pdarrah
It's nice to know you are real, too
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
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Part 4: Continued from Part 3
Wednesday, October 27: Snorkeling, Roy and Shopping
At Cozumel, we had again booked our own excursion. We had chosen to snorkel with Eagle Ray Divers after Grand Cayman was canceled as a port. Since our reservation was scheduled for noon, we were able to relax a bit and not jump up at the crack of dawn. We took our time getting ready and left the ship around 11:00am. We walked down the pier and up/over the street through the shopping center. We didnt take time to shop and no one bothered us. On the other side of the street, we got into the lines for taxis told the dispatcher where we wanted to go and off we went.
At the marina, we quickly found the boat and met Chellie (pronounced shelly) who owns the company along with her husband. We waited for a little while for others who had booked excursions (2 groups of 2 scuba divers) and then headed out for the reefs. Although we did not go far from shore, I would highly recommend this excursion. The distance from shore is enough that I wouldnt feel comfortable heading out there on my own without a guide (and I am a reasonably strong swimmer) and I certainly wouldnt take my child out that far on my own. Also, the currents over the reefs can be quite strong and by doing this type of excursion you can actually have that working in your favor rather than something you fight. The boat would drop us off (Chellie, myself, DH and DS5) at one end of a reef where the current would allow us to drift the length of the reef. Then the boat would drop the scuba divers a little way away (I assume in deeper sections of the reef. The boat was always within sight. Chellie was always with us and was a great guide. She pointed out a lot of fish and corals that we might not have noticed on our own and knew the names of almost every fish. (The two scuba groups also had guides that always were with them 2 guests with 1 guide) Our DS5 was originally very excited about snorkeling and had checked numerous books out of our library about coral reefs and practiced in the town pool over the summer. However, since we were sailing in late October and the pools around us close in mid to late August, it had been a while since he had a chance to really practice. Were still not sure why, but he freaked out a bit with the reality of snorkeling. He seemed to enjoy floating around in the waves (we had brought his own life vest) but after his initial look underwater, he wanted nothing to do with his mask and snorkel! Chellie was absolutely wonderful with him I cant possibly thank her enough. She spent a lot of time swimming with our son, letting him ride on her back, letting him hold onto the large orange ball that they use to mark the location where there are snorkelers and even brought up a starfish and a sea cucumber for him to see (she always put them right back where she found them.) Due to Chellies efforts, DH and I were able to truly enjoy the snorkeling. She seems to truly like children and acted like she was having as much fun as DS! We snorkeled 2 reefs and when we return next year, we will be booking the 3-reef snorkel with Chellie! Hopefully, DS will be more comfortable with it and will get a chance to see the beautiful fish and coral.
After we were finished snorkeling, the divers still had more they were planning to do to save us from having to wait (not that it would have been that bad on a boat in the Caribbean!) Chellie had the driver stop at one of the hotels along the shore. She walked us through to the front and made certain that we had a taxi back to the Magic. We were back to the ship around 4:00pm. DS immediately announced that he needed to go to the club, which was a good thing since we were already late for the DIS wine party in the Roy Disney Suite!
After a very quick change for all of us, we were off to the kid club and wine party. The Roy Suite is gorgeous with a lot of beautiful wood everywhere. Personally, I have many other things Id rather spend my money on, but it was certainly fun to have a chance to see it.
There are links to photos of the Roy Suite in this thread: Roy Disney Suite Pics, etc.
At the party, we ran into our DIS friends that we were dining with each night and after enjoying the party for a while, we decided to go out and do some quick shopping. We left the ship again around 5:30pm and found that we could take some really nice photos of the ship. There was no boat traffic between the shore and the ship, so there was a nice unobstructed view. After taking a bunch of pictures, we went a few blocks away from the ship where the prices get a little cheaper and bought a few souvenirs (a couple T-shirts for DS, a set of maracas for DS, a couple of bottles of rum, a couple of bottles of apple liqueur, some vanilla, a book about the Mayans for DS, etc) I think we spent a total of about $50. As we walked back to the ship, we realized we had another photo opportunity the Magic at dusk/nearly dark all lit up! After we took some more photos, we were back on board before 7:00pm.
We were back at Lumiers this evening for dinner and it was a little weird for the Pirates in the Caribbean night. We all wore our bandanas, the wait staff was dressed up, a mariachi band (not my favorite music) wandered through but it all seemed somewhat out of place at Lumiers. We even had a parade with a limbo (not low most of us short folks could just walk under it.) DS5 had to choose between coming to dinner with us for the Pirate night or going to Goofys Giggle Gala. After much back & forth, he finally chose Goofy. It is a shame that they have these events on the same night for the 5-7 year olds. I guess it is OK for those with early dinner although even for them, their parents probably have to rush them from dinner to the club as soon as the show is over. Why not have Goofy at the club on a night that doesnt have anything else particularly kid friendly 5-7 year olds LOVE pirates. We promised our son that we would pick him up from the club in time for the Pirate Party up on deck 9. We had to hurry through dinner a bit (at least it was hurrying for us) in order to be finished by 9:45pm. DH went to pick up DS at the club around 9:55 and for the first and only time DS had fallen asleep watching the movie! Since we knew he would be upset if he missed the Pirate Party, we woke him up but he was fairly groggy throughout and didnt enjoy it as much as he might have otherwise. He did enjoy the little show with the characters although, as usual, Captain Hook scared him a bit. As soon as the main show ended, we took him down and tucked him in. He was asleep before we even got to the room. By the way, we also got to see a lunar eclipse during the Pirate Party!
Thursday, October 28: Another busy day at Sea
We didnt set an alarm and awoke when DS5 did around 8:00am. After singing Happy Birthday to DH, we took our time getting ready and were trying to plan our day when we suddenly got a phone call from our server, Plamen. It seems he didnt remind us about our Character Breakfast when we were at dinner the night before. I am not sure how you are supposed to know when this is if your server doesnt tell you. Due to the DIS Board, I should have known, but it had slipped my mind. Plamen called us at 9:10am (it started at 9:00) and we were at Parrot Cay by 9:15am. Unfortunately, we missed both Mickey and Goofy and they were not able to get them back for us. DS5 had fun seeing Dale, Minnie and Pluto, but the very rushed character breakfast is even more crazy when you miss the first 15 minutes! I dont really blame Plamen it was Pirate Night and we had rushed through our dessert and left much earlier than we had on other nights. It would probably make more sense for them to program their phone system to call everyone with a particular seating and leave a recorded message the night before. We have been to many other character meals, so missing part of this one wasnt a big deal for us.
DS5 wanted to go to the club after breakfast (that had been his original plan before Plamens phone call.) However, he did not want to have lunch with the club or go to the movie theater with them. This meant he was at the club for a little over 1 hour, and then we picked him up. I went at 11:30 to get a ticket for the Galley Tour (3:00). DH was already scheduled for the Wine Tasting (2:30) and we had a ticket for DS for Tea with Wendy (4:00). After lunch (Plutos) and a quick dip in the Mickey Pool for DS, he went back to the club from 2:45 to 3:45.
I really enjoyed the Galley tour it is fairly short (about ½ hour) but very interesting. DH enjoyed the wine tasting. Then I picked up DS for Tea with Wendy. Although we enjoyed the Tea, it isnt something we are likely to repeat. DS was picked to take the place of one of Wendys missing brothers, so he got to sit up front with her. She talks a little about how to be polite at Tea and then tells a story. It is cute, but once is enough. I think it was over in about 15 minutes. DH had decided to play Bingo (final Jackpot) at 4:00 and DS wanted to go watch, so after Tea we went to watch Bingo. DH actually bought 2 sheets for the last final jackpot round, so I got to play one and DS was happy playing on one of the sheets from an earlier game. After Bingo, we ordered dinner for DS (chicken tenders via room service Again!) and at 6:30 went to watch Disney Dreams. DS enjoyed the show, DH and I thought it was OK, but not great. The final special effect is pretty cool. After the show, we had to rush and get DS to the club so he could make flubber at 7:30. He did at least STAY at the club this time for the rest of the evening.
Our relaxing day at sea ended up being pretty busy I think we will try not to have so much going on next time.
DH and I got dressed up for dinner and then ran up to the re-booking desk. DH gave himself a birthday present by rebooking another Western for next year (Oct 22) with a verandah room. Once again, we enjoyed a pleasant meal with our friends. DH got a birthday cake and the servers sang for him. Our friends also got a cake since it was their 4-month wedding anniversary! Both cakes were wrapped up into tin-foil swans for us to carry back to our cabins. After dinner the four of us all went up to Deck 10 to admire the full moon. It was very windy, but we still enjoyed the quiet and the moonlight. When we went to pick up DS, he was still wide-awake and once again he was asleep almost as soon as his head was on his pillow.
Continued with Part 5 (THE END!)
Wednesday, October 27: Snorkeling, Roy and Shopping
At Cozumel, we had again booked our own excursion. We had chosen to snorkel with Eagle Ray Divers after Grand Cayman was canceled as a port. Since our reservation was scheduled for noon, we were able to relax a bit and not jump up at the crack of dawn. We took our time getting ready and left the ship around 11:00am. We walked down the pier and up/over the street through the shopping center. We didnt take time to shop and no one bothered us. On the other side of the street, we got into the lines for taxis told the dispatcher where we wanted to go and off we went.
At the marina, we quickly found the boat and met Chellie (pronounced shelly) who owns the company along with her husband. We waited for a little while for others who had booked excursions (2 groups of 2 scuba divers) and then headed out for the reefs. Although we did not go far from shore, I would highly recommend this excursion. The distance from shore is enough that I wouldnt feel comfortable heading out there on my own without a guide (and I am a reasonably strong swimmer) and I certainly wouldnt take my child out that far on my own. Also, the currents over the reefs can be quite strong and by doing this type of excursion you can actually have that working in your favor rather than something you fight. The boat would drop us off (Chellie, myself, DH and DS5) at one end of a reef where the current would allow us to drift the length of the reef. Then the boat would drop the scuba divers a little way away (I assume in deeper sections of the reef. The boat was always within sight. Chellie was always with us and was a great guide. She pointed out a lot of fish and corals that we might not have noticed on our own and knew the names of almost every fish. (The two scuba groups also had guides that always were with them 2 guests with 1 guide) Our DS5 was originally very excited about snorkeling and had checked numerous books out of our library about coral reefs and practiced in the town pool over the summer. However, since we were sailing in late October and the pools around us close in mid to late August, it had been a while since he had a chance to really practice. Were still not sure why, but he freaked out a bit with the reality of snorkeling. He seemed to enjoy floating around in the waves (we had brought his own life vest) but after his initial look underwater, he wanted nothing to do with his mask and snorkel! Chellie was absolutely wonderful with him I cant possibly thank her enough. She spent a lot of time swimming with our son, letting him ride on her back, letting him hold onto the large orange ball that they use to mark the location where there are snorkelers and even brought up a starfish and a sea cucumber for him to see (she always put them right back where she found them.) Due to Chellies efforts, DH and I were able to truly enjoy the snorkeling. She seems to truly like children and acted like she was having as much fun as DS! We snorkeled 2 reefs and when we return next year, we will be booking the 3-reef snorkel with Chellie! Hopefully, DS will be more comfortable with it and will get a chance to see the beautiful fish and coral.
After we were finished snorkeling, the divers still had more they were planning to do to save us from having to wait (not that it would have been that bad on a boat in the Caribbean!) Chellie had the driver stop at one of the hotels along the shore. She walked us through to the front and made certain that we had a taxi back to the Magic. We were back to the ship around 4:00pm. DS immediately announced that he needed to go to the club, which was a good thing since we were already late for the DIS wine party in the Roy Disney Suite!
After a very quick change for all of us, we were off to the kid club and wine party. The Roy Suite is gorgeous with a lot of beautiful wood everywhere. Personally, I have many other things Id rather spend my money on, but it was certainly fun to have a chance to see it.
There are links to photos of the Roy Suite in this thread: Roy Disney Suite Pics, etc.
At the party, we ran into our DIS friends that we were dining with each night and after enjoying the party for a while, we decided to go out and do some quick shopping. We left the ship again around 5:30pm and found that we could take some really nice photos of the ship. There was no boat traffic between the shore and the ship, so there was a nice unobstructed view. After taking a bunch of pictures, we went a few blocks away from the ship where the prices get a little cheaper and bought a few souvenirs (a couple T-shirts for DS, a set of maracas for DS, a couple of bottles of rum, a couple of bottles of apple liqueur, some vanilla, a book about the Mayans for DS, etc) I think we spent a total of about $50. As we walked back to the ship, we realized we had another photo opportunity the Magic at dusk/nearly dark all lit up! After we took some more photos, we were back on board before 7:00pm.
We were back at Lumiers this evening for dinner and it was a little weird for the Pirates in the Caribbean night. We all wore our bandanas, the wait staff was dressed up, a mariachi band (not my favorite music) wandered through but it all seemed somewhat out of place at Lumiers. We even had a parade with a limbo (not low most of us short folks could just walk under it.) DS5 had to choose between coming to dinner with us for the Pirate night or going to Goofys Giggle Gala. After much back & forth, he finally chose Goofy. It is a shame that they have these events on the same night for the 5-7 year olds. I guess it is OK for those with early dinner although even for them, their parents probably have to rush them from dinner to the club as soon as the show is over. Why not have Goofy at the club on a night that doesnt have anything else particularly kid friendly 5-7 year olds LOVE pirates. We promised our son that we would pick him up from the club in time for the Pirate Party up on deck 9. We had to hurry through dinner a bit (at least it was hurrying for us) in order to be finished by 9:45pm. DH went to pick up DS at the club around 9:55 and for the first and only time DS had fallen asleep watching the movie! Since we knew he would be upset if he missed the Pirate Party, we woke him up but he was fairly groggy throughout and didnt enjoy it as much as he might have otherwise. He did enjoy the little show with the characters although, as usual, Captain Hook scared him a bit. As soon as the main show ended, we took him down and tucked him in. He was asleep before we even got to the room. By the way, we also got to see a lunar eclipse during the Pirate Party!
Thursday, October 28: Another busy day at Sea
We didnt set an alarm and awoke when DS5 did around 8:00am. After singing Happy Birthday to DH, we took our time getting ready and were trying to plan our day when we suddenly got a phone call from our server, Plamen. It seems he didnt remind us about our Character Breakfast when we were at dinner the night before. I am not sure how you are supposed to know when this is if your server doesnt tell you. Due to the DIS Board, I should have known, but it had slipped my mind. Plamen called us at 9:10am (it started at 9:00) and we were at Parrot Cay by 9:15am. Unfortunately, we missed both Mickey and Goofy and they were not able to get them back for us. DS5 had fun seeing Dale, Minnie and Pluto, but the very rushed character breakfast is even more crazy when you miss the first 15 minutes! I dont really blame Plamen it was Pirate Night and we had rushed through our dessert and left much earlier than we had on other nights. It would probably make more sense for them to program their phone system to call everyone with a particular seating and leave a recorded message the night before. We have been to many other character meals, so missing part of this one wasnt a big deal for us.
DS5 wanted to go to the club after breakfast (that had been his original plan before Plamens phone call.) However, he did not want to have lunch with the club or go to the movie theater with them. This meant he was at the club for a little over 1 hour, and then we picked him up. I went at 11:30 to get a ticket for the Galley Tour (3:00). DH was already scheduled for the Wine Tasting (2:30) and we had a ticket for DS for Tea with Wendy (4:00). After lunch (Plutos) and a quick dip in the Mickey Pool for DS, he went back to the club from 2:45 to 3:45.
I really enjoyed the Galley tour it is fairly short (about ½ hour) but very interesting. DH enjoyed the wine tasting. Then I picked up DS for Tea with Wendy. Although we enjoyed the Tea, it isnt something we are likely to repeat. DS was picked to take the place of one of Wendys missing brothers, so he got to sit up front with her. She talks a little about how to be polite at Tea and then tells a story. It is cute, but once is enough. I think it was over in about 15 minutes. DH had decided to play Bingo (final Jackpot) at 4:00 and DS wanted to go watch, so after Tea we went to watch Bingo. DH actually bought 2 sheets for the last final jackpot round, so I got to play one and DS was happy playing on one of the sheets from an earlier game. After Bingo, we ordered dinner for DS (chicken tenders via room service Again!) and at 6:30 went to watch Disney Dreams. DS enjoyed the show, DH and I thought it was OK, but not great. The final special effect is pretty cool. After the show, we had to rush and get DS to the club so he could make flubber at 7:30. He did at least STAY at the club this time for the rest of the evening.
Our relaxing day at sea ended up being pretty busy I think we will try not to have so much going on next time.
DH and I got dressed up for dinner and then ran up to the re-booking desk. DH gave himself a birthday present by rebooking another Western for next year (Oct 22) with a verandah room. Once again, we enjoyed a pleasant meal with our friends. DH got a birthday cake and the servers sang for him. Our friends also got a cake since it was their 4-month wedding anniversary! Both cakes were wrapped up into tin-foil swans for us to carry back to our cabins. After dinner the four of us all went up to Deck 10 to admire the full moon. It was very windy, but we still enjoyed the quiet and the moonlight. When we went to pick up DS, he was still wide-awake and once again he was asleep almost as soon as his head was on his pillow.
Continued with Part 5 (THE END!)
