Day 7 - Wednesday, February 07
There was no excuse not to sleep in as late as possible on Wednesday morning, since there was really no place that we had to be. I awoke feeling a bit congested, but otherwise fine, and was wondering what had affected me. It never cleared up completely, but it didnt negatively impact the day. We made the wise decision to return to Parrot Cay for breakfast where I was able to get my bagel and lox fix again. After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to take a walk on decks 9 and 10 to enjoy the sunshine the captain had tracked down and see how warm it was. Tammy and I played an impromptu game of ping-pong and after I soundly defeated her, we headed down to our stateroom to shower and figure out what to do for the day. The only thing on our schedule for the afternoon was the
Castaway Club meeting at 1pm. Alex talked about swimming but we swung past the Goofy pool and it was just packed, so he changed his mind. We walked around the ship and he took some pictures with the disposable camera wed given him the previous day.
When 1pm rolled around, we went down to Wavebands and dropped our cards for the prize drawing into the box. We had some snacks and drinks while we watched a few short Vault Disney videos about
Disney Cruise Line. When it was time to draw the winners from the box, the CM was having kids in the group pull the cards, so Alex was pleased to be selected. The winner whose name he drew came over to shake his hand afterward.
Since the food was light at the Castaway Club reception, we headed up to Goofys Galley and Plutos Dog House for lunch. Alex had a cheeseburger and fries while Tammy and I had panini. While we were eating at the front of deck 9, we found Vanessa, our dining room server, working out there so we chatted with her for a little bit. After we ate, Alex wanted to spend some free time in the Lab before they began preparing for Celebrate the Journey. While he was in the lab, Tammy and I started trying to coordinate our packing so that we knew where everything was going to go.
Since we were right above the theater, we didnt need to head over too early and still wound up with good seats in the lower section. We didnt see Alex this time in any of the montage photos they showed and he ended up going in and out on the opposite side from where we were sitting so we didnt get any pictures. Back up in the Lab, we grabbed his mortarboard ears and his D-Sea-U t-shirt and let him stay until it was time for dinner. We were in Animators Palate on that night and our tablemates hadnt been there before, so it was interesting to see their reactions to everything going on. Tammy and I had stopped by Guest Services while Alex was in the Lab to get our tip cash squared away, so we handed out our tips and thanked our servers for being so great. Alex had his camera, so we got pictures of him with Vanessa and Roque as well as with Thadeus, Hugh and Kevin.
We had planned to catch another family-oriented Michael Harrison show in Wavebands after dinner, but we ended up lingering in AP for so long that we didnt make it. Alex wanted to go back to the Lab, so Tammy and I made sure that our luggage was squared away and out in the hallway then went up to deck 10 where she was determined to beat me in ping-pong. The tables on deck 10 were poorly lit at night, so we were both having problems and ultimately ended up playing down on deck 9. She soundly whooped me twice and, I know, would not have been content until she did. We grabbed a couple of hot drinks from the beverage station and pulled up a couple of chairs between Pinocchios and the Goofy pool to watch The Incredibles on the giant screen. We made it about an hour or so into it before it got too chilly and we headed to Studio Sea to watch family karaoke.
As we passed the atrium, we could see that Til We Meet Again was going on and the atrium and all levels looking into it were mobbed with people. We realized not for the first time that we are nowhere near true Disney fanatics. Once we were seated in Studio Sea we had to chuckle as all of the characters from the atrium filed through, because all of those people who were desperately trying to see them had just missed the most ideal photo opportunity. The kids singing karaoke were mostly entertaining, though you could tell that a few were just trying to be obnoxious. I can say that if I never hear Were All in This Together ever again, it will be too soon. We had to be at Animators Palate for breakfast at 6:30 the next morning, so we collected Alex from the Lab and got to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, I knew that the congestion was becoming a full-blown cold. We had been taking Airborne, using Zicam swabs and washing our hands and using the sanitizer on the ship at every opportunity, so I was pretty disappointed that someone had not only been sick enough but also careless enough about spreading their germs that I had picked something up. I didnt feel too bad but was worried about what a day of traveling without any medication would be like. My bagel with lox was on the breakfast menu at AP and Alex devoured a plate of eggs and bacon, which was good given that we had a long day ahead of us. We spent about an hour at breakfast then said good-bye to our servers and tablemates and headed for the atrium and off the ship.
We found our luggage and made it through customs in about ten minutes then were able to check our luggage there at the port for our Delta flight. We got on the bus and had to wait until it filled before we left but were in the airport and at our gate by 9:30. We did take some time to look through the NASA, Universal and Disney shops in the airport before going through security but didnt end up buying any more souvenirs. Our flight to Atlanta wasnt until 11:30, so we had time to kill. I unpacked Alexs DVD player for him and read a magazine myself as Tammy worked on her sudoku book. The flights home were pretty uneventful but by the time we gathered our luggage at DIA and met Tammys mom, I had a pretty bad headache. I lay down on the couch once we were home and actually fell asleep for over an hour. We had the foresight to keep Alex out of school on that Friday, so we had the weekend for Alex to catch up on his schoolwork and to go shopping to refill our refrigerator.
And now, here it is already over a week since we got home. Anyone interested in seeing
all of the pictures from our trip? PM me your email address and I will send you the link.
My friend/travel agent emailed dh about them!
From Friday the 9th thru Tues I was really ill with the flu. I did make it to work on Wed and lasted until 2pm before coming home again. Thursday I rested and did all of the mounds of laundry that had piled up. Then on Friday our Girl Scout troop went camping so I am just now getting back from that. We had a lot of fun. It was just our troop this time so that was different for us. I am pooped now though. Those girls can take a lot out of you. 
He felt better about it when I told him that he didn't have to pay for the groom's family and friends. 
