Nah ... John is much more distinguished looking and not as podgy as THAT guy
He is podgy now after Christmas, another 2 week cruise and the 4 weeks afterwards!!!
He is on a diet now though.
Our Magical Westbound Transatlantic Voyage Sept 2010. (Day 15 & 16 added 29/5/11 )
- Thread starter TotallyAngelic
- Start date
He is podgy now after Christmas, another 2 week cruise and the 4 weeks afterwards!!!
He is on a diet now though.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Day 9 Day at Sea:
We were up at 8am. This morning we had our character breakfast in Parrot Cay, so before breakfast I decided to go and do a spot of laundry, as we were getting a bit low on the unmentionables front.
Unfortunately laundry on board ship is not a quick process, and by the time I found the laundry room somewhere on Deck 6, there was already a wait for the machines. Two out of the six machines were not working which made it worse. Anyhow, I waited for as long as it took for a machine to become available, and then I loaded it up and headed out to join Tony for a quick coffee and stroll on the deck before breakfast. Before we were due to start breakfast, I whizzed down to the laundry room to see if my wash load had finished, but it was still going round. There was a lot of controversy going on in the laundry room as people were not taking their washing out once it had finished, and some other people had taken it upon themselves to remove the finished washing. I supposed that was fair enough, as people don't want to hang about in their all day.
I returned to Parrot Cay and ordered breakfast, then returned to the laundry room to transfer into the dryer, then back to breakfast. I ordered a Mickey waffle:
The characters had arrived so we took loads of photos with them.
At the end of the character photos I whizzed back down to the laundry room and my washing had finished, so I took it back to the room and then went back to Parrot Cay where everyone was sporting imaginative hats, made from napkins and other items from the table / kitchen. I was relieved I had missed out on the hats!!
After breakfast we decided to go and find somewhere to sit on Deck 6, as I wanted to relax and read a little, We grabbed two loungers close to the midships funnel and in the shade, as I don't like sitting in the sun. This was a lovely spot, until noon, when they blew the ship's whistle, and we realised we were mybe too close to the funnel for comfort. At 1pm we had arranged to meet Michael and Michele at the DVC social, although we were gatecrashing really as we don't own any DVC points.
We played an interesting game matching people with things they had done or places they had visited, and had a very enjoyable Blue Hawaii cocktail. At the end of the session Michael disappeared and then reappeared with another tray of Blue Hawaii cocktails
as I had not had any lunch yet, these were going to my head a little bit, but they were really very nice. Time to get some fresh air ..
The next thing on the agenda at 2:30pm was Tequila tasting for Tony, Len, Michael and Michele, but not for me, as I would have been under the table. I don't really like tequila so I just went along to watch. I did try a sip of a coffee tequila but it was gross. The others all got into the spirit of the session and seemed to enjoy the drinks...
and the hats .
By now it was time for lunch so we went and grabbed some chicken strips / burgers and fries. Tony desperately needed to soak up all of that alcohol.
At about 3:30 pm we headed down to our room to prepare for the DIS room tour. This had been organised by Lynne and bascially involved us all meeting and wandering around the ship, checking out all the different categories of cabins. We were the CAT 11. I had decided I wanted to give out tradtionally British food samples and I managed to pick up a few bits in Gibraltar Morrisons, so I ended up with a selection of Bakewell Tart, Thorntons Toffee Cakes, Jelly Babies and After Eight Mints. Once it was all prepared we headed to Lynne and Len's cabin to meet up with the DIS group. It was incredibly crowded, so I popped back to our cabin to await the tour group.
Once everyone had been to our cabin in Steerage, we tagged along to see the other categories. I particularly liked the Navigator Vebrandah, the CAT 4 and the CAT 3 suite with the enormous balcony. After the room tour finished we all wandered along to Sue and Glenn's cabin where we chatted a while with some of the guys.
Before too long it was time to go and get changed for the show, which this evening was the comedy of Heath Hyche. To be honest we didn't get this at all and maybe this was just a cultural thing, but I really didn't think he was at all funny. The funniest thing was watching all the other guests who clearly thought he was hysterical.
Dinner was in Parrot Cay and the menu was entitled Flavours of the Mediterranean. I had the appetiser of Spanish Melon Cup, followed by Frisee Salad. Main Course was Herb Crusted Monkfish and I chose Barcelona Sundae for dessert, which was made with butterscotch ice cream and was delicious.
After dinner we headed to see the premiere of the movie You Again in the Buena Vista Theatre, but we managed about half an hour before we started to nod off .. not that the movie was slow or anything, it was actually quite good, but we just had zero stamina. The seats were also a bit cramped for Tony's legs and he was quite uncomfortable sat at the back. We decided to call it quits and headed to the cabin to bed. These sea days were really taking it out of us, despite the extra hour each day.
We were up at 8am. This morning we had our character breakfast in Parrot Cay, so before breakfast I decided to go and do a spot of laundry, as we were getting a bit low on the unmentionables front.
Unfortunately laundry on board ship is not a quick process, and by the time I found the laundry room somewhere on Deck 6, there was already a wait for the machines. Two out of the six machines were not working which made it worse. Anyhow, I waited for as long as it took for a machine to become available, and then I loaded it up and headed out to join Tony for a quick coffee and stroll on the deck before breakfast. Before we were due to start breakfast, I whizzed down to the laundry room to see if my wash load had finished, but it was still going round. There was a lot of controversy going on in the laundry room as people were not taking their washing out once it had finished, and some other people had taken it upon themselves to remove the finished washing. I supposed that was fair enough, as people don't want to hang about in their all day.
I returned to Parrot Cay and ordered breakfast, then returned to the laundry room to transfer into the dryer, then back to breakfast. I ordered a Mickey waffle:
The characters had arrived so we took loads of photos with them.
At the end of the character photos I whizzed back down to the laundry room and my washing had finished, so I took it back to the room and then went back to Parrot Cay where everyone was sporting imaginative hats, made from napkins and other items from the table / kitchen. I was relieved I had missed out on the hats!!
After breakfast we decided to go and find somewhere to sit on Deck 6, as I wanted to relax and read a little, We grabbed two loungers close to the midships funnel and in the shade, as I don't like sitting in the sun. This was a lovely spot, until noon, when they blew the ship's whistle, and we realised we were mybe too close to the funnel for comfort. At 1pm we had arranged to meet Michael and Michele at the DVC social, although we were gatecrashing really as we don't own any DVC points.
We played an interesting game matching people with things they had done or places they had visited, and had a very enjoyable Blue Hawaii cocktail. At the end of the session Michael disappeared and then reappeared with another tray of Blue Hawaii cocktails
as I had not had any lunch yet, these were going to my head a little bit, but they were really very nice. Time to get some fresh air ..
The next thing on the agenda at 2:30pm was Tequila tasting for Tony, Len, Michael and Michele, but not for me, as I would have been under the table. I don't really like tequila so I just went along to watch. I did try a sip of a coffee tequila but it was gross. The others all got into the spirit of the session and seemed to enjoy the drinks...
and the hats .
By now it was time for lunch so we went and grabbed some chicken strips / burgers and fries. Tony desperately needed to soak up all of that alcohol.
At about 3:30 pm we headed down to our room to prepare for the DIS room tour. This had been organised by Lynne and bascially involved us all meeting and wandering around the ship, checking out all the different categories of cabins. We were the CAT 11. I had decided I wanted to give out tradtionally British food samples and I managed to pick up a few bits in Gibraltar Morrisons, so I ended up with a selection of Bakewell Tart, Thorntons Toffee Cakes, Jelly Babies and After Eight Mints. Once it was all prepared we headed to Lynne and Len's cabin to meet up with the DIS group. It was incredibly crowded, so I popped back to our cabin to await the tour group.
Once everyone had been to our cabin in Steerage, we tagged along to see the other categories. I particularly liked the Navigator Vebrandah, the CAT 4 and the CAT 3 suite with the enormous balcony. After the room tour finished we all wandered along to Sue and Glenn's cabin where we chatted a while with some of the guys.
Before too long it was time to go and get changed for the show, which this evening was the comedy of Heath Hyche. To be honest we didn't get this at all and maybe this was just a cultural thing, but I really didn't think he was at all funny. The funniest thing was watching all the other guests who clearly thought he was hysterical.
Dinner was in Parrot Cay and the menu was entitled Flavours of the Mediterranean. I had the appetiser of Spanish Melon Cup, followed by Frisee Salad. Main Course was Herb Crusted Monkfish and I chose Barcelona Sundae for dessert, which was made with butterscotch ice cream and was delicious.
After dinner we headed to see the premiere of the movie You Again in the Buena Vista Theatre, but we managed about half an hour before we started to nod off .. not that the movie was slow or anything, it was actually quite good, but we just had zero stamina. The seats were also a bit cramped for Tony's legs and he was quite uncomfortable sat at the back. We decided to call it quits and headed to the cabin to bed. These sea days were really taking it out of us, despite the extra hour each day.
mandymouse
Bahama Mama Time !!
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
I love the pics from your character breakfast Sarah I love the idea of the DIS room tour, what a great idea seeing the different categories and leaving out nibbles from where you are from 
Shame you didn't do the tequilla tasting though, I would've liked to see some pics of you under a table
Another great day
I love the idea of the DIS room tour, what a great idea seeing the different categories and leaving out nibbles from where you are from Shame you didn't do the tequilla tasting though, I would've liked to see some pics of you under a table
Another great day
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Day 10 Day at Sea:
We awoke to another wonderful day at sea on the Magic, and headed for breakfast at Topsiders where I indulged in my one and only healthy meal of the day:
We then wandered around the ship, and I may have spent some time delivering items to cabins for the candy swap, scrapbooking swap etc. I spent a lot of time doing this but can't really recall times and dates.
Following on from this we thought we would attend the session on Disney Innovations: Animation, and this was really good. Although we didn't really learn anything we didn't already know, it was very well presented and we got to see a lot of clips from Disney animations and also the entire film of Steamboat Willie. Who knew Mickey Mouse could indulge in such violence. I was shocked !! Who knew ????
We then wandered about aimlessly, no doubt finding our way into the shops at some point and then we were wandering down past the Promenade Lounge and we spotted Melodie, Amy and Dave who were waiting to play Cruising for Trivia, so we gatecrashed their team and actually managed to get the one UK based question right, so that was a relief. It was good fun, and although we didn't win, we did enjoy spending time with our lovely cruise mates.
By now it was time to indulge in yet more food, so we headed up to Topsiders and had a lovely lunch outside. After lunch we headed down to the cabin to change and then up to Deck 10 to relax in the shade and read a bit. I could certainly get used to these wonderful, relaxing sea days. We spent the afternoon just chilling, until it was time to go and get ready for the evening.
Once again we had a formal evening to look forward to, so we dressed up in our finest and headed for the show, which this evening was Once Upon a Song - A selection of Disney music from across the years featuring the vocal talents of members from the Walt Disney Theatre cast.
As a person who gets very emotional at the very mention of Disney music, this show was amazing. It was very simply done, but very effective, and the singers who were involved had stunning voices. I spent most of the show in tears and had to dash to the cabin before dinner to sort out my make-up, as it wasn't a pretty sight when the house lights came up at the end.
Once I was sorted we headed back to the atrium where we mingled with our cruise mates in the atrium, where they had a band playing and free cocktails circulating, so it was all very pleasant.
Dinner this evening was in Lumiere's ..very fitting for formal night, and it was the Transatlantic Menu. I chose warm cheddar and applewood smoked bacon tartlet for appetiser, Iceberg lettuce salad, and Palo's Grilled Salmon for Main Course, all of which were delicious. And for dessert .
We were given copies of the menus to keep which was nice as we plan to frame ours and hang it on the wall as a souvenir.
Warren and Abby:
DH and our wonderful server Leslie:
Beauty and the Beast were posing for photos in the lobby after dinner:
The late show was Ricky Kalmon the hypnotist but having not really found the first show to be that entertaining we decided to give it a miss. Insteead we decided to take a stroll around the ship and up on deck where it was a beautiful still night. I took a few photos around the ship before we decided to hit the sack.
We awoke to another wonderful day at sea on the Magic, and headed for breakfast at Topsiders where I indulged in my one and only healthy meal of the day:
We then wandered around the ship, and I may have spent some time delivering items to cabins for the candy swap, scrapbooking swap etc. I spent a lot of time doing this but can't really recall times and dates.
Following on from this we thought we would attend the session on Disney Innovations: Animation, and this was really good. Although we didn't really learn anything we didn't already know, it was very well presented and we got to see a lot of clips from Disney animations and also the entire film of Steamboat Willie. Who knew Mickey Mouse could indulge in such violence. I was shocked !! Who knew ????
We then wandered about aimlessly, no doubt finding our way into the shops at some point and then we were wandering down past the Promenade Lounge and we spotted Melodie, Amy and Dave who were waiting to play Cruising for Trivia, so we gatecrashed their team and actually managed to get the one UK based question right, so that was a relief. It was good fun, and although we didn't win, we did enjoy spending time with our lovely cruise mates.
By now it was time to indulge in yet more food, so we headed up to Topsiders and had a lovely lunch outside. After lunch we headed down to the cabin to change and then up to Deck 10 to relax in the shade and read a bit. I could certainly get used to these wonderful, relaxing sea days. We spent the afternoon just chilling, until it was time to go and get ready for the evening.
Once again we had a formal evening to look forward to, so we dressed up in our finest and headed for the show, which this evening was Once Upon a Song - A selection of Disney music from across the years featuring the vocal talents of members from the Walt Disney Theatre cast.
As a person who gets very emotional at the very mention of Disney music, this show was amazing. It was very simply done, but very effective, and the singers who were involved had stunning voices. I spent most of the show in tears and had to dash to the cabin before dinner to sort out my make-up, as it wasn't a pretty sight when the house lights came up at the end.
Once I was sorted we headed back to the atrium where we mingled with our cruise mates in the atrium, where they had a band playing and free cocktails circulating, so it was all very pleasant.
Dinner this evening was in Lumiere's ..very fitting for formal night, and it was the Transatlantic Menu. I chose warm cheddar and applewood smoked bacon tartlet for appetiser, Iceberg lettuce salad, and Palo's Grilled Salmon for Main Course, all of which were delicious. And for dessert .
We were given copies of the menus to keep which was nice as we plan to frame ours and hang it on the wall as a souvenir.
Warren and Abby:
DH and our wonderful server Leslie:
Beauty and the Beast were posing for photos in the lobby after dinner:
The late show was Ricky Kalmon the hypnotist but having not really found the first show to be that entertaining we decided to give it a miss. Insteead we decided to take a stroll around the ship and up on deck where it was a beautiful still night. I took a few photos around the ship before we decided to hit the sack.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Day 11 – Day at Sea:
Once again another beautiful sunny morning dawned on the Magic, and once again we had a lovely breakfast at Topsiders. This was getting to be a very enjoyable and relaxing habit and I was not relishing the thought of returning to reality once the cruise was over... somehow miserable cold weather and Oats-so-Simple was not looking to be an attractive alternative to fresh fruit, delicious pastries, fresh orange juice and coffee served on the deck of the Magic, eaten in the sunshine with a view of the endless ocean. I appreciate that I harp on about this a lot, but it really is one of the highlights of my cruising experience.
For some reason after breakfast we decided to go along to the family crafts session on tile painting, but when we got there they only had enough tiles to give out one per group, so with DH and I working together lets just say the tile we painted wasn't going to be coming home with us and finding a place in our display cabinet. Still we passed a pleasant half an hour realising we had no artistic talent whatsoever, and wondering where on earth our offspring get it from.
Once we had filed the tile under “B” in our stateroom we returned to Rocking Bar D for the next session of Disney Inovations, and this time the focus was on the Theme Parks. Once again we didn't learn too much new stuff here, but we enjoyed the presentation. We then enjoyed Cruising for Trivia again with Melodie, Amy and Dave and once again we came close, but not close enough!
We had lunch once again at Topsiders, before settling down on the loungers on Deck 10 for a relaxing afternoon. Two views from where I was sitting:
There were some unusal weather and cloud effects going on this afternoon, so I took a few ( well more than a few ) photos of the horizon.
I had highlighted some activities to do this afternoon, but we didn't make it to any of them It was far too wonderful just chilling on the upper decks, with the occasional constituational as far as the ice cream machine or the cocktail bar.
Before long it was time to get ready for dinner and the show, so we headed to the cabin to change.
The show was a magic and illusion show performed by Jason Bishop, which I found entertaining, but apparently the magic wasn't that impressive according to Warren who himself is a member of the Magic Circle back in the UK. I don't know much about magic myself, but I just liked the style of the show and the way he delivered everything in a laid back sort of way.
After the show we headed for a walk on deck and came across this beautiful sunset which necessitated a lot more camera action:
Dinner this evening was in Animator's Palate and the menu was Taste of the Caribbean. Now unfortunately I don't have a photo of this menu so I can't for the life of me remember what I had. Sorry.
After dinner we decided to give the late show a miss as it was Heath Hyche again and we hadn't really appreciated his humour the first time around, so instead we just wandered around and walked off some of those calories on the open deck.
Once again another beautiful sunny morning dawned on the Magic, and once again we had a lovely breakfast at Topsiders. This was getting to be a very enjoyable and relaxing habit and I was not relishing the thought of returning to reality once the cruise was over... somehow miserable cold weather and Oats-so-Simple was not looking to be an attractive alternative to fresh fruit, delicious pastries, fresh orange juice and coffee served on the deck of the Magic, eaten in the sunshine with a view of the endless ocean. I appreciate that I harp on about this a lot, but it really is one of the highlights of my cruising experience.
For some reason after breakfast we decided to go along to the family crafts session on tile painting, but when we got there they only had enough tiles to give out one per group, so with DH and I working together lets just say the tile we painted wasn't going to be coming home with us and finding a place in our display cabinet. Still we passed a pleasant half an hour realising we had no artistic talent whatsoever, and wondering where on earth our offspring get it from.
Once we had filed the tile under “B” in our stateroom we returned to Rocking Bar D for the next session of Disney Inovations, and this time the focus was on the Theme Parks. Once again we didn't learn too much new stuff here, but we enjoyed the presentation. We then enjoyed Cruising for Trivia again with Melodie, Amy and Dave and once again we came close, but not close enough!
We had lunch once again at Topsiders, before settling down on the loungers on Deck 10 for a relaxing afternoon. Two views from where I was sitting:
There were some unusal weather and cloud effects going on this afternoon, so I took a few ( well more than a few ) photos of the horizon.
I had highlighted some activities to do this afternoon, but we didn't make it to any of them It was far too wonderful just chilling on the upper decks, with the occasional constituational as far as the ice cream machine or the cocktail bar.
Before long it was time to get ready for dinner and the show, so we headed to the cabin to change.
The show was a magic and illusion show performed by Jason Bishop, which I found entertaining, but apparently the magic wasn't that impressive according to Warren who himself is a member of the Magic Circle back in the UK. I don't know much about magic myself, but I just liked the style of the show and the way he delivered everything in a laid back sort of way.
After the show we headed for a walk on deck and came across this beautiful sunset which necessitated a lot more camera action:
Dinner this evening was in Animator's Palate and the menu was Taste of the Caribbean. Now unfortunately I don't have a photo of this menu so I can't for the life of me remember what I had. Sorry.
After dinner we decided to give the late show a miss as it was Heath Hyche again and we hadn't really appreciated his humour the first time around, so instead we just wandered around and walked off some of those calories on the open deck.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Day 12 Day at Sea:
We woke up on our last Transatlantic Sea Day, and I was struck by how fast the sea days had flown by ( and how quickly the end of the cruise was approaching . a fact I wanted my mind to stay well away from ). I think this was the one and only day I ventured to the gym, mainly out of curiosity, to see what the attraction was as DH was rushing off there every morning. It was quite good fun though, I had a ten minute fast walk on the treadmill, and a quick go on the bicycle, row machine, stair thing ( which half killed me ). Then I did a few things on the weight machine designed to improve your bust, although it will take more than a few minutes on a machine to make mine decide to relocate and point north instead of south. There was some refreshing flavoured water on offer in the gym, so I had a couple of glasses of that, and then I went back to the cabin to shower and change after all that exertion! Before long DH joined me and when we were both ready we headed off to breakfast at Topsiders.
This morning we just decided to chill and relax, as it was rude not to on your last sea day. Tony hit the hot tub ..
The morning passed quickly and soon it was time to go and support our friends Howard and Ann in the Boat Bash Finale. They had constructed a really cute boat ..
and it floated well, but some people had gone to so much effort and produced scale models of the Magic, and the winning boat was made out of coffee stirrers in the shape of a duck. Some people must have spent their entire cruise to date locked away in their cabins constructing sea-worthy vessels. Not exactly how I would plan to spend my cruise but hey ho !! Goofy and Max were hosting the event so it was quite good fun all round:
Following the boat finale we headed for lunch, mainly because it was lunch-time, but also we needed to line our stomachs in preparation for the DIS Mixology Class which was taking place after lunch. The Mixology class was great fun. We had all the ingredients and equipment set out to make a number of cocktails, and we were instructed in the process by a couple of lovely bartenders from Rocking Bar D.
Because I don't really like the taste of any spirits other than rum, and even that has to have a lot of fruit in it, it was a bit wasted on me because I just added mostly fruit juice and just a bit of rum and I gave Tony all my other drinks once I had sipped them and pulled countless weird faces !! Everone seemed to really enjoy this class .
The highlight of the session was the Pina Coladas which were made for us by the bartenders . WOW !!!!
Tony ended up helping out with the bartenders and made his own cocktail.
After the class we went up to the loungers as we needed to lie down, and we chilled out there until it was time to get ready for dinner. The show this evening was Walt Disney, The Dream Lives On and it was stunning . another tear jerker for me. Straight after this show we headed up to Quiet Cove where David from the Cruise Staff was doing an acoustic show. This was really good, and I don't know why they don't do more of this type of thing. Sitting out on deck with a drink listening to a great musical performance was just fabulous.
It was also 2 for 1 drinks at the bar, so of course we had to grab a couple of drinks.
It was then time for dinner in Parrot Cay and the Around the World Menu . again no menu and no memory of what I ate, sorry. I am slacking and I will make up for it on our next trip. Unless of course this inexcusable omission sees me cast out of the Guild of Trip Report Writers!
Nothing exciting to report after dinner . we just had our usual walk about and then went to bed.
We woke up on our last Transatlantic Sea Day, and I was struck by how fast the sea days had flown by ( and how quickly the end of the cruise was approaching . a fact I wanted my mind to stay well away from ). I think this was the one and only day I ventured to the gym, mainly out of curiosity, to see what the attraction was as DH was rushing off there every morning. It was quite good fun though, I had a ten minute fast walk on the treadmill, and a quick go on the bicycle, row machine, stair thing ( which half killed me ). Then I did a few things on the weight machine designed to improve your bust, although it will take more than a few minutes on a machine to make mine decide to relocate and point north instead of south. There was some refreshing flavoured water on offer in the gym, so I had a couple of glasses of that, and then I went back to the cabin to shower and change after all that exertion! Before long DH joined me and when we were both ready we headed off to breakfast at Topsiders.
This morning we just decided to chill and relax, as it was rude not to on your last sea day. Tony hit the hot tub ..
The morning passed quickly and soon it was time to go and support our friends Howard and Ann in the Boat Bash Finale. They had constructed a really cute boat ..
and it floated well, but some people had gone to so much effort and produced scale models of the Magic, and the winning boat was made out of coffee stirrers in the shape of a duck. Some people must have spent their entire cruise to date locked away in their cabins constructing sea-worthy vessels. Not exactly how I would plan to spend my cruise but hey ho !! Goofy and Max were hosting the event so it was quite good fun all round:
Following the boat finale we headed for lunch, mainly because it was lunch-time, but also we needed to line our stomachs in preparation for the DIS Mixology Class which was taking place after lunch. The Mixology class was great fun. We had all the ingredients and equipment set out to make a number of cocktails, and we were instructed in the process by a couple of lovely bartenders from Rocking Bar D.
Because I don't really like the taste of any spirits other than rum, and even that has to have a lot of fruit in it, it was a bit wasted on me because I just added mostly fruit juice and just a bit of rum and I gave Tony all my other drinks once I had sipped them and pulled countless weird faces !! Everone seemed to really enjoy this class .
The highlight of the session was the Pina Coladas which were made for us by the bartenders . WOW !!!!
Tony ended up helping out with the bartenders and made his own cocktail.
After the class we went up to the loungers as we needed to lie down, and we chilled out there until it was time to get ready for dinner. The show this evening was Walt Disney, The Dream Lives On and it was stunning . another tear jerker for me. Straight after this show we headed up to Quiet Cove where David from the Cruise Staff was doing an acoustic show. This was really good, and I don't know why they don't do more of this type of thing. Sitting out on deck with a drink listening to a great musical performance was just fabulous.
It was also 2 for 1 drinks at the bar, so of course we had to grab a couple of drinks.
It was then time for dinner in Parrot Cay and the Around the World Menu . again no menu and no memory of what I ate, sorry. I am slacking and I will make up for it on our next trip. Unless of course this inexcusable omission sees me cast out of the Guild of Trip Report Writers!
Nothing exciting to report after dinner . we just had our usual walk about and then went to bed.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Day 13 St Maarten
Woke up this morning feeling very excited. After 5 wonderful and relaxing days at sea we were arriving on the far side of the Atlantic in St Maarten. The last time I had been in St Maarten was in 1989 / 1990, 20 years earlier, when I was working for Princess Cruises, so I was interested to see how much it had changed. We got up quickly, got ready and rushed up to see if we could shout Land Ahoy! and there it was before us:
We spotted this ugly ship along side:
We had an excursion planned for this morning . the 12 Metre Regatta, which I had booked because DH has always loved sailing and I will try almost anything once. So we quickly grabbed some breakfast from Topsiders. I thought it might be nice to show a comparison of my breakfast vs DH's breakfast, so here it is:
Sarah's Breakfast:
Tony's Breakfast:
You can make your own minds up on who has the most healthy breakfast and lets just say it isn't .
Once we had finished breakfast we returned to the cabin to pick up our bits and pieces for the say, and then we headed to the Promenade Lounge where we were meeting with our excursion group.
We were led off the ship and I was mortified to have to follow behind a CM holding up a Mickey head on a stick for us to follow, as we have always had a secret giggle at cruise tours following behind things held up in the air during our travels. Our only redemption was that it was a Mickey head and that is clearly acceptable. When the Mickey head holding CM was replced by a chap holding up a board with a 12 on it, I was less than impressed.
We were led out onto the dockside where we were introduced to our tour guide and taken to a small boat which was going to transfer us to the sailing yachts. There was a steel band playing on the dockside which really enhanced that Caribbean atmosphere, like the clear blue sea, sunshine and beautiful colourful architecture wasn't enough:
The ugly ship turned out to be the Norwegian Epic .. I like to give this photo the title Beauty and the Beast
We set off in the small boat . and the sea was an incredible shade of blue .
Once we were out on the boat the guide instructed us on safety and what would be required of us during the adventure. We were given jobs to perform on board the yachts and these could be active or less active which ever you preferred. Both DH and I selected active (well there has to be a first time for everything) . Because I was concentrating so hard and because of the flying spray and didn't manage to take any photos on baord the yachts so I apologise for that.
We were transferred onto the 2 yachts, which involved climbing rather unceremoniously up the side, and placed in our positions. I had to wind up some gear type thing which would change the direction of the sails. Didn't really have a clue what I was doing but I just wound the thing when I was told to. At one point my hand flew off the gear and I hit another poor woman in the chin whoops. I was mortified and she was far from impressed. But I couldn't really do much about it. I was concentrating so hard on doing the job that I didn't have time to enjoy the view, or the whole experience of sailing, but it was a good experience, particularly when all the spray flew up over the boat.
We were apparently having a race with another yacht and I don't even know if we won or not . I was just pre-occupied with winding that gear. When it was all over we clambered back onto the tender boat and returned to the dock, where we were given a rather weak attempt at rum punch and directed into a gift shop.....
DH bought a T-shirt with the ship's name and CREW on it. I think he enjoyed it all a bit more than I did. We were then offered a ride into Phillipsburg in the tender boat, so we decided to jump on board and go and check out the town.
Woke up this morning feeling very excited. After 5 wonderful and relaxing days at sea we were arriving on the far side of the Atlantic in St Maarten. The last time I had been in St Maarten was in 1989 / 1990, 20 years earlier, when I was working for Princess Cruises, so I was interested to see how much it had changed. We got up quickly, got ready and rushed up to see if we could shout Land Ahoy! and there it was before us:
We spotted this ugly ship along side:
We had an excursion planned for this morning . the 12 Metre Regatta, which I had booked because DH has always loved sailing and I will try almost anything once. So we quickly grabbed some breakfast from Topsiders. I thought it might be nice to show a comparison of my breakfast vs DH's breakfast, so here it is:
Sarah's Breakfast:
Tony's Breakfast:
You can make your own minds up on who has the most healthy breakfast and lets just say it isn't .
Once we had finished breakfast we returned to the cabin to pick up our bits and pieces for the say, and then we headed to the Promenade Lounge where we were meeting with our excursion group.
We were led off the ship and I was mortified to have to follow behind a CM holding up a Mickey head on a stick for us to follow, as we have always had a secret giggle at cruise tours following behind things held up in the air during our travels. Our only redemption was that it was a Mickey head and that is clearly acceptable. When the Mickey head holding CM was replced by a chap holding up a board with a 12 on it, I was less than impressed.
We were led out onto the dockside where we were introduced to our tour guide and taken to a small boat which was going to transfer us to the sailing yachts. There was a steel band playing on the dockside which really enhanced that Caribbean atmosphere, like the clear blue sea, sunshine and beautiful colourful architecture wasn't enough:
The ugly ship turned out to be the Norwegian Epic .. I like to give this photo the title Beauty and the Beast
We set off in the small boat . and the sea was an incredible shade of blue .
Once we were out on the boat the guide instructed us on safety and what would be required of us during the adventure. We were given jobs to perform on board the yachts and these could be active or less active which ever you preferred. Both DH and I selected active (well there has to be a first time for everything) . Because I was concentrating so hard and because of the flying spray and didn't manage to take any photos on baord the yachts so I apologise for that.
We were transferred onto the 2 yachts, which involved climbing rather unceremoniously up the side, and placed in our positions. I had to wind up some gear type thing which would change the direction of the sails. Didn't really have a clue what I was doing but I just wound the thing when I was told to. At one point my hand flew off the gear and I hit another poor woman in the chin whoops. I was mortified and she was far from impressed. But I couldn't really do much about it. I was concentrating so hard on doing the job that I didn't have time to enjoy the view, or the whole experience of sailing, but it was a good experience, particularly when all the spray flew up over the boat.
We were apparently having a race with another yacht and I don't even know if we won or not . I was just pre-occupied with winding that gear. When it was all over we clambered back onto the tender boat and returned to the dock, where we were given a rather weak attempt at rum punch and directed into a gift shop.....
DH bought a T-shirt with the ship's name and CREW on it. I think he enjoyed it all a bit more than I did. We were then offered a ride into Phillipsburg in the tender boat, so we decided to jump on board and go and check out the town.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Philipsburg was still as I remembered it, only a lot bigger and with a lot more tourist tat shops and duty free shops. We wandered about the streets and the beach area
From the beach we could see the yachts we had just been sailing on out in the bay:
I basically took photos of the amazing Caribbean architecture, and anything that grabbed my attention really. It is a really photogenic town.
At one point we started to hear the strains of the Star Wars theme, which seemed a little bit out of place here, but then we realised we had come across a little Star Wars memorabilia museum run by the chap who created Yoda in Star Wars. He also sells a lot of his art work and some of it was very nice, but we realised it wouldn't travel well and so we restrained ourselves. The artist himself was very much in evidence in the shop / museum and quite happy to chat about his life.
to be continued .....
From the beach we could see the yachts we had just been sailing on out in the bay:
I basically took photos of the amazing Caribbean architecture, and anything that grabbed my attention really. It is a really photogenic town.
At one point we started to hear the strains of the Star Wars theme, which seemed a little bit out of place here, but then we realised we had come across a little Star Wars memorabilia museum run by the chap who created Yoda in Star Wars. He also sells a lot of his art work and some of it was very nice, but we realised it wouldn't travel well and so we restrained ourselves. The artist himself was very much in evidence in the shop / museum and quite happy to chat about his life.
to be continued .....
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
We wandered along the min shopping areas and along the beach, stopping only to take photos, and before long we began to feel a bit peckish, so we found a restaurant on the harbour called The Greenhouse, and decided to call in for some lunch and liquid refreshment aka beer.
I was particularly thrilled as we used to visit a Greenhouse restaurant in St Thomas 20 years ago, and it turned out to be part of the same group. I was even more thrilled that the potato skins I had loved way back then were still on the menu, and still tasted exactly the same.
View from the restaurant:
After lunch we returned to the shopping area and I bought Caribbean style maxi dress which had an expandable top, an essential requirement for the last few days of a cruise. We stopped to watch some little birds who were feeding on one of the trees, and the trees themselves were quite interesting.
We also took a lovely walk along the beach and just a few more photos:
to be continued .......
I was particularly thrilled as we used to visit a Greenhouse restaurant in St Thomas 20 years ago, and it turned out to be part of the same group. I was even more thrilled that the potato skins I had loved way back then were still on the menu, and still tasted exactly the same.
View from the restaurant:
After lunch we returned to the shopping area and I bought Caribbean style maxi dress which had an expandable top, an essential requirement for the last few days of a cruise. We stopped to watch some little birds who were feeding on one of the trees, and the trees themselves were quite interesting.
We also took a lovely walk along the beach and just a few more photos:
to be continued .......
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
They didn't excactly seem to bother too much with health and safety when building a roof here:
All too soon it was time to return to the Disney Magic, so we headed for the pier to board a water taxi back to the dock. We ended up in a boat full of Norwegian Epic passengers, and a lot of the women appeared to have been hitting the island drinks very hard as they were all dancing very provocatively and suggestively with members of the boat crew. It was a bit uncomfortable considering there were kids on the boat and I am no way a prude. When they got off the boat they could hardly walk.
We wandered back on board and headed up to Deck 10 for a sailaway cocktail, and met up with Michael and Michele. We then witnessed the most amazing horn battle between the Magic and the Epic as we were pulling away. ( I managed to film this and I now have over 7000 hits on YouTube with my video of the Epic Horn Battle.) . It was absolutely amazing standing up on deck in the early evening watching us sailaway from the islands. Once we were underway we dashed downstairs as it was time for a highlight of our cruise …. a special show by Jodi Benson aka the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. This show was truly magical, and we felt really blessed to have been able to see such an amazing performer.
Once the show was over, we dashed back down to the cabin to get ready for Pirates in the Caribbean night. We had some photos taken with Captain Jack
and Pirate Mickey
prior to dinner. Pirates in the Caribbean Dinner was in Lumieres, and I had the banana and pineapple appetiser,
the macadamia dusted Mahi Mahi, which is one of my all-time favourite meals on the Magic
and for dessert I had coconut ice cream which was incredible. We took lots of photos of our tables mates and our neighbours in pirate costume
DIS Captain Jack and friends:
Our wonderful Head Server … Yolande:
Leslie and Raphael:
Raphael:
to be continued
All too soon it was time to return to the Disney Magic, so we headed for the pier to board a water taxi back to the dock. We ended up in a boat full of Norwegian Epic passengers, and a lot of the women appeared to have been hitting the island drinks very hard as they were all dancing very provocatively and suggestively with members of the boat crew. It was a bit uncomfortable considering there were kids on the boat and I am no way a prude. When they got off the boat they could hardly walk.
We wandered back on board and headed up to Deck 10 for a sailaway cocktail, and met up with Michael and Michele. We then witnessed the most amazing horn battle between the Magic and the Epic as we were pulling away. ( I managed to film this and I now have over 7000 hits on YouTube with my video of the Epic Horn Battle.) . It was absolutely amazing standing up on deck in the early evening watching us sailaway from the islands. Once we were underway we dashed downstairs as it was time for a highlight of our cruise …. a special show by Jodi Benson aka the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. This show was truly magical, and we felt really blessed to have been able to see such an amazing performer.
Once the show was over, we dashed back down to the cabin to get ready for Pirates in the Caribbean night. We had some photos taken with Captain Jack
and Pirate Mickey
prior to dinner. Pirates in the Caribbean Dinner was in Lumieres, and I had the banana and pineapple appetiser,
the macadamia dusted Mahi Mahi, which is one of my all-time favourite meals on the Magic
and for dessert I had coconut ice cream which was incredible. We took lots of photos of our tables mates and our neighbours in pirate costume
DIS Captain Jack and friends:
Our wonderful Head Server … Yolande:
Leslie and Raphael:
Raphael:
to be continued
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Lynne and Len:
Morag and Gus ( not so piratey )
Jodie and Mike:
and then headed up to Deck 10 to hang out with the Pirates in the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party.
The show was good fun as ever, and the fireworks were impressive. We then settled down on the loungers to watch At World's End, although we bottled out before the end as it was getting quite chilly and we were once again exhibiting our lack of any stamina and nodding off. It was time for bed. Some pirates we are!!
Morag and Gus ( not so piratey )
Jodie and Mike:
and then headed up to Deck 10 to hang out with the Pirates in the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party.
The show was good fun as ever, and the fireworks were impressive. We then settled down on the loungers to watch At World's End, although we bottled out before the end as it was getting quite chilly and we were once again exhibiting our lack of any stamina and nodding off. It was time for bed. Some pirates we are!!
squitty
<font color=006633>With a little bit of Pixie Dust
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2001
Fantastic updates Sarah.
Had to laugh at the breakfasts...why is it men can eat all of that and not put any weight on, it's not fair. I gained 2lbs just looking at the photo of Tony's breakfast
Love the Pirate night photos...you all made such an effort.
Had to laugh at the breakfasts...why is it men can eat all of that and not put any weight on, it's not fair. I gained 2lbs just looking at the photo of Tony's breakfast
Love the Pirate night photos...you all made such an effort.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Fantastic updates Sarah.
Had to laugh at the breakfasts...why is it men can eat all of that and not put any weight on, it's not fair. I gained 2lbs just looking at the photo of Tony's breakfast
Love the Pirate night photos...you all made such an effort.
Thanks xx He only put on 2lbs during the cruise ....
Mind you he was in the gym every day. You can clearly eat that much if you go to the gym!
mandymouse
Bahama Mama Time !!
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
What a great update Sarah. I love your pics from St. Maarten, I'll be there in a few weeks when we take an Eastern cruise on the Magic, and we have got to find that Star Wars memorabillia museum 
I love how the majority of people dressed up pirate night, you all look great
Ugh ! that Norwegian Epic ship is pretty gruesome
I love how the majority of people dressed up pirate night, you all look great
Ugh ! that Norwegian Epic ship is pretty gruesome
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Day 14 – Tortola
Today we were visiting Tortola, and I was really looking forward to it. I had visited Tortola once before in the heady days of my youth aboard the Royal Princess when I had spent a memorable afternoon in the Pussers Outpost with fellow crew members and a large contingent of the British Royal Navy who were there on shore leave. Of course, that was 20 years pervious, and I was interested to see if the island, and the Pussers Outpost had changed.
We had booked a snorkelling excursion for Tortola, which I was really looking forward to, as we were going to be sailing to some outlying islands on a catamaran. So our first plan of action was breakfast at Topsiders, and the obligatory photos of Tortola from the ship:
The colours of this island were once again beautiful .. pastel pink buildings and lots of greenery.
Once breakfast was finished we disappeared down to the cabin to pick up our requirements for the day, and then we headed off to meet up with our tour group. All of our wonderful tablemates were taking this trip, as were our lovely table neighbours Anne and Howard, so we know we were in for a very enjoyable morning. We met up with our tour leader just off the Magic, and we were escorted to some very cute transport vehicles.
Which took us a little way along the coast and dropped us off at a small marina.
We then boarded the catamaran and set off on our adventure. The sea was very calm as we sped away from Tortola towards some neighbouring islands.
I took lots of photos of the Disney Magic:
the scenery we passed:
the boat:
to be continued .......
Today we were visiting Tortola, and I was really looking forward to it. I had visited Tortola once before in the heady days of my youth aboard the Royal Princess when I had spent a memorable afternoon in the Pussers Outpost with fellow crew members and a large contingent of the British Royal Navy who were there on shore leave. Of course, that was 20 years pervious, and I was interested to see if the island, and the Pussers Outpost had changed.
We had booked a snorkelling excursion for Tortola, which I was really looking forward to, as we were going to be sailing to some outlying islands on a catamaran. So our first plan of action was breakfast at Topsiders, and the obligatory photos of Tortola from the ship:
The colours of this island were once again beautiful .. pastel pink buildings and lots of greenery.
Once breakfast was finished we disappeared down to the cabin to pick up our requirements for the day, and then we headed off to meet up with our tour group. All of our wonderful tablemates were taking this trip, as were our lovely table neighbours Anne and Howard, so we know we were in for a very enjoyable morning. We met up with our tour leader just off the Magic, and we were escorted to some very cute transport vehicles.
Which took us a little way along the coast and dropped us off at a small marina.
We then boarded the catamaran and set off on our adventure. The sea was very calm as we sped away from Tortola towards some neighbouring islands.
I took lots of photos of the Disney Magic:
the scenery we passed:
the boat:
to be continued .......
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Before too long we had arrived at our first snorkelling spot, close to some sea caves.
We all got into the water and snorkelled around for a bit, some ventured further than others ….. it was a bit choppy so I stayed close to the boat, but we saw lots of fish and swam around for about 30 minutes.
Then we were back on board and headed to our beach stop. Now apparently this beach had suffered during a hurricane previously and so was not the most photogenic, but I quite liked the abandoned feel it had and thought the photographs were a bit more interesting.
We snorkelled off the beach here, which I prefer to do as it feels a lot safer, and we saw a lot more sea life as it there was a small reef with lots of coral formations etc. Of course you had to be very careful where you put your feet so as not to disrupt the coral.
Before too long it was time to return to the catamaran and head back to Tortola. On the way back we were served some fruit non-alcoholic punch and they palyed some caribbean style music, so it was very pleasant laid back on the boat chilling and listening to the music. Overall it was a very enjoyable trip.
We were dropped off back at the dock were we were taken back to the ship in the cute little bus taxis. We then got changed out of our wet stuff and headed out back into town to pay a visit to the Pussers Outpost. We walked thorough the very quiet but pleasant town, encountered a government protest which was going on, took lots of photos along the way.
Those damn Brits get everywhere .......
The Pussers Outpost was exactly as I remembered it, it was like going back in time, only that I was 20 years older, probably a bit wiser, definitely a lot fatter and a lot more wary of the rum in those painkillers … so I opted for the weakest blend, and even that was strong !!!!
We found Sarah and Dan at the bar, and they were enjoying the delights of the Painkillers, including an interesting shot glass one. After checking out the menu we decided to stay for lunch, as I was desperate for a Caribbean roti and Tony fancied the hot wings.
The food was delicious, particularly the roti, which is sort of a curried vegetable filling inside a very thin tortilla type pancake. Sorry, it's probably nothing like that but thats the best I can do to describe it.
We had another couple of Painkillers to wash down our lunch and our tablemates Gus and Morag appeared and had a couple of drinks. They were both very brave and tried the shot glass one.
The drinks in that place certainly put a smile on your face thats for sure …. I had a warm fuzzy feeling that lasted all afternoon.
We all got into the water and snorkelled around for a bit, some ventured further than others ….. it was a bit choppy so I stayed close to the boat, but we saw lots of fish and swam around for about 30 minutes.
Then we were back on board and headed to our beach stop. Now apparently this beach had suffered during a hurricane previously and so was not the most photogenic, but I quite liked the abandoned feel it had and thought the photographs were a bit more interesting.
We snorkelled off the beach here, which I prefer to do as it feels a lot safer, and we saw a lot more sea life as it there was a small reef with lots of coral formations etc. Of course you had to be very careful where you put your feet so as not to disrupt the coral.
Before too long it was time to return to the catamaran and head back to Tortola. On the way back we were served some fruit non-alcoholic punch and they palyed some caribbean style music, so it was very pleasant laid back on the boat chilling and listening to the music. Overall it was a very enjoyable trip.
We were dropped off back at the dock were we were taken back to the ship in the cute little bus taxis. We then got changed out of our wet stuff and headed out back into town to pay a visit to the Pussers Outpost. We walked thorough the very quiet but pleasant town, encountered a government protest which was going on, took lots of photos along the way.
Those damn Brits get everywhere .......
The Pussers Outpost was exactly as I remembered it, it was like going back in time, only that I was 20 years older, probably a bit wiser, definitely a lot fatter and a lot more wary of the rum in those painkillers … so I opted for the weakest blend, and even that was strong !!!!
We found Sarah and Dan at the bar, and they were enjoying the delights of the Painkillers, including an interesting shot glass one. After checking out the menu we decided to stay for lunch, as I was desperate for a Caribbean roti and Tony fancied the hot wings.
The food was delicious, particularly the roti, which is sort of a curried vegetable filling inside a very thin tortilla type pancake. Sorry, it's probably nothing like that but thats the best I can do to describe it.
We had another couple of Painkillers to wash down our lunch and our tablemates Gus and Morag appeared and had a couple of drinks. They were both very brave and tried the shot glass one.
The drinks in that place certainly put a smile on your face thats for sure …. I had a warm fuzzy feeling that lasted all afternoon.
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
All too soon our day in Tortola was over, but hey not to worry, we had somewhere wonderful to go back to and an evening in Palo to look forward to. We wandered back to the ship. On the way we bought a fridge magnet at a little market that had set up close to the ship.
We then took a few photos with this magnificant backdrop:
Back on board and it was time for a delicious cocktail to celebrate sail away. We stayed up on deck for a while to watch us sail past lots of islands,
and I took a few photos around the ship at dusk:
but soon it was time for our dinner date at Palo so we headed down to the cabin to get ready.
Dinner at Palo was a wonderful experience …. we were served once again by Sylvester as we had requested him following our amazing brunch experience. We started out by being given a selection of antipasti type meats and things …. not exactly my thing but I nibbled on some of the delicious bread sticks and things to accompany my glass of pinot grigio. For appetiser we both had the portobello mushroom which was delicious, and then I had the risotto which again was lovely. Needless to ask what we had for dessert …. the chocolate souffle … but does anyone ever have anything else ???? It certainly lived up to it's reputation.
So after Palo … guess what we were too stuffed to the gills to go anywhere or do anything so we wobbled around the deck for a while and then went to bed.
We then took a few photos with this magnificant backdrop:
Back on board and it was time for a delicious cocktail to celebrate sail away. We stayed up on deck for a while to watch us sail past lots of islands,
and I took a few photos around the ship at dusk:
but soon it was time for our dinner date at Palo so we headed down to the cabin to get ready.
Dinner at Palo was a wonderful experience …. we were served once again by Sylvester as we had requested him following our amazing brunch experience. We started out by being given a selection of antipasti type meats and things …. not exactly my thing but I nibbled on some of the delicious bread sticks and things to accompany my glass of pinot grigio. For appetiser we both had the portobello mushroom which was delicious, and then I had the risotto which again was lovely. Needless to ask what we had for dessert …. the chocolate souffle … but does anyone ever have anything else ???? It certainly lived up to it's reputation.
So after Palo … guess what we were too stuffed to the gills to go anywhere or do anything so we wobbled around the deck for a while and then went to bed.
Pinky166
<font color=deeppink>a little on the OCD side<br><
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2008
Ooooh Sarah I am so excited after catching up with your latest installments, September can not come quick enough!!!!!
Love all your photos & I can not wait for all those sea days.....you seemed to find the perfect mix of activities & chilling.
I love your dress that you wore to Palo, so pretty.
Love all your photos & I can not wait for all those sea days.....you seemed to find the perfect mix of activities & chilling.
I love your dress that you wore to Palo, so pretty.
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