TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Another great installment .... Corsica looks lovely. 
Magical Mystery Tour
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 14
This was our last port day. It is amazing just how quickly time went. Our port of call that day was Villefranche. This was the port we probably knew the most about before we went or so we thought. We had made all manner of plans and then discarded them. DH was looking at a train ride in the mountains in a train with open coaches. I had originally looked at a Disney excursion to a perfume factory, where you could make your own perfume. I discarded that idea as the bottle that you made and got to take away was more than 100ml and I was worried that it would get broken in the suitcase. Of course, I found out afterwards from the people who did that excursion, that the bottles were actually metal so it would have been OK. I also looked at going into Nice, but I had read that by road it takes over an hour to Nice with some very windy road. So I gave up on this as well. In any case, we had both read a port review that stated that Villefranche is a very pretty little village and the author could not understand why anybody would want to go further afield. So we had made up our mind that we would stay right there.
As we were not going very far, we were in no particular rush to get up. We had a bit of a lie in and then headed to Lumieres for a leisurely breakfast. The first view of Villefranche across the bay was very promising.
I had my usual Eggs Benedict and DH decided to try them for the first time. Well the chef must have got confused that day. The sauce on top did taste like custard rather than Hollandaise. It actually did kind of work and DH rather liked it. I still made him try a bit of the correct version when I had Eggs Benedict the next morning.
Villefranche is another tender port and we were just in the process to head up to the Buena Vista theatre after breakfast when they announced open tenders. So we went down to deck 1 instead. Whereas the sea had been very smooth up to this point, it felt a little bumpy that morning. So I was more than just a little bit nervous to get on a tender boat and I was once again ready to give up. DH convinced me to at least have a look and before I knew it, I had been manhandled into the tender boat by the crew. At the other end there was a proper dock and the harbour is very sheltered so there was no problem getting off the boat.
Photographers from Shutters were standing on the dock to take photos. This was also new this cruise. Before the photographers only took photos on the ship with the exception of the embarkation photo in the terminal at Port Canaveral. This time round they had photographers on certain excursions and also at some points of interest. I really liked this idea. Unlike La Spezia, Villefranche actually has a proper terminal building. They had a lot of carnival statues in the terminal and also a tourist information. As this was really busy when we arrived, we just headed out.
Right outside of the terminal was a little market selling jewellery, perfumes, soaps and various other things that tourists might want to buy. Even though this was clearly aimed at tourists, the prices were very fair and this was far from the tourist tat that we had encountered in Italy. I did not buy anything, but I am still regretting that I did not get one of the beautiful silver butterfly hairclips that they were selling there.
Once we had finished the look around the market, we headed up the hill towards the castle. I was hoping to get some nice shots of the Magic from this perspective. The first thing that I spotted was that they were actually flying the Disney Cruise Line flag from the top of the castle. I thought this was a very nice touch. We absolutely loved this area. There are various museums, a theatre and the police station in the castle as well as beautiful ornamental buildings and gorgeous gardens. We just strolled around, enjoyed our surroundings and took plenty of photos.
This was our last port day. It is amazing just how quickly time went. Our port of call that day was Villefranche. This was the port we probably knew the most about before we went or so we thought. We had made all manner of plans and then discarded them. DH was looking at a train ride in the mountains in a train with open coaches. I had originally looked at a Disney excursion to a perfume factory, where you could make your own perfume. I discarded that idea as the bottle that you made and got to take away was more than 100ml and I was worried that it would get broken in the suitcase. Of course, I found out afterwards from the people who did that excursion, that the bottles were actually metal so it would have been OK. I also looked at going into Nice, but I had read that by road it takes over an hour to Nice with some very windy road. So I gave up on this as well. In any case, we had both read a port review that stated that Villefranche is a very pretty little village and the author could not understand why anybody would want to go further afield. So we had made up our mind that we would stay right there.
As we were not going very far, we were in no particular rush to get up. We had a bit of a lie in and then headed to Lumieres for a leisurely breakfast. The first view of Villefranche across the bay was very promising.
I had my usual Eggs Benedict and DH decided to try them for the first time. Well the chef must have got confused that day. The sauce on top did taste like custard rather than Hollandaise. It actually did kind of work and DH rather liked it. I still made him try a bit of the correct version when I had Eggs Benedict the next morning.
Villefranche is another tender port and we were just in the process to head up to the Buena Vista theatre after breakfast when they announced open tenders. So we went down to deck 1 instead. Whereas the sea had been very smooth up to this point, it felt a little bumpy that morning. So I was more than just a little bit nervous to get on a tender boat and I was once again ready to give up. DH convinced me to at least have a look and before I knew it, I had been manhandled into the tender boat by the crew. At the other end there was a proper dock and the harbour is very sheltered so there was no problem getting off the boat.
Photographers from Shutters were standing on the dock to take photos. This was also new this cruise. Before the photographers only took photos on the ship with the exception of the embarkation photo in the terminal at Port Canaveral. This time round they had photographers on certain excursions and also at some points of interest. I really liked this idea. Unlike La Spezia, Villefranche actually has a proper terminal building. They had a lot of carnival statues in the terminal and also a tourist information. As this was really busy when we arrived, we just headed out.
Right outside of the terminal was a little market selling jewellery, perfumes, soaps and various other things that tourists might want to buy. Even though this was clearly aimed at tourists, the prices were very fair and this was far from the tourist tat that we had encountered in Italy. I did not buy anything, but I am still regretting that I did not get one of the beautiful silver butterfly hairclips that they were selling there.
Once we had finished the look around the market, we headed up the hill towards the castle. I was hoping to get some nice shots of the Magic from this perspective. The first thing that I spotted was that they were actually flying the Disney Cruise Line flag from the top of the castle. I thought this was a very nice touch. We absolutely loved this area. There are various museums, a theatre and the police station in the castle as well as beautiful ornamental buildings and gorgeous gardens. We just strolled around, enjoyed our surroundings and took plenty of photos.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Once we had seen everything, we headed towards the marina and the beach. The walk along the marina was nice, but again the beach was shingle rather than sand. DH had to at least stick his toe in the sea, but he said it was even colder than in Italy. We decided that we probably had seen most of what there was to see in Villefranche. At the port I had seen a sign that the train to Nice takes 7 minutes so we decided to head to Nice after all. We bought the tickets, which were only EUR2.50 per person and headed to the correct platform. Just as we got there, the train pulled in.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
The reason I had wanted to go to Nice is that they have a Mark Chagall museum there. I have been fascinated by Mark Chagall's paintings since my early teens. Quite close to where I grew up, there is a church with stained glass windows by Mark Chagall. The first time I saw those, they literally took my breath away. I then started to find out as much about him as I could. When I was about 14, I was given a book with the paintings that are in the Museum in Nice and ever since then, I had been dreaming that one day I would see those paintings with my own eyes.
Of course, there was one problem with this. As I had long since given up on the idea to go to Nice, I did not take the directions. To my immense surprise, there was no map or tourist information at the station. The only thing I could remember is that there are two bus routes that are stopping near the museum. I could not remember the numbers of them either, but when we went to the bus station across the road from the train station, we found a route map that actually showed the museum. We could not find a bus stop for the two bus routes, but the map gave DH a good idea of the direction in which we needed to head. He has an excellent sense of direction and we found the museum without any problems. To get there, we yet again had to go up various flights of stairs, but they were not as steep as at Cinqueterre and they were nice and even.
I could not quite believe my luck when I stood in front of the museum. After 21 years of dreaming about this moment, I was finally there. The museum is a very modern building and very light and airy. I took plenty of photos. I just felt like a kid in a candy store. To get to the part of the museum that houses the Mark Chagall collection, we had to go through a temporary exhibition of modern art and I was not very impressed with this. When we got to the main room, there were quite a few tour groups there so I had to dodge them. We soon moved on to the second room, where the newer acquisitions and loans are housed. At that point I realized that I can remember more French than I thought. All the information in this room was in French only, whereas it was multi-lingual in the main room. I could actually understand most of what was written there. Once I had a good look at those paintings and a tapestry, I had a look at the stained glass windows in the auditorium and then I moved back to the main room, which by that time was virtually empty. They had seats dotted around all over the museum and I just sat down and looked around me. I was absolutely in awe by all the beauty around me. The sun was streaming in through the large windows and it was just truly magical.
Of course, there was one problem with this. As I had long since given up on the idea to go to Nice, I did not take the directions. To my immense surprise, there was no map or tourist information at the station. The only thing I could remember is that there are two bus routes that are stopping near the museum. I could not remember the numbers of them either, but when we went to the bus station across the road from the train station, we found a route map that actually showed the museum. We could not find a bus stop for the two bus routes, but the map gave DH a good idea of the direction in which we needed to head. He has an excellent sense of direction and we found the museum without any problems. To get there, we yet again had to go up various flights of stairs, but they were not as steep as at Cinqueterre and they were nice and even.
I could not quite believe my luck when I stood in front of the museum. After 21 years of dreaming about this moment, I was finally there. The museum is a very modern building and very light and airy. I took plenty of photos. I just felt like a kid in a candy store. To get to the part of the museum that houses the Mark Chagall collection, we had to go through a temporary exhibition of modern art and I was not very impressed with this. When we got to the main room, there were quite a few tour groups there so I had to dodge them. We soon moved on to the second room, where the newer acquisitions and loans are housed. At that point I realized that I can remember more French than I thought. All the information in this room was in French only, whereas it was multi-lingual in the main room. I could actually understand most of what was written there. Once I had a good look at those paintings and a tapestry, I had a look at the stained glass windows in the auditorium and then I moved back to the main room, which by that time was virtually empty. They had seats dotted around all over the museum and I just sat down and looked around me. I was absolutely in awe by all the beauty around me. The sun was streaming in through the large windows and it was just truly magical.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Once I had seen enough, I went to find DH, who had found himself a seat in the second room. We had a quick look at the gift shop on the way out and then headed back to the station. We found a different way back and came across more orange trees. I have to say that I was not overly impressed with Nice itself and could not understand what the hype is all about, but it was definitely worth coming for the museum.
When we arrived at the station, we saw that there was a train back to Villefranche in 5 minutes. For some reason we spent a significant amount of this holiday running for trains. Again, we made it and the train pulled in just as we got to the platform. Seven minutes later, we were back at Villefranche. We decided to head back to the port, but rather than walking along the seafront, we walked through the old town area. There were loads of interesting little shops there and I am sure they would have been worth a look, but it was early afternoon and a lot of them wee closed for siesta. As we were starting to feel quite hungry, we headed back to the ship.
We only had a short wait for the tender boat. While we were waiting for the boat to arrive, we spotted that we had company. A second cruise ship had arrived and they used their lifeboats to tender. The trip back was very uneventful. The sea was smooth again and it was no problem to get on and off the boat.
When we got back on the ship, we headed straight up to deck 9 to get something to eat. DH had another Roast Beef on Sour Dough sandwich from Goofy's Galley. I had fancied some Tacos so I headed for Pluto's Dog House. In the end I ended up with a Mexican Burger, which was very yummy (beef and vegetable patty, salsa, sour cream and Guacamole). We were sitting at the tables just outside Topsiders and just as we had finished our food, it started to rain. We had originally planned to get some frozen yoghurt from Goofy' s Galley, but decided to head to Cove Café instead to see what goodies they had in their cabinet.
I had spotted in the Navigator that there was a game show called "The Wheel" at Diversions that afternoon. We were not quite sure what this was all about, but as we had no other plans, we decided to check it out. Well, again it was only the two of us that turned up. So we chatted with the member of cruise staff who was supposed to host this for a while and then we headed for the Rainforest Room to relax until it was time to think about dinner. On my way to dinner, I managed to get my photo taken with Aurora and Mickey and Minnie in their French outfits.
The menu for that night was the Captain's Gala Menu. There had been some confusion the evening before when our server announced that it would be formal night that day. According to the Navigator, it was a normal cruise casual night. However, it simply did not feel right to go casual with that menu. On previous cruises, it was formal night or semi-formal night when this menu was served. I had brought two semi-formal dresses anyway as before the cruise Disney Cruise Line had stated that we would have one formal night and two semi-formal nights. So I decided to get dressed up for the night. It just so happened that everybody on our table had the same idea. This was really nice. We were in Lumieres that evening and this is my preferred restaurant to spend formal and semi-formal night in. We had spent both of them in Animator's Palate this time round, so it was nice that we had made this our own semi-formal night. It was also the last dinner that we spent all together as one couple was having dinner in Palo on the last night.
The night the Captain's Gala Menu is served is also know as lobster night. Again, this is a menu that is very heavily seafood based. The only seafood that I eat is prawns. I ended up having grilled Tiger Prawns for my starter followed by Beef Consommé with Polenta and Parmesan Dumplings. For the main course, I could not decide between two dishes. In the end I ordered the Parmesan-crusted Chicken Breast with Tagliatelle and a Mushroom, Sweet Pepper and Cheese Sauce. DH had the Lobster with Green Beans and Oven-baked Rice and we shared the Panko-breaded Pork Envelope with Baby Vegetables and Fingerling Potatoes. For dessert I had Amaretto Cheesecake.
This was the night of the dessert buffet. This is another thing that I have always missed on previous cruises as I had always been too tired. I had every intention to stay up for it this time round. I was not going to eat anything as I was still stuffed, but I was hoping for some nice photos. It was still an hour until this would start when we finished dinner. The ship was positively dead that night and there was nothing to do, so in the end, we decided to give up on this and just head back to our cabin, where we found this towel Bunny.
mandymouse
Bahama Mama Time !!
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
More stunning photos Corinna I don't want your trippy to end 
I don't want your trippy to end
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
More stunning photos Corinna
I don't want it to end either. I am reliving the cruise as I post the trip report. Once the last installment is posted, I have to admit that the cruise is really over.
Corinna
eeyorefanuk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
Really loving your report and you have got so many lovely photos.
Do you think you will be able to post the navigators?
Also do you know with the villa spa for one - if say I use it, could we pay extra just for DH to some and sit with me on the "couch" and enjoy the view? Or would we have to pay for villa spa for two even though he does not like treatments
Do you think you will be able to post the navigators?
Also do you know with the villa spa for one - if say I use it, could we pay extra just for DH to some and sit with me on the "couch" and enjoy the view? Or would we have to pay for villa spa for two even though he does not like treatments
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2004
I have LOVED your trip report, Corinna!!! Such a shame we're near the end but it's been a wonderful experience - thank you for sharing... Richard has read it along with me and said it has totally whetted his appetite for our August Med cruise - now we both really cannot wait...
We've been so encouraged by your experiences that we've cancelled all of our DCL excursions and intend to do our own thing at most ports - we have one or two fab things planned...
Just wanted to say how much I love all your photos - everywhere looks so fab. Also I hope we can take advantage of the photographers from Shutters and get plenty of pics taken.
We've been so encouraged by your experiences that we've cancelled all of our DCL excursions and intend to do our own thing at most ports - we have one or two fab things planned...
Just wanted to say how much I love all your photos - everywhere looks so fab. Also I hope we can take advantage of the photographers from Shutters and get plenty of pics taken.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I will definitely post the Navigators once I have finished the trip report. I think I will start scanning them today as this is going to take a while. Our scanner is not the quickest at the best of times.
I am not sure about the Spa Villa. I had my treatment in the Couple's Spa Villa and there was not a lot of extra space in there. It could well be that there would not be any space for two in the single Spa Villa. I suppose there is no harm in asking them if it was possible.
Corinna
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
We had no regrets doing most of it on our own. That way we could do it at our pace and see what we wanted to see. As I said in my trip report, I think it was a wise decision to do an excursion in Tunesia and I would also do either an excursion or a private tour in Naples if I ever go back there. The rest was so easy and a lot cheaper to do it by ourselves.
I am sure you will have a wonderful time. I think this was my favourite cruise so far.
Don't be sad Corinna ...... only 16 weeks until the next one
Yes, that is of course true. I have made a lot of progress on my Fish Extender gifts for this cruise over the last couple of days and I have also just done all my dining reservations for the post cruise stay. I got everything I wanted when I wanted it (give or take 30 minutes).
Corinna
disney_princess_85
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2009
Lovely update Corinna, I especially liked the bit about the museum. Great photos too, Villefranche looks beautiful! You're really selling the Med cruise to me.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Lovely update Corinna, I especially liked the bit about the museum. Great photos too, Villefranche looks beautiful! You're really selling the Med cruise to me.
I just hope that I don't undo all the good work selling you the Med cruise with the next installment
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 15
This was our last full day of this cruise and a sea day. When I woke up, I realized that it was quite bumpy. I was quite pleased about this as I prefer it when the ship moves a bit. If I want stationary, I will stay at a hotel. I just relaxed for a bit and enjoyed the movement. When we got up, we headed up to Lumieres to get some breakfast. When we looked out of the portholes on deck 3, it just looked grey and there were some quite impressive waves, but nothing too bad.
We enjoyed our breakfast and then we headed up to deck 9 to have a look. The adult pool had turned into a wave pool and DH could not resist this. I filmed him enjoying his new toy.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/6/BOzpu8zjo3s
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/5/MPeJK-W0WkQ
It was very windy out on deck so I decided to go back inside. I left DH in his wave pool and headed down to have al look around the shops. By the time I got down to deck 4, the waves had really picked up and it was actually quite difficult to walk in a straight line. While I was in the shop, the cruise director made an announcement to say that the captain had changed course and we were headed towards the Spanish coastline and hopefully calmer waters, but that it would take two or three hours until we got there. He also referred to an announcement that the captain would make at midday. I had a look what I would like to buy and then went back to see how DH was doing. When I got back up there, deck 9 was empty and the pool had been closed. I filmed the wave pool for a bit longer and then I went back to the cabin to drop of the video camera and get my swim stuff for the Rainforest Room.
Getting changed was an interesting experience. When I got to the Rainforest Room, I had it all by myself. I just settled down on a heated tile lounger, covered myself with a towel and went to sleep. When I woke up again, DH was next to me, but we were still the only people up there. Shortly before midday, I went out to the elevator lobby as I wanted to hear the captains announcement. I noticed that they had emptied the pool and they also had closed access to all outside decks. I was hoping to hear the horn, but was not sure if they would sound it in this weather. In the end they did. The first time they tried, the horn had a bit of a cough, so they sounded it again. The captain explained that this weather had come as a complete surprise and had not been in the forecast. We had a Force 10 gale and they had increased the speed to get us into calmer coastal waters as soon as possible, but estimated that this would take another 3 to 4 hours.
Once I had listened to the announcement, I went back to the Rainforest Room. The captain was due in one of the shops for a signing so we decided to go down there to see if this was still taking place. It was. On the first day, I had spotted a paining and a limited edition print of Mickey Mouse in his captain's outfit standing in front of the ship. I had fallen in love with this straight away. The painting did not even have a price tag and the print was $350, which more than I was willing to pay. When we went to the shop earlier in the cruise to get some antihistamine tablets, we spotted the same print, just smaller and as an open edition and that cost $35. I had been lusting after this all cruise, but was not sure if I would get this back home in one piece as it was still relatively big and therefore needed to go into the suitcase. I decided to go for it and have it signed by Captain Thord. Normally the lines are huge for the captain's signing. This was the reason we never had anything signed before. This time round, the shop was empty. DH was chatting to the captain while I made my purchase and as soon as I bought it, he signed it for me.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/2/1CbcBO667NY
We were at this stage quite hungry and decided to get some lunch at Parrot Cay. DH suggested that we should take the print back to the cabin first. With hindsight, this was a very wise decision. Once we had dropped our stuff off, we went back to deck 3. A lot of officers, including the captain were walking around the public areas looking very calm and cheerful. The waves were looking a lot more impressive than they had looked in the morning.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/4/TbMrr36Z5tw
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/3/LIIBuy30BZo
Parrot Cay is on deck 3 aft and there the movement was impressive. I was not quite sure if I would make it from the entrance to the table, which was at the far end of the restaurant. We did make it there in one piece and also to the buffet and back. We were even laughing and joking with our server from the previous cruise, who was on soup pot duty. The buffet for the day was a seafood buffet, but they also had a few other dishes, including a very nice Chicken Stroganoff, which I had.
We were sitting facing a porthole. All over sudden it felt like the ship had actually jumped out of the water. The next thing we knew there were plates, glasses and cutlery flying everywhere. We saw this huge wave completely covering the porthole. The soup pot also started to fall off, but the server manning it managed to catch it. This was the first time ever I was actually scared. On our very first cruise, we were chased by three separate hurricanes and had 35 foot waves on day and I found it all rather amusing. This time was different. I had no worries about the safety of the ship. At 12 years old, the Magic might be getting an old lady in cruise ship terms, but she is build as strong as houses and is probably one of the most pampered ships in the industry. I also have every confidence in the captain and his officers. So that was not the issue. I was just scared that we might get hurt by all the stuff that was flying around. We both passed on dessert. I just wanted to get out of this restaurant.
Once we were out of there, I was happy again. Walking was still a challenge, but that was OK. We noticed that there was water everywhere. We found out afterwards that the wave we had seen while we were at Parrot Cay had actually crashed against the doors on deck 4 and the doors had flown open under the pressure and some of the water had come in. Nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged inside the ship, but there were some very wet carpets.
We headed down to our cabin and DH packed. I was not brave enough to attempt this while there was so much motion. I decided to wait with my packing until we were in calmer waters. I was readiing. Once DH had packed, we had a nap as neither of us had any wish to walk around the ship and the outdoor areas were still closed off.
When we woke up again, the water was completely calm and there was no movement at all. We went upstairs to see if deck 9 had reopened, which it had. There was a lot of maintanance crew around. Some of the sun loungers had not survived the storm and some of the panels around the lights on deck 10 had blown off, but otherwise there was no obvious damage. We headed to the Cove Café for another of their fabulous Margaritas. We then had one last visit to the Rainforest Room, which was a bit busier than in the morning, but still not too bad.
I got packed before dinner, which did not take long at all. They had changed the time for the collection of the suitcases. On previous cruises they always collected the luggage between 21:00 and 23:00. This had the advantage that I could still dress for dinner, but it made things very hectic after dinner and I always missed the "Till We Meet Again" show in the atrium because of this. This time round, they collected luggage between 20:00 and 22:00. This meant that we could put our luggage out before we went for dinner. This unfortunately also meant that I had to wear the same clothes that I would wear for the journey home.
Dinner that night was the "Till We Meet Again" menu. I had Grilled Chicken Satay followed by Potato and Leek Soup. For my main course, I had Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Asparagus, Baby Vegetables, Williams Potato and Bernaise Sauce. After the main course, they had a little show where first the chefs came out with flaming Baked Alaska and then the servers came out waiving flags. This is set to the Caribbean version of It's A Small World by the Baha Men. I always end up welling up. Once this was over, dessert was served and I had the Baked Alaska. During the meal, we had our photo taken with our servers.
Unfortuanteely one couple was missing, but they came at the end of the meal and we stayed a bit longer just chatting. One thing that we have noticed is that nobody pestered us to give them excellent ratings this time round. I have always hated this on previous cruises. During the last two meals, our servers had always given us "the talk". We had filled out the customer questionnaire earlier that day and had noticed that they now have a question on there if we were pressured by anybody to provide only "excellent" ratings. This did not happen at all this time round, but had been a real problem on previous cruises. Disney Cruise Line has obviously listened to customer feedback
I managed to yet again miss the "Till We Meet Again" show. This was supposed to happen between 22:15 and 22:45, but when we walked through the atrium at around 22:30, the only evidence that this has ever happened was Mickey Head confetti. Oh well, that is just another thing to look forward to next time. We headed back to our cabin, where we found a towel snake. I set a wake up call and then we settled down for our last night on board.
This was our last full day of this cruise and a sea day. When I woke up, I realized that it was quite bumpy. I was quite pleased about this as I prefer it when the ship moves a bit. If I want stationary, I will stay at a hotel. I just relaxed for a bit and enjoyed the movement. When we got up, we headed up to Lumieres to get some breakfast. When we looked out of the portholes on deck 3, it just looked grey and there were some quite impressive waves, but nothing too bad.
We enjoyed our breakfast and then we headed up to deck 9 to have a look. The adult pool had turned into a wave pool and DH could not resist this. I filmed him enjoying his new toy.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/6/BOzpu8zjo3s
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/5/MPeJK-W0WkQ
It was very windy out on deck so I decided to go back inside. I left DH in his wave pool and headed down to have al look around the shops. By the time I got down to deck 4, the waves had really picked up and it was actually quite difficult to walk in a straight line. While I was in the shop, the cruise director made an announcement to say that the captain had changed course and we were headed towards the Spanish coastline and hopefully calmer waters, but that it would take two or three hours until we got there. He also referred to an announcement that the captain would make at midday. I had a look what I would like to buy and then went back to see how DH was doing. When I got back up there, deck 9 was empty and the pool had been closed. I filmed the wave pool for a bit longer and then I went back to the cabin to drop of the video camera and get my swim stuff for the Rainforest Room.
Getting changed was an interesting experience. When I got to the Rainforest Room, I had it all by myself. I just settled down on a heated tile lounger, covered myself with a towel and went to sleep. When I woke up again, DH was next to me, but we were still the only people up there. Shortly before midday, I went out to the elevator lobby as I wanted to hear the captains announcement. I noticed that they had emptied the pool and they also had closed access to all outside decks. I was hoping to hear the horn, but was not sure if they would sound it in this weather. In the end they did. The first time they tried, the horn had a bit of a cough, so they sounded it again. The captain explained that this weather had come as a complete surprise and had not been in the forecast. We had a Force 10 gale and they had increased the speed to get us into calmer coastal waters as soon as possible, but estimated that this would take another 3 to 4 hours.
Once I had listened to the announcement, I went back to the Rainforest Room. The captain was due in one of the shops for a signing so we decided to go down there to see if this was still taking place. It was. On the first day, I had spotted a paining and a limited edition print of Mickey Mouse in his captain's outfit standing in front of the ship. I had fallen in love with this straight away. The painting did not even have a price tag and the print was $350, which more than I was willing to pay. When we went to the shop earlier in the cruise to get some antihistamine tablets, we spotted the same print, just smaller and as an open edition and that cost $35. I had been lusting after this all cruise, but was not sure if I would get this back home in one piece as it was still relatively big and therefore needed to go into the suitcase. I decided to go for it and have it signed by Captain Thord. Normally the lines are huge for the captain's signing. This was the reason we never had anything signed before. This time round, the shop was empty. DH was chatting to the captain while I made my purchase and as soon as I bought it, he signed it for me.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/2/1CbcBO667NY
We were at this stage quite hungry and decided to get some lunch at Parrot Cay. DH suggested that we should take the print back to the cabin first. With hindsight, this was a very wise decision. Once we had dropped our stuff off, we went back to deck 3. A lot of officers, including the captain were walking around the public areas looking very calm and cheerful. The waves were looking a lot more impressive than they had looked in the morning.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/4/TbMrr36Z5tw
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Bunnickle#p/u/3/LIIBuy30BZo
Parrot Cay is on deck 3 aft and there the movement was impressive. I was not quite sure if I would make it from the entrance to the table, which was at the far end of the restaurant. We did make it there in one piece and also to the buffet and back. We were even laughing and joking with our server from the previous cruise, who was on soup pot duty. The buffet for the day was a seafood buffet, but they also had a few other dishes, including a very nice Chicken Stroganoff, which I had.
We were sitting facing a porthole. All over sudden it felt like the ship had actually jumped out of the water. The next thing we knew there were plates, glasses and cutlery flying everywhere. We saw this huge wave completely covering the porthole. The soup pot also started to fall off, but the server manning it managed to catch it. This was the first time ever I was actually scared. On our very first cruise, we were chased by three separate hurricanes and had 35 foot waves on day and I found it all rather amusing. This time was different. I had no worries about the safety of the ship. At 12 years old, the Magic might be getting an old lady in cruise ship terms, but she is build as strong as houses and is probably one of the most pampered ships in the industry. I also have every confidence in the captain and his officers. So that was not the issue. I was just scared that we might get hurt by all the stuff that was flying around. We both passed on dessert. I just wanted to get out of this restaurant.
Once we were out of there, I was happy again. Walking was still a challenge, but that was OK. We noticed that there was water everywhere. We found out afterwards that the wave we had seen while we were at Parrot Cay had actually crashed against the doors on deck 4 and the doors had flown open under the pressure and some of the water had come in. Nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged inside the ship, but there were some very wet carpets.
We headed down to our cabin and DH packed. I was not brave enough to attempt this while there was so much motion. I decided to wait with my packing until we were in calmer waters. I was readiing. Once DH had packed, we had a nap as neither of us had any wish to walk around the ship and the outdoor areas were still closed off.
When we woke up again, the water was completely calm and there was no movement at all. We went upstairs to see if deck 9 had reopened, which it had. There was a lot of maintanance crew around. Some of the sun loungers had not survived the storm and some of the panels around the lights on deck 10 had blown off, but otherwise there was no obvious damage. We headed to the Cove Café for another of their fabulous Margaritas. We then had one last visit to the Rainforest Room, which was a bit busier than in the morning, but still not too bad.
I got packed before dinner, which did not take long at all. They had changed the time for the collection of the suitcases. On previous cruises they always collected the luggage between 21:00 and 23:00. This had the advantage that I could still dress for dinner, but it made things very hectic after dinner and I always missed the "Till We Meet Again" show in the atrium because of this. This time round, they collected luggage between 20:00 and 22:00. This meant that we could put our luggage out before we went for dinner. This unfortunately also meant that I had to wear the same clothes that I would wear for the journey home.
Dinner that night was the "Till We Meet Again" menu. I had Grilled Chicken Satay followed by Potato and Leek Soup. For my main course, I had Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Asparagus, Baby Vegetables, Williams Potato and Bernaise Sauce. After the main course, they had a little show where first the chefs came out with flaming Baked Alaska and then the servers came out waiving flags. This is set to the Caribbean version of It's A Small World by the Baha Men. I always end up welling up. Once this was over, dessert was served and I had the Baked Alaska. During the meal, we had our photo taken with our servers.
Unfortuanteely one couple was missing, but they came at the end of the meal and we stayed a bit longer just chatting. One thing that we have noticed is that nobody pestered us to give them excellent ratings this time round. I have always hated this on previous cruises. During the last two meals, our servers had always given us "the talk". We had filled out the customer questionnaire earlier that day and had noticed that they now have a question on there if we were pressured by anybody to provide only "excellent" ratings. This did not happen at all this time round, but had been a real problem on previous cruises. Disney Cruise Line has obviously listened to customer feedback
I managed to yet again miss the "Till We Meet Again" show. This was supposed to happen between 22:15 and 22:45, but when we walked through the atrium at around 22:30, the only evidence that this has ever happened was Mickey Head confetti. Oh well, that is just another thing to look forward to next time. We headed back to our cabin, where we found a towel snake. I set a wake up call and then we settled down for our last night on board.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
OMG !!!!! Those waves I hope we don't get anything like that on the WBTA. I am not sure I could cope
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I hope we don't get anything like that on the WBTA. I am not sure I could cope
For what it is worth, they had completely calm seas on the EBTA and we had as well on the Med cruise apart from this half a day.
Corinna
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