*Our MAGICal Christmas Cruise* ~ Dec. 24th-30th: All pics uploaded (except scanned!)

[brandip22]

What a wonderful report!! I am toying with the idea of a Christmas cruise in the next couple of years and I just LOVE your report! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[ElphieH]

Seriously?? Since when do you care who approves of what you do?? I LOVE that you have been posting while on the ship, since you wouldn't let me boot Jay out and pretend to be him so I could come with you.

Can't wait to see the pics, especially the ones of you and Jay all dressed up all fancy like. <3

Oh and now that Chase is potty trained, looks like we'll be looking into taking our first cruise sometime soon!!! Maybe we should do a cruise for the Barnes-Horn reunion instead of a park vaca!

Can't wait to see you guys when you get back!! The boys are counting the days. Give everyone our love!

 

[jitsb]

Yay! Great news, Bonnie!
____________


Sunday December 25th ~ Christmas Day at Sea!

I’m starting to get concerned about the amount of sleep our DS’s are missing. Despite being up very late for 3 nights in a row, they’re still waking up between 7 and 7:30 every morning. I’m starting to dread the impending crash...

The boys were all decked out in their Packers finery and we decided to have a lovely Christmas breakfast at Lumiere’s. Pancakes, waffles, Eggs Benedict and custom omelette. And of course, we topped it off with Christmas cookies. Our DS’s have become quite obsessed with their gifts from Santa...two Nintendo DSes So we let them have some playtime this morning. We also attended the Holiday Stories in the Promenade Lounge are so glad we made a point of it! Different people told stories about the different holidays celebrated this time of year; it was awesome-sauce! Naturally, our super-shy children who never talk, answer questions or share stories were a big hit. (Oh, and for those who don't know me, the previously sentence was completely dripping with sarcasm!)

Next up, we stopped by Shutters to sign up for a photo package and were thrilled to have such a nice family embarkation photo -- much better than last year! We also spent a little time as Santa’s elves, distributing FE gifts to our fellow DISers around the ship.

After lunch at Topsiders, we decided to take advantage of a special afternoon showing of “Twice Charmed” so we’d be free to do other things this evening. I was amazed, as it just doesn’t seem to matter how many times I see it, that show is still unbelievable! Such a neat twist on the Cinderella story and it’s almost too much to imagine that it’s actually taking place on a boat in the middle of the water...wow! And naturally, we arrived early to find good seats that didn’t bother anyone and of course, some super-tall, super-huge guy comes and plants himself right in front of our youngest DS, making it impossible for him to see anything...really?? After much throat clearing and comments about not being able to see, the people went nowhere. So we had to get up and move somewhere else, just to be able to see the show. And, not to be petty, as the DH mentioned, but the big jerk actually fell asleep halfway through the show. Happy Ho Ho Ho to you, too.

We had a few hours before we needed to get ready for our family Christmas photos so the boys went to the Club and DH went for a run around deck 4; he just loves that place! I spent the time relaxing and trying to get excited about dinner tonight. I’m glad I didn’t spend a lot of money on my Christmas dress because the way our dining rotation worked out, we have both our formal and semi-formal nights in Parrot Cay. Don’t get me wrong, I like the restaurant well enough, and I know it will be the same menu, but as someone who enjoys dressing us for nice occasions, I was still very disappointed that we wouldn’t get to spend the evening in a more elegant setting. It was going to take some re-focusing to keep from Bah. Humbugging the whole evening.

*shutters pic coming soon!*

But with dressing up myself, DH and both dear DS’s, the Christmas spirit eventually returned. This was made even more special by being one of the first (in an eventually long line!) groups of people to have our family picture taken in front of the beautiful Disney Magic tree. We also got to be the first family to have our picture taken with the Captain of the ship! Another first for the Barnes family! He’s originally from Italy so we had fun chatting about US military bases in Europe before heading off for our big Christmas dinner.

*shutters pic coming soon!*

Traditionally, we leave the turkey to Thanksgiving and tend to have a big ham on Christmas dinner. I was initially thinking I’d stick with that idea, or perhaps try lamb like my mom is always talking about... until I saw Lobster tail on the menu! With parmesan risotto and asparagus, yum-o!! I wasn’t interested in even tasting a bite of the DH’s ham and sweet potatoes. Of course, we had to have the Double Chocolate Yule log for dessert! MAGICal moment!

As promised, the boys got to go back to their favorite place on the ship -- the Oceaneer’s Lab and although it certainly wasn’t the most romantic of ideas, I agreed to accompany my Packer fan DH to Diversions at 8:30. Another first! Leave it to Disney to make even a sports bar elegant and fun! I left briefly get the kids settled in bed and they were so tired, they didn’t even question where Daddy was! By the time I got back to the game, DH had found himself a new fellow fan friend who was supplying him with free beers. Certainly one way to tie up Christmas night; tying one on!

Quote of the Day ~ DS: "Mommy...is Santa a Packers fan?"

 

[jitsb]

December 26th ~ Cozumel Mexico

So we are now surmising that the people in the cabin above us must a smuggled on board from illegal wildlife traders a small herd of elephants. Nothing else could account for the sleep-shattering wailing and stomping the roused us at 0615 this morning. It was so awful it was actually rattling the boys’ bedrails, and after we’d even moved the clocks back an hour and could have slept in! Happy Ho Ho Ho to you too!

No matter, today is Dolphin Day! And today’s excursion is brought to you by us, the Good Weather Gurus! On our very first cruise, to the western caribbean no less, the cruise director, Christian, commented that he couldn’t believe we’d had 7 days of such beautiful weather! Ever since then, whenever we went on a cruise, we have been blessed with amazing conditions. This trip was no exception: right up until we left, the weather was predicted to be rainy and cold in Cozumel. But here we are, sunny and gorgeous! Guess we brought the good weather with us again; may it always be so with the wind ever at our backs!

We got ourselves dressed in our swimsuits, shirts and coverups and headed to Topsiders for breakfast, with a quick detour to grab some lattes at Cove Cafe. As we were walking back down deck 9, we ran into a guy and his family that Jay had known from a deployment and Ramstein, who was in the middle of his school training. Man, talk about a small world! We chatted with them as the boys tested out the Mickey pool for the first time this trip.

We ended up having a lot of time to kill because our excursion had unexpectedly gotten postponed from 9:20 to 11:20. We had to grab extra cereal boxes from the breakfast buffet because we were now going to be off the boat during lunchtime. This was annoying enough, but when we found out from the CM at our excursion meeting point the reason we’d been bumped is because they’d over-booked the 9:20 slot, well then we were super grouchy. We’d been on of the first to book this excursion, why’d we get pushed back so far?! Bah Humbug!

It was very interesting trying to make our way through port and to the Dolphinarius with your stereotypical Mexican guides. Every thing, from the pace of the line, to the path to the excursion to the getting away from vendors, was excruciatingly slow, except of course for the taxis. It had no seatbelts and I was quite certain we were going to witness the hit-and-run of several old pedestrians!

The place itself was very nice and it was so much fun watching the dolphins as we waited for our turn in the pool! I loved the outdoor, natural setting for the animals, as opposed to a sterile, metal amusement park type environment and before we knew it, we were being fitted with our life jackets and shoving our stuff in a locker.

The pool time itself was more than a little interesting. It took quite a bit of time, not to mention reassurance to convince Tyler that his jacket would prevent his head from going underwater, especially when he was standing on the shallow platform! Neither kid was very happy when we had to “swim” out into the middle of the deep pool, so our dolphin could swim by us and get acquainted. Her name was Etina and we had to keep distracting the boys with the silky smooth feel of her skin as she swam by in order to keep them from panicking. I have to admit to being a bit annoyed that our kids were so freaked, they’ve had tons of swim lessons! But at least we could excuse them with the fact that they are children, and it wasn’t nearly so bad as the couple next to us! >_<

As I watched this middle-aged woman clutch at her husband, repeatedly kick and bump into me and generally flail around worse than my 5 yr old while wearing a life jacket, I really had to tamp down the over-whelming urge to to give a bonzai yell and jump on top of her, shoving her head under water and watch her ugly blue glasses float away. *giggles* And I’m not alone in this! Even sweet DH commented on how he couldn’t understand what was the problem of the other men in the group. They were tense and constantly messing up. I just told him not everyone is as comfortable around animals as he is, or as good at following directions!

But despite the rocky start, we all got to do tricks, kiss and swim with a dolphin; it was unbelievable! MAGICal moment! The only downside was that our faces got toasted. You’re not allowed to wear sunscreen and the sun was pretty intense, even in December! After changing, we headed over to the photo center. They’ve got quite a racket going there; you cannot bring even an underwater camera for yourself, but they do have dedicated staff who video take and photograph your entire encounter for you. We had received a message about bringing cash and while we assumed it would be expensive, we were taken completely by surprise! The “packages” were a joke! Given the amount of cash we’d brought (and had not been told to bring a credit card!) we were only able to afford 3 photos. Bah. Humbug!

On our way back to the ship, we met a very nice lady who was collecting funds for the Red Cross. We told her that in the military, we’re very familiar with the services they provide all across the world, so we’d be happy to help. She told us that was by far the most positive response she’d received all day. Really?? It’s Christmas-time and you're in one of the poorest areas of the world and you can’t spare a few bucks of your spending money to help buy medical supplies?? Happy Ho Ho Ho to you, too!

Back on the boat, we got the kids a snack and sent them to the Club for the afternoon. I decided to visit a Bingo game and see if my favorite CM was there. Alas, it turns out Natalie left the Magic back in September. It seems she’s been promoted to Assistant Cruise Director -- good for her! And Shena the new Bingo Queena is pretty darn awesome! I won my first round, but had to split it with 3 others.

After Bingo, we decided to head to Shutters to get last night's photos purchased and along the way encountered a huge crowd-jam... (side note) I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that there are many, I’m sure, who think of my DH as some sweet, soft-spoken, brow-beaten man who had to *endure* the trials of having an outgoing wife. Allow me to present 2 scenarios which might influence you to think otherwise:

Case 1~ tonight, deck 4, Disney Magic: While the insanity ensues of people attempting to have their picture taken with Jack Sparrow (and a late crowd of dinner arrives) I was just trying to keep smiling and stay calm after several drinks at dinner and Bingo, and while DH and I were simply trying to get through when this crazy lady with an empty stroller pushed her way in front of us. After we managed to squeeze out of the crowd, Jay whips around and glares at me saying, “That lady with the stroller never even made eye contact with me. I was staring straight at her the whole time she was cutting us off and she never even looked at me! I mean, it’d be one thing if there was actually a KID in the damn stroller!”

Case 2~ Thursday night, Main street, Electric Lights parade: We were walking down Main Street, and of course, there were lots of people trying to stop in the walkway and stare at the passing parade. But with all honesty, we were *not* one of them, all of us were constantly moving, straight towards the entrance. There were naturally many CMs trying to herd people away from the rope lines, and most were nice enough about it. But there was one woman, however, who totally crossed the line with the DH. She not only issued the dread phrase “Move along” she also committed the fatal mistake of laying hands on my husband and *pushing* him! Inorite?? The old lady has no idea how lucky she is that he only whipped around and said “We’re GOING!” He literally growled at me a few seconds later “I don’t care how old she is, that woman is damn lucky she didn’t get an elbow in the face. I mean seriously, put your hands on me and PUSHING me?!” So you see? He’s not so innocent as he might appear. There is a grumpy side to my DH, so quit feeling sorry for him! He’s ferocious, especially when confronted with invisible children and pushy old ladies.

So, ANYWAYS! It was time to get cleaned up and decked in our pirate’s finest for our Pirates IN the Caribbean night! The boys had the most awesome ears from the WDW ride, matching skull rings and Mommy had a medallion necklace from Isla de la Muerta!

For such good behavior, I’d finally agreed to let the boys have pizza for dinner and they snarfed it down! I tried Conch soup which was quite interesting and the macadamia nut-crusted mahi with curry sauce was to die for! DH cracked up as I fished the rum-soaked chocolate cake out from under the raspberry glaze during dessert and the boys had a blast running around the room with our servers during the pirate dance party. MAGICal moment.

Despite the big yawns, the boys really wanted to go back to the kids’ area, so we told they could go for awhile and we’d see from there. The long nights seemed to be catching up with all of us, so we decided to tuck in early. There was much pouting as we brought the kids back to the room, and I certainly had my doubts and a tad bit of guilt for keeping them from the Pirate party. But all that evaporated when they both fell asleep literally seconds after their heads hit the pillows. No tossing, turning, whining or messing around. Neither one of them moved a muscle for hours! To all a good night...

Quote of the Day ~ Me: “We may be mean parents, but at least we’re smart ones!”

 

[jitsb]

Tuesday December 27th ~ Day at Sea

It’s a miracle -- our kids slept IN!! It might have well been the change back to Eastern time zone, but who cares, I’ll take it! And once again, DH proved he’s the best ever by not only getting cereal and bananas for the boys, but also for grabbing me a latte and croissant for our laze-a-bed morning! And today I am thankful for yet another huge advantage of DCL over a regular Disney trip: 3 beds and a privacy curtain!

Even though a stateroom takes up about the same space as a hotel room on property, each boy has his own self contained bunk bed and they are on the other side of a curtain from our double bed. No worrying about how to keep them separated while they fall asleep or whacking into each other in the middle of the night, or having to sleep apart from my DH and take kidney shots all night from a froggy 5 yr old. No, compared to even a Disney hotel, our whole family sleeps so much more peacefully on this beautiful boat and is in such better moods after we wake up, it’s a remarkable difference! MAGICal moment!

So after ditching the kids with the Lab counselors and my DH on the deck 4 running track, I headed back to Rockin’ Bar D for yes, that’s right more Bingo. Hello, my name is Sarah and I’m an addict... They were giving away lots of fun raffles today, in between the 4 games of Bingo and one of the things was a copy of a print that was hanging in our very own stateroom! It’s a picture of Walt and Lillian Disney in 1934 (holding Mickey of course!) on the deck of a cruise ship. It was said to be their love of cruising that was a big inspiration for the creation of DCL and at the beginning of this trip, DH actually pointed to it and said to me “I LOVE this picture!” So you can imagine I was beyond ecstatic when my name popped up on that screen and we became the proud owners of our own stateroom whimsy. Awesome-sauce! It was *almost* as good as winning money.

*scanned pic coming soon*

DH spent lunchtime at a Stem to Stern wine tasting and we were randomly seated next to a fellow DISer and her DH, elfinjojo! What a fun time! The head Sommelier was very funny and the wines were delicious. The most entertaining part, though was when they opened the bottle of champagne with a knife! I told DH he needs to perfect that for his NYE party trick.

I’d just like to reiterate, whoever came up with adding matinees of the special Disney shows was an absolute genius! Munching caramel popcorn + laughing at Hades + free evening time = priceless!

Later that afternoon, we all went our separate ways again and I headed over to an adults only activity: The Art of a Theme Ship! Naturally, I went to the wrong end of the ship and, on deck 10, you have to go outside to get across, and there was a ridiculously sudden cloudburst. Being trapped outside in my dinner dress, heals and carrying an expensive camera, I was literally chucking small children out of my way to get back back inside in time for my program! It was an hour tour of various places around the Magic with a CM who shared all kinds of interesting details and history. It was delightful getting to know more about my beloved ship and I can already see the digital scrapbook pages forming in my mind.

Unfortunately, while buying gifts at Treasure Ketch, I discovered I’d somehow managed to misplace my photo package card. Even though we retraced our direct steps back to Shutters, it was nowhere to be found and no one turned it in either. The lady at the counter seemed a bit flustered and I was a little confused as to why she couldn’t just re-issue me a card for the points I had left, but as long as I get my remaining photos, I’ll be happy.

Island dinner at Parrot Cay produced some huge portions and a lot of laughs! We were so proud of our DS’s; they tried all sorts of new foods. They’re normally such picky eaters, but apparently, all we have to do is drive them to near exhaustion and they’ll give anything a go! I’ll never forget the look on Tyler’s face when he tried the crab dip -- he spit it out just like Tom Hanks in Big! MAGICal moment!

DH and I got to spend some time in Sessions with our new friend, Tim Moss. It’s amazing all that he can play on the piano with no music sheets at all! We tried some very yummy new drinks and the evening ended on a perfect note, as DH had secretly requested “Your Song” by Elton John. And one of the best towel animals awaited us when we got back to the room: a giant sea turtle!

Quote of the Day ~ Villans Tonight!: “How do you two know each other?” Evil Queen and Maleficent: “Facebook!”

 

[jitsb]

December 28th ~ Key West...or not!

Always a controversial decision, but we contemplated NOT getting off the ship in a port of call. Why?! you may be asking... Several factors involved here:

1. All the other suckers have gotten off the boat, leaving us virtually alone!
2. Been there, done that, bought the key lime pie. Meh.
3. Trip is almost over, why spend it away from the Magic?!
4. We have to move when we get home...need to relax!
5. We have to pack for the move when we get home...
6. Movers show up 5 days after we get home....

Yeah, you get the picture. Room service for breakfast and we’re not going anywheres! Well, except for the Immigrations Inspection. I’m assuming the reason we’ve never had to go through this before is we’ve never before been outside the US territories, but man, that a pain! We got a flyer, indicating our deck had to report, with passports and KTTW cards in hand to the Walt Disney studios between 8 and 9 a.m. (another good reason not to get off the boat -- excursions were at 0700! ) Our breakfasts were mostly finished and hubby bribed me with a latte, so we went... in our PJs. Yup, that’s right, no makeup or hair done, me and the boys in our sleepwear. Suck it up, Buttercup.

By the time we got down to deck 4, there was a line of people wrapped TWICE around the atrium railing, waiting to get into the theater to be “inspected”. Ridiculous! I mean, being married to military for 15 yrs, I’m all kind of familiar with Rules, Regulations and Safety Protocols. I’m also familiar with BS when I see it! And you can guess how I felt about this -- Bah Humbug!

I will say the line did move fairly quickly, and I certainly don’t envy DCL for having to deal with this nonsense, but the final straw for me was when they took my coffee. Yeah, you read that right, seriously! Immigration confiscated my coffee, as they said I wasn’t allowed to go through the line with it. WTH?! I paid for that, dude! And, what, do you think I’m hiding an illegal immigrant in my latte?! Happy Ho Ho HO to you too!! Good thing we actually managed to find our passports before we left home! My god, has it really already been a week ago that I was running around the house, threatening to strangle my husband for not being able to locate them...? Wow, how time flies!

Seeing as we knew the Lab would be pretty empty now, we encouraged the boys to spend the morning there, rather than the afternoon when everyone comes back onboard. DH and I spent some relaxing time in the Cafe Cove, read, typing and recharging batteries -- ours and the laptop’s.

We released the hounds from their sanctioned imprisonment, and as we were going up the elevator for lunch, we saw through the glass that people were heading into Lumiere’s...wait, didn’t someone mention something about brunch there? After checking the navigator, yup... it opened at noon! So we changed direction, because what better way to make up for missing dinner there tonight than to have lunch?!

It was lovely, our server was quite interested in DH’s military experience, which made for some great conversation, and we got to sit right by the ocean view window! The boys were brave enough to try grown-up appetizers, DH managed to get some pulled pork and I actually ate grits! A mixed drink and some lovely desserts made us all ready to crash in our cabin with some full tummies!

We spent a delightful afternoon, relaxing and having fun together! The boys were super pumped to spend their “Santa” arcade gift cards and they managed to drain them in about 30 mins flat! (Good thing Mommy and Daddy aren’t responsible for refilling them! We had a great time sharing the insanity of the game and discovered that the youngest DS has a creepy affinity for Super Monkey Ball. He played it so often, he even had the little “happy dance” down pat by the end!

It was a tad chilly to head to the pool (well, cold for the Caribbean... I mean, 70 degrees in December...who wouldn’t take it?! ) so we decided to spend some time in our stateroom and we had a blast learning about dinosaurs and playing with our various FE gifts! Before we knew it, it was time to take the kids to the Club and get ready for Palo night!

I had learned a lot about this place on my tour of the boat, and it only added to our enjoyment of this exclusive, adult-only restaurant. We found out the menu had changed at the end of last year and at the beginning of 2011, the decor had received a bit of an update as well. It seems our 6 p.m. reservation is now the first seating, as things were just being opened up as we arrived. We had the best seat ever, right by the gorgeous Aft windows and had a charming, attentive server name Mo (We quoted WALLe all night with that one!!) He was very knowledgeable and friendly and we very much enjoyed his company. He made some great food recommendations, and we took him up on almost every one, but we decided to ask for Sasha’s advice on the wine. He was the Sommelier from the wine tasting earlier this week and most of the wines on the list were unfamiliar to us. I chose the lamb and Jason chose the filet mignon, so he first tried to direct us towards a “medium” wine, but after confided we loved Cabernets and Zinfandels, he said we had to try the Barolo from Italy... and, boy was he right! That 2005 wine totally hit the spot for every single dish and we enjoyed it to the very last drop!

As we first walked through the restaurant, I blurted out “This is my favorite place in the world!” without even thinking about it, and it is so true! It may always be moving with the boat, but I am so happy when I’m there. The food, the wine, the service and even the beautiful new china, it’s all so lovely. It makes memories we will always cherish. MAGICal moment!!

As much as we are dreading the end of this vacation, there is no denying what is waiting for us on the other end, nor the wear and tear it’s having on each of us. It seems to be true all over the boat, as kids seem whinier and parents more exhausted. I don’t want to say there’s such a thing as too much fun, but on this boat, there’s definitely a possibility of too little sleep! So we retrieved our offspring and we all turned in early for a change.

After all, for the first time tomorrow, the Barnes crew shall be unleashed in full force upon Disney’s private island...Castaway Cay!!

Quote of the Day ~ DH: “Souffle is the best dessert in the world. Seriously, everything else is just a pale shadow. Nothing can hold a candle to a well-made souffle... it’s perfect!”

 

[abcangie87]

What do you mean first time at Castaway? You were at CC with us?! i've got the pics to prove it

We STILL have not done Palo. DH doesn't think it's his cup of tea whatev. someday I'm going to try it without him

I'm mega jealous of you winning that print at bingo. i love that picture!

u

 

[jitsb]

What do you mean first time at Castaway? You were at CC with us?! i've got the pics to prove it

We STILL have not done Palo. DH doesn't think it's his cup of tea whatev. someday I'm going to try it without him

I'm mega jealous of you winning that print at bingo. i love that picture!

u

Aw, thanks Ang!! I know we were there with you at CC in '09, how could we forget?! But Ian was so sick and I feel like we didn't "DO" the Cay, you know what I mean?? If not, just read below, maybe it'll make more sense.

Tell Matt I said he needs to get into the Palo "groove"! Especially if it's your first time, they are super-attentive, you feel welcomed no matter what and the food is truly outstanding... even if you don't drink wine! I think you'll both love it! And if not, then forget him, I'LL go with you!!
_______________________________________


December 29th - Castaway Cay

Last time we were here, Daddy was taking the oldest DS to the ship medic, since he’d puked all over the previous night’s dinner and Mommy was saddled with the youngest, while trying to hoof it down the mile long road to the beach. After all that, our DS turned out to have a mild case of heat stroke, which meant we had to be back on the boat shortly after lunch -- it was just too much!

So essentially, this was going to be our first “real” time at Castaway Cay and we intended to enjoy it to the fullest! Oddly enough, it was rather late by the time we were docking at the island. DH and I speculated it had to do with the Bahamian authorities, who had to come on board before any guests could be allowed off the ship. We were dressed, packed and hanging out at the Promenade lounge way earlier than we needed to be, so we were able to watch the entire docking/unloading process. It was fascinating! They’ve got it down to a well-oiled routine.

Our family headed to deck 2 Aft and was one of the first off the ship; the island Christmas decorations were quite interesting and it was cool enough that the peppermint hot chocolate they were serving sounded good! DH walked slowly with the kiddos and I took off quickly, determined to find a spot we could hang out in all day. And I must have succeeded admirably, as the DH’s friend stopped by, looked around at our spot and commented “Uhhh, you’ve done this before!”

I was thrilled with the 4 lounge chairs snuggled beneath palm trees and the boys loved that we were right next hammocks! No trip to the beach is complete without the hammock-induced sand-filled faceplant! We were very close to the Conched Out bar, the restrooms and Cookies. We were set! For at least the first part of the morning, we had a clear view of the DS’s as the played on the beach. I was shocked that they even wanted to get in the water - it was pretty chilly! But they braved it and we got some adorable pictures.

*shutters pics coming soon*

Being that it was December and the sun didn’t get nearly so hot as it does in the summer, the character pictures went much later into the morning. At 10:15, I grabbed the apothecary jar I had bought months ago, and headed back down the walkway to get my photo op with Captain Jack Sparrow! He was quite remarkable and was quoting so many lines from the movie, I couldn’t stop laughing. Risking getting yelled at by a CM, I pilfered some Castaway Cay sand, and Jack was quite impressed with my “Jar of Dirt”! He said everyone else should take a cue from me and bring their own props I gave it back to the CM before I left, but was disappointed that it didn’t appear in anyone else’s photos in Shutters.

*shutters pics coming soon*

We had such a lovely day! I spent a lot of it relaxing (Yay, ‘cause it was the whole point of the trip!) the DS’s rinsed out their hot chocolate cups and used them to make sand castles. We brought down our lunch trays from Cookies and sat eating yummy island food, watching the water and the sun even made a brief appearance! MAGICal moment!

To round out the day, we took the boys over to Monstro Point and let them be paleontologists on a Dino Dig! The CMs there were fantastic and we had almost as much fun chatting with them as the boys did digging. Our intrepid DS's found lots of teeth and were so delighted they each found 2 “fossils” that they got to take home with them!

As it almost appeared to be drizzling, we decided to make our way back to the ship (grabbing cookies along the way!) and see if we couldn’t give boys a bit of free time while we attempted to sort our suitcases. Unfortunately, we encountered what turned out to be the biggest snag of the cruise: Kids’ Club Open House.

*navigator copies coming soon*

I had read a thread about this here on the DISboards, and while I can understand the reasoning behind it, I can honestly say I think the planning/execution of it was terrible! And this afternoon was a textbook case: everyone had to be back on the ship by around 4:30 but we came back a little early, maybe around 3pm. The Oceaneer’s Lab was having “Open House” which is now the only time parents are allowed to stay with their kids in those areas. But they remove all the unaccompanied children to a different “secure” location-- for 3 hours at a time! Ridiculous! Since DH and I had packing to do, we couldn’t stay with the boys and the Club was closed. So my children were shut out of the kids’ areas while practically no one was in the Lab taking part in the scheduled activities. And this was the 2nd time it had happened in the Lab on a 6-day cruise! And it was always in the middle of the afternoon when my kids wanted to be playing in the Lab or attending specific activities. Sorry for the rant, but this one really stuck in our craws. If you’re going to use this idea, it should be limited to an hour at a time, and should be staggered throughout the day. Otherwise, it’s completely unfair to the rest of the children onboard. Happy Ho Ho Ho to you, too! [/rant]

While the grown-ups were quite miffed, the boys were happy playing their Nintendos and watching movies in the stateroom until it was time to get ready for dinner. Our last night was in Animator’s Palette and we really enjoyed ourselves! Our serving team was very attentive and our table happened to be positioned right near one of the screens that was showing cartoons, so the DS’s were set and we got to have a nice, long leisurely dinner. The dinner was the "Till We Meet Again" menu, which is trying to rival Palo in its offerings, so everyone was stuffed by the end of the meal. And we always enjoyed the Show Dinner at Animator's and the boys really loved cheering for our servers this time...Ian even decided to stand on his chair and wave his napkin around! MAGICal moment!

After dinner was Lab time for the boys and Sessions time for DH and I! We stayed for the first set with Tim Moss and snuck off to finish packing and set our suitcases outside the stateroom. We went back for most of the 2nd set, as we were very reluctant to leave, knowing that as we went to sleep, our imminent return to the real world would be closing in on us. Saying goodbye to everyone, we discovered a box of delicious chocolates waiting for us in our stateroom and we all went to bed early for the first time on our trip.

Quote of the Day~ DH: “Seriously....what day of the week *is* it?”

 

[jitsb]

Friday December 30th - Disembarkation

This is always the toughest part of the cruise and it was made particularly brutal this trip as we had to get up at 0600! Bah Humbug. The early dining seating started breakfast at 6:45 (yes, that's a.m.!) and even though we knew we weren’t going to make it on time, it was still way earlier than any of us would have liked. >_< The youngest DS was literally impossible to get up; he was such a puddle of goo, I had to transfer him to the big bed and put his clothes on for him. Poor baby!

We gathered our stuffed carry-on bags and headed back to Animator’s for our final breakfast; thank goodness DH made a stop for me at Cove Cafe! Seeing our final bottle of wine sitting all boxed up for me on the table brought tears to my eyes and I ended up sniffling over most of breakfast. What an outstanding serving team and the boys felt very grown-up giving our tips to each of the servers and Oscar even gave me his info to find him on Facebook! I managed to keep it together well enough to give hugs and say goodbye to our team, but the boys were quite sad as we left the restaurant.

We picked up our final pictures at Shutters and made our way to the atrium. It was a very strange feeling to be leaving the Magic this time as it was the first time we hadn’t booked onboard for another cruise. Before, we were always able to tell the DS’s (and ourselves!) exactly when we would be back again, but this time, the future was just too uncertain. Without 2013 sailing dates for the Magic, we just couldn’t say for sure when we would be back. We “high four-ed” the CM as we left and snagged a very nice porter to help us get all our bags safely packed on the bus for our long trip back to the Orlando airport.

We were extremely glad to have taken the advice of our friend and TA Angie and booked a day room at the airport Hyatt; those bags were heavy! We arrived a bit before check-in time, but they still had a room for us and despite a bit of drama where we left a stuffed Dale behind, we managed to get all our stuff safely upstairs!

We had the boys snuggle in the big king-sized bed and started to re-organize and re-pack our suitcases for the flight home. We had been told we could check our bags in with the airline as much as 4 hours before our flight, so we wanted to take the time to get it done before going to find lunch. I know we were super careful, but somehow, somewhere, I managed to lose my entire make-up bag. I don’t even know which suitcase it was supposed to have been packed in, but it wasn’t with us by the time we got home, so I was out a whole bag full of Bare Escentuals and Clinque! Bah Humbug!

We had lunch, dropped off the bags (hopefully avoiding the luggage dragon this time!) did some shopping and got to our gate with time to spare. We were *good* parents this time and packed some fruit and sandwiches for the boys during our dinnertime flight. Unfortunately, something funky happened when I bought my tickets with SW; for some unknown reason that no one could explain to me, I could not check in online. I couldn’t even get boarding passes printed at the kiosk, so we were always one of the latest boarding parties. On our first flight, one of the flight crew saw our small kids and waved us on early. This time around we were literally the last people on board the plane. And it was full.

As we walked down the aisle, we noticed there were NO 2 seats together anywhere; they were all single. I finally told one of the attendants that I was not comfortable letting my 5 yr old sit by himself and she had to offer the bribe of a free drink, just to get someone to move and let me sit with my son. Happy Ho Ho Ho to you too. The oldest DS still had to sit by himself, albeit next to a very nice grandparent couple who let him have the window seat, but were not certain he ever ate his dinner!

Even though the flight was actually shorter than the way down and we arrived ahead of schedule, it seemed to go on forever! My youngest was so tired, no even Pokemon could keep him awake. He laid his head on my lap and slept the last hour of the trip. It ended up being a good thing that we were so far back in the plane because it took me a very long time to wake him up and get him vertical to get off the plane! DH had to carry him our to the parking garage and he fell asleep again on the car ride home -- very unusual for our little man!

It had been such a long day that by the time we were finally back home in our own beds, the cruise already seemed like a lifetime ago. As my friend likes to say “I hate the Disney hangover!” and this time around, it was combined with the Christmas let down. But we as we unpacked all our special mementos, we tried to hold onto that happy feeling we only get on the Magic and will continue to hope we see her again.

Quote of the Day ~ DS: “Daddy, can you get the Air Force to move us to Florida?”

 

[LadyOfNawlins]

Thanks for sharing your trip with all of us. I was curious about the "Open House" time in the clubs. Is it possible for you to post the Navigators from your trip for all of us to see how they handled this new change? Thanks so much!

 

[Elfinjojo]

Hi sarah

Thanks for sharing your trip report, look forward to seeing some pics

It was fab to meet you and your family and DH and I enjoyed sharing the wine tasting experience with you and Jason. It was very entertaining and I will say that the opening of the champagne bottle was more successful the week after

Hope your move has been a successful one and you get settled quick. I also hope you manage to book a DCL fix real soon. We are counting down the days to our next, despite not being over the jet lag of this one

 

[jitsb]

Wow! It's been awhile since I was here, but, I think I have finally unpacked enough boxes from our move to justify updating this trip report. Now I just have to deal with the depression of not being onboard the Magic. Amazing how bittersweet these memories are!

No problem, LadyOfNawlins, I'd be happy to scan the Navigator's that had Open House info. As soon as I track down my USB printer cord, I'll add that to the appropriate post!

Hey Jojo!! Jay was asking about you guys during our move; we also really enjoyed meeting you! When do you go back to DCL?? Have any pics of your own to share?

I'm going to start adding photos now, but no promises on how long it will take! I still have to unbury my disposal camera from Cozumel and scan the pics we got from Shutters. Just post if you have any special requests!

 

[KaryCam]

A couple days ago I was just thinking that it was 2 months since our cruise.

Glad your moving went well.

Our next cruise is Spring Break 2013 on the Fantasy. Hope we like that ship as well as we loved the Magic.

Take care.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Just found your TR and catching up.....what a lovely family you have!

 

[jitsb]

My apologies for anyone coming to see pictures; I *still* haven't gotten a USB cable so the TR is incomplete. I have many pics from Shutters I want to include, as well as some navigators. I'll get them here soon, I promise! I did manage to edit and upload all the pics from my camera, so at least they've been sprinkled around in the posts.

Trip report, now including (most) pictures, start on page 2!

 

[Elfinjojo]

Glad I popped back to see the pics, there are some fab ones there!

LOL nice to know you guys were thinking about us during your move...you must have had enough to think about without thinking on us too! Hope you are all settled now.

we are next on DCL in....wait for it....3weeks and 6 days for The Fantasy's MV B2B with the week after of course and we are really looking forward to it. I am just fiddling about with the FE gifts for this trip.

A soft pics of our own to post, I have only just uploaded them onto the laptop from my camera along with EuroDisney pics from November, so I might just get round to posting some before the next big trip LOL.

 

[jitsb]

Oooo, I bet you're on the boat right now!! OR just off it?? Please share what you think of it!

Plan to scan our Shutters photos this weekend.