Our BIG group on the 2/22 Eastern Magic

[katerkat]

Who/Why: Well, here’s the fun part. Mr & Mrs W lived next door to my parents in NJ. Their daughter Faith plans trips and events for companies. Every year there is a Florida trip done by Faith. This year, it’s a Disney cruise! So, due to great group rates, Faith and her family are going -- Faith, John, sons Hunter, 5, and Logan, 3, and newborn daughter Hannah. John’s parents (Mr & Mrs R) are also going.
Mr & Mrs W are going
My parents (Mom and Dad) are going
Faith’s sister Cathy Jo, her husband Rob and their son Evan (15 months) are going.
Mom and Dad offered to pay for my sister (Jen, 25) and I (23) to go along -- they pay for the cabin and we pay for everything else. (We ended up weaseling my airfare out of them too. ) Cathy and Faith asked us to babysit for the babies one or two nights during the cruise. We agreed.
My husband could not get out of pilot training for the week, so he’s staying home with our “kids” -- I came home to an empty food dish and full litter box.
And, horribly, my little sister (Chris, almost 21) could not get out of class, so she was left behind... And the cruise fell over her birthday. Whoops!

Crusing background: My family has done one Big Red Boat when it was the Disney cruise. We have done countless Royal Caribbean cruises (I think my mom is on #11) and one Carnival cruise. Mr & Mrs W have done several RCCL cruises with my parents. I *think* this is everyone’s first Disney cruise.

Where/When: 7-day Magic Eastern Caribbean cruise! Starting Saturday, Feb. 22.

Staterooms: I don’t know how we were orginially booked (outside something or other), but we were upgraded to Category 7! Woohoo! We have Navigator’s verandahs. That’s Jen and me, and Mom and Dad. Mr & Mrs R were on our deck, Cathy, Rob and Evan were up a deck. Hmm, everyone else, I don't know.

 

[katerkat]

Friday — arrival
I woke up very early to finish packing before heading to the airport. Bryan, of course, didn’t want me to leave and made me about 15 minutes late. It ended up not mattering because I found out the local airport has all of one gate. Which made boarding exceptionally easy, thank goodness.
The flight to Atlanta was uneventful, despite the dog on the prop plane. I had a longer layover in Atlanta, so I took my time walking in between gates. Flight to Orlando was packed with Johnson & Johnson sales people — apparently they had a conference that week.
Got to Orlando and found my parents outside the security area. Picked up my bag and headed out! Dad made us carry my heavy bag up two flights stairs instead of using the elevator. We headed to TGIFridays for some lunch, and there, the annoying part of our trip started. The waitress treated my sister and I like we’re kids. Seriously, I don’t think she thought we were more than 16. I was tempted to order a drink so I could show her my ID and see her face when she realized I’m 23. Oy. Sidenote: I decided not to wear my engagement ring because I would worry about the diamond too much, and my wedding band is a plain thin gold band -- in other words, not so noticable. I wonder how much of this confusion of my age would have been avoided if I had that diamond on...
After lunch we drove out to my grandfather’s. Grandpa, Dad and I went to the car wash and store to get some supplies. Grandpa made fun of Dad at the car wash. Couldn’t find any poster board for the Disboard sign. When we got home, Jen and I went on a walk on the beach — my grandfather lives 1/4 mile from the beach.
Dinner and hanging out for the rest of the evening. We repacked all the bags so we had the right amount of carryons. Went to bed early because we were exhausted.

Saturday — embarkation
Woke up around 9ish. Had breakfast, checked e-mail and voice mail and all that. Printed off some words for the Disboard sign, which now was on some pieces of cardboard I found in Grandpa’s garage. Made the sign. Filled out all the cruise documents. Got organized and made sure we had everything packed just right. Stuck it all in the car and away we went, just after noon.
We drove up A1A, which really didn’t take all that long. Got to drool over Patrick AFB — the Officer’s Club is right on the beach, and so is the temporary lodging. *sigh* Pilots never get assigned there.
The boarding process is pretty easy. We dropped off all our bags and Dad parked. Lines weren’t especially long and the lady didn’t even care that the name in my passport didn’t match the name on my ticket. (??) Oh well.
We confused the poor guy announcing people as they board. Three people with one name, one with another, two from NJ, one from VA and one from Mississippi... Finally we told him just to use my parents’ name, from NJ.
We went straight up to our staterooms, since we weren’t rushing to make Palo ressies or anything. The balcony was great! Not a Navigator’s verandah at all — it was a full-fledged balcony. The room was really nice, though I’m not sure I liked the split baths. It was good some times, and not so good others. Jen was entranced by the magic light in the closet. The stateroom guy convinced us not to split the queen into two twins — the couch flips into a bed as well, so we ended up taking turns on the queen and the couch-twin.
After we had dropped off everything, we went down to Parrot Cay for lunch, where we bumped into part of our group! They were almost done, though, so we just said hello and figured out when we would meet them later.
Lunch was OK, and helped take care of my headache. After lunch we went ship exploring. The ship didn’t really seem that big, which is nice. I like to be able to find my way around easily. We checked out the pools, too, and importantly, Quiet Cove. Watched a little character welcome thing. Later we headed down to the stateroom to get the Disboard sign and waited outside Topsiders. We found two people. Ah well. Guess that’s what happens when Dad organizes the meet. We met up with some of our group and hung out for a while, catching up on plans. The boat was late leaving because of some bad weather up north delaying about 60 people’s flights.
Then it was time to get ready for dinner at Parrot Cay. Dinner was good — I had the T-bone steak. Annoying thing #2: At dinner, Dad ordered wine, and they took away Jen and my glasses without even asking! My dad had to ask them to bring the glasses back, and the asst. waiter looks at us and goes, "They are over 21?"
The dining room was loud. Our drink server was rather slow. He got a bit better as the week went on, but it wasn’t until the last night that we actually got our milk WITH dessert instead of AFTER dessert.
After dinner I hit the e-mail zone to e-mail Bryan to let him know I got there safely. Mom e-mailed Chris — we went during the free time. Then we went to the show, which was...corny. Jen really didn’t like it. It was a juggler and a ventriloquist, plus some songs. It wasn’t that bad, but it was definitely aimed at the kids.
We were so tired once the show was over that we decided to go to bed and enjoy the ship later — after all, we have a week, right? So Jen and I flipped a coin to see who got the queen bed first and went to sleep.

 

[katerkat]

Cathy and Evan at the Sail-away Party. As you can see, it was a bit grey out, and it rained in little bursts. We went inside to change after we had a big burst of rain.

The Sail-away Party in the Atrium (the characters were afraid of melting in the rain.) We were on the third floor of the atrium and the characters were way down on the first. Also, we got there late (as we were outside) and didn't exactly get the best view.

Back of Mickey's head

We saw dolphins and sea turtles on the way out! They're the little bumps in the water...

 

[katerkat]

Sunday – At Sea
Jen and I woke early, as we’re still on our schedules. We ate breakfast at Topsiders, where we met up with Mom and Dad. And then Cathy arrived and begged us to share her table with Evan. So the four of us join the two of them at a four-person table. Then Faith arrives with Hannah and joins us. So we’ve now got six adults and two strollers at a four-person table.
Jen and I snagged lounge chairs by the adult pool and read for a while. At 11, we went to a “Disney Behind the Scenes” seminar with Donald “Ducky” Williams, the character artist for Disney Marketing. His talk was really cool, and he sketched characters while talking, which were raffled off at the end of the talk. I just used “talk” three times in one sentence. Bad journalist! We didn’t win any sketches this time.
Back up to the lounge chairs, which are now being used by Mom and Dad and Faith, who brought baby Hannah into the adult area! She was asleep in her stroller though, and no one commented on it to us. We went to Topsiders for lunch, and the minestrone was great! After lunch we lounged around some more before heading to the room to change for dinner. I didn’t shower soon enough, and ended up not being able to curl my hair because the hair dryer in the room sucked.
We really lucked out in our dining rotation – we got the nice Lumierie’s for formal night. I liked Lumierie’s a lot because we were able to all sit at one table (all 19 of us! Including the couple with an 18-month-ish daughter.) Dinner was good – surprisingly, I had steak. Leo, our waiter, was very nice – I explained to him that I could only eat meat that was well cooked, but I didn’t want it burnt. (I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and my stomach hates meat.) My steak came out perfectly every time. I was disappointed in the soup selection – I like having a consommé to sip, even if it’s minestrone around the veggies. There was never a consommé on the menu.
After dinner, Jen, Mom and Dad and I walked around a bit (after I emailed Bryan, of course!) on Deck 4’s promenade. Jen and I were tired again, so we ended up going back to the room fairly early. Mom and Dad went to see “Morty the Magician” – they said it wasn’t bad. Jen and I didn’t even make it to Alias. We did discover that the drink machine by Topsiders was open fairly late and had milk, so we were able to have milk before bed every night.

 

[katerkat]

Monday – At Sea
The day of the sunburn. Jen and I woke early, ate breakfast at Topsiders. Then we got lounge chairs by Quiet Cove and spent a nice morning reading. We went to the “Disney’s Art of Entertaining” seminar on desserts. :yummy: Yummy! Fruit with some yummy sauce. Then, annoying thing #3 – a bartender were handing out glasses of Asti Spumante with the desserts, and he walked right past Jen and I without seeing if we even wanted any! Do we really look THAT young? :sigh: Back up to the lounge chairs, which Cathy is keeping warm for us. Cathy put suntan lotion on my back and told me to do the front. I don’t. So, since this is lunchtime, I’m burnt to a crisp within minutes. What’s fun is that there are marks along my arms from where Cathy stopped. (Annoying thing #4 – bartenders ask everyone sitting around us if they want drinks. They don’t ask us. At least we don’t get asked if we’re old enough to be at Quiet Cove!)
We had dinner at Animator’s Palate, which was interesting. Our tables were way in the back, though, so we didn’t really get to see a lot of the stuff going on around the room. The kids did enjoy the “changes” that they saw. And the finale was pretty cool.
After dinner, Cathy, Rob, Jen and I went to the hot tub. I didn't get in, as hot=hurt for sunburn, so Rob asked me to run to their room to get their baby beeper. (Evan was in the nursery.) On my way down, I bumped into the teens going somewhere, and the counselor asked me why I haven't been to any of the activities. Seriously, I think I look over 18, at least!!
Then we ran over to the Family Magic Quest. It was pretty cool – we helped the family next to us. If you play this game, be creative! They asked for a picture of a child, and no one had their wallet on them, but I had a picture of the kids from dinner on my digicam. They took it! After that, I emailed Bryan. Jen and I skipped the show (Hercules) and wandered around the ship for a while. Did you know there’s a hallway with the alphabet, with each letter representing a “sea” term? Well, the “Q” is quarantine! I found that funny, as they were quarantining people with the Norwalk. Which, by the way, we never saw evidence of. We were even allowed to serve ourselves at the buffet, and weren’t very cautious about washing our hands.
That evening, Jen and I managed to stay up! (We took a nap that afternoon…)
Cathy, Rob, Jen and I went to the hot tub. I didn't get in, as hot=hurt for sunburn, so Rob asked me to run to their room to get their baby beeper. (Evan was in the nursery.) On my way down, I bumped into the teens going somewhere, and the counselor asked me why I haven't been to any of the activities. Seriously, I think I look over 18, at least!!
Then we played a gender Family Feud-type game, which was fun. Even though the silly guys won. Afterward, we discovered the best show on the ship – Dueling Pianos. We had a great time singing and clapping along with Jeff and Fidelio, and I even got volunteered to demonstrate the motions to “Joy to the World.” Unfortunately, when they had a contest between a guy and me, I choked and the guy won. Ah well. I had three amaretto sours and couldn’t feel them at all. Methinks Disney waters down the drinks a good bit. At least I got served. We stuck around for two shows of DP, and Fidelio got us pizza between shows. So cool! Oh, and I found out that Jeff is getting his private pilot’s license, which Bryan got in November, so we talked about that. If Jeff had the eyesight, he’d want to do just what Bryan is doing.

 

[katerkat]

Cathy, Jen and I at dinner at Lumierie's. You can sorta see my nice reddened skin...

Faith and Logan watching the "show" at Lumierie's. In the background you can see Mr & Mrs R, Faith's ILs. Mrs R has the baby again. *sigh* I never once got to hold Hannah on the cruise because of all the grandparents around. It's like they think they have first dibs!

The waiters singing at the "show". In the foreground you can see Mrs R (with the baby), Hunter and John.

My cheesecake -- isn't the plate cool?

And Jen had...nothing for dessert.

 

[katerkat]

Cruddy photo of the girls in the gender game -- Cathy, Faith and Mom

The guys in the gender game -- Rob (with his hand over his face), some guy, Dad and John

Singing Joy "2" the World

 

[katerkat]

Tuesday – St. Maarten
We woke up at the wonderful hour of seven. No headache from yesterday’s imbibing, yay! Like I said, the drinks really weren’t that strong. Anyhoo, got up, got ready and hit Topsiders for breakfast with Mom and Dad. We all had the usual light fare. After breakfast we filled a water bottle and got ready to go on our excursions. Sneakers on sunburned feet = owie. But, as we were hiking, sneakers were necessary. Dad and Mr. W are going on the regatta, Mom, Jen and I on a hike, and everyone else is hanging around the ship and shopping areas.
So Mom, Jen and I head out to the bus area. We’re on a bus with about 20 others. We mention several times that we’re going on the HIKE, at the LOTERIE Farm. We end up at the Butterfly Farm. Nice. So we get a tour of that, find the bus driver, and try to explain that we’re supposed to be going on a HIKE, not shopping in Margot next. He finally realizes, whoops, wrong group! Jokes are made about the poor people who were expecting the Butterfly Farm and ended up hiking up a mountain. Eventually we manage to get to Loterie Farm and start the hike. The hike was…painful. The first bit wasn’t so hard, but the second bit was very uphill with very sharp turns and rocks to climb over. There was a very nice view from the top, which almost made it worth it. Almost. The trip down took forever, especially because we were all starving. Lunch was, um, well, we didn’t enjoy it. Salad and bbq chicken. Oh, and the bread had ants crawling all over it. The people next to me in line said they couldn’t eat the bread because they can’t eat meat (the ants being the meat). I said they shouldn’t eat the bread because there are ants crawling all over it!! After lunch we got a little tour of the island and then were dropped off in Phillipsburg for shopping. Bought my usual shot glass and wandered through the jewelry stores. We also found some cute sarongs – 3 for $15, so Jen and I bought one for ourselves and one for Chris. We took the ferry back to the ship.
Dad and Mr W enjoyed the regatta, but something happened to thier boat and they had to drop out for a bit. During the off bit, Dad got sick and puked overboard. He was not so happy for most of the rest of the evening.
Tropical night for dinner! And like I said – we had a great rotation, as we were at Parrot Cay (ie, the tropical dining room) for dinner. I had steak for dinner. Why am I even bothering to mention it? I had steak all but one night! I believe the steak had some teriyaki sauce on it this night, which was yummy. Oh, and there were never any good mashed potatoes this cruise. Random side note.
After dinner, I, surprisingly, emailed Bryan. No way! OK, anyway… No show tonight, so we hung out until it was time for TV Tune Trivia. My group won, but more by the bonus points than by knowing the shows! Then we went up to the Goofy pool to snag a good table for the Tropical Deck Party. It was a TON of fun. We girls got to dance with the little boys (our little boys, don’t get any bad ideas! ) My sister was actually dancing, which is a rarity! Unfortunately, all the excitement was starting to get to Logan, who ended up having an asthma attack and was sick for the rest of the cruise.
Jen and I decided to leave the deck party a little early to catch “Chicago” in the theater. It was a GREAT movie! I’m definitely glad I got to see it there, since I know I won’t be able to get Bryan to see it in the theater. Unfortunately, I got milk before going down and finished it when the movie ended. Warm milk = IBS attack for Kate that night. Blech. Luckily, that was my only attack during the whole trip.

 

[katerkat]

From the Butterfly Farm:

Mom makes a friend

My butterfly friend, Bob. And from the angle, my hand looks HUGE, doesn't it? :lol: Scary! And yes, my nose is sunburnt. Thank you.

From the Loterie Farm hike:

 

[katerkat]

From the Tropicalifragilistic Dinner:
Hannah and Faith. Hannah's daddy says this is the last time she'll wear something so revealing!

Evan and our asst. waiter, coming back from the limbo. Faith and Logan are behind them. The arm belongs to Evan's dad.

From the Tropicalifragilistic Deck Party:
Characters

Mom, holding Logan, with her back to the camera. Jen is clapping with Logan and Dad and Faith are dancing off to the side.

 

[katerkat]

Wednesday – St. Thomas
We have nothing planned for St. Thomas. So we get up, do the immigration thing – which really, made no sense. They didn’t check to see that my name was wrong on the passport, and they stamped our hands but never checked if our hands were stamped. So, uh, why the stamping? Cathy said she dragged Evan out of bed and they didn’t even look at his birth certificate. Silly.
Had breakfast in the dining room this morning, then went to the room and got everything we needed to head out. We decided not to take a taxi to town – the shops around the pier were sufficient for what we needed. We checked out the tram to Paradise Point, but the price was $15 per person! A bit much. So we shopped around. Found my shot glass and a shot glass for Christine and stuff for our cat sitters and alcohol. Jen and I checked out bikinis. Didn’t buy any.
We headed back to the ship for lunch and then napped in the room during the afternoon. I couldn’t take much heat on my sunburn! Watched the end of the Lion King on the TV. Got ready for dinner. Oh – and I had cell phone service, so we called Chris and Bryan.
Dinner was OK – I had the ravioli instead of steak because the steak was garlic incrusted. Ravioli was not so good, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps because I had no sauce, since sauce and my IBS are an iffy match. Logan was not feeling well. During dinner, we learned that “Who wants to be a Mouseketeer?” was postponed for the late dinner due to malfunctions. There was now one show, at 10:15. Then they changed their mind and decided to do one show at 7:45.
After dinner, Jen and I ran upstairs to get sweaters and cameras and then headed to the theater to save seats. And boy, did we get good seats. Yup! One of our rows was chosen!! The seat was empty and it went to my dad, who told me I had to go up for him. Actually, everyone agreed if they were picked, I would go up for them.
Ah, the Hot Seat… Rather extremely nerve racking. I hated not being about to see the audience. The cruise director forgot my name, too. But I got the first couple of questions right (Dopey has blue eyes, Mushu is the dragon from Mulan, Casey Jr. is from Dumbo and Davy Crockett is the “King of the Wild Frontier.”) Reached the $80 plateau, whew! Then a toughie – which was the first Disney animated series (or something like that). I knew three of them but not the fourth, so I did a 50/50 – and was left with Tale Spin and Gargoyles. I said Tale Spin. Wrong. *sigh* It was Gargoyles. Should have asked the panel. Oh well. I got $80, and that’s what counts! The other two contestants got higher than I did, but lost back down to the $80 level. Oh, and I got a pin, too. Really cool. And I knew most of the answers for the other contestants – if only I had gotten their questions! All three of us who played got $80, though the others got more questions right than me.
Afterwards we played adult Magic Quest, and won! Cathy, Jen, Mr W and I did, at least. It was a lot of fun, and Jen’s crocheting actually came in handy! After that it was time for dueling pianos again! Cathy, Jen, Faith and I were “volunteered” to sing back up for “Mustang Sally” – even though none of us really know the song. DP is so much fun as long as you get into it.

 

[katerkat]

Thursday – At Sea
It’s Christine’s birthday! So we celebrated by playing bingo and winning pictures. But first, we had our character breakfast! Which was so much fun. The kids really loved all the characters, and Mrs W made the kids and the girls character t-shirts. Mine had Donald on it, of course. (No Donald at breakfast, though.) Jen and I convinced Hunter to sit at our table – and he proceeded to eat everything off my plate. :lol: Kids!
After breakfast, we headed up to our spot by the Goofy pool and let Evan throw water at our legs for a bit. Mom and Mr W bought bingo cards in preparation for their big win. Jen, Dad, John, Mrs W and I went to the second seminar by Ducky Williams. This time we actually picked up raffle tickets! The seminar was essentially the same, but he told some new stuff and was still cool. And… Dad and I both won pictures that Ducky sketched! :yippee: I won near the end, so I didn’t have much to chose from – I picked Pongo, since I like 101 Dalmatians. A really nice guy at the store rolled it up neat and safe for me. Mom and Mr W didn’t win bingo.
Had a picnic lunch in our spot by the pool – the fishy eaters went to the Topsiders Fish Buffet. Watched a fun character pool party. After the kids went down for a nap, the adults headed over to the adult pool to relax in the sun. We watched the pool games, which were rather fun (to watch, not to do!) Then we took our naps.
Dinner was…interesting tonight. We were at Animator’s Palate, and we celebrated Chris and Faith’s birthdays – Faith’s was Friday, but they couldn’t do it then. Early during dinner, Evan had a, erm, nasty BM that required him to be completely changed. Then after dinner, Hunter puked. A lot. Really gross. And Faith and Cathy wonder why I don’t want any kids yet! Luckily, Hunter’s upset tummy was due to the heat of the room, the cake and just general excitement, rather than Norwalk or something. An hour later when we met up with them at the show, he was perfectly fine.
The show was fun – “Disney Dreams.” It was a little cheesy, as are most Disney shows, but cute. Worth going to see! Afterward we went to Dueling Pianos for the first show, and then to bed. DP not quite as exciting when you’re tired.

 

[katerkat]

Me, Jen and Pluto!

Mickey, Cathy and Evan

All the girls and kids

Evan's play area

Faith's cake, with Hunter sticking his fingers in it.

Me on Mouseketeer

The, erm, "beauty" pagent section of Magic Quest

 

[katerkat]

Friday – Castaway Cay
We arrive at Castaway a wee bit late, as we left St. Thomas a bit late. Jen and I decide not to join the crowd of nuts heading right to the beach – Cathy, Evan, Mom and Dad take that honor. Jen and I lather up with suntan lotion (tons for me this time!) and head out a bit later. I stop by the parasailing booth to check the time, and find out I need to stay there while Jen runs and gets Cathy. Mr R is also parasailing with us.
So we head out on the parasailing boat and about half of the people go up. And then the boat breaks. Yeah, this would be the SECOND TIME the boat has broken when I try to parasail. So we head back into the dock and switch boats, thereby throwing off all the other parasailers for the rest of the day. Ha ha! I do eventually go up with Cathy and it’s really cool. We went VERY high and then were dipped for a long time.
After parasailing, we head to our area, just in time for lunch! We hit the lines at the exact right time and got our food very quickly. Yummy bbq. After lunch, I went out snorkeling with Mom. It was really cool, and normally I *hate* swimming in salt water. I almost touched a fish! And I got a bad foot cramp, too. So I went back in and it’s time to head over to the banana boat. The banana? Not as much fun as others I’ve been on. It was required to go far too slow to really do anything. And Rob tried to push me off and we got yelled at.
Then I played in the sand with Logan for a bit. Then Jen and I decided we were hot and sticky enough, so we headed back in around 3. Jen panics about a brush that ends up being in her bag. We get ready for dinner and head down to Parrot Cay for the last time.
After dinner, Jen and I hit the last showing of “Sweet Home Alabama.” Everyone else wanders the ship before meeting up for, of course, DP. The final show, sigh. We rock with Fidelio and Jeff one last time and then head to bed.

Saturday – Debarkation
Now it’s time, to say goodbye… We hit the early breakfast, as does my parents, Mr & Mrs W and Hunter. Afterward, we head out into the Atrium and get ready to leave! Getting off was super easy, though for a moment we didn’t have one of our bags. Before we knew it we were on our way to the airport.
Mom and Dad dropped me off in front. We did the goodbyes and I reassured Mom that she was going to Mississippi to visit in less than a month. Head on it, check in, go through security and settle down. The plane I’m supposed to get on? Late. Did I mention I only have 45 minutes between flights? Yeah, well, due to bad weather, I get off the plane in Atlanta exactly five minutes before the one I need to be on takes off. So, needless to say, I got to spend a lot of time in the Atlanta airport. But surprise! Guess who was at the same gate as me? Faith, Hunter, Hannah, Mr & Mrs W! So I got to hang out with someone I knew for a bit, and for the first and only time, I got to hold Hannah!
Finally get on my flight home, finally got off, finally found my luggage, finally got to the car, lost the parking ticket, had to fill out a claim report, finally got out of the airport and headed home! My wondrous husband heated up some spaghetti for me. Meanwhile, Mom, Dad and Jenn make it to North Carolina in the car. They eventually get home on Sunday.

And that's it, I think! Dad (NJHOO) may add some stuff -- like, hint hint, maybe a review of the regatta? Oh, and more pics on my sister's website that I can't download for some reason -- here!

 

[Hannosmom]

Wow! Great trip report, and yes you and Jen do look really young! (Sorry, enjoy it while you can. lol) And, thanks for all the pictures, looks like you all had a great time.

 

[jlawall]

Hey great report! Sorry about the sunburn! Sounds like a terrific trip! I think I saw Ellen in one of your pictures. I guess you never did the theme nights in Rockin Bar D. I never did the dueling pianos. Did the pool games include the belly flop contest? It has been debated recently on this board. Thx for sharing your trip with us!!!

 

[katerkat]

Yes, the pool games included the belly flop -- we saw the one that John and the other guy got hurt at.

 

[Dragon Lady]

Sounds like you had a great trip, thanks for posting an amazing report!

You mentioned "free email time" on the ship. Is it at a particular time? I want to send a few emails while on the ship and really don't want to spend $80 for a weeks worth of internet access.

Thanks so much,
Dragon Lady

 

[mmouse37]

Great report....we also sailed once when Ducky was making a presentation. He is an amazing artist and we loved hearing how he got to work for Disney!!! Not to make you feel bad but we have the opposite problem with our DD14...she is always asked if she would like a drink and we have to tell them...no...she is only 14!!!

Glad you had a great time!!!

MJ

 

[katerkat]

Originally posted by Dragon Lady
You mentioned "free email time" on the ship. Is it at a particular time? I want to send a few emails while on the ship and really don't want to spend $80 for a weeks worth of internet access.

They had about two hours of "free Internet" time on Saturday night. It was kind of a "Look how nice the Internet works, now buy a package!" sort of a deal.
They also had a variety of "free" Internet things throughout the week. One day, they had "free video" day -- you paid for the minutes used to send the video, but saved the $4.95 video fee. We lucked out -- the day was on my sister's brithday, so we made a short video of us singing "Happy Birthday" for her.
I didn't buy the Internet package and spent about $40 e-mailing Bryan, about ten minutes or so each day, during the week.