Notice of Intent to Write a Trip Report

[Aprille]

Hey, Mom, looks like we were posting at the same time!

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.

OMG! My mom took a sip of a Bahama Mama?!?!

Hey, those California Teas were good! Again, YUMMO!

 

[suzannef]

I just love the new pictures!!! Don't you give it a second thought about a little line jumping. You two deserve it and I can assure you that no one minded

 

[Aunt Jo]

Okay, I'm going to stop beating myself up over the line jumping episode. I have also concluded that it may not be possible to keep events in chronological order so I have started an "oops" list to add on at the end.

Tuesday morning I rushed to the verandah to see what was happening. I saw LAND. Now I know how Columbus and his crew must have felt after a stormy crossing of the Atlantic. Well, maybe that's a stretch but I was very glad to see land out there. It was overcast and drizzly as we docked. There was a Royal Caribbean ship right behind us. I have pictures. We docked front end first which was great because that gave us the harbor view. I checked on the other side later in the day and they had the commercial view - large round storage tanks.

We had breakfast at - guess where. We had lady servers for the first time. The server was Evaline from Bulgaria. She was beautiful and petite. It came to my mind to wonder how that small lady could carry a load of entree's to the table. Her assistant was Amy from Scotland. They were both quite pleasant but we didn't have the normal amount of repartee as we usually had with guy servers. But that was okay. We enjoyed our breakfast whatever it was. I'm pretty sure it included 5 small cups of coffee. Oh I just deciphered from my notes that this is where Glenn discovered Peanut Butter and Jelly Crepes. One of his favorite foods is pancakes with peanut butter and syrup. This crepe was actually a large pancake with peanut butter and jelly cleverly circled not on but in, the pancake. Evaline brought a pitcher of warm maple syrup which she poured until he said stop. If I remember correctly he never said stop. That may have been the only time he cleaned his plate the whole trip.

We stopped at Guest Services - I don't think a day went by that we didn't. I had been concerned about our Palo reservation. Once again, I didn't bring my print out as that was the only thing we had reserved. I thought it was Thursday night but I also thought I might be wrong. Sure glad I checked because it was for Wednesday. Must say it was the first time I saw anyone in Guest Services look somewhat astonished. As I left, she carefully enunciated - WEDNESDAY. Hey George, I'm throwing in some words to see if you are paying attention.

We went to deck 9 and enjoyed a mochacinno as we sat in a comfortable chair outside and watched it rain - just brief showers - but sometimes it came down pretty hard. There was one hardy soul that stayed in the pool the whole time and why not.

We had a great view from our verandah. The RC ship had docked across from us but left us a nice view of the harbor. So we had two views and enjoyed both. I have pictures. We took a nap before dinner. We were on our verandah when it was time for folks to return to the ship. They were leaning into a very strong wind and it was raining hard. Most were wrapped in some kind of plastic and carrying kids of all ages. I felt feeling very good about the fact that we stayed on the ship. Of course, that was our plan from the beginning.

Dinner as you all know, is a festive affair on Pirate Night. Leah and Rene were properly dressed for the occasion and I must say they looked cute. That is a much overused word but that's how they looked. I have pictures. We have had our best meals on Pirate Night on both our cruises. I persuaded Glenn to get the chicken dish I had on the Wonder and I got the beef tenderloin and it was wonderful. It occurred to me that servers have double duty on 3 nights of the cruise. They have to be performers as well as servers and of course this was one of those night. When it was show time, Daniel and Charlie grabbed Rene and Leah by the hand and took them along to be part of the show. I wish it were possible to take pictures of the event but I wasn't able to do so. I saw a limbo pole across the room. Some servers were doing it right but most were just diving under head first. I found myself thinking I was glad they didn't make those servers learn to do a real limbo. As usual it was fun and festive and I did get a picture when the group returned to the table. We got a pretty good picture of us when the photograper came around. We went to the atrium and had another picture made. I felt sorry for the photograper. He was trying to finish zipping his pants, look nonchalant, and take a picture all at the same time.

"Twice Charmed" was the big show tonight. It had been canceled the night before due to the high waves and I would like to have seen it but Glenn was too tired and to be honest, so was I.

Tomorrow is immigration day or whatever they call it. I am already feeling put out about it. I dislike anything that causes us to get up on their time instead of ours. Will tell you all about it next time.

 

[Aunt Jo]

I'm going to post a digital camera picture to see how it looks. If it's too big I will wait for Aprille to help me with resizing.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Fruit carving by Goomba. I wish I had taken a picture of my Bahama Mama in it little plastic glass and a straw. I never saw anyone carrying one of those around the ship.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Enjoying a mochacinno outside the Cove Cafe while enjoying the scenery at St. Maartin. This was a plesant place to be while it was raining.

 

[Aunt Jo]

I was there too.

 

[Aprille]

So, Dad is now taking pictures?! Excellent!

Keep it coming. Lovin' each and every installment! And photo!

BTW, excellent picture of "the cap"!

Can we borrow it (the cap, not the picture) for our next trip?!

 

[GirlieGirl]

Don't you guys look relaxed? Great pictures...all of them! We've been busy with company, so I'm sorry for not many comments. I am reading along and enjoying every detail--even the forgotten ones! It sounds like there are many more activities on the 7 day then we had on our 4 day. Good reason for us to go again!
You're doing a great job!!! I can't wait for more...(do I say that everytime??)

 

[Aunt Jo]

Don't you guys look relaxed? Great pictures...all of them! We've been busy with company, so I'm sorry for not many comments. I am reading along and enjoying every detail--even the forgotten ones! It sounds like there are many more activities on the 7 day then we had on our 4 day. Good reason for us to go again!
You're doing a great job!!! I can't wait for more...(do I say that everytime??)

Good to hear from you Susie. I know this is a busy time for everyone without much time left over to read trip reports. Yes, there are lots more activities on a 7 day cruise. Sure hope you can do a 7 day soon. And yes you say that just about everytime but that helps to keep me going. I got home with the label from the Sparkling Apple Cider and it will have a prominent place in my scrapbook.

I'm going to post a couple more Pirate Night pictures but probably won't write anymore until later today.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Look at us - all dressed up in our Pirate outfits.
I think Glenn looks pretty cute.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Daniel our server, Leah, almost 18, Rene, vegetarian, and Charlie
our assistant server.

 

[MrsMork]

We saw several groups with lime green shirts on. I recognized one family of four that had been in McCoys Bar and Grill the same time we were but there were others. I particularly noticed a rather large group - probably a dozen - because there were two really cute kids in that group. One was a tiny Tinkerbell who kept trying to fly away but was always scooped up by a much larger person in a lime green shirt and whisked back to the group. The other was a little guy in an oversized shirt that reached the floor and hung off of one little shoulder. I fear I may have looked like a stalker as I watched those kids and whisked out my camera many times with little success. I finally followed the little guy and his Mom into an area that wasn't crowded and asked if I could take his picture. So I have a great shot of him and would love to show it to you but maybe later when I figure out how to upload. I will tell you more about the tiny Tinkerbell after I tell you about the wheel chair police incident.

This polite but firm lady approached us to explain we couldn't keep the wheel chair because it had a red pole on it. She explained that we could rent a wheel chair on board. I hadn't intended to keep the wheel chair but did expect we could go on board with it. We had already decided Glenn would walk while on board because wheel chairs are a bit awkward to push around on the ship and his Podiatrist is urging him to walk as much as he can. But for some reason I felt a naughty urge to tweak this lady a bit. I told her we had no trouble taking a wheel chair aboard on the Wonder and no one took it away from us. She sputtered a bit and said "well of course no one would take it from you but you should have turned it in." She left but only temporarily. She returned to firmly insist that we could not take the wheel chair on board. I didn't tweak her anymore but if I had felt like being tacky I might have said something like "well, just dump him on the floor and I will try to get someone to help me drag him on board". That would have been very ugly and I'm glad I didn't do it. She was just doing her job and I know it was awkward for her. She was gracious enough to put us at the front of the line and that worked out very well. When I turned to look at the person next to me who should I see but a tiny Tinkerbell asleep on her mother's shoulder. I whisked out my camera (asked for permission) and took a great picture. Hope you get to see it before this report is over. We struck up a conversation with one of the group and I identified myself as a Diser knowing some or all of that group was too. I was introduced to none other than Mrs. Mork. I hope she posts and corrects the way I used her screen name. It was a delight to meet and greet that happy group of travelers.

Okay, I'm going to post this now and later today we will finally get onboard. I do tend to talk too much but there are so many things I want to tell you.

Aunty Jo!! It was definately a pleasure for all in our group to meet you and Glenn! Yes, our little Tink is quite the busy one and she is contantly trying to fly away!!

Sleeping Tinker Bell:

Little Guy, Big Shirt:

Yep, our two cuties!!

Look at us - all dressed up in our Pirate outfits.
I think Glenn looks pretty cute.

I agree about Glenn being pretty cute!!

And thanks for this great trip report. So much fun to relive the wonderful time we had thru your eyes.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Welcome MrsMork. So glad you found us.
I think I am ready to dive into this report again. "Chronological order" has fallen overboard but I promise everything I tell you really happened. Woke up this morning knowing we had to report to Customs or whatever they call it. I was very naive to think most everyone would be there and gone since we weren't leaving the ship. That was not the case. We got in the long line and inched our way almost inside the theater. The sharp eyed lady manning the table at the entrance immediately asked if Glenn could walk down those step. I hadn't even thought about that but surely he couldn't - not without help. The lady summoned someone to escort us to the elevator. We entered the theater on the deck 3 through a side door. The Customs officer came over to us immediately, glanced at our passports and motioned that we were dismissed. We had to stop at the door to have our hands stamped for what reason I do not know. I heard many mumbles and grumbles along the way. But I wasn't concerned because we would be having breakfast at Lumieres - us and a few hundred other people. The line was so long Edward, the greeter, was urging people to go to Top Siders. It would be at least 30 minutes before any tables would be available. We headed for the Internet Cafe like we did every morning. It wasn't as much fun today because my electric bill awaited me - $50 more than last month. A lady at another computer asked for my help. Now that was scary. She was apparently logged out but said her recipt hadn't appeared on the screen. I sympathized and suggested she go to Guest Services to see how many minutes she had
used - and to tell them I sent her.

It had only been about 20 minutes but we went back to Lumieres. Not a soul in sight except Edward. I said "I see it worked Edward". He looked startled then grinned and said "Oh, you were here earlier?" We were seated right away but were disappointed that it was the hurry up breakfast menu. We were soon back in our room - too early for Sompop but I told him to just skip us and we took a nap. After we got up we sat out on the verandah for nearly 3 hours. We had a great view of the harbor once again. We could see traffic across the way and we both noticed that every one of those vehicles was driving on the wrong side of the road. There were several yachts in the luxury class and small boats of all kinds coming and going. We were quite comfortable on the verandah but Glenn got hungry. We were going to Palo tonight at 6:30 "WEDNESDAY" don't you know. It seemed reasonable to have a snack since we had an early breakfast. I'm not a big fan of room service so I headed to Goofy's Galley. I had read on this board about the wraps and was eager to try them. But before that happened I was gawking around - lots of yellow jump suits working away. I was quite startled when my head came in contact with the Mickey slide - quite forcefully matter of fact. Yellow jumpsuits came from all directions. I was embarrassed more than anything else and told them it was only a slight concussion and hurried away. Those wraps were well worth a slight concussion. We both loved them. Soon it was time to get all dressed up again and go to Palo. I didn't even suggest that Glenn wear a tie as I feared mutiny would be the result. My day was made when we turned a corner and a CM squealed with glee and said "what a pretty outfit - it looks wonderful". I looked around to see who she was talking to and it was me. Now I don't know if she was stationed there to make old ladies feel good but it worked. We were way early but thought we could sit on the comfortable bench inside. It was only 6 and our reservation was for 6:30 but the lady checked her book and said they could seat us right away. Fine with us. We had a nice window table but it hardly matters at dinner because you can't see much outside after it gets dark. We did see a couple of joggers go past. But it's a neat place and we enjoyed it immensely. We didn't get one of those special servers I read so much about but Annie Marie from South Africa was just fine. She helped us make decisions and was very attentive. She didn't even ask what we wanted for dessert because she just knew we would love the Chocolate Souffle and she was right about that. Glenn got two kinds of sauce. I only wanted the vanilla sauce. I also wanted Glenn's ice cream and he graciously gave it to me. I had looked forward to the eggplant appetizer but it wasn't all that wonderful. Glenn got the best appetizer - grilled shrimp. I only ate two of them. I had Lobster Raviola which was quite good and Glenn had Beef Tenderloin without sauce. I feel sure the chef hated to plate that order. It was quite good. Oh, I almost forgot the pizza. We got two kinds and I loved both - cheese and that fancy ham. I'm too tired to look up the spelling for that one. Actually, we ate our meal in proper order even though you couldn't tell by the way I'm describing it. We were ready to leave but first Glenn told me in confidence that he liked the food in the other restaurants better. I took pictures of those masks in front on the way out. I wanted to see the show that night and Glenn was agreeable. It was a female ventriloquist, Lynn Trefiger, and she was very funny. She had flown into St. Thomas that day for two shows.

Okay, I think that does it for Thursday - only 3 days to go. Hope some of you will hang in there with me.

 

[JoiseyMom]

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.

Loving your trip report! DH and I were there too, but we were there for the mixology and didn't mind sitting though the carving!! He did do an awesome job though! I did win a drink...yummm

 

[Aunt Jo]

Sans tie

 

[J&L'sMommy]

I've been reading your report and really enjoying it! I thought that you might have been the couple at the table next to ours at the window...and now I'm sure...that is me over your shoulder! Keep up the great work!

 

[Aunt Jo]

Loving your trip report! DH and I were there too, but we were there for the mixology and didn't mind sitting though the carving!! He did do an awesome job though! I did win a drink...yummm

How neat is that! I'm betting there weren't more than 40 people in that room and 3 of them were us. I lift my California Tea to your Cocktail and say "Cheers!" I will copy and paste your post under my picture of the fruit carvings in my scrapbook.

 

[Aunt Jo]

I've been reading your report and really enjoying it! I thought that you might have been the couple at the table next to ours at the window...and now I'm sure...that is me over your shoulder! Keep up the great work!

Of course you can be sure you will be prominently featured in my scrapbook along with your post. Thanks for posting.

 

[Aunt Jo]

It's Thursday and our last sea day. We have selected several things to do which is never a guarantee we will do them all. I was happy that Glenn got up so we could have breakfast at Lumiers. We had Sebastian from France as our server and Elizbieta from Poland as the assistant server. Elizbieta was my favorite name of the whole trip. She was very pretty and had a radiant smile. Sebastian was a little bit like Alexander but with a French attitude instead of Russian. But my favorite was Toto from the Philipines who joined us because he didn't have any guests at the time. He was funny and I was so glad that Glenn joined in the fun. Toto pointed at Glenn's hat and told him they had a large picture of him on his island. A big, strong American carrying a machine gun. Glenn - quick as a wink - said "No, that was my brother." That delighted Toto (and me too). He pointed his finger at Glenn and said "Good one!" and they did a high five. I wish I had a picture of that. Glenn ordered the PBJ Crepe again and asked for syrup. Sebastian explained that there was syrup on the pancake already - a red jelly syrup. Glenn just looked at him and he said "but of course I will bring maple syrup if you wish". Glenn wished and the syrup arrived promptly. I decided to order from the light menu and settled on a Mountain High - partly because of the name but mostly because it had mango in it. It was a delicious smoothie drink.

Next came the Internet Cafe to catch up on news from home and send our own news of the day. We were on schedule and enjoyed the cooking demo at Studio Sea. Oscar prepared a lovely lemon pepper chicken dish which wouldn't be difficult to prepare at home. I talked to him briefly after the show and mentioned that I thought I could fix that at home but all that fine dicing of veggies was a challenge. Oh no he said. Go to kitchen store and find a device that makes it easy - "not expensive". I plan to check that out next time we go to Bed Bath and Beyond in Amarillo. They passed out generous samples as he cooked along with a tablespoon of wine. Once again, I tasted but must say it was awful. The chicken was delicious. It was time for a nap. We planned to go to Towel Folding and the Galley Tour in the afternoon. I know Glenn really wanted to see the towel folding but he just couldn't wake up enough to make it. By the way, Sompop was a world class maker of towel animals. My favorite was the huge turtle. I was amazed that it was just one huge towel. I did manage to get us to the Galley Tour. That was neat. It didn't seem as large an area as I had expected. We saw the four 40 gallon soup pots. There is a soup chef that does nothing but make soups and I must say he does a great job. The pastry chef was busy decorating a wedding cake but found time to take a pan of warm chocolate chip cookies out of the oven to share with us. It is an interesting tour and I highly recommend it but you have to go to Guest Services and get a ticket. We entered from Lumieres and came out in Parrot Cay.

It was time for dinner. Dinner happens early on the ship when you have the 5:45 slot. We were soon seated at our table and enjoyed visiting again with our table mates. Rene is 14 and has been a vegetarian since she was 12. I had noticed that Daniel brought her a special meal every evening. She volunteered to name her favorite foods - cheese, potatoes, Ranch Dressing, and noodles. What's not to like? George suggested while those were all fine foods but maybe she should work a little bit on nutritional value. Rene didn't seem to care much for vegetables except those in a salad covered with Ranch Dressing. Leah said they never had to eat peas when they were small because Mom didn't like them. At that very moment Mom was forking peas from her entree - pushing them to the side of the plate so they didn't further contaminate the good stuff. She didn't deny the validity of what Leah had said. I asked if anyone had eaten a panini (I CANNOT remember how to spell pannini so bear with me) sandwich at Goofeys Galley. Debby looked up with a blissful look on her face and said "Every day!" She described each variety with love. That clinched it for me. We were going to have a paninni sandwich before we left the ship and tomorrow would be our last chance.

We had one more event to attend - "Disney Dreams" and I didn't intend to miss it. It has been tweaked a bit but all for the good. It is a stunning show. I got goose bumps when the ship was enveloped in pixie dust at the end. Best of all, I witnessed a truly magical moment. We were seated in the very back row which is for wheel chairs. There was only one wheel chair and it was next to a blank space between the wheel chair and me. There was a young woman in the chair. The show started and I felt someone kneel beside me. I turned to look and it was Peter Pan whispering to the young woman. He gave her a hug, jumped up and ran down the steps to the stage. I kept looking at the young woman as she turned her head to watch him leave. Her face was radiant and her mouth was shaped in a breathless "oh". I must say tears welled up in my eyes.

Tomorrow - Castaway Cay.