We need a little “Magic”, right this very moment! – Completed

[dgbg100106]

Thanks for the wonderful food porn, I am so hungry right now and it is all your fault!! HeHe HaHa...

Mickey bar then Mickey Waffles...

I may have to take a Disney Cruise just for the food...

 

[Minniemum]

Your last post had me scratching my head. Tendering? I've never been on a cruise and clearly not read enough TR's to know this happens. I just assumed the ship docked at a port and you walked off. Hehehe. Does this happen at many stops? We are considering a 7Day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. Loving your TR. It's full of such great info and tips.

 

[ACDSNY]

You've been busy posting away so I was four pages behind. Lovely pics of the two of you.

My DD and DSIL should have been with you for the Tequila tasting and then things wouldn't have been so blurry. Now if I would've gone you'd of scored a bunch more.

 

[franandaj]

I am glad that the sea was calm for you and that the tendering was a smooth process. That little port area must have been manic with three ships in port.

Corinna

Yes, I'm glad that it was so easy. In Cabo they didn't have those nice bridges to get from the Wonder to the tender boats so it would have been tough even to attempt it. This was nice.

What do you mean "manic"?

I think its great that you use your cabin as a place to relax and unwind - that's what vacations are for
Looks like the tendering process was really straightforward for you both
Isn't it cool to look back at the ship from the tender boats?
Looking forward to hearing all about your Duck Tour

So many people say that their room is only a place to go and sleep, but that's not the case with us. We spend a lot of time relaxing in our room, so it's important that we have good cable, internet and peace and quiet in the room. I love all the Disney, Pixar movie choices they had!

Glad that you got to Grand Cayman. Hope that Fran didn't hurt too much.

Buffet looked great!

Well both of us hurt, but at least this time she was smart about it!

Nice update! What a beautiful blue sky. Looks like a perfect day to explore Grand Cayman. The tender looks well organized and like a nice smaller boat ride.

Breakfast looks yum and that was nice of Fran to wait so you could grab a photo. Looks like the butter was hard. That's good news for me because I can't resist room temp butter.

The tender boat was a great and painless experience. Very easy to load and not at all scary.

I usually put the pats of butter in my pocket while I'm serving myself to warm it up!

you say that like it is a bad thing....

It was! For my waistline!

Thanks for the wonderful food porn, I am so hungry right now and it is all your fault!! HeHe HaHa...

Mickey bar then Mickey Waffles...

I may have to take a Disney Cruise just for the food...

I know I keep thinking about my posts and wondering, "Did we do anything else on this trip besides eat and drink too much?"

But then I say that like it's a bad thing!

Your last post had me scratching my head. Tendering? I've never been on a cruise and clearly not read enough TR's to know this happens. I just assumed the ship docked at a port and you walked off. Hehehe. Does this happen at many stops? We are considering a 7Day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. Loving your TR. It's full of such great info and tips.

Usually on the cruises I have been on there is only one tender stop. However, if you are going to a lot of small ports there could be more tender stops. A port needs a large terminal to accommodate cruise ships, they are very huge and Grand Cayman is really a small island. I know that to create Castaway Cay, Disney had to dredge a huge amount of ocean and that is how they created their barrier to the snorkeling area. Pam would know better about how many ports on the Fantasy are docked vs. tender.

You've been busy posting away so I was four pages behind. Lovely pics of the two of you.

My DD and DSIL should have been with you for the Tequila tasting and then things wouldn't have been so blurry. Now if I would've gone you'd of scored a bunch more.

I was trying to get my next post up! Someone mentioned a few pages back that they were going on the Duck tour and were interested in my pictures so I tried really hard to get to this update. I may slow down a bit after this as I need to get back to everyday life and things like installing door knobs and cleaning apartments. I have my first appointment to show the places today and they are not even completely ready yet!

 

[franandaj]

So here is our bus/boat.



And this is our tour guide. He had a lot of really corny jokes.



Here we are pulling out of the parking lot area. See the Harley store off in the distance, it’s the one next to the church and near the heavy equipment in the foreground.



See there it is off in the far distance.



We drove through the touristy part of town. These diamond stores are literally on every corner.



Once we got out of the main part of the waterfront, our guide pointed out to us that chickens ran wild on the island. I had already noticed some before we left the waterfront part of town.



I took this shot for my cleaning lady Darcy, does anyone else out there play the “Punch Buggy” game?



They do not have mail delivery in the Cayman Islands so everyone has to come to the post office to get their mail. I didn’t mean to get all these people in the picture.



Blue iguanas are native to the island. They almost became extinct, but their population was saved through education and kindness. Some artist made 10 of these statues which were strategically placed around the island. We passed three of them on our trip.





This is the front of the building where the cruise port is located.



And here is the diamond store that we visited while killing time until our tour.



Then we started to head out the coast to the area where the seven mile beach is located. We never actually got to the seven mile beach, but we did pass by some really nice resorts like the Four Seasons, and the mansion for the surviving family of the guy who invented Styrofoam. We caught a glimpse of our ship from the coast. For those of you who are on FB and friends with me, you'll recognize this as my cover photo.



Our guide told us that a lot of celebrities liked to come to the Cayman Islands because they have no Paparazzi there. Stars can put on a baseball cap a pair of sunglasses and just go out in public like any other normal person.



We drove all around golf courses and other resort areas and then finally passed by this shopping center/future city/business district. It was sort of the kind of place Walt imagined that Epcot would be. A place where people could live, work and have entertainment. The only movie theater in the Cayman Islands was located in this complex. He also explained to us that the two major industries in the Island were tourism and banking. They have no taxes whatsoever in the islands, so lots of people like to put their money there.



From there we began to head back towards the coast. He told us a rather morbid story about why caskets must be encased in concrete. You see the water table is so high, and flooding is so common. So prior to the concrete mandate, when the water flooded corpses would rise to the top of the dirt.



Then came the second half of our trip, the water.



Another shot of the ship



There were these large fishes in the water right next to where our boat entered the water.



Can you have too many gratuitous shots of the ship? I guess I’m making up for not getting any of the Wonder on our last cruise.



Here’s another couple shots of the pirate ship.






[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

And the waterfront.





This was probably one of the snorkeling excursions.





Now evidently there were at least 27 wrecked ships in this bay. There was a restaurant on the shore that had a ladder into the water from it’s back deck. Our guide said that they actually encouraged folks to come down in their swimsuits and enter the ocean from their restaurant. It was easy swimming out to the wreck that we floated over, and then once the patrons came in from all that snorkeling they would be hungry.

It was difficult to see much of the wreck clearly through the water, but as our guide described the features you could sort of make them out under the boat. He also pointed out how deep the water was and that you could tell by the color of the water. We pulled out of the shallow section and into some deeper water. Then he got out a package of crackers. He asked all the kids if they wanted to feed the fish. Even the big kids wanted to do that!

All at once we crushed and dropped our crackers over the side of the boat. The fish came to the surface in a feeding frenzy.













We tootled around a little bit and then we went back on land.



Our tour was coming to an end and we started on our way back to the parking area.







We finished up our tour, gave the guide a tip and headed back to the port area. We asked one of the guys at the exit how we could get a cab to take us over to the Harley Davidson store. He basically talked Fran out of it by telling her it was only a 6 or 7 minute walk. Ha!

We walked across the parking lot and as soon as we got to the street we encountered a park bench. Fran asked if we could sit and she could get her breath. After about 10 minutes we got up and walked almost another block. It was hot, humid, icky and we were not even a quarter of the way to the store. This is where Fran got smart. Instead of persevering on to the store, she turned around and grabbed the cab which was sitting by the side of the road. She realized that she could walk herself silly today and not be able to move for the entire rest of the trip, or she could just take a cab and enjoy the rest of the trip.

The man was nice enough to even stick around while we bought a few T-shirts, and then he took us back to right across from the port where we saw a cheap T-shirt shop where we could buy souvenirs for our cat sitters and other friends.

Then we stopped for some more souvenirs. Buy six, get two free!



After that we were getting hot, tired and cranky. So what do you do to cure that? Have a tropical drink!









Then we were back on the tender boat on our way to the ship.



Unfortunately with our return trip we were not so lucky. Fran was exhausted and though the guys on the boat had told her how she could avoid doing the stairs at all, she didn’t want to wait for the next boat which boarded from a slightly different location. As she went up the steps to get on the boat, she lost her balance. She didn’t fall, but it caused a whole bunch of gallant men to rush to our aid! One took all my packages out of my hands. The ship hands held her arms and steadied her up the stairs. The drag was she was going to have to climb a flight of stairs to exit the boat once we got back.

Then, the tender boat let us off at the Forward end of the ship. Our room was at the complete Aft. At least she realized that she was too tired to walk all the way to the room, so we got her to lobby and she sat on a couch in front of Guest Services while I ran back to the room to get her scooter.

 

[dolphingirl47]

What do you mean "manic"?

UK-speak for crazy busy.

The tour looked like fun. Good job that you managed to get a taxi to take you to the store and back. I am sorry that the tender process was not so smooth on the way back.

Corinna

 

[ACDSNY]

Looks like the Duck tour was interesting. Sorry the tendering back to the ship didn't go as smooth as the morning.

 

[Pinkocto]

Your tour sounded like great fun. Ugh on the casket story, I can't imagine how gross it would have been to deal with those old bodies.

Some of those fish looked HUGE!

I'm glad Fran grabbed the taxi instead of pushing herself anymore. I'm sorry the tendering back wasn't as smooth though. I love that there are still gallant men out there.

Oooohhh, rum cake

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great pictures of an amazing location and the Wonder.

Sounds like you had a great Duck tour and that was rather annoying that the guy told Fran only 6 - 7 minutes walk to the HD store. Glad she realised it was going to take way longer and grabbed a cab when she did.

The tendering back must have been a little distressing. I was worried reading it that Fran didn't pull up sore the next day.

 

[Dixielady908]

beautiful pictures of the Island....going to keep my fingers crossed that we make it this year. Have not decided what we are going to do there yet, but the boat tour you did looks like something we may consider.

Again thanks for sharing..

 

[Luvchefmic]

I am catching up and just read through its nice because I am getting to know you and Fran better I have never been on a cruise but always said if I ever did it would have to be DCL all the food offered all the time though looks delicious but so much I would probably gain 20 lbs on a trip

 

[dgbg100106]

Beautiful pictures.....


They do a duck tour here, but I have never taken it... Would you do it again?

Sorry the day was so tiring and about all the walking, glad you got the cab and the scooter..

 

[sager1969]

I believe that you can never have too many pictures of a Disney ship! Driving around in Grand Cayman is quite the experience, huh? I am curious to know if you liked the duck tour as well. We did snorkeling on sting ray city. We love being on a catamaran.

I thought the whole port shopping area was weird. We wound up with bamboo shirts for my boy. I did not brave a diamond store. Also, everyone seemed tone drinking alot. We had to eat at Margaritaville and everyone kept wanting us to drink more. I was too tired!

Also, we play slug bug where I grew up in Texas. That picture would have been a major score!

Still loving your report....

 

[Luvchefmic]

Oh forgot to mention I LOVED the Chip & Dale picture Fran managed to score in the silent auction good for you two

Nice formal pics taken but the one thing I didn't like and it could have been fixed so easily was with the picture of you & Minnie for goodness sakes the photographer should have positioned you so that Walt could be in the picture too ( I am such a wanta be photopass person LOL ) but anyway you both looked great

 

[franandaj]

UK-speak for crazy busy.

The tour looked like fun. Good job that you managed to get a taxi to take you to the store and back. I am sorry that the tender process was not so smooth on the way back.

Corinna

OK! I just learned a new word!

Looks like the Duck tour was interesting. Sorry the tendering back to the ship didn't go as smooth as the morning.

Yeah, like all of us, when she gets tired, she gets wobbly. Considering we don't do much at home of a physical nature, that was sort of an active day for us. We were both tired.

Your tour sounded like great fun. Ugh on the casket story, I can't imagine how gross it would have been to deal with those old bodies.

Some of those fish looked HUGE!

I'm glad Fran grabbed the taxi instead of pushing herself anymore. I'm sorry the tendering back wasn't as smooth though. I love that there are still gallant men out there.

Oooohhh, rum cake

The dead bodies would be

Yeah, those fish by where we entered were giant.

My knee was killing me that day. It is even still bothering me some. I keep stretching it and the Chiropractor works it twice a week. I wasn't going to be able to walk much farther either. I'm so glad she got the Taxi. I keep telling her it was one of her smartest decisions and we were able to enjoy the rest of the week.

Also, if we hadn't got the taxi, we probably would not have passed the little rum cake shop and seen their buy six get two free sign! I gave one to our cat sitter, one to Darcy, one to our friend who would have helped us out, but it became unnecessary, and we kept the rest. They're the perfect size for two, here's one we ate a couple nights ago.

Great pictures of an amazing location and the Wonder.

I would have had to have pretty good eyesight to see the Wonder. Since she was in the Bahamas!

But I'm glad you like my pictures of the Magic!

Sounds like you had a great Duck tour and that was rather annoying that the guy told Fran only 6 - 7 minutes walk to the HD store. Glad she realised it was going to take way longer and grabbed a cab when she did.

The tendering back must have been a little distressing. I was worried reading it that Fran didn't pull up sore the next day.

Yeah, I was quite miffed at him, can't you see she is walking with two canes? It took us 6-7 minutes to cross the parking lot. I don't think it was the length of time that caused her to get the cab, it was the pain and realizing how much walking on the day at DL wore her out.

Once we were seated on the Tender boat, it was fine, but she's gone down in some pretty public places before, and it was scary to see her stumble like that. I'm glad the guys working the boat were so nice and helpful.

beautiful pictures of the Island....going to keep my fingers crossed that we make it this year. Have not decided what we are going to do there yet, but the boat tour you did looks like something we may consider.

Again thanks for sharing..

I hope you get to go too! It was really nice and we're talking about going there sometime just to visit. Maybe when we are scuba certified. It would be a great place to dive and relax (in the air conditioning).

I am catching up and just read through its nice because I am getting to know you and Fran better I have never been on a cruise but always said if I ever did it would have to be DCL all the food offered all the time though looks delicious but so much I would probably gain 20 lbs on a trip

I gained a bunch!

Beautiful pictures.....


They do a duck tour here, but I have never taken it... Would you do it again?

Sorry the day was so tiring and about all the walking, glad you got the cab and the scooter..

I wouldn't do it in Grand Cayman again, but I might consider taking one in another city. They even have one here in Long Beach. Maybe if I had guests come in from out of town it would be a fun touristy thing to do. You don't see anything earth shattering, but if you have a good guide, you get some interesting trivia and see the city from a unique perspective.

I believe that you can never have too many pictures of a Disney ship! Driving around in Grand Cayman is quite the experience, huh? I am curious to know if you liked the duck tour as well. We did snorkeling on sting ray city. We love being on a catamaran.

I thought the whole port shopping area was weird. We wound up with bamboo shirts for my boy. I did not brave a diamond store. Also, everyone seemed tone drinking alot. We had to eat at Margaritaville and everyone kept wanting us to drink more. I was too tired!

Also, we play slug bug where I grew up in Texas. That picture would have been a major score!

Still loving your report....

Next time we're going to do something like that. It was the issue of open wounds and salt water that made us change our minds, so hopefully at the end of the month we will be all done with that chapter of our lives.

Yay! Someone else who plays the game! We don't actually punch each other any more, but it's hilarious how we can't even blurt out the right colors of the cars. Beige or cream is the one that gets us, neither of us can ever figure out the word! Her son plays a variation that you have to get flag or holiday colors. Green, White and Red would be the Mexican Flag. Orange and Black are Halloween. We also have "poke a boat" and the "Cadillac whack".

Oh forgot to mention I LOVED the Chip & Dale picture Fran managed to score in the silent auction good for you two

Nice formal pics taken but the one thing I didn't like and it could have been fixed so easily was with the picture of you & Minnie for goodness sakes the photographer should have positioned you so that Walt could be in the picture too ( I am such a wanta be photopass person LOL ) but anyway you both looked great

Hmmmm....you just reminded me, I don't think we have received that yet. Last cruise they all arrived so quickly.

I didn't even think of that, but you're right, they really should have tried to get Walt in the photo!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I have super eyesight! I forgot you were on the Magic.

 

[Luvchefmic]

My knee was killing me that day. It is even still bothering me some. I keep stretching it and the Chiropractor works it twice a week. I wasn't going to be able to walk much farther either. I'm so glad she got the Taxi. I keep telling her it was one of her smartest decisions and we were able to enjoy the rest of the week.

Also, if we hadn't got the taxi, we probably would not have passed the little rum cake shop and seen their buy six get two free sign! I gave one to our cat sitter, one to Darcy, one to our friend who would have helped us out, but it became unnecessary, and we kept the rest. They're the perfect size for two, here's one we ate a couple nights ago.







Yeah, I was quite miffed at him, can't you see she is walking with two canes? It took us 6-7 minutes to cross the parking lot. I don't think it was the length of time that caused her to get the cab, it was the pain and realizing how much walking on the day at DL wore her out.

Once we were seated on the Tender boat, it was fine, but she's gone down in some pretty public places before, and it was scary to see her stumble like that. I'm glad the guys working the boat were so nice and helpful.



I hope you get to go too! It was really nice and we're talking about going there sometime just to visit. Maybe when we are scuba certified. It would be a great place to dive and relax (in the air conditioning).



I gained a bunch!






Yay! Someone else who plays the game! We don't actually punch each other any more, but it's hilarious how we can't even blurt out the right colors of the cars. Beige or cream is the one that gets us, neither of us can ever figure out the word! Her son plays a variation that you have to get flag or holiday colors. Green, White and Red would be the Mexican Flag. Orange and Black are Halloween. We also have "poke a boat" and the "Cadillac whack".



Hmmmm....you just reminded me, I don't think we have received that yet. Last cruise they all arrived so quickly.

I didn't even think of that, but you're right, they really should have tried to get Walt in the photo!

Oh Alison I did forget to comment re-your knee & the idiot guy directing you & Fran to the HD shop...hope you are both feeling better

When my kids were little we played "punch Buggy" all the time we all ended up w/black & blue arms on road trips Glad I reminded you about the picture and one more thing NEXT time you go I want that Black Beards Rum Cake I looked at it on the shelves of your picture and went Yummmmmmm now that I see it outside the box I say YummmmmmmmmmY

 

[franandaj]

I have super eyesight! I forgot you were on the Magic.

Magic, Wonder, Fantasy, Dream....what's the difference?

Oh Alison I did forget to comment re-your knee & the idiot guy directing you & Fran to the HD shop...hope you are both feeling better

When my kids were little we played "punch Buggy" all the time we all ended up w/black & blue arms on road trips Glad I reminded you about the picture and one more thing NEXT time you go I want that Black Beards Rum Cake I looked at it on the shelves of your picture and went Yummmmmmm now that I see it outside the box I say YummmmmmmmmmY

My knee is getting slightly better. Hopefully by the end of the week it will stop bothering me.

Yay! Someone else who played the "punch buggy" game!

I'll keep you on my cake list for next time!

 

[franandaj]

When I last left you, we had just arrived on the ship. We were tired and hungry and I was debating whether or to have Goofy’s or Pluto’s for lunch when Fran (who was having a brilliant day for ideas) came up with the best one. Room Service! Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?

Here is the room service menu.









Well it appears that everyone else on the ship had the same idea. I was on hold for about 20 minutes just waiting to place the order. The food arrived faster than it took me to place the order!

I got the chicken wings, and I was appalled to find that the honey mustard sauce had spilled on the plate. These were OK, but there was too much BBQ sauce on them. I like my wings a little bit more naked, so you can douse them in the blue cheese sauce.



Fran got the steak sandwich, which I guess she liked well enough.



We had a 7:30 reservation at Palo. Both of us needed showers from all the humidity on shore. We had a few hours to shower and get dressed, so she took a nap. I decided to go up to the pool and hit the Jacuzzi. My knee was killing me and all the walking that we tried to do today didn’t help.

I ran into the couple from the restaurant the other night and said “Hi” on my way to the Hot Tub. I had a Sunken Treasure while I relaxed and two of our tablemates who were swimming in the pool dropped in the tub to say “hello” before they went on to get changed for dinner. They were also dining at Palo that night.

On my way back to the room, I stopped to chat with our new friends. I must have spent at least 20 minutes talking with them. I convinced them that they had to try the brunch at Palo. I found out that she is a travel agent with Dreams Unlimited and they are from Dallas. They had also been through three margaritas while I had been in the pool. We ended up exchanging email addresses. They were big WDW fans and I told them if they ever made it out to Disneyland, I would show them a really great time.

Once I was back in the room, and we were both all showered and dressed, we headed up to Palo. It was nice having dinner with just the two of us. I think on a longer cruise I will book a couple nights in Palo. It was OK having tablemates, but it was nice having just the two of us at dinner.



I took pictures of the menu.











We started off with the antipasto



I got a Gibson





Tonight we went with a seafood menu. I got the tuna carpaccio



Fran got the Pesto shrimp, she let me have a couple.



We shared the lobster mascarpone ravioli. I liked the version on the Wonder better, it was much more subtle. This sort of had an Alfredo sauce whereas the Wonder had more of a butter sauce.



[Continued in Next Post]