January Thaw cruise/Eastern January 19th/vow renewal

[chepic]

So off to Palo we go, all the kids are settled, and they give us the big middle table. We can see the kitchen from where we sit, and we had excellent service.

First they brought out a group of different appetizers; the antipasto, all sorts of spreads, shrimp in this yummy cocktail type sauce, calamari, and some type of salmon:

Then the salads and soups came out which was then followed by a cleansing of the palate:

Of course, the alcohol theme continued:

And then the surf and turf arrived....we each had something to do with the Filet or the Lobster, or the tuna. There was some other fish thing that we can't seem to remember the name, but it was covered in nuts and apparently was quite good.

Then the dessert.....

The Chocolate Souffle,

With dark chocolate or

with white chocolate

Then more just to be on the safe side. They were also going to cut up the rest of the wedding cake for us to eat, but I told them to give it to the staff.....there was just no way to eat all that.

Our evening was wonderful.

We then went down Rockin' D bar and saw the band, and then the comic....very funny....but not quite as good as the Super guy in the beginning of the week....he was great.

 

[Bethipooh4]

A big AWWWWWWWWWWWWW...how beautiful!!!!

It looks like you had an amazing time!

Believe it or not, DS(17) the one going to culinary school, was with the head chef in the kitchen, and actually watched them make your cake...
Yet another perk from Luis and Graham and Jeevan...he got a tour of the kitchen and time alone with the head chef.

 

[pjstevens]

WOW!!!! Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for sharing. I just booked our cruise this afternoon and we'll be doing the vow renewal for our 25th in September!!!

 

[jcs wife]

Wow that was wonderfull. Love the pics. I wonder if I could talk my hubby into a renewal for our 30th.

 

[harleys mom]

We also saw your cake being made. I have a couple of pictures with the cake and the cheif. PM me is you wnat me to email you a copy..
Congratualtions. The pictures are beatiful.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Wow, this makes me wish I would have thought of the vow renewal! I can imagine how thrilled DD9 would be to see her parents get married.

Your dress was gorgeous and you looked beautiful and you DH so handsome and of course everyone else looked awesome of course! What wonderful memories.

Oh, and I am just loving your trip report. I will miss it when it's over.

 

[chepic]

The vow renewal was just the best....I am so glad that we splurged for it. We had decided that we would renew our vows every 10 years to remind each other why it was we did this in the first place. I am very corny and sentimental like that, and luckly Dave just loves going for the ride!!! We have been through so many challenges in our lives that it really does make a difference to say out loud, in front of others, that I love you and I do think that this commitment is important!!!

I wish I could have seen the cake being made.....but I thank you for the pictures!!!!!

I am going to try and get this done before tonight....Dave and I leave for Moscow to see an appointment to adopt our second son....so if I don't get it done, forgive me, and I will finish upon my return.

cheryl

 

[Sandaneli]

The vow renewal was just the best....I am so glad that we splurged for it. We had decided that we would renew our vows every 10 years to remind each other why it was we did this in the first place. I am very corny and sentimental like that, and luckly Dave just loves going for the ride!!! We have been through so many challenges in our lives that it really does make a difference to say out loud, in front of others, that I love you and I do think that this commitment is important!!!

I wish I could have seen the cake being made.....but I thank you for the pictures!!!!!

I am going to try and get this done before tonight....Dave and I leave for Moscow to see an appointment to adopt our second son....so if I don't get it done, forgive me, and I will finish upon my return.

cheryl

I loved reading about your vow renewal. Congratulations.
Also as an adoptive mom of kids from Korea and China I wish you luck and will pray for your appointment in Moscow to go well. And really look forward to hearing about your trip to Moscow when you get back.

 

[chepic]

FRIDAY.....Everyone raves about Cast-a-way cay....and I am ready!!!! I stretched my hamstrings, did my neck circles, did a few warm-up jumping jacks....breath deep....early breakfast....sand toys in the bag....cameras....towels....glasses....off we go to be the first ones off the boat. You really have to love my husband and son for putting up with me!! I am the ring leader of our vacation troup....I have read the disboards for an entire year, I must get off the boat, DO NOT take the tram so as to not miss Capt. Jack Sparrow, go all the way to the end of the family beach to get the hammock!!!! We decend the stairs to deck 2 and are in a group of people that makes us feel like cattle to the slaughter!! If you heard a mooing noice, that would be Dave. As we are inching closer to the gang-way I see the notice that you must have photo ID to get back on ship!! WHAT!!!!! This is Disney's Island....who else would be there trying to get on board? Who else but me would have my Key-to-the-world card? Who else but me would want to drag my screaming kid away from all the fun on the beach....ooo forget I wrote that..

So off I go, running up the stairs to deck 6...because getting an elevator would never work now!! Dave and Max wait patiently for me down there . I get the passports and run down the stairs, gently nudging people out of my way, look out, my family is down there!!! And now, we get off..whew...but all these people are off and they are already on the tram, and I have to save seats for 24 people....the stress was overwhelming. We go right over to the post office to mail some post cards....CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We walk rather quickly to the spot where Capt. Jack Sparrow was and wait in the line, Of course I am freaking out thinking about the fact I will not get my hammock!!! Jamie, the photographer of our vow renewal was taking the pictures, so of course I had to slap on a smile and chat....yeah, like I really wanted to do that a that moment!!!! My inner demon was getting ready to erupt, and Dave just smiled at me, knowing that I would not be held down. We get to the area of the family beach and I say..."Just get to the end, I will meet you there!!" So, think of Rocky, think Chariots of Fire, think, Forest Gump, think Clark Griswald....I ran!!! Then, out of the corner of my eye I spot a man with a wagon full of stuff, heading right for the last 2 hammocks on the beach...the ones right next to the bathroom...the ones right next to the bar...the ones I read about and NEEDED TO GET... We reached them at the same time, and threw our bags on one each, looked at each other and smiled...we did it, and I didn't have to scratch his eyes out!!! BTW it was Berta's husband....didn't know it at the time, and now I am so glad that I was not as obnoxious as my writing may make me appear to be!!

So the 2 of us scope out all the seats, take the ones we need and I breath a sigh of relief....sit down on the hammock, and proceed to flip the dang thing over...Berta, your husband was gallant and asked if I was o.k. Laughing hysterically at this point I just nod and watch Dave shake his head at me!!

Our set-up

Making a castle.

I did get to lie down in it, but I forgot something, to take a picture of the coconuts that were hanging...it would have been a great shot.

Maxim enjoying the jungle gym thing.

So, even though it was overcast, we still enjoyed ourselves!! We did rent the tubes, which turned out to be not such a great thing..kids really didn't play with them. I was glad that I had bought our pails when we were at OKW...it was $4 for the little bucket set, versus much more on the ship. We enjoyed the food, good BBQ. The music coming in from the background was very nice. We really didn't explore too much, we just stayed put. We did head back early so that we could go onto the internet to print out our boarding passes for the next day. While we were in our cabin...the sun of course decided to come out.

We watched as 2 kids drifted too far and breached the roping, and were going to head out to sea. David whistled and I called the desk, and a rescue man came out and picked them up one at a time. Pretty scary!! Thankfully they were rescued.

Max really wants to go to the pool, so we shower up and head to deck 9.

The internet cafe was very quick!!! Much better than the one on RCL Explorer. The only problem was that it ran out of paper, but I was still capable of getting our boarding numbers.

Next up, final dinner, tired kids, and mayhem in Shutters.

 

[chepic]

I loved reading about your vow renewal. Congratulations.
Also as an adoptive mom of kids from Korea and China I wish you luck and will pray for your appointment in Moscow to go well. And really look forward to hearing about your trip to Moscow when you get back.

Thank you for your prayers....we are doing this blind, no info at all. When we adopted Max, we had all the info first. Just imagine we get back from this cruise, and we get the call, Moscow expects you there on Feb. 11th. I tried to plan this adoption so we wouldn't travel until late spring.....out of our hands, right!!

Cheryl

 

[suzannef]

Cheryl
Thankyou for a dtailed and funny account of your trip. I just love reading other people's trip reports. Your vow renewal was beautiful Good luck with everything in Moscow, any child will be blessed to join your family.

 

[pjstevens]

I am going to try and get this done before tonight....Dave and I leave for Moscow to see an appointment to adopt our second son....so if I don't get it done, forgive me, and I will finish upon my return.

Cheryl,

Wow, more exciting news. Best wishes on your trip and to the precioius little boy you are adding to your family.

 

[chepic]

Cheryl
Thankyou for a dtailed and funny account of your trip. I just love reading other people's trip reports. Your vow renewal was beautiful Good luck with everything in Moscow, any child will be blessed to join your family.

Thank you....we are over here now and just being connected to the disboards makes me feel like we are almost home. We were discussing today that 3 weeks ago we were renewing our vows instead of flying through the streets of Moscow, with 4 cars in a spot where only 3 should actually fit. Think New York, but 20 times the traffic. They only just started using seatbelts this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crazy.

I promise to finish the report on Monday, when I return home.

cheryl

 

[chepic]

Cheryl,

Wow, more exciting news. Best wishes on your trip and to the precioius little boy you are adding to your family.

Thank you....as you can see, we are in Moscow now, and will be returning on Friday.

che

 

[chepic]

O.K. when we last left our young family, we were lounging around the beach at Cast-a-Way Cay, having drinks, eating fantastic BBQ, and rushing back to the ship to get our Southwest number.

We go to dinner last night, sad, knowing it was our last meal on the Magic. It was very good, with a great show by our servers after. The baked Alaska was fun to watch, even if the picture wasn't that good. We left to go to Shutters.....


......I shutter to think of the mayhem that ensued. It was packed, people everywhere, pictures spread out on the floor, kids running around grabbing photos off the shelves.....AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH...to an organized person like me, I was ready to jump ship. Instead, I took some cleansing breaths as David, Max, and I searched for all of our pictures. We then went to the hallway to pick the ones we wanted. I must tell you that at this point, it would have been so easy to just walk away with all of them. There were only 4 CM working the desks, and they were slammed. I did see people walk off with theirs, and was privy to their conversation, knowing that they were stealing them. Max really wanted the picture of himself with Minni, but I made him chose between that one and the one with goofey. But I must say, there was a small part of me that thought....What the heck..they are getting enough money out of me, would taking one picture be that wrong? But, the angel won out over the devil and we through Minni away.

Then we met with Jamie, the wedding photographer to see the proofs.

I must run, and I will write in a bit.

che

 

[chepic]

The girl that took pictures sent them to me, from 70's night. I will post htem asap

che

 

[chepic]

That's Tim bent over in laughter.....because...

You see what happens when you leave men to go off by themselves to have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And of course I wasn't there.

che

 

[Disney owl]

loved your photos

 

[Bethipooh4]

Cheryl,

So keep us posted..how did it go in Moscow???

Love the pics, don't know how we missed that..LOL

 

[pjstevens]

Cheryl,

Glad you made it back safely. Can't wait to hear the rest of your TR. Love the pics!