outside part on the one side of the verandah but I love it! More privacy

J and fam were our neighbours to the left side...they were horrible!

Just kidding! They were awesome neighbours, hardly heard them the entire 10 days, can't say the same for our other neighbours

And here's some pics of the first day's Navigators:

Just as I was finishing up with my video, Rob and Kira got to the room. Kira wanted to have this space under the bed as a play/fort area for herself! HAHA! Not!

 

[TestingH2O]

Kira wanted to have this space under the bed as a play/fort area for herself! HAHA! Not!

That is hilarious! Please never suggest this to my DD. I might never get her out.

 

[lucas]

Oh! Sorry, I took down a huge percentage of my personal website years ago. It's quite outdated and I no longer have the time to update it but I totally forgot I had some videos on there that were hosted on my site! I will go and upload the videos now!

I have all of my Trip Videos (the ones that I edited and added music to) on my YouTube channel though if you want to watch those

YouTube Cass327

Thanks! Can't wait to check them out!!

 

[toony]

Great Universal installments - though it's just not Disney...
I'm totally excited to join you on this cruise - love the itinerary on the navigator!!

Great: - That your checking in and coming on board this time seemed to be a breeze!
- Rob and Kiras joy really pop out of the pictures!
- Kiras haircut suits her well! And wow - one can literally see your gorgeaus girl grow.
- And of course that you were feeling well most of the time!