Magically Crossing the Atlantic May 12-26 2007

[disneydance]

Great job enjoy it all come on write more to feed my tr obsession

 

[NHdisneylover]

Thank you all for the wonderful and supportive comments. You really help me want to keep going
I have been swamped with a houseguest (a goos swamped) and Girl Scout end of year paper work, but I promise to AT LEAST finish Mother's Day by the end of the weekend (and I will finish the entire thing slowly but surely--I will not leave you hanging mid TR like some others who shall remain nameless )
Disneymom7851--Thanks for getting that stat up for me. I was thinkiong around 3000 passengers when totally full, but I didn't really know exactly. I hope your daughte rmade it home safe and aound and you are enjoying having her unde ryour roof again.

 

[disneydance]

Thank you all for the wonderful and supportive comments. You really help me want to keep going
I have been swamped with a houseguest (a goos swamped) and Girl Scout end of year paper work, but I promise to AT LEAST finish Mother's Day by the end of the weekend (and I will finish the entire thing slowly but surely--I will not leave you hanging mid TR like some others who shall remain nameless )
Disneymom7851--Thanks for getting that stat up for me. I was thinkiong around 3000 passengers when totally full, but I didn't really know exactly. I hope your daughte rmade it home safe and aound and you are enjoying having her unde ryour roof again.

You must be a girl scout leader i used to be one and had all this paper work whicfh would take me days to fill out at tome I was so glad when my dd quit so there would be no more paper work but now im spending thousand of dolars on dance and i send my dd to 3 sesions of gs camp each summer since she enojoys there camps so that what i get for my dd wuitting gs thousands of dollar to pay her coach for individual and wven more for team and were not even talking about national fees with hotel airfare etc. and havong to pay for her individual team coachets trave fees

 

[NHdisneylover]

You must be a girl scout leader i used to be one and had all this paper work whicfh would take me days to fill out at tome I was so glad when my dd quit so there would be no more paper work but now im spending thousand of dolars on dance and i send my dd to 3 sesions of gs camp each summer since she enojoys there camps so that what i get for my dd wuitting gs thousands of dollar to pay her coach for individual and wven more for team and were not even talking about national fees with hotel airfare etc. and havong to pay for her individual team coachets trave fees

Here's how crazy I am. I not only lead my daughter's troop (next year will br our 6th year), I led the local Dasiy troop this year just because a leader could not be found and my daughter wanted to help them out so I figured I might as well I said "only one year." Well, you see where this is going. My neighbor, who I really like, begged me to elad again next year for her daughter (and will co lead for me--I had no coleader this year). My DH is about ready to have me commited.

My DD doesn't dance (scouts and karate are her thing), BUT her brother does He is hoping to make the comp. team this year. On the one hand, I want him to get to do this and am hoping he makes it. On the other hand there's all that money and time it will take me and I am hoping he doesn't make it

 

[disneymom7851]

Hadley

I can't believe you are a Girl Scout leader. I have been an adult Girl Scout for 25 years. Started with my older daughter and then Ashley's troop. I still work on special events for Council, I am a trainer and Program Aide Task Group Chair. I have done it all. In fact Ashley is still a Girl Scout - Last year she got a 15 year pin as she started at 5 with Daisys. My friends just got back from 95th anniversary Sing A Long in Washington DC - I was suppose to go but canceled when I knew Ashley was coming home. If you ever need any GS program stuff, let me know - I have a garage full of stuff.

Having Ashley home is crazy - makes the house noisy again. She is going to sail with Michael on the Magic starting the 28th for a couple of weeks and then she is going to start the audition process again.

Let's keep in touch.

Diane

 

[Jennifer48]

Hello fellow New Englander!

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report. Keep up the good work!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Here's how crazy I am. I not only lead my daughter's troop (next year will br our 6th year), I led the local Dasiy troop this year just because a leader could not be found and my daughter wanted to help them out so I figured I might as well I said "only one year." Well, you see where this is going. My neighbor, who I really like, begged me to elad again next year for her daughter (and will co lead for me--I had no coleader this year). My DH is about ready to have me commited.

My DD doesn't dance (scouts and karate are her thing), BUT her brother does He is hoping to make the comp. team this year. On the one hand, I want him to get to do this and am hoping he makes it. On the other hand there's all that money and time it will take me and I am hoping he doesn't make it

Good for you to lead two troops. What a wonderful thing to do. I'm a troop leader myself and my co-leader leads three troops (three daughters)!!!

I took my troop to the 95th Sing-a-long in Wash DC. It was a blast. Very moving to be around so many other scouts. We've got swaps from Indiana to South Carolina. Saw someone who's t-shirt said they are from Florida.

 

[disneydance]

Here's how crazy I am. I not only lead my daughter's troop (next year will br our 6th year), I led the local Dasiy troop this year just because a leader could not be found and my daughter wanted to help them out so I figured I might as well I said "only one year." Well, you see where this is going. My neighbor, who I really like, begged me to elad again next year for her daughter (and will co lead for me--I had no coleader this year). My DH is about ready to have me commited.

My DD doesn't dance (scouts and karate are her thing), BUT her brother does He is hoping to make the comp. team this year. On the one hand, I want him to get to do this and am hoping he makes it. On the other hand there's all that money and time it will take me and I am hoping he doesn't make it

Yes same way i felt my dd didnt make it 2 years in row and we got real curious why since the coach was putting her at the highest level of dance they offer at the studio so we switched studios and they were in love with her they convinced me to get her a perssonal trainer which came from her old studio who the former artistict director from royal whipping ballet in tennesee trained in paris, russia, new york etc. one of the best instructor in the state and travels around the state to different dance studios to train girls and boys he told me why the team director didnt want her own the team which flipped us all off ( because she had the perfect body tall skinny very flexable and was a threat for some of her favorite girls) on top of that my dds tooken jazz (was doing pointe, modern, ballet and tap for 5 years) for 6 months and is is moving on to level 7 skipped 6 levels in one year is so determined if everything works out right next ill home school her part time and shell go to school 3 hours a day(3 periods) then will train till 9:00pm with a 2 hour break so shell end school at 10:00am she will get a agent so im going crazy my dd was in gs for 7 years and i was the leader that whole entire time absolutely crazy life good luck on making the decision best fit for your family if he does make competitive

 

[NHdisneylover]

Cast review:

Me (Hadley) 34
DH (David) 34
DD (Marika) 10
DS (Rio) 8

Grandparents: Hank and Jan
Lots of great CMs and DISsers

When we last checked in, our core group was idlely floating in the water, hunting coral, lounging on hammocks and generally lazing away the day on a virtually empty island. . .

Bit by bit people began to trickle off the boat and enjoy the peacefulness with us (though it never got truly crowded). Around 10:30 Rio and I decided to meander toward Grouper's Game Pavillion for a rousing game of giant connect four. Along the way we passed the hair braiding station. You know the place: Bahamian ladies sit under colorful umbrellas torturing young girls. Tears flow freely in this area--ahh the price of beauty. There were no tears this morning--no customers at all.

There is a new addition to Grouper's since we were there last. It's ONE (yes--just one) hole of mini golf. Lest you be tempted to mock the lowly hole, know that my eight year old happily played that hole at least 18 times-thus making it a full course We also played shuffle board, and (of course) giant connect four.

An hour later, lured by the promise of Cookie's BBQ we made our way back to OUR SPOT in the main beach area. Passing hair braiding we saw there was still a lack of customers. I stopped to ask how many girls they had tortured/ er I mean beautified thus far today. It was about 11:30 and the answer was none yet! They did find some willing victims later that day, but man they were off to a slow start.

We joined back up with Marika and Dave (and Hank and Jan who had finally meandered off the ship around 10:30) and headed to Cookies. Cookies has so much to offer: hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken, potatoe salad, etc. etc. Any kid's dream. Well, any kid but Rio (AKA picky boy). I asked the burger server for Rio's usual Castaway Meal--"Can I please have a bun with 3 or 4 pieces of cheese on it?" I gotta give credit to our server here. He is the first person I have ever ordered that from who did not look at me askance or ask at least twice "only that?" in incredulous tones I always figure that most of them, for whom English is a second language, are convnced they are mistranslating something becuase even Americans aren't so crazy as to want just a bun with a bunch of cheese on it Happy with his bun, Rio moved on down the line to fetch chips and I asked for "another bun but with just one slice of cheese." Now THIS time he did laugh a bit at me. Yep, here I am almost as picky as my son. I happily took MY bun and grabbed a piece of chicken to go along with it (I make my own pulled chicken sandwhich on Castaway Cay--yes it is weird, but it makes me happy. Besides it was MOTHER's Day so I could get away with it).

The buffet ends for me with COOKIES. The castaway cookies (which are blessedly widely available on board these days) are often passed over by those not in the know. They appear to some to be overcooked--almost burnt. Those poor unknowing souls. That dark colour is NOT the reult of being left overly long in a hot oven. These cookies are soft and chewy. The color is from the molasses which gives these cookies their uniquely sweet flavour These are cookies meant for savouring slowly nibble by nibble.

Armed with full plates, we stopped by the drink station for new sodas and got a seat all together in the shade. As per routine, after setting down my tray, I went over to the fruit table and loaded up a plate full of of grapes, pineapple, mango, etc. for the tabel to share. I was already heading back towards the table with this before it occurred to me that I was wasting my oppurtunity to order people around on Mother's Day by doing this myself. Oh well--it was shaping up to be a perfect day anyway

After lunch Rio wanted to do "Castaway Capers" with the club (as did his friend Owen). We started heading to Scuttle's Cove. Half way there I remembered that he needed a shirt and shoes and we turned around, walked back to OUR SPOT to get them. Along the way we saw Owen with his dad and little sister on their way to Scuttles and let them know that shirt and shoes are required, so they turned around to retrive their items.. Rio felt it appropriate to sing Kenny Chesney's "No Shirt No Shoes No Problem" at this point.

Properly attired we headed back to Scuttle's Cove. Upon arrival we learned that if I had paid attention to that navigator I had accidently left onbaord, I would have known to meet at Pops Props. So, we turned around and walked back the way we had come a third time. Again we passed Owen, etc and let them know where to go. They did not turn around immediately as younger sis needed to be dropped at Scuttle's. We were doing so much looping it was amazing the boys didn't give up on us parents entirely In the end both boys were dropped off before the group left on the caper (an island treasure hunt).

The next couple of hours slipped away in a haze. I swam with Marika and Jan, sipped Cokes, lazed in the hammock, watched Mariaka down TONS of soft serve (cookie dough, but of course) and generally RELAXED. The men went for a nice, long snorkle and had a few froo froo drinks. Rio eventually chekced out of the club and came to swim and eat ice cream with his sister. And four o'clock came much too soon.

Having pushed the limits to a half hour before "all aboard" (something I could never do at any other port) we finally had to admit our day at paradise was comming to an end. We showered everyone, packed up and started the walk back to the ship.

There is a tradition in our family that we always stop on the way back for a family photo. Just after you walk past She Sells, there is a little sidewalk heading to the back of that building. We stop there on that little sidewalk and get great shots with the ship in the backgorund (an ideal photo op for those of you looknig for a good place to do this). We are always hot and sticky and tired and every time we whine to Dave and demand to know why we did not do this earlier and we always are glad we got the shot when we get home.

Back on board, we spent some time at the sailaway party before showring and cleaning up for dinner. The show was Jimmy Tamley--a ventriloquest. We do not much care for Ventriloquism so we chose to skip the show. The kids went to make Mother's Day crafts in the club and Dave and I joined a group of our DISboard friends for a Jimmy Buffet night at quiet Cove pool. We all had a most excellent time dancing to Fins and Maragritaville thanks to DJ Mike and the lovely weather.

We later found out it was a good thing we skipped the show. It started out with a long, "funny" poem about what would happen when a little girl's rabbit died. Marika's rabbit had died (we had her put down--she had a very agressive tumor) only 5 days before our trip. Hmmm--this show would have been more traumatic than anything had we been there.

Dinner was in Animator's and it was the regular rotation dinner. This is the very first time we got to sit in the middle of the room (always off to one side) and the show IS better from there. Our servers. Iketut and Fernando were already getting to know us and had my iced tea and Dave's ginger ale ready and waiting.

Stuffed and happy, we put the kids to bed and headed down to Rockin' Bar D to experience 60s night for the first time. We have always done only 80s night and were hoping for something as polished and entertaining as that. 60s night was fun, but not up to the level of 80s night. We were pretty tired and ended up leaving early to go sit on our veranda and relax. Before bed we remebered to turn our clocks ahead one hour (a procedure we were doomed to repeat 4 more times--the one bad thing about a Westbound Transatlantic).

And so ends the tale of one glorious Mother's Day.

Up next: Pastries, Ducky and Princesses

 

[ncseric]

I'd agree with you on the ventriloquist, with a few exceptions. If you ever have seen Jeff Dunham on Comedy Central, his puppets are hilarious... some are a bit off-color, but the edited version of his shows are really funny. You can probably find him on YouTube.

Castaway Cay looks like a nice place to hang out for a while, especially since you're not going to set foot on land for quite a while at this point in the trip.

 

[disneydance]

enjoying as always

 

[solgent]

Thanks for the tip about the cookies. I'm eagerly waiting for the next installment.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Oh my gosh, this trip sounds SO amazing! I can't wait to read more and see more photos. Your family is beautiful, by the way.

Sorry I am so slow on this response. Thank you Yo uare now one of my favourite people What part of New England are you from?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Normally would have close to 2700 on board. Hadley your reports are always the best.

Aww, you're just saying that because I say nice things about Michael

 

[NHdisneylover]

Good for you to lead two troops. What a wonderful thing to do. I'm a troop leader myself and my co-leader leads three troops (three daughters)!!!

I took my troop to the 95th Sing-a-long in Wash DC. It was a blast. Very moving to be around so many other scouts. We've got swaps from Indiana to South Carolina. Saw someone who's t-shirt said they are from Florida.

I would haev LOVED to go to that. It sounds great.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Yes same way i felt my dd didnt make it 2 years in row and we got real curious why since the coach was putting her at the highest level of dance they offer at the studio so we switched studios and they were in love with her they convinced me to get her a perssonal trainer which came from her old studio who the former artistict director from royal whipping ballet in tennesee trained in paris, russia, new york etc. one of the best instructor in the state and travels around the state to different dance studios to train girls and boys he told me why the team director didnt want her own the team which flipped us all off ( because she had the perfect body tall skinny very flexable and was a threat for some of her favorite girls) on top of that my dds tooken jazz (was doing pointe, modern, ballet and tap for 5 years) for 6 months and is is moving on to level 7 skipped 6 levels in one year is so determined if everything works out right next ill home school her part time and shell go to school 3 hours a day(3 periods) then will train till 9:00pm with a 2 hour break so shell end school at 10:00am she will get a agent so im going crazy my dd was in gs for 7 years and i was the leader that whole entire time absolutely crazy life good luck on making the decision best fit for your family if he does make competitive

It sounds like you have a terrifically talented daughter and she has a wonderfully supportive mom (or dad?). Good for you both.

 

[faireygod mother]

Do you happen to have a photo of the embarkation photo? I would love to see what it looks like.

Thanks and thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Do you happen to have a photo of the embarkation photo? I would love to see what it looks like.

Thanks and thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Sorry. Not only did we not purchase an embarkation photo--we did not have one taken! We were busy being escorted in to have our dining issues fixed. I bet if you ask over on the main board, someone will post one for you.

 

[disneymom7851]

Hadley

You DO have the best trip reports - they are positive and really a trip report and not just a place for you to gripe. You are doing a great job and I can't wait to read about your entire adventure.

Can't believe you also do Girl Scouts.

And not true, I wouldn't say nice things just because you said nice things about Michael. Besides you have the advantage with him, I have never met him.

Diane

 

[M&M126]

I love your TR! I'm going on my first Disney cruise this summer and it's fun to hear about your experiences! Cant wait to hear about the other stops along the way!