October 17-27: Our Magical Dream Vacation - updated 5/7/09 -LOTS of PICs

[cyndid]

Hey Cindy, great report and pics. I just want to know how in the heck did I miss key lime pie on a stick.

Hey! Good to see you. I read about it on the boards and thought I HAD to have it!

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I'd posted last. I'll try to post more this weekend.

I miss everyone!

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Hey! Good to see you. I read about it on the boards and thought I HAD to have it!

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I'd posted last. I'll try to post more this weekend.

I miss everyone!

I miss everybody too!!!!!

 

[Colmenares3]

I'll try to post more this weekend.

Or, ehrm, maybe next weekend?

Don't worry, Cyndi, we're waiting, patiently.

 

[Colmenares3]

Hey all, thought I would post a pic of Cyndi & Co at Port Canaveral, just to bump her TR.

"All I want for Christmas is another installment of this TR, another installment of this TR, another installment of this TR . . . "

 

[Writersblock15]

Thanks for posting the pics.

 

[cyndid]

Hey all, thought I would post a pic of Cyndi & Co at Port Canaveral, just to bump her TR.

"All I want for Christmas is another installment of this TR, another installment of this TR, another installment of this TR . . . "

Have you ever blinked and found that weeks (sometimes even months) have gone by? This happens often with me. I own my own business and have been inundated with deadlines and other "stuff" since we got back. Of course I procrastinated and needed my cruise fix right when we returned, so I pushed work back even farther... So, reality had to strike at some point and I have been scrambling to get back on track since then.

I am still looking a big deadline square in the face, but I AM going to post more now!

 

[cyndid]

When we finished our key lime pie stuff, we wandered around a couple of streets to shop. The first thing I asked DH was, “Did you buy DD1 a knee brace?” We had discussed it the day before when we realized that we had forgotten it and decided there had to be a drug store in Key West where we could get one. “No.” was the befuddled response. I think he forgot about it. So, our first stop was the drug store. After purchasing the brace, we wound up getting a T-shirt for DD1 and a dress for DD2. Shopping with DH and DD2 was really draining me, so they left (supposedly to go back to the ship) and DD1 and I shopped on our own for a bit and then called it a day. DD1 was quite fascinated by all of the chickens just wandering the streets in Key West. It was as if we were visiting a foreign country to her. LOL.

We headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner. Tonight was my birthday dinner in Palo so we got dressed up for our regular dining rotation, too.

The night before I had told our severs, Ivo and Savio, that it was my birthday today and that we would be dining BOTH in the main restaurant AND in Palo. I let them know that we would only be getting appetizers at dinner, but the girls would be eating.

We arrived and ordered our appetizers. I had the crab appetizer and fruit cup. I forgot to take a picture of this menu. Dinner was at Parrot Cay.

We stayed all the way through dinner, watching the children eat. We ate a lot of bread…that I remember. You see, bread is my nemesis. I love bread. I also love dips to place my bread in. Bread, not done in moderation, can add serious pounds! I have mentally rehearsed on numerous occasions the following scene: Waiter: “Would you like some bread?” Me: “No, thank you. Please don’t bring any.” And yet, it never seems to happen this way. The waiter asks, “Would you like some bread?” I reply, “Yes, and keep it coming!” It’s simply awful.

Side note: We missed GolfnPirate at dinner this evening.

After stuffing ourselves with bread, dinner was over and Ivo snuck around behind me with Savio, the head server, and some others, and placed a birthday cake in front of me. They then sang to me. It was very nice. DH snapped a photo. I had him take another after I turned the cake around. DD2 called “dibs” on my white chocolate ship, which I had to remind her was MINE!

We ate a small slice a piece (thanks to Savio or Ivo whichever one cut them small), and took the remainder back to our room. The cake was “okay” in case anyone was interested in taste. I’ve heard that the cakes from room service are better.

After leaving the restaurant we released DD1 to Ocean Quest and DH took DD2 to the lab. We then enjoyed a little stroll on deck 4 where we viewed the beautiful Key West sunset. DH doesn’t quite have the hang of my camera, so the photos he took of me on “night scene” to capture the sunset are a bit blurry. I was originally a little worried that the famed Key West sunset wasn’t going to live up to our expectations due to the many storm clouds, but as I look at the pictures now I see that it really was quite spectacular.

We headed up to Palo and were seated right away. No trouble at all. (I was worried after the computer snafu.)

Our waitress was Maria from Hungary. She took very good care of us. Maria suggested a pomegranate martini for me which I agreed to. It was quite yummy. We sampled a lot of other different things including: two pizzas (one ½ mushroom and ½ shrimp and asparagus, the other half prosciutto and half quattro formaggio), three appetizers (calamari for DH, polenta with mushroom sauce and another that I can’t remember), lobster ravioli, pumpkin gnocchi, beef tenderloin and rack of lamb. Somewhere in there we had a mint sorbet to cleanse the palate. We were so stuffed that DH did not want dessert. BUT, after reading all the recommendations, I had to try BOTH the chocolate soufflé and panna cotta. I don’t actually remember eating any of the panna cotta. DH, even though he swore he didn’t want any more, finished the panna cotta. I ate the entire soufflé…it was heavenly.

At this point in the evening we were STUFFED. The rocking of the ship was quite pronounced and it began to rock me to sleep – while sitting at the table in Palo! I left DH to settle the account and headed back to the room to plop into bed.

Up next: Palo...again! (They're going to have to roll me off of the ship.) Also...drinking by the pool. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

[cyndid]

Okay, since I've been so delinquent in posting, I'll give you a "twofer."

 

[cyndid]

I awoke at 6 am, got dressed and headed to deck 4 for my morning walk. I was greeted with another stunningly beautiful sunrise.

I went to deck 7 aft for morning yoga while the sun continued to rise. This was such a restful and relaxing start to the day. I loved doing this.

After yoga I headed to the gym where I lifted weights and did some sit-ups. Then I went into the women’s locker room to shower. I highly recommend doing this. I wound up taking all my showers at the spa, with the exception of one. That one, lone shower in our stateroom was awful. For some reason all I could get to come out of the faucet was scalding hot water. I even called to DH from the shower and asked if he could help…seems I did what I was supposed to. Something was simply wrong with the shower. This was the last day of the cruise, so I didn’t bother reporting it.

We had Palo brunch reservations for 10:30. I headed over to Palo and DH met me after I got there. I don’t know if this threw our waiter for a loop, or what. But the service at brunch was really not up to our expectations. Our server was Roberto. I did enjoy brunch, but unlike so many on the DIS boards, I think I prefer the dinner. Maybe it was because of the difference in service? I don’t know…could have had something to do with it. One thing to note was that we had the grape and goat cheese pizza. Doesn’t sound very good, but it was EXCELLENT.

I’m not sure what time this took place (I’ll have to look at the naviators). DH and I went to the Disney Vacation Club presentation with the hopes of winning the $300 door prize. We ran into Melissa and Arthur (thecooley) there. Wow…we would love to do the DVC thing. Unfortunately it just isn’t in the cards for us right now. We actually enjoyed the presentation. We got to watch Melissa and Arthur win smaller door prizes (I think they BOTH won something). But, when they announced the $300 winner, it wasn’t us. Boo hoo.

We skipped lunch because of the Palo brunch.

We returned to the room, got our bathing suits on, grabbed DD2 from the lab and went to the pool around 2:30 pm. I was completely impressed that we found 3 loungers together near the goofy pool ON A SEA DAY! And it was a beautiful day, too. After we sat down we glanced around and guess who was beside us? DD2’s friend Hannah and her family. How fun for her. DD1 was not with us. I’m sure she was at Ocean Quest…that seemed to be where she was most of the time.

We had a nice relaxing time at the pool. I ordered the DOTD (don’t recall what it was) and lounged in the sun, by the pool, sipping my drink. Ahhhh. This is what vacation is all about.

A side note: As I was leaving the DVC presentation earlier, out of the blue I was overtaken by a massive sneeze. That sneeze was the precursor to a scratchy, then sore, throat. I took 1500 mg of vitamin C when I got back to the stateroom and refused to get sick!

We wound up leaving the pool area around 4 pm. I rustled the girls up and began to get ready for formal night.

Up next: There is no crying in formal wear!

 

[nokidz]

awsome pics........great trip report.......

 

[GolfNPirate]

GolfNPirate's response to why we weren't at dinner on day 2. FIL didn't want to get "dressed up", we ended up going to Topsiders for dinner. I kind say with 100% certainty that we had the same exact menu as the night before in Animators. Uh, leftovers anyone.

Good reports so far Cindy. Oh, we went to World of Disney in New York and had pics taken with Minnie and Goofy. I got a pin, too. I really liked Frank's surfboard pins, but I can't find them in any Disney store. EBay is my last resort. We haven't booked any cruises, yet. Looking at 2010, but we are going through WDW withdrawal. I need another 8 days down there. Miss all you guys !!!

 

[cyndid]

Good reports so far Cindy. Oh, we went to World of Disney in New York and had pics taken with Minnie and Goofy. I got a pin, too. I really liked Frank's surfboard pins, but I can't find them in any Disney store. EBay is my last resort.

Frank says you won't find them in the stores. He said there are about 7 in the set and there are several that are pretty easy to get on ebay. Mickey, Pluto and Stitch are difficult to find.

 

[cruellababy]

Awesome so far!!! Can't wait to read the rest! I'll be boarding the magic on my Bday also! next sept- and the crazy upstate ny weather is really getting to me right now-LOL. Keep it coming when you have the time!

 

[orlandothebeagle]

 

[cyndid]

I must add here a note about formal night. When I originally booked the cruise, this was foremost in my mind. I LOVE to get dressed up and working from home I seldom get a chance to dress beyond my jeans and t-shirt. Who cares if I sit on my sofa in high heels, dress pants, shirt and accessories? So, with formal night being foremost in my mind, I actually envisioned the dress I would wear. I had this dress in my head BEFORE I actually even booked the cruise. I began scouring ebay for it from that moment. I wanted a full-length red sequin dress. I was thinking “Hollywood movie star” here. Those on my meet thread have already read about the dress saga, for those of you who haven’t you can see where it starts at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1645336&page=69 post 1032. It continues with post 1046, 1124 & 1396. I got tired of scouring the pages for the posts so the ending of the story is that I picked it up and had it professionally altered. (It wound up being Frankendress, so all they did was add a couple of darts and left the rest alone.)

The big problem now was trying to find a bra to wear with it. Maybe this is TMI. However, (Men stop reading and go to the next paragraph.) I bought a rather pricey stick-on bra that won’t hold the girls up. I tried to get it to work about 20 times and finally gave up. I then bought a less pricey stick-on bra…but held out no hopes because why would a cheaper one hold them up if the more expensive one wouldn’t? I finally went on an all-out hunt for the backless bra I wore on my wedding day. I found it right before we left and threw it into a suitcase. Lo and behold when I put in on this evening, the strap (even though it was way down near my hips) showed! Uggghh! Forget the bra. So, the girls were not as perky that evening as I would have liked. (I hope no one noticed me tugging them up to reposition them every once in a while.)

Okay men you can begin reading again… After Palo dinner and brunch the past two days, my already snug dress was REALLY snug. That and the situation with the girls from the previous paragraph made the dress a little less glamorous than what I had hoped. But, I still liked it.

Moving along…I was really adamant about getting pictures of our whole family in fancy clothes. It is not very often that we get dressed up. This meant that we had to be dressed and ready by 5 pm so we could get pictures before dinner and not risk having our outfits messed up at dinner. So the scramble to get me, two DDs and DH ready on time began. Do you remember what #1 is on my list of things that make me C-R-A-Z-Y?

During our stress-filled, getting ready time, DD1 begins to be quite mouthy and sassy. So, she earned mom’s wrath and some sort of punishment to be determined later. (I wound up making her stay in the room for a while later in the evening.) We had not yet picked up DD2 from the Lab, so after DH got his suit on, he went to liberate her. I forgot to add that before this he turns to me and asks, “Where are my black socks?” “Where all your other socks are,” I replied. Apparently not. Even though I KNOW I packed them (they were checked off the list after all), we could not find them. So, after liberating DD2 from the lab, he headed over to Treasure Ketch to see if he could find some dress socks. I was straightening my hair when they came back. DD2 was having issues with her dress shoes that didn’t fit. We knew that they were a little too big when we bought them, but after applying the things we bought to help make them fit, they were STILL too big on her. Uggghh! I was getting nowhere with my hair because I was the one who had to solve this crisis and get her to stop screaming at the top of her lungs that they didn’t fit. (I really, really feel for those in staterooms on either side of us. This was not the only time my children screamed, and/or cried at the top of their lungs.). This little event plus DD1s outbursts put me in a very foul mood and severely screwed up my timetable.

To try to regain some sanity, I sent DH and the girls down early so I could simmer down and finish getting ready. Of course they left the room in a shambles so I had to also pick up a bit before I left. I didn’t want our towel animal having to fight for space on the cluttered bed.

I got down to the deck 3 atrium around 5:30…the Captain’s cocktail reception was also going on. I forgot to mention this. This was ANOTHER reason I had to be down there early…I didn’t want to miss out on my FREE drink. I did get down in time to get a drink. DH led me to a very pretty CM who was passing out drinks…seems he had been chatting with her earlier….hnmmm. Next I tried to find the line for pictures. We got in the wrong line. At this point, with the line I REALLY wanted to be in sooooo darn long, we wouldn’t be able to take pictures before dinner. I believe a got a little testy. A nice man ahead of me in line (the wrong line) reassured me that there would be enough time to take pictures after dinner and before the show. I was embarrassed that he noticed my testiness…although I’m positive it was hard to miss. What a relief, however. After all, this is what formal night was all about…the pictures!

Dinner was in Parrot Cay. We had APPLAPL rotation. This meant that we were in Parrot Cay for BOTH formal AND semi-formal nights. I liked Parrot Cay, but would have rather been in Lumiere’s for at least one of the two dress-up nights. Parrot Cay is the least fancy of the three. I had the broccoli/blue cheese soup and the pear salad with pears and gorgonzola cheese. (This was my favorite salad of the cruise.) My dinner was Beef Wellington. Both DDs had the grilled sirloin steak from the adult lighter fare menu. DH had the New Zealand Rack of Lamb. Of course I had the Golden Mickey’s dessert. Yum. Autumn decided she didn’t want anything for dessert…I loved the reaction.

After dinner we went and stood in line for pictures. Note: There are two photo op stations on deck 3 and two on deck 4. In retrospect, I would have preferred one of the backgrounds on deck 4. I don’t think they were doing Lifestyle portraits this night. I knew I didn’t want a photo with the captain, so we got in the Mickey statue line.

When we were about three families away from our turn, DD1 lost her balance due to the ship’s movement and stepped on DD2’s sandal-clad foot with her new kitten-heeled shoes. DD2 let out an earth shattering wail… and then the tears came. Of course, she wanted to kick her sister’s butt, but we managed to contain her. She was nearly inconsolable. We had to let a few families go ahead of us before she was calm enough for photos (or so we thought). Somewhere in all of this, Lynne (orlandothebeagle) saw us and offered to take my camera and take pictures. Well, even though DD2 was no longer crying, the look on her face is awful. LOL. Of course in the end I HAD to buy the photos. #1. It was formal night and it was all about the pictures after all and #2. We had to document sour-puss…it will be a forever memory.

Up next: A Golden Mouse and a Red Face to go With the Red Dress

 

[disney0210]

just went through your entire report and i've had fun reading! your writing makes me feel that i was there too. thanks for taking the time to post. i am usually in the dvc boards, but ventured over to DCL to research for a possible future cruise. lots of great read here too!

btw, what cat were you in? i noticed a door by the sofa in one of your pictures, but don't know what category your stateroom is .... thanks in advance!

 

[cyndid]

just went through your entire report and i've had fun reading! your writing makes me feel that i was there too. thanks for taking the time to post. i am usually in the dvc boards, but ventured over to DCL to research for a possible future cruise. lots of great read here too!

btw, what cat were you in? i noticed a door by the sofa in one of your pictures, but don't know what category your stateroom is .... thanks in advance!

Okay, I must be having brain freeze right now 'cuz I don't know for sure what catgory. I think it was category 6. It was one up from the Navigator's Verandah category. We had a full, open verandah that was very nice.

 

[jollytammy]

Just loved your latest installment! It felt like you were talking about my family. It's nice to know we all go thru the same problems, and it's not just my family that seems to have these issues !

 

[dvc4life]

Just loved your latest installment! It felt like you were talking about my family. It's nice to know we all go thru the same problems, and it's not just my family that seems to have these issues !

I totally agree!!!

 

[Colmenares3]

Woo hoo, I love me some cyndid TR!