ecomerford
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2007
- Messages
- 39
We got back on board at about 4:30 and put the kids straight down for a nap. Having learned from our prior cruise nap experience, we wanted to make sure they got at least a couple of hours. So DW and I chilled out on the veranda while the boys snoozed. It was another blissful afternoon.
We roused everyone at around 6:30 to get ready for Pirates Night. In a fit of never-before-seen advanced vacation planning, I had bought the boys Jack Sparrow costumes after Halloween for 75% off. I also bought inflatable buccaneer swords, earrings, and eye patches. I even found some pirate make-up that I used to give myself and the boys pirate stubble and scars. I may be biased, but I think theyre the cutest pirates to sail the seven seas:
Before dinner, we headed out to Studio Sea for A Pirates Life for Me. This was basically a quiz show that pitted one side of the bar against the other in questions and contests. It was all rather silly and fun. Our team won because our CM, Lisa, brazenly cheated during the dubloon toss, not that it mattered. Heres DW and the boys posing by the set.
Dinner that night was a Parrot Cay, the perfect spot for a pirates feast (The APLAPLA rotation was definitely a plus). The food was good and the overall atmosphere seemed much more raucous and fun than prior nights. Most of the kids had some kid of costume, but adults varied widely. Some had nothing or just the bandanna that came with dinner. Others had a POC T-shirt, while others went all out. I was on the more piratey end of the scale with the face make-up, eye patch, earring and pirate teeth. The overall effect was NOT pretty. Heres the whole family at dinner:
At dessert, our servers surprised me with a birthday celebration. I had turned the big 4-0 a week before the cruise, so it was really nice. Here I am with the monstrous (and very tasty) slice of DCL cake:
After dinner we headed up on Deck 9 for the Pirates In the Caribbean Party. The party was led by a group of CMs I dubbed Team UK: Bailey, Lisa and Natalie from England, and Sheika from Wales. They were all dressed as pirate wenches (hey, thats the technical term) and had clearly done this once or twice before as they bopped about the stage in perfect unisom. We were right down in front of the stage and danced along to the whole crew. Unfortunately, not many people were trying to follow along, as most stood off to the side and watched or video-taped the festivities. The boys had a great time boogying down to the pirate favorites (pirates are seemingly partial to 70s and 80s dance hits). Here they are shakin it pirate-style:
I wont ruin the surprise finale, but the kids really enjoyed it. Then it was time for the fireworks. Our servers had told us that the best spot to see them was the starboard side of Deck 10. We didnt make it up there, but I certainly see what they meant. The fireworks seemed pretty close on Deck 9. You must have felt like you could reach out and touch them on Deck 10. It was very, very, cool.
We would have liked to stay up to watch POC: Curse of the Black Pearl on Ariel TV, but its PG-13 and were pretty strict about that kind of thing (it was also almost 11 at this stage). We got back to our room to find the boys favorite towel animal of the cruise a monkey:
Up NEXT: Palo Perfection, round 2.
We roused everyone at around 6:30 to get ready for Pirates Night. In a fit of never-before-seen advanced vacation planning, I had bought the boys Jack Sparrow costumes after Halloween for 75% off. I also bought inflatable buccaneer swords, earrings, and eye patches. I even found some pirate make-up that I used to give myself and the boys pirate stubble and scars. I may be biased, but I think theyre the cutest pirates to sail the seven seas:
Before dinner, we headed out to Studio Sea for A Pirates Life for Me. This was basically a quiz show that pitted one side of the bar against the other in questions and contests. It was all rather silly and fun. Our team won because our CM, Lisa, brazenly cheated during the dubloon toss, not that it mattered. Heres DW and the boys posing by the set.
Dinner that night was a Parrot Cay, the perfect spot for a pirates feast (The APLAPLA rotation was definitely a plus). The food was good and the overall atmosphere seemed much more raucous and fun than prior nights. Most of the kids had some kid of costume, but adults varied widely. Some had nothing or just the bandanna that came with dinner. Others had a POC T-shirt, while others went all out. I was on the more piratey end of the scale with the face make-up, eye patch, earring and pirate teeth. The overall effect was NOT pretty. Heres the whole family at dinner:
At dessert, our servers surprised me with a birthday celebration. I had turned the big 4-0 a week before the cruise, so it was really nice. Here I am with the monstrous (and very tasty) slice of DCL cake:
After dinner we headed up on Deck 9 for the Pirates In the Caribbean Party. The party was led by a group of CMs I dubbed Team UK: Bailey, Lisa and Natalie from England, and Sheika from Wales. They were all dressed as pirate wenches (hey, thats the technical term) and had clearly done this once or twice before as they bopped about the stage in perfect unisom. We were right down in front of the stage and danced along to the whole crew. Unfortunately, not many people were trying to follow along, as most stood off to the side and watched or video-taped the festivities. The boys had a great time boogying down to the pirate favorites (pirates are seemingly partial to 70s and 80s dance hits). Here they are shakin it pirate-style:
I wont ruin the surprise finale, but the kids really enjoyed it. Then it was time for the fireworks. Our servers had told us that the best spot to see them was the starboard side of Deck 10. We didnt make it up there, but I certainly see what they meant. The fireworks seemed pretty close on Deck 9. You must have felt like you could reach out and touch them on Deck 10. It was very, very, cool.
We would have liked to stay up to watch POC: Curse of the Black Pearl on Ariel TV, but its PG-13 and were pretty strict about that kind of thing (it was also almost 11 at this stage). We got back to our room to find the boys favorite towel animal of the cruise a monkey:
Up NEXT: Palo Perfection, round 2.
.
