Eastern Caribbean Magic - 3/13

[Euphscott]

Sara (my wife - 32) and I (39) were late to pack for this cruise. So I took Friday off from work to run the last minute errands of travel size shampoos, oil change for the car, and a few items I cannot recall now. We are Texans now living in the Dallas area.

This trip was to be our 1 year anniversary trip. I had sailed on DCL previously, but this was Sara’s first exposure to the line. We’ve both sailed with Carnival and Princess and I have also enjoyed Royal Caribbean. So, by the time Sara came home, she was pretty excited to try a new line and go see all I had told her about. Our flight was scheduled for 9:00 PM but we had gone to the airport before work to get on the standby list. This proved to be a wise move as we showed up for the 4:00 flight and landed priority 4 and 5 on the list. We were accommodated on the flight and our trip was off to a smooth start. Our flight was uneventful and moved rather quickly from DFW to Tampa (flights were almost half the cost of Orlando and with a one way rental we saved quite a bit going to Tampa). We got off the plane, found a Burger King to share some dinner and then down to pick up our garment bag before calling the hotel shuttle.

We took the shuttle to the Townfield Suites just outside the airport. The room was $79 and fairly well appointed. We were pretty tired so we found a little TV to lull us to sleep and we sank into the plush beds. As usual, I am an early riser, so at 5 AM – my mind and body were alive and well. I rolled over and cleared out my email on my phone, spent some time catching up with some long neglected Facebook postings and eventually waited out the appointed time to arise. We got showered and repacked to go board the shuttle back to the airport. There we picked up our rental car to take a one way out to Port Canaveral.

I was excited because last minute we discovered my grandparents were camping in their RV. They were about 10 minutes east of the airport along the path we would travel to head to Port Canaveral. I called to greet them good morning, confirm directions, and warn them we were on our way. Once we arrived, we got to meet their new puppy Jasmine. She was a little protective of the RV, but after a few well placed scratches behind her ears, she was putty in our hands. She is a Pug that was adopted from a rescue shelter and she clearly is a well behaved dog. My grandparents were beaming and happy to show off the new family member. We then went to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We shared a large plate expecting plenty of cruise food ahead of us. It was a nice breakfast where we were able catch up with family stories, goings on, and taking of pictures. We said our goodbyes and hit the road towards Orlando.

It felt odd driving from Tampa to Orlando and then not stopping once all the Disney World signs appeared! I grew up in St. Petersburg and likely had traveled that path multiple times, but I was so young I did not recall any scenery. As we approached the western end of Disney property our excitement began to grow. We sped on by the park property (with a small bit of disappointment!) and onto 528 to head towards the coast. At this point we began to see Disney Cruise Line busses and that upped the anticipation quite a bit! Thankfully we opted for the toll tag in our rental car and bypassed a lot of traffic (careful there lead foot – Florida Patrol officers like to find anxious cruisers to pad government coffers!).

We rose over the Banana River bridge and there she was! The Magic was in sight at last and we instantly felt the butterflys (why is that – we KNOW we are getting on board – our spot was safely reserved!). We did gawk a bit at the Carnival Dream which we heard so much about on our honeymoon cruise (aboard the Carnival Freedom) so that satisfied a little curiosity. We drove right by the port in order to drop off the rental car. More good fortune was in store for us as I dropped off the car and the shuttle was ready to head to port immediately.

We unloaded our bags, tipped our porters and walked through the construction zone to go through security. Our names were found quickly and we were greeted by the wonderful cast members that treat you well from the very beginning. We breezed through security and headed up the escalators to the check in line. It was probably about 11:45 at this point, so the crowds were gathering. They had not yet begun to board people as we went through the line to get our keys and wrap up the formalities. We ended up in group 14, but probably only had a 30 minute wait.

After we checked in, we were practically assaulted by a precious little girl! Ranidayz and her daughter had created a Caribbean Amphibian graphic that Sara and I had placed on T-shirts. She was so excited to see it on us, she had to come tell us she had worked on that. It was so fun to meet her that way and give her a little joy in seeing her work on a shirt. To put it into perspective, she ran out of her spot in line to see Captain Mickey to get to us.

We wandered around the terminal a bit to kill time while we waited for our number. I think at this point Sara began to comprehend the Disney difference. In no time our number was called and off we went through the Mickey ears. We waited in an eternal line (it seemed) to get the silly embarkation picture (that I despise and never buy – all apologies to those that love those durn things! Let me on the SHIP – I can see it – almost touch – don’t make me smile!!!). Once disposed of the picture niceties, we walked the plank and entered the Magic. Now – Sara being a newbie to this line had no idea what she was about to head into. I smiled knowingly and she made it quite fun for me and cast! A member of the cruise staff stopped us and chatted us up about our matching shirts. He wanted to know if we were Kermit fiends, commented that he liked Muppet movies and then enjoyed some laughs. Sara thought he was just being nice and was ready to explore and took off – Oh no – no you don’t! The CM chased after her and made her come back to announce us in! Sara was so embarrassed, but surprised at the same time. She had no idea we would be introduced. I had some fun and just smiled knowingly – yes, I got in trouble later for doing basically nothing!

Not yet hungry, we wandered a bit so Sara could get a look at the ship. She was amused by the artwork of cartoons and drawings in the hallways. She knew she was in a different environment. We learned what dining rotation we had and made an adjustment to our Palo schedule to assure we could catch “Twice Charmed.” After making a quick alteration we went to go up to eat at the buffet. Sara found the shrimp right away and started her food adventure with a big smile on her face! We were fortunate to find a table for two inside as it was a bit chilly and windy out on deck. Once lunch was consumed we went out to wander some more. We hit the spa and gym and all the main rooms. Soon enough our inside stateroom was ready. We dropped off our backpacks and wandered further. Once most of the ship was covered, we returned to our stateroom to discover our baggage arrived early. We unpacked and made the room up and I took all the clothes necessary to iron. So before the boat drill, all clothes for the week were ironed – so now the cruise can begin! We went outside, sat on some chairs and propped open the Kindles in the adult pool area. It was not much longer before the spa raffle. We did not win (although cabins on all sides of us did – including our birthdays concatenated – yes, we are weird to think that way!). That was OK – given the exorbitant prices in the spa, it was only the gym we cared about anyhow.

It was time for boat drill and we went through the necessity of that before stashing our gear and up for the sailaway. Disney does a nice job of this. They really know how to get everyone hyped up to leave. We danced some and ended up on the Ariel view a few times and off we sailed! We spent a little time looking over a rail out of the channel before heading back to our room to get ready for the evening.

As time goes by we are quickly becoming a dying breed. We actually enjoy dressing nice for dinner. We don’t go overboard, but we don’t do jeans or T-shirts. So, we got dressed nicely and headed forward to the welcome aboard show. The singing and technical aspects of the show seemed lacking. The music tracks were way too hot for the vocals and the voices were just not up to the standards I recalled of cast members. This was a trend that continued throughout the week. It seems Disney is more concerned with dance ability than singing and it was showing. That said, Sara was most impressed (and I still enjoy) the plot based entertainment over revue style shows other cruise lines employ. We enjoyed the comedy of Alfred and Seymour immensely – they would be ones to see again!

We headed to dinner after the show. Our table mates arrived before us (I am not sure how we ended up late – perhaps shopping in the onboard shops?!). We met the mates and got to know them. Our servers were a little slow and had a tough time keeping up. This too was a trend. They were wonderfully nice and wanted to do the right things, but they seemed to have too many tables and from all appearances some high maintenance tables that kept them away from our low maintenance tables. Although having water refilled was nice. That’s OK though – our mates learned to make double orders of the soda or tea when they wanted that!

All of our table mates were new to cruising, so Sara and I got to answer general questions and I fielded DCL ones. As a result of the conversation, our honeymooning mates went to the Match Your Mate show and ended up being called up on stage. Needless to say we learned more about them than we ever wanted to learn! But it was quite fun and we were now dining with cruise royalty!

After the show, we were wiped out and we called it a night – ahh – a gentle rocking to sleep – goodnight Magic!

 

[papertraveller]

Hi Scott,

Looking forward to your report - great start! I spotted you in the check-in line (those t-shirts!), and then again on the Ariel screen, and figured I'd have a chance to introduce the family. Sorry you weren't able to make the DISmeet. Am looking forward to more!

 

[ranidayz]

Scott - thanks for the start --- your writing is eloquent -- I simply don't have the motivation for an entire report, but I'll add to yours. I also felt our asst. server were not as amazing as our last cruise. Our main server, Joyce, was very nice and we really liked her. However, our asst. server never had the drinks waiting for us, didn't interact with our kids and there were no marathon hat-napkin making sessions during dinner. We had Rosseli on our last cruise - he was the gold standard. I also felt our stateroom host wasn't as amazing as the last time as well. It took three days of me hiding that nasty bedspread under the bed before I had to call housekeeping to request it NOT be put on the beds anymore.

But the room was clean and that was good. I don't eat meat, so my meal choices the first three days weren't so ay ay ay...but toward the middle, they picked up. My family LOVED their meals during the whole cruise.

I'll chime in more later, but I will say that we loved the Merchandising group -- namely Natasha and Fiona and spent a lot of time pin trading -- tons of time!

 

[Euphscott]

Those shirts kind of did give us away! They were a conversation piece for sure!

More later today!

 

[Euphscott]

Day 2 (at Sea)

We slept in a little this morning, but had plans to go workout in the gym. I am happy to say we made it (just not that morning!). We ate carefully for breakfast and felt good about our prospects for going home roughly the same size and weight in which we arrived.

After breakfast we went to the Cooking Demonstration with Melanie and a chef. Melanie was quite the character all week and my wife enjoyed her antics greatly. She whipped eggs during the presentation as the recipe was for a chocolate mousse dish. The chef had some personality as well and it was a fun demonstration. The wine pairing was that of one of our favorite wines, the Rosa Regale that pairs well with all things chocolate!

Once complete, we went up on deck to do some reading in the sun. The weather was looking up as temps were climbing into the mid 70’s. We ate some lunch at the buffet and then went to the shopping presentation. This did not bode well for my wallet… Holli did a nice job of pushing the cruise approved vendors and products. And my wife was more than happy to appreciate them! We missed a giveaway by one digit on the ticket. Maybe the luck on our cruise was turning?

Following the shopping talk we went to the first of the art auctions. We are not art collectors, but we’ve learned how to find some real bargains or even freebies on previous cruises. This auction company is quite different than those on other cruise lines. I like them quite a bit. Most of the art presented had a Disney angle of some sort, but nothing really caught our eye. We did however use my brain for one of the few things for which it really has value – Trivia!! We won some coupons in the trivia portion of the presentation. We drank some free champagne, collected a free Disney print, and went on our merry way a little more educated about some current artists.

We headed upstairs for a little more reading and then the gym! I sent Sara with explicit instructions to find the nice showerheads in the gym showers. She found the cascading one as the large round head shower stall was occupied she reported. Oh well, I was able to enjoy the large headed shower in the men’s room after a bit of time in the sauna as well. The cruise was off to a relaxing and responsible start!

But that said – it was formal night and Palo for us! We took a few photos downstairs before we spilled anything on ourselves or mussed the lipstick (hers – my lips did not smudge one bit all night long!).

We arrived on time at Palo looking about as good as we can (Sara looked great in her black dress – while I had to do some cosmetic surgery on my tuxedo pants to keep them secured!). We were seated and thought we had a bad waiter. But it turned out we just needed to figure each other out. We could not understand our Indian waiter (and for the life of me – his name will not appear in my over-trivialized brain!) initially and I think he had no clue how to help us! But after a little back and forth and some food delivered, we started to connect and had a wonderful time. His suggestions helped us select a wine as well as getting some nice dishes. We both ended up with chocolate soufflés for dessert and Filet Mignon for dinner. But we shared some pizza and a Lobster Ravioli that Sara refuses to stop raving over even today! She said she might even like it better than any Macaroni and Cheese dish she has ever enjoyed (that is her favorite food oddly enough!). I thought it was tasty, but enjoyed my steak more than she did (I went medium rare – she went medium – mine was much less dry!). Our waiter delivered the ordered soufflés and Tiramisu. Once those were polished off he brought us the Panna Cotta as well – we waddled out to stroll the deck prior to the show – but with painfully happy tummies.

Twice Charmed is the best show going on DCL these days. There I said it. I know – that is heresy to all the Dreams fanatics out there, but I think it’s the best use of plot and original storyline. I love Disney, but I love Disney best when they create new material. One could argue that writing a sequel is not new material (and I would agree for the most part), but I digress…Dreams is a review of existing material. Twice Charmed is mostly new material with a new score, sets, costumes, and plot that is produced well. I have a CD that was offered of the score when the show debuted. Sadly I did not see it in the gift shop on this trip, but thankfully I have it on my iPod. That is a double edged sword in that I know the words to the songs. Good thing because I was terribly disappointed in the sound (track was way too hot and the piped in voices were too obvious!) and the weak solo voices during the performance. I can see where Disney is using their cast for dual roles (likely characters for meet and greets?), so the musicianship seems to be lacking (or really bad technical crew!). The dancing and acting is pretty good however. But because I do have the CD, I know how good the program CAN sound. That said – we enjoyed the show!

After the show we piled into the Rockin Bar D to see the Alfred and Seymour cabaret show. There was overflow for their act into Diversions. I had to go take some asthma medicine after the show they had me laughing so hard. Those guys can work a room and have a terrific energy about them. They were a little repetitive and obviously have a recipe for their shows, but it’s good stuff on a cruise ship and with some work and lucky breaks, I have to believe they could go bigger than the cruise ship circuit.

We left after the show as we were beat – it was time to crash and call it a night. More gentle rocking and a good night of sleep!

 

[Euphscott]

Day 3 (at sea)

This day – we settled into more realistic sleep patterns for when we are at home. I wake early and Sara sleeps as long as possible! So, when my body awakened, I dressed to go run out on deck. Now I know this will sound crazy, but I enjoy running out on the deck early. The ship is mostly dead around sunrise and there is just a quiet calm that won’t last long. True, I hate the running part, but the sun coming up and cool air with the water sloshing along the sides of the ship – yeah, that is peaceful to me in a big way. And when I finish, I can go up top and enjoy the wide expanse of a gorgeous view. If you don’t catch a sunrise at sea, you are missing a beautiful experience.

But I digress…so I ran a mile on deck 4, ran the stairs up to deck 9 and then walked around and soaked it reminding myself – I am on a cruise!!! Sometimes I need to slow down long enough to remind myself and enjoy the feeling. Once I cooled down some and washed up a little, I grabbed some breakfast and returned to the cabin. Sara was still sleeping when I arrived, so I did the nice thing and opened the curtain, turned on the lights and switched on the TV to the bridge cam. She loves it when I do that! But because I had breakfast most of it was forgiven! Because Palo brunch was on our agenda, we went to work out at the gym and then get ready.

The difficult part for us was that the Gold/Platinum Castaway Cay Club meeting was scheduled the same time as our brunch. So, we asked about moving our reservation so we could go to the function for a short bit then head up. No problems! So we got our picture with Mickey, spoke to a few crew members and then watched a short film. I wanted to stay the whole time, but Palo awaited and we were HUNGRY!!! We had gone 14 whole hours since our last meal – on a cruise ship that is like a week!

The brunch was amazing. Sara went crazy for the crab legs and claws. We tried some wonderful new cheeses and appetizers. We ordered the chicken parmesan, pancakes and something else that did not stand out as much. Sara fell in love with the chicken and I’ve now discovered my favorite breakfast plate ever – those pancakes at Palo rock. And I was half tempted to find out about another reservation just to get a stack of them!! We then had some desserts and again waddled out of Palo.

By this time we figured we need to do some sorting of our pictures, so we went to the gallery and found our pictures and sorted through the bad from the acceptable. We stashed all those that passed the first round and went to go to the next round of shopping talks. This time it was gemstones. And if the first presentation did not doom me, this one sunk my battleship! Last year Sara found a ring she adored. I have to admit it was quite the eye catching bauble. But the price we negotiated when we had no intention of purchasing was staggering. So, she still loved it, I still was haunted by it. But this time, a cruiser had it on and she was spotted. Oh no…Sara ran to assault the woman (remember the Tshirt scene with a 4-5 year old and her work appearing on a T-shirt – well imagine a grown woman running to another with bright flashing bling glinting in her eyes). So they chatted (mostly) quietly while the presentation was going on around them. We then went to consult with Holli what alternatives might exist because I knew there was NO way that ring could be acquired. I was sad I could not do so – but reality is my job, fantasy was hers. And reality sadly wins when it’s not a Disney movie (usually…). SO we did not get anywhere close to winning the raffle – good karma is fading fast this vacation!!!

After the gems, we went to the second art auction and again I earned some trivia raffle entries. This one was worse than the first with offerings, but it seemed to go faster, so I was OK. We went back out on deck to read some more before getting cleaned up for dinner. I don’t recall much about entertainment that night. I think this was the debacle that was Once Upon a Song. This was the stand in for Golden Mickeys which will soon be Villains Tonight. This show is based on singing and recalling classic Disney tunes. But the key word here is singing. And with a weak vocal cast – yeah – we lasted two sets to make sure we did not miss the mark – we didn’t. So we headed over to Studio Sea for a family game show that was WAY more fun – Pirate show of some kind. Our team ended up losing, but the kids had fun on our team.

Oddly enough – this was the night Sara first set foot in Parrot Cay! We had yet to find the room for her to explore and it was the third night of our rotation. So a fun bit of trivia there in that this was the last public room for her to discover. A note about our servers here. We had Conrad from Jamaica and Anik from the Philippines. There could not be two nicer human beings on this planet. But as our servers, they just were not the best. To their credit, they were saddled with probably too many tables it seemed. And the other tables appeared to be really high maintenance. So, we had water glasses go empty often, long stretches of plates empty and not removed or no courses on their way. Thankfully we had wonderful tablemates so we passed the time, but it was not the Disney dining experience we all longed to appreciate. As the week wore on I think they sensed our frustration and worked to do better (bringing two glasses instead of one so the long stretches could be overlooked) and their personalities came out.

I’ll also take this moment to comment on food. Outside of Palo, there was little to rave about. Chicken dishes were always overdone (dry), breads tended to be dry and flavorless, sauces bland, and unless medium rare, steaks were tough. Oh from time to time there were some winning dishes, but in general, just a disappointment. We did however all agree that the buffet food was pretty decent. Perhaps we were grading on a different scale because it was a buffet, but we all liked that food better. Would the food prevent us from returning? No, but Disney can mass produce good food on land in their restaurants, it’s really disappointing that on board their ships they still cannot make better strides.

After dinner we wandered around and looked for something to do. I am not sure what we did now that I check notes. We did not go to the cabaret show as the juggler did not interest us much. We also knew that St. Maarten beckoned the next day, so we called it an evening early.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Loving your report Scott. Thanks for sharing

 

[pumpkin21]

subbing to relive the Magic!

 

[ranidayz]

subbing to relive the Magic!

Ha - Me too! I'm actually subbing to cruise....I took a substitute job just to cruise with Disney......

 

[Euphscott]

Nice Rani!

Everyone needs a goal...

 

[Euphscott]

All right - be forewarned - this is a long one! And if you don't like tales of shopping in the Caribbean, this might be a bad one for you. But as this is also a travel log for our memories, I have to include momentous information for our personal archives. Enjoy!

Day 4 (St. Maarten)

Since we went to bed a little early the night before, my body decided to get up early as well! So, again, I went down to run on the Promenade deck. I got my mile in and ran the stairs to deck 9 to watch our approach to St. Maarten. It had been a few years since I had visited St. Maarten, so I was looking forward to returning. The humidity was rising and as the sun launched off the horizon, I knew it was going to be a warm day.

Prior to leaving for vacation, I looked for excursions as we were not happy with the pricing or offerings Disney provided. I found an ATV excursion offered by Island Marketing. Having taken an excursion with that company on St. Thomas I felt pretty good with how things would operate. So, I booked a 3-4 hour tour where we would ride ATV vehicles from the Dutch side to the French and spend an hour at Orient Beach. This satisfied a few of the options I wanted for our day in port. After a decent amount of sleeping in, I went down to the stateroom and woke Sara. She was not happy as she wanted “just a little more sleep.” I ignored her impassioned pleas with a cold heart. I did bring down breakfast for her from the buffet and we shared an impromptu breakfast in bed, but it was not leisurely since we had places to be. I started the shower and lost all brownie points for not allowing more sleep!

Once we were ready we went out to a deck to observe all that was in port. We had German neighbors in the form of Mein Schiff. This ship used to be the Celebrity Galaxy, but the cruisers onboard were all very German! Each ship’s passengers spent a good deal of time watching one another as we pulled into the port area. A P&O ship also pulled in behind Mein Schiff later that morning (I don’t recall her name, but she looks like a Princess Grand class ship). It did not take long for the ship to be cleared and we set off to find the gangway. Getting off the ship was a quick transition and we were on our way.

Our meeting place was not communicated especially well. There were several different areas in the port that technically could meet the description of our meeting place. So, as the time drew nearer, we began asking around. Thankfully, we found someone that gave good directions and we were the last of the tour to arrive (we do apologize to all those waiting for us – hopefully it was not overly unbearable waiting!). We took a van a couple miles down the road out of downtown and stopped on the side of the road where our ATV’s awaited our arrival. We got very little instruction on how to operate the vehicles, but to be honest; it was not really rocket science! As we took off on the road, there was plenty of space to play and figure out how to maneuver the vehicles. We did ride through the countryside of the Dutch side of St. Maarten on the streets! We did climb a rather steep hill and were rewarded with the most amazing view of Dawn Beach. But alas, we had no idea this was coming, so with no cameras out, I left with only memories of the view! Even with cameras out – it would have been difficult to negotiate the throttle, brakes and camera, so it was best my eyes got all of the scenery I suppose.

We went further into the island and crossed over into St. Martin, which is the French side. We wound around some neighborhoods and through what seemed like the island’s dump. That was a unique experience that allowed us to use the off road capabilities of the ATV. We did some climbing around some very arid places on the island. All the while, we were watching the approaching rain storms over the lush green mountains in the distance. I would guesstimate our driving time was close to 45 minutes to our destination. We entered Orient Beach by way of the Club Orient resort. For those unaware, that is the clothing optional resort on the far end of Orient Beach. We went through the resort right to the beach and if you were alert, one did catch an eyeful of clothing optional bathing! We kept going however and headed further down the beach where more garments were utilized. I am not quite sure why we went into the beach area at the resort we did. It seemed like a lot of road was available to us to get us to our final destination more efficiently. No matter, it was just part of the cultural learning (wow – that sure sounded like Borat!) of foreign travel. We did conclude our travels at the far end of the beach which was a lot less crowded. Yes we did encounter some topless sunbathers and even further down, fully unclothed, but the kids on the tour with us never seemed to notice and flesh was not bared at every turn. The beach and water however were stunningly beautiful. The sand was ultra fine and pearly white. We did walk a bit from our home base of operations and ran into a lot of seaweed, but the water was still crystal clear and just a bit chilly, but plenty comfortable once fully waded into the water. It was a near perfect day for a visit to the beach.

After an hour of free play on the beach, we cleaned up and jumped back on our ATV and feel in line. While we did drive on the street, we were quite safe. We all followed a lead rider and the rear of our caravan had a rider as well. As we would approach intersections or blind spots, the rear rider would race to the front to stand watch for us. I never felt unsafe on the tour. We did see a lot of the island that one might not see without riding into the heart of the island. I enjoyed seeing the sights. My only regret was that we did not have headsets to hear some commentary on the scenery we may have been passing. Even in the French section signs were in English, so we could often read what was in front of us and make up our minds as to what sights we were exploring!

So, once we arrived back to our starting spot, we inquired as to how to go into downtown. The van that was taking the rest of the excursion group to the cruise ship was driving right by downtown, so the driver offered to drop us off at the end of downtown and gave us directions to walk into where we were going. The edge of downtown is a little rough, but we did not feel unsafe. This is down near the casinos, so we just kept walking and in a matter of moments, we were in the middle of the tourist zone.

Now, downtown, we had a few goals. One, we had to pick up some Guavaberry Liquer and two, my wife wanted some bling! Recall our jewel discussions on the ship? Yeah – I was dreading this day!!

We found the Guavaberry store, but kept walking because I knew the weight of the package would be excessive and we had to walk back that direction before leaving anyhow. We went to the first recommended stop for the ring Sara had in mind. She quickly found a salesperson to assist her and lure her with evil shiny jewelry. The first price we got was staggering. But we had been told that if you remain interested and bide your time, you can get a large reduction. So we moped around the store and Sara continued to drool. I literally was ready to walk away because I could just not see any light at the end of the tunnel and I knew we’d be better off looking elsewhere for items of interest. The salesperson did the dance of going to talk to his manager and coming back with a lower price. We did that at least three times I think. By the third time, I was actually seeing something just beyond reach. But still – beyond reach! So, looking for an out, I told Sara we needed to ask to walk a bit and talk. I think at this point the sales guy really was expecting us to not be players. I thought he was right!

Let me go back a little and explain what she was looking for…This was an anniversary trip for us and some circumstances had caused us to use some older diamonds to put together Sara’s wedding jewelry. She owned the diamonds, but they had been used in a previous marriage. Sara had been happy to use them in a new setting with more meaning. But once she saw the Sophia Fiori rings, she was in love. As we walked and talked, we initially agreed, it was just too much. But as we talked, a seed of an idea germinated in my head. I suggested that perhaps if we offered to sell the existing ring Sara wore, what kind of discount would be available? But further I suggested she see if simply salvaging the main diamond and placing in the new ring would be an option. So, with a bit of cautious optimism, we returned to the jewelry store. I truly believe the sales guy was shocked! So, we started wheeling and dealing. The salesman went to the manager and tried a few things. In the interest of making this review much shorter than it could be, we settled on using the center stone from the existing ring and that was it. Of course, the sales guy was thinking that if we got to keep the old ring and bought a colored stone to replace the diamond we would be happier. No – our plan was to take the old gold and remaining diamonds to get cash and pay for the ring. So, we reached an acceptable price and pulled out the credit card (look out below!!!). The sales guys were great to us – they gave us a free CZ to place in the old ring so it looks as it did before and then the new one. We had two hours to kill though for the jeweler to set the stone. Those were likely the longest two hours of Sara’s life.

We wandered down the street to see the Yoda guy (an artist that helped create Yoda in the Star Wars movies) who has set up an art gallery/museum along Front Street in Phillipsburg. We saw some of his movie props and storyboards from the making of the movies. We actually fell in love with a print that was hanging on the wall. It was a little small, so we asked if he had any others. He did not, that was the last of them. So, we told him we wanted that one – but in a different color scheme for our house. He had his assistant re-mat the print and we were proud owners of a beautiful print that he graciously personalized for us. With purchase, he allows you to go inside his museum for free where he had a lot of character photos, original scripts and models from the movies he worked on (Superman, Krull, and others in addition to Star Wars). He also had face molds of Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon Bonaparte that I found fascinating. Assuming they are genuine, it was a pretty remarkable observation.

So, we still had time to kill and we found ourselves down at the Guavaberry Emporium. I sprang for a Guavaberry Colada after we ate some dry cereal brought from the breakfast buffet (we figured we might not get a lunch – and this helped). Sara fell in love and admitted that this was likely the best fruity drink she’d ever had. So, two bottles of Guavaberry were purchased to bring home!

We did a little shopping for me and found a necklace that matched a bracelet Sara had bought me the year before. But by this time, she was stir crazy wanting to go to find her new ring! So, we went back to the store. Sadly, it was still not ready, but they called the shop (which was down near the Yoda guy!) and told them it was ready. The salesman went to go get it and we went back out on the street to find a public restroom and kill a little more time. Once complete we returned to the jeweler and finally her ring was complete. She was thrilled with the new purchase and has continued to beam for weeks since! The salesman pulled out a bag and told me he had a gift for me as well. I was a little taken back, but it was a nice bottle of Absolut Vodka with a really nice cover. I have to believe that while we got a price that was 80% off the listed retail price, they must have made a nice profit anyway! So everyone was happy – and we will be taking our new ring in for appraisal at our trusted local jeweler today hoping we did not get taken to the cleaners! Now – I must say that multiple times we ran into Holli our onboard shopping guru. She encouraged Sara (of course she does – she likely is getting some commission in sending us to approved stores!) along the way indicating that it was a good deal we had struck. I know the business relations these shopping people have with the stores on the islands, but I felt Holli was genuine with us for the most part. And since misery loves company, Sara shared concerns with another cruise passenger in the same store looking at a similar room. Both women commiserated that they worried about the price. But Sara had spoken with the first passenger about the same ring and had been given glowing reviews, so we went with that.

What a rush all that was. As a result we need decompression – so with a gorgeous day of weather and lovely scenery – we decided to walk back to the port. It was maybe a 20 minute walk for us. We then grabbed a few slices of pizza on board as we had long since missed the lunch buffet and late seating dinner was still many hours in the future. We hit some hot tub time and reading on lounges prior to pulling out of port.

We showered and got ready for dinner as it was Pirate night! The ship seemed to come alive with many dressing the part and getting into the act of piracy on the high seas. Dinner was bland as we were becoming accustomed, but the dining room (we were in Lumiere’s) was jumping with a renewed energy. It was as if the cruise had gotten stale, but hitting land re-energized everyone and reminded us we were all truly on vacation! Of course Pirate night means the deck party outside. The cruise staff led a frenetic dance party with the pirate story and Captain Mickey doing his part to bring joy to all. The fireworks at seas always have been a nice touch and this night was no exception. It was a clear evening and the sky lit up with plenty of bright lights and radiant colors. Having late seating dining, we just had no use for the on-deck buffet, so we passed and headed to bed as St. Thomas beckoned the next day!

 

[pumpkin21]

Scott -
As the fellow ATVer's we didn't wait long for you as we too were confused as to where to meet. The instructions on how to operate the ATV's was limited - gas, brake, horn. I was glad that I was familiar with driving an ATV at our cottage. It was a beautiful view of the beach at the top of the hill, my hubby tried to snap a few photos but it would have been nicer to stop for a photo op. As for Orient Beach - you are right - I did warn the kids that it was clothing optional but they didn't even seem to notice. They were too busy enjoying the surf.
Glad that you and Sara found a great ring in the end!

 

[canabrits2]

Hey, I'm glad Sara got her ring!! Great story so far! We're booked for the Magic on the Eastern itinerary next May, so I'm living vicariously through others until then.

 

[Euphscott]

You are right Pumpkin - VERY limited instructions - but it all worked out well. I did enjoy the excursion in spite of the limitations.

Thank you Canabrits - you will LOVE the Eastern - hopefully you can tell we enjoyed it so far.

 

[Euphscott]

Day 5 (St. Thomas)

If there was a renewed energy to the cruise in general, we had been zapped by putting ourselves out there. We had been to St. Thomas the previous year. In our visit, we toured nearly all the island trying to avoid traffic and catch a catamaran sail to St. John. We could just not figure out what we wanted to do. Ideally I think we would have grabbed a ferry and then rented scooters on St. John to see the inner parts of the island. But after spending a lot and just hitting mid week of the cruise, we were a little tired. So, we decided just to walk into town and take it easy. It is a long walk, but it is waterside and very pretty. And by this time, we’d been eating cruise food for 4 days, a long walk or two would not hurt anyone!

I did get up early again and ran another mile on deck, so I was doing good – but perhaps starting to wear down! But again, I brought breakfast and Sara was happy with that. We were ready to debark when the gangway was opened. I am not sure if were off too soon or if Disney has gotten wise, but we never had a picture to take as we were getting off the ship. I have to believe those shots are as hated as the embarkation shots, except I know some people actually buy the embarkation picture (for what reason I cannot fathom – but hey different strokes – just let me on the ship!!). Anyhow – I always hate how slow the lines go in trying to get off the ship because you feel compelled to take a picture you know looks bad and will not buy! So yay Disney for making an adjustment (assuming I was just not too fast for you!).

Once we made it to downtown we wandered and visited the Hublot gallery where I drooled over my “someday” watch and played with the security features that safely tuck the watches on display in case you get too close. We toured the Bernard Passman gallery as well – this too being a case of someday jewelry on display. We eventually found the same store that we purchased the ring from in St. Maarten. The beauty (in Sara’s mind anyway!) is the there is a middle ring that is interchangeable with multi colored diamond options. We decided to walk into the store to see things and (perhaps Sara had this in mind!) gloat about her newest purchase. What we discovered was a large selection of items we did not see in St. Maarten. So, Sara explored! We did find a rose gold filler ring that we had not seen previously and once placed in her ring, it really was a nice addition. This got Sara to thinking. They did bargain back and forth, but never got to a price we felt strongly about. So, we begged to go walk and think some. We wandered St. Thomas a good bit and picked up some small items for family and friends. We really were wearing out and decided we’d had enough. So, we walked back to the ship to get lunch, but with plans to hit the pool which we suspected would be empty with many on tours or shopping.

As we rounded the corner, we saw that we had neighbors. Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas and the Carnival Glory had pulled in next to us. These behemoths brought a mass of humanity to the Havensight area and tram up to Paradise Point. We were happy to be returning to the calm of the Disney Magic!

As we ate lunch, we discussed the ring and decided that since this line of rings were not sold in the US and the only way to get them was to head to the Caribbean, that if she wanted to get the ring, we might need to go back. We put a number in our head we were comfortable with and headed back to town. We took a cab as plenty were leaving and asking if we wanted a ride. I picked up a shirt and shorts as well that I had missed on the way, but I figured I could just do without. We went in the store and they could not find the ring! Surely it had not been sold. But after an extensive search they found it and agreed to our price. All was well until Sara found a flaw in the ring that was not acceptable to her. The store manager looked at it under a loop and felt it might just be dust. They steamed the ring and sure enough, it was a flaw. They gave her an upgraded ring for the same price and gave what seemed like good customer service. So, Sara now has two rings to swap in and out – she has a blue option (in the form of blue diamonds) or rose gold for a little classier feel. Back to the ship I commanded and NO more spending of money!!

We did beat most of the traffic back to the ship and got a little more reading on deck in before we went to go clean up for show time and dinner. This night was a new round of entertainers on board. We were looking forward to this infusion of new and we were not disappointed!

I do not recall without my notes the name of the comedian, but he was high energy and quite funny. We went to the adult cabaret show in Rockin Bar D after late seating dinner. We went with our dinner mates and had a good time. We were laughing really hard and enjoyed Heath (I think that was his name). We stuck around for the One Hit Wonders night with the cruise staff. That worked out to be quite fun. The staff was offering free shots to anyone that could run up on stage and give either the song name or band name as the DJ spun some tunes. Sara got the first one and I got the last one of the night: odd how that worked. But we enjoyed the high energy of the songs that never seemed to produce long lasting careers. We stuck around a little longer once the live band took over – but me not being a dancer, I gave out quickly!

So off to the cabin we went - a sea day to follow!!

 

[Euphscott]

Day 6 – at sea

We had intended to catch a theater showing of Alice in Wonderland on board the ship, so this was our day. There was big incentive to catch this here because neither of us really thought too much of it and had no intention of paying for tickets to see the film (sorry Disney!). So, we showed up about 20 minutes ahead of time to get our seats. It was shown in 3D in the Buena Vista theater, so we collected our glasses and found decent seats – right next to our evening table mates! The movie was about as I expected. It was a decent vacation time eater – and I was right on that I would not want to pay to see it in the theater. Sara thought it was a little better than that, but since it was part of our cruise – why not!?

We then went to lunch (again? Already?) and brought our Kindles with us to read on deck some more. We then went to the final art auction of the week. A lot of money seemed to flow out at this one, but nothing sparked our interest or our budget. I did however I was the name on the very last ticket they pulled out had my name on it!! So for $20 shipping I had a piece of artwork (although it has not arrived a month later) that is interesting, but maybe not something I’d pay for. We’ll see how it works out once it arrives.

We spent a little more time reading on deck and enjoying the sea pass us by. Really this is one of the great thrills of cruising – the lazy afternoons with sun and sea. Unfortunately it was a little windy and chilled. We were heading back towards the mainland. While we were still in swimsuits – it was on the edge of comfort. We returned to our room to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.

We shot some photos and did some shopping and then went to see Disney Dreams. Now I know it is heresy to DCL fanatics to bash Disney Dreams. But after so many viewings (and yes I do notice the changes) it’s just tired. I suppose if it is your first viewing it may have some appeal – but the whole review feel of the show is not my thing. I’d much rather have a single plot not based on greatest hits of Disney movies (a la Twice Charmed). I fear for Villains tonight as it seems like a villain version of Dreams – we’ll see how that turns out. We then went to do a little photo scavenging to make sure we got everything as we did not want to wait for the last day rush. We found our favorites and got out of the photo area with only two shots!

Dinner was Parrot Cay and we had a nice time. We went to the cabaret show which was Freddy Fusion. He was fun and had a nice set. We laughed and had a good time. We did not stick around to dance as we were dragging – how do you drag if all you did all day was lounge and act like a vegetable?! We found a way – it’s vacation after all!