Geeks go for broke! Updated 2/17: Wrap-up

[lovesDCL]

more please! i'm dying to read about your skirt and about all that champagne you drank yum!

 

[Legend 23®]

Shoot...I finally found the 9/27/2008 TR board. Now I feel like anything I say has already been said before.

Anyways, what a great cruise it was. Like others mentioned, I too get a bit choked up whenever we start coming up on the port and the ship comes into sight.

Of course, like any other guy...or at least some, I too am all about the food. It was quite a surprise when Sameer came over to our table to say hello. We immediately asked to be changed to his section. He didn't disappoint. I had 2 and 3 entrees every night thereafter. Some nights even when I didn't really want to, Sameer would say, "Come on, order something else." I didn't need much convincing.

I was somewhat disappointed with the food quality at Palo for dinner, but learned that they were having issues with a new chef who was a bit stubborn and set in his ways.

If there is one favorite event/show I like to do on the last night, it is Pub Night in Diversions. Although I've seen them over and over, I still get quite a laugh whenever I see the skits, especially the one "If I Were Not Upon The Sea." This time I had my video camera in hand and recorded it. I have watched everyday since the cruise. Although a couple of the cruise staff folks were a bit "blah" in their performance, it still makes me laugh. Regrettably, since I don't have enough posts on DisBoards, I am unable to post URLs to the videos of the skit...sorry.

 

[jollytammy]

Oh, PUB night is a blast

 

[zweihund]

I know everyone wants to hear the skirt story, but I have some other things first. Plus, it’s not nearly as exciting as what you have built up in your head, I promise. So I’ll drag it on a little longer in the interest of suspense.

Post sailaway, we were feeling the need for steam. Lionel and I were already in our swimsuits, but Sarah had not put hers on. She said “I’ll meet you in the Rainforest Room, Erica and Lionel, pinky swear on my Mom’s right eyelid.”

And then? She totally ditched us.

Yeah, yeah, something about being tired and falling asleep. A word to the wise: when traveling with Sarah, do not ever let her near a bed or other horizontal cushiony surface if you don’t mind losing her for at least the next 30 minutes. She falls asleep faster than my dog. She just doesn’t snore as loud.

Best time for the Rainforest? Sailaway. It was completely empty, save the occasional peeking guest on a spa tour. We lounged, we sauna’d, we steamed. It was rather awesome. Except for two things:

1) the spa slippers were ridiculously big this year. I have fairly small feet, but I had to shuffle in order to keep from walking right out of them. About halfway through the cruise Sarah found me a smaller pair, and we would open every single locker from then on until we located them again. Lionel’s were also huge. So, spa folks, if you are reading this? A boat is not one-size-fits-all. ‘k?
2) the mild steamroom on the Magic is…..surprisingly mild. I’d only ever been in the one on the Wonder. You know, the one that completely cooks your flesh if you stand in it for more than five minutes? This one felt like a slightly damper version of the sauna. But don’t fool yourself into thinking the benches are any more tolerable. I think my rear is still red from attempting to rest it on one! Ouch.

Feeling refreshed, we headed back to the room where we found a few treats in our fish extender, and our first Secret Mickey gift! Which, I later discovered, was from Arin (aka anc22, who, by the way, is also doing a TR, which you should totally check out):

These made me squeal!

Stitch is on my car as I type.

Lionel immediately took this to mean that we were way behind in our deliveries.

“What are we giving them today? Do we have something for today? We need to take it now! Now! Before it’s too late!”

And then his head popped off.

Thank goodness he doesn’t have a screen name here, or he’d post something snarky, but I totally made fun of him for this over the entire cruise. Because he did it EVERY SINGLE DAY. Mind you, he’d already seen everything I made for our SM couple (Chris and Rob, aka Scoobypop) AND knew what our FE gifts were. And for some reason, quizzed me constantly. Did we do enough? Did we have something for them for tomorrow? Why were we giving this gift first instead of the other one? What’s the main gift again? Are we sure it’s main-gift-worthy? And on, and on, and on.

Lionel, sweetie. I love you dearly. But, you are so lucky that you’re cute.

He cleans up pretty nicely

So, we took our first SM gift upstairs to deck 8. Chernabog is their favorite Disney character, so I gave them this magnet and left a little note:

Cutest demon ever!

Dropping off the gifts proved to be a stressful experience, and I don’t know why! I guess we were trying to be so secretive, we were scared someone would see us in the hallway or that Chris would open the door RIGHT as we were walking away. Luckily their cabin was conveniently located near a stairwell. Every time we dropped off a gift, we sprinted down the hall *clomp* *clomp* *clomp* and down to deck 7 *thud* *thud* *thud* *thud*, where we would casually *pant* stroll *pant* to *pant* the *pant* midship *gasp* *wheeze* stairwell and down to our room on deck 6.

NO ONE WOULD EVER KNOW.

It was almost time for dinner, and we called to check on Sarah’s level of wakefulness. Rumor had it that she was up and walking, though chances were several minutes would pass before her eyes would be open. We waited for the duo in the Promenade Lounge, where we were subjected to the second worst lounge act we have ever heard. The winners in this contest, in case you are curious, are on the Disney Wonder.

A quick little aside: the duo performing had talent. They really did. The guitarist was pretty good and he was able to get all of the programmed back-up beats and chords going flawlessly on every song. The girl had a great voice, and was very perky and great with the kids. But……the fact is, they remain a lounge act. Mostly, they were playing to fewer than eight people, at least 7 of which had their eyes fixed on whatever game was on TV and probably wishing they could turn down the volume on band. It was painful. And while I felt a little bad for them? I also felt a little bad for us, because Mat and Sarah were running late and another song was starting up.

Mat and Sarah arrived just as the band duo began their very upbeat rendition of “Play That Funky Music.” With a sig of relief, we RAN to Parrot Cay for our first dinner, and met two of the most wonderful servers we have ever had: Sameer and Gavin.

Sameer was all about extra entrees and desserts. Seriously. He was worse than my Italian grandmother, who, as I was growing up, forever proclaimed that I was too skinny and needed another meatball. They both had great senses of humor, and were lots of fun. And super attentive. By the third night, Sameer had discovered that I was vegetarian, and was asking the chef to make me special dinners that were not on the menu. More about that later. Next time we sail on the Magic, we will request this duo because we know we will get fantastic, fast service.

After dinner, even though the boat was a-rockin’ (4-8 foot seas tend to do that) we opted to stroll up on the pitch-black deck 10. Where my skirt nearly blew over my head.

See? I told you it wasn’t as juicy as you all thought.

I walked up the stairs by the Mickey pool with my hands over my knees, trying to will my skirt into place. And then I was lulled into a false sense of security. For while I was snapping this very bad photo of the kids’ pool, I felt a breeze where one should not be feeling a breeze when one is in public. Between my knees the skirt got tucked, and I waddled around behind the gang with my hands in the blowaway-fabric-ready-position for the duration of our stroll.

Can you see the pool over my skirt? Neither can I

I think this pic was an effort to show the waves in the Mickey pool, but it’s pretty hard to see. At least my skirt wasn’t in the way of the lens.

It had been a long day, and we opted to call it a night. Back in our cabin, we found a towel swan and a few more FE gifts. I have photos of neither, most likely because I was still drunk. As we lay in bed, we reflected on the day.

This was without a doubt the most relaxed first cruise day we had ever had. We’ve only been on 3 and 4 nighters up until this trip, and the pacing is so much different. We felt no rush to get to anything, because we had 7 days to do it all! And if not? We’d be back again soon. So really, what’s the hurry? Still, we didn’t feel like we were embarking on a week-long cruise. In fact, this is what I wrote in my journal before retiring for the night:

Hasn’t sunk in yet that we have seven days. Worried they will kick us off in Grand Cayman and finish the cruise without us.

But, they didn’t.

Next up: our first stop at Castaway Cay! Konk Coolers for everybody!

 

[zweihund]

Oh, and I almost forgot: here is our door!

So much easier to find this way, especially after many glasses of Champagne......

 

[jenn&nelsonrego]

At least my skirt wasn’t in the way of the lens.

It really is the little things in life that we thank a higher power for isn't it?


J/K I think a picture of your skirt over the lens would have been a riot!

 

[podsnel]

Don't even know you, but I can completely picture Lionel panicking about the SM gifts- I have the funniest reel in my head of him freaking out- thanks! He's a riot!!

 

[nenner1]

Don't even know you, but I can completely picture Lionel panicking about the SM gifts- I have the funniest reel in my head of him freaking out- thanks! He's a riot!!

I'm with him on that....when we got our SM gift, I was terrified I did not read the "rules" right, and that what I bought for our gift to give was not enough. I went around on a hunt for several people to confirm to me that it was really $25 total and not $25/pp!
Can you imagine! I had planned to go a bit over the $25 from the beginning anyway..but I actually held off on delivering ours until I was sure it was ok and that I was not el cheapo!

(Actually I'm still reading all these TR's to make sure I really was in the correct price range vicinity, and that everybody didn't lie to me! )

 

[jns]

Oh, and I almost forgot: here is our door!

So much easier to find this way, especially after many glasses of Champagne......

thank you so much for sharing your trip with us
waiting hard to hear more

Love the door how did you make the Mickey ?

 

[lovesDCL]

thanks for the latest installment!

i LOVE the mickey on your door! i think i read earlier it was a gift from a friend, but any chance you know where they got it? i really want one!!! it is sooooooo cute!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Wonderful as always......
Love the Lionel "anxiety" secret Mickey story.....we didn't do secret Mickey's on my cruise last year but did do FE treats......what I learned doing FE treats is that the Magic is a very large boat with very long hallways.....good grief.
Your door is precious.....I am so stealing that Mickey idea for our next cruise........whenever that will be. Your Lilo & Stitch FE is so cute!!!!!!!!!!

 

[anc22]

I'm with him on that....when we got our SM gift, I was terrified I did not read the "rules" right, and that what I bought for our gift to give was not enough. I went around on a hunt for several people to confirm to me that it was really $25 total and not $25/pp!
Can you imagine! I had planned to go a bit over the $25 from the beginning anyway..but I actually held off on delivering ours until I was sure it was ok and that I was not el cheapo!

(Actually I'm still reading all these TR's to make sure I really was in the correct price range vicinity, and that everybody didn't lie to me! )

Jen, the SM gift you gave was perfect!

 

[queenbee99]

I LOVE your door....How can I do this for mine when we leave next Wednesday?

Oh, and I almost forgot: here is our door!

So much easier to find this way, especially after many glasses of Champagne......

 

[alleluia5]

Sameer was all about extra entrees and desserts. Seriously. He was worse than my Italian grandmother, who, as I was growing up, forever proclaimed that I was too skinny and needed another meatball. They both had great senses of humor, and were lots of fun. And super attentive. By the third night, Sameer had discovered that I was vegetarian, and was asking the chef to make me special dinners that were not on the menu. More about that later. Next time we sail on the Magic, we will request this duo because we know we will get fantastic, fast service.

I totally agree - first, we had at least 2 extra desserts every night "just try this" he would say. Second, the service was seamless, one entry right into the next!

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I loved your door Erica! I always enjoyed walking by it...since it was right down the hall from me!!!

I never thought about going up and looking at pool when the ship was rocking! I'll have to do that next time!

 

[Legend 23®]

Our server team rocked. We had our laughs with Gavin when he'd come by with his pepper mill, "Cracked pepper, sir," he would ask in his South African accent. As far as Sameer goes, DW (Alleluia5) and I were talking to him and told him how much we love Indian food. Next thing we know, Sameer's face lights up and tells us that next time we cruise, he will have Indian food made for us.

P.S. Edit:

Now that I have met my 10-post requirement, I am able to post those URLs to the "If I Were Not Upon The Sea" videos. Here you go...enjoy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7F4d6EDB-w --- This is Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLNnn7hLL2Y --- This is Part 2

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Shoot...I finally found the 9/27/2008 TR board. Now I feel like anything I say has already been said before.

Anyways, what a great cruise it was. Like others mentioned, I too get a bit choked up whenever we start coming up on the port and the ship comes into sight.

Of course, like any other guy...or at least some, I too am all about the food. It was quite a surprise when Sameer came over to our table to say hello. We immediately asked to be changed to his section. He didn't disappoint. I had 2 and 3 entrees every night thereafter. Some nights even when I didn't really want to, Sameer would say, "Come on, order something else." I didn't need much convincing.

I was somewhat disappointed with the food quality at Palo for dinner, but learned that they were having issues with a new chef who was a bit stubborn and set in his ways.

If there is one favorite event/show I like to do on the last night, it is Pub Night in Diversions. Although I've seen them over and over, I still get quite a laugh whenever I see the skits, especially the one "If I Were Not Upon The Sea." This time I had my video camera in hand and recorded it. I have watched everyday since the cruise. Although a couple of the cruise staff folks were a bit "blah" in their performance, it still makes me laugh. Regrettably, since I don't have enough posts on DisBoards, I am unable to post URLs to the videos of the skit...sorry.

Oh, hurry up and post a bunch so you can post your video - would love to see it!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Great Update Erica! I had to laugh about the lounge act, I was thinking of the old SNL skit with the "we head up the music department at Altadina Middle School" couple

Glad you managed to keep your skirt on.
Loved your door signs, and your FE was adorable!

 

[nenner1]

Jen, the SM gift you gave was perfect!

 

[disneychic]

Yes! We're cruising w/ the geeks to Tortola too!

Great trip report! Looking forward to reading more