Western Magic 10/21/06 - 10/28/06 Trip Updated 6/21 Chapter 17: the final chapter! [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

DisneyZell

10-31-2006, 06:49 PM

Hi all! So we are just back from the 10/21 magic, and this is the beginning of our trip report. This is the first time I have done one of these, and don't think it's possible to be nearly as funny as many of the ones I have read...but either way I'll give you what I got, take it or leave it! I promise if you are not satisfied I will refund the full amount of admission.

A couple of side notes as I get going...

I have to give acknowledgement to other writers of trip reports. One that I particularly enjoy is Sleepydog25. His trip report can be found here:

Sleepydog25's trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1246056&page=1&pp=15)

Just to acknowledge now, in case I forget later, I will make use of various terms that have been coined by other writers. For example: Shub (not quite a shower, and not quite a tub).

I give credit to Grumpdude for Shub. When I read his trip report and came accross this term I almost ruined my keyboard with the soda that I spit out. Here is alink to his trip report, I highly recommend this one as well:

Grumpydude's Trip Report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1228254&page=1&pp=15)

To Grumpydude, Sleepydog25 and anyone else whom I may steal anything from, please don't take offense to my use of your terms, take it as a compliment. I will try my best to give credit when credit is due...but from my perspective, anyone who writes a trip report is my hero because I spent hours (and I really mean hours) reading them, and using them for tips for my cruise.
But I digress.

The Beginning...

To begin this adventure we need to go back in time almost exactly two years ago. At that time we had just moved to New England and before we moved we planned a Disney Cruise on the Magic with our former neighbors (Don't worry, this will all make sense shortly :wave2: ). We had a blast. Sorry, no trip report. Either that section didn't exist, or more likely I didn't know there was such a thing as trip reports.

Fast forward to last May (2006). We had put our house on the market with every intention on relocating to Raleigh, NC. In May, DW and DN (Disney Neighbor :thumbsup2 ) were talking and came up with a grand plan to go on the Disney Cruise in October.

We thought this quite fitting given that the last time we moved we went on DCL with our former neighbors. Can anyone think of a better tradition???

And so we hatcher our evil scheme :stir: : we would plan the trip and not tell our children (ours: DS7, DS3 (he turned 4 in July) Theirs: DS9 and DD6). Our thinking was that we would have moved (it was May, our house had been on the market for 2 months...we figured by mid summer we would be in Raleigh), and that this would be a chance for the kids to see each other again (DS7 and DS9 are the best of friends).

So we picked a date. The last time we cruised we went two years ago during the worst hurricane season ever, and somehow managed to squeak between several hurricanes to get a good Cruise in. Being the risk takers we are, we figured we would try it again, shooting for 10/21. There was also that little thing called school to worry about :rolleyes1

We kicked around who to book with, but finally just went directly through Disney. We tried a couple other places, but the prices were the same, so we figured why switch? (more on that later).

So let me tell you now that Deanna is about the best planner when it comes to Disney things. Add to that the fact that we had already done this whole shooting match once, and you get the picture. This was not one of those vacations where you book it and forget it until you get on the boat...nope, this was 5 months of planning, scheming, preparing and dieting.

oh yeah...about this time I decided it would be nice to not have all that extra weight to carry around with me. So the husband side of the neighbor family (Mike) and I decided to put together a contest. we would weigh in once a week and the winner each month would have a dinner cooked by the other neighbors (whatever the winner wanted). I actually did pretty well, dropped 20 pounds by the time of the cruise...needless to say I won the first month and someone decided he didn't want to play that game anymore...harumph!

So finally everything was set. Our DN's were going down a few days early to hit Disney, we were flying down on Friday afternoon. We decided to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (yes, we were one of the reasons it sold out!) before we got on the boat.

Note: A lesson learned from the first cruise. After our first cruise we thought it would be cool to stay on property and hit DisneyWorld for a couple days. Quite possibly the biggest mistake of our lives...and waste of money. it was hot, we were all tired, it was packed, and we didn't spend much time there. I don't remember which resort we stayed at, but the pool kind of stunk (it was cold), and generally that just wasn't good. I highly recommend you NOT go to Disney after a 7 day cruise...just get home!

The rest of the planning I won't bore you with, some may make it into the trip report as I go along.

Next up: Last minute preparations and the big fat white lie

abbs25

10-31-2006, 07:12 PM

I can't wait to read the rest of the report!

Babs417

10-31-2006, 09:20 PM

Dont stop :thumbsup2 :sunny: ;) :goodvibes :)

luckyeddie777

10-31-2006, 10:15 PM

more please.... i like to read some more

DiaLady

10-31-2006, 11:13 PM

Note: A lesson learned from the first cruise. After our first cruise we thought it would be cool to stay on property and hit DisneyWorld for a couple days. Quite possibly the biggest mistake of our lives...and waste of money. it was hot, we were all tired, it was packed, and we didn't spend much time there. I don't remember which resort we stayed at, but the pool kind of stunk (it was cold), and generally that just wasn't good. I highly recommend you NOT go to Disney after a 7 day cruise...just get home!

Great Tip! We tried something similar after our last cruise and stayed over two days. It wasn't hot or crowded, but we were so ready to be home. I was ready to have a routine again. On our next cruise, we're going to go to FL 3 or 4 days early and then go on the cruise to relax and recover . . .LOL

grumpydude

10-31-2006, 11:36 PM

Just to acknowledge now, in case I forget later, I will make use of various terms that have been coined by other writers. For example: Shub (not quite a shower, and not quite a tub). Please don't take offense to my use of your terms, take it as a compliment. I will try my best to give credit when credit is due...but from my perspective, anyone who writes a trip report is my hero because I spent hours (and I really mean hours) reading them, and using them for tips for my cruise.

I used Shub in my report...I actually took that from one of the comedians on our cruise...so it is fair game.

I too have been following Sleepy's and I cannot believe he was able to sit down in the shub. Heck I had to get out and turn around just to wash my back in that thing. Let alone taking a "water conservation shower" as I have read on other TRs.

Now you are my hero as I can read your TR.

GD

DisneyZell

11-01-2006, 08:16 AM

Sorry about that Grumpdude, it was you...and here is the other thing that I will steal from you:

"Mr. KIA advises he must now use the bathroom. Off we go in search of one. How convenient, there is one right outside the entrance. He enters the stall and I hang out over by the sink. Then, from inside the stall, there is this tremendous WHOOSH. The air pressure in the room drops by like 20 mm of Hg. What the…Mr. KIA are you still in there? My question is answered as Mr. KIA come busting out of the stall with eyes as big as dinner plates. “Dad, what is up with that toilet?” Now remember, none of had ever been on a cruise and had experienced cruise plumbing. So off we both go back into the stall to experiment. WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH. How cool is this. I swear Mr. KIA to secrecy about the Super Suck-O-Matic Cruise toilet. "

Super Suck-O-Matic. if ever there was a perfect description, that is it. Note that I added a link to your trip report as an edit to my first entry...I couldn't remember where I saw Shub, so didn't give you credit, but I have very much enjoyed your stories as well!!

Thanks so much! :banana:

DisneyZell

11-01-2006, 08:52 AM

Last minute preparations and the big fat white lie

If you started reading this before today note that I changed a few things in my original installment...including what the next chapter would be. If I skipped the last week before our vacation you might miss some vital facts...and we can't have that!!! :rotfl2:

As we approached the end of September we had a major shift in the home life. I accepted another job, put in my notice, recieved a counter offer and ultimately stayed with my company. However as a part of this we decided to cancel the move to Raleigh (yes, 7 months later our house was still on the market. Talk about annoying!!). So our original thought of doing a Disney Cruise every time we move was out the window.

I mentioned earlier this whole trip was a surprise to my kids. One thing that threw a wrench into that plan (and yes, we made it from May without spilling the beans directly. I can't tell you how many times we did spill the beans, luckily they were a bit clueless and never figured out. Also, DS4 had not idea, and we could even talk with him there and he would have no idea!).

DS7 played pee wee football for the first time this year. Unfortunately we had planned the trip prior to getting him involved in football (remember that we were going to move to Raleigh, and we had planned on doing Football there, but it never crossed our minds that football would still be going on at the end of October). We wanted him to know this was his last game, so we hatched another diabolical plan :stir: (I just love this icon by the way). We decided we would tell him a big fat white lie so he would know that we would not be home for his last game...so that he would play his hardest the game before.

He has always wanted to go to Washington DC, so this became the focus of our lie. after the fact it was pointed out to us that DC could just as easily be Disney Cruise (we never actually said Washington DC, only that we were going to DC). So maybe we didn't lie??? :smooth:

Anyway, he was very excited about that, played in his last game and was none the wiser.

Do any of you recall the flurry of activity the week before 10/21 around shipping water to the cruise? I was one of the causes of that. After reading about ordering from Staples and having them ship for free I figured I'd give it a try. Apparently a ton of other folks did as well. In addition to the water we ordered some snacks (read that: candy) for the boat.

While everyone else got notified toward the end of that week that they could not ship the water, we were not notified and we held out hope that we might have water waiting for us on the boat. I'd tell you what happened, but you are just going to have to wait for the first day before I'll tell you if the water arrived or not!!!

The rest of the week was spent on last minute preparations, door signs, packing, last minute trips to Wal-Mart for that thing in the bathroom that keeps the place from stinking (literally last minute, as in we picked up DS4 from his school, stopped by Wal-Mart, picked up DS7, and then went to the airport), boarding the dog, etc., etc.

Next up: From Manchester, NH to Orlando WITHOUT our DVD players! :scared1:

grumpydude

11-01-2006, 01:15 PM

I give credit to Grumpdude for Shub. When I read his trip report and came accross this term I almost ruined my keyboard with the soda that I spit out. Here is alink to his trip report, I highly recommend this one as well:
That is why you mus'nt libate during reading of the trip reports. BTW, thanks for the plug.

Super Suck-O-Matic
Now that is just plain funny. I am just finishing remodeling our bathroom and I put a new toilet in about 2 weeks ago with a pressure tank. Sounds very similiar all though you do not feel the breeze like on the cruise. I have named the new one I just put in; Super Suck-O-Matic Junior. LOP really can't wait to move now because every time someone flushes...I just laugh and laugh at her.

Do you fly the Southwest jaunt from Manchester to Philly to Raleigh? I am on that flight about once per month (Philly to Raleigh) and I always wondered who goes on to Manchester.

Now please continue your report.

GD

curlybop

11-01-2006, 03:43 PM

:thumbsup2 What a great report so far! Keep on going :sunny:

ldeninge

11-04-2006, 11:03 PM

Can't wait to hear all about the activities with the kiddos! thanks for sharing!

tjeagle

11-05-2006, 07:14 AM

More Please!! ;)

DisneyZell

11-05-2006, 07:03 PM

sorry for the delay everyone, life is getting in the way of the DIS! hard to believe I know!

I'm working on a video for my son's football team, it's been about 13 hours or so over the past week. I should be done tomorrow, and then on with the trip report!!

:cool1:

FatherForce

11-08-2006, 03:23 PM

Good so far, and don't rush!
I know how hard these things are to write.

APinCA

11-09-2006, 09:49 PM

Just when I thought I was getting my life back, I clicked on your link, and WHOOOSH - Super Suck-O-Matic pulled me in to another TR. Your report is helping with my grumpydude and fatherforce withdrawals. Keep it coming!

Thank you! :teeth:

Dixielady908

11-09-2006, 11:25 PM

dont keep us waiting too long.......enjoying so far...

Denise :banana:

Madisonznana

11-10-2006, 02:33 AM

I 've been waiting so long for a new installment from sleepydog, when what should I find but a TR from Disneyzell :banana: :banana:
A great start but tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap this is me impatienently tapping my foot, waiting for more

Madisonznana

11-10-2006, 02:36 AM

that was also me making up words!! Impatiently looks better! :thumbsup2

DisneyZell

11-10-2006, 11:40 AM

OK, I apologize profusely (no idea what that means, but it sounds good) for the delay. I, unfortunately, don't have as good an excuse as some of the other TR writers (something about dancing with a daughter in Indiana at a school, not sure if that's true, it has a funny ring to it though). Now that I'm done with my son's football video (something like 10 hours of work...sheesh, but it turned out cool.), I can move on to this ever so important TR. You do get the added bonus of pictures today, because I think I have figured that out. no promises, but we shall see :yay:

Now, I have seen in a few reports some comments about length, and how long it took the people to write their TR's. In the interest of those who don't have alot of time, here is the short version of my TR. If you are going to read the long version, you might want to skip the next 20 lines or so, I would hate to see you have the ending spoiled by those that just can't wait.

We flew.
We Landed.
We boarded.
We got off the boat.
We got on the boat.
We got off the boat.
We got on the boat.
We got off the boat.
We got on the boat.
We got off the boat.
had good time.
We flew home.

now, I apologize if I have ruined it for everyone, but I felt that it needed to happen. Now, on with the story...

Chapter 3: From Manchester, NH to Orlando WITHOUT our DVD players!

It was the day before we had to leave. To catch you up, DS4 has no idea we are going anywhere (and luckily he is not quite old enough to get it anyway), and DS8 thinks we are going to DC. So packing was done with a bit of stealth (we didn't know at what point DS8 would point out that perphaps 15 bags were not necessary for a weekend trip to DC).

I was the typical husband that ignored the packing, hoping it would go away and just pack on it's own. The interesting thing was that it did! I went upstairs and there were suitcases all packed! Crazy. DW was there, and I asked the obvious question:

"Where are my things?"

Silence, and THE LOOK. Husbands, you all know exactly what those looks are. Naturally, I was kidding :rolleyes1 . uh...yeah...I was.

So I got down to packing. I had spent my dutiful hours roaming the DIS boards, and knew that I should take what I want to pack and cut it in half. However, I also knew I wasn't going to do any laundry (two items here: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I wouldn't want to take the time to do it, 3. I suck at doing laundry. wait that's three items...oh well). So I bridged the gap, pulled out and packed away my clothes. and we were all set.

And finally, after all the waiting...it was THE DAY!!! I had trouble sleeping Thursday night...a few people have mentioned that it's like the day before Christmas (or in this case the day before the day before boarding day). We got up, got the kids ready for school and shipped them off.

DW dashed to the kennel to drop off our dog and our neighbors dog.

***WARNING***WARNING***DIGRESSION COMING***
So, the last thing I need to do is mosey off topic, but I have to. I need to give props to our neighbors. They were smart. they went down on Wednesday before the cruise, spent a day at WDW, then had a down day, and then drove over to the port on Friday. So by the time they got on the boat they were beyond relaxed. it took me a few days to get relaxed, so I was behind. so this is a huge tip, if at all possible, go down a few days early. even if you don't do WDW, you can be in vacation mode the second you step on the ship...woohoo!

now back to our regularly scheduled program.

So we made it to the airport without much further ado.

As I have mentioned several times (or at least in my mind I have mentioned several times, if I didn't actually do that, go take a :drinking1 and relax cause I know I would like to!), I have two kids...DS4 and DS8. Every trip we have taken on the plan has always included various forms of entertainment. Video games and DVD players being the key items.

Note that both kids can sit at home and watch TV for hours at a time (not that we would ever allow them to do that :rolleyes1 ). But when we plop them on the plane, DS4 watches the movie for 3.5 seconds (I timed him) until he gets bored. So this time we decided to ditch the DVD players. This lowered the weight of our luggage by 5 pounds. Or at least our carry on luggage.

We grabbed McDonalds (there goes the diet!!!) chow down, and hop on the plane.

so now, wait for it...here it is, the first picture!!! DS4, DS8, and DW on that wonderful airline...US Scare! I mean...USair.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010007.jpg
How I got so lucky, I have no idea. don't worry a beautiful picture of me will appear at some point in the future.

If you look closely at DS4 (he is the little one, no that isn't just perspective making him smaller), you will note what look like battle scars on his forehead. in a span of 2 days, he fell off his scooter while waiting for DS8's bus (he hasn't learned that destroying your hands is always the better choice than letting your face break your fall), and sliced his chin on the counter at Best Buy (he kept trying to climb up while I was paying, 4 times of me, being the dutiful dad and saying "please don't climb", followed by smashing his chin. Of course I poo-poo'd it, thinking he had just bonked his chin. I was trying to sign the darn credit clip. Then I look back and see a HUGE drop of blood on his chin. I melted, what a bad Dad I am! we got some band-aid's, got him patched up (yeah, some bribery too, you might say GUILT booty), and he was fine. Note that this all happened within the last couple days before we left. naturally. look for the band-aid on his chin in future pics...it lasted a while. I guess I took another digression there...)

Being that we flew on the Scare, we connected through Charlotte. We bounced off the plane, I tried to talk DW into eating again (might as well be prepared for the cruise, and besides, I hadn't eaten in months!), to no avail :confused3 . something about us just having eaten lunch. Huh.

anyway we made our way down to the gate for Orlando. Yup, Orlando, not Washington DC. DS8 starts to sing/chant like kids will do "orlando...orlando...orlando" while we are standing right next to the gate waiting to get on. We were waiting about 30 minutes before boarding and the one question I was expecting "why are we waiting to get on a plane for Orlando" didn't come until we were starting to board.

Being prepared for this, I stepped right in and answered with a completely straight face:
"we have to fly to Orlando and then drive to DC".

For those of you who are counting, this would be white lie #2. Or not, again depending on if I was referring to the Disney Cruise as DC, or Washington DC. Again, as I didn't figure out that correlation until later, yeah it was a lie. what can you do???

I do give him credit, though. He was puzzled as to why we couldn't get a flight closer than Orlando to go to DC. He clearly knew it was a long drive, but luckly had no idea that in Charlotte we were not very far from DC anyway. But again I digress.

The second plane ride was uneventful, we landed without issue in Orlando. We got off the plane, and we decided it would be a good idea to split up, sending DW with DS's to get the luggage while I went to get the Car.

Next up: Budget from hell, and MNSSHP (look it up if you don't know what that means!)

mruhaak

11-10-2006, 12:02 PM

Just subscribing... I think I'm hooked...

APinCA

11-10-2006, 01:06 PM

"Where are my things?"

Silence, and THE LOOK.

:rotfl2: Been there. Done that. (The LOOK, that is)

DisneyZell

11-10-2006, 02:03 PM

OK, you get a bonus entry today because I'm bored at work. Hopefully no one will tell my boss. anyway, hope that I haven't bored you all silly, but if I have I will refund every dollar of the fee you paid.

Now on with the story...

Chapter 4: Budget from hell, and MNSSHP

When I last left you (which, *ahem* was about, oh, an hour ago. Take that Sleepydog!) we had gotten off the plane. We split up and went our separate ways.

We had decided that renting a car would be the best and most efficient way to get around and to the Port. We had read that Budget was one of the closes with a free shuttle to the Port, so that's the direction we went.

Now, note that I'm a frequent traveler. I belong to pretty much every frequent travel club, etc. that is out there for the things that I use. When we signed up for Budget I had no intention to sign up for their frequent renter club because, frankly, I didn't think I'd ever use it again.

***WARNING***WARNING***BIG TIP ABOUT TO BE POSTED****
I recommend you join the frequent renter program of whatever car company you choose. You will very quickly see why.

So I come down the escalator, glance to the right and see a couple rental counters, but not Budget. Being a frequent renter I know that sometimes they don't have counters, they only have busses that you get on to go out to the rental location. So I walk outside. Huh. no busses? :confused3

AH! a sign! glorious signs. we love those. They sometimes tell you where to go. I continue to trapse along with our carry on luggage, up the escalator, wander the garage for hours (ok, it was probably 50 feet, but who's counting). I get to the booth, wait patiently in line, and then it's my turn. I'm thinking "wow, that was easy, I'll have to drive around in a circle a few times while DW waits for the luggage". I step up.

"Can I help you sir?"
"Yes! I need to pick up my car."
"Are you a Fastbreak member (see note above)?"
"Uh, no."

I mentioned THE LOOK in my previous entry. In this case I experienced THE YOU ARE THE BIGGEST MORON IN THE HISTORY OF MORON's LOOK. Apparently there was a counter inside the building. I tried to state my case, that I just didn't see it...but to no avail. I am banished back to the line with the common people (that's what they call those without the fancy free card).

Now, as mentioned, I'm a frequent traveller. and would have gotten annoyed if I was a card carrying member of {insert program name here} and had to wait behind the moron who didn't know you had to first go to the counter. Did that make me feel better? notsomuch.

anyway, I meander back into the terminal and take a look at the line. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? :furious: The line was longer than any ride line at Disneyworld. Holy crap was I in trouble. I register in my brain for the first time that I better give DW a call on her cell phone and let her know this was going to take a while. I dutifully get in line, pull out my phone and place the call. Her phone goes right to Voice Mail. I'm thinking "how can she possibly not have turned on her phone????". no point in leaving a message since her phone isn't even on. I assume she will turn her phone on at some point. Remember that.

so while in line I'm one of those people who make witty comments like "boy, looks like they were surprised that all the people who made reservations showed up to pick up their cars" and things like that. Truely the life of the party. But I actually did enjoy talking to the couple in front of me who were there on a Honeymoon, hearing about what they would be doing, etc. The husband was a crackup and did a nice job of keeping us entertained after I ran out of my witty one liners (which took about 3 minutes). I tried DW again on the phone, still off.

45 minutes later the couple in front of me got to the front when we noticed that a strange thing was happening (and I had called DW 5-6 more times...still off! :furious: ). Some people, after waiting in line had to move to the side and wait some more. We began to call this the penalty box and were really hoping to avoid it (phone call again...still nada :badpc: ).

Finally my turn...and yes...off to the penalty box. It seems they had started the day with fewer cars than expected (I have no idea what that means), so we had to wait (and call...no answer...and call...no answer..and call...no answer). 20 minutes later, finally a car.

Now note that we got in at 5:30pm and I finally got the car around 7:00pm. again I call...and again no answer.

Note that I could probably have walked up and found them...to see what was going on, but I was a tad worried about losing my car. After being in the penalty box for a while, you don't want to lose your place in line.

So I drive around to the baggage claim, and there they are, my family! waiting patiently with our luggage. Interestingly, i'm getting THE LOOK again. Huh. I think smuggly that when she turns her phone on and sees the 450 missed calls she will realize it is her fault for not turning on her phone. We quicky discuss what happen, and I quickly point out that she should have turned her phone on so that I could call her.

Hmmm. Go back to earlier in this post where I mention that I had the carry on bags. Ahem. Guess where her phone was? Yeah. I had it. did I mention that on occasion I have been known to be a moron?

So...we have the car...and head down the road. A quick stop at McDonalds (yes AGAIN) on the way as we have a party to get to!!! DW tells the kids that we hear there is a halloween party around here...should we go? They both think that is a great idea...and it dawns on DS8 that we aren't going to DC. We ask him if it's ok with him and it is...but he still wants to go someday! :rotfl2:

off to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! (MNSSHP for those of you who like Acronyms. of course I can't spell...so all of these long words are killing me.

couple of suggestions and comments about MNSSHP.

1. Check the weather. we were in jeans. not smart as it was hot as heck. you never know at that time of the year, but verify so you don't cook!
2. GO! this is a great event. they limit the number of folks who are there, so there were little or no lines on all the rides and it appeared they were all open (except Pirates which broke down while we were there). It's just Magic Kingdom, but do it!

Here is a picture of me and my boys:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010013.jpg
Ha ha! just kidding. I don't look that bad.

Here is a picture of our family the only one we ordered from Disney:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010017.jpg

yeah, that's me, the big orange pumpkin.

Highlights:
1. you each get a bag to collect candy. throughout the park there are candy stations where you can trick-or-treat. We ended up with more than enough candy for the Cruise, which was pretty cool.
2. here are the rides we hit: Stith's Great Escape (pretty cool), Space Mountain (woohoo!), Buzzlightyear (always a favorite). We tried to go to Pirates, but as mentioned it was broken down. The picture we tried to get in front didn't work...there was some pretty strong fog coming out of the building and it ruined any hope of a picture.
3. The fireworks show was unbelievable. it was set to spooky music and was really well done (as most fireworks shows are that Disney puts on).

it was a blast...we can't complain at all. It was tiring, and if you read earlier installments you saw that I was envious of our neighbors who got to relax before the cruise, but it was fun.

Still the kids did not know we were going on the cruise. they didn't even know what we would do the next day. so we piled in the car (after getting off the monorail) and headed to the Raddison at Port Canaveral for the night.

Next up: Chapter 5 - Getting ready to board the ship!

hank56

11-11-2006, 01:09 AM

FatherForce

11-11-2006, 09:13 AM

Wow, getting to go to MNSSHP before the cruise.
That's Cool.

I'd still have tried to blame the wife for the phone.
As the smarter one, she should have KNOWN she'd need her phone :rotfl2:

DisneyZell

11-11-2006, 10:59 AM

FF--this is DW speaking now...don't worry, he did try to blame me for not having my phone. However, he got the better end of the deal. I had a 4 year old and 7 year old with 6 pieces of luggage and a porter guy waiting to get paid...all the while we are waiting outside at the curb in the most humid weather I could imagine! So, he gets the blame on that one. :crazy:

FatherForce

11-11-2006, 11:29 AM

:lmao: :lmao:

DisneyZell

11-11-2006, 11:49 AM

this is DH now...and just for the record, I believe I put in the TR that I tried to place blame, but then accepted all. FF, thank you for your support and I agree with you that she is much smarter than I...so you can extrapolate (geez, is that even a word) from there!!! :rotfl:

FatherForce

11-11-2006, 02:19 PM

Personally, I always assume that the wife is smarter than the husband.

I know my DW is a genius.

She married me.

:cool1: :thumbsup2 :rotfl2:

sejejoemmiev

11-11-2006, 06:13 PM

Great start, can't wait to read the rest! Please make a point to mention how dropping the rental off at Port Canaveral went as I am about to book with Budget to do the same. Thanks!

Dixielady908

11-12-2006, 02:25 PM

totally enjoying your report.....please dont make us wait too long.... :)

Denise :banana: :banana:

mruhaak

11-12-2006, 04:52 PM

I love it.... husband and wife bickering on the message boards...
:rotfl:

DisneyZell

11-13-2006, 09:54 AM

Good report, we were on this cruise also. Hope you had as great a time as we did.

The whole Agony Air (US AIR's first nickname) and car rental experience is one major reason I drove the RV there and back.

Oh my...Agony Air...I'm definately going to steal that one. that's a classic. Actually this trip wasn't too bad on USScare...how far did you drive the RV? :moped:

Personally, I always assume that the wife is smarter than the husband.

I know my DW is a genius.

She married me.

I couldn't agree more re: my DW! ::yes::

Please make a point to mention how dropping the rental off at Port Canaveral went as I am about to book with Budget to do the same.

That will be in my next installment...sometime this week. Please do yourself a favor, though, and read my recommendation about joining their frequent renters club! no one deserves to go through that much waiting. Well, maybe Sleepydog...but only for leaving the daughter behind! :duck:

I love it.... husband and wife bickering on the message boards...

We don't bicker, we exchange loving comments. :rolleyes1

hank56

11-13-2006, 10:19 AM

J&ADisneyMom

11-13-2006, 02:19 PM

Hi Dzell, great report... you're cracking me up.

We were at MNSSHP on Thurs and then on the ship, too. Actually, we were almost directly across the ship from you. You were in the 8000's port side, aft, right? I walked by your room one day and saw your door signs. We were 8598 starboard, aft. You and Hank were neighbors. He was 8034, midship port side-right near the mid ship elevators. Did you make the dismeet? I was there long enough to meet Smooch and Hank.

Hi Hank, welcome home. I watched you pull out of the parking lot at the port in that big beautiful RV of yours. Glad you had a safe trip home. I'm bummed I never got to see your suite. Do you have pictures? (sorry for the highjack!)

Shell

mruhaak

11-13-2006, 02:29 PM

We don't bicker, we exchange loving comments. :rolleyes1[/QUOTE]

Oh, yes, of course! We exchange lots of "loving comments" too...
I could really relate to the waiting in line/cell phone situation. It sounded just like us...

Our2Girls&Disney

11-13-2006, 09:14 PM

Subscribing. Keep going!

APinCA

11-13-2006, 11:33 PM

no one deserves to go through that much waiting. Well, maybe Sleepydog...

For making us wait for his next installment!!!! :rotfl2:

DisneyZell

11-14-2006, 04:16 PM

My excuse for not posting every single day is that I can't post part of the TR from work...as no good post is worth the time unless you can at least post a picture. As the pics are all on my PC at home...we all have to wait. But anyway, thank you all for your kind comments. for those that were sincere, thank you, for those of you that are lying, thank you as I need all the positive feedback I can get.

I left off as we had gone to the Radisson. Not a bad place to stay. Nothing fancy either, and unfortunately we didn't know at the time that the Residence Inn was open. We are Disney fans first, and Marriott second, so that would have made sense. But it all worked out for us.

Unfortunately for our neighbors, not so much. When they checked in they went to their room to be greeted by bugs (they think they were ants) in the bathroom. They called the front desk who sent someone up to take a look. At that point they were willing to have it sprayed and taken care of. But while waiting for the guy to come DNW (Disney Neighbor Wife for those of you not following along) pulled down the bedspread and out run more bugs. EWWWWWWWW. :scared1:

Needless to say when the guy arrived spraying was no longer an option. Now, a couple things here. One is that for the most part DW did the planning, so the fact that out neighbors were even staying there was because of us. The second is that if we had found the bugs we wouldn't be staying there any longer. This did turn out OK, though. They ended up getting a clean room (read that: without bugs), and got the room for free. so this of course helped the old vacation budget.

But I digress.

the next morning we trade phone calls. At this point our kids know we were at WDW, but have no idea that their best friends and neighbors are somewhere in that same hotel. We agree to meet at the lobby. We got there early and waited in our car. DW hopped out to get the reunion on video (we are sick that way). They ended up pulling up and parking and then walking toward the lobby. BOTH of their kids look straight at me in the car and say "hey, isn't that Mr. Zell?". Their parents play it off nicely "oh that's just someone who happens to look like him. :rolleyes1

I hop out of the car, open the back door and get the kids to hussle out and go see their friends. Then, it was Pandemonium. party:

OK, not really. They actually didn't act as excited as I expected. I think it was the shock. Not 100% sure, but that had to be it.

We made a quick executive decision. They still didn't know they were going cruising so we decided we would tell them. DW had made these cool T-shirts...each kid had a character (that conveniently matched their characted on the door signs, but that comes later) on the front and the back had Disney Cruise and all the Classic characters. here is what it looked like:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010029.jpg

Cute, huh? This is DW's forte, if that is a word. She does creative. I'm lucky to have her. oh I can do door signs and computer stuff, even some video stuff, but she is a scrapbooker like you have never seen. But again I digress.

So we pass out the t-shirts and they all finally DO get excited! party:

So now we were down to the important hours. We had alot of discussions and research about what time we should be at the terminal. I realize that folks on the boards say no reason to be there before 10am, but we really wanted to upgrade. The first cruise we took we had a balcony, but here had booked a porthole room. Not that there is anything wrong with a porthole room, but we really wanted to upgrade. Really. I believe at some point when we booked I was one of the posters who got flamed for asking about free upgrades.

Tip: don't ask about free upgrades. you might get one...and definately share that here, but if you ask about free upgrades on this board, prepare to be flamed. it's not fair and doesn't make sense...but people get very upset when you want somethin' for nothin'. :confused3

We had decided to drop the wives off, and that we (the hubbies) would drop cars and get a few other essentials. DNH and I wanted to drop the ladies at 8. I mean...they would have no kids...would be hanging out chatting...you can't beat that, right? DW and DNW wanted to go at 9.

So we drove over around 8:45 (give or take a few). The best part was rounding the corner and seeing the ship. Naturally this was the second time for us seeing this (from Cruise #1), but it was cool. The kids loved it...and of course that's all that matters. We dropped off the ladies, headed back to Cocoa Beach when my Cell phone rings. Somebody (DNW) forgot to give somebody (DNH) the luggage tags :rotfl2: . As they were going to be inside that just wouldn't work. So it was Deja-vu again as we went to see the ship again.

Quick side note into what the Wives dealt with. Well, they went and asked the guard where to stand. He pointed out that the terminal didn't open until 10. They agreed, but told him they wanted to get in line anyway. He laughed. Can you believe that? He laughed and then pointed them over to another woman already standing in line. Did I mention that DNH and I wanted to drop them at 8???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? someone else beat us there. Terrible.

sorry, I keep getting sidetracked. So we drive to Cocoa Beach and hit IHOP (no point in rushing back to the terminal only to wait), ate a nice breakfast (I recommend the stuffed waffles...they are very good, and yes, the diet has been dying a slow and painful (actually tasty) death).

By the time we finished it was after 10. We had figured out that it would be nice to drop our luggage while we still had 2 rental cars, so we headed to the port.

*WARNING****TIP COMING****WARNING**** (don't worry, I'll get sick of doing this eventually)

GREAT IDEA! we bumped into a few folks on the rental car van that had not dropped their luggage and then would have to deal with that at the port. so if you rent a car (and can have someone go inside to wait so you get your cool boarding number), drop your luggage. you actually go inside the gate and right to the wherehouse (which is underneath the terminal). The porters are there (wonderful creatures) who pull it out of the car and in minutes you are on your way. (but don't forget your luggage tags!)

I had rented my car from Budget (if you didn't remember that, read that painful episode in the airport from earlier in this TR), and DNH from Avis. So we dropped my car off and we all piled in their mini-van. After the fiasco of picking up the Budget car...I have to say I was impressed. They were helpful, friendly and I was out of there very quickly.

Then, being the males that we are we head for the grocery store to pick up the essentials (alcohol). DW had scoped out the rolling collapsible coolers and both families had scored a New England Patriots cooler! woohoo! (probably not as exciting for those not in NE).

We hit the grocery store there (can't for the life of me remember the name, but can't imagine it's very important to this portion of the story). We hit the beer Aisle. Now, note that compared to Sleepydog and FatherForce we are lightweights. A beer, maybe 2 a night. That's it. So don't expect alot of drunken stories here. So I picked up a 12 pack, he picked up a 12 pack. we picked up a 12 pack of some fru-fru drink (Bacardi something or another with fruit flavors) for the ladies. We also picked up 2 big bottles of Marguerita mix, 1 bottle of Strawberry Daqueri (do they have to spell these things so weird???), and 1 bottle of Pina Colada mix (with some of that liquid Coconut woohoo!). Now, we are two families of 4 (that's a total of 8), and 4 of those can't drink. Hmm. Do we have enough?

At that point we realize that the grocery store does not sell hard liquor. bummer.

*****WARNING*****TIP COMING*****WARNING****** (maybe I won't)

If all you are going to buy is Beer and Alcohol, just go to the ABC liquor store up the street from the grocery store. Talk about your wasted trip. while the liquor store might have cost a bit more, we could have gotten other things like the Daqueri mix that already has alcohol...live and learn.

So we ventured to the liquor store and bought one of those huge bottles of rum. you know, the kind that you have in your liquor cabinet for years? Did I mention we were going on the Magic for 7 nights?

With everything packed we headed to Avis to drop the car and catch the shuttle back. Here is where we bumped into a family that had not dropped their luggage and I'm pretty sure were crusing 3-4 back to back cruises. they really filled up the bus. Frankly I don't think we would have been able to get on if we had our luggage too. Live and learn. And yes, we felt it important to point out that they could have dropped their luggage. This is what we do.

We had called and found out that it was a no-go on the upgrade :sad2:

We arrived and went inside, sliding our rolling coolers (clink, clink) through the xray with no issue. The only problem we had was having DNS9 (Disney Neighbor Son 9, come on everyone) carry the Rum. Huh. Guess that makes sense.

We waltzed up and stood in line. We then heard that because our wives were so early they didn't have boarding cards downstairs yet...they were told to get them upstairs. so they did...and here is what they got.....wait for it.....

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010030.jpg

wooohoo! a #1! you can't get that unless you are on the Concierge level...wait...no way...they didn't....

they said no upgrade. And let's just say we didn't end up on the Concierge level (dont' know if that's what you even call it). Bummer. but it was cool to have a #1 anyway. A couple pictures...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010038.jpg

DNS9 (Chris), DS7 (now 8, Nick), DS4 (Connor), DND6 (Kathryn). Aren't they cute???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010032.jpg
Inside the terminal. you can kind of see the characters on the front. Oh yeah, we all had them by the way. if you were with us on this cruise you probably saw us!

OK, that's it for now, sorry for the length, but had to get us to this point...

Next up: Chapter 6: Getting on the ship, to eat or not to eat and where to eat it...

MickeyD

11-14-2006, 05:10 PM

Finally! Geesh, what is with everyone being so sloooooow with their reports? Don't you all know that those of us that don't cruise for a while need these reports to keep us going? :teeth:

Seriously now, you had no issues with the rolling cooler? How big was it? I keep thinking we need to this next time, just for the water...(yeah that's right...water ) ;)

Nuther question: How did your dwife do those adorable shirts?

Lisa

jsfein

11-14-2006, 06:13 PM

lindaso

11-14-2006, 06:50 PM

Love the t-shirts. I'm also a scrapbooker who makes shirts...although I didn't for this trip. The clearance shirts for 75% off at disneydirect were too good to pass up!!

I'm enjoying your report. Can't wait to read the rest.

DisneyZell

11-14-2006, 08:02 PM

MickeyD

11-14-2006, 08:07 PM

DW here--I know I should get my own login name, so maybe soon! :cool1: I just wanted to respond to the tshirt questions. For the back of the shirt, I used a scrapbook sticker from my previous cruise and scanned it into my computer, then printed it out on iron-on transfer paper and ironed it on to each shirt. Note to everyone, make sure you reverse your wording so that it is backwards. Went through 4 shirts before I realized that I hadn't done that :confused3 For the front of the shirts, I just found clipart from the internet and did the same thing as I did on the back. Very easy and inexpensive (esp. if you get the transfer paper on sale...reg price is about $10 - $12 for 10 sheets for a light color shirt).

For the rolling cooler, it was a good size, enough to hold a case of beer, bottles of alcohol, etc. It fit the dimensions to be considered a carryon for the airlines (although we did not carry it on). It was great to have...our cabin attendant filled it with ice every night so everything stayed cold! We will be bringing that with us on every future cruise we take! :thumbsup2

Ok, that sounds easy enough, I think even I could do that! :)

Where did you keep the cooler when in the room? there isn't much extra space, especially with three in the room. I am glad to hear you can get that on and that the room steward would keep ice in it. Last time we forked out $35 for water bottles, and I would rather stop at the grocery on the way to the port...this way I can add a bottle of wine or two as well. :rolleyes1

Thank you for the info on both!
Lisa

DisneyZell

11-14-2006, 08:21 PM

Just started reading your report ... its really good and you're not even on the ship yet. I just started mine and hope to knock it out quick before I forget what we did.

A quick question for you or anyone else in the know. How do you quote more than one upthread post when you post your response to multiple posts? I haven't figured that one out. TIA.

It's pretty easy. The best way is to start by clicking on the "Quote" button which will do the first one for you (and show you how to do it). Just copy how it shows on the screen. Basically:

{QUOTE=screenname} whatever it is they said (you can cut and paste this part) followed by {/QUOTE]

note that you have to replace the { with [ brackets (I can't put it in there or it will just put this whole thing in a box...which wouldn't work). Try it, and remember that preview is your friend. Hit preview, then scroll down you will see the box where you can correct your mistakes (not that I ever make any). :banana:

Love the t-shirts. I'm also a scrapbooker who makes shirts...although I didn't for this trip. The clearance shirts for 75% off at disneydirect were too good to pass up!!

I'm enjoying your report. Can't wait to read the rest.

I believe the T-shirts we got were cheap as well...so it all worked out in the end. The only disadvantage to the white t-shirt was that...well, we have a 4 year old. And Napkin is not in his vocabulary. And there is DS7, who decided to pick his entire over-easy egg up with his fork...promptly dropping it on his brand new....very white shirt. Beatiful.

Ok, that sounds easy enough, I think even I could do that!

Where did you keep the cooler when in the room? there isn't much extra space, especially with three in the room. I am glad to hear you can get that on and that the room steward would keep ice in it. Last time we forked out $35 for water bottles, and I would rather stop at the grocery on the way to the port...this way I can add a bottle of wine or two as well.

We alternated between the balcony and the SHUB (Shower/Tub, again a stolen term which I will use freely). The SHUB worked best though because it was convenient and the ice melted more slowly. I think our room steward didn't like keeping it on the balcony 'cause she had to fill it more often. :rotfl2:

I might get another episode in tomorrow, we shall see. I figure I at least owe you guys to make it onto the ship itself. Heck you never know...maybe we never actually cruised!!! :mickeyjum

curlybop

11-15-2006, 08:48 AM

:thumbsup2 Love it! Especially the shirts - they're great. I plan on making DD one for her birthday next year, which we celebrate on the cruise. :teeth: I'm a big time digital scrapbooking freak!

FatherForce

11-15-2006, 08:59 AM

Long?

In perspective to my posts, that was post it note. :rotfl2:

Keep it up!

Our2Girls&Disney

11-15-2006, 09:20 PM

Ok, first I have to say that that bed bugs gave me the hibbee jibbees. I am not sure if I could have slept in that hotel after that.

We surprised our girls back in April, we also had the delayed reaction. There I was just like your DW with the video camera. They just had blank looks on their faces. I expected jumping around and screaming. Nope we did not get that. It took about 30 minutes to soak in. Then they were giggling.

Just curious, since DW's were second in line, what time were you on the ship?

Lastly, Yes DK (Disney kids) are just adorable!!!!!

hank56

11-15-2006, 09:59 PM

Sorry off topic but don't you think it would be nice to have a Post Cruise Meet Forum?

DisneyZell

11-17-2006, 09:17 AM

:thumbsup2 Love it! Especially the shirts - they're great. I plan on making DD one for her birthday next year, which we celebrate on the cruise. :teeth: I'm a big time digital scrapbooking freak!

yes, the shirts were very cool. even DNH ended up wearing his, though there was a time that we didn't think he would do that!!!

DW doesn't do digital scrabooking, she does the old fashioned kind with paper and scissors. pretty amazing stuff!

Long?

In perspective to my posts, that was post it note.

Keep it up!

huh. I think I'd like to take alook at your desk sometime...you have some serious office supply issues if your post-it notes are that long. scary!

Ok, first I have to say that that bed bugs gave me the hibbee jibbees. I am not sure if I could have slept in that hotel after that.

We surprised our girls back in April, we also had the delayed reaction. There I was just like your DW with the video camera. They just had blank looks on their faces. I expected jumping around and screaming. Nope we did not get that. It took about 30 minutes to soak in. Then they were giggling.

Just curious, since DW's were second in line, what time were you on the ship?

Lastly, Yes DK (Disney kids) are just adorable!!!!!

I know! disgusting! like I said in the TR...we would have been out of there and down the street to the Residence Inn faster than you could say "Disney Magic". but they did get a free room, and that makes up for it? :confused3

As far as when we boarded...you will have to wait for the next installment!!! no peeking!

And thank you for the comments. Good thing I have cute kids...no one looks at me! :rotfl2:

Sorry off topic but don't you think it would be nice to have a Post Cruise Meet Forum?

Not sure, but I'd expect you could use the same thread you used for pre-cruise. If people know that will be continuing, they will jump on I'm sure!

Now, no more responding, time to start drafting the next chapter...

thank you all for reading! :wave:

sleepydog25

11-17-2006, 10:21 AM

When I last left you (which, *ahem* was about, oh, an hour ago. Take that Sleepydog!)Oh, hardee, har, har. . .now that I'm about finished with my TR--okay, closer to being finished--I shall have to scrutinize yours. . .and comment on your timeliness or lack thereof. :teeth: So, good job so far!:thumbsup2 Now, let's hear more. . .

DisneyZell

11-17-2006, 11:19 AM

Chapter 6: Getting on the ship, to eat or not to eat and where to eat it...

As this was our Second Disney Cruise, I remembered well what the terminal looked like, but it was still a fun sight as we made our way up the escalators. DNH and his children had not seen it, so there were some general oooh's and aaaah as we walked up.

OK, so I must digress a bit here. I know everyone loves the terminal. It's so pretty, you get to take pictures with the characters...there are cartoons on the TV. I'm not a party pooper in general (huh...don't party poopers always say that?), but it's boring. I hate waiting. HATE IT. So even though it's nicely decorated, I had to sit for a time and wait, and that stinks. OK. so I arrived at 11:30, imagine how I would have felt getting there at 8:30 because my DH made me! ooops!

Anyway, back to the story. The wives had staked out a spot and we went and plopped everything down. We recieved confirmation that we didn't get an upgrade (boohoo), and DNH even went so far as looking his wife in the eye and having her swear (there is some religion involved here, but I never understood it).

Everyone went off to get pictures with Goofy while I hung out with the luggage (had to protect my beer!). Here is the result:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/allkidsinterminal.jpg

Left to right: DS7 (Mine, Nick), DS4 (Mine, Connor), DD6(Neighbors, Kathryn), and DS9 (Neighbors, Chris).

I chatted with some nice people who had yanked their son out of football and made him miss a pee-wee playoff game. How mean. Oh, did I mention that my son missed his last pee-wee football game to go on the cruise? I didn't. oh. nevermind.

Once the kids were done taking a picture with Goofy they watched cartoons (maybe there are some positive things to the terminal) until....wait for it!!

"Now boarding group #1!"

Someone asked the question...and yes this was very, very close to noon. probably not exactly at noon, and I didn't look at my watch, but know it was around then.

That's us! Panick! get everything together! rush toward the big hole in the wall (and yes I love the fact that it is made up to be a Mickey Head). We rush forward to go onboard.

Another digression: Two years ago we had to stand in line to wait to board. So for this I give Disney big props. Note my rant earlier about being bored, that was much worse as I was the only one in line for quite some time as people squished around me and I tried my best to maintain enough room for 8 people. So I guess I shouldn't complain. but then again, if I don't complain this story would be even more boring!

So anyway, remember that we are holding the #1 card. Very exciting except that we are imposters. It's kind of like the first time I ever got upgraded to first class. I expected Mickey Mouse to come out and grab me by the arm, "Excuse me, Sir, you don't belong up here with the really cool people". but remarkably he didn't. We presented our KTTW cards and the let us go on. Suckers!

Naturally we needed that exciting boarding picture...and we ended up buying one of our whole group:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/DCallgettingonship.jpg

OK, so now you get introductions. Left to right, Top row: DNW (Kim), DNH (Mike), Me (Andrew), DW (Deanna). You already met the kids. Don't be lazy, scroll up and take another look.

We had our neighbors go first to do the introductions...that was very cool. I think at this point I had the video camera going to that I would get our introductions on video. For many years I made fun of people like me. Why would you video tape yourself getting onto a boat. how silly.

Well, let me take you back to our first DCL adventure. We took pictures...tons and tons of pictures. I'm one of those geeks that has video editing software and really enjoys making videos. So I put all those pictures in, added music, some witty sayings etc. It's a pretty cool video (if I do say so myself). By the way, I have self esteem issues, can't you tell? The whole time I did it, and then watched it I said "Self, there is one thing missing here...video." while the pictures were cool, there is something about mixing in video. so, while I don't think I went overboard, this time I was determined to have some fine, high quality, video to bore the neighbors with. Oh wait! the neighbors were with us! We can bore each other!

We were instructed to go to Parrot Cay for lunch...yeah right. I'm too smart for that, I have been reading DIS boards for years. So we ignored that and headed to do the important things. We went and got our Galley Tour tickets, DW and DNW went and added our neighbors to our Brunch reservation for Palos, then we all headed upstairs to Topsiders for lunch.

The buffet was laid out and had a ton of food, which I enjoyed thoroughly. They had a Taco station. That was cool, and they even have someone load up the taco for you. Let the service begin. We grabbed our trays and took them outside.

Now, since we were like the 2nd and 3rd family on board we got to pick and choose our tables. That in and of itself makes it worth getting to the terminal early (even if you have to Wait!). So we split up a bit, a table near the railing and one in the shade and we all enjoyed our lunch. We were all immediately struck by the number of crew. They were always around, picking up anything you spilled (not that we...ahem...spilled anything), and picking up your tray when you were done. It was incredible, and everyone was so nice right off the bat.

The kids finished first and they had some time to kill...check this out:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010042.jpg
Yes, that's Nick and Chris doing homework. Wow.

We finally finished, went and changed into our swimsuits, found a spot to plop down all of our stuff in front of the Mickey Pool and relaxed a bit. The kids jumped in immediately and the rather large, hand held waterslide was a big hit.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010046.jpg Connor slipping and sliding down the waterslide

And of course the Pool. Nick and Chris did not stay in the Mickey Pool long after they figured out there was another, larger one around the corner. At the Goofy Pool was even almost safe as there were not many kids in it. It is only later in the trip that it becomes a death trap.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010050.jpgNick and Chris get their groove on in the Goofy pool

I decide that it is time for a Beer for DNH and I :drinking1 (the Beer in our coolers just isn't cold yet as we don't have any ice!), so I saunter up to the bar. I order two beers (Corona for him, and something else for me. I honestly don't remember what, and realize now that frankly you probably don't care). I hand over my KTTW card and am asked what appears to be a simple question:

"What stateroom are you in, sir"

Huh. No idea I say. 6 something, but I really don't know. He makes some noises about needing it, and plays with the touch screen thingy for a while...makes some more noises about thinking my room isn't on 6...which I ignore cause I really don't know where my room is. He finally gives me my beer, has me sign my life away and I go away happy, if not a bit confused (a normal state for me anyway).

I hand the beer to DNH and we toast to ourselves (why not) and drink away. Vacation has finally begun!!!

note: there will not be alot of drunken stories here. We just aren't huge drinkers. If, however, you want drunken stories...feel free to venture over to either of the following TR's:

Sleepydog25's trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1246056)

FatherForce's Trip Report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1254752)

Please read mine first because it's not nearly as funny...and will seem even less so after spending 15 minutes with these guys.

Their reports will also make frequent reference to things that adults do on occassion when they are not squeezed into a walk-in closet with two children. Not sure what those things are because they just don't come out and tell us...but I'm sure you can figure it out. :love2:

About 1:30 DW swings by to suggest that she go and put the door signs on our doors (we made door signs for our neighbors as a surprise). So she heads down and a few minutes later is back. We corral everyone and head to our rooms. We get on the elevator (remember we have our coolers, and stuff, and I'm not ready to climb stairs yet). DW pushes 8. :confused3 I thought we were on 6. oh well.

We make our way to the rooms...and lo and behold, we got an upgrade :cheer2: . Our wives thought it would be fun to surprise us, and of course it was. pixiedust: No, we weren't in a Cat 3 room, but we did move to a Cat 4, the family stateroom with a balcony. On top of that, the rooms were connected, so we were able to open the ajoining rooms and have more space. This turned out really nice for us. But remember the swearing between our neighbors...don't know how that will turn out...but some rule was broken!!! :rotfl2:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010109.jpg Our door as decorated.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010110.jpg Our Neighbor's door as decorated

****WARNING***SUGGESTION FOR DCL COMING****WARNING*****
ok, so I saw it on other ships, and wanted to make suggestions to DCL just in case the mysterious possibility of another ship already being built, or if not and Disney starts building one this would be nice. When you have adjoining Balcony rooms, make the Balcony so that you can swing open a dor on the Balcony so that you have a large space to hang out. This would have added so much to our vacation and would have ended up with a huge space outdoors. But I digress. :rotfl:

The room was nice. A bit like living in a oversized walk-in closet :crowded:, but we knew we wouldn't spend too much time there, so we weren't concerned.

We remembered the All-hands on deck cheese platter from the last time we were on board, and figured this was a good time to get started on room service. To be honest, though, we didn't order room service that often on this cruise...just didn't have much time to be hungry. As someone else in another trip report said...it's ironic that when room service costs nothing...you don't use it very often.

We didn't have any luggage yet (bummer), and 4:00 came around...time for that ever so exciting lifeboat drill. The last time our muster station (I think that's what it's called) was out on deck. Boy did we hit the lottery on this cruise. Ours was in Animators Palate. Air Conditioned, comfy seats...that was the life. If you have to wear bright orange vests...why not do it like this? Here is what we all looked like...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010062.jpg This is clearly my style. Note the cute brace for my finger. I managed to break it the week before the cruise...so apparently Connor isn't the only injury prone person (see earlier installments for those pictures).

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010064.jpgDW. Isn't she cute???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010065.jpg DNW. DNH didn't make this report because his picture was too dark and I was feeling lazy.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010068.jpg Connor's head kept heading toward the table at various times. Remember we had stayed up late to go to MNSSHP, and got up early to get on the boat...he was wiped out. However we figured this was a good time for him to nap. Something tells me that he wouldn't have learned much anyway. Note that he doesn't have a lifejacket on...they didn't have any children sized life vests in our stateroom...go figure!

Next up: Chapter 7: Where the &#*$#@ is our luggage and introduction to our server and assistant server

FatherForce

11-17-2006, 12:49 PM

note: there will not be alot of drunken stories here. We just aren't huge drinkers. If, however, you want drunken stories...feel free to venture over to either of the following TR's:

Sleepydog25's trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1246056)

FatherForce's Trip Report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1254752)

[

Hey now, I don't think our TRs are filled with DRUNKEN stories, are they?
I think its more drinkING stories.
There is a difference.
I went to a large state college, trust me.

:rotfl2:

Great report so far, btw

Madisonznana

11-17-2006, 06:17 PM

Great installment DZ! :teeth:
Keep them coming :bounce:

jsfein

11-17-2006, 07:36 PM

Well, let me take you back to our first DCL adventure. We took pictures...tons and tons of pictures. I'm one of those geeks that has video editing software and really enjoys making videos. So I put all those pictures in, added music, some witty sayings etc. It's a pretty cool video (if I do say so myself). By the way, I have self esteem issues, can't you tell? The whole time I did it, and then watched it I said "Self, there is one thing missing here...video." while the pictures were cool, there is something about mixing in video. so, while I don't think I went overboard, this time I was determined to have some fine, high quality, video to bore the neighbors with. Oh wait! the neighbors were with us! We can bore each other!

Its fun reading your TR as you are about at the same point in your report as I'm in mine (except I got off the ship two weeks after you so you should be way ahead of me.) Curious as to whether you're using a Windows based video editing program? I need a new one and am looking for ideas.

sleepydog25

11-18-2006, 06:36 AM

Hey now, I don't think our TRs are filled with DRUNKEN stories, are they?
I think its more drinkING stories.
There is a difference.
I went to a large state college, trust me.

:rotfl2:

Great report so far, btwOne word. . .Showerbeer. . .

I dunno, DZ, sounds like you may be teetering on the edge of sobriety. I mean, you did buy something like a trunkful of beer and liquor, right? ;)

DisneyZell

11-18-2006, 09:21 PM

Hey now, I don't think our TRs are filled with DRUNKEN stories, are they?
I think its more drinkING stories.
There is a difference.
I went to a large state college, trust me.

:rotfl2:

Great report so far, btw

I stand corrected, and will make a public service announcement in my next installment. Whenever that is done. :rotfl2:

Its fun reading your TR as you are about at the same point in your report as I'm in mine (except I got off the ship two weeks after you so you should be way ahead of me.) Curious as to whether you're using a Windows based video editing program? I need a new one and am looking for ideas.

Huh, your not hinting that perhaps I'm a tad slow in writing my TR...You have to remember that I am following the Zen Master known as Sleepydog...who believes that you must let the trip report age the proper amount of time before turning it loose.

in answer to your video editing question I use Pinnacle 9 (can't decide if I'm giong to upgrade to 10). It's a pretty good program though it does tend to crash alot. I am trying out a new one (Sony's Vegas), but haven't really played with it yet. if I ever finish this TR I can move on to doing our vacation on video!! :banana:

I dunno, DZ, sounds like you may be teetering on the edge of sobriety. I mean, you did buy something like a trunkful of beer and liquor, right?

We definately did buy a ton of alcohol, let's just say you will find out what happens to that as we go along!

Also, pay attention because at some point I will introduce my own coined phrase (I can't steal all of them from other people like you) "Mickey Soda".

Thanks everyone for reading, I appreciate it!! I'll try to get another chapter in before Thanksgiving.

Right now the only issue I have is that I'm working on my christmas lights (yes, the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving). It's a 2 day endevour (if I can get a decent picture I'll post it), and this weekend is in the 50's, which in New England, in November, is unusual. I figure I might as well put them up while wearing shorts (like I did today), than wait until I have to wear a winter coat and gloves. Ever try crawling around on your roof in boots and gloves? not a good idea... :scared1:

Madisonznana

11-19-2006, 02:06 PM

DisneyZell

11-20-2006, 08:31 PM

DZ, by all means get those lights up while you have a chance. We will have to wait here in So. CA for the weather to cool down. It is going to be "at least 90 today" according to the very bad news bearers called weather men. We wouldn't want to get burned on the tile! :cool1:
Did I mention after 30 years here, I still hate CA. Why did I have to marry a California boy? Where is fall? Will it ever get below 70? Will I ever get to wear my Mickey/Minnie jacket? :sad2:
But I digress, get those lights up and bring us some more TR!! :hourglass :surfweb: I'll be waiting.

We moved from California 2.5 years ago...so we are new to the cold and snow (by the way, it has dropped 20 degrees from Saturday). DW would much rather have California weather, but the boys do enjoy the snow. For me, this time of the year I'm ready for it to snow. But I'm sure I'll be sick of it in the spring!

Hopefully a new episode tomorrow!!! :cheer2:

DisneyZell

11-21-2006, 10:36 AM

Chapter 7: Where the &#*$#@ is our luggage and introduction to our server and assistant server

So I realized that I left off a few things, which have some cool pictures to go with them, so I'm going to step brieftly (well, maybe not too brief) into the past of my story so I can make sure to include this.

Naturally when we boarded we had some time to wander the ship a bit. One of the things we wanted to do was hit the kids clubs so we could show the kids what they would be doing. Our kids like to climb stuff, do yours?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010054.jpg Chris on the Aligator...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010053.jpg Nick on the Aligator...and yes we were yelled at shortly after this (ok, yelled is a strong term) to not have our kids climb them. But we must take advantage of photo opportunities when presented with them.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010056.jpg Nick in one of the Portholes in the lab...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010055.jpg Chris in one of the Portholes in the lab...and yes we were yelled at shortly after this to not have them climb through those. You would think we would learn our lesson. apparently not! We were told that they are very lenient the first day, but then crack down after that. We figure they wait until the parents leave to yell at the kids, but we could never prove that! :rotfl2:

The final picture before I get back on track was of Connor. In 2004 when we sailed the first time he was too young to go into the clubs. We did Flounders a few times, but in general he was with us. I'm one of those strange people who likes to wander and take random pictures of my kids in various spots. So he and I did that alot. Here is Connor in 2004 on the floor between the two stores...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/PA040110.jpg Connor in 2004

As it's fun to compare and contrast, here is Connor on our trip in 2006 in that same spot.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010060.jpg Connor in 2006

Pretty cool to see the size difference. At least for me. For you, it's probably another boring waste of your time, so I'll stop digressing. Back to the story.

After the lifeboat drill we headed back to our staterooms in hopes that we would have our luggage and could change (we had the early seating so wouldn't have alot of time before dinner).

No luggage. &$#*(@#&$. We also didn't have the boxes we had shipped ahead (both from us directly and our order of water and snacks from Staples popcorn:: ). Of course we switched rooms...so that is most likely why the luggage and packages weren't there, but that didn't matter to us. We did meet our Stateroom hostess, Suda Khongsamai. I don't remember where she was from, but this was her first cruise. She showed us around the room, asked about which beds to pull down (we were in the family stateroom where you can sleep 5, so we had 2 bunk options), and I hit her with the important thing that I needed...showing her the cooler I wanted her to know how important it was that Beer be cold. She smiled and wheeled the cooler (and our neighbors cooler) away to get ice in it. She was awesome the entire time and definately made the trip that much nicer.

We had hoped to unpack, settle in...but instead we headed to the sailaway party. I had remembered this as being very fun, and it was again. Everyone keeps referencing the CM's and how much energy they have and I agree 100%. They are bouncing around, singing, dancing...going crazy...I have no idea where they get the energy. I suppose that's why they are all skinny as rails. Either that or Disney just doesn't feed them??? :rotfl:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010071.jpg Me and Connor at the sail away party

After being downstairs and dancing for a while we made our way up to deck 10 to watch us pull out. The horn blew...what a wonderful sound...and we waited. And Waited. and Waited. It seemed like forever, and we were on the port side so we could see that the ropes were still tied...we weren't going anywhere. No one notices that, of course, so they just keep on dancing.

FINALLY we pull out...and we get the hands waved at us. The big hands. I love the people that wave the bigs hands...it's just a nice sendoff.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010076.jpg There really are people with big white hands waiving in this picture.

It was 5:20, time to go back to the room to grab our dinning tickets and head to dinner in our shorts. While this would probably be the only time we would be in shorts, I thought that was pretty cool, and in the future I think I will take advantage of the first night and not dress up. I might get flamed for that, but it was kind of fun to relax in casual clothes. Mind you, I dress up every other time, so I'm not one of THOSE.

We get back to the room and we have luggage! sweet luggage!! But no boxes. hurumph. It's 5:25...no time to change...so we drag the bags inside and head to dinner.

Now for our dining details. We had APL for dinner, so we had Animators Palate right off the bat. We had the early seating (5:30) which we liked sometimes, and didn't like others. We definately had to scramble for dinner each night to get ready, but it was also kind of nice to be in and out early and have some time before the show, etc. I actually liked it. Other members of our party didn't like it as much...but they can write a trip report and tell you about it :teeth:

Here are all of us together (this was actually the last night, but I had been unable to do a picture before this)

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010289.jpg Adrian is on the left and Alonso is on the right. If you don't know who the rest of us are, you haven't been paying attention to the TR.

Our Server: Adrian Doward from the UK (Ireland I believe)

This guy rocked. There is no other way to put it. He always had a smile for the kids (and generally a magic trick or two), and he genuinly seemed to enjoy the experience on the boat and serving us. His suggestions were "spot on" every night. I went downhill in the involvement of ordering my meals from the beginning. At first I ordered on my own, then went to asking about two things that looked good, then went to listening to his suggestions, and finally he no longer told me, he just wrote something down for me and brought it. For me it was the ultimate, I tried things that I would not have tried otherwise, which was a great experience. His taste was fabulous and I was always very pleased. He laughed at all of our jokes, and made us feel right at home. He quickly became someone we looked forward to being with in the evening. I think I have mentioned before that we plan to go again in 2008. We got Adrian's e-mail address to keep in touch and we will definately request him again. If you are going on a future cruise, request him and you will not regret it. Just be prepared to tip well...he is that good!!!

We also found out that he was engaged to be married this Spring...to someone on the ship! We thought that was very cool, and naturally he had us all waive to her (she was working the front desk when we were in Lumierre's (I'm pretty sure I butchered that name, but I'll get it right before we rotate there). Her name was Erika and I even embarrassed her by taking her picture...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010301.jpg Isn't she cute. Hopefully at some point they will read our TR...Hi guys! :wave2: Good luck to you!! pixiedust:

Our Assistant Server: Alonso Russell Stewart

Alonso was also very good. It took him a day or so to figure out our drinks, but once he did we were in good shape. I drink Diet Coke almost as much as Sleepydog drinks his various froo-froo drinks :drinking1 ...so the first night I suggested to Alonso that he bring pitchers for our table (there are OTHER Diet Coke drinkers as well, not just me). While he didn't do that, he always brough 3-4 extras for me...and generally before I had finished the one before me I had another one. Who can ask for anything more? I wondered if he had a bet with anyone how many Diet Cokes I'd drink in one night...

Head Bozo (er, I mean head server): no idea

I should have his name, but don't. I blame this on DW. She was the keeper of facts (She wrote in a journal each night. This is a good thing as I can't remember things from one moment to the next), and for some reason his name didn't make it. At least not in the first few pages that I have re-read to remember what the heck we did. If it appears later I will make sure to mention it. He wasn't a bad guy, he appeared dutifully once each meal. My neighbor actually named him the Head Bozo. His philosophy was that he get's $1 tip each time he comes by. Since he came every day we gave him a bonus tip...and we almost screwed it up...but that is a story for another time. :lmao:

So, Animators Palate. As we had been on the cruise before we knew what was coming, but we still enjoyed it. I agree with another poster on this board that it's a bit overrated. Don't expect to be blown away, just expect a nice dinner in a cool atmosphere. I won't go into detail about what happens because I don't want to ruin it, but it is pretty cool.

DW had the bacon wrapped Filet, I had the Salmon, DS7 had a cheeseburger, and DW4 had chicken strips and a few mickey shapped ravioli. We all enjoyed our meals (I especially liked the Salmon). For desert: DS7 ordered the chocolate cake from the adult menu, DS4 ordered Chocolate Chip cookies (not on the menu, but Adrian managed to find them somewhere). This was funny because on the cruise 2 years ago DS4 (DS2 at that point :goodvibes ) only wanted Mickey ice cream with sprinkles. He was not even interested in that on this evening. Weird.

DW and I each had the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pie. wow....don't miss this one if it's on the menu. Fabulous.

Before our deserts came the kids were bouncing off the walls wanting to go to the kids clubs, and they didn't want to go to the welcome aboard show. So DNH and I walked the kids up and dropped them off. Naturally this was not a quick process as they were still doing previews...so they had to be careful who they let in when, they had special nametags for the dropoff kids. I'll do a full review of my thinking on the kids clubs at the end of my TR.

DW and DNW went to the stores to check things out, DNH and I went to get a couple of beers and went to wait for the show. We were the first ones...which was pretty cool. I kept expecting someone to ask for my hall pass to allow me to drink my own alcohol on the ship, but no one did. The doors opened about 8:15 and we scooted down to the front row and saved seats for the wives (yes, saved seats! Against the law, but we will discuss that later in the TR).

The Welcome Aboard show was very cool...as all of the shows are. We really enjoyed the comedian (Magillian?). He was very good, and very entertaining. In fact we decided that we would go to the adult show that night.

After the show we went back to the stores. I've read in a couple of places where people complained about the store being slammed...I didn't really feel that way, while there were always people in the store I didn't feel like I was rubbing elbows too much with folks. However I do believe that the stores are like a big vacuum...it grabs your KTTW card and sucks the money right out of it. pretty amazing. DW bought a few things (scrapbook stuff) and we bought a Stitch frame (he is a huge fan of Stitch).

DS7 paged us and we decided we would grab all the kids and head back to the room. At this point DNH and I thought we would go by our old rooms and see if our stuff got delivered there. so we wandered down to Deck 6 and walked to the rooms we would have had. I didn't figure they would be there, but we knocked anyway, and had just caught them before they headed to dinner. They had opened one of the bags from Staples before they realized it wasn't for them (and they made a comment that they loved Tootsie Rolls). They were also travelling with their daughter who had gotten our other box...so he went and dragged her back from the elevator and we got our stuff. They were really nice, which we appreciated. We even bought them a bag of Tootsie Rolls in Key West and dropped them off at their door. If they are reading this...thank you!!! :cheer2:

Back in the rooms everyone opened the boxes. We had packed a bunch of really cool things (like glow wrist bands for pirate night, games, etc) in boxes for our kids as well as for the neighbors. Everyone had fun playing with ths stuff. We also recieved a gift from Dreams Unlimited. It was a cool frame in a neat keepsake box which we used to bring things home. This was completely unexpected, so that was great. Finally we got our Castaway Club gift which was also very cool.

We plopped the kids back in the clubs and went to the adults only version of the magician/comedian show. Let me just say...don't waste your time. It was ok...and there were a few sexual overtones...but in no way was I blown away.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010077.jpg Our first of many Towel animals. I have no idea what it is. DW would know I'm sure. But there you go!

thanks for reading...hope you enjoyed the installment.

Next up: Chapter 8: Key West, Key Lime Pie on a stick!!!

mruhaak

11-21-2006, 10:51 AM

Enjoying your report! It would really be fun to go with friends like that!

My DS was 2 on his last cruise and will be 4 when we go in 2008. So I loved the "growth" pictures!!

Will be looking forward to hearing if he liked the kids club!

curlybop

11-21-2006, 12:10 PM

:thumbsup2 Great installments! Keep on going. :sunny:

fynook12

11-21-2006, 06:49 PM

awesome TR so far! Can't wait to read your next installment~ :goodvibes

Dixielady908

11-21-2006, 10:51 PM

Great trip report so far. Really enjoying it.

Thanks for posting and sharing..

Denise :banana:

pandamom

11-22-2006, 10:53 AM

Love reading your report!!! We just had Adrian as our server last week (apl 5:30) and he and the assist. serv. were both excellent -- can't say enough good things about them...

DisneyZell

11-23-2006, 01:20 PM

Love reading your report!!! We just had Adrian as our server last week (apl 5:30) and he and the assist. serv. were both excellent -- can't say enough good things about them...

who was your assistant? I wondered if they keep them together or not. Ours was Alonso...I agree with you, I can't say enough, he became a part of the family by the end of the cruise...I have even sent him the link to this TR...hopefully he will read it and appreciate how much people love his service!!! :cheer2:

pandamom

11-23-2006, 02:01 PM

Aditya (spelling?) from India was our assistant and really did an outstanding job. dd6 and dd8 were talking today how they missed them and wanted me to do a magic trick at lunch (ha!) like Adrian. dd8's favorite part of the cruise was swimming with the dolphins but dd6 says it was getting "nothing" for dessert (a plate with "nothing" written in chocolate sauce). Truly magical service.

Disneygrl36

11-24-2006, 06:37 PM

Hey DZ.........great report so far.
Thanks for giving me another trippie to read to pass the SLOW days until I leave.
:wizard: back to page 4 with me.

miztigg

11-24-2006, 09:17 PM

great tr i did not know you can bring your own beer you just saved ma a TON of money :woohoo: :woohoo:

DisneyZell

11-26-2006, 06:19 PM

having exactly ZERO to do with this TR (except that I used it as an excuse as to why I hadn't posted in a while :rolleyes1 ), thought you guys might appreciate some pics of my Christmas lights as the theme fits quite well here...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010350.jpg
This is the front of my house to give you an idea...I ran 4 strands of lights off the roof to trees, and just today added two more that run to the middle. I had to buy a metal pole to run those to because the tree that is there is dwarf and just won't grow. But the strands give it that magical feel... pixiedust:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010349.jpg
We have two wreaths up on the house that are designed to be somewhat like the wreaths at Disney. Next year one of the will become Minnie with the addition of a red bow.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010348.jpg

Donald has long been a favorite of DS4, although he has fallen out of favor, replaced by Stitch as the #1 favorite. Maybe next year Stitch will make an appearance on the house...if I can find a picture of him being sneaky...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010347.jpg
Naturally we have to have Minnie...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010346.jpg
And Goofy...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010345.jpg
Last but certainly not least, Santa.

Hope you enjoyed...I'll add another chapter to my TR sometime this week.

Happy Holidays!!! :santa:

Disneygrl36

11-26-2006, 07:55 PM

Great Disney decorations. :santa: You did a good job :thumbsup2 . Now, please get back to work & post another installment before I leave. :rotfl:

Madisonznana

11-26-2006, 10:29 PM

Great decorations!! I am so glad you did such a wonderful job as we all wait here some what patiently for more of your TR! :rolleyes1

grumpydude

11-27-2006, 01:20 AM

What the..., is this the Martha Stewart Holiday Decorating Boards???

I love the Mickey Wreath. Where did you get the other things? Look like they are home made. I did the same thing today. It was sunny and 65 here in NJ and the Steelers played like crap so I did not even watch the game so I put up the decorations. Beats doing it when it is 40 and raining.

Now how about working some more on your report??

tinkerbellmom1

11-27-2006, 10:32 PM

The rest of the week was spent on last minute preparations, door signs, packing, last minute trips to Wal-Mart for that thing in the bathroom that keeps the place from stinking (literally last minute, as in we picked up DS4 from his school, stopped by Wal-Mart, picked up DS7, and then went to the airport), boarding the dog, etc., etc.

:rotfl: Can't wait for you to keep adding to your tr! Read Father Force with his DW adding on; Read Grumpydudes and rolled; now it's your turn to finish up!

The pictures of your kids are adorable! Sappy mom in me appreciating all the effort you, DW, DNW, and DNH went to for them!

Can you tell me what EXACTLY to buy at Walmart to stop our room from stinking like sewage? :confused3 That was my biggest complaint on our first cruise!

DisneyZell

11-28-2006, 02:27 AM

great tr i did not know you can bring your own beer you just saved ma a TON of money :woohoo: :woohoo:

Always glad to offer money saving tips. Here is a big one. Don't visit Shutters. Ever.

Great Disney decorations. You did a good job . Now, please get back to work & post another installment before I leave.

Working on it Melanie!! :wave:

Great decorations!! I am so glad you did such a wonderful job as we all wait here some what patiently for more of your TR!

Uh...thanks? Hint taken...I get it.

What the..., is this the Martha Stewart Holiday Decorating Boards???

I love the Mickey Wreath. Where did you get the other things? Look like they are home made. I did the same thing today. It was sunny and 65 here in NJ and the Steelers played like crap so I did not even watch the game so I put up the decorations. Beats doing it when it is 40 and raining.

Now how about working some more on your report??

Couple things:
1. stop being funnier than me in my own TR.
2. now I really get it (and sorry to agree with you...your Steelers did not play well this weekend. However I had the Ravens Defense in my fantasy league and they scored big points because your Steelers decided not to put any on the board...thanks for that).

Can't wait for you to keep adding to your tr! Read Father Force with his DW adding on; Read Grumpydudes and rolled; now it's your turn to finish up!

The pictures of your kids are adorable! Sappy mom in me appreciating all the effort you, DW, DNW, and DNH went to for them!

Can you tell me what EXACTLY to buy at Walmart to stop our room from stinking like sewage? That was my biggest complaint on our first cruise!

Wow, you are a glutton for punishment..and that shall be rewarded momentarily.

don't exactly know what you call them, but those scent things that are kind of shaped like a cone. you pull it up higher exposing more scent depending on how stinky it is in the bathroom. We chose Vanilla....it smelled good. Note that I've seen other folks on here say that if you call and complain they can fix the smell if it gets really bad (not sure how they do it, but I'm sure it has something to do with Rasul...)

and now, on with the story...

DisneyZell

11-28-2006, 03:47 AM

Chapter 8: Key West, Key Lime Pie on a stick!!!

So, when I left you we had all collapsed into bed after a fun filled first day eating, dancing, eating, swimming, eating, looking stupid in orange life vests, eating, oh, did I mention eating? I didn't? :mickeybar

I'm going to throw out a warning. I'm going to talk about a show that I'm just not sure happened on this day. This juggling team missed the ship to begin with, maybe they were supposed to be in the welcome aboard show? not sure, but I think they belonged on this day. According to DW's journal they do not...and she is probably right, but in looking at the pictures it fits better if I tell it this way...so guess what? yeah, gonna do it my way. :cool1:

DW woke up early pretty much every day and went out on the balcony to write in her journal and read while waiting for the kids to wake up. For me this is the #1 reason to get a balcony (if you have kids). I can strole out there in my pajamas (ahem...well I don't wear pajamas...so I would throw on a t-shirt), without caring what I looked like. Hair all messed up, and most likley grumpy (no offense grumpydude). To be able to hang out while the ship is moving, in your own space was very cool. It really tells me that I need a balcony of some sort when I cruise...as I think I would miss this tremendously (note: look back to the beginning of this TR when DNH and I were teased into thinking that we were not going to get a balcony!

So I woke up around 6:30 and DW was missing. I headed out to the Balcony to join her...and got rewarded shortly thereafter with this:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010079.jpg
The Sunrise!

Now, I'm a sleeper. Lover of sleep. Generally. Then again, it's 2:46am and I'm awake writing a TR (DS4 was coughing, woke me up, couldn't go back to sleep, thought I'd subject all of you to more storytelling). So it's pretty exciting for me to see the sunrise. :sunny: There is also something very cool about being outside on a ship as the sun comes up. Read above about the balcony. Same deal here.

So while gazing into the horizon and thinking deep thoughts like:

"I wonder when Mickey will call and wake up the kids"
"I hope Key West is fun. I hope the Blonde Giraffe hasn't run out of Key Lime Pie"
"Huh, my toe itches"

I noticed another ship. Very exciting. Imagine that, in the vast amount of Ocean there is another ship headed in the same general direction as us. It took 20 tries....but here is the best picture of that ship I could come up with:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010082.jpg Yes! ship!

I know, I know...can you believe it? me either! How exciting. Note that this excitement wore off after about 10 minutes. I did enjoy a couple times (like other's who have noted in their TR's) passing by the floating Booze Cruise (Carnival). But I digress.

Finally the phone rings and Mickey, very happily, wakes us up. Time to get going. I wonder if the CM who plays Mickey ever gets tired of making those phone calls. Oh well...not my place to worry about stuff like that. We have a character breakfast to attend! woohoo! Love the Characters. Can never get enough of them...Most of the time. So we thrown on some clothes, grab the neighbors and head down to Parrot Cay for Breakfast. Note we are just getting to know our servers, and getting to like them more each time we are with them. :love:

So the Character breakfast was underwhelming. The sit down breakfast just isn't that great. And as we discovered Topsiders for breakfast the rest of the time on the cruise (other than our final breakfast...but you don't get to hear about that yet), it is the only sit down one we do. The characters flitter by, but only stay just long enough to snap a picture or two... :confused3

As you have read several times ad naseaum (I'm pretty sure that's not how you spell that. who came up with that word? and why am I using it???), this is cruise #2 for us. Last time we sat right by the windows so that the pictures really just didn't want to come out because it was too bright.

This time we sat right by the windows so that the pictures really just didn't want to come out because it was too bright. But don't worry, faithful reader! This one was ok....

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010088.jpg Nick and Pluto

After all that excitement we decided it was time to dump....er....drop the kids off in the clubs. Nick and Chris were taken to The Stack (which is normally the teen area). They hated this area, and refused to go back any other time. Apparently there isn't alot to do there, so they were bored.

****ALERT****DIGRESSION COMING****ALERT****** (yeah, that just never gets old)

So, the funny thing is that these two can play for hours on end with nothing but each other when they are at home. Put them in a club with tons of games, activities, video games, and TV to watch and they spend the entire time bored. It amazed me how much whining there was about going into the club where there are more things to entertain them than at home. Very strange. But I digress (don't say I didn't warn you).

Connor went to the Club...and Kathryn to the Lab. I think that was the last time Connor and Kathryn split up (Kathryn is older than Connor) because Kathryn liked hanging out with Connor. But in order to do that they had to switch her wristband to say 3-4. This bothered her greatly, which was sort of funny. She had a hard time understanding that just because her wrist band said 3-4 does NOT mean she is actually 3-4. But I digress (shoot, no warning that time. hope you are ok).

The adults went back to the rooms to do what any logical adult would do when they have a period of time with no kids, an empty room...and a comfy bed....

NOT THAT...get your mind out of the gutter.

We changed, and went to work out. :yay: (this icon says yay, but to me it looks like a circle guy doing jumping jacks. work with me). Really, we did. Note that I never work out. I hate it. Working out is painful for me (although I have joined a club now that I'm back on land, and have grand plans of getting in shape). Did I mention I don't like working out? it's boring. Waste of time.

But anyhooooo, we did go work out. The Magic has a fabulous work out area. Naturally you have to be a spy to figure out where it is. I knew it was on Deck 10. I knew it was up front. But the Spa is up front. So we DNH and I wandered around a bit trying to find it. There was a door marked RASUL, we went in and saw.....

just kidding. I don't think they label the doors, but wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

Finally we realized it was through the spa, asked directions and headed down the hallway. There was a pretty big room filled with all kinds of equipment...and TV's, wonderful TV's. Now this I can do. Work out and watch TV. What I didn't know is that they would give me earphones to work otu with. Live and learn.

So this was the area they took over when the took away the Bridge tours. They did a nice job with it...not much better than working out looking out over the ocean while cruising (except for being able to do that AND watch TV). Now I'm a big College Football fan (Go Trojans!!!), so I got to watch ESPN closed caption to learn about what I had missed the day before. USC wasn't playing so I wasn't watching as much as I would have liked. DW went to UCLA and her gutty Bruins lost a close one to Notre Dame. Bummer.

Anyway, I did my 1/2 hour on the Eliptical. Wonderful machine. you work out your upper body as well as your lower at the same time. Digression: I mentioned that we joined a club here at home...their equipment is not nearly as nice as that on the Magic. Makes me depressed. Anyhooooooo

Everyone else was still working out...I wandered a bit. I wanted to find the shower rooms everyone was talking about and finally did...along with some nice looking Chaise Lounges (no idea if that's spelled right either. Did I mention I have spelling issues???) and sat for a bit. That was nice actually, except I kept expecting the spa people to bust in and tell me that I didn't pay to sit on that. Had I know at the time what Rasul was (ok, I still don't know for sure, but the images I have of FF and Sleepdog from their stories is enough), I might not have sat down at all.

About that time the pager went off. DS7 was bored and wanted out. That's not what the pager said...but I got the picture. I wonder if the CM's in the kids clubs ever play with the wording of the pages to try to better get our attention. Maybe they get more creative after one or two page attempts:

"your son is a pain in the A**. Please come and get him"
"Your child is missing....just kidding. Can you come get him?"
"The captain has requested that you either come and get your child or he is going to turn this boat around right now mister!"

So I went and got the two older kids...and Connor. Kathryn seemed to be doing ok, so she stayed. The rest of us went up and played some basketball. My biggest issue with the sports deck is that there were not enough balls. Maybe they had the balls hidden and I just didn't know where to look. but there were several other kids there and only two balls. This put a damper on what would have been a fun activity for us to do regularly. We know they have more than two...but didn't know that until later!

We made out way down to the room, showered in the shub, changed and went to lunch at topsiders. Now, if you don't have a balcony, here is the second best thing you can do. Eat at topsiders while the ship is coming in to dock. That was so cool to see. I think that the food at topsiders probably sucked...but the view was incredible...and that makes you forget all about it (actually I think the food at Topsiders was pretty good, but it doesn't make the story as fun to write). We watched them dock the ship...always incredible when you think about the size, etc.

I think I've said before that DW is a planner and we were ready to go well before the Neighbors. They are smart, they take their time doing things...while we rush, get heartburn and end up waiting. Live and learn. But we did snap this pic (thought you were done with pictures, didn't you!!!):

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010097.jpg Yes, a good looking guy with two good looking kids. Ah, genes. oh wait...thankfully they didn't get mine. :rotfl2:

So then we were off to Key West. I had done my due diligence. I knew there was key lime pie to be had here...it was famous for it. As luck would have it, a couple days before we left there was a show on Food Network (no idea which one, but they are the son's of one of the famous people that cooks and no, not Emiril). They were going to Key West...and The Blonde Giraffe! Since I had read that this was the place to go for key lime pie I perked up and watched with interest as they went in and they showed how they did it. Limey, chocolaty goodness all on a stick. I'm not 100% sure, but it can't get much better than that.

So we got off the ship, had our map, and eventually figured out how to get there. We walked by a couple of bars (clearly getting drunk is the main activity on Key West).

UH oh...digression.

Why is it Key West and not Cay West. Can someone explain that to me? is it because the assumption is that us American's just can't figure out that Cay is pronounced Key? I am pretty sure that is an insult to our intelligence...but as I'm not smart enough to figure out if it is...I guess that doesn't matter. Back to the regularly scheduled program.

******TIP COMING****TIP COMING*****

if you have kids...stay away from the bars on Sunday if there is football on. There were a bunch of rowdy fans (which I'm all for, being a football fan), using the worst language. And as drunk fans are known to do, they do it loudly. Luckily all our kids were blissfully unaware...so they didn't pick up on the colorful language. but if you have young ones...you might want to walk accross the street. just a tip. :thumbsup2

We go down the street and there it is. The kids taste the frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolaty goodness and decide it's not for them. They get ice cream. no worries, more for me!

What can I say here...wow...wow..and wow. Loved it. In fact, I even got a second frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolaty goodness. Everyone made fun of me...but I did it anyway. I can't really describe it...it is sweet...very sweet and tart as well. Sweet Tart. huh, someone should make a candy like that.

Naturally at some point DS4 managed to drop his cookies and cream (what trip to eat ice cream would be the same without that) so had to buy him another. Luckily that coincided with me needing my second helping so it all worked out in the end.

After that it was off to find some Flip Flops for DNH. He had forgotten his. so we hit Ron Jon. Cool shop. A bit overpriced, but the kids had fun poking around. DNH found his flip flops, and they came with an added bonus...a bottle opener built right into the bottom. This was the craziest thing we had ever seen...but let's say we put it to use once or twice :rolleyes1 .

We had already decided that we would buy some water...some more beer (lord knows why we thought we needed more), and some tootsie rolls for the nice folks who held onto our shipped ahead boxes, and then we were going to go to the southernmost point. We could have gone to CVS, but we had a coupon for several dollars off at Walgreens.

Let me just say, for the record, that it was hot. and humid...really humid. we were sweating like pigs. On the Map Walgreens just didn't seem that far. uh...it was. Go to CVS. It's not worth the couple of dollars off. Plus Walgreens is smart. They know that once you walk that far, lose 10 pounds, sweat like a pig, have your kids whining about not wanting to walk anymore, you will forget to use the coupon. Both families forgot. How sad is that. The main reason we went there....but I digress. We get the essentials, and some ear drops for DS7 who has been complaining all day about an earache. He is one of those kids that loves to complain...and whom you have no idea if he really has an issue or not...but a few dollars for ear drops (which might have been free had we remembered the coupon (ok, if I had remembered the coupon since I paid) was worth the money).

Walking back we figured out where to buy beer (they don't exactly have big liquor stores on Key West) and did so. At this point, going to the Southernmost point was out of the question. Back to the ship we headed. When we got there...we snapped this picture:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010101.jpg DNS9 and DS7 dressed up to go out

And this one:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010100.jpg The DisneyZell's by the Mickey boat

And it was onto the ship we went...

I'd go on....but it's 3:30, time to attempt to go to bed...

Next up:

Chapter 9: You all thought we were insane to bring out own Blender???

Madisonznana

11-28-2006, 02:31 PM

Most excellant chapter!! :thumbsup2
Below you will see the extent of our holiday decorating so far!

jrose529

11-28-2006, 03:14 PM

This is quite an enjoyable TR. :thumbsup2 Thanks for taking the time to invite us on your Magical journey.

Babs417

11-28-2006, 03:43 PM

Good going. I am so ready to go on my trip. :thumbsup2 :sunny: ;) :goodvibes :)

FatherForce

11-28-2006, 05:54 PM

Great Installment.

I have always wanted to go to Key(Cay) West, but now, with a 7 yr old, I didn't think it'd be wise.

Good to know that you can do KW with kids.

So where do you park the tots when you go in the bars? :rotfl2:

tinkerbellmom1

11-28-2006, 08:07 PM

[QUOTE=

Wow, you are a glutton for punishment..and that shall be rewarded momentarily.

don't exactly know what you call them, but those scent things that are kind of shaped like a cone. you pull it up higher exposing more scent depending on how stinky it is in the bathroom. We chose Vanilla....it smelled good. Note that I've seen other folks on here say that if you call and complain they can fix the smell if it gets really bad (not sure how they do it, but I'm sure it has something to do with Rasul...)

and now, on with the story...[/QUOTE]

Thanks Zell!

Never heard the connection with Rasul, Yikes! :rotfl: We had 'the stink' last year in the Disney Suite and after two visits (1 from housekeeping and 1 from engineering), it never went away! I had loads of stink spray (I live with 3 men for goodness sake!), and it took planting towels over the floor vents to make it subside.

Looking forward to the next segment! :wave:

Our2Girls&Disney

11-28-2006, 08:14 PM

I finally had a chance to catch up and I read two chapters. Did I say that I am loving your trip report?

Just a few thoughts...
What on earth made you think about going to the gym during the vacation. I probably would have relaxed by the pool with a nice glass of alcoholic beverage or something.

More beer? Hmmm... You bought an awful lot of frozen drinks for the ladies. If they are light weights like me, they would be fine with one or two drinks per night.

Can't wait to hear about the blender!

DD5 insists that put one of these characters here. She picked this one. :bride: Sorry!

Disneygrl36

11-28-2006, 08:17 PM

Those guys from the Food Network are Paula Deen's boys Jimmy & Bobby...sorry a bit of a plug for my favorite Savannah girl. :rotfl:

You packed a blender???????

DisneyZell

11-30-2006, 02:18 PM

Most excellant chapter!! :thumbsup2
Below you will see the extent of our holiday decorating so far!

I guess I'll qualify that as better than nothing?? :thumbsup2

This is quite an enjoyable TR. Thanks for taking the time to invite us on your Magical journey.

you are most welcome, thanks for your kind comments!! :Pinkbounc

Good going. I am so ready to go on my trip.

now this is a bit unfair...now you are making me jealous. DS4 has decided he would like to live on the Mickey Boat...no one else but us. And sometimes it doesn't even include his parents!! guess that shows how much he loves it. :love:

Great Installment.

I have always wanted to go to Key(Cay) West, but now, with a 7 yr old, I didn't think it'd be wise.

Good to know that you can do KW with kids.

So where do you park the tots when you go in the bars?

I didn't say it was wise to bring the kids...we just didn't know any better. As they didn't like the Key Lime Pie, next time I will leave them behind (and possibly everyone since I was the only one that really loved it!!! :) ).

At one bar since it was football season they had a little field goal thing set up on the edge of the street...so they could play on the fake grass while you venture inside for libations. I'm sure they would be fine. Sure. Yeah...that's it.

Never heard the connection with Rasul, Yikes! We had 'the stink' last year in the Disney Suite and after two visits (1 from housekeeping and 1 from engineering), it never went away! I had loads of stink spray (I live with 3 men for goodness sake!), and it took planting towels over the floor vents to make it subside.

EWWW, that is just gross. I've been reading these boards for a while...has ANYONE figured out what the heck that is? are those vents direct to the sewage on the boat? and what happens if you plug those vents? I'm picturing poop shooting out the side of the ship...but that's just me.

I finally had a chance to catch up and I read two chapters. Did I say that I am loving your trip report?

Just a few thoughts...
What on earth made you think about going to the gym during the vacation. I probably would have relaxed by the pool with a nice glass of alcoholic beverage or something.

More beer? Hmmm... You bought an awful lot of frozen drinks for the ladies. If they are light weights like me, they would be fine with one or two drinks per night.

Can't wait to hear about the blender!

DD5 insists that put one of these characters here. She picked this one. Sorry!

Thanks for the comments....I have no idea why working out seemed like a good idea. Partly it was because I had lost alot of weight going into the cruise and hoped to try to stay even. Frankly the work out area is so cool...that it was kind of nice. They will give you headphones to watch TV (or a movie, I watched part of Click while doing the eliptical) and be able to look out onto the ocean while you are going...can't really beat that with a stick!

Yeah, more beer, don't worry you will learn about that soon...and the Blender!! and not in the next episode, but the one after that when I talk about our day at sea you will learn about Mickey Soda!

Those guys from the Food Network are Paula Deen's boys Jimmy & Bobby...sorry a bit of a plug for my favorite Savannah girl.

Yeah! that's them! it was a good show.
You packed a blender???????

um...yeah. :rolleyes1

thanks again everyone...new episode coming your way soon. maybe.

DisneyZell

12-01-2006, 10:25 AM

Chapter 9: You all thought we were insane to bring out own Blender???

As usual, thank you all for your kind words...it's appreciated! so when I left you last I was typing in the middle of the night (3:30am to be exact). So I have a tip for all you TR writers out there...before you click "Submit Reply" make sure you copy everything you wrote. When I tried to post the first time at 3:30, the server was down (for whatever reason) and I would have lost a ton of work...luckily I had copied it! :thumbsup2

Also, I know there are spelling errors in everything below. Sorry. But get over it ;)

Anyway, once we got back to our rooms we decided to make smoothies for the kids and Daqueries for the adults. :drinking1 Yes, we brought a blender onboard. DNH bought a smoothie blender no less to bring on the trip. This was something that we debated many times. We knew we were going to bring beer...but the thinking was...how cool would it be to bring a blender and make our own icy, yummy drinks. Well, we used the blender twice on the whole trip...I think partially because it just isn't that convenient...and partly because we were usually extremely busy. The Beer pretty much covered me from a drinking perspective, and DW had a few of her froo-froo drinks in a bottle to tide her over. So looking back, I don't think I would choose to bring a blender again. There, you have yet another tip!

DNH went up to deck 9 and got some fresh fruit (definately an advantage when making your own blended drinks in your room) and made smoothies and then daqueries (I'm pretty much 100% sure I'm butchering the spelling here, so please bear with me).

After we were done, DS8 (Nick), DNS9 (Chris), and I decided to go and see about pin trading. So we wandered around the ship with no luck. Since we were in port the stores weren't open (that's where you can always find CM's to trade with), and no one at Guest Services was wearing layards. :confused3

But in the lobby, we did find....wait for it...Chip it Golf! Yes! how exciting that we had bumped into that right when they were setting it up. For those of you not experienced in Chip It Golf, basically there is a mat that you chip the ball off of, and a larger mat with designs to look like a golf course with sand traps and a green, and each area has points (both positive and negative). I remembered reading that it was supposed to be 12+, but when I asked the CM about it she had no problem letting the boys play.

She then announces that they will do a kid competition, and an adult competition. So I figured that I would sign up. What did I have to lose? just sitting there anyway.

Each person got 3 chances, the first two were whatever score the landed on, and the last one was double. There would be two rounds, exactly the same rules except the last ball in the second round would be triple. Big excitement.

So they started with the Kids. Both Nick and Chris did very well, and after the first round they were 1st and 2nd overall. Pretty good. Then the adults started...I got no score on the first ball...2 points on the second, and then on the third ball I nailed the bullseye (15 points...so I got 30!!!). So I was in first after the first round.

Round 2 came around and the kids went again...Nick and Chris again did very well, and finished 1st and second overall. The adults went next and I was able to hold onto first place. So the three of us finished: 1st, 1st, 2nd. not bad considering we bumped into it. The first place prize was a medal (which Nick was very proud of) and the second place prize was a disney keychain. Huh. The 2nd place prize was better. I should have thrown the competition.

Note by the way, that I suck at golf. So I recommend anyone play :cheer2:

During this time DNH and DNW went back into Key West to get a poster as a present (apparently they really liked the hot humid weather, or they were closet lovers of the key lime pie on a stick but didn't want me to know. Mmmm, key lime pie on a stick, but I digress). DW took the younger kids to do a frame craft and take a picture with Pocohontas, and finally to the pool to swim.

As you have read before elsewhere, the best time to hit the pool is on a port day. you can do what you want, and I'm pretty sure the pools don't get quite as disgusting as they do on a sea day. I've never seen water so cloudy as when 1500 kids get in the mickey pool at the same time. gross.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010113.jpg If you can see their feet...it's safe to go in the pool.

At some point we did manage to squeeze in some standard picture shots...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010092.jpg The kids in the porthole. Tip for future cruises: if you are going to post a TR, it is a requirement that you have at least one of these pictures. I don't make up the rules people.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010094.jpg I love the Mickey statue. Frankly speaking I would be sad on the Wonder without Mickey guiding the ship. I mean how else do you get to where your going? can we really trust a mermaid???

It was time for dinner. Our second night was in Parrot Cay. DW had planned ahead for us to wear our matching disney hawaiian outfits which I know I have seen at least once on a trip report...so some of you will find this familiar:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010122.jpg Aren't we cute? Note that I didn't know that Adrian had put the plates up behind Nick until I uploaded this picture to post here...pretty darn funny! I'd also like to know where we are looking. Maybe someone was hanging naked outside the ship? Rasul ended a bit early?

So let's see, dinner menu. DW, DS8 (quick side note (I know, I know...I'm wandering off topic yet again...get over it. If you wanted the quick version of my report...read from the beginning and I believe I gave you the easy way out). I do call Nick DS7 and DS8 interchangeably. He turned 8 November 1...and so he is 8 now, even though he was 7 on the ship officially...but we unofficially celebrated his birthday, so that makes it my choice, and besides I'm the author, now back to the story) and I had ribs.

Let me say that the barbeque sauce was fabulous. I considered just asking for a bowl of that, which I would have enjoyed. or perhaps a bowl to dip fries into (which, I think, is a tad bit more socially acceptable :rolleyes1 ). The ribs themselves, however, weren't that good. they were tough, and it was kind of like chewing on a peice of rubber that was slathered with very, very good BBQ sauce. Oh I ate it...but I didn't have to enjoy the chewing part.

I have no idea what we had for desert because DW didn't write it down in her journal (note that whenever I screw up I will try my best to blame it on that, don't take it personally honey!). the only thing I am sure about is that Connor had cookies (again not on the menu) because that's what he had for the first 3 days until we could convince him to try the Mickey Bar. Frankly I wish we had known he could order nothing...he would have enjoyed that. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read a couple other trip reports, I refuse to ruin that one!

After dinner it was off to search for characters...we found: Snow White, Dopey, Mad Hatter, Lili&Stitch, Peter Pan and Wendy, and Genie:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010129.jpg Strangely he fits right in with our family. Huh.

At this point we split up...DNH and I got beers again to make our stand at the doors to the Walt Disney theater. We drank and chatted while everyone else went and got candy and drinks for us all (you know the beers would need to be refreshed).

So this time when the doors opened we needed to save 8 seats. I was determined to be in the front row, so we headed right down...unfortunately a young girl on the other side was like grease lightning... :moped: down those stairs, and they had 4 people. So we made it down and saved the 4 seats next to them, and saved 4 right behind. DNH and I figured this would work as the kids could be up front (this turned out to be a good call). Everyone showed up shortly thereafter and we were ready for the show.

Note that this is the point in the story where I'm going off on my own because I disagree with what is written in DW's journal. going off the pictures and the cool matching outfits I think I'm correct, but again...I might not be :scared1: Then again...none of you would have any idea unless you were on the cruise, and anyone that was on the cruise with us would be too polite to say anything, riiight? :rotfl2:

So the show for this night was "The Dangerous Physical Comedy of Wilde and Haines". OH. MY. GOSH. These guys were absolutely hilarious. My side hurt in short order watching them. They did alot of juggling...alot of jokes...did a Unicycle trick and did a nice job of involving the audience, including our kids in the front row:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010134.jpg

They all got to throw juggling sticks up to them on stage and they were supposed to do it at a certain time. Kathryn chose to do it her own way and hucked it after everyone else...surprising them, and causing a pretty comical moment. Nick was a heckler...which I find hard to believe because I'm very reserved and never heckle anyone (must have been DW's side), and he got a few comments out of the two on stage which was hilarious.

Then came the controversy. Wilde and Haines chose a little boy from the audience to come up for a trick involving juggling bowling balls. They of course played it up to seem dangerous (which was hilarious), and finally the kid walked off the stage. They go out in the audience and bribe him with $5 to come back up, which he gruggingly does...and they make him lay down on the floor and do the juggling. Very funny, but I think it was all a setup. :scratchin It was hilarious, but was just a little to perfect...the kid was acting exactly how he had to in order to make it work. I suspected a setup in the adult version of the show too...but I'll tell you about it later. Not that it mattered...it was still a great show...but I'd like to know... :teeth:

so I just figured out why I was confused by DW's journal. She's right. I'm wrong. Let's just leave it at that.

After the main show we put the kids in the clubs so that we could go see Freddy Fusion (who had performed the night before). Again...pretty good, but it really paled in comparison to the main show. This seemed to be a theme, and we avoided most adult things after the following night. I'm sorry to say that I can't report out on the nightlife on the ship, we aren't late people...it's just how we are. if you want to read about nightlife...go read Father Force's TR or Sleepydog's TR (of course Sleepydog forgot to bring his kid...so he had it nice and easy...did I say forgot? I mean left behind! ha! just kidding Sleepy...).

Connor and Kathryn had some free time in the clubs and then they put on Little Mermaid. They were both asleep when DW and DNW picked them up. Plum tuckered I think.

Nick and Chris were up on the sports deck playing the first of many rounds of dodgeball. This looked like a ton of fun. Pretty cool that they can do that outdoors while the ship is moving...just kind of neat. Unfortunately neither were very happy that we were yanking them out of the clubs...but we were beat...time for bed.

So I leave you with one more picture...naturally it's the towel animal we were greated by when we returned to our room...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010137.jpg How cute

By the way, if you haven't gone on DCL before, the chocolates that they give you are fabulous. :cool1:

That's it for now...short and sweet...next up:

Chapter 10: Monday, our first day at sea and our first visit to Palo!

jrose529

12-01-2006, 03:17 PM

Thanks for another great installment! :thumbsup2

discruiselovers97

12-01-2006, 10:36 PM

Loving it!

grumpydude

12-02-2006, 12:29 AM

As usual, thank you all for your kind words...it's appreciated! so when I left you last I was typing in the middle of the night (3:30am to be exact). So I have a tip for all you TR writers out there...before you click "Submit Reply" make sure you copy everything you wrote. When I tried to post the first time at 3:30, the server was down (for whatever reason) and I would have lost a ton of work...luckily I had copied it!

Hey, why not just write it in your word processing program like Word and simply copy and paste? Not only can you edit much easier (and spell check), you have a copy on your hard drive to keep forever...

Another good installment.

tinkerbellmom1

12-02-2006, 12:48 AM

She's right. I'm wrong. Let's just leave it at that.

:rotfl: You are a rare man! Can you teach my hubby that line? :lmao: Please give your wife my best! She's done a great job! ;) Can't wait to hear about Palo! We're there in 37 days! :woohoo:

haley's mom

12-03-2006, 08:13 AM

Wow, I amgoing on first cruise in January. You have me so excited! Great job.

pandamom

12-03-2006, 12:25 PM

Great chapter -- looking forward to the next one! The fresh smoothies daiquiries sound great but I can't imagine ever finding room to pack a blender! :) My dd6 ordered "nothing" the first night because she was full and then kept ordering it until Adiran finally talked her into trying a Mickey bar.

christinou

12-03-2006, 03:05 PM

Great report, the one thing that I missed is your upgrade how did you get it?

DisneyZell

12-04-2006, 09:10 PM

Hey, why not just write it in your word processing program like Word and simply copy and paste? Not only can you edit much easier (and spell check), you have a copy on your hard drive to keep forever...

Another good installment.

Nice idea...I think the reason I hadn't done this is because of the tags. but of course I can always add those later...or figure out what they should be...or write it in here and copy it to Word for future reference (look for the DisneyZell book, coming to a bookstore near you). Great call. I hadn't figured out what to do with the TR after done...Grumpydude, what did you do with yours? and When are you going again so that we can read another TR??? :Pinkbounc

You are a rare man! Can you teach my hubby that line? Please give your wife my best! She's done a great job! Can't wait to hear about Palo! We're there in 37 days!
I'm having a hard time figuring out if that is a compliment or if you think I'm beat down. huh. I don't think I'm going to teach your husband anything :)

Great chapter -- looking forward to the next one! The fresh smoothies daiquiries sound great but I can't imagine ever finding room to pack a blender! My dd6 ordered "nothing" the first night because she was full and then kept ordering it until Adiran finally talked her into trying a Mickey bar.

Classic, that sounds like Adrian. The blender was brought in within the rolling cooler, so we had the room :)

Great report, the one thing that I missed is your upgrade how did you get it?

I fully planned on pointing you to the point of how we got the upgrade...but apparently I never actually talkd about it. I'll lead with that in my next installment as I'm not sure how much we paid...and that's good info...so look for that coming soon to a disboard near you!

Thanks again everyone, glad you are enjoying it...I know I'm enjoying writing it. It is very rewarding, and I think will help cement the memories as well.

:thumbsup2

grumpydude

12-07-2006, 10:28 AM

Nice idea...I think the reason I hadn't done this is because of the tags. but of course I can always add those later...or figure out what they should be...or write it in here and copy it to Word for future reference (look for the DisneyZell book, coming to a bookstore near you). Great call. I hadn't figured out what to do with the TR after done...Grumpydude, what did you do with yours? and When are you going again so that we can read another TR???

I still have it on the hard drive. I copied in the pictures I used on the original report. I printed it out to put in the "memories" folder that Lover of Pooh put together along with a copy of a DVD I made from the trip. The only thing it does not have is the responses from the faithful readers.

As far as going again...I need to pay off the first one first :lmao: Plus, I am having a new house built and we move in April. So I am sure my next cruise will be for my burial at sea. :rotfl2: But you never know.

tjeagle

12-07-2006, 07:19 PM

Keep it coming!! popcorn::

tinkerbellmom1

12-07-2006, 10:18 PM

I'm having a hard time figuring out if that is a compliment or if you think I'm beat down. huh. I don't think I'm going to teach your husband anything :)

:thumbsup2

Yes it was a compliment! :thumbsup2 How many men willingly admit that their wife is right? Mine won't, hasn't, will not unless there is something similar to Rasul in it for him! :blush: Would you reconsider teaching him a thing or two?

DisneyZell

12-08-2006, 01:26 PM

I still have it on the hard drive. I copied in the pictures I used on the original report. I printed it out to put in the "memories" folder that Lover of Pooh put together along with a copy of a DVD I made from the trip. The only thing it does not have is the responses from the faithful readers.

As far as going again...I need to pay off the first one first :lmao: Plus, I am having a new house built and we move in April. So I am sure my next cruise will be for my burial at sea. :rotfl2: But you never know.

LOL! classic. let's hope it isn't that long! great ideas on saving the story, thanks!

Yes it was a compliment! How many men willingly admit that their wife is right? Mine won't, hasn't, will not unless there is something similar to Rasul in it for him! Would you reconsider teaching him a thing or two?

I'm sorry, it's against the male code to comment or support training of others on this item. I have already stepped over the line too many times in my life. :thumbsup2

discruiselovers97

12-11-2006, 05:45 PM

I am anxious for more!!! Where is the rest?

stenogoddess

12-11-2006, 07:49 PM

More please!

DisneyZell

12-11-2006, 08:27 PM

HI all, hopefully soon, I got caught up in real life and WPASADI. :)

Madisonznana

12-12-2006, 09:39 PM

I your cheerleading team is behind you all the way Zell!!
Oh and did I mention I am a finalist in the red carpet evening gown competition?? If you go to http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1297819&page=1&pp=15 you could maybe vote for me :teeth: .

[COLOR=DarkOliveGreen]Please, Please, Please :blush: :blush: Humbly Madisonsznana! :blush:

DisneyZell

12-14-2006, 08:09 PM

DisneyZell

12-14-2006, 09:07 PM

Chapter 10: Monday, our first day at sea and our first visit to Palo!

A short digression before I digress into the regular digression. the question was asked about the upgrade...we paid $832 to go from Cat 8 to Cat 4. This would have been about $2,200 had we done it before...so we figured that was a good deal. Plus we really wanted a balcony...I don't know that the stress of waiting and having to go early is worth it...but in the end we got what we needed (even though DW and DNW had to be really early and get laughed at by the guards (see earlier episodes!).

Anyway, Monday arrived and we all got to sleep in. Yeah right. Have you ever noticed that when you get to sleep in you tend to not be able to? can someone explain that to me sometime? the KIDS got to sleep in, ah to be young again.

DW and I saw this again:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010139-1.jpg Another Beautiful sunrise

Have I mentioned that I like sleep? uh...yeah...I haven't seen this many sunrises in quite some time. Sad. :)

So DW did her morning reading and I....well, I went and worked out. AGAIN. Wohoo! Miracles do happen. But again you couldn't beat the view. if you went and never went to the workout room...you gotta go next time...it's specacular as you are cruising along.

Today was Palo Brunch day, so when I got back from working out Mike and I took the kids up to topsiders for Breakfast. Yes I ate. Yes it was stupid. But something about all the bacon you want and a big bowl of syrup to dip it in. Yes DW thinks I'm gross too.

Nick piled his plate up with Bacon (That's my boy), and discovered what he is still calling his bacon book. He could open and shut it (yes, like a book). Yeah. Ah to be young again :rolleyes1 .

During this time DW took advantage of the downtime and found a big double recliner near the adult pool and overlooking the ocean to read her book. Must be nice. I don't think I ever found that time. No, I'm not jealous! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!!! :blush:

Mike and I kicked the kids into the club (Nick and Chris got to do dodgeball on the sports deck again...which they were psyched for (I believe the term is "wicked cool". Yes, we are from New England). Connor and Kathryn had mousketeer training...I have no idea what that means. I mean, consider that Britney Spears was a mousketeer and she and everything (I mean everything) was splashed about the internet. you could even see...oh nevermind :rolleyes1 .

Deanna, Kim, Mike and I headed to Heaven on 11. Palo. What a great place. There was this cheese from France that was to die for...the pizza is great...I like Caviar, so I enjoyed alot of that, and the deserts were great too. We took a picture of Mike and Kim...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010147-1.jpg here they are with their free drink from the server...who's name I can't come up with at the moment.

I think they took pics of us...but we haven't gotten all of theirs yet...so you will have to suffer without. soooo sorry. :)

So after an hour and a half or so they rolled us out the door (I haven't ever eaten that much in my life. I can't believe I had Bacon for breakfast...but yum...bacon and syrup...yum....oh wait, back to the story). We picked the kids up and got them lunch on Deck 9.

Mike and I manned the kids and hit the pools. It was a constant parade between shallow and disgusting and deep, dangerous and disgusting. But we had a good time. Eventually that got a bit old, but Mike did bring Beer. woohoo! :drinking1

Deanna and Kim sat and read their books. again. hmmmm??? :scratchin , and then they took Connor and Kathryn to the Luau party in the clubs. While they were gone we hit the foosball tables...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010150-1.jpg Nick and Chris were taking on some people I didn't know...and most likely will never know as we didn't even get pictures.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010149-1.jpg Mike and I went head to head. it was ugly, brutal. Names were called.

As I am really bad keeping a consistant timeline, at some point we did ship wandering. Remember how I said you had to get at least one porthole shot with the kids and/or you in it?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010144.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010143.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010141-1.jpg
can you say overkill?? (insert...I wrote this before posting. did you know there is a limit to the number of pictures? I had 3 other porthole pictures to subject you to, but had to remove them! bummer!)

Anyway, I was in picture heaven. I love just wandering for good picture opportunities. As we passed through the lobby, I spotted the opportunity of a lifetime and grabbed it.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010140-1.jpg

I LOVE this picture. Now, let's just say that we waited 10 minutes for a empty elevator. it was insane. Finally I sent Mike and the kids down to 1 to ride UP figuring they might get an empty one. No such luck. However, during the time that they were gone, 3 elevators stopped on that level completely empty. :badpc: . the best laid plans of mice and men :smooth:

so then it was time for Formal night. time to get gussied up. Now we chose to have the early seating, and got 5:30 to boot. We were happy about it in general...but getting all dressed up for a 5:30 formal dinner is interesting. Plus we had to be downstairs at 5 to do pictures. sheesh! But the pictures turned out nice...in my opinion.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/FormalnightwithCaptain.jpg us with the Captain. A must if you cruise. I don't know why, as he will never remember us. but we looked cool.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/formalwithmickeystatue.jpg The eternal shot in front of Mickey. This is one picture I would miss if I ever go on the Wonder...it's just too cool.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/formalwithrailing.jpg up on deck with the moon in the background...it's picture perfect...almost like it was a prop set up in the lobby. huh.

Dinner was a blur...mainly because Nick's ear started hurting him really bad (it had started in Key West). So I scooted up to one of the shops and bought him some swimmer's ear stuff. Now, I knew that Nick didn't have swimmers ear. Nick is a hypochondriac. I am also pretty sure I spelled that wrong. But anyway, he will be hurting really bad one minute...then off to play the next, pain forgotten until he has to do something he doesn't want. Sound familiar? Before Nick and I left, though, we did get some cool pics:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010005.jpg Nick and Chris...don't they look nice???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010010.jpg Connor finally tries the mickey bar, with a few sprinkles. note, however, that he still has his pile of chocolate chip cookies, just in case. Ever wonder how much food gets wasted on those ships???

So amazingly the drops cured Nick when he found out that he could go play dodgeball again. So they went up there, Connor and Kathryn went to Pumba's PJ party. The adults had some hanging out time. I don't know what we did to be honest, but I can be pretty sure that it involved a visit to Shutters (not what you were expecting was it? Dirty minds!)

Mike and I picked up Nick and Chris and went to see Invincible which was playing while we were onboard. Good movie if you haven't seen it. It does drag in the middle...and is pretty predictable...it's a feel good Disney flick. But we enjoyed it.

The Ladies picked up the younger set and headed to the Golden Mickeys. After we were all going to go see the comedians/jugglers from the night before in the adult show. About 10 minutes into The Golden Mickey's Connor fell asleep. Now, I've seen the Golden Mickeys, and I know that alot of you out there think it's a great show. But his falling asleep is pretty much how I feel about it. :) Kathryn fell asleep not long after. Kim and Deanna decided they were tired to and went to bed.

Mike and I went to Rockin' Bar D (wondering where Rockin' Bar C is) and found 4 seats. I called up and found out they weren't coming. Mike and I decided to stay anyway...and...well, another dud. The adult shows just aren't that good. So we grabbed the boys and headed back to the room for some shut-eye.

Our Towel animal:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010023-1.jpg

My exhausted younger Son:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/P1010024.jpg

Not a bad day all-in-all. I apologize for the length of time between posts...I'll try not to let WPASADI get in the way...but we are building a new disney ship...and that is just going to keep us busy!

thanks for struggling along with me!

Next up: Chapter 11: Turtles for Breakfast!

Babs417

12-14-2006, 10:22 PM

Great report and pics thanks

LITTLEKID58

12-16-2006, 08:33 AM

This is totaling awesome.. txs for sharing....

glassslipper2004

12-17-2006, 08:10 PM

BoosGram

12-18-2006, 09:40 AM

Thanks for the great report; really looking forward to the rest!

grumpydude

12-18-2006, 03:18 PM

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/formalwithrailing.jpg up on deck with the moon in the background...it's picture perfect...almost like it was a prop set up in the lobby. huh.

First of all I am glad you finally posted something. Maybe you need to change your name to SleepyZell Apprentice of the Dog. :rotfl2:

I wanted to say you have a good looking family, your kids did a good job for the formal pics, unlike some child I know, very personally, that will remain nameless. But this pose just cracks me up. It looks like the whole family is hanging over the side of the boat, walking the plank.

Disney's new ad comapaign..."Come on our Cruise and we'll push you over the side"

Yes...we had this pose too on our cruise, we just chose not to buy it...I mean invest in our Disney Magical Memories Package.

Any how, have a great Holiday and I look forward to your next installment for my Valentine's Day reading enjoyment.
GD

kandyk

12-18-2006, 03:29 PM

Very entertaining report, keep it coming!!!

DisneyZell

12-19-2006, 01:18 PM

Hi there! I just wanted to stop in and tell you how much I am enjoying reading your trip report. I just got back from a 4-night cruise (without my family) and have now booked a 4-night for next October (with DH, DD-8 and DD-9) -- I am considering changing to a 7-night Western, but haven't decided yet. In any case, I'm a new poster, but wanted to say thanks for the great report. Can't wait for more.

I recommend it...your kids are at the perfect age for it IMHO. Glad you joined late so you haven't had to wait around like some of those less patient folks. ahem.

First of all I am glad you finally posted something. Maybe you need to change your name to SleepyZell Apprentice of the Dog. :rotfl2:

I wanted to say you have a good looking family, your kids did a good job for the formal pics, unlike some child I know, very personally, that will remain nameless. But this pose just cracks me up. It looks like the whole family is hanging over the side of the boat, walking the plank.

Disney's new ad comapaign..."Come on our Cruise and we'll push you over the side"

Yes...we had this pose too on our cruise, we just chose not to buy it...I mean invest in our Disney Magical Memories Package.

Any how, have a great Holiday and I look forward to your next installment for my Valentine's Day reading enjoyment.
GD

Thanks GD, I appreciate the laugh as I always do. I think you should pass along your add campaign suggestions to DCL, I'm sure they can use the help.

Have a good holiday yourself...I am targeting June for finishing up this bad boy.

Aisling

12-19-2006, 06:08 PM

Ok, our WPASADI ship is done, and now I finally finished reading your TR. I love the picture of your little guy conked out on the bed. My son was 13 when we cruised, and I have a picture of him just like that.

DisneyZell

12-19-2006, 08:29 PM

Kathring

12-20-2006, 10:20 PM

MrToady

12-21-2006, 11:39 AM

Loved your trip report.

DisneyZell

12-22-2006, 11:48 AM

WOW - what a great trippy so far, DisneyZell!

Note to everyone else- it's SO great to have a great writer on the WPASADI Cruise Team!

Ok - you're on break now DZ - where's the next installment????? Huh??? HUH??? (J/K!)

My team is going to make me do the website next...so I have to get it ready to go! I realized I had not set it up...that would have sucked on teh 26th!

thanks for the kind words :)

Disney owl

12-22-2006, 01:00 PM

Great reports thanks

DisneyZell

12-30-2006, 05:50 PM

Chapter 11: Turtles for Breakfast!
Hi all! hope you had a great Christmas, and a great New Years! We've been busy with family visiting us from California, work, and of course WPASADI. If your not following WPASADI, your cruise team has made it through the first two rounds and is now hard at work on the third challenge. it's EXTREMELY time consuming, but also very rewarding. We have an awesome team, made up of many folks you know from these boards.

Anyway, so last time I wrote, which I believe was back in 1985, we had just had a day at sea. did I share how much I love days at sea? so much to do on the boat, and a far more relaxed pace when you don't have to rush to get off and on the ship at a specific time.

As preparation for our day in Grand Cayman, we had reserved a rental car to drive around the island. If you have a larger party, I highly recommend this. Naturally you can use a cab to get around, but we had 8 people, so the cost of the cab would have been more than the cost of renting a car…and probably just one way to the beaches. We rented from Budget and for around $100 we got the car, unlimited mileage (uh…the island isn’t that big…so don’t know that this mattered!), and they also didn’t charge us for gas. Splitting that with two families worked out really well, and as I’m cheap…it was perfect! Other than reading the boards, that was the only prep we did.

So Deanna woke up early again as she always did and plopped on the Balcony to read her book. One thing that I wanted to note here…because it’s just fun…is that Deanna originally didn’t think the balcony was a necessity, yet she probably spent more time on it than anyone else with her 2 or so hours each morning reading. I’m just sayin’! :rolleyes1

So she was up by 5:30, the sun came up at 6, and I arrived sometime shortly thereafter to read my book as well (ok, ok, I did get SOME use out of the Balcony :cloud9: ). We could see the lights of Grand Cayman off in the distance which was pretty cool. This, to me, is one of the better things about being on a cruise ship. If you stay in a hotel and wake up in the middle of the night, first you probably can’t go outside without getting dressed, and even if you do happen to be rich enough to have a hotel room with a balcony it won’t be showing different things day by day. I LOVE this and it’s one reason we are fans of cruising.

Mickey finally called around 7:30 and woke everyone up.

*****TIP********ALERT*****TIP COMING******

Since I’m taking the better part of a year writing this TR, I don’t know if I mentioned Mickey calling. If you have kids, and you brought them (ahem, sleepydog), you absolutely must have a wakeup call every day. There is something just very cool about hearing Mickey’s voice in the morning when you wake up. He is so chipper and happy…well, ok, if you were hung over, perhaps a chipper mouse voice wouldn’t be the first thing you would want :lmao:

Topsiders was our destination for breakfast, another plate of bacon piled high and a big bowl of syrup to dip it in. yum! Where else can you get away with that? Do you have any idea how embarrassed I would be to order a big bowl of syrup to dip my bacon in? But when you do a buffet, especially on the Disney Cruise, you can shrug your shoulders and say:

“Yeah, my kids eat weird things when they are on vacation” :thumbsup2

After breakfast we had to go to the Buena Vista Theater. Why, you ask? Well, Grand Cayman is a tendering port, which means you have to get off the big boat, and ride on a smaller boat over to the island. Why can’t you just walk down and get on the smaller boat? Again, an excellent question, I am so glad that you have joined me for the TR today. I have no idea. I supposed it is so you don’t have to wait in line for the tender…even though we had to wait in line to get into the theater, and then sit and wait for it to be our turn to go down to the tender. That’s a lot of waiting. They did have a movie playing on the big screen…but naturally not one was paying attention to it (frankly I don’t remember what it was…possibly Toy Story?) and so you couldn’t hear it anyway since everyone was buzzing with excitement.

So we finally got our number and headed out the door to wait in line to get on the Tender. Wait, WHAT? Why do I wait down here anyway. OK, so in general this is an area that in my opinion could be improved. Certainly not the end of the world…but there has to be an easier way. Maybe Disney should build 5 islands, and just go there…never visiting any other ports. That’s just my thinking at this point!

We had brought lots of beach type stuff with us…shovels, plastic toys, as well as snorkeling gear. We figured that all this stuff would be good to bring with us to the beach. It all fit into a airline sized rolling piece of luggage, so we were the only people who go onto the tender with luggage. We got some interesting looks. Not to mention it wasn’t the easiest thing to haul around. I have done some stupid things in my life (just ask DW), but this ranks right there. Way to much stuff for a little trip to the beach. I think that I considered the fact that we would have a rental car and figured that would make a difference…but what I didn’t consider is I had to get it on the tender, get it off the tender, roll it to where we would pick up the rental car, take it out on the beach (yeah, doesn’t roll well on the beach :headache: ) But I digress.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010033.jpg Connor on the Tender

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010034.jpg Nick on the Tender

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010032-1.jpg Cool Nick and Connor picture which may, or may not have been taken on Grand Cayman day, however it’s cute, and I’m sticking it in here. If you don’t like it, I’ll refund the money you have paid so far. :wave2:

The tender over really wasn’t that big of a deal. It was neat to see the other cruise ships docked, and our little landing spot seemed a lot nicer than the ones for Carnival :snooty:
We made it to shore and crawled off the boat, yes with me dragging my suitcase. It was like I was staying on the island for a week, not for several hours!

Deanna figured out a spot to give Budget a call and we were told to wait by the Hard Rock Café. Quick digression (cause it’s what I do). When we were in Key West DNH had to go find the Hard Rock Café and look at t-shirts. It was a necessity. Very important to walk in 100% humidity several extra blocks to do that (ok, so it was on our way back…but that doesn’t make the story interesting, does it???). So here we were:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010035.jpg Us in front of the Hard Rock Café

Did DNH want to go in and look at T-shirts? Noooooooooo. Hmmmmm.

DisneyZell

12-30-2006, 05:51 PM

***NOTE*** I had to split this into two...I had too many pictures! imagine that!

Anyway, after a few minutes the van arrived. Somehow we never ended up taking a picture of the van but it was a 10 passenger van, I believe by Hyundai. It was quite nice, fit us all in well (along with my suitcase). The drivers side was the same as the drivers side here, so that worked out, and I was nominated to drive. The funny thing about that is that everyone I know complains about my driving (too fast, too erratic…stop almost running off the road, no picking your nose and wiping it on the dashboard….oh wait, that one you didn’t need to know about), yet somehow I always get nominated to drive. This has plagued me my entire life, from back when I was a kid. Of course I had to peddle the car, and walk both ways uphill to school, but that is a story for another time, and certainly does NOT belong in a trip report.

So we piled in and it was time to go to Hell. Darn it, another digression. I forgot to tell a story when writing my day at sea portion of the TR. Knowing we were going to Grand Cayman the next day, I had a diabolical plan. Our Neighbors are somewhat religious, not overzealous by any stretch of the imagination, but they take that stuff seriously (not that I don’t…oh crap this isn’t coming out right, but hopefully you will understand). So that night at dinner I waited for DNH to give me a hard time (a regular occurrence, which I have a hard time with because I’m mr. innocent :rolleyes1 ). When he did, I looked him straight in the eye, pointed at him (for effect you know) and said, loud enough for our whole table to hear)

“That’s it, tomorrow your going to Hell”.

Ok, so maybe it wasn’t that funny. But DNS9 was extremely concerned about why I would say that to his dad. Funny, looking back I think maybe that wasn’t the best use of my judgment. Seemed right at the time. Huh.

So we headed to Hell. Hell is not a large place. Actually saying it is not a large place really doesn’t give it the justice that it deserves. It’s tiny. Two little stores and a whole bunch of cool looking rocks, picture opportunities and post cards. Lots of witty sayings like “I went to hell and BACK” and such things as that.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010038-1.jpg Connor and Nick in Hell

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010040.jpg Connor is the Devil in Hell

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010039.jpg Nick is the Devil in Hell

If you rent a car, I recommend you go there, just to say that you have done it. If you do not rent a car, please do me a favor and do NOT waste your money on a cab ride there. Two seconds and you are out of there. So there you go.

Our next mapped out destination was the Turtle Farm. I thought this was going to be neat as I figured we were visiting a place that repopulates the worlds Sea Turtles. DS8 (Nick) is a big animal lover, so I figure he is going to love this place. He is defacto a animal conservationist so I figure that plays together well.

Ahem. Well did you know that on Grand Cayman they EAT the turtles??? Like the title says, Turtles for breakfast. So I suppose in a lot of ways where we were going is like going to a cattle farm and playing with the cattle. Except these were smaller, slimy and you could pick them up. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not the squeamish type, so I don’t have any idea why the idea of eating turtle bothers me. Strange.

Anywhooooooo, we arrived at the Turtle Farm and paid admission. Yup, admission. Boy they sure have you there, don’t they? They charge admission AND they charge you for food. To feed the turtles. That they are going to sell for food. What a great racket. Clearly I’m in the wrong business. I’m moving to Cayman and going into the turtle business. It was about $50 for two adults, two children and two bags of food. Once you go in, it is laid out kind of like a small aquarium. In the middle was a giant pool with the large sea turtles. This is where you go to feed the turtles and we did our part. They swim over and eat away. If you have never seen Sea Turtles, it is a cool opportunity to see them up close and personal, real personal as you will see in a moment.

During this time there were many tours that came through. I would assume this is an excursion. Let me give you another tip…don’t pay for an excursion to the Turtle Farm, rent a car and go on your own. It will be cheaper, and you can latch onto a tour and listen to what the people say…and it won’t cost you a dime (other than the $50 you paid to get in), plus if you rent a car you don’t have to drag your %#^%@%%^$ suitcase with you.

Next we went to the left to the tanks with the younger turtles. Now I was a bit shy at first, not knowing what to do other than maybe petting them. Then one of those tour people I was mentioning came along and started yanking turtles out of the water. Once you get them out you hold them by the shell, but if you only hold them by the shell they start flapping their little flippers around…and they are STRONG! Oh, and the shell is sharp. So be careful. However, we were taught a secret. Look around…is not one else watching? Come closer to the screen….a little closer…ok, perfect. You can stroke them under their chin and then will calm down immediately. No flapping, and no cutting of your hands and arms with their shell. Shhhhhhhhhhhh don’t tell anyone. :ssst:

Here are the cute pictures:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010048.jpg Nick with a Turtle. Told you he loved animals. He ended up with his entire shirt soaked because he kept pulling the turtles out of the water.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010050-1.jpg Connor was harder as these little guys were heavy. So he needed some help, and some convincing that it was ok to hold them.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010054-1.jpg Look at this good looking guy! And yes, that’s me hold him.

This next picture might take a bit of explaining. Some of you have read about RASUL from some of the other posters. I am not 100% sure what it means, but can infer from their posts. Let me just say right now that DW and I did not engage in RASUL, so I was forced to look elsewhere for my loving. ‘nuff said.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010057.jpg She was slimy, but satisfying.

So after we got our $50 worth of viewing turtles we headed to the gift shop to donate more of our money. We bought a Christmas Ornament (which was very cool), and both kids bought something as well. Our Neighbors had similar experiences, and then we were ready to head back out. We asked someone about lunch and they pointed us down the main road (which would happen to bring us past the beach we would ultimately go to) to a bar. No idea what the name was…but it was basically a sports bar, nothing to write home about. We got some Nachos, and some drinks (the beer was quite good I must say).

Then it was time for the beach. We had heard that we should go to the 7 mile beach across from the Courtyard. We headed there and found a spot to park right next to the beach, hopped out (yes, with the suitcase in tow), and found our spot. Timing was everything for us here…I think that a lot of folks came right to the beach from the ship and got lounge chairs, etc. There were tons of them by the time we were there and the beach was fairly empty. It was fabulous, we basically had a place to ourselves. The water was warm and very clear. We even saw a stingray! There were also lots of little fish that provided quite the entertainment as the kids thought they could trap them. Needless to say we did NOT have sushi that day.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010062-1.jpg Nick and Chris in the water

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010063-1.jpg Connor and Kathryn enjoyed the beach. Actually Connor more than Kathryn, our neighbors aren’t big play in the sand people while I enjoy building sandcastles and Connor enjoys destroying sandcastles. We are a good pair. ;)

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010065-1.jpg aren’t we cute???

Nick and Chris spent the majority of the time there snorkeling around (aha! Someone use all the crap that I lugged around). It was difficult at times to keep track of them, I think next time I’m going to buy bright orange snorkels or tie a float to their backs or something.

After a couple of hours it was 2:40 and it was time to head back to the ship. The last Tender was around 4:30, and we had to return the rental car. So we packed our luggage and brought everything back to the van. Mike and I dropped everyone off back by the Tender and went off on our quest to return the car. So, one thing I need to mention here is that I am not the best at directions. Let’s face it, I would get lost in a box. Mike is only marginally better at direction than I am…yet somehow we ended up with the job of getting the car back. And the added pressure that if we were late we would miss the ship…be stuck on a beautiful tropical island with no kids…warm water and sand. Thinking back, perhaps we tried a bit too hard to make it back in time.

So we wandered the streets and actually found the rental car place fairly easily. We stopped in the parking lot to pick up some Cuban Cigars (yeah…I’m a real rebel) for smoking later. Remember all that alcohol that I brought onto the ship with the intention of drinking? Similar experience with the Cigars. They were a fabulous idea…and I really would have enjoyed it, but finding the time just didn’t happen. Waste of some money…but it is pretty cool just to be able to say I bought Cubans. :cool1:

The rental car place drove us back to the Hard Rock Café (another part of their service) and we were there with plenty of time to spare (over an hour!), so we did what any good husband would do when presented with the opportunity to rush back early. We hit the bar. We had a beer and enjoyed each other’s company for a bit, and then wandered over to the launch so we could tender back to the ship. We got on the Tender and it headed back when….wait for it….the ships horn blew. HOLY CRAP! They only do that when they are ready to leave. Luckily we were actually on the tender and they didn’t leave without us. How ironic would that beer at the Hard Rock have been then???

We got back and took showers and dressed…tonight was a big night for us…for it was…PALO! Woohoo! We took the kids up to deck 9 and fed them (pizza and chicken strips, what else?). Then we went to do pictures…cause that is what you do when you are on the boat and dressed. How else would Shutters survive?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010071-1.jpg Nick, Connor and Mickey!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010075-1.jpg Nick, Connor and Donald! Donald had been Connors favorite for a while, recently replaced by Stitch. But we still like him.

Then it was off to the clubs and lab with the kids so we could have some adult time. When we got up to Palo it was kind of funny because there were people waiting. We got quizzed by the guy behind the desk if we had requested a server (which we hadn’t), and then our server from brunch came rushing up all excited to see us. Apparently he had taken the liberty of putting his name on us…AND saving us a very cool table so we didn’t have to wait. You really can’t beat that. I really wish I could remember his name. I do know he was from India, and was really nice.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010081.jpg All of us at Palo

I think we have all read about the great service at Palo, right? Well, this guy took it one step further. He looks at me and immediately says, “is your finger all better now? No more cast?”. If you read earlier I mentioned my broken finger. This guy had seen me once for brunch and remembered that. I was amazed. Yes I realize he probably simply wrote it down…but it was that extra magical touch that makes Disney…well, Disney.

We had all kinds of food, Procietto Pizza, Margherita Pizza, Calamari, Filet Mignon, and of course we had to have the Chocolate Soufflé which I won’t even try to explain to you. It’s like you have died and gone to creamy rich, cakey chocolate heaven. Unless you get the vanilla sauce  All in all the food was fabulous and we ate like pigs (as expected).

Trying to enjoy our time without kids we headed to a show, Mickey Mania. This is like a quiz show where you go on stage and compete. So they told us to be loud. We were loud. They wanted to know who wanted to play…we wanted to play. They told us you had to have a kid with you. What a disappointment. Now I know what Sleep feels like. So we skulked out of there and went to the lobby…and would find none other than Mickey and Minnie!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010084.jpg All of use with the king and queen of the seas.

So here we are…4 adults with no kids…There are so many possibilities, some involving lotions and such…what do we do now???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010086.jpg

Yup, we look at pictures. That little shop of horrors. I’m pretty sure you have the ability to mortgage your house so you can buy more pictures. They have low rates there as well.

The biggest benefit of looking at the pictures is that Mike has the uncanny ability to make interesting expressions in almost all of his pictures. I don’t know that any of us (Mike included) has laughed that hard in a long time. I can’t really describe it…so most likely it’s not that funny to you.

It was time…we picked up the kids and headed back to go to bed. A long, but great day in Grand Cayman…with so many more ahead. Oh, and of course a towel animal…

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Grand%20Cayman/P1010088-1.jpg A Stingray for us…by the way…don’t forget to eat the chocolates.

That’s it folks…Clearly I haven’t written in a while…I wanted to split this episode in two…but DW came to your defense since it’s been forever since I posted. So here you go, hope you enjoy!

Next up: Chapter 12 Swimming with Dolphins

Disneygrl36

12-30-2006, 06:30 PM

Madisonznana

12-30-2006, 11:04 PM

Great Chapter Disney Zell! Btw, I just loved our team cruise ship!!!:thumbsup2

glassslipper2004

12-31-2006, 12:03 AM

Thanks again for a very enjoyable trip report! The pictures are lots of fun.

J&ADisneyMom

12-31-2006, 11:33 AM

Hey D

Love the report. I just realized we shared an elevator with you when we came back from the island. We were joking that you dropped off the family and they thought you were returning the car but you went to the bar. I remember the suitcase and wondered what the heck that was all about--thought you'd done a lot of shopping at the time. I didn't realized you took your gear for a tour of the island. :0)

Shell

pandamom

01-02-2007, 08:40 AM

LOL -- great chapter!!!

Disneygrl36

01-03-2007, 08:27 PM

popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn::

DisneyZell

01-04-2007, 09:48 AM

Hi DisneyZell....I am trying to get caught up on your trippie & just have to read your last post & I'm there.

I had a great time on my 4 day cruise & can't believe we have been back already almost 3 weeks. I am writing a trippie too & that is why it's taking me so long to catch up on yours & all my other favorite threads.

We booked a 7 night eastern while on board for Oct 27, 2007 so I will get to experience the Magic soon!

Thanks for such a great report....Happy New Year too!!!!

I'm off to read about the turtles.

Hope you enjoyed the turtles...I know we dod. Sounds like you have some good times ahead of you...you will LOVE the 7 day I think. So much more time to settle in. I really want to do a 10 day sometimes for the same reason...

Great Chapter Disney Zell! Btw, I just loved our team cruise ship!!!
Thank you, and thank you :) we have all really enjoyed doing WPASADI. What a time suck...but it's been cool doing the different challenges. just submitted #3, and are hoping that we move on!

Thanks again for a very enjoyable trip report! The pictures are lots of fun.
You are welcome. The pictures help break up the story...and since I like looking at the pictures of others during their trip reports, I like to subject you all to mine! :)

Hey D

Love the report. I just realized we shared an elevator with you when we came back from the island. We were joking that you dropped off the family and they thought you were returning the car but you went to the bar. I remember the suitcase and wondered what the heck that was all about--thought you'd done a lot of shopping at the time. I didn't realized you took your gear for a tour of the island. :0)

Shell
No way! I totally remember that too. it's what I get for bragging about drinking beer, someone remembers me and it comes back to haunt me! The biggest dissapointment for me was that we didn't make more of an effort to meet folks from the DIS....we will definatly do that next time!

LOL -- great chapter!!!
thanks!

and with that...on we go!!!

DisneyZell

01-04-2007, 11:24 AM

Next up: Chapter 12 Swimming with Dolphins

Our next destination was Cozumel. a bit of a rant here before I get going. I'm not a huge fan of Mexico. I've been to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo, and a couple other places. Of all the places I've been the only one I really liked was Mazatlan because we found this really cool island (Rock Island) where they had an outdoor bar and grill, and you could ride horses on the beach. DW and I went on a cruise several years before we were married :rolleyes1 on Carnival doing the Mexican Riviera, and went there. We found out about it from a little booth, and you had to take this rickety boat taxi across to it, loaded with a ton of people and only have about 1 inch to spare before the water comes pouring in. A bit scary, but if I recall correctly it was cheap. The funny thing was when we got to the place there were several crew members who were surprised (and I think a bit unhappy) to see us. Obviously we left them alone. The horses were in good shape and we had a nice ride. The only scary part for me was that I had a retired racehorse. So every time another horse came alongside it decided that running faster would be good. Interesting experience for my first time in a saddle.

When we got back I had this fantastic fish...it was filleted and grilled to perfection...one of the best things I have ever tasted. But the bathrooms were a whole other story.

But I digress. That was my good experience, other than that I have always found Mexico kind of dirty, with scary people and this incredible nagging fear that I would end up sitting on, or kneeling in front of, the toilet for weeks at a time. At one point we swore off Mexico in favor of US destinations where at least we did not have to worry about Montezuma.

So needless to say my expectations were not incredibly high.

Deanna did her usual waking up before the crack of dawn. Note that she doesn't do this at home, so I'm not really sure why she did this on vacation. No wonder we are always exhausted when we get back. She did the book reading and journal writing (thank god).

When I got up I went to work out. Again. Yay for me! :cheer2:

After I worked out and everyone got up we got dressed and headed for Lumiere's for Breakfast. Not really sure why we did that as the Buffet is so much better, faster and easier, but we did. It was not exactly spectacular as most of you know who take trips, but it was ok. We got to relax and take our time because we wouldn't reach port until 9:30.

Once we were at the port we got off pretty much right away. Deanna, Nick, DNW (Kim) and DNS9 (Chris) headed off to do Dolphin Discovery for the Royal Swim.

****Warning*****tip coming*****warning

So, you can pay to do the dolphin encounter through the ship...where you will see the dolphins, touch them, etc. Or for a few dollars more you can do the Royal Swim directly through Dolphin Discovery. I will write about it later (actually will steal from what Deanna has already written), and you will see what they did, but it was definitely worth it. Big jealousy from me as I would have loved to have gone!

Mike and I took the younger set and hopped in a cab to head to Paradise Beach. The cab driver had other ideas and tried several times to talk us into going to a different beach. But the plan was to meet everyone at the beach after they were done with their encounter so that we could hang out until heading back to the ship.

The cab ride wasn't bad, Cozumel is beautiful, definitely a nice island community. The road was straight, and it was kind of funny to see all the beach clubs, etc. that you just know suck in the tourists and all their money. very entertaining.

I had read all about Paradise Beach and how it was a nice place to go. It had a nice feel to it right off the bat. We paid our $8 and got our wristbands and went to find a place to sit down. The sand was nice, and it wasn't too crowded at that point. We plopped our stuff down and it's time for another digression.

****warning**** digression coming ******warning
So one of my issues with Mexico is a general feeling of being unsafe. I had brought my video camera (which I used for maybe 5 minutes), among a few other things. Nothing that couldn't be replaced, but there is just a feeling of having to keep an eye on my stuff that I just didn't like. Realizing that in Hawaii or Florida I would too...but I just didn't like it. I guess that's why I'm a huge fan of Castaway Cay...figure we are all in it together, so why would folks steal from us?

Anyway, remember that Nick is 4 and Kathryn is 6.

We all headed out to the water. While the beach is pretty nice, the water stank because a large portion where you enter the water had a ton of rocks which were very hard to walk on, and stubbed my toe about 50 times. This was really annoying and didn't make my experience much better.

Connor and I headed out to the Trampoline and Mike and Kathryn headed over to the Iceberg. We climbed to the top of the tramp and jumped around a bit...but there were a lot of bigger kids there and they made it really hard for Connor to jump at all. Kathryn was able to climb on the Iceberg a little bit, but she could only get about 1/2 way up. She tried this several times, and I think Connor and I went on the Trampoline twice. So the $8 that we paid was really a waste of money IMHO. They are too young. I think if you have 8 years or older you would be in good shape, but for the 4 and 6 year old set, save your money.

We wandered in and out of the water for quite some time, Connor loves to play in the sand, so we did a lot of digging and building and destroying and digging and building and destroying. Mike and Kathryn spent more time floating than anything else.

The only thing I didn't like was the pressure to buy food and drink. The waiter basically forced us to buy beer, saying that's why the chairs and umbrella's are free. Frankly I'd rather pay $10 than be forced into anything. I know nothing is free, and certainly understand that, but he was not pleased with the amount of money we spent. We ended up getting a bucket of beer, and some nachos. I ate some of the nachos, but got freaked out by Mike who was worried about the water used to wash off the veggies, etc. So I didn't eat as much as I should have because I worried about Montezuma. That stunk. We knew that the dolphin portion of our party was going at 12:30, and we expected them about 2 or so. By 12 we were pretty much ready to go. Little kids on a beach for extended lengths of time just aren't good.

Around 2 Mike bought the kids ice cream which entertained them a bit more. At this point we had an added stress that I didn't need. We obviously had no way to communicate with our wives and I didn't want them coming to the beach and paying their $8 since we were ready to go. So I spent the next hour in and out of the water keeping an eye on the entrance so we could dash out and tell them not to do it. We finally gave up around 3. I was miserable by this time (not that you can tell by the trip report).

So this was the best part of the visit to Paradise Beach. We went to shower off, and there was a very nice man there with a hose who would wash off your feet (the showers just didn't do the job) and the kids because they were shorter. He was so nice and patient. It was a little thing, but it went a long way toward making up for a lot of uncomfortable moments. interesting how that works.

****warning***another digression****Warning***

don't say I didn't warn you. I apologize for being grumpy. I'm not a big beach fan in general...drag all your stuff there, get all sandy, etc. If I had my way I'm not sure I would ever hit the beach, but would stay on the ship. I just don't like sand everywhere! :)

We grabbed a cab and headed back...the cab driver didn't speak very good English, and I was really hoping he knew where to go. Luckily he did and we got back and on the ship with no other worries...other than the fact that we had not seen the rest of our party yet...and considering they were supposed to meet us at Paradise Beach...we were concerned.

So now I will steal liberally from what DW wrote about the Royal Swim with Dolphin Discoveries. I cannot and will not speak for the accuracy of said adventures as I did not witness them with my own eyes. But I find DW to be pretty trustworthy...so here we go.

Frankly I was a bit uncomfortable plopping DW, DNW and two kids in a cab in Mexico and sending them off. Again I go back to the safety thing. But they arrived no problem at 10:45. They had an hour to kill so they took the shuttle down to the beach. Nick and Chris went out snorkeling for a bit, but it was REALLY rough. Add to that the rocks and it was pretty dangerous. We are glad that the little kids didn't come here to the beach as there basically wasn't one from the hurricane.

A little before noon they took the shuttle back to Dolphin Discovery and wait their turn. Finally at 12:20 they were ready to go. They gave them a locker to put all their stuff in (nice touch), and they watched a video about how to interact with the dolphins, etc. After that they went to get their life jackets (which you will see in a moment) and head out to their pen.

The Dolphins they got to interact with were Shadia and Amaya.

***Warning***yet another digression***

Nick LOVES animals. For at least 2 years of his lift the only channel he ever watched on TV was animal planet. He loves all thing animals, but as I'm typing this I realize that I have already shared this with you, so I'm going to stop now. :blush:

They got into the water and got to feel them as they swam by. For anyone that has never touched a dolphin, their skin feels like wet rubber. It is very cool to be that up close and personal with them. The Dolphins were trained to do various things, like pulling you while you hold onto their dorsal fins:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Nickpulledbydolphins.jpg Nick being pulled....if this isn't a dream for someone that LOVES animals...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/deannapulledbydolphins.jpg Deanna being pulled

and being pushed by their heads...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/NickbeingpushedbyDolphins.jpg Nick being pushed by the dolphins!

Now, if you recall my last post, there was discussion that there was no Rasul in our lives. So Deanna had to get it from somewhere...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/deannakissingdolphin.jpg

and Nick got in on some action too:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Nickkissingdolphin.jpg

They were in the water for about an hour...overall they loved it. One of the best things that they have ever done, and even now, several months later, Nick continues to talk about that adventure and lists it as one of the best moments of his life.

So as I'm sure you guessed this was a cheap excursion. And after they were done they all went and watched the video that the company had made of the experience. Which naturally DW bought. Oh, and they bought all the pictures too. DW and DNW single-handedly helped build the Cozumel economy. Since I was so cheap that our waiter hated us...it was probably just as well. One the way out they threw a few extra dollars at a guy with Parrots and ended up with a cute picture:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/NickandChriswithParrots.jpg Chris and Nick with the Parrots.

It was 2:40, time to head back, and they decided to go right for the ship instead of Paradise Beach. This was a good thing since we were no longer there...:rolleyes1

a quick stop on the pier to purchase some Corona clothes for pirate night for Mike and Kim and they were back much to our relief. I wonder what you do if your party doesn't return :confused3

It was time to get ready for Pirate Night...but as I haven't scanned all the pictures you will have to wait for that one!!

kind of a short entry...but with Pirate night it might be to long! :)
Next up: Chapter 13: Pirates IN the Caribbean

curlybop

01-04-2007, 12:12 PM

Still a great & funny report. Scan those pictures & keep on writing. :yay:

Smooch

01-04-2007, 01:10 PM

I'm really enjoying your TR - we were on the same trip. I'll second your nervousness about the cab rides, our cab only had one functioning seat belt and we had to dig through some fun stuff to get it out from between the seats:scared:

Did you get "land sick" in Cozumel? The night before was REALLY rough seas which didn't seem to bother anyone in our group but when we got off the boat we all felt like the island was rocking terribly. No one wanted to eat at Paradise beach for fear on losing their nachos!

meegster

01-04-2007, 01:39 PM

Did I read right that your son was 7 on the cruise? Did you have a problem booking him for the Royal Swim? I have a 7 yr old interested when we go in March.
-m

DisneyZell

01-04-2007, 04:42 PM

Still a great & funny report. Scan those pictures & keep on writing. :yay:

maybe this weekend! :)

I'm really enjoying your TR - we were on the same trip. I'll second your nervousness about the cab rides, our cab only had one functioning seat belt and we had to dig through some fun stuff to get it out from between the seats

Did you get "land sick" in Cozumel? The night before was REALLY rough seas which didn't seem to bother anyone in our group but when we got off the boat we all felt like the island was rocking terribly. No one wanted to eat at Paradise beach for fear on losing their nachos!

no, we didn't experience that. we had a few nights like that, didn't we. it made for some fun walking...and one of those same nights it was incredibly windy...it was cool going up on the top deck and walking against the wind. but I am insane.

Did I read right that your son was 7 on the cruise? Did you have a problem booking him for the Royal Swim? I have a 7 yr old interested when we go in March.
-m

you read right, he turned 8 November 1. I might have to defer to DW on this one...don't know if she lied or just didn't say anything regarding his age. We had him with the 8 year olds on board too, but we had to ask for that. I'll harrass DW to answer this tonight.

DisneyZell

01-04-2007, 08:24 PM

Did I read right that your son was 7 on the cruise? Did you have a problem booking him for the Royal Swim? I have a 7 yr old interested when we go in March.
-m

It was not a problem...I asked ahead of time but he also was way passed the height requirement, so I was told it would not be a problem. However, I would not even worry about a 7 year old...they do not ask and they certainly cannot check their id's, so not a problem...just go and enjoy it, you will not regret it at all! I recommend going to their website too, they might have coupons for the pics/video that you can use...that is where we got our coupons...my neighbor and I each got a $25 coupon, so that helped a lot in the end. Trust me, we took the waterproof cameras and took lots of pictures ourself, but they don't even come close to the ones we bought...I am so glad we bought all the pictures.

meegster

01-05-2007, 12:19 PM

Thanks for checking on my questions, DisneyZell ! Really enjoyed your report. Thanks for all the great info and ****** tips ******** .
-m

DisneyZell

01-05-2007, 01:35 PM

Chapter 13: Pirates IN the Caribbean

If you have been following along you know that this was our second cruise. the first one our kids were 5 and 2 respectively...so there was a fairly large age difference, and when it was time for Pirate Night we had dinner, and that was about it. Here we were back in 2004:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/PA050157.jpg

and here we are in 2006 with Jack Sparrow

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/jacksparrow.jpg

I have enjoyed going back and comparing...pretty neat to see how the kids have changed over the years.

Anyhoooo, once we were back on the ship it was time to get cleaned up and don the pirate gear. We certainly didn't go all out like some folks do, but we did make the effort. I had the famous Jack Sparrow Hawaiian shirt, and Deanna actually created her "wench" outfit. not that I'm calling her a wench. Cause she's not. and stop trying to get me in trouble! pirate:

We went down and took a few pictures before dinner, I think they turned out pretty good. But then again, I might be just a tad bit biased.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/pirate1.jpg all of us with Chip and Dale

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/pirate3.jpg Connor's current favorite, Stitch. you gotta love the outfits these characters have for Pirate Night.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010090.jpg All of us with Goofy. We seem to take our best pictures with Goofy. This goes back to when Connor was first born and we went to Disneyworld...and our best picture was with...Goofy. We even used it for our Christmas cards that year. But I digress..

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/pirate2.jpg Nick with his favorite Chip and Dale. Love the stance that Nick took. He thought it looked cool and showed off the pirate bracelets that we got him. We had to beat it out of him to get him to stand normal for at least one or two pictures. why do kids do that???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010096.jpg And of course Pirate Mickey. actually this is my least favorite Mickey...I just don't think it does much. Maybe they should make him into Jack Sparrow Mickey. Just a thought.

After taking pictures it was off to dinner and one of our best experiences. None of Adrian's other tables were there that night. It was FABULOUS. It was like having two people with nothing else to do but hang out with you. I think this is where we actually got to know Adrian the best, and he told us lots of stories, and did several magic tricks. Not that he wasn't part of it before, but he really became a part of our vacation at that point. How cool is that? I often wonder, though, if they remember people they meet...I'm sure they do remember bits and pieces, but they meet so many folks every week, I just can't imagine.

Once again, if he is reading...THANK YOU ADRIAN! you made our trip that much more magical. Even several months later (I know, I know, I'm a bit slow) it makes me smile to remember the interactions with him. We even got him to sit down with us on this night...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010102.jpg Adrian telling stories

Now, you might wonder just why there was an empty chair at the table when we were all there. this is a perfectly logical question for which there is a perfectly logical explanation. Really. Connor. This kid was going non stop for days. I'm always shocked at how long he can continue to go 100 miles an hour...but eventually....he does collapse. :faint:

Adrian pulled together some chairs, tied them with napkins, draped them with tablecloths, and voila...a bed!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010101.jpgThey are so cute when they are sleeping.

After dinner we all went back to the cabins to get a little rest before the pirate night. Connor continued to sleep. In the course of this cruise there were several points that my arms just hurt from carrying his dead weight around with me. Remember how he was sleeping at the lifeboat drill? funny how he just zonks out. if I could bottle both his energy and his ability to just fall asleep I would be a very happy man.

After resting for a bit we knew that Jack Sparrow was coming out. You already saw the picture, but we had to wait for quite some time before he arrived. Fortunately he was outside the Walt Disney Theater and there were comfy chairs where I almost fell asleep and DW clicked this darling picture of Connor (who of course was still asleep) and I.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010105.jpg

We didn't know what Connor was going to do when it was our turn for Jack Sparrow. Luckily he woke up just in time to catch the picture...amazing how he was able to do that, and then he went back to sleep yet again.

I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be attending the Pirate Party (again), but just before it was time to go he perked right up. So up we went. I won't ruin the whole thing for you, but suffice it to say that it's a pretty fun production up on stage. Lots of singing and dancing. I do have a huge recommendation for the adults. If you can safely do it and not hurt your children, be drunk. It makes everything seem better. I was not drunk, and a lot of it was pretty boring, and very drawn out (it could have been done in 10 minutes, but of course where is the fun in that???).

There are lots of characters that come out and dance...and they are all very close to you. As usual, the CM's are dancing all over the place (maybe THEY have figured out how to bottle Connor's energy). Plus they shoot these little white fluff balls out of a cannon. This was a huge hit for the kids to collect. It is extremely important to get a large piece of lint to take home with you. Nick had 5 at one point, but was nice and gave them away to other younger kids. Sometimes he makes me tear up, he is growing too fast. :sad1:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010113.jpg Chris and Nick just looking cool like they always do.

The finale of the show itself is fun to watch as the big mouse floats across the sky...Connor liked that...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010112.jpg

And after that....Fireworks! How cool! where else can you get Fireworks on a ship??? Naturally we knew that it was coming, but it was a pretty impressive display. Add to that the fact that we weren't fall out of port at that point as we left late...so I'm sure they had to notify Cozumel that we would be doing that so the Mexican Navy didn't come try to rescue us. It was a fabulous night of magic. :welcome:

Back in the room we were greeted by a hanging towel....

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/piratenight/P1010108.jpg

And it was to bed with us all. We didn't hit the buffet because we were all to tired...and we didn't know where it was. I was disappointed because I wanted to get more pirate coins...but frankly I didn't have the energy to go back up on deck. Laziness is close to godliness...isn't that how the saying goes?

Next up: Chapter 14: Towel Animal Delight

MickeyD

01-05-2007, 02:12 PM

discruiselovers97

01-07-2007, 05:06 PM

Keep the report going!

Cruising canuck

01-08-2007, 10:58 AM

DW and I have spent the last 2 days reading from the beginning hope you finish soon as we leave for WDW on Jan. 24th and set sail for a 7 day Western on the 27th. This will also be our 2nd DC.

Excellent TR we have really enjoyed the details and tips. Great pics too!

Great job so far can't wait to hear more soon!

Gord & Lorraine

Disneygrl36

01-08-2007, 01:08 PM

Not 1 installment but 2..... :banana: :banana: :banana: & both were great.
I loved the dolphin encounter pictures.
You guys looked great for pirate night....I agree with you about the pirate party. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be...just like a dance party for the kids more than anything...but Mickey flying & the fireworks were worth waiting through all the other stuff.
Keep it coming. :thumbsup2:

curlybop

01-08-2007, 01:33 PM

We had to beat it out of him to get him to stand normal for at least one or two pictures. why do kids do that???

:lmao:

I have no idea.....just to see how tight you can clench your teeth & say "please quit that!" I guess.

Yet another great installment. The tip about being drunk during the Pirate Night had me :rotfl2: Shouldn't it be added to the "Best tips you learned from the DIS?" ;)

DisneyZell

01-11-2007, 02:48 PM

>>How cool is that? I often wonder, though, if they remember people they meet...I'm sure they do remember bits and pieces, but they meet so many folks every week, I just can't imagine. >>>

Still loving the report! Just wanted to let you know that the Cm's have amazing memories! We cruised in 2003, and had Collin and Shawn as our servers, well cruised again in 2006 and saw Collin at CC and DH and I went up to say "hi", and said "You probably don't remember us..." and He jumped up and embraced us ( me, longer than dh...but we won't go there...LOL) and said "Of course I remember you, how's Ryan?" So then we knew he remembered since he even got our son's name right! Amazing that after 3 years he would know that. And he isn't the only one. A few of the teen counselors remembered ds as well. This is one of the reasons we keep coming back to DCL. It's like going home everytime...only I don't have to cook or clean! LOL

Lisa
Get out of town! how cool was that! talk about making you feel good. I had an issue with our Head Server because I saw him several times on Castaway Cay and he had zero idea who I was. After a week you would expect him to at least recognize the folks at his table.

DW and I have spent the last 2 days reading from the beginning hope you finish soon as we leave for WDW on Jan. 24th and set sail for a 7 day Western on the 27th. This will also be our 2nd DC.

Excellent TR we have really enjoyed the details and tips. Great pics too!

Great job so far can't wait to hear more soon!

Gord & Lorraine
working on it! sounds like you have an awesome cruise coming up! I'm jealous!

Not 1 installment but 2..... & both were great.
I loved the dolphin encounter pictures.
You guys looked great for pirate night....I agree with you about the pirate party. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be...just like a dance party for the kids more than anything...but Mickey flying & the fireworks were worth waiting through all the other stuff.
Keep it coming. :
Thanks Melanie, as always! I like to surprise everyone now and again and give bonus episodes. I agree that the Fireworks made up for alot...especially in Connor's eyes!

I have no idea.....just to see how tight you can clench your teeth & say "please quit that!" I guess.

Yet another great installment. The tip about being drunk during the Pirate Night had me Shouldn't it be added to the "Best tips you learned from the DIS?"
one of the great mysteries is why kids do what they do!

And yes, I think my drunken quote should be added...and maybe next time I'll actually follow my own advice!

Now, on with the story!! :scared1:

DisneyZell

01-11-2007, 04:05 PM

Chapter 14: Towel Animal Delight

So, it's now October 26th, Thursday (well, actually it's January 11th, also a Thursday). We have Day at Sea #2!! woohoo! have I mentioned that I like days at sea? I would be willing to just get on the boat and cruise around for 7 days. I realize that the CM's would be insane after only a short period of doing this, but the idea of lounging around just appeals to me. So much better than having to haul all kinds of stuff off the ship (say, in a suitcase), renting cars, dealing with sand, being in Hell (that was a cheap shot), etc.

I'm lazy by nature, will always be lazy...but what can you do? :banana:

So this morning DW actually didn't get up at the crack of dawn. I guess it finally caught up with her. So we missed one sunrise. Again, isn't it interesting how you can get up early on vacation...yet at home I could sleep in for hours. I don't know that I will ever figure that one out.

Nick woke up sometime after we did and he and Deanna headed to get breakfast. I stayed behind because Connor was still sleeping. He had gotten a bit of a fever the night before (hmmmm maybe that's why he was so sleepy :sick: ), so we figured better to let him rest. I kicked back on the bed and read...which fit well with what I could conceivably do every single day on a cruise ship.

After Deanna and Nick got back I headed up to do the breakfast thing to bring back to our room...loading up my plates and tray with lots of good stuff (like a boatload of bacon and a big bowl of syrup....like I said, I like it). A few weird looks from the other guests (naturally I just shrug it off and say I'm getting food for the kids. Sad, isn't it that I continue to do that :rolleyes1 ). I make my way down to our stateroom and Connor is finally awake, feeling better and hungry. so that worked out well.

Slight digression here. How do they make their bacon. It was fabulous...and it was fabulous every single day. When I make bacon at home it never turns out like that. It was always perfect, crispy and tasty. When I make it, it's rubbery, and usually somewhat tasty. unless I overcook it. then it's crunchy.

But i digress. When we finished we took Nick and Chris up to the sportsdeck to play outdoors and the rest of us went to the lobby to take pictures. The princesses were there. So Connor is 4. He shouldn't care about if things are girl things or boy things...but he had NO interest in the princesses. He just didn't want to take pictures with them.

As you all know from reading my posts so far I'm an excellent parent. and I did what any excellent parent would do, I forced him to do it.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010115.jpg Connor and Belle

Kathryn was there too....

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010114.jpg Kahtryn and Belle

Now, you would think that being the great parent that I am that I wouldn't make him do more than one since he really didn't want to. Again, you thought wrong.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010119.jpg Connor and Cinderella!

Come on people, you know it's all about the pictures. It's all that anyone will remember. and how cute is he with Cinderella. Good thing she was willing to lean over and hug him...cause he was not getting any closer to her :hug:

At lunchtime it was my turn to take one for the team. I took both Kathryn and Connor to see Cars in the Buena Vista Theater.

******Warning*******Tip coming******Warning**********
I have seen it asked, I don't know how many times, if you could bring food into the theater. The answer is yes. If you haven't figured it out yet, you can pretty much do whatever you want on the cruise...the vacation is yours. This is good...and bad depending on your situation. I've read where people go overboard and do stupid things. we didn't have that situation. So pretty much if you want to go somewhere that doesn't have food and bring food with you...go for it!

We went and visited Pinichios and got pizza for all of us and drinks. The lady doing pizza was nice enough to give us double the plates so I could stack everything and carry it. We grabbed drinks and grabbed our seats. It was pretty cool munching on pizza and watching the movie. It wasn't the same as candy...but people looked envious (or was that annoyed? :rolleyes1 ) while we were munching away.

It was not the first time I'd see Cars...which in my opinion is not one of Disney's better films. But it was ok and it kept the kids entertained for a while. And it was free. Well, sort of. Guess I would have had to watch a whole lot of "free" movies on the cruise to pay for the cruise. But I digress.

Once the movie was over it was time....for a towel folding demo! This was something that I really wanted to see. I think towel animals are very cool. I am always amazed at the different things you can do with towels. I'm also a bit concerned that someone, at some point, felt it was necessary to teach our stateroom hosts to do this....and that they must do this in order to recieve tips. But apparently it's a cruise thing...cause I know it ain't just Disney!

So they had a stateroom hostess teaching us. She was soooo good. Her english was not strong, but I was thinking about it while she was demonstrating. This is someone going above and beyond their normal job...she doesn't get extra money or kudos for this...she still gets her normal pay and tips...so she volunteers or gets volunteered. PLUS, the hour or so she spent doing this was an hour away from doing her rooms...which I'm sure put her behind. So big kudos to the CM's that do this kind of thing....we love it!! :love:

So first she demonstrated several animals for us...and by the end this is what she had done:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010128.jpg

Of course this whole thing took some of the mystery out of the towel folding...but DS8 (Nick) thought it was fabulous, more on that in a minute.

After she was done we were all give two sheets of paper with how to do a few animals and she helped us all make Swans. Then she taught us how to make a smaller swan and put them together to make a heart. very cool.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010124.jpg Nothing is more manly than posing with your towel swans.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010127.jpg Kim (DNW) actually did the best in the swan category. her beaks were razor sharp. We think perhaps she was a stateroom hostess in another life.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010130.jpg Nick really got into it

The next day Nick made a whole flock of swans as a present for our stateroom hostess. A present. Yes she had to clean them all up. But HE thought it was a present. He had a great time doing this...we talked about how we will make towel animals when we have guests come to the house. For Christmas we had a whole house full of guests...did we make towel animals? uh, no. :rotfl2:

It was over quickly, but was definately a highlight. it wasn't all that packed so if you are interested I highly recommend it. It's a skill to have, I suppose, and someday we will remember. My dad visits next week...maybe then?

to be continued in the next thread! too many pics!

DisneyZell

01-11-2007, 04:06 PM

Chapter 14 part 2!

After that the kids got the boot to the clubs because it was time for the Galley Tour! We met in front of Lumier's and had to wait our turn. A chef came and brought us into the restaurant and introduced us to a bunch of other chefs. I'd tell you their names but they all looked the same in their white hats :rotfl: . Then they took us in back to the galleys. It was immaculate...pretty amazing. Consider that I can't keep my kitchen clean for 2 hours...how the heck they keep it not just clean but sparkling. Everything sparkled...and they talked to us about what they did in each part. They told us how many cakes, cookies, etc. that they make each day. There were some very cramped quarters back there...and I had a much higher respect for the servers. They have to squeeze into these area's grab food and make it back out. The assistant servers have to fight over one soda dispenser...no wonder it sometimes took forever (especially the first night. I think once they figure out what everyone wants they don't have as big of a crunch). And the gave us cookies. Always good to feed a bunch of adults on the cruise.

Cookie digression: There was one night, I think it must have been Key West, when we had issues getting Connor Cookies. apparently when they pull into US ports they have to dispose of all that type of thing from the day. I don't really know why...and this story loses its excitement because I can't tell you why. So why did I put it in here???

Anyway, at the end the chef asked for questions and we got the usual...how much food comes on board...do they take on food at different ports, etc. There were lobster questions and this guy was hilarious when he talked about a huge tank of water where they keep all the lobsters (uh...not so much, they just bring them on frozen). We all bought it of course...which I'm sure entertained him!

I highly recommend that you do this tour if given the chance. I really wish they would start a tour of the crew area's. But I just don't see that happening!!

So after this we went and grabbed the kids out of the clubs for a little bit. When we got up to get Nick his team had made a volcano:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010132.jpg Nick and his volcano

They blew them up. it was actualy pretty cool to watch.

We went up on deck to take some pictures. It was extremely windy. you could barely walk against the wind. So naturally we went to the front of the ship where it was windiest. We got this picture:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010136.jpg Don't tell DW that I posted that. I'm guessing I shouldn't. But I have been known to have lapses of judgement from time to time. It does show you how windy it was!!!

It was graduation day, so it was time for the kids to go back into the clubs. Chris had no interest in going, and DNH didn't want to force him. He was going to just sit with us. We finally talked him into it though, talking about the shirts, and how all the other kids were going to be in it. So we dropped all the kids off and DW and DNW went off to play Bingo. We joined them with Beers later, but unfortunately didn't bring them any luck as they didn't win. Bingo is pretty fun,though, with alot of interaction....you should try it once, just be ready to lose your "investment".

Immediately following Bingo it was going to be time for Graduation. The ladies had to go do something (not sure what), so Mike and I plopped our rear ends in seats in the second row. After a few minutes he had to go to the bathroom so I was saving 3 seats. I had my first saving seats incident. A few minutes after Mike left a man came and sat down within the row of seats I was saving. I mentioned to him that I was saving 4 seats, that my party was going to be right there.

He informs that that you can't save seats. Now, if the theater was packed...that's one thing...but it wasn't. I tried to reason with the guy...but to no avail. I was PISSED :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

I moved up 4 rows or so and sat and fumed. It was a bit of an interesting situation because I could have pushed a bit, and possibly ended up with us not having seats...which was my concern, so I moved. Mike came back. Now things got funny. I knew I could count on him to push the buttons of the guy...so I explained what happened, and noted the empty seat beside him. I figured it was probably for someone else...and it was. So Mike went down and plopped down right next to the guy! Naturally he said he was saving the seat for his wife...and Mike said "oh, you can't save seats" and sat there drinking his beer for a few minutes. Then Mike looked over and asked "how does it feel to be a total Jacka**?". They shared some words and then Mike came back up. It was funny to watch because I knew the guy got pissed...but it was totally unnecessary and the guy took away our good seats to prove a point.

Now, in his defense, he later came up and talked with us and apologized. Apparently he had the same thing happen to him a row up from where we were, so he was pissed. I pointed out to him that maybe screwing someone else over wasn't the best way to respond. He was from Great Brittain and didn't want his American friends to be upset. Pretty big of him to come up and apologize...so that helped. But still...it was annoying. Yes, it sucks that you don't get the seat you want...but if people want to come early to save seats, why shouldn't they be able to?? (I know, I know, it's against the rules, but you were up on deck enjoying yourself while I was waiting in line...that's your choice...and mine!)

The graduation was cool...they show some neat video and pictures of the kids (and for the second time in two cruises neither of my kids were in either. I'm not sure if they just aren't there at the right time or what. It's annoying cause we would have loved to see them up there! But it was alot of fun, and is a really neat touch that Disney did.

We only really got one picture:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010140.jpg

as it was dark. I definately recommend your kids do this...they get a free shirt and graduation cap...which is cool. Again, free is relative. huge expense for a cruise and $.30 worth of free stuff! :)

After graduation we rushed back to the rooms to get dressed for Semi-Formal night. I have to say that I enjoyed getting dressed up alot more on this cruise than the last one. Maybe it's cause this time I have those kinds of clothes, but it was kind of cool. Why we have Semi-Formal and Formal night...I don't know.

Dinner was a Lumiere's and was Lobster night! Everyone except Kathryn and Connor had Lobster. The last time we were on the cruise I wasn't impressed with the Lobster and it was a repeat this time. Especially now that I live in New England we are spoiled by tender tasty Lobster. The Lobster they serve is tasty, but chewy, and I don't like the way they cook it. Oh, I ate it. Don't get me wrong, I ate it! :thumbsup2

DS4 got chicken fingers and ketchup. I don't think I gave you this pic before...but it was a cool way to present ketchup.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010147.jpg Holy hidden mickey batman!

After dinner we headed to Who Wants to be a Mousekteer! We remember 2 years ago when that was held in the Walt Disney Theater. There were tips such as pick an empty row because you increase your chances. And if you went all the way up you would win a cruise! So we were excited to try that again and then noticed it was in Sudio Sea. Hmmm, how do they do the numbers???

So we went and we were each handed a number. There you go. The prizes were much less...a pin and some sort of crystal thing if you win it all. But what the heck, we sat down and hung out. They kept coming close to our numbers over and over...and then they said they were done. The audience cheered for more and the host (the assistant cruise director, I don't remember his name) said ok, one more. The number pulled was one of ours! it was actuall DNW Kim. But she didn't want to go up so she handed it to Deanna (who is also our resident Disney expert). She grabbed DNS Chris (figuring that since it was Kim's number she should bring a member of our neighbors family) and headed up. Kathryn really wanted to go too, so she also went.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010154.jpgChris in the hot seat, Deanna and Kathryn too

They answered all the questions correctly and got their pins and the crystal thing. They gave them 3 pins for the three of them...which lead to issues because there were 4 kids. So I went in and begged and pleaded and managed to get another one. persistance pays off!!

Just saw the pin in a buy it now auction for $250! huh, wonder if anyone will pay that. if you want to buy one for $250, message me and I'll steal it from my children and send it to you! ;)

After that we went toward the Walt Disney Theater for Disney Dreams...and took some pics along the way...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010161.jpg I told you, us and Goofy...it's amazing.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/dayatsea2/P1010164.jpg our neighbors...

I wasn't that impressed with Disney Dreams. Although for the first time we didn't save seats and discovered that down the left side there was plenty of room pretty far up. maybe all that waiting and going early was a waste of time! I remember not thinking Disney Dreams was that great 2 years ago...and I should have skipped it. I won't bore you with what it is about...I'm sure you can find that somewhere else!

So tonight was the night for the Midnight Buffet! And we did what any good parent would do....we went to bed! yes! maybe we did it right this time!

So, until next we meet...

Next up: Chapter 15 Snorkling and losing in paradise

lindaso

01-11-2007, 04:55 PM

Mike came back. Now things got funny. I knew I could count on him to push the buttons of the guy...so I explained what happened, and noted the empty seat beside him. I figured it was probably for someone else...and it was. So Mike went down and plopped down right next to the guy! Naturally he said he was saving the seat for his wife...and Mike said "oh, you can't save seats" and sat there drinking his beer for a few minutes. Then Mike looked over and asked "how does it feel to be a total Jacka**?". They shared some words and then Mike came back up. It was funny to watch because I knew the guy got pissed...but it was totally unnecessary and the guy took away our good seats to prove a point.

That is hilarious! I can so see us doing that same thing!

How is it possible that we take weeks to write part of our trip report and when we do, we basically write the same thing? :lmao:

Cruising canuck

01-13-2007, 06:19 PM

Andrew

2 questions

1. You said that Deanna is an avid scrapbooker. My wife is also very ga-ga over that as well. She would like to know if Deanna found a good scrapbook store a Downtown Disney as well as anywhere else.

B. Key lime pie on-a-stick, how far is the Blonde Giraffe and how many could you eat in one sitting? lol!! I happen to 'kinda like desserts to the power of 10', so that is the prime objective of my Key West day.

Gord

DisneyZell

01-13-2007, 07:08 PM

Gord, this is Deanna speaking and the best place for scrapbook supplies was the World of Disney. It continues to amaze me how much stuff there is out there! They have some unique items that you can't find at a regular scrapbook store.

As far as the Blonde Giraffe...I don't know how far exactly it is, but we walked there with 4 kids ranging in ages from 4 to 9, so since they all made it, it wasn't too bad of a walk. BTW, Drew managed to eat 2 pies on a stick at that sitting, but his highlight this Christmas was our neighbors ordered him 12, yes 12, frozen chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick. He was in heaven when he found out about it!:cloud9:

discruiselovers97

01-15-2007, 12:29 AM

I love the holy hidden mickey batman thing!

tjeagle

01-15-2007, 07:35 AM

Okay......I know it is wrong....but.......I love the whole chair saving incident! Happy ending too........we all imagine doing something similar...but never admit it!!:guilty:

kevinsmom

01-16-2007, 12:37 PM

Disneyzell: great report - keep 'em coming!! loving your reports on the ports, we are heading to the turtle farm in cayman.... Nice pics!!

Wendy1953

01-17-2007, 08:28 PM

Only drove the RV from Maryland, it was great staying at Jetty Park in PC the night before the cruise. All in all it was well worth the extended drive.

For those who don't know USAIR was originally Allegany(sp) Air, hence agony air, amazing I still remember that from the sixties.

We here on Long Island in NY call it USeless Air.....never on time, first to get bumped off the runway, and flights cancelled are there all time highs. Great trip report...I'm in for the long haul....can't wait to get the next installment.....although many have already....I'm just beginning!

AskTheChief

01-18-2007, 07:39 PM

So I've decided that the first thing we're going to do after I graduate from nursing school is go on a Disney cruise, thanks to this trip report.

However, it's entirely rude of you to go back to your "real life", rather than finishing this trip report. The nerve.

Really, I'm disgusted.

Candy Apple

01-19-2007, 03:15 PM

Great TR. It made me think of a few questions for our upcoming Western in March. Can the kids be dropped off in the kids clubs on the first night? Is there a charge for the 7 mile beach? Is the $8 on Paradise Beach just for the trampoline or is it the beach entrance fee? Would you do Paradise Beach again? It sounds like you didn't really care for it. Would you do 7 mile beach again?

DisneyZell

01-20-2007, 07:29 PM

I love the holy hidden mickey batman thing!

why thank you. :thumbsup2

Okay......I know it is wrong....but.......I love the whole chair saving incident! Happy ending too........we all imagine doing something similar...but never admit it!!

Isn't that always the truth! I wouldn't have been able to confront like that, my neighbor does this type of thing very well, nice to have good friends like that!! :banana:

Disneyzell: great report - keep 'em coming!! loving your reports on the ports, we are heading to the turtle farm in cayman.... Nice pics!!

Thanks! have a great time at the turtle farm...it's a good thing to go see!

We here on Long Island in NY call it USeless Air.....never on time, first to get bumped off the runway, and flights cancelled are there all time highs. Great trip report...I'm in for the long haul....can't wait to get the next installment.....although many have already....I'm just beginning!
Classic! I stole this line tonight and used it. USeless Air....very nice.

So I've decided that the first thing we're going to do after I graduate from nursing school is go on a Disney cruise, thanks to this trip report.

However, it's entirely rude of you to go back to your "real life", rather than finishing this trip report. The nerve.

Really, I'm disgusted.

See, that's just not good. Lost a reader cause real life got into the way. ARGH!!!

I highly recommend the cruise...if you can do it, it's worth saving up for!! :thumbsup2

Great TR. It made me think of a few questions for our upcoming Western in March. Can the kids be dropped off in the kids clubs on the first night? Is there a charge for the 7 mile beach? Is the $8 on Paradise Beach just for the trampoline or is it the beach entrance fee? Would you do Paradise Beach again? It sounds like you didn't really care for it. Would you do 7 mile beach again?

Yes the kids can be dropped off the first night. They give you a special wristband that first night to identify your kids from those that are just visiting with parents.

By the time we got there, no charge on the 7 mile beach. but that could be because folks had come and gone. if you go there first thing you might have to (some other TR's talk about this I'd bet, not that I'd encourage you to go to another writer and not just sit and wait for me to continue...but I just don't have that info!!!)

The $8 pays for the umbrella and chairs, floats, the water trampoline and a giant iceburg that you can climb up and slide down. But those things really are geared for the older kids.

I would definately do 7 mile beach again, but not Paradise Beach. Next time in mexico, I think I'll stay on the boat!!! :cool1:

DisneyZell

02-13-2007, 10:17 AM

Chapter 15 Snorkling and losing in paradise

So first I need to apologize for not writing in a while. I slipped to page 2! how sad! So most of you who started reading this long ago have probably faded into the mist...already went on your trips...or generally have lost interest in my trip. But I need to finish, and am only a few episodes away from it!!

This was Friday, and my favorite day of the whole cruise...but also my least favorite. I absolutely 100% love Castaway Cay. We love it so much that our next trip (Now booked for Christmas 2008!!!!!! we are soooooooo excited) will be a double dip. I can't imagine anything better than two trips to Castaway Cay.

Quick digression back to our first cruise on the Magic. I was sick as a dog, and had been for a good chunk of the night before. I managed to struggle out to the beach, got to play around a bit, but let me just say that going out into the water was like being stuck with a ton of needles with every step I took.

I ended up going back to the ship early with my youngest. He took a nap and I passed out. After sleeping for about 3 hours I was much better...but it was a terrible experience.

So naturally when this was your last experience on a trip...I was awake for a good chunk of Thursday night worrying about what would happen if I was sick again. Amazing how your mind can play tricks on you as you go along. Fortunately I was fine...and did eventually drift off to sleep.

Deanna and I woke up pretty early, early enough to watch us approach Castaway Cay. I am a big fan of watching us come in to dock...seeing the land get bigger and bigger. I took some pictures every few minutes as we approached the island...those will go into the video that I will make if I ever finish this crazy trip report, among the 15 other video projects I have on my list. not that I procrasinate or anything...:rolleyes1

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010176.jpg Here is one of the many pictures I took. if you have never been to Castaway Cay...you are in for a treat!!!

So we wandered up to topsiders for breakfast (yes, more bacon and syrup. I'm a sick, sick puppy). The view was great from up there...it's very magical.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010181.jpg Me and the boys on deck at topsiders

And then it was time. The mad rush for Castaway Cay. When we went the last time we were packed in waiting to get off the ship. This time just seemed more relaxed. we grabbed our stuff (no we didn't bring a suitcase this time, I learned my lesson) and headed out. There is a mad rush...I think that is just natural. Everyone really wants the hammocks...that isn't really a necessity for me, so we didn't feel that was a big need. In fact, we hit the post office right away (last time it was a rush at the end of the visit), mailed our post cards.

****WARNING****TIP COMING*****WARNING******
Mail post cards to yourself. It sounds hokey, and it is, but there is something very, very cool about getting a post card from Castaway Cay. I don't know what it is...but it's neat. Your kids will think you are very cool...and if you are really creative, make it from Mickey and/or Minnie...say they were excited to see your kids...etc...etc...they will think that is very cool. OK, only if they are younger, but you know what I mean!!

We found Max...and took a picture. I think the last time we went to Disneyworld (or Disneyland, not sure which). I had no idea who Max was. I have since seen cartoons involving him...but he is such an obscure character that I find it funny that he is on the ship. I guess he is geared toward the young teen set? but come on...do the teens really care about characters anymore???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010185.jpg Nick, Connor and Max.

We also took the standard picture with the fish holding the hook with the hot dog. Again, I don't think that this picture spot is that great, but tradition takes over. Plus it will be fun to compare these as they get older. yes I'm hooked on DCL!!!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010191.jpg Chris, Kathryn, Connor and Nick hooked by a hot dog.

We made our way to the family beach and found some chairs. We weren't up front because we were a little late, but we were kind of in the shade which I actually liked better. Plus we spent very, very little time using the chairs, the majority of our time was spent in the water or wandering. So my personal recommendation is not to stress about rushing to get a chair...if you are rushing to get the most of your time that's one thing. there are plenty of chairs, just keep walking. and once you have your spot...you won't care anymore. Unless, of course, you want a hammock. then I recommend you stand in line early to get off the ship.

So Deanna and Nick decided to go snorkling. We had brought our snorkling stuff with us and they headed out in search of the sunken Mickey. They saw various boats and other things, but it wasn't until they were headed in that they saw the Mickey. Sorry folks, no picture!!!

On the way back Nick's fins started getting loose. He dropped one fin to the bottom which Deanna dove down to get. Then he dropped the other one...but it was too deep. One less fin for Nick. So they came in, and while walking up the beach they noticed that Nick's mask was missing. Let's just say it wasn't a stellar moment for Nick. He is 8, he tends to lose things on a regular basis!!

Like I said at the beginning, snorkling and losing in paradise!!!

This is a short one...but I wanted to get it out there. More to come soon, I have the pictures all ready to go...and there will be much more of them!!

Next up: Chapter 16: Crabs in a shell :cool1:

Babs417

02-13-2007, 10:11 PM

Boy wasent that long ago when is your next trip:goodvibes ;) :) :cutie:

DisneyZell

02-14-2007, 01:08 PM

Boy wasent that long ago when is your next trip:goodvibes ;) :) :cutie:

December 08! Christmas cruise with a double dip!

Floridagram

02-16-2007, 08:35 PM

Great trip report. Thanks for all the information you gave that was so detailed!

Madisonznana

02-17-2007, 03:01 PM

It has been forever, hasn't it! Well, at least we haven't been on our trip yet. You have until May 3rd to get it done!:lmao:
And I am so amazed to see new pictures of you, still looking so slim after all those mornings of bacon and syrup!
Karen

KLGDISNEYFREAK

02-24-2007, 11:24 PM

I have to tell you that I have spent the last three hours reading your trip report and others' comments. We are scheduled to go on this same cruise next month 3/24 and have never been on one before. We are empty nesters and are being forced to go by DD who is 24 and works for Disney! Hope you finish the tr before we go - btw - DD is the Disney Freak!

DisneyZell

03-12-2007, 02:47 PM

Great trip report. Thanks for all the information you gave that was so detailed!

why thank you. :)

It has been forever, hasn't it! Well, at least we haven't been on our trip yet. You have until May 3rd to get it done!
And I am so amazed to see new pictures of you, still looking so slim after all those mornings of bacon and syrup!
Karen

you know...I've put on weight since then, but the bacon and syrup seemed to have been ok. I guess walking up and down those stairs and dragging luggage onto islands kept it off!! :rolleyes1

uh oh...only until May 3rd?? hmm. don't know if I can promise that. I'm close....but finding time has been a pain!

I have to tell you that I have spent the last three hours reading your trip report and others' comments. We are scheduled to go on this same cruise next month 3/24 and have never been on one before. We are empty nesters and are being forced to go by DD who is 24 and works for Disney! Hope you finish the tr before we go - btw - DD is the Disney Freak!

WOW! thank you...I'm truely humbled and honored with such kind words. The funny thing is...I spent hours and hours reading other folks' work...never imagined that someone would read mine! again with the pressure to finish...I'll see what I can do. now, on with the story!

DisneyZell

03-12-2007, 04:14 PM

Chapter 16: Crabs in a shell

I feel like every time I add something here I apologize for being so long between posts. so I'll start that way here as well. I apologize. Life keeps getting in the way of posting. Reading through the couple of responses I saw May 3rd as the first request to be done...I'm thinking that's do-able. then someone said March 24th. Wow. Don't know if I can pull it off...but I MIGHT be done with Castaway Cay.

So after finding our chairs we immediately hit the water and headed out for the little playground. Nick swam his way out there with no problem, I had to help Connor, but he did have a life vest on.

****WARNING****WARNING****TIP COMING****WARNING

So, if you have a child who does not swim...I highly recommend bringing a life vest. While you can use floaties, of course, and other things...I think for the money you can't beat a life vest. We just so happen to have a boat, so we have it anyway, but apparently it is pretty comfortable (he doesn't clamor to have it off immediately unlike the floaties), and it's nice to not have to worry too much. If you watch Target you will see these go on sale pretty regularly...and you can get them for less than $20. They aren't too bulky...and very light. just a tip :thumbsup2

To be honest, though, once we got out to the play structure it wasn't nearly as exciting as I remembered it. Nick climbed the ropes a bit, and Connor wandered the platform, but in general it wasn't very exciting for them. So we only stayed for a little while.

That's not to say they didn't have fun swimming around which they did. But there were a ton of kids out there...and, well, there are other things to do that are more fun!

So we came back to the beach. Did I mention that one of Connor's favorite things is to play in the sand???

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010196.jpg Connor poses in the sand

I went out in the water for a while and splashed around with Nick until we got bored. We decided to try to find DW and Connor so we went up toward the buildings. We bumped into them getting ready to do Hermit Crab races! woohoo! this was very exciting, and provided an excellend picture opportunity:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010200.jpg DW and Connor with their beautiful hats

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010201.jpg Here is our crab

Our crab did pretty well, he made it into the finals. However in the finals he was apparently kind of tired as he just simply hung out in the middle for quite some time. Once he got going he moved fast...and I honestly think he would have won were it not for his late start.

In fact, I kind of felt for him...it's how I feel most days. I get going fast once I get going...but the beginning part of the day is brutal!

So it was off to lunch. While lunch was good...I wasn't blown away by it. It's interesting, if you read the trip reports there is a broad mix...some will just rave over the food, and some will not like it at all. I'm somewhere in between. The ability to eat food outdoors in a beautiful setting, barefooted without worrying about someone taking your stuff...just makes everything taste better, even just a hamburger! popcorn:: so from that regard you can't complain!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010207.jpg Connor and Nick eating lunch

They also serve ice cream which was very good..:thumbsup2

After lunch we hit the beach for a bit longer waiting for our neighbors to come back from a sailboat rental (at least I think that's what they were doing. They might have just been snorkling, but frankly speaking I just don't know. I know they did Snorkel...because I saw them returning the stuff...)

****WARNING******TIP COMING*****WARNING****TIP COMING***

so how do I know they snorkeled you are asking? I can tell you, and along with that comes tip #543. Actually I have no idea how many tips I have given you or if they are any good...but needless to say you get them. It's part of what you pay for.

So I enjoy digging in the sand like anyone else. However I should have remembered from the last time we visited CC that there are lots of shells and shell fragments in the sand on CC. So while digging I managed to slice open one of my fingers. This is a painful experience...so if you are going to be digging in the sand...and you dig below the soft top...don't go sticking your hand into the harder sand....cause you will regret it!

So I wandered over to where they sell masks in search of a band aid. This is where I bumped into our neighbors returning their snorkling stuff. And the nice people whipped out a first aid kit and patched me right up. Nice to know that's there if you ever need it. So this is actually a twofer...1. don't dig in the sand with your fingers, and 2. if you are stupid, like me, go get band aid from snorkling station!

I made it back and we took some pictures...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010211.jpg DW and the boys

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010214.jpg DW and the boys part 2

I warned you that this section would have alot of pictures. I'm sure I'll have to split it up when I post this because of that nasty need to not allow me to post as many pictures as I darn well please. But I digress.

We then decided to take a walk. If you recall my earlier discussion I was quite sick on the day we visited CC the first time...so I never made it farther than the covered lunch eating area. This time I was determined to explore at least a bit of the island. So with our neighbors we started off. We saw a couple of interesting things.

First we saw braiding stations. I had an ongoing joke with DND (Kathryn) about braids in my hair. I would distract her when she was upset or grump by asking her how she liked the braids in my hair. This pretty much carried through the entire cruise. So walking past here I almost got a braid just because it would be funny. Imagine the pictures.

HEY, I said ALMOST!

Then we passed a boatload of bikes. Huh, I thought....that would be pretty cool to do. Note to self: when returning, look into renting bikes as that seems like a pretty fun thing to do.

So we wandered through the Bohemian jungle being passed pretty frequently by bikers (huh...excellent idea), when we came accross this cool old plane parked on the runway. VERY COOL. I am a child by the way. Ask anyone.

My initial reaction is...PICTURE OPPORTUNITY!!!pixiedust:

Yes, I'm sick. Naturally the best thing to do when presented with a rusty old airplane is to prop your kids up on it and take their picture. so I did.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010228.jpg they are there, really.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010229.jpg OK, closer.

we have a few others...but I had to pick the best out...I don't want to put you to sleep or bore you completely. well...maybe I do. but anyhoo....

We then walked back and went to the beach where the stingray excursion is held. we were able to see into where the stingrays were and it looked pretty cool. Might be something we do another time. The best part of this beach was that there was no one there. it was deserted. Talk about your great space to go if you want to be alone. I don't know how many folks actually wander that far off the main beach...but if you want some time with a book and the sun...just walk a bit.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010234.jpg one of my favorite family pictures.

from there we headed back. DNH (Mike) and three of the kids ran ahead (Connor was still with us) when we discovered that there was a little bar on the far side of the family beach which had some great picture opportunities. We tried to yell to get them back, but to no avail. So Deanna, Kim, Connor and I walked out and took pictures. The view was fantastic, and again no people. Again a tip is to walk down the beach...cause it's great!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010244.jpg Deanna and Connor...and a GREAT shot of the ship.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010251.jpg My little strong man. He did this pose on his own by the way.

Right next to the bar was....*GASP* an empty hammock. I love hammock's. Not so much that I will leave the ship early and run my little tuckus down the beach, but I do love them. Unfortunately it was toward the end of the day...so no resting and reading my book. Maybe in 2008.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010258.jpg Deanna, Connor and I in the Hammock. I frankly don't know if I'm spelling hammock right. I know I shouldn't have capitalized it...there are english teachers throughout the world who are grimacing right now.

So alas it was time to go. I won't say we were the last folks off of the beach...as that just isn't our style. But we were able to take a leisurely stroll back up there...and that was very nice. And on the way, guess what??? We took pictures!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010261.jpg This is an important one to get. if you don't see these things...look harder. don't know what they are...but they make good pictures!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010264.jpg The necessary picture with the Mickey Boat in the background.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010267.jpg I think we all recognize that little ship! Very cool to see it up close. the detail on it is amazing.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010268.jpg One of the saddest signs I will ever see.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010271.jpg and back onto the ship!

So a great day on Castaway Cay. Interesting tidbit from my neighbor. When we talked about it they were very skeptical. they thought it would by like Disneyland where everything would be expensive and it wouldn't be relaxing. They were surprised to find it more like an extension of the ship...while things cost money (of course), there is lots to do for free there...and the atmosphere just can't be beat.

Next up: Chapter 17: Our final night!

Madisonznana

03-12-2007, 05:45 PM

:woohoo: Great chapter Disney Zell! I do believe you will make it by May 3rd!!:rotfl2:
Karen

MickeyD

03-12-2007, 09:20 PM

Geesh! Waiting for the rest of your trip report took almost as long as this board is taking to load tonight! :surfweb: I swear (well I don't swear, but you get the implication) I have several more gray hairs just waiting here for your next installment!:lmao: :lmao:
You know I am kidding, I love the report and if you notice, I am cruising with Madisonznana, so here is two people that want you to finish by May
3rd! (oh the pressure!:laughing:

Lisa

mom_of_2_princesses

03-12-2007, 10:51 PM

Great report. I spent most of the day reading it so I got nothing done. Definitely worth it though.

Disneygrl36

03-13-2007, 10:16 PM

Yeah new installments........life sure does get in the way doesn't it....but it's ok. We are here & we will wait some more patiently than other ( I have quite a long countdown left compared to others).

Love, love, love Castaway Cay. Wish you could bottle the feeling of being there & spray it on when you were having a bad day. :cloud9:

More please.

stenogoddess

03-14-2007, 12:46 PM

Great installment!

DisneyZell

03-28-2007, 09:18 AM

:woohoo: Great chapter Disney Zell! I do believe you will make it by May 3rd!!:rotfl2:
Karen

aaaargh! you jinxed me!!!

Geesh! Waiting for the rest of your trip report took almost as long as this board is taking to load tonight! I swear (well I don't swear, but you get the implication) I have several more gray hairs just waiting here for your next installment!
You know I am kidding, I love the report and if you notice, I am cruising with Madisonznana, so here is two people that want you to finish by May
3rd! (oh the pressure! [/QUOTE)

now this I apologize for. I never want to be held responsible for the addition of gray hairs. I think we all have enough of those. Fortunately when I use Gel in my hair it hides the gray! :woohoo:

[QUOTE=mom_of_2_pricesses]Great report. I spent most of the day reading it so I got nothing done. Definitely worth it though.

but isn't it better since you started reading it later? not much waiting for you. Feel for Madisonznana who has been with me from the start! ouch! :)

Yeah new installments........life sure does get in the way doesn't it....but it's ok. We are here & we will wait some more patiently than other ( I have quite a long countdown left compared to others).

Love, love, love Castaway Cay. Wish you could bottle the feeling of being there & spray it on when you were having a bad day.

More please.

agree with you that it would be great to spray on Castaway Cay. While looking back at the pictures is pretty cool, it's also sad beause I'm not there!!

Great installment!

Short and sweet. Thank you.

Thanks to everyone! hopefully I'll find time to bring another installments soon! until then...have a great spring :)

sham101505

03-28-2007, 09:36 AM

Im lovin your pics, and your report of course!

huggiebear23

04-02-2007, 04:48 PM

Great report. You have a beautiful family.

DisneyZell

06-21-2007, 03:37 PM

Chapter 17: the final chapter (hopefully)

so when I last left (oh...I don't know, two months ago), we had just finished our day and headed back to the Mickey Boat. The sad thing about getting on the boat this time was the knowledge that it was the last day. There were still a few more things in store for us, but for the most part that was it. And that's just sad!

We made it back to the rooms and got dressed for dinner. The dinner theme was "Till we meet again" as witnessed by this shot of the menu...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010274.jpg

The ironic part of this picture is that DW later "borrowed" the menu which is now sitting at home. So I could have scanned it...but my general laziness would not allow it! :rolleyes1

We had a great time at dinner. Nick's birthday was shortly after the cruise...so after we had our main meal Adrienne brought out all the deserts except for Nick. He was a bit perplexed by this until....

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010285.jpg Nick and Adrian with the cake

HUGE cake for his birthday brought by the lead guy, whom again I just can't remember his name and Adrian. Nick was embarrassed...which was fun as well.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010287.jpg Another happy birthday shot

I have mentioned a few times how important the server and assistant server are on vacation. The absolutely became a part of our family vacation, and we will remember them for some time to come. It took a while for us to get past the fact that there would be no magic tricks or, for that matter, anyone to serve us at home! they knew exactly what we liked...and did a fantastic job picking meals for me!

So, it only made sense that we did a big picture on this last day...

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010289.jpg All of us!

Now, I do appreciate them, but since they enjoyed poking fun at us so much, we had some fun at their expense. As we were really floored by their service we tipped above and beyond the suggestion. That was tucked nicely into it's cute little envelope (ok, so the receipt was anyway). We gave Nick and Chris $5 and sent them in ahead of us with instructions to tell Adrienne (I know I'm hacking his name, so forgive the spelling) that we weren't going to make dinner but sent the kids on their own and to hand them the $5. Those of you who read these boards will hear stories about folks skipping the last meal so they don't have to tip, etc. Obviously we aren't those types...but thought it would be fun. The look on Adrienne's face was priceless...and even more priceless when we walked up and handed him the real envelope. We all got a good laugh...and I felt just fine doing it since we tipped more than what was "suggested".

After dinner we went to the farewell show...which was basically the end of the story that began that first night. As with most of the shows is was well done and entertaining.

One tradition I think I have mentioned is that we always wander the ship and snap random pics. Here are a couple:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010292.jpg Cool disney bench!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010296.jpg I'm pretty sure they never sat in these, except for this picture.

The wives spent some time in Shutters finalizing our orders. As you would expect it was a tad :crowded: but they had to do what they had to do and did an excellent job of picking out pictures for us.

I can't remember if I mentioned our camera purchase since then. We bought a Nikon D50 Digital SLR camera. It's the same camera they use on the ship, as well as Disneyland and Disneyworld. It's fabulous. In fact, we took it to Disneyland after we had bought it and we made them take our picture with our camera after they did the official one. We had some fantastic pictures from that trip, and didn't pay a dime! we will be bringing it in 2008 on the cruise and hope to have the same success. But I digress.

The final thing of the night was a chance to mingle with the characters one more time.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010299.jpg Nick and Connor and the big guy

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010303.jpg Nick with Pluto

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o307/Disneyzell/Castawaycay/P1010305.jpg Connor and the mrs.

then it was off to bed. At some point we had also packed and sent our luggage on the way...that was hectic...but frankly I don't remember when we did that! That's what I get for waiting months to write a trip report! bad host, bad host!

As I don't want you all to wait for the end, I'll roll right into Saturday. Because we had the early seating for dinner our breakfast was around 6am. very eary! we had kids sleeping in chairs, but we managed to eat, and then hang out for a while until the ship was cleared. We then headed out to get our luggage and followed the one tip everyone should follow. We hired a porter...he took us to our luggage, threw everything on, and pushed to the front of the line.

TIP THESE GUYS WELL, THEY EARN THEIR BUCKS!

I'll bet we saved over an hour doing that, and we were out in a breeze!

Our neighbors had a flight that afternoon, but we had to stay overnight due to flight arrangements. So we rented a van that would fit all of us and drove into Orlando. We visited mouse surplus in orlando, which was pretty cool. they have all sorts of neat old Disney things (some really cool, alot that was just junk) and bought a few things.

Then we headed over to Disneyworld to downtown disney. Shopped a bit and then took the neighbors to the airport.

This was a fantastic trip, and we really can't wait until 2008. It is so sad that it is so far away...we need to get a free trip so we can go sooner!

Sorry for how long this took to write, I'll bet those who started reading it aren't even on the DCL site anymore! post any questions you have and I'll be happy to answer them. other than that, see you in 2008!! :banana: