Eeyoregon's April 22-29 Magic Report (long)

[eeyoregon]

Hello all. This was our 1st Disney Cruise and it was everything we had hoped for and much more! I didn't keep written notes so I will have to rely on my memory

We flew in from Portland, Oregon Friday night. Dznyjenn picked us up from the airport and then my two sons and I headed for Cocoa Beach in her minivan. Easy drive to the port - straight shot to the Holiday Inn. We arrived at around midnight and began unloading luggage (enrolling in a "how to pack lighter" class before next cruise!) when we realized my youngest son had taken off his backpack, set it on a chair in baggage claim while he helped me yank 5 very heavy bags from the belt and did not pick it back up. With the chaos in baggage claim and exhaustion from 10+ hours of travel no one noticed it had been left behind. So, in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn, we all burst in to tears and had a big melt down. For my 10 year old son, that backpack contained his life. Portable DVD player, DVD'd, Gameboy player, 5 gameboy games, books, stuffed animal, etc. Dznyjenn even stopped her midnight packing, drove all the way back to the airport and searched the airport with no luck (what a true friend). It was never turned into lost and found. And let me just say what a looooooooong flight home it was without any entertainment value!!!!!!

We took the Cocoa Beach shuttle to the Port (then were not very prompt) and met up with Dznyjenn and her family. Registerd DS 10 for kids program while waiting to board and was giving parent pager. Check-in was a breeze and then never even questioned me sailing alone with 2 kids but I was glad I had my custody papers with me just in case. Had to sign an image waiver as a filming crew was on board our ship and we were likely to be filmed at some point.

Embarkation was magical. I tried to hold back the tears as we awaited our boarding photo but failed miserably, setting off Dznyjenn and her mother. And then it happened: we walked through the door and heard "Welcome Muhs family" and I cried once again. We headed straight for Palo ressies to secure brunch - no problem.

We headed for our stateroom after lunch at TS. We were in #2082 and I LOVED it! Great location, large room with tons of storage and a great port hole. Asked our stateroom attendent to divide the queen into 2 twins, quickly unpacked and headed for the sail away party.

The sail away party was fun and got me in the "party" mood. Toe tapping, fruity drinking fun! Oh, and DS 13 was already gone at this point! And as soon as Oceanquest opened, DS 10 would soon abandon me as well. We had late seating dinner, which I completely loved. Didn't make it to the show that night as we were busy at the open houses for the kids programs, had to do an emergency load of laundry (which was conveniently located just down the hall) and then it was time for dinner.

Dinner the 1st night was a bit unorganized. For more details on our less than great assistant server, see Dznyjenn's cruise report (she is much more detail oriented). Seemed like an eternity for our drinks to arrive and dinner was even longer. I will say that both of my sons LOVED the dinners. I was amazed at how they tried so many new foods and after the 1st night they were eager to dine again and see what was on the menu. Big change from mac n' cheese and tacos back home! DS 10 became a baked salmon addict and would eat it 6 out of 7 nights! It was nice family time after a long day of doing our own thing.

Key West: DS 10 and I left the ship and managed to last in the heat for 40 minutes before returning to the ship. I'm from Oregon and the heat/humidity combo was far to intense for this heat weanie! We looked into to the trolley and train tours but they were just too much $$ for us. The rest of the day was spent exploring the ship, swimming, Oceanquest, Basketball and my daily nap.

More to follow....have to work in laundry between posts

 

[Surroundedbyboys]

Hi Eeyoregon, I posted a note on your "hijacked" post- I'm so sad to read about your son's loss of his backpack! My younger son left his brand new game boy DS on a flight into Italy- so I feel your pain! Never found it either. I don't know why there are people who would steal something so obviously belonging to a child....but that's a whole 'nother subject! Glad you're home safe and sound and looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

 

[Dznyjenn]

I'm sooooooo sorry I couldn't find DS10's backpack. I SO wanted to be the true hero, and surprise you with it the next day at the port. I cried on the way home! I even pulled out his laundry list of afflictions to generate sympathy with the security guards at the deserted airport (sing along with me..... ) No dice. "come back tomorrow when lost and found is open"

Glad you made it home safe and sound...miss you already! Will have to start planning the next one. 2008 Double Dip anyone??? Don't tell DH!!!

 

[Mdlex]

Wow Dznyjenn ! What a great friend, to go late a night ( I'm sure you were exhausted with four kids of your own, including a baby) and look for the backpack, in hopes to suprise your friends son with it before he got on the ship. That's a true friend.


eeyoregon - so sorry that happened. That is a horrible way to start a trip. but i can't wait to here more. I hope it got better for you.

 

[BethA]

thanks for the report---so sorry about the backpack---how could someone not turn that in--would they like their stuff to be stolen??
that just amazes me. My son would be unconsolable!

 

[eeyoregon]

Dznyjenn:

I'm all for a double dip in 2008!!! Oh, but we have to go when school is out as Jensen is sooooooooooooooooooooooo far behind now that he has missed 11 days of school thanks to our unexpected souvenir (DISer's will find out more about our souvenir in my upcoming posts). And because he missed 10 days of school, he was dropped from the system so on Monday I have to go to school and re-enroll him. Jeepers

I call MCO lost and found every day in hopes that some miracle happens and his backpack will show up. Wonder if our Disney cruise insurance would cover it under "lost baggage"?? Hmm.... Grand total of contents is around $450 replacement value. THANKS AGAIN FRIEND FOR SEARCHING MCO IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!

 

[eeyoregon]

Monday was a day at sea and I was able to enjoy brunch at Palo's with Dznyjenn's Mom. The service and food were outstanding as was my company! I suppose this would be a good time to let you know about my sea sickness prevention experiences. I decided to try out the Transderm Scope patches. By Monday, I had been wearing one for 48 hours and was seeing double and triple of everything!! Not to mention it made my mouth sooooo dry that I was barely able to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth. Decided to remove the patch that afternoon and within 6 hours the dry mouth and blurry vision were gone. From that point on I took one 25mg Meclizine tablet each day to help with the motion of the ocean.

By Monday, I realized that I was virtually crusing alone. My boys were enjoying their independence to the extreme. I took advantage of my "me" time and spent some time at the quiet cove adult pool. Heaven. Fruity drinks galore and no splashing in the face or getting kicked in the water! Note to self: re-apply sunscreen often. Ended up burning the fronts of my legs. Returned to the room and took my daily nap

Finally made it to the evening show and enjoyed it very much. Hated the reclining theater seats! At 5 feet 2 inches short, when the seat reclined, my feet no longer touched the floor (Dzynjenn found this to be most funny) and my legs promptly went numb!!

Formal night came quickly. Stretching nylons over my sun burned plus sized legs was less than special. Forcing my 2 sons to change out of shorts and into the dreaded neck ties was even worse!! My apologies to those passing our stateroom as my anger level rose! We took advantage of the professional photo opportunities and made our way to Lumiere's. Dinner was nice, food was great and our table mates sure cleaned up well While the food and company were good, my mind was fixated on getting out of those nylons ASAP!!! Aloe gel with lidocaine was just what I needed!

Off to do yet more laundry...TTFN

 

[pppiglet]

I would definately check with the travel insurance to see if they would replace the amount of $ lost. That's what it's there for.

I am loving your report. I felt so bad when I read your son's bag was taken. Hope it gets found or taken care of by the insurance company.

Carry on.....

Debbie

 

[eeyoregon]

pppiglet:

What is your Cast Member role? Dznyjenn has been working on me for 5+ years to move to Orlando and pursue my dream of working for Disney. Some day........

Yes, I will check into the insurance ASAP. Worse case scenario is they say NO! I certainly can't afford to replace the items, which makes me even more sad. This trip took a HUGE chunk out of this single mom's budget!!

 

[pppiglet]

The Dis castmember thing is just like your mouseketeer ;isting. I think it just goes by the number of posts you have. I don't work there....although I think it would be great!

 

[mom2dil]

Oh I was broken hearted to hear about your son losing his bookbag. What a rotten way to start a trip! Hope things went better after that!

 

[eeyoregon]

I left off at formal night. Forgot to mention how much I appreciated the on board laundry service. I had attempted do my own ironing for formal night but the small table top board was not condusive to effective ironing and the little laundry room was approx. 100 degrees. So I sent out 2 dress shirts and one pair of dress slacks. For $5 total they came back perfectly pressed - very much worth the cost!!!

As I said before, I'm really not the detail oriented writer of the group (read Dzynjenn's posts for stimulating reading!) so please accept my scattered thoughts!

Gonna have to come right out and say that for me the ship was the best part of the experience, not the ports. I truly am a heat weanie and all of the ports were far too hot for me. Dear Disney Cruise Line: Hurry up already and cruise to Alaska!!! In Grand Cayman we visited the turtle farm. My DS 10 would have spent the ENTIRE day there had I let him. He quickly learned how to calm the turtles by rubbing them under their chins and assumed the role of turtle catcher for the other tourists We were glad to find the local bus system as it was much cheaper than the hustlers at the pier - they were EXTREMELY aggressive and it was very overwhelming even in a group 8!

Cozumel didn't seem as hot/humid as Grand Cayman. The destruction caused by the recent hurricanes was numbing. I have never seen rebarb (spelling?) and concrete twisted and destroyed like it was. Without trying to sound harsh (I have complete sympathy for the residents) I honestly found the island to be quite ugly - nothing tropical or beautiful just desctruction and devistation. Paradise Beach was a huge let down with very little rock-free beach access and unless you have extreme upper body strength, you will never make it up the floating ice berg or trampoline. DS 13 and I attempted to eat at Paradise Beach but after sitting at a table for 20 minutes, never receiving menus or drinks, we got up and left. I know that without tourist dollars the area will never rebuild but I don't think Cozumel is ready for visitors/ships. If I sail the Western again, I will make sure to stay on the ship when we visit Cozumel. The tendering seemed to run smoothly but was extremely slow to unload upon return to the ship.

My two DS's continued to look forward to the evening meals. They were thrilled with all of the new foods that they had the opportunity to try. Jensen always had baked salmon for back up in case he didn't like his menu choice. My only regret was our serving team. I often found myself watching the other tables who had awesome servers that would interact with them by name, show them card tricks, play games with the kids, etc. Dznyjenn said it best when she described our assistant server as not being happy with her job. She went through the motions at each meal but her heart was not in it at all.

More random thoughts: Teenage boys do not think that neck straps for sunglasses are cool and will not wear one. Apparently all lost sunglasses fall into the big, dark sea of missing sunglasses as my DS 13 lost not 1, not 2 but 3 pairs of sunglasses on board and not a single pair ever made their way to lost and found. I meant to check the lost and found table in the terminal after debarkation but forgot Cute DS 13 moment: He had zipped up to deck 9 to grab some pizza and bring it back to the room. He returned with his pizza and told me that his elevator had been taken over by Donald Duck and his escort and that Donald had stolen his pizza but eventually gave it back He was secretly tickled by the event!

Favorite Cast Member: Erika at the customer service desk. Day 3 of cruise and DS 10 and I were in the arcade spending crazy amounts of money on games that we can play back home??? when the lense from his glasses fell out and landed on the floor. OH GREAT!!! Blind as a bat and no LenCrafters on board. Being that he is the only person in our family that wears corrective lenses, it never crossed my mind to bring one of those little eye repair kits. We zoom down to guest services and tell Erika our problem. She slips away and returns with and one of those little repair kits. She then takes 20+ minutes finding the correct sized screw and threading it into that TINY little hole. She finds one that is the right thickness but it's too long and sticks out a tiny little bit (nothing that gets in the way). She keeps apologizing about it being too long, offers to call maitenance and see if they can clip it off or grind it down!!! I told her it was more than fine and that she had saved the day!!! No charge for the repair kit. THANK YOU ERIKA!!!

That is all for now. PLEASE tell me if I am boring you to tears and I will wrap up this post. Sorry that I don't have any cool pictures to share = barely know how to get them off of my digital camera let alone onto my computer Please refer to Dznyjenn for photos

 

[Verandah Man]

Keep your report coming, it's been fun to read, but so sorry to hear about your DS's backpack.

BTW, my DW can relate to the seats, she is all of 4' 7" and her feet hardly ever touch the floor when she is seated.

 

[eeyoregon]

Hi all. Have some more random thoughts and comments to share. Pirate Night was great! DS 10 and I dressed up although not to the extent of Dznyjenn's family who looked FABULOUS! DS 13 wasn't into to it but when we stopped for photo's on the white background, he did put on a pirate goofy hat and ball and chain. The bandana's were a nice touch at dinner. DS 10 and I attended the Pirate Party which was crowded but full of fun. We danced the night away until my shoe broke! We got to dance right next to Chip (or was it Dale??). I would imagine our images might end up in some of the footage that was filmed by the productin crew. They had cameras everywhere and filmed the entire party.

I already mentioned this next blurb in Dzynjenn's trip report but in case you missed it, here it is again. I left DS10 in a lounge chair to watch the late night showing of Pirates of the Caribbean movie on the Dumbotron screen. Went back to my stateroom to remove broken shoe and take some more meclizine as the Magic was really rocking that night! Because I am sooo sensitive to the motion of the ocean I noticed immediately that the ship had stopped moving. I looked out my window and could see search lights from the Magic sweeping the dark, choppy ocean. Then in the distance I spotted a sailboat bobbing in the rough sea like a toy boat. The sailboat was completely black except for 1 small red light on the bow. I called up to Barbara's room (she has a verandha) and told her to look out her window. Sorry for not calling you too Dznyjenn but it was after midnight and when you didn't make it to the Pirate Party, I assumed you and the wee ones were fast asleep. Barbara reports that there is activity near one of the life boats just below her room. I ran (literally ran from deck 2 to 10) up stairs to get a better look.

The sailboat is rocking and rolling and I can tell they don't have power because if they did, they would be nosing bow first into the large swells! A few minutes go by and plop goes one of our yellow life boats. It quickly zooms over to the sailboat, which has drifted close enough to be able to see at least 3 men and 2 large dogs on deck, hands off fuel, water and food. The life boat returned very quickly - no small chat - for safety purposes I'm sure. The Magic powers back up and the small sail boat disappears into the darkness. WAY TO GO DISNEY! Best part?? The woman standing next to me as we watch the rescue unfold says, "Do you think it's part of Pirate night?"

The next morning our captain replays our rescue over the intercom system. Apparently 4 men and 2 dogs set sail and had intended to refuel in Cuba. Unfortunately for them, they did not have the proper papers/documention and were denied entrance by Cuba. For 2 1/2 days they drifted in the ocean without fuel or water and a broken mast. Other ships turned the other cheek and sailed right past them but not Disney. It was very exciting!

Thursday was a day at sea and it seemed to fly by. Attended the towel folding seminar in hopes of picking up the slack of our stateroom attendent. NOT. My puppy dog looked like an iguana on crack! Played my first game of Bingo in hopes of winning the $2,000+ jackpot that had to go. Didn't win but had fun trying. Even worse than not winning? The couple that one were RIGHT in front of me in line to purchase the packets = if I had arrived a couple of minutes earlier, that would have been MY packet

Attended captain's semi-formal dinner. Noticed a lot of people in their very formal attire again?? We went semi-formal and had photos taken, which turned out very nice despite the fact that I am about as photogenic (spelling??) as a rock. I ate not one, but two lobster tails - they were HUGE! Ok, had sort of suspected that I was allergic to lobster but I can't afford to eat it back home so I wasn't sure if my one time lobster experience was a bad reaction or simply that I ate too much. The vote is in: I can confirm that I am allergic to it. The 3 hours following dinner were spent praying to the plastic toilet Gods. Boy those bathrooms sure seem small when you have your head stuck in the toilet!!!! Note to self: stick with chicken.

I retired to my stateroom around 11:00 - packed one suitcase of dirty clothes and formal wear and tucked it away in the closet. Both boys went to the movie premiere of "Stick It" at 12:01am. They rolled in around 2:30 after the movie and a dish of early morning ice cream!

Gotta run...still helping DS 10 get caught up on homework.

 

[mmouse37]

The next morning our captain replays our rescue over the intercom system. Apparently 4 men and 2 dogs set sail and had intended to refuel in Cuba. Unfortunately for them, they did not have the proper papers/documention and were denied entrance by Cuba. For 2 1/2 days they drifted in the ocean without fuel or water and a broken mast. Other ships turned the other cheek and sailed right past them but not Disney. It was very exciting!

Love your report....we were also onboard the Magic a few years ago where we had to offer assistance to a rowboat of Cuban refugees....pulled up along side their small rowboat (we were not allowed to bring them onboard)....there were about 5 men and a young boy who were without food or water....( some DCL crew through bottled water and fruit into their boat)....DCL had to call the Coast Guard and when they arrived the men jumped into the water and tried to get away....it was very sad to see both ends of the spectrum ....here was a beautiful cruise ship filled with people dressed up on formal night looking over the side of the ship at men and a boy with no shirt on who had to jump overboard in order not to return to their home land....

Anyway, the Coast Guard picked them up and we heard brought them back to Cuba.

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[eeyoregon]

Friday morning came early for my 2 late night movie watchers! We did make it off the ship by 11:00 (gonna get moving faster next time!). We strolled to the tram pick up area. Rode the tram as far as it goes. We made our way on foot to Castaway Ray's Stingray Snorkel area. We all LOVED the stingray experience - perfect for 1st timers and young ones as the water is calm and shallow and they provide hands on interaction where eveyone gets a chance to pet and feed the critters. They were slimy!

After the stingray experience we hurried over to Cookies BBQ before it closed. Had lunch (nothing to write home about but decent eats) and then headed to the family beach for some sun and water fun. The kids were disappointed that the climber in the water was closed - darn tides! We swam, bobbed and floated for several hours. Packed up our goods and stopped in the gift hut for a few souvenir's and then back on board. We went straight to our cabin and when I looked out our window, I could see that the characters had arrived - we missed them by 5 minutes! I could see Dznyjenn's family in line to board and meet the characters!

And then it hit me. The Magic slowly pulled away from the dock and I realized our trip had come to an end. The tears began to flow. DS 13 put his arm around me and assured me that we would sail again! Castaway Cay slipped away into the distance...

PANIC: Need to shower and dress 3 people. Need to get to the show. Need to pack 5 suitcases. Need to swing by Shutters for last minute photo purchases. Need to go to dinner. Need to stop in gift shop. OH DEAR!!! And their off......................................OH, and the seas are rough and the ship is rocking and rolling!!

The chaos went as smoothly as possible. Dinner was nice although I was biting back tears most of the time. The show that night put me on the emotional edge! Although the lady ventrilaquist had me crying tears of laughter with her audience participation skit! Laughed so hard I that almost popped out of my panty hose!!! Hurried back to the cabin after dinner to toss luggage in the hall. Kids are off enjoying their last night on board. Luggage is out and I meet Dznyjenn at Shutters and then the gift shop for last minute purchases. Go back to my room to review my on board charges and organize our carry-off luggage. Slide open the closet and "Oh S@%T" I find the suitcase that I had packed the night before still sitting in my closet. Guess I will be lugging a 50lb suitcase with me to breakfast

DS 10 and I together at around 1:00am and slid into bed - with the way the ship was rocking and rolling I was sure that I would roll out of bed and onto the floor at some point! Thank goodness for meclizine tablets!! DS 13 joins us around 2:30. Wow that 6:00 am alarm clock went off early!!!! Sadly said goodbye to our beloved stateroom and rolled ourselves and our left-behind luggage to breakfast. WOW is breakfast at high speed!!!

Have to take minute to tell you this bit. I order eggs, ham and hash browns. My plate comes and the ham "steak" is a 1 inch by 2 inch triangle??? I stabbed it and ate it in one bite!!! Snagged a danish off the tray to make up for my lack of protein!!

And then it happened. We were off the ship. Sooooooooooooooooo sad. It was over. Our luggage was sitting waiting for us and a porter comes over whith a hand truck. AMAZING! This man piled 15+ suitcases onto 1 hand truck and rolled them all the way to the loading curb! Luckily Barb still had tipping money left!

Dznyjenn and family pile into their Limo. Oh what I would have given to have my camera handy: Luxury Limo pulls away from curb...trunk of limo is popping it's seems, stoller crammed on top of luggage and a bungy cord holding it all together! PRICELESS

DS's and I wait for our Cocoa Beach shuttle, which we pre-paid for a round trip back to the Holiday Inn. 15 minutes and no van. I call and am told they are sitting accross the street and will be right over. 19 mintues and no van. Call again and am told "he is on his way with an ETA of 2 minutes." 12 minutes go by and FINALLY a Cocoa Beach shuttle.

So what was the hightlight of my trip you ask? I get in the shuttle with my DS's 10 and 13. The driver, who I am guessing is in his late twenties or early thirties says to me "Cool. You guys brothers and sister? Did your folks cruise with you too?" I tell him that I am the mother. He keeps asking me if I'm sure. I assured him and attributed it to my baby face! Oh the little things in life

Picked up Dznyjenn's van and headed for Orlando. Noticed all of the brush fires and worried about future cruisers getting through on the roads. Very thankful once again that Dznyjenn's mother gave me her left over tip money - those darn toll roads!!! Made it to Dznyjenn's house to pick her up, swap some luggage and then we were off to Saratoga Springs Resort. She worked her magic with the cast member at registration and we were able to check into our room at 1:00! Said goodbye to Dznyjenn and changed into shoes and clothes for the parks. We were off!!! We first hit Magic Kingdom and when it closed at 7:00 we hoppped the monorail for Epcot.

**Oop's I have a lunch date in 12 minutes....where does the time going when you are DIS'ing??? I will wrap up this report tonight.

 

[Aquagirl]

DS 10 and I attended the Pirate Party which was crowded but full of fun. We danced the night away until my shoe broke! We got to dance right next to Chip (or was it Dale??).

A little trick to keep Chip and Dale straight. One has a red nose the other a brown. Chip has the Chocolate CHIP nose. Now you'll never forget it. I could never remember who was who until someone taught me that.

Your crack about your towel animal cracked me up!!!

That is amazing about the sailboat on pirate night. i would have liked to see that!!!

Great report, I'm glad that you had a good time!!!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I've really enjoyed reading your trip report. We sailed the Western in December and it was great. Reading your trip report brought back lots of memories for me. Thanks for taking the time to write about it.

 

[curlybop]

Thanks for writing such a great report. I really enjoy reading them!

 

[eeyoregon]

Sorry for the delay in wrapping up my trip report. DS 10 has croup and strep throat and when single Mom's have sick kids they don't have an ounce of spare time!!

So Saturday after leaving the ship we headed for WDW. After checking into SSR and leaving our luggage, we headed for Magic Kingdom and when it closed at 7:00 we hopped the monorail and snuck in a few hours at Epcot. It truly is a small world! We decided to hop in the single rider line at Test Track. I notice a teen girl and boy staring at my DS 13 and making weird faces - trying to get his attention. He finally notices and tells me they are a brother and sister that he met on board in the Stack. What are the odds that we would end up at the same park, at the same ride, in the single rider line at the exact same time? OH the little things that float my boat

We are back at SSR and in bed by midnight. Up bright and early Sunday and off to Animal kingdom. In the gates by 9:45 am. We head straight for Everest and get our fast passes. We then head to Kali River Rapids. No line, no waiting so we ride it as a family 4 times (love those $1 ponchos from the DollarTree!!). I get off and the boys stay on and ride it another 5 or 6 times as there is stil no line. Love this time of year at the parks!!! We eventually ride Everest
Dear lord, when that coaster started flying backwards through the dark, I couldn't tell which end was up!!!! Once was enough on that ride!

We left AK at 3:30 and swung back to the resort for a clothing change. Grabbed light coats and put on pants. Off to Magic Kingdom. We arrived at MK around 5:00pm. At 8:00 we got our extra magic hours bracelets and continued on. Watched the fireworks as we rode Big Thunder Moutain - very cool. Rode Splash too many times to remember. DS 10 was going to skip it but we convinced him to try it and of course he LOVED it!!!

12:58am and we are sadly making our way to the front of the park. Our journey has ended. We are passing the entrance to Pirates when a cast member asks us if we want one last ride. OF COURSE! We walk straight on and ride the ride. When we come out the same cast member says, "Do you realize that you were the last guests to ride Pirates? It has officially closed for changes/refurbishiment until the end of July." WAY COOL!!! We saw it one last time as we all know it, before it's changed forever! Am I easy to entertain or what?

The Muhs family just spent 16 hours in the parks!!! We hop the bus and are at our resort and in bed by 2:00am. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. 2:45am DS 13 wakes me up and says he isn't feeling well. He starts to throw-up immediately. Violent vomitting and diarrhea for hours and hours. DS 10 sleeps through it all. I make bed on floor of bathroom for DS 13 who is utterly exhausted and extremely ill. Can you say Norovirus?? Despite the exteme handwashing measures taken on the Magic, DS 13 has contracted the dreaded Norovirus. I suppose playing basketball for hours, hanging out in the Stack and exploring the ship = not as good of handwashing as there would have been if hanging with old Mom.

Now what? We are supposed to be on a 5:30pm flight home. At 10:30am I decide to call SW Air and change flight to next day. Did I make the right decision? $150 later, I am hoping so. Dznyjenn comes through BIG time and is able to not only get us another night at SSR but we are able to stay in the same room. DS 13 continues to throw up. Nothing but bile left at this point. So very glad that we didn't try to fly home that night as the bus ride to the airport would have been anything but a Magical Express as he was still vomitting at the time we would have been riding to MCO. DS 10 has nothing to entertain him as it was all lost in his backpack. He is climbing the walls. DS 13 tells me it's ok to take little brother to the pool - luckily we are right accross the street from the main pool. I take my cell phone and call to check on DS13 every 15 minutes. We eat lunch and swim for about 1 & 1/2 hours and return to the "sick" room.

Dznyjenn calls to check in from work. I ask her how close is the closest grocery store?? She reminds me that I don't have a car. Then she takes my grocery list over the phone, uses her lunch hour and drives to the grocery store and buys everything on the list, stops at McDonald's for DS 10 and then delivers "sick" supplies to our room! SHE IS MY HERO!!! Food for me and DS 10 and soup, pop-sickles, 7-up, crackers, etc. for my poor baby!!!

After approximately 14 hours, DS stops thowing-up and the diarrhea has ceased. He slept until we had to be out of the room at 11:00. He feels 100% better than 24 hours earlier but is very weak. He insists we go to DT Disney for a while. We grab lunch and last minute souvenir's and return to SSR for our Magical Express to MCO.

VERY LONG FLIGHT HOME to Oregon. Land at 9:30pm and my Mom is waiting to pick us up and drive us home (1 hour drive). It has NEVER been soooo good to be home! 12 days was a long time to be away not to mention the rough ending! What really sucked was that I had taken Tuesday off from work so I could unpack and rest up. But we ended up having to stay an extra day which meant I lost my day off and had to go to work the next morning Boy was I beat!!!

Two nights later, DS 10 is struck with the Norovirus. Identical symptoms. Here we go again......................

It's 9 days later and knock on wood, I have been spared although I don't know how??? DS 10 didn't bounce back as quickly as his brother and while his immune system was low, he also picked up strep throat and croup (sounds like a seal when he coughs) and is the sickest he has ever been. PLEASE SEND ME PIXIE DUST!!! I suppose the good new is that the illness came after the cruise!

So there you have it. That is the rest of the story.

TTFN