Cast Members: Julie 36, John 34, Anastasia 9, and Tara 18 mo.
Day two of our Magical journey finds us in Key West. I wake-up first and head out to reserve Anastasia's hair-braiding appointment. Wait in line (people just took FOREVER to decide what they wanted done to their kids). I knew exactly what I wanted and the time slot that was available was perfect, 4 pm Monday (day at sea) right in front of the Goofy Pool. I only took about 2 minutes while the other moms in front of me took like 10!
We have the APL rotation so that means its character breakfast for us. The kids loved it, and when the kids are having fun the adults are too. One disappointing note: our cabin steward didnt make a towel animal last night. I was really bummed, especially when Anastasias friends were raving about their swinging monkey
Oh well, not too impressed with our cabin steward. I also had to ask for ice, which I was under the impression from other trip reports that they never had to ask once for it.
Disembarkation was a breeze. We brought our own stroller and headed on down to sample some of the conch fritters I so love. We bought ours on the corner of David Walkowsky and Wall streets (right by the aquarium). We bought a dozen and tried them with all three sauces. My fav. sauce was the hot sauce; I just love hot hot hot food! We stopped in the first Museum we came to in a 3-story brick building. It was super cool inside and they featured Cuban artists, sculptors, and lots of local artists. They also had a Pirate Museum, which was our favorite. All the history of the island was told in that museum, and it was a great introduction for what lie ahead. Also, if you are an AAA member, they give a great discount on admission. Did I mention how cool it was in there? It was so hot and humid outside that we really took our time in there.
We then headed over to buy some tickets for the Conch Trolley Tour ($2 per person less to buy them yourselves rather than through DCL). I loved it! You could get off wherever you please and hop back on another trolley, and the guides were excellent pointing out all kinds of interesting facts along the way. They were all very amusing and hilarious! We got off and headed over to Margarittaville (unfortunately we didnt recognize FantasticDisFamilyDeb). Tara was fast asleep by now, and that allowed us to have a relaxing lunch and some margaritas. Yummy!
Hopped back onto the Trolley and finished the tour of the island. I loved seeing the old historical sections that have been refurbished alongside the homes that havent been fixed up yet. And there were roosters, hens, and chicks roaming freely! It really did not feel like Fl at all. When we finished the tour we stopped by the Key Lime Shoppe and tried the Key Lime Pie frozen on a stick and dipped in chocolate. Oh my, was that awesome. I am addicted now. I just went online and bought a bunch of their cookies (they had free samples of just about everything they sell) we enjoyed in their cool air-conditioned shop.
Back onto the boat we go to prepare for show and dinner. Tonight is Palo for DH and me, so I sent DH and the kids off to Morty the Magnificent show while I got ready (I heard from the boards that it wasnt all that great, and I really wanted the time for myself). The kids and DH loved the show and we took them to Plutos for dinner. Anastasia didnt really hang out in the lab because we did everything together or she had her friend Mary to play with she met at the DCL terminal. She enjoyed her time there tonight though, we even popped in to check on her and were standing right in front of her and she didnt even know we were there! She was so mesmerized by the silly skits they were doing. First time at Flounders for Tara, and she cried and cried. She fell asleep by 8pm (thats 5pm our time, very early for her).
Dinner at Palo was awesome. I found myself unconsciously saying yum after every bite of my minestrone soup. The chocolate soufflé is what everyone raves about, excellent. The vanilla bean sauce they add to ithmm, Ill let you all discover it for yourselves. Louise was our server, and she was awesome. We then head out for a couple of hours of nightlife, and stopped by dueling pianos. It was okay, I was just wiped out from our long day on Key West. It was very hot and humid. We had great luck though. Right when the downpour started we had just boarded the Trolley for our tour, and every time it sprinkled we were on the Trolley too. The towel animal for tonight was an octopus.
Oh, I forgot to mention that DH had a surprise for me on the cruise too! I had a surprise limo waiting for us at MCO, managed to finagle a $50 onboard credit, and had both the girls gift packages (BTW, thank you Shirley! You did a great job on Taras basket!). Well, DH just couldnt wait until the cruise to give me mine. So, the night before we left he got down on one knee and handed me a green box with the name Cartier on it. I opened it, and inside was a beautiful Cartier watch! He said he bought it for me because he hadnt given me anything nice in awhile. Well, he just paid for my Lasik eye surgery the week before and we were going on a wonderful cruise! We headed over to the jewelers on the way to the airport the next morning and had it fitted. I love it! And I was over-excited by now and couldnt sleep until 2:30am!
I was very impressed with our cabin. We had enough room in our Cat 11 and our fridge held everything we brought (12pack of beer, 6pack coke, 2 bottles champaigne, and 6 juice packets. We also put all the candy in there. The ship was spotless. Every port we saw them hosing her down and rolling paint on. She looked so beautiful, especially next to the other cruise lines we saw.
By now Im realizing that some of the tips I received on the Disboards are paying off, and some I didnt need. The clothespins were a great tip, as was to bring 2 bathing suits. I didnt need the duct tape, nor the wrinkle releaser or the shout packets (amazingly nobody spilled anything on themselves). I packed my dresses in dry cleaning bags (like always) and they did arrive wrinkle-free. I did do laundry on Monday night and Wednesday night (nights before days at sea, the busiest days) so the tide tablets came in handy. We were on deck 7, so we had a laundry station just down the hall from us. I packed enough clothes for 4 days knowing that I would be doing laundry, and this saved some much needed luggage space. We still had too many clothes! Tues, Wed, and Fri we were in our suits all day, so maybe next time Ill only pack enough clothes for 3 days. Good thing about bringing a toddler in diapers is as you go through the diapers you free up space for packing souvenirs. Another good tip: spray on sunblock. When DD had her hair braided it came in handy just to spray her down. Also for Taras scalp as she has very little hair still. Another great tip I received: the highlighters. I brought one color for each of us and each night we highlighted our navigators before we went to bed so we knew what everybody wanted to do the next day. Pretty cool idea!
Tomorrow is Day at sea and I'm really excited!
Day two of our Magical journey finds us in Key West. I wake-up first and head out to reserve Anastasia's hair-braiding appointment. Wait in line (people just took FOREVER to decide what they wanted done to their kids). I knew exactly what I wanted and the time slot that was available was perfect, 4 pm Monday (day at sea) right in front of the Goofy Pool. I only took about 2 minutes while the other moms in front of me took like 10!
We have the APL rotation so that means its character breakfast for us. The kids loved it, and when the kids are having fun the adults are too. One disappointing note: our cabin steward didnt make a towel animal last night. I was really bummed, especially when Anastasias friends were raving about their swinging monkey
Oh well, not too impressed with our cabin steward. I also had to ask for ice, which I was under the impression from other trip reports that they never had to ask once for it.Disembarkation was a breeze. We brought our own stroller and headed on down to sample some of the conch fritters I so love. We bought ours on the corner of David Walkowsky and Wall streets (right by the aquarium). We bought a dozen and tried them with all three sauces. My fav. sauce was the hot sauce; I just love hot hot hot food! We stopped in the first Museum we came to in a 3-story brick building. It was super cool inside and they featured Cuban artists, sculptors, and lots of local artists. They also had a Pirate Museum, which was our favorite. All the history of the island was told in that museum, and it was a great introduction for what lie ahead. Also, if you are an AAA member, they give a great discount on admission. Did I mention how cool it was in there? It was so hot and humid outside that we really took our time in there.
We then headed over to buy some tickets for the Conch Trolley Tour ($2 per person less to buy them yourselves rather than through DCL). I loved it! You could get off wherever you please and hop back on another trolley, and the guides were excellent pointing out all kinds of interesting facts along the way. They were all very amusing and hilarious! We got off and headed over to Margarittaville (unfortunately we didnt recognize FantasticDisFamilyDeb). Tara was fast asleep by now, and that allowed us to have a relaxing lunch and some margaritas. Yummy!
Hopped back onto the Trolley and finished the tour of the island. I loved seeing the old historical sections that have been refurbished alongside the homes that havent been fixed up yet. And there were roosters, hens, and chicks roaming freely! It really did not feel like Fl at all. When we finished the tour we stopped by the Key Lime Shoppe and tried the Key Lime Pie frozen on a stick and dipped in chocolate. Oh my, was that awesome. I am addicted now. I just went online and bought a bunch of their cookies (they had free samples of just about everything they sell) we enjoyed in their cool air-conditioned shop.
Back onto the boat we go to prepare for show and dinner. Tonight is Palo for DH and me, so I sent DH and the kids off to Morty the Magnificent show while I got ready (I heard from the boards that it wasnt all that great, and I really wanted the time for myself). The kids and DH loved the show and we took them to Plutos for dinner. Anastasia didnt really hang out in the lab because we did everything together or she had her friend Mary to play with she met at the DCL terminal. She enjoyed her time there tonight though, we even popped in to check on her and were standing right in front of her and she didnt even know we were there! She was so mesmerized by the silly skits they were doing. First time at Flounders for Tara, and she cried and cried. She fell asleep by 8pm (thats 5pm our time, very early for her).
Dinner at Palo was awesome. I found myself unconsciously saying yum after every bite of my minestrone soup. The chocolate soufflé is what everyone raves about, excellent. The vanilla bean sauce they add to ithmm, Ill let you all discover it for yourselves. Louise was our server, and she was awesome. We then head out for a couple of hours of nightlife, and stopped by dueling pianos. It was okay, I was just wiped out from our long day on Key West. It was very hot and humid. We had great luck though. Right when the downpour started we had just boarded the Trolley for our tour, and every time it sprinkled we were on the Trolley too. The towel animal for tonight was an octopus.
Oh, I forgot to mention that DH had a surprise for me on the cruise too! I had a surprise limo waiting for us at MCO, managed to finagle a $50 onboard credit, and had both the girls gift packages (BTW, thank you Shirley! You did a great job on Taras basket!). Well, DH just couldnt wait until the cruise to give me mine. So, the night before we left he got down on one knee and handed me a green box with the name Cartier on it. I opened it, and inside was a beautiful Cartier watch! He said he bought it for me because he hadnt given me anything nice in awhile. Well, he just paid for my Lasik eye surgery the week before and we were going on a wonderful cruise! We headed over to the jewelers on the way to the airport the next morning and had it fitted. I love it! And I was over-excited by now and couldnt sleep until 2:30am!
I was very impressed with our cabin. We had enough room in our Cat 11 and our fridge held everything we brought (12pack of beer, 6pack coke, 2 bottles champaigne, and 6 juice packets. We also put all the candy in there. The ship was spotless. Every port we saw them hosing her down and rolling paint on. She looked so beautiful, especially next to the other cruise lines we saw.
By now Im realizing that some of the tips I received on the Disboards are paying off, and some I didnt need. The clothespins were a great tip, as was to bring 2 bathing suits. I didnt need the duct tape, nor the wrinkle releaser or the shout packets (amazingly nobody spilled anything on themselves). I packed my dresses in dry cleaning bags (like always) and they did arrive wrinkle-free. I did do laundry on Monday night and Wednesday night (nights before days at sea, the busiest days) so the tide tablets came in handy. We were on deck 7, so we had a laundry station just down the hall from us. I packed enough clothes for 4 days knowing that I would be doing laundry, and this saved some much needed luggage space. We still had too many clothes! Tues, Wed, and Fri we were in our suits all day, so maybe next time Ill only pack enough clothes for 3 days. Good thing about bringing a toddler in diapers is as you go through the diapers you free up space for packing souvenirs. Another good tip: spray on sunblock. When DD had her hair braided it came in handy just to spray her down. Also for Taras scalp as she has very little hair still. Another great tip I received: the highlighters. I brought one color for each of us and each night we highlighted our navigators before we went to bed so we knew what everybody wanted to do the next day. Pretty cool idea!
Tomorrow is Day at sea and I'm really excited!
