Boo to the Halloween on the Highs Seas Crew

You guys are braver than I am. I tried this on one of our first cruises and landed in the water right by the Flying Dutchman

I am jealous that you got to get there before they took the ship down. I missed it by just a few months.

That sounds like my personal nightmare.


hahahaha

You really had a bunch of less than magical cast members this time round.

We had many good ones too, but I did notice some not so magical ones here and there.


I am glad that this worked out.

I was glad to go in and have a nice relaxing drink.

We have always done breakfast in the dining room the last morning, but on Royal Caribbean we do the buffet and that works great.

I prefer the buffet now but I used to always like the dining room in the past, especially on NCL.

There is ways around this. I know that only too well.

You are not making me feel better.

I know that rationally there is no reason for it and I keep telling myself that it should be easy to take a tablet, but I inevitably start choking if I try.

So you aren't the one to give Claire the pep talk then? LOL
 
Oct. 29, 2016, Saturday, Day 11


Port Canaveral/ Universal



It was that day….such a sad day. This wonderful cruise was coming to an end. Almost everyone was flying home today…but not us! When I had been stalking flights home, the prices were just awful. I watched them for months and they went up and up and I regretted not getting them when I first looked. I then also started looking at flying home Sunday. I would much rather pay for a hotel than a flight. In my stalking I found our flight coming into Orlando drop, so I got some credit for all 3 of us (remember my Mom was flying with us). Then not long after that the flights on Sunday went down a bit so I was able to apply the credit from the first flight modification and get a lower price coming home and we were all happy. It still was not a super fantastic deal, but compared to what they had been, I was pretty happy.


We pulled into Port Canaveral early and I went out to take some pictures.


portc1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


This is one of the outdoor areas outside of the Meridian.


portc2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I love how the ship looks lit up and had to get a few last pictures.


portc20 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc21 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc22 by Jenseib, on Flickr


A Carnival ship was also in port.


portc23 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


This last morning I was just walking all over trying to soak up every last bit of the ship that I could.


portc7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I got Claire up and we went and had our last breakfast.


portc24 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We gathered our stuff and said goodbye to our ship…and I guess we waved to the Carnival Magic too! LOL.


portc25 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The 3 of us headed off the ship….kicking and screaming….ok, I made that part up….and got a porter to help us with our bags. We found them very easily and he helped us get through customs and then we made our way over to the shuttle buses for car rentals. It found a decent car rental price that was less than having the 3 of us taking the shuttle to the airport. It took a little bit for one to come, but in reality it wasn’t too bad. But when you are ready to just leave it seems longer.


Once we got over to Alamo I jumped off the bus right away to get in line and Mom and Claire waited as the bags were unloaded.


portc17 by Jenseib, on Flickr


portc18 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I had to wait for a few people, but again, it wasn’t too long.


portc19 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Originally I had gotten a midsize car but a few days before we cruised I decided it might be smarter to get a van with all our luggage and I was glad we did. We had a lot.


We found our van and set Siri to lead us over to Cabana Bay Beach resort over at Universal Studios. We got a little turned around at first but then eventually made it. I hate when Siri says things like head West on this road…Um..I am not in a familiar area and I don’t know which way is west at the current moment.
 
We made our way over to Orlando….paying tolls along the way. I think I am going to invest in my own Sunpass transponder. I just think overall it will make life easier. I hate all the stopping involved in any Florida vacation these days to pay tolls and then in some cases you MUST have quarters. For the price of the transponder I think it will just give me peace of mind.


We arrived at Cabana Bay, my second stay here, but a first for Claire and Mom, and parked up front and went in to check in.


cabana41 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I LOVE this resort! I love the theming and the look and it’s just such a fun place.


cabana1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We got all checked in and then headed back to the van to pull over closer to our building.


cabana2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We creeped along the backside trying to figure out where our room was. I made Claire get out and walk along the buildings and wave when she found a room that was close to our room number so we could park in the area. Claire found some numbers that were close (she was walking on the backside and our room would be on the other side which was poolside) and waved and we parked right next to the building’s walkway and started to unload.


We dragged our bags to our room which was a first floor corner room SCORE!


The last time I stayed here was with my co-worker Cass and we had just a standard room. This time I got a suite so we each could have our own bed, with Claire being on the pull out couch.


cabana3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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Even the shampoo and soap is retro.


cabana10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana11 by Jenseib, on Flickr


A big closet.


cabana12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana13 by Jenseib, on Flickr


There were 2 TV’s in the room.


cabana14 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana15 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Lots of drawers throughout too.


cabana16 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana17 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana18 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana19 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana20 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana21 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The only downside to this room is that when you pull the couch bed out there really isn’t anywhere to put these end tables and also we weren’t unpacking so we had to move the suitcases around a few times to get them out of the way.


cabana42 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Claire felt she should get the bed and I should get the couch…I nixed that idea right away.


cabana43 by Jenseib, on Flickr
 


I am surprised that you did not have auto-toll with Alamo. We had this in November and it worked great. There was no need to have change and we could go through the SunPass lanes. This makes life so much easier. Maybe it was because we picked up the car in Miami where you cannot pay the tolls with cash.

I loved this hotel. I could imagine staying there.

Corinna
 
I LOVE this resort! I love the theming and the look and it’s just such a fun place.

Yes, it is quite an amazing place! We stayed there for three nights in February with a very good Florida Resident rate (my BF lives in Florida) of $130 including tax. I thought for what we got and how convenient it is for the Universal parks, it was really a fabulous place! We spend hours floating in the lazy river - despite the construction site directly next to it.

I am surprised that you did not have auto-toll with Alamo. We had this in November and it worked great. There was no need to have change and we could go through the SunPass lanes. This makes life so much easier. Maybe it was because we picked up the car in Miami where you cannot pay the tolls with cash.

We rented a car from Alamo at Port Canaveral and got auto-toll. But you still pay an extra fee for using it in addition to the tolls. But I think Alamo has the best set up as it only charges the fee for the days you are actually using the tolls. Other rental car companies (Dollar) want to charge you a fee for every day you have the car. We thought it was worth the convenience.
 
That is awesome! I just showed DH the photos and he's very impressed.

How do you think the service compares to Disney?

Well I personally think Disney's service has been going down the hill lately. Universal's is pretty good. Sometimes better, sometimes not. The thing with Universal is the service is usually good, but not everyone has the knowledge they should. I think some better training is needed in some departments. Especially the hotel desk staff. I probably knew more than the girl checking me in on a lot of things. If you have someone who can help you book it (like a good travel agent or a friend who knows their stuff about Universal) then I think you can navigate it better.

I am surprised that you did not have auto-toll with Alamo. We had this in November and it worked great. There was no need to have change and we could go through the SunPass lanes. This makes life so much easier. Maybe it was because we picked up the car in Miami where you cannot pay the tolls with cash.

I loved this hotel. I could imagine staying there.

Corinna

You know...I never think to ask for it and it' never been offered that I know of. I think the transponder is like $20 bucks shipped and then you can take it with you and change it to the car you are using. I think you link a credit card to it so that it just charges any tolls to that. For me, I think it would be worth it....if I remember to bring it. hahaha

Cabana Bay is really fun. I just stayed another night there in Feb.

Yes, it is quite an amazing place! We stayed there for three nights in February with a very good Florida Resident rate (my BF lives in Florida) of $130 including tax. I thought for what we got and how convenient it is for the Universal parks, it was really a fabulous place! We spend hours floating in the lazy river - despite the construction site directly next to it.

Yes, with my discount, that is about the rate I paid too.(maybe a bit more since I was in a suite). It is so fun. I love the colors and the themeing so much there.

We rented a car from Alamo at Port Canaveral and got auto-toll. But you still pay an extra fee for using it in addition to the tolls. But I think Alamo has the best set up as it only charges the fee for the days you are actually using the tolls. Other rental car companies (Dollar) want to charge you a fee for every day you have the car. We thought it was worth the convenience.

I am never offered it and never think to ask about it till its too late. I wish I had thought about it when I was getting my car. Especially this past Feb where I put out a lot of money in tolls and seemed to be stopping every 5 minutes
 


After we got settled in we went for a walk around the resort.


cabana22 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana23 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana24 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana25 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana26 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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cabana31 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I love the gift shop here. Last time they had some really cute Cabana Bay T-shirts and I didn’t buy one. This time I did!


cabana32 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana33 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We decided to get a drink at Starbucks. Claire loves the Frappuccino’s!


cabana44 by Jenseib, on Flickr


This mural is on the wall there.


cabana45 by Jenseib, on Flickr


With drinks in hand we went on to look around some more.


cabana37 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana38 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Claire wanted to go bowling again, but I wasn’t feeling it right now and we had plans later tonight. Honestly I really wanted to take a nap, but that wasn’t going to happen.


cabana39 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana40 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I took a picture inside this conference room. I have been told that these rooms are almost never used, which is a shame.


cabana55 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Looking at the food court area from the balcony.


cabana56 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana57 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana58 by Jenseib, on Flickr
 
I am never offered it and never think to ask about it till its too late. I wish I had thought about it when I was getting my car. Especially this past Feb where I put out a lot of money in tolls and seemed to be stopping every 5 minutes

We were not offered it either, but my BF asked about it and at Alamo it is automatically part of your contract. So, if you had just used the SunPass lanes, they would have just charged the credit card that you had put down for the car. Since you did not go through there, you were not charged the tolls nor the daily fee.
 
This is the info on the SunPass website: https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

If the transponder is only 20$ and you are in Florida regularly, then I think it makes sense to buy one. Otherwise 3.95$ per day is quite a fair price.

ETA:

And I love the additional pictures!! Brings back so many lovely memories! I agree with you that the colors just put you in a good mood immediately.
 
We headed outside down a ramp and came to the other pool area.


cabana46 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana59 by Jenseib, on Flickr


You can see the 2 new Cabana Bay towers being built here and also Volcano Bay, the new water park that will open this coming up May.


cabanabay1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabanabay2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabanabay3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Did they really have issues with people swimming in the fountain? LOL!


cabana60 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabanabay4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana61 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I love the white sand here.


cabana62 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabanabay9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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cabanabay8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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You have to buy tubes if you want to use them in the lazy river.


cabana67 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We had vacation stomach going on…You know …when you need to eat every 2-3 hours…so we decided to get some lunch.


cabana68 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana69 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I also bought a 1 day use refillable mug…good for 24 hours. It was cute and I knew I would make good use of it.


cabana70 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We got a table and waited for our food to be ready.


cabana71 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Burger and fries for me….and it was YUMMY!


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Hot dog and fries for Claire.


cabana72 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We headed back to the room and Claire and I put our suits on and headed back over to the lazy river to give it a try.


cabana48 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I had never done it last Feb and I regretted it so it was on my bucket list to do this time. We just swirled around on our own without tubes and the water current moved us right along. We made several trips around and had some fun.


After we had a fill of that we did go and sit in the hot tub for a little bit as well.


We then headed back to the room to get cleaned up and chilled out for a bit and then decided to head over to City Walk. There was one place I wanted to eat dinner at…and it was brand new…..so I knew lines would be long. We might as well go put our name in early.


cabana74 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana75 by Jenseib, on Flickr


cabana76 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Out to the bus stop.


cabana77 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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cabana79 by Jenseib, on Flickr
 
We were not offered it either, but my BF asked about it and at Alamo it is automatically part of your contract. So, if you had just used the SunPass lanes, they would have just charged the credit card that you had put down for the car. Since you did not go through there, you were not charged the tolls nor the daily fee.

Oh really. Gosh I wish I had know that. LOL. Now I know!

This is the info on the SunPass website: https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

If the transponder is only 20$ and you are in Florida regularly, then I think it makes sense to buy one. Otherwise 3.95$ per day is quite a fair price.

ETA:

And I love the additional pictures!! Brings back so many lovely memories! I agree with you that the colors just put you in a good mood immediately.

I think the transponders are good for ever so even once a year might be worth it. But I need to read up on it more. I have a rental car for this summer, but currently with hertz unless Alamo's rates come down.
 
30754372081_0423c998cb_z.jpg

In February they were putting furniture into the new hotel rooms and the Volcano was fully built. So funny to see the view a few months earlier.


I meant to quote the text about the tubes, not the picture... But my comment was that the trick that I learned is: A lot of people abandon their tubes in the evening or when they leave for the airport. We spent a day at the pool and had several opportunities to get some. And the ones my BF had brought from home were acquired that way. If you want to keep them, they have a machine at this shack that actually deflates them for easier packing.

We then headed back to the room to get cleaned up and chilled out for a bit and then decided to head over to City Walk. There was one place I wanted to eat dinner at…and it was brand new…..so I knew lines would be long. We might as well go put our name in early.

I think I know which one it is - and if I am correct it is the same that we went to on our first evening at Cabana Bay!
 
In February they were putting furniture into the new hotel rooms and the Volcano was fully built. So funny to see the view a few months earlier.

I was there in Feb too. Which dates were you there? I stayed at Cabana Feb. 25 then moved to Sapphire Falls after that....where Rick Springfield was staying as well!

rick1 by Jenseib, on Flickr

I meant to quote the text about the tubes, not the picture... But my comment was that the trick that I learned is: A lot of people abandon their tubes in the evening or when they leave for the airport. We spent a day at the pool and had several opportunities to get some. And the ones my BF had brought from home were acquired that way. If you want to keep them, they have a machine at this shack that actually deflates them for easier packing.

I think I had heard that too. I figured a lot of people probably just leave them there as they don't want to mess with them. But it seems like I did see a machine last fall that deflated them for those who wanted it done.

I think I know which one it is - and if I am correct it is the same that we went to on our first evening at Cabana Bay!

Begins with a T and ends with yum yum yum! LOL
 
I was there in Feb too. Which dates were you there? I stayed at Cabana Feb. 25 then moved to Sapphire Falls after that....where Rick Springfield was staying as well!

We left February 25. I should have known that you were there in February as well! Brook is our travel agent and we spent quite some time with her and her family in Germany last summer. We were so disappointed that we missed each other by one day!!

They better not give Disney any ideas making you buy your tubes.

At least the price was decent. I think the cheapest one was 4$, the one that we got was a fancy one with Cabana Bay design and I think that was 8$.
 
I love that mural.

We loved it too. I sent it to Gail as Abby wants to be a mermaid when she grows up. LOL.

I had not realised that Cabana Bay has a lazy river. They better not give Disney any ideas making you buy your tubes.

LOL. It wouldn't surprise me at all.

We left February 25. I should have known that you were there in February as well! Brook is our travel agent and we spent quite some time with her and her family in Germany last summer. We were so disappointed that we missed each other by one day!!

Oh Gosh. Yes Brook came in at the crack of dawn on the 26th. She spent hours in the lobby waiting for her room which she never got till later in the day. We offered for her to come over to Cabana Bay and take a nap and or shower but she declined. She really should have. I was in the Universal parks on the 23 too. I came in early but stayed offsite a few days.

At least the price was decent. I think the cheapest one was 4$, the one that we got was a fancy one with Cabana Bay design and I think that was 8$.

Though told us they were trying to keep the price in line with what they could be bought for at a store. I don't often buy any so I wasn't really sure if they were or not.
 
This sign is misleading. Many think you wait for the bus right here, but you don’t….you go a little further down to wait for it.


cabana80 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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cabanabay6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


A look at the new towers from this spot.


cabanabay7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And Sapphire Falls is across the street. I had originally booked a room there but then after it opened I wasn’t impressed with the pictures I was seeing and I heard that they were still having a lot of issues still with it being so new. I decided to rebook at Cabana Bay because I loved the resort so much and I knew Claire would like it too.


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Finally a bus came.


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And we were whisked off over to the drop off point which is near the parking garages.


city1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Everyone has to go through security before heading into City Walk. I love this! Once you clear it you can park hop or do whatever and not go through it again.


city2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


city3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


There is Toothsomes across the lake!


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We headed in and it was packed!


tooth25 by Jenseib, on Flickr


There was a line going out the door for the to go area and a line just to put you name in to eat here.


tooth26 by Jenseib, on Flickr


It didn’t matter…we WERE eating here.


tooth21 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Mom grumbled about how crowded it was and I told her it had just opened a month ago and was bound to be crowded.


tooth22 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We made our way up and they said it would be an hour or so. Mom said no and I said yes and put our name in. I told her she was welcome to not eat here with us, but the main reason I booked a stay at Universal this night was to come here and try it out. I knew it would have a long wait…and I told her that when we left Cabana Bay too. They took my cell number and said they would text when it was our turn.


Since we had time to waste went off walking.


city6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Tonight there was a Halloween party going on at Universal Studios.


city24 by Jenseib, on Flickr


They had things set up for people to wait in line to enter.


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city26 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I said we should walk over towards Hard Rock hotel.


city20 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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There regular entrance was closed off as they were making a new security booth so we had to go around.


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city27 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We headed off and were just chatting away and not paying attention to where were going. Another family was close on our heels too. I look up and realized we took a wrong turn and were heading towards a loading dock on the side of the hotel so we turn around to go back. That family was so mad and huffed off. Now was it my fault that they were following us? LOL. No, and I assume they were staying here, so they should have known their way back. We totally laughed at how they acted.
 
Our legs were pretty tired and we decided just to head back to City Walk and find a spot to sit and people watch. We did have to go through security again since we had left to go to a hotel but it is very simple and fast at this entrance.


city28 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Evidently lots of people had this same idea.


city7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I realized later that these people were probably waiting to get in line for the Halloween party.


Mom and Claire found a spot to sit and I walked around a little bit.


city29 by Jenseib, on Flickr


city8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I then joined them for a bit and Mom had called dad, who was so happy to hear from her and could not wait for her to get home. I called Skip and we talked to him too. He never acts like he misses us, but I am sure he does.


As it got closer to the allotted time we headed back over to Toothsome’s again.


tooth23 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We looked at this digital menu and started planning on what we wanted to eat. Mom was starving to death again.


city1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We then went inside to look at the store.


tooth14 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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Mom had been looking for a longer sleeved shirt to wear and found one here. I like it so much I bought one for myself too.


tooth28 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We got a text to come to the podium so we did.


tooth29 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I told them we got a text and they asked for our name and told us our table would be ready soon.


tooth30 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Mom was freaking out because others who came up after us were being seated and told me to ask again, so I did…She asked our name and then said our table would be ready shortly.


We watched through this window while we waited.


tooth7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I went and asked a couple more times and they kept saying the table would be ready soon. This girl was dumber than a box of rocks. I know she was probably new and it was busy, but she never once recognized me as the same person asking her over and over. I finally said to her that we received out text a while ago and we get this answer every time we come up….what is going on…..your table will be ready shortly.

So I then reached out to Eric. He went to see what the issue was and then sat us.


tooth31 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth33 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tooth34 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We were taken upstairs to sit.


tooth35 by Jenseib, on Flickr
 
I have no idea what Toothsome's is, but after those photos I think I need to figure it out. :worship:
 

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