Notice of Intent to Write a Trip Report

[Aunt Jo]

You guys look great!!! Those are the smiles I remember from our trip together! You even met up with Mickey--

You're doing a great job. I love all the details--it makes it just like we are all there with you. I can't wait to read more and see more pictures tomorrow. You are way more savvy with all of the putting pictures in and quoting what others have written. I have no clue how to do any of that

Susie

Susie you are too kind and that's how I remember you. You are also up too late but I know you have Christmas company so you are even busier than usual.

Please thank your husband for ALL he did in WWII. My dad was a WWII, Korea & Viet Nam vet too! It blesses my heart to see our vets treated well!!!!

I love reading your trip report.

Waiting for me ... I'm waiting ..... I'm waiting .....

I hear on the news and read on the internet how many people don't respect our service men but I can honestly say that we have only encountered people who do. Folks have walked up to Glenn in restaurants, stores, on the street - everywhere we go - to shake his hand and say "thank you for your service" and I must say it gives me goose bumps every time.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Sometime during the night I woke up thinking I have already written 3 long pages and we are just now getting to Sunday morning. And there are some things I have left out. I might have to add a page at the end just for that. But right now it's Sunday morning Dec. 9. I was delighted that Lumieres was having brunch that morning until noon. One of our greatest pleasures on this cruise was to have breakfast or lunch at Lumieres. We enjoyed the servers who were not as busy during these meals and many of them loved to visit and tease the guests. Our servers were Alexander from Russia - I loved this guy - he was so very . . . . Russian. Glenn always asks right away "where are you from" because he can't read the name tags. Alexander answered (with proper Russian attitude) "I am from Russia. Have your been to Russia?" Glenn answered "no" and Alexander replied (ditto attitude) "You should visit my country." I guess you had to be there but I loved it. He was adding cracked pepper to my delicious meal and finally had to say "Madam, I will stop whenever you say". I was busy gawking around it seems. I felt the need to explain when I asked for a 5th cup of coffee that it was because the cups were so small. "You Americans do love your coffee" was his reply so I obviously didn't get away with the small cup thing. Our assistant server was Non from Thailand. He talked more than Alexander but was harder to understand. His face lit up when I told him we were going to the fruit carving event in Studio Sea the next day. It seems the carver was his "paisanno" and also from Thailand. We enjoyed our servers but we also had a very good meal. Glenn got breakfast and I got lunch. I was delighted to see a Texas appetizer and quickly ordered Chips and Salsa with Guacomole and Sour Cream. It was really good as was the talapia and dirty rice. I was full and content but Alexander just had to shove the menu at me again and I saw rice pudding with mango sauce. How could I pass on anything that had mango sauce? It was delicious.

It was time to go to the Internet Cafe which was one of Glenn's favorite things to do. He loved the fact that we could hear from family and friends and also tell them about our adventures. Both Aprille and my sister had sent that flight number we needed so badly so our next stop was Guest Services. Really nice people there as I have already mentioned. We wandered on to Beat Street and located Rocking Bar D as that was where John Charles would be performing Monday night. He was also performing tonight at 10:15 but we seldom stay up that late - like never. They were playing Bingo this morning and we passed by just as someone won $361. Aprille explained to me after she won a jackpot on a cruise that you weren't really too far ahead after you factored in the cost of playing. But still, it must be nice to win.

This was the night we met our table mates and our servers and of course we were nervous. Turns out we needn't have been. We were seated with 5 other people - Debbie from Wisconsin and her two precocious teen age daughters, Leah and Rene. (I looked up "precocious" just to be sure it applies and it does) and a handsome, affable (I looked that up too and it definitely applies) couple also from Texas. They would look great in a Cruise Line commercial. Turns out they do cruise a lot as do Debbie and her daughters. We didn't actually talk a lot that night. Glenn and I mostly listened and since Glenn is so very hard of hearing he stays silent most of the time. Our servers were Daniel from Peru and Charlie from Thailand. They were great. We visited with them briefly as servers are extremely busy people. It amazes me how they can be charming and friendly while they are so busy. Daniel took time to tell us he had been on the ship for one year and had met and married his wife on the ship. She was a CM too. He also added that she was his "silver lining". How sweet is that? I didn't make notes or try to remember what we ate so I will mention things we really liked starting with the hot soups. Tonight we had what was probably the best of all - tomato/basil.

The Golden Mickeys was the stage show that night but Glenn said "haven't we already seen that?" which was code for "I am really tired". We headed to our room and retired early. Of course we had to watch Report from the Bridge first. The waves were 4 - 6 feet at that time.

It's time for me to regroup and try to read my notes which at best are pitiful. I almost forgot. This was formal night so I will attempt to post that picture. Aprille is standing by to help if needed.

I also discovered that a sewn on tag was still attached to Glenn's new suit coat. Fortunately, Sompop was close by and even had a pair of scissors in his cart. He quickly took care of that little problem.

Talk to you later.

 

[CRUIZEN MAMMA]

I just love your report. You remind me of my grandparents who love to email and surf the web. Can't wait to see the pictures YOU post

 

[Aunt Jo]

We could have eaten at Parrot Cay - and should have

 

[Aunt Jo]

Okay people - this picture was a test to see if I could do it. It's much too large so will have to consult with Aprille before I post our formal night picture. And while I am here I will tell you about the making of that formal night picture. The line was short - we never get into a long line except once which I will tell you about later - so we were soon in front of the lovely background and getting our instructions from the photographer. She talked to Glenn first and told him to make a fist and hold it down and in front of him. He understood and did that but he didn't hear what she said when she turned to me and told me to make a fist, thumb down and put the thumb into Glenn's already made fist. I turned to do that and scared Glenn so much he threw out his hands and asked rather loudly "what are you doing?" The photographer hurried over to explain to Glenn - looking at him so he could read her lips - so we tried again. It worked this time but I still don't see why we couldn't just have held hands. The first picture was a little better than the joined fist one but I got the fist one for the memory. As we left the stage, some guy said "You two make a great couple". I'm still pondering over what he meant by that.

I shall return.

 

[Aprille]

Okay - I resized the lovely hamburger photo. It appears blurrier now than when it was large but I think that just adds to the intended reason for posting the photo in the first place.

 

[Aunt Jo]

"Make a fist" and smile.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Aunt Jo, does your DH walk with crutches? There was a lovely couple on Deck 6 that we saw from time to time. We never talked but always smiled in passing. I"m just wondering if it was you and your DH.

 

[Aprille]

Nice formal picture!

Marty says to tell you he is jealous of an 11 minute muster drill. None of our 5 drills have ever been that short! I told him maybe he could borrow Dad's WWII Vet cap. hehe.

P.S. I KNEW you could post your own pictures!

 

[ultragirl]

Hello from Wisconsin! The girls and I are here, enjoying your trip reports. It makes us feel like we are back on the ship again-which is the best feeling of all! It was such a pleasure to meet you and Glenn, thanking you for adding to the fond memories of our vacation.

Take care, Debby

 

[Aunt Jo]

Aunt Jo, does your DH walk with crutches? There was a lovely couple on Deck 6 that we saw from time to time. We never talked but always smiled in passing. I"m just wondering if it was you and your DH.

No, Glenn doesn't use crutches but he does smile a lot.

Hello from Wisconsin! The girls and I are here, enjoying your trip reports. It makes us feel like we are back on the ship again-which is the best feeling of all! It was such a pleasure to meet you and Glenn, thanking you for adding to the fond memories of our vacation.

Take care, Debby

Welcome aboard Debby. I'm so glad you registered and are no longer a lurker. Folks, please note that this is Debby's first post. I'm so glad you are enjoying the report. You and your girls helped to make our cruise special. And you guys will show up again in future episodes.

 

[Aunt Jo]

I have a pot of beef/buffalo chili simmering - bet you didn't see THAT on any menu on the ship. Now I am ready, I think, to tackle Day 3 which was Monday. It didn't start off well as I discovered I couldn't locate my KTTW. It had to be somewhere in the room. I was getting frustrated which causes Glenn to get upset so I said "come on, we're going to guest services". But on the way there was a very short line for a photo op with Snow White so we did that first. Glenn was wearing a hat we got in Branson Mo. many years ago and Snow White was quite taken back for something to say. Turns out she says, in her breathless voice, "I like your hat". I said "It's different anyway". She said, again in her breathless voice, "Oh but I really like it".

Guest Services always greeted me with a smile. It was Sergio again and he assured me the lost key was "not a problem". He printed me another one in about 15 seconds which would work on everything but the safe. He would send someone to take care of that problem any time I called from the room. So okay - that was easy.

Since we were once again too late for breakfast at Lumieres we headed for an early lunch at 11:30. We got there in time to see them setting up for something called Chip-It golf which was supposed to last from 11:00 to
11:45. I could see right away that was going to be a problem as they were blocking the entrance to Lumieres and spectators were sitting on the steps to Lumieres. We sat on a couch and watched until 11:30 then I peeked around the Christmas tree and saw the doors were open. I took Glenn by the hand and we dodged golf balls and stepped over and around spectators but we made it. Lumieres was sort of our happy place. We had Wilson from the smallest island in the Philipines and Graham from England - a very shy young man who had only been onboard for 4 weeks. Wilson was a very happy fellow and sang as he served. We tried to make Graham feel comfortable and he seemed to relax and visited with us a bit. I have no idea what we ate but it really doesn't matter. Don "Ducky" Williams, a long time Disney artist, was going to be onstage at the Buena Vista theater. It says in the Navigator at the Oceaneer Club but we saw him in the theater. This is a bit off topic but can someone explain to me why the last row in the lower section was designed for people without knees? We always take the first available row so we don't have to walk down a lot of steps. We sat down and found we were wedged in at a very uncomfortable angle. At the other end of the row, a rather large gentleman was in the same predicament. He was able to dislodge himself and move down a row. He waved at us and urged us to do likewise. We finally managed to accomplish that and were much more comfortable. Ducky was busy when we entered the theater sketching away on his very large pad - surrounded by many of his gorgeous paintings. His show is very interesting - he tells how he became a Disney artist and sketches while he is talking. We were given raffle tickets when we entered and at the end he gave away the 18 sketches to the winning ticket holders. I came within 1 digit of winning one but as the old saying goes - "Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades." So no sketch for us but we really enjoyed the event. The waves were getting more intense and Ducky rocked around a bit. It was announced that the evening performance of Twice Enchanted was canceled and they had to get the theater ready to show a move instead.

It was nap time.

We had early dining - 5:45 - so soon after nap time it was dinner time. Another pleasant time with our table mates and we were off for a truly magical evening. We staggered towards Rockin Bar D where John Charles would perform in just a few minutes. There was a very long line for a photo op and I had no intention of getting in it. But I slowed down right at the end of the line to wait for Glenn to catch up and a handsome young man in a deck officer uniform stepped up to me and said "would you like to go to the head of the line?" I gulped and stammered and thought what should I do. Should I become one of those ill-mannered line jumpers especially when I wasn't even in line? After a very short time I said "yes thank you." He held out his arm and I grabbed Glenn's hand and we went to the front of the line. I kept my head down and looked as humble as possible. The young man stepped over to the people currently at the front of the line and they graciously agrees to let us go ahead of them. I still couldn't look the rest of those people in the eye. We took someone else's turn with Minnie and left as quickly as possible. We headed for Rockin Bar D fearing we would be late and we almost were. The show had just started and a young man we had seen many times leading line dancing in the Promenade Lounge was at the door. He quickly ushered us in, went ahead of us and grabbed a comfie chair for me and PUT IT IN THE AISLE. He seated me and then went off in search of another chair for Glenn. He found one and plopped it down beside mine. Three servers ushered Glenn to his chair. I swear there were 3 - one on each side and one behind him. Again I was keeping my head down slightly embarrassed but thrilled to be there. This guy puts on a great show. It just wasn't long enough.

The waves were quite high when we got back to our room. It was a rocky and noisy night. Ships can make many funny noises when they seem to be tearing apart. The strangest for me was something that sounded like very loud clicking teeth. Glenn does click his teeth but not that loudly. The sound was coming from his side of the bed but I knew where his teeth were - in a glass in the bathroom so I don't know what was causing that sound - or the many other sounds. It wasn't too bad I guess although I will confess that I never did really believe that ship was on tracks.

We will dock at St. Maartin in the morning.

 

[Aunt Jo]

The Box Car Willie hat and Snow White.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Oops - will try that one again.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Line jumpers - for the first and last time.

 

[Luv2Travel]

Hi Aunt Jo! I really enjoyed reading your first trip report a while back and had to tell you how much I'm enjoying this one too! You do a wonderful job with the details - thank you for taking the time to share them with us. I'm looking forward to reading LOTS more!

 

[CapnJackGroupie]

Hi Aunt Jo! Don't worry about appearing to be 'line-jumpers' - you and your husband deserve all the special treatment you can get! I'm just glad that the CMs were as nice to you on this cruise as they were on the Wonder. Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip...

 

[Aunt Jo]

Hi Aunt Jo! I really enjoyed reading your first trip report a while back and had to tell you how much I'm enjoying this one too! You do a wonderful job with the details - thank you for taking the time to share them with us. I'm looking forward to reading LOTS more!

I appreciate the kind words and I'm really, really glad you are looking forward to LOTS more. You may recall in my other report, I had a hard time finding a place to stop.

Hi Aunt Jo! Don't worry about appearing to be 'line-jumpers' - you and your husband deserve all the special treatment you can get! I'm just glad that the CMs were as nice to you on this cruise as they were on the Wonder. Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip...

Thank you so much. We never asked for special treatment but we seemed to get it all over the ship on both our cruises. I think this might only happen on a Disney ship.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Okay I'm cheating and writing two segments in one day. I forgot to tell you about the fruit carving Sunday afternoon. Glenn was tired and stayed in the room but I wanted to attend this event. Turns out it was Fruit Carving and Mixology. I didn't even know what mixology was but I was willing to do a twofer to see the carving. Mixology was first and I do believe I was the only one in that audience that came just for the fruit carving. I watched Damien, a bartender from Australia (I love Australian accents) demonstrate how to make 5 cocktails. Fascinating. Did you know that Tequilla is very inexpensive to make? They jack up the price by putting it in fancy bottles with decorations. I must say I didn't know that. While trying to keep from dozing off I thought about the mixed drinks I served for our family Thanksgiving dinner. I got the recipe from Barefoot Contessa on the Food network. It is called California Tea. You know how she is about fresh brew this and fresh squeeze that. I converted her recipe to more like Sandra Lee of Almost Home Made. My interpretation turned out like this - throw some ice cubes in a large tea glass, pour in about half a glass of Arizona Sweet Tea (straight from the plastic jug), float Minute Maid lemonade on top of the tea. Do not stir or shake. Enjoy!

The first 4 drinks were prepared to perfection I'm sure and given to someone in the audience that could answer a question. It was becoming clear to me that the last drink - Bahama Mama - was going to be passed out to the audience. I figured it out because Damien kept asking the bartenders at the side of the room if those drinks were ready yet. Not sure what took them so long but the samples weren't passed around till after Goomba started carving. I think Goomba might have been a little irritated but the show must go on. I should have just said no thanks but curiosity overcame me and I took a drink and took a sip. It wasn't awful but it wasn't great either so one sip was enough.

Meantime, Goomba was carving away on two melons to make a Mickey head which didn't take long. He made a chicken out of a pineapple and a larger chicken out of a watermelon along with lots of flowers from different fruits and veggies. He used skewers to attach things like a lemon for Mickey's nose and yellow squash for chicken heads. But guess what he used to attach thin slices of carrot or whatever for eyes and such - super glue. He piled the watermelon full of fruit and veggie flowers and I got pictures. I really enjoyed that demo and honestly didn't mind sitting through the other.

Tomorrow is St. Maartin and Pirate Night.

 

[Aprille]

I have a pot of beef/buffalo chili simmering...

As Rachael Ray would say, YUMMO! We had some of that while we were visiting over Thanksgiving. Pass some of that down this way. Although with records highs, it's not really chili weather down here.

Love the photos, line-jumpers and all! It's the hat, I'm tellin' ya!

Keep it coming, please!