Could the Dream Turn the Grump into a Believer? Charleston Update 10/13

[SoonerGirl]

Sounds like a perfect ending to your day! You got some really nice pictures from the ship photographers. The one of you and DH at Palo is great! And all the food there looked really good too (except the tuna ). I don't know how people can eat raw meat like that. My DH does it too.

So what cruise would you have been interested in rebooking if DH had agreed? I'm been trying to decide that myself. I really want to rebook onboard to get the discount even if we have to cancel it later, but I don't know which one would be a good choice. The double dip would be my fist choice, but they don't have that in Oct. and that's when we would be going in 2012. Just wondering what you were considering though.

Uggg, I know, everytime I see that picture of the raw tuna, it turns my stomach - ewww!

There were several cruises that interested us, but the ones we were focusing on were the 5 night double dip and the 7 night Western Caribbean.

I love the photos of you and Don, Michelle. You look so pretty!

Thanks Kelli!

Love your photos all dressed up for Palo.
I ordered a new dress & shoes for the exact same thing. Hope our pictures turn out half as good as yours.
Too bad you weren't able to talk Don into rebooking while on board. What is wrong with him?
Love your Jack Sparrow pictures....that is new to the pirate party I think. Can't wait to see Capn Jack myself.

My dress and shoes were new too - I had something that I could have worn, but where's the fun in that?

Don is far too practical most of the time

Yes, I think Captain Jack is new to the pirate party. They have one a little earlier that more geared towards the younger kids. I wish I would have actually made a point of getting to meet him, but it just didn't work out. I think he's doing meet & greets at MNSSHP though, so I'm going to try and remedy that in a couple of weeks

Great way to end your day. That meal looks scrumptions, fireworks and JACK, plus photopass pix.

Now if only Don would have signed up for another Disney fix!

The meal was really good! I'll admit that I felt pretty awkward taking food pictures inside Palo since it's such an elegant meal, but I couldn't let my DIS friends down, AND Anita broke the ice by taking one first

 

[Wicket's Mom]

You two looked so nice all dressed up! That food looked delish, but I'm with you on rare tuna, eck!

My DH wouldn't bite on a bounce back either. He doesn't want to commit thta far ahead.

 

[photographymom517]

I had a few updates to catch up on -- but I'm finally all caught up!

The cabanas look AMAZING!!! I'm definitely showing my DH your pics because I know once he sees how crowded the family beach is, he will be more willing to spend the extra $ on a cabana!!! He hates crowded places, especially on vacation. I finally convinced him on this trip to do a land/sea vacation next time -- as of now, we aren't sure when "next time" is, but at least he's thinking about it! HE was actually the one who brought it up, so I see that as a good sign!

I loved all of your family pics from the past few updates (Castaway Cay, Capt Hook, dinner pics, etc). I can see why it was so hard to choose which to purchase!!! They were all GREAT!!!

YUM -- all of the food looked soooo good! I would've definitely picked the chocolate souffle for dessert too!!!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[shan23877]

Wow, if I didn't want to take a cruise before, pics of the cabana and that dinner would have done it! Great photo of you and DH!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Dinner at Palo's looks delicious except for that tuna! Ewww is right. The pictures of you and Don are lovely, and any night that ends with Captain Jack Sparrow is a good one!

 

[MeMom]

Convincing pirate boys you have there.

Mom and Dad look lovely. You need to put up a date night picture from when you first started dating, too.

Cool light up cup!

 

[cherokeemamma]

Great Update!

LOVE the pics from CC. I agree with you that the double dip sounds like the way to go. Although I have never cruised I have read and heard from friends that CC is paradise. I wish there were some better rates for late May but I guess with the Fantasy just sailing everything is super $$$. I will just have to add that to the bucket list! Regardless, I am happy and excited about our cruise in Feb.

You and Don look so nice all dressed up! A wonderful picture of you two. Very happy to hear that your meal at Palo was great too! It looks yummy...esp the souffle!

Pirate night looks fun! I will be interested in hearing about your future Capt Jack encounter. This Captn looks cute.....but.....nothing like the real thing!
Are you going to be seeing The Rum Dairy?...I am looking forward to seeing JD in an adult role. Crossing my fingers that it will be great; the trailers look so good!

TTFN
Darlene

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Great pictures of you and Don! Love that the boys all went to dinner together.

Ooo, pirates night! It looks like so much fun.

 

[Poolrat]

How nice that the boys could still dine I the rotation while you had "date" night.

The pirate cup is nice and the drink looks yummy as does the food.

Great pictures all dressed up.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Dressing up was one of the things that I liked about a cruise. It's nice to get gussied up once in awhile!

I started my TR today, a first for me.

 

[MEK]

Wow - How did I totally miss that update!

Pretty dress. Lovely pictures!

And you meal looks heavenly....yum!

The boys also look like they are having a fabulous time!

Wonderful pics of the party - it looks like a blast!

 

[jenseib]

Finally catching up. I love the pictures from CC. That Cabana looks great.
I love your underwater pictures...and I must say your DH takes better ones than mine. We snorkeled once and all the pictures that Skip took were of my chest underwater. What a dork...and waste of film. LOL!
We were in front of the funnel for the fireworks so we never saw Captain Jack come down. I didn't even know about it till I read other TR's once I gtot back. Definately will be trying to place myself in the right spot next cruise.
I'm already scoping out a new pirate costume for Claire. I doubt Paige will join us in costume though. I'll probably wear the same thing I did before, because it's pretty basic, but if I can get my sister to dress up, then maybe I'll look for something new.
Palo looks good. I am debating on seeing if Paige wants to go with me there. How early or late do they seat? I would probably want the earliest seating, or a brunch on the sea day, so it's likely I won't go.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[SoonerGirl]

You two looked so nice all dressed up! That food looked delish, but I'm with you on rare tuna, eck!

My DH wouldn't bite on a bounce back either. He doesn't want to commit thta far ahead.

Doesn't that tuna look disgusting! He eats lots of raw fish though, he developed a taste for it when he used to go to Hawaii a lot for work.

I think that is probably Don's problem as well, he doesn't want to commit to a trip not knowing what is on the horizon. It's not like we couldn't cancel up to a certain point though if something came up

I had a few updates to catch up on -- but I'm finally all caught up!

The cabanas look AMAZING!!! I'm definitely showing my DH your pics because I know once he sees how crowded the family beach is, he will be more willing to spend the extra $ on a cabana!!! He hates crowded places, especially on vacation. I finally convinced him on this trip to do a land/sea vacation next time -- as of now, we aren't sure when "next time" is, but at least he's thinking about it! HE was actually the one who brought it up, so I see that as a good sign!

I loved all of your family pics from the past few updates (Castaway Cay, Capt Hook, dinner pics, etc). I can see why it was so hard to choose which to purchase!!! They were all GREAT!!!

YUM -- all of the food looked soooo good! I would've definitely picked the chocolate souffle for dessert too!!!!

Can't wait to read more!

The cabanas WERE amazing Hope! Not sure I could go back to CC without one now If/when you cruise, try and find another family to share it with, that makes them much more affordable. I'm not sure I would have been able to justify the full cost to myself and probably would have cancelled it if Anita hadn't suggested sharing. Now though, having had one, I could probably justify it

The picture of us in front of the Dream on CC just might be my favorite picture from the whole trip. I had a very hard time deciding which pictures to buy.

Wow, if I didn't want to take a cruise before, pics of the cabana and that dinner would have done it! Great photo of you and DH!

Thanks. I'd like it better if I were about 30 pounds thinner, but I'm not...

Dinner at Palo's looks delicious except for that tuna! Ewww is right. The pictures of you and Don are lovely, and any night that ends with Captain Jack Sparrow is a good one!

Don said the tuna was really good, so I guess if someone out there likes raw tuna, Palo is the place to go

I was glad to see Captain Jack, especially since I'd missed out of the meet and greets.

Convincing pirate boys you have there.

Mom and Dad look lovely. You need to put up a date night picture from when you first started dating, too.

Cool light up cup!

They look awfully fierce don't they?

Oh gosh, I don't know if anyone wants to see an early dating picture - it was the 80s, hair and fashion were scary

I LOVE my light up pirate glass!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great Update!

LOVE the pics from CC. I agree with you that the double dip sounds like the way to go. Although I have never cruised I have read and heard from friends that CC is paradise. I wish there were some better rates for late May but I guess with the Fantasy just sailing everything is super $$$. I will just have to add that to the bucket list! Regardless, I am happy and excited about our cruise in Feb.

You and Don look so nice all dressed up! A wonderful picture of you two. Very happy to hear that your meal at Palo was great too! It looks yummy...esp the souffle!

Pirate night looks fun! I will be interested in hearing about your future Capt Jack encounter. This Captn looks cute.....but.....nothing like the real thing!
Are you going to be seeing The Rum Dairy?...I am looking forward to seeing JD in an adult role. Crossing my fingers that it will be great; the trailers look so good!

TTFN
Darlene

The fares for the Fantasy are really high and they are just getting higher as the bookings come in. I actually wish October was a good time for us to cruise because the rates on the Magic for itineraries departing from Galveston are really quite reasonable. Not a good time though, unfortunately.

That souffle was soooooo good, like heaven on a plate!

I think I will go see The Rum Diary, the trailer looks pretty good!

I've seen pictures from the filming of Dark Shadows though and I'm pretty sure I'll be skipping that one. Tim Burton has JD looking like a freak again He could have made such a sexy vampire too.

Great pictures of you and Don! Love that the boys all went to dinner together.

Ooo, pirates night! It looks like so much fun.

I was glad the boys were able to go to dinner together too. I know they would have eaten counter service together too if that had been their only choice, but I think it's neat that they were able to act like big boys and go to dinner on their own.

How nice that the boys could still dine I the rotation while you had "date" night.

The pirate cup is nice and the drink looks yummy as does the food.

Great pictures all dressed up.

I'm sure if they boys had been younger, them eating alone in the dining room would have been frowned upon, but Justin and Baylor are old enough to handle it.

Dressing up was one of the things that I liked about a cruise. It's nice to get gussied up once in awhile!

I started my TR today, a first for me.

It was fun to get dressed up for dinner for a change!

Wow - How did I totally miss that update!

Pretty dress. Lovely pictures!

And you meal looks heavenly....yum!

The boys also look like they are having a fabulous time!

Wonderful pics of the party - it looks like a blast!

It was another great evening!!

Finally catching up. I love the pictures from CC. That Cabana looks great.
I love your underwater pictures...and I must say your DH takes better ones than mine. We snorkeled once and all the pictures that Skip took were of my chest underwater. What a dork...and waste of film. LOL!
We were in front of the funnel for the fireworks so we never saw Captain Jack come down. I didn't even know about it till I read other TR's once I gtot back. Definately will be trying to place myself in the right spot next cruise.
I'm already scoping out a new pirate costume for Claire. I doubt Paige will join us in costume though. I'll probably wear the same thing I did before, because it's pretty basic, but if I can get my sister to dress up, then maybe I'll look for something new.
Palo looks good. I am debating on seeing if Paige wants to go with me there. How early or late do they seat? I would probably want the earliest seating, or a brunch on the sea day, so it's likely I won't go.

Can't wait to hear more!

Well, I only posted the decent underwater pictures, there were plenty of really awful ones, thank goodness for digital!

Bummer that you missed Captain Jack, but since you now know, you can be sure and catch him next time

I'm not sure what the seating times are for Palo and I couldn't find it in any of the navigators I'll have a review of Palo brunch coming up in the next update.

 

[SoonerGirl]

This is going to be a massive update because I'm determined to get this report finished and to also post my pictures from our weekend to Charleston for anyone who wants to see them before I leave for WDW next Friday! Before I get started on the next day though, I think I left out a detail from day 3 of the cruise. I think this was the day that Jared tried out the kids club. Thinking back on the details of it now, I'm pretty sure he went after we got back from Castaway Cay.

We told Jared that we wanted him to at least give the club a try and if he didn't like it that was fine. We also told him that we would give him the freedom to check himself out of the club if he wanted to leave. Don took him down and then came back to sit on the verandah with me, he wasn't back in the stateroom 5 minutes before we were getting a call that Jared was leaving the club - yeah, he gave it a whale of chance there! He came back to the room a bit later and told us it was for babies and there were only girls in there he also gave us his wrist band that had come off. We decided to go ahead and return the band to the kids club then so that we wouldn't have to worry about it getting misplaced and then having to pay the fee for losing it. Here is the biggest reason why I'm sure this happened after CC and not during our at sea day, when we returned the band I remember the CM asking us if we were sure we wanted to turn it in since we still had a full day left. We assured her it would not be used again.

I think we made a couple of errors when it came to the kids clubs. We missed the open house on the first day that would have let the boys get a feel for the clubs and meet some people. (Justin never went to the teen club either - said he could never find the entrance, we finally saw it on our last night). The other mistake I made was in not checking with the CMs in the tween club (The Edge) to see if I could get permission for Jared to go there instead. He was just a few months shy of being 11 anyway, I think he would have enjoyed that environment better. Regardless both boys had an absolute blast on the cruise, even without the clubs!

Ok, back to the day at hand, Day 4, our 'At Sea' day.

We found each day that we were sleeping later and later, and today was no exception. On this day room service actually woke us up delivering the coffee for Don and we didn't request service until 8:30. We NEVER sleep that late - ever!

We slowly got around, enjoyed a bit of time out on the verandah while the boys still slept. Once they were up and ready I got into the shower to start getting ready for our brunch at Palo. Don took the boys up to Cabanas for breakfast. When they got back the boys quickly changed into their swimsuits, they were very excited because they said the line for the Aquaduck was almost non-existent. Don and I still hadn't had a chance to ride it, so I was a little bummed that we couldn't join them.

Once we were both ready for our Palo brunch, Don and I had a little argument about his attire. He dressed in a nice polo shirt and some dressy khaki shorts. I told him he couldn't wear shorts to Palo, he told me it was just brunch and that I needed to quit telling him what to do. I said that I was certain that there was a dress code and that he could NOT wear shorts. He said that people weren't supposed to wear shorts for dinner in any of the restaurants and he had seen people dressed in them all week anyway, so he refused to change. You can imagine how big my smirk was when we got to the podium to check in and he was told he could not enter the restaurant in shorts. Score one for me!!

So, I waited with Anita and Marc for Don to get back, dressed in the proper attire, and when he returned we were shown to our table. We had the same table and same waiter as the night before.

He took us over and showed us the buffet and then explained what was available to order from the kitchen. He told us to help ourselves and that he would have our mimosas to our table soon.

I honestly can't remember all that the buffet had to offer and I didn't take pictures of our plates, but I do remember that it was all very good! We did order a couple of things from the kitchen to try.

We got the chicken parmesan

and a margarita pizza

Both were yummy!

We were stuffed, but elected to go to the dessert bar anyway

My plate

Don's

Our meal here was really good once again and I think it is definitely worth the $20 upcharge. However, looking back on the cruise, I wish we wouldn't have done it. Not because it wasn't a great experience, but because we would have preferred to have had more of the day to enjoy the ship and just relax. I wouldn't hesitate to book a Palo brunch on a future cruise if that cruise was at least 7 days long, but for a shorter cruise, I'm not sure we'll do it again. Maybe on a Nassau day....

After our meal we stepped outside and Anita (or Marc - can't remember) took a photo for us

Then we made our way down to Shutters to check out our pictures. We noticed from up there that the princesses were out in full force - how fun for a little girl!

I also took a couple pictures of the chandelier

Then I got busy trying to decide what pictures I wanted. I found our 'book' pretty easily, but had to skim the wall for some of our pictures as they were not all in there. Once I had them all in front of me I had the daunting task of picking out which ones to buy. If Don had not been with me, I know I would have just purchased the CD, but it was $250 and my frugal husband was having none of it. In the end I picked a package that came with 10 8x10 photos for $149. I also purchased one extra 6x8 and that was $9.95. It was really hard to narrow down my choices to 10 photos and at that point I was glad that we didn't have a bunch of character pictures to pick from too, because I never would have been able to make up mind. I probably spent close to an hour figuring it out as it was.

Once I finally decided on the photos and made that purchase, we headed down to the shops to get a few more things that I had been eyeing.

First I picked up these charms for my bracelet. I absolutely love the cruise ship one!

I got this beach bag, you know, cause I needed it, it's not like I just bought a new one before the cruise or anything

Picture frame

This can cooler, which I use almost everyday while partaking in my Coke Zero addiction

Keychain, which broke within a matter of weeks. The 'key' portion fell off somewhere and I never found it

Spoon for my collection

Aquaduck pin

And finally a Dream Inaugural Voyages pin

The center flips around and it has this on the back

When I finally finished shopping we went back to the room to meet the kids. Jared and I had a date with a detective agency and Don and Justin were going to go hang out in the sports bar.

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

Jared and I made our way over to the Midship Detective Agency kiosk on deck 5 to chose which mystery we wanted to solve and to pick up our special badge.

We chose to do the mystery of the missing art. We really had a lot of fun with this! Watching the changing art, seeing new areas of the ship, taking notes and writing down clues until we were certain which villain was responsible for swiping that art. I think kids of all ages would enjoy this, heck I enjoyed it!

I didn't take many pictures during our quest though. I do have this one of my master detective

We were right by the Enchanted Garden at one point, so I popped in there and took a few pictures

I do have to tell you about one really odd encounter we had while playing. We were waiting our turn at one painting and when the family in front of us finished this guy, like probably late teens, early 20's, jumped in front of us. I told him that we had already been waiting and it was our turn and he looked at me and stepped aside said in a really rushed voice, "sorry, I've just got to solve this mystery before the show". Ooooookay! Very odd, I could see that from a kid, but not from someone his age. He let us go first and then I walked off a little perplexed. Later we bumped into him again. This time there was quite a line, about 3 families in front of us. He got in line behind us and I heard him mumbling over and over again, "gotta follow the rules, gotta wait my turn". This is when I decided that he must have some form of autism or something, I can't imagine a grown man being so repetive like that, he seemed like he was trying really hard to remind himself of how to behave. THEN, he pushed Jared away from me and when I looked back at him, he just looked off into space like he hadn't done a thing. I was seriously getting irritated, I couldn't believe he put his hands on my son, but since I was almost certain that he had some kind of disability, I let it go and didn't say anything, I just put Jared in front of me and kept myself in between them. After we finished there, we didn't see him again.

Once we solved the mystery and captured that art thief, we met Don and Justin back in the room and we all changed into our swimsuits. It was finally time to experience the Aquaduck, I was going to ride it even if I had to wait an hour!

Our wait time was actually not that bad, maybe 20 minutes, and it was so much fun! It didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would though. When you look at the slide it seems like you would be on it for awhile, but it ended very quickly. We discussed riding again, but the boys had been on it several times already that morning and they were itching to ditch us again so we let them go. Don and I grabbed a couple of drinks and found some lounge chairs facing out toward the ocean. We sat there for about an hour soaking it all in, until it was time to go back to the room to do some packing and shower and get ready for the night's show, Believe.

Packing was NOT fun, I think I nearly cried a couple of times. We were so not ready to leave and I had been unsuccessful to trying to convince Don to re-book. He kept saying that he wasn't sure he wanted to go on another cruise next year, and I kept telling him we could book and get the discount and always move it to another cruise once the 2013 bookings became available, but he wouldn't bite. I still don't completely understand why. When we got home I over heard him telling everyone who would listen how great the cruise was and how it was definitely something he would do again. So, I just don't get it.

Anyway, I was able to pack up most everything. I elected to not put my new D&B into a suitcase, I didn't want to just leave it sitting out there in the hall for someone to pilfer - the rest of my stuff was ok, but not the purse!

After that unenviable task was complete, we got ready and went down to watch the show, leaving the tip for our cabin host on the pillow before we left.

Believe was really a great show! I tried really hard not to cry, it was an emotional show anyway, and it was our last night, and I was no where near ready for it to end. It didn't help that Rachel, our cruise director made a point of telling us over and over again before the show started that our time together was almost over.

Here are my pictures from the show - there are alot of them!

The Genie was the same guy who had played Hades in Villains Tonight, and he was spectacular again! The premise of the show is that this very serious father, who does not believe in magic, needs to be taken on a journey and taught to believe, before he loses precious time with his young daughter. I won't do a lot of talking here - I'll just let the pictures tell the story

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

After the show we went out onto the promenade to let the boys play a little shuffleboard before dinner. We had to wait for the group ahead of us to finish, but that was fine, there were lounge chairs near by and it was a beautiful evening. This is also the time that Justin found the entrance to the Vibe. He wasn't going to go in on the last night though since he knew everyone probably already had their little 'groups'.

We enjoyed watching the kids play shuffleboard, they both stunk at it

And afterwards we enjoyed kicking back and watching the sun set

We walked inside and wandered around, we bumped into Capitan Tom and he was nice enough to pose for a picture with the boys

Then we made our way over to the restaurant. We were dining in the Animator's Palate this evening, and for the first time this cruise, we were early and had to wait in a bit of a line before we were seated.

I took this while we waited, I love this picture!

We beat Anita and Marc tonight and I found out that that is what needed to happen for me to get a drink, because tonight I finally got one!! Of course, he brought the wrong thing, I ordered the Golden Breeze, and what he brought me looked much more like a strawberry daiquiri. I teased him that it didn't look 'golden' to me and I seriously thought he was going to breakdown - poor guy, he was just so nervous about making mistakes, then I felt bad for teasing him. I told him I was only kidding, but that I really didn't think that was my drink. He came back a couple minutes later with the right drink, falling all over himself apologizing. At this point I was glad that I hadn't brought up the other two times that he had forgotten my drink all together!

Here is Golden Breeze, which looks nothing like a strawberry daiquiri

I also took a few pictures around the restaurant - it's decorated so cute!

We were seated right next to a screen, so it was a great location

For our appetizers, we must have all had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes, because this is the only picture I have

I couldn't decide between the soup or the salad, so I got both.

The baked potato soup, it was ok, I've had much better

And the tomato salad

Don had the tomato salad as well and Justin ordered both the baked potato soup and the butternut squash soup

He didn't care for the squash soup though, so Don ended up eating that.

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

At this point the room was starting to change, I loved the stars on the ceiling!

I was proud of Jared tonight, because he decided to order something off the adult menu, knowing that if he didn't like it, he could always ask for some chicken strips or something. He got the veal, and he actually really liked it!

Don & Justin both got the Angus Beef Tenderloin with wasabi mashed potatoes

I had the Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken with sour cream mashed potatoes

No complaints as our dinner was once again very good.

Before we ordered dessert my family left to go to the restroom, not sure if it was all three of them or not, but I know for sure that Don and Jared were definitely gone when our table received a special visitor

He was really funny. He talked to Marc and Baylor for awhile, posed for some pictures and then he left to go visit someone else. Don & Jared missed the whole interaction - I was bummed!

Next came the best part of any meal - dessert!

Jared's ice cream sundae

Don and I both got the Crunchy Walnut Cake - it was really good

And Justin had the Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake

With our meal winding down, it was time to tip our servers

We also followed the guidelines and gave a tip to the head server, this was more me than Don, it really irritated him that he was expected to tip someone who came over and introduced himself on the first night and then didn't show back up again until tip time. And honestly, I can't say that I disagree with him. If we had had something special that he had helped arrange, then I can see the tip, otherwise I have a hard time with it too. I know he's supposedly the one that keeps it all running smoothly, but isn't that his job? You don't tip a manager in a restaurant right? Not sure I'll do that again.

Aside from that, it was a lovely meal once again and we lingered quite awhile, not wanting it to end. Eventually we made our way out of the restaurant though. I took a few pictures on the way out

This fella was waiting for us upon our return to our stateroom

We changed out of our dinner clothes and packed them away, then put the suitcases out in the hall to be picked up. The boys took off to enjoy a couple more hours on the ship and Don and I enjoyed some more time out on the verandah, I seriously can not imagine ever cruising without one now, we loved having it!

Eventually we made our way to bed, dreading what was coming the next day.

 

[klacey1]

Awww, last nights are the worst I absolutely love your beach bag, though! That sticks that the key-chain broke so quickly!
You got some great pictures of Believe-- sounds like an amazing show!