Shhh... It's a Surprise! Wondering to Cabo on a 5-night Halloween Trip

[GooniesAndy]

This cruise has been booked for almost a year-and-a-half and we are finally two weeks out! I booked this cruise hoping that my boys' dad, who is an alcoholic, would be able to accomplish two years of sobriety and welcomed back into a more normal role in their lives. Because of that, I decided not to tell them about it, in case things didn't work out. They have had a lot of disappointments and I didn't want something that should be special to be yet another one!

Sadly, this did not happen and I was all set to just remove him from our reservation and proceed as a threesome when it hit me that my father-in-law, their beloved Granddad, might like to come along. He has mentioned in the past that cruising is of zero interest to him, but I knew that the absolute top thing that IS of interest to him is the boys. When I invited him to come, he immediately accepted and he has been getting more and more excited about the trip. I hope he loves it!

Our cast this trip is much larger than our Panama Canal cruise, which was just me and the boys. We will be traveling with my sister's family and I am thrilled that some friends we met on the WBPC are also booked for this cruise, along with a bunch of their family and friends.

Meet the cast, nearly all of whom hail from sunny San Diego!

Me:
Erin, single mom, aspiring writer, and eternal planner
Favorite Disney character: Dug from Up, though Mary Poppins and Belle are runners-up

Elliott:
9 (almost 10), lover of video games and Pokemon
Favorite Disney character: Stitch

Oliver:
7, also loves video games, my grandma would have called him a "pip"
Favorite Disney character: Robin Hood

Larry/Granddad:
Retired USMC Colonel, loves those grandkids like crazy

Supporting players:
Meghan, my younger sister, a brilliant mind and medical writer.
Jason, my brother-in-law, amazing carpenter and artist.
Lucas, 7, my nephew who loves Minecraft and Pokemon.
Alison, 3, my niece who makes me watch Tangled and Frozen (Elsa fan here) over and over whenever I babysit. Also known as "FINALLY A GIRL! PRINCESS DRESSES!"
Ming, Jason's mother who will be traveling with them. She will be coming all the way from Virginia for the trip.
Christa, Ryan, and Ava, 11. We met them on our Panama Canal cruise and quickly became friends. They live in San Diego, so we actually get to see them!
Ben, Hannah, and Sawyer, 4. Christa's sister and her family.
Greg, Dawn, and Lily, 5 (I think!). Friends of Christa and Ryan.

So, this is a five-night Halloween on the High Seas cruise on the Disney Wonder. It leaves from San Diego on October 18 and will stop in Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas. At this point I anticipate staying on the ship in Ensenada, though I could be persuaded to go ashore if a tempting prospect arises. In Cabo we are just planning to hop on a water taxi and hit the beach and eat some tacos. I know that Jason wants to do some snorkeling, so hopefully we can make that happen. We have brunch reservations at Palo and I am organizing private mixology sessions for our meet-up group. It should be a busy and fun week!

Can I just say that keeping this cruise a secret for so long has been insanely hard? It was ok leading up our May cruise, because I could easily cover up any misspeaks and I was barely even thinking about October. Now? Oh my gosh. I've lost count of how many times I have almost said "on the cruise." Meghan's family knows they are going, but their surprise is that we will be there, too. I've also been able to use their cruise as a cover-up, but it's been close a few times.

The other thing? Oh my gosh, I am so excited about this and I want to tell them so much! My kids absolutely love surprises, so I know this is going to go over well. It will be amazing and there will be screaming and joy and all of that, but I'm dying over here wanting to tell them!

I am planning on waiting until we are at the port to let them know. My fantasy was that they will (inevitably) say, "I wish we were going!" and I could just say, "...let's go!" I've been saying random little things here and there to prep for the surprise. When the Wonder arrived here day before yesterday for its first cruise of the season, we went up the street to a park where we could look across the harbor and gaze upon her. I told the boys that when Meghan and family are heading out, we can go over there to wish them "Bon voyage." My dad will drop us off and can unload our luggage, which will have been placed secretly in the back of our van, once we walk away. The boys don't understand port security, so I told them we will go as far as we are allowed, short of getting onto the ship. I'm hoping to make it all the way into the terminal before springing the surprise on them. I got a GoPro for my birthday, so I will be wearing it to capture all of the many special moments. I'm hoping that I can even learn to do live streaming so that we can broadcast from the port.

Prepping for the trip, as a result of all of this, is a bit complicated! I will be doing all of our packing while the kids are in school, printing of new magnets, making of t-shirts, etc., etc. I had to turn in study contracts for school without the boys' signatures on them, which made me very nervous. However, both of their teachers are totally on board with us going... on board, and I will arrange to pick up their homework without them knowing about it. I am a crazy planner and have always been very focused on little details, so hopefully that is in my favor here.

One thing that is different this time around is that we will be going on a Halloween cruise and therefore costumes are in order. Even Granddad has procured pirate and Halloween costumes! I decided that the boys and I will wear Disney-related costumes. Last year Oliver was the Hatbox Ghost, from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, and even at the time I knew it would come along on this cruise with us. Elliott has an Iron Patriot costume that fits him, so that will be what he wears. For me, I decided to start from scratch and have been sewing up a storm for my "Disgust" costume, from Inside Out.

In addition, I am making the boys' actual Halloween costumes, a Minnie-themed outfit for Alison, and some pieces for my parents' costumes, which they need the night before we leave. My non-cruise "to do" list is insane, you guys. Add to it Cub Scout popcorn selling (ending October 31) and general Halloween decoration and prep, and lying in a lounger by the pool with a Drink of the Day in hand is looking particularly good! A fun thing that will be taking two days away from my prep schedule is a trip to Disneyland next weekend, for our annual Halloween visit, but again...that is two of my thirteen-and-a-half days. I guess I should stop typing and start sewing, decorating, and quality-timing with the kids!

 

[Flossbolna]

I am really looking forward to your new trip report! I hope this cruise will be as wonderful for you and your family as your last cruise! Sounds like it will be great fun with such a big group!

 

[GooniesAndy]

I am really looking forward to your new trip report! I hope this cruise will be as wonderful for you and your family as your last cruise! Sounds like it will be great fun with such a big group!

Unless something goes horribly wrong, I am sure it will be! It's such a different feeling planning for this, after having the big two-weeker earlier in the year. More complicated, since it's a secret, but also simpler, because I already acquired so much stuff for our other cruise. It almost feels like a bonus extension. I will say, I know I am going to be WAY more sad after this one, because I had this to look forward to last time.

 

[SonyaShay]

LOVED your PC trip report and can't wait to read this one.

 

[GooniesAndy]

LOVED your PC trip report and can't wait to read this one.

Aw, thank you so much! I can't wait to write it!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

It's getting so close for you now. I hope you and your family have an amazing time. I read your last trip report and look forward to reading this one as well.

 

[GooniesAndy]

It's getting so close for you now. I hope you and your family have an amazing time. I read your last trip report and look forward to reading this one as well.

Thank you! I am getting more and more excited! I am working on magnets and t-shirts and all the little things right now, plus constantly working on our costumes. The Halloween cruise really adds another layer of stuff to take care of!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Hi Erin! I was on the PC cruise earlier this year and I'm so thrilled you're going on another.

 

[wilma-bride]

Wow Erin, you really are a super Mum. I can't wait to hear how the boys enjoyed the surprise and I honestly hope it all goes off as you wish. You are all going to have a fabulous time.

I am looking forward to seeing how your costume turns out.

 

[GooniesAndy]

Tomorrow morning! I can't believe it is almost here! I am absolutely dying to tell the kids. The bags are all packed but for last-minute toiletries and things. The kids have been prepped with all sorts of crazy stories to keep them from being suspicious. The GoPro batteries are all charged so that I can record the reactions! There has been a minor snafu in that our dining reservations somehow got unlinked from my sister's family, but since we are all early dining they should be able to sort us out. The only thing is, I am sure it means that our request to have our server from the PC cruise won't be possible. That is a bummer. And we are also going to try to get our dining linked up with our big group of friends, who currently have late dining. Crossing our fingers that everything goes as planned and we get to eat together! At this time tomorrow we should be doing the vacation dance with Clayton!

 

[cheermom2four]

Loved your last TR and cannot wait to hear about this one!!

 

[marciemouse]

Yay! Another report from you! We were on the ship the 5 night before yours, I think. I thought of you when we visited Coronado post-cruise, too.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Hi, Erin! Joined in on your previous TR! Can't wait to hear about your trip! We just got off Wonder on Friday.

 

[KarriTigger]

I loved your last TR and couldn't wait for you to write another one! I loved the Wonder ...actually, I love any ship I can get on! Joining in!

 

[GooniesAndy]

I just wanted to post a quick update, since we have been home for six days now (). It's just crazy busy leading up to Halloween this weekend, and so I haven't had time to start my trip report yet. I haven't even had time to unpack anything but the essentials and dirty laundry! Next week, however, I should have more time and I am going to get started. We had a great time!

 

[GooniesAndy]

Ok, let's get this thing started! As you all know, this was a huge surprise, which I had kept for almost a year-and-a-half. I decided to allow some fluidity in my plans, because it's impossible to correctly predict how embarkation day will go. So, I had multiple possible fun scenarios in my head, and was also allowing for things going in a completely new direction depending on what was happening at the time. I'd tossed around the idea of scheduling a Mickey call for when we were down at the port or just waiting until the kids expressed that they wished we were going on the cruise and telling them, “OK!” along with at least a dozen other possibilities. It was fun imagining how it would go!

Anyway, I had to do all of my packing while the kids were at school, which was interesting. We left on a Sunday, so that meant that I needed to be completely done on Friday, but for the last minute items like toiletries. I stashed our suitcases out of the way so they wouldn't wonder what was going on, suggested that we pack a suitcase for Aunt Meghan's family so they wouldn't wonder why I was dragging my carry-on bag into the terminal, and also left our suitcase from our Disneyland trip the week before sitting around unpacked so that I could use it in plain sight. Also, we had quite a bit of luggage for just a five-nighter. But costumes and all that go with them take up a lot of room!

I also made t-shirts using a design I bought on Etsy with the word “Surprise” added to the top. Granddad and I were wearing ours underneath other shirts so that we could quickly convert in the port and I had the boys' shirts in my bag. I made a matching magnet for our door, along with a bunch of other new cruise-specific magnets (including one for Granddad) and a bag of magnets for Meg's family.

The day/night before we left was actually the most relaxed I've ever been pre-vacation! I couldn't let on that anything was up, so we just went about our normal lives. Elliott was scheduled to give a Minecraft lesson to a little boy, through someone his dad knows, so that took up a chunk of our Saturday. With that lesson, the boys had enough money to buy the Wii-U they'd been saving up for, so we stopped at the game store on the way home and then they just played the rest of the afternoon. That night they went to bed normally and they slept in on Sunday morning. As did I!

I have to preface this trip report by saying that this cruise was a bit different than our norm, being short and with a larger group. I was both more relaxed and felt like things were more hectic. I was relaxed in that I almost felt like this was an extension of our Panama Canal cruise from May and didn't do as much planning and preparing. It was more hectic in that it was so short and it went by in a whirlwind. I didn't take as many pictures (around 250 in 5 days as opposed to 1200 in 14) and didn't record things like every item we ate. I still have lots of notes about what we did, but this was a laid-back trip with friends and family, and that was great!

The one addition is that I brought along my brand-new GoPro camera (wish I'd had it for the WBPC!) and tried to remember to take video. Juggling two cameras may also be why I ended up taking fewer pictures. There's definitely a learning curve, though, because my voice sounds crazy loud (being right next to the camera when I was wearing it strapped to my chest) and there seems to be a lot of crackling noise, probably from the harness and my clothes rubbing on the camera. I will just throw some music over it instead of our voices, unless the voices are necessary. I have a lot of footage, so I will do my best to edit out clips that might be useful or interesting. May take some time, though!

 

[GooniesAndy]

October 18, 2015: Embarkation Day! (Navigator)

So, this is like my all-time worst scanning. The scanner went crazy. If I have time I will redo them and replace these images at some point!


10181500 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181501 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181502 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181503 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181504 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181505 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

 

[GooniesAndy]

October 18, 2015: Embarkation Day!

Everyone slept in to a reasonable hour, which would never have happened if the boys had known they were leaving for a Disney cruise. Definite point in favor of keeping it a surprise! I let the boys play on their new Wii-U so that they would be completely distracted and I was able to stick a box in the laundry room to gather up all of the last-minute items that still needed to be packed. I transferred the box to the suitcases with no one the wiser, and then loaded up the back of the car, tossing a blanket over all but the carry-on suitcase the boys thought we were bringing for Meg. I put on my double layer of shirts, which looked a bit funny and was very warm.

I spent the morning texting with Ryan as their group prepared to head to the port, and they were able to give me updates before we left. Someone from our cruise group was on a back-to-back and they had been told they couldn't drive in to drop off luggage until after 12! I was hoping that was just related to the fact that the ship had gotten in really late and they were still getting people off...and it was. Phew!

Right around 10:30 Granddad showed up and it was time to head out. I got his bags loaded into the back of the van with only minor difficulty (keeping that much luggage hidden is hard!) and then told the boys it was time to head out. My dad was coming along so that he could drive my van home, which was very handy! I strapped on the GoPro and we were off.

Anyway, we only live about ten minutes or so away from the port, so it was a quick drive over and we were pulling up in front of the ship. We immediately saw Meghan and family and they ran over to stick their carseat into the van so that they wouldn't have to deal with it on the ship. I said a quick goodbye (and thank you) to my dad, gave Jason the carry-on that was “for them” and walked over to where the rest of the family was waiting. My dad dealt with handing the rest of our luggage over to the porters, and the kids never even realized what was happening.

It was probably around 10:45 or so and we headed right on in. They didn't want video to be taken in the terminal, so I didn't get much footage, unfortunately (though I didn't realize until we were walking up to the scanners, so oops). When we first entered the building we waited in line for 7 minutes and had to show our cruise documents and passports. Even though I told the guy it was a surprise, he wasn't particularly subtle about calling out the kids' names rather than letting me point them out. Elliott noticed that I showed our passports, and so apparently he became slightly suspicious that something was afoot.

After this it was through security to have our bags (and persons) scanned. I had a bottle of prosecco in my carry-on, which went through with no issues. They didn't have me remove it or anything, which was nice. I had to remove my camera, which was a pain, and I should have thought of it in advance. Still, it was just moment and we were walking into the terminal. Again, there was no line, so we went straight up to two of the check-in lines in the Castaway Club section.

I explained to the women behind the counter that I was surprising the kids and thought that maybe I would do it in the area where photos with Mickey were being taken, since cameras were obviously allowed over there. They got so excited about the surprise, and Elliott noticed his friend Ava and her family across the terminal, so I decided that it was time now! I told the woman who was checking us in that she could be the one to do it, which thrilled her. I did sneak and turn on my camera for just a moment so that I could at least have the special moment captured, and then I quickly got the boys' attention.

Surprise Video:

Since Elliott's suspicions had already been aroused, doubly so when he saw Ava, he instantly understood what was happening when he was presented with a Key to the World card with his name on it. Oliver was more low-key, and it seemed as if he just couldn't process what was going on. He kept asking questions, very calmly. “Are we getting on the ship?” “Are we going to sleep on the ship?” “How many days will it be?” “Are we going with Lukie?” I think he finally accepted that it wasn't just a dream when they strapped his Mickey Band onto his wrist.

10181538 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

We went to join up with the rest of our group and found that we had group 8, Meghan had group 4, and Ryan and Christa had group 7. It was all a bit weird, since Meghan and I had checked in at the same time and Ryan and Christa had an 11:30 PAT while we had 11:00, but who cares when you're getting on a Disney cruise?! We went to the check-in line for the kids' clubs, which was pretty long (we got in line at about 11:10 and it was our turn at 11:52). We prefer to do it in the terminal since otherwise we are just sitting around waiting. While we were waiting in line we swapped out our shirts. It was instant relief not to be wearing that extra layer! We were about 75% through the line when they started boarding with the Family of the Day (probably 11:45), followed by Concierge and Platinum cruisers. We decided that we were going to finish up the line regardless of whether our groups were called.

Standing there I realized that the reason the line was taking so long was that people hadn't done their online check-in. When it was finally our turn it only took a minute, as they just verified that we'd filled everything out online, made sure there were no unreported allergies or anything, and strapped on the kids' Mickey bands. Just as we were finishing up they announced that groups 1-10 could board. We went and grabbed our bags and hopped into line!

The line moved very quickly (less than five minutes) and after having our boarding photos snapped, we headed onto the gangway.

Sidetracking for a minute here... I have seen a lot of people commenting on San Diego being the worst port they've ever seen or how difficult it was, but we've been through it three times now and I have actually found it to be the easiest port I've used. For reference, for DCL I've also been through San Pedro and Miami. I took video and it has exact timestamps, but I am reluctant to post it because I only realized at the very end that there were signs saying not to record! So, I am not going to post the video (it's not really the most exciting thing to watch!), but here's the list of timestamps:

10:42 Pulled up to the port. Gave luggage immediately. Talked outside for a few minutes.
10:47 Walked in.
10:54 We were at the front of the initial security line.
10:57 We were putting our bags on the scanner with no waiting.
10:59 We were walking in the door to the check-in area.
11:00 We were at the counter.
11:05 Finished checking in.
11:10 Got in line to get Mickey bands for kids.
11:45 Boarding starts with first family, concierge, platinum.
11:50 Regular boarding starts.
11:52 Front of kid check-in line.
12:07 "Welcome the Brown family!"

So, time elapsed from arrival at the port to checking in was 18 minutes. Five minutes of that was us standing around chatting before we entered the building. Not too shabby!

Back to the story...

I just love it when they announce your family's name and it gets me every time. We walked in past the Pumpkin Tree in the atrium, which created a nice pathway.

We decided to go to Wavebands to get tickets for the meet & greets (Frozen and Princesses) right away. The line wasn't too long and we pretty quickly had secured tickets for the next morning. We ran into Ryan right outside on our way out and he told us that they had tried to switch their dining to main (which is what we had) but nothing had been available. However, they had been successful in adding their group of 6 adults to our brunch reservation on Tuesday morning. They were giving us the private dining room since we had such a large group. Yay! We also agreed that we were going to try to sign up for the martini tasting that was being held after Pirate Night. Since our reservations were linked, Ryan was able to take care of that for everyone.

By this time everyone was getting hungry, so we went up to Beach Blanket Buffet on deck 9. We usually eat our first lunch in Parrot Cay, but since we were in our home port, we thought it would be fun to eat out on the deck overlooking home. It was surreal sitting on the ship eating lunch while looking at our town across the bay!

Pretty soon Ryan and Christa came up and got a table across the deck from us. A few minutes later a server showed up and handed me a drink of the day, telling me ,“Happy birthday!” I had no idea what he was talking about, as it was not my birthday, nor close to it, but I figured out that Ryan and Christa had sent it over. Love those guys!

After lunch it was almost 1:30 so we decided to go wait for our room to be opened up. It was just a few minutes before the ropes were dropped and we were able to head in to our home for the next five days, stateroom 2612 (9C Deluxe Outside Stateroom). Our luggage all showed up very quickly, so I got everything unpacked and put up all of our magnets.

DSC01232 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

Our room was right near the aft elevators, which was very convenient for getting to the dining rooms (one flight up to Parrot Cay, two flights up to Animator's Palate, and one flight up plus a quick hallway to Triton's) and for quick trips up to deck 9 for drinks. Aft is convenient for the movie theater, buffet, and the kid's pool area. The room had no steamer trunk but still had plenty of storage in the built-in cabinets and drawers.

We then went up to deck 8 to see Meg and Jason's room, which was one of the family staterooms with the extra Murphy bed and a verandah (8020). I had made them some magnets to add to the ones they had brought along, so we delivered those. The kids were getting antsy and needed some entertainment, so we all went down to the Oceaneer Lab for open house. Of course by the time we got there they were five minutes from closing down. The kids got a quick peek and then we ran across to the Oceaneer Club so they could at least see what it looked like.

It was now about 3:00, so we decided to go check out our cruise group's meet-up in Promenade Lounge, where we could also pick up the wristbands I'd bought from someone who was having them customized for our group. There were quite a few people there, considering that this was a five-day cruise!

I had forgotten to bring my real camera, so I wanted to stop by the room on the way to the muster drill. We set up a meeting point with Meg and went to stand on deck in neat lines for a while. The muster drill is always boring and the kids get close to losing their minds, but it was done pretty quickly.

DSC01146 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01147 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

They wouldn't let us go in the direction we needed to go to meet up with Meg's family, so we went up one deck then backtracked to find them. It was time for a party!

There was a group of people standing near the railing that was sort of moving around in order to reserve the whole area for their larger group, so we just decided to stand back. I didn't feel like dealing with that! Ryan and Christa came up and joined us, and Ryan told me he'd been chatting with some crew members who told him that Clayton, our very favorite cruise director, had just gotten off the ship that morning! No, Clayton! We were all very disappointed, but glad to see some of our other old favorites on the entertainment staff. They are the ones that can really make a difference, so it was nice to know we were in good hands!

DSC01148 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01152 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01162 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

Larry and Ming went to sit at a table nearby, as the sailaway party wasn't much to their liking, and Elliott quickly disappeared with Ava. I decided to give him more freedom this trip, as long as he was with Ava. She's a couple of years older than him, quite responsible, and she carried a wave phone. And both kids know the ship really well after having spent so much time on her.

As they were about to start the big countdown to the When You Wish Upon a Star horn, the real horn blasted a few times, startling the heck out of everyone. However, this indicated that we were actually pulling out on the horn, which doesn't always happen. I was so excited that we were leaving on time, since we were going to sail basically all the way around the outside of my town, which is an island (half of which is a Navy base) between the bay and the ocean. That's not a view I see every day, and never from my very favorite ship! I ran up to deck 10 to get a good view (and a drink of the day) and was able to stay up until we were just heading out into open waters before I had to go gather up the family for dinner.

DSC01171 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01172 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01175 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01178 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01179 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

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DSC01190 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

We had main seating, 5:45, and our rotation was PTAPT. I was happy because once again we would be in Parrot Cay for pirate night and Triton's for the dress-up night. I wouldn't care if we had a different rotation, but I do like it when the atmosphere matches what's going on. It's just nice. Also, this was the first time we didn't have our last dinner in Animator's Palate, which has an earlier time for the final breakfast on disembarkation morning than the other dining rooms. Just seeing 6:45AM as our call for breakfast on the last morning takes me right out of vacation mode.

10181535 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

So, our first dinner was in Parrot Cay and was the rotational menu. Ollie was particularly excited, as he absolutely adores the banana bread they serve here. He ate all of it out of one basket and then asked for more. Our table was in the exact same spot we'd been in on our Panama Canal cruise in May, so it was easy to settle right back into our groove. I had put in a request for our server from that cruise, Beata, but we had Mike and Gusti instead. I was a bit bummed, especially after the Clayton disappointment, but I can roll with the punches and Mike and Gusti were just fine!

I will tell you right now that I was not as great about recording what was eaten or taking pictures of the food as I normally am. Our group was too big with too many children to even be able to pay attention to what everyone ordered. I will do my best, though and post what I have!

I ordered the Fried Jamaican-Marinated Chicken Tenderloins, which were much better than they'd been last time! The chicken was actually quite nice and juicy, while last time they were pretty dry.

DSC01200 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

Most of the others at the table ordered the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower, including my children. That was a very popular hit!

DSC01199 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

I also had the West Indies Romaine Salad, a Caesar-type salad which I always enjoy...

DSC01203 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

...and the Slow Roasted Prime Rib, rare. Get used to beef, because I will order it any time it's available! My meat wasn't really rare, more like just barely medium-rare, but it was still really good.

DSC01207 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

I have learned through trial and error that the best desserts are on the “No Sugar Added” menu and so I order from it quite a lot. Tonight I had the No Sugar Added Strawberry Cheesecake, which was delicious as always. The kids enjoyed their first Mickey bars of the cruise.

DSC01210 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01211 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

DSC01213 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

The kids (except Alison) finished up pretty quickly and then asked if they could go to the Club. Elliott can successfully navigate there, so we will usually let him take the younger ones with him.

After dinner we split up for a while. I went to the club to pick up the boys for the 7:30 Halloween storytelling by the Pumpkin Tree.

DSC01216 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

Tonight the Caretaker would introduce the kids to the tree and tell some fun/interesting stories about Halloween traditions. We came up from the midship stairs, between the elevators. There was an area taped off on the ground which was meant to be a kids-only, so the kids headed in there to sit, near the back. I sat down right behind the area so that I could grab them when it was over. You can see the tape on the floor in this picture, along with a few early arrivals.

DSC01219 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

Lucas showed up and joined the boys.

DSC01224 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

And then the Overtaker arrived!

DSC01225 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

While he was telling his story, which was very cute, Alison decided that she was going to sit with the boys and no one had better get in her way. Meghan was with her in a different area than where I was sitting, so I got to watch the entire thing as a spectator. I only regret that I had forgotten to bring the GoPro, because that tiny, adorable little girl stomped through like Godzilla, trampling everything in her path. She sat down next to Oliver, practically on his lap because there wasn't much room. A few minutes later she changed her mind and Godzilla-stomped over to sit between Lucas and Elliott. I could see everyone around me giggling, so luckily no one seemed annoyed. It was very cute.

Toward the end it got a little bit scary and I was gratified when Alison came to me for protection. It's always nice when they like you. They asked all the kids to turn in their pumpkin seeds, but we had no idea what they were talking about. Apparently there had been a table off to the side, away from where we came in, where they were having the kids write their names on paper pumpkin seeds, which would then be planted by the tree and create some magic. Luckily the kids didn't get upset that they didn't have seeds!

After the Pumpin Tree the kids decided to go back to the club for a while. We never go to the opening night show, so that was fine. After I dropped them off I stood by the rail over the atrium looking down, just taking a moment to really appreciate that I was in my happy place with family and friends, on the first day of vacation. I feel like things rush past so fast that it's important to slow down and make sure you reflect on the special moments.

I went to the room to grab my Kindle and the Wave Phone, and to put some Tsum Tsums into our fish extender for the boy. I had decided not to participate in the Fish Exchange this trip, because I find it a lot of pressure and stress after joining Facebook pages on the topic. I will do it again in the future, but this time I took a break. The boys love getting little gifts, though, so I figured I could bring some little toys and candy and things and do it just for them.

I then headed up to deck 9 to get an ice cream cone. I sat in a chair by the pool and watched some of The Lion King. It was really cold up there! I went searching for a blanket, but I couldn't find them in the usual places. I asked someone walking by and he went into an unlabeled cabinet to get one for me, from a very small stack. I guess they had switched to just having towels up there other than by request.

I had just sat back down when the Wave Phone buzzed. Oliver wanted to be picked up. I ran down to get him and found that Elliott was also ready to be sprung. The three of us went back up to deck 9, where they got ice cream cones and I picked up a plate of tasty French fries for us to nosh on. We watched the movie for a little while and then decided to go back to the room.

In the room we found our first towel animal of the cruise, chocolates, and the next day's Navigator.

DSC01229 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

Oliver worked on his homework and then we watched the end of Jurassic World (which ran on a loop) on TV. After that it was bed time!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Great start. So happy you were able to keep the surprise from the boys.

 

[GooniesAndy]

October 19, 2015: Ensenada (Navigator)

10181506 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181507 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181508 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181509 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181510 by Erin Brown, on Flickr

10181511 by Erin Brown, on Flickr