DAY FOUR - August 9th
DAY AT SEA
I woke up at 3am on our third night and couldn't sleep. For some reason I had woken up about that time each night on the ship. And each night I would get up out of bed and just slip out onto the verandah and watch....more Heaven. I love the silence out there except for the boat quietly slipping through the water in the dark. Maybe it was God's way of getting me out to enjoy just a few extra minutes every night that I wouldn't have otherwise. I loved being out there all alone and more than once I would glance at Maddie asleep on the sofa bed and think of the fun we were having and how thankful I was.
I always ended up going right back to sleep after stepping out there for just a few minutes, and I did that night also. The next morning would be our last "real" morning on the ship. I don't count waking up and dreading opening the blind for fear of seeing Port Canaveral a real morning on the ship. Especially since I can't have my big and lingering breakfast at BB that morning either.
This was going to be our day at sea. We didn't have this on our last cruise since it was a three day so we were looking forward to just hanging out on the ship all day and relaxing. I woke up about 8am and got dressed in actual clothes for a change instead of a bathing suit. Still as with every other morning so far, Maddie doesn't move. She is like a brick in that bed and is dead to the world. A few minutes later the phone rang and POOF! Up she goes and answers the phone with a grin a mile wide. Can I just say that I seriously doubt her Tinker Bell alarm clock at 6am will have the same effect as Mickey's phone call's. I LOVE THOSE CALLS!!! The person who brings those calls to Verizon is a millionaire!
With Maddie up and dressed we head up to Beach Blanket again. I am not the worlds greatest cook and it's not my favorite activity to be in the kitchen so you would think that while on the ship I would take full advantage of the formal dining rooms even at b'fast. NOPE! Not one time - except when they made us on the day we left.
At BB we sat by the railing and watched the water roll by. It seemed as though we were hardly moving and for a bit Maddie was typical 6 year old swearing that, "Uh huh. We ARE at the front of the ship Mommy and it's going THIS WAY!" Boy don't I wish! If she were right we wouldn't have been heading back to FL but back to CC.
I think a lot of people must sleep in on the sea days because it was almost deserted up there and one of the best mornings we had. The Cruise Director commented that many people just remain in their cabins most of the day feeling sorry for themselves because they had to leave the next day. NOT US! We made a rule and a promise before we left home that we would NOT ONCE talk about how many more days were left, when we had to go home or anything of the kind so that we would enjoy every minute. No pity parties allowed!! We also promised that we would not be sad all the way home but instead talk about our trip and look at our souvenirs on the trip back. Turns out, we had PLENTY of time to do this since we traveled back on travel hell day and were trying to get home for 20 hours.
But the rule was great and we followed it to a tee!
When we were leaving breakfast we were going to jump back down to the room to grab some snacks (I FINALLY REMEMBERED THEM!!!) to take to the movie. On our way to the elevator Maddie bumped straight into Donald Duck who looked like he had just stepped out of the movie Caddy Shack. She immediately give him a huge bear hug (yup - got pics of that one) and then he steps back from her and starts to motion to her hat and purse. She had on a Minnie Mouse hat and was carrying her Tink purse. He just kept pointing to them, then himself and holding up his hand. The woman who was with him started laughing and talking to him and then Maddie explaining to us that he was trying to tell her, not Minnie, not Tink, HE IS NUMBER ONE!! He did this over and over nodding yes every time she said it. It was so cute. Maddie still remembers this. Last night when we were going to bed, her on her new freshly signed pillowcase she says, "
Look Mommy, ya know Donald Duck really is number one". He had signed the pillowcase "Donald Duck #1." Now I know that he signs everything this way, but Maddie swears that it's only her pillowcase and autograph book ...all because of her hat and purse.....yup - cried last night too and I'm not even on the stinking ship!!!
One thing when we cruised before that we didn't know about (and there was a lot we didn't know) was the movie theater! So, this time I had called ahead to find out what movies were playing (thank you Dis!). The movie that Maddie had been wanting to see was Cars. I had ask her when it came out if she would want to wait and see if we would be able to see it on the ship. We both thought it would be kind of cool to look back and remember that we saw that movie while on the Wonder. So she waited almost 2 months to see it even putting off seeing it with her grandfather which whom she loves ALL THINGS CARS and racing.
There was another activity that I found out about on the Dis from the Navigator's and that was PJ Bingo. How cool! We can play Bingo in our PJ's and she would get a prize just for showing up (Disney somehow knows that kids LOVE prizes and parents will pay to play when they are guaranteed
). These were two things she wanted....PJ Bingo and Cars. Well......seems
DCL had other plans for us because they scheduled PJ Bingo and the movie Cars at the same time on our day at sea. Cars won hands down. I was none too upset about this because wearing my PJ's anywhere but in my own room was NOT something I was entirely excited about let me tell ya.
If you have not seen a movie on the ship and have the time - do it! We had a ball. The theater is just big enough and it has the DCL elegance with it that you certainly don't feel at home - or at least we don't. The movie was fantastic and Maddie was very excited because the previous night at the kids club she had won a set of all of the "Cars Cards" so she knew who all the characters were.
After the movie we thought we would grab a bite to eat and go swimming...well...second and third thoughts. We went to the room and cranky tail replaced Maddie for some reason. Oh my Lord. The fit she pitched I can't believe there wasn't a mass of people outside my door offering money for me to shut her up! Yep. Lucky me. So, being the meanest mother in the entire world when my daughter mouths off to me in a way that I will not have - anywhere - we get to the room and I utter the words she knew were coming, "SIT and DO NOT MOVE." Which means, for every time you move or open your mouth right now your sitting an additional 5 minutes right there on that spot. I made it clear (and by clear, I mean I was speaking very slowly though tightly clenched teeth) that they had babysitters on the ship - not kids club and I would call and hire one to sit with her in that room the ENTIRE day. And just to be certain she listened, I told her I would also call the man with the medal detector. Now, ANY person who EVER tells her there are not babysitters for hire and that's not what the kids programming button on the phone is for, WILL have major problems coming from me because I could see the fear in her eyes the minute I breathed the words and that moment I started getting the real Maddie back....BUT she still had to sit there for 15 minutes (me being the meanest mom every an all). I'm going to have to get me one of those buttons on the phone at home!!
Another great reason for the verandah....mental note...single mom's MUST HAVE SPACE TO COOL OFF walk WALK AWAY! I walked outside and left her to her serious time-out which in a 6 year old's world is hell...combine that with missing 15 minutes of fun on The Wonder and oh boy was she ever peachy fresh when I came back in the room.
After FINALLY changing into our suits I decide that I want a grown up drink (can you IMAGINE WHY). We head down to the lounge on deck 4 on our way to verify the bill at GS and take care of our tips as well, and I get a REAL DRINK. In the lounge there was a woman sitting by one of the portholes who we began talking to and we find out that her son is one of the dancers in the shows. For those who see Hercules, he is the one in the orange. How cool was that!! Maddie was completely fascinated as she is on a dance competition team at home so I saw the wheels turning....HE DANCES AND LIVES ON THE DISNEY SHIP WITH TINKERBELL...with her mouth open wide. Of course my wheels started turning in a different direction, I had to ask if she receives a discount for the cruise or any perks. Nope. Oh well, there was a dream right.
She did say that he had worked for RCI previously and although it was harder work on the Disney ship, she said that he is treated far better and is much happier. She was such a sweet lady. Something must have told her that Maddie needed a nudge in the happy mood department and she stared telling her about how her son started dancing at her age and was in competitions too and that if she works hard at it then she could one day work as he does with Mickey Mouse. There she goes - we have lift off - Maddie was beaming again and we were both in our happy place. Now I'm going to have to find her again later to find out how I'm going to finance 12 more years of dance competitions!
After saying goodbye to her we were making our way up to BB for lunch and then going to go swimming. Well, on the way to BB we passed the Goofy Pool area where it seems there was a "best legs" contest for men. Maddie was so enthralled that we stopped to watch and had the best time. This is what I really liked about the day at sea...NO rushing and you just bump from one activity to the next without ever having any real plans for the day. These guys all had to dance on stage and show off their ability and their legs. This was hysterical! The first guy started off dancing and doing some gymnastics that were quite impressive - I know I couldn't have done it. The second - same thing. Very impressed....he did cartwheels, round-off's, and flips. Pretty darn good I'd say. I would get so nervous for them when it was the next person's turn. I kept thinking how do you follow THAT? Well the third guy was the best. He had the best time and the best attitude. He looked at the two that had gone before him then at the audience and just sat down and started doing the most pathetically cheesy forward rolls.
I mean they were the kind toddlers do....but he was having so much fun and making light of the fact that the guys who went before him were so good and he couldn't top it so...I guess sort of like if you can't beat them join them and just have fun. It was great. Maddie cheered him the most and wanted him to win.
After the men's contest they called all the kids up on stage. I thought we were heading to lunch so she could then go swimming as that was all she had wanted to do...nope. Up on stage she went. There were about 20+ kids up there and at first (I was shocked!) Maddie seemed nervous and shy. She very quickly got over that feeling and started dancing with one of the women crew members. There she was on the stage having a ball dancing her patootie off. Yep - pictures and more tears. I honestly love that you really have no real "plans" while on the ship but around every corner is something that you never knew you would do, but yet somehow adds something special to the entire experience. I guess that's Magic and Wonder huh?
After two songs they announce that it will be a dance contest. Oh boy - here we go. I tried to get her off the stage to eat but no go - she's planted now. It was one of the games where you dance and when the music stops everyone must sit down. They eliminate the kids who aren't immediately sitting. I thought...alright, we might be here for what a minute. I LOVE my daughter and she adores dance but sitting - NOT something she does often and paying close attention when this excited - not another strong point. Well, I was proved so wrong. I was sitting on the steps of the stage on the Port side of the ship watching with camera in hand and child after child was eliminated and Maddie was still standing. She kept looking at me when she would sit down like, "
did you SEE that - I'm actually doing this Mommy!" She was doing The Twist and would plop her rear end down so hard and fast when that music stopped I thought she would have cruises for a week.
Well, the contest went on for about 15 minutes - all the while Maddie twisting herself into a frenzy. Then there were three girls left on stage. This was the part I thought was so cool. I knew nobody sitting around me but they obviously could tell by the poised camera that I was her mom so they all started cheering for her....oh yea - but smile and more tears! Maddie was beaming. Then they came over with a microphone and ask Maddie where she was from and her name. I though she would freeze up, but nope, "
My name is Maddie and I live in Myrtle Beach." When people were clapping - oh yea - more tears from sappy mommy. One dance later and SHE ACTUALLY WON the silly thing - medal with Mickey on it and all! Little Twisty Tail just gets off stage walks over and says, "
That was fun, now eat lunch."
We were heading to do just that when we hear, "Way to go Maddie." being yelled from behind us. Huh? We don't know anyone here. It was Will. The long shore-man that we had met at the
Castaway Club reception. We had bumped into him a few more times and he and Maddie had this bond going on. He said he had been watching her on stage when he walked by and wanted to see if she won. He gave her a big hug then Maddie wanted to take his picture so after that and a few sad goodbyes (knowing we likely wouldn't see him again this cruise) we headed to lunch finally. I got teary then too because it's just as though everyone is in such a state of mind that they are so kind and sweet. It is such an incredible feeling to have especially among virtual strangers.
I've got to get busy in the real world for now but will continue the last day and then finally ....sniff sniff, leaving the ship either late this evening or tomorrow. It's our last few days of summer here before school starts so combined with work and all things hectic, we are trying to squeeze every moment in.
THANK YOU for not letting this thread turn into something ugly and for everyone's kind words. Also, thank you to the moderators for removing the offensive post.
Kelly
)
Keep them coming! I even forwarded them to my gf who has 3 young daughters and really busy DH! I said we should go together and have a GIRLY CRUISE! 
Or maybe it's your table mates 
