Magic_Fan_Bruce
20K Crewmate
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 257
Cast: Myself (Bruce-43), DW(Sandy-39), DD(Amanda-11), and DD(Jennifer-8).
The ship had a nice gentle rolling motion on our trip overnight to Cozumel. The seas were still about 10 feet as we approached the Mexican coast, but as soon as we went on the leeward side of Cozumel, the waves almost went away. But the wind was still over 20 knots with gusts over 40, so all water related excursions were cancelled. We had planned on going to one of the beach parks, but decided if Disney is canceling because of the weather, maybe we should follow their lead. So we shopped a little near the pier and watched some movies onboard (Miracle and Brother Bear).
That night was Mexicalifragilisticexpialidocious night, and we love to see the Mariachi Band. Even though the attire for this night is Causal Tropical, I always were the most expensive shirt I own, an off-white with a palm tree print Tommy Bahama shirt. I love this shirt, but even living in Florida I have rare occasion to wear a $120 casual shirt thats dry clean only. During the festivities at dinner (conga line, limbo) one of the servers walked the entire length of the restaurant on his hands, he had on a cap which made him look bald except for long white hair out the sides, and the old eyeglasses and large nose mask. After he walked on his hands he came over to our table and it was our Straight-laced efficient server Plamen. It was great to see him smile and having a good time, he had been working so hard to make everything right all week. We later learned from one of our former servers (Wes) that Plamen had been his assistant until recently when he was promoted to server. I thought Plamen was doing a good job, and as I said he was very efficient and polite, he just didnt seem quite comfortable in his new role well enough to have that out going friendliness servers usually have. Or maybe he was just trying to be as formal as possible. Either way, he took good care of us, and our assistant server (Gabor) was very open, friendly, and full of cheer. They made an Excellent team.
I dont recall much of our day at sea as we sailed to Castaway Cay on Thursday, and I lost our Personal Navigator so I dont have any reference. I think the day went something like eat, nap, eat, nap, eat, watch Disney Dreams, eat. Overall, a perfect day at sea. That night was semi-formal, but I wear the same outfit that I do on formal. I know many people who have not sailed yet often ask what is casual, semi-formal, and formal, so Ill tell you what I wear. On casual nights Disney asks for No Shorts or Jeans Please, so I wear Dockers or slacks, and shirt with buttons or a nice polo shirt. On semi and formal nights I wear the same pants and a white turtle neck shirt (faux sweater) and a navy blue blazer (very nautical). Some people get more dressed-up on formal nights with tuxes and gowns, and I like that. But I consider myself on the bottom of acceptable formal since I dont have tie on. However, many people are far less formally dressed than I am.
The next day (Friday) was the opening date for Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen so a showing was scheduled for 12:01am (Thursday night/Friday morning) in the Walt Disney Theater, and of course my girls wanted to go. The theater was about half full with more teenagers than I had realized was even on the ship. The movie is a little abstract and unknown to us the music track was missing. We didnt realize it until the last scene at the concert, but it made the movie even more abstract and difficult to get involved in. So we didnt enjoy the movie, but it will be interesting to see it again with the music.
By Friday the wind was calm, the temperature was in the high 70s and the sky was still overcast, but it was a thin cloud cover and looked like a promising day. We had a late breakfast, and then headed to the far end of the family beach. About half way there, just as we past Cookies BBQ and the Conched Out Bar, we found an empty hammock with two empty lounge chairs next to it. The only reason I can think these had not been taken was that you could not see the water due to the bushes. But we had a hammock under two palm trees within 100 feet of the water in one direction and BBQ in the other. We did not put our stuff in the hammock then let it sit empty for hours (I hate that), at least one of us was in that hammock every minute that day. We swam, played, and ate in shifts, and one of us was always napping in the hammock. At one point during the day, I heard some applause and cheering down at the far end of the beach. Then the cheering got closer working its way down the beach toward me. Since I couldnt see the water, I thought maybe Goofy was skiing by. Then as the clapping and cheering reached me the Sun came out for almost the first time that whole week, and everyone around me clapped and cheered. Its the first time in my life I could hear sunshine approaching. But it didnt stay very long.
For lunch I was getting a cheeseburger, and they just placed some fresh grilled lobster patties in the serving pan. Ive had lobster patties before, and liked them, but not loved them. I went ahead and got one this time and thought it was great. Theres a big difference in fresh grilled and Hot lobster patties, and ones that have been in the pan for a while.
One of the things we had never done before is riding the bikes at CC. So while Sandy napped in our hammock, the girls and I rented some bikes and rode the trail. It was fun, not great, but fun. I saw the runway and Serenity Bay for the first time, and I liked seeing some of the natural parts of the island. Just make sure you get a bike with well inflated tires.
That night we saw the Farewell Variety Show (Great), had our last dinner with our servers (sad), went to the Til We Met Again event in the atrium (mad house), and picked out our final pictures to complete our 15 pack from shutters. One note about shutters is that they can print any of your pictures from your digital camera, which I wish I would have done for our pictures with our server team so we could have given them their copies before we left (we just mailed them to them after we got home). Also, they can transfer your pictures from your digital camera to a CD if you start to run out of storage space in your camera.
We had some packing done before dinner, and then we finished the rest after Shutters, and set our bags on in the hall. I had planned on going to British Pub Night all week, but I forgot about it and missed it completely. So that goes on my list of Must Dos for the next voyage.
Overall we had a great trip and even though the weather wasnt perfect, we enjoyed the cooler temperatures than the sometimes overbearing heat weve had on previous cruises. I dont know when well be able to sail again, but I hope we can do eastern next time, maybe even with the new ports-of-call!
Bruce
The ship had a nice gentle rolling motion on our trip overnight to Cozumel. The seas were still about 10 feet as we approached the Mexican coast, but as soon as we went on the leeward side of Cozumel, the waves almost went away. But the wind was still over 20 knots with gusts over 40, so all water related excursions were cancelled. We had planned on going to one of the beach parks, but decided if Disney is canceling because of the weather, maybe we should follow their lead. So we shopped a little near the pier and watched some movies onboard (Miracle and Brother Bear).
That night was Mexicalifragilisticexpialidocious night, and we love to see the Mariachi Band. Even though the attire for this night is Causal Tropical, I always were the most expensive shirt I own, an off-white with a palm tree print Tommy Bahama shirt. I love this shirt, but even living in Florida I have rare occasion to wear a $120 casual shirt thats dry clean only. During the festivities at dinner (conga line, limbo) one of the servers walked the entire length of the restaurant on his hands, he had on a cap which made him look bald except for long white hair out the sides, and the old eyeglasses and large nose mask. After he walked on his hands he came over to our table and it was our Straight-laced efficient server Plamen. It was great to see him smile and having a good time, he had been working so hard to make everything right all week. We later learned from one of our former servers (Wes) that Plamen had been his assistant until recently when he was promoted to server. I thought Plamen was doing a good job, and as I said he was very efficient and polite, he just didnt seem quite comfortable in his new role well enough to have that out going friendliness servers usually have. Or maybe he was just trying to be as formal as possible. Either way, he took good care of us, and our assistant server (Gabor) was very open, friendly, and full of cheer. They made an Excellent team.
I dont recall much of our day at sea as we sailed to Castaway Cay on Thursday, and I lost our Personal Navigator so I dont have any reference. I think the day went something like eat, nap, eat, nap, eat, watch Disney Dreams, eat. Overall, a perfect day at sea. That night was semi-formal, but I wear the same outfit that I do on formal. I know many people who have not sailed yet often ask what is casual, semi-formal, and formal, so Ill tell you what I wear. On casual nights Disney asks for No Shorts or Jeans Please, so I wear Dockers or slacks, and shirt with buttons or a nice polo shirt. On semi and formal nights I wear the same pants and a white turtle neck shirt (faux sweater) and a navy blue blazer (very nautical). Some people get more dressed-up on formal nights with tuxes and gowns, and I like that. But I consider myself on the bottom of acceptable formal since I dont have tie on. However, many people are far less formally dressed than I am.
The next day (Friday) was the opening date for Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen so a showing was scheduled for 12:01am (Thursday night/Friday morning) in the Walt Disney Theater, and of course my girls wanted to go. The theater was about half full with more teenagers than I had realized was even on the ship. The movie is a little abstract and unknown to us the music track was missing. We didnt realize it until the last scene at the concert, but it made the movie even more abstract and difficult to get involved in. So we didnt enjoy the movie, but it will be interesting to see it again with the music.
By Friday the wind was calm, the temperature was in the high 70s and the sky was still overcast, but it was a thin cloud cover and looked like a promising day. We had a late breakfast, and then headed to the far end of the family beach. About half way there, just as we past Cookies BBQ and the Conched Out Bar, we found an empty hammock with two empty lounge chairs next to it. The only reason I can think these had not been taken was that you could not see the water due to the bushes. But we had a hammock under two palm trees within 100 feet of the water in one direction and BBQ in the other. We did not put our stuff in the hammock then let it sit empty for hours (I hate that), at least one of us was in that hammock every minute that day. We swam, played, and ate in shifts, and one of us was always napping in the hammock. At one point during the day, I heard some applause and cheering down at the far end of the beach. Then the cheering got closer working its way down the beach toward me. Since I couldnt see the water, I thought maybe Goofy was skiing by. Then as the clapping and cheering reached me the Sun came out for almost the first time that whole week, and everyone around me clapped and cheered. Its the first time in my life I could hear sunshine approaching. But it didnt stay very long.
For lunch I was getting a cheeseburger, and they just placed some fresh grilled lobster patties in the serving pan. Ive had lobster patties before, and liked them, but not loved them. I went ahead and got one this time and thought it was great. Theres a big difference in fresh grilled and Hot lobster patties, and ones that have been in the pan for a while.
One of the things we had never done before is riding the bikes at CC. So while Sandy napped in our hammock, the girls and I rented some bikes and rode the trail. It was fun, not great, but fun. I saw the runway and Serenity Bay for the first time, and I liked seeing some of the natural parts of the island. Just make sure you get a bike with well inflated tires.
That night we saw the Farewell Variety Show (Great), had our last dinner with our servers (sad), went to the Til We Met Again event in the atrium (mad house), and picked out our final pictures to complete our 15 pack from shutters. One note about shutters is that they can print any of your pictures from your digital camera, which I wish I would have done for our pictures with our server team so we could have given them their copies before we left (we just mailed them to them after we got home). Also, they can transfer your pictures from your digital camera to a CD if you start to run out of storage space in your camera.
We had some packing done before dinner, and then we finished the rest after Shutters, and set our bags on in the hall. I had planned on going to British Pub Night all week, but I forgot about it and missed it completely. So that goes on my list of Must Dos for the next voyage.
Overall we had a great trip and even though the weather wasnt perfect, we enjoyed the cooler temperatures than the sometimes overbearing heat weve had on previous cruises. I dont know when well be able to sail again, but I hope we can do eastern next time, maybe even with the new ports-of-call!
Bruce
