I'm also sending this to several friends via email so you may see some odd info inside.
Travelers:
Me (Masonpips) and DH and our 2 children, Mason age 5 and Lauren age 3.
Travel: We got up at regular time on Friday and left for the airport at 8:00 a.m. We stopped by my parents house and picked up my dad so he could drop us at the airport. Drop-off was a breeze and we waltzed into the airport and checked our 4 bags. M&L had their Disney carry-ons (with wheels of course) and Dh had my wheeled business case. I just carried a purse backpack (go me). We grabbed breakfast (pancakes for Mason, juice for L and I and Chris ate something) and jumped on the plane right on time. We arrived in Dallas with about an hour to kill so off to McDs for our first healthy meal (not). The plane to Orlando left on time and we arrived about 30 minutes early into the airport. Of course then it took over 30 minutes to get our luggage so that time was spent hanging out. Luckily we were given a mini-van (we rented car-seats and they tend to upgrade us when we do this) and we zoomed east to Port Canaveral.
First stop was Ron Jons Surf Shop where the kids each picked up a necklace (shark tooth for Mason) and we grabbed giant water bottles encased in foam (great buy we made iced tea on the ship and drank them down every day). We hit the grocery store for breakfast foods and bought 3 bottles of wine to bring on the ship as well. Then we checked into the hotel and wandered to an Italian place next door for pasta and pizza (Kelseys it was great). Wandered by the pool and didnt see any DIS board members (it was late) so we headed to bed.
We woke up at 8:00 or so and Chris took Mason out for breakfast, to fill up the rental car with gas and buy a corkscrew to go with our wine. Lauren and I got ready and were all set to go when they got back. It was about 9:40 and the port didnt open until 10:30. We decided to drive over and see the ship and make sure we knew where to go. When we got over there, we noticed 3 cars sitting in a row so we got in line and Chris wandered up to see what was up. They were going to open the doors in 10 minutes so we stayed in line! Everyone was very excited and we dropped our luggage with the porters right after 10 oclock. The kids and I went through Security (similar to the airport) and took the escalator upstairs. There were several people going through Security but when we got to the top of the escalator there was literally no one around. I saw the Mickey ears (you walk through them to enter the boat) and we headed that way. Lo and behold, we were first in line (I knew it was going to be a great trip at that point!!!).
They opened the windows to actually check in next and I stood in line while M&L made friends in the boarding line. We got our key to the world cards and found out we had the dining rotation we wanted (APL) and that we had table #1 for dinner. Once again, I felt that things looked very good for us! We hung out in line until about noon and shortly after that they opened the doors. We had our picture taken before boarding the boat and then they asked how we would like to be announced. As we walked into the Atrium on the 3rd floor deck, the lady said The Mason and Lauren C**** family from Houston, TX and everyone standing around applauded. Mason looked hilarious he was just standing there and wasnt sure what he needed to do or where he should go.
They tried to direct us to lunch, but thanks to my DIS-boards friends, we knew better. I took Lauren into Rockin Bar D and was the very first person to request Palo (the adults only restaurant) reservations. I made them for 6 p.m. on Sunday (the day we were to be in Key West). We grabbed the elevator right outside and went up to Deck 9 where I had sent the boys to make spa reservations. Chris booked us for the Surial Bath for Thursday at 9:30 and for a couples massage on Friday on Castaway Cay Disneys private island .
We left the spa and headed to the back of the boat to Topsiders for the lunch buffet. HUGE shrimp and assorted other foods. It actually wasnt a very good buffet for kids the only time the entire week they didnt seem to have kid-friendly food (errr, make that Mason-friendly food LOL). We finished lunch and headed to the Oceaneer Club/Lab to sign the kids up for the week. They took off immediately while we talked with Sally (lol) from Australia she was wonderful. We got them completely signed up, got a pager and then left.
They couldnt stay (much to their dismay) because the whole afternoon was dedicated to registration and such. We went to our stateroom next. It was MUCH better/bigger than we expected and the double bathroom was wonderful! We managed to get the kids to lie down and I unpacked (the over the door shoe holder is a MUST-have) while Chris wandered the ship. After nap we had the lifeboat drill which was HOT, HOT, HOT. It was over pretty quickly (although Mason discussed it for the rest of the trip) and we returned our lifejackets to the room and headed up for the sail-away party.
We went up to Deck 10 which is the top deck and overlooks the Goofy Pool area. They cover the pool for deck parties and make it a stage. The entertainment came out and it was a band, about 4 cast members dancing/singing upfront and all the kids counselors dancing through the audience. Lauren and Chris went down to Deck 9 to dance and Mason and I watched (I had a special sail-away frozen adult beverage). Before we knew it, it was 5:00 and they were sounding the horn (~when you wish upon a star~) and we left. The music/party continued and we stayed up there for awhile.
We had dinner at 6 so we went downstairs to change and get to dinner. We met our servers (Depesh from South Africa and Ishtvan from Hungary) and ended up sitting next to GoofyDisney and her family. We had met via the DISBoards and it was great to know someone. They had Annabelle who was 3 and she and Lauren hung out together a lot during the trip. Mason order a pb&j (his dinner choice every single night) and Lauren had chicken I think.
We were in Animators Palate which is a totally black and white restaurant when you first walk in. There are cartoon drawings everywhere and throughout the meal the walls begin to change color and they play music. The ceiling is held up by huge paintbrushes and looks like a artists palate and the paintbrushes changes colors too. It is very cool. The waiters do a walk-through/parade type thing and change their vests to full color. The kids loved it and it was a great start to the week.
We left there and wandered some more. By then the kids wanted to see the club again so we took them down there. They ran off VERY excited to do the pirate ship slide and we made sure we knew where everything was on the boat checked out all the nightclubs, etc. When we returned to the kids clubs, Mason said youre not here to pick us up are you? which we took as a great sign. We did turn in early that night everyone was really tired and Mason got the first night on the bunk that came down from the ceiling.
Monday was Key West. We all went up to Topsiders for the breakfast buffet and everyone was thrilled with the choices. They had hot food, pastries, bagels, cereal, fruit, etc. It was a great set-up for the mornings. I think we did the Mickey Pool next the kids absolutely loved it and the slide. After that we took them back to the buffet for lunch, but we had only salads because we had Palos that night and knew we wanted a lot of room. We took the kids to the club and left the boat to walk into Key West. It was HOT. Ive been there before and in all honesty, its not that great IMO. Its a beach-type New Orleans and a hell of a lot hotter too. (the heat, My God, the heat).
We went to Margaritaville and shared a piece of Key Lime Pie and then headed back. If we had to do it over again, wed rent jet-skis and just do that there. After we got back to the ship, we picked up the kids and they took naps. I went to exercise on Deck 4 (the covered deck with a loop all the way around) and Chris napped too. I managed to exercise the 4 out of 7 days so I felt good about that! After naps and snacks for the kids (you can order from room service or pick up pizza/chicken at any time basically) the kids went to the club and we got dressed up. Chris wore the tux we had rented for the week and I wore a long black dress. We arrived at Palo right at 6. Our server was Gabrielle (from Argentina) and she was great. We had a window seat and saw the tail-end of the sunset.
We ordered a bottle of wine (awesome) and had shrimp and something else as appetizers. Chris had Beef tenderloin for dinner and I had tortellini. She also brought us the salmon entrée because we were debating it. All of the food was exceptional. AWESOME! We ordered the famous soufflé for dessert and it was probably the best dessert I have ever eaten. I must find a way to make this.
We checked on the kids and they wanted to stay in the club so we changed clothes and went to the show Morty the Magnificent. It was kind of corny and definitely our least favorite of the week, but not too bad.
Monday: Day at sea. We hit the Mickey pool early (it gets very busy later) and then went to Palos for the DIS Board brunch. We had a total of 18 adults (kids in clubs) and it was wonderful! A huge seafood and salad-type things buffet, pastries, an entrée (beef tenderloin for both of us), desserts, etc. TOO much food! We got the kids, they took naps and I went to the gym and did the treadmill. The gym was great the treadmills look into the bridge (when the blinds are open) and above that you can see out the front of the ship very relaxing.
We found a cute show by accident. It was called Island Dreams and starred Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale. It was all about the trip to Disneys island on Friday and it was adorable. Captain Hook made an appearance and it was all over for Mason. He and I wandered a bit while Lauren and Chris finished the show.
Monday night was formal night. The boys wore their tuxes and the girls dressed formally. We did a LOT of pre-dinner pics figuring the kids would destroy their outfits. The pics turned out wonderfully and we were thrilled the next day. We ate in Lumineres which is the Beauty & the Beast restaurant (a huge mural on the wall and roses in glass cases in the light fixtures). After dinner the kids headed to the clubs and we wandered about and changed into shorts (lol).
We went to get the clubs and do Hercules and Mason refused to
go (flashback to Captain Hook) so we took Lauren. She LOVED it. She never moved throughout the show and was in awe. It was the best show of the week in our opinions. VERY good Chris said he was blown away by the shows overall, he was expecting much cheesier stuff.
Tuesday was Grand Cayman. We pre-ordered pb&js and chips and took them in our soft cooler for the kids to have for lunch since our excursion was from 10 am to 1 pm. We tendered in there (caught a boat from our ship to the shore, no one can actually dock at Grand Cayman). We walked a bit and found Captain Marvins pretty easily after asking for directions. We checked in immediately with Ruth whom I had been emailing with prior to the cruise and she was SO nice. We all jumped in a van/bus and rode to the dock. Everyone was outfitted with snorkeling gear and we took off. I think there were about 25 people on our boat it was perfect.
We stopped twice to snorkel and both kids actually did it and did great. The only issue was the waves and them getting salt water in their snorkels. After that they watched us from the boat. Had it been really calm, they would have been out there the entire time. The water was SO clear and you could see stingrays on the bottom at the 2nd stop Lauren was yelling theres a stingray! Theres a baby one!. It was a riot.
We next went to Stingray City. The kids had life jackets on and we each carried one. We got in the water and it was the absolute COOLEST thing. They swarm over to you because they know you have food and suddenly you have 5-10 HUGE ones swimming by you. I kept thinking of that commercial where the guy says theyre like giant portabello mushrooms. They are SO soft and so gentle, but with a bunch of them touching you at once, its a weird experience. Mason was laughing his head off and Lauren was in heaven.
We wandered over to feed them and Lauren wanted to do it again and again. Thats about the point where Mason had one scratch his leg (the middle of their backs down to their tails is harder reminds you of a turtles shell) and he freaked. Chris took him back to the boat (where he was more than happy to watch, he just didnt want to be in the water with them) and the 3 of us stayed out in the water until they forced us in. It was AWESOME. We bought the video tape (should arrive in 3-4 weeks) and we got to watch it on the way back seeing Lauren holding a stingray (I was holding her) was incredible. The one we held weighed about 60 pounds they are huge.
The kids and Chris took a 3+ hour nap after that (I ran around the ship on Deck 4) and we headed to Animators Palate for dinner again. Mason was less than thrilled that there wasnt a show that night and they headed to the club as soon as it was open post-dinner (6:30, they dont allow them in/out during a transition period when theyre moving them about the ship).
That nights show was Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer where they randomly select audience members to play the Millionaire game to win a free cruise. I think there were 4 or 5 contestants and it was VERY fun to watch. Wished we would have been picked but no luck.
Wednesday was Cozumel. We debated what we wanted to do but ended up staying on the boat all day. It was a great choice. We did the Mickey pool early with the kids, they went to the club while we did the adult pool and then we did naps (all of us) and basically relaxed all day long with most of the people off the boat excellent plan of attack. That night they had the Mexicalifragicisticexpalidious dinner and we were in Parrot Cay which we had missed on Sunday by choosing Palo instead. It was also tropical night and we all dressed in our Hawaiian shirts/dresses. The kids left us after eating (again) and we finished dinner alone. They had a parade/limbo thing in the middle of dinner and it was a blast.
There was no show on Wed since so many people stay in Cozumel as the ship doesnt leave until 10:30 or so. We went and saw Sweet Home Alabama at the theater instead. It was a definite chick-flick but cute. The guy is adorable and has beautiful blue eyes.
Thursday was another day at sea and Halloween. We had a very busy day. We had booked the Surial Bath at 9:30 so the kids went to the club early with promises of Trick or Treating before lunch. The Surial Bath is a spa treatment for 2 or 3 (?). I guess I could see 3 ladies doing it together, but it is very much a couples thing. You go into a room about 6 by 8 that has a bench built into the wall. At one end is a shower. You rinse yourselves off and then apply sea salts to exfoliate your skin. After doing that (and rinsing) you are given 3 muds, white (face/neck), red (front) and grey (back) to put on each other.
You push on a button in the wall and in the next room (separated by a glass door) the chamber fills with steam. The room consists of a fountain like thing in the middle with bowls that fill with cool water to wash your faces off in. The room is shaped like a clover leaf and each leaf has a bench and a shower head, plus side shower heads. The idea is to apply the mud, let it set, go into the steam and let the mud penetrate your skin and then rinse off.
We had fun and it was too funny to do the mud. After rinsing off completely you can try a variety of spa things massage oils, lotions, body scrubs, etc. Very cheap in spa terms ($68 + tip) for 2 people for an hour. A must-do and Chris loved it (lol)
We jetted out of there and took real showers. I dressed while Chris grabbed the kids and they dressed up. We had pre-planned a TorT event with the people from the DIS boards and we had 17 rooms to hit with 23 kids. It was really fun and the kids got a TON of things. Most of the stuff was from Oriental Trading Company and ended up being great airplane entertainment for Lauren stickers, balls, games, etc.
After TorT we grabbed lunch and then there was a ship-wide TorT thing at 2. Way too many people and they were giving out 1 caramel and such. I was so happy we had done something on our own and we were able to get the kids down for a nap easily.
We had the semi-formal night that night and tried to get more pictures, but Lauren wanted no part of that. After dinner was the Disney Dreams show and she went with us again (Mason wouldnt go). It was cute and highlighted a lot of different Disney movies. I still liked Hercules the best, but this was a close 2nd.
We watched some of the adult parade that night, but it was late and we were exhausted. We had the island the next day + the clocks moved forward again so we went to bed. We moved the clocks back for the time change on Saturday, back again on Tuesday for Cozumel and then forward on Thursday night I never felt like I knew where we were or what time it was!
Friday morning we went up to the spa at 9:15. We had a 10 oclock couples massage booked on the island. We got off the ship and dropped the kids at the club and went to the adults only beach. We had a private cabana (great pics here) and had side-by-side massage tables. It was AWESOME. Although it was very hot that day, the cabanas have fans and the beach breeze was great. The only downfall was not being able to rent the cabana for 3 hours to sleep post-massage.
We went back to the family beach after the massage and did a little shopping. The kids were eating lunch by then so we grabbed food and got them as soon as they were done eating. We all played in the water for about 2 hours and wandered to the Heads Up Bar to take pictures and drink a Conch Cooler (they had Sprite).
We got back on the ship about 2:30 pm and put them down for a nap they were exhausted. I was trying to wake them up at 4 for their rehearsal for the show they were putting on for us and couldnt get them to wake up. I finally bribed them with Halloween candy and off they went. The show started at 5 and I almost started bawling when they did it.
They started showing pictures of all the kids activities held throughout the week (pj party, making Flubber, Snow White visiting, Halloween party, beach party, etc.) and the kids came in singing Its a Small World. They all went on stage and did some more songs and clapped, waved, etc. They had 700+ kids on the ship that week and it was awesome. There were probably 2-300 in the show.
That night was the Its a Small World dinner and we didnt even bother taking the kids they were much happier eating with the other kids in the club. We loved the menu and shared 4 appetizers (lol). There were dishes from all over the world and the servers (representing 46 countries employed on the ship) did a parade and it was a blast.
After dinner we finished our picture buying (10 small ones and 7 formal shots) and both kids went to the farewell show with us. Rich Purpura (sp?) and another guy each did a 20 minute thing (Mason loved the magic stuff) and we had seen a much less family-oriented show one night in the club (it was hysterical) so he was great to see again. Then the whole crew (characters) came out to sing goodbye and it was basically over.
I finished packing and we had our luggage out in time for the 11 oclock deadline. In the morning Chris and Mason got breakfast while Lauren and I got ready. We went downstairs at 8:00 as they were letting us know the ship had been cleared by Customs and we had our luggage and were in our rental car calling Theresa and Doug by 8:40 SUPER fast, easy and efficient.
Questions?
Travelers:
Me (Masonpips) and DH and our 2 children, Mason age 5 and Lauren age 3.
Travel: We got up at regular time on Friday and left for the airport at 8:00 a.m. We stopped by my parents house and picked up my dad so he could drop us at the airport. Drop-off was a breeze and we waltzed into the airport and checked our 4 bags. M&L had their Disney carry-ons (with wheels of course) and Dh had my wheeled business case. I just carried a purse backpack (go me). We grabbed breakfast (pancakes for Mason, juice for L and I and Chris ate something) and jumped on the plane right on time. We arrived in Dallas with about an hour to kill so off to McDs for our first healthy meal (not). The plane to Orlando left on time and we arrived about 30 minutes early into the airport. Of course then it took over 30 minutes to get our luggage so that time was spent hanging out. Luckily we were given a mini-van (we rented car-seats and they tend to upgrade us when we do this) and we zoomed east to Port Canaveral.
First stop was Ron Jons Surf Shop where the kids each picked up a necklace (shark tooth for Mason) and we grabbed giant water bottles encased in foam (great buy we made iced tea on the ship and drank them down every day). We hit the grocery store for breakfast foods and bought 3 bottles of wine to bring on the ship as well. Then we checked into the hotel and wandered to an Italian place next door for pasta and pizza (Kelseys it was great). Wandered by the pool and didnt see any DIS board members (it was late) so we headed to bed.
We woke up at 8:00 or so and Chris took Mason out for breakfast, to fill up the rental car with gas and buy a corkscrew to go with our wine. Lauren and I got ready and were all set to go when they got back. It was about 9:40 and the port didnt open until 10:30. We decided to drive over and see the ship and make sure we knew where to go. When we got over there, we noticed 3 cars sitting in a row so we got in line and Chris wandered up to see what was up. They were going to open the doors in 10 minutes so we stayed in line! Everyone was very excited and we dropped our luggage with the porters right after 10 oclock. The kids and I went through Security (similar to the airport) and took the escalator upstairs. There were several people going through Security but when we got to the top of the escalator there was literally no one around. I saw the Mickey ears (you walk through them to enter the boat) and we headed that way. Lo and behold, we were first in line (I knew it was going to be a great trip at that point!!!).
They opened the windows to actually check in next and I stood in line while M&L made friends in the boarding line. We got our key to the world cards and found out we had the dining rotation we wanted (APL) and that we had table #1 for dinner. Once again, I felt that things looked very good for us! We hung out in line until about noon and shortly after that they opened the doors. We had our picture taken before boarding the boat and then they asked how we would like to be announced. As we walked into the Atrium on the 3rd floor deck, the lady said The Mason and Lauren C**** family from Houston, TX and everyone standing around applauded. Mason looked hilarious he was just standing there and wasnt sure what he needed to do or where he should go.
They tried to direct us to lunch, but thanks to my DIS-boards friends, we knew better. I took Lauren into Rockin Bar D and was the very first person to request Palo (the adults only restaurant) reservations. I made them for 6 p.m. on Sunday (the day we were to be in Key West). We grabbed the elevator right outside and went up to Deck 9 where I had sent the boys to make spa reservations. Chris booked us for the Surial Bath for Thursday at 9:30 and for a couples massage on Friday on Castaway Cay Disneys private island .
We left the spa and headed to the back of the boat to Topsiders for the lunch buffet. HUGE shrimp and assorted other foods. It actually wasnt a very good buffet for kids the only time the entire week they didnt seem to have kid-friendly food (errr, make that Mason-friendly food LOL). We finished lunch and headed to the Oceaneer Club/Lab to sign the kids up for the week. They took off immediately while we talked with Sally (lol) from Australia she was wonderful. We got them completely signed up, got a pager and then left.
They couldnt stay (much to their dismay) because the whole afternoon was dedicated to registration and such. We went to our stateroom next. It was MUCH better/bigger than we expected and the double bathroom was wonderful! We managed to get the kids to lie down and I unpacked (the over the door shoe holder is a MUST-have) while Chris wandered the ship. After nap we had the lifeboat drill which was HOT, HOT, HOT. It was over pretty quickly (although Mason discussed it for the rest of the trip) and we returned our lifejackets to the room and headed up for the sail-away party.
We went up to Deck 10 which is the top deck and overlooks the Goofy Pool area. They cover the pool for deck parties and make it a stage. The entertainment came out and it was a band, about 4 cast members dancing/singing upfront and all the kids counselors dancing through the audience. Lauren and Chris went down to Deck 9 to dance and Mason and I watched (I had a special sail-away frozen adult beverage). Before we knew it, it was 5:00 and they were sounding the horn (~when you wish upon a star~) and we left. The music/party continued and we stayed up there for awhile.
We had dinner at 6 so we went downstairs to change and get to dinner. We met our servers (Depesh from South Africa and Ishtvan from Hungary) and ended up sitting next to GoofyDisney and her family. We had met via the DISBoards and it was great to know someone. They had Annabelle who was 3 and she and Lauren hung out together a lot during the trip. Mason order a pb&j (his dinner choice every single night) and Lauren had chicken I think.
We were in Animators Palate which is a totally black and white restaurant when you first walk in. There are cartoon drawings everywhere and throughout the meal the walls begin to change color and they play music. The ceiling is held up by huge paintbrushes and looks like a artists palate and the paintbrushes changes colors too. It is very cool. The waiters do a walk-through/parade type thing and change their vests to full color. The kids loved it and it was a great start to the week.
We left there and wandered some more. By then the kids wanted to see the club again so we took them down there. They ran off VERY excited to do the pirate ship slide and we made sure we knew where everything was on the boat checked out all the nightclubs, etc. When we returned to the kids clubs, Mason said youre not here to pick us up are you? which we took as a great sign. We did turn in early that night everyone was really tired and Mason got the first night on the bunk that came down from the ceiling.
Monday was Key West. We all went up to Topsiders for the breakfast buffet and everyone was thrilled with the choices. They had hot food, pastries, bagels, cereal, fruit, etc. It was a great set-up for the mornings. I think we did the Mickey Pool next the kids absolutely loved it and the slide. After that we took them back to the buffet for lunch, but we had only salads because we had Palos that night and knew we wanted a lot of room. We took the kids to the club and left the boat to walk into Key West. It was HOT. Ive been there before and in all honesty, its not that great IMO. Its a beach-type New Orleans and a hell of a lot hotter too. (the heat, My God, the heat).
We went to Margaritaville and shared a piece of Key Lime Pie and then headed back. If we had to do it over again, wed rent jet-skis and just do that there. After we got back to the ship, we picked up the kids and they took naps. I went to exercise on Deck 4 (the covered deck with a loop all the way around) and Chris napped too. I managed to exercise the 4 out of 7 days so I felt good about that! After naps and snacks for the kids (you can order from room service or pick up pizza/chicken at any time basically) the kids went to the club and we got dressed up. Chris wore the tux we had rented for the week and I wore a long black dress. We arrived at Palo right at 6. Our server was Gabrielle (from Argentina) and she was great. We had a window seat and saw the tail-end of the sunset.
We ordered a bottle of wine (awesome) and had shrimp and something else as appetizers. Chris had Beef tenderloin for dinner and I had tortellini. She also brought us the salmon entrée because we were debating it. All of the food was exceptional. AWESOME! We ordered the famous soufflé for dessert and it was probably the best dessert I have ever eaten. I must find a way to make this.
We checked on the kids and they wanted to stay in the club so we changed clothes and went to the show Morty the Magnificent. It was kind of corny and definitely our least favorite of the week, but not too bad.
Monday: Day at sea. We hit the Mickey pool early (it gets very busy later) and then went to Palos for the DIS Board brunch. We had a total of 18 adults (kids in clubs) and it was wonderful! A huge seafood and salad-type things buffet, pastries, an entrée (beef tenderloin for both of us), desserts, etc. TOO much food! We got the kids, they took naps and I went to the gym and did the treadmill. The gym was great the treadmills look into the bridge (when the blinds are open) and above that you can see out the front of the ship very relaxing.
We found a cute show by accident. It was called Island Dreams and starred Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale. It was all about the trip to Disneys island on Friday and it was adorable. Captain Hook made an appearance and it was all over for Mason. He and I wandered a bit while Lauren and Chris finished the show.
Monday night was formal night. The boys wore their tuxes and the girls dressed formally. We did a LOT of pre-dinner pics figuring the kids would destroy their outfits. The pics turned out wonderfully and we were thrilled the next day. We ate in Lumineres which is the Beauty & the Beast restaurant (a huge mural on the wall and roses in glass cases in the light fixtures). After dinner the kids headed to the clubs and we wandered about and changed into shorts (lol).
We went to get the clubs and do Hercules and Mason refused to
go (flashback to Captain Hook) so we took Lauren. She LOVED it. She never moved throughout the show and was in awe. It was the best show of the week in our opinions. VERY good Chris said he was blown away by the shows overall, he was expecting much cheesier stuff.
Tuesday was Grand Cayman. We pre-ordered pb&js and chips and took them in our soft cooler for the kids to have for lunch since our excursion was from 10 am to 1 pm. We tendered in there (caught a boat from our ship to the shore, no one can actually dock at Grand Cayman). We walked a bit and found Captain Marvins pretty easily after asking for directions. We checked in immediately with Ruth whom I had been emailing with prior to the cruise and she was SO nice. We all jumped in a van/bus and rode to the dock. Everyone was outfitted with snorkeling gear and we took off. I think there were about 25 people on our boat it was perfect.
We stopped twice to snorkel and both kids actually did it and did great. The only issue was the waves and them getting salt water in their snorkels. After that they watched us from the boat. Had it been really calm, they would have been out there the entire time. The water was SO clear and you could see stingrays on the bottom at the 2nd stop Lauren was yelling theres a stingray! Theres a baby one!. It was a riot.
We next went to Stingray City. The kids had life jackets on and we each carried one. We got in the water and it was the absolute COOLEST thing. They swarm over to you because they know you have food and suddenly you have 5-10 HUGE ones swimming by you. I kept thinking of that commercial where the guy says theyre like giant portabello mushrooms. They are SO soft and so gentle, but with a bunch of them touching you at once, its a weird experience. Mason was laughing his head off and Lauren was in heaven.
We wandered over to feed them and Lauren wanted to do it again and again. Thats about the point where Mason had one scratch his leg (the middle of their backs down to their tails is harder reminds you of a turtles shell) and he freaked. Chris took him back to the boat (where he was more than happy to watch, he just didnt want to be in the water with them) and the 3 of us stayed out in the water until they forced us in. It was AWESOME. We bought the video tape (should arrive in 3-4 weeks) and we got to watch it on the way back seeing Lauren holding a stingray (I was holding her) was incredible. The one we held weighed about 60 pounds they are huge.
The kids and Chris took a 3+ hour nap after that (I ran around the ship on Deck 4) and we headed to Animators Palate for dinner again. Mason was less than thrilled that there wasnt a show that night and they headed to the club as soon as it was open post-dinner (6:30, they dont allow them in/out during a transition period when theyre moving them about the ship).
That nights show was Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer where they randomly select audience members to play the Millionaire game to win a free cruise. I think there were 4 or 5 contestants and it was VERY fun to watch. Wished we would have been picked but no luck.
Wednesday was Cozumel. We debated what we wanted to do but ended up staying on the boat all day. It was a great choice. We did the Mickey pool early with the kids, they went to the club while we did the adult pool and then we did naps (all of us) and basically relaxed all day long with most of the people off the boat excellent plan of attack. That night they had the Mexicalifragicisticexpalidious dinner and we were in Parrot Cay which we had missed on Sunday by choosing Palo instead. It was also tropical night and we all dressed in our Hawaiian shirts/dresses. The kids left us after eating (again) and we finished dinner alone. They had a parade/limbo thing in the middle of dinner and it was a blast.
There was no show on Wed since so many people stay in Cozumel as the ship doesnt leave until 10:30 or so. We went and saw Sweet Home Alabama at the theater instead. It was a definite chick-flick but cute. The guy is adorable and has beautiful blue eyes.
Thursday was another day at sea and Halloween. We had a very busy day. We had booked the Surial Bath at 9:30 so the kids went to the club early with promises of Trick or Treating before lunch. The Surial Bath is a spa treatment for 2 or 3 (?). I guess I could see 3 ladies doing it together, but it is very much a couples thing. You go into a room about 6 by 8 that has a bench built into the wall. At one end is a shower. You rinse yourselves off and then apply sea salts to exfoliate your skin. After doing that (and rinsing) you are given 3 muds, white (face/neck), red (front) and grey (back) to put on each other.
You push on a button in the wall and in the next room (separated by a glass door) the chamber fills with steam. The room consists of a fountain like thing in the middle with bowls that fill with cool water to wash your faces off in. The room is shaped like a clover leaf and each leaf has a bench and a shower head, plus side shower heads. The idea is to apply the mud, let it set, go into the steam and let the mud penetrate your skin and then rinse off.
We had fun and it was too funny to do the mud. After rinsing off completely you can try a variety of spa things massage oils, lotions, body scrubs, etc. Very cheap in spa terms ($68 + tip) for 2 people for an hour. A must-do and Chris loved it (lol)
We jetted out of there and took real showers. I dressed while Chris grabbed the kids and they dressed up. We had pre-planned a TorT event with the people from the DIS boards and we had 17 rooms to hit with 23 kids. It was really fun and the kids got a TON of things. Most of the stuff was from Oriental Trading Company and ended up being great airplane entertainment for Lauren stickers, balls, games, etc.
After TorT we grabbed lunch and then there was a ship-wide TorT thing at 2. Way too many people and they were giving out 1 caramel and such. I was so happy we had done something on our own and we were able to get the kids down for a nap easily.
We had the semi-formal night that night and tried to get more pictures, but Lauren wanted no part of that. After dinner was the Disney Dreams show and she went with us again (Mason wouldnt go). It was cute and highlighted a lot of different Disney movies. I still liked Hercules the best, but this was a close 2nd.
We watched some of the adult parade that night, but it was late and we were exhausted. We had the island the next day + the clocks moved forward again so we went to bed. We moved the clocks back for the time change on Saturday, back again on Tuesday for Cozumel and then forward on Thursday night I never felt like I knew where we were or what time it was!
Friday morning we went up to the spa at 9:15. We had a 10 oclock couples massage booked on the island. We got off the ship and dropped the kids at the club and went to the adults only beach. We had a private cabana (great pics here) and had side-by-side massage tables. It was AWESOME. Although it was very hot that day, the cabanas have fans and the beach breeze was great. The only downfall was not being able to rent the cabana for 3 hours to sleep post-massage.
We went back to the family beach after the massage and did a little shopping. The kids were eating lunch by then so we grabbed food and got them as soon as they were done eating. We all played in the water for about 2 hours and wandered to the Heads Up Bar to take pictures and drink a Conch Cooler (they had Sprite).
We got back on the ship about 2:30 pm and put them down for a nap they were exhausted. I was trying to wake them up at 4 for their rehearsal for the show they were putting on for us and couldnt get them to wake up. I finally bribed them with Halloween candy and off they went. The show started at 5 and I almost started bawling when they did it.
They started showing pictures of all the kids activities held throughout the week (pj party, making Flubber, Snow White visiting, Halloween party, beach party, etc.) and the kids came in singing Its a Small World. They all went on stage and did some more songs and clapped, waved, etc. They had 700+ kids on the ship that week and it was awesome. There were probably 2-300 in the show.
That night was the Its a Small World dinner and we didnt even bother taking the kids they were much happier eating with the other kids in the club. We loved the menu and shared 4 appetizers (lol). There were dishes from all over the world and the servers (representing 46 countries employed on the ship) did a parade and it was a blast.
After dinner we finished our picture buying (10 small ones and 7 formal shots) and both kids went to the farewell show with us. Rich Purpura (sp?) and another guy each did a 20 minute thing (Mason loved the magic stuff) and we had seen a much less family-oriented show one night in the club (it was hysterical) so he was great to see again. Then the whole crew (characters) came out to sing goodbye and it was basically over.
I finished packing and we had our luggage out in time for the 11 oclock deadline. In the morning Chris and Mason got breakfast while Lauren and I got ready. We went downstairs at 8:00 as they were letting us know the ship had been cleared by Customs and we had our luggage and were in our rental car calling Theresa and Doug by 8:40 SUPER fast, easy and efficient.
Questions?
I wanted to but I just couldn't do it. Your little girl is much more brave than I.
