2/24/07 Western TR As Seen Through the Eyes of a Young Family WITH PICTURES!!!

[sejejoemmiev]

Our day began at 4:00 am with DD2 vomiting in her port-a-crib. The room was really rocking and the seas were rough. I was on the side of the bed closest to her crib so I stumbled over to her. It was difficult to walk and the room was visibly moving side to side. Background info: DD2 was born with a heart defect that is due to be repaired this Spring. We brought her home after 2 1/2 weeks in the NICU on oxygen and struggled with feeding her. It was a struggle that ended with a feeding tube at two months old because she was unable to gain any weight. The feeding tube was a blessing because, as you can see from her pictures, she is a healthy looking 21 pounds now. It has also caused huge oral aversions which eventually led to the complete avoidance of taking anything by mouth. So, as I stumbled over to DD2 and turned off her feeding pump, my wife and I started the debate on whether the vomiting was due to the rough seas, reflux, or worse yet illness? DW and I came to the conclusion that she must be sea sick. We brought her into bed with us and got her back to sleep. Once asleep, we quietly moved her back to the porta-crib. We decided to leave her unhooked from the feeding pump, even though she gets most of her feedings overnight. DW and myself went back to sleep and had another early wake-up call, not by Mickey Mouse, but DD2 vomiting once again around 8 a.m. The seas were still slightly rough, and the room was rocking but not at all like it was at 4 a.m. We began the debate again. Is it her reflux? Oh crap, we haven't given her Prevacid in 2 days. Background: She has reflux and vomits at home several times a week, usually due to her feedings being too fast or too much. She has a very sensitive stomach and you have to get it just right. The debate continued.....No, I don't think its reflux, we turned off her feeding last night. It has to be motion sickness. (Runs in myself and all my kids BIG time, DW was spared) She can't be sick, can she? She doesn't even eat. Due to her heart, etc. she gets respiratory illnessess and ear infections quite frequently, but she had never had a G.I. bug. DW and myself agreed it must be motion sickness and decided to just give her some water to keep her hydrated and her Prevacid. Because of her age we couldnt give her anything for motion sickness. After we decided what must be wrong with DD2 the next debate started. We had 10:45 am reservations for The Couples Choice in the Vista Spa Villa for couples. We also had Flounders Reef Reservations for the baby. We decided not to chance bringing her to the nursery and called to cancel, explaining she had a rough night with the boat rocking. I called my mother to see if she had any plans for the morning, and if not, could she take DD2 so we could make our spa appointment. We were in luck, and Dmom agreed to take DD2 so we could go. Dmom and Dsis were headed up to Topsiders for breakfast, and we made plans to meet them up there after we got the kids ready to go to breakfast. We showered, dressed and got ready to head up to Topsiders for breakfast. Before we left we debated does DD2 feel a little warm? We decided to give her some Tylenol just in case a fever was starting, so she would be okay for my mom. I drew up the Tylenol and put it down her G-tube and then we left for brakfast. Got to go now but I will be back later to finish Chapter12. STAY TUNED>>>>>>>

 

[mom_of_2_princesses]

I am loving your report. That was cruel though, right in the middle of a story.

 

[mbw12]

Loving your trip report....we are going on the May 5th Western cruise!!!!! Cannot wait....and enjoy seeing it through your eyes!!!! (we also have young kids, so some of your experiences we can relate to!!!!!)

 

[kate2961]

The feeding tube was a blessing because, as you can see from her pictures, she is a healthy looking 21 pounds now.

I never would have guessed she used a feeding tube. She looks very healthy. And soooo cute in her Tinkerbell outfit.

The trip report is excellent! I'm going on the Western on 11/4 and I have gotten many great tips from your TR...in addition to just enjoying your story.

I know it takes time and effort. Thank you.

I'll be waiting for the next installment...

_____________
Kate

 

[LITTLEKID58]

I love it awesome job so far.. txs so much for sharing.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

After the obstacles of the morning, we finally headed to Topsiders for breakfast. We had an uneventful breakfast with an omelet for DW,DS1, and myself. DD1 and DS2 filled their plates as usual, only to end up eating a few bites. This was the theme for those two at breakfast all week. We never ended up seeing Dmom or Dsis at breakfast, so we left Topsiders to look at the pools. We found them within seconds of leaving breakfast. We handed over DD2, said a quick good-bye and left to drop the other three kids at their respective places. We dropped DS1 off first at Diversions for Captains Corner, where the kids get to meet the Captain and ask him questions. We then dropped DD1 off at the Lab and DS2 at the club. We finally headed up to Deck 9 to the Vista Spa for our Villa alone time. We checked in at the front desk and took our seats. After waiting only a few minutes, a CM came to retrieve us. She brought us into the couples villa and gave us a tour. She then introduced herself and the other CM who would be giving us our treatments. They asked if we had our bathing suits on. I did, but my DW did not. They strongly advised wearing a bathing suit, but gave the option of going without. They stated that if you decided to go without, you were taking your chances in the Hot Tub. This is because Deck 10 could see in to the Villa Veranda if they wanted too. DW then decided she wanted her bathingsuit, so I quickly ran up to our room to retrieve it for her. They left us alone to change and put on the provided robes. Again, not really fitting me! DW sat on the chaise and I sat in the chair for our foot treatments. Our spa CM's returned and gave us a wonderful foot scrub and massage. They poured us water with lemon, and left us to enjoy the hot tub. DW climbed in and peered over the side up at deck 10. She noted that it would of been pretty impossible for someone to see in. Later that day the CM commented that this particular villa was not as bad as others in that department, but better to be safe than sorry. After DW settled into the hot tub, I climbed in as well. At that point the hot tub really started to over-flow! It started off filled to maximum capacity, and it was not going to hold anymore. We watched as the water and suds poured over the side of our veranda onto the veranda below us. It was really Hot and sunny out. DW had settled onto the side of the hot tub facing out of the veranda in the sun. She enjoyed lying in the sun at first, but quickly became over heated and had to come over with me in the shade. I enjoyed relaxing in one of the only moments of silence the entire trip. After about 30 minutes, DW climbed out due to overheating and put on her robe to relax on the chaise lounge. A few minutes later, I decided to join her. We could see the Spa CM in the room getting the massage tables ready and within minutes they came out to retrieve us. They asked us to remove our bathing suits and put on our robe. DW was told to lie face up on the table over long sheets of foil and remove her robe. The CM then covered the front of her with a towel. My spa CM asked me to lie face down on the table after removing my robe. She then covered my back side with a towel. I decided on the Hot Stone massage. This was my first massage ever and it was WONDERFUL!!!!!! It was very relaxing and I came very close to falling asleep. DW decided on the Elemis Musclease Aroma Spa Ocean Wrap. She was very undecided between that and the Hot Stone massage, but her spa CM talked her into the ocean wrap. This was a decision that would eventually be regretted.

 

[cnj]

Love reading your trip report! Thank you for the entertainment!

Jen

 

[sejejoemmiev]

I left off with the start of our Couples Choice treatments in the Vista Spa Villa. I began my 75 minutes of bliss with the Hot Stones massage, while DW was being covered neck to toes in a ocean wrap. They began her treatment applying a green paste to her entire body. She was then wrapped in the Body size foil from shoulders to toes. Her CM explained that she would get warm from the paste and to relax. She then covered her eyes with a mask. Her spa CM then exited to the veranda where she started to clean the Hot Tub and deck. My wife loves to be warm. She keeps a bed warmer on (her side of the bed only) almost 365 days of the year. She turns the heat on 90 October-June. She is always Cold. The thought of being wrapped up all warm and snug to relax, and then end with a wonderful massage was heaven in her mind. She started to relax, but worried that she wasn't feeling the paste warm up. She kept silent, and eventually warmed up. The wonderful warm and snug feeling quickly escalated to a very HOT and CONFINED feeling. She explained after, that she felt like she was screaming in her mind to get her out. It was all she could think about. She listened, annoyed with her spa CM, to her cleaning the veranda. She was getting more upset by the minute because she never came to check on her. She waited, mind screaming, for what felt like more than 30 minutes. She explained that it was even worse, listening to me, right next to her, getting the most wonderful massage. She started wiggling her body in the foil, making lots of noise. She was ignored. Finally, my DW yelled out, get me out of this thing! My spa CM, exited to the Veranda, and spoke with my wife's attendant. They both returned to our villa and my wifes attendant helped remove the foil. My wonderful massage continued. My wife explained that she couldn't take it another minute. She was extremely overheated and felt very claustrophobic not being able to move. My wife is not a person who gets Claustrophobic either. DW's attendant brought her to the shower to remove the Ocean Wrap and returned to clean up her table. My wife took her first cold shower, EVER. That is how hot she felt. After her shower, she returned to the massage table and lay face down. This is where her BIG dissapointment began. After listening to me have this wonderful, LONG, massage, she anticipated her own. She then received about a 10 minute massage, which my wife described as terrible. She said she massaged her dry, without any oils, and it was too quick to even enjoy. Our Spa CM's finished at the same time, and left us to put on our robes and enjoy the chaise. My wife sat down first with an obvious frown. She asked me how my massage was, and I mistakenly told her I felt better than I ever had. BIG MISTAKE!! She took the wording as a direct insult to her. My wonderful experience also made her feel worse for her less than experience. She had a bit of jealousy that went with her bad mood. She sat their silent and our spa CM's returned with tea and fruit. Now, we had originally wanted the champagne and strawberries to make this a romantic experience. We were never asked if we wanted this service and after my wife's bad experience, I thought it best to not even bring it up. My wife refused to have any tea. (It was horrible anyways) and she couldn't touch the fruit because it was mixed with Cantaloupe. (She has a severe allergy to it.) We decided to forget lounging around, due to the experience being ruined, and decided to just get dressed so we could get out of there. Our spa CM's returned, with the bill being separate checks, so you can tip separately. My wife wanted to tip her CM less than mine because she was so unhappy. I refused, and thought they should be equal, to not hurt anyone's feelings. Because my massage was wonderful, they both received excellent tips. My wife was mad at me for this. She felt I ignored her feelings, and the oppourtunity to let her attendant know she was not satisfied. She was afraid to verbally say anything, as we are both shy people, who usually hold things in. We both returned to our staterooms. We delayed picking up the kids as my wife was not speaking to me at the moment. She later explained that she was dissapointed that the experience did not live up to her expectations. Sometimes, we build things up too much in our minds. It is better to expect nothing and be pleasently surprised. This was an EXPENSIVE splurge to us though and it was hard to keep low expectations. Next time, we will probably just have a couples massage and avoid the Villa. We didn't feel it was worth the added expense.
We are thinking of trying the Open Air Cabana massages on Castaway Cay next time. As my wife was not yet speaking to me, I left to gather all the kids. While I was gone she ordered room service for lunch because she was starving.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

I returned to the room with the kids. We all relaxed, lounging around the room. The kids asked to go to the pool, but we decided they needed some down time, out of the sun, after the last two beach days. DD2 did well with Dmom. The tylenol had prevented a fever from coming on, and she never did throw up while we were gone. We were glad we had decided to be safe than sorry though. As DD2 had not held down any pediasure yet today we decided to not push it. We gave her another feeding of water only, as we had tickets to have Tea with Wendy at 4:00 pm. at Studio Sea. Tea with Wendy was cute and DD1 and DS2 really enjoyed it. You are seated at a table with cold tea and cookies. Wendy Darling then explains the proper way to serve tea and then proceeds to tell a very condensed version of Peter Pan while you have your tea and cookies. DW, DS1, and myself were less than impressed. The cookies were hard and burnt. The story of Peter Pan was about 2 minutes long (NO KIDDING) and the rest of the time was spent standing in line for a picture of Wendy with your kids. (NO AUTOGRAPHS ALLOWED). It was cute enough for the middle two kids but could be impoved upon immensely. If the cookies were at least edible, it would of been worth my time! If the story was lenghtened it would of been more of a treat for the kids. It felt like more of a meet and greet. We already had pictures/autographs with Wendy earlier in the trip so it was not that important to us. Of course DD1 wanted to take part though!! Next time we will skip this event, but it's worth doing once if you have young kids.










After Tea with Wendy, we dropped DD1 at Rockin' Bar D, DS1 at the Lab, and DS2 at the Club for Celebrate the Journey Rehersal. We then headed to our stateroom to pick up our video camera then headed to the Walt Disney Theatre to get good seats. DD1 and DS2 really wanted to do this. DS1 was a good sport and pretended to want to do it for the younger kids sake. We watched the kids march in with their respective age groups. They look cute in their Mickey Ear Graduation Hats and T-shirts. You watch a video of snapshots taken of the kids while in the clubs. This is our second cruise and there has never been any pictures of our kids. You must have to live in the clubs to be in the video. While on stage, Mickey Mouse joins the kids in a graduation Celebration and then it is over. I saw DS1 remove his Mickey Ears as soon as they started forming lines off the stage. We didn't get to videotape as we planned, because our battery was dead, but we got a couple pictures of the stage.













DD2 was mesmerized by Mickey Mouse!




After Celebrate the Journey, we headed back to our staterooms to quickly shower and dress for Semi-Formal Night. We decided we did not want to dress up as much as we originally planned. (Rushed and really not in the mood) We still dressed nicely but not as nice and (uncomfortable) as originally planned. After getting ready, we headed to The Walt Disney Theatre to watch Disney Dreams. This is not my favorite show, but DW and DD1 loved it. After the show, we headed to Studio Sea to catch Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer? This show was very nicely done and enjoyed by all of us. I wish we had caught this earlier in our trip, so we could of gone twice. It would have increased our chances of our number being called. We did not get picked to go on stage, but it was still a great family activity that we will anticipate doing again on our next cruise. After Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer?, we headed over to Lumiere's for dinner. The show let out a little late and Dsis and Dmom already ordered. DW liked the menu least in this restauraunt because she is a picky eater. She does not eat seafood at all either. It was the Captain's Gala Dinner menu. DS1 finally got to try Lobster and he loved it. DD1 and DD2 both fell aslleep during dinner. At least one child fell asleep at dinner each night. After Dinner, we headed back to our staterooms. We planned on attempting to feed, DD2 pediasure, because she hadn't thrown up since that morning. If all went well, we told the kids we would head to the pools.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

After we went back to our staterooms, we started to feed DD2 pediasure. We told the kids to get changed for the pool. Within minutes, DD2 started vomiting. She was vomiting Bile this time around, because she had nothing in her stomach. She also felt like a fever was coming on. DW asked me to draw up Tylenol in a syringe for her. I did as asked and handed it to her. DW started yelling at me. I did not understand why she was so upset. She started freaking out about the Tylenol I just handed her. Questions came flying at me a mile a minute. What are you thinking? You idiot!
In preparation for this trip, we stockpiled DD2's supplies in boxes to ship to our hotel in Florida. We filled the boxes with the obvious things such as cases of Pediasure, Feeding Bags, syringes, diapers and wipes. We also came up with a million scenarios of something going wrong, and tried to prepare. In preparation we packed every infant medicine known to man. In hindsight, we should of packed pedia-lyte! My wife decided that we should write the doses on each box of medicine with a sharpie from the handout we have from her pediatrician's office. I, of course, wrote the dose for Children's Tylenol on the INFANT tylenol box. Not thinking, I handed my DW 3/4 tsp of Infant tylenol! An overdose indeed. What made this even worse? This was the exact dose I gave my sweet baby daughter that morning! DW was still upset at me from that morning, Let's just say, I wasn't her favorite person at this point. DW is a nurse. She knows what happens with a tylenol OD. She started freaking out that our DD2 was going to have liver failure. We needed to call her pediatrician at 10:30 at night from the middle of the ocean! I talked her down slightly, and DW called health services. Of course, they were closed. She procedded to do the next logical thing and call the ships 911. A woman answered who happened to be a nurse as well. Is this an emergency, Maam ? My DW proceeded to explain it was not an emergency but we needed urgent medical advice and health services was closed. The woman stated to hang up and she would call us back on another line. She immediately called back. My wife explained that our DD2 had a OD of Tylenol, and could someone please figure out if it was more than the daily recomended dose, because we were worried about her Liver. The nurse asked questions about how much was given and of what kind of Tylenol. She then asked what time was it given? When we told her about twelve hours ago, she probably thought we were a little bit crazy. She stated it was 12 hours ago maam, the damage has already been done. There is not much we can do. My wife explained that our DD2 has a bad heart and has been sick and is now throwing up bile. She explained that we needed to know if her liver was okay. The nurse did calculations and figured out that although she did receive a very large dose (2-3x's) she was under the daily limit and if not showing symptoms of being very ill, was probably okay. She stated to avoid giving her anymore Tylenol for now, and to give her Motrin instead. Luckily we packed Motrin too. We asked if their was a way to get Pedia-lyte for her. She stated they had Pedialyte-Popsicles only, at Guest Services. We could melt them down and give it down her feeding tube. We thanked her and hung up. We brought out the Motrin and DW checked the dose 800 x's before giving it to her. The kids asked about the pool and we snapped at them, (from all the stress of the last hour), that we would not be going anywhere. We told them to take off their bathingsuits, put on their PJ's and GO TO BED!
DS2 came out of their room in his PJ's and asked is DD2 Dead? He looked scared and very concerned. It was then that we realized, all the commotion had the kids nervous and they did not understand what was going on. We reassured the kids that DD2 was okay, but sick, so we were all just going to bed for the night. We tucked them in and said goodnight. DW changed DD2 into PJ's while I went to Guest Services for Pedia-Lyte Pops. When I came back to the stateroom DD2 was asleep in her porta-crib. We melted pedialyte into her feeding bags and hooked her up at a low rate for the night. We prayed that she would hold something down. We did not want her to get dehydrated, especially while at Sea! DW and I tried to get to sleep as well. DW struggled as she was worried about DD2. She was afraid to take her on this trip, but her doctors gave us the go ahead, so she agreed.

Our towel animal for the night:?

 

[FutureSailor]

Oh my gosh. Having a child get sick while traveling is no fun. I still feel bad about the time at WDW one of mine was complaining about having to walk too far, having to wait in line, etc. I thought she was just being difficult but when we got back to the room I finally took a good look at her, realized that she did indeed not look well, took her temp., and it was 103! Boy did I feel bad for not taking her seriously sooner . . .

 

[solgent]

Wow, you had some difficult moments. One of my DDs had an allergic reaction to Motrin/ibuprofen when she was about 3 (and DH was out of town, I had to get the neighbor to watch our other DD while I took her to the ER). A couple of years ago my DH gave this same DD children's Motrin instead of children's Tylenol. She didn't have any reaction, but I was SO FURIOUS with him!

 

[sejejoemmiev]

DW and I planned to hit Lumiere's for breakfat because she was craving Eggs Benedict, her new found food addiction that she discovered at Palo. Once again, we overslept and didn't have time for a real breakfast. Today, we didn't even leave enough time to visit Topsiders. We decided to call room service to see how long the wait would be. The wait would only be fifteen minutes so we placed an order. While waiting for room service, we quickly got ready for the day and changed into our bathing suits. We packed a day bag full of underwater cameras, sandtoys, snorkeling gear, sunblock and baby supplies. While the kids ate room service, I ran over to Lumieres to see if I could get DW eggs benedict to go. They agreed and I brought them back to DW who now had to forgive me for the Tylenol incident right? DW devoured them and said they were just as good as Palo's. We were dissapointed that we never made time to visit any of the restauraunts for breakfast or lunch. There is something about your last full day that makes you realize how little time is left. We were rushed to get off the ship because DW, DS1 and DD1 had a 10am reservation for the Stingray Adventure. This is located near the teen beach, and it is quite a hike if you have the first reservation of the day. We disembarked the ship and walked as quickly as possible to Castaway Ray's. We were cutting it close and the two younger kids were slowing us down. I told DW to run ahead with the older kids and I would find us a spot on the family beach before all the good spots were gone. I found a good spot on the end of the family beach in front of the water playground. I secured 4 lounge chairs and an umbrella for the baby. I parked the stroller and left our bags on the chairs. I found an underwater camera for DW and got the video camera. I headed over to Castaway Ray's with DS2 and DD2 to videotape the Stingray Adventure. We found DW, DS1 and DD1 placing on their life vests. I arrived just in time, as DW was starting to freak because she couldnt figure out how to inflate the vests. They were the last of the group to be ready. We sat on the benches with the group and listened to the CM educate us on the different species of Sting Rays. It was pretty intresting.



We then headed out to the beach where they divided the group into 4 small groups. DW, DS1, and DD1 headed to the waters edge. The weather on Castaway Cay was noticeably cooler than the last 6 days and quite windy. I was confident it would warm up as it was still quite early in the day. It was sunny but there were clouds that would intermittently get in the way. DW and DS1 headed into the water and DW let out a squeal. The water was freezing!!!! This was not the wonderful water temperatures that we experienced in Grand Cayman or Cozumel. DW and DS1 slowly headed to the white plastic ramp in the water with a CM in the middle. The closer to the ramp you get the more evident all the Sting Ray's in the water become. They instructed to head into the water shuffling your feet so the Sting Rays know you are coming. DW was a liitle freaked out at first but quickly relaxed. DS1 was apprehensive and nervous. DD1 was still standing on the beach with me. I tried coaxing her into the water but DD1 was FREAKED! DW called to her but she refused. DW and DS1 stood at the ramp and pet the Stingrays. DW then walked over to DD1 to talk to her. She agreed to go out if DW carried her over. She was afraid the stingrays swimming in the water would touch her. DW carried her over to the ramp and proceeded to put her down. DD1 squealed! She did stay put though because she was afraid to move in the Sting Ray swarmed waters. Their CM then instructed the group how to feed the stingrays. You place a piece of squid between your middle two fingers over a Mickey Head placed in the water on the ramp. The Stingray is then trained to swim over your hand and suck the food out from between your fingers. It feels like a vaccum. DW agreed to volunteer and then DS1 agreed to try it. DD1 refused. By the end of the session DD1 did agree to pet the stingray and she enjoyed it! She drew the line at feeding them though. DW then walked over to DS2 on the beach to see if he wanted to be carried over to get a closer look at the stingrays. You can guess what his answer was. If he thought the dolphins were going to kill him than the Stingrays would let him have it for sure. He started to scream and ran away from DW as fast as he could. She returned to DD1 and DS1 to get one last experience to pet the stingrays.







DW then carried DD1 back to the beach so DS1 and DW could try snorkeling with the sting rays. DW began snorkeling and DS1 just stood there. He lost his nerve and couldn't forget about all the Stingrays swimming around him. DS1 came back to the beach and the 3 kids played in the sand building a sand castle. DW tried for a few minutes but the water was so shallow that you had to go out a ways to snorkel. The stingrays were still in the shallow water hanging out by the ramps hoping for more food. DW didn't see much due to the water being so stirred up. She quickly grew tired of the freezing choppy water and headed back to the beach. We headed over to the snorkel return desk and returned our equipment. DW inquired about holding onto the safety vests because we brought our own snorkeling equipment. They allowed us to bring them along with us to the family beach.



We headed over to the family beach and set up camp. DW and myself started the day off right and ordered some frozen drinks to lay back and relax. The sun was starting to get stronger and we warmed up. It did remain windy throughout the day though. DS1 and I were a little bummed because our 12:30 parasailing reservation was cancelled due to DCL losing their parasailing vendor. DS2 and DD2 started playing in the sand. DS1 and I went to take some pictures of the Magic and Flying Dutchman. DW and DD2 relaxed and DD2 fell asleep in her stroller.










On the way back we ran into Dmom and Dsis and invited them to come sit with us. We relaxed in the sun for awhile and then we decided to go and get some lunch at Cookie's BBQ. Everyone was starving. We went up in shifts because DD2 was sleeping in her stroller. Dmom, Dsis, myself and the older three kids went up first to grab some lunch. We filled our trays and headed back to the beach to eat. DW then went up for a turn and headed back to the beach as well. We sat and enjoyed our fabulous lunch of cheeseburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, chips, corn on the cob and of course chocolate chip cookies! After lunch the kids played in the sand and shore. DD1 was really dissapointed because the water playground was closed due to low tide. It never did open up before we headed back to the ship. DW then took DS1 snorkeling. We debated if we should rent him snorkeling equiptment because his set did not come with flippers. He stated he didn't need them so they went off on a mission:TO FIND THE MICKEY STATUE!!!! Last DCL cruise in 2004 we went snorkeling on Castaway Cay and never did find that statue. We had one goal for the day, to find that statue! They made their way out into the snorkeling lagoon. It remains shallow for a really long time and then gets deep enough to swim. The seas were very choppy. DS1 kept swallowing sea water due to the waves getting over his head. DS1 is a pretty good swimmer, much better than DW in fact. DW didnt know why he was struggling more than her. She concluded that it must of been his size, because the waves were going over his face and not hers. DW did struggle with the roughness of the seas and verbalized her fears to DS1. She repeatedly asked if he wanted to head back but he wanted to find that statue! He reassured her he was okay, but in the back of her mind DW worried that if DS1 got into trouble, was she strong enough a swimmer to even help him? They headed on. DW asked the lifeguard they passed where the Mickey statue was? He pointed to a large group of people a ways ahead and to the right of him. They headed out and the waves did a job on DS1. He quickly tired. They made it to the group of people and looked down. There it was! They made it.

DW took pictures and then they headed back to the beach. DS1 and DW struggled against the current and waves. DW started to worry DS1 wouldn't be able to make it back to the beach. Their goal was to make it back to the lifeguard and ask for help. DS1 said he could make it to the lifeguard but he didn't look very confident saying this. It took much longer getting back because they were swimming against the current. It was exhausting. Finally, they made it to the lifeguard. DW expressed concern that her son wouldnt be able to make it back to the beach. The lifeguard looked at my wife and politely explained that she could probably stand there. My wife did not realize(due to the dark water and seaweed bottom) that they were in shallower waters. My wife could stand but DS1 still could not. This did make it easier for my wife to help DS1 along and he was quickly able to stand too. They finally made it back to camp and gave us all the details of their exhausting journey. We had some news to tell as well. While DW and DS1 were snorkeling, DD2 woke up. We decided to head up to Cookie's BBQ and get some soft serve cookie dough icecream cones. DS2 sat on a lounge chair and started eating his. DD2 sat staring at him and then grabbed his icecream cone from him!! She started to devour it!











If you don't remember from previous posts, DD2 does not eat. We got some Disney Magic of our own that day! This was HUGE!!!!! I don't know if it was because she was in the sun, dehydrated from being sick and starving, from not having any pediasure in 24 hours. Whatever it was, it was magic. She devoured that icecream cone until it was down to the cone and we had to take it away because of the choking risk. When Dsis took it away, she started screaming and having a tantrum!!! Imagine that, screaming because we were taking food away. It is usually screaming because we are trying to get her to eat! DW could not believe what she was hearing. She wanted to see for herself. She brought DS1 up to get icecream cones for herself, DS1, DS2 and of course DD2. DD2 made DW the happiest person on earth and gave a repeat performance. It must of been the magic of that day because it has not happened again. When we got home, one of the first stops was to the grocery store for icecream and icecream cones. I guess we were missing pixie dust! Oh well, it will hopefully happen again with time. While everyone devoured their icecream cones and DW snapped 100 pictures of DD2 eating her icecream cone, I made up my mind to head out so I could experience the Mickey Statue first hand. DD1 begged me to take her along but DW warned me not to, because DD1 is not as strong a swimmer as DS1. DW pointed out where they found the Mickey Statue and I headed out alone, underwater camera in hand.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

After snorkeling and finding the underwater Mickey statue , I went back up the beach and rested for a bit. By this time, the winds were dying down somewhat, and it had warmed up enough to lay out in the sun. DS1, Dsis and myself were all scheduled for the jet-ski (ecotour) for 3:30. As that time grew near, the beach crowds had begun to lighten, and we packed up the gear and moved everything closer to the boat and the jet-skis. DW and the younger kids played on the beach while the three of us headed over to the eco-tour. There was only one other couple scheduled for the tour with us. The guides told us the seas where very choppy today (4-6 foot swells), and that we could back out without being charged if we wished. None of us did, but we also didn't really anticipate what we were in for. When I booked this excursion, I pictured a slow ride around the island and surrounding reefs. I figured this was the only way to see the 'private' parts of Castaway Cay. This isn't exactly how it works.
It was still low tide, and there was a sand flat right in front of the Flying Dutchman. So our tour guide pulled right up on the flat and instructed us to follow him. We got off the jetskis and were allowed to go up and check it out! I wasn't expecting that. We spent several minutes touching it and seeing the amazing detail of it up close. The guide even took our picture with it. (Underwater camera-not the greatest quality)







Then we got back on the jet-skis and headed out into the open ocean going right past the Magic. As we got past the hull of the Magic, the waves really got intense, and the jet-ski was no longer skimming over the surface of the ocean, we were riding up and down each wave! The further from shore we got, the calmer the seas became. But where exactly were we going? We went further and further from the island. We traveled for about ten minutes, when I saw the guide (way up ahead) pull his jetski up onto a sand bar in the middle of the ocean. We all followed him and pulled up onto this little spit of sand. We got off the jetskis, turned around, and saw how far from the boat we really were. You almost couldn't see the Magic!




The guide introduced himself at this point, and gave us the history of the Bahamas and told us all about the days of the pirates and why they had chosen the Bahamas as their stomping grounds. It was interesting and actually quite educational. Again, I had expected to see plant and wildlife, but this was just as good, plus we got to really try out the jetskis on the way out to this sand bar. On the way back in, the guides let you do your own thing (within reason-no stunts) and we even snapped a few pictures of the Magic as we passed within about 40 feet of it.





All-in-all, it wasn't what I was expecting, but we all really enjoyed it. And we got some great pictures with the Flying Dutchman. I do plan on doing this again next time we sail- I just have to talk DW into coming along.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Looks like you had a great time...

 

[FrenchSnowWhite]

Wow! You have an extra beautifull family! Your kids are sooooooooo cute, specially the pictures when they are spleeping are the diner table!!!

Really I wish to all of you all the best

 

[sejejoemmiev]

Wow! You have an extra beautifull family! Your kids are sooooooooo cute, specially the pictures when they are spleeping are the diner table!!!

Really I wish to all of you all the best

Thank you, and everbody else for your kind words and postitive reviews. These TR's are a great way to keep the vacation memories fresh. I plan on finishing up the report this week-if life allows.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

After The Personal WaterCraft Eco Tour, we headed back to the beach and told the tale of our adventure to Dmom, DW, DD1, DS2, and DD2. We hung out for a little while and watched the kids play on the beach. It was sad knowing our final day was coming to an end. We all decided to pack up our belongings, and head back to the ship. Of course, we had to make a final stop at the shops and do the "must do" photo stops on the walk back to the ship. We missed all the photo opportunities on the way off the ship because we had to rush to the Stingray Adventure.























After waiting in the very long line to get back on the ship, we headed back on the Magic for the last time. It was depressing knowing we would exit the ship tomorrow and not be returning for 18 months! We immediately headed to an elevator to take us to the Mickey Pool for the last time. We promised the kids a final swim and slide run before having to go back to the rooms to get ready for Dinner and the show. We arrived at the Mickey Pool around 4:30 and spent a good hour watching the kids slide, swim and of course, we all had to get our final tastes of pizza, chicken, fries, icecream and anything else we desired!!!! While the kids swam, I sneaked off to deck 10 to watch the Magic leave Castaway Cay. It was nice seeing the whole island from Deck 10. Before heading back to our rooms Dmom watched the kids in the pool so DW, Dsis and I could go relax in the Hot Tub. We spent about 15 minutes relaxing and then sadly retrieved everyone so we could get ready for our last dinner.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Subscribing!

 

[jblrn2b]

Thanks for your trip report. I read every word of your Magic trip. Thanks a lot. We just booked The Magic for next April Vacation. Lucky you guys you had two weeks of Disney. We did the 7day land/sea last November and it was perfect to have the cruise after WDW so we could relax.

I hope your daughter's surgery goes well. My thoughts are with you.