9/29/2007 - Tryin' to Reason with Hurricane Season - 7 Day Eastern

[tfc3rid]

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - Part 2 - Havensight, Master Chef and Sting

After returning from St. John and getting a quick lunch, we decided to leave the ship again and do some browsing/shopping. We were planning on taking atxi down into Charlotte Amalie but given the time and the early departure we decided to wander around the Havensight Mall right next to the dock. They had some of the usual suspects of stores as well as places to buy general souvenirs. liquor, cigars, etc. We purchased some more rum and a few t shirts and were back on board and time to say goodbye to beautiful St. thomas... WAY too short a visit!!! Here are some pics...

We went to see tonight's show, which was Michael Harrison, a comdian/ventriloquist. He was fantastic and we made plans to catch his adult show on Thursday night... We went back to our stateroom for a quick nap, then showered and got ready for tonight's dinner in Animator's Palette. Tonight was Master Chef night... We tried a few of the appetizers: Tomoto Risotto, the Warm Bacon Cheddar Tart, and the Bruschetta. All were terrific! I also had the Tuscan Tomato soup, which was phenominal! For dinner, we had Linguine Moked Salmon and the Port Tenderloin. the Pork was terrific but the Linguine was disappointing... Dessert, well, we couldn't choose, so we had everything brought to our table... The Apple Cheeseckae and Peach Flambe were highlights!

After dinner, we wanted to go to Sessions for a few drinks and to listen to the pianist play his Tribute to Sting. The set, which lasted about a hlaf hour was very good (as were the drinks...) Afterthis, we headed back to our stateroom... on the way, we passed by the Promenade Lounge and saw some late night snacks out... We brought some carrot and celery sticks with veggie dip and some Chicken Nuggets and Mozzarella Sticks back to the room... P.S., these were all pretty good!!!!

Back to get some sleep!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I was happy to read about your Trunk Bat excursion. That is the one I am thinking of booking for my cruise.

 

[tfc3rid]

Thursday, October 4, 2007 - Day at Sea Thursday

So, the joy and excitement of St. Thomas leads us to our Third day at sea this trip... A gray morning outside... Warm but cloudy... Today is a sad day knowing that in less than 48 hours, we are going to be back in Port Canaveral.

We started our Thursday with breakfast at Topsiders again and then off to hear Tom Williams discuss his role at Disney Creative Entertainment. After his talk we headed to the pool for a swim. There would be no sunshine today at all but that didn't mean the pool wasn't nice to be in... Water was nice and warm and relaxing.

Following that, it was time for some quick lunch. We grabbed a quick salad from Topsiders and got ourselves ready for our Martini Tasting in Diversions. Today's tasting uincluded the Vodka Martini, Lemon Drop Martini, Raspberry MArtini and Washington Apple Martini. All were VERY good and we both decided we were fans of Martini's. After this, we purchased some additional bottles of alcohol from Up Beat and headed back to our stateroom for a nap.

Following a quick nap we took a walk to Treasure Ketch to but some last minute souvenirs. We then headed up to Deck 9 and decided to grab something at the Cove Cafe. My gf had an Apricot infused tea, while I tried the Mochacchino... Oh yes, each were incredible! We also were served some h'oer'deurves.

Spending about 45 minutes there, we went back to our stateroom to prep for dinner. Tonight's menu would be Captain's Gala and we were in Parrot Cay.

Here is what we had:
Appetizer: Garlic and Heb Sauteed Shrimp and Fruit cocktail
Soup/Salad: 2 Garden Fresh Salads
Entree: Veal and Venison
Dessert: Amaretto Cheeseckae and Cheries Jubilee

After dinner we went to Rockin' Bar D to se Michael Harrison's 'adult' show. He was terrific again and the lounge was PACKED. After the show, we went for a few drinks to Sessions and listened to some Piano favorites. We were waiting to go the the Dessert Buffet at 11:15!!!! So headed to Lumiere's and there was a wonderful selelction of cakes, fruits, pastires and of course, chocolate fountains... Loved the chocolate dipped marshmallows!!! YUM!!!

We took our dessert loot back to our room and ate and then fell alseep knowing tomorrow would be a long day...

 

[ibela]

Thursday, October 4, 2007 - Day at Sea Thursday


Following that, it was time for some quick lunch. We grabbed a quick salad from Topsiders and got ourselves ready for our Martini Tasting in Diversions. Today's tasting uincluded the Vodka Martini, Lemon Drop Martini, Raspberry MArtini and Washington Apple Martini. All were VERY good and we both decided we were fans of Martini's. After this, we purchased some additional bottles of alcohol from Up Beat and headed back to our stateroom for a nap.

OK, so I really wanted to attend a Martini tasting and I love all these! Thanks for letting me know what I missed.

 

[tfc3rid]

Sorry ibela... We had a good time at the tastings and everyone was in a jovial mood afterward!!!

 

[tfc3rid]

Friday, October 5, 2007- Part 1 - Return to Castaway Cay

Sadly, today being the last full day of our journey at sea means it is time for Castaway Cay... Interesting the range of emotions, knowing this is it but yet, being in the ultimate paradise.

We once again enjoyed breakfast at Topisiders and headed right off the Magic and over to Serenity Bay. We love Serenity Bay and spent our entire day here, in complete relaxation... Can't get enough of the great Konk Cooler... I think I had about 4 before lunch!

Lunch at the Serenity Bay BBQ is very nice, with the usual assortment of burgers, hot dogs, chicken and very large sirloin steaks.

Following lunch we returned to Serenity Bay for the afternoon, where we saw a few sting rays in the water as well as a small sand shark.

Around 3 PM we headed back to the Magic, took the obligatory photos of the Flying Dutchman and the Magic and boarded, since we were scheduled to leave at 5PM...

Some pics from Castaway...

 

[tfc3rid]

Thursday, October 5, 2007 - Part 2 - Castaway Emergency and Till We Meet Again

Back on the ship, we stared packing after our day at Castaway. The Captain came over the PA in each room and said that due to a medical emergency, we would not be leaving Castaway until 6 PM. I headed up top to see if anyone knew of what had occurred. There had apparently been an incident with a Waverunner... Someone was injured and the US Coast Guard was coming to rescue.

We went to the 'Remember the Magic' show and returned to our stateroom to put our stuff outside. We were still at Castaway at 7 PM. As I got to our balcony we started to pull away but simply stopped off shore and waited... Finally, around 7:45, a chopper landed on Castaway and was on island for about half and hour. Finally the chopper took off and we finally began on our way amosty 2 and a half hours later. We were told over the PA that there was possibility we would be in late tomorrow morning to Port Canaveral.

We headed the 'Till We Meet Again' dinner...

Here is what we had...
Appetizer: 2 Orders of Dip and 2 orders of Chicken Tenderloins
Soup/Salad: None
Entree: 2 Orders of Beef Tenderloin
Dessert: Baked Alaska and Creme Brulee Napoleon

Dinner was lovely and we got pics of our tablemates...

Following dinner, we headed back to our stateroom and went to sleep... Not looking forward to leaving our home at sea...

 

[tfc3rid]

Saturday, October 6, 2007 - Disembarkation and Disney World

Morning breaks... We see this...

We arrived in PC around 7 AM, about 2 hours later because of the Castaway Cay emergency... We headed down for our breakfast at 8:15 and no one was cleared to go on land yet... At 10:30, our group was finally called to go and pick up our bags... This was very late for most Disney cruises... We picked up our stuff and headed for our rental and drove to our home for the next few days, Disney's saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. This was our first stay at SSR and we had a 1-bedroom in the Carousel section.

We checked in and got our room, headed in and started doing laundry in our washer/dryer... We spent A LOT of time doing laundry that day. We spent a few ours at the quiet pool in The Paddock section before heading off for dinner at the Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club (one of our WDW favorites).

After din din it was back to the resort for sleep... Resting up for tomorrow's Epcot Food and Wine Festival!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Tom ~
Thoroughly enjoyed your TR ! I am glad to hear (well not "glad") that you also witnessed many cruisers getting sea sick that first night. I think those of us on the later dinner seating felt it the most. This was our 3rd cruise and never felt as woozy as I did on the night of 9/29. We all retreated as well. But I ran into some other DIS'ers who had no problems with dinner and I think maybe because the seas weren't as rough at 6:30 pm as they were by 8:30 pm ? I kind of felt like a lightweight having to leave the dinner table.

Loved reading about your St John excursion. We came really close to booking that one. Seemed terrific. I really think I might book that one if we do the Eastern again because I do have slight regrets not seeing St John/Trunk Bay. We ended up doing the Capt Nautica snorkeling excursion to Buck Island. We loved this one too---snorkeled with sea turtles, rays....a stray barracuda or two. And I totally agree. If you do an excursion and then go back for lunch, there is not much time to really see St Thomas. We had also wanted to take a cab into Charlotte Amalie but settled with the nearby Havensight mall as well due to time constraints. I really wish we had had more time in St Thomas and less in St Martin.

Hope you had fun at Food and Wine Festival ! Thanks for the report

 

[JLSE50]

Seems to me that the worst seas have always been on embarkation day and the night we sail back to Port Canaveral...

There are packs of Chewable Dramamine available at Treasure Ketch.

We were told that the ship has to cut through the Gulf Stream both those times so it is going diagonally to the direction of water flow especially when heading back to Port Canaveral from Castaway Cay. Often departure night is not as rough as the ship parallels the coast and then slips out of the Gulf Stream south of the Florida Keys.

Jan

 

[gossipgirl]

We were told that the ship has to cut through the Gulf Stream both those times so it is going diagonally to the direction of water flow especially when heading back to Port Canaveral from Castaway Cay. Often departure night is not as rough as the ship parallels the coast and then slips out of the Gulf Stream south of the Florida Keys.

Jan

You did a really nice job taking those photos. did you happen to takes any pictures of the stage shows.

 

[tfc3rid]

Sorry, no stage show pics...

 

[JLSE50]

Seems to me that the worst seas have always been on embarkation day and the night we sail back to Port Canaveral...

There are packs of Chewable Dramamine available at Treasure Ketch.

We were told that the ship has to cut through the Gulf Stream both those times so it is going diagonally to the direction of water flow especially when heading back to Port Canaveral from Castaway Cay. Often departure night is not as rough as the ship parallels the coast and then slips out of the Gulf Stream south of the Florida Keys.

Jan