Our WDW adventures and Magical Happy Halloween Cruise: DAY 14 completed 01/10: pg 10

this must be the 'longest-time taken' trip report ever!!! but totally worth it. I adore your pictures and you all look like you had the time of your lives. I really want to do a cruise now!
 
Day 9 - Part 2

Sadly. before too long though it was 4pm and we had to return to the ship ourselves, taking photos along the way.

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I could have happily stayed here forever, but not to worry - we had another stop at Castaway Cay to look forward to at the end of the week.

We showered off all the beach which had attached itself to our legs and then spotted Andy and Helen waving from their verandah!

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When we got back to our cabin we received a phone call to say that Taryn was now enjoying ice-cream up in Helen & Andy’s cabin, and an invitation to join them up there for a few drinkies as the ship set sail. So after showering and changing into our cruise casual numbers, we headed up for a few beers while enjoying the view of Castaway Cay as we prepared to set sail, and then watching the island disappear into the distance as we once again headed for that horizon.

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Before dinner we had a wander around the ship, and spent some time in the art gallery looking at the work of John Rowe, the on-board artist.

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As she is studying A’level Art and wants to do a degree in illustration, Taryn was very interested in talking to John Rowe and she spent a lot of time in the art gallery to the point that it bcame a standing joke amongst us that she was “stalking” poor John Rowe. Some of his art pieces were actually very impressive and we took a few sneaky pics of our favourites!

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Dinner this evening was in Animator’s Palate and it was the show dinner, which was very entertaining and without giving anything away there is a very special guest at the end.

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The wonderful Dennis taking our orders:

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The food was also divine, and I had wild mushroom risotto, followed by smoked salmon, trout and goats cheese salad, followed by grilled salmon with creamy risotto in a Barolo wine sauce. Tony also had the risotto appetiser, but had creamy butternut squash soup and lemon pepper chicken with jalapeno mash. The kids had various combinations, mostly from the “lighter fare” although some of them tried the lemon pepper chicken and jalapeno mash, which I though was very brave of them.

Dessert brought me a dilemma, I had been wanting to try the chocolate peanut butter pie since first discovering the menus on the DIS, but then on the night I was also tempted by the strawberry shortcake. Our server Dennis decided that there was only one solution - I needed to have both desserts!
So both of them arrived at the table and I am disgusted to say that I finished both desserts and didn’t leave a single crumb behind on the plate! They were delicious!

Strawberry Shortcake:

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie:

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Stephen, on the other hand, chose to have “nothing” for dessert ….

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After dinner, Taryn, Louise and Dan headed to watch Disney DVDs with Rachel and Bethany, while Tony, Stephen and I decided to take a walk into the adult zone and see what entertainment was on offer. We were walking past Rockin Bar D and were directed inside by some cruise staff by the door, the place was full and we managed to find a couple of seats crammed behind a pillar. Unfortunately the entertainment this evening was a rather uninspiring female ventriloquist, and as I have a particular dislike of ventriloquists in the first place, I was desperate to escape, but didn’t want to get straight up again after just sitting down and cause a disruption, especially as the majority of the audience seemed to be enjoying the show. The show was along the lines of the entertainment you might have at a kiddies party, but very un-funny and predictable and very much reminded me of what you might expect at a UK holiday camp. The boredom was slightly alleviated by a heckler a couple of rows in front, who was being very loud and embarrassing his family, obviously very much the worse for having had a few sherbets. Eventually the cruise staff had to come over and “persuade” the heckler to leave the show, and it was the right thing to do, as above all else he was being very rude to the performer and even though she was a bit boring she did not deserve that. With all the commotion around the heckler, we then managed to escape from our seats without causing too much further disruption.

Tony and I then wandered into Sessions, where the entertainment was much more to our liking - a jazz pianist and a lovely relaxing romantic atmosphere. We sat down by one of the portholes and ordered a cocktail. I had “Ivory Keys” which was a concoction of rum and coconut and it was delicious! We had a chat with Jackie (JNS) and Michael who were also enjoying a drink in here, and it was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

After finishing our drinks we decided to take a walk around the deck and then head to our cabin. Before going to bed I remembered to book a wake-up call on the phone, as tomorrow we had the Island Jam breakfast!
 
im just catching up on your trippie....you have had me Laughing Crying and Gagging so far !! :rotfl2:
 
Day 3: Day at Sea

I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing, and imagine my surprise when I picked it up and found out who was calling me - why it was Captain Mickey Mouse himself, who said I needed to get up because I had so much to do today. Now I am not one to disobey the Captain, so before too long I was up, showered and dressed and heading down to meet up with Helen for our DIS Trick-or-Treat bag stuffing session in the Promenade Lounge. One of our DIS cruisers, Suzie had set up a DIS Trick-or-Treat treasure hunt for the first sea day, and we had all donated sweets and treats for the bags, and this morning we were basically stuffing all of the treats into the bags - I don’t think I have ever seen such well-stuffed trick-or-treat bags!

The bag stuffers in action:

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Suzie - who organised the DIS Trick or Treat:

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Jenn - our official bag lady:

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Unfortunately this session also clashed with our Island Jam Character Breakfast which was scheduled for 09:45, so I managed to stuff a few bags and take a few photographs before being whisked away to breakfast with Mickey and friends. Helen and Andy stayed to stuff bags a bit longer, before going to Palo Brunch where stuffing of quite a different nature took place!

So with their parents enjoying Palo, Rachel and Bethany joined us for breakfast, and it was great fun. Dennis made a bunch of hats for the kids out of serviettes

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And even one for Stephen …… ( and shock horror, if you look really closely he is actually smiling!)

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and we got to meet with all the guys.

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The food was once again delicious and I had the usual cinnamon bun and fruit combo:

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while Tony had the cooked breakfast:

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And Dan also enjoyed his breakfast - rather a small stack of pancakes and waffles:

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After breakfast we wandered around the ship and chilled out until it was time to meet up with a highly stuffed Andy and Helen after their Palo brunch, which they said was amazing! Something for us to look forward to for our next cruise! We then decided to go and distribute some of our fish extender gifts, which was a great way to see some of the other areas of the ship, but also a bit disorientating wandering down all of those long alleyways, particularly as the ship had taken it upon itself to start swaying a little bit more as the day progressed! Fortunately the pink pills were keeping much of my nausea at bay, and everyone else seemed to be coping well, either with or without the pills.

At about 1pm we decided to go to Topsiders for the Italian buffet lunch, which was delicious once again - we certainly couldn‘t fault the food on this cruise so far. The kids then headed off to take some photos around the ship, and then the girls joined up with us for the DIS Trick or Treat around the ship, which had been organised by Suzie from our DIS group, while the lads went to the pool. The DIS Trick or Treat consisted of a series of clues to specific locations which were given out to teams of DIS kids and their parents. They then had to follow the clues to the next location where they were given a new clue and so on. Eventually the clues led to the Walt Disney theatre where the kids all received a big bag of treats (the bags we were stuffing earlier) Taryn, Louise and I had the clue station on Deck 9, and it was great fun giving out the clues and watching the kids work out where to go next. At the end of the treasure hunt we all converged at the final treat station where we all had a chat. The DIS Trick or Treat was a great success and everyone enjoyed it!

To be continued …..( too many photos)
 


Part 2:

After this the girls joined up with Dan and Stephen and they went to watch WALL-E at the Buena Vista Theatre, while while Tony and I chilled out around the ship, not doing anything in particular as far as I can remember. At 4pm Tony and Andy had an appointment in Diversions for the Beer tasting seminar, which I believe went down very well. The kids had also been taking photos with Walt Disney:

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and a rather strange one of Daniel sharing a moment with Zac Efron:

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Meanwhile I decided to go down to the cabin and press our formal dresses and shirts ready for the evening’s festivities. Once the beer tasting was finished, Tony joined me down in the cabin and we all got glammed up for the formal night. Once we were ready we headed down to the Captain’s Reception, where we met up with Helen, Andy and family and mingled with the ship’s officers, while enjoying the cocktails which were on offer. We then all made our way to the Walt Disney Theatre to see the Golden Mickeys Show. This show was really wonderful and inspiring and brought a tear to my eye on more than one occasion!

After the show it was time for our Golden Mickey dinner, which was in Parrot Cay. I loved this restaurant in particular, as I loved the whole tropical atmosphere and the laid back vibe - but think that Lumiere’s may well have been more appropriate for the formal dinner. However that didn’t detract from a wonderful evening with wonderful company, and once again Dennis and Laura excelled themselves with the service, and the meal was truly outstanding. This evening I had Scottish smoked salmon and pear salad, followed by jumbo shrimp and porcini mushroom tagliatelle, and then the most incredible dessert - the golden chocolate chocolate award, which was to die for!

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Tony also tried scallops for the first time ever and was pleasantly surprised and he chose the Beef Wellington for his entrée.

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Taryn and Louise both decided to be brave and tried something new - the cheese souffle, and they both enjoyed it, and when all the girls opted for the plain chicken entrée Dennis persuaded them to try the swordfish, which Taryn and Rachel both tried and they both liked it. I was really pleased they were having an attempt to try new things, as they are all so reluctant to do so normally. Dan opted for the lamb, which he also enjoyed and I can’t recall what Stephen decided upon.

Taryn and Rachel couldn’t decide between desserts - so Dennis brought them 3 to share:

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and somebody at the table had the Passion Fruit Napoleon:

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After the meal was finished Dennis amazed us all with his crayon puzzles….

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Andy was wearing this amazing formal shirt which had pirate figures on the sleeves:

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Following dinner we wandered around and took photos of our kids in their formal attire - marvelling at how smart and mature they all looked!

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For some reason I don’t have a photo of Tony and myself or Helen and Andy in formal gear, which is a shame, especially as Tony was wearing a really cool Mickey Mouse waistcoat and bow tie. We also had a visit to the art gallery to see John Rowe and bid him farewell, as he was leaving the ship the following morning (or throwing himself overboard in desperation after having been stalked by Taryn for the past 2 days!).

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We then headed back to the cabin planning to change out of our formal wear into something more casual, but in the end we were so tired we decided to stay in the cabin and go to bed. I’m afraid we were rather lacking on the stamina front some nights!I remembered to set the alarm call for the morning, we were looking forward to our visit to Mexico the following day!
 
AMAZING DAY! your all look so fab in your posh get-up. the food looks incredible.

what cat of stateroom did your have?
 


just catching up with your report

would love to be back again

memories memories memories
 
We have been enjoying the trip report and look forward to the next installment.popcorn::
The one question that we are anxious to know is are we going to get a chance to see the mythical fishtails. I know patience has never my strong point.:tigger:
 
We have been enjoying the trip report and look forward to the next installment.popcorn::
The one question that we are anxious to know is are we going to get a chance to see the mythical fishtails. I know patience has never my strong point.:tigger:

Hi

Pleased that you are enjoying my little ramble, but forgive me if I am dim - what are mythical fishtails?:confused3
 
Oh Sarah, I don't want this report to ever end , I'm enjoying them so much and you make me Laugh Out Loud!!! The kids all look gorgeous in their posh frocks and I'm sure you and Tony did too!! :hug:
 
Just spent the first couple of hours of my working day reading the whole thing, and it is grea reading so far.
Some fantastic pics as well. Looking forward to the next bit now. :thumbsup2
 
I've just been playing catch up too :)

Great report, can't wait for more
 
Thanks everyone for reading my report and posting such kind comments.
I am working on the next installment - but life keeps getting in the way!
 
Day 11 - Cozumel - Part 1

I was woken up by Captain Mickey again and straight away jumped up out of bed and got ready for the day ahead - today we were in Cozumel, a place I had never visited before, so I was really looking forward to going ashore and checking it out. A quick phone call to the kids cabin made sure they were at least awake and hopefully give them a nudge in the right direction. In the meantime Tony and I headed up to Topsiders for our usual breakfast, and as we were eating we were joined intermittantly by one or other of our offspring, until we were all sitting there enjoying the morning sun. We had booked the Fury Catamaran Sail and Snorkel trip for the afternoon, but for the morning the plan was to just have a wander around the town and buy a few souvenirs. As we were enjoying breakfast, an announcement came over the speaker to tell us that because of rough seas our catamaran trip was cancelled, as were a few other of the water-based excursions. I was really disappointed as I was looking forward to this, and it seemed a bit strange as the seas appeared anything but rough at that moment in time, but maybe the powers that be knew something we didn’t!

Once breakfast was finished we headed back to the cabin to prepare to leave the ship for the morning. We wandered into town, along a very long jetty, which led into a outdoor shopping centre, mostly consisting of souvenir type shops.

View from the shopping centre:


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There were also a few living “statues” which were quite interesting to look at but who were charging 10 dollars to take a photo - they weren’t THAT good! However as soon as we arrived there we were hassled by every shop owner to enter their shop, and by car rental guys trying to get us to rent vehicles - I know the local people have to earn a living, and I’m sure a lot of it comes from cruise ship passengers, but to be honest it was really off-putting and actually had the opposite effect on us - we avoided the shops with pushy salespeople and tried to whizz through the shopping centre area as quickly as possible! The kids were really freaked out by all the hassle from the locals, as this is something they had never experienced before. Unfortunately, and this is entirely our own fault, they have always spent their vacations in Disneyland Paris or WDW, and therefore have a rather Disney-fied and therefore sanitised and unrealistic view of the rest of the world. This was real Mexico as opposed to the Epcot version, and they were certainly not used to the hassle we were getting while just walking about and minding our own business. Once we were down in the streets we were offered all sorts of things by the guys we passed, and not all of it was legal, and the girls began to complain that they didn’t feel safe and wanted to go back to the ship.

I was determined to show them something of the real world, to make them appreciate a different culture and way of life, so we walked around the streets for a while and looked at the architecture and took a few photos.

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Some interesting local art work:

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They were still desperate to return to the Magic, and in the end we gave up and headed back. On the way back we bumped into Andy, Helen and family in the shopping area, and they were headed back to the ship for the exact same reason. So we took all the kids back to the ship and then decided to come back and have another look around ourselves.

A welcome sight for the girls….

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Great place to make a call:

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My happy family waiting for me to stop taking photos!

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Goofy hard at work:

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At the last minute Stephen changed his mind and decided to come along, as I think at 19 he was a bit fed up with the US licensing laws and he knew he could at least have a beer in Mexico!

So Tony, Stephen and I and Andy and Helen headed back into the town along the sea front, stopping off at a Tequila tasting shop so that the guys could taste some tequila,

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while Helen and I gave it a miss - I was very put off by the horrible larvae in some of the bottles. After the tequila experience we wandered for a while before stopping for a Mexican beer experience, corona with the lime in the neck of the bottle, at a bar called Fat Tuesdays!It was actually very pleasant sitting in the bar, which was located on a wide square.

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After enjoying the rest we decided to walk back to the ship via Senor Frogs bar, as this was somewhere you had to visit when in Mexico. Senor Frogs was always a notorious hang out for ships crew when I worked for Princess Cruises, cruising on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, so I owed it to my illustrious past to pop in for a look around.

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The Hard Rock Café:

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The local transport:

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On the way back there we noticed that the sea was getting really rough in the bay, waves were coming over the sea wall and a boat had been lifted over onto the road and smashed up. Seems the powers that be had been correct in their assessment of the weather conditions, and for that we can only be grateful!

We arrived at Senor Frogs and went upstairs …..underneath some very strange ceiling décor…

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But when we reached the bar area it was all very quiet and when we sat down at a table, no one came near to take our order, so we decided to give it a miss and after a quick photograph on the swings

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we headed out and decided to visit Margaritaville instead.

Margaritaville had a much better atmosphere and location and we grabbed a table near the ocean and ordered margaritas as it would be silly not to really considering we were in Margaritaville!

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The margaritas were wonderful, but on an empty stomach it really went to my head, and one was certainly enough! The guys got really brave and decided to get a tequila shot off one of the girls going around. This was caught on video by myself and was really funny! Even Stephen had a go, and after the tequila tasting in the shop, a couple of beers, a margarita and now the tequila shot, we even got him to smile for the camera, although it was the video and not the still camera so I have no proof for you all to see!

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Apart from Margaritaville, which to be honest could have been anywhere, I was not overly impressed with Cozumel, mainly because of the pushy salespeople everywhere, and I certainly would not be wanting to rush back there anytime soon.
 
Day 11 - Cozumel - Part 2

We then decided to head back to the Magic to get some lunch, and check on the kids, so we wandered back through the shopping area and I picked up some hot chilli sauce for some friends and ourselves and a bottle of Kahlua and some ridiculously low price, about one tenth of the price in the UK!
By the time we got on the ship I was still feeling a bit light headed after the margarita so I decided to have a rest on the bed for a wee while the others went for some lunch. After about an hour I met up with Tony at the Goofy pool and grabbed some chicken fingers and fries. We then went up on the deck and filmed us sailing away from Cozumel on the videocam, before going down to the cabin to get ready for the show and dinner.

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This evening’s show was Twice Charmed, and it was really enjoyable and well-presented. By now the seas were quite rough and it was amazing how the dancers managed to dance so well and appear so graceful when the passengers were having trouble walking in a straight line! After the show we stopped by to watch the new artist Trevor Carlton, paint a picture in 30 minutes.

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This was truly a sight to see - he was incredible and I have never seen anyone paint a picture in such an entertaining way. No doubt Taryn would be making her way to the art gallery later to commence stalking Trevor!

Dinner this evening was the island dinner in Parrot Cay and I had really been looking forward to this one after checking out the menus on-line!Tonight was the island dinner, and Laura looked lovely in her costume!

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While waiting for dinner we caught Stephen colouring in the pictures on the kids menu!

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The warm banana bread with banana butter dip which came with this dinner was absolutely divine and we had demolished a few servings of this before the entrees arrived. Most of us had the smokey chicken, vegetable and cheddar cheese fritters for our appetiser and these were really nice. I followed this with a Caesar salad. For entrée I chose the Caribbean roast chicken, which again was delicious, while Tony opted for the Island roasted rib eye of beef, which he really enjoyed. Dessert this evening was the wonderful Crème Brulee Cheesecake.

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I certainly could not fault the food on the cruise so far, every single meal had been beyond even our high expectations. I forgot to say that Tony and I had ordered wine on our first evening as we do like a glass or two with our meal, and I was enjoying a delicious glass of Pinot Grigio with dinner every evening while Tony had a Shiraz. Our servers took the bottle away after dinner and brought it back out each evening until it was finished. Over the week I had 2 bottles and Tony had 3 - and it worked out really good value - well at least on a par with a decent restaurant over here. At the end of the meal Dennis amused everyone with some balancing cutlery:

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After dinner we had our customary walk around the ship before going to bed. We also popped along to check out the Art Gallery and to our surprise found Taryn, and the others chatting to Trevor Carlton. Rockin Bar D had some Spring Break thing going on which didn’t really appeal, and the sea was getting a bit too rocky for me to sit for long in Sessions or Diversions. Tomorrow we were in Grand Cayman and I was really looking forward to our trip in “Johnny Depp’s” boat with Helen, Andy and family. Tomorrow was also Pirate Night, and as I am a Pirates of the Caribbean obsessive I had looked forward to this event since booking the cruise!
 

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