Eating our words – the UnDisney family back on DCL – 4-night Dream – May 2014 - with Bonus TR !

[Flossbolna]

Oh, great to see you back!! And you have acquired yet another cruise ticker!!

 

[Conorama]

Oh, great to see you back!! And you have acquired yet another cruise ticker!!

Thanks! And yes, we have. That is coming up shortly (cough, cough, cough). Ahem.

 

[Conorama]

Day 4 - Castaway Cay - sand; swim; slides; and... meltdowns.

The last full day of the cruise brought us to Castaway Cay, and we had big plans ... by which I mean, we had no plans whatsoever.

Mostly, since we were visiting the Cay in May (vs. January) we wanted to make sure we got off the ship early, before it got too hot. We are Canadians, you see, and even though it was May, we had not acclimatized to any type of real heat.

I led the charge by ensuring I kept my usual 6:00 a.m. rendez-vous with peace, quiet, Kobo, and Deck 11. And, subsequently an iced-latté, of course.

After nabbing a quick breakfast from Cabanas, Conor enthusiastically endorsed the plan to visit with Jake (of the Neverland pirates) prior to disembarking. He was, at this point, a pro at the whole character visit, and autograph request schtick. He has always been a pro at the "hamming it up" part of things, so that was easy.





Having jammed with Jake, we then dropped by Donald's domain. Donald was rockin' a cool shirt.





Our strategy was simple. Get of the ship, early-ish. Get to a nice place on the beach. Do our beach thing.

Conor's beach thing is to do stuff with sand. Voila sand art.




And, in case you were doubting my claims of "my kid can attract more sand than your kid" ... I give you exhibit A. Look carefully, and see the sand on his face.






And from there, well, I sat with DCL Queen as we read our books (Kobo in my world), and guarded the stuff (hey- someone has to). The boys (all 4 of them) frolicked in the sea. We fed them snacks. They bonded with sand. B1 joined us for a bit in the "lie and read" excursion. Conor and B2 did more stuff with sand, then accompanied DH for a bike ride. We diligently guarded the stuff.

Having worked up an appetite, we procured lunch for all (Cookies 2, which was totally fine) and then we made our way back to the ship, stopping to visit the one and only Frozen character we acknowledge in our house. Do NOT ask me what Conor is doing - but he's doing it enthusiastically.

Attentive readers will note that he is wearing a new swim shirt & trunks- this was part of the long and painful negotiations to a) get him to the bathroom and b) try to minimize the sand that we would be donating to the Dream. This, plus the "feet showers" permitted us to mostly leave the sand on the island.





In fact, it appears we were so very confident about the whole sand-free thing, that we launched the boy onto the Mickey Slide for the first time this cruise- his addiction to it on the last cruise was apparently so very last year ... but he still enjoyed it to cool down.





Meanwhile, I was packing up a storm back in the cabin. That worked quite well until tired boy came back from the slides/pools, and had a massive grump-fest meltdown (Conor did - not the husband) over the request that he have a quick shower. After he enjoyed a quality time-out on his bed (snuggles with his stuffies usually help this sort of mood), and a (victory!) shower, we were ready to join B2 in (can you guess) another mystery. This one ended up at Deck 11 for our break, because it was clearly an ice cream kind of day.

We then dumped the kidlets at the club, so that packing could get closer to completion, until we fetched them for supper.

And that is where I will leave you for now, as it is past my bedtime, and we want to avoid grown-up grump-fest meltdowns at work tomorrow.

 

[Conorama]

Day 4 - Last night - Animator's Palate & Our Grand Packing Finale

(Eek! Running out of time to finish before the 1 year mark. Onward!)

Our last MDR visit was at Animator's Palate - which worked well all around, since the kidlets (and, ahem, parents) were running low on patience, so the free show helps immensely with waiting for food, etc.

It was actually a pretty typical last night. Just about everyone was somewhat grumpy from a day at the beach, packing, and being away from usual routines for too long. No, we were not in mourning because it was the last night on the ship - honest! It was just a low-grade general disgruntlement.

Our "regular" assistant server was back for the first time since night one. He was nice, but we actually missed our trainee server, who just had a much more genuine smile and approach.

Food was greeted with some joy, in the interest of getting out of the MDR sooner vs. later, and then, part-way through things, the Crush show came on. This was reasonably entertaining, until we sped past entertaining into the land of (6 year old) mind-blowing excitement because ... CRUSH CAME TO OUR TABLE.

And, he wanted to talk to the turtle with the blue & white striped shell - much to Conor's astonishment!

Here is Crush striking a pose as he noted that DH was filming the interaction.



OK. Disney cynic I might be, but even I will admit this is pretty awesome. I may even be able to figure out how they do this, but it's still amazing when it happens. Conor had a ball chatting with Crush, and suddenly, our moods improved dramatically.

Here is a sample of how hard it was to get the kiddos to sit down and eat supper after Crush visited.



After finishing up a meh supper, we dutifully tipped (the suggested amount only, if you're wondering- we decided not to cut it down, because they didn't really do anything wrong ... they were just, meh, and well, we're just like that).

We finally corralled the boy, and strategically dropped him off at the Kids Club one last time, while we got some more packing done. We retrieved him, persuaded him to leave his magic band with the nice people at the club, and said good-bye to his friends. He was quite amused to encounter this ... towel whatever, when we got back to the room. Penguin??? I am still confused.



In my last TR, I explained the perils of packing on the last night- the need to constantly monitor the weight of your bags, to plan to have appropriate clothing to wear off the ship the next night, and to not forget things that are hanging up (foreshadowing here - hear the scary music?). I was totally on the ball this night, and DH and I packed efficiently, with no ... OK not much disagreement.

We plunked Conor in the bath, and finished up 1 of our bags, and got it and the poster (that had cruised in an enjoyable fashion under the bed) out into the hall, appropriately tagged. We also made use of one of the best Disboards tips ever- ordered a bunch of breakfast-y foods from room service, which we stashed (where appropriate) in the fridge, so that we didn't have to deal with the masses at breakfast in the morning. (The thought has me breaking out in hives...)

I think we got half-way through one book before Conor fell asleep. We waited, oh, 5 minutes, and then thanks to magical black-out curtain, kept packing. (He has slept through the smoke-alarm going off at 3:00 a.m. due to a short-circuit at our house... he will not wake, on a ship, after a day at the beach, etc.)

We prepped the tip for our (virtually invisible) cabin attendant (again, suggested amount, no more) and filled out our cards. We did not give "excellent", but we were kind otherwise, with constructive feedback. We did note our lovely trainee server. DH noted his favourite bartender. We plugged in all electronics (which we are able to do without an official power cord.. though we have a multi-charging gizmo thing we use).

Finally, well before the 10:00 p.m. deadline, all the bags were out and tagged and no, we didn't go to that show that everyone goes on about. Those who are paying attention will note that we didn't go to any shows or any movies. At all. We're wild.

I went to bed, and DH headed off to visit his preferred bar (Meridian, if you're wondering) to get his preferred drink (Side Car) one last time.

And with that, we're truly almost done. I might get one last post in tonight - depends on how the writing gods are feeling.

Up next: Debarking and a bit of an oops.

 

[Conorama]

Reflections on Day 4 - I almost forgot!

It definitely helped that we were all Castaway Cay veterans. We didn't need to rush to get off, but we didn't exactly dawdle either to get a decent set of chairs. The water was much warmer in May than in January (no kidding!) so that was fun for the boys. I didn't make any difference to my enjoyment of lounging and reading my Kobo.

As usual, the ship is less busy on CC day, so we made use of that a bit to get some time on the slide and in the pool in the afternoon.

And finally- we do like Animator's Palate (sheepish admission...) - it's a bit on the noisy side, but the animation is lovely to watch, and Crush was rather spectacular. It helped end things on a much happier note!

Hopefully, tomorrow, I can get us off this ship... and get to the great poster adventure of 2014.

 

[pillow]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your report! Love the tip about ordering breakfast stuff the night before. Don't know why we've never done that! Thanks for sharing.

Jodie

 

[Conorama]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your report! Love the tip about ordering breakfast stuff the night before. Don't know why we've never done that! Thanks for sharing.

Jodie

Thanks! I was very keen when I found out about that option. We usually just get fruit, cheese, cereal (comes in the little boxes) and juice. Then, because we are coffee snobs, one of us goes to Cove Café, which is always open early, and gets coffee there. So much better for us than navigating crowds with or without our carry on bags.

 

[pillow]

Thanks! I was very keen when I found out about that option. We usually just get fruit, cheese, cereal (comes in the little boxes) and juice. Then, because we are coffee snobs, one of us goes to Cove Café, which is always open early, and gets coffee there. So much better for us than navigating crowds with or without our carry on bags.

We are coffee snobs as well. On our last two cruises, I've packed a french press and my own coffee in little baggies. SO MUCH better than the onboard stuff. Its a bit of trouble but worth it I think. We leave in a few weeks for our Alaska cruise + Canada extravaganza mega trip. I'm inspired . . . perhaps I will finally be motivated enough to do a trip report. Thanks for sharing!

Jodie

 

[Conorama]

Debarkation Day - and home!

After a peaceful night, I was up at my usual 6:00 a.m. time, and I snuck off for a last quiet (short) visit to Deck 11. Cove Café opened early (can't recall it if was 6:00 or 6:30 a.m.) so I nabbed some fresh pastries, coffee for two, and headed back to the cabin at 6:45 or so.

The men were just rousing. The beauty of the ordered-in breakfast (topped off with fresh pastries) is that you can sit around, in your PJs in Conor's case, on the veranda if you like, and eat a leisurely, peaceful breakfast. Well, it's leisurely for Conor, while his parents nab showers, pack up the last stuff, and do a final "sweep" of the room for things we missed- but this is still better for us than cramming all that in AND going to the MDR and/or Cabanas for breakfast.

At about 7:45, packed and ready, we assembled our carry on bags, and headed downstairs (literally- we don't attempt elevators on the last morning) to Deck 3. We met up with DCL Queen and B1 and B2, B1 having discovered he left his brand-new hat in the stateroom, so we (miraculously) found some seats to sit in while we waited for him to fetch it. Finally, we dropped off our comment cards, and, Keys to the World in hand, we lined up, ready to be the best sheep ever.

In my first TR, I did note a general appreciation for the slick nature of the last morning. Despite the lines and more lines, they all move, briskly, and they make sense. Being expert, we knew to say yes when a porter asked us if we needed help. Now accessorized with a lovely porter, we shifted through the line, through customs, and followed him (last sheep bit here) out to where our transportation would pick us up. He deposited our bags nicely against the wrought iron fence, hung the poster tube up on the fence, and wished us well. Tip in hand, he headed off to find nice new passengers.

DCL Queen had convinced us that shared private transportation back to the airport made the most sense, and it did. We only had to wait about 10 minutes, and then our car arrived. As you can see, it was not just any old car, from Conor's spectacular reaction.



It was a stretch limo. Even Mr. "Been there, done that" newly 13 yo B1 was impressed. We had a mad moment of hyper-excited boys launching themselves into the limo, while the adults wrangled the bags with the lovely driver.

Some of us moved right in and grabbed a (plastic) champagne flute.



Thus, we reveled in luxury all the way back to MCO. Whereupon we debarked the limo. Whereupon I realized that.... the poster was not there. Attentive readers will remember it being hung up on the iron fence at the port. And there it sat. Well, there it hung.

Fortunately, I was well-vacationed, so able to cope with this news. DCL Queen suggested that likely DCL would get it back to us somehow. I decided to just chill, check in, and then worry about calling. This, we did. We all ventured through MCO security (always an adventure, but we survived) and took the tram to the terminal to find lunch for hungry boys. And hungry parents. DH was dispatched to call DCL and they said they would look for it, but it was clear it wasn't coming on our flight.

Our flight home on Air Canada Rouge was, I am told, better than the men's trip down, because we upgraded our seats, to accommodate 6'6'' DH's legs and general sanity. Conor took his Gravol, and, well, Mr. "I'm not tired" did this:



While Conor was busy not being tired, DH and I debated about what to do when we got to Pearson. Conor's most excellent senior kindergarten teacher had emailed me to say that Conor could go on a special 'make-up' field trip to his classmate's farm (a trip he was supposed to go on, but it got postponed due to her being ill, and thus he had missed the rescheduled date). This would be the next day - so we could drive back home from Pearson (normally a 3+ hr drive) ... but we'd have to contend with rush hour.

Ultimately, the fact that his SK teacher was so awesome convinced us to risk Toronto rush hour traffic. For the sake of keeping this at a G-rating for all, I'll spare you the details, but even once we cleared customs, etc., Toronto rush hour was as spectacular as ever... and we got home 5 hours later. Yep - 2 hours longer than usual. What we do for a good field trip.

Regardless, we were happy to be home and sleeping in our own beds.

Up next: Reflections on the trip, and how we ended up with another cruise countdown.

 

[Conorama]

Oops! Back to Day 3 - Forgot Remy Champagne brunch - we'll just blame the champagne for this.

I just re-read my TR, and discovered that I forgot to report on our Remy Champagne brunch on our at-sea day. Oops!

This should in no way be construed as it being forgettable. It was spectacular. I just, ahem, forgot about when when I reported on Day 3, because I didn't have any photos, and, well, it was a year ago.

Our plan had been to hang out with our respective kids for the morning so they would feel appreciated and all that good stuff (except me, as I had a date with a hot lounger in the rainforest room) and then drop them at the clubs. We gave Conor a really good snack before dropping him off, because sometimes he declines to stop playing to eat lunch unless EVERYONE is eating. In our case, we ordered the cheese & cracker plate from room service and topped it off from fruit we had scavenged from Cabanas. Nicely fed, he was ready to hang with B2.

We met up at Meridian. DH bonded with his favourite bar tender. I behaved myself. Shortly after 11:00, we were brought into Remy with about another 6 to 8 folks. We were immediately offered a complimentary (well, OK - included in the up-charge) champagne, with a small appetizer. They explained the option of getting the champagne pairings with each course, and we succumbed.

And then - I cannot report on any details (keep in mind I have the tolerance of your average gnat)- but it was heavenly. The food was amazing - you don't choose your food, but, fear not, you don't need to. There are a number of courses (5? maybe?) but they are all small, so you don't feel overfull. The champagne was yummy and interesting. We were of course extremely witty and great company in all of this.

So - wow. We are foodies and this ranked up there with best meals ever. Definitely top 10.

And... one of the champagnes was really, really good - and you could buy a bottle. Which we did. It is being saved for when DH finishes his Masters' degree. I can't tell you how it tastes because, well, it's still being stored here.

Somehow - we got up. I immediately headed back to the stateroom to change, because heels, however small they may be, and alcohol do NOT mix in my case. We went to fetch the boys from the club, and joy of joys they ate (pizza). In order to walk off my lunch, I then agreed to take them on a mystery tour, which I managed, despite my mildly inebriated state. I varied the order, I'm pretty sure, in that I insisted that I started the mystery with an iced-latté. Best for all concerned, really.

I feel as though I have finished my confession. If you are wondering if Remy is worth it - it was. It was definitely worth the champagne up-sell. At least, it was worth it for we foodies who enjoy new tastes.

The only problem, really, was that formal night paled in comparison. However, you can file that firmly under 1st world problems!

Final reflections to follow - honest.

 

[Conorama]

We are coffee snobs as well. On our last two cruises, I've packed a french press and my own coffee in little baggies. SO MUCH better than the onboard stuff. Its a bit of trouble but worth it I think. We leave in a few weeks for our Alaska cruise + Canada extravaganza mega trip. I'm inspired . . . perhaps I will finally be motivated enough to do a trip report. Thanks for sharing!

Jodie

I mentioned the press possibility to DH (the true coffee snob) and he contemplated it... but he's actually happy with Cove Café coffee. This is nothing short of amazing.

We are following you on the Alaska cruise, so I would look forward to a TR. My packing spreadsheets will need to change dramatically. Fortunately, we're used to traveling to the other end of Canada (Newfoundland) which involves packing for a minimum of 3 seasons for any one trip (even in the summer), so I'll probably just adapt those spreadsheets. We jut put the snowsuit away 2 weeks ago, but I'm stashing winter gear in old suitcases to pre-pack.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am looking forward to your final thoughts and hopefully the story of how you and poster are happily reunited!

Remy brunch sounds equally divine as Remy dinner!

 

[Conorama]

Final Reflections on Disney Cruise #2 - and why we booked on board

On our (very) long ride home, we had time to debrief about the trip. Conor thought it was AWESOME, but he did note that he missed the extra story that the Fantasy had for the mystery game. That was the extent of constructive criticism from the back seat. I think he fell asleep due to his Gravol after that (Dude gets car sick in addition to air sick...)

As for DH and me - we did enjoy our trip. DH found that it was too short - he was just getting into relaxation mode and we had to get off. I, by contrast, was fine with the 4 days, but to be fair, I had just had 3 days before, off work, at a conference at a resort, so hardly what you would call high stress (except for the poster presentation part of things).

There was much wondering if the servers & cabin steward were less engaged because they have such short times with their passengers- the 3 day/4 day grind of the Dream must be somewhat wearing. The staff at Remy were amazing, but one imagines that you don't work at Remy unless you are outstanding.

In fact, trip 2 was somewhat easier to be "Disney-light". We knew what to avoid (shows, and sail-away party). Even with Dude's decision to actually participate in character meets, it was not as though he was pining to see them- he could take it or leave it. I'm glad we avoided the Fish Extender group, and as a result, Conor only got stuff he liked in it (since it was secretly from us, and occasionally from DCL Queen & her boys). It was, I will confess, far more relaxing as a result. Because the port was not one we were excited about, there was less stress about finding the best excursion.

Disney is still smart. We still respect that. I still think the black-out curtain is nothing short of genius. It is, for us, a way for everyone to have a good, restful (key word, and yes possible on a Disney Cruise) break - lots of time with the boy (essential for both of us), but opportunities for parents to do "boring" grown-up stuff. At 6, he was much keener to hang out at the club than when he was 4, but we never had to negotiate him out of the place- he was happy enough to hang out with us too. We knew better than to suggest silly things like shows, movies, or princesses.

In short, the trip served its purpose - a nice little getaway, vs. a destination in itself, if that makes sense. In our case, because my flights were write-off-a-ble due to my meeting, and because we booked at the right time, it wasn't even ridiculously expensive.

So- on night 2, when they delivered the brochure to show that the summer of 2015 cruises were out, including the Alaskan routes - DH got a wee bit interested, having always wanted to see Alaska. We discussed. I knew the deal, having listened to DCL Queen and I knew that we were not exactly signing in blood if we booked on board. We agreed to book an Alaskan cruise with, in our words, no guarantees. In other words - we would not tell Conor. We would contemplate for a while, and then decide long before the PIF date. It would depend on getting reasonable flights - in terms of price, and time we leave and arrive, given the time change for us (3 hours for those who depend on their sleep is not a small thing). Apparently, the booking guy was super helpful - navigating DH through the best room for us (akin to 9120 - quiet!). The discount for what is always an expensive cruise was not something to be ignored. And, on night 3, the deposit was paid...

But, my reader friends, that is not in fact the end of the story. Stay tune for what I think is the final installment .. with a twist ending!

And you will find out if my precious poster made it home again.

 

[Conorama]

Afterword

After we got back to the regular world of finishing up senior kindergarten and other important matters, we started scoping out prices for flights. One lucky day, I discovered all 3 of us could do one-way flights to Vancouver with points and we found reasonable flights on the way back. This sealed the deal, essentially, and we agreed this would likely be our last Disney cruise - hey Wonder, here we come.

Poster's travels

Shortly after our return, we got a call from Uncle Walt, so to speak, saying the poster had been located, and that it would be sent to us - and, much to our surprise, Uncle Walt footed the bill!!! Amazing! Big Mouse does not usually do things for free, and, really, this was not their fault. Sneaky big mouse... sucking us in. This is probably why ...


The universe plays a trick on me...

The summer was busier than usual at work for me, so I found myself in September (I'm the planner) without firm plans for our winter vacation. We had decided to do another resort vacation, but we wanted to try something new. I decided to ask our travel agent for advice, so I flipped over to her Facebook page ... and found .... "major discounts for Canadians on DCL on the Magic". Well, I figured, there is no way that the itineraries would work out. Hm. One of the weeks was the one we were thinking about. Hm. Well .... the itinerary won't work out. Oh dang it. It was one DH was interested in. (Western Caribbean).

Well - there is NO WAY the flights will work out. The flights are, sigh, reasonable. And convenient.

The whole shebang was a bit less than what we would have paid at a decent resort ... and, as DH pointed out, we knew what we were getting in to (vs. having to find a whole new resort, which would take a fair bit of work).

In the end. I gave up the battle. Clearly, I was outvoted, and, really, I had no energy to find us another trip.

And thus, in January 2015... we were on our 3rd Disney Cruise (7-night) to Couzumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Cay. Attentive readers will realize that having done the Fantasy, Dream, and Magic, with a plan to hit up the Wonder this summer, we reluctant Disney folk will have achieved a completely unintentional Grand Slam.

I will not be doing a full TR for the Magic's trip to the Western parts of the Caribbean, but I will tack on a short version to this report. I will take a bit of a break though, as we have a 7th birthday party to get through, so, for now ... that's it!

 

[marciemouse]

Hahaha! I love that you, reluctant Disney cruisers, will complete a Grand Slam. We've only ever sailed the Wonder, and I would love to do Alaska. I hope you write a report for that one, too, as your reports are always great.

 

[bcwife76]

*waves hello from Vancouver* Loved your TR! Annnnnnd how you have done 3 (soon to be 4) Disney cruises all the while saying you are non-Disney Awesome awesome awesome!! I hope you do a TR for Alaska as we are hoping to do Alaska in 2016 (DH is not 'sold' on cruising yet as we do not take our first one in September and he is not very Disney-fied at all LOL) At least for us, airfare is (finally) not a factor!

 

[Conorama]

Hahaha! I love that you, reluctant Disney cruisers, will complete a Grand Slam. We've only ever sailed the Wonder, and I would love to do Alaska. I hope you write a report for that one, too, as your reports are always great.

Ahem. Yes. I had to explain Grand Slam to DH. It is a bit hard to believe. OK - it's a lot hard to believe. Especially because as I look around the living room right now, we have nothing that is Disney anywhere (except Star Wars Lego- but we are in denial about that combo since it didn't used to exist ... and no, we're not going on the Star Wars cruises...) Conor doesn't even watch Disney Junior anymore, and Conor still hasn't watched a Disney movie from beginning to end, except for 2 Pixar flicks (Cars and Wall-E)- which don't really count as true Disney, in my world. (Oh to be fair - Disney Bears - he liked that.)

I will almost definitely do a report for Alaska - a real one, since there are fewer than there are of the Caribbean ones - and I've found it more interesting to plan.

Thanks- and I'm glad you enjoy them. Once I remember to write them, I enjoy the writing process.

 

[Conorama]

*waves hello from Vancouver* Loved your TR! Annnnnnd how you have done 3 (soon to be 4) Disney cruises all the while saying you are non-Disney Awesome awesome awesome!! I hope you do a TR for Alaska as we are hoping to do Alaska in 2016 (DH is not 'sold' on cruising yet as we do not take our first one in September and he is not very Disney-fied at all LOL) At least for us, airfare is (finally) not a factor!

Hey there in Vancouver - I was just there 2 weeks ago - thus the 5 hour flight that got me writing this thing again. Other than the hail you shared with we misled-Easterners (who were told you had actually discovered spring and were a bit taken aback by the ice falling from the sky business), it was a lovely conference trip. I look forward to visiting a bit longer before the cruise (this was mostly business - so I don't really count it as a trip to Van).

Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed. Definite advantage for you to not have to fly - the luggage limits you can skip!!! - I'd be, well, giddy with excitement and way too tempted to over-pack.

I assure you that DH is not Disney-fied at all- but he is definitely keener on DCL than I am, which is somewhat mind-boggling.

I will also admit that I'm more into planning Alaska that I have been the last 2 cruises - I'm the one who likes novelty, so this satisfies both of us - he gets the comfort of DCL, and we both get to see Alaska.

Now- there are birthday cupcakes that, despite my requests, will NOT ice themselves, so I'm off to "Lego-fy" some chocolate cupcakes in time for a Chapter's Lego party tomorrow.

Tx again!

 

[pixiedustrehab]

Really enjoyed your trip reports! I'm looking forward to your short report on the western Caribbean, because my husband and I are doing our first cruise on May 30th on that itinerary. Also Alaska is on our bucket list, so enjoy your trip and I will look forward to reading that report as well!

 

[Conorama]

Really enjoyed your trip reports! I'm looking forward to your short report on the western Caribbean, because my husband and I are doing our first cruise on May 30th on that itinerary. Also Alaska is on our bucket list, so enjoy your trip and I will look forward to reading that report as well!

Thanks so much! (BTW - I think your Disboard name is one of my favourites.)

I had already started the mini-report on the plane, so it should come fast. One should write when the spirit moves us to write!

Congratulations on your first cruise too - we did enjoy the cruise (spoiler alert!)

Thanks again and I'm glad you enjoy them.