Christine: Friend Like Me Travel Co.

03/10/2024

My FLMTC spirit week post today is sharing a special memory.

My special memories are shared with my family. It is so special to me that I was able to take my mom on her first Disneyland trip and first cruise! I was also able to take my boyfriend to Disneyland for his first time and my nephew to Universal Studios Orlando for the first time and his first cruise!

I have fond memories as a child going on vacation to Walt Disney World. My dad would literally surprise the family with “pack the car we are going to Disney World.” It feels great for me to be able to tell my mom to pack a bag we are going on vacation now.

I would love to hear your special memories in the comments.

01/10/2024

It’s day 2 of Friend Like Me Travel Co. birthday week and today is the big day!

Happy Birthday !!

Today’s theme is Genie bound.

As a “Genie” I decided to rock the FLMTC spirit Jersey today!

01/10/2024

🎈🥳🎂

30/09/2024

This week Friend Like Me Travel Co. turns 5!

To celebrate we have a theme for each day this week!

Today is destination day! My favorite destination right now is cruising! I still love Walt Disney World and Disneyland but I’ve found so much joy in cruising! It’s just a different way to vacation and I absolutely love it!

I wore my favorite cruise shirt today to celebrate!

What’s your favorite destination?

30/09/2024

Happy National Coffee Day! ☕️

Here are some of my favorite coffees from cruising!

17/09/2024

Our day at Castaway Cay!

Once we arrived at Castaway Cay we went over to the family beach, picked a spot, and went to the ocean to do a bit of snorkeling. We did make one other stop to pick up a float I rented and also snorkel vests. We brought our own snorkel gear on this trip but you are still required to wear the vest while snorkeling (no charge for the vest, just pick it up at one of the rental locations!). I saw some fish but my nephew was able to see a couple of sting rays!

We also rented bikes and rode around the bike path. I really enjoyed the ride and we climbed the tower that looked over the island.

After lunch at Castaway we decided to board the ship. We had such a great time!

We had our final dinner at Royal Court and caught up with Captain Minnie!

The last night is always the hardest (seeing all the luggage in the halls waiting for pick up is very sad!! lol) but we had a wonderful trip! We already have another booked!

If you have any questions about this itinerary or any others, let me know in the comments!

15/09/2024

Sea day! And if you’ve been around my page you may know what that means…

Mickey Churro waffles for breakfast!

I love sea days so much....you can participate in so many activities or or simply do nothing! It's really up to you. On this sea day, I made crafts, tried to draw Olaf 😂, went to a silent dance party and relaxed. It was a wonderful day at sea.

Our dinner was at Enchanted Garden and we enjoyed the Frozen show! This trip we actually went to an early showing of Frozen so that we could enjoy some other activities and meet some characters!

Up next, one of my favorite places, Castaway Cay! Check out my next post to see what we did!

14/09/2024

Back the trip recap...

On this day of our Disney Fantasy cruise we were at Falmouth, Jamaica

Our excursion was to the Good Hope Estate. We traveled on a bus through the island and arrived at the estate. There was a pool and some areas to explore that included an old water wheel. While the excursion was ok, it wasn’t exactly what we expected so we went back to the ship on the first bus back.

The port itself was interesting and there were some vendors selling spices and some hand-made wooden pieces that were really cool.

Our dinner was at Animator's Palette! At tonight's dinner we drew our own characters and they performed in an animated show 🙂

The next day was a sea day! Check out my next post to see some of the things I did!

10/09/2024

Continuing our Disney Fantasy Cruise recap....
Today’s port was Grand Cayman. We decided on the Seven Mile Beach excursion.

We started the morning with some breakfast and gathered at the meet up location.
Once our group was called we were taken to the tender boats. The Cruise ships are too large to dock at the port so tender boats are used to transport passengers on and off the island. It’s a really easy process and a pretty cool ride (I’ll post a short video I took leaving the ship).

We spent a few hours at the beach and decided to go back to the ship for a light lunch. The beach was nice, but a couple hours was good enough for us. Also we had to get back because that night was also Pirate Night!

On pirate night there is a special menu for dinner and shows featuring some very special pirates! and I can’t forget the fire works at sea!

The next stop was Jamacia. Check out tomorrows post to see what we did.

10/09/2024

The next stop on our cruise was Cozumel Mexico.

We decided to have breakfast at the sit down location which was the Royal Court. You have choices of where you want to eat breakfast and lunch, typically Cabanas is open as well as a sit down restaurant. On port days, when we have excursions booked and the meeting time is fairly early, we prefer to do the sit down because the staff moves things along very fast for you.

After breakfast, we gathered our items and went to the meet up location for excursions. When you arrive at the designated location, you check in with cast members and they give you a sticker. You then sit with other parties with the same sticker until your gorup is called. Once your group is called, you are then escorted off the ship and to meet your excursion guide.

The excursion we chose, Cozumel Ruins, Chocolate and Beach Break. My mom wanted to see the ruins and she was not disappointed. My only recommendation if you go on this excursion is to bring sun tan lotion and alittle bug spray. The mosquitos weren't too bad, but they were definitely out.

After the ruins, we went to the chocolcate workshop where we watched a chocoate making demo and we got to taste it! You could also sample and purchase chocolate at the gift shop. After the chocolate portion, we spent the rest of the day on the beach.

We all really enjoyed this excursion and my only caution would be to really read the inclusions on the excursion. The ruins and chocolate were great, but there was a bit of a misunderstanding on umbrellas and chairs at the beach. We were able to find a chair under a palm tree so we could have a bit of shade but if you wanted an umbrella there was a fee. The other thing is, there are iguanas roaming the beach..it was cool to see,but I recommend watching where you walk and don't forget slides or flip flops!

We made our way back to the ship and had a quick snack, rested a bit and got ready for dinner.

Our dinner was at Enchanted Garden and after we attended the show which was a group called Junnk!

we also ordered room service...warm cookies...

The next day we went to the Grand Caymans...check out my next post to see what we did.

08/09/2024

08/09/2024

Trip Recap Time!
Over the next few days I’ll recap our August Western Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy!

Given we were traveling during hurricane season we decided to go to Florida two nights before our trip and I’m so glad we did! We took a late flight into Orlando, picked up a rental car and drove to Cape Canaveral. We stayed at the Springhill Suites Marriott which is super close to the cruise terminal.

On the day of our cruise we left the hotel and went to the rental car facility. I find renting a car is so easy and it allowed us to get around to stores and restaurants easily. Drop off is a breeze and the rental car facility has a free shuttle that drops you off right in front of the cruise line terminal.

We processed through security and waited patiently for our group number to be called. Once we got on board we went for some lunch and checked out or staterooms (of course we had to get our doors decorated!). We went to the sail away party, had dinner, walked around the ship and hung out in our staterooms. (Since we had 2 staterooms between our travel party we were able to have our stateroom attendant open up our veranda so we could sit together and enjoy the views)

Next up is a day at sea!

04/09/2024

Let me know if you are interested in cruising on the Disney Destiny!

Your legend begins aboard the Disney Destiny! ✨ Itineraries are available now, and bookings open September 12th. Will you choose heroes 🦁, villains 😈, or both?

Find out more: http://di.sn/6006YEQQn

04/09/2024

🎃🎃🎃who else is ready for spooky season??🎃🎃🎃

11/07/2024

On the last day of the cruise, I had one last specialty coffee and a nice breakfast at Cabanas. Since I had an afternoon flight I relaxed for a bit before departing the ship.

I had a great time on this cruise especially because I had the chance to meet some other Genies from the agency!

I can't wait for my next one..which happens to be in August!!

if you are looking to go on a cruise, whether it be Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean or other cruiselines I can assist with, please contact me, I'd love to help plan a cruise vacation for you!

10/07/2024

Sea Day! and most importantly Mickey Churro Waffle Day! I just can't describe how good these are :) On this day I participated in some activities, saw things on the ship that I hadn't explored and really just relaxed. I spent part of the day on a nice lounge chair looking out at the sea and read a book. That's what I love about cruising, you can do a lot or do absolutely nothing and that's ok!

Our final dinner was at Rapunzel's
This restaurant was a lot of fun, the theming was beautiful and the performers were so good. We even had a visit from Rapunzel and Flynn!

After dinner was the final show of the cruise, Disney Dreams - An Enchanted Classic.

It was the final night so luggage needed to be set outside of the stateroom for pick up (or you can walk out with it yourself) I chose to put my larger items out so I could enjoy my last couple of hours on the ship without pulling around luggage🤣.

09/07/2024

I woke up early...again...had some coffee and watched the ship pull up to Lookout Cay. I had some breakfast at Cabanas and was ready to start exploring!

After getting off the ship there is a bit of a walk to the island (but it really wasn't terrible). If you have small children there are wagons available for use and if someone in your group needs assistance, there are cast members driving carts that can transport to the tram station. The water is sooo beautiful and some people even saw stingrays as they were walking in.

After the walk from the ship, there is a tram that takes you to the main spot of the island, from there I toured around the different beach and activity spots. The beach was absolutely beautiful. The sand was very soft and the water temperature was amazing!

I spent the majority of the day on the beach and decided to go back to the ship a couple of hours before all aboard time (when I saw the dark clouds forming). I stopped in and purchased my souvenir ornament and made it back just in time to miss the rain!

Once back on the ship I got ready for pirate night!

Our dining location was back at Animator's Palate, but this time everything was pirate themed. After dinner, I took alittle walk and made my way up to the deck for the Pirate show and Fireworks! Did you know Disney Cruise Line was the only cruise line with Fireworks at sea??

It was such an amazing day and I was beat! So I went back to my stateroom for the night. The next day was a Sea Day...see tomorrow's post for what I did!