11 Nights of Wonder

[gismo1554]

OK so this is my cruise/holiday report. Sorry but there may be a few spoilers, which I have hopefully highlighted, and its going to be VERY LONG. I met so many people on the boat and I only remember about 10th of the people’s names, so if you are mentioned please don’t think I’m rude not adding your name. I honestly can not remember names, I remember faces. I've split it in to seperate posts per day to make it a bit more user friendly. I've also tried to make any where there may be some spoilers but just in case I appologise if anything on here is a spoiler and the post isn't marked.



Photos should all be working fine now

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Bunny
Menu – Let the Magic Begin
Show – Welcome Aboard show with Rich Purpura and Gary Delena
Drink of the day – Bahama Mama
Dress – Cruise casual


Mum and I woke early (5 am) and went swimming as we were staying at the Grand Floridian in Walt Disney World for a few days before the cruise. We were the only people in the pool which was odd. Then we went to breakfast and finished packing up. We called the bell hop to come and get our cases and the man that arrived looked exactly like Jeff Daniels (I can’t remember his name). We explained that we were off on the cruise and he chatted to us about that. I explained that Mum & Dad had been on the cruise in February without me to which he asked why. I explained that I had to look after the dogs and he asked where they were now, to which I replied that they were dead. He did seem quite shocked at that but I didn’t know what else to say. We then headed off to the port arriving about 11.30. Dad took the hire car back while mum and I headed to check in. Mum didn’t have Dad’s credit card though, so I checked in but she had to wait. We got given a Castaway Club lanyard and 2 pins each at check in which was nice. Dad arrived and we headed back to check in. By this time our boarding number had been called and so we walked straight onto the boat. As we went on board though I noticed that we were on different table numbers for dinner, even though mum had booked our rooms at the same time months ago and had been trying, unsuccessfully to get the rooms on the same floor ever since. We couldn’t change our reservations until 1.30 and so headed to Parrot Cay for lunch. We had a nice lunch and Mum met Anthony who was the head chef of Parrot Cay and came from Bettws a few miles from where we live in UK, and that she had also worked with his cousin. Then off to Wavebands to sort out our dining reservations. Here we found out that for some reason I was on table 2 on my own and another man had been put on table 63 with Mum & Dad. This was soon changed and we also put our names down for Afternoon tea at Palos, (didn’t get to do this though as no availability all cruise). Off to our rooms to look around. My room on deck 6 was lovely and I met Weekly my room steward. I also found the Castaway Club gift on my bed. We then went to deck 7 to Mum & Dad’s room and their cases were delivered. The lady delivering them knocked on the door to say how pretty our dogs were which was nice as we had placed our magnet photos straightaway, (we brought these along to help us remember our rooms – mum is good at getting lost). No time to rest, it was off to the sailaway party, joining all the other Diser’s on deck 10. We met some great people and watched as we sailed away from the dock. Then it was time to unpack and get ready for dinner. My room had already been made up and along with my towel animal (#) there was a special 11 night Lilo and Stitch lithograph drawn by Donald Williams. Our meal time wasn’t until 8.30 and we didn’t fancy the Welcome Cabaret show so instead went to Diversions and then mum and I went to bingo in Wavebands (we didn’t win), leaving Dad at the bar.(drink theme again!). Then we popped off to have a coffee in Cove Café. Then we headed to dinner at Parrot Cay. We met our server Kerry, assistant server Savio and our head server Daniel. We had a nice meal then went to the Cadillac lounge and had a drink before bed (drink theme again!).

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Swan
Menu – French menu
Show – Gary Delena
Drink of the day – Rum Runner
Dress – Cruise casual


This was our first day at sea. We were up early and went to Tritons for breakfast. Dad then went to the Appetiser demonstration with Michael Jordon while I went to pyjama bingo (I got a keychain for going in pjs). Then I joined Mum at the pool. Dad came back and said that there was a wine tasting he wanted to go to as it was being done by Michael Jordan. We went down to reception and booked. Dada and I also booked Beer tasting. The wine tasting was at 2.30 so we grabbed some snack food for lunch and then joined in with DJ Hollywood at the pool for an environmental quiz. I won a special pin for this. The wine tasting was in the Cadillac lounge, looking at 6 wines from Italy. Michael Jordon was very good but used a lot of large words. The wines were all OK. He ran over time though as it was supposed to finish at 3.30 and at 4 he was still speaking. We had to leave early and head over to Beer tasting in Diversions. Lindsey (I think that was her name) from the Wirrell caught us on the way out and said that we must be British to be doing both. We explained where we were from and she said that one of the other girls in there (Sonia) was married to Anthony. We then went and joined a table at the Beer tasting. Carolina (who we met in May) was giving the talk and interrupted what she was saying to say hi to us (explaining that she met us earlier in the year). We then tried 5 beers including Tetley’s and Guinness. Afterwards they had a beer chugging contest and the one man on our table entered but didn’t win. The lady on our table spoke with me and I found out she was travelling with her 3 sisters and mum and she was really enjoying it. That night we were in Tritons and had the normal Tritons menu. We also had a show with Ariel and Sebastian coming in and singing. Daniel also came around and gave Dad a Flounder pin and mum and I Ariel pins each. That night we went to Wavebands and saw the cabaret show with Rich Purpura.

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Lobster
Menu – The Golden Mickeys
Show – The Golden Mickeys
Drink of the day – Caribbean lemonade
Dress - Formal


Breakfast at Tritons again, (my theory was I would eat less at a sit down breakfast rather than at Beach Blankets buffet). Afterwards went to the Appetiser demonstration with Michael Jordon. He made some nice Bruschetta and Endive leaves but they ran out of samples. After the show I went up with a couple of the other people there and asked whether we could try the ones he had made. He then ended up making us a fantastic tomatoes and mozzarella salad. It was great. Then I popped up to see Mum at the pool. A waiter called Favio ID’d me for a cocktail which was the first time I had been ID’d for 4 days so I was happy (don’t get asked for ID very often anymore – must be looking old!) We finished our drinks before heading to a seminar on oil and vinegar presented by our head waiter, Daniel and our head waiter from May, Michael. Tritons for lunch, then off to Martini tasting hosted by Carolina, which was due to be held in the Cadillac lounge but again Michael Jordan’s talk had run over, so ended up in the Promenade lounge. I sat with a very nice couple whose sister was the manager of the shops on board. The martinis weren’t overly nice but Carolina was good. I spoke to her afterwards and she said that she would be in the Cadillac lounge from 6 so I said that we would pop in. We then got dressed up for dinner, as it was the Golden Mickey’s formal night. We went to the show and then headed in to the lobby for photos with the Captain and free cocktails. Thanks Favio for keeping our glasses full. That night we ate at Animators Palate with the Golden Mickey’s menu. We then sa Gary delena in Wavebands before heading to the Cadillac lounge. Carolina made us some special cocktails and we spent an hour or two listening to Bobby Hamilton on the piano. (have you guessed yet that we like to have a social drink or two?).

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Elephant
Menu – Island dinner
Show – On the Nose
Drink of the day – Tropical depression
Dress – Cruise casual


I ordered room service breakfast as I had a 7.30 tour. Mum & Dad popped around to say hello before heading off on their tour to St John. My tour was with the White Lightening safari jeep. It was an open sided van and our driver was a little mad. First we went through the entire town and drove up to a low vantage point over the harbour. From here we could see the ship along with the ocean and the town. There was also a dressed up donkey here, which upset me. Then we got back on the bus and headed to the Mountain Top observatory which was at 1400 feet and showed both the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans as well as all the islands around St Thomas. Then we headed back down the mountain and across to Coral World. This was a really small aquarium. I saw the fish feeding then went down and looked out into the ocean through their observatory. Then I wandered around the park for awhile before going to the shark feeding at the main pool. I left the park and popped to the beach area to take a photo of the sea. Then we headed back on the bus to the boat. As it was only around 12.30 I went to lunch at Tritons and had Pearl as my server (she was our server on the first Disney cruise we did two years ago). Her assistant server was called Daniel who was from France and had only been on the boat a few weeks. Back then to my room where I had a message on my voicemail stating that Mum & Dad had gone to Tritons for lunch. I went in and found them in Pearl’s section and Daniel waved at me madly to join them. After they finished lunch Mum & I headed to town to do some shopping. We didn’t have long and literally ran around the town getting our gifts, (free ones using the very handy Passporters book, and some for my sister and her husband, Lindsay and Martin). Back then to the boat in time for all aboard (just). We then sat on Mum & Dad’s balcony and waited for the sale away. It took ages though as we had to wait for late families and then found out that we were actually waiting for someone to come off the boat. One of the crew had been injured and was sent to the hospital. We sailed away sat on the balcony. The off to the On the Nose game show hosted by assistant cruise director Christian. This was a new show for the boat and consisted of going in to teams (we were team Grumpy) and then nominating one person to go on to the stage. Then we were all asked questions such as how many panels were on Spaceship Earth or what house number did they live in in Mary Poppins. We then had to shout out an answer for the person on the stage to write down on a board. Our team won the first round. The prize was a postcard but we could trade the prize for another one by picking either a purple or orange box. One would be a downgrade and one would be an upgrade in prize. We choose the purple box and won the Goofy prize which was a badge saying ‘you won the goofy prize’. Then we lost the second round and then the third but won the final round. We were told we had an extra special prize and all the other teams were told to leave the theatre. The doors were shut and waitresses carrying Mickey rice crispy treats came out followed by Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Snow White, Belle and Mulan for a special meet and greet. We were able to take as many pictures as we wanted with the characters. Dinner in Parrot Cay that night with the regular menu and again we had a show whilst enjoying desserts. Cadillac lounge again for a drink before bed.

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - 2 Swans
Menu – Tropicali
Show – Hercules
Drink of the day – St Lucian breeze
Dress - Tropical


Mum & I had booked the morning ladies day at the spa. We were meant to go in at the same time but we found out the Castaway Club party was on that morning so Mum changed hers until later so she attend with Dad. Beach Blanket for breakfast then to the spa where I had a facial, back and foot massage. Sitting on the hot beds in the Rainforest I met a nice lady who had come on the cruise with her Mum & Dad. She ended up giving me her champagne, as she didn’t like it. Then her Mum joined her and they headed off. Another lady joined me who was originally from the UK but now lived in New York. She used to be a stewardess for BA and so we chatted about that. She had also worked on Princess Cruise line sailing around the Caribbean and loved it. Mum arrived and we spent about an hour in the Rainforest area of the spa before heading out to meet Dad for lunch in Tritons. Off then to do some shopping on the island. Guess who found the bar at the terminal? After two $3 drinks each we discovered our legs were no longer working – strong wasn’t the word for it. Very unsteadily we went back to the ship to have something to eat to help us sober up. Snacks on deck 9 where we ran into Favio again. Before dinner we went to Diversions to play a few games – no drink honest! Tonight we were in Tritons with a Tropical dinner menu. We had lei’s on the table to wear and limbo dancing after the meal. Up on deck there was more food and the characters were out singing. Afterwards we headed down to Diversions and played Backgammon while Dad watched golf (not that he plays it or anything).

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Leaning Tower of Pisa
Menu – Show dinner
Show – The Art of the Story
Drink of the day – Bajan’s dream
Dress – Cruise casual


We didn’t do a tour or anything so got up at around 9 and Mum & I went to Parrot Cay for breakfast, then headed off the boat and to the cruise terminal shops. Mum & Dad wanted to go to Bridgetown and as I didn’t fancy doing this I returned to the ship. I wrote a few postcards and then went and had lunch at Tritons. Movie Trivia with assistant cruise director Christian caught my eye, but he asked really hard questions such as “what was the last musical to win an Oscar for best picture”, or “what actor was nominated for the most Oscars but never won one”. He also did 6 degrees of separation trying to connect Marilyn Monroe, Orlando Bloom and someone else I’d never heard of to Kevin Bacon. I ended up only getting one point which was for “what animal makes Neo leave his apartment in the Matrix” (a white rabbit). Then I met up with Mum and we went to Adult Time in the Oceanears lab. I want to go here every cruise form now on! We had great fun with the mad Professor who showed us that if you put balloons in to dry ice they shrivel up and then when you pull them out again they expand. She then went on to show us how baking soda would create gas if mixed with water, and prevent you from putting a cork in to a test tube. We then had great fun making Flubber out of glue, water, green dye and pixie dust.. All of us then went to see The Art of The Show, which was a new show for the Wonder. It was a compilation of bits out of various Disney stage shows showing the different elements that go in to each one, starting off with the Hunchback of Notre Damn for Story. Then it had Mulan for Action, Tarzan animal kingdom show for Music, Beauty and the Beast for Love and finally the Lion King for Light. It was really good the way they put it all together and as I love (and miss) the Tarzan show it was nice to hear the music and see the costumes again. That night Mum & Dad went to Palo’s for dinner and so I went to Animators Palate on my own. It was the regular menu (I tried veal which I didn’t like but I had a side portion of the jalapeño mash potato which was fantastic) and there was a short show again. On previous cruises the waiters changed their waistcoats from black and white to coloured; this time Sorcerer Mickey came out in front of them and then directed them to walk around the restaurant. Our table was directly in the middle of the room, so I had a perfect view. Daniel (our head server) then came around and gave me 3 antennae toppers (one for Mum & Dad), the Mickey ball and sorcerers hat, which was cool. After dinner I went to wait for Mum & Dad in Cadillac lounge (such hardship) and we ended up spending all night in there.

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Miss Piggy
Menu – Captains dinner
Show – Muppets Ahoy with Rudi Macaggi
Drink of the day – Antiguan iced tea
Dress – Cruise casual


Mum & Dad went off on their tour early. I got up late and went for breakfast in Tritons (do you notice a pattern occurring here?). After that I left the ship and went shopping. Back to the ship in time for lunch in Tritons (I actually never had lunch in Beach blanket if you can believe that). Mum & Dad came back and lunched with Dianna and Lamar (Tigger & Bubba), then came to find me. We then went to the pool bar and let Maney (don’t know how you spelt his name but he was the guy that did cocktail flaming) advise us on what cocktail to try. Dad and I got bored with sun bathing so went for a drink in Diversions, (drink theme again). My suntan lotion had sparkly bits in it, and when putting it on I had got some in my eye which wouldn’t stop running and started getting swollen, so I went to guest services to see if I could buy eye drops. They sent me to the medical centre. When I got back to Diversions Pub quest was happening. The game they were playing was where you have to swing a ring on a rope and try and get it on to a hook (can’t remember what it was called). After a while mum joined us. The show tonight was Muppets Ahoy and featured Rudi Macaggi. During the show they even got Brent (the cruise director) to dress up like a chicken, which was hilarious. Bobby Hamilton from the Cadillac lounge also appeared in the show playing piano. It was a good show but did slightly disappoint me, as I was expecting to see more of the Muppets. Next Parrot Cay for dinner with the Captain’s dinner menu. All week Kerry (our server) had been going on about this menu as it featured lobster. Now I had never tried lobster so Mum & I ordered one as an extra main course between us (it wasn’t bad but not really to my liking). After dinner Anthony (the head chef) came out to talk to some of the tables and popped over to say hi. He then said that the next time we were in Parrott Cay, which was our last but one night, he would cook us anything we fancied from home we just had to let Kerry know the day before. Afterwards we headed to the Cadillac lounge again and sat and chatted with Carolina. (Worried now that everyone will think we do nothing but drink – not true honest!)

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Dog
Menu – Pirates in the Caribbean
Show – Movie special: Invincible
Drink of the day – Apple madras
Dress – Pirate


Another tour, but shorter today. It was the Scenic Island tour, which was basically a taxi ride to a Batik factory (shop) and then to a mountain point to look at the view. Batik, for anyone not familiar with it, is a fabric dying process carried out by hand. Mum brought a fantastic sarong with turtles on it and pillow covers for my sister). We saw some fantastic scenery whilst driving there. Our taxi driver did point out a few things but wasn’t very informative on the history of the island (although we did go through Piccadilly Circus which was meant to resemble London’s and was nothing like it). We also passed two people with dressed up animals charging for pictures again (something I didn’t personally like), this time a monkey and a donkey. We spent about 45 minutes at the factory, then drove back the way we came, pass the cruise ship and along an undeveloped area before reaching the other side of the island, again for a picture stop. This area had hotels and time-share resorts and looked so different to the other side of the island. We stopped where we could photograph both the Atlantic and the Caribbean before heading back to the port. More shopping at the port (which we were told, as it was a Sunday, had opened especially for this cruise). We also picked up our Diamond International charms (for those of you who collect these, the St Kitts store opened recently and has a charm even though it is not on your certificate). Then we found this little rum shop where they sold coffee flavoured rum so we just had to buy some to take home. They also did rum lip balm which we brought but still haven’t tried. Back to the boat and a coffee in Cove Café. We then had some time lazing by the pool, which was nice. That afternoon there was another chance for adults to enjoy the Oceanears Lab, which we just couldn’t miss. We painted animation cells (Mum & I choosing the most complex I think – cruise line Chip & Dale). Gave the show a miss tonight, as yet another comedian, so we leisurely got ready for dinner, had some photos taken and a pre-dinner drink in the Promenade lounge. Tonight was Pirates of the Caribbean menu. After the meal we headed up to Deck 10 for the show and fireworks. After the show Favio found us so we just had to order cocktails. After enjoying the night breeze for a while we headed down to check out the buffet, then went to Diversions for a game of cards before bed.

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Turtle
Menu – Master chef
Show – Susan Egan The original Belle of Broadway
Drink of the day – Electric blue
Dress – Cruise casual


Today was a day at sea. Dad stayed in bed until late so Mum & I went to the pool and had a swim. Dad and I had booked another Martini tasting seminar for today. After lunch at Tritons (love lunch here – I had a really nice Caesar salad being made in the centre of the room), we realised that the Captain’s signings were at the same time as the martini tasting so Dad headed to this and mum took his place on the tasting (took a bit of persuasion). There were much better martinis on this tasting than the one I had attended previously - Coco Cadillac and Pink Lady were two I remember. Dad joined us half way through and shared some of Mum’s martinis. We then headed up to the deck for the Mouse 2 O party. This was a new summer deck party for the boat and was fantastic. There were little bottles you could fill with sand, paint pictures using a spinning wheel, pool games, and lots of competitions. There was also popcorn, ice-lollies, fruit trays, a watermelon eating competition and spray on tattoos. It was great fun and I hope Disney carry on this fun few hours. At the end the characters came out and sang and danced. It was definitely the highlight of my day, as for 2 hours I could be a child again! After this Mum & Dad stayed at the pool while I went to Cocktail Mixology. This sounded interesting but wasn’t actually as good as I thought it was going to be. It explained about all the different equipment that you need to use for cocktails such as the different types of glasses and things. We also got to try 3 cocktails including a BBC, which is a Bailey’s Banana Colada. Then some people got to make a layered drink. We also got a certificate and a flashing Corona mini sandal. It was then almost time for the show, which tonight was the vocal talents of Susan Egan. At the time I didn’t know who Susan Egan was but she’s a Broadway star who played Belle in Beauty and the Beast and also did the voice of Megra in Hercules. She sang a number of songs, including an unreleased song from Hercules (the original Megra song) and ‘I wont say I’m in love’. We really enjoyed this show. Dinner was the Master Chef menu in Animators Palate. On here were various courses from some of the top chef’s around the world. There was even the bruschetta on there that Michael Jordon had demonstrated, so guess what I had for starter! I didn’t like my main meal though and so I asked if I could have more bruschetta as a main, which Kerry sorted out for me. Tonight was also the Mickey Mouse Club which meant Daniel came around with Mickey Mouse Club pins for us all and then Ian and Rachel (2 of the cruise staff) came in and introduced Mickey and the gang. They all did a loop around the restaurant singing, with Donald Duck getting very angry chasing them. After dinner was a crew talent show in the Walt Disney Theatre and was adults only. Not sure if I remember all acts, but they were all brilliant. One of the Engineering staff did a wonderful job on the piano, one girl from guest services sang ‘Defying gravity’ from Wicked with one of the Stage show staff and you wouldn’t have known which one was the professional and which one wasn’t. Maney from the pool bar was on there with one of his colleagues doing flaming and fancy cocktail making, and they also had 6 of the Engine Room staff doing break dancing. They ended the show off with a bar skit that we had seen on a previous cruise in the Pub Night show on the last night on board. The entire cruise staff appears in fun outfits and sings ‘I wish I was…’ I won’t spoil it all for those who haven’t seen it, but just say the cast include a weather girl and a tennis player. Assistant cruise director Christian played a funeral director. And Ian was a Taxi driver. Brent also appeared in a tutu. It was so funny, Bret was chicken boy one day and a ballerina the next. Then it was time to head to Cadillac lounge to try another martini (By the time the cruise ended I had practically worked through the entire martini cocktail menu).

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - A different dog
Menu – Prince and Princess
Show – Disney Dreams
Drink of the day – Grape crush
Dress - Formal


Today was our fourth and final day at sea. For some reason this was to be the busiest at sea day with lots of activities. We started the day with a Character breakfast in Parrott Cay. Once we had ordered the characters came appeared - Chip, Dale, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto arrived. They stopped at each table for photos to be taken. The only thing I didn’t like about this was that I felt it was very rushed. The photographers were running around like mad people. Chip and Dale did a bit of a singsong about food, stopped for more pictures and then all the characters sang and danced. It was nice the way they did the little show elements too and each character did get to every table. By now it was 10.30 and the Dessert demonstration with Michael Jordan was due to have started at 10, so I got there just as they were giving out samples. He had shown how to prepare a fantastic strawberries and cream (sour cream with triple sec in it) and brown sugar on the side. Straight after this was the Napkin folding. This was good, although I had done the same thing last time I was on the boat in May. Pool time with mum next. As there was then going to be a talk with Ducky Williams (one of the Disney advertisement artists) I headed for the Walt Disney Theatre. This was a really interesting talk where he told us all about how he got to where he is today in the company. It took him years of selling himself (he was originally a banker) before he got an opening in Disney. Throughout his talk he was sketching and these were then raffled at the end of his talk. I didn’t win won but my Dad (who I didn’t know was there until I saw him at the front) won Scrooge McDuck. After that I rushed straight to the Towel folding demonstration as the Ducky talk had run over time. I hadn’t done this before and was surprised how easy it was to make some of the animals. We even made Miss Piggy in honour of the towel character we had on our bed that night. After this I went back to the pool for a while (with Mum and I popping to Cove Café for a coffee). It wasn’t long before |I was off again with dad for the Galley tour (Mum did this in May and wanted more sun bathing time). The head chef of Palo’s took us through the Tritons and Parrot Cay kitchens. It was really interesting finding out about things such as putting any vegetable waste in to the ocean to feed the fish, and that they have different sections for each food item. Definitely a must do for anyone who hasn’t done it. I had booked Margarita tasting (yes I’m drinking again), so Mum & Dad had to take my lithograph to get signed by Ducky Williams as the times clashed. (Along with the Stitch sketch I brought in Treasure’s Ketch). I had wanted to go to bingo, but this also clashed – far too much to do today. During the demonstration Carolina told us about a White Zinfandel Margarita she had made for the previous tasting on the first day at sea that no one liked it. After the seminar she kindly wrote down the ingredients for me. Back to meet Mum & Dad as we were off to see Disney Dreams. As it was our second formal night we then needed to get ready for dinner. This time however they didn’t do the Captain’s reception with the free drinks which was a shame and less people seemed to dress up. We had the Prince and Princess menu that night in Parrot Cay. The night before I had asked Kerry to ask chef Anthony if he could make me Welsh Rabbit (for those of you not familiar with this its basically cheese on toast with some Worchester sauce, spices and sometimes beer mixed in) as an appetiser as he had offered to make us anything we wanted earlier in the cruise. It was one of the best appetisers I’ve ever had. Anthony later told us he was not happy with it and felt it hadn’t worked so had not wanted to send it, but I found it lovely – a nice change from the rich food we had been having. We then had a fantastic white chocolate slipper for desert, which was filled with fruit cream. After dinner we headed to the Cadillac lounge to try the Zinfandel Margarita, which was fantastic. Anyone who’s a fan of wine spritzers would love it as it’s so refreshing! Definitely going to try to make one at home. That evening there was also an enormous desert buffet laid out in Tritons. It was amazing (didn’t actually try anything but took loads of photos) and I couldn’t believe they had such a range of deserts).

 

[gismo1554]

Towel animal - Monkey
Menu – Til’ We Meet Again
Show – Farewell show with Wilde and Haines
Drink of the day – Konk Kooler
Dress – Cruise casual


Castaway Cay. Got up as the ship was coming into port and headed to deck 10 to take photographs. For the first and only time on the cruise we went to Beach Blanket for breakfast. The only reason I hadn’t been there before is because all I ever want for breakfast is fried eggs and bacon and I like being able to order eggs the way I like them (sunny side up). This time I had grits and some bacon which did me fine. Then we headed out to the beach. Didn’t bother getting a photo with Jack Sparrow in front of the Flying Dutchmen as the queue was huge! Instead we went straight towards the adult beach. On the way we passed Favio who pointed out that everyone appeared to be going to the adult beach (we’d been told earlier in the cruise there were only about 400 children on the boat), so we changed our minds and headed for the family beach instead. (Had also been in the goofy pool on the ship several times when the adult pool was busy). We found a quiet spot (ran into Carolina) and then Mum & I took our chairs down to the water’s edge. Favio appeared again so we ordered a nice cool beverage and relaxed. Every now and then we had to go out into the water to cool off. Unfortunately there was lots of seaweed and seagrass and I hate seaweed. We did go to the adult beach and swam out quite a way to see if we could see any fish but there was so much sea grass I kept freaking out. In May mum had seen lots of fish, but we could not see any so didn’t stay long. Back at the family beach we did however see a school of 4 little fish that kept hiding under mums arms. We spent about 30 minutes with these little fish and whenever mum moved, they moved with her. When we returned to our seats in the water we had another group of 3 larger fish swimming around us for awhile (my legs remained firmly out of the water at this point). As I felt I was starting to burn I went back to the boat early. Mum & Dad joined me in time for the Farewell show with Haynes and Wilde. This was different to the last Farewell show I went to (which was in 2004) in so much as the jugglers weren’t in the previous show I had seen. They were really good. The best bit was yet to come though. They came into the audience and picked a boy sat in front of me to go on the stage with them, asking him to lie down. They then pretended that they were going to juggle a bowling ball over him, dropping the ball close to him. At this point the boy got up and walked off stage. They begged him to come back and eventually bribed him with $10, (they went back stage to get this). The boy and one of the jugglers then led down. Both the boy and the juggler then jostled for position on the floor (each trying to get away from the path of the ball). Haynes (I think) looked like he was going to collapse with laughter.. They did eventually manage to do the trick where they juggled one bowling ball and a few smaller balls. Then the boy got up and Haynes gave him his money. The boy counted it as he was walking off stage and realised a dollar was missing so returned to Haynes and asked for the rest. It was so funny! I don’t think they ever thought they would get that reaction. Both jugglers were in stitches and asked the boys parents if he could go on tour with them. This boy was marvellous and really made the show. After the jugglers was a show featuring some of the Disney characters we had seen in shows during the cruise. All these Disney favourites sang a few songs to say goodbye. Finally Brent the cruise director gave a speech to say goodbye and hope to see you soon. Cove Café for coffee where we met up with a British lady we had met at the pool bar a few days earlier, so we had a chat then headed to dinner. Tonight was the Till We Meet Again menu. I tried sushi but didn’t like it, so had chicken strips as an appetiser instead. The main meal was great as was the desert. At the end of the meal was an International celebration where all the servers walked around the room carrying flags of all the nations cruise staff come from. It was really sad knowing this was our last evening meal with our servers. We had really got to know then during the cruise. Next we were off to the Cadillac lounge to say goodbye to Carolina. A couple we had met in there the nights before were also there so we ended up staying quite late (I think it was nearly 2am when we left). We were all upset at having to leave and even tried to come up with a reason why we would have to stay on the ship, such as a rare disease that meant we couldn’t disembark, or locking ourselves in our cabins. I even got upset when Bobby Hamilton finished playing that night.

 

[gismo1554]

It was really sad and no Brent wake up call. We went to immigration early and literally walked in and walked out again which was great, finished packing, took a last few pictures around the boat and then went to breakfast. I didn’t see Weekly my room steward before I left but I had left a few Welsh gifts on the bed for him. It was sad saying goodbye to Kerry, Savio and Daniel. We went to use the Route 66 restrooms before getting off the boat and ran in to Weekly who had been searching the ship to find me and thank me, which was nice. Then off we went and the dream was over! 11 nights of magic came to an end and I’ve never felt so sad (even after my last cruise). We got in the car and headed off to the Marriot Cypress Harbour in Orlando where we were spending another week.

 

[winotracy]

great report! Thanks!

 

[momtolandm]

Thanks for your report!

 

[Hygiene99]

Almost like I was there !!

Thanks

Peter

 

[Cindi0511]

Great report! Thanks for the pics. I miss it!