October 20th 2007 Western Magic

[A fat english gent]

Chris - No, he just takes a smart suit, plus several formal shirts and ties. He won't go the whole hog and put on a TUX, but he does look very smart. As for me I go the whole hog - long dress/skirt, etc, etc.

As part of the 11 day - We did both formal nights in the usual restaurants and then did an extra formal night in Palos. Lovely
Heather

It not normally my thing if am honest but it's something the girls want to do "big" long dress,hair up the whole nine yards and we (me and Ryan) simply are not brave enough to say NO!!...

 

[Karen Mouse]

It'll be a black dress for me (if I can get into it that is . Is formal on night 3? Good job it isnt the last night - I'd stand no chance

Neil was going to bring along his suit - (he isnt a tux kinda man), but even that will fill up half a suitcase, so he's just going to bring a shirt and tie and black suit trousers and leave the jacket behind.

I am really tempted to change to late seating....I still cant make up my mind . I dont want to be rushing back from every port to change for dinner, but I dont want to eat at 8.30pm either I would love the 8pm, but I know its not guaranteed even if you request it.


Chris....come on, stop being so shy and post a photo


Keep us in your thoughts tomorrow - Ellis is back at the hospital - allergy skin tests. Last time they didnt go well . This time he knows whats coming too so it'll be even worse HE'S MORE LIKELY TO THUMP THE WOMAN THAN LET HER COME NEAR HIM WITH PEANUT SOLUTION AND A NEEDLE
I'm already bribing him with new toys and McDonalds if he promises to be brave - bad mother


Hey Lindy - love your piccie on another thread of you and Elouise on Castaway Cay

 

[oybolshoi]

Formal night...ahhh, let the tomato tossing begin!!

I'm going to dress up on purpose just to annoy Nancy...

Seriously, I love the chance to get all spruced up for dinner when we cruise. Dinner attire at our house is usually an HRC t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants!

Karen, formal night will be on Monday and semi-formal night will be on Thursday. Just warning the tablemates...we're headed to Palo on Thursday so that I can have something to choose from for dinner besides lobster or crap.

Happy belated birthday, Cheryl, and good luck Karen and Ellis!

 

[JLDSMD]

Karen, if you are unsure, keep the early seating until you board. It is much easier to change to late than it is to try to get to early.

We got late for last week and as much as Suz didn't want it, it worked out best for DS (and us for that matter). The only problem is we never got our main course until after 9:00 (except Thursday night when DS wasn't with us. Then we got it by 8:30. ) and since DS doesn't get an appetizer or soup/salad, he went an hour without food. Need to remember to tell the servers the first night to get him his food ASAP. I'd rather have him eat his main course while we're on the app and soup and if he somehow doesn't take forever to eat (yeah, right) I can take him to the club and get back in time for my main course.

 

[Karen Mouse]

Karen, if you are unsure, keep the early seating until you board. It is much easier to change to late than it is to try to get to early.

We got late for last week and as much as Suz didn't want it, it worked out best for DS (and us for that matter). The only problem is we never got our main course until after 9:00 (except Thursday night when DS wasn't with us. Then we got it by 8:30. ) and since DS doesn't get an appetizer or soup/salad, he went an hour without food. Need to remember to tell the servers the first night to get him his food ASAP. I'd rather have him eat his main course while we're on the app and soup and if he somehow doesn't take forever to eat (yeah, right) I can take him to the club and get back in time for my main course.

Hi Jeff

Thanks, thats a good idea Theres no way ds would wait til 9pm. I'll be telling them to bring his food with our apps

So are you doing a trippie? I'd love to see lots of photos

 

[JLDSMD]

Guess I owe you guys some posts. Thanks a lot Nancy for making me go through all those pages and posts. I will be honest, I probably missed something. I'm still tired and can't read everything. Maybe you need to do an executive summary for me.

Anyhow, quick summary of the cruise (with plenty more to come later). It was absolutely perfect. This was probably our last January vacation since DS is now in first grade and pulling him for that long is getting harder. The weather couldn't have been better. It was in the upper 70's in FL up until we sailed. It was 82 in Key West and sunny. The sea day was sunny and hot. Grand Cayman was 84 and sunny. Cozumel was 84 with some clouds. The next sea day was beautiful (don't know the temp). Castaway Cay was 83 and sunny (there were several clouds in the area with really dark ones to what I think was the south, but never over CC). I actually went snorkelling this trip. Water had been too cold the previous 2 January's. Port was cold on Saturday (only about 60-65) and we lost about 25 degrees everytime the plane landed (first in Memphis and then in Milwaukee).

The seas were smooth (except the first night - 8 to 13 ft). It was our first time on Deck 2 and DS looked down at the rushing water the whole time. He said his head hurt the first night at dinner. Not sure if it was motion sickness or dehydration (he didn't drink much in the parks on Friday nor on the ship the first afternoon). Needless to say we missed the first nights dinner, which happened to be at AP - so no show for us. By Sunday the waves were down to 4 to 8 but with the wind at our backs, it didn't effect the boat. By the end of the week waves were only 1.5 to 4. That was like glass. Suz did say she got up in the middle of the night on the way back to port and it was rocking, but I didn't notice/feel it. Guess I was exhausted from the sun on CC. Suz also didn't have to put the patch behind her ear (and she is one that gets motion sickness very easily).

A more detail report will be coming - along with pictures.

We did several requests/rebookings on board and will sort them out after the 31st. We put in a request for the Eastbound Repo for Aug '08 (first request for a SPH, then a secret verandah, and last resort a Cat 6, Deck 6), the 7 night Mexican Riveira on June 1st and lastly a dummy 3 nighter. Not sure what we will ultimately book, but just wanted to leave our options open. We have concluded that we won't do the 7 night Mexican, but may do the Double Dip 4 night the first part of June if the Repo is too costly.

Jeff

 

[GOS]

I am really tempted to change to late seating....I still cant make up my mind . I dont want to be rushing back from every port to change for dinner, but I dont want to eat at 8.30pm either I would love the 8pm, but I know its not guaranteed even if you request it.

Karen - I wouldn't bother. We were late sitting last time (8.30pm) and although our servers we excellent, we didn't get to finish our meals most nights. We wanted to see the late night adult show, so we left our table at 10.00pm. Also the deck late night buffets were a waste for us as they served these at around 10.30pm and we had only just finished dinner.

You could ask for late early seating - 6.30pm. It's worth a chance.

Heather

 

[JLDSMD]

You could ask for late early seating - 6.30pm. It's worth a chance.

Just an FYI, late early seating, which would be the LAP rotation, is at 6:00 p.m. with the later time being 8:30. APL is at 5:30/8:00 and PLA is 5:45/8:15.

On the flip side to being to full to eat anything at the late night buffets/stations, unless you finish eating lunch by 12:30, you'll be pretty full at dinner time. We ate around 1:00/1:30 so the 8:00 time worked fine for us.

I think 5:30 is way too early. I wish they'd atleast push that back 1/2 hour. It's not that you're eating early, if you figure the 3/4 to 1 hour time until the main course comes, it is having to get on the boat or leave the pool to get ready for dinner.

We like the APL rotation because it puts us in L on Formal and Semi-Formal and PC for Pirate night. If you do the LAP, you're in PC for Formal/Semi-Formal and AP for Pirate night (not my desired restaurants for those nights). PLA would be my second choice putting you in AP for formal/semi-formal, but you're in L for Pirate.

 

[oybolshoi]

Hey Jeff - glad to hear you had such a great cruise!

Did you and your wife happen to eat at Palo on this trip? I was just wondering if they are still offering that divine lemoncello / vodka slushie that they were handing out at the end of dinner back in October 2005.

That was a fine fine drink...I kind of wish I were drinking one right now...even if I am at work.

There, I've said it!

 

[JLDSMD]

Hey Jeff - glad to hear you had such a great cruise!

Did you and your wife happen to eat at Palo on this trip? I was just wondering if they are still offering that divine lemoncello / vodka slushie that they were handing out at the end of dinner back in October 2005.

That was a fine fine drink...I kind of wish I were drinking one right now...even if I am at work.

There, I've said it!

Brenda,

We only went to brunch this time at Palo. We just felt that dinner was getting to be the same everytime that we wanted to skip. While at brunch, however, we toyed with the idea of going for dinner, but I didn't pack a jacket or tie. Then, DS didn't want to do dinner with us on Semi-formal night (he opted for "gasses in action" instead - and no it was nothing to do with the mexican food we ate at Pancho's Backyard on Cozumel ), so we could have gone that night since I was already in my tux.

The times we did go there, I don't remember that drink. Maybe Suz does. I'll have to ask her.

BTW, I did stop by the Cove Cafe and I saw no listing for a Mochachino (sp?). Not that I'm a coffee drinker, but I thought it would be nice to post a picture of it listed on the menu. I did take a picture of the Cove Cafe's menu though. Maybe it is an off menu drink.

Jeff

 

[oybolshoi]

If you don't mind when you get a chance could you post CC's menu?

We first tried the mochaccino in 2004 and honestly in 2005 we didn't even look at the menu when we were at the Cove Cafe - we just ordered it every time we were there.

Oh, it's so good. It's similar to a cafe mocha but it's made with chocolate ice cream instead of hot chocolate. It's really like a chocolate / espresso milkshake with lots of whipped cream, sprinkles, cookies, and any other little presents the bartender offers you.

The nectar of the gods...ask for it by name.

PS. I hope your son was participating in a science-related happening at the kids club when you talk about gasses in action!!

 

[Timon]

Jeff, glad you had a great trip!! Can't wait to see photos!!

Chris, we are all gonna see you onboard anyway!! Waiting for a pic.....

Cheryl, if you need any help figuring it out, let me know!


Before the cruise I will put together a word document with the Who's Going Page info so you could print it off and bring it with you if you like, that way we don 't need amazing memories and can have a cheat sheet!

More Kira pics on the way, I've been so busy, my little girl likes to nurse every 45 mins to an hour all night and all day and she only takes little 20 minute naps so I don't get a lot of free time.

I think Rob is going to rent a tux this time as we will have a lot more luggage than we normally do. He usually takes a suit and two shirts/ties but I think he would look great in a tux for two nights. I usually take a black dress as well, I have a few now which never get worn. I don't think it's a big deal as we get dressed for photos and dinner and then we are back in shorts and tees right after.

So my weight loss thing isn't going so well, but I am still on Prednisone (a steroid) for my Lupus/low platelets and I can tell that I am actually gaining some weight in my face. This is my last week on the steroid though so hopefully I can get back on track and start losing again! I just hope my pain doesn't come back!

Good luck Ellis!! Not a fun thing to get done! Kira is going for her first shots tomorrow so she will be in the same boat. Hopefully she doesn't feel too bad afterwards.

 

[cntkg1]

Karen, I'll be thinking about you both tomorrow!! Ellis will be fine, maybe it's mom who needs our thoughts.

Jeff, can't wait to see pictures. Post soon!!

Brenda, you won't annoy me in the least if you wear a gown. I like seeing people all gussied up...just not me.

 

[disgrits]

I think Rob is going to rent a tux this time as we will have a lot more luggage than we normally do. He usually takes a suit and two shirts/ties but I think he would look great in a tux for two nights. I usually take a black dress as well, I have a few now which never get worn. I don't think it's a big deal as we get dressed for photos and dinner and then we are back in shorts and tees right after.

I am just realizing that I won't have to worry about getting a tux for my DH; he'll be in uniform....For those of you with sons, what do they wear on formal and semi-formal night?

 

[cntkg1]

I am just realizing that I won't have to worry about getting a tux for my DH; he'll be in uniform....For those of you with sons, what do they wear on formal and semi-formal night?

Paige, if you ask Jeff REALLY nice, he'll show you a picture of himself in his formal wear. Hint....it's very green...

 

[oybolshoi]

Paige, if you ask Jeff REALLY nice, he'll show you a picture of himself in his formal wear. Hint....it's very green...

Nancy, why'd you bring that nightmare up again? I was all ready to get started on my trip report and now all I can see is that picture...I'm going to have to go get drunk now and write up my employee performance reviews to purge that image from my inner eye.

 

[cntkg1]

Nancy, why'd you bring that nightmare up again? I was all ready to get started on my trip report and now all I can see is that picture...I'm going to have to go get drunk now and write up my employee performance reviews to purge that image from my inner eye.

Sorry, but I think I feel more sorry for your employees. NO RAISES THIS YEAR!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Sorry, but I think I feel more sorry for your employees. NO RAISES THIS YEAR!!

If I may say so, I'm actually a pretty fair boss-o-matic. Both of my employees are getting a raise and a bonus.

I guess I'll try the trippie tomorrow night...I seem to have lost my inspiration.

And someday I'm going to have to finish the scrapbook from the October 2005 cruise...preferably before October 2007!!

 

[JLDSMD]

I do not know what picture you speak of...





Could it be........






This one......

 

[oybolshoi]

My eyes...they are burning...

I'm thinking this picture needs to be Nancy's door sign on the cruise!