RAIN, SCHMAIN, AND HURRICANES: Our 9/2011 Cruise: NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!

[luvvwl]

The sharp-eyed among you will notice I changed the title to this section. Confession: titles are not my forte. Many would say neither is my trip reporting. lol Anyway, I changed my title because I can and wanted to and, besides, the title should reflect my commitment to providing the full slate of events implied and promised at the start of this report: “Our NewsTeam 25 provides only the best on-scene coverage with outstanding details. For the latest—if not always the timeliest—in-depth reporting, tune to channel 25, The Dog. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.”

I wonder who would say that??

Our day dawned as the others had, sunny, warm, and with a nice cooling breeze for running. . .which is exactly what we did. Only this time, luv joined me on Deck 4 to give the out-of-doors a try. For the life of me, I don’t understand someone’s preference for a rolling tube of plastic, rubber, and metal that forces you to keep up with its pace. Such a tyrannical beast is a treadmill, demanding your attention, daring you to stray off its artificial tarmac. It is your master—you are the peon. (Ed. note: Don’t even get me started on elliptical trainers as they are even worse than treadmills—think the Go’a’uld compared to Klingons—because it not only forces you to remain unbelievably upright and coordinated, it makes you look uproaringly silly, sort of a perpetual Electric Slide or an odd Dance with the Stars couple doing the rocking samba.)

Running outdoors (and running on a treadmill that sits outside does not count) provides a person some say in how he proceeds—democracy in motion instead of treadmill totalitarianism. If you wish to slow your pace, you can do so instantaneously without resorting to fumbling with some panel button that takes repeated stabbing to decrease your speed. With a treadmill, your brains is engaged with trying to slow the machine while your legs are crying out to your feet, “Keep up!” as you experience some dangerous version of an out-of-body sensation. I now understand how a bug’s legs keep moving after its head is chopped off. Running on an unaided-by-mechanics surface enables me to alter my stride (mid-stride if I want), to actually turn my head without fear, to sip water, or juggle (okay, I can’t actually do that last one, but I could if I knew how to juggle).

What is another thing you can’t do on a treadmill you can while running outside? Pace yourself, or in my case, try to run slightly faster than anyone else who happens to be running near me. I’m not competitive, merely, umm, self-motivated to run as fast as the next person when possible. Seriously, I do enjoy other runners out and about as they push me to keep a steadier pace and to suck in my gut. With treadmills, all you get is an annoying noise as the gears whine increasingly louder so you have to crank up the volume on your iPod until your ears ring (see related link in Wikipedia, “Treadmill Link to Deafness in Outer Mongolian Yak Herders”). If you attempt to keep pace with someone on a treadmill, you don’t actually keep up so much as you look goofy as you sneak peeks at her panel, trying to find the mph she is going until you desperately realize that the 87-year old grandmother is kicking your butt. Nope, gotta run outside.

Is this a trip report or a rage against the treadmill??? Honestly, everything he HATES about a treadmill is everything I LOVE about one. Although. I don’t actually LOVE my treadmill. I merely tolerate it. Unfortunately I am no longer 20 and can no longer eat anything and everything I want whenever I want. Without the treadmill, or “dreadmill” as I call it. It is not my friend, it is not my enemy. It is just a constant.

Unfortunately.

Honestly, if I have to have a constant why couldn’t it be the $5,000 or so per week per life one would collect by winning the Mega Millions, huh?? Why can’t I have that???

But. To get back to the dreadmill, errr, treadmill. I do prefer it to running outdoors because I struggle with pacing myself. I get too tired too fast when I’m outdoors. On a dreadmill, errr, treadmill, I don’t have to worry about it. It does the pacing for me. I don’t need to juggle whilst I run, lolol!

So. Luv and I set out to run around the deck. As much as I enjoyed it, she was less than thrilled, “But, I’m going to sweat!” What I find unique about running around on deck is the starboard side is cool with a nice breeze in your face while the port side can be blazingly hot since the wind is at your back. Some people might complain that the port side is too hot, the starboard side to windy, and both the aft and forward sections too “hilly”. . .though I know of no one like that personally. . .

Uh, I don’t think I said that. After all, I DO sweat when I run…

After the run, (which LOMF admitted was kinda cool—when it was over),

Uh, don’t think I said that. Nuh uh. No way, no how.

we headed to our local caffeine hangout, the Cove Café, purchased our lattes (one was free!), then sauntered to Cabanas for breakfast.

As usual, the food was hot, varied, and tasty (save for that blasted Disney bacon sliced as thin as tissue paper and with about as much taste), and we quickly snagged a window table. . .for about three minutes. That’s how long it took for us to become irritated by a couple seated at the table next to us who were regaling their tablemates with stories of how awful was the pastor of their church. No, he hadn’t attempted murder or stolen money from church funds. His downfall apparently had something to do with some committee personnel with whom they, obviously, were in vehement disagreement. In hindsight, should we have mentioned to them they weren’t setting a very nice picture of their church, their pastor, or their personal faith? It’s a tough call, and I’ve many faults of my own, so in the end, we said nothing and moved three tables over.

I have no criticisms of others voicing their opinions. Everyone is entitled to them, after all. However, I really don’t need to be regaled by them, particularly from virtual strangers, while I’m in the middle of the big blue ocean, on the ship of my dreams, with the man of my dreams and enjoying me some Eggs Bennie. Just sayin’…

After freshening up in our cabin following breakfast, we went into super-dupery secret agent mode and played the Mid-ship Detective Agency game. It’s an interactive game that requires little skill other than being able to find the picture frames on each designated level, no small feat, actually. lol You take a card along with you that the selected artwork reads when you stand in front of it. With said card, you can do things such as brush away dust, clean a mirror, or unfasten screws to a panel. It’s quite enjoyable and mindless, but it does burn some calories as you hop from one level to the next (you don’t actually have to hop—walking and taking elevators is allowed). However, given this was the at-sea day, there were quite a few others who had the same idea. We got about halfway through the game (the funniest moment came when we were skulking down a hallway in full agent mode, me humming the theme from “Mission: Impossible,” when a room hostess popped and saw us—“Don’t worry. I won’t blow your cover,” said she), when we realized that we needed to get to the Meridian Lounge for our wine tasting class. Alcohol MUST take preference over battling crime!

This game is super fun, even for adults but especially for kids, I would think. It was really cool because it actually did read your card to provide your clues since there were 2 different mysteries to choose from. To solve, that is.

The wine tasting was full, over 20 people were filling the seats and booths in the lounge. We chose to sit at the bar as that gave us a better vantage point to look out of the windows. We had the same person leading the class as the champagne tasting, and we tasted our way through six different wines—three white and three red—before ending with a taste of champagne. Though still enjoyable, this event was my least favorite of the three tastings we had. The wines we tasted largely consisted of my least favorite varietals (not that I truly dislike any grape, lol) including a Rhone, a Sangiovese (Old World style), and a Riesling among others. The information presented was good, but nothing we didn’t already know (which may say something about how much wine we drink!), so overall it was a slightly lackluster experience for us; however, I do believe that had more to do with our level of knowledge and tastes than the actual event itself. It didn’t help that as we got started, a group of people consisting of six adults and about that many kids came through the lounge in order to get to the outside seating area so that the adults could smoke. The smoke was no issue, but the loud talking and the kids boisterous playing did get quite distracting halfway through the tasting. Finally, at that point, one of the assistants stepped outside and politely asked them to either speak a little more quietly or suggested there might be a better area for them to congregate. Whichever the case, the group moved on and the rest of the class was uneventful.

I did enjoy the tasting, but as SD said, being somewhat educated in the ways of vine, we were pretty familiar with the info provided. I was surprised they let that party out on the deck to begin with – I guess I thought you had to be a patron of Meridian to access it. I was extra-specially surprised they allowed kids there. And mystified as to why the adults let the kids get sooooo out of control and disruptive. Being good Disney employees, no one wanted to address the issue initially, but after a short time it was apparent the adults in the party weren’t going to…

The aforementioned deck pre-rowd, I mean crowd.

A Meridian light fixture

Isn’t the wake pretty?

We had some time before the matinee showing of “Villains Tonight,” so we finished the detective game (we guessed who it was before the reveal), and headed to Shutters to peruse our pics. It was here that gave birth to perhaps our biggest criticism of our cruise—the inability to select the pictures you want and put them in the photo book how you wish. That cruisers can view their pictures online at a stand-alone kiosk then place them in a photo album template is a superb idea. However, that novel notion is undercut by some irregularities. First, there seemed to be fewer CM photographers this cruise than I remember from my last one, so that means finding the “official” picture-taking opportunities is a bit more difficult and slightly more crowded. Second, though Disney boasts of having of having the CMs going around and taking ad hoc photos which they wind up displaying on the open racks in Shutters, we rarely saw them. I think we had one shot of luv that was taken on CC day. Third, having fewer opportunities translates to having fewer choices to put in a purchased photo album for which we had budgeted. Fourth, and most annoying, certain CM-taken pictures could only be used in specific sections in the album. For example, there was a picture of us standing in the atrium in front of the staircase that we wanted to use in the middle of the album to show us in fine attire for dinner. Yet, the album would only allow that particular picture to be placed in the beginning of the album. If you wanted an embarkation picture any place other than the introductory pages, forget it. In other words, the album is set up chronologically so that only certain shots can go on select pages. Moreover, some of the pictures they take—such as Captain Jack on CC, aren’t 8 x 11 and can’t be resized for the album. All of that might work for a majority of people, but it doesn’t allow for any creativity at all. Further, as in our case, if you are lacking shots as we were (see the fewer official moments and CM photographer comments above), then you don’t actually have enough photos to fill an album since the sections are limited to a certain number of photos. We didn’t have many initial shots taken of us the day we embarked, so we attempted to use later dining photos and couldn’t. In the end, we opted not to purchase the photo book since we would have to use stock shots of the ship, CC, and characters for nearly half the allowable spaces. Instead, we wound up buying four photos, a photo album, and extra pages in one of the gift shops to make our own album, and in the process, saved ourselves about $50. At one point, we spoke to a Shutters CM who said that not only did he receive many complaints just like ours, but that he had made suggestions to DCL about how to improve the photo album option; in fact, he asked us to sign some official form in order to record our comments. Perhaps future cruisers will have an updated photo book option that allows more flexibility than we had.

I think the show was “Believe”, babe, lolol. I have read a lot of people didn’t care for it, but I enjoyed it. I’m a true Disney afficianado and a perpertual optimist. I do believe in fairies, I do!!!!!

I HATED the whole photo thing. I had my heart set on a photo book but it just not going to let us do what we wanted. I do think they’ve set themselves up to lose huge opportunities with it being so confining. But in retrospect, I do think I’ll enjoy our homemade book much, much more. Pretty sure our actual savings was more like $100, tho.

We also wandered around the ship and took some random pictures

Oh, and here’s one from Believe

Next up: The Curtain Begins to Close

Oh, I don’t like the curtain beginning to close!!!!

 

[princessnpirate]

TR still rocks! I cannot wait to hear more

 

[PizzieDuster]

Love your trip report

 

[sleepydog25]

It might not seem as though I'm making much progress with this report, but compared to previous TRs, this is a lightning pace! More of our final full day is coming, promise. Cross my heart and hope to, well, drink no wine. Hat is a vow to get me stirring!

 

[jenseib]

I just found your report yesterday and am loving it! Thanks for taking the time to write it all out. I did the 3 night cruise last spring, and we'll be doing 4 nights next year. I love hearing all the different things you did...and I have my DD who is 6 with me, so it's neat to see the grown up things as well. MY DH was supposed to go with us in the Spring, but his brother broke his leg a few weeks prior and they run a business together, so he had to stay home...my Mom took his place. Next year will be a group of family and my DH has decloned going with "my" family. LOL
I hope to get him on one of these ships sometime soon though!
I never did get a chance to try the champagne in Pink and it was one of my goals...will need to try it next time.

 

[princesscinderella]

Wake up sleepy dog we want more!

 

[sleepydog25]

Love your trip report

Thank you, kindly! Despite my seeming lacksdaisical approach to writing this report, I do enjoy providing commentary. . .which I hope is occasionally humorous and every now and then provides some real tips people can use for their cruises. Hang on! We're not done yet!

 

[sleepydog25]

I just found your report yesterday and am loving it! Thanks for taking the time to write it all out. I did the 3 night cruise last spring, and we'll be doing 4 nights next year. I love hearing all the different things you did...and I have my DD who is 6 with me, so it's neat to see the grown up things as well. MY DH was supposed to go with us in the Spring, but his brother broke his leg a few weeks prior and they run a business together, so he had to stay home...my Mom took his place. Next year will be a group of family and my DH has decloned going with "my" family. LOL
I hope to get him on one of these ships sometime soon though!
I never did get a chance to try the champagne in Pink and it was one of my goals...will need to try it next time.

I'm loving that you're loving it! You gotta get your DH to read this report (and others on this forum) to see just how much fun it can be. Or bribe him.

Wake up sleepy dog we want more!

Whah?! Huh? Oh, crap, I have written anything in days! That. Must. Change. See below.

 

[sleepydog25]

The Curtain Begins to Close

There has been considerable chatter on these boards regarding the quality of “Believe,” and like anything with a creative nature, the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. I won’t argue with those who saw “Believe” and found it lacking—there certainly are some rough sections and a couple of numbers that lacked heart or weren’t catchy in the least, most especially the primary tune that crops up through the show as the overarching theme “to believe in magic.” However, to qualify the entire show as a failure seems harsh. The characters are likable, the pacing lively, and the songs mostly pleasing. In fact, there is one number involving a scene and characters reminiscent of “The Princess and the Frog” that had the rafters rocking with its spiritual-laced verve and revival-like energy. I was dancing on my seat, waving my hands in the air—okay, I don’t actually do that, but it was a very joyous number. No, “Believe” doesn’t quite attain the height and creativity of “Villains,” but it does possess more soul and enthusiasm than the “Golden Mickeys.” As I’ve previously noted, the “GMs” show has grown a bit stale and long in the tooth (why else would Tarzan be wearing dentures? Sorry, luv!), and the performers themselves seem lackluster. “Believe” may not be the most entertaining of shows, but it isn’t in the least disappointing as some would have you. . .believe.

Best of all, at the end of the show, confetti comes pouring out of the ceiling, raining down like rose petals that they are meant to emulate, and luv snagged quite a few. She quickly moved into linebacker mode, lowering her shoulder to bowl over the elderly woman across the aisle who dared reach for a petal luv espied. Snatching a handful of the confetti from the little girl with Goldilocks hair, then leaping over the last row of seats, luv scrambled up the stairs to collect the last few of the coveted pink and red pieces of material. We had missed out on the glittering golden Mickeys, but we were not to be confetti poor (in fact, we have for sale on eBay, lots of 3, 6, or 12 petals for $5, $10, or $15, respectively).

Despite the pressing crowds, we figured there was no better time than the present to brave the gift shops and begin the task—umm, chore—no, uhhh, joyful privilege of selecting goodies to prove we cruised on the Dream (excessive pounds and exhausted credit cards notwithstanding). Were the gift shops crowded? It was human magma. Someone had to exhale in order to move. CMs stood outside the doors with radios: “Unit 1, this is Unit 2. We need a flash mob clean-up crew to Mainsail, stat!” Still, thar wuz be shoppin’ to do, ye scalawags! One needed to be judicious and in a compromising mood, however, as the selection was limited.

“This is a cool t-shirt, babe. What do you think? It’s the only size available,” I proffered.

“It’s XX-small and you’re XX-not,” came the reply.

“I could still squeeze into it,” I quipped huffily.

“If you want to look like a kielbasa,” she retorted. I realized I didn't recognize the voice.

“Who are you?” I had no clue who this woman was.

“Oh, your honey asked me to keep an eye on you and to give you my honest opinion,” said the woman with only about five eyebrows above each pupil. “She got caught in the Too Expensive Watches Jetstream of people when you weren’t looking.” She gave me an arched brow, “Key word, here, bucko, is k-i-e-l-b. . .”

“I got it already! Thank you, Nanny McPhee!” I bought it anyway. I ducked down to the floor and began crawling, looking for the only woman whose painted toenail color would match her fingernails. Ten minutes later, I found LOMF looking at snow globes. “I got the t-shirt, “ I winked.

“Well, Kielbasa Kid (Nanny obviously texted her), I found a snow globe for Catherine.” (Ed. note: My 11-year old who was at the heart of the tale of my own painted toenails from a cruise years ago—check my link in my siggie below.) Catherine has a burgeoning snow globe collection (23 and counting, AND she knows where each one is on her display table), so we had agreed to find her one. “There aren’t many to choose from,” sighed luv.

“Umm, there is only one to choose from, actually,” I quipped.

“Smarty pants,” she shot back.

“You realize the obvious irony that this is a Disney Cruise Line snow globe, right?” I’m nothing if not consistent (. . .ly gooberish luv points out).

“Goober,” she replied. (See? I told you!) We bought that, too.

Given our displeasure with the whole Shutters photo album gig, we were also in dire need of such a book to complete our own version. One would think selecting an album would be simple given there were only three from which to choose. One would be stupid. . .and wrong. The first style was quickly dismissed as it was rather short, squat, and bulky which didn’t allow for cool borders or much written commentary. Not gonna work. We were left with two albums, both of which were larger and more typical of the style we sought—think coffee table book size. Therein lay the issue: which one of the two? Luv couldn’t decide between the more island-themed one that had several cool border pages and page decorations or the equally enticing inaugural cruises album which appeared to have only simple plastic-lined pages. She would pick one up, hold it for a couple of minutes, then go back to the other one, where she longingly gazed at it and then would pick that one up. We wandered the shop, and she repeated the scenario, oh, maybe 15 times. Finally, we found an open inaugural cruises album (honestly, we didn’t open it, promise), glanced at the pages, and realized they were quite similar to the island-themed book. Sold! We also purchased extra pages that we could add to the album. Despite already owning 49 Disney mugs, we opted to buy yet another, this of the inaugural cruises template, so that every morning LOMF can relive the memories of the cruise as she slowly sips her java (I am not allowed to touch said mug other than to pour the coffee into it, of course). Last, we decided to purchase one of those DCL duffel bags since we had exceeded the minimum purchase limit. That was the extent of our contribution to Chinese manufacturers. All in all, the dollar damage in the gift shops wasn’t too extensive.

When we went to check out, the cashier glared at us. “That’s all?” she asked, her left eyebrow arching disdainfully.

“Yes-s-s,” we stammered meekly.

“And you call yourselves Disney cruisers. . .hmmpf!” She pecked at the register as if she wished the keys were our eyes. I almost felt as though she was about to call the shoppers’ security patrol on us, but we escaped without further provocation.

With goodies in hand, we made our way back to our cabin to dress for Remy (all together now, “Reh-mee!”). While we had been excited about Palo, we were darn near ecstatic about its even more upscale counterpart Remy. We (well, one of us) had exhaustively studied the menu for months before the cruise, had taken a look at the menu posted outside of Remy, and had talked about what we might order when we ate there. The night we had been anticipating for so long was finally here.

Next up: Remy

 

[jenseib]

I have to laugh because I looked at those photobooks too. I ended up not buying one and have regretted it since. I know next time one will be coming home...well if I like it.

I have to mention, I LOVED golden Mickeys. was NOT impressed with Villians at all and Dreams was my 2nd favorite, but still not perfect. My DD LOVED Villians. It was her favorite of all the shows. I think all had ups and downs, but my plan next cruise is to Skip villians and send DD with some other family member.
But I do have to say the Cruella DeVil part in Villians was AWESOME!

 

[sleepydog25]

I have to laugh because I looked at those photobooks too. I ended up not buying one and have regretted it since. I know next time one will be coming home...well if I like it.

I have to mention, I LOVED golden Mickeys. was NOT impressed with Villians at all and Dreams was my 2nd favorite, but still not perfect. My DD LOVED Villians. It was her favorite of all the shows. I think all had ups and downs, but my plan next cruise is to Skip villians and send DD with some other family member.
But I do have to say the Cruella DeVil part in Villians was AWESOME!

Hopefully, they will make some changes to the photo album process. We found it too restricting.

It's not that I don't like the GMs; it just seems to be "tired." The characters all hit their marks and the right notes, but the energy was definitely lacking. Perhaps it was an off night, but it was rather "bleh." And. You. Didn't. Like. "Villains?" Oh, for shame! We found it to be the most entertaining of the three shows. Your DD has great taste!

 

[Shell54]

Woo Hoo Remy can't wait to read your review We loved it

 

[sleepydog25]

Woo Hoo Remy can't wait to read your review We loved it

Yeah, it was okay. . .LOLOLOLOL

 

[luvvwl]

There has been considerable chatter on these boards regarding the quality of “Believe,” and like anything with a creative nature, the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. I won’t argue with those who saw “Believe” and found it lacking—there certainly are some rough sections and a couple of numbers that lacked heart or weren’t catchy in the least, most especially the primary tune that crops up through the show as the overarching theme “to believe in magic.” However, to qualify the entire show as a failure seems harsh. The characters are likable, the pacing lively, and the songs mostly pleasing. In fact, there is one number involving a scene and characters reminiscent of “The Princess and the Frog” that had the rafters rocking with its spiritual-laced verve and revival-like energy. I was dancing on my seat, waving my hands in the air—okay, I don’t actually do that, but it was a very joyous number.

If I could snort, I would. And all the world would hear me. This little ditty is particularly ironic because I AM a bouncer. When I’m excited. I TRY to get SD to bounce with me, but. It’s a negatory. ALWAYS. The man doesn’t bounce. Clap. Nothing. If Tinkerbell was DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, I think there would be no clappage. Of any kind. At all. Well, okay, if Tink were fading away, maybe there’d be a wee, tiny bit of clappage. But. Definitely no bounce.

Definitely.

No, “Believe” doesn’t quite attain the height and creativity of “Villains,” but it does possess more soul and enthusiasm than the “Golden Mickeys.” As I’ve previously noted, the “GMs” show has grown a bit stale and long in the tooth (why else would Tarzan be wearing dentures? Sorry, luv!), and the performers themselves seem lackluster. “Believe” may not be the most entertaining of shows, but it isn’t in the least disappointing as some would have you. . .believe.

Do you REALLY need to see another picture? ‘Cause I can download it from my screensaver. Or my phone. Or the framed 8X10 from my desk.

Just sayin’…

Best of all, at the end of the show, confetti comes pouring out of the ceiling, raining down like rose petals that they are meant to emulate, and luv snagged quite a few. She quickly moved into linebacker mode, lowering her shoulder to bowl over the elderly woman across the aisle who dared reach for a petal luv espied. Snatching a handful of the confetti from the little girl with Goldilocks hair, then leaping over the last row of seats, luv scrambled up the stairs to collect the last few of the coveted pink and red pieces of material. We had missed out on the glittering golden Mickeys, but we were not to be confetti poor (in fact, we have for sale on eBay, lots of 3, 6, or 12 petals for $5, $10, or $15, respectively).

I don’t think I was all that bad…I only tackled that old lady, it’s not like I took her totally out or anything…

Despite the pressing crowds, we figured there was no better time than the present to brave the gift shops and begin the task—umm, chore—no, uhhh, joyful privilege of selecting goodies to prove we cruised on the Dream (excessive pounds and exhausted credit cards notwithstanding). Were the gift shops crowded? It was human magma. Someone had to exhale in order to move. CMs stood outside the doors with radios: “Unit 1, this is Unit 2. We need a flash mob clean-up crew to Mainsail, stat!” Still, thar wuz be shoppin’ to do, ye scalawags! One needed to be judicious and in a compromising mood, however, as the selection was limited.

“This is a cool t-shirt, babe. What do you think? It’s the only size available,” I proffered.

“It’s XX-small and you’re XX-not,” came the reply.

“I could still squeeze into it,” I quipped huffily.

“If you want to look like a kielbasa,” she retorted. I realized I didn't recognize the voice.

“Who are you?” I had no clue who this woman was.

“Oh, your honey asked me to keep an eye on you and to give you my honest opinion,” said the woman with only about five eyebrows above each pupil. “She got caught in the Too Expensive Watches Jetstream of people when you weren’t looking.” She gave me an arched brow, “Key word, here, bucko, is k-i-e-l-b. . .”

“I got it already! Thank you, Nanny McPhee!” I bought it anyway. I ducked down to the floor and began crawling, looking for the only woman whose painted toenail color would match her fingernails. Ten minutes later, I found LOMF looking at snow globes. “I got the t-shirt, “ I winked.

“Well, Kielbasa Kid (Nanny obviously texted her), I found a snow globe for Catherine.” (Ed. note: My 11-year old who was at the heart of the tale of my own painted toenails from a cruise years ago—check my link in my siggie below.) Catherine has a burgeoning snow globe collection (23 and counting, AND she knows where each one is on her display table), so we had agreed to find her one. “There aren’t many to choose from,” sighed luv.

“Umm, there is only one to choose from, actually,” I quipped.

“Smarty pants,” she shot back.

“You realize the obvious irony that this is a Disney Cruise Line snow globe, right?” I’m nothing if not consistent (. . .ly gooberish luv points out).

“Goober,” she replied. (See? I told you!) We bought that, too.

I NEVER, EVER use the word “goober.” EVER. And SomeoneWhoShallRemainNamelessKnowsIt(SD) But. There were surprisingly only two snowglobes to choose from. One was the princesses. Which our princess is soooooo over. And, the other was a cruiseline theme. Which is kinda, sorta what we were looking for. Honestly, I don’t think she really cares what they look like as long as they have some kind of fluid and some kind of glitter.

Given our displeasure with the whole Shutters photo album gig, we were also in dire need of such a book to complete our own version. One would think selecting an album would be simple given there were only three from which to choose. One would be stupid. . .and wrong. The first style was quickly dismissed as it was rather short, squat, and bulky which didn’t allow for cool borders or much written commentary. Not gonna work. We were left with two albums, both of which were larger and more typical of the style we sought—think coffee table book size. Therein lay the issue: which one of the two? Luv couldn’t decide between the more island-themed one that had several cool border pages and page decorations or the equally enticing inaugural cruises album which appeared to have only simple plastic-lined pages. She would pick one up, hold it for a couple of minutes, then go back to the other one, where she longingly gazed at it and then would pick that one up. We wandered the shop, and she repeated the scenario, oh, maybe 15 times. Finally, we found an open inaugural cruises album (honestly, we didn’t open it, promise), glanced at the pages, and realized they were quite similar to the island-themed book. Sold! We also purchased extra pages that we could add to the album. Despite already owning 49 Disney mugs, we opted to buy yet another, this of the inaugural cruises template, so that every morning LOMF can relive the memories of the cruise as she slowly sips her java (I am not allowed to touch said mug other than to pour the coffee into it, of course). Last, we decided to purchase one of those DCL duffel bags since we had exceeded the minimum purchase limit. That was the extent of our contribution to Chinese manufacturers. All in all, the dollar damage in the gift shops wasn’t too extensive.

It was sooooo not an island theme, lololol!! It was a generic “Disney cruises” theme, and that’s what I didn’t like about it. I wanted a Disney Dream themed one. But. I wanted to bling it up. The extra pages packet has stickers, pretty pages, but no clear plastic sleeves. So. I’m a bit confuzzled as to what one does with said extra pages without page protectors for which to protect. Them.

And. Someone HAS had HIS coffee from MY mug. TYVM. And. We don’t own 49. It’s all those “free” refillable ones you get when you buy the DDP, lololol!!!

And. So I’m a shopper. So I like to CONSIDER said purchases. Before said purchase is. Purchased, that is. What of it??? Huh?

When we went to check out, the cashier glared at us. “That’s all?” she asked, her left eyebrow arching disdainfully.

“Yes-s-s,” we stammered meekly.

“And you call yourselves Disney cruisers. . .hmmpf!” She pecked at the register as if she wished the keys were our eyes. I almost felt as though she was about to call the shoppers’ security patrol on us, but we escaped without further provocation.

This is called literary license at its finest, folks. He does tell a good story though, lolol. We actually were easy sales. We even bought the “Only $19.95 with a $50.00 purchase rolling duffle.” And a Disney Dream beach towel, lololol! I was very hard-pressed not to spring for the watch too, but I am a frugal woman.

With goodies in hand, we made our way back to our cabin to dress for Remy (all together now, “Reh-mee!”). While we had been excited about Palo, we were darn near ecstatic about its even more upscale counterpart Remy. We (well, one of us) had exhaustively studied the menu for months before the cruise, had taken a look at the menu posted outside of Remy, and had talked about what we might order when we ate there. The night we had been anticipating for so long was finally here.

Next up: Remy

Aaaahhh...Remy

 

[sleepydog25]

If I could snort, I would. And all the world would hear me. This little ditty is particularly ironic because I AM a bouncer. When I’m excited. I TRY to get SD to bounce with me, but. It’s a negatory. ALWAYS. The man doesn’t bounce. Clap. Nothing. If Tinkerbell was DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, I think there would be no clappage. Of any kind. At all. Well, okay, if Tink were fading away, maybe there’d be a wee, tiny bit of clappage. But. Definitely no bounce.

Definitely. That's not exactly true. I do bounce. And you know it. And if Tink were fading away, it would be a teeny, tiny clappage, with teeny, tiny Mickey hands, the type you can buy at a teeny, tiny Tinkerbell souvenir shop.


Do you REALLY need to see another picture? ‘Cause I can download it from my screensaver. Or my phone. Or the framed 8X10 from my desk.

Just sayin’… I think the female visitors to this thread would appreciate it, actually. lolol I do think it is a double-standard that Tarzan is allowed to go shirtless whilst Ariel or Jasmine is not. . .just sayin'. . .



I don’t think I was all that bad…I only tackled that old lady, it’s not like I took her totally out or anything… I saw the tackle on ESPN's weekly highlights show!


I NEVER, EVER use the word “goober.” EVER. And SomeoneWhoShallRemainNamelessKnowsIt(SD) Perhaps not, but I'm not allowed to post what you actually DO say. But. There were surprisingly only two snowglobes to choose from. One was the princesses. Which our princess is soooooo over. And, the other was a cruiseline theme. Which is kinda, sorta what we were looking for. Honestly, I don’t think she really cares what they look like as long as they have some kind of fluid and some kind of glitter. Well, that much is certainly true. . .



It was sooooo not an island theme, lololol!! It was a generic “Disney cruises” theme, I say island you say generic. . .blah, blah, blah. . . and that’s what I didn’t like about it. I wanted a Disney Dream themed one. But. I wanted to bling it up. The extra pages packet has stickers, pretty pages, but no clear plastic sleeves. So. I’m a bit confuzzled as to what one does with said extra pages without page protectors for which to protect. Them.

And. Someone HAS had HIS coffee from MY mug. TYVM. And. We don’t own 49. It’s all those “free” refillable ones you get when you buy the DDP, lololol!!! Only when you were still asleep. . .

And. So I’m a shopper. So I like to CONSIDER said purchases. Before said purchase is. Purchased, that is. What of it??? Huh? You are to "shopper" as Meryl Streep is to actress.



This is called literary license at its finest, folks. He does tell a good story though, lolol. We actually were easy sales. We even bought the “Only $19.95 with a $50.00 purchase rolling duffle.” And a Disney Dream beach towel, lololol! I was very hard-pressed not to spring for the watch too, but I am a frugal woman. My license came from Sears, fyi, and are you sure you know what frugal means (see Meryl Streep comment above).



Aaaahhh...Remy

We be ate gooder there. . .

 

[kid-at-heart]

I have a few comments on the pics, but they will have to wait until tomorrow. I will say, somehow, I think I'm being suckered into buying a $115B underwater camera (that's the going gov't rate, anyway).

Great report! Not sure if you are interested but we have this underwater camera, Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD and it works great. Spouse is an avid photographer and often chooses the Canon PowerShot over his SLR camera even when he is not in a high moisture area.

 

[rmcildw2m]

You two are an awesome couple ,and wow what an awesome trip report maybe the best ever that I have seen .

 

[sleepydog25]

Great report! Not sure if you are interested but we have this underwater camera, Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD and it works great. Spouse is an avid photographer and often chooses the Canon PowerShot over his SLR camera even when he is not in a high moisture area.

You lost me after the D10 12.1, etc.. . . Seriously, I'm not sure we need anything like the Canon right now, but we'll keep your suggestion in mind. And, thanks for tuning in!

You two are an awesome couple ,and wow what an awesome trip report maybe the best ever that I have seen.

We are! That's what we keep telling people, but they don't always believe us! lol We feel as though we've won the relationship lottery and try never to take a day for granted. Truly, thank you for the kind comments, and keep tuning in for our review of Remy. . .it's coming. . .honestly. . . Here's a preview:

It was the best of time, it was the worst of times. . .wait! Oops, that's Dickens. Well, where the, ahem, dickens is my preview?!

Oh, and be watching for a pre-TR regarding our upcoming trip to WDW to begin shortly and authored by none other than luvvwl herself. I taught her everything.

 

[luvvwl]

You lost me after the D10 12.1, etc.. . . Seriously, I'm not sure we need anything like the Canon right now, but we'll keep your suggestion in mind. And, thanks for tuning in!

We are! That's what we keep telling people, but they don't always believe us! lol We feel as though we've won the relationship lottery and try never to take a day for granted. Truly, thank you for the kind comments, and keep tuning in for our review of Remy. . .it's coming. . .honestly. . . Here's a preview:

It was the best of time, it was the worst of times. . .wait! Oops, that's Dickens. Well, where the, ahem, dickens is my preview?!

Oh, and be watching for a pre-TR regarding our upcoming trip to WDW to begin shortly and authored by none other than luvvwl herself. I taught her everything.

We feel like Sally Fields, lolol! "You like me! You really, really like me!" And. We DID win the relationship lottery, didn't we!

And. Yes, look for a pre-trip report coming soon to a theatre near you! A veritable THRILLER entitled, "OMG!!!! We're eating COUNTER SERVICE?????"

 

[sleepydog25]

I hope your TR goes a little more quickly than mine! lol In further news, I have written half the review of Remy and will be posting it later today, most likely late this afternoon, so stay tuned!