Another morning, another waking up early! But this time, we sat on our veranda and watched how they empty the ship, and stock the island of all it's supplies. It really is amazing to watch how choreographed the whole experience is! We grabbed breakfast again in Parrot Cay (hey, we know a good thing when we find it!) and headed off the ship. We had seen in the Navigator that Captain Jack would be making an appearance around 9:45, so we hustled over to get in line (remembering along the way to grab towels). Chip and Dale were walking along, and they shared an arm in arm stroll with Little Legs.
We got to the line, and waited. Captain was on island time apparently, and when he did arrive (via golf cart, there was something not quite right about seeing the good Captain on a golf cart....) the CMs rearranged our line. When it was our turn, Captain Jack looks at us and says "so I see you got in line on time!" Oh my, he remembers us! So he asks what we're doing today. I tell him they're going parasailing, I'm going to sit on the beach drinking rum. He tells me that's an excellent idea! I told him to come join me, but he didn't respond, darn!
He then asked why Mr. Gibbs wasn't joining us, I told Jack, he's taking the pictures. Well, that didn't sit well with the captain, and soon, Mr. Gibbs was joining us for pictures.
The gang had to meet for parasailing at 11:00, and it was already 10:15, so Mr. Gibbs was anxious to get our spot, and jump in the water to cool off. As we were walking to the beach, I noticed Mickey, yes, the main mouse, standing on the beach, with no line. Mickey has been my favorite since we first met in
Disneyland 30..uh...let's just say a LONG TIME AGO, and leave it at that!!!! I asked if I could get my picture taken with Mickey, since there wasn't a line. Mr. Gibbs and Princess both start into me, so I said, forget it, and kept on walking, totally upset. We found beach chairs, I told them to go cool off (honest, I didn't tell them to go drown themselves!) and I took off to go back to Mickey, who still didn't have anyone in line, and had my picture taken! I thanked Mickey for allowing us to visit this gorgeous island a second time, and I got a "kiss", which made my day! I stopped at the drink station for iced tea and pop, honest, getting back to our stuff as they were coming out of the water.
They left to go parasailing, and I sat on the beach. I am deathly afraid of heights, so I knew I wouldn't be able to do it! I promised I would video tape them, (even tho' I had NO idea which group they would be in.) So, that was how I spent my time alone, staring out at the water, getting into the water, and taping the "kites" as they went up. Oh, and true to my word to Captain Jack, I had a Konk Kooler!
They had a blast on their parasailing. Mr. Gibbs went tandem with Little Legs, since he wasn't sure how she would handle it. His comment was, when she let out with the scream she lets out on Rockin' Roller Coaster (her favorite ride in the parks) he knew they were o.k.
When they came back, all I heard was "Mom, next time you HAVE to do it, it's a blast" Yea, O.K., next time.....(is that going to come back to haunt me later???) We went for lunch, (and Mr. Gibbs lost more points with me, he dumped my half finished Konk Kooler! He thought I was done with it...grrrrrrr). Lunch wasn't quite as yummy as the other day, well, o.k., that's because there wasn't any Mahi sandwiches. Mr. Gibbs tried to earn points back by getting me another drink, which later he knocked over and spilled part of. Guess I wasn't meant to drink that today!
We headed back to the ship around 3:30, stopping in the shop. I saw a cute shirt the first day here which I wanted. Of course, they were out of my size. I was kicking myself, I KNOW BETTER!!!!! At Disney, if you see something, get it right away, otherwise it will be gone!!!! So, I settled for something else, got my keychain and we went back to the ship.
After our showers, trying to gain back all those lost points, Mr. Gibbs says "so, are we going to book the seven night?" Heck yea!!!! So, we go see Leslie, together this time, (she got a kick out of the fact that we visited her separately yesterday), and booked it! Mr. Gibbs and I will have the stateroom next to the one the girl's are in now, and they will be across the hall, in the Cat. 11 (no veranda this time girls, sorry!). Because Princess will be 21 when we sail
, we were able to put the reservation for their room in her name, so no additional keys next time either!! We'll be getting off the ship on Little Leg's 16th birthday, so we asked them to notate in the ressie to celebrate her birthday the day before, and on our way back to the room, we started talking about making a "side trip" to WDW after we get off the ship, to let her celebrate turning "sweet 16" at her favorite place! Gosh, we're wonderful parents!!!!! When it came time to tell the girls, we just walked to the room next to theirs, pointed to it, and the room across the hall. Princess figured it out pretty quickly, then had to point out we'll be on the OTHER ship. (I know that, but the rooms are set up the same). Little Legs was a bit confused until we explained that NEXT SUMMER, we're going to do another
Disney cruise. (we left out the birthday stuff, for now!). She showed the excitement we were hoping for.
I headed over to the theatre to listen to Clayton's talk about debarkation tomorrow. I don't know why, I knew it would be played on the t.v. later, but I thought I should be good. Note to self, don't waste your time next time (Oh that is so cool to say, next time.....). Mr. Gibbs ran to guest services to apply our Disney Rewards cards points to offset a bit of our bill.
Dinner was at Animators Palette. I'm not sure if it was because we saw the show before, or if they "toned it down" but the lighting effect didn't seem as spectacular as it did on our last cruise (but it is still cool). The meal, however, was the best of all we had, and they even brought out "our" steak knives again!!!! I was a tiny bit upset with all the stressing to us to give an "excellent" rating to the dining staff when we get our surveys. I've read some comments here from people who feel the same way. It kind of puts a "downer" on the whole evening. I mean, it's sad enough, it's the last night on the cruise. When Cedomir came around with the ticket for breakfast, that was even sadder, 6:30 we have to be here to eat. GROAN. We advised them to have the coffee ready, and keep it coming, we were going to need it!
Mr. Gibbs and I had gone to Shutters after the debarkation talk, to sift through all our pictures (those from last night, and all that were taken today). We weeded out a bunch, then left the rest for the girls to look at, and decide what they wanted, so that was our first stop (and an expensive one at that, even with the photo package, we wound up with more pictures!).
Every time we walked past the atrium, I admired the chandelier that hangs up there. I asked Mr. Gibbs to take a picture of it, and a CM walking by said "why not take your family in front of it?" So we did!
Afterwards, we ran into Clayton, he remembered us!(I guess we're a memorable family!) We chatted for a little while, then headed outside. Sunset was at 8:03, so we made our way up to deck 10, hoping to see it, but clouds got in the way. Still, it was so pretty up there, we decided to take pictures, just of us, instead of the sunset.
We headed back down to the Theatre to see Disney Dreams. On our last cruise, Princess hadn't seen any of the shows. I kept talking about how great this one was, so she was anxious to see it. And it didn't disappoint! For me, the best part was watching the expressions on her face during the show. I'll keep the memory of those expressions close to my heart, especially since she's "almost all grown up".
We headed back to our room, packed our suitcases, and put them outside our doors. Within minutes, they were spirited away. (the fact that the crew area where they were taking all the luggage was right across the hall from our room may have had something to do with them disappearing so quickly!). Mr. Gibbs and I went for another walk around the ship, then came back and sat on our veranda, discussing our next cruise. Knowing there will be another cruise is making this last night easier to handle. (kind of how we feel leaving WDW now that we're DVC members, we know we'll be back!).
Next up, the final installment, sniff!
