Lost Luggage, Sick Kid, Let the Magic Begin - NYE Cruise on the Magic Trip Report

[Caitsmama]

Great report! And i am crossing my fingers on some pics!

 

[suzynuprin]

Just loving your trip report (and GO GO Bears! WOOT WOOT)

We are from Chicago too... We have 3 kids too (8,6,4 at time of cruise lol)... we are doing a 7 day cruise too.... We will NOT be doing a trip report may I cut and paste yours as mine??

Cant wait for the next segment!

Go Bears...of course you can use our TR - I'll just send you the Word Doc and you can do that global "Find/Replace" key. It's a big board, no one will know the difference....

Su -

Great report! I am enjoying your TR very much.
And I too think your kids are all beautiful. Love that photo!

I have a question - do you regret taking Max to the cruise before his 3rd birthday?
Was it too much hustle to wait for the 'approval' by the Club CMs?

I am thinking about doing the same thing, to save money.
Our son is going to turn 3 while on ship.
But after reading your TR I started to wonder if it is a good idea.
But it looks like we can save almost $1000 by doing so!

Kaye

Despite the difficulty in getting the highly elusive OC bracelet, I have no regrets taking Max. I do wish, however, that I knew of the new policies concerning the observation period before we boarded (not that it would have changed our mind, I just would have been more prepared). It is very different than our last cruise when Jack was simply signed in, and provided there was no "bad behavior" he was allowed to stay. Had I known the new policy, I simply would have tried to push for an earlier observation, earlier in the cruise. If your son is celebrating his 3rd birthday while on board, it may be different than if your son was weeks/months away from his 3rd birthday. I will mention that the club is very strict about potty training - pull-ups are an absolute no-no. I heard the counselors discussing they found the contraband on a kid and were going to page the parents to pick the kid up because of the Pull-Ups.

My big words of advice are to book Flounders as far out as allowed. You are allowed to book 10 hours online for the 7 day (also 10 hours for the 3 and 4 day - go figure). There is a four hour cancellation policy, otherwise you are charged 50% ($3/hr) for the time slot (consider it an insurance policy). What I did in regards to Flounders was generally book from 8-10 p.m. for five nights. I would then swing by at 10 p.m. and see if Max was sleeping (which he generally was) and ask if he could stay longer. It was never a problem. I also added time once on board, using the 'ole, "I JUST (like 90 days ago) got brunch reservations at Palo's...can you help me out?" Apparently, you can keep your reservations with Flounder and still be registered at the OC, so being the over-planner, Type A that I am, having a back-up plan was right up my alley.

Finally - you're probably wondering if an almost 3 year old is too big for the nursery - not at all. Max actually preferred Flounders over the OC, primarily because he could set up his Thomas The Train (seriously...he did) and not be bothered. There were numerous other kids in the same position as us and it worked out fine.

One last thought - the OC might be more lenient with a cruise with less capacity. There were over 1,000 kids on our cruise and no one was jumping up and down or bending over backwards to let Max in the program (obviously...). In fact, and I understand that the crew works awfully hard to keep us happy, one counselor asked a handful (maybe 10?) 3-4 year olds if they wanted her to page their parents. (Her name's Dallas...beware!) She then went on to explain that "Page means your mommies and daddies come and pick you up!" I gave her that mother-of-three look like, "You don't want me to fill out that comment card right now, do you?"

Overall, I would say that there are no problems with Flounders or the OC for the almost three year old set. Hope that helps!

P.S. I have managed to move my photos from my camera to my computer - that was a major feat last night. I hope to update the TR tonight with added photos...keep crossing those fingers, maybe toes too!

 

[camom3]

1/02


I have to make a confession and apologize at this point to anyone that may have taken the tender immediately after us and sat upstairs, thinking that the seat and floor were wet from the kids swimming in the ocean. No, that would more specifically be one kid swimming in pee. Turns out Max had to go potty and I had two options – either let him pee off the side of the boat (with a high likelihood being on the second floor that a good wind would have redirected his pee to the unsuspecting passengers on the first floor- besides, it reeked of Michael Jackson holding his kid over the balcony and who needs that sort of publicity on vacation) or let him pee on himself (he was already wet from his bathing suit). Well, you can guess what option I took. Sorry!

Hi,

I love that you write things that most people might do but would never admit to.

Can't wait for more!!

Jen

 

[curlybop]

I’m greeted by my petite massage therapist from France – she outstretches her hand to shake mine and oh-no…limp hand shake. You know what that means, she might as well pull a feather out of Donald Duck’s butt to do my massage if this is as good as it gets. I quickly get undressed and get ready for my long awaited massage and wait with baited breath… Ouch! “Umm…do you think you could let up on the pressure a little bit?” Who knew – the girl with the limp handshake rubbed my body like it was a Mickey Exorcism of some sort. Her idea of “light pressure” was more like a well-done Su, not the medium-rare I prefer. I limped out of the Spa and found not one, not two, but three bruises when I got back to the room. (I bruise easily?) That’s okay – I can learn to like a deep tissue massage.

This part cracked. me. up. DH is a massage therapist, I'm definitely going to share this with him. He will love it.

I am loving your report. Reading about the fever made me to remember to add Tylenol Meltaways in our stuff. The flavored kids tablets aren't bad at all taste wise.

Keep on going! I love your writing style.

 

[KayDox]

Despite the difficulty in getting the highly elusive OC bracelet, I have no regrets taking Max. ...

Thanks Su for the very helpful information!
I think we are going to go ahead and do the birthday-on-ship thing.

I cannot wait for the new installments and more photos!

Thanks again,
Kaye

 

[yargrnhoj]

One last thought - the OC might be more lenient with a cruise with less capacity. There were over 1,000 kids on our cruise and no one was jumping up and down or bending over backwards to let Max in the program (obviously...). In fact, and I understand that the crew works awfully hard to keep us happy, one counselor asked a handful (maybe 10?) 3-4 year olds if they wanted her to page their parents. (Her name's Dallas...beware!) She then went on to explain that "Page means your mommies and daddies come and pick you up!" I gave her that mother-of-three look like, "You don't want me to fill out that comment card right now, do you?"

First the obligatory "Go Bears" (which those not in Chicagoland may be sick of hearing by the time the 4th rolls around, but too bad).

Second, I wondered about counselors encouraging kids to page as well. My DD4, is, well, for lack of a better phrase, a pain-in-the-um-neck sometimes and is very clingy to teachers. Twice we were paged saying she wanted to come out of the club, and both times when we got there, she was upset that I was coming to get her, one time throwing such a fit that I let her stay longer.

I wondered then if maybe the counselers had some time limit, since we had put her in the club at around 4:30 so she could have dinner and then we went to Palo at 8 and the call came around 9:30.

 

[jrose529]

Great report! Your kids are beautiful.

 

[KayDox]

Su-

So Max was around 2yr and 9mo?

You said you previously had little problem registering Jack to the Club.
Maybe Jack was much closer to 3? Like 2yr and 11mo?
I hear the Club let younger kids in, if they are about 1-2weeks from turning 3.
I was thinking, maybe it was more difficult with Max, because he was much younger?

Kaye

 

[supercalidisgirl]

You PM'd me, but your message box is full so I can't write back to you.

 

[suzynuprin]

01/03

Welcome to Mexico – where the sun is shining, your dollar goes a long way and the tequila is potent! Morning came quicker than we would have liked – we have finally gotten into the vacation groove-sleeping-in-thing, of course it does help that the “early birds” in our group are heavily medicated. Kathy stopped by the room and we went up with the kids to Topsiders for a quick breakfast. (I can’t quite remember where Dave is…this seems to be a common theme) I’ve determined that my children are made of 80% water and 20% bacon. Most mornings I’d run upstairs and ask for a tray, “Really, a plate is not necessary…too small…just the tray”, and pile it with about all the bacon they would legally allow me to take out of the restaurant, which is more than all the bacon consumed by many small countries. But I digress.

It’s on to Cozumel and we have decided to spend the day at the beach. After much research, it appears that Paradise Beach has gotten positive reviews, and anywhere that brings guacamole and Pina Coladas directly to your chair can’t be that bad. We take a taxi ride, which apparently is on par with the rickety tender in Grand Cayman. That whole “Safety First” thing you learn on the cruise with the lifeboat drill definitely does not carry over once you step off the boat. I wonder if the life jackets will work like side impact airbags in a taxi. Maybe Disney should consider teaching a “Macrame Seat Belt” class to make up for the apparent no seat-belt law in Mexico.

We make it to Paradise Beach – barely – moments before the rush of crowds get there. Dave quickly runs off (or runs away, not quite sure) to find us some chairs while I herd three children, assorted beach toys, bags, sandals – you get the picture. I promptly sit down and say, “I need a drink.” Dave replies, “Don’t you think it’s a bit early?” but I remind his that it’s 90 minutes ahead in Never-Never land and that’s pretty much your destination once you step off the boat. I find our designated Cabana Boy, Oscar, (more like a beach waiter – less like the Cabana Boy in my dreams) and order a Zombie. Dave rolls his eyes, knowing full well what a light weight I am and with a drink name like Zombie, it’s highly unlikely it’s non-alcoholic.

For those that don’t know anything about Paradise Beach, it’s a public beach club on the water (Duh, I know, wouldn’t all beach clubs be on the water…) where the admission is free but the “toys” require a $10 wrist band. Which is fine by me, because those toys would be ocean toys. A little known fact, about to be made widely known, is that I really don’t care for the ocean. I’m happy staying at the beach, the pool is great – but swimming in the ocean isn’t my thing. It probably dates back to seeing Jaws at an impressionable age, and sitting at the outside of the tram in the Jaws ride at Universal when I was a kid. I prefer at all times to be at the top of the food chain as opposed to the absolute bottom of the food chain. In the water, even Plankton is higher on the food chain than I am. And then there’s that whole, “I’m Asian, the fish will think I’m sushi. It’s payback time.” So – I happily drink my Zombies while Dave swims with the kids (he’s a redhead, probably looks too much like Nemo for the fish to care if he’s in the water). I did manage to get water up past my ankles in Cozumel (figured a shark would basically have to beach himself to take a nibble) and I can say, with a fair amount of certainty that the water was nice.

Delaney and BFF Julianna are happily frolicking in the water, Jack is making sand castles close to the edge of the water, and Max has decided to use me as his beach blanket. I can’t tell if I’m burning up because I have a 40-pound blanket on top of me, if Max is burning up because the meds are wearing off or if the ill-effects of the Zombie are kicking in. Either way, it’s probably best that I take Max back to land of Magical dreams. Rick and Kathy decide to join me and then Dave says, “Hey, can you take Jack with you too?” So back to the taxi stand I go herding two small children, two in-laws, beach toys, bags, sandals – you get the picture. Dave takes Delaney and Julianna on a kayak ride and does what no father ever does right – gets Delaney hair braided. And surprise, surprise, it looks terrific. Dave says, “I asked them if they could just do it half way, what you do think?” I say, “Who are you and where is my husband?”

Is this the tender to the boat?

Suzanne is going to kill me when she finds out Julianna got my Zombie!

By the time Dave gets back on the boat, it’s time to get ready for dinner and the big Pirate Party. I had packed Pirate costumes for the kids and even managed to find a Pirate t-shirt for Dave. Delaney’s costume is more like the Pirate wench bought on the clearance rack at Toys R Us while Jack has the full-blown Jack Sparrow Disney-approved costume. Max – well, he gets the Costco non-licensed Pirate special, but it’s pretty clear that this little Pirate will be using not one but two eye patches to get a little shut-eye. Delaney puts her costume on – if she could rip it up a little more to show more of her stomach, she’d be happy. Jack decides that Jack Sparrow didn’t actually need pants, a hat or gloves. And Max is not getting out of his Thomas The Train pajamas.

When in costume, they actually look like they get along....

Rick and Kathy show up at the door and lo and behold, Rick is wearing an earring and has his pirate scarf wrapped around his head like the Hibachi chef at Benihana’s. He tries again, this time he looks more like Gay-Grandpa and clearly he needs a fair amount of help to actually be seen in public by other pirate wearing cruisers. In fact, as we were walking towards dinner, a couple in front of Rick and Kathy turn and say to Rick, “Nice outfit.” To which Kathy replies, “It was a struggle.”

Delaney and Jack opt to start their night at the club with the promise that we’ll pick them up for dessert while the rest of us make our way to Animator’s Palate for the special Pirate-themed dinner. Which leads me to our next pop-up video fact:

** All food is loaded on to the boat at Port Canaveral. No additional supplies are loaded up at any ports on the cruise. **

Have you ever seen what the bananas look like at the end of the cruise? They are all bruised and nasty and no one is taking them like they do at the beginning of the cruise. Why do I bring this up now? Because it’s the middle of the cruise, the bananas still look fresh but there’s homemade banana bread – baked today - on the menu at the Pirate Dinner. The servers absolutely rave about it and point out more than once how wonderful it is – which you now know was the leftover bananas from the Christmas Cruise. All those nasty, bruised bananas at the end of the cruise got mashed up and made into this week’s special. In a way, we are eating recycled food from the last cruise. You would think Disney would provide a recycling discount to current cruisers – actually, I think they charged us more for this cruise, and made us eat the last week’s leftovers. Ah, the efficiency of the four-fingered mouse! I wonder if there’s banana bread on the 3 or 4 day cruise.

After dinner, I remember our promise and head upstairs to get Jack and Delaney. Dave orders the Mickey Ice Cream Bars and our server Nicoleta cradles Max in his stroller like a baby kitten. Max purrs and then promptly falls asleep. To which Nicoleta says, “See, I have the Magic Touch!” Of which, I don’t want to tell her that Tylenol and Motrin also have the magic touch with Max. After dessert, Nicoleta suggests that we take the elevators up to 10 to see the Pirate Party – best seat in the house she exclaims. It may be the best seat in the house, but when we get up there, it’s clear that Nicoleta put out an all points bulletin on her recommendation. There is no where to stand or sit, except the top of the trash can. Which my kids do – heck, you know if I let Max pee on himself, I’m not going to care if my kids are sitting on top of trash.

Nicoleta taking our kids to the crew bar....

We begin to move away from shore and the party is in full swing. There’s a magical cable (that only adults can see....) of which Pirate Mickey flies across to get the fireworks going. And while everyone is “oohing and ahhing” at the fireworks (they were cool), I am looking into the pitch black way up high and realizing that Mickey is stuck on the high wire. Mickey’s tugging at it to save his life, and then finally there’s a big drop and Mickey “gently” falls to the stage – all while the fireworks are going on. It’s too bad Mickey has that perma-grin on his face because I can guarantee you, there was probably some cursing going on behind the four-fingered high five. There’s probably a reason Mickey is missing his middle finger.

While Mickey may be missing his middle finger, Jack clearly is not....

After the show, we skip the buffet and take our sleeping Max and our pirate children back to our room. Rick and Kathy help us and looking like Rick’s ready to rid of the earring, they look like they’re going to turn in for the night as well.

 

[birkner]

01/03

Welcome to Mexico – where the sun is shining, your dollar goes a long way “I’m Asian, the fish will think I’m sushi. It’s payback time.” /QUOTE]

 

[suzynuprin]

Su-

So Max was around 2yr and 9mo?

You said you previously had little problem registering Jack to the Club.
Maybe Jack was much closer to 3? Like 2yr and 11mo?
I hear the Club let younger kids in, if they are about 1-2weeks from turning 3.
I was thinking, maybe it was more difficult with Max, because he was much younger?

Kaye

Max was 8 weeks shy of his 3rd birthday and Jack was about 6 weeks shy of his 3rd birthday on our last cruise. Our last cruise was almost two years ago on the Wonder - 3 days. My personal opinion is that they changed the policy on "sneaking in the back way" to the Club, but it's highly likely that the observation is unique to the Magic and not the Wonder (by the time you could get observed and approved on the Wonder, you'd already be back in Port Canaveral).

I talked to more than one counselor about the observation and they simply won't conduct an observation in free play time or joint group activities (i.e. 3-4 year olds and 5-7 year olds at the Club at the same time). They will only observe during a structured activity specific to the age group in question. Which means there's no opportunity to observe the day you embark and the reasons why everyone kept on getting the times screwed up for the observation. (there's only 2-3 observation periods a day)

I highly doubt that you will have a problem - we did end up getting the bracelet, and we probably would have gotten it sooner if Max didn't refuse to attend the observation at the first opening. They do try to be accomodating and we gave the crew a "money-back-gaurantee" that we would immediately pull Max out if we felt there were any problems. As it turned out, Max never ended up using the Club while we were on the boat - even with the bracelet, simply because he was too sick.

Hope that helps - drop me a line with any other questions. There is very little out there on the board about the observation, but maybe another reader can give you their perspective.

Su

 

[kevinsmom]

suzy: loving your report, so sorry your son was sick !
but it sounds like you had lots of fun!

 

[Caitsmama]

It probably dates back to seeing Jaws at an impressionable age, and sitting at the outside of the tram in the Jaws ride at Universal when I was a kid.

Ohhh..man, i had nightmares for like a year after doing that!! I still remember seeing Jaws pop up from that water on that tram ride!!

 

[suzynuprin]

01/04

It’s a day at sea…which means it’s Spa Day for me! In my overly obsessive pre-planning (remember, I had two years to plan out every minute of every day), I thought my days at sea should be dedicated to the individual who pulled this family together, birthed three children and provided enough Magic to fill a 7-day cruise – yep, ME!

My day of overindulgence starts with a late wake-up call. We are finally, officially in late-morning sleep-in vacation mode. Unfortunately, according my clock, we’re going to have to get back on crack-o-dawn wake-up calls and face the harsh reality of the real world of boring meetings (oh yeah, Chicken on the cover of the magazine…novel idea), school, and the scattered daydreams of life with Brent…I mean life on the boat. I think that’s why Disney kicks you off the boat so early on your last day – it’s like the opposite of nesting when you’re pregnant, they just want to kick you in the butt and remind you that your vacation is officially over.

After rousing the kids with the smell of a half of pig, we get them dressed and ready to enjoy the Club – we have brunch reservations at Palo and rumor has it, this is going to rival any gastronomic belly-rubbing meal we’ve had on our 7-day tour of high-calorie delights. We decide to just let Jack and Delaney enjoy the Club and send Max to the nursery. He’s still nursing a low-grade fever, but I’ve managed to figure out a way to get the Tylenol down him so he can put on his mask of vacation wellness – first I made Chocolate Tylenol Meltaway Sandwiches (which he was totally on to and managed to only eat the chocolates) and then I found the solution – crush the meltaways and coat a sucker with it. Brilliant! I’m peddling candy and drugs to unsuspecting children – I’m fairly certain my days on the boat are numbered.

After depositing the kids in their appropriate locations – with pleads to the staff of “don’t page us, we’ll be stuffing our faces” we make our way to the 10th floor to join our favorite Palo server Alex who is counting down the days until his contract is over – he’ll be leaving the boat with us to come to Chicago and serve me fine food everyday when coming home from work. O.K., total dream – it’s my day, don’t forget, I’m entitled – but Alex’s contract is up at the end of our cruise and he’s pretty giddy about heading home for a couple of months.

In short, the brunch was unbelievable. Table after table for every diet imaginable – low carb? No problem, stick to the seafood spread from Crab Legs to Shrimp and every other creature that either walks or swims in the ocean. High-carb your thing? Saddle up to the bread and cheese table. Hankering for some pizza? No problem, bring it on. Oh, and if buffets aren’t your thing, they also serve you a la carte entrees, like Linguini with Shrimp, Chicken Marsala and other tasty treats. Having eaten enough red meat to last me at least a year, I started my red-meat cleansing diet and moved my chair from our assigned table directly to the seafood portion of the buffet. Some of the guests were a little pissed that they had to work around me, but once again, it’s my day! After adding the extendo-belt to all of our clothes, we are ready for our afternoon nap. No, not yet? We can’t eat anymore, let alone move, we will absolutely explode and I see no men in yellow jumpsuits ready to clean up our mess. No problem, Alex decides to set up our own dessert buffet…in the middle of our table. And you know, it would be such a waste to at least not try an item or two…or three, or four.

We waddle out of Palo’s rubbing our nine-month pregnant Magic bellies and pick up the kids to bring them to the pool. Max is thrilled to sit in Mickey’s ear and splash around – turns out he also found a friend. After looking a little closer, I realize that Max’s new friend I happen to know fairly well – at least her butt. Yep, he’s hitting on “Wipe-my-butt” girl. I turn the other way in case my small friend recognizes me, no need to explain to her daddy what I was doing in the bathroom with their daughter. I’d like to live out the last couple of days on the cruise in one piece.

After donning my sunglasses and sipping a drink, I begin to hear a commotion on one side of the pool. Vacation mode has clearly come to end for a couple of families – there’s a legitimate cat fight going on. Someone calls out my name – more than once, and then I realize, “Hey, they aren’t talking to me, it’s not Su-no-e, they’re talking about Sue-with-an-E. More like a verb, less like a noun.” Whew – hoping that’s not “Wipe-my-Butt” girl’s dad lurking behind angry mom. While the crew members try to separate the moms in the Mickey Smack-down, I wonder why they just don’t offer up the universal solution to put a smile on any vacationer having a bad day – Fruity Tropical Alcoholic Drink.

Unfortunately, I have to leave the Walt Disney Wresting Federation to get ready for Spa Alone time but I notice that Dave has firmly planted himself close enough to the action to report on it later. I’ve trained him well. And Kathy has also positioned herself to either get accidentally clocked, or pick up the details that I’m sure Dave is going to miss.

I leave the chaos of 1,000 kids in the Mickey pool and head to the serenity of the Vista Spa – also known as my own personal ATM – Automatically Take My Money. (or ATMM….) I check in, and of course, I’m wondering if Limp-Handshake-Break-My-Back massage therapist is going to be sacrificing my body in some sort of Goofy ritual or if, just maybe, since it’s “The Day of Su”, I’ll get someone who has that Fairy-Godmother, maker of all dreams come true, kind of touch. “Hi Su, I’ll be doing your massage today” and my therapist from South Africa outstretches her hand to shake mine – medium pressure, not too limp and definitely not trying to squeeze the blood out of my fingers. Ah, let the Day of Su begin.

She escorts me to the Spa Alone room – there’s an interior room with a massage table, some sort of waterbed-looking thing and a sliding patio door that leads to a large Verandah with a double-chaise lounge and a Jacuzzi tub. She hands me my robe, gives me brief instructions and says she’ll be right back. When she returns she leads me to the Verandah, directs me to “get comfortable” on the chaise lounge while she gives me a foot bath and foot massage. The Spa Alone drill apparently goes something like this: 1. Wash your feet, we don’t know where they’ve been, 2. Wash your body in the Jacuzzi, we know you are swimming in germs, 3. Massage any impurities out of you, and 4. Relax and enjoy yourself with some fruit and tea while we decide how to pitch you on the Elemis products. I’m game and ready to go.

After the ritual foot bath, the Jacuzzi with sea salts and bubbles is calling my name. And then my therapist asks, “What are you planning to wear in the Jacuzzi?” “Umm…I brought my formal gown from New Year’s Eve, is that appropriate?” O.K., I’m actually feeling like this must be a trick question – this is Spa ALONE time, does it matter what I’m wearing? Do I get extra treats (like a Cabana Boy or Cruise Director) if I wear nothing? Do I get Mickey Mouse if I wear a bathing suit? I feel like Delaney when she was getting questioned at the show on the first night, “Well, is there a dress code?” “Oh no, you can wear as much or as little as you’d like.” “Well, in that case, I’m going with what’s behind door number 4 – that would be nothing.” “Alright, I’ll leave you alone then and be back in about 25 minutes.” Whew, I guess I answered right, because I had said, “Bathing Suit”, would the implication be that she would be joining me for my Spa ALONE time in the Jacuzzi?

I step into the Jacuzzi and am thankful for the extra 20 pounds I just put on at brunch – this is an unbelievably windy day at sea and there is a small cyclone going on in my Verandah. Without Palo’s sitting like a deep-sea anchor in my belly, I’m sure I would have been swept away like Dorothy and deposited into the ocean for my friends the sharks to pay a visit. I sit back and relax, enjoy the sights and sounds of being in the middle of ocean, and then realize those “sounds” are not the birds chirping merrily as they run along side the boat, or the kids splashing around the pool – nope that would be the sounds of the Verandah next door in which a Couple’s Alone Time has been booked and the couple in question is clearly using this opportunity to make their own Magic. With the wind, it’s like every scream, yell and giggle from next door is magnified directly into my peaceful, ALONE time. I’m not alone, I’m like that third leg on the guy at Ripley’s.

In an effort to drown out the merriment from next door, I search anxiously for the “on” button in the Jacuzzi. This thing is loaded with enough jets to start my own hurricane – and I quickly realize that turning on the jets creates mountains of bubbles. Which under normal circumstances would be wonderful – when you’re in the middle of a hurricane and cyclone, these bubbles are whipping me in the face and darting around the verandah like a hawk finding it’s prey. I’m silently hoping that these bubbles make their way next door and startle my new roommates into some quiet, cuddling time for the two of them. I spend the next 25 minutes alternating between Evil-Bubbles and Still-Waters while staring at the hand-tied tarps that are so artfully placed in the roof of the Verandah.

My therapist comes to retrieve me from my Cyclone-Simulation-Chamber to start my long awaited massage. She oils me up and…ah…perfect. If only I had another massage scheduled and I could actually remember her name, I would be in heaven. I’m on my stomach and about half-way through the massage, I enter that happy place – teetering on the edge of being asleep or awake. And then she stops. She stops? I’m not sleeping anymore – because why would she stop? And then I hear the sliding glass door open and she leaves. I’m naked under the towel laying on my stomach – not really sure if this middle-of-the-massage break is typical but after 15 minutes (could have been 5 minutes- but in Spa-Never-Never Land, 5 minutes feels like an hour) of now being very awake, I’m wondering if she’s coming back. After what feels like an eternity, she returns and says, “I’m very sorry for being gone so long, but I had to fix the tarps.” Fix the tarps? Is this like the hourly bathroom checks that someone has to do? I pull my head up out of it’s Hannibel-Lecter contraption and peek outside. Holy cow, I got pulled out the Jacuzzi just in time. It’s like a war zone on the Verandah – the tarps in the ceiling have come untied and are flapping around in the wind, the water is flowing out of the Jacuzzi like it’s a Tsunami and the Chaise Day Bed looks like it might be headed for an early grave in the ocean. “I had to call maintenance.” Great – the yellow jumpsuit guys will be here while I’m having my Spa ALONE time.

She decides to finish my massage and then says, “You know, I think we should move you to enjoy your tea and fruit. I’ll take you to the Rainforest Room.” So, I follow her (where else am I going to go) and meet the rest of my companions for my Spa Alone Time – that would Asian Couple holding hands, Old Guy with towel wrapped around his waist (with possibly nothing underneath), Work-Out Guy, Sauna Girl who clearly can’t decide if she wants steam or a lounger, and Spa ALONE girl. That would be me…eating my fruit kabobs and drinking my tea from a silver tray…with a bunch of beady eyes looking at me like I’m eating my own flesh and blood. “Hey, how come SHE gets to bring food in here? What’s up with that?” I feel like I’m nine months pregnant holding a cigarette in one hand and a mixed drink in the other. Clearly this is not working and I decide that Spa Alone time just wasn’t meant to be on this trip. Once again, I can’t complain to Dave because I’m fairly certain that any future spa reservations will be made with the comment, “Remember when you spent all that money at the Spa on the boat and were miserable?” It’s the best Spa Alone time I’ve ever had on the Magic.

I shower up, get dressed, and head off to find the Munchkins (that would be Dave, Rick and Kathy) and the Candy-Drugged children. It turns out Dave is teaching the kids the fine art of family gambling as they’re enjoying Bingo at the Walt Disney Theatre. I take Max back to the room to get a little rest (if I lock him in his room and me in mine and try to squeeze my Palo inflated body into the world’s smallest tub, does that count as Spa ALONE time?) while Dave eventually takes Delaney to the rehearsal for the Oceaneer’s Club Graduation show. (Jack opts out of participating). I meet up with the rest of the crew to see Delaney graduate from the Oceaneer’s Club (also code for, “We’re counting the hours now until your children get off the boat). There are hundreds of kids on stage wearing matching hats and t-shirts and Dave says, “There she is!” Kathy says, “I see her.” I, of course, say, “Which kid is she?” “Over there – 14th kid in, 8th row, behind the counselor between the kid with the Mickey Graduation Hat and the other kid with the Graduation Shirt.” Oh, so helpful. I feel like the lame mom who can’t pick out her first born among a sea of Mickey-wanna-be’s. “Oh, there she is!” I exclaim as the program ends, and Delaney is literally 6 feet in front of us. “Did you see me mommy up there?” “Of course, you were wearing your graduation shirt and hat, how could I miss you among the throngs of look-alike tired kids?”

It’s back to the Club for the kids, while the adults get ready for dinner, and I retreat to the room to make my world-famous-Tylenol-suckers for Max before depositing him in Nemo Land at the nursery. Since this will be our last night at the rotational restaurants (we’re back at Palo’s tomorrow for our farewell-to-Alex dinner), I bring our gratuity slips and a special note for Nicoleta. You see, Dave has been trying endlessly to find a way to go to the crew bar and buy our servers some drinks. We’ve been given two ideas on how to accomplish this – wear your tux when the servers are wearing tuxes and put your head down, or get Karoli, the head waiter drunk and he can sneak you in. Since we are not creative enough to get either accomplished, we packed an envelope with money and a hand-drawn picture with instructions to Nicoleta to have a drink with us (or our alter crayon inspired egos) at the crew bar.

As dinner is getting underway, it’s clear that Nicoleta is no where to be seen. Oh no – turns out she’s sick. Crap – she cradled Max’s head yesterday and we are now concerned that Max is ground zero for the Norwalk Virus or any easily contagious disease– they’ll launch an investigation and for sure, we’ll be forever banned from the Magic and the closest we’ll get to another cruise are the River Boats at WDW. So, we turn over our money-stuffed envelope to Daniel, another server in our dining room…who also happens to be Nicoleta’s husband. I wonder how romantic those bunkbeds are in the crew quarters…. After dinner, we’re told that they clear out the restaurant to set up for the dessert buffet. Not for us – I’ve eaten enough food to feed a small third world country.

We pick up the kids, head back to our rooms and bid a very tired Rick and Kathy adieu and dream of our favorite day of the cruise tomorrow – Castaway Cay!

 

[Carol36]

What an adventure just reading your TR!!! I have thoroughly enjoyed every single day of your adventure so far and I am looking forward to Castaway Cay Day!!!

 

[jrose529]

Thanks for another excellent installment! I love the spa ALONE story!

 

[suzannef]

I just have to know what 2 moms could possibly be fighting over on a Disney Cruise?????

 

[Nala80]

I wondered what they could be fighting over too. Although, hey, I was on the infamous May 2005 Repo cruise, where, if there was a fight between two people, I would have assumed...PINS!

I am really enjoying your trip report though. Never did the Western Cruise so it is interesting to hear about it. Keep up the great report!

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

We were on the Magic 7 day Western Carribean Jan 13-20th and after reading your trip report I think we were in the same room as your DH's parents (from one of your postings I read when you asked him what their extension was to call them on the phone)...stateroom 6585.

We ALSO witnessed two adults fighting on our cruise. It was kind of funny...they were in rooms that were directly across the hall from each other on the 6th deck just down the hall from us. The one parent was yelling at the other parent about how their kid freaks out at stupid things. What a ridiculous thing to be arguing about!! But, then I just heard that little bit when I walked by, so I don't know if there was more to it than that.

I also saw a lady pounding her hands on the counter at the Customer Service desk. And I heard a lady get out of an elevator with two crew members on it saying that she will tell everyone she knows NOT to cruise on DCL. I then had the awkward pleasure of riding the elevator the rest of the way up to deck 9 with the two crew members who looked like they were doing everything they could to keep from busting out laughing.

That was my fifth cruise and it was the first time I heard/saw so many complaints or witnessed two adults arguing. It was quite humorous to me because, personally, I was really enjoying my vacation!

I LOVE your trip report, by the way. I have found myself laughing outoud several times. My husband keeps asking me what's so funny and I keep telling him he needs to read your report!! Can't wait to read more!