2005 RPR/ WONDER/ AKL (Pictures, 4 videoclip on signature! END OF REPORT!)

[diberry]

Sorry Woody!!!!!!
Lovely hair Laura - I actually died my hair that colour for a party earlier this year - a wig would have been easier to remove afterwards!!!!!

 

[campinggal]

More, More, More...Please!!!

Fun reports Laura! No pic of Grumpy driving the 'stang???

But I must say I like Grumps hat pics and your lovely shocking pink hair. What would your students say to that???

Liz

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

What about this girl?

GRUMP

Laura, is going to hurt you. I know you love taking photo's but you better stay away from young girls....OMG... THAT'S LAURA... Beautiful hair Laura I think I have a pair of sandals that will match.

Beckie aw:

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

OMG !!!!!!!!!
I was busy with the ironing and cooking ... now I come to the board ... to see ...this pink version of myself !!!

I should keep track of DGH !!!!!!!!!!!!


GRUMP !!! (laura grumping here !!!)

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

We ate lots of food, enjoying some good table-service restaurants.
We had a nice dinner at Mythos, in a very nice environment ;can you imagine how much did DGH grump while drinking a Mushrooms Cappuccino?

DGH also grumped that our hats had found an excellent place hanging on a stalagmite … not sure if waiters were of the same opinion !!!!!!!!!!

We had a great meal at Lombard’s: excellent seafood and desserts !!!!!

We also visited Bice, the upscale restaurant at Portofino Bay, that has recently replaced Emeril’s Delfino Riviera.
We were quite curious because Bice is a chain of Italian Restaurants, owned by an Italian family. The first Bice restaurant was in Milan and we had eaten there recently, so we were quite curious to try the US version.
And it was very good: the seafood pasta was very tasteful, like the one “really” made in Italy as well as the Milanese veal;also the dessert we tried was good. It was a very expensive but nice experience (130USD in two, without wine).

Beckie ... we got wonderful calamari!

When the manager discovered that we were Italian, he showed us a picture on the wall explaining that it was the original BICE restaurant in Milan … DGH grumped that in a corner there was written “BICE Restaurant in Buenos Aires” … but the manager insisted that this was Milan … can you image the “grumps” of DGH?

As far as snacks are concerned we cannot forget the “Dagwood sandwich” we had at Blondie’s (IoA) … a BIG and tasty sandwich

DGH didn’t grump about that: his mouth is big just enough to cope with the sandwich !!!!!!!!!

Another nice experience was the Spiderman Breakfast at IoA Confisco Grille.
While entering the restaurant I was called by something behind me. I didn’t see anybody but a Spiderman statue on top of a pole.
Suddenly the “statue” smiled and stole my hat !!!!!!!!

There was lot of interaction with characters (Spiderman, Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2), much more than at WDW character meals, and it was very fun. DGH was so busy to take pictures and to use the camcorder that didn’t have time to eat too much … nor to grump !!!

On Saturday night we went to the Royal Pacific Luau.
We had attended the same show a few years ago, but due to the rain it had been moved inside the Convention Centre… a not so nice experience.
Now they have built a new pavillion just for the show; music and dance were much more enjoyable and the whole show was quite “similar” to the “original” luaus we could admire in Hawaii islands years ago !!!

Of course DGH found something to grump !!! about
The new building was a wooden structure … and we were quite puzzled about security seeing the torch show very near to the audience and to the wood.

We hope they know what they are doing !?!

Well … time to leave Universal Studios and to go cruising !!!

To be continued

 

[AspiringCindy]

The food looks fantastic! It would seem that you had a great time eating your way around Universal property!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

The food looks fantastic! It would seem thatbyou have a great time eating your way around Universal property!

Judie, we were still "tired" from jet-lag ...and thought some good meals would have been of help !!!!!!!!


WOW, I see you're sailing on the Wonder ... in two months !!! WOW!!!!

Ciao, Laura

 

[Alicnwondrln]

wow great reports so far
you have some great pictures

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Laura

The trip to Universal sounds wonderful, I would love some of that calamari.

Now I'm getting worried, I know Marco had the cameria going 24/7, but I know I didn't have any pink wigs at anytime. (I hope)

Laura you must edit all Marco's (GRUMP'S) post from here on. Please...

Beckie

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Laura

Laura you must edit all Marco's (GRUMP'S) post from here on. Please...

Beckie

Ok, Beckie, I'll do it !!!!

...though ...YOU KNOW !!!... Grumpy sometimes JUMPS into my/our boards
while I'm working or ... talking on the phone ...

You never know what he can come up with ...
(even in REAL life !!)



BUT I'll try to ...mark him man-to-man ??

Laura


Did you get that LOVELY POSTCARD where Mickey and Minnie welcome you on a "new" cruise ?
It was in our mail today, when I got home from work ! WOW !! I love ...this kind of surprise !!!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Our FL Tours car picked us up at 10AM. If you plan to use a Town car you should also consider a DIS sponsorship! The FL Tour discount we had (30 USD) covered almost completely the cost of our Bronze Sponsorship!
One hour later we were at the port : we found that luggage drop off / pick up was greatly improved since one year ago. Now cabs and Town cars can leave your bags just outside the gate, where official porters pick up immediately the luggage to be boarded and you don’t see it anymore … for a few hours. Hassle free !!!

While boarding we met our friends Beckie (Magic in my Heart) and DH Terry; we started to plan together the cruise … one year ago and it was very nice to finally meet.

In this picture there are Mickey, Beckie, me… and an Hidden Mickey … can you find it ?

As usual embarkation day is quite paranoid …
4 PM : it’s time for the boat drill (or as DGH calls it “sinking test”) … it’s my tenth cruise … but I am still not sure about HOW to wear correctly the life vest …

… DGH always grumps that I have to hope that it will never be needed !!!

4.30 PM : Sailaway party

Other DISers were supposed to show up there, but it’s not so easy to arrange a meeting in a very crowded ship. BTW they popped up here and there while cruising!!
5.00 PM : Departure!

It’s our fifth DCL cruise, but the “wish upon a star” whistle at departure is still one of the more exciting moments of our cruise

Time to plan some details: DCL scrambled all our plans !!!
We supposed to have a traditional dining rotation (day 4=day 1) and Pirate night and Golden Mickey on day 2, so we booked Palo for night 4 and SPA and Hair Dressing on evening 2.
But we had a quite “silly” rotation (PTTA … no need to mention DGH grumping about that), with two consecutive Triton dinners at night 2 and 3; moreover Pirate night was moved to night 3.
We have been able to switch Palo to night 3,( THANK YOU, Beckie ! ), but had to skip Pirate dinner.
So the final scheduling was the following:
Sunday: Hercules, Parrot Cay
Monday: Nassau, SPA (Beckie & Terry), Hair Dressing (Laura), Golden Mickey (DGH), Triton
Tuesday: Castaway Cay, Palo Dinner, Pirate night
Wednesday: Palo Brunch, Day at Sea, Animator.

To be continued

 

[diberry]

I LOVE your enormous orange Mickey ears Laura!!!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Time to go back to our room to unpack. Inside there I got some nice surprises: a gorgeous anniversary basket that Beckie and Terry gifted us, a DCL cap sent - with a GRUMP card- by DGH

and the Castaway Club” welcome back” gift !!!!

We have already had a few of the “old” Castaway Club gift ( beautiful large beach towels !)and the NEW bag IMO is a nice change … but DGH grumped that he would have liked two Castaway Club pins best !!!!

Finding our room-door decorated was an additional sweet surprise …

… as well as our personalized “DIS” tags (Thanks, Beckie! You’re so thoughtful !!!)

This was the first time we had a Navigator Verandah and it was really nice: it looks like your stateroom is much “wider” and I loved to be able to “stare” at the beautiful landscape when we were in port ( though I have to say we didn’t spend out there more than 20 minutes all cruise long … as we had very busy wonderful days on board and ashore !!!)

to be continued

 

[lzj21428]

Laura, I am so enjoying your trip report and look forward everyday to the next installment. We were right down the hall from you and Marco, 7580 and 7582.

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

SO nice to hear from you !!!

Did you all enjoy the cruise ?
DGH and I were glad we could meet ... even just for few minutes!!!!

Is your house "done" by now ?

Laura

 

[lzj21428]

Laura, we had a really nice time on the cruise. It was very relaxing, although DH picked up a nasty cold. This usually happens with him when we/he travels, but he survived.

I so want to cruise again soon. I'm pushing for a 7 nighter.

The house is still being worked on. Mostly cosmetic. They are painting my foyer today and hopefully will get to my office tomorrow and then the rest of the carpet. At least the house is more liveable.

So glad to hear from you and so sorry that we didn't get to see more of you and dgh. One day I'll cruise without those 3 little troublemakers.

Waiting patiently for the next trip report installment.

Nina

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

I have had the most fun sitting here reading your posts and looking at your pics! They truly are great trip reports. All the pictures were wonderful. Great pic of you Laura beside the Mustang.Can't wait to read more! Your new found groupie, Mandy

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Laura&GRUMP

Another great report...I love your signs...I did good. To bad I didn't take any photo's of mine and Terry's. Can't wait until the next installment, MORE PLEASE.

Nina

Beckie aw:

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

6.15 Hercules, the Muse-cal
Even if we had already seen the show several times, we didn’t want to miss it: the show has been already retired on the Magic and this was our last chance to watch it. Performers were great as usual, but if you have not seen the movie, you can find the plot quite confusing.

Back in the room we found our Verandah flooded …
DGH grumped that, either
1) the ship was sinking
or
2) we were facing waves 100 feet high(our stateroom was on deck 7 !!)
or
3)it was raining cats and dogs

I didn’t investigate anymore and closed the curtain for the night…hoping we were in case 3 !!!!
DGH grumped that he intended to find a plug to empty the Verandah from the water … but I stopped him saying … “What if, while removing the plug, the water instead of “exiting” from the Verandah … starts to “enter”? … the ship will sink!!!”
DGH was confused … and I found him checking, from time to time, during our cruise, whether the verandah really had a plug !!!

Our first dinner was at Parrot Cay, late seating. We had arranged in advance to be at the same table with Beckie and Terry and it worked !!! Our servers were George from India and Kabelo from South Africa; we were seated at table 33 near the window (“with a beautiful view outside… ” grumped DGH … “ … all black … GRUMP”)

Dinner, as usual at Parrot Cay, was Floribbean, slightly spicy (or VERY MUCH spicy, according to DGH), but very tasty.

Now DCL is shifting the scheduling of the three restaurants, our rotation (PTTA) scheduling was at 8.30 (while the “TAAP” rotation was starting dinner at 8.00 and “APPT” was scheduled at 8.15). Our late scheduling was giving us more time to enjoy the afternoon, but as side effect the late end of the dinner was not compatible with night activities … and ,on the other side, we were so tired after dinner to do more.

The first day of our cruise was already gone … and a four day cruise it’s really too short!

To be continued