9/23/07: Life Stinks! The 2nd Season! -The Final Episode. :(

[CRUIZEN MAMMA]

I don't think you're alone when it comes to massages. My husband and I are taking our 1st cruise in Nov. I've booked a cabanna massage for the two of us. He has never had a massage and I had one once- He adimantly refuses to have one if the person is male- he says it would be too weird. The one massage I had done was by a woman and I thought it would be weird being rubbed all over by a woman but I really enjoyed it. I guess it's kind of like Labor- when I was pregnant with my son I had to have a female doctor- long story short- he was 6 weeks early and her male partner had to deliver because she wasn't on call. It's true what they say- when a woman is in labor you don't care if the janitor delivers the baby as long as it gets out!!!

 

[Tink rules]

Oh come on Mozart....

BE A MAN!!!

Let a man give you a massage... you'll live - unless you give him the "I can take it remark again!!!

Side note... this summer my teenage nephew was having lunch with me and my mom while we were discussing our cruise... I said I wanted to spend some time at the spa and he just cringed and looked around... so I had to of course embarrass him - I LIVE for moments like that!!! I tell him Men go to the Spa all the time and it's getting very popular too... he disagrees so I look around and spot 5 guys from our local Air National Guard base... I ask them... (embarrassing them too... NEVER seen so many grown men turn pink!!! ) if any of them had ever had a massage... they hem and haw and study the menu over head until this big guy steps forward (apparently their commander) and says that his wife made him get one on vacation last year and he LOVED it!!!

I guess now it's ok for spa appts at the 109th!!!!

 

[Mozart]

We headed for dinner the second night, and this time it was at Triton’s. I actually made it through dinner this time. The food this evening consisted of the chilled vichyssoise soup, escargot, and lamb. I chose wrong. Another at my table chose the citrus glazed duckling. Now THAT was fantastic. Not that the lamb wasn’t good, but I highly recommend the duck if you go. Again, I know that I could’ve ordered a plate afterwards myself, but being the manly man that I am, my pride would not allow me to admit a mistake in front of other people.

Our head server turned out to be Tektas from Akron, OH. The Akron part I haven’t figured out. He’s originally from overseas, but now lives in Akron, and has lived there since the early 80’s. Akron? I’ve been to Akron. How, exactly, does one choose to live in Akron when you’re from outside the country and you work in the beautiful weather of the Caribbean. I don’t need an Akron defender to take me to task (although I’m sure somebody is thinking about it) but Akron? I’m stumped on that one.

Since we have the latest possible seating for dinner (8:30) after dinner we just kind of roam the ship. We watched a few minutes of Monday Night Football on the bigscreen on Deck 9, but since our teams weren’t playing, it didn’t really hold our interest. The Cadillac Lounge was kind of dead, so we decided to head to Wavebands and watch the 70’s party.

That place was packed. They had picked 3 girls and 3 guys and had them at the front. The girls had been told that they were going to be the judges while the guys lip-synched. Problem was that the guys had been told the opposite. So, they sent the girls to the back and brought them out one by one, and they were told that they were actually doing the lip-synch themselves. Erica – this one’s all you. The lip-synching was done to Gloria Gaynor. Now, the first girl that went up there embraced it. She grabbed the boa and went nuts. Did a little dirty dancing for the 3 guys who were judging. Then came one of the two lines of the cruise as I refer to them. After her dance, the emcee walks over to the guys, one of whom was sitting a little funny. The emcee asked him if he enjoyed her dirty dance? He said it was pretty good. At which point the emcee replied “Well, this is a Disney ship. Please remove your hand from your crotch.”

I think I’ll end day 2 right there.

 

[CapnJackGroupie]

Loved your first TR and lovin' this one as well!!!

 

[zweihund]

We headed for dinner the second night, and this time it was at Triton’s. I actually made it through dinner this time. The food this evening consisted of the chilled vichyssoise soup, escargot, and lamb. I chose wrong. Another at my table chose the citrus glazed duckling. Now THAT was fantastic. Not that the lamb wasn’t good, but I highly recommend the duck if you go. Again, I know that I could’ve ordered a plate afterwards myself, but being the manly man that I am, my pride would not allow me to admit a mistake in front of other people.

Our head server turned out to be Tektas from Akron, OH. The Akron part I haven’t figured out. He’s originally from overseas, but now lives in Akron, and has lived there since the early 80’s. Akron? I’ve been to Akron. How, exactly, does one choose to live in Akron when you’re from outside the country and you work in the beautiful weather of the Caribbean. I don’t need an Akron defender to take me to task (although I’m sure somebody is thinking about it) but Akron? I’m stumped on that one.

Since we have the latest possible seating for dinner (8:30) after dinner we just kind of roam the ship. We watched a few minutes of Monday Night Football on the bigscreen on Deck 9, but since our teams weren’t playing, it didn’t really hold our interest. The Cadillac Lounge was kind of dead, so we decided to head to Wavebands and watch the 70’s party.

That place was packed. They had picked 3 girls and 3 guys and had them at the front. The girls had been told that they were going to be the judges while the guys lip-synched. Problem was that the guys had been told the opposite. So, they sent the girls to the back and brought them out one by one, and they were told that they were actually doing the lip-synch themselves. Erica – this one’s all you. The lip-synching was done to Gloria Gaynor. Now, the first girl that went up there embraced it. She grabbed the boa and went nuts. Did a little dirty dancing for the 3 guys who were judging. Then came one of the two lines of the cruise as I refer to them. After her dance, the emcee walks over to the guys, one of whom was sitting a little funny. The emcee asked him if he enjoyed her dirty dance? He said it was pretty good. At which point the emcee replied “Well, this is a Disney ship. Please remove your hand from your crotch.”

I think I’ll end day 2 right there.

 

[Mozart]

Day 3 of our cruise and I’m up and at it at 6:45. The sun is just starting to come up, and I experienced an awesome sensation. The sunrise was nice, but the feeling of sitting out on the verandah in nothing but my underwear as we chugged along towards Castaway Cay is something I’ll never forget. I’m sure I’m painting a beautiful picture for everyone to see right now.

Skipping away from my boxers, we move on to Castaway Cay. I think everyone must have just been taking their time getting on the island, because we were a few minutes late heading over, and NOONE was on the island yet. We walked all the way to where the bike rental shop is, and hardly saw a soul. Rented our bikes and went out for a ride. Got to the observation tower, and the only person we could see anywhere from there was someone parasailing back on the other side of the boat. We discovered the identity of that secret beach we found last time, although this time it was roped off and said cast members only, and then turned around to head back.

Some guy and gal had gotten married on Castaway Cay that day. Don’t know who they possibly could have been, but rumor has it he’s a DIS’er.

One point to make. If you rent bikes, they don’t care how long you have them. We brought ours back within about an hour, and learned that they don’t really check the bikes back in. Had we known that, we would’ve kept them all day.

So, it’s time to head for Serenity (and I’m not talking about the spaceship in the TV show Firefly). We start to walk to the tram…and walk…and walk…and walk…and realize that we walked right past the tram spot when we get to the landing strip. We’ve done this every single time we head to Serenity Bay. That little spot the tram is in is very easy to miss. We’ve now gone to Serenity Bay 4 times, and missed the tram every time. Next time, I’m gonna drink first so I don’t feel so stupid when we miss it.

Here’s where the man’s man shows up again. My wife had purchased a $1.99 float from Target before we left. When we got to Serenity Bay, she decided that we should just purchase a float for the day. “No” I say. We bought this float and we’re going to use it. It took me nearly an hour to blow that stupid little thing up. My face was red and I probably about passed out 3 times. But I blew it up all nice, shiny, and blue. And then discovered it was too tiny for an adult other than my 35 pound wife to float in. So what’d I do after all that….went and bought the $6 float. Maybe I’m not a man’s man after all.

Soon, we head back to the boat to get our snorkeling gear and I wonder why everyone’s headed back so early. It’s only 1:30 after all. Why’s everyone leaving Castaway Cay now? A few hours later, I would learn the wet way.

 

[wuv tigger]

I got 1 hour left in my morning to read your trip reports.

I need the next one

I have truly enjoyed your tr so far!

wuv tigger

 

[Mozart]

After spending a day snorkeling and just relaxing in general at Serenity Bay, my FIL and I start watching the clouds. We’ve seen a thunderstorm off in the distance a few times, and we notice the clouds over our head are starting to get darker and darker. We’d better head back we decide. About that time a cast member comes along and tells us that the captain is calling everyone back to the ship due to a severe thunderstorm approaching. Now, if you’ve never been caught in a thunderstorm, let me inform you of a little detail…Serenity Bay is not the place to be when one hits. It’s suddenly pouring rain in sheets. There’s now more rain on the island than alcohol, which is saying something. The tram finally shows up. I think it literally took 5 minutes from the time we saw it turn onto the other end of the runway until it finally arrived. At one point I asked a cast member standing by us if the tram had broken down. He just laughed and said “____ must be driving.” I didn’t catch the name he said.

So, we board the tram, get back to the tram stop near the family beach, and a lifeguard there calls us under a shelter. There’s lightning in the area, and we need to wait there until it’s clear. While waiting, we meet Mike Super, the guy who performed the first night on the ship. He asked if we made his show, and I told him that we don’t really go to the shows. (I’m such a liar.) He replied “Well, you didn’t miss much.” Dude, it’s your show. Great advertising you’re doing.

So, after about a 45 minute wait, we get to head back to the ship, soaking wet. When we arrived the crew was so happy to get us onboard that they didn’t even check our ID’s. Maybe a stowaway jumped onboard at Castaway Cay. It could be done. I’ve got it all planned out. Take a boat from Grand Abaco Island which is only 8 miles away, and you’re on the island. Catch a good thunderstorm and they won’t check and VOILA! You get a day at Castaway Cay and at sea on DCL and they never even know it. Sleep out on deck 4. I LIKE IT!

Afterwards, it’s simply a change to our future cruise plans. We decided that since this cruise was doubledipping, we could skip the 5 nighter and just go ahead with our next one which was a 7 Night Eastern. Nov 2008. Come join us. We tend to have way too many Bahama Mama’s on our table.

But you all know what time it is…Palo’s. Without Coralia. She’s waiting on a 20 person wedding party, after all. We suck it up and head upstairs even though we know it just won’t be the same.

Or will it?

 

[chepic]

Day 3 of our cruise and I’m up and at it at 6:45. The sun is just starting to come up, and I experienced an awesome sensation. The sunrise was nice, but the feeling of sitting out on the verandah in nothing but my underwear as we chugged along towards Castaway Cay is something I’ll never forget. I’m sure I’m painting a beautiful picture for everyone to see right now.

Mozart....the picture that you are painting is certainly not the picture you posted...

You are just getting me more and more psyched for our Jan. cruise....keep it coming.

cheryl

 

[Tink rules]

Mozart....the picture that you are painting is certainly not the picture you posted...

You are just getting me more and more psyched for our Jan. cruise....keep it coming.

cheryl

Honey... just make sure there aren't any holes in your boxers and you'll be FINE!!!

(now I need to get counseling for that picture that was "painted..."

 

[ashman]

It could be worse. I put up the shub picture, lets just be thankful he left it as a "word picture" give the guy a break.

Mozart you better hurry alone, the crowd's getting fiesty! Good read my man!

 

[Mozart]

Mozart....the picture that you are painting is certainly not the picture you posted...

cheryl

Trust me. I posted the better of the two pictures.

Honey... just make sure there aren't any holes in your boxers and you'll be FINE!!!

Well, they were a pair that I had just bought.

Mozart you better hurry alone, the crowd's getting fiesty!

There are certain portions of this crowd that have been feisty for a very long time.

 

[Tink rules]

There are certain portions of this crowd that have been feisty for a very long time.

WHO?????????????

 

[Mozart]

We walk into Palo’s. There’s a few servers and the maitre’d at the door. Coralia is one of them. The maitre’d asks us a question. “Coralia wants to be your server, but she has a large party coming in at 7. Would you be willing to tolerate the fact that service may be a little slower than normal?”

Our cruise is complete. I watched Coralia for the next 2 hours run at full pace in order to be able to wait on Joel’s group and ours. She had actually specifically requested that she be allowed to wait on us. We never made the request because we knew she was going to be that busy. As the maitre’d put it to us “Coralia told us you were a special party.” I still feel absolutely honored that she would do that. Their service is good, but that’s just going above and beyond the call of duty. Not only did she serve us and a large group, but she still provided excellent service. I highly recommend that any trip to Palo’s be completed with a request to have her as your server. Simply put, she is fantastic. And being willing to wait on us really made our cruise feel special. For the record, my dinner consisted of the grilled portabello mushroom appetizer, tenderloin, and chocolate souffle. As usual, all were excellent.

(You happy now, Tink?)

Now, in order for Coralia to be able to serve us as well as the wedding party, they sat us at the table right next to the private dining room. A few minutes into our meal, the wedding party begins to filter in. Joel and his wife are among the last to come in. I spent my entire meal trying to figure out how to make Joel laugh. He wouldn’t look at me, though. I think he was afraid.

During the course of the dinner, there was one phrase we heard Joel mutter that I would really like to be able to share with you. However, I consider it kind of a spoiler for his trip report and therefore will not. Suffice it to say that we weren’t eavesdropping, but there was a lull in our conversation where he uttered, quite loudly, what I consider to be one of the two best lines of the cruise. It made everyone at my table nearly choke on their food. Even Coralia, who was at her server stand, dropped her mouth in shock and looked to see if she’d heard correctly.

After dinner, it was on to the Pirates party, where we got to watch Pikey dance the night away. Sort of.

 

[LITTLEKID58]

TFS you TR is awesome

 

[CRUIZEN MAMMA]

Great picture of you and your beautiful wife. Guess who I'm requesting for Palo on my Nov 18 cruise. If I say Motzart sent me will she know who I mean?

 

[Tink rules]

Yes....

I'm happy...

Although your rennaisance picture and your 21st century one are SO different!!!

Make over perhaps???

Glad you had a good time at Palo's!!! Can't wait to try it myself!

 

[Mozart]

Pirates in the Caribbean. What a party! Well, I think you’re all kind of used to it by now. My thoughts generally at the party centered around one thing…Pikey.

Everyone loves Pikey. I really hadn’t had much of a chance to see him, but I thought one thing as I watched him…this guy is bored. He just didn’t look like he was having any fun whatsoever. Clayton seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, but Pikey was just going through the motions. It wasn’t just at the pirate party either. I saw him a couple of times through the cruise, and always got the impression that he was just kind of tolerating being there. Maybe there was something distracting him. Maybe he’s just burned out. I don’t know, but for all the great things I’ve heard about him, I just don’t understand everyone’s fascination with him after seeing him.

After the pirate party, we killed a little time waiting. On our first cruise we had gone to karaoke and had a wonderful time watching the people get up on stage. We walked in a few minutes after it started to see a guy doing what was actually a fabulous rendition of Barry Manilow’s “Copa.” Now, instead of taking his drink, he gave it to his partner, who was already absolutely rocked. This would start a trend. The next people that came up gave their shot to “Greenie” as my wife called him. (He was wearing a green t-shirt and had wrapped a green boa around his neck.) Next group – “Give him our drink, too.” At this time, the emcee ended up skipping the next 4 groups that did karaoke. When people reminded him that he had done so…all 4 groups gave their drinks to Greenie. 4 shots go down: BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

I would see him the next morning. He was still green, but this time it wasn’t his shirt.

 

[Mozart]

Great picture of you and your beautiful wife. Guess who I'm requesting for Palo on my Nov 18 cruise. If I say Motzart sent me will she know who I mean?

She won't recognize the name Mozart. Tell her Kevin and Holli said hello and she'll know.

Yes....

I'm happy...

Although your rennaisance picture and your 21st century one are SO different!!!

Make over perhaps???

That's the difference after a day tanning on Castaway Cay.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

just found your TR! Off to start reading!!!