Are You Ever Coming Home?...No! I am playing with Wizards, Farkles and Sparkling Friends

[jenseib]

We found the Alamo location, which we were sort of familiar with since we had used them last Oct, and got in line to drop off the car. I had to start a new row and it was kind of confusing, but I just pulled up next to the car in front as much as I could and got out and all was good. We grabbed our carryon bags and headed to the front. A shuttle was there and I was just about to ask what to do when I saw a guy come out of the building out of the corner of my eye. I paid no attention really to him as I was trying to figure out where to go and then I heard.... “Claire?” I looked up and it was Rob, Cass’s husband. He said the shuttle had just arrived and would be leaving soon.


We all got on the shuttle and talked a bit. Rob took a picture of us to send to Cass.


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Woohoo! We were on our way!


The driver warned us that the line to get to the port was long. I spoke up and let him know that the car shuttles were able to use the outside lane and go right in. He didn’t believe me and Rob said he saw the same thing. Finally he believed us and sure enough…we were right!


Jeanne messaged that they were letting people on the ship and she was going on and so was Patty….another one of our friends. Dang it! More anxiety!!!!


Rob told me that my phone probably had the “allow toll roads” turned off, so he took it and fixed it for me for the future. It’s so odd as I have used this phone a few times already, the last being in Feb. to get to the port, and it allowed toll roads when I asked directions then. My guess is I accidently turned it off at some point without even knowing I did it.


Soon we were off and pulling out our passports to be let in. A family kind of got between Rob and us and I asked if we could go ahead since we were with him. LOL. Well not technically….but we were.


We then made it through security….lifting that suitcase with water was a chore…and up the escalators to a waiting Cass and a BIG hug!!!! It was so great to see her again! Kira ran and hugged Claire. Claire is not a huggy person…she used to be, but over the years she is too cool for that…but she allowed the hug. LOL.


Cass quickly pushed us in the direction to get checked in and Rob had to go as well….so we did that as quickly as we could and then we were boarding. Woohooo!!!


Cass’s family stopped for a family boarding picture. I had promised Claire that I would not make her get pictures this cruise since we had bought the photo package last cruise and we had plenty….and they are still in their package. LOL.


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We waited for them and then off again.


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And Disney welcomed our families….and I did not even get my camera out!


Off to Cabana’s to meet up with the other gals.


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(I have been stealing some of Cass’s pictures)


Cass had said that Kira was shy, but she seemed full of personality to me. She was super friendly and nice. Claire is pretty quiet, especially around new people or strangers. I think Kira did most of the talking. LOL!


We walked right by the new Sweet on You ice-cream shop and I got a blurred picture.


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We found everyone and introductions were made. I met 3 of Jeanne’s kids for the first time, Patty’s husband, Fred and their kids and we kind of got settled. I instantly liked Fred. He was talking about something and the way he said it totally made me laugh.


Some of the kids were leaving and so we played musical chairs and got the rest of us bunched into the table and went off for some food.


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See that round brown lump next to my roll? That is the chocolate chip cookie now….what did they do with my precious cookies?????? It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the same either and I guess that is a good thing as I ate a lot less of them this trip.


Claire and I went to the bathroom at one point and Claire recognized Kwam, who was our assistant server last cruise. We told her we requested Ferdi and was she still working with him. Unfortunately not and she wasn’t even on the same rotation as we were, but she was pretty sure our rotation was the one Ferdi was currently on.


Claire and Kira.


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Jeanne and I went in search of dessert then and tried a few.


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Emily (Jeanne’s daughter) Kira and Claire.


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Jeanne’s daughters, Kelsey and Emily, were so friendly. Both are in their early 20’s and were so nice to the girls right off the bat. Emily is a big Harry Potter fan and it seemed her and Kira were bonding with their love of HP.


We all chatted a bit, but slowly people started leaving and the rooms were now open. Cass left and told Rob that he was not to come for another 10 minutes or so as she was going to take pictures of the room before he and Kira came down.


I started posting pictures to facebook and started getting questions..Are you ever coming home?......Um…This is only my 3rd day in FL…I haven’t been gone long….What? A cruise now? Um…again…I only was in the parks for 2 days….wait till they see how long this cruise is. Hahahaha.


After a bit, we left too and went down to check out our room….our first ocean view room (window, no balcony) on a Disney ship together. Claire has only been in balcony rooms and she was a little unsure about how the room would be. I have been in an ocean view in DCL before.


As we walked down to the room some kids were running…a full out run…down the hall and passed us. I said… “hey guys, no running in the halls!” and their reply was “Yes we can” and my reply was “No you can’t” and again “yes we can” and again I said “No you can’t, you can get in trouble for doing so”….and the little brats went in a room a few doors down from us. I was appalled at how they responded. I didn’t even say it meanly….just a heads up kind of way. I will tell you now…as I may forget later with all the incidences that happened…..but these kids were HORRIBLE!!!! And so was their family. They occupied at least 3 rooms after mine…and possibly a 4th. They ran up and down the hall all day and evening. We reported them 2-3 times by phone and going to guest services. Jeanne and Cass both reported them numerous times as well. At times, Grandpa was racing them down the hall. They played Frisbee in the hall. They played kick ball in the hall. The room next to me was loud a few times…like the walls were breaking and I literally pounded on the connecting wall with both fists. They would turn the “please make up the room” signs to do not disturb. Jeanne caught them…with the parents and/or grandparents standing right there with them….as they slid down the staircase banisters. Someone (Maybe Cass) saw them laying on the floor of the elevator and would not move so people could get on. They just rode the elevator like that.

I have never seen kids so bad on a ship in all my life. This cruise seemed to have a lot more kids that misbehaved than any other cruise I have taken, but these kids were the worst of them all. I am not sure if it is because this was my first summer cruise and there were more kids….or we just had a bunch of entitled brats onboard.

It’s one thing if your kid is bad and then you find out and they then get lectured, lose privileges, or in major trouble back in the room….but the family was aware of what they were doing and at times participating. It was unbelievable!


It did NOT ruin my cruise at all though. I had a lot of fun, but I pretty much had to say something to the kids at LEAST once a day. Cass even recorded them on video.


So we made it to our room, 8020,….unaware that the brat kids down the hall would be an issue all cruise long…and we went in and I took some quick pictures.


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Claire quickly went to the window seat to check it out. It passed her inspection.


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This room is one of the bigger set up rooms. It was the same size room we had in Oct. minus the balcony we had then. It had a murphy pull down bed, but did not have an upper bunk. Claire wanted to sleep on the murphy.


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I didn’t take a ton of pictures as I have so many now over the years and the rooms look similar and the bathrooms pretty much the same. We had a round tub in our shower bathroom.


We headed back out to explore. We had set up the chat feature while we were eating, so we were able to message our friends. Brook I think was just arriving now. She had taken DCL transportation from Disney, which makes you arrive later.

She said she had a different dining rotation than us, which was weird because she requested the same server. She went to get it changed. They could get her in the same rotation, but not in the same area.


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At some point we met up with Cass, Rob, and Kira and headed off to the kids club to get the girls their bands. This would be the only time Claire ever had the band on…..I totally give up on clubs with her!


We went in and explored.


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The Fantasy had been in dry dock in May and some of the changes made were in the kids clubs.


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If I was a kid, I would love coming here.


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The Star Wars area is new.


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[jenseib]

Oooops! I meant to continue yesterday with this post, but I got a phone call and then didn't get back to my computer....so the next post continues on.

 

[jenseib]

Exploring more of the club….Andy’s Room.


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The little kids club bathrooms are always so cute.


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This area is the walkway between the 2 clubs.


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Some activity was going on so I kind of pushed Claire to go watch.


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She wasn’t exactly happy, but I thought if she got involved she would open up.


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Then something with Stitch came on and Kira coaxed Claire to go watch with her. Claire is not a big Stitch fan really. Honestly she is at that phase where characters of any kind are just not “cool”. I hope she gets over it soon.


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And then we headed out. Claire informed me she would NOT be returning to the club at any time during this cruise. UGH!!! Really????? Why not? It looks so fun.


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We then wanted to check out the Vibe and Edge so we moved on.


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(some of the pictures with the girls are Cass’s)

 

[jenseib]

The Vibe kind of has a secret way to get to it and if you don’t know where to look you could easily miss it.


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I love the Vibe and wish we had a place like this too. LOL.


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I really don’t know how full this place ever gets, because it seems like these teens meet up and become friends but then hang out all over the ship rather than here.


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The Vibe also has a neat outdoor space. Again, I don’t know how much this is used and it should totally be an adult area.


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And back down the colorful hallway.


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We then headed to the pre-teen club…the Edge. Claire is eligible to go in either this club or the Oceaneer’s. She came here once in Oct with her cousin and neither one would ever go again. So this time I thought that she might possibly go back to Oceaneer’s with Kira….nope….she is a stubborn girl. She even told me at home she would give it a try this time….she lied.


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Kira however, desperately wanted to come to the Edge, but she was too young.


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It was actually bigger than I thought it was. Last year we only walked in the doorway and never went further than that.


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Look at the HUGE Jenga set.


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And the view from here.


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Jenga again…Claire loves this game at home.


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With the clubs toured, we still had a little bit of time before the Muster Drill. The girls went off together for a bit, but I gave Claire strict instructions to be back at the room at a certain time so I could pick her up to go with me to the drill.


I then went off on my own for about 20 minutes or so and then headed back to the room. Claire was there, a little early, but I think she worried about being late.

 

[jenseib]

I totally didn't know about WDW resorts having cases of water! I checked and POFQ does too-that means I no longer need to get a Prime Pantry delivery! Yes!

I only found out recently too. Cass originally was going to stop and get me water when she got hers, but then she was worried about carrying it on but said she heard resorts now have it. So between the 2 of us we searched and I told her not to worry about it because this would work perfectly for me. It's higher than buying it the local grocery store, but still reasonable.

You've had a crazy morning already juggling laundry, rental car and driving. I'd be a bundle of nerves too, we've never driven to the port. I'm sure it's super easy but it sounds like a lot of hassle to do the rental car drop whenever I read about it. And I'm lazy!

I'm a bundle of nerves no matter what mode of transportation I take that day. LOL. It really wasn't bad though to drop the car off. If I had left earlier OR if I had taken the right route from the get go, I would have arrived at least 30 minutes earlier, if not more. I personally like to be at the port super early. I still beat Brook by a few hours and she took DCL transfers from WDW. Once on the ship I felt much better and the calming process began!

Probably the easiest one with a car for me is when we parked at the port. But it was cheaper to park our rental car and pay for that than to return it and pick another one up after as it was a longer trip.
Oh wait. Last year Brook had her moms car and dropped Cass and I off, so that was super easy. Brook parked offsite and was back pretty fast...but her pick up after the cruise was super slow.
I have tried many different ways and hotel stays pre-cruise. I am now a fan of staying on Disney property beforehand. (I have stayed at the port the first couple of times I cruised). DCL transfers are really nice, but they just leave so late. If I can get a car at a similar price at what it would be for us to take DCL transfers, I will opt for the car.

 

[ukintheus]

DCL transfers are really nice, but they just leave so late. If I can get a car at a similar price at what it would be for us to take DCL transfers, I will opt for the car.

We've done the WDW and transfer a couple of times, but now if we are going out of FL (we live in TX so do Galveston mostly) we stay at the Hyatt in the airport and take one of the early DCL transfer buses. That's worked well for us and you get to the cruise terminal early.

 

[Woth2982]

Yay embarkation day! Funny how you were gone two days and people thought it seemed like weeks lol. I would have been livid with those kids in the hallway. I dont think I would have been as diplomatic as you! I am glad they didnt ruin your cruise. Those are the types of kids that make me hate kids, then I remember it is the parents that allow the kids to be heathens! Based on what you said the apples didn't fall far from the tree! Too bad Claire didn't want to give the clubs a try. I get it though, I tend to be a bit on the shy side and would have probably not wanted to go either. At least on a ship she can wander a bit and not get into too much trouble. You are making me very excited for my cruise in about 2.5 weeks!

 

[nh3223]

Given that I spotted my son in one of Cass's pictures at the club on the first day, I was wondering what I would see when you posted your pictures and sure enough, Embark38 is Claire, Kira and the rest of my family (but not me--thankfully!). My son (10) did not end up spending very much time in the Club, although he did go back a couple times, but never for more than an hour. My daughter (7), on the other hand, practically lived there during the day. She loved it.

 

[Timon]

OMG! So then some not so nice words were flying out of my mouth.

Kira told us about those words flying out of your mouth

I felt so bad for you because you left your hotel before us but got there about 20 minutes after us I think

You needed me as your Navigator, I don't need no stinkin' maps

Cass arrived and had Kira tell us that there was a long line of cars to get into the port for drop off. UGH! I guess it didn’t surprise me….but still UGH! Cass’s husband Rob dropped her and Kira off about the time I was getting into line.

Yeah, I don't know what was going on with that line, crazy!!!

If I had known about that line, I would have just gone with Rob to Alamo, which is why I told Kira to tell you guys about the long line in case you wanted to skip it.

A shuttle was there and I was just about to ask what to do when I saw a guy come out of the building out of the corner of my eye. I paid no attention really to him as I was trying to figure out where to go and then I heard.... “Claire?” I looked up and it was Rob, Cass’s husband. He said the shuttle had just arrived and would be leaving soon.

Hahaah too funny! I told him to keep an eye out for you and showed him a pic of you guys

We then made it through security….lifting that suitcase with water was a chore…and up the escalators to a waiting Cass and a BIG hug!!!!

It was soooo good to see you

It was so great to see her again! Kira ran and hugged Claire. Claire is not a huggy person…she used to be, but over the years she is too cool for that…but she allowed the hug. LOL.

HAHAHAH, Kira is just like us, a big hugger

Cass had said that Kira was shy, but she seemed full of personality to me. She was super friendly and nice. Claire is pretty quiet, especially around new people or strangers. I think Kira did most of the talking. LOL!

It totally helped that she had been texting with Claire but yeah I guess she's not as shy as I make her out to be.

I have never seen kids so bad on a ship in all my life. This cruise seemed to have a lot more kids that misbehaved than any other cruise I have taken, but these kids were the worst of them all. I am not sure if it is because this was my first summer cruise and there were more kids….or we just had a bunch of entitled brats onboard.

I agree with you, never seen such little brats anywhere

Then something with Stitch came on and Kira coaxed Claire to go watch with her.

LOL, Claire didn't have a choice, I think Kira dragged here there

 

[canyoncam]

Loving the report.

I really liked Rivers of Light too but I have yet to see Pandora as I left two weeks or so before it opened. Looks nice, and I've never seen the movie nor have desire too. I just know it's well themed and looks nice.

I never knew about the cases of water at the resort gift stores until my last trip either! Totally went through two cases.

I always have avoid highways on my maps so I got to see some Florida back roads myself last trip. Still only took an hour from Port Canaveral to MCO.

YEAH!!!! 10 days on the ship. Too many entitled brats, young and old, in this world. Glad you didn't let it spoil your trip.

Oh and I have to add either my mom or aunt had 8020 on one of our Fantasy cruises. We love that category. Congrats on your upgrade.

 

[lorimay]

Great report as always!

I am showing my grandkids all kids club pictures and they are getting excited, 38 days till we are back on the Fantasy.

 

[jenseib]

We've done the WDW and transfer a couple of times, but now if we are going out of FL (we live in TX so do Galveston mostly) we stay at the Hyatt in the airport and take one of the early DCL transfer buses. That's worked well for us and you get to the cruise terminal early.

I have had family stay at the hyatt but I just need to be in that Disney action. LOL. Maybe some day we'll try it out.
I did the first Disney cruise out of Galveston. That was a fun one.

Funny how you were gone two days and people thought it seemed like weeks

I know. I mean I was barely starting this trip.

I would have been livid with those kids in the hallway. I dont think I would have been as diplomatic as you! I am glad they didnt ruin your cruise.

they were horrible. I started out nice, but at the end I really was doing some firm lecturing. I have to be careful, because that is the kind of family that would report you for "abusing" their kids. We all wished our doors would open OUT to the hall so we could open it as they ran by and have them run into it. hahahaha

Too bad Claire didn't want to give the clubs a try.

I know. I am just giving up. I don't know why she won't do it but I guess it won't happen and she is now old enough to stay in the room alone for longer periods of time.

You are making me very excited for my cruise in about 2.5 weeks!

I am excited for you. I am having the post cruise blues.

Given that I spotted my son in one of Cass's pictures at the club on the first day, I was wondering what I would see when you posted your pictures and sure enough, Embark38 is Claire, Kira and the rest of my family (but not me--thankfully!).

Yay! LOL.

My son (10) did not end up spending very much time in the Club, although he did go back a couple times, but never for more than an hour.

I guess some kids are just crazy and we happened to have some of them.

My daughter (7), on the other hand, practically lived there during the day. She loved it.

That was my niece in Oct. She loved it.

Kira told us about those words flying out of your mouth

OOppss! hahaha. Claire told me she told her and I said...well I have heard worse come out of Cass!

I felt so bad for you because you left your hotel before us but got there about 20 minutes after us I think

I know. I thought we would arrive at the same time, but I totally blew that.

You needed me as your Navigator, I don't need no stinkin' maps

Once I get on the highway I am good...I just had no clue how to get there....and evidently Siri didn't either.

Yeah, I don't know what was going on with that line, crazy!!!

I think a lot of platinums drive in and park or do one way rentals...and we were a ship full of them.

If I had known about that line, I would have just gone with Rob to Alamo, which is why I told Kira to tell you guys about the long line in case you wanted to skip it.

I didn't have a desire to haul our luggage any more than possible so I stuck it out. It wasn't too bad in reality. I just knew you all were in there and then I saw Jeanne go by and I knew I would be the last (beside Brook on her bus).

Hahaah too funny! I told him to keep an eye out for you and showed him a pic of you guys

I was really surprised to see him there. I didn't expect it. I guess I thought he was already back on his way to port.

It was soooo good to see you

YES!!!!!!!

HAHAHAH, Kira is just like us, a big hugger

Claire used to be, but now only family and not too often. A lot of my mom's side are huggers too. I just never have been.

It totally helped that she had been texting with Claire but yeah I guess she's not as shy as I make her out to be.

She seemed to feel comfortable with us.

I agree with you, never seen such little brats anywhere

Worst...kids...ever!!!!

LOL, Claire didn't have a choice, I think Kira dragged here there

LOL.

Loving the report.

Thanks

I really liked Rivers of Light too but I have yet to see Pandora as I left two weeks or so before it opened. Looks nice, and I've never seen the movie nor have desire too. I just know it's well themed and looks nice.

So close yet so far. The land really is neat, but I probably never would have watched the movie if there wasn't a land.

never knew about the cases of water at the resort gift stores until my last trip either! Totally went through two cases.

It's so nice. I should have bought one the first day and had it in our room too, but I didn't feel like carrying it back to the room at that time.

I always have avoid highways on my maps so I got to see some Florida back roads myself last trip. Still only took an hour from Port Canaveral to MCO.

Wow. I swear I was going in circles.

YEAH!!!! 10 days on the ship. Too many entitled brats, young and old, in this world. Glad you didn't let it spoil your trip.

It was a wonderful length. 7 days will now seem short.
Those kids were awful.

Oh and I have to add either my mom or aunt had 8020 on one of our Fantasy cruises. We love that category. Congrats on your upgrade.

It is a great category. I really got lucky.

Great report as always!

I am showing my grandkids all kids club pictures and they are getting excited, 38 days till we are back on the Fantasy.

Woohooo. So close now!

 

[jenseib]

Our bags had arrived, so I pulled them in and put a few things away and then we headed off to our Muster station for the drill. We were in the Walt Disney Theatre this time. Yay!!!!! It was super crowded though. I am glad we arrived early. We were near Cass and family…yay! But Jeanne’s family was late. I saw people were standing but she messaged me that she got one of the balcony box seats. I looked but there was a drape there but it looked like it was her between the crack in the drape. Sure enough, she messaged me and said she could see me through the crack. LOL.


After the drill we slowly made our way out. We walked out with Jeanne and went to the deck party.


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I was surprised at how empty the deck was for the party.


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This cruise had a lot of experienced DCL cruisers on it and my guess is that a lot of them have seen the party many times and didn’t need to see it again.


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This is Katelyn…and Claire pointed her right out. She ran bingo in Oct. and my family all loved her.


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Jeanne was much too hot and she headed off to cool off and Claire and I walked around and soon ran into Cass and family and Brook and family. We watched us sail away with them.


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Cass had put out a Canadian flag and a poster for some of her friends to see on the webcam.


Here is the video. It takes about a minute or so before the ship is really in front of the camera. We are at about minute 4:55 and on for about 25 seconds.

Cass also found this video taken by a droid. I can’t see us in it but she could.

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We stuck around a bit more for pictures.


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At some point the girls ran off together and I ran down with Rob and Cass to deck four to watch us sail out.


We watched the pilot boat do its thing too.


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So Long Port Canaveral!!!! We’ll see you in 10 days!!!!!


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This was so exciting….it was a special sailing and we were going to have 3 extra days on the ship! WoooHoooo!!!!!!


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Rob got a picture of Cass and I…..it was so relaxing just watching the world go by.


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Cass and Rob.


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I sat down with them a bit, but I was too excited to sit for long. This group of crew all came by and it looked so cool with them all walking in their yellow suits, but I couldn’t get my camera our fast enough.


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And I was too antsy to sit for long, so I headed back to the room to get ready for the show tonight and to get our things all squared away.


Once it was time for the show, Claire and I headed down and bought 2 popcorn buckets (and brought our own water) and found a seat near Cass and family. I think Patty’s family sat near us and possibly Brooks. It’s hard to remember each night and who all came.


The show is a welcome aboard show and has a little story along with snippets of what to expect this cruise. It started with Mike our cruise director who got us excited for the cruise. I believe Mike is a new cruise director, but I really liked him a lot. He was a lot of fun and I saw him a few times on the ship and he would stop and talk to us each time. His wife and fairly new baby were onboard as well.


We got a snippet of a group called Six Appeal. They sang with no music, but made all the “music” sounds with their voices. They were AMAZING! I couldn’t believe they could do all that with just their voices. We did have to laugh at their attire though. ALL 6 of them had on really tight pants…..well tight in the crotch area…and we didn’t really have to imagine too much…let’s just say. Hahaha. But they were fun and really good. I had heard later that the cruise before us was the first time they had been on with Disney, so we were their second sailing. I am pretty sure they will be back. They were well liked.


No pictures are allowed at the shows anymore, but at the end I always bring my phone up and take a few.


embark119 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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After the show, I think Claire headed back to the room and I went off on my own for a little bit. One thing about summer cruises….it stays daylight late. I had never thought about that before…but of course it makes sense.


Once again, I never did get in the adult pool this cruise. One of these days I will get in this one or on the Dream….I have been in the one on the Magic, but it is set up differently.


embark101 by Jenseib, on Flickr


After a bit, I headed back to the room to finish getting ready for dinner and picking up Claire.

 

[AussieDisneyfans]

HI - really enjoying your latest trip report and thanks for sharing with us all.

 

[dolphingirl47]

A shuttle was there and I was just about to ask what to do when I saw a guy come out of the building out of the corner of my eye. I paid no attention really to him as I was trying to figure out where to go and then I heard.... “Claire?” I looked up and it was Rob, Cass’s husband. He said the shuttle had just arrived and would be leaving soon.

Looks like everything went quite smoothly with the drop off. What a coincidence that you bumped into somebody from your group.

Rob told me that my phone probably had the “allow toll roads” turned off, so he took it and fixed it for me for the future. It’s so odd as I have used this phone a few times already, the last being in Feb. to get to the port, and it allowed toll roads when I asked directions then. My guess is I accidently turned it off at some point without even knowing I did it.

That is nice that he managed to sort this out for you.

We walked right by the new Sweet on You ice-cream shop and I got a blurred picture.

This looks really cute.

See that round brown lump next to my roll? That is the chocolate chip cookie now….what did they do with my precious cookies??????

How disappointing. That does not look like much of a cooking.

Emily (Jeanne’s daughter) Kira and Claire.

Goodness, Emily looks so grown up. I suppose it is 6 or 7 years since I met her.

As we walked down to the room some kids were running…a full out run…down the hall and passed us. I said… “hey guys, no running in the halls!” and their reply was “Yes we can” and my reply was “No you can’t” and again “yes we can” and again I said “No you can’t, you can get in trouble for doing so”….and the little brats went in a room a few doors down from us. I was appalled at how they responded. I didn’t even say it meanly….just a heads up kind of way. I will tell you now…as I may forget later with all the incidences that happened…..but these kids were HORRIBLE!!!! And so was their family. They occupied at least 3 rooms after mine…and possibly a 4th. They ran up and down the hall all day and evening. We reported them 2-3 times by phone and going to guest services. Jeanne and Cass both reported them numerous times as well. At times, Grandpa was racing them down the hall. They played Frisbee in the hall. They played kick ball in the hall. The room next to me was loud a few times…like the walls were breaking and I literally pounded on the connecting wall with both fists. They would turn the “please make up the room” signs to do not disturb. Jeanne caught them…with the parents and/or grandparents standing right there with them….as they slid down the staircase banisters. Someone (Maybe Cass) saw them laying on the floor of the elevator and would not move so people could get on. They just rode the elevator like that.

Looks like you had the neighbours from hell.

Claire informed me she would NOT be returning to the club at any time during this cruise. UGH!!! Really????? Why not? It looks so fun.

What a shame that Claire does not like the clubs.

Our bags had arrived, so I pulled them in and put a few things away and then we headed off to our Muster station for the drill. We were in the Walt Disney Theatre this time.

We have been in the Walt Disney Theatre a few times, but on the Magic and Wonder they only have two muster stations in there and therefore there was plenty of space.

I was surprised at how empty the deck was for the party.

I think this may be the emptiest I have ever seen it.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

HI - really enjoying your latest trip report and thanks for sharing with us all.

Thanks for reading!

Looks like everything went quite smoothly with the drop off. What a coincidence that you bumped into somebody from your group.

It wasn't bad at all really.

That is nice that he managed to sort this out for you.

Yes! Hopefully I don't have any issues in the future now.

This looks really cute.

The ice-cream is good too!

How disappointing. That does not look like much of a cooking.

No it's more of a hocky puck now

Goodness, Emily looks so grown up. I suppose it is 6 or 7 years since I met her.

She's an adult now!

Looks like you had the neighbours from hell.

We did!

What a shame that Claire does not like the clubs.

I agree

We have been in the Walt Disney Theatre a few times, but on the Magic and Wonder they only have two muster stations in there and therefore there was plenty of space.

We were in the balcony and it was crowded, but the lower floor had a lot of open space. I think Brook was down there.

I think this may be the emptiest I have ever seen it.

It was for me too.

 

[jenseib]

Our dinner tonight was in Animators Palette.


embark104 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We had a strange table that was shaped like an oval leaf, so each end was pretty narrow and in my opinion a bit awkward for those sitting on the end….which tonight was me.


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I think Cass sat across from me and Kira next to Claire. Kelsey and Emily arrived and recognized someone they knew from the Magic and went over to talk to him.


embark102 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Jeanne and Nick arrived then. Jeanne was a bit far from me, so it was hard to talk to her.


Patty’s table was right next to ours, so we could wave if we wanted. LOL. It wasn’t easy to talk to them though.


embark103 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Ferdi came over….yay! Glad we got him. And I told him how we had him in Oct. and he pretended to remember me and mentioned how I always sail with big groups. LOL. I am sure he did not remember me, but that was ok. Our assistant server was Lewis. He was very nice, but a little slow with things. Jeanne later speculated that he had been put to work with Ferdi because Ferdi was good enough to make up for some of Lewis’s shortcomings…and often Ferdi was doing some of Lewis’s jobs. The only big complaint from me about him was that he wasn’t always fast with refilling drinks for us, but often at other tables he was on it. Jeanne also asked for coke zero, which they always will go and get for her from the bar on other ships and he said they didn’t have it. Well Jeanne knows the head beverage guy and a few nights later she was rolling in coke zero. LOL!!!!!


We made our orders and chatted. Tonight we had a special welcome aboard menu which had some nice items on it. I will admit that I slacked at dinner pictures and didn’t always take them of everything.


Proscuitto, Mozerella, and Tomato Bruschetta

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Clam chowder

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I think Claire got the clam chowder too. I didn’t take pictures of her food too often. In Oct. she went with 2 steaks and fries every night. This time around she went with one steak and fries.


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Penne Arrabiatta (sp?)

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Jeanne’s girls talked to Kira and Claire a bit. (I don’t think I ever heard Nick even talk that night. LOL). I could tell that Claire was enamored with them. I could totally understand….both in their early 20’s, beautiful and super friendly. They were so nice to the girls. Most young ladies that age would not want to be bothered with a 10 and 12 year old.


After we ate our main courses, Claire and Kira were going to head off to have some fun together. Rob had to run to the room for something and came back with this picture.


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BUSTED!!! They went for ice-cream! Which was perfectly fine. They could have been doing worse.


Time for our dessert.


The Magical Express Sundae….though it called for mint ice-cream and I got vanilla.


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Dark Chocolate Bombe

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Claire messaged me that her flip flop broke. UGH! These were brand new sparkly ones that we bought just for the cruise. Oh well….nothing we can do about it now.


The food was OK. Some things better than others. My pasta dish was probably my least favorite of the meal. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fabulous either. But at least I wasn’t cooking!


We wanted to see the adult show of Six Appeal tonight in the tube, so after dinner many of us met up there. The seating here is just awful!!!!! The bar is right in the way to see and the tables in the back are high stools which I have issues balancing on…and found out all of us had issues. And then people stand all around to try and see, so it makes it almost impossible to enjoy unless you are close.


We arrived a little early and of course only the bar stools are open…so we grabbed a couple tables and some chairs and balanced.


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I found an entrance to Skyline here. I had no clue there was one in here before.


It ended up being Jeanne and her girls, Brook and Joe, Cass and Rob, Fred and Patty and me.


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It was next to impossible to see and there were some TV screens in the back so we mainly watched the show on those.


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Video….remember that all that music is from just their MOUTHS! Lots of background noise though too.

Check them out on Youtube to find better videos and sound.


The chairs were so awful!!! I had my feet braced on other stools….Jeanne had hers on mine…and basically everyone was entangled to stay upright. If one of us moved it could set off a domino effect! LOL.


Rob and Cass.


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Patty and Fred


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I guess I missed Brook and Joe.


The show was a lot of fun and they were really good. Such amazing talent!


When the show was over dancing started and Emily and Kelsey went out to dance. Jeanne and I stuck around a bit, but then we decided to call it a night.


I took a walk back to the front of the ship via deck 4.


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And made it back to the room and saw our towel animal for the night.


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We also had an invite to the Gold and Platinum member event for tomorrow. We had heard about this from the previous cruise (11 nighter). It sounded really cool. They were going to show us a segment of Aladdin and then show it again explaining tech stuff. We were planning to go to it. The bad thing is we had our princess meet right before that and could possibly be late. We had talked about it before the cruise when we heard about it and decided we would skip the Princess meet.

Our room host had set up the couch bed for Claire...even though we had set a lot of stuff on the couch earlier assuming he would pull down the murphy bed. She slept on it tonight and we let him know later that she would prefer the pull down for the rest of the cruise.

We got ready for bed and Claire was all giggles and laughs and talked nonstop about their night and all they did. She seemed to be having a good time, which made me happy. Finally I told her it was time to settle down as we had a character breakfast tomorrow to go to. We could nap later if she needed to.

 

[jenseib]

Day 5, June 29, 2017, Day at Sea


We had a little rocking last night, but it wasn’t too bad….however we had a creaky room. At times very creaky. It had that sound you hear in the movies with a ship sinking…..yeah not so comforting. It seemed to be coming from where the wall met the ceiling in on particular area over the desk and mirror. I actually could see a gap there with wood pieces pushed in…which led me to believe that they knew of the problem and tried to fix it….sort of. This wasn’t going to ruin my trip in any way, but for some this might be a problem.


I got up and threw on shorts and a shirt and went down to deck 4 to walk. I was going to try and make myself walk several laps on most days if I could. I knew some port days it might not work out, but if we were at sea…I needed to be walking off the desserts. I walked a few laps, but it was HOT! One side had the sun shining hard and the other side it was shaded. If it had been like the shaded side the whole way around I would have done more laps. I kept my eye open for Jeanne as she said she was going to walk each morning too….but I never saw her. I later found out she was out there at the same time, so she was probably half a lap in front of me and that is why I never saw her.


I headed back to the room to get ready for breakfast. I was sweaty but didn’t want to wash my hair, so I just did one of those half showers…washing up, but not getting my hair wet.


I got Claire up and it was like the devil had possessed my sweet girl overnight. First thing she said to me was “I am NOT hanging out with ANYONE today!” Hunh? What? Why? She went on how she just didn’t want to hang with anyone but me, and she only wanted to do things with me. OH Boy! Remember a few days ago when I was super lame? What happened?

I said OK, we will talk it over later, but right now we have to go the character breakfast. Well she needed a shower but didn’t want to take one. I suggested the half shower and that was shot down. Her hair was greasy….did I bring dry shampoo….Um no…sorry I didn’t think of that. I am pretty sure her head spun around and her eyes turned red as she complained about EVERYTHING…..Ok, I am exaggerating. Her head didn’t actually spin….but her eyes were red….bloodshot from lack of sleep.


Jeanne’s family was also supposed to go to this breakfast, but they were moving slow and messaged that they wouldn’t make it. Claire thought we should just skip it now. I said no, this we are doing and I won’t make her do them in the future. Is Cass and Kira coming? Hmmm…. I think Cass canceled their reservation. UGH! She was not happy. Where had this spawn of Satin come from?


Finally we were dressed and ready to go and when we arrived we asked to have a table to ourselves.


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Look how happy she is to be here.


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I told her we would eat and just do the characters that came by in that time…that made her a little more happier. She did get slightly nicer as the meal went on.


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I told her we would take turn with characters again….but of course they kept going right over to her.


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The donut man was slow today…but finally he did come by and bring me what I wanted.


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We were about done, but Goofy was just a few tables away. I said I wanted to wait for him and I would get my picture with him.


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He insisted Claire get one too. Hahaha


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And Mickey was just a few tables away and I said….well he is the Captain of this ship….we should probably wait for him too.


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We left with her in a bit of a better mood now. She went back to the room to laze around and I headed off on my own for a bit.


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I got to talking to a lady up on the Meridian outside deck. She was on the last cruise as well and she was teaching the ballroom dancing classes. There were 4 of them total teaching and they do a couple special cruises a year and also have a dance studio in LA. She had an accent though, so I think she is from somewhere in Europe. I noticed later that her and her partners (1 other lady and 2 men) were always a few tables away from us at dinner. She was super nice.


seaday24 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I went back to the room and got Claire and we went and browsed the shops. There were a lot of things that caught our eye, but I was really good and I barely bought anything this whole cruise for myself. I don’t think we ever actually bought anything in any of the gift shops.


The Gold and Platinum event would start soon and it was going to have a little cocktail hour out near the shops before heading into the Walt Disney Theatre. We made our way over closer to the theatre doors and waited for Jeanne. She said her and Emily were on their way down. I knew Cass was coming too.


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They were serving drinks. Claire and I each had one…with Claire having sparkling cider.


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Several Crew Members came up and talked to us. I believe Mike, the cruise director was one and he was super nice. Also Deano, who is the night club host type guy (not sure of his official title, but he is ALL over the ship running things all day long) came up and talked to us for a while. I heard Deano was newer and I really liked him…again he was super friendly. He was from Ireland, but lives in the US now as he is married. He didn’t have much of an Irish accent and he said it comes every so often, but for the most part it has faded away…which he says makes his wife mad. She said she married him for her accent. LOL.


After a bit Jeanne and Emily arrived. I think Cass came a bit after that and we all headed into the theatre then to watch the show.


Mike came out first and talked.


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Then Captain Fabian….who I really like. I think he is the friendliest Captain I have cruise with. (we had him in Oct as well).


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And then they started a segment of Aladdin.


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After they played it, they reset the scene and introduced a lot of the behind the scenes people. They explained what is going on backstage and in the control room the whole while this segment is playing. They then reran it again, only with the control room audio on for us to hear. They talked the WHOLE entire segment. Wow! Most really didn’t make sense to us (though they did try to explain some of it before they reran it), but it was just amazing all that is going on while we are watching the show.


After that they talked some more and gave out an award for the person who had sailed the most. One of our friends won and her prize was a water bottle with last cruises melted ice sculpture….aka….just a water bottle. Hahahaha.


seaday27 by Jenseib, on Flickr


After the show it was time for lunch and Jeanne went with Claire and I to Cabana’s.


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I didn’t get my main plate, but I did take a picture of the dessert.


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For some reason Disney tops a lot of their desserts with this layer of gel. I find it gross and Jeanne mentioned she didn’t like it either. We both often would scrape that layer off before eating our desserts.


We sat and talked a long time at our table. Claire LOVES to listen to adults talk. I guess she is an old soul at times. I think one of the reasons she doesn’t want to do the kids clubs is because she is afraid she will miss something. She has always loved to be with me when I talk with adult friends. She is nosey! Last cruise she did hang with her cousin Alexis a lot…but many times they were also hanging with my sister or my Aunt…so again….they were with adults.


After lunch we decided to take an official look inside Sweet on You.


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These treats and ice-creams are an additional cost and not included in your cruise fare.


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[jenseib]

After our tour of Sweet on You we headed out on deck. During the dry dock they took the family hot tub out and replaced it with this splash area….which is super lame.


seaday28 by Jenseib, on Flickr


This was the busiest I ever saw it the whole cruise.


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We separated from Jeanne and went back to the room for a little rest.


We wanted to go to Disney tune trivia this afternoon, so we headed down to La piazza early and got a seat.


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Jeanne said Emily was thinking about coming, but in the end she didn’t show up.


seaday32 by Jenseib, on Flickr


As it was getting close to start a lady came over and asked if we would like to join her team as it was just her and her husband and he wasn’t good with songs. I said sure, but we couldn’t promise to be good either. So we moved over to their booth and played with them.

She was right…her husband really didn’t know many songs…..but between us 3 girls, we didn’t do too poorly. We didn’t win, but we did have fun and they were a super nice couple.


seaday33 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We headed out and I had to get this shot of Ooh La La on the wall because this is a saying I use a lot….in reference to It’s a Small World.


seaday34 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We walked by the new Tiffany’s they put on the ship during dry dock. I have to say I never saw anyone buying anything. They did not have anything Disney specific and most people just kind of wandered in and looked at the cases and then headed out. I have to say this was a poor move on Disney’s part.


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We did some wandering around then.


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And then out to deck 4……I see land out there.


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They had set up the backdrops for pictures for tonight, which would be formal night, and I told Claire I would do her own personal photo shoot.


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We walked around then a bit and Claire and I played a little bit of the detective agency. We didn’t finish, but we did quite a bit. She was the pro, so I let her lead me around. We had planned to finish our game later, but sadly we never did.


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I did make Claire stop and get a picture by the statue too.


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Part of the mission was to go look at some names on Pepe’s door.


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We had to end though so we could go get showered and ready for formal night and the show.

 

[dolphingirl47]

We had a strange table that was shaped like an oval leaf, so each end was pretty narrow and in my opinion a bit awkward for those sitting on the end….which tonight was me.

That sounds really weird. I wonder why they decided on this strange design.

Ferdi came over….yay! Glad we got him.

That is nice that this worked out.

And I told him how we had him in Oct. and he pretended to remember me and mentioned how I always sail with big groups. LOL. I am sure he did not remember me, but that was ok.

You would be surprised. I have had it happen more than once that cast members on DCL recognized us before we recognized them.

Jeanne later speculated that he had been put to work with Ferdi because Ferdi was good enough to make up for some of Lewis’s shortcomings…and often Ferdi was doing some of Lewis’s jobs.

That makes sense. The best servers we ever had were always paired up with assistant servers that were not on top of their game.

Dark Chocolate Bombe

embark122 by Jenseib, on Flickr

I hope this tasted as good as it looks.

We also had an invite to the Gold and Platinum member event for tomorrow. We had heard about this from the previous cruise (11 nighter). It sounded really cool. They were going to show us a segment of Aladdin and then show it again explaining tech stuff.

That sounds really neat.

We had a little rocking last night, but it wasn’t too bad….however we had a creaky room. At times very creaky. It had that sound you hear in the movies with a ship sinking…..yeah not so comforting.

I have had a few creaky cabins over the year.

I got Claire up and it was like the devil had possessed my sweet girl overnight.

That age is so difficult.

Then Captain Fabian….who I really like. I think he is the friendliest Captain I have cruise with.

We had him on two of our longer cruises and really liked him

That would be too much of a temptation. I love macarons.

During the dry dock they took the family hot tub out and replaced it with this splash area….which is super lame.

That was a strange decision.

They did not have anything Disney specific and most people just kind of wandered in and looked at the cases and then headed out.

That is a shame. I had heard that they would have some DCL specific stuff.

Corinna