LadyLt
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2002
- Messages
- 266
Days 6 and 7, and Docking at Port Canaveral
Thursday was scheduled to be a day at sea while we steamed back towards the Bahamas for a day at Castaway Cay. We had missed our scheduled Character Breakfast on Monday when we did the Palo Brunch. So our head server made arrangements for Margaret, Tracy, Al, and I to go this morning. I met Catherine along the way and she came with us. We had a good time and a BIG breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale.
The morning was bright and beautiful. After breakfast, I spent a lot of time on deck reading, smoking, and enjoying the weather and sea breezes. I met up with Arlene and Bob at one point and we sat talking for a while. They went off to enjoy the all you can eat seafood buffet. But I was still full from breakfast and did not go with them. Later they came back by and stopped to talk. I know Kelli and Keith were there sometime that morning and afternoon.
One great thing about traveling like this was to just meet up with friends as you walked down a hall or sat on a deck. We always stopped and exchanged a few words and sometimes sat and talked for long periods of time. Ive got to tell you and she will agree, that Arlenes husband Bob is a talker and a character. I enjoyed talking to him a lot. He has never met a stranger. We all did our own thing and had a great time.
About 2:30 to 3:00 pm, I noticed some dark, rolling clouds off to our left. They were really quite beautiful to watch from a distance. The sun was still shining over the ship, as it had been all morning. But the clouds caught us within about thirty minutes. We started getting some rain, but the worst was the wind. By late afternoon, they had to close the outside decks. You couldnt get the doors to open and close correctly and you could get blown down when you stood outside. I could still use our verandah, but it was windy there.
Dinner that night was the Captains Gala, also known as Semi-Formal night. So we all got dressed up again for dinner. I wore burgundy beaded and sequined top over a burgundy chiffon skirt. Christi had a mid-calf red evening dress. We all went to see Disney Dreams. As others from our group have said in their reports, I do not like this show as well as some Disney cruisers who have raved over it. But I dont think it is awful. It just has a corny theme with the girl trying to find her magic within. But the little vignettes from the different Disney movies are cute and well done. Christi was actually late to the show. She sent Neil on to be with me and said she wasnt going to make it. But she showed up about ten minutes into the show. Luckily Neil and I were close to the top and she found us easily. She was late because she was sea sick. Poor baby of mine.
Neil is prone to sea sickness and had a couple of queasy times earlier in the week. But when we got the high winds and waves this afternoon, Christi became very ill. After the show, we went to dinner. Most of the cruisers were there, but we were all learning to walk and roll at the same time. By the evening, the waves were eight to thirteen feet high (per the on ship television info).
The rocking and rolling of the ship continued all night. At one time I thought of calling Christi and Neil and asking them to come up to my cabin. I knew it had to be worse on the 2nd deck than the 6th. But there really wasnt room for them with Margaret and I in our cabin. I told Christi that the next day and she laughed. She said that she didnt think she or Neil could have made it to an elevator and down a hall to my cabin. She said that they were both sick as dogs. I dont suffer from motion sickness myself at all. So for me it was just a matter of learning to walk with all the rolling that the ship was doing.
Friday morning dawned cloudy and still very windy. The waves were still 8-13 feet. Then about 9:00 am, they made the announcement that we could not dock at Castaway Cay. The winds were too bad for the ship to get through the chanel to the dock. The Captain announced that he would sail around the Bahamas for a while and if the winds slowed, he would try to dock.
I went up to Topsiders for breakfast. It was so crowded that I sat outside to eat. The wind was blowing deck chairs along the deck and crew members were chasing them and trying to stack them up. It was funny to see. But you certainly did not want to stay out there long. It was very cool and windy with a dark, cloudy sky.
Basically, I have just described Friday. It stayed this way all day long. The Magic rocked and rolled around the Bahamas all day and then that evening, we finally set out to return to Port Canaveral.
The next morning, we had breakfast in the same restaurant where we ate the night before, Lumieres. At that time, we got to say goodbye to our servers. Margaret, Christi, Neil, and I left the ship together going through Customs where we didnt even have to stop. We went outside and met up with Catherine who was waiting. We hired porters to take all our luggage across the street to the shuttle area. The five of us jumped on a Radisson van which was already there.
When we got back to the Radisson, we put all my luggage in Neils Blazer with him and Christi. We then put Margarets and Catherines luggage in my car. We all started back to Orlando. Needless to say, the young ones took off and left me in their dust. I didnt check my watch, but Margaret, Catherine, and I started back. I had forgotten to fill with gas the week before on our way to Port Canaveral, so I had to stop near the Orlando airport to fill up. I still pulled up to the Animal Kingdom Lodge at 11:30 am. Catherine had decided to spend one night there with Amy and go to the Adventurers Club that night. She was in serious withdrawal by this time and needed that night at Pleasure Island.
We found Amy and the four of us had lunch together at the Lodge. I then drove Margaret to MCO so she could catch her flight to San Francisco. I then went home to my girls. Gidget and Tinkerbell were ecstatic to see me. I had had a neighbor pet sitting them each day while I was gone. They know and love her. But they were glad Mommy was home. So I spent the next three hours holding little Yorkies.
Later that evening, I went to the Polynesian and met Lynn and her wonderful family and Jessie and her husband. We stuffed and talked and talked and stuffed on Ohana food. I really needed that after all the food during the cruise. But some how, I didnt gain a pound that week.
Thursday was scheduled to be a day at sea while we steamed back towards the Bahamas for a day at Castaway Cay. We had missed our scheduled Character Breakfast on Monday when we did the Palo Brunch. So our head server made arrangements for Margaret, Tracy, Al, and I to go this morning. I met Catherine along the way and she came with us. We had a good time and a BIG breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale.
The morning was bright and beautiful. After breakfast, I spent a lot of time on deck reading, smoking, and enjoying the weather and sea breezes. I met up with Arlene and Bob at one point and we sat talking for a while. They went off to enjoy the all you can eat seafood buffet. But I was still full from breakfast and did not go with them. Later they came back by and stopped to talk. I know Kelli and Keith were there sometime that morning and afternoon.
One great thing about traveling like this was to just meet up with friends as you walked down a hall or sat on a deck. We always stopped and exchanged a few words and sometimes sat and talked for long periods of time. Ive got to tell you and she will agree, that Arlenes husband Bob is a talker and a character. I enjoyed talking to him a lot. He has never met a stranger. We all did our own thing and had a great time.
About 2:30 to 3:00 pm, I noticed some dark, rolling clouds off to our left. They were really quite beautiful to watch from a distance. The sun was still shining over the ship, as it had been all morning. But the clouds caught us within about thirty minutes. We started getting some rain, but the worst was the wind. By late afternoon, they had to close the outside decks. You couldnt get the doors to open and close correctly and you could get blown down when you stood outside. I could still use our verandah, but it was windy there.
Dinner that night was the Captains Gala, also known as Semi-Formal night. So we all got dressed up again for dinner. I wore burgundy beaded and sequined top over a burgundy chiffon skirt. Christi had a mid-calf red evening dress. We all went to see Disney Dreams. As others from our group have said in their reports, I do not like this show as well as some Disney cruisers who have raved over it. But I dont think it is awful. It just has a corny theme with the girl trying to find her magic within. But the little vignettes from the different Disney movies are cute and well done. Christi was actually late to the show. She sent Neil on to be with me and said she wasnt going to make it. But she showed up about ten minutes into the show. Luckily Neil and I were close to the top and she found us easily. She was late because she was sea sick. Poor baby of mine.
Neil is prone to sea sickness and had a couple of queasy times earlier in the week. But when we got the high winds and waves this afternoon, Christi became very ill. After the show, we went to dinner. Most of the cruisers were there, but we were all learning to walk and roll at the same time. By the evening, the waves were eight to thirteen feet high (per the on ship television info).
The rocking and rolling of the ship continued all night. At one time I thought of calling Christi and Neil and asking them to come up to my cabin. I knew it had to be worse on the 2nd deck than the 6th. But there really wasnt room for them with Margaret and I in our cabin. I told Christi that the next day and she laughed. She said that she didnt think she or Neil could have made it to an elevator and down a hall to my cabin. She said that they were both sick as dogs. I dont suffer from motion sickness myself at all. So for me it was just a matter of learning to walk with all the rolling that the ship was doing.
Friday morning dawned cloudy and still very windy. The waves were still 8-13 feet. Then about 9:00 am, they made the announcement that we could not dock at Castaway Cay. The winds were too bad for the ship to get through the chanel to the dock. The Captain announced that he would sail around the Bahamas for a while and if the winds slowed, he would try to dock.
I went up to Topsiders for breakfast. It was so crowded that I sat outside to eat. The wind was blowing deck chairs along the deck and crew members were chasing them and trying to stack them up. It was funny to see. But you certainly did not want to stay out there long. It was very cool and windy with a dark, cloudy sky.
Basically, I have just described Friday. It stayed this way all day long. The Magic rocked and rolled around the Bahamas all day and then that evening, we finally set out to return to Port Canaveral.
The next morning, we had breakfast in the same restaurant where we ate the night before, Lumieres. At that time, we got to say goodbye to our servers. Margaret, Christi, Neil, and I left the ship together going through Customs where we didnt even have to stop. We went outside and met up with Catherine who was waiting. We hired porters to take all our luggage across the street to the shuttle area. The five of us jumped on a Radisson van which was already there.
When we got back to the Radisson, we put all my luggage in Neils Blazer with him and Christi. We then put Margarets and Catherines luggage in my car. We all started back to Orlando. Needless to say, the young ones took off and left me in their dust. I didnt check my watch, but Margaret, Catherine, and I started back. I had forgotten to fill with gas the week before on our way to Port Canaveral, so I had to stop near the Orlando airport to fill up. I still pulled up to the Animal Kingdom Lodge at 11:30 am. Catherine had decided to spend one night there with Amy and go to the Adventurers Club that night. She was in serious withdrawal by this time and needed that night at Pleasure Island.
We found Amy and the four of us had lunch together at the Lodge. I then drove Margaret to MCO so she could catch her flight to San Francisco. I then went home to my girls. Gidget and Tinkerbell were ecstatic to see me. I had had a neighbor pet sitting them each day while I was gone. They know and love her. But they were glad Mommy was home. So I spent the next three hours holding little Yorkies.
Later that evening, I went to the Polynesian and met Lynn and her wonderful family and Jessie and her husband. We stuffed and talked and talked and stuffed on Ohana food. I really needed that after all the food during the cruise. But some how, I didnt gain a pound that week.
My DH and I were on the same cruise as you!! We spent the night before at the Radisson and left our vehicle there. We also had the same dining rotation you did!! Sounds like you enjoyed your experience with the stingrays, we did too. Although we took one of the Disney excursions (I think it was Island Tour and Stingray City). We went in vans, stopping at Hell and the turtle farm first and then on to the boat to take us to the stingrays. I think there were about 25-30 people on our boat, so I was glad we had a smaller group too. The guides were so helpful with the rays, picking them up for us to hold, taking pictures of us with our cameras, and helping us to feed them. They didn't video like yours did though, that would have been a great souvenir to have!! I video taped with my own camera, but a "professionally done" video would have been better...
Lynn
