Best Friends and New Friends - a MAGICal Tale

[Jennifer48]

Jennifer,
I am all caught up now.....
I love that rainbow picture. Beautiful.
Your tour guide stopped more than once for photos? We only got one stop. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Sorry bout your pirate night fireworks.......at least you made it to CC though right?
Cute picture with Smee & Cap'n Hook.

Melanie, our bus stopped a few times but we were only allowed to get out like 2-3 times. Most of the pictures you see were taken by Dan from the bus while it was in motion. Some stops were shorter than others but we did get to stop and take photos. It was really great. I'm sorry you only got one stop

The fireworks were a disappointment but yes, thankfully we made it to CC!

So Mickey's Island Jam was the one thing I really wanted to do my two weeks and never made it. The first week was the Behind the Scenes tour of WD Theater, the second week was our meet at the Quiet Cove Cafe. We even asked our head waiter if we could come another day and they said we could and I overslept. I should have tried to go in the later breakfast that day but we were told to come at a certain time and didn't want to cause any trouble so I never made it. Well just an excuse to go again.

I see myself as well. I didn't take any pictures of our group pictures.

Becky, we wanted to do the Behind the Scenes tour but it never really fit into our schedule. Guess that means another cruise for me!

Mickey's Island Jam was a lot of fun. Even though the characters didn't come to the tables and greet us, it was a blast watching them interact with the children around. Make sure you do it on your next cruise!

 

[scottishwee35]

Hi Jennifer

I enjoyed read your report trip and love the photos too.

Very good photo of you both at Pirate, What are you drinking with? lol

Dan got lovely tan as he is dark skin same as me

Ian got sun burn his feet on the Cruise on sea day, terrible red look like chicken skin!! He got a lovely tan on his face and arm but leg none!!

Can I ask you a question - have you book another Cruise?

I am waiting to hear the announcement for 2009 as I am hoping Northern Europe but got the feeling, don't think so. Hope we meet again in one day.

Scottishwee35

 

[Jennifer48]

5:45am came way too quickly. It’s painful not being a morning person. But alas, it is something that has to be done so up we got and headed to the Walt Disney Theater for 6:45am. We were in the first group to go because we had an early excursion meet time which was 7:15am. Those that had late excursion meet times or no excursions at all, got to sleep in a bit longer. Grrr.

As Dan and I are walking towards the theater, who do we meet up with? But Donna and Glenn of course! Are you starting to see a pattern here? It was getting kinda creepy and you’ll hear about more later. So we give the happy CM our room number and let her know that we are all here and accounted for. We take our seats with all the tired, coughing people. Seriously, everyone was either coughing or sniffling. Gross. We were only there about 10 minutes or so before the immigration officers came in and they released us row by row. Not too painful. We said good-bye to Donna and Glenn and wished them luck and fun on their excursion and Dan and I headed up to the Buena Vista Theater for our St. John Island tour meet.

We checked in and got our Belle sticker and waited for the ok to disembark the ship. We saw the 2 annoying women that were on the Under 2 Flags tour with us yesterday and we didn’t want to be anywhere near them today. We made sure to keep our distance.

We followed the Belle Paddle of Power outside to a nearby water taxi that was to take us and another tour (I think it was the Trunk Bay Snorkel excursion) over to St. John.

Power paddle battle!

There were two floors on the boat and also an inside sitting area. We opted to sit outside. We hadn’t been gone 5 minutes and it started to rain. There was a small overhang above our heads that kept some of the water away but the wind was pushing it right in at us. Everyone outside ran inside but we stayed put. We knew the rain would be over in a few minutes because we were on the edge of a small rain cloud. No harm, we didn’t melt.

The boat driver/tour guide was pretty informative. He was pointing out celebrity houses along the way and other interesting facts about St. Thomas/St. John. We couldn’t hear very well outside but we heard enough. Here are some of the houses we saw:

Michael Jordan's house

Michael Jackson's house...no children were inside

We docked on St. John and were ushered off to begin loading into the open-air bus. We ended up in the front row next to a family from New Jersey.
Let me just tell you now, it was freaking hot out! I’m talking 86F with a dew point of 82F. That ‘feels like’ temperature is about 112F. It was nasty. Open-air bus = no air conditioning. This should be fun.

Our chariot

Our driver made the first stop about 100 feet away at the restrooms. He introduced himself as Chris. He sounded like he was going to be a fun guide. He told us that the more we “oooo’ed and ahhh’ed” then he’d stop the truck. When he was time to go he’d ask “what time is it?” Our response was “its time to go!” Then he’d ask “where are we going?” And we’d reply with “forward!” Good times. What a good way to get your customers to participate.

After the pit stop we were on our way. The second stop was overlooking the harbor that we pulled into. Chris told us that there is a 0% unemployment rate on St. John. This is due to the fact that the island is growing and there are many jobs to be had. Most islanders have multiple jobs. So any DISer need a job? Head to St. John!

Beautiful harbor

I won’t go into all the other stops along the way. Here is the beautiful scenery:

Trunk Bay; #2 beach in the world!

All-inclusive resort

One of our beach stops

Reservation land

We also stopped at an old sugar mill. There wasn't much left to it.

View from the sugar mill

Up next: Mmmm smoothie!

 

[Jennifer48]

Hi Jennifer

I enjoyed read your report trip and love the photos too.

Very good photo of you both at Pirate, What are you drinking with? lol

Dan got lovely tan as he is dark skin same as me

Ian got sun burn his feet on the Cruise on sea day, terrible red look like chicken skin!! He got a lovely tan on his face and arm but leg none!!

Can I ask you a question - have you book another Cruise?

I am waiting to hear the announcement for 2009 as I am hoping Northern Europe but got the feeling, don't think so. Hope we meet again in one day.

Scottishwee35

Hi Deborah,

Thanks for the comments! Dan did get a good tan on that cruise, not fair! I only got a nasty sunburn Dan did burn his feet on the last cruise and that was horrible. 2nd degree burns that blistered!

We did book another cruise! We put in a dummy date of October 2009 but I am also waiting to hear the 2009 announcement. I am hoping it is an Alaskan cruise so I can change my reservations to then! I hope we can meet on another cruise soon!

 

[Kimberly815]

St. John looks absolutely beautiful!!! I wish I was there right now!!

Was it your favorite of the islands you stopped at (Castaway Cay not included)?

 

[Jennifer48]

Was it your favorite of the islands you stopped at (Castaway Cay not included)?

Yes it was. It was so picturesque with the blue sky and crystal clear water. I'd move there if I could! Forecasting would be a cinch!

 

[Jennifer48]

Another stop was at a beach that I can’t remember the name to. Sorry!

We were able to walk down to the water from the parking area. Chris told us that there are funny looking fruit along the way and insisted that we don’t touch or step on this fruit if it is lying on the ground. Hmmm curiosity peaked! We got out and walked down to the beach area. So beautiful and peaceful. St. John is ranked number 2 in my book right behind Castaway Cay. It was wonderful.

Beach with no name

On our way back to the bus, we saw it. The starvation fruit.

We got on the bus and Chris asked if we all saw it. We said yes and some guy said it didn’t taste good at all. Chris’s jaw dropped, “you ate it?!” The man laughed and said no and we all got a good chuckle out of Chris’ reaction. He said it’s called the starvation fruit. It’s called this because it tastes so bad that the only reason you’d actually eat it, was if you were starving.

Next stop was a little area that had a snack and smoothie stand that a woman named Loralei ran. I went into a small store next door to buy some post cards and there was no one at the register. I told Chris so he came and rang up the postcards for me. I asked him if this was his second job and he said no, it was just helping a neighbor. So nice.

After I bought my postcards, Dan and I bought a banana and mango smoothie from Loralei. It was delicious! If you are in St. John, hit up Loralei for a smoothie. They are fantastic!

Our tour had ended and we said good bye to Chris. The boat was still docked so we headed back on and they told us it would be leaving in about 30 minutes. There wasn’t anything to see nearby so we got back on the boat and just waited to head back to St. Thomas.

We ate lunch again in where? Topsiders of course. After being up so darn early and then being full of food, we were in desperate need of some zzzz’s so we headed back to the room to take a power nap.

Twenty minutes was all we really needed so we headed back to St. Thomas because I wanted to ride the Paradise Point tram.

Up next: Holy heat Batman!!

 

[scottishwee35]

Hi Jennifer

What a beautiful photos of St John and the no name beach look so calm and beautiful.

Wish I be there now!

Scottishwee35

 

[Kimberly815]

After I bought my postcards, Dan and I bought a banana and mango smoothie from Loralei. It was delicious! If you are in St. John, hit up Loralei for a smoothie. They are fantastic!

Mmmm. A nice cold fruit smoothie on a hot, hot day! I don't think it gets much better than that! Yummy!

 

[Jennifer48]

Hi Jennifer

What a beautiful photos of St John and the no name beach look so calm and beautiful.

Wish I be there now!

Scottishwee35

Me too! I'm sick of the cold weather, I want to be back in the heat!

Mmmm. A nice cold fruit smoothie on a hot, hot day! I don't think it gets much better than that! Yummy!

It was so refreshing!

 

[scottishwee35]

Jennifer

What the weather like now?

Here the weather was sunny today and not very cold just mild.

Scottishwee35

 

[Jennifer48]

Jennifer

What the weather like now?

Here the weather was sunny today and not very cold just mild.

Scottishwee35

Its cold, 38F

 

[pierresgirl]

Great report! It looks like you guys had the time of your life! Huge Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins fans in my household Can't wait to read more....

 

[Jennifer48]

Great report! It looks like you guys had the time of your life! Huge Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins fans in my household Can't wait to read more....

Thank you for reading! to NE sports fans!

 

[Jennifer48]

We walked up the road to the Paradise Point tram station. We paid for our tickets and headed up a flight of stairs. At this point, I was already dripping with sweat. I couldn’t get over how damn hot it was. It was the humidity that was killer.

I read about this area online, DIS and PassPorter. I wanted to try to fit it in just so I could get the views that you see from up there. We ended up in a
tram with a nice couple that was on the Liberty of the Seas. They asked us if we were on the DCL and we said yes. Their response was “where are the kids?” “We don’t have any” we replied. Then we got The Look, “oh.” All you childless adults know the look I’m speaking of. The one that says “why would you be on a Disney trip without children?”

Tram car

Liberty of the Seas and the Magic

Some of my pics had issues loading onto Photobucket so I hope to post more soon.

Once at the top, we walked around and took pictures. On the other side of the hill there are some shops and a restaurant. All I wanted was some postcards and a shot glass for Dan. We walked into one of the shops and they had fake handbags! I laughed because I didn’t expect it. We also woke up the guy at the register. He was taking a nap. I don’t blame him. There’s not much else you can do in that heat!

We didn’t spend much more time up there because we were both exhausted and overheating so we headed back on the tram to get back to the ship.
This time our nap was about 2 hours long. That heat really drains you. After the nap we headed up to the pool to just relax and chill out before dinner. We got some yummy ice cream to cool us off. That ice cream area is horrible. I could just sit there and refill my cup over and over!

Dinner tonight was Animators Palate and we were disappointed that this was our only dinner here since we missed it on Sunday due to our Palo ressies. That also meant that no dinner show tonight. Oh well. It was still fun being there. Tonight was hysterical though because Romeo decided he wanted to show us one of his magic tricks. He put a handkerchief in a net and made it disappear and then reappear. Soumitra almost died laughing when he walked by and saw him doing this.

The Great Romeo

Tonight was 80’s Night so we decided to meet up with our table mates in Rockin’ Bar D after we all changed out of our dinner clothes. I wanted to go to this just because of the Thriller rendition that the CM do . It was so much fun watching them. Sadly though there were quite a few songs that I had never heard which made everyone feel very old. It’s not my fault I was born in 1980 and don’t listen to the Oldies station much!

Michael Jackson montague

After the back-in-the-day music was over, current tunes were played and I had to get up and dance to my Justin! Thankfully ReAnSt Becky was with us otherwise I would have been dancing alone! Thanks again Becky! My table mates AND Dan don’t dance, losers .

A bunny?

Up Next: Rest and Relaxation

 

[lillygator]

love the pics of St John and Trunk Bay.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jennifer48]

love the pics of St John and Trunk Bay.
Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for reading!

 

[Jennifer48]

Thursday, September 20th

Since this was our last at-sea day, we decided not to set any alarm and let the morning wake us up. With that said, we woke up around 10am. We delayed a bit but eventually got out of bed, dressed, and headed up to the Quite Cove pool which we got to by 11am. We just wanted to continue being lazy and enjoy doing nothing as much as possible. There was only one available lounger when we got up there. I wasn’t in the mood to swim just yet so I laid out and Dan sat on the edge of the pool to get rid of his raccoon tan. I read a few chapters in my book and got the happy hour mimosa. I forget how great it is to drink early! I finished up my drink and headed into the water since I was now very hot sitting in the sun. Guess who was at the pool also? Did you guess Glenn and Donna? Well you’d be correct! We chatted with them in the water about the time their house got struck by lightning. Cool story. Well not cool for them, fortunately no major damage was done but cool from a weather geek standpoint. That’s me, weather weenie.

I was cooled off so I got out and dried off in the sun while reading. Some loungers opened up next to Donna and Glenn so I moved our stuff over and let Dan know that he now had a chair if he wanted one. The pool was getting too crowded anyways. I think Dan said at one point he counted a total of like 29 people in the pool at one time. Crazy.

We were getting hungry so Dan ran and got some fruit for himself from Goofy’s Galley and he also got some chicken fingers and fries for me. Man I love those chicken fingers. I’m sad that they only give you 2 now. I could eat a whole basket of those without even blinking. I think Dan even went and got me another plate and some ice cream. We left the sun since I figured at this point my sun exposure was at its limit for today. We found a table still on deck 9 but in the shade as we finished our food. Donna and Glenn even came over and ate with us but left shortly after. As Dan and I were just chillin’ there, Minnie was strolling around the pool! I asked her if she would take her picture with me and she obliged.

Jenny and Minnie

From here, we headed down to the stores to look around at more merchandise. We didn’t buy anything but I did like their Castaway Club only ringer t-shirts. We headed back to the room to shower since it was about 4:30 at this point. After we were all cleaned up we headed back up to the shops. I think I bought some pins and a DCL scrapbook kit. Next up was Shutters. Its fun looking at everyone’s pictures even if you don’t want to purchase any yourself. The smiles on everyone’s faces are so great to look at to see that people are enjoying this vacation as much as you are.

Out of Shutters, we headed back towards the atrium lobby. We were watching everyone get their semi-formal pictures done. There was this one family that pushed their children first and then the whole family. As the little boy was standing there, he had to be no more than 3, he was holding himself like he had to go to the bathroom. Dan and I saw it so others must have too. Mom just kept making him put his hand down. The poor kid was doing the potty dance and it was obvious that he had to go. I felt like running down there and bringing him to the restroom myself. So what does mom do after the pictures are through? She drags him into Lumiere’s for dinner. I really hope she took him at some point because I thought he was going to lose it right there!

Mickey and Minnie all dolled up

We made our way outside and walked around and enjoyed the beautiful air.

A new find for me, these compasses on Deck 10 above the Mickey pool

Watching cartoons on the Ariel View

My artistic side

Up next: Rebook or not to rebook, that is the question.

 

[Kimberly815]

A new find for me, these compasses on Deck 10 above the Mickey pool

Are you waving at us in the reflection there?!? I love it!

 

[Jennifer48]

Are you waving at us in the reflection there?!? I love it!

I am! Good catch