So there we were at Parrot Cay: me making my salad saltier by the minute, and Sarah perusing the All Aboard Navigator (hint: there are tons of them at guest services, grab one before you make your way to the buffet and you will be the envy of your fellow cruisers!) calling out all of the times when Step it Up 2 was playing (no, really). Lionel and Mat had run to Rockin Bar D to change our brunch reservation from two people to four, and remarked when he returned that everyone there seemed to know his name.
Yes, baby. Thats because I posted pictures of you.
On the INTERNETS.
After lunch we poked around the boat looking for all of the famed dry dock changes. And then, it hit us: none of us had even been on the Magic before. New look on Beat Street? Great! But we have no idea what it looked like before, so
..
I have to admit I was disappointed that the Magic did not get the same super duper loungers at the Quiet Cove pool that the Wonder has. They take relaxation to a whole new level. But I did like the comfy chairs outside the Cove Café. Though someone told me those were not actually new at all.
See? Clueless.
We wandered the decks and bumped into a few familiar faces
"Oh, no! We'll be late for the DIS meet!"
We even did the spa tour, which I have never done before. It was kind of fun to see all of the rooms staged for the walkthrough. They took us through the rainforest room, a treatment room, a spa villa, the rasul room and the fitness center. Mostly, I was breathing in the smell of the spa. In fact, Sarah and I regularly chose to head down to our rooms using the forward stairwell, just to get a whiff of pure minty relaxation. I wish I could bottle that scent.
And then? We headed to our rooms. Where our luggage was waiting, sweet! Well, 2/3 pieces, at any rate. We found our garment bag later further along the hall, in front of someone elses door. I had noticed it looked familiar, and the tag just happened to be turned up, and the name just happened to read Erica and Lionel. Hmm. Had we not walked that way just then, someone else might have been wearing my $14 dress on formal night. Ladies and gentleman, I will totally scrap over a $14 gown. Crisis averted.
Before Lionel could say hey, look, we have Champagne I had once again unleashed my mad packing skillz on his hiney, unpacking all of the bags, stowing the empty suitcases under the bed and tucking all of our fish extender gifts into the cabinet above the TV.
Hey, look! A flatscreen TV! Isnt that new from drydock? See, I KNOW stuff.
Lilo and Stitch is always playing somewhere.....
Next, it was time to check out our phat lootz. We got a little photo book and bendy Captain Mickey frame from
Dreams Unlimited (thanks Debra!), our
Castaway Club gift (which was a very nice beach bag, but I didnt take a picture of it for some reason. It also had some sport bottles and a pencil bag), our Romantic Escape at Sea package (robes, an ice bucket and some chocolates) and a bottle of Champagne!
It's a party in a bucket!
DU gift on the left, REAS on the right, CC gift lonely on the bed
I have no idea where the Champagne came from. We are assuming it was part of the REAS, because it said absolutely nothing on the tag. It was an awesome surprise! So awesome, in fact, that we never drank it. For some reason, I thought it might not be cool to down the whole bottle before the lifeboat drill, and from there it went into the cooler, and then it was out of sight and out of mind until I stuck some fruit in there a few days later. I think I actually got Champagned out on this cruise (is that even possible?). I cant think of any other reason for it to still be in our fridge, UNOPENED, as I type. But the fact is, it remains there, right between the vanilla soy milk and a single bottle of orange crème soda left over from Sarahs 4-pack.
Back on the boat, we grabbed Mat and Sarah and headed up to the first DIS meet! Which had apparently started 30 minutes prior to our arrival. Yep. I cant even blame the booze, because I ordered my first drink right there at Preludes. It was a banana margarita. Not the strangest drink Ive ever had, but definitely the only one that combined tequila and banana flavoring. Oddly, no one wanted a sip. (shrug smilie)
Luckily quite a few DISers were still around, and we bopped around from person to person, Lionel referring to himself as zweihunds plus one. Unlike my last cruise meet, no one asked me how to pronounce my screen name. I guess because calling me Erica was just easier? Meet time passed way too quickly, and before I was halfway done with my banana concoction, they announced the lifeboat drill. You know what that meant: chug-a-lug, and a subsequent iced tequila headache. Mat and Sarah headed up to section K, and we were up to L. It was remarkably shiny outside, and the drill went on FOREVER.
Something I noticed about a 7-day cruise? Everyone takes their time with everything. Not a bad thing necessarily, just an observation. This was a theme throughout the entire week.
Post mustard drill, we headed up to Deck 9 to look for the rest of the DISers
.and promptly got distracted by fruit and paninis at Goofys Galley. This would also be a theme throughout the entire week. Sarah may have even had more paninis than ice cream, which would make you faint if you knew her like we do.
Over to the right, I noticed the shore was moving. How much tequila was in that drink again? Oh, wait, WE were moving! It was only 4:57! I yelled something to the effect of MOVING MOVING UP TOP NOW! and bolted, followed by the rest of my party who were still chewing their last bites of panini. It was too late, though. The port side was packed, and I could barely make out the Mickey hands waving to us from the terminal.
DISers, I am a failure. Not only did I miss sailaway, but
..
(are you ready for this?)
(I dont think you are.)
(No really, you arent ready for this.)
(I hope youre sitting.)
(SIT!)
DISers, I did not have a sailaway drink.
Yes, I know. I am still hanging my head in shame.
I dont know what happened! I was dancing to the music, and bouncing so I could see at least some of the usual leaving-the-port sights, but for some reason I completely forgot to grab my second favorite beverage of all time.
Thats it: no more tequila before sailaway.
Because the crowd was a bit much, we opted to head for the other side of the boat, which was almost completely empty, and very quiet. Actually, Im glad we did. If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the kickoff party, the deck above Quiet Cove is perfect.
You know darling, they do have stronger stuff than coke on this boat....
Down in the water, I noticed a boat was speeding along beside us
..
"Why aren't they pulling over?"
The police! Rats, they found me! I ducked behind Lionel. They passed us by. The remainder of my vacation commenced sans the supervisory eye of the law. Well, until we got to Mexico
but thats a story for another day.
Next up: Secret Mickeys, our first dinner onboard, and I almost lose my skirt up on the deck!
The best DIS emoticons I can find for evil and hanging: 
But that means that you will have to cruise again in the not too distant future! 
And yet you didn't have a sail away drink? Waiting for more
