Day 7 - Castaway Cay - in which we are, by the end of the day, actually, looking forward to getting home
After the slide-a-thon, we mandated a bit of a rest (read: he watched cartoons)
Attentive readers will have noted that we missed semi-formal night due to Palo reservations. In case you were all sitting on the edge of your seats, I can assure you that DH and I just wore our semi-formal gear to Palo so that we had not packed it in vain.
However, I was bummed to have packed 3 ties for Conor and he only got to wear one, (because clearly I didn't have bigger things to worry about), so we elected to dress up a bit for the final MDR dinner.
Conor was beyond his usual state of exhaustion, due to the beach, bikes, and Mickey slide. This was made eminently clear to us by the near-meltdown over choosing a tie. In case you don't live with a 4 year old, let me share the conversation.
Me: Buddy- would you like to wear a tie tonight?
Conor: Sure!
Me: Which one? (We have a purple one, which he picked out but then wouldn't wear, the blue dotted one he wore on formal night, and a pirate one from his aunt.)
Conor: This one. NO! This one. NOO!!! *This* one! (Points at all 3 ties in rapid succession)
Me: Well, bud, can you pick one please?
(This is where the personality transplant occurs... and his head spins ... and we are left wondering what the you-know-what just transpired)
Conor: NOOOO!!! I am never going to be able to wear a tie EVER AGAIN!
Did I say that?
So, in the end, he decided to wear his pirate tie, that he immediately removed upon arrival at Animator's Palate.
(Can you imagine what would have happened with late dining? No, actually - don't try - it would be X-rated like some slasher flick.)
Final night at AP - with the animation spectacle
DH and I divided and conquered getting Conor to dinner ... he went off somewhere, and Conor and I ....
... wait ...
.... no ....
... they didn't ....
YES - WE DID ANOTHER mystery.
Or, at least, I engineered things to end up at AP in time for supper - telling him we would finish right after supper. Heck - if you can't beat'em, join'em.
Conor and I lined up for AP - first and only time we had to line up - not sure why - mysteries of the cruise, maybe. We were a bit early, at Roque's suggestion, to get our fancy place mats decorated. (Told you I was obedient.)
In many ways, AP on the last night was perfect for us- again, screens to amuse over-tired and cranky boy. He was able to concentrate to draw ... well, sort of.
The deal is that you draw a human-figure but you have to stay in the boxes - so, your arms, legs, and hands are not connected directly to the body; and the forearm/upper arms are not connected, etc. This is the only rule - stay in the boxes.
Well, try telling that to grumpy 4.5 year old Captain Literal. "NO, Mommy, our arms ARE attached to our bodies!" Sure, bud- really, how can one argue?
Anyhow - we drew away, Conor and I, while wondering what happened to DH. I finally realized that my hip was buzzing - it was the wave phone that I had neglected all week. DH had not been listening, so he thought we were meeting in the room. (No, I'm not wrong - he didn't listen to me- he even admitted it - it was mildly exciting for a minute.)
Due to the delay, I decided to have Conor draw DH, which he did, AND he stayed in the lines for some reason. (DH did arrive, in the end.)
Food night was just OK - there was a appetizer trio that everyone got - it was good, actually, but my notes stop in mid-sentence here, so I don't have the details.
I do know that DH and I tried the popcorn soup and liked it. I had the seafood linguini (just OK), and who knows what DH had... other than the baked Alaska. The highlight was Conor's "make your own cupcakes" which he loved.
Us, in animation mode
Leading up to the animation spectacle, they showed a whole long series of clips from any Disney thing that every mentioned food (much Ratatouille - this, we know, as we were Pixar fans before Pixar got engulfed). This made it hard to get Conor to focus on eating, but at least he wasn't melting down.
Anyhow... without further ado, here we are.
First up, we have DH - second from the left, with a very snazzy button arrangement down his shirt - as drawn by Conor. Note my husband's lack of hair... art imitating life, apparently. (Sorry- hard to take photos in there.)
Next, we have me and Conor - my artistic rendering is the second from the right, with the curly hair and glasses (approved by Conor) and he's to the right of me. I just asked him (he's done setting Captain Hook on fire), and he says the big dots are his eyes, the little ones are his ears??????
Anyhow- a very proud moment for Conor, was when his name came up:
This really is cool - FULL points to Disney for this.
So, for those who care (we really didn't), with AERAERA on Eastern Caribbean, you get:
AP - first night - good for entertaining over-tired kids
EG - formal night - pretty ceiling and flowers
RC - regular old night- just OK
AP - pirate night - so awesome, of course. (They did have pirate animation, too, I realize I forgot to mention)
EG - regular old night - so fine.
RC - semi-formal night -we missed it, so I can't comment
AP - See ya real soon or whatever - and your disjointed body appears on the screen - all good for the bound to be wrangy kiddos.
Farewell to Roque and Oriel
We had prepped our tip envelopes (thanks to Disboards for explaining all that) earlier in the day - gave extra to both Roque and Oriel, and a bit extra to our head waiter, who was very nice, but we didn't see much (to the point I can't remember his name). He did, though, call on Thursday morning to check that we wouldn't be at supper before he gave our table to some guests or other, which I thought was wise.
Interesting.......our head waiter came to our table every single meal. He was amazing. I even commented to him how shocked we were. Most cruises we have been on we would see the head waiter once or twice - usually the last day when tips are being handed out. I've never tipped a head waiter before - this was the first time I did - and was happy to do so. He was seriously awesome! He went around to every table each night and also assisted all the staff getting the food out.