20th Anniversary Trips: "I don't know" Cruise Edition (A Feb Wish Cruise Report)

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Castaway Cay Day

We pit stopped in the room to drop off some of our stuff but headed out to the adult area. I grabbed a bup to get something to drink. I had brought a bottle of champagne with us and debated on opening it up but decided to wait. (I should have done it)

I convinced Andy to ride on the Aquamouse! I really had wanted to try it. Andy was hesitant with his back but this version had a back rest to the floatie, so Andy thought he could do it. It was super cute, although maybe a little too much of water shooting at you. The line was super short when we got there, and by the time we left the adult area it had gotten longer, although never really that long.

We headed around the ship to the adult area after that. We enjoyed the adult pool for awhile. I took no photos of the adult pool, but it had a small infinity pool area and then 2 side areas with tile seats and water trickling down the backs. it was a little too chilly for those areas. It was nice a peaceful. I had said to Andy, next time this is where we come on embarkation Day!

Eventually we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner and the evening.

While relaxing in the room, I found a channel with the map of our cruise.
Cruise Route

Cruise Route
Andy was obsessed with it.

We showered and changed. I opened the bottle of champagne. I sadly only had 1 drink. I should have filled my refillable cup with it. But after the first day, I was tired of carrying it. Especially when I knew I would be getting a drink at a bar.

Once we headed out for the evening, I wanted to try a drink that Molly had tried on her videos. So we headed to one of the smaller coffee bars.

Cold Brew Tonic
Got my Cold Brew Gin drink, it was cold brew coffee, gin and tonic. The bartender asked if I was sure. And I asked why and he said a lot of people don’t like it. But I said I wanted to try it anyway. I really enjoyed the drink! It def was different tasting but I said to the bartender, taht I liked both items, so I think that helped. I know Gin isn't the most popular alcohol. Andy just got a cold brew coffee, for a pick me up. there was no one there, so we had a nice conversation with the bar tender and then another CM had come over to get a coffee for someone. I have to assume it was for someone in concerge.

After that, we headed out and stopped at customer service. (which it was right next to the coffee bar. The coffee bars are kind of in a weird spot. They are kind of in a hallway right off the main lobby area) We had gotten an email about our flight changing but we couldn’t see the changes. So we wanted to see if they could see what it was.

The CM was super helpful and saw that they changed the flight by 6 minutes… WhY?!?! Why do they even bother with that? She was also able to check us in for the flight which was nice. And she printed out boarding passes for us as well. There wasn't much of a line when we did this but again later on the line had gotten long. We seemed to be just ahead of everyone else.

Tonight was the Super Bowl! We are from Philly area and Andy and I say we are Eagles Fan adjacent…. We enjoy watching but are def not die hard fans. We did see a decent amount of folks wearing eagles gear on the ship.

Regardless, we decided to go to Keg and Compass to try and see some pre-game stuff. I convinced Andy we needed to get wings. There were people already camped out in there.

We were able to grab a table but the last empty one was scooped up shortly after us. I still had some of my drink, so I kept with that and Andy got another Gina and tonic to start. And we ordered wings.

Wings were really good here. Keg and Compass food is not included, so there was an additional charge for the wings but that was fine.

We saw a lady trying to grab a table but got shut out. I told Andy to tell her, that we could give her our table once we were done. As we had decided we were going to see the Aladin show and miss some of the game. (again not true hard core fans) She was very grateful. She said her husband wasn’t happy he was going to be on a cruise since the Eagles actually made it.

It was nice to see some of the pregame stuff while we were in there. After we finished our wings, we headed to see Aladin. This was also a great show. I think Andy and I liked this show better than Little Mermaid. But they both were great shows. It was intersting to see how they did both shows and how CM have different parts.

After the show we headed up to the main pool deck to see some of the super bowl. It was a little after 7.
Super Bowl on Funnel Vision
This was super fun to do! Honestly, it was a really cool way to expierence the game. They were doing trivia during comercials and giving away prizes. The Festival of Food had a few of the areas open, mostly the pizza. But you could easily just hang out and watch the whole game from there and have dinner.
It was pretty packed when we were there, so we just sat on the steps and watched for a bit. But before long, we needed to head to dinner. We had Marvel dinner tonight.

Plate at dinner

Food was good here. I again took no pictures of the food, and I am starting to forget what we ordered but I do know I ordered the

• Lamb Shawarma Salad Slow-roasted Cumin spiced pulled Lamb Leg in mini Pitas, with Iceberg, Endive, Romaine Lettuce, Sumac Onions, Vine Tomatoes, Pickled Red Cabbage, Roasted Chickpeas, Cucumber and Lemon Yogurt Dressing

It was from the lighter side menu. I love shawarma and this was perfect! Possibly my favorite thing from the side down meals. Mostly because it was the most different.

Our waiter also brought over an extra entree. He said it was prepped by mistake.
Grilled Tuna Steak Black Bean Muneta, Queso Fresco, Crisp Cassava, Roasted Corn Chipotle Salsa
This was also really nice. But I did like the tuna app from the night before better.

The Show was less here, but I didn't mind that. Just kind of suprised. But at the end, spiderman literally ran throught the dinner area.
DInner

Spiderman

Got a fun photo with Spiderman.
Me and Spidey

Spidey
Both of these photos were snapped in a matter of seconds and then he was gone. It was almost like, what just happened kind of moment!

Once done, we headed back to up to watch end of Superbowl. Alot of the Chiefs fans had left. I am sure alot of families did go to dinner like we did as well. We were able to see that the Eagles had won but snuck out just a little early to go see what I though was goodbye show.
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It was not. It was fairly lame and Andy said we needed to do something else. We couldn't end the cruise on that.

So, we went to do the Match Maker game. We actually ended up sitting with our table mates who were already there. This was a lot of fun. The CM would give you a question and everyone had to answer hoping to match the most other teams. You did have to keep getting up to give your answers and we joked that we didn't know it would be so much excersize. We almost won! There was a 4 way tie but we didn’t get the tie breaker.

After that I was done! We headed back to the room and were greated by a towel dog.
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It was another great day!

I did want to mention that all sea sickness never came back. Thankfully!

Up next Departure Day! boo.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I love hearing about the adults only areas both on the ship and at Castaway Cay. This is where I think I would spend the most time if I ever go on a cruise. Was the age for the adult area 18 or 21? My aunt is thinking of a cruise but feels like 18 is too young for the adult only area so I thought I would check.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love hearing about the adults only areas both on the ship and at Castaway Cay. This is where I think I would spend the most time if I ever go on a cruise. Was the age for the adult area 18 or 21? My aunt is thinking of a cruise but feels like 18 is too young for the adult only area so I thought I would check

I want to say it was 18 because I was thinking that Morgan and Gwen might actually enjoy some of the adult only stuff more. THey are pretty chill teens, so hanging out in a quieter area would probably appeal to them.

I will say that Castaway Cay didn't have anyone patrolling, so I think even at 15 and 17 they would have been fine. That area was more about the vibe there. But I assume they are more strict on the boat.

 

[vamassey1]

You really make me want to go to Castaway Cay. It sounds like the perfect day.

I'm still scared I'll have trouble with motion sickness.

Watching the Super Bowl with tons of fans and winning would be great. I feel bad for the Chief's fans but I was very happy for the Eagles to win. I'm not a fan but tired of the Chiefs winning.

 

[Lynne G]

I was on the Wish so many years ago, with my DH, as we too ditched our young kids at the time, as they stayed with one of my brothers, who took them to the airport so they could join us for family park fun after we got off. When I saw a military rate for the Wish this June, will be me and my adult daughter this time.

So neat to see the ship again, so thanks for this report.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

You really make me want to go to Castaway Cay. It sounds like the perfect day.

I'm still scared I'll have trouble with motion sickness.

Our next cruise will probably be one where they go to both private islands, I think. when I say next, that might not be for awhile!!!

Do you get motion sickness on rides at Disney? It's hard to know if you will or not!

Watching the Super Bowl with tons of fans and winning would be great. I feel bad for the Chief's fans but I was very happy for the Eagles to win. I'm not a fan but tired of the Chiefs winning.

It was really cool. There was def more Eagles fans than Chiefs fans. And by the time we came back a lot of chefs fans had left. They had plenty of wins already, it was time for someone else to win. I was ligit worried if the Eagles lost there would be so much rioting in Philly. Philly is strange...

so they could join us for family park fun after we got off. When I saw a military rate for the Wish this June, will be me and my adult daughter this time.

That will be fun!!!! Writing this trip report has really made me want to go with the girls.

So neat to see the ship again, so thanks for this report.

Thanks!!! Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Departure Day

Sadly, today was departure day. I def could see why people say the 3 day cruises are too short. We had just figured out our way around and what we liked and didn't like. A few more days would have made it feel more leasurly, I think. But it was the perfect length for our first trip and for us going without the girls. I wouldn't want to ask my sister to stay too much longer.

We debated if we wanted to keep our bags or leave them out the night before. We ended up keeping them so we could leave when we were ready and not have to wait for them to call our group. I also wasn't really ready to pack up the night before.

This was def the way to go! One of the few things I had heard was it was crowded getting on the ship, during the Muster Drill and then getting off the ship. One video of the trackers it looked like a mad house!

I think the ship was cleared to leave around 7:15. And we left the room around 7:45. We didn't rush but did want to get moving fairly quickly. They hadn't called any groups yet. So, We were able to pretty much just walk off. We headed down to the main lobby area and they snaked us from the lobby all hte way around the back of hte ship and back around. it seemed silly as it was early and most people weren't leaving yet. But I am sure it was needed once more people were getting off and there was a need for a line. It was super easy. And honestly seemed like the best way to do this.

We did miss breakfast. We could have gone to breakfast at 1923 but we had early lunch reservations. (or at least we thougth we did...)

We also decided to leave the additional tip money in the room. They gave them to you middle of the day, the day before. They leave a sheet with the automatic tips that they took out of you card on file, (if you elected to do that) and then paper envelopes to leave more. And i was shocked at how little the auromatic amount was. Especially for the servers. It was not the amount we would have tipped if we had gone to seperate restaurants in Disney World. So, we def added more cash for each person.

The process to get off the ship was super easy, They made 2 lines at one point, one if you have things to declare and 1 if you don't. We did not, and flew threw the line, I was simliar to leaving an airport. Which I guess makes sense. I just didn't expect it. Once off the ship, we called an uber. There was an area to the right for pick ups, ride shares and even just family and / or friends. One came pretty shortly. Some folks must just know when the ships are coming in.

I wasn't sure how this would work and honestly it again was pretty much like being at the airport. Not as busy, obviously but from a process perspective.

We were headed to Disney Springs, Our flight wasn't till 2:30, so we had some time to kill. The ride there was uneventful. I think I tried to sleep a little more. I was tired. I am normally a 10 to bed, no later. So going to bed at midnight eash night was catching up with me. I am that meme about being in bed at 9 but in Disney I will stay up all night! ha.

We arrived in Disney Spring at 9:21. We got dropped off and another couple did too. They also had suitcases with them. And I wondered if they were on our ship or killing time before they got on the ship. But I was glad tehre was somoene else there with suitcases. I was worried how the whole security thing was going to do. We did have to go through security and they had to open up our suitcases. But thankfully since it was early, it wasn’t a big deal. The guards seemed unphased by it. I will also say, our last trip was the first time I realized that they had security at Disney Springs... since we always go there via resort busses and they don't bother doing them there, I havne't realized!

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It was empty! Not suprisingly, since technically Disney Springs wasn't open yet.

We stopped at the Starbuck in front of World of Disney. Andy got a coffee and I hit the bathroom. After that we headed to get in line for Gideons. We had about a half hour wait. But we were not far behind too many people. We knew once they opened we would be in fairly quickly. We chatted with a pair who had been at a convention that was in town and were doing the same grabbing cookies and heading home.

They opened a little before 10 and I was inside with the fist group! Andy waited outside with the suitcases while I went in.



I ended up getting 10 cookies. 2- Chocolate Chip, 2 - Dark Chocolate Cherry spicy, 2 - Coffee Cake, 1 - Strawberry Chocolate chip, 1 - Pistachio chip and 2 - Peanut Butter. And I got a Peanut Butter Cold Brew. Man that thing hit the spot!!! So decadent but so good. I needed the caffine!

we shared the cookies with the girls when we get home. And I realized I don't think I had had a Gideons cookie actually fresh. Usually we are eating so much food in Disney I wait till we are home to eat some and MAN they are good fresh!!!

I loved the Dark Chocolate Cherry cookie. It was the special of the month and it was so different! It had a kick to it.

After that, we headed to World of Disney. I wanted a sweat shirt since I didn't buy anything on the ship. Andy decided just to sit outside with the suitcases, while I went in. It was just easier that way. I didn’t find what I wanted, sadly. When I went in , I thought it looked so empty but that was just cause it wasn’t full of people!

We headed to Jaleo, as that was where our lunch was going to be. We stopped at D-Style real quick and found the item I wanted! Again Andy stood outside while I went in. Oh, we also stopped at another store on the way to grab the plush for Gwen. Since we had gotten Morgan the at in EPCOT, I grabbed that for Gwen.

We got to Jaleo and it wasn’t open yet! there was a CM setting tables outside so we asked him when they opened, and they said they didn’t open till noon! So I looked up the reservation and I realized I booked it for Sunday not Monday… oops…

We walked over to Summer House. They were opening in 5 minutes. We had no problem getting a walk up seat. I was bummed about Jaleo but also not. We had eaten so much food all week, we just needed food not a dinning experience. I don't know we would have fully enjoyed it.

We were sat in 10 minutes of them opening. They gave us a nice table with a spot to tuck our suitcases next to us and not in anyones way.

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We started with the truffle fries. And they were amazing! Nice and crispy, lots of parmesan and truffle flavor.

And we decided to split the Fried Chicken Sandwich.
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This was good, nice and crispy but nothing special.

The meal was just what we needed wanted. Something good but not too much. I don't think we will be going back here. I know people like it but it was just fine and it was way too $$$$. Maybe the chicken sandwich wasn't the best thing on the menu but the fries were $21 or something. None the less the meal hit the spot.

After we paid and used the bathroom, we headed to the ride share pick up. Got an uber and were off to the airport. It all worked out perfectly. We checked into our flight, got through security and found our gate. We had 30 - 45 minutes to wait till boarding.

And before we knew it we were on the plane headed home!
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[Stacybaeasm]

I hate navigating Disney Springs at all, but with suitcases??? You are a brave soul. All in all, it sounded like you had a good time on the cruise. It does make me think. Maybe someday.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

hate navigating Disney Springs at all, but with suitcases??? You are a brave soul. All in all, it sounded like you had a good time on the cruise. It does make me think. Maybe someday.

It was so so empty that early on a Monday that it wasn't bad. I def would not of wanted to do it on a Friday night!

 

[rdkeim]

Very nice get away for you and your DH! You packed a lot into 4 or 5 days. I can see where a 3 day cruise would feel short but it allowed you to get a taste of cruising. Your day on Castaway Cay sounded awesome - paradise. Thanks for taking the time to share!

 

[Stasieki]

What a nice trip! And those Gideon cookies stay fresh forever. I recall eating some 4-5 days after we bought and were still soft.

 

[missjackiemcg]

First of all, HOW ON EARTH did I miss that you already wrote the cruise TR?!! I stumbled on it from your TR about visiting Savannah and WDW. Also, amazing timing for me to find it though, since Mom and I just got off the Wish on Monday!

I was suprised by the size and set up of the pools. I know I had heard that you shouldn't go on a cruise to swim but I was almost shocked at just how small they were!

It's crazy, isn't it?! I prefer the size and set up of the pools on the classic ships, even the Dream/Fantasy over the Wish. They're still small, but not quite as tiny. It looks like people soup, LOL!

We did find the adult area.

The infinity pool in the adult area is great, isn't it?! I LOVE the one on the Magic and on the Dream, as well--in fact the Dream one is my fav because they have a bar with bar stools IN the pool!

Ci

I really loved these two tucked in staircases with the Cinderella tapestries!

After our snack, we explored some more. We were really getting turned around but was starting to get a general idea. We headed for our muster drill, which was chaos! Which I knew it would be but it was hard to tell if you were in the right place or not.

I really wish they would go back to the way they did the Muster Drill right after Covid. You had to go to your location and scan in with a CM, but you watched the info video on your room tv instead of staying there with a bunch of people. It was SO MUCH EASIER and no chaos!

My

I got suckered, too!!!!! I couldn't help myself, I got carried away. Ha!

At some point during the show we realized we were moving! There was no turning back now!

Isn't it wild how the boat starts moving and you don't even feel it?!

Table wasn’t the best location for actually seeing the show. I had heard this was an issue but we were fine with it. BUT if we were on this cruise and the girls were little it might not have been as ok.

Ugh, we had the last table all the way at the back of Arendelle for that dinner! We could barely see a thing. I definitely didn't enjoy that, but felt especially bad for the tables full of little kids near us who couldn't see either.

And

WOOHOO!!! Go, you two!!

Fl

I took a picture of this ceiling every day! It's so pretty!

H

They show this model being used in the Nat Geo Making of the Wish movie! It's so cool!

Bu

Nightingale's is so beautiful, isn't it!? We did a martini tasting there, and our bartender pointed out that the music notes around the bubbles are the music for "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes."

It was fairly lame and Andy said we needed to do something else. We couldn't end the cruise on that.

Agreed!!! I was really excited about the Kiss Goodnight....it was very underwhelming!!!!

 

[ksquare19]

For someone who said they didn’t take a lot of pictures… you have a lot of great pictures!

You had an excellent morning at Hollywood Studios! You managed ALL the heavy hitters (I’m SO impressed with your lightning lane booking skills!) and managed a few fun drinks as well.

Way to go on beating Andy on Toy Story Mania! I LOVE that attraction and always like to beat the other people in my group, too.



Being a party of one or two has bumped me ahead many times on attractions. It’s good to pay attention and be prepared to shoot up your hand the minute they ask for a smaller party!

I can’t wait to go as a party of 2!!!

 

[kclark9830]

Oh my goodness, what a day! Ya'll accomplished a LOT!

Hi Everyone!!! Happy Thursday. I keep thinking it's Friday but sadly it's not.

I am going to watch my sister's kids while they go to parent teacher meeting and MAN! I don't miss those! There was nothing wrong with them, they were just so short and every teacher said the same things each year. But I guess that was just because the girls were good students. ANYWAY! I will be hanging out with my sisters kids for a bit tonight. THey are good kids but have the energy my sister did, which let's say is signifigantly more than I did!

I wanted to finish up our park day, as I am pretty sure most folks are here for the cruise stuff. And I sat down to do that, and I realized that I stopped typing up notes at this point. I must have skipped over to the cruise day and never came back. oops. So bare with me on this last installment.

Park Day: Magic Kingdom

We made it to Magic Kingdom around 7:30 PM. I believe the park was closing at 10:00 tonight. We were walking in with 3 LLs, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Buzz Lightyear.

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It was weird walking into the park this late for the first time. And at night..... I would not suggest for your very first time. People were starting to line up for fireworks, so main street was a bit busy. We headed towards Haunted Mansion.



As we passed where they do dessert parties, there was a bunch of equipment in the area. And I said to Andy what is going on there? But we didn't think much of it.

We made it over to Haunted Mansion and made inside pretty much immediatly with our LL.
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After our party with some ghosts, we poked into Memento Mori. I have a haunted mansion mug that I love and Gwen has been using for her morning chocolate milk. And I wanted to get a 2nd one if they had it. But they did not. I feel like it is hit or miss in finding stuff in that store.

I looked to see what the waits were like, and I saw that Jungle Cruise was low, so we headed that way next. It was about 8:10 by now, so the fireworks had started. And when we walked up there was no one... We almost thought it wasn't running.

We walked right up to the que, a boat pulled up and we just looked around in disbelief...

There was LITERALLY no other guests!!! The CM said that it was normal to have no one during fireworks... They waited a minute or two but said our skipper could head out!!

This was our boat...
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We had a private cruise! It was amazing! Our skipper kept the energy up even though it was just us.


We could see fireworks here and there as we went around.


I will say, I don't like riding Jungle Cruise at night as much. It is hard to see some fo the stuff. But you can't beat a private cruise!

Once we finished our private cruise, we stodd by magic carpets and just watched some of the fireworks. There was no one around. It was so weird.


We hopped onto Pirates just as the fireworks were finishing up. it was about 8:20. We used our LL since we had it but we REALLY didn't need it. We did not get a private boat here but we did walk pretty much right on.
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After pirates, we weren't exactly sure what we wanted to do. We have Buzz across the way, but I was afraid that the hub was still full, as it was still DEAD in adventureland. We say NO LINE at Alhoa Isle, and we impulsed orderd a dole whip!



See 1 person behind us!! ONE!!!

We went to our secret spot and enjoyed our dole whip. Once we sat down, I was like, man, I should have gotten a Orange Float. But you can't beat a classic Dole Whip.
https://flic.kr/p/2qLGcvn]]
no body around...

As we sat we talked about what we still wanted to do. I said if nothing else I wanted to ride the People Mover. So, we headed over to Tomorrowland

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We did find people again. Not sure if people just weren't intrested in Adventureland or what but the park wasn't completely empty.

We were able to just walk on to the People Mover.
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This was a nice ride as it always is.
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After our ride, we decided to skip our Buzz Lightyear LL and give waiting in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train instead. The wait was only half an hour, and it had been awhile since we had ridden it.

We got in line at 9:13.
https://flic.kr/p/2qLLQG7]Untitled[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2qLMZct]] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/139829364@N03/]Ariella Saucier[/url], on Flickr
And were ready to ride around 9:35

While we were in line, Morgan had texted me and asked me to send info to my sister. She said she still didn't feel good and was thinking she wasn't going to want to go to school on Friday. So, I took care of that while we waited.

After our ride on a mine train, we decided to call it a night! It was 9:40, so we could have hopped on one more ride but we were done! We just started slowly making our way out of the park.

Strangly, we saw a line of people waiting to pull the sword out of the stone of all places....
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Magic Kingdom is beautiful at night...

We saw someone filming in the fireworks area where we saw all the equipment. It turned out to be Wheel of Fortune with Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White. We didn't see them but we didn't try that hard.

We poked into the Main Street store but didn't buy anything and we were walking out at 9:58!

We took our time walking to our bus stop, we were in no rush. Our bus ride was pretty full. A family got on with what looked like a wagon that they didn't fold up and they were blocking the aisle. At the time the bus driver didn't' say anything. I pushed our way through as there was tons of space behind them. But the people behind us decided to just wait. I assume they probably also wanted to sit. The lady ended up arguing with the bus driver, because he tolder her to fold up the wagon, as she was blocking folks from getting off. She "folded" it up but it was still too big in a folded form. She just didn't care that she was in everyones way and made no apologizes for it. It was a sour way to end the night.

Regardless of the arguing, we made it back to our area around 10:30
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I took my shoes off once we got off the bus. My feet were killing me!!!

It was an epic day, we rode 14 rides, enjoyed Festival of Arts food, started the day at 8:00 AM and finished at 10:00 PM!

We went pretty much straight to bed, as unfortantly we did need to be up early again tomorrow!

Up next we finally get on the cruise!