Our Magical "Celebration" Western Caribbean Cruise, March 7-14, 2009 ~ Completed 5/18

[frdeb1999]

Great TR! Love all the pictures and details!! Looking forward to more.

 

[mkmommy]

Your pictures are wonderful. Sorry to hear about your magnetics, no one stole they ones that you gave us.

Good for you for making the character breakfast. I am in trouble now though DD6 can read , and she was reading your report and she is not pleased that she missed a photo op(as if she needed any more ). I explained to her that they were never awake before 9:00 so that is why we missed it.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Great TR! I love being able to see the same cruise from a different perspective. That was such an incredibly beautiful day in Key West. I am moving slow because of various tests, but hopefully I'll be able to get some writing done this weekend. Looking forward to reading more.

Same here, I am enjoying your report as well. Good luck on your tests and stay tuned!

Great TR! Love all the pictures and details!! Looking forward to more.

Thanks!

Your pictures are wonderful. Sorry to hear about your magnetics, no one stole they ones that you gave us.

Good for you for making the character breakfast. I am in trouble now though DD6 can read , and she was reading your report and she is not pleased that she missed a photo op(as if she needed any more ). I explained to her that they were never awake before 9:00 so that is why we missed it.

Sorry! Fortunately, the breakfast was very early in the week or we might have had trouble getting DD down to it so early too!

Glad to hear your magnets weren't stolen! You can probabaly relaminate your names and use them again next year!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Dateline: Monday, March 9, 2009

Last year, my DH and I really enjoyed the Palo Brunch and our time with just the two of us. We were fortunate enough to be able to book it again for this cruise on Monday morning at 10:30 AM. After we woke up, we went up to Topsiders for breakfast, mainly for our DD. My DH and I ate lightly as we knew what was awaiting us at Palo. After breakfast we walked up on Deck 10.

Deck 10 early Monday morning.

Just in case there was any doubt about chair saving!

Quiet Cove pool early Monday morning. Evidently, these loungers don’t have a “No Saving” warning!

My DD wasn’t thrilled, but she was going to have to go to Deck 10 with the Oceaneer’s Lab for Sports Deck Fun and Goofy World Records. Her Dad and I had a date at Palo.

We had Xenia from Russia as our server. She was very nice and informative. She gave us a tour of the buffet and gave us her recommendations. I loved the shrimp (unlike Topsiders, I didn’t have to peel it). My DH loved the scallops and tried the caviar. The Boursian, (I think that’s how you spell it), basically an herbed cheese, was excellent as were the danishes! Can you tell that I love danish pastry? Anyway, my DH ordered Eggs Benedict and Veal for his main courses while I took Xenia’s recommendation and ordered Chicken Parmesan. It was all delicious. Then it was time for dessert. DH had the tiramisu and I had the cream puff and strawberry truffle. They were also delicious.

After brunch we collected our DD from the sports deck and took her to lunch. We then headed back to the stateroom where we got a good glimpse of Cuba off the port side.

DH went to the DVC presentation, we were considering joining, and then the wine tasting with our DNH. In the meantime, DD and I went topside to walk the deck. I was in search of characters, whom I found!

I love these guys!

DD wanted to play ping pong. We found an empty table, but playing was a futile attempt as the wind made any kind of volley prohibitive. She finally gave up. We wandered around the ship a while and went shopping (DD had a gift card burning a hole in her pocket).

One of the things we were going to try to differently this year was to do more activities as a family. So on that note, at 2:15 PM we met DH for the Mickey 200 race in the Promenade Lounge. Trevor and Ponz were the crew staff in charge of this event.

The brand spanking new Mickey 200 raceway!

It was a lot of fun. We were asked to pick a team name. We chose Team Cheetah, because cheetahs are fast, right? Then they give you a potato, 4 wheels, 4 nails, a carrot, 2 toothpicks and a knife.

Our "raw" materials!

From these few materials, you were to make a car to race. The adults were to actually build the vehicle, while the children were to tell them how to do it. Now, my DH had just come from wine tasting, whether or not he should have been handling a knife was of concern, but he left the ship with the same amount of fingers he got on with. My DH was also an Eagle Scout and I think his Soap Box Derby experience kicked in as well.

As we were building our car, SplashMountainManiac happened to come by with his parents. Evidently, he is a Mickey 200 veteran and gave us a good tip about how to use the carrot in our design.

The master craftsman at work!

Which we followed.

Testing to make sure our highly technical vehicle fit the track.

There were about 9 teams, including one with Thtrmike, EPCOTgrl1 and CapeCodRob. Two teams competed in each heat. “3, 2, 1. . . vegetables, start your engines!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjjV1tdmWx0

Go, Cheetahs!!!!!

Trevor started the races while Ponz officiated at the finish line. Team Cheetah won our first 3 heats to compete in the final race against the other DISers for the trophy.

Unfortunately, Team Cheetah came in 2nd , by a carrot nose, and just missed getting the trophy, but we had a great time! Congratulations thtrMike!

Next: Anybody for a spot of tea?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Later that afternoon, around 4:00 PM we had tickets to Alice’s Tea Party with our DNeighbors. DH decided not to go and went off to read his book. Anyway, DD and I headed down to Studio Sea for the tea party. I was surprised that my DD actually wanted to attend this year, as she is not a big fan of the Mad Hatter. We sat a ways back from the main stage so I guess she felt more comfortable. They served us watered down lemonade and Island Chocolate Chip cookies.

Hatter and Alice chose two children from the audience to be the White Rabbit and March Hare. Our fellow DISer’s Jynohn’s daughter was chosen as the White Rabbit and got to sit at the front table with Alice. Alice then instructed everybody on the proper English way to serve and drink tea and we celebrated everybody’s “Unbirthday”. It was very cute.

Alice giving instructions.

A surprise guest!

After the tea party it was time to head back up to the stateroom to get ready for formal night. Now, we are not much for getting all gussied up. We tend to be really casual out here in the West. Anyway, as part of my “celebration”, my mother-in-law bought me a new LBD (for those who don’t know, Little Black Dress) for Christmas. I shopped and shopped to find just the right jewelry and shoes to go with it. I was very excited to finally have an opportunity to wear it. Unfortunately, the only good picture was taken by Shutters and I currently have no way to scan that picture yet, so you’re just going to have to take my word that I looked very nice!

Once we were all dolled up, we headed down to the Captain’s Reception to meet the Captain, but most importantly, to get our free rum drink! We took several formal pictures with and without characters while wearing our finery before heading into Lumiere’s for dinner.

Our napkin.

Dinner was very good but the service was slow again tonight. I did enjoy the Golden Mickey Dessert. Our DD got bored at dinner so DH took her back to the room before dessert was served. Joyce gave me a Golden Mickey Dessert to take up to DH.

After dinner, I went back up to the stateroom to change and DD and I went down to see The Golden Mickey’s. The show was very entertaining, as usual, and the performers were excellent.

Cruella!

Woody & Jesse, "You've got a friend in me"

Can you feel the love?

The finale!

It was then time to call it a day. Here was our towel animal for the night.

Swan song!

Here were the door magnets for the day.

Thoughts: Today was a great day in that we stayed active and found new things to try. I still don’t think I relaxed, but I had fun! If I haven’t mentioned it already, we did feel the ship moving more this year than last. We were gently rocked to sleep with a bit more rocking this year and you could really feel the ship moving in the Walt Disney Theater.

Next: “Grab Shell Dude”

 

[anetnmike]

Love your trip report! Loved your last one too!
Your magnet collection is incredible!
can't wait to hear more!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Love your trip report! Loved your last one too!
Your magnet collection is incredible!
can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! I think I got a little carried away with the magnets, but they were so fun to make and there were soooo many great designs to choose from. I had them hanging from every door in our stateroom!

 

[anetnmike]

they are easy to make? even the "craft challanged" such as myself can do it?
maybe there is hope for my cabin door!
DH made ours ( it is one big one) and it is awesome but I'd like to try to do some more like yours.
don't let me hold up your TR though can't wait to get back to that!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

they are easy to make? even the "craft challanged" such as myself can do it?
maybe there is hope for my cabin door!
DH made ours ( it is one big one) and it is awesome but I'd like to try to do some more like yours.
don't let me hold up your TR though can't wait to get back to that!

If you have a computer and you have a program like Word, you can make magnets. There are several great boards for graphics.

Here is the one for cruise magnets:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1523226

If you head over to the DISign board, there are so many tremendously talented people over there who have wonderful designs and will personalize them for you.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105

Several of them put designs on Photobucket (links are in their siggies) and you are welcome to download their designs to your computer and print them out too. Warning, this could take hours, they are all so great!

Once you have them made, I recommend printing them out on magnetic paper. I used the Avery brand. They were easy to transport and they stuck very well to the doors, well except the few that "walked away".

 

[JDBlair]

Hi Fellow Zonie!
Awesome! I'm so jealous you've been on 2 cruises since my last one!! I'm enjoying your TR! Keep it up!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Dateline: Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Port: Grand Cayman

It was already Tuesday morning. It was shaping up to be another beautiful day. Here was the special magnet for the day.

We woke up to the Magic just getting in to Grand Cayman.

We have to tender at this port, so there were several other ships around us, but not as many as last year.

Our neighbor to starboard.

Our neighbor to port.

Today we were going on the DCL excursion to Boatswain’s Adventure Park. After breakfast at Topsiders, we met up in Studio Sea at 9:20 AM to turn in our liability waivers and get our stickers. We were the Mickey Mouse group. We were led on to the Tender and had this beautiful view.

Once we reached the pier, we were led off the boat by Disney CM’s before we were handed over to the park employees and put on shuttle busses. We were then driven to the park a ways down the island. We saw the Governor’s House and hurricane damage from Ivan a few years ago. When we arrived at the park we were given a tour of the turtle farm.

We were told about the conservation efforts that the farm was doing by returning over 30,000 turtles to the wild from their breeding program since it began.

Iguanas ran wild throughout the park, kind of like squirrels at our zoo. I think they were up in every tree we passed.

Watch out below!

We were able to hold 5 month old turtles. When you held them, their fins would flap wildly. If you rubbed under their chin, they would calm down and stop flapping.

Cootchie, cootchie, coo!

While the adults were too big to lift out of the tank, the instructor pulled one out far enough for us to pet.

Nice turtle!

The instructor told us how they release water through their nose and that is how they can sleep on the bottom of the ocean. He demonstrated this by feeding them and as they came up for air, they would shoot water from their nostril. Some of them had pretty good distance! Not all turtles in the farm could be pet. They had some loggerheads that could take your fingers off with their jaws. We just looked at those.

After we learned about the turtles, we were taken to the Predator Tank where there were sharks, eels, a barracuda and sea turtles.

Afterwards, we were free to enjoy the park. The first place we went to was the aviary.

Scarlet Ibis

They also had a Blue Iguana, which is indigenous to the islands.

After seeing the animals, we went out to find the swimming pool. On the way, we passed the snorkel lagoon.

The main bar and restaurant.

We then found the swimming pool.

There really weren’t a lot of people enjoying the pool so we had no problem finding loungers. Now finding shade was another issue, but we found some. We hung out in the pool for about an hour, where I enjoyed a margarita

In honor of zweihund! The gratuitous pedicure picture!

and my DH a beer, and then went to get lunch. Lunch was provided as part of the excursion. We had a choice of a Hamburger and pasta salad or Jerk Chicken and rice and a drink. The meal was okay, but not great and not very filling.

We then went shopping in the gift shop before boarding the busses and heading back to the ship. While we were riding back, we got to see a nice tropical rain shower. It didn’t last long though. Once we got to the pier, we went through security and got on a tender back to the ship.

Next: Room service.

 

[epcotrulz]

I'm loving your TR -- thanks so much -- we're on the 4/18 West Cab, and this is getting us so excited!!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Hi Fellow Zonie!
Awesome! I'm so jealous you've been on 2 cruises since my last one!! I'm enjoying your TR! Keep it up!

Hi neighbor, long time no hear!

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it.

Don't feel too jealous, yours is coming up soon!

 

[anetnmike]

thanx so much for the info

 

[cakesnjammom]

tell me about the pool pls...is it a saltwater pool or fresh water? DEPTH? THX

 

[heatherlynn444]

really enjoying your TR! makes me so mad that someone would steal magnets off your door! how childish!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

thanx so much for the info

You're welcome. Have fun!

tell me about the pool pls...is it a saltwater pool or fresh water? DEPTH? THX

The snorkel lagoon is salt water. Our neighbors went snorkeling in it and told us that they got to swim with sea turtles. The swimming pool is fresh water. It is a zero entry but can get pretty deep over by the waterfall. Children under 12 had to stay on one side of the markers, but could go into the deeper end with an adult.

You can swim over to the predator tank and look into it from the pool, DH and DD did that. The water was too cold for this desert rat!

really enjoying your TR! makes me so mad that someone would steal magnets off your door! how childish!

Thanks! I went in knowing that magnets were being stolen, I guess I thought it wouldn't happen to me. I was upset for a little while, but got over it and moved on.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

One thing we never did last cruise that we wanted to do this cruise was order room service. So, once we got back on board, we headed straight for our stateroom and ordered room service. What did we order, you might ask? You guessed it, Mickey Ice Cream Bars!! It was just what we needed after spending a warm afternoon in the Caribbean.

Yum, Yum!

Before getting ready for dinner, while my family rested in the stateroom, I decided to stroll up on Deck 10 and get some pictures. There was a live band (Soul Drive) performing on the main stage by the Goofy Pool. Who said they didn't have live entertainment by the pool anymore?

The Captain also decided to blow the ship’s horn. I must have been standing right in front of it, because it was very, very loud.

While we were getting ready for dinner, we heard the infamous chimes. Brent was making an announcement. Usually we scramble to change the TV channel or we run to open the front door to hear it. However, this time it was unusual in that it was broadcast in the stateroom. He announced that Bob Iger had just announced the new names of the 2 new ships, the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Oh to be on the DIS boards after that announcement! Personally, I like the names. Dream wasn't a surprise, but Fantasy is nice. It doesn't bother me if other ships have that name. They copy from DCL too! Imitation is the best form of flattery right? Anyway, at the end of the announcement Brent said (in not so many words), Oh, by the way, the stabilizers aren’t working and they were being worked on, so we should expect some rocking and rolling. Like we hadn’t already noticed the extra rocking and rolling!

We had dinner in Lumiere’s again tonight. It was the regular Lumiere’s menu. Our DD was worn out and not feeling well (stuffy nose), so I took her back to the stateroom tonight before dessert was served. DD was originally going to go see Twice Charmed with me, but opted to watch it on TV instead. So, I went down to see the show by myself.

I really love this production. It is very well done and I was very impressed with the cast members who played Franco and Prince Charming. They were both phenomenal.

Yup, Brent was still around.

After the show, I headed up to Deck 10 to see the full moon. It was gorgeous over the ocean with the cloud cover.

Then I headed back to the stateroom. DD had fallen asleep watching the televised version of the show. DH had read his book and closed his eyes for awhile too. We called it a night and went to bed. Here are our towel animals for the night. Denitsa even did one for special for DD! Nice touch!

Stingray

Baby sea turtle for DD

Thoughts: I ran into SplashMountainManiac and his parents at the show. He had heard about the new names of the ship and we both commented how much fun it would have been to be on the boards. We had a great day in Grand Cayman. The weather was absolutely perfect and I was finally able to relax, the margarita didn’t hurt! DD loved the turtle farm and being able to hold a real live turtle. Then again, anywhere, anytime she can go swimming, she is happy.

Next: A Date with a Dolphin!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I love your TR! Thanks again for all the pics and for updating it so often. I have to say, that I would probably rather be ON DCL itself when the names were announced! That must have been cool.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

It would have been nice if they commemorated it with a pin or something, but I never saw anything.