A Christmas Cruise '08 Story (Christmas Day Update Page 2)

[MicraPIP]

Where's the rest of it? I'm booked on the 2010 xmas Cruise and want to know how Christmas Day went!!!

 

[pogopossum]

sorry i've been derelict in my duties as a trip reporter, truthfully i could have sworn that it got posted a while back, guess i hit post and didn't watch to see it go through. but here it is.

VIII. finally,… the big day

as it does, one day every year, christmas came. the only sad thing about this one is it means the cruise is almost over. someone who has experienced a christmas day at sea earlier in the cruise will have to let me know if it is better.

we awoke and discovered full stockings hung on the wall. and saw a few presents under the little mickey tree. santa really could find us at sea, and he was able to get in without a chimney, ds still wonders about how he does that. so we spent a few minutes opening up the presents and doing family christmas celebrating. then it was off to the atrium to see santa. there wasn’t a long line when we got up there, and the kids got their pix taken, and were given their pixar calendars. so off we went to pc for breakfast, we broke our usual lumiere’s habit because our waiter edward wanted us to come down to their tables.

we got there and the grandparents had been seated at the wrong table, so we got with edward and he got us moved to his station. tj and edward were in good spirits. and a good time was had by all. the omelets were really good and that is quite a spread to go along with them. so we said goodbye to edward and tj and headed out to enjoy our day.

dfil and i headed up to pick up the present for his stepmom, he thought that the amethyst butterfly was great and we bought it, and got the last of our special pins with purchase. i got some christmas paper and tape and went to room to get ready for opening presents in their room. while dw was wrapping the present i gave a set of the snowflake lights that we didn’t use in the room to shaka for his room, since he had been such an admirer of ours, he was really happy to have them. it was neat to be able to share some happiness. he said that he couldn’t put them up until sunday, because they had to be checked out first, but he was going to hang them then.

the dgps had a handicapped inside room so it was large enough for all of us in there. everyone was happy with the gifts they got and we decided to go to lumiere’s for lunch. along the way jordan was able to get a pic with donald complete in holiday attire, he had wanted to get a pic and autograph with donald the whole trip. later in the day he would get the last must have pic and autograph on his list, stitch in holiday attire. we had a nice lunch next to the window so we could watch as we sailed along.

after lunch we went up to studio sea to play some cards, we hadn’t done much playing except when we were at cc. and the in-laws really enjoy playing cards, so we played a few card games til it was time to head for the theater to see bedtime stories, and we were glad that we got there early, the place was packed. it was a pretty good movie and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

almost time for christmas dinner. so we went to the cabin to get our christmas clothes on, and then heads up for some pics before dinner at lumiere’s. we loved the special christmas menu, and got to take it home.

dw was especially happy that crab legs were on the appetizer menu, and edward was only too happy to keep bringing them out to us and dgp kept passing his on to her as well. wasn’t sure if there would be room for dinner, but we managed to tough it out and eat more. i had the winter green leaves salad, along with more crab legs; as long as edward was bringing them we were eating them.

then it was time for the main course(s), most of us had the turkey and dressing, the young uns had the glazed ham. and of course I decided to eat from all the food groups and added sides of prime rib, glazed ham and lobster tail. it was all so delicious, one of the best christmas dinners i ever had. time for dessert, and once again edward knew just to bring out the chocolate for me, but he brought both the flourless chocolate cake and the double chocolate yulelog. it is great being able to try so many different things at dinner. we had pix made with tj and edward and by the shutters crew of the kids. what a spectacular dinner, it truly felt like lumiere was in charge and telling us to be their guest.

we made a couple of more picture stops in the atrium before we headed up to disney dreams, which is still the best show. it is hard to believe they can get so much in to such a short time. christian then shared that we were in for a treat tomorrow at cc as the wonder was on a sea day and was going to sail by the island while we were there. i found out that the reason they could do this was they flip-flopped the three and four-day cruises that week so they wouldn’t be leaving pc on christmas day.

after the show we did stop by mickey mates to check on any bargains that might have been put out for the evening and then headed back to the room, ds and dd got ready to go back to see bedtime stories for the second time, it was decided that he would wear pjs, so that he would be ready in case he fell asleep as usual. dw got the navigator out for friday and began her usual study of what was on the schedule for fun. i went out for a little late night ship touring as i usually did at night. did a little sportscenter watching in diversions and then headed up to see if dd needed any help after the movie ended. she did, the little guy was in deed asleep, so i carried him back to the cabin, and put him in bed, then it was back to diversions, where i saw that the mavs and blazers were on tnt. turned out to be a good game for the home team, maybe the start of a good run for the playoffs and hopefully in the playoffs, i need to get some money back from mickey, so i hope to see espn in town a bunch. after watching the game i headed back to our cabin for some shuteye before a big cc day on friday.

this was definitely a different kind of christmas day for us, but one we will never forget.