November 2-10 Western – Jersey week 2007!

[needAcruise]

Jersey week demystified:
No one on the ship seemed confused when the phrase “Jersey week” was used. Apparently the whole ship (or a sizable chunk of it) was from Jersey due to the annual Teachers’ convention happening each November on Thursday and Friday. These two days off are customarily preceded by 3 half days when parent teacher conferences are scheduled. This way Jersey students (and their families) can take a 7 day vacation, but only miss 3 half-days.

So the ship was lousy with Jersey folk. (Note how I use “Jersey” rather than “New Jersey”. What other state gets to play fast and loose with their state name? You never hear - “I’m from York” or “I’m from Dakota”.)

Anywho, on with the report!

I am the designated travel agent, navigator, concierge, costume handler and laundress for this show. (As well as mother, wife and jill-of-all-trades.)

My cast of characters:
DH – not a Disney lover, but willing to humor the wife
needacruise – (me) who loves everything Disney and planned this trip for a looong time
DD1 – age 7, “Princess” because aren’t all little girls princesses?
DD2 – age 5, “Minnie” for the duration of the trip

Day 0 – the day before

Pack, pack and more packing.

I took the day off. And I sent the family off to school and work today, because I needed to pack. I have been amassing items for this trip for a year and needed to ferret them out from all the nooks and crannies I hid them in over the months.

I had a laundry marathon. I did not want to come home to a mountain of dirty clothes. Besides, it also make it a lot easier to pack if I had DH’s and DDs clothes in front of me so I could choose and coordinate outfits. (Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a matchy-matchy clothes dork, especially when it comes to my DDs.)

I packed 4 carry-ons and 3 suitcases, all using the advice of the DIS boards. In the end, everyone had three extra outfits apiece that were not worn. DH was not pleased with that. (He was the pack mule.) But at least we wore all the shoes I packed!

The girls had a half day, so they were home at 1 pm. My first parent-teacher conference was at 1:05 with Princess’s teacher. Then the second conference was at 1:30 with Minnie’s teacher. Both were supportive. They both assigned Trip Journals to the girls to be handed in at the end of the trip. I expected lots of worksheets. Very reasonable if you ask me. Thank you nice teachers!

While I was at the conferences, DH fed DDS and had them wash. Thank you DH!

I got back in time to climb in the car and we took off for the Philly airport.

We caught the plane in plenty of time, but for some reason I was not feeling well. <cue the dramatic music> Now, this is the time to mention that DH had an upset stomach. I was worried that it would turn to something worse. Stomach flu anyone? (Luckily it was nothing serious.) But at the time, I was stressed. So when I felt headachy and nauseous, it scared me. A lot.

As it turns out, I was just dehydrated.

We landed, grabbed the Budget rental car, and headed out to the Residence Inn - all without issue.

We checked in at about 10 pm and got the handicapped room because it was the only room available on the first floor that was fairly close to the breakfast room. DDs were amazed at the bathroom. (It’s huge, Mommy!) I would get to know the lady behind the desk very well over the next hour. (Hi, Marge!)

DH wanted some tea to settle his stomach, and wanted the coffee maker for hot water. After a quick search of the kitchenette, it was nowhere to be found. So I trekked to the check in area and requested a coffee maker. It arrived in 5 minutes. After he heated the water, we discovered that there was no sugar in the room. Equal, salt, pepper and Sweet-n-Low, yes. Sugar, no. So I trekked back to the check in area where there was a 24-hour coffee station.

Marge noticed I was back again and asked why. Since I was so “inconvenienced” - her words, not mine - she offered me a free bottle of chilled water. Fair market value is $2. Needless to say, I took it! (Thanks Marge!)

Lights out because tomorrow we start out cruise!

 

[MagicMe]

Great start! Can't wait to hear how the cruise was!

 

[Babs417]

You go Jersey Girl

 

[VacationKicks]

How I miss that week in Nov. now that I live in CT. We even go to school on Veteran's Day in our town! Can you tell I'm a bit jealous?

 

[needAcruise]

Day 1 – Residence Inn, Exploring the Magic, and Pool Closing

Breakfast was a leisurely affair since we were so close to the port. Lots of fruit, yogurt, pancakes, waffles, potatoes and eggs.

DH was a bit miffed there were no breakfast meats, only sausage gravy. (DH is very much a carnivore.) But once he got past that, he was okay. I was still a bit headachy, so I only ate fruit. The spread was quite nice.

As we were close to the breakfast room, I just made a few trips and brought food back to the room.

One time, I walked past a family going to breakfast. The kids asked why they can’t eat in the room too. The mom said (in a nasty tone) “I guess some families like to be lazy”. I was like “Gah? Why are you attacking me lady?” But then I shrugged it off. I was on vacation! Mickey awaits!

We watched TV while eating. For some reason, it only was black-and-white. But since I did not want the kids glued to the TV, I said “Tough luck, I’m not complaining to Marge”.

Checkout was painless. We all piled into the economy car (which is quite roomy for a family of four) and took off to find a drugstore for my headachy. One CVS stop later, I was a proud owner of a travel sized tube of ibuprofen. (Buy generic. It’s cheaper.)

We dropped off the car at Budget. There was a very short wait (10 minutes) before we all piled into the shuttle for the terminal. We were given # 17 when we arrived at 12:15, and boarded at 12:30. Hey, not #2, but I’m cool with that. The terminal was partly decorated for Christmas. Greenery and tinsel in lots of places, but not on onboard.

Had the obligatory family photo in the matching Tropical Mickey clothes I bought from the Disney Store. Matchy-matchy! (The only 8x10 I bought from Shutters.)

On board, did the usual. Check in DDs to club, got Tea with Alice tickets, ate at the buffet. It was very windy, so we ate inside. The one strange thing was that I could not move my Palo reservation. It was completely booked and they said the only way I could change was to give up my current reservation and go standby. Well, I figure an inconvenient reservation is better than no reservation, so I keep my time even though it is bumped up against Pirate Night. (8:30 on Cozumel Day).

Joined the DIS meet and got a POTC lanyard as a grab bag gift. (Thanks love2travel!) I forgot all my lanyards while packing, so this was my only one. Very handy.

DDs wanted to jump into the Mickey pool, but DH nixed that because it was so windy and chilly. We found out later the pool is heated. Also, we heard later the pool was closed because of a pooh incident. And I am not talking .

Checked out our SPH room #5522. View from the huge porthole was very good, with minimal blockage. I highly recommend it.

Missed the Sail Away party. We were just too busy exploring the ship and the stateroom. I received a nice surprise from Dreams Unlimited. There was a memory box on the bed with a picture frame (bendy sculpture where you put a photo in the face) and mini photo album. Cute! (Thanks Debbie!)

Before I knew it, it was time for dinner. We had rotation PLAPLAP. First stop, Parrot Cay! There we met the esteemed Server, Sameer from India. He was great. ‘Nuff said. (more about this on days 4 and 6). We also had Stefane as Head Server. He embodied everything I pictured when I think maitre’d. Friendly, smooth, French, a bit aloof, and discreetly jotting things down in a little book.

After dinner we tripped over the Mickey’s Mates while doing more exploring. D’oh! <mental head slap> Of course the kids were in gimme mode. DH cannot say no to his little girls. Princess bought a little Minnie stuffed doll and Minnie bought the Minnie headband with Minnie ears and bow. It was so cute on her! She wore that headband EVERYWHERE. Later, Princess decided she did not want Minnie and gave it to her sister. Then she wanted Chip and Dale dolls. Needless to say, I was not privy to this transaction (oh, would there have been a talking to ), but DH really cannot say no. So now you know why Princess is a “princess” and Minnie is “Minnie”.

Dropped off two pillowcases (no sharpies) with a preprinted list of princesses and several movie characters. The lady at Guest Services said she will see what she could do.

So far, so good.

 

[needAcruise]

How I miss that week in Nov. now that I live in CT. We even go to school on Veteran's Day in our town! Can you tell I'm a bit jealous?

Apparently it's a popular time to go to Disney World too!

Hmm... maybe next year...

 

[needAcruise]

Day 2 – Key West - Characters Everywhere, Pictures and Pool Closing… again

Due to the DIS boards, I decided the family was staying onboard. Mainly because the pool would be relatively pooh free.

That was a brilliant idea, if I say so myself. DDs shared the pool with about 9 kids for a few hours before noon. Afterwards, the population suddenly swelled to 25+ kids. Wow. It was crowded.

I stayed poolside and kept an eye on DDs. DH stayed in the room and tried his best to watch a movie and otherwise relax. He ended up watching one whole movies plus 30 minutes of a few different movies which he ended up seeing over and over again during the entire cruise. Don’t you hate that? Oh well, we didn’t cruise Disney to watch movies anyway.

A bit after noon, a young man (about 8 years old) cut his foot in the baby pool. (Why was he there? No clue. ) He screamed bloody murder the whole time the cast member-life guard tended to him. His dad (uncle, grandpa?) was not much help. He kept yelling at the boy to stop being a baby. Shortly thereafter the pool closed… again. I saw a half dozen maintenance guys drain the pool and patrol it for whatever cut the kid. Not sure if it was ever found.

Back to the room to prepare for dinner. It was at Lumiere’s today. Sameer was an excellent waiter again. Yesterday, he cut Princess’s steak into little pieces for her so I could eat my meal. Now that is service!

Now to lay the groundwork for a magical moment:

Remember the reservation for Palo’s? It was at a bad time (smack up against the Pirate Party) and DH wanted to keep eating dinner as a family. All directions pointed to me canceling our reservation. But I really wanted to experience the chocolate soufflé everyone was raving about in the DIS boards. So I asked Sameer if I could have the soufflé during my regular rotations. He said he will consult with Stefan to see what he could do.

Now after dinner, before the shows, the characters began coming out of the woodwork. Literally. DH saw the not-so-hidden door many characters emerged from. In rapid succession, we took pics with Daisy, Donald, Cinderella, Belle, Mulan, Pocahontas, Peter Pan and Wendy. Whew! Before this we had only seen Goofy. It was quite a shock getting so much at once. And the lines were reasonable, well, except for Cindy and Belle. Every little girl was in those lines in their princess dresses. (Us too.)

After the show, DH decided to purchase a package from Shutters. He got the Silver package, which later on was woefully inadequate for all the 6x8 pics we later saw. We had to keep upping the package to accommodate the 6x8s we accumulated.

Side note: Who the heck created the 6x8 pic? That is the most ridiculous size known to man. There are very few picture frames out there that fit this size! Whew. Okay. Done now.

DDs attended the Goofy PJ party. I requested an extra Goofy pillowcase from the Club and handed that into Guest Services with another pre-printed list request (the fab 5). This time Guest Services whipped out a pre-printed tag and filled out what I submitted, who I requested, and whether or not I had a sharpie. She filled it out and said it would be delivered to my stateroom at the end of the 7-day cruise.

Settling into the Magic nicely.

Or so I thought…

 

[needAcruise]

Day 3 – Day at Sea, Nappy Time and No Pool for You!

Ah, a nice relaxing day at sea. Or so I thought.

We attended a morning class on how to draw Mickey . DH and I enjoyed it, but for some reason DDs were antsy. Could be that going to bed the past 3 days much later than usual was causing it, but somehow my mommy radar failed to pick that up.

Yesterday, DH and I had attended an Art of Entertaining (baked crab – yum!) class. Today there were two classes offered, Desserts and Cake/Plate Decorating. I had planned on dropping DDs off in the Club and attending.

But instead DDs begged and begged to go to the pool. After lunch, we walked by the pool which was packed to the gills with a TON of kids . Plus the pool was suspiciously cloudy. (No comments on the temperature of the water.) I just had to say no.

Well, that did not go over well with DDs. Let is suffice to say I had a bad mommy moment that began with raised voices and ended with an enforced naptime for DDs. DH wisely stayed in the background. We all had a nap (DH too, he is really very supportive) and missed the classes and Luau. 3 hours later we all were refreshed and ready for dinner.

Word to the wise, there is so much to do that if you try to cram it all it, you might have a bad mommy moment also!

At dinner, Sameer was his usual attentive self. He noticed DDs always started dinner with bowls of fruit and had those waiting when we arrived. Nice. Afterwards, the Golden Mickeys. DDs loved all the shows and this was no exception.

Unfortunately, all the shows ended after their normal bed time. In addition, today was the Royal Ball at the club, where girls get all dolled up in their Princess dresses and dance with Cinderella. DDs absolutely loved it, but again, it was a really, really late night. Sigh.

Tomorrow the first tender into Cozumel is at 7:30 am.

No way we can make it that early.

zzzzzzzzzz

 

[needAcruise]

Day 4 – Grand Cayman, my Souffle and Where’s the Camera?

Got up early again today. I guess our body clocks are still set to “School”.

I had everyone dressed for a day at the beach at Cayman Islands. But looking out the porthole, it was overcast and the waves looked choppy. (Read: cloudy and windy) But hey, it may clear up right?

Nope.

Had a quick breakfast (good Mickey head waffles) and tendered to shore. At the last minute (we were having our KTTW cards swiped to get off the ship) I looked at DH and asked “Where’s the camera?” His blank look said it all.

Tender away - sans camera, camcorder and the camera phone.

It was still kinda chilly, but I took up one of those pier people (y’know, the ones hawking rides and tours when you get off the ship) for a ride to Sea Grapes beach. We hopped into the van with a family from Canada. They were going to the Turtle Farm. On the way to the beach, I spoke with the nice family. I also kept an eye out the window. About 5 minutes into the van ride, I decided it was too cold and windy to hit the beach and instead joined the Canadian family on the trip to the Turtle Farm. Since they had already negotiated the fee ($12 R/T, ½ hour stay, and reduced entrance fee of $10 per adult, $5 per child) we were able to get the same deal.

Good thing we did. On the way there and back, the van passed Sea Grapes. Everyone on the beach was fully dressed – shirts, pants, hats. No one was dressed in only a swimsuit, not even kids who usually feel no cold when faced with an enormous sandbox.

The Turtle Farm was okay, and I was glad we did it over the beach. DDs each held baby turtles (oh, my kingdom for a camera!) and we learned lots of interesting turtle facts. A half hour was enough time to see all they had with a very brief stop at the gift shop.

We got back to the ship about noon and threw the kids in the pool. (Hey, they like that.) Happy to report there were no pool incidents - or otherwise.

Then, it was dinner time. Sameer had the usual fruit already set for the girls. Plus, they loved the Mickey shaped raviolis so much that he had them ready for the girls every night until the end of the cruise. They were only on the menu one day, but he got the chef to cook it every night. (Thanks, Sameer!)

But the best was yet to come! <cue the dramatic music> After a delicious dinner (killer bisque and tasty lamb), he brought me dessert! A Palo chocolate soufflé! Oh my, I was in chocoholic heaven. The dark chocolate sauce with the deep chocolate soufflé, it was sublime! It was everything the DIS said it was and more. <tears of joy> (I can wax poetic more, but you get the idea. ) I could not thank him enough. DH said the silly grin on my face said it all. I thanked Sameer and Stefane so many, many times. And as we were leaving, I saw Stefane discreetly jotting something into his little notebook. Hmm, I wonder what?

Later that night, I called Palo and canceled my reservation.

Twice Charmed charmed DDs so much we watched it again on the TV before bedtime. Again, it was another late night, but now we were getting into a groove.

Somewhere along the way, the Oceaneer's Club gave out sun-hats to the kids. (Quite nice. They were reversible - bright yellow on one side and light blue with the Oceaneer logo on th other.) DH and I were in the vicinity and inquired about them. The counselors were so friendly and they just handed over two hats just for the asking. Score!

Next stop Cozumel!

 

[needAcruise]

Day 5 – Cozumel, the Great Hat Chase, and Pool Closing… again

Today, the all ashore time was at a more decent hour, 9:45 am.

We still got up at the usual school hour. DH and I decided to forgo the beach because Castaway Cay was right around the corner. We decided to venture off the ship for a shopping trip only. After a quick breakfast, we were off the ship. (The hash browns are just like those at McDonalds, and DDs would not get enough of them.)

Minnie was fascinated by the pedi-cabs along the pier. She very much wanted to ride one. DH told her “We’ll see….” You know what that means.

Boy, was it windy on that pier.

Everyone’s hat blew off at least once, except for DH, who apparently superglues it to his head. One heart stopping moment on the pier was when Princess’s hat flew off. It went tumbling perilously close to the edge of the pier. (May I mention there are no railings between pedestrians and the gorgeous turquoise ocean? If you don't pay attention, you can walk right into the drink!) She chased after it until about 6 feet from the edge. Then (thank goodness!) she suddenly stopped. She must have realized how close to the edge she was.

Apparently mommy does not exercise such good sense. I rushed headlong after the hat and caught it just one foot from the edge. Yes, gentle reader, I was THIS close to an unexpected dunking. Later DH told me people were cheering, clapping and whistling for me after I caught the offending headgear.

After that, the shopping excursion to Cozumel can be considered uneventful. We bargained for some trinkets (magnet, pen, necklace, shirt) with various degrees of success.

Then it was back to the ship. Minnie got her wish. We pedi-cabbed it down the pier. I thought it was a bit silly, but Minnie absolutely loved it. Ah, to be 5 years old again.

Back to the pool. DDs just loved that it was not crowded. Me too. Unfortunately, there was another incident that shut down the Mickey Pool. Sigh. At least DDs logged in an hour in the pool.

Pirate Night tonight! We had a great time wearing the bandanas at dinner. The crab cakes were faboo, and DH loved the seafood pasta so much we asked for one to bring back to the room with us. Sameer cheerfully obliged us and the midnight snack (okay, 10 pm snack) was a very tasty dish of cold pasta.

The show of the night featured Rich Pupura, who took great delight in making fun of Jersey. This was the extent of the Jersey jokes I heard all week. And, boy was he funny.

Again, the show ended after DDs’s usual bedtime, so we ended up missing the Pirate Party. By now I know better than to force DDs to stay up. Good thing, because it rained that night and the firework show did not happen.

Tomorrow is the character breakfast at 8:15 am!

 

[needAcruise]

Day 6 – Day at Sea, Family Time, and Four Desserts!

Ah…another day at sea.

Today was a day of family time. By now the family figured out what makes us happy.

Mickey’s Island Jam (aka the character breakfast) was okay. DDs did some of the dances with the characters (hula, macarena, conga), but it was just not that magical. Sameer performed some nifty napkin folding and created a Minnie bow for Minnie, a Peter Pan hat for Princess and Goofy hat/ears for DH. Because I was jumping around, snapping pics, I guess he did not think it wise to create anything for me. Oh well.

Next, we indulged in a series of classes and activities.

Kite Making - the cast member said we can fly them at Castaway Cay, but please do not fly them on Deck 9 (more on that later)

Mickey 200 – our potato/carrot car qualified for the semi-finals, but was beat out by a 3 year old.

Animation - Princess learned to draw Minnie, who in her own words is “Mickey with a bow and eyelashes” (hmm, same thing can be said of Daisy/Donald too)

Creative Napkin Folding – if you are into origami, this class is for you. My excuse is that my napkin was limp. DH did not buy this excuse though.

Towel Folding – doggies, elephants, and monkeys, oh my. DDs enjoyed this, but I would personally rather be surprised by the towel animal in my stateroom…with chocolates.

Gratuities – visit Guest Services and fill out tip amounts (word to the wise, don’t do this on the last day, the lines are ridiculous)

Then it was naptime. (Hey, it’s a vacation….)

Again, dinner was another delicious affair. (veal, lobster and venison, yum-o)

Afterwards, I was intrigued by three of the desserts, so I asked Sameer if he could get me tasting portions of each. (Lava Cake, Cherries Jubilee and Mango Ice Cream) “Of course, madame!” Gotta love that Disney customer service - even when making a glutton of myself, they react with a smile!

A short time after I put in my dessert mega-order, Sameer told me to close my eyes. I was a bit puzzled, but did so. DH looked curious too. When I opened my eyes, I saw <drum roll please…> another Palo chocolate soufflé! I almost fell off the chair.

Sameer doused it with chocolate sauce (with flair, as the chocolate sauce container was at least a foot and a half above the table as he poured )and I broke thought the delicate sugar- chocolate crust. He explained that I had so visibly enjoyed the first one so much that he and Stephane arranged to have another one brought to me that night!

They had also arranged for one to be brought to me last night, but the family had skedaddled from the table unexpectedly early. I nodded and made some understanding noises as he explained this to us, all while surreptitiously scooping heavenly chunks of soufflé into me. DH covered for me nicely, as I was too busy eating to talk. (In my defense, Sameer told me a cold soufflé is no good, always eat it hot. I was just following orders. )

Afterwards, I tasted the other 3 desserts I ordered out of sheer principle. (Oh yes, Sameer brought those to me too, yes indeed, he did.) But they did not hold a candle to my soufflé. DH and DDs tried helping with the desserts. But in the end, they overwhelmed us and we had to leave most behind.

Stuffed and happy, we waddled to watch Disney Dreams and off to bed.

Beach day at Castaway Cay tomorrow!

 

[tmatthews]

"Jersey Week" I find it sooooo funny being from Jersey myself!!!! About 9 years ago we visited DW during this time and the joke was ...... you must be from Jersey! It is a good family time to get away without missing much school!

 

[needAcruise]

Day 7 – Castaway Cay, Stingrays, and No Fishing!

The day starts with a morning knock at the stateroom door.

It’s Jeanett, the mousekeeper dropping off a package from Guest Services! My souvenir pillowcases! They are here! All four of them! Apparently Guest Services had them signed, grouped them (I turned them in on different days) and had them delivered as promised.

I have signatures of the fab 5, and most of the princesses! Captain Jack Sparrow is on the back in a huge, sprawling signature. What a way to start the day!

After breakfast, then we hit the beach!

Wow! The trek from ship to beach is looong. We take the tram and hoof it further up the Family Beach to get away from the crowds. Past the Post Office (mailed a few post cards to the folks back home), past the tram stop (grabbed the first come-first serve wagons to transport my brood), past Scuttle’s Cove (requested complementary beach toys for DDs), past Cookies BBQ (not serving any food yet), past the hair braiding stand.

Learned that the wagon is not meant for sand. Stick to the paved path or you may strain something. (No free rides! Git outta the wagon or mommy’s gonna have a hernia!)

Settled into some beach chairs with an umbrella. DDs immediately started playing in the sand. Ahhh. This is the life.

DH decided to fly the kites DDs built yesterday. Not a minute into the flight, we hear a lifeguard yelling kindly (I don’t know how you can yell kindly, but the Disney folk managed it) “Would the guest with the kite please fly it in the designated area”. DH wondered where is the designated area? Being a proper guest, and mindful of the safety of his fellow vacationers, DH went to the nearest lifeguard to ask where he can fly the kite. He was pointed to a strip of land with an orange umbrella. Waaaay over THERE.

Huh? Now why would Disney let you make kites onboard if you were limited to flying them in Timbuktu?

Well, nevermind. Time for the Castaway Ray Stingray Adventure at noon!

Now, I had only purchased excursions for DH and DDs. I learned Disney will allow another family member (without a tix) to stand near the stingray feedings to record or take pics. So this is what I did. I stood behind, and a bit to the left, of RJ the trainer, and filmed my dear family mixing it up with the fishes. It was very cool.

DDs were having a grand old time feeding the stingrays pieces of shrimp, calamari and something RJ called fish jello. DH thought it was pretty cool too. He also enjoyed snorkeling with the rays and fish afterwards. This was Princess’s first snorkel and she loved the shells, rays and gigantic fish. Might I mention that there are a LOT of rays and fish.

I just filmed and took pics. A couple of times the rays brushed against my legs so I got to “pet” a few of them. The first time scared me (what the heck was that!), but after a few times, it did not bother me. RJ offered to let me feed the stingrays, but as I did not pay for the privilege, I declined.

The feedings was about 15 minutes, so the rest of the hour was snorkel time. Minnie did not like the equipment, so I took her back to the Family Beach to play.

An observation.

The sand at the stingray portion of the beach is talcum powder soft. This is so the rays can burrow themselves down into the floor. I loved walking in it.

The sand at the Family Beach is rather coarse (not rocky), and full of shells. If you are a tenderfoot, I recommend beach shoes. Ouch.

DH and Princess joined up a bit later. Then DDs had a bit of pixie dust sprinkled on them. A couple in the chairs next to us were headed back to the ship and offered DDs the use of their floatie raft. I will say that the last 2 hours on the beach were filled with shrieks of joy due to said raft. Even I got in on the floatie action. (Hmm, wonder if we can get one for the pool at home?)

While were sprinkled with pixie dust, DH decided to go fishing and took off with my blessing. Please know, gentle reader, DH is an avid fisherman who brought along his rod and tried to fish at every port. But Key West, Cozumel and Cayman Islands were according to him “bad fishing spots”.

Well, now he was on a beach in the Bahamas. There has to be some decent fishing holes. But every time he "found" a half-way decent spot, a cast member would call out to him “sir, this is a restricted area”. Wow, Castaway Cay may have laid back vibe, but the people there are really vigilant!

My sympathy goes to DH, who lugged his fishing pole through airport security (twice) to get a chance to fish. But like the trooper he is, he brushed it off and enjoyed the rest of the day at the beach with the family.

Back to the ship. Another tasty dinner. For dessert Sameer surprised us again. DH prefers not to eat desserts, and always tells Sameer “I am full”. So on the last day at dessert time, Sameer presents DH with a plate with the words “I am full” written on it in chocolate syrup. We all loved it!

Watched the last show “Remember the Magic” and headed back to the room to pack. DH has astonishing packing skills. On the way in, I had very fully packed luggage. On the way back he stuffed everything back into the same volume of luggage, plus souvenirs. Amazing.

Off to sleep, tomorrow is debarkation.

 

[needAcruise]

Day 8 – Disembarking

Party’s over.

Jumped a plane.

Went home.

 

[plutospup]

Day 8 – Disembarking

Party’s over.

Jumped a plane.

Went home.

Doesn't that say it all!

Thanks for the TR! We'll be on the "Jersey Week" cruise next year. I am so looking forward to it!!!!

You brought up several great tips.
1. Afternoon nap- DW insists that we all take a brief afternoon nap. Of course DD & I were adamantly opposed to this! There was too much to do! By the third day on our first cruise it was painfully obvious that we needed to rest. We might have missed a few things in the afternoon, but we really enjoyed the activities at night.

2. Princesses deserve to be spoiled by their Daddy. Just ask my DD

Glad to hear you had a great vacation!

 

[Disney owl]

thanks for the reports

 

[MagicMe]

thanks for the great trip report - love the last day - so true! get up and get off!

 

[chiefdragon]

Great trip report. Thanks so much for writing it up. It really gave me some great ideas for my DD 2

 

[needAcruise]

Epilogue:

DH now wants to go back.

DDs and I do too, but how I wish I knew he wanted to go back. Then I would have booked on board.

Hindsight is 20/20.