Video Killed the Trip Report Star: A Little Halloween Magic (Western) Complete!!

It sounds like so much fun!!! I LOVE that Sailaway party! It's like a GIANT pep rally for the cruise- really gets you PUMPED for vacation! What was it you said???

" It seemed like every single person onboard was crammed in this space!!"

Ummm....not quite... :sad2:
 
" It seemed like every single person onboard was crammed in this space!!"

Ummm....not quite... :sad2:

Oh I know I wrote that part with you guys in mind, but I won't spoil your story!!!! ;)
 
I don't think Sarah ever realized she was on the ship because every time we'd get off in a port she's see the ship get excited and do the "bom bom bom bom bom bom bom!" It was so cute.:love:
 
Enjoying DOTD #2. Not sure what this one was, but it was good!

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LOVE'n it Loven it!

It was at this point, the spirited countdown from 10 began, followed by screams, yells, cheers, streamers, confetti, and of course, the serenade of the ship’s horn bellowing the first seven notes of the tune When You Wish Upon A Star. Or as it sounds in actuality: “Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom Booooooooommmm!”
AHH DISNEY does a sailaway like no other.. at least no other that ive experienced yet LOL

The story behind the story here is in preparation for the cruise Savannah and Sarah would sit on the computer for hours, watching DCL sailaway videos posted on youtube. So anytime Sarah saw anything Disney related, Mickey, or a cruise sip or anything else she would scream at the top her lungs “Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom Bom Boooooommmmmm!” It is so cute, and she kept it up all cruise long, endearing herself to and warming the hearts of cruisers and staff alike.
Please tell me you have Sarah on video doing it!!!

Do I wanna know why some dude behind Sarah has a PINK BOA on LMAO
 


:lmao: I don't think I'm getting the camera I want either!!:lmao: I'm hoping that it's just the memory card, for your sake.


I think that is awesome how she would sing that! I think closer to time I might want to have DS watch the videos, he's not a fan of super loud noises... Looks like your family had a blast at Sail Away though!

Thanks for the update! Can't wait for more...popcorn::
 
I don't think I have ever seen the deck so crowded. Looks like you all had a ball. I love the Sailaway party :yay::yay::yay:
 


I don't think Sarah ever realized she was on the ship because every time we'd get off in a port she's see the ship get excited and do the "bom bom bom bom bom bom bom!" It was so cute.:love:

Yeah that was hilarious! She never did quite get it!

LOVE'n it Loven it!


AHH DISNEY does a sailaway like no other.. at least no other that ive experienced yet LOL

So true! Although the bouncing blue and yellow balloon/bouy thing from RCCL is amusing. Will be interesting to see what they do on the ships that have the Dreamworks characters rolling out, if they try to come up with something to rival DCL. We shall see!!


Please tell me you have Sarah on video doing it!!!

I was pretty sure we did, but I just rechecked and nada. I can take one of her doing it but I can't post it until I get my laptop back. (Yes Best Buy has it *again*. I don't even want to talk about the ipod that I got yesterday (replacement) that is already all messed up. I swear me and electronics. :sad2:)


Do I wanna know why some dude behind Sarah has a PINK BOA on LMAO
Ha! I never noticed that!

You know this was a Jersey week cruise, so it was full of folks from Jersey. Let me tell you, what a great group of people!!! Everyone onboard was so nice and polite and fun! Crowded, yes, but you couldn't have asked for a better crowd. Anyone who might hesitate to book a Jersey Week cruise- don't!!! The boat is NOT full of Snooki's, Situations, and Pauly D's! :lmao::rotfl:

And that concludes your I <3 Jersey PSA for the day! :woohoo:

:lmao: I don't think I'm getting the camera I want either!!:lmao: I'm hoping that it's just the memory card, for your sake.

Yeah I am pretty sure it is. Either that of the number of missing pictures is in direct correlation with the number of drinks consumed. :rolleyes1


I think that is awesome how she would sing that! I think closer to time I might want to have DS watch the videos, he's not a fan of super loud noises... Looks like your family had a blast at Sail Away though!

Thanks for the update! Can't wait for more...popcorn::

Yes, the videos are a great preparation tool! I'm not sure Sarah would have been so comfortable with the characters had she not watched all those. And yes, as promised I will have my very own video to post at the end!! (Which I am very excited to get started as soon as I get my computer back.)

That does look like a :crowded: deck!

Yes, it was! I noticed our pictures make the area right around us look not so bad but it did get shoulder to shoulder when the characters came out and everyone rushed forward to get a better view. It wasn't like a stampede, but it did get tight!:eek:

I don't think I have ever seen the deck so crowded. Looks like you all had a ball. I love the Sailaway party :yay::yay::yay:

Oh me too, there really is no other way to start a cruise!! We missed it so much on RCCL. And the excitement was truly contagious! :yay:
 
Yeah I am pretty sure it is. Either that of the number of missing pictures is in direct correlation with the number of drinks consumed. :rolleyes1

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Hopefully that will be me! I don't know though since we are taking MIL and she tends to frown on things like me drinking...:rolleyes1




Yes, the videos are a great preparation tool! I'm not sure Sarah would have been so comfortable with the characters had she not watched all those. And yes, as promised I will have my very own video to post at the end!! (Which I am very excited to get started as soon as I get my computer back.)
OOOO!!! I can't wait to see the video! I would love to be able to do one, but that would mean I need a bunch more stuff, the video camera being one thing. :rotfl2:
 
I am sorry to get to this late. I have loved reading Ellen's and now to read this more. I need to get over my fear of crusing. This is certainly helping :)
 
After the sailaway party, we headed back to our rooms to start unpacking. On our very first cruise we never unpacked because we did not want to waste the precious time onboard, and lived straight out of the suitcases. It was chaos, so now we always take the time to get ourselves unpacked and organized the first evening, as much as we don’t want to. We tried to get Sarah to take a nap but she was having no part of that. The older two wanted to go watch the All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin show, so Ron accompanied them down to the theater and the three of them enjoyed the show while I finished unpacking.

I’ve always wanted to catch the Mickey Mania show, but being at 7 PM it was not to be yet again this cruise. Sarah was a handful and a half, as she was waaay wound up and overstimulated, and now also hungry. We had also planned to get the kids signed into the clubs and pick up our pagers, which we did not do in the terminal, that did not happen either. But we did get all unpacked and decently organized. That in itself was no simple task due to the massive amount of Trick or Treat gifts, supplies, and candy I had to prepare for the next morning. We had checked a huge box, probably 4 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet completely full of ToT candy and supplies, and I began to get nervous when it did not show up at our rooms with the rest of our luggage. All of the luggage arrived sporadically, and very late (most of it arrived after sailaway), again due to the Coast Guard Inspection. Finally though the big box showed up- thank goodness!! I unpacked all of that stuff to the top of the desk, which it completely covered in a pile several layers high- it looked like something you might see in a house on the TV show Hoarders, with things falling off the top of the pile and such. Luckily we only had to deal with most of it until the next morning!

Before we knew it, the kids were back from the show and it was 8:15- already time for dinner!! Our rotation was APLLAPL and so that meant our dinner this evening would be in Animator’s Palate, and this would be our “show” dinner. We headed down to AP, and there was still a line heading into the restaurant. At the front of the line, we were asked for our dinner tickets, which being veteran cruisers (and a little rushed), we had not paid much attention to and thought we had forgotten them. We did not think this was a big deal, as we knew our table number (55) and it was also on our KTTW cards. They did not want to seat us without the tickets though and told us to stand aside. I thought this was strange, but I fiddled around in my bag and it turned out I did have them, so we were then seated promptly.

We were happy to discover we did indeed score a table to ourselves as requested. In fact, it was already set up with a highchair and a kids’ water with lid for Sarah! As soon as we approached we were greeted by our server, Mahendra, who if I recall correctly was from the Phillipines and our Assistant Server Passayu from Thailand. Later we would meet our head server Godwin (I believe from India). They were a wonderful serving team!

I love Animator’s Palate!

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We got situated at our table and were very quickly served our drinks and had our menus to look over. Animator’s used to be my favorite menu, but I was less than thrilled with the removal of the Mushroom Puff Pastry, filet, and worst of all Peanut Butter Pie. I was expecting this meal to be not so great, but I will say I was very pleasantly surprised.


Ron and I have similar likes in the food department so we often choose the same food items. We both selected the Wild Mushroom Risotto for an appetizer. While we both preferred the mushroom pastry appetizer that used to be served in AP, we did both really like this risotto. It was very rich, creamy, and thick with a delicious earthy mushroom flavor.

Since I lost all of my pictures from this evening, I borrowed these from PrincessTrisha’s great food report: (Thanks Trisha!)
Wild Mushroom Risotto with Porcini Twist:

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For soups and salads, Ron chose soup and I selected salad. He said the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup was good. I had the Confetti Tomato Salad which was a very small portion and a very basic salad, but also very good. (Photo Courtesy of Ellen!)

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The kids’ entrees arrived while we were eating our soups/salads. Brendan and Savannah had the Minnie’s Mini Burger, which has not changed a bit over the years. Sarah enjoyed the famous DCL Chicken Tenders, served with “trees”:

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Soon after our entrées arrived, both Ron and I chose the Asian Marinated Beef Tenderloin with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes. (picture courtesy of PrincessTrisha)

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Mine was much more done than the one pictured above, as I prefer my meat Medium Well. It was still juicy and flavorful, and though I am a steak purist and often prefer my beef without sauce, I thought the Asian Barbecue Sauce that accompanied the steaks was tangy and delicious, a perfect complement. I also love wasabi, so those potatoes were super yummy. We were overall delighted with the quality and preparation of the food not only this evening but the entire cruise. It was a big improvement over our last DCL cruise, for sure!

Our serving team on this busy first evening kept us moving along at a fast pace, which was great since Sarah’s attention span is short. We were served our desserts prior to the beginning of the show, which is just perfect timing.

Ron, Brendan and I all chose the Double Fudge Chocolate Cake with Caramel Orange Sauce, which was pretty good, but not as moist or rich as I would have liked:

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Savannah had a sundae:

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And Sarah had a Mickey Bar:

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As we enjoyed our desserts, the lights dimmed, the colorful show began, and afterwards was the best part (skip ahead if you don’t want to be spoiled)

Mickey!

Video ( click to play)



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We were one of the first to leave the dining room after the show. Our plan was to get the kids settled back in the room, hopefully get Sarah in bed and with Brendan babysitting, hopefully get down to Magic Quest and Match Your Mate.

Fish Extenders are already full! A lot of Disers have been busy!

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We aren’t quite sure what these towel animals are, maybe Space Shuttles? (the shuttle was on the pad for the launch anticipated for 11/1, and if so, that was an inventive design). We would find that as the week went on, our stateroom host Ryan would craft us location-appropriate animals, so the shuttle interpretation does make sense.

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Sarah’s bed all turned down and made:

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She did have a big day and did fall asleep relatively quickly but we did not make it to Magic Quest on time. We debated whether or not we should even bother, but in the end decided to just go check it out, and I am so glad we did, we saw Ellen and Pods right as we walked in and took a seat with them! We had a blast enjoying the show together, which is hilarious! I would love to participate in this someday, it looks like so much fun.


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We ended up having a cruise mate to cheer on, Sarge, who is the gentleman in the blue with the beige bra! In our opinion he should have won, especially since the tall guy (who did win) clearly had played many times before, as we saw him get fully dressed in his bra, shoes, purse, and lipstick well before they even announced what was coming next.

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We stayed through to watch Match your Mate, which was also fun, but not as racy or over the top as we had hoped. I enjoyed a delicious and strong Chocolate Martini which packed quite a punch and left me feeling no pain.


After the show, we had to stop by Guest Services as I still had a set of lanyards that I could not deliver, as that person had never given me their stateroom number. I also had another couple of sets to deliver, and ended up meeting Denise who happened to be one of the people I needed to deliver to, and that saved me a trip. Unbeknownst to me, I still had one more lanyard to deliver, but because I was feeling a little tipsy somehow I overlooked it and instead Ellen and I smooched in the elevator lobby. (I noticed the last lone lanyard the next morning after breakfast and dropped it off then!)

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We couldn’t believe how quiet the rest of the ship was, it probably wasn’t even midnight but every body was already in bed, no doubt preparing for Halloween the next morning.

I still had quite a bit of work to do, last minute divvying up of candy and getting everything all set for tomorrow’s Trick or Treat event! By the time I had all that done, I collapsed into bed and slept like a baby!

Up Next: This is Halloween!
 
OOOO!!! I can't wait to see the video! I would love to be able to do one, but that would mean I need a bunch more stuff, the video camera being one thing. :rotfl2:

Well, admittedly I don't take much video, so it will be more like a slideshow of pictures with a little bit of video too . I call it a video instead of a slideshow cause that sounds cooler! :rotfl2:

I am sorry to get to this late. I have loved reading Ellen's and now to read this more. I need to get over my fear of crusing. This is certainly helping :)

Awesome! Thanks for reading! Better late than never is what I always say! ;) Hopefully my TR will help you, cruising is so wonderful!!! :goodvibes
 
That is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo funny!! we DID smooch in the hallway, LOL!!:rotfl2::rotfl2: You and that show were the bright end to our CRAZY day! I am so glad we watched that together!:goodvibes

Here's a confetti tomato salad for your troubles-

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Wait until you see how faaaaaaaaaaar behind we were on our dinner service compared to you guys.....:rolleyes1:sad2:
 
Wow so THAT's what AP night is supposed to be like! Lol, wish that is how ours went. I meant to comment the other night but seeing that you were at Beat Street as well this made me chuckle inside... On both occasions we were directly across from you all. On the Sail away party, we were on the top deck where you were shooting your camera. :rotfl2:

I also never knew that was Sarge and had I known I would have joined in the hollering. Then there is the tall one... boy do I have a couple stories about that family...............


We stayed through to watch Match your Mate, which was also fun, but not as racy or over the top as we had hoped. I enjoyed a delicious and strong Chocolate Martini which packed quite a punch and left me feeling no pain.

Did you take any photos? You know every time I saw that older couple on the ship all I could think of was.... Mustang?!! I think I ran into him about 10x snickering under my breathe.
 
I think those DODs and Chocolate Martini messed up your timeline a little.:lmao: An edit is in order.;) It was a different night that I got heckled by A & S while dropping the kids off at the show to meet back up with you.:goodvibes

I was with the kids for the entire first night's show... Those guys were so funny, but during that show whenever someone had to excuse themselves they were heckled. I thought, gosh I wouldn't want to be that guy.

Then the next night when I brought the kids to the theater I noticed they had already started, but I needed to get the kids seated. I tried to play it cool... but... let's just say that didn't work out so well.:sad2:

Ron
 
You know every time I saw that older couple on the ship all I could think of was.... Mustang?!! I think I ran into him about 10x snickering under my breathe.
I too must've seen that guy 20 times and thought the same thing. It's funny how you'll see the same people over and over. Then some people you see while disembarking that you'd have never known were on the same cruise as you.
 
That is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo funny!! we DID smooch in the hallway, LOL!!:rotfl2::rotfl2: You and that show were the bright end to our CRAZY day! I am so glad we watched that together!:goodvibes

Great start to a great cruise!!! :hug:

Here's a confetti tomato salad for your troubles-
Thanks! Post edited! :thumbsup2

Wait until you see how faaaaaaaaaaar behind we were on our dinner service compared to you guys.....:rolleyes1:sad2:

Yep but unfortunately we caught up to you guys by the end of the week.
Our service was fantastic, I only wish they had been able to keep that pace up. Not that it mattered much towards midweek one of us was leaving dinner early with Sarah on a routine basis anyway. :sad2:

Wow so THAT's what AP night is supposed to be like! Lol, wish that is how ours went.

Yep it is a bummer your troubles in the dining room had to spoil the experience!! :sad2:

I meant to comment the other night but seeing that you were at Beat Street as well this made me chuckle inside... On both occasions we were directly across from you all. On the Sail away party, we were on the top deck where you were shooting your camera. :rotfl2:

Oh cool! That's why I love looking at everyone's pics, you never know where you might pop up! :rotfl:

I also never knew that was Sarge and had I known I would have joined in the hollering. Then there is the tall one... boy do I have a couple stories about that family...............

Woo-hoo, you know me... I love a good story! :rolleyes1

Did you take any photos? You know every time I saw that older couple on the ship all I could think of was.... Mustang?!! I think I ran into him about 10x snickering under my breathe.

No, If I did they got lost in my memory card with the other pics I lost form the first two days. I'll blame it on that anyway and not my state of intoxication. ;)

I too must've seen that guy 20 times and thought the same thing. It's funny how you'll see the same people over and over. Then some people you see while disembarking that you'd have never known were on the same cruise as you.

Yep we were in the elevator with them coming back from the tender in Cayman. Mustang...ha! Is that the best thay could do, really?!?! LOL!:rotfl2:

I think those DODs and Chocolate Martini messed up your timeline a little.:lmao: An edit is in order.;) It was a different night that I got heckled by A & S while dropping the kids off at the show to meet back up with you.:goodvibes

I was with the kids for the entire first night's show... Those guys were so funny, but during that show whenever someone had to excuse themselves they were heckled. I thought, gosh I wouldn't want to be that guy.

Then the next night when I brought the kids to the theater I noticed they had already started, but I needed to get the kids seated. I tried to play it cool... but... let's just say that didn't work out so well.:sad2:

Ron

Ah, OK thanks. I guess I should have consulted you prior to posting but it is hard to remember the stuff I wasn't there for KWIM? :lmao:
 
Daybreak on Sunday October 31, 2010 found us cruising past the southern tip of Florida on our way to a mid-day arrival in Key West. This day was Halloween and it promised to be packed full of fun, adventure, costumes, and candy!

We would see both the sunrise and sunset from our balcony on this day!

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Here is the Navigator for the day, including the Trick or Treat supplement for the DCL Halloween celebration.

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First up on our list for the day is Mickey’s Island Jam breakfast! Island Jam is a character breakfast, and it is offered to everyone once throughout the cruise. Currently you can expect to be assigned the character breakfast on the sea day after your first visit to Animator’s Palate. So those with the APL rotation go Sunday, those with LAP go Monday, and those with PLA go Thursday (on the Westerns only- Eastern rotations and sea days are a little different).

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Island Jam is always held in Parrot Cay (hence the Island theme), it has a cook to order menu, and your regular dining room team is there to serve you. Like dinner, there is an early and a late seating time and our assigned time was 9:30 AM.

As we arrived, there was another great Halloween display to greet us:


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We were seated at our table, and our drink orders were taken. Very shortly after we arrived, so did Mickey and the gang, and they immediately dispersed around the dining room to begin greeting folks. Just like at a character meal in WDW, the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale) come to your table and spend a minute or two getting a quick photo or signing an autograph, then move along to the next table. It seems they have it choreographed pretty well, each of the characters starts in a different part of the dining room, then works through in different directions.

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The first to arrive was Dale. Sarah wasn’t quite sure at first but warmed up pretty quickly:

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Then Pluto came by:

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And Minnie:

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Meanwhile we were enjoying our breakfast. It seemed to be basic breakfast fare, pancakes and eggs, bacon and sausage. One thing I recall is that there is only regular buttermilk pancakes on the adult menu, but the child’s menu had chocolate chip pancakes, so that is what most of us (including me!) chose to select.

As if we weren’t sporting enough of a fashion statement in our Halloween tie-dye, our assistant server Passayu made us all napkin hats!

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And just in time to meet the head cheese himself!

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After Mickey came by, I had to excuse myself from breakfast to go set up the Disboards Trick or Treat, which was set to begin at 11 AM, prior to our arrival in Key West. I also discovered that lone lanyard from the night before at the bottom of my bag and had to run and deliver that as well.

Goofy stopped by to say hi!

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Somehow Chip never made his way by though. But that’s OK, there would be plenty more time to meet him, and in fact Sarah would have a very special opportunity later that evening.

Happy Halloween on the High Seas!

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Up Next: Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet!
 
you didnt participate in Magic quest.. we came late to but just joined in with some other couple shared our "water" with them LOL

damn them martinis they get ya every time.. must be that and the mixture of the theater that messes people up lol JUST SAYING ... LOL

Love the matching tie dye shirts they work perfectly for the character breakfast, and so cute that sarah is so camera ready!!

Cant wait to see how the dis meet hallwoeen went!
 

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