6-5-4-3-2-1...SAILAWAY!!! NY-CANADA June 17, 2012 /The End. Complete. Done!

[llqool]

"Next time" do say hello! I saw someone else up there that lunch, Elizabeth I think! My kids also gave me a good eye-roll on that!!! I LOVED it! It made for a great Welcome Aboard DISsers moment!

I know, I know....I should've done it. Next time I'll ignore Mr. Party Pooper! I don't know if you saw, but we actually got picked as the Family of the Day, first on the ship. I was SOOOO excited, even Mr. PP (Party Pooper) got into it.

No need to buy a day pass to use the locker room and shower. It was really nice, with a spouting stream of water and all the soaps and shampoos and lotions. And a big poofy robe. Of course, I had no where to go with the nice robe, just around the locker room! Still it's a fun way to feel the spa feeling without buying a day there.

Great tip...do they have a separate mens/womens locker room? Somehow I never made it up to the gym even though I fully intended to.... Well, at least we did a lot of walking in NYC beforehand and Phillie afterward, so I only gained a couple of pounds!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

I know, I know....I should've done it. Next time I'll ignore Mr. Party Pooper! I don't know if you saw, but we actually got picked as the Family of the Day, first on the ship. I was SOOOO excited, even Mr. PP (Party Pooper) got into it.

Great tip...do they have a separate mens/womens locker room? Somehow I never made it up to the gym even though I fully intended to.... Well, at least we did a lot of walking in NYC beforehand and Phillie afterward, so I only gained a couple of pounds!

NO WAY!!! You were Family of the Day?!!! How cool! What else did it mean besides getting to be the first onboard?

Yes separate mens and womens... changing room, lounge area and shower area... nice! Next time...

 

[jkpmac]

Wow, great trip report, I am so glad you guys had a great time!!!!!!!!!! the T-shirts rocked. Wish i could have been there too!!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Wow, great trip report, I am so glad you guys had a great time!!!!!!!!!! the T-shirts rocked. Wish i could have been there too!!

jkpmac, you WERE there, too!!!!
With all of your advice, and your great DISsigns, you, of all people, were THERE! Virtual, but nevertheless...
Here's crossing our fingers for a REAL trip for you, SOON!

 

[llqool]

NO WAY!!! You were Family of the Day?!!! How cool! What else did it mean besides getting to be the first onboard?

We got a certificate, our name announced, a picture with both Uncle Sam Mickey and Statue of Liberty Minnie (in the terminal, they switched off, so we but they held Mickey for us so we could have a picture with both of them).

So in actuality, not much, but it was VERY magical.

 

[jkpmac]

jkpmac, you WERE there, too!!!!
With all of your advice, and your great DISsigns, you, of all people, were THERE! Virtual, but nevertheless...
Here's crossing our fingers for a REAL trip for you, SOON!

Yes, Disney World in March!!!!!!!!!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Yes, Disney World in March!!!!!!!!!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Before I move on to the second sea day, here's a short side bar about FE gifts! We had a really good time preparing for the FE. It gave me a great outlet for the energy I needed to expend while waiting waiting waiting for the cruise. You've already seen our hanging FEs, inspired by the DIS and the duct tape thread! Deciding on gifts was a bit of planning and a lot of spontaneous! Over the year, I tended to pick up any Disney related little gifts I found, "for the FE". Also, I tried to narrow our crafty gifts down to one or 2 projects. In the end, I went a bit overboard. But there is actually no such thing as overboard because I had such fun doing it! I also did manage to pull the family into the planning.
Here is the biggest project we did as a family:

They are lanyard key-rings or zipper pulls, with a ship/pirate/heart type of charm on them (what I could find - wasn't an easy task without quick access to big crafts stores or e-bay!). All the teens helped make these. Even DH at the end did a few!
My other idea was this:

Blue and white (and silver for "pretty") sprinkles for ice cream!

And for grown-ups, there was an individual packet of instant "mud coffee" with these instructions:

Each cabin got a magnet - thanks DISsigners and Vistaprint!

The rest of the gifts were an assortment of little trinkets geared toward the age and gender of the recipient. Oh, also Bazooka with Hebrew comics, and Bamba or other snack foods which are very popular here in Israel.
We had 2 kids with unique profiles ... one toddler, and one child with gluten sensitivity. So those kids got bags made just for them.

Next up .... what did we GET in our FE?

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Our meet group/FE group had gotten so big that we decided to split into 2 groups. Some folks opted to sign up for 2 groups, which meant they were doing FEs with around 30+ cabins. We decided (ok, I decided) that one group was more our speed, and it worked out great!

As you can imagine, I didn't have much control over the FE gifts coming in. The kids loved having their own FE hanger and loved coming back and seeing what was new in it! I tried to gather FE gifts and photograph them, but I know I missed a bunch. Here is what I got:

Close up of the candy-bar wrapper:

And finally, the non-candy loot gathered and sorted back at home!

I know there are FE gifts here that I didn't document - thanks one and all for an awesome FE exchange!

 

[disneyholic family]

OMG - cafe botz!!!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

OMG - cafe botz!!!

Yup! I wonder if anyone actually drank it??!!
(botz= mud in Hebrew - now everyone has a new Hebrew word!)

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

So yesterday I was sitting with the 4 kids (DH was at work) over dinner and I asked them what theoretical vacation they would choose: 1. a week at WDW; 2. a DCL cruise; or 3. a week in Europe. And guess what! They chose the cruise! I honestly wasn't sure what they'd say, since the level of communication in their teenage world is not so deep. i.e. how did they REALLY feel about the cruise?! I mean, when you ask them how was the cruise, they say "Fun.". When you ask me the same question, you get a 1 hour monologue on the wonders of DCL and how beautiful Canada is! Then we had to have a discussion on, THEORETICALLY, when the next family celebration is that could warrant another cruise! Good thing the DH was not there for this - better I get the kids on my side and then let it sit until time comes for more serious commitment! Good thing he'd NEVER read the DIS!
Just had to share that, though it's not TR related.

 

[gometros]

Yup! I wonder if anyone actually drank it??!!
(botz= mud in Hebrew - now everyone has a new Hebrew word!)

In my family we call that Turkish coffee.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

In my family we call that Turkish coffee.

Us too, actually! I have friends in the States who call it "Greek coffee". Therefore I decided that Mediterranean Mud was the best universal name for it!!! Sometimes it is spiced with Cardomen. Do you do that, too?

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

DAY 5 Sea Day
Ahhhh, Sea Day. I woke up at 8:20, and went up to find DH at Topsiders. We sat outside together and enjoyed breakfast. Meusli with dried apricots and prunes and fresh strawberries. YUM! It was around 9:30 and still a bit chilly with a light wind, but the sea was calm and it was beautiful. Afterwards DH went back to check on the kids and I went to the Cove Café for awhile. I brought deck 9 coffee with me – regular decaf with a splash of hot chocolate. I sampled some of the pastries at Cove Café – just to say that I did. Nothing too special. Or maybe I really wasn't hungry having just finished breakfast. Read a magazine, enjoyed the quiet jazz music in the background, and chilled for awhile. They had a great selection of current magazines! At 10:30 I stopped by Studio Sea for a cooking demonstration. Today was apple strudel. It looked good but I didn't stay 'til the end. DH met me there and we strolled around. He "agreed" to "let me" price a dummy booking!

(Can you spot me?)

I booked 2 rooms for a dummy date in 2013. Fortunately I knew a thing or two. At first the guy quoted me a rather high price for a Dream 3-day Bahamas cruise. Only when I said it sounded a bit expensive, did he mention that it was a quote for a category 5A room. But it's a dummy booking, I really don't want a 5A. Ahh, he said, but that's "all that's left on the date that we are using for dummy bookings." Well, said I, CHECK A DIFFERENT DATE! In the end he found me one for $200 less per person per room, 11C, for September 2013. That'll do! Book me that dummy date! I was so happy that DH understood how much I love this and was ok considering another cruise - .
Oh, and we also stopped by Guest Services to check our onboard account. Thank you DIS for suggesting doing that before the last day. We had a mistaken charge on our account! Two tickets for the HOHO Bus in Saint John – nope, not us! They wanted me go the Port Excursion desk to straighten this out. Ummm, nope. I explained that I didn't do ANY port excursions and I really didn't plan on waiting on the line at port excursions. So the CM at GS picked up the phone and straightened it out. Thank you, I guess.
Quick internet session ($.75/minute) to the parents back home to arrange our pick up for the next day . I wasn't happy starting to think disembarking. One problem of a short cruise is that the second Sea Day, while having the magical vibe of a sea day, also is the Last Sea Day, with the underlying depression that accompanies that. So, fewer pictures, more effort into pushing away thoughts of tomorrow...
I'm not sure what the kids did for breakfast. This may have been the day they ate Pinocchio's Pizza for breakfast at 11 am. Or maybe they brought donuts and muffins to the room from Goofy's Galley? All I know is that they ate, and while DH snoozed in the room (he was still getting up super early), DS15 and I sat up on deck and enjoyed the sunshine and watched " DCL Behind the Scenes" on funnel vision – very cool! Later three of the kids went off on a Hidden Mickey hunt, armed with the Hidden Mickey treasure hunt they got in the FE (THANK YOU!).

This was from their hunt, though I don't think there was a HM here. It actually amuses me when the big kids "remember" that they are triplets! They all ate, don't ask me when or what. Personally, I went to Topsiders and enjoyed my meal quietly, at an outside table, watching the waves. It was the Seafood Buffet and folks were totally enjoying those crab legs! The crepe bar looked really yummy (ice cream, crepes, etc etc) and I went to tell the kids about it, then returned for another round with DD15! She LOVED that crepe bar!

 

[RGirl]

Oh, I hate that feeling that the cruise will end soon.

But I love Sea Days!

 

[jenseib]

Sounds like it's a nice relaxing sea day.
I am excited to have 3 sea days on my next cruise. I have always taken short cruises with a port pretty much every day, so reading about your relaxing day gets me really excited.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

I think that one port day to every 2 sea days would be pretty great! And definitely 2 sea days before ending any cruise! How about a 12 nighter with 3-4 port days and the rest sea days? Anyone onboard with me?

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Sea Day, continued ... after lunch ...

DS13 had been our big movie-goer on this cruise – I think he saw 5 full films in the Buena Vista Theater. Today was a showing of Toy Story 3 in 3D so we met up for that. Can you believe I'd never seen it before? Now I am a more complete person!

The rest of the afternoon was mostly around the pool. Goofy pool with the kids, Quiet Cove, Jacuzzi. The QC pool was warm and wonderful! I'm glad I tried it! After a spa shower, I went back to the room to start some packing. My mood was blah, so I understood DD15, who at this point decided that she was done taking photos with her family. So when we all went to the final big meet and greet, and Goofy and Mickey and Minnie were out in their NY outfits – she was having nothing to do with it. So we have a great family photo with M and M, which would be perfect for the DCL picture frame I bought, except that we are missing one DD15.

A note about the Shutters photos. I had thought I'd purchase at least one good one, for the DCL frame, but every picture we had on our account was only in 8x10 format, and I needed 5x7. Really?

Dinner was "Til We Meet Again", for us at Parrot Cay. We liked the menu a lot, and the kids got a kick out of the dish with "Israeli Couscous", which in Israel is called "p'ti'tim" and is considered a little kid food!

It was Baked Alaska, it was the flag parade, it was good-byes and "til we meet agains".

Sigh. Out on the deck, the weather had suddenly turned warm and humid. A sure sign that we were approaching NY.
We went to do some pin trading on our way to the show. It was great – particularly loved the Beast and Timon and Pumba!

Back in the room, I finished our packing and put our suitcases out. Didn't go to the "Til We Meet Again" party… We watched a movie in the room, and heard DS13 and DD15 leave for the Prem-EAR of "Brave" at 12:01. 12:01, June 22nd. It was officially tomorrow. Oh well.

 

[jenseib]

I know what you mean about the photos. I got a couple of 8x10s and then one that is some odd size that I have yet to find a frame for even after a year and a half. I think I'll need to get a custom matte for it and put it in a larger frame.