Mike & Missy's Grand Adventure! 9/5/09 DCL Western & WDW TR w/ pics! COMPLETE!

[praisehisname]

Your spa day sounds heavenly! DH and I did the couple massage, but your's sounds better!

 

[Timon]

Ok, finally caught up

I am the exact same way about spas, I have always wanted to try them but I find it hard to spend so much money on being pampered and I am shy about showing any skin

Your experience makes me really want to try it now though!

I think I will save up some extra $$$ and try something on our Alaskan cruise in 2011

Can't wait for the rest Missy!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Your spa day sounds heavenly! DH and I did the couple massage, but your's sounds better!

Heavenly was a good way to describe it! I would love to try to Couple's massage too, and I think that Mike may even be willing to try it now that he knows how much I enjoyed my treatment!

Ok, finally caught up

I am the exact same way about spas, I have always wanted to try them but I find it hard to spend so much money on being pampered and I am shy about showing any skin

Your experience makes me really want to try it now though!

I think I will save up some extra $$$ and try something on our Alaskan cruise in 2011

Can't wait for the rest Missy!!

Hi, Cass! Glad you're feeling better and all caught up now!

I think you should definitely give the spa a try. I felt very comfortable, which I didn't expect!! I think you will definitely love it!

An Alaskan cruise, you say? How exciting-I can't wait to read the TR for that one!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

It was around 2:00 once we made it back onboard. I think the week had started to take a toll on us, as we all decided to head back to the room for a short nap before dinner. Brandi had also started to get a little sick as well. Her sinuses had really started bothering her, and she didn't feel well which is another reason that we didn't stay on the island as long as we had thought we would. I hated to see her getting sick, but was glad that it was happening now, at the end of the cruise instead of the beginning.

After our short naps, Mike and I started getting ready around 4, for our last dinner of the cruise. It was hard to believe that this was our last night onboard the Magic, so I wasn't as excited about rushing things along as I had been earlier in the week.

We were nearly late for dinner as I was having a terrible hair night!Mike took this picture of the girls as we were heading up, and you can see for yourself how bad it was...

I just wasn't feeling the magic tonight. We finally made it to dinner with not a minute to spare. We were back in Animator's Palate, and with it being our final night, the theme for the evening was "Till We Meet Again." I LOVED the menus, and wish I could have brought one home.

The mood tonight felt really somber. I think everyone was feeling the sadness of the last night.

Just like every other night, Abrahim brought our drinks and bread, and then Dennis came and asked how our day was before taking our orders.
I started off with the Artichoke, Spinach and Jalepeno Cheese Dip:

I don't normally do well with hot stuff, so I was a little worried about how strong the Jalepenos would be. There was no need to worry though, as it was just right. The peppers added just enough kick!
Mike had the Grilled Chicken Satays:

He enjoyed these as well.
Next came the Potato Leek Soup for me:

I surprised myself when I ordered this, as the menu told that the soup came with Caviar in it, which totally grosses me out. Thankfully I couldn't see or taste it (not that I would know what it tastes like anyway), and the soup was actually very good.
Mike decided to go with the Crawfish and Lobster Bisque:

For our main course, I chose the Grilled Beef Tenderloin:

This turned out to be my favorite piece of beef of the whole cruise. It was wonderful...cooked just right, and the sauce topped it off just right.
Mike decided on the Garloc and Rosemary-Marinated Lamb Sirloin:

He really enjoyed this as well and said the meat was nice and tender.
Lastly, came dessert, of course, and I was finally able to try something that I had always wondered about-the Baked Alaska...

I had read so much about the Baked Alaska and how good it was, but until this cruise, I never knew what it was. So I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did. It was VERY yummy!!
Mike chose the Chocolate Decadence, which he also liked a lot:

He said the part in the little glass (I don't remember exactly what it was) was the best part!

As we were having dessert, the Flaming of the Baked Alaska was done. We'd never seen this before, and thought that it was very cool. It sure did smell good, too!

Lastly, was the Parade of Nations. We definitely made some noise during this, as we thought that our serving team was surely the BEST!

Our head server:

By this time, the mood had definitely lifted, and smiles had returned to everyone's faces. Dennis was really in a good mood, as our cruise was his last, and he was returning home for his vacation the next day. Abrahim had only 4 weeks left before he returned home as well. We asked Dennis if he knew which ship he would be on when he returned, but he didn't. We made sure to let him know that we'd definitely be requesting him when we cruise again. Both he and Abrahim were wonderful!

With our last dinner being behind us, we decided to head to the shops to make any last minute purchases that we'd forgotten or missed earlier in the week. Turns out, Treasure Ketch had a new shirt for sale that we all loved and bought. The front has a picture of the Magic, and the back has a cool map showing all the ports of call for the Magic. Lots of people were buying them, and all 4 of us ended up with one as well. I didn't think to take pictures of it, but I ended up wearing it later in the week in Disney.

After the shops, we headed down to Guest Services to settle up our bill. We'd set up a cash account and went down from time to time throughout the week to make sure of what we'd spent. After we'd made several purchases, we always took some cash down and paid so that we could keep up with our spending. It's very easy to get out of control when you don't keep a watch on it.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Our next stop after GS was back to the room to try and do a little more packing. I had meant to try and pack a little at a time throughout the week, but with all the clothes that we wore, it didn't work out that way. Once we made it back to the room, we saw our very last towel animal of the cruise:

They had also dropped off the pillow cases that I had left with GS earlier in the week. I thought they turned out great:

We worked on packing until just a few minutes before the "Remember the Magic" show that started at 8:30 in the Buena Vista. This was yet another show that we'd missed on both our other cruises, so we were excited to finally be seeing it this time.

We made it at about 10 minutes before the show started, and it was already getting pretty packed. Finally the show started, and it was great. Some of it tied in to the "All Aboard" show from the first night. I think there were definitely a few teary-eyed moments for me.

This guy was pretty cool.

He asked for a couple of guys from the audience to join him on stage for some help, and one of the guys from our DIS group (idrivealumina) went up. They were a lot of fun to watch:

Then the show switched "themes" again...

My favorite princess made an appearance as well:

 

[UGAFan0829]

With the final show being over, and our amount of time left on board withering away, we decided to head back to the one place that we'd visited a good bit during the week. So we headed up to deck 9 for one more cup of that yummy soft-service ice cream. Mike decided to say his goodbye to the ice cream in a unique manner:

Gayle and Brandi said their goodbyes as well:

After savoring our last cup of the yummy stuff, we headed back to our rooms and managed to get our luggage tagged and out in the hall before 8:30. I was sad that we missed the "Till We Meet Again" with all the characters in the atrium, but that was okay. We'd seen it before, and there was always next time. With our luggage out, the only thing left to do was to hit the hay for our last night in our DCL bed.

 

[Kay1]

I can't thank you enough for sharing your trip with us. You have done an excellent job on the report and your pictures are simply beautiful.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Awww, the last night, so sad!

You had the same head waiter as us.

 

[DisFamily10]

Thank you for sharing your trip. We don't leave for several months but my DD and I can't wait. Thanks again!

 

[redsox721]

I just love the pictures of you girls in the matching shirts. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mickey's Goofy Gal]

I almost got teary eyes reading about your last night. I am so glad ya'll had a great cruise and made so many special memories. I too - like the matching shirts ya'll had on!

 

[podsnel]

The last night is so SAD!!!! But you all looked like you were still having fun!! The pillowcase came out GREAT- I've been thinking of doing either that or the picture frame on this next cruise.

 

[Tinkerkell123]

Have been LOVING the trip report! Definitely making the time til our cruise go by faster, thanks!! With the pillowcases, were those sharpies you sent with the pillowcase? If not, what did you send? Did they bleed through the other side? Did you specify which characters you wanted?

Thanks!

 

[praisehisname]

So glad your last meal of the cruise was a great one!

Our head server:

We had the same head server in October 2008!

This guy was pretty cool.

He was at our closing show, too. His name is Ron Pearson. DD 11 was so facinated with him! We found him on YouTube; check it out!

So sorry your trip is ending...

 

[Timon]

Awww, it's almost over

Your pillow case looks great! I am mad at myself for not getting Kira's done in colour It looks so much nicer with all the different colours! Oh well, next time I guess.


Yeah, we will be on the 2nd Alaska cruise, should be interesting

When is your next cruise?

 

[Jennifer48]

Awww its almost over

 

[UGAFan0829]

I can't thank you enough for sharing your trip with us. You have done an excellent job on the report and your pictures are simply beautiful.

Wow, thank you for such kind words! I'm so glad to know that you've enjoyed it! And even though the cruise portion is coming to a close, it's not over yet...there's still the WDW portion of our trip, so stay tuned for that as well!

Awww, the last night, so sad!

You had the same head waiter as us.

What did you think about the head waiter? We didn't see him very much, but he was very nice when he did make his rounds. He was very funny the night that they presented Gayle with her birthday cake though!

Thank you for sharing your trip. We don't leave for several months but my DD and I can't wait. Thanks again!

I am very happy to share my trip! I bet you and your DD are so excited!!

I almost got teary eyes reading about your last night. I am so glad ya'll had a great cruise and made so many special memories. I too - like the matching shirts ya'll had on!

We had such a wonderful cruise...It was everything I imagined it to be!

The last night is so SAD!!!! But you all looked like you were still having fun!! The pillowcase came out GREAT- I've been thinking of doing either that or the picture frame on this next cruise.

We were still having fun...it's hard not to when you're on a Disney cruise, right! We wanted to make the most of every minute that we had! I'm glad you like the pillowcase. I was happy with the way they turned out!

Have been LOVING the trip report! Definitely making the time til our cruise go by faster, thanks!! With the pillowcases, were those sharpies you sent with the pillowcase? If not, what did you send? Did they bleed through the other side? Did you specify which characters you wanted?

Thanks!

Hi, Tinkerkell! I'm so glad to hear that you've enjoyed my report! As for the pillowcases, I actually used the Bic brand of permanent markers. When I compared the colors of the pens to the Sharpies, the Bic colors were prettier to me, so I went with them. There were a couple little spots that bled through to the other side, but nothing major. Unfortunately, I think it's hard to keep that from happening no matter what kind of pen or marker you use.

So glad your last meal of the cruise was a great one!

We had the same head server in October 2008!

So sorry your trip is ending...

I think the last meal was probably the best one of the whole cruise!

Awww, it's almost over

Your pillow case looks great! I am mad at myself for not getting Kira's done in colour It looks so much nicer with all the different colours! Oh well, next time I guess.


Yeah, we will be on the 2nd Alaska cruise, should be interesting

When is your next cruise?

Hi, Cass! You always have next time to get a pillowcase done in color for Kira! I'm so jealous that you guys are cruising to Alaska. It will probably be a few years before we cruise again. I really want to do the Eastern, and I'm hoping that the Fantasy will be cruising that route. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Awww its almost over

I know, but just the cruise portion. You'll have to make sure to stay tuned for our WDW adventures as well!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

What did you think about the head waiter? We didn't see him very much, but he was very nice when he did make his rounds. He was very funny the night that they presented Gayle with her birthday cake though!

He was very nice, stopped by every night with little jokes for us and to see how we were all doing.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Saying Goodbye to the Magic...But the Party Ain't Over Yet!!!​

Mike and I both were awake by 5:30. Imagine that-the last day of the cruise and we decide to wake up so early. Needless to say, as we started our day we were faced with the harsh, cruel reality that this was our last morning onboard the Magic. It was so hard to believe that this trip was finally coming to an end. But--there was definitely a silver lining to those dark clouds...WE WERE HEADING TO DISNEY WORLD TODAY!! I'm so glad that we chose to do Disney after the cruise because it sure did make our last few hours just a tad bit easier to get through.

Since it was still a bit early, we hadn't docked yet, so when we stepped onto the verandah, we were able to watch ourselves pull into port. It was so serene standing there watching us pull back in.

I admit, I definitely got a little teary eyed as I stood there and thought about the wonderful week we'd just experienced. I was so thankful that we were blessed enough to have been able to even take this trip. I know there are so many people in the world that may never step foot on a cruise ship, and here we were at the end of our 3rd one. I was also so thankful that I had a husband with whom I'd been married to for 10 wonderful years. I still haven't figured out what I did to deserve him, but the Lord sure blessed me when he brought Mike into my life! I realized just how much I had to be thankful for!

After we showered and readied for the day, we packed up the last of our belongings and said goodbye to stateroom 8550, and made our way to breakfast. Just as we'd gotten out in the hall, our wonderful stateroom host, Margaret was coming by. I know I've not commented on her very much during this report, but to sum her up as wonderful was an understatement! We just loved her! So of course, us girls got a pic with her before we said our final goodbyes. This is actually the only picture that we got of her during the whole trip, and I'm so glad that we got this one...

I definitely had to wipe away a few tears as we walked away...

With all our bags in tow, we finally made it to breakfast in AP, right at 7:00. Mike and I had actually debated skipping breakfast all together so that we could be off the ship earlier and headed to WDW, but I'm so glad that we decided not to. It was our very last meal of the trip with Brandi and Gayle, but we also got to see Dennis and Abrahim one last time.

I apologize, but I didn't even bother taking pictures of this meal. We had everything packed up, including the camera and ready to carry off the ship, so I didn't mess with digging the camera back out. Breakfast was good though, or as good as it can possibly be knowing that it was our last meal. We ate slowly and enjoyed our time together. But soon enough, it was our time to go. We were one of the very last tables out of the dining room, as we took gave Dennis and Abrahim our farewell hugs and told them we hoped to cruise with them again someday. We also made sure to tell them just how special they made our cruise and how thankful we were to have them as our servers. As we headed out, we managed to all get together for a couple group shots. These were definitely some of my favorite pics from the whole cruise...

We slowly made our way through the ship and back to the atrium, where we saw yet another tear jerker...

And by the time that we passed this, it was all I could do not to just bawl...

We made our way to the luggage area and collected all our belongings. We made it safely through customs then out to the curb to wait for our shuttle. When Dwayne had dropped us off at the port he'd given us instructions to call him on his cell when we were ready to be picked up. So Mike called, and it turns out that we'd just missed him. He told us he'd be back in about 10-15 minutes. So we dragged our luggage down to an open spot on the side of the curb and waited. As we were waiting, aussieinvasion and her family came up and were waiting for their car back to the airport, so I was able to chat with her for a few minutes before she left. It wasn't long until their car had arrived, and they were on their way. Yet another tearful moment for me!
Then just a couple minutes later Dwayne had arrived! He sure was quick! He loaded all our luggage into the trailer, and then we were ready to go. It was just us, so we had the shuttle all to ourselves. It was some what of a quiet ride back.

Within minutes we were back at the hotel. Dwayne was nice and pulled to where we were parked. He unloaded our luggage for us, and of course we tipped him again and thanked him so much. He was great! And I made sure to let the hotel know that when they sent me a follow-up survey a few days later. I admit that I was a little worried as to how the whole shuttle thing would work after we decided to park at the hotel instead of the port. And it turned out great. Not only did it save us $105, but it was nice having help with all our luggage. Everything definitely was better than I expected, and I'm almost positive that we'll be staying at the Country Inn when we cruise again!

Mike helped Brandi and Galye stuff all their luggage back into their car and we then said our goodbyes to them. They were driving straight home, so they had strict instructions to call us every few hours to let us know their status. They then set on their way home, and we were left with loading all our things back in our car. So what do you do when you've got the post-cruise blues...YOU GO TO DISNEY WORLD, of course!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

So sad that the cruise has come to an end but at least there was WDW to look forward to!