Here is the beginning of my trip report.
We left a little before 3 AM on the 12th. It was chilly and rainy. We had hoped Kaleigh would go back to sleep, but she didn't for quite awhile. It was dark for the first few hours of driving, so she couldn't do anything either, but stare out the window. Anyway, she did awesome on the whole drive. I didn't use a lot of my surprises, so I will save them for December on the airplane. We made it to St. Mary's Georgia that day. It is 3 miles from the FLA line.
We got up the next morning and dressed in our matching outfits to drive to the ship. It is always exciting to see it for the first time, no matter how many times you have cruised.
We boarded the ship in a timely fashion. I had to go to the club to sign Kaleigh up and get the pager because their computer system was down. Otherwise it could have been done in the terminal. Jerry went to check on our seating assingment. I ask for a private table, we don't get one, Jerry has to have it changed.
Instead of going to a dining room for lunch, we did something different and went to deck 9 for some pizza and chicken strips. It was nice actually. Then it was time to go to our cabin. I got Kaleigh into her bathing suit and took her to the pool while Jerry unpacked the luggage. Jerry like not having everyone under foot to do the unpacking for a change. That was a first as well. Then there was the lifeboat drill and finally sailaway. We got drinks from the bar instead of the sailaway drinks. Kaleigh didn't want to stay for the party so we went back to our cabin and watched from there waving our Castaway flags. Again, something different. Dinner was at 8 and we ended up with a table for 6 for the 3 of us. Our servers were good, but we have had better.
Sunday was the first sea day, but the weather was yucky all day. You weren't allowed outside, but you could go into the covered areas of deck 9. It was just pouring rain. We all napped and then Kaleigh went to the club so we could go to High Tea. It was peaceful and nice. It was also formal night, so we went for pictures before dinner. Jerry and I dropped Kaleigh off every night after dinner at the clubs. We went to Diversions to watch baseball if there was a game. If there wasn't a game, we went to Sessions.
Monday was a beautiful sea day. We had brunch at Palo. I could barely eat dinner I was still so full.
Tuesday was St. Maarten. We got off the ship and went shopping and didn't buy a single thing. Kaleigh was so tired, she slept in the stroller a lot of the time. Then we went to the beach near the water taxi pier. We let Kaleigh collect shells and play in the sand and water for a while. It was beautiful. This was pirate night. Kaleigh and I had matching pirate costumes. Jerry wore the same one from last year. We had pictures taken and then dinner. We went to the party. Kaleigh was so exhusted, but was determined to stay up for fireworks. As soon as they were over, we went to bed.
Wednesday was St. Thomas. We did not get off the ship at all this day . We hung around the pool and did whatever. We did go to a couple of the matinee shows and one evening show. This was our Palo night. Again, we came away stuffed. Our server, Sylvester, kept bringing us food.
Thursday was another beautiful sea day. I had my facial, Kaleigh went to the club and Jerry got an hour to himself. I came and joined him after my facial. I actually went in the adult pool! This was semi-formal night or as Kaleigh calls it, Princess night. She dressed in her Cinderella costume. Again, we had pictures taken before dinner.
Friday was Castaway Day and our 16th wedding anniversary. Someone got married on the island this day. It wasn't the best weather to say the least. It was only in the low 80's and was misty to start. The sky was darkening and we went for shelter. It rained in Biblical proportions for at least 15 minutes. After that, we went for lunch. Kaleigh didn't want to play in the sand anymore so we went back to the ship and hung around the Mickey pool. It was quiet. I went to the hot tub next door (Goofy Pool) for a bit, Jerry did the same when I got back. Kaleigh loves the bratwurst at Pluto's Doghouse. It was the last day of another nice cruise.
We liked the enhancements to Disney Dreams. Lumiere still is NOT my favorite menu. I love the Pirate night menu. Palo was amazing as always. We look forward to next year. We managed to decrease our bar bill this time. Unfortunately, our picture bill went up. Part of this was because our camera died. I am not sure how many of the pictures I did take will come out.
The rest of the trip report to follow.