6/11/09 3 Night Wonder Trip Report-with 500+ Photos!!!

[Tri-circle-D]

We spent our Friday afternoon enjoying great weather out by the pool, and the antics of Pikey and Frankie. During their dialog, Pikey and Frankie announced that all adults should come to a special event at Wavebands after the Pirate Party tonight. As they continued talking, they mentioned that they would be celebrating someone's birthday. Finally, Frankie spilled the beans- today was Pikey's birthday. So, mark that down. June 12 is Pikey's birthday.

After thoroughly enjoying our time on deck, I excused myself to attend the DVC presentation at 3. I have never attended one of these, but I have heard tales of gifts being distributed, and it is a fact that someone in attendance will be given a $300 on board credit for the cruise. That would just about pay my bar bill! So I went.

When I arrived at about 2:59, there were only two others in attendance. That meant I had a one in three shot at the $300! But, as the presentation went on, others filed in, and by the time the drawing for the $300 was conducted at the end of the presentation, there were about a dozen folks there. I would have thought that they would require you to be present for the whole presentation in order to be eligible for the drawing, but apparently not. I'll cut to the chase and tell you that I did not win. The first guy who got there won. At least it was not one of the late comers. Other than a couple of pins, there were no other gifts presented. The presentation took a little less than an hour, and was painless. I probably will go again on my next cruise, and try to win the on board credit.

After the DVC presentation, which was in Diversions, I popped into the Castaway Club party which was going on next door at Wavebands. That was very lightly attended. I didn't stay long. I had just been sitting listening to someone talk for an hour, and wasn't interested in hearing other speeches at the moment.

We all hung around in the cabin for a while, and went back up to Deck 9 for some more swimming. Then, it was time to get ready for the early showing of the Toy Story show. Remember, we had skipped the Golden Mickeys last night. Well, it was so nice out, and we were so relaxed, that it ended up that no one wanted to rush to get ready for the show. So we skipped Toy Story, too. If you are a newbie, I do not recommend skipping the shows. They are wonderful, and a big part of the cruise experience. But, we have seen all of them, and just didn't feel like going to this one.

Some of us did want to make it to the A Pirate's Life For Me game show. Old TCD had led his team to victory at this event last year, and we were looking for a repeat. At this show, two audience members get chosen to captain a team, and two get chosen to be first mates. Everyone else gets placed on a team, and the teams compete. Based on my experience, adults are usually chosen to be captains, and kids are chosen as first mates. So, the odds of me even being selected to be a captain in order to try to repeat were pretty slim.

But, look who got chosen to be a captain!:

Yes, that is me, TCD, and my first mate!

From here, the games commenced.

In this event, the captains had to stand on the stage, and were decorated like a ship's mast:

I even had to wear a crow's nest:

The team members then had to swab the deck by pushing a bucket around their captains with a mop:

I believe that our team lost this particular event, but then we came on strong, and ended up winning the entire competition!

When it came time to award the prize, I found that they no longer award the medals with which we in the TCD gang are so well acquainted. Instead, there was a fabric ribbon that said "Champion" attached to a It's a Pirate's Life for Me Button. Good enough! TCD has his hardware. The repeat is secured. Next cruise, it's time for a Three-Peat!

From here, it was time for our dinner at Parrot Cay. We did not have this dining rotation on our last cruise, and I liked it much better that we were in Parrot Cay for Pirate Night instead of Triton's, which is what we had last year. For those of you wondering, there were no bandannas distributed to guest for Pirate's night. We have received them on our other cruises, including last year's. Not a big deal, but we did notice. Too bad for the first time cruisers. It was a nice touch.

Coming up, we get a surprise from our servers, and will there be a Conga Line in Parrot Cay?

TCD

 

[davidls]

Making magnets is easy. All you need is a computer (which you already have), printer, and magnet paper. You can get that at Office Depot for sure, because that's where I buy mine, but Staples probably has it too.

For designs, you can find just about anything you might want here on the Disboards. That's where I found the design for the graduation hat ears that you see on our doors. The name-tag magnets came from this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1936740 . If you send the OP on that thread a PM, he will make the whole thing for you, and PM it back to you. Then, all you have to do is print it. Easy.

TCD

TCD, Thanks for the link to these name tag magnets. My granddaughter wanted them for our door. She enjoys decorating our door with the magnets and wanted to add these to our collection. Again, thanks for your help.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

After my triumph at It's A Pirate's Life For Me, we head on to our dinner at Parrot Cay.

On the way there, we notice that the sun is setting.

We step out onto the Promenade Deck for a few photos.

Here are the graduates:

This is a close up of some detail on a bench that was sitting out on Deck 4:

My oldest DD's BFF's mother sent flower hair combs for each of the girls to wear. That was a nice touch. We took some photos of those:

I don't know where this girl gets her silliness from (must be Mrs. TCD):

Wait, here's a better one:

Here's me and Mrs. TCD:

I told you today was Pikey's birthday, right? Well, the girls made him a card. They were going to catch up with him somewhere to give it to him. We thought perhaps that we would see him up on Deck 9 for the Pirate

We had a great meal, and then the servers put on a little show that culminated in a Conga line. Of course, the girls had to join in the fun!

The night before, we met our Dining Room manager, Tektas, from Turkey. That was remarkable. We had never had the Dining Room manager come over and introduce himself to us before. He came by again on this evening, and told us that we should not leave before dessert, as he had a surprise for us. Here he is:

And, here is the surprise:

Each of the girls also got a Magical Moments button, and Tektas, JoJo and Chris sang to them. A very nice touch! Here is our serving crew:

We ended up ordering dessert from the menu and decided to take the cake back to our room to enjoy later. We hurried in order to get up to Deck 9 by 10 for the Pirate Party.

When I stopped by the room to drop off the cake, I was greeted by this creature:

No trip report is complete without a photo of a towel animal. So that is mine. Check.

I hurried up to Deck 9, and joined in the festivities:

As you can see, the party was well attended.

We danced and danced.

Pikey was no where to be found.

And then, some bad pirates showed up . . .

TCD

 

[pmama]

Here are the graduates:

TCD

This is a great photo. Great updates. I love that you actually walked into the crew area to take pictures. I didn't know the crew had their own pool. Pretty neat.

 

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I missed this photo of our group out on Deck 4 before dinner:

Now back to our party already in progress:

There we were having a great time at the dance party when some nasty pirates crashed our party :

Not to worry. Captain Mickey showed up, and chased the bad guys off:

And then, it was back to dancing . . .

Here the girls are doing the Cupid Shuffle:

I don't know who the guy is, but the girls said he could dance, so he was allowed to stay.

The party wound down at around 11, and they got ready to show the Pirates movie on the big screen.

We, however, had to leave, because we needed to find Pikey, and then get to the Walt Disney Theater, where they were going to be showing the new movie UP in 3-D!

We found good old Pikey in Wavebands, and wished him a happy birthday:

Then we hauled it over to the theater to watch the movie. Look how many folks joined us:

The 3-D effects worked very well. But, I think the theater was too light, and I found myself feeling queasy as I continued to watch. The ship was moving, and the seas were calm, but I still was starting to feel nauseous. We already saw UP at home before we sailed, so I told the girls I was going to leave. One of the DD's joined me, and we did a little more exploring around the ship.

We walked all the way around Deck 4, an checked out all the stuff that you can see at the front of the ship from the walkway. I don't recall seeing this little boat before:

I snapped this picture while we were in the area, see that porthole up top in the back? We could see someone lifting weights through the window. That must be a crew gym:

We put our graduation ears on the Walt Disney Suite for this photo. I was going to tell you all this is where we stayed, but I thought some of you would question this. I'll share the photo anyway.

A bit later, we headed back to the cabin, and found the rest of our crew. Everyone else had bailed from the movie, too. It was warm and stuffy in the theater, and everyone felt like getting out of there.

Some of the girls went down to Diversions to play some board games, and also to peek in on Pikey in Wavebands.

But, I went to bed. It was past 1 am at this point, and I wanted to be up to see us pull in to Castaway Cay.

So, that's it for Friday.

I think we are at around 325 pictures.

Will I make it to 500?

I did take a lot of photos on Castaway Cay.

But, I am not sure I took that many.

You'll have to check back and see.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I'm on a roll here, so I am going to keep posting.

I slept in on Saturday, and didn't make it up to Deck 9 for my coffee until 7 am!

I did catch the sunrise off the bow of the ship, though:

My camera says I took this photo at 7:01.

I was up on Deck 10, and noticed this plaque on the wall behind the sports court. I don't recall seeing a photo of it before (although I am sure some Disboard member has photographed this):

I walked through Cove Cafe to go get the free coffee at the beverage station:

On our previous cruises, the outside of Cove Cafe was a smoking area. It seemed that there was always someone smoking a stinky cigar out here. Well, not any more:

This is the floor of the men's room on Deck 9, forward. I took this photo so I could look up what these tiles spelled when I got home. I even took a photo of a sign on Castaway Cay which provides the translation for nautical flags. I can't figure out what this spells:

Land Ho!:

Since we were on the starboard side of the ship, and the captain turned the ship to back us in, we got to see Castaway Cay grow closer and closer from the comfort of our own Veranda:

I could have sat out on the veranda all day and watched the island. But, we needed to be on the island. We got the girls going, and up top for breakfast. The ship was finishing the docking process and it would be time to go ashore soon.

We didn't need to be the first off the ship that morning, as we planned on being the last to get back aboard. But, we did want to get off in time to do some snorkeling and to participate in the crab races before lunch, so we moved everyone along. No problem there, as everyone was anxious to get out on the island.

TCD

 

[Narnia_girl]

eh, is that a dead hombre clinging to that boat?

 

[Tri-circle-D]

eh, is that a dead hombre clinging to that boat?

Aack! I didn't notice him until you pointed him out. Based on the photos that preceded this one, I don't think the hombre is dead, maybe just a little disoriented from visited Senor Frogs?

And I just noticed the signs on that business. A drive it yourself boat rental place! Hmmm. Sounds like fun on a future cruise. Stop by Senor Frogs, get loaded up, and then hop on one of the boats in the fleet maintained by the hombre. What could possibly go wrong?

TCD

 

[wcw57]

I'm not sure but maybe the flags spell out "caution: wet floor!"

On a serious note: if one was to be lead onto either the Magic or the Wonder blindfolded AND the names of restaurants were removed:

could anyone tell the differences between the ships?

by the way:::::I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report and will remember to reference it when our cruise becomes more imminent

THANX

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I'm not sure but maybe the flags spell out "caution: wet floor!"

On a serious note: if one was to be lead onto either the Magic or the Wonder blindfolded AND the names of restaurants were removed:

could anyone tell the differences between the ships?


THANX

I thought maybe the spelled p-p (perhaps a joke from the tile-layer), but they are different flags. They have to mean something. Why would anybody go to all that trouble to make a meaningless design?

As far as telling the Magic and Wonder apart, you are right- the ships are really similar. But, there are small differences. Like the statue in the atrium, and the decor of the formal dining room. But, I think you are right, most people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

Your counter says you will cruise in 600 days?

Aren't you a plan-a-header?

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Don't look now, but here comes another installment.

We are moving along with this report, aren't we?

While the girls finished their breakfast, I walked around Deck 10 to get a look at Castaway Cay. We were last here about a year ago. I don't know very many prettier places on the planet. If you do, please let me know, because I want to go there.

Here are some shots I took from Deck 10:

The Flying Dutchman:

The beaches with no people:

The seating area by the boat docks:

The area just past the post office:

The Bahamian flag flying from the stern of the ship:

Looking out to the undeveloped area of the island:

The beaches again (look at the color of the water!):

The post office:

Make sure that you notice the mail box on the right side of the photo. I think there is some kind of joke sign on the box which says it is for air mail. Funny, right?

There is a big construction project going on at the dock, right across from where the ships currently are tied up. This must have something to do with the new larger ships which will be heading this way:

When the girls were done eating, we looked around the Mickey Pool. It was open, but it was empty. The early risers were all getting ready to head out on the island, so no one was in the pool:

(if somebody wants to tell us what these flags in the background mean, feel free. Otherwise, we will come back to these flags when I post the answer key).

Here's DD by the empty pool:

I should have mentioned earlier that I thought the ship looked like it was in great shape. But, I did notice a slight whiff of an unpleasant odor at the ground level under the Mickey slide. The scent was reminiscent of old life jackets that have never quite been allowed to properly dry. Like at a scout camp. Do you know the smell? Well, that's the scent I would catch around there. Not all the time, but occasionally.

Well, on Saturday morning, while most of the ship was going to Castaway Cay, look what they did:

This is where I smelled the funk. There must have been a drainage issue or something going on here.

Also, for some reason the sign for Pinocchio's Pizza was gone:

It was definitely there when we got on the ship, because I can see it in some of my earlier photos.

When we got back on the ship that afternoon, there was brand new indoor/outdoor carpet all around the Mickey slide. The Pinocchio sign, however, did not return.

Just goes to show you that they are always working on keeping the ships ship shape.

Next up, some things we saw from our veranda.

And, then we get on the island.

Don't worry, we will be there all day.



TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Now tell me, when have you ever seen a trip report like this?

When I get done with this post, this report will contain 380 photos.

And, we haven't even stepped foot on Castaway Cay yet.

It's not the quality, it's the quantity that's important.

I promised some photos from the veranda, so here you go.

Some of the girls were moving a bit slow this morning, so I enjoyed the view from the veranda as they continued to get ready.

As I mentioned before, we really lucked out with the location of our cabins. Since the ship typically backs in the Castaway Cay, those on the starboard side are treated to a front row view of the island all day. The only problem with this in our case is that we had no intention of sitting on our veranda looking at the island. We planned to be on the island, and not be back on the ship until it was time to go. So, this was my chance to enjoy the view that cost me a thousand bucks.

This photo was taken at 9:13. This must be the day's first parasailer. This was fun to watch. And we could hear this lady screaming all the way up on our veranda!:

I'm not sure what this boat was for, another parasailer?:

And, check these guys out- this looks like fun:

I got to see all of that from my veranda. Pretty cool. But we had to go. So we packed up, and headed out to paradise. . .

TCD

 

[Narnia_girl]

great report! Love reading it!!

 

[Bocaberger]

I just have to say, that I am going on my first cruise on July 26th, and your report was not only wonderful, butit gave tons of great tips, including the information that I will be in the terminal for an extended period of time and will need to bring something for my daughter to do.

Great job!!!

 

[DaveInTN]

Great TR so far TCD!!! Keep this up, and I might be convinced to venture away from the Fort one of these days and board a ship...you make it sound pretty appealing!

 

[HappyGrumpy]

Gosh I am loving this report! thanks for making it long but VERY fun and interesting!!!

I cannot wait to be back on the ship in December!

 

[princess22]

OMG I love your TR!!! You are hilarious! I have spent the last 45 minutes reading it. Your family looks like you would be a blast to vacation with. Lots of energy!

I LOVE Pikey! I haven't been on a Disney cruise for three years (oh my gosh I can't believe it's been that long) but I remember PIkey! He's awesome. I also remember Christian. But only because he told me his wife and children live about 5 minutes from my house (and walking distance to the school I work at).

I didn't know that you could book and then check for a Florida Resident Rate. Thanks for the great tip. I'm planning to take a cruise after my DD turns 3 (so another year at least)

Anyway, loving your TR, can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

great report! Love reading it!!

Thanks, I'm glad that you like it. I should have some more coming along later today.

I just have to say, that I am going on my first cruise on July 26th, and your report was not only wonderful, butit gave tons of great tips, including the information that I will be in the terminal for an extended period of time and will need to bring something for my daughter to do.

Great job!!!

I wouldn't worry too much about bringing something for your daughter to do. There is plenty to do in the terminal. You can walk out on the porch and look at the ship, sign her up for the kids programs and meet the counselors, meet characters, watch videos, and take "surprise" photos in front of the doorway.

Great TR so far TCD!!! Keep this up, and I might be convinced to venture away from the Fort one of these days and board a ship...you make it sound pretty appealing!

Dave! Thanks for stopping by. I recommend that you venture away from the Fort just one time and take the family on a cruise. It is a lot of fun, as you can see. Not as much fun as the Fort, but a close second.

Gosh I am loving this report! thanks for making it long but VERY fun and interesting!!!

I cannot wait to be back on the ship in December!

Glad you like it. There is still our whole day at Castaway Cay to come!

OMG I love your TR!!! You are hilarious! I have spent the last 45 minutes reading it. Your family looks like you would be a blast to vacation with. Lots of energy!

I LOVE Pikey! I haven't been on a Disney cruise for three years (oh my gosh I can't believe it's been that long) but I remember PIkey! He's awesome. I also remember Christian. But only because he told me his wife and children live about 5 minutes from my house (and walking distance to the school I work at).

I didn't know that you could book and then check for a Florida Resident Rate. Thanks for the great tip. I'm planning to take a cruise after my DD turns 3 (so another year at least)

Anyway, loving your TR, can't wait to read more!!!

Only 45 minutes? You must be a speed reader. Or you are just skimming. You are going to have trouble passing the final exam with those kind of reading habits. So, go back and read everything carefully.

And, if you like Pikey, I've got more Pikey! That guy is in more of my family's photos than I am. How did that happen?

Thanks for reading along folks, I will have some more Castaway Cay photos and comments coming up real soon!

TCD

 

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[DaddyDon]

Love your trip report! Did you have to have passports to go on your trip?
Time for you to go back to camping board.....Looks like you all had a ball!Can't wait to read more!