Eastern Magical Reunion 10/13-Updated 11-4 small pics added & last day

[Claudine&John]

This is going to be a bit long so I apologize for the long winded-ness.
Day One:
The whole cast=16 family, MIL, FIL, three BIL's, three SIL's, a Dnephew, Dniece, D-Aunt with her DS, My DW and my two DD's (3&5) and myself...phew..

We arrived in Orlando around 9:35-9:40 am Saturday and headed to the Disney Transportation buses located in the main terminal. I was surprised by the check-in line for the busses as the last time we came to WDW there was no line at all and no waiting. Just as I’m about to get in the monstrous line I was greeted by an extremely nice lady who asked me what resort we were headed to. I replied that we weren’t headed to a resort this time, but we were in fact going on the Mickey Ship…..yes that’s exactly what I said. I had been saying it my DD (age3) for the whole flight and it just kind of slipped out. The nice lady said “Oh, well your in the wrong line sir, please follow me.” I follow her about 15 feet away to a desolate line with 4-5 tellers looking at me ready to take my info. When I walked up I thought that line was for something that could never, ever possibly be related to anything I could ever want, need or be involved in. I think I sort of floated to the front of that line as I could feel the glare and admiration of all the other line folk trapped in the mire of the “resort-only” line. DCL is cool…. I signed in and was handed tickets for the bus and told where to go. This process took all of about 45 seconds. DW and the girls didn’t even have time enough to sit down and wait for me. We all walked over to the bus corral line which is where you walk into paddock like roped off areas and they assign you a bus. Once again I meet another extremely nice lady and she proceeds to show me into yet another completely empty corral. Once again….DCL is COOOOOL… ..We waited in the corral for about five minutes when we could see the DCL bus roll into a spot outside the corrals and yet another extremely nice lady greeted me and led us to the bus. We got on and sat in the first seat right behind the driver. We waited another 5-10 minutes for the bus to fill up and we were off. The drive to the port was uneventful with the exception of seeing the Magic for the first time in person. I’m not sure if they planned it this way, but the road leading into the terminal does a little switchback thing and you get to see the ship from several different angles up close….it just adds to the anticipation. We walked into the terminal at 11:05 am. I immediately got on the “first timers” line which seemed like once again the shorter of the two lines available. I looked at my watch and timed the wait…..12 minutes, that’s how long it took to get through it. There is so much to look at in that line that you don’t even notice the time go by. I walked up to the meet the cast member at the check in and this process took roughly 3.5 minutes….man are they good. Say it with me folks…”DCL is COOOOOOL”. . All checked in I went to meet the girls and find a bottle of water to quench my thirst from having my jaw hanging wide open for the last twenty minutes. We also met up with the rest of our party which was to be 16 total. I had received boarding pass #8 in line and when I met up with the girls they had already bumped into my BIL and he had #3 and had been there only 10-15 minutes before us. Some of the rest of our party came over just a few minutes later with pass #10 & #11. Then the boarding started….it really didn’t seem like it took that long, I didn’t time it because I was too busy looking around and taking everything in, in reality we may have waited about 30 mins. My BIL boarded with his #3 pass with instructions from me on how to get to Rockin Bar D to change all our Palo ressies to the same night, and to meet us at Topsiders. He boarded and about 5 mins later DW gets a call from him stating that the computers are down and they can’t change anything at the moment….DOH!... Our number is finally called out and as it happens, if you are traveling with a big party say for a reunion or something, only one person in your party needs to show up at the terminal early. Everyone in our party boarded with us at #8 and we actually could have gone on with my BIL at #3 but as such we were unaware of this tip. I’m sure it’s on this board somewhere but I’ve never heard/read it. We all had our embarkation photo taken together and then it was time to board. We walked down the gangplank and were officially announced. Since we all have different last names they just announced us in successive fashion and we all got the same round of applause. We made our way to Topsiders and met up BIL and SIL who were already engaged in a game of beer pong on deck 9. We got in the lunch line and gazed at the splendor that is the BUFFET…. I think I ate although it was more of an extended inhale with a ceremonious napkin dab.
I excused myself to go Rockin Bar D to see if I could straighten out the Palo ressies for our whole group as we all wanted to eat together, 11 adults total, and I figured they might have the computers up at this point. They still had no computer server and no paper backup so no ressie changes, no new ressies, no nada. I was told by the manager to come to Palo right at 5:00 PM and see if the computer had come up yet. After the Palo two step I went to meet DW at the Oceaneers club where she was checking the girls in and getting our pager. The club is really an interesting place right down to the bathrooms being sized just for the kiddies. There was a weird smell though and working in the water and wastewater treatment industry I was able to identify it fairly quickly….it’s a sewer gas smell. It might have just been a port thing though because I didn’t smell it the rest of the week and I never heard anyone else even talk about it….could a been me, although I’m not owning up to that one….
With the kids checked in and tummys full it was time to check out the room and get the DD’s into their bathing attire. We walked to our room 6036 from the kids club and I was shocked at how quickly we got there. It seemed like no time at all and we were on the veranda checking out the space shuttle launch building in the distance. DW got the girls ready and I slipped on the ole trunks for a dip in the pool. DW stayed in the room to unpack and get settled while I took the girls to the mickey pool. The pool was pretty sparsely populated and we pretty much occupied one corner of it with my BIL’s & SIL’s and my MIL & FIL. We had a great time catching up and buying each other giant beers in the glass mug…emmm glass mug of beer…aHEMM where was I….oh yes…the mickey pool. The girls were having loads of fun when the announcement came on regarding the lifeboat drill. It’s good to prepare the kiddies for this one, because if yours are anything like mine they won’t want to leave the pool for ANYTHING. They reluctantly joined me for the short walk to our room and we met up with DW who was already unpacked and trying to shove a giant suitcase under the bed. I’ve read on the DIS about the abundance of space under the beds…ummm yeah…there is quite a bit of space under there but if you have a suitcase that can double as a tuba carrier you may want to bring a plastic bag and stow it on the veranda if you have one. We ended up storing two suitcases out there and it worked out fine, there is plenty of room behind either chair and if it rains you just bring them inside for a bit.
Another announcement came over the loud speaker and we were told to don the life vests and make our way to the muster station. We made our way to deck 4 to meet up with our potential life boat friends when I noticed something I found interesting. Please don’t flame me here but I made an observation and thought I’d share it since it may be food for thought for someone else and DCL may want to include it in their safety planning. I am involved in construction and therefore have safety on the brain…..here goes….again, this is JUST an observation……we lined up with our backs facing the ship with the tallest in the back and shortest up front. I was in the back of our line due to my height when I nearly fell over due to a person sitting down behind me. The person sitting was there because they could not stand for the drill due to morbid obesity. I am not thin by any stretch of the definition and I do not discriminate against anyone for being overweight, however in the event of an evacuation it would be my job and probably the job of several other men in the vicinity to get this person into the lifeboat. If we were able to accomplish this it would mean that a lifeboat slated to hold 150 persons would actually be holding a few more than that. Again, nothing against being overweight, but you may want to rethink the whole cruise thing if you are unable to stand for a 5 minute safety drill. As there were only three crew members assigned to our group and none of them looked overly strong, other passengers would be required to help save this person and in a panic situation safety would be compromised. O.k., enough of that, again JUST and observation.
The drill was completed and we were on our way back up to the mickey pool to satisfy the DD’s hunger for all things wet and splashy. We hung around there for another ½ hour or so and then made our way back to our cabin to get dressed for dinner. While the girls were getting ready I ran up to Palo to, once again, try to wrestle the whole group ressie thing. I spoke with the manager and explained that most of us had reservations on Friday night and the others had reservations for about an hour from now so I’d like to resolve the matter quickly so I can not only find them and let them know about it but not have to come back again. He was very understanding and we had a collective laugh about my desire to please the in-laws, and the fact that I had sprinted up several flights of stairs several times to try and resolve this issue. He explained to me that I should tell the people who have reservations for tonight to come anyway or not and that he would work something out for the 11 of us later in the week. I left with a somewhat satisfied feeling but the issue still wasn’t resolved completely so I still had it hanging over my head. At this point the girls were back on deck dressed for dinner and dancing away in the sail away party, which I missed 90% of because of the Palo thing…..and yes I missed the horn..somehow, it really is a different world inside Palo. With the sail away party over I explained to some of our extended family that they could either go to Palo tonight and then at the end of the week with the rest of us, OR they could have dinner with everybody tonight and wait for Palo until the end of the week. As it turned out DW, the DD’s and I showed up for dinner at Animators Palate (we had the APL rotation) and found out that our table of 16 was going to be 10. Fitz, the head server, and I had a round about conversation about Palo and reservations, in laws, number of high chairs, two tables put together, added seats…..this conversation took approximately 10 seconds and with a snap of his fingers he had us situated and seated and I was looking for the nearest cocktail. It just so happens that the first night you are in Animators Palate is the only night they do the whole light show thing. It was very cool and the music added to the effect, we had really good seats for seeing the entire room and it was very special for the DD’s. I was a little upset that the rest of our party wasn’t there to see it but they were having their own fun. I don’t remember what I had to eat, only that there was some kind of bisque involved and it was REALLY good. Our servers were Richard from Jamaica and Emma from the UK. Richard was very attentive and efficient and did a competent job all week. Emma was very sweet to our DD’s and was spot on with all of our likes and dislikes by day two. My DD (5yr) went shopping in St. Thomas with the sole purpose of getting something for Emma. As it turned out she had something for her almost every night, drawings, cards….you name it, she was really special and made dinner a carefree experience every night. We finished dinner and decided to walk around a bit before we headed back to the room. We saw our embarkation photo and laughed a bit at our “stepford” appearance and how we all looked like we were in a haze. Making our way back up to our room we checked out some of the doors decorated with “Cruise-a-palooza” magnets and admired all of the creativity. Our bellyful group made it to the cabin and opened our door to find our beds turned down, and a weird sort of towel pile on the bed. I got a little closer and realized it was a dog!! The DD’s were so exited by it and we all admired our room attendant’s towel-gami skills. At some point the TV got turned on and we all sacked out watching Lilo & Stitch…..

Thus endeth day one.

 

[Kay1]

I love all the details.

But people line up according to height for the drills? That means toddlers are expected to stand at the front while their parents are at the back?

 

[KREquadt]

I love all the details.

But people line up according to height for the drills? That means toddlers are expected to stand at the front while their parents are at the back?

Each stateroom of 2-4 people forms its own little line shortest to tallest...

 

[KREquadt]

Stay long-winded!! Love the specifics!

We are heading onto the eastern on 11/10 for a family reunion (celebrating mom's bday with 5 other adults and 7 kids).

It sounds like they accomodated you all at a single table - do you think this was something just your server did for you or that most large groups would be accomodated?

keep it coming!

 

[frdeb1999]

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[Claudine&John]

Yes they did accomodate us with a large table because we had linked our dinner reservations. I don't know what the limit on size would be though. The first night we showed up to dinner at Animators Palate and actually had two tables that were next to eachother, so I asked the head waiter if we could have just one table and then the rest of the week we all sat together.

 

[Kay1]

Each stateroom of 2-4 people forms its own little line shortest to tallest...

Oh! That makes a lot more sense.

 

[Claudine&John]

sorry for the typos...

Day two:

Throughout the night we felt the slight rocking of the boat and the sensation could be compared to sleeping on a bus traveling down the highway. Only this bus has nice sheets and pillows and bars, pools, restaurants ….DCL is sooo cool. I woke up a few times but I can just attribute that to excitement for the day to come and wanting to get a look at the Cove Café as early as possible. DW and I are hopelessly addicted to the little brown bean and it’s delightful side affects. I woke up to a bland grey sky and a whole lot of wind on the veranda. I really wanted to get a look at that famed sunrise but it wasn’t going to happen today. I went up on deck to get some java for DW and myself and looked to see if the Cove Café was open….it wasn’t…I can’t remember the time that they open but it’s later than we usually get up, however, later on in the trip I started to realize why they opened later….I started sleeping IN!!! therefore I was waking up to a wonderful latte to start my day. DCL is not only cool…their smart too, counting on my increased laziness was very clever indeed.
When I got back with the coffee the girls were getting around and making rotating trips to the toiletron. I want to take a second here to describe the sound that comes out of the toilet. Again, if you’ve been following along you already know I work in the water and wastewater industry and was simply blown away by the flush on this thing….it’s just different, and you have to experience it to know what I’m talking… err writing about. I drank some coffee in the wind tunnel veranda area, it was clearly and exercise that Chevy Chase would have engaged in while muttering to himself about being on vacation and so forth. It was RELAXING……..
After wind coffee it was time to gather the crowd and head to Parrot Cay for our character breakfast. We sat at our usual table and ordered breakfast from a simple menu. Your not really there for the food but it was pretty good. I had to eggs over easy and that’s exactly what I got and they were very tasty. After the food was served several characters made the rounds dancing and getting the kiddies to come and join them on the dance floor fro some early am partying. It was cut and everything but the character breakfast in WDW at the Contemporary is WAYYY better, and much more relaxing. This was a bit too high energy for being so early in the morning. The meet and greet at the tables is much more laid back and intimate. The characters did a final dance around the room and did a conga with the kids and servers. Once the room died down a bit our big group slit up and made way for different parts of the ship.

DW and I took the DD’s to the OC to see what was going on and drop them off for a little free time. DW went to the spa for a facial and I went to deck 4 to run around the track and get some fresh air. A-hem…FRESH AIR… I tried running for a bit but after about the fourth lap the guy with giant, freakish sized cigar had smoked me out and I had to make way to the gym for a tread mill. All the better anyway because the gym is really nice and very well equipped. There were some treadmills in the front of the main room that overlook the bow of the ship and while traveling along at 21 knots it makes for an interesting view and even more interesting run. I ran a bit and did some stretching and then headed back to the room for a shower. Shortly after I got back to the room DW came in and was a glow in the feeling of a really good facial. She looked five years younger…..psst, guys did you read that last sentence?? If your DW gets a facial she will look younger so tell her so, immediately after she walks through the door.
All cleaned up and ready to go we went up the OC to get the DD’s and see if they wanted to get some lunch. Off to Topsiders and the buffet de good stuff once more. The buffet was extremely crowded so we decided to get some items from Goofys Galley and head back to the room to eat as it was raining a bit and there were no inside tables to be had. On our way back to the room one of the DD’s managed to bump into DW and spill all the food on the floor….a fact I was not privy to until I had nearly finished one of the tuna salad wrap rolls….yeah…nice. DW had gone back up to get more booty and DD’s and I ate while we waited. DW came back with some really good stuff that I had apparently missed and we ate some more.
After a bit of a cool down session we made our way to the Walt Disney Theatre for The Golden Mickey’s matinee show. We weren’t really missing anything outside at this point because it was raining but the matinee time really seemed to work well for us all week anyway. The show was good and the CM’s are very talented. It was kind of a multi sampler of different Disney shows and movies and was very entertaining. The girls loved seeing the princesses and the costumes. After it the show it was back to the cabin for DD3y and me to nap while DD5yr and DW went on deck as it looked like the weather was clearing up a bit. They came back in what seemed like 30 seconds but it was really more like an hour or two.
Sunday evening saw us making our way to Parrot Cay for formal night. It’s a great restaurant and the décor is not really formal, but at the same time, the wait staff puts on a good show and they made it very nice. We were all dressed up including the DD’s in their new “Posh” dresses that they were so exited about from the day we bought them….two months prior to the cruise. Somehow they never made it into a closet, they just hung in the front hall waiting to be packed, in my suitcase of course, for the cruise. I kept imagining someone opening my suitcase and two frilly posh dresses come flying out….we took some pictures and then headed to Studio Sea for a family dance party. The girls cut a rug while I tried to look cool and let my food digest over in the corner. The party was fun, they did some line dancing and so forth and we left to go back to the cabin to check out the latest in towel gami goodness. Our attendant made us a walrus and it was pretty funny looking. We turned on the tele again and resolved to spend the night relaxing in the cabin when my in-laws showed at the door. They came in and hugged the kids and for a fleeting moment I envisioned that they were going to offer to watch the kids for the evening….but nope, they just came by to let us know they were on their way to 80’s night. They were psyched to be headed for an evening out and DW and I had a collective smile because we were both happy that they were enjoying themselves. We sat back, relaxed and then it happened again, complete blackout, I’m telling you I slept like a corpse all week. The next thing I knew it was morning.

 

[Claudine&John]

Day Three:

We awoke in a daze and realized that the sun had come up and that it looked like it was going to be a glorious day. Well, really what day isn’t glorious on the magic…? Hmmm? I did my usual jaunt up three flights of stairs to deck nine to get DW and I our morning fix. Once again Cove Café was still closed, but this time I noticed someone standing at the counter. I walked through the already partially opened door and asked if they had indeed opened. The CM behind the counter didn’t even look up and responded, “TEN MORE MINUTES”…now I’m not one for nitpicking, but how hard would it have been for the lovely, talented, and often under appreciated barrista to just fire up the ole java machine and crank me out a couple latte’s …not to hard right? I didn’t stay for ten minutes as my need for the bean was calling and I knew the girls were getting ready to go to breakfast AND I was already behind the 8 ball. I walked over to get the “free” coffee from the deck 9 oasis and made my way back to the room. On my way I noticed that the barrista extraordinaire had indeed turned away yet another PAYING customer and I watched as the women got ready to complain. She put up the ceremonial, “it’s only five minutes” argument and I noticed that this had no impact on the CM whatsoever. Leaving the Cove was always a little tricky with two cups of coffee so I watched as the women stormed off and I followed her so she could open the door for me. DCL should put out little cardboard carriers by the drink station….just a suggestion, and maybe they are there but I never saw them. I think next cruise I’m going to bring my own travel mug because it has a handle and can hold a heck of a lot more coffee. After the complainer opened the door for me I said thank you very much and now in the comfort and solitary environment of the forward elevator area I voiced my opinion to her about our lovely barrista and her undying work ethic. Here is another tip for DCL, if a customer actually wants to pay you for coffee, you should welcome them in and tell them to have a seat and wait a minute while you do…etc. I would have been good with that, as I’m sure most would. I just have a weakness for the brown goodie hot water and needed to move on with my day, however I usually jump at the chance to hang out and sit….
I eventually made it back to the room and handed DW her coffee to which here response was, “what no latte’s?”…..
We got dressed and made it up to Topsiders for the buffet de-plenty and I found that I also have another weakness, fresh pineapple, oh and crispy cream donuts…and sausage, eggs, toast with peanut butter, bacon, more coffee…the buffet is really great and not being used to having breakfast I was in heaven every morning. We then took the girls to the Oceaneers club to check out what was going on and DW and I actually went to Quiet Cove to relax and take in some sun. We arrived to a sun drenched deck with many open loungers and a virtually empty pool. My back was bothering me a bit so I decided to take a quick dip in the hot tub where I met a fellow DIS-er. We had both been posting on a pre trip DIS meet thread and I realized it was her after we got talking and she mentioned that she would be doing the goofy challenge in January. For anyone who doesn’t know what this means it’s a challenge in which you complete the Disney Half marathon on Saturday and then the Marathon on Sunday. That’s a total of almost 40 miles in two days….yeah. Being that there aren’t too many people doing it I put two & two together. I am going to be doing the half marathon in preparation for a half ironman next summer and wanted to get used to the distance for the run portion, so we had a good chat about training and so forth. She did tell me about a marathon thread on the DIS but for the life of me I can’t remember where she said to go to access it. With my tub time over I went back to sit and bake with DW. We sat there for maybe five minutes when I looked up to see the sun shrouding a figure in front of me that appeared to have a tray and was asking if anyone wanted a bloody mary. This was no angel, but it may as well been. I ordered a bloody mary and DW declined as it was only 10:00 am. After I put in my order a couple next to me, who had turned down the sun laden siren, called her back over and ordered two bloody mary’s for themselves. The guy then turned to me and told me I was a bad influence…..this was not the first time I had ever heard this….and I would not be the last time on this trip some random person would say the same thing. I think they may be on to something. Drink in hand and with the sun doing its job, I drifted off into vacation wonder-world. It was about 5 minutes in wonderful-drink-sun-relax time that something next to DW started making an odd noise….it was that little black leash, known only to parents as the PAGER. “….. …… would like to be picked up at the Oceaneers Club deck 5 midship”. DW let’s out a big sigh and goes to get DD-5yr. Apparently she was bored, however DW and I think she wanted to “test the waters” to see how fast our response time was. With DD in hand and the other DD content to hang in the club DW took DD-5yr for a walk around the ship and a bit of shopping, while I stayed in the Cove to finish my Bloody Mary. Trying desperately to not let the guilt weigh in on me I slowly finished my drink and savored every last bit of celery before making my way back to the cabin. I found nobody there so I decided to do a little ship exploration of my own. I wandered by the internet café and decided to sit down and try to check my e-mail. I spent a half hour trying to get into my remote e-mail before giving up and heading around to find more trouble/ways to spend $$. I wandered forward and checked out the shops and the bars and hoped to see more of each before the end of the cruise but it would end up being one and not the other. I managed to leave the key to the world (again, very clever naming of that one on Disney’s part) in my pocket for the duration of that sojourn and headed back to the cabin to find the girls. DW and DD-5yr were there and DD was showing off her hair braid that she had gotten, very cute indeed. We collectively decided to go and get DD-3yr at the club and head up to deck nine for some lunch. Today we decided to grab a table by the pool and eat from Goofy’s Galley, which was a burger, chicken sandwich type place. They had veggie burgers too and DW was pretty happy about that. If you’ve been to WDW it’s very similar to the cafeteria food they have, simple, good and they have pictures of everything so you can sort of see what you are getting. We sat and had a good lunch and tried to get the DD’s to eat something before thier bodies exploded from anticipation and proximity to the MICKEY POOL!!. DW took the DD’s in the pool while I got us some much needed libationary refreshment. I got myself a giant beer and DW her first Pina Colada, which she REALLY liked. The DD’s were having a great time in the pool and I finally convinced DD 5yr to take a trip down the Mickey Slide. I walked up the stairs with her and held her hand until she had to go up the final spiral staircase to the precipice of the swirly yellow water fury. She is tentative by nature and usually won’t do something unless she is absolutely certain of a no-boo boo clause. She made her way up to the top and I kept watch waiting for her to come back down. She looked very concerned as she got closer to her turn and I was sure she was going to turn around when all of the sudden she was next in line. I could still see the dire look of panic on her face when she turned to look at the CM that was posted at the top of the slide. When she turned again she had a big smile on her face and some of the other kids in the line were laughing. I don’t know what he said, but in an instant she was hurdling down the slide and ended with a SPOOOOSH at the bottom. She jumped up and was laughing…it was a great sight for this proud daddy. There are CM’s on this boat that will make your whole day for you, and I think it’s what truly separates DCL from the rest. We continued to splash around for a bit until the DD’s looked like they could use a break, and perhaps a cookie.

After the splashy fun we headed to the cabin to get ready to go and see the show. This day it was “Twice Charmed” and it is a new twist on the classic tale of Cinderella. We really enjoyed this show as well and were amazed again at the quality of the performers and the enthusiasm they put into each character. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone so just go and see it, none of the theatre shows are long by any means and it’s worth it to see the look on a little girls face when a princess is on stage.

We went back to the room and relaxed for a bit, and somehow, DD 3yr and I ended up on the bed and the rest is a bit of a blur. I remember the faint snore of a cuddly toddler and then that was it, I was out.

I awoke to DW blow drying her hair and the wonderful sound of waves crashing against the hull. It’s a sound that you’ll take with you if you have a veranda. We really enjoyed our veranda and it added so much to the experience for me. That’s not to say it would have been worse without it but it was so nice to hang out in peace and quiet with just the waves and the wind. It was almost time to go to dinner and tonight was Lumieres (sp?) and the attire….cruise casual. I jumped in the shub for a quick de-coppertoning and made myself presentable. We headed over to Lumieres and made a quick stop in the atrium to gawk at Cinderella who already had a line that rivaled Soarin on a busy Saturday. We had to walk right past her to get into Lumieres so the DD’s were so close….but no picture. We were seated and the menus came out. I had been looking forward to trying the escargot so I quickly scanned the menu and found it as a featured appetizer. Every evening the menus have all the selections in one area and then a separate part for what the chef suggests and a wine paring to go with it. DW and I had purchased the wine package so I picked out a nice Chard which is DW’s favorite and chose my food appropriately. There was a toss up between the escargot and another appetizer which I can’t remember, but even with months of prep and time to think about the snails, I was actually thrown off my game by some other choice. This happened a lot during the week and I thought to myself I could just order two at once, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I stuck with the snails and enjoyed every last buttery-garlic-ee-cheesy bite. I had baked stuffed fish for my main course and crème brulee for desert. It was a really good meal and I savored every bite. After dinner we headed back to the room to make ready for a jammie trip to the movies.

I never thought in a million years that I would go see a movie on vacation. I thought, “that’s not what I do on vacation, I would be having to much fun to stop and watch a movie….right?” wrong dude, there are times on this trip when your belly is full, there is a slight rockin to the boat and a movie sounds REALLY good. We went to the Buena Vista theatre and walked in to get some seats. The theatre is really cool, we have a cineplex in our town, but it can’t hold a candle to this place. The seating is stadium style and while it’s a bit cramped for a person over 6’ tall it’s by no means uncomfortable. I think they definitely designed it with kids in mind because the steep angle of the theatre provides for better sightlines and room for everyone. The movie was Ratatouille and it was pretty funny, but honestly, between the chard and the snails, I was pretty shot. The kids laughed a lot and when it was over we took them back to the cabin for shut-eye and a wave serenaded lullaby.

 

[tidoublegger]

Awesome report!! We were supposed to cruise with you but had to postpone until December. We can live vicariously through you!! Can't wait for the next installment!!! Tracy : )

 

[Claudine&John]

Thank you! We had such a great time and you will too. I read a lot of reports before we went and I thought I had a decent idea of what to expect. When it was all over I wanted to write my own report to remember it better and to give it my own spin. The trip lived up to all expectations and exceeded some as well, but it was definately different from what I expected.

I'll post day 4 tommorow....it's St. Maarten and sailing on a multi-million dollar yacht.

 

[Claudine&John]

Day Four St. Maarten:

We awoke to a partially shrouded sun on the morning we sailed into St. Maarten. I walked out on the veranda where DW was already gazing at the shoreline and snapping a few photos. I made myself presentable to go on my morning coffee run when DW said that she would do it. Well, sweet as she is she must have had a little pixie dust with her because she came back with, you guessed it, TWO LATTE’s. I was surprised as I didn’t realize the that the Café was open on early mornings, however, she had actually gone there after opening time and I came to another realization….it was LATE! I slept in…(the crowd let’s out a collective breath of surprise) Armed with my Latte I went back on the veranda to film the ship backing in to the port. It was a unique site and one I’ll never forget, partially because I filmed it but also because it was just not something you see everyday. A little powerboat came up along side the Magic with a guy hanging off the side. When the boat got close enough the guy leaped from it and climbed a rope ladder to an open hatch in the side of the Magic’s hull. I thought to myself for a minute how cool a job that would be for me to have, and then I remembered that I have been described by some as an elephant in a china shop….and would probably skim the side of the hull and land in the ocean if I attempted such a feat. With the ship slowly backing into port I took some time to soak in the sites and then got myself ready to seize the day.
We had breakfast again at Topsiders with my BIL and SIL and their little ones and discussed the absolute strangle hold that crispy cream currently has on the number one spot for best mass produced donut. They are dangerously good. DW and her sister made their way back to the cabin to get ready for their excursion while my BIL and I made our way to the sports bar to meet up with the rest of our crew for some MAN TIME. We had planned months in advance to make one excursion for the men and one for the women on our trip. The men collectively decided to do the 12 metre regatta and the women went off to take a tour of the butterfly farm. At some point the women disagreed on their course of action and did two separate excursions which seemingly both included shopping….
We arrived at the sports bar and were briefed on some of the details of our excursion, including a joke by the CM in charge about us showing up for the “diving with the sharks” excursion…there was a collective golf laugh for that one. We lined up like school boys and were lead off the ship and onto the pier. The pier in St. Maarten was pretty nice and from what we were told they had done quite a bit of work recently to recover from a storm. We walked about 300 yards to a dock where we met the leader of the 12 metre regatta sailing excursion. He gave us a quick briefing on sailing history and a detailed story about the America’s Cup sailing race. It was very interesting and he did a really good job at getting us pumped up for the upcoming race. They have a website and it’s worth checking out if you have a second. (just google: 12 Metre) We were separated into two teams and each team was assigned a captain and a craft which they were to be placed in. There were five in our group alone so we were allowed to be on the same team and had the lucky fortune to be place on the good ole US-55 Stars & Stripes. It is the same boat that won the America’s Cup in 1987. Once the teams were divided up on the dock a little tender boat came up and everyone in the excursion boarded it. This little boat motored us out into the bay and we got our first look at Stars & Stripes and the other boat True North IV. The crew for True North IV got off the tender first and we gave them the obligatory, “we’ll wait for you at the finish line…”, type send off. We eventually made it over to Stars & Stripes and had an enthusiastic boarding led by the excursion head. He announced us one by one as to what each of our jobs would be while onboard the racing vessel. I was in charge of the rear stay, which is essentially a winch that tightens the mast when the boat is sailing into the wind. I could be wrong on the details of that one but that is how I remember it being explained to me. Basically when the captain of the boat would turn around to me and tell me to “tighten” I would furiously turn a crank on a spool, in a similar position to churning butter and keep cranking until I could see a small piece of colored tape on the rope I was reeling in. The skipper makes you demonstrate your task a few times before he’ll move on to the next person for their training which makes for a few laughs from your fellow crew mates. After everyone had some training the skipper made a general announcement regarding safety and where not to put your hands and so forth, and how if you fall off into the water it would take about 5 mins or so to come and get you. The funny part was that he told us if you fall over and we are winning, you’d better be ready to wait a lot longer than five minutes. The skipper’s name was Morgan and he is originally from Jamaica. We had some fun with him, telling him we were proud to be sailing with Capt. Morgan etc… He spoke a bit about race strategy how we were going to sail through the course set out on the water. The course consisted of three buoys, two set near each other to make a start line and one off by itself out on the course to form an elongated triangle. We cruised toward the start line and waited while a motor boat nearby waved a flag to signal we had five minutes before the race would start. The flag went up and that’s when it really got interesting. Capt. Morgan positioned us between True North IV and the start line and both boats jockeyed around trying to get in a good position when the race started. We ended up “pushing” True North IV away from the start line and at the last second turned and broke toward the start line. The signal went off for the start of the race and we held a small lead on our way toward the first marker at the other end of the course. I had never been on a sail boat before in my life so everything was new to me. When a sail boat goes into the wind it needs to turn back and forth to make forward progress. This maneuver is called “tacking”. When a boat like Stars & Stripes tacks, it leans WAY over on its side to maximize wind in the sail and to make the total maximum amount of forward progress without tipping over. I wanted to explain this because when they train you on your position you are floating flat and you have some extra leverage to work with. When the boat is tacking you have to secure your feet and go to work….it was LOADS of fun. The race went on and True North IV made a pass and took the lead right before the last lap. Captain Morgan made a move on the last lap to get us just in front of True North IV and we both raced for the finish. We just edged out True North IV and were victorious. The entire experience gave me a whole new appreciation for sailing and racing in general. There is really quite a bit of strategy going on that you can only get a feel for by being on the boat, it’s a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat, only next time I think I’d like to have DW along to share in the memory. Once the race was over the Captain asked if anyone would like to steer the boat and I jumped at the chance. I took the wheel and noticed immediately how incredibly tuned the boat is to the wheel. Any slight adjustment would make the boat jog one way or the other and with no engine or mechanical parts it’s truly amazing how well it handles considering how big it is. I took a seat for others to give it a try and the crew passed around cold victory beers for everyone and we all had a good time relishing our victory. We eventually made it back to the tender boat and when we got off Stars & Stripes we each gave the crew a tip for doing a good job and they were very appreciative. We went to pick up the True North IV group and noticed that none of them tipped their crew or at least not in front of us anyway. Making our way back to the excursion pier we stopped by the shop for the 12 Metre regatta (it’s on a separate pier) and I picked up a shirt for myself and a hat for my Dad. The store is really small, but an additional tip to future sailors, if you buy one of the crew t-shirts, you get a free one the next time you sail.

Our group decided to walk back to the ship as the girls would be getting back from their excursions shortly and we figured we’d catch up to them on the pier. The walk to the ship wasn’t long at all and it was worth it to get a look at the local surroundings. Back at the pier we did what most groups of 5 men would do in paradise while waiting for their collective significant others…..we went to the nearest bar. This bar happened to be called “Sharky’s” and it’s located about 200 yards from where the Magic puts to port. We hung around there for a bit drinking buckets of ice laden with bottles of beer and waited patiently for the girls while we each told stories about our victory on the high seas. At one point my FIL had taken the wheel of Stars & Stripes when Captain Morgan told him to tell the crew in a loud voice, PREPARE TO TACK! Well my FIL didn’t hear him so well so he yells, “PREPARE TO ATTACK!!!”, to which several of us in the peanut gallery gave back a loud ARRRRGH!!!! as if all of the sudden we had transformed from posh, sleek racer, to gnarly, unwashed scallywags in search of plunder. You had to be there but, even Captain Morgan was laughing uncontrollably.

The girls finally arrived and we decided to split up into smaller groups and headed back to the better looking of the two ships in port. After passing through the hand wash squad and the metal detector we made our way back to good ole 6036. The room was cleaned and every bit of chaos straightened so the only thing to do next was…of course, mess it up and change for the Mickey Pool. We headed first to Topsiders to get some lunch and once again, the buffet did not disappoint. I think they had a Mexican theme that day, but I’m not sure. Either way, there was enough good stuff out there to satisfy everyone. Upon finishing lunch we made our way over to the Mickey Pool which was not crowded but there were a few people hanging out. We grabbed a spot on the side of the pool and watched as the kids frolicked in the hot sun of midday. I grabbed a lounge chair and pulled it over closer to the pool to see the DD’s and really enjoyed watching them. We hung around for about an hour or two and in that time I took DD 5yr to the Goofy Pool because she really wanted to check it out. There was a strange smell on deck and we didn’t hang out long. I can’t really place the smell but it was enough to curb our enjoyment and look for something else to do. Again, it must have been a port thing or an isolated incident as I didn’t smell before or after. After the pool we headed back home, err I mean to the cabin, to have some down time for the DD’s. We turned on a movie and all four of us fell asleep. It was like we were all in a trance, I honestly woke up and asked DW if I had slept. She just gave me a strange look and said that I was snoring away for a WHILE. With our group nap behind us we all gave a quick look out the veranda and started to get ready for Pirate night.

We made our way down to dinner at Animators Palate to meet up with the big group and laughed at each other for what we had chosen to wear for the PARRRGHTY! When we sat down for dinner that night the servers handed out bandanas for everyone and tied some on the less than experienced swashbucklers among us.

We ordered from a special pirate menu and the choices were pretty diverse. I think I had a cold soup, crab cake and then something for an entrée that was really good but I can’t remember exactly what it was. Sorry folks….my memory of the food is a bit sketchy. Overall the food was excellent and before I worked in water & wastewater I was in the restaurant business and got to know really good food. We live in the Hudson Valley of NY and as such are in close proximity to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and let me tell you there are no shortage of good restaurants around. Even if you don’t find the food to your liking you have to admire the fact that they can put out over 2,000 covers a night, in three restaurants, while moving, and not being able to stop and pick up forgotten ingredients. Sorry for the delay…back to the cruise….
While we were eating DD3yr came over to me and looked like she wanted a hug so I promptly picked her up and within about 30 seconds she was out. Apparently her nap from before didn’t take and she was well on the way to daddy lap nap goodness. During Pirate night in the restaurant the servers put on a little show and get the patrons up and dancing in a conga line…this can get a bit loud and through the entire thing DD 3yr didn’t bat an eyelash, she just stayed asleep. With dinner over and the Deck Party about to start, we headed back to the room. DD 3yr was still asleep so I hung out with her while DW and DD 5yr went up on deck to start the party. After about an hour or so they both came back and wanted to see if I wanted to go up and check it out. DW and I put DD 3yr in her stroller and carted her up to the party. We both waffled on this decision but it worked out fine because she woke up and got to enjoy the entire theatrical experience. The party was really upbeat and our view from deck 10 was fantastic. We were right in front of the stack looking down on the dance floor and could see everything, including the huge buffet they were setting up. There were fireworks at the end of the party which added to the excitement and made for a really cool night.

When the party wound down we made our way back to the cabin for some well earned rest and it was good timing too because we had an early wake up call for customs and a date with Blackbeard.

 

[lvstitch]

Wow, great report. Thanks for all the detail about the Regatta. I am taking it in Nov and now I know what to expect. I am hoping I am in charge of the ice chest

 

[Claudine&John]

Just make sure you ask to be the designated "iceberg watcher/bar tender"...it's a good spot on the boat too...you'll love it, and if you get on US-55 make us proud and bring home the cup!!!

 

[Claudine&John]

Day 5: St. Thomas

We woke up on day five to bright sun and even a rainbow over St. Thomas. It was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day and as we pulled into port you could see the little island starting to come to life with traffic and general activity. We had to get the DD’s up which was a bit difficult considering it was only 6:15 am and they are not used to that especially having stayed up late the night before. We groggily made our way to the Walt Disney Theatre to grab seats and wait for the customs officials to show up. I had jogged to deck nine right before we went so I was armed with two cups of coffee when we arrived. Little did I know that they would have some there waiting as you walk in, but I was really getting used to my morning encounters by the oasis, so it all worked out. We sauntered into the theatre which was already filling up and we were told to sit and wait. The CM’s did a very good job of keeping things moving and we sat in our seats watching the other groggified folk stumble into the now bustling hall. We waited for about 15 minutes, which angered some of the “regulars” behind us. Apparently they used have all of the passengers line up and walk into the theatre and then walk down the aisle, to the stage, check in with the customs official and then walk out…no waiting. This time however customs was late and as such we had to be seated and wait until they came in. After a little while four customs officials made their way to the front of the room and everyone gave them a healthy round of applause. The process took roughly 5 mins from getting out of our seats to showing our papers to the official to leaving the theatre. We headed back to the room to get the DD’s dressed and get them some breakfast before we went on our excursion. Breakfast this morning was as usual with all the usual glorious fixins and of course the crispy creams…mmm. We ate outside this morning and it was really nice as there was no breeze and we could see St. Thomas from our table. The rest of our large crew had selected tables nearby and we were all slated to go on the same excursion so when we finished up we walked down to Studio Sea to meet with our excursion folks. We were going to go on the Blackbeards castle and walking tour. Picture it, century’s old castle, cannons, private areas where loot was stashed…pirate tales and legends. Well it wasn’t anything even close to that…in actual fact, there is no castle and although Blackbeard did spend some time in St. Thomas he spent most of his days sacking boats off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia…. Umm yeah, that’s what I said…

We de-boated and made our way to our excursion busses. The busses are more like open air safari vehicles. They are of the ilk of something you may picture cruising the savannah in Zaire or something. Our driver was named Russell from St. Croix and he was very funny and accommodating. He drove us around the island to different tourist trap type spots where we could usually have a picture opportunity and a chance to buy some trinkets all in one five minute stop. We took some nice pictures of Meagan’s Bay and all I could think of was that whoever went there on THAT excursion was having WAYYY more fun than we were. It went like this, “and down there at the bottom of that valley is Meagan’s Bay, it’s been voted among one of the top ten beaches in the world

….o.k. did you see it…o.k. let’s move on.” After driving around and learning about the history of the Island and nearly getting run over by a concrete truck we finally stopped at Blackbeards “castle”. I walked in fully expecting to see dungeons and towers and the like, but it was not like that at all. Our guide walked up and met us in a courtyard to let us know we had about ten minutes to look around and then we were going to meet up and start the tour. Picture Dwight from the show, “The Office” (if you don’t watch it and have never seen it check it out) and it will give some idea of what our tour guide was like. He was sweating profusely and had on two untucked t-shirts and somewhat of a strange demeanor. He sort of struck me as some guy who bet his friends that he could distract the real tour guide long enough to snag this group of tourists and lead them on a “tour” for and hour. We walked around a bit and saw the “castle” which turned out to be a stone tower which was used at one time to hold one (1) large cannon. Yup, that’s the “castle” part of the tour, you can walk up the tower and get a look at St. Thomas from a different angle, but it’s nothing that need not be missed. We gathered together with the rest of the group and Dwight started our tour. Our guide turned out to be quite entertaining and his apparent knowledge of the history of St. Thomas and Blackbeard the pirate was admirable. We were lead from the “castle” down the first of many flights of steep stairs to a flat area at the top of yet another flight of stairs. We gathered there and our guide gave us a little historic talk about the stair-streets that they have in St. Thomas. Stair streets are basically just that, stairs, and plenty of em. This particular one had over 400 steps in it and cut straight downhill from where we were to the port below. They were constructed because St. Thomas is an extremely hilly place and the locals needed a quick way to get to and from their homes to the port below. As an aside here for anyone who is thinking of doing this tour….the description DCL gives you has a little stroller icon on it which is supposed to indicate that the tour is stroller friendly. I’m here to tell you it isn’t…not by any stroller I’ve ever seen. I ended up slinging our stroller over my back and the DD’s hoofed it the whole way. We all oogled the stair street a bit and then our guide led us into a small house with period furnishings. He described how much everything in the house was worth and it was all made of mahogany and yadad yadda yadaa blahh,….sorry for that but it was really hot, and I was still picturing our fellow cruisers frolicking in Meagan’s Bay yelling to each other about how it was the greatest excursion ever, and so forth..I was just a tad bit bitter. The house was actually really interesting right down to the way it was built and how it channeled air to cool itself off. We then went to another house, which was originally built by some guy for his wife as a wedding present..blah blah, yadda…damn Meagan’s Bay…where’s the RUM? We ended the house tour and stopped by a gift shop for Blackbeard memorabilia and….YES!! RUM PUNCH..best darn part of the whole tour. I bought a t-shirt that had a design and an insignia that said “Blackbeards Triathlon”. I had to buy it because, being a triathlete you rarely if ever get the chance to buy anything that even mentions your sport. I started competing in triathlon last year to get in shape and have now finished four races and I’m looking to do more next summer. I realize I described myself as “by no stretch of the definition thin”, earlier in my report and I still feel that way. In my quest for my first triathlon I lost close to 40lbs and have not looked back but I’m still no Adonis. The sport simply changed my life for the better and taught me about conquering fear and the true meaning of exhaustion. Sorry for that little sideways…..back to the report.

Our tour ended and we tipped Dwight for doing a great job and keeping us interested even though it was really hot and Meagan’s Bay was in the back of our minds. We were instructed where we could catch a transport back to the ship and in the mean time we were free to shop and see the town. It was just noon and I was keen to try some of the local flavor, but the rest of our group had different plans. We went to a flea market with tents and such and did a little shopping. The cabbies made their best attempts to corral us to their chariot and told us they’d be waiting when we were ready. They were somewhat aggressive but really not annoying at all. Each tent contained virtually the same things you’d see at a local county fair or something like that and we picked up a few choice items. My DD 5yr got something for her favorite CM Emma and I went to fetch us a ride. We ended up in an air conditioned van and cruised back to again, the more attractive of the two ships in port.

We went through security and headed to our stateroom to change the DD’s and go to lunch. The buffet was very good once again and when we were done we went to the Mickey Pool where something straight out of Caddy Shack emptied the pool quicker than you can say lickety split. We weren’t there long when the lifeguard blew her whistle hysterically while pointing with her free hand at “something” in the pool. Apparently someone “took leave” of themselves in the pool and as is policy the pool had to be cleared. There was some conjecture later on about who it was and some finger pointing but all I know is that it wasn’t me and I’m sticking to that. The pool was cleared and we decided to take the DD’s over to the Goofy Pool to get some splashy fun, sans excrement. We hung around there for a bit and then headed back to the room for a break.

We all took cat naps and then slowly woke up and hung out on the veranda for a while. DW gave the DD’s a bath and got them ready for dinner. DW and I had a spa “treatment” scheduled for 5:00 pm so we shuffled the DD’s down to MIL & SIL’s room so they could take them to dinner.

DW and I arrived at the spa and signed in. Moments later our attendant showed us to the locker rooms to get robes and slippers. We donned the spa garb and went to get our “treatment”. If you’re a reader on this forum and are planning a cruise then you know what the “Rasul Bath” is… let’s just say if you’re even remotely thinking about it, do it. It’s worth every penny. We both left the spa completely relaxed and headed over back to the room to order room service and relax. The DD’s were going to be in dinner with everyone for a while so we had some time to ourselves, which on this trip was in REAL SHORT supply. Room service brought us a bottle of wine from our package and a couple of light selections, I think I had a burger and DW had a veggie sandwhich. We sat out on our balcony and watched as we went by some islands. It was perhaps one of the best meals we had on the ship, not just because of the food but because of where we were. On our honeymoon in Mexico we had a dinner of Pizza Hut and ice cold Budweiser…to this day we still talk about that being the best dinner ever. It wasn’t the food… it was the time, place and company. It was really nice to sit, drink wine, talk and be together without the hectic noise of the dining room and without having to say, “please sit down, no I said SIT DOWN….DON’T THROW THAT!!!”…..if you know where I’m coming from….Our cloud nine experience was short lived and the DD’s showed up with MIL & FIL who were themselves getting ready to go out on the town. We thanked them for taking the DD’s to dinner with them and they were off…POOF!!! “Hun was that your parents..?” We then hung around with the girls for a while and took them to the Oceaneers club to see what was going on. The DD’s wanted to go in and check it out so we took our leave of them and went up to the Quiet Cove to get some drinks. We sat the bar for a bit and met a nice couple who were on their second cruise and we had a collective laugh about the fact that this bar probably sees a lot of the pagers sitting on it from day to day as they had one too. We hung around there for a bit and then went to check out the stores. We walked around the stores a bit and laughed a lot while spraying each other with different colognes and perfumes….what can I say, we were having fun. DW bought some booty for our Niece and Nephew and we headed up to the club to get the girls.

The DD’s had fun and even made some crafts to bring home with them. We went back to the room and watched Mulan-again, and drifted off to sleep, this time with DD3yr in the bed…which made for an interesting evening which ended with DW on the pull out with DD 3yr and me by myself in the big bed, snoring like a lumberjack.

 

[fairfax]

I am loving your trip report! I've been smiling and chuckling to myself as I've read it, great writing! This brings back a lot of good memories from the cruise. I'm looking forward to more!

But people line up according to height for the drills? That means toddlers are expected to stand at the front while their parents are at the back?

We had a problem with that, they expected our 2 year old son to stand by himself in front of our 4 year old daughter. There is no way that boy will stand still for more than 10 seconds! He kept running off and I'd have to push through the crowd to chase him, irritating those around me. So finally I just took off my lifejacket, grabbed him and held him for the rest of the drill. I can't believe I'm the only one who experienced this.

 

[TaniaU]

Thanks for sharing!

Was St. Thomas the only place where you had to clear customs like that? I remember that was the one thing my parents disliked about cruising; every port they had to wake up early and clear customs.

 

[Claudine&John]

Fairfax,
We had a similar problem with my nephew also, he's just two and he wanted to take off as well, my BIL ended up just holding him.

TaniaU,
Yes, St. Thomas was the only time we had to go through the whole customs thing. Looking back on it, it didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time and the CM's do everything they can to make it easy.

 

[Claudine&John]

Day 6: At Sea…..

This day started out a little different from the others in that now we were really seasoned sailors and had the lay of the ship, hours of operation of various eateries, movie times, character meets, and pretty much everything else well in hand. So what did we do different you ask….we ALL slept in. That’s right, poppa bear on the big bed, momma bear and the two little baby bears on the pull-down-pull-out contraption. Let me just tell you this….it was GLORIOUS. Usually at home my DD3yr is up at the same EXACT time everyday no matter what she did the day before. I can count on seeing her little face next to my side of the bed every Saturday morning right at 6:30 am. So when I say it was glorious, I mean it wholeheartedly. I was the first to stumble to the toiletron and when I came out the girls had started to shift about more frequently and I knew they’d be up soon. So what did I do??? I went back to bed….yup, call it what you will, Dwight and those damn stairs just took everything I had, or it could have been the steam lathering…let’s just say 5 days of being on vacation finally caught up to me. DW got up shortly after me and after a tick, bang…WHOOOOSH…she was out the door. For those of you following along I just tried to mimic the sound of the toiletron, for those who haven’t cruised you’ll eventually hear it and for those that are now CC members lets do that again just for fun….tick, bang…WHOOOOOOOSH!! It seemed like DW was gone a while but in reality it was probably only about 5 minutes or so. She came back into ole 6036 with two heavily steamed latte’s and a big smile on. I leaned up in the bed (I wasn’t ready to commit to a full seated position) and grabbed my latte like a prisoner on cookie day. DW and I went out on the veranda to check out the sites and it appeared to be a beautiful day. There was much less wind than previous days at sea and it also seemed like we weren’t moving all that fast but a quick look at the TV showed that we were still at 21 knots as we were on previous at sea days. I think I drank the latte in two prolonged sips as it was gone pretty fast and I was ready for another.

I had some inspiration set in so I told DW that I was headed to the gym and as the DD’s still weren’t awake yet I would catch up to them after and we could all go to breakfast together. I made it to the gym with the intention of taking a spinning class as my bike training had taken a back seat in the past couple weeks due to a near collision with a car and a resulting head over handlebars flip, with a side of sidewalk skidding. It happened two weeks before our cruise and the whole time while I was lying on the ground with the driver of the car telling me she was going to call 911, all I could think about was our cruise….sad huh? Not my body, not my bike, not the fact the DW and the DD’s were at ballet and unreachable…none of that. Sorry again for the sideways…I’ll stop that eventually. SO I was in the gym thinking about a spinning class and realized that I had about 20 mins or so to wait for it to start. I decided I’d run a bit on one of the treadmills to “warm up” and get ready for the class. This time I chose a treadmill toward the back of the room that didn’t overlook the front of the ship. Don’t get me wrong…running in full view of the front of the ship has its finer points, however one of those finer points is not stability, and take my word for it I need every ounce. I started running when I looked over and saw MIL & FIL on the sit-n-pedals. (I really don’t know what those things are called but that’s what you do on them) They too were thinking about taking the spinning class as both of them are avid riders and had never taken that type of class before. The instructor for the class began setting up and while I was watching him I couldn’t help but notice how good I felt. This good feeling translated into me staying on the treadmill and running while the spinning class went on. I didn’t really regret not doing the class because there are really so few days that I feel good while running I figured I’d savor this one. I stretched a bit after my run and waited while MIL & FIL caught up to me in the hall outside the gym. They really enjoyed the class and my FIL commented on how he’d like to try it at home as well. On our way out we stopped and got some cucumber water from the spa and made our way to the forward stairwell. That cucumber water is really good stuff…I had tried it the night before after the steam incinerator and it really went down nicely. We headed back to out respective staterooms and made plans to meet at crispy cream junction to slam on some of the calories we just depleted. DW and the girls were up and ready when I got back so I jumped in the shub and de-loused. I must apologize here as well, I stole the term shub from another TR, it has become vocabulary in my family and it is a perfect description of the shower/tub contraption in the split bathroom. I finished up and we took off to the aft stairwell to vault up three flights of stairs to Topsiders. Did you notice I’m starting to use words like “forward” & “aft”…yup I was cruise savvy alright….so we walk through the sanitization station on our way to le grande buffet de fat to get our cream on. We met up with MIL & FIL in line and grabbed a table outside for a really nice morning meal. The weather was absolutely perfect on this day, blue skies, no wind, calm seas…it was our own little patch of heaven. Breakfast was really good as usual and hung out a bit longer than normal enjoying our coffee and chatting about the previous days events. It was really nice to sit and talk to MIL & FIL in this way because so often we are faced with deadlines or family meals at home and the environment is to hectic just to sit down and have a nice conversation. After our breakfast DW and I decided that we were going to take the girls to…you guessed the Mickey Pool, our decision was in no way influenced by them constantly asking to go swimming (just thought I’d state that for the record) We arrived at said palace of water and frolic and the girls immediately took off and went for a swim. DD 5yr made a few trips down the slide and DD 3yr was content to sit on the side and soak it all in. We were there for about a half hour when my SIL & BIL showed up with my niece and nephew and they also promptly hopped in. Not long after they arrived however DD 3yr had enough of the sun and was ready for what DW and I thought was a nap, however she really just wanted to be in some shade. We made a little tent for her and her cousins who by now had increased by one as my DW’s aunt had shown up with her DS and they were all content to play under a makeshift lounger-tent. The sun was really hot that day and we all commented on how many people were REALLY sunburned.

When tent time ended we tried to get the DD’s to eat some lunch and then we took them back to the room for some R&R. There was a very important character meeting to get to and the DD’s wanted desperately to be involved. It was the princess gathering in the atrium and I was determined to get a good spot in line while the DD’s got all dolled up for the event. I went down about 20 mins early to get a spot in line and was pretty exited to find out I was actually only the third person to arrive. I walked up and started chatting with another cruiser in the line about St. Maarten and the cruise in general. The wait didn’t seem long at all and by the time DW and the girls showed up the line went from the atrium, past the back entrance to Lumieres and into the promenade lounge. It was LONG…. I was actually very proud of myself for snagging such a great spot in the line when all of the sudden a mob shows up in the front of the line. Apparently the guy who had gotten there first and started the line had saved the spot for something like ten people….it was weird. It wasn’t annoying though…or anything like annoying, it was fine, really. There is another TR on this site that was written by the DW of the guy in front of me in that line that you should check out (Fairfax-screen name). I don’t think either one of us commented on the mob he brought forth but I know we both noticed it, and really..it wasn’t annoying. We waited a bit more and then the pictures brigade started to move. We first saw Snow White, then Cinderella, and finally Belle, who got down on the floor with the girls and talked to them for what seemed like an extended period of time. She really made it a genuinely nice experience for them and it was a very special moment. By the way, the girl who was dressed as Belle is also in the shows and she has an amazing voice. After the Princess triple threat we went to see Pocahontas by the Walt Disney Theatre to get some pictures as DD5yr was dressed as her and wanted to meet her face to face.

To this day she will stand like the Pocahontas on the stairs and proudly cry out, “did you ever hear the wolf cry to the new born moon!” she knows all the words to that song and will sing it often…really often. Pocahontas was very exited to see a princess dressed as her as I think it probably doesn’t happen very frequently and we didn’t see any other pseudo Pocahontas-I walking around during our voyage. We took some pictures and then went on to see Princess Mini. She was great, true Mini, bouncy, jubilant, and dressed like a princess. We took some more choice pictures with her and we were off.

Princess pictureamalamadingdong was over and we were all pretty pooped so we went back to the room again and crashed for a bit. We got moving again pretty quickly though and went out to catch the Disney Dreams matinee. Now, I’ve read on the DIS boards about things you SHOULDN’T miss or you’ll be condemned to a less than ideal experience. I’m here to tell you can probably take half of that advice and save it for the next cruise because there are so many things to do that you can’t possibly do them all…that being said, GO SEE DISNEY DREAMS…! It was easily my favorite show of the week and was really well done. We had great seats and the DD’s were in awe of the special effects and the story in general. It’s really the feel good show of the week….and if you miss it, you won’t be condemned to a less than ideal experience, but you may wonder why there are so many giddy looking people wandering around after the show let’s out. We floated back to 6036 and tried to decide what we were going to do next. The DD’s had been going to the Oceaneers Club on and off all week and later on in the day the club was going to have their “graduation” in the Walt Disney Theatre. I’ve seen a ton of pictures of it on the DIS and I’ve read a ton or TR’s that explain what it’s like and so forth and we had it on our must do list. I had actually managed to snag reservations for our party of 11 adults to go to Palo at 6:00 pm and the DD’s also wanted to do the Goofy slumber party so the graduation had to take a back seat to an afternoon Mickey Pool plunge. I have to say here also that I spent a great deal of time worrying about everyone having a good time and being able to have the “experience” that I’ve read so much about on this forum that it occasionally interrupted my enjoyment of the trip. My advice to any future cruiser is to have a flexible plan and if you miss something, don’t fret because there is always something else to grab you and you’ll still enjoy yourself, and don’t worry about others…believe me they are having a good time. So we missed the graduation which was a bit of a disappointment but the flip side was that we had the Mickey Pool pretty much to ourselves for that whole time anyway so you see, in the end it worked out. DD 5yr went down the slide a few more times and they had a wonderful time splashing about and soaking up the sun.

We headed back to our stateroom and got ourselves ready for dinner and the girls ready for a party with Goofy and a date with some pizza. The drop off at the Club went well and the girls were happy to be back playing with all of the cool stuff they have in there. So much so that we barely got to say goodbye to them…POOF !! they were gone, much like my inlaws for most of the week. We walked over to Flounders Nursery to sign in my 2 year old nephew with my SIL and left her there to hang with him a bit while he got familiarized. Up until this point he had never been left with anyone that he didn’t know and it was a difficult transition for him to let go of mommy. We walked up to Palo to meet with the rest of the adults and were shown to our table. The manager was very, very accommodating and gave us the private room which at 6:00 PM had an absolutely stellar view of the now blazing sunset. The room itself is really nicely decorated with a tile mosaic wall and glass doors to the rest of the dining room which you can close if you want to or leave open depending on your preferences. Our server was Naomi from Hungary and she was great. She basically picked our appetizers for us because nobody could agree or get together enough to place an order. Naomi suggested some pizzas, portabello mushroom with polenta, and my FIL added the tuna carpacio(sp?). All of the appetizers were amazing and we shared everything family style, DW commented on how good the mushrooms were and I really liked the pizza with prosciutto. The main dining rooms tonight had the captains gala menu so lobster was the them of the evening. Naomi suggested that if any of us wanted the filet mignon we should have a lobster tail with it for a kind of surf and turf, why not???right? I didn’t even open my menu that evening, it didn’t even occur to me until later on but Naomi really took care of us and as such I didn’t need to even bother looking. Upon her suggestion I ordered the filet and lobster tail as I didn’t plan on moving later anyway so what was the difference….right? notice I’m trying to have you, dear reader, justify my gluttony. Some of us at the table ordered the chocolate souffle at the same time as our main course because it takes a while to prepare and the chef wanted to have an idea of how many he would need. I think almost everyone at the table ordered the souffle with the exception of me ofcourse….I know I know, I can hear you already, what…you did what? You mean you sailed over 1000 nautical miles, finally wrangled Palo ressies, and you DIDN’T order the most raved about desert on the DIS..? yup..sorry guys….I’m allergic to chocolate. It’s a cruel thing to be allergic too, and most people think I’m making it up, but I’m not. O.k., so after my DIS-ing of the karmic god of DIS planning and trip must do’s we settled in to enjoy our meal. The filet was perfectly cooked and the lobster tail was good as well. I did have one problem though with Palo…I know, I know…here he goes again right? Well the problem I had was that DW wanted to order a specific pasta dish from the menu and it had meat in the sauce. Naomi inquired with the chef as to if he could make the dish meat free and his response was uuhhh, no. The sauce was pre-prepared and therefore meat removal was out of the question. The chef did give her some options but the same sauce could not be had…NO SAUCE FOR YOU!!!.. I have worked in many restaurants, the most chic among them was easily in the same league as Palo and if a customer wanted ANYTHING, we would accomodate, even if it meant making a whole new sauce ourselves. One night our kitchen was essentially closed and a customer came into the bar after what appeared to be a long day and he wanted a steak. I told him I’d check if the kitchen was still open and when I got to the back the lights were off. I went back to him and this time he mentioned that he’d really, really like steak au poive. We didn’t even have that on our menu but I went in the back, threw a steak on and made au poive from scratch…..the guy turned out to be the dean of the college I was currently attending. This little meeting really helped me out…..needless to say. O.k. I know I told you I wouldn’t do that anymore….but…well, on with the story. While we were waiting for our entrées my SIL got a page from Flounders that said my nephew was still crying and to come in to see what could be done. Naomi gave my SIL a phone and she called the nursery to see if she could talk them through it over the phone. She could here my nephew crying on the other end and that meant she had to leave for a bit to check on him. It turned out all he needed was a sleeping item that soothes him at home and that did the trick to keep him happy. SIL came back and it was time chow down. The dinner was really great and we enjoyed every bite. My DW wasn’t crazy about her dish but she wasn’t disappointed either, I think she just thought it would be different. We finished our entrées and Naomi came around to get coffee for everyone and see if there were any non souffle orders. I ordered something that I can’t remember but I do remember Naomi saying it was the second most ordered desert on the menu….all I remember was that I wanted to lick the glass it came in….it was superb. DW said that the soufflé was very good as did everyone else who ordered it. Our entire dinner lasted roughly 2 hours and it was very relaxing and a somewhat nice respite from the sometimes hectic dining rooms. DW and I headed back to the stateroom to get out of our stiff clothes and get into something more comfortable. We still had a little while to wait for the girls so we hung out a bit on the veranda and checked out the ocean.

We went to pick up the DD’s and they had a blast with Goofy and they even got to draw on pillow cases which looked like a lot of fun. They were visibly pooped so we took them back to the room and…..”hey hun was that your folks..?” rrrrrranngowww POOF! “I wonder if they were headed back to the adult bar area….what does that place look like anyway???” We hung out in the room for a while until we all fell into a Palo-Goofy induced coma.

The next day we arrive in CC, it was a day of torrential rain, great bbq, snorkeling, and some good old fashion beach fun…..

 

[fairfax]

Palo is fabulous, isn't it? It is too bad that you couldn't enjoy the chocolate souffle, it was amazing. But all the desserts were awesome!

I'm impressed you made it to the gym. On five cruises I've never seen the inside of that place!

Ah yes, the princess line! I wasn't annoyed either about the ten people who showed up at the last minute because we were still near the front of the line. That man did try to shoo my daughter away when she came up to talk to one of the girls her age that was in his party, until he realized she was with us in the line behind him. We saw that group several times over the cruise and they were always friendly.

My advice to any future cruiser is to have a flexible plan and if you miss something, don’t fret because there is always something else to grab you and you’ll still enjoy yourself, and don’t worry about others…believe me they are having a good time. So we missed the graduation which was a bit of a disappointment but the flip side was that we had the Mickey Pool pretty much to ourselves for that whole time anyway so you see, in the end it worked out. DD 5yr went down the slide a few more times and they had a wonderful time splashing about and soaking up the sun.

This is good advice. The graduation was fun but it is just one of so many wonderful experiences on the ship.