The Magical cruise to Tortuga, I mean Tortola 6/20-6/27

[Disneylovers]

[B]I wasn’t going to write a trip report for this trip. I did one after our cruise last year, and thought, “no one wants to read about our trip”. And after reading Royal Vizier’s report, I’m totally intimidated. My writing style is nowhere near as entertaining as his. But my daughter and a couple other people (DVC Mary) have said I should write one, so here goes. Even if no one wants to read it, it will be fun reliving our adventures!

First of all, here is the cast of characters:
Me, Disneylover, your humble reporter
DH, Diver Dad
Our daughters Pirate Girl (our 21 year old) and Sweet 16 (who earned this name because she celebrated that birthday the day we got off the ship)

Last June, we went our our second Disney Cruise, which we labeled the “do over” cruise. Our first cruise experience was back in 2002, and for me it was a fiasco. I got food poisoning the day before we got on the ship, so the entire cruise I was miserable! Last year, we finally had the resources to do a cruise, and had a great time! During the cruise, we went to the DVC member event, where they gave us the point charts for 2009, including a discount for the cruises if you booked with your points. Ever since DIsney announced that Tortola was one of their destinations for 2009, I wanted to go there (tho’ I will admit at first I mistakenly thought it was Tortuga, like in “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Captain Jack, Will Turner, oh yea, I’m SO in! When I discovered the error of my ways, I didn’t let the family in on my mistake, I just continued to express my enthusiasm, and soon, the rest of the gang was on board too!). So, before we got off that cruise, we booked the June 20th cruise to Tortola!

Of course, I was here on the boards checking in with others who would be on this same cruise, and learning what I could about Tortuga, I mean Tortola. We booked a few excursions, and counted down the days until our trip began!

Pre Cruise

OK, so our first day actually starts the day before the cruise. We decided to fly down on Friday, so that we didn’t have to worry about making it to the ship on time. Since we’re DVC members, we figured we’d go check our our newest “home” Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Villas.

We normally drive to Midway airport, but this trip we decided to take a town car. It arrived at 9:00 a.m. and by 9:06, everyone was saying “goodbye house”. We arrived at Midway at 9:50, for our 11:50 flight, which we discovered was delayed until 12:30. Not a problem! One of our favorite stops when we’re flying out of Midway is Potbelly’s. We try to get there while they still serve breakfast, (which you can’t get at most of their neighborhood shops), because their bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches are to die for!!! And they have Starbuck’s coffee. So we grab our breakfast and make our way to our gate (B15). In all the times I’ve flown out of Midway, I never noticed that there isn’t a gate B13, it just goes 9,11, 15, 17, but no 13. So I guess technically, we’re at gate 13, but shhhh, don’t tell anyone who may be superstitious!

They announce that our plane is coming in from Kansas City, and they are having storms just like we’re having in Chicago, so our plane will be delayed longer. Diver Dad and I decide that even though we had this yummy breakfast at 10:00, by the time we get to Orlando, we’re going to be really hungry, so I take a walk around the terminal looking for sandwiches we can carry on the plane. Only one place makes sandwiches (not those prepackaged, that look like they’ve been around since the stone age ones), so Diver Dad gets us our lunch, and at 1:30, we finally are on the plane.

The flight was uneventful, our sandwiches yummy, we arrive about two hours later than we originally planned. Being the seasoned travelers that we are, we head directly to the ground level to catch the Magical Express bus. One thing I missed reading about was the new “express” service if you have the booklet. No longer do you need to check in at the desk, you can go right to the lines for the different resorts! So, we’re directed to the AKV line, which is boarding (a cruise line bus, how appropriate!). We no sooner take our seats, than we’re pulling out of the terminal! Talk about great timing!


We stopped at all three of the All Star resorts, before heading to Animal Kingdom Villas. First stop, Kidani. There isn’t any line at check in, and the CM looks at our reservation and says “I see we’re celebrating a birthday”. Uh, no, not until NEXT week. We ask about our luggage being picked up tomorrow and we’re directed to Jamba house to talk to the person at the cruise line desk. So, we head up to our room to drop our bags, and then walk over to Jamba house. Now, we’re from Chicago, which, historically by June 19th would have seen some mid 80 degree days already. But not this year! The day we left was finally seeing temps in the low 80s, but not before that. So, here we are in the Florida heat and humidity, and our bodies haven’t had a chance to adapt to the heat. By the time we made the 10 minute walk we were dripping! We head to the cruise desk, and find out no one is there. So, we grab some water bottles and walk back to Kidani. Stop at bell services and ask them about our luggage. they ask if we got the cruise luggage tags? Uh, no. Not a problem! They will pick up the bags at 8:00 tomorrow. Go up to our room, to change into our swimsuits to check out the pool, and there is the cutest towel birthday cake for sweet 16, and a card from Mickey. We play in the pool for about an hour, try to decide if we want alcohol or food from the pool bar - alcohol wins! We run into the store in the lobby and grab a couple of frozen pizzas for supper. As we’re cooking the pizza back in the room, bell services calls to say they’ll bring up luggage tags, which they do right away. We eat our pizza, and head off to bed!
:)

[RoyalVizier]

I wasn’t going to write a trip report for this trip. I did one after our cruise last year, and thought, “no one wants to read about our trip”. And after reading Royal Vizier’s report, I’m totally intimidated. My writing style is nowhere near as entertaining as his.

Oh puh-leeeeeze! :rolleyes:

This is going to be soooooo great! Between me, and you, and DVC Mary all writing June 20th reports I feel like I'm right back on the Eastern itinerary all over again!

And I too originally thought of Tortuga when I first heard the word Tortola. Never heard of the place in my life until it popped up on a DCL itinerary!

Bring it on!! :banana:

[anetnmike]

way to go you guys!!!
:cool1:
this is great! can't wait to hear more!:surfweb:

[DVC Mary]

True confession here!

I too thought it was Tortuga & originally searched Google maps for Tortuga. I was pleasantly surprised when I did learn about Tortola.

It was much more fun to pretend it was Tortuga. We did to a Doubloon Pirate Cruise w/ a fun bunch of people....more details to come in both our trip reports.


Way to go Disneylovers! I can't wait to read. popcorn::

[Disneylovers]

I am SO glad I wasn't the only one who thought Tortola was Tortuga!!!! And to think, it's the largest of the British Virgin Islands, and none of us heard of it! :confused3

It was funny, both DD and I brought along books to read on the cruise, and in both of our books, a character went to Tortola for a vacation! The irony was not lost on us!:)

[Disneylovers]

I woke up at 7:00 and made a pot of coffee (I brought coffee from home, since I know I’m not going to have good coffee while I’m on the cruise). At 8:00, bell services calls to see if our luggage is ready, it is! So, they come get it. We get dressed, grab our “day bags”, and walk over to Jamba house to have breakfast in Mara. With time to kill, we grab an umbrella table out by the patio, and grab our books and read until it’s time to check in at the cruise desk. We check in, get our boarding passes for the bus, along with some paperwork to fill out verifying that none of us are sick. At 12:25, they have us line up to proceed outside to the bus, then we’re off! One stop at Boardwalk to pick up more passengers, and we’re on our way to the port. Now, I know many of you think “how can you stand getting to the port so late?” Well, it has some advantages. When we arrived at 2:00, there was no line at security, we got upstairs, and after about a 5 minute wait, we were at the registration desk. We got our security pictures taken, and at 2:15, we were announced on the ship! Our first stop was our rooms to drop off our bags. When we did the cruise last year, we splurged and got adjoining cat. 6 rooms 6126 and 6128. We liked the location so much, when we booked this cruise and were able to pick our stateroom, we tried for something close. 6130 was available, as was 6131 (yes, cat. 11 - since we’re paying cash for the girls room, rather than using our DVC points, they get a cat. 11 room). So we check out our rooms.

As a surprise, I had contacted The Perfect Gift to have a basket for the girls, and one for Diver Dad and I. To save on the delivery cost, the two were attached and delivered to our room. So, we detached the girls bag, and delivered it to them. I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was amazing! Since the girls are older, there were things like photo albums, journals, a Tink coffee mug for Pirate Girl, High School Musical stuff for Sweet 16, and cookies, chips and their Dr. Pepper, along with these cool baseball hats, all in a pink mesh duffle bag. For us, Diver Dad’s favorite beer Landshark (yes, he’s a parrothead!) and peanuts, for me bottled flavored ice tea and cashews, all in a cute plastic tote bag with Cars stuff for Diver Dad, and Mickey (my favorite) and Minnie mouse.

We helped them get their dresses hung up, then hunger hit, so we hurried up to Topsiders for lunch. We scored a table outside, and within 20 minutes, the waiter came around with Bahama Mama’s, so we got our first drink, and the cruise officially began!
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Now, there was a Dis meet happening at 3:00 in the Promenade Lounge. I knew this, however, I didn’t look at my watch, too concerned with getting food, and a Bahama Mama into my system. When I finally did look at my watch, it was almost 3:30. I’m sorry Magic of Tortola gang that we didn’t make it there on time to meet everyone!.

We knew we would have to go down to Animator’s Palate for the lifeboat drill, so we did that (It seemed so much more organized than the one we did on the Wonder last year!). Headed up to the sail away party, Sweet 16 headed right for the dance floor.

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We actually followed her!

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Once we were on the move, we headed up to deck 10 to wave to all those poor souls left on land.

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This cruise is going to be a different experience in so many ways. We’ve never experienced a day at sea, let alone two days in a row at sea, (which I will confess, I’ve been a little worried about whether I would get bored). Another first for us is we have late seating. We had put in a request for early seating when we made our reservation, and looking at our key to the world card, there was a 1 after our dining rotation, but according to our meal ticket, we’re eating at 8:15. So, this means we get to see the show first. So off the the Walt Disney theatre to see “All Aboard, Let the Magic Begin”. Cute show! We have enough time to head over to Shutters to check out our picture from embarkation. It looks pretty good, so we decide to get a photo package (8 8x10's and 6 6x8's. I really don't think we'll buy that much, but you never know!) We then run back to the room to change into our dinner clothes. Our dining rotations starts us off in Lumiere’s, at table 22. Meet our server, Simoun, and our Assistant Server, Romain. Simoun asks if we’re celebrating anything special, and we tell him, yes, Sweet 16‘s birthday is the day we get off the ship. Simoun suggest we could celebrate it the night before, which is what we had in mind, so perfect. Oh, and Sweet 16 is allergic to strawberries. Dinner is yummy, and I’m surprised that it’s not bugging me too much to be eating this late.

After dinner, we head back to the room to pour over our Navigators. Pirate Girl has all these great ideas for us for tomorrow. And I was worried I’d be bored! We sit on our veranda, listening to the waves, enjoying the smell of the sea air. This is heaven!

[Smileneyes]

Now, there was a Dis meet happening at 3:00 in the Promenade Lounge. I knew this, however, I didn’t look at my watch, too concerned with getting food, and a Bahama Mama into my system. When I finally did look at my watch, it was almost 3:30. I’m sorry Magic of Tortola gang that we didn’t make it there on time to meet everyone!.



We're sorry you didn't make it to the DisMeet...we had a great time (all 30 minutes of it). ;)

Nice pictures...and keep up the great job on the trip report! :cool1:

[gduvall]

Enjoying everything so far, keep it coming

[RoyalVizier]

I’m sorry Magic of Tortola gang that we didn’t make it there on time to meet everyone!.

AWWWWW! Sorry we didn't get to meet you! :)

Lovin' your account of everything! Keep it coming!

[anetnmike]

fellow Chicagoans! I am down Rt. 59 from you guys! (Plainfield):wave:
sounds like you are off to a great start!

[dibond38]

Great posts - have fun

[Lucille1963]

Great report! I am looking forward to reading more.

We are in Chicago and planning our first cruise. I look forward to doing many of the same things you did, flying out of Midway, stopping at WDW the night before, etc.

[Disneylovers]

fellow Chicagoans! I am down Rt. 59 from you guys! (Plainfield):wave:
sounds like you are off to a great start!

Hello fellow suburbanite! We're closer to Rt. 53 than Rt. 59, but still close!!!! We'll have to find a way to have a post cruise meet (maybe I'll actually make it to this one:rolleyes1)

Great report! I am looking forward to reading more.

We are in Chicago and planning our first cruise. I look forward to doing many of the same things you did, flying out of Midway, stopping at WDW the night before, etc.

Definitely stop at Potbelly's for their breakfast sandwich (if you're at Midway before 11:00 a.m.!) Ooh, just thinking of it is making me hungry! When is your cruise?

Next installment is coming soon!

[Disneylovers]

Happy Father’s Day! Since we didn’t want Diver Dad to miss out on the well deserved attention of this day, we celebrated Fathers Day at home last weekend. But that didn’t mean we wouldn’t give him more attention today!

We didn’t set an alarm, so we woke up at 8:45, which felt nice, except for the fact that at 9:00 there was a DVC member event down at Rockin Bar D. :scared1: So we quickly showered and hurried down to deck three (the whole time I’m praying there will be coffee, otherwise, I’m making a detour to deck 9!) I didn’t have to make that detour, they had coffee and danish. After the event was over, we headed back up to the room to see if the girls were awake. There was a note from them that they went to breakfast, so we head up to Topsiders, but we can’t find them anywhere! We grab some breakfast, then head back down to the room. They’re back, they went to brunch at Lumiere’s so that Pirate Girl could have her “grown up orange juice”. We sit in our room trying to decide what to do next.

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For some reason, Pirate Girl wants to play bingo, but Sweet 16 doesn’t want anything to do with it! It takes us about 15 minutes to persuade Sweet 16 that this could be fun, she finally gives in and we head back down to Rockin Bar D.

Growing up Catholic, I know a thing or two about bingo, and let me tell you, what they have on the cruise ain’t this mamma’s bingo! They have these electronic devices that can store 30 or 60 cards, and when a number is called, it automatically flips through all the cards and lets you know when you’re close to a bingo. That just doesn’t seem right to me! We’ll stick to the old paper ones (but even they have changed, instead of the marker dabber thing, you just punch out the number when it’s called. Boy the things they don’t come up with!!!!!). We play the four games, and don’t even come close to a bingo. But it was fun to listen to the CM’s banter.

We head up to Pluto’s for lunch, and a drink. Having a kid who is 21 is still taking some getting used to, (her birthday was the end of February), however, when she’s buying the round of drinks, it’s kinda nice!!!!

At 1:00 there was a presentation about shopping in St. Thomas which I had read about here on the boards, so Pirate Girl and I wanted to attend. We headed to the Buena Vista theatre with Diver Dad and Sweet 16 coming in a bit later. The presentation was very informative, and I purchased the coupon booklet for $25.00. Supposedly, I can easily get my money back in savings, we’ll see!

Since we’re warm, we head back to our rooms, throw on our swimsuits and head up to the Goofy pool. They are showing “Finding Nemo” on the big screen, which is a favorite movie in our household, so Diver Dad and Sweet 16 jump in the pool, I sit on the side, and Pirate girl sunbathes.

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Diver Dad buys us another round of drinks, (I’m especially excited, the “Bon Voyage” is very similar to a “Miami Vice” which I had at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort a few years ago, it’s half Pina Colada, and half Strawberry Daiquiri, and totally yummy!!!).

Tonight is formal night, and we decided we were going to get all dressed up. Diver Dad went online to the formal wear company Disney works with, and rented a tux. The girls and I all brought along our formal dresses, and we were ready to be dazzling! The tux was delivered to our room yesterday but we didn’t really check it out, so I’m hoping that everything is OK (it was!) Diver Dad realized this was the first tux he’s worn since our wedding almost 23 years ago, and he looked SO handsome!!!

We went to the Golden Mickey’s, then had our pictures taken. We even took some of our own pictures both inside and outside.

We clean up nice!

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Dad and his girls

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After almost 23 years, we still look good together!

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When we came back inside, the Captain’s Cocktail party was in full swing in the atrium. We were able to enjoy free cocktails, so I tried an appletini. Sweet 16 was upset, there wasn’t anything for her to drink. Pirate Girl was sure she had seen a “Father’s Day Dance”, but she couldn’t remember where it was. We stopped in the Promenade Lounge, and it appeared to be there, so Sweet 16 got a couple of dances in with her dad, and a “shirley temple” so she had her cocktail!

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We had a yummy dinner in Animator’s Palate. Unfortunately, during dinner, Mother Nature made an appearance to Sweet 16, and she was not feeling the best, so we headed up to the room so she could take some Motrin. We discovered that her room key wasn’t opening her door, so I let her into our room, and headed down to guest services to get her a new key. During this time, Pirate Girl and Diver Dad went back to the Promenade Lounge to get their daddy daughter dance in, and I missed it. :sad1: Got the new room key for Sweet 16, brought it up to her, and I find her in tears in our room. She thought I left her there, and she didn’t feel good, and all those wonderful hormonal things we deal with! We got her room opened, and she decided she just wanted to put on her jammies and go to bed. So I helped her get out of her pretty pink dress, and kissed her good night, and met up with the rest of my family. We decided to go hear John Charles in Rockin Bar D (third time today in this place!). This was his “adult” show, and it was a stitch! We headed back to our room, (Sweet 16 was sound asleep) changed out of our fancy clothes, went for a walk up to deck nine for water, then it was time for bed!

[parrotheadmom]

I'm enjoying your report very much, you have a very beautiful family! :goodvibes I love your formal pictures.

[jbm02]

Disneylovers
Awesome trip report!! We're on the 15 August Tortola trip - I can't wait to finish reading about yours!!!:cheer2:

[Disneylovers]

I'm enjoying your report very much, you have a very beautiful family! :goodvibes I love your formal pictures.

Awww, thanks!!! You're so kind!!

Another parrothead!!! :yay: DH converted me a few years ago (he was one when I married him). Actually got to see Jimmy last year (took DH for his birthday). Wanted to see him again this year, but didn't get tickets in time!

[Disneylovers]

Disneylovers
Awesome trip report!! We're on the 15 August Tortola trip - I can't wait to finish reading about yours!!!:cheer2:

Thanks! I'll try to get most of it finished before you leave! Hope you have a wonderful trip!!!!!!:)

[Disneylovers]

Another day at sea, and still not bored! We were told by Simoun last night that today we have breakfast at 9:45 in Parrot Cay. I hoped to sleep in, but I was awake at 7, so I ran up to deck 9 to get coffee, then sat on the veranda to drink it and enjoy the view. When the gang woke up, we made our way down to Parrot Cay for breakfast. I had been reading on the boards about a character breakfast, but for some reason, I really didn’t pay too much attention to it. Well, this was the character breakfast, Mickey’s Island Jam! Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale all made their way around the restaurant, and posed for pictures. (Fortunately, Diver Dad grabbed our camera before we left the room!)

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After breakfast was over, all the servers made interesting hats out of the napkins for everyone in the dining room! And everyone kept their hat on until they left the room! There was a lot of creativity happening in that room!!!!

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There was a Castaway Club member get together in good ole’ Rockin’ Bar D, so we headed there after breakfast. They were giving away chocolate dipped rice krispie treats, but we were too full to eat them (tho’ we did take them home with us!) During the presentation, Brent the cruise director came in and told us that the captain was going to make an announcement soon, but he’d tell us first, we were going to make an unscheduled stop in San Juan Puerto Rico tonight due to a medical emergency. We wouldn’t be able to get off the ship, but we could look at the harbor. He told us we’d be pulling in around 9:45 p.m., which would be at the end of our supper, and the best vantage point would be up on deck 10.

Even tho’ we weren’t that hungry, we grabbed some lunch, then Pirate Girl and I went to check out the Tortuga Rum tasting. Diver Dad couldn’t come with, tomorrow his excursion on Tortola will be scuba diving (aha! that’s where the name came from!). Divers are not supposed to drink alcohol 24 hours prior to a dive, and Diver Dad is good about paying attention to those types of rules. He had a bloody mary at breakfast, and that was it for the day. But Pirate Girl and I don’t have any restrictions, so we headed to Up Beat at 2:00. We didn’t buy any rum, mainly because there is a place on Tortola I want to try and find tomorrow (I read about this place in a trip report from the first Tortola cruise). If I can’t find it, then I’ll get some Tortuga rum. Somehow I managed to walk out of the shop without rum cake (of course, I’m kicking myself now!)

We headed back to the room and just relaxed until it was time for tonight’s show “Twice Charmed”. I was looking forward to this show, and it didn’t disappoint! We had time before dinner, so we went to John Charles’ family show. We still sing one of his songs “I got the cleanest hands, on the ship” whenever we see a hand sanitizer anywhere!!!

Dinner was in Parrot Cay. I knew that the Magic recently switched to new menus, but I was really hoping they still had the great crab appetizer and banana drink (they did!). As we were finishing up with our meal, we could see the harbor lights outside the windows, so we hurried up and finished our dessert, then headed up to deck 10.

There was a Carnival ship in port, and as we pulled up along side it, our ship horn was sounded, and all of us were cheering. We docked and could see the ambulance waiting for the passenger.

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As we were standing there, I looked up and John Charles was standing next to me, so I started talking to him, telling him how much we enjoyed both of his shows. We had a very nice conversation. He told me he was leaving the ship tomorrow in Tortola, but he thought about just getting off here in San Juan, since that was where his connecting flight was taking him from Tortola, but he decided not to change his plans. Pirate Girl suddenly looked around and saw all these people talking on their cell phones, and realized she could make phone calls too since our cell plan covers Puerto Rico. So she hurried down to the room, and hurried back up to Deck 10. She got her cell phone fix in (we weren’t allowing her to use the phone on the ship, so she was going through major withdrawal). We walked around, looking at the lights of the city, taking lots of pictures (who knows if we’ll ever get to San Juan again?)

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After about an hour in port, the ship started to pull away from the dock, sounding the horn again (which caused more cheering from our ship - and some from the Carnival ship too!). It was 11:00 p.m. and we have an early morning tomorrow, so we headed to bed!

[lg3]

Love your trip report!! We are headed to Torula (err.,,, Tortola :goodvibes) in Sept. and are hanging on to your every word.
two questions/comments so far:
1) You mentioned you had made coffee - how did you do that? ITA that the coffee onboard is very scary. :scared1:
2)Thanks for the heads up on the bingo being somewhat computerized. We too are used to the cards, etc. and this was very interesting. You are the only person I have ever heard make mention of how it was run. Thank you!!! I understand they also recently have given away cruises onboard at the Bingo. That would be the ultimate! :cloud9:

[Disneylovers]

Love your trip report!! We are headed to Torula (err.,,, Tortola :goodvibes) in Sept. and are hanging on to your every word.
two questions/comments so far:
1) You mentioned you had made coffee - how did you do that? ITA that the coffee onboard is very scary. :scared1:
2)Thanks for the heads up on the bingo being somewhat computerized. We too are used to the cards, etc. and this was very interesting. You are the only person I have ever heard make mention of how it was run. Thank you!!! I understand they also recently have given away cruises onboard at the Bingo. That would be the ultimate! :cloud9:

September will be here before you know it!!!!

The coffee I made was at the resort the night before we left. (because I knew I wasn't going to get any good coffee while on board!) Yes, the regular coffee on board isn't the greatest! Tho' I will admit, the decaf wasn't bad! Every night at dinner I would have a cup of coffee with our dessert. Since I can't deal with caffeine after 8:00 p.m., I drank decaf, and it wasn't bad! Also, if you go to the Cove Cafe, the coffee there is supposedly very good, but you have to pay for it like you do "adult beverages".

As far as the bingo info, you're welcome! At least there are still the cards, so it feels like bingo. Didn't hear anything about a cruise being given away, but the jackpot does get pretty big! (that was part of the attraction for our DD, she was hoping to win the money to get a new car!).

[Disneylovers]

The wake up call was set for 7:00 (don’t you just hate having to wake up early on vacation?). Step out onto our veranda, and the scenery is breathtaking!

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Since Diver Dad has to meet his excursion at 8:00, we hurry up to Topsiders for breakfast. The scenery up there is even better!!!

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The girls join us, and we wish Diver Dad a fun time, but Pirate Girl tells him not to get too close to any sharks! We don’t have to meet for our excursion, the island drive and beach break, until 9:00, so we take our time and enjoy the scenery some more. We head down to meet for our excursion in - you guessed it - Rockin Bar D! I remember to grab towels and we’re walked off the ship. Discover that Sweet 16’s new room key card isn’t working in the machine to register her on and off the ship. So, what becomes the ritual every time we get on or off the ship, we help her remember what her room number is, and they have to manually enter her in to the computer. Right at the end of the dock is a parking lot, and there are all these open air taxis, so we just fill up a taxi then move on to the next one! Our driver is Skip, who is having issues with his microphone, so for the first part of the trip, we can’t understand anything he’s telling us. I had grabbed our video camera, and as I turned it on, it’s telling me “moisture detected” and it’s ejecting the tape. (See RV, you're not the only one who had issues with the video camera!!!) I had this issue last year on our cruise, and after about 10 minutes the tape would go in. Not this time! I was SO mad (mainly because I was looking at a new video camera, one that recorded right to the memory card rather than a tape, but I didn’t get it, and now this camera isn’t working! Grrrrrrr.) I spent the first part of the trip trying to will that little cassette tape to be accepted by the camera, and it kept spitting it back at me. Totally disgusted, I threw the video camera in our bag, and tried to focus on the still camera. Now, I must explain, on all our trips, I’m the videographer, and Diver Dad is the still photographer (which never did make sense to me, I put together a scrapbook of every trip, and he does all this clever editing of our videos, so I’ve tried to convince him that we need to swap cameras, but he doesn’t buy it!) So he has the still camera that he likes, but I’ve never felt comfortable with it, aww heck, I’ll admit it, I don’t like the thing! But here I am stuck with it as the only way to document our trip around the island of Tortuga, I mean Tortola, which is making me very cranky.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1793.jpg

We get to the top of the hill/mountain that we’ve been traveling on (how high does a hill have to get to be considered a mountain?). We take pictures at the top of what I think is the highest spot on the island (there was an observatory, so it had to be pretty high up!).

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Then we head down to Cane Garden Bay Beach, which took us on some steep declines, which had me holding onto the seat in front of us for dear life (which totally amused Pirate Girl).

When we got to the beach, we were directed to where a lounge chair for each of us was lined up. We had one hour to enjoy the beach, along with a beverage (a fruit punch with a rum floater on top if you wanted it). Pirate Girl was only interested in sunbathing, Sweet 16 couldn’t go swimming because of mother nature’s visit, so we just laid on our chairs and soaked up the sun and scenery.

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As we were sitting there, this little dog came up to us, looking for attention (or maybe it was food!) It had the sweetest little face, and reminded us of one of our two dogs back home.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_0722.jpg

We petted this little dog for about 5 minutes, then it walked away. At one point, I went in to the water to get my feet wet, and I noticed this gentleman over by my beach bag, so I got out and headed over to see what he was doing. I was using our Castaway Club bag (along with the many other Castaway Club members who didn’t bring a beach bag from home), and it turned out this gentleman thought he was putting his video camera in his bag. (shoot, I could have gotten a working video camera!). I started talking to the man and his wife, a really nice couple from England. I offered to take a couple of pictures of the two of them, and even shot some video of them in the water so they would have some pictures of the two of them together. Our hour was quickly up, so it was back on the bus and back to the port. Along the way, our driver pointed out every school, and every fruit tree. We were struck by how undeveloped the island was. We were told that Tortola likes it that way, that this is how the islands USED to be. It sure was beautiful!

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Next up: Walking around Road Town and Pirate Night!!!

[Disneylovers]

So, when we left off, we were returning from our island tour and beach break.

Our plan was we were going to meet Diver Dad back in the room, since we had no idea of when our excursions would be returning. As the girls and I are walking to the ship, I notice a guy in front of us is carrying scuba gear. I turn around, and here comes Diver Dad right behind us! We timed that so well! We got back on the ship, headed up to the room, he quickly showered while the girls ran up to deck 9 to grab us lunch, which they brought back to our room, and we all ate on the veranda.

With full tummies, we headed off the ship to take a walk around Road Town. When we were coming back from our island tour we saw that it was maybe a 10 minute walk to get to the town, which we knew was doable, (even with "Little Legs" as Sweet 16 used to be known as). I wanted to find two places, one was Sunny Caribe, a spice shop that I had a coupon from that port excursion book I bought on Sunday. The other place was where I read about the rum being sold. However, I never wrote down the name of the place, and of course, my memory decides to fail me now!

But my first order of business was I needed to get a keychain for my collection. I have collected keychains for over 30 years, and have close to 500 of them, and I needed one from Tortola. As we got off the ship and started walking, there were all these tents set up with typical souvenir stuff, but I didn’t want to look there for my keychain, so we kept walking. Then we found this area that had these little “shacks” (imagine a one car garage, brightly painted and crammed with merchandise, from shirts, to purses, to every imaginable souvenir you can think of) that’s what these shacks looked like! I went in a couple, and found the perfect keychain! So I was happy!

We crossed this major street (Waterfront, maybe?) and there was Sunny Caribe, (it’s easy enough to spot, the name is painted on the side of the building!) We went in and got a nice variety of spices, and teas, some of which will become souvenirs. Then we head out to find the mystery rum place. I knew it wasn’t too far from Sunny Caribe, and I knew it began with a “P”. We walked around not finding much, and the girls were getting impatient with me, so they headed back to the ship. Diver Dad, bless his heart, was still feeling like exploring, so we headed in the other direction, (past “shack town”) and there it was, Pussers! It’s a bar in the front, and a shop in the back. They sell rum that is distilled the same as it has been for over 300 years. The British Navy used to give it’s sailors a “shot’ of this rum every day (guess it’ll cure whatever ails you!), and a portion of the sale of every bottle goes to this fund for the sailors. We decided to purchase a “painkiller” kit (a bottle of the rum, and the fruit juice mix (pineapple, coconut cream and orange juice) to make our own “Painkiller” - the official drink of the Caribbean, or so we were told.). As we’re heading out, I notice in the bar they have a painkiller shooter, and you can keep the glass, so Diver Dad and I have a shooter (hey, he can drink all he wants now! He’s done with the diving!). We sat and told each other about our excursions, he told me about how gorgeous it was diving, how the coral was so huge, and how much he enjoyed the dive.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6230064.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6230094.jpg

Oh, and he saw a shark (don’t tell Pirate Girl!!).

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6230059.jpg

We slowly headed back to the ship and said good bye to Tortola.

Tonight is Pirate Night so we dressed in the costumes I made for last year’s cruise.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1825.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_0793.jpg

Pirate Girl pulled her costume together from items in her closet

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_0791.jpg

Tonight’s show in the Walt Disney theatre is the movie “UP” in 3D which we are eager to see. What an amazing movie!!! Since there was time to kill before dinner, we had our picture taken with Captain Jack, then went to the Promenade Lounge where they were teaching the line dances for the party tonight. Sweet 16 was all for the dancing, Pirate Girl even joined her.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1830.jpg

Supper was in Lumiere’s and I was happy to see they didn’t change too much of the Pirate Night menu, the crab cake, mahi, and triple chocolate dessert were still on there YUM!!! Our waiters were still in the mood to put coverings on our heads, so our bandanas were tied to our head. Since I already had a bandana on, mine was tied to my arm.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1832.jpg

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As we’re eating, Pirate Girl catches sight of these light up Tinkerbells that are attached to kid’s drinks. The table next to us has two little girls (about 4 and 6 I would guess) and they both have this Tink light (for the boys, it’s Captain Hook). Well, suddenly, my 21 year old wants a light up Tinkerbell. I think she’s kidding, until I look at the face, and realize she’s serious!!! (Tinkerbell is her favorite). So when our assistant server Romain comes by, I ask him to bring both our little girls a Tink light. He looks at me (and them) like we’re all crazy, but he brings them, laughing at us the whole time!

As soon as we were finished with supper, we headed up to deck 9 for the deck party. Sweet 16 hits the dance floor, again, so we all joined her.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1844.jpg
(I LOVE the expression on the boy's face!!!)

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1863.jpg

Watched the fireworks, then had to get water and someplace to cool down (it was really hot up there!!!). Looked at all the yummy food that was set out for the party, but we were too full to eat anything (one of the disadvantages to late seating for dinner, there’s no room for the dessert buffets!). Wanted to stay up to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl, but tomorrow is going to be an even earlier day, so we headed off to bed.

Next up, St. Thomas!

[jgillfamilymtairymd]

So, when we left off, we were returning from our island tour and beach break.

Our plan was we were going to meet Diver Dad back in the room, since we had no idea of when our excursions would be returning. As the girls and I are walking to the ship, I notice a guy in front of us is carrying scuba gear. I turn around, and here comes Diver Dad right behind us! We timed that so well! We got back on the ship, headed up to the room, he quickly showered while the girls ran up to deck 9 to grab us lunch, which they brought back to our room, and we all ate on the veranda.

With full tummies, we headed off the ship to take a walk around Road Town. When we were coming back from our island tour we saw that it was maybe a 10 minute walk to get to the town, which we knew was doable, (even with "Little Legs" as Sweet 16 used to be known as). I wanted to find two places, one was Sunny Caribe, a spice shop that I had a coupon from that port excursion book I bought on Sunday. The other place was where I read about the rum being sold. However, I never wrote down the name of the place, and of course, my memory decides to fail me now!

But my first order of business was I needed to get a keychain for my collection. I have collected keychains for over 30 years, and have close to 500 of them, and I needed one from Tortola. As we got off the ship and started walking, there were all these tents set up with typical souvenir stuff, but I didn’t want to look there for my keychain, so we kept walking. Then we found this area that had these little “shacks” (imagine a one car garage, brightly painted and crammed with merchandise, from shirts, to purses, to every imaginable souvenir you can think of) that’s what these shacks looked like! I went in a couple, and found the perfect keychain! So I was happy!

We crossed this major street (Waterfront, maybe?) and there was Sunny Caribe, (it’s easy enough to spot, the name is painted on the side of the building!) We went in and got a nice variety of spices, and teas, some of which will become souvenirs. Then we head out to find the mystery rum place. I knew it wasn’t too far from Sunny Caribe, and I knew it began with a “P”. We walked around not finding much, and the girls were getting impatient with me, so they headed back to the ship. Diver Dad, bless his heart, was still feeling like exploring, so we headed in the other direction, (past “shack town”) and there it was, Pussers! It’s a bar in the front, and a shop in the back. They sell rum that is distilled the same as it has been for over 300 years. The British Navy used to give it’s sailors a “shot’ of this rum every day (guess it’ll cure whatever ails you!), and a portion of the sale of every bottle goes to this fund for the sailors. We decided to purchase a “painkiller” kit (a bottle of the rum, and the fruit juice mix (pineapple, coconut cream and orange juice) to make our own “Painkiller” - the official drink of the Caribbean, or so we were told.). As we’re heading out, I notice in the bar they have a painkiller shooter, and you can keep the glass, so Diver Dad and I have a shooter (hey, he can drink all he wants now! He’s done with the diving!). We sat and told each other about our excursions, he told me about how gorgeous it was diving, how the coral was so huge, and how much he enjoyed the dive.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6230064.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6230094.jpg

Oh, and he saw a shark (don’t tell Pirate Girl!!).

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6230059.jpg

We slowly headed back to the ship and said good bye to Tortola.

Tonight is Pirate Night so we dressed in the costumes I made for last year’s cruise.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1825.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_0793.jpg

Pirate Girl pulled her costume together from items in her closet

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_0791.jpg

Tonight’s show in the Walt Disney theatre is the movie “UP” in 3D which we are eager to see. What an amazing movie!!! Since there was time to kill before dinner, we had our picture taken with Captain Jack, then went to the Promenade Lounge where they were teaching the line dances for the party tonight. Sweet 16 was all for the dancing, Pirate Girl even joined her.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1830.jpg

Supper was in Lumiere’s and I was happy to see they didn’t change too much of the Pirate Night menu, the crab cake, mahi, and triple chocolate dessert were still on there YUM!!! Our waiters were still in the mood to put coverings on our heads, so our bandanas were tied to our head. Since I already had a bandana on, mine was tied to my arm.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1832.jpg

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1831.jpg

As we’re eating, Pirate Girl catches sight of these light up Tinkerbells that are attached to kid’s drinks. The table next to us has two little girls (about 4 and 6 I would guess) and they both have this Tink light (for the boys, it’s Captain Hook). Well, suddenly, my 21 year old wants a light up Tinkerbell. I think she’s kidding, until I look at the face, and realize she’s serious!!! (Tinkerbell is her favorite). So when our assistant server Romain comes by, I ask him to bring both our little girls a Tink light. He looks at me (and them) like we’re all crazy, but he brings them, laughing at us the whole time!

As soon as we were finished with supper, we headed up to deck 9 for the deck party. Sweet 16 hits the dance floor, again, so we all joined her.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1844.jpg
(I LOVE the expression on the boy's face!!!)

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/100_1863.jpg

Watched the fireworks, then had to get water and someplace to cool down (it was really hot up there!!!). Looked at all the yummy food that was set out for the party, but we were too full to eat anything (one of the disadvantages to late seating for dinner, there’s no room for the dessert buffets!). Wanted to stay up to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl, but tomorrow is going to be an even earlier day, so we headed off to bed.

Next up, St. Thomas!


We have been on 4 other DC's. We now have a young 15 month old. Can you give us some insight on Tortola? I mean with the baby and all.

You can email jim@jgill.us or post.

Jim

[Disneylovers]

The wake up call this morning is even earlier, 6:45 GROAN! We head up to Topsiders to eat breakfast. Our servers, Simoun and Romain, are working up there, they stop by and both wish us a fun day. Head down to Diversions (what??? Not Rockin Bar D???) for our 8:00 meet for the Doubloon Sail and Snorkel cruise. We’re walked off the ship and met by crew member Megan who leads us over to the dock where the Doubloon is tying up. We have to attach our Minnie stickers to Captain Dave (because he likes Minnie) in order to get on the boat.
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Captain Dave tells us we’re going to motor out to Turtle Bay so we can get there sooner, but we’ll sail back. As we settle into our seats, this family sits across from us, and I hear her call to her one son “Patrick”. I remembered that someone from the DIs was going on this excursion,and had a son named Patrick, could it be???? IT WAS! DVC Mary! We introduce ourselves and start to get acquainted as we start to motor out. We’re both from the Chicago area (actually, we live less than a half hour from each other) so we had a lot in common.

The seas today are choppy, which made motoring out an adventure.

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We were in the spray zone, which felt good, but after about 15 minutes or so, I’m starting to feel real queasy! I NEVER get sick (I have the wonderful school sisters of St. Francis to thank for that, in 1st grade I got ill at a Halloween Party, and the nun made me clean it up! I’ve never gotten sick, even with two pregnancies, since!). But here I was in serious discomfort. Three of the passengers had to make their way to the back of the boat and use the bucket, but I was determined I wasn’t going back there! Diver Dad told me to focus on the horizon, which I tried to do (but that meant I was turning my back on DVC Mary, which was rude!).

We finally made it to Turtle Bay, and we got the instruction on how to put on our masks and life vests. Diver Dad went in the water first, then we had a time of it convincing Sweet 16 to jump in the water.

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She finally went down the ladder. Pirate Girl hates water, and especially fish. She was on this excursion because I had read it was a “booze cruise”, so she was waiting for that! But, there was a sea turtle swimming around near where we dropped anchor, so she decided to go in and look at the turtle.

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I was still feeling really queasy, so I was in no hurry to get in the water. Megan suggested that if I went in, I’d feel better in the cooler water, and Pirate Girl suggested it may make me feel better to not be on a rockin’ boat, so I geared up, and jumped in.

As we’re swimming around, Diver Dad sees a stingray, and that was it for Pirate Girl (she’s never forgiven stingrays for what they did to Steve Irwin!).

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So she’s back on the boat. Sweet 16 is having issues with breathing. Last year, we worked so hard to teach her how to use a snorkel. We had hoped to take her in the pool before we left to give her a refresher course, but it was so darn cold in Chicago, we never did get into the pool, so she forgot everything.

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One mouthful of salty sea water and she was done too. So that left Diver Dad and I. We swam around, he was having fun taking pictures.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6240135.jpg

I wasn't too impressed by what little sea life I was seeing, tho' Diver Dad was having fun trying to get more pictures of the sea turtle, when suddenly, I start dry heaving. That was it for me! I was out of the water as fast as Diver Dad could help me to the boat!!!!

Once back on the boat, the other crew member Jason aka Snorkel Hottie hands me a Painkiller. Great, just what I need, alcohol!!!! But I sip at it, as the rest of the people make their way back on to the boat. It turns out, Pirate Girl has been talking to Snorkel Hottie since she got out of the water, and has learned he’s 25 with a masters degree in marine biology, he lives in St. Thomas, but he’s from Houston. And he is making sure her Painkiller glass is never empty!!!!

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Once DVC Mary gets back on board, she and I have fun teasing Pirate Girl about the flirting going on. DVC Mary is offended when Snorkel Hottie mistakes her for Pirate Girl’s mom, (not to mention how slow he is to fill HER glass, but boy, Pirate Girl’s is never empty!!!). We raise the sails (they actually get the kids involved with doing that, which makes it fun for the whole family!) and head back to port at a more leisurely pace. I’m still feeling queasy, but at least land is over DVC Mary’s shoulder, so I can keep talking to her! Megan comes around and each of us get our Pirate Tattoo,
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6240145.jpg

Snorkel Hottie takes pictures of all of us for their web site (haven’t seen them posted yet!) then we’re entertained by Snorkel Hottie’s fashion show of the different t-shirts available for purchase.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn54/disneylovers_photo/tortola%20cruise/P6240147-1.jpg

Pirate Girl is wearing the shirt Snorkel Hottie was modeling!

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All too soon we’re back at the port, and we must say goodbye to the Doubloon. With the exception of feeling queasy, it was a fun trip!!!

Our plan for this afternoon is to head to the downtown area, to get some shopping in. At the Port Shopping Show on Sunday, we were given a map of the downtown shopping area. Pirate Girl is directional challenged especially when it comes to maps. But she sat down with that map, the coupon book I picked up at the show, and she mapped out the route we needed to take so that we could get to all the shops she wanted to look at. She had very specific ideas in mind, including a birthday gift for her sister, so there wasn’t any time to lose (especially since we had to be back on the ship at 4:30).

[Disneylovers]

So once we were off the Doubloon, we headed right out to the Havensight Mall, and caught a taxi to the downtown area. In no time, we were there! First stop was Royal Caribbean, to check out the pearl set we had a coupon for. Pirate Girl thought that pearl something would be a nice 16th birthday present for her sister (since it’s her birthstone). The coupon said it was good for a necklace, bracelet, and earrings set, for $39.00. So we walk in, Pirate Girl asks the clerk if she can see the set, while Diver Dad and I just look around. Diver Dad caught site of a diamond, black onyx, and australian opal ring that looked REALLY nice! It had a really nice price to it too! So, we head back to where the girls are, Pirate Girl is completing her sale, she (and Sweet 16) liked the pearl set, so she got it (isn’t she a nice big sister?!). While we’re waiting for them, Diver Dad looks into the case and sees another australian opal ring, which also looks cool. And I see an aquamarine tennis bracelet (which looks a lot like one I’ve had my eye on at a jewelry store in the mall). The only problem is, the ring is in yellow gold (and Diver Dad only wears white gold) and the bracelet is in white (and I have a ring, pendant, and earrings that match this bracelet in yellow gold). The clerk tells us not a problem, they can make it in the color gold we want in an hour! Then she gives us the price for both pieces, and Diver Dad and I are immediately sold!!! (the cost for both pieces is $200 less that what the bracelet at the mall cost!).


With map in hand, Pirate Girl leads us out of the shop, and we continue on her quest. She checks out a couple more shops for linens (but everything is white or ivory, and she doesn’t want that), and she’s now focused on a pair of diamond stud earrings. Another coupon takes us to Princess Jewelers. While she’s talking with the clerk, I spot this really pretty cocktail ring. The clerk notices I’m eyeballing it, so she pulls it out and lets me try it on. She even told me to walk outside with it to see how it sparkles (yes, I did go outside with it, and no, I wasn’t tempted to run!). It came in white and black diamonds or white and blue diamonds. While I really liked the blue diamonds, the white and black was SO Stunning! I turn to Diver Dad and tell him to talk me out of it, and he wouldn’t!!!!! So, I bought it!!! And Pirate Girl got her earrings, so we were set! We were told it would take about 40 minutes to size the ring, so we left and continued our walk. We stopped in a couple more stores for Pirate Girl to redeem a coupon for a couple of free charms. It was really interesting, if the shop was listed on the map we were given, the sales people were really friendly, and very laid back. If the shop wasn’t listed on the map, there were people outside calling out to you “come inside, we have the cheapest prices around”.

We had a coupon for Belgian Chocolate Factory, so with Pirate Girl still holding onto the trusty map, we tried to find it. It proved to be more of a challenge than we originally thought (and it wasn’t quite where it shows on the map!), but we got there, and loaded up on chocolate YUM!!!! By this time, we’re getting pretty hungry (at least we were given a can of soda at the first jewelry store we went into, so that helped for a little while), and tired, and our hour was up, so we headed back to the two jewelry stores to pick up our purchases. Everything looks SO nice!!!! We look at a couple more stores (and even get a pair of free tanzanite stud earrings) before we catch a cab back to the ship. Sorry, we didn't take any pictures of the town, but it you read Royal Vizier's report, he had a bunch of pictures of town!.

Since we’re in another American territory, Pirate Girl can use her cell phone, so all the way back to the ship, she’s calling work to see if her schedule for next month is ready, then her friends to see what she’s missing at home. We learn that the heat finally made it to Chicago, they’re dealing with 100+ degree temperatures! No fair!!!

We get back on the ship, and head directly up to Pluto’s for something to eat! We’re all pretty beat, so we decide to lay down and take a nap. Problem is, I’m tired, but I don’t want to miss us pulling out of port, so I just lay in bed, staring out the window.

I can occasionally hear the announcement chime, but can’t hear what they’re saying. I did hear the ship’s horn, so I knew we were going to leave soon. After a couple more announcement chimes, the cabin starts shaking. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I get up and grab the tv remote, and turn on channel 23 (or whatever channel it is that you can hear the announcements on). Nothing there, so I turn on the channel where you can see the bridge camera, and it doesn’t look like we’re moving. Then I look out the window, and we’re moving backwards. I realize the nap idea is a lost cause, so I step out onto the veranda, and yes, we’re moving back to the dock. Then I spot a police car, and a group of people, what looks like a grandma, a mom, and two little kids standing with the police man. The ship edges closer to the dock, then a gangplank is extended to the dock. Cast members in those yellow jump suits line either side of the gangplank and assist the family onto the ship. Once they’re all on, all of us gawkers let loose with a cheer. Someone yells down to the policeman asking what happened and he said “they thought they had to be back as 6. It’s a good thing the ambulance was here” What ambulance??? (Found out later from DVC Mary, apparently a passenger fell and broke a limb - sorry, can’t remember what limb - and had to be evacuated, so we were late leaving St. Thomas, which was a good thing for this family!!). By this time Diver Dad has also given up the nap idea, and he has joined me on the veranda, so we watch as we leave St. Thomas. Diver Dad grabbed the camera and took some shots (since we didn't take any as we pulled in this morning)

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There is this flock of seagulls acting like our escorts out of the port. They’re swooping around and two literally collide right in front of us, which freaks me out, and sends me running back into the stateroom!

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We weren’t interested in seeing the show tonight, so we just relaxed some more in the room.

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(writing in my journal, so I remember everything for this trip report!)

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Sunset from our veranda

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The night sky from our veranda, and a sliver of moon.

Dinner tonight is in Animator’s Palate, it’s the “regular” menu, so we get to see the “show”. Sorcerer Mickey made an appearance, which was fun!

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We run into DVC Mary and her family and talk about what all we bought in port.

Tonight, in the Buena Vista Theatre they’re showing “the Proposal” at 10:30. Pirate Girl really wants to see it, so Sweet 16 agrees to go with her. I’d like to see it, but I’m SO tired, I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep, so I wish them fun, and Diver Dad and I head to bed!

[Disneylovers]

We interrupt this trip report for this special announcement, this is my 500th post!!! :cool1::banana::yay: Yes, if you look at my information to the left, I've been registered here for 10 years. I'm not a big "poster" - obviously! For the first few years I was registered, I was too shy to post anything, I figured no one wanted to know my opinions on matters. I got over that idea!!!! OK, enough celebrating, we now resume our regularly scheduled trip report!

Another day at sea, and still not bored! We sleep in (which felt SO nice!) then head up to Topsiders for breakfast, just Diver Dad and I (the girls are still sleeping). Sit outside and just enjoy the scenery, even if it’s endless blue water and blue sky. The girls never did make an appearance (found out later we missed them by about 15 minutes). Diver Dad and I headed down to the shops. We used up the last of our sunscreen yesterday, so we need more. While in the shop, I get myself a t-shirt, and coffee mug, which then qualifies us for the rolling duffel (which Diver Dad figures we’re going to need to put all our souvenirs in. Hey I’m being good so far, all my purchases have been small (jewelry doesn’t take up THAT much room!).
At 1:00 in the Buena Vista Theatre, there’s a “Behind the Scenes” presentation by Dana Amendola, the Vice President of Operations for Walt Disney Theatrical, on how The Lion King and Mary Poppins made their way from film to Broadway. Since we’re theatre people (Diver Dad and I met working on a community theatre production), and we’ve seen both musicals here in Chicago, we thought it would be an interesting presentation, and it was! For anyone who answered (or asked) a question, they received a prize. The prizes were all from different Disney Theatrical presentations, which included the High School Musical shows, (which Sweet 16 really likes). We managed to answer a few questions, which scored us a Lion King hat, and AIDA hat, High School Musical backpack, pens, and someone behind us won a stuffed “wildcat” which they didn’t want, so they gave it to Sweet 16 (so she wound up with quite a haul!, Thank goodness for the backpack to put it all in!).

Once the presentation was over, we headed up to Deck 9 for lunch, and the drink of the day (which was now 2 for 1, so we wound up with 4 drinks). Then we headed to play bingo again (it was the Mega Jackpot - Pirate Girl hoped to win it so she could put it towards a new car). We came close, but no win. Oh well!!! Went back up to the room and sat out on the veranda. Tonight is semi-formal night. Diver Dad will wear the tux again, just not the vest. The girls and I packed nice dresses, and Pirate Girl is going to let Sweet 16 wear her pearls tonight.

We went to see Disney Dreams (I never get tired of that show!), then walked around up on deck 10 trying to find a good spot to take a picture. We didn’t care for the backdrop that was being used tonight by the photographers, so we tried to find our own backdrop up on deck(there was a pretty sunset, but it was pretty windy, so our pictures are “wind blown”).

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After we took these pictures, Pirate Girl disappeared. Her sunburn from yesterday (when we ran out of sunscreen, there was a portion of her back that got burnt) is really being aggravated by the dress, so she ran back to the room to take it off until dinner time. At the time we didn’t know this, so we just tried to figure out what to do. There was a family dance party in Studio Sea to High School Musical songs, so we took Sweet 16 there and she and her dad got up and danced. I was kind, I didn’t take any pictures of Diver Dad attempting to do the moves from High School Musical (I give him a lot of credit for getting up there and attempting them in the first place!).

Dinner tonight is in Parrot Cay, and it’s the Captain’s Gala menu, which means LOBSTER!!!! I’m the only one in my family who eats seafood (other than shrimp which the girls will occasionally eat), but I’m really looking forward to the lobster, and it didn’t disappoint!!! After dinner, DVC Mary comes over to see Sweet 16’s pearls, and wishes Sweet 16 a Happy Birthday. Simoun is right next to me, and in a slightly panicked voice he whispers “We’re celebrating tomorrow”. I whisper back “I know, Sweet 16 is wearing her present from her sister, who gave it to her early”. Simoun looks relieved and leaves the table. As we're leaving, our head server Zan asked to have his picture taken with our lovely girls.

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Tonight’s movie is “Confessions of a Shopaholic” which the girls go to see, while Diver Dad and I turn in.

[DammitJim]

lg3, are you on the September 12th Tortola cruise? My family and 3 kids are going.

[cakesnjammom]

Enjoying your TR very much! What a gorgeous family! Congrats on the jewelry...lucky you!
Cannot wait for more!

[Hobbitmomma]

Thank you for sharing your trip and family with us. The pictures are lovely.