tksbaskets
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If you are reading this post you are on part II of our holiday cruise. WARNING its going to be long because Im going to put it on two posts.
To recap our cast of characters: DH Walt, ME Teresa (aka TksBaskets) - compulsive planner, & DSs Nathan & Scott who at time of sailing were just a bit under 14. Cruise history, ringing in 2003 on the 4-day Wonder NYE cruise.
A SHORT ADDENDUM TO PART I (aka our trip to the Health Clinic)
Taking advantage of ALL the services on the Magic
Shortly after lunch in on day 5, Nathan (who had a raspy voice from the start of the trip) complained of not being able to hear out of his right ear. We figured he had sand in his ear from the swamping we took at Happy Bay. I called the health number on the phone and the nurse told me to bring him down at 3:30pm. This was great because it was before the posted hours. Down we went to deck 1. We knocked on the clinic door and were promptly greeted by Colleen, one of the nurses. No temp great! Dr. Varney arrived and looked in his ear, which did indeed have some sand in it. The nurse irrigated the ear with saline and hydrogen peroxide and back came Dr. Varney to take another look. Good thing we went because Nathan had a severe ear infection and was placed on antibiotics. Did you know you bill goes right on your shipboard account?? How handy! It was fun chatting with the medical team down there. Dr. Varney travels all over the world with his wife (think Dr. Sloan from diagnosis murder because he looked just like Dick Van ****!), and was just back from a 3-week Hawaii cruise. He said the Disney ships have THE BEST medical facilities on the ocean! They can even take x-rays right on the ship. That is comforting for a mother to know. ANOTHER TIP: If you are looking for a medical item that isnt in the gift shop, you can usually get it in the infirmary. Later in the week we bought a little cold sore medicine for under $8. BTW: It counts as and emergency room visit and most insurance companies will reimburse you the cost of the visit.
DAY 6: CHRISTMAS EVE IN ANTIGUA
Hard to believe my trip report is half over! Our agenda for the day included our Stingray Swim and Snorkel that met at noon in the Buena Vista Theatre. I had wanted to eat breakfast at Lumieres but we learned you have to get your sorry selves down there before 9:30am. Nathan must have planned it that way so up to Topsiders we all went for his breakfast of hash browns. I recommend the omelets that are made to order there. Be sure to look for them. (I must admit the Mickey waffles are mighty tasty tooJ) The boys ran off to Quartermasters/Stack after breakfast and Walt and I headed to the Cove Café for the drink of the day Egg Nog Latte. It was another warm, sunny day, with the temperature around 80 degrees. It was our first time in the Café and we really liked the atmosphere. We played a few games of checkers and enjoyed about the best decaf latte Ive ever tasted. They gave me a piece of bread on the side and asked if I wanted two. Being so conscious of watching the ol calories, I declined (not). What a mistake. DH ate the bread and it was like a yeast dough coffee cake. He wanted the other piece! If you like expensive coffee, youll love this place.
STINGRAY SWIM AND SNORKLE
Around 11 am we all met up in the cabin with our assorted goodies from Plutos. We made our way to the BVT on time and had to wait a few moments for towels to be delivered. Our Disney Cast Member was D.J. Pike, who was an actual DJ. He was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our waiting time. There were quite a few of us waiting for this excursion. Soon we were on our way following DJ and a Belle sign. We boarded another van and rode about 25 minutes or so out to Seaton's Village. We were divided into groups for what boat we would be riding out to Stingray Village. The snorkel equipment was in good repair. We all were wearing our water shoes, which we learned we needed to take off so we wouldnt damage any stingrays. Im betting there were about 20 people per boat.
Our driver got us quickly out to where the Stingrays were. The water was about four feet deep. I must confess that Im a pretty paranoid mom and made the boys wear the little yellow vests. There was probably between 50-80 snorkelers and I was worried about keeping an eye on the boys. After a bit of teenaged rebellion I just told the boys, I dont care if you even inflate the darn thing, you are going to wear it. (Both Nathan & Scott did admit that it was fun to just float around). The area with the stingrays was enclosed and there were several guides who helped us catch, feed, and pet the stingrays. They were very interesting to watch interact. There was a huge sea turtle Bob who was just outside the fence and we all dove down to see him. There was a nice reef area close to the boats were we were able to pick up starfish Patrick and Conch. We probably spent about an hour in the water there. The boats were anchored two across so we needed to cross through one boat to our own.
WARNING: plastic seats may become slippery when wet and produce a hazardous environment for your big, wet feet. I did a thrilling gymnastic move that resembled a half-pike as I slid onto the skiff. I was able to catch myself before landing in a heap on the bottom of the boat.
Back at Seatons Village we were offered a glass of punch (rum or not). There were a few outdoor showers and very nice shower facilities in the womans room (dont know about the mens ;-) ) The restroom was very clean. One unique extra was a guide who was opening coconuts with a machete. It was worth the $2 or $3 that we paid just to watch him open them. First he hacked a small hole in the side to insert a straw so you could drink the milk. When you were done with that, he whacked the top off and then carved a piece of the coconut into a spoon. Scott and Nathan learned that gooey coconut meat was pretty disgusting to eat but made for a nice picture. Speaking of pictures, the stingray people took photos of our family and of us individually. They had them on display on computer screens in the shop. Of course everything was costly, but we were able to get the pictures we wanted on CD. Hopefully I can figure out how to include one! Of course Nathan and Scott flashed their big baby blues at me, and both ended up with a Stingray City hat. We took a van back to the ship and Walt started talking to this nice woman in the front seat. As they chatted Walt mentioned that he was from Dexter, MI and the woman said, Theres a girl on the DIS boards from Dexter, TksBaskets. What a small world! Walt said, thats my wife, shes sitting right behind me! Here we finally met tkdlisa. We DISers really were everywhere! We were back to the Magic by about 3pm.
SANTAS VISIT
OK, so my boys are a little old, but from 1:30pm 3:30pm and 4:00pm 5:30 pm Santa was in the Atrium lobby handing out special gifts. The older children could choose either a DCL visor or a DCL CD holder. Both boys chose the visor. Nathans became almost a permanent fixture for the next few days. Younger kids could pick a little Brother Bear stuffed animal.
THE SPA THAT WASNT
Walt and I had booked a Resul (formally under a different name) that is the couples spa where you have a private sauna/spa area with assorted soaps and lotions for an hour. Wink wink. Like the giddy newly weds we are (married 18 years this summer) off we went to the Vista Spa. When we arrived we found that the Resul had been double booked and that we couldnt have our private spa. We were bummed. They offered us the time in the Rainforest room but by then our bubble had been burst and we said, No thanks, must be fate. Since we were already in our suits and the boys thought wed be gone for an hour, we went to the hot tub at the Quiet Cove Pool. We ended up having a great time talking to a couple from Canada and then two young sisters who were traveling with a third sister and their parents. We had seen these girls (all of 18 & 20) almost every night at the Rockin D Bar. Arent you the guys who sit at the far left table in the middle section in the front row? We sit two tables down from you YIKES, people know us by the spot we sit in. Walt and I are creatures of habit! One girl had been called up for a card trick during an adult cabaret show and they had seen my close encounter with the duck later in the cruise. We laughed about the woman who always sat front row center who had a, shall we say, interesting laugh that she couldnt seem to control. They were delight to talk with and Walt and I went down to change for dinner thinking we had truly made lemonade from our spa lemons.
GOLDEN MICKEYS
Tonight was another formal night. After our visit to Santa, Nathan wasnt feeling well. We did get plenty of sun that day and I think his antibiotics were upsetting his stomach too. He decided to rest in the room instead of going to dinner. We were in AP tonight and all the servers were in formal wear. Scott enjoyed having his picture taken with the servers. When I mentioned that I hadnt gotten a picture of our head server yet, Scott was a man with a mission and went to find him for me. My mom needs a picture of us for her scrapbook. Perhaps a bit embarrassing, but I was glad to have the picture! Our wonderful serving team were concerned about Nathan and Stoyan again brought us a to go Sprite when we were done with dinner. Scott went ahead to check on his brother while Walt and I made our umpteenth trip to shutters to pick up the boys picture with Santa (yes, I did fill my 20 punch card this cruise. That scrapbook will be heavy!)
The Golden Mickeys show is set up much like you are attending the Golden Globes or the Oscars complete with red carpet. Nathan was feeling a bit better after his big nap and went to see the show. We sat very close to the back on the isle in case he needed to bolt, which luckily he didnt. While we waited for the show they had Rhona Rivers greeting the arrivals and doing interviews that were broadcast on the big screen. Most were children as I recall and it was pretty cute. We all enjoyed the show and Nathan was glad he went. The boys went back to the room after the show and Walt and I headed to our favorite haunt to see Seabreeze and the comedy juggling talents of Randy Cabral. He was a young fellow who seemed to drop about as many as he caught but I figured that was probably part of the act. He was pretty funny about goofing up. We stayed for a bit of the band, but I needed to go back to the room to change for Christmas Eve mass. Nathan and Scott were asleep in the room by the time we got back at a bit before 11pm.
MASS
It was really special that the Disney Magic had a semi-retired priest on the cruise to celebrate mass. Christmas Eve mass was at 11pm in the Walt Disney Theater. I went up and was very happy to find Mary and Mark arriving the same time I did. We waited for a few moments to enter and had a great spontaneous discussion with those around us about the DVC. It seemed the overwhelming opinion was that the place to be was the Beach Club with Boardwalk a close second. If only money grew on a big tree in our back yard .
The service was wonderful. The alter was on the stage and the assistant cruise director and other cast members participated in the service. It was the first time Id seen Evian water used in the celebration of mass. Midnight mass was always special to me growing up and I was glad to have the opportunity to worship with my friends on that holy night. By the time I bid Mary & Mark Merry Christmas it was nearing midnight. All was quiet at our cabin as I asked Mickey for an early wake-up call for the next mornings immigration and slipped into bed.
SURPRISES FROM DISERS
Our message fish was busy this night and we had Christmas cards for DOOBELOVER (Sue), The Goose family, and Dee47 & family. I wished I had thought of that but want these wonderful people to know how special that was for us. Im saving your cards for my scrapbook.
DAY 7: CHRISTMAS DAY IN ST. THOMAS
Every night the next days Navigator would be in our room. I would look it over hand highlight the events we wanted to try and get too. So much to do, so little time! I saw that Taylor Mason was doing the main show in the WDT. Nathan had drawn a smiley face on it already.
Rise and shine for immigration in the Walt Disney Theater. With passports in hand we filed in both sides of the theater. DCL had refreshments for us including eggnog. When we entered the theater, each child was given a Disney pin. We filed to the front, presented our passports, and were quickly shuffled out the side door through the cast corridors. It was really quite painless except for the early hour. It was about 7:30 am by now. We decided to go to Lumieres for breakfast so I could finally get my eggs benedict. It was a very nice breakfast and as a bonus we were seated right next to Don Williams and his friends/family. He had mentioned that he would draw for people if they saw him at dinner, but Walt and I didnt really want to disturb his Christmas breakfast. He was very friendly and we all wished each other a Merry Christmas. The boys went off to their activities while Walt and I went up to deck 9 to make some Christmas phone calls. Our Verizone phone worked like a dream. It was delightful to call our family back in Michigan and tell them we were sitting on deck, overlooking the harbor in St. Thomas, while enjoying the sun and 80 degree temperatures. We then called a couple of close friends and told them we wished that they were with us! Like that commercial priceless!
MAGANS BAY
We had cancelled our excursion for the day (remember I didnt want to die mountain biking) so our day was pretty flexible. I had a good friend who was just back from a cruise in November and she raved about Magans bay. The Disney excursion was full and we didnt really want to get going early and spend 5 hours at the beach. The cast members at the service desk are very helpful suggesting we just take a taxi there.
At about 9:30 am we went to Topsiders for a snack and hash browns. Outside of Topsiders, conveniently placed by the aft elevators and restrooms, a cast member was selling a shore excursion kit which included a DCL soft-sided cooler & a six-pack of Evian. I had purchased this and a couple of DCL water bottle lanyards (it has a cord on the end to go around the neck of a bottle) for a buck each before our horseback riding earlier in the week. Nathans favorite shorts didnt have a pocket and these lanyards were perfect for holding our two-way radios. I stuffed a few boxes of Cheerios and granola cereal in my backpack and our shore excursion kit was complete. Soon we were on our way to the taxi dispatch area and for $5 a person we were on our way to Magans Bay. The taxi was a tuck with four rows of seats with a canopy in the truck bed. How they made it up those hills, I dont know. I was sitting right next to another ships doctor. He was a young guy and having a blast on his tour. Also with us was a woman who was the director of the childrens program on another ship.
It was kind of funny that we didnt pay when we left, but pulled over about 10 minutes down the road where the driver collected his fee. We had about a twenty to thirty minute ride through some beautiful countryside to Magans bay. We only had to pay $3 each to get into the beach, which was a fee to enter the park. The beach was beautiful. There was, of course, a large gift shop. We rented two beach chairs for $4 each plus a deposit. Loungers were readily available too, but would have been much harder to lug down the beach wasnt I nice to think of my DH like that?! We trooped a ways down the beach to a nice spot not far from the rest rooms. The water was very clear and salty. One of the most interesting things we saw were pelicans that would dive from really high up straight down into the water and come up with fish. Nathan and I floated in the water and they would dive 10 feet from you. It was fascinating to see them filter the water out of their throats and then see the fish flopping in their throats. We took turns sitting on the chairs getting a little sun or swimming. About 2pm, we were out of boxed cereal and getting a little hungry so I checked out the burger/pizza stand. EIGHT DOLLARS for a burger???? We gathered our goods, got the deposit back for our chairs, and headed to the taxi dispatch area. We didnt have to wait any longer than 10 minutes for our taxi. TIP: We spent less than $20 a person for our round-trip transportation, beach chair, and entrance to the beach. Three hours was plenty long for our family. The Disney excursion for the same destination was $42 for an adult and $32 for a child. It was very easy to do on your own. Our family saved $118 doing this excursion on our own!
Marc had told us that lobster tails would be served for dinner that night so we just had a light snack. The line at Plutos was very long, so I had had pizza from Pinocchios Pizzeria, close to the goofy pool. I had a nice table and soon Walt joined me with his hot dog and fries. The pizza was OK, but could not compare to the wonder burgers from Plutos. Nathan went to take a dip in the hot tub while Scott went to the arcade. I sat and read because Nathan likes company and Walt headed to the cabin to relax. By 4 Nathan was ready to head to the cabin. Sean soon came by with our Christmas gift a great lithograph by Don Williams entitled, Deck the Lobby with Boughs of Holly featuring Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, & Santa Goofy dressed in their holiday finest in front of a decorated tree in the Atrium. Dinner was beyond our expectations. When Marc said lobster tails we expected little things not so! I also love prime rib so Marc made me a surf and turf plate with both! Nathan & Scott both had the lobster tail and Walt had lobster tail and roast turkey. About ¾ of the way through our main course, Marc brought Walt another lobster tail! They had this marvelous looking Double Chocolate Yule Log that I just had to sample. It even had a little mushroom on the side. Remember I told you there was one night we could barely walk away from the table?? This was it. Nathan got in the habit of enjoying an after dinner glass of milk while Walt and I had our cup of coffee. We went back to the cabin to change and get a good seat for Taylor Masons show. We did have time for a little shopping before the show!
TAYLOR MASON
I cant say enough about this entertainer. During his first little variety show in the WDT a few children were called up from the audience to help with the puppets. One little girl (about 8) had a major case of stage fright and sprung a leak. Taylor quickly whisked her behind the curtain and to a cast member and seamlessly breezed over it with a funny stage fright line and had the boy next to her run the Kernel (an ear of corn puppet). Walt and I both mentioned that that girl would never forget that moment and felt really bad for her.
During this full-length show, Taylor picked several kids out of the audience, one being the same girl from the earlier show and asked her if everything was taken care of before she helped him. He made it all very special for her, commenting on how he could tell shed had some experience on stage. She had his most popular puppet, a little pig called Paco. We were sure this wasnt a coincidence and that Taylor wanted the little girl to have a positive experience and must have arranged this with her parents.
Once again we were positively rolling in the isles during his show, which was mostly ventriloquism with a bit of keyboarding thrown in. Whatever DCL had to pay him to book him for the cruise was well worth it!! We had had a very long day and went early to bed that night. The boys watching Shrek 2 but we made them switch the channel and we watched most of The Terminal with Tom Hanks.
DAY 8: AT SEA 12/26/2004
Ah a sea day. That means our family was able to sleep in! We had breakfast in my favorite restaurant Parrot Cay this morning. After breakfast Walt and I waited to talk to Donna to book our next Disney cruise. She took down our information and told us she would call our room with a quote. We had decided to cruise in two years (to save up the $$) over NYE. They have a Western cruise leaving 12/30/06. We got a quote for adjoining category 8 cabins on deck 7. By that time, Nathan & Scott will be 16 and will love having the extra space.
Our first scheduled activity of the day was another Disney Behind the Scenes with Don Ducky Williams in the Buena Vista Theatre. This time we had the entire family with us. Scott and Nathan really enjoyed hearing Dons story of how he became a character artist. His lesson in persistence was good for the boys to here. Once again, we werent lucky in the raffle, but we did get a nice picture of Don with Scott. Scott wanted to ask him if he could draw Eeyore for him. Don was very gracious and said he couldnt draw for him then but perhaps at dinner. Unfortunately, he had late dinner and we are early eaters. He mentioned that perhaps we would catch him at breakfast and that he most often ate at Topsiders.
BUENA VISTA THEATRE TIP: Dont sit in the back row unless you like to rest your chin on your knees. There is about three inches less let room up there.
Off to Plutos for lunch before we went to Treasure Ketch for Captain Thords signing. Being with Walt, we were towards the front of the line. I purchased a little $20 lithograph (no, not a Don Williams) of the Disney Magic at Castaway Cay by Larry Dotson for the captain to sign. One boy in front of us had the captain sign the Captains Choice LE pin from the cruise. He signed the seal and it looked quite nice.
Nathan & Scott went to the 2:30 showing of the Incredibles and Walt and I were in line by 2 pm to have Ducky Williams sign our lithograph. Mary was right behind us and we enjoyed chatting with here. This is also where we first heard about the Tsunami disaster. Our prayers went out to all involved. Mary took our picture with Don and then we returned the favor for her. She had hers signed to Mark & Mary and we wished we would have had ours a bit more personalized. Hind site and all perhaps on our next cruise!
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing on deck 10 while. It was very windy on deck 10 but I managed to read the Nora Roberts book I had brought along for just such an occasion and Walt enjoyed the warm sun.
THE ADVANTAGE OF TEENAGED SONS
After dinner we wanted to take in the family cabaret show featuring the comedy of Rich Purpura. Walt and I like to linger over coffee so we sent the boys ahead to get our table in the Rockin D. When we had arrived we found one of Nathans dress shoes in each of our seats. People kept asking them if anyone was sitting there so he used his shoes to save our seats. Nothing I would have thought of, but no one wanted to sit on one of his shoes!
Rich Purpura was hysterical too! Again, the little children were sitting in front of the stage on the dance floor. One particularly precocious child (read bratty) kept interjecting comments in a loud sing song voice as only a 10 year old know-it-all girl can. We were very familiar with her voice after three family cabaret shows. Rich did some incredibly bad magic tricks (on purpose) and we all had to laugh at his expressions and comic timing. Our favorite line was when Rich did a disappearing trick and the girl shouted, I know how you did that and he quickly replied shut up. We laughed so loud!
DISNEY DREAMS
We enjoyed the 8:30 performance of Disney Dreams and found that we liked sitting to the left of center down by the stage. We had previously been left sitters. Nice vantage point if the center section seems to be filled. We had seen this show on the Wonder two years before but enjoyed it again.
The boys were off to collect another arcade card did you know there is a new card each day? I have a whole collection for my scrapbook. Can you guess where Walt and I went? You got it. Back to listen to Seabreeze and take in the adult cabaret show with Rich Purpura. The young ladies from the hot tub were there with their folks and we told them how nice it was that they were booking another cruise for their family. Many grins from the girls and their folks said they were thinking about it. The show was fun and I enjoyed my spicy Bloody Mary.
The theme nights are pretty fun. Tonight was 70s night and many cast members are decked out in period costumes. Walt and I actually were pulled up to dance this night and enjoyed our evening. Back in the room we found the boys finishing off their room service and watching movies. I had a message from Donna with a quote for two rooms on our next cruise (gulp!). By this time DH was in such a DCL state of nirvana that he was all for booking again. Must have been the pixie dust from Disney Dreams! Wish us luck that his school schedule cooperates and we can keep our reservations.
DAY 9: CASTAWAY CAY 12/27/04
On our NYE 2002/2003 we woke up on New Years Day and the Wonder wasnt able to dock at Castaway Cay. Today we woke up bright and early and again it was VERY windy, overcast, and cool. The high temp was in the 60s. While we were heading up to Topsiders for breakfast so the boys could look for Don Williams, we saw our cruise director, Brent. We asked him if we were going to be able to dock this time and he said he was heading to the bridge to find out. Not good news L. At topsiders, the boys had an unsuccessful search for Ducky. They headed back to the cabin after breakfast and Walt and I went up to deck 10 to watch the Magic dock. There was a brisk wind and it was about 9am by now. There had been quite the storm the night before and the predator nets on the family beach had been compromised (read: big sharks may have entered the bay). There was an announcement that most of the excursions for the day had been cancelled due to the rough seas. Come to find out the vendors who run the excursions were unable to get their equipment over to the island. We met Mary and Mark up on deck and as of that time their Jet Ski excursion was still a go. Burr. It was eventually cancelled. Captain Thord was able to get the Magic safely to the peer. We were thankful that we werent jinxed and were going to finally see the island. When Mary and I were talking I told her that Nathan and Scott were fighting over our extra Castaway Club pin. I told her that Nathan offered to let Scott have it. Later that afternoon we had a letter on our message fish from Mary. She had given Nathan one of her Castaway Club pins for his collection. I was so touched at what a sweet & generous person Mary is. Nathan was thrilled!
I went to deck 4 to confirm our next cruise and Walt stayed on deck 10 to watch the action for a bit. There were several announcements made about added activities due to the inclement weather and the closing of the family beach (we could play in the sand, but not swim). One of the additions was another show in the Rockin D Bar by Taylor Mason at 3:30 pm.
Walt joined me on deck 4 and told me as he was coming down, he saw Ducky Williams coming out of the deck 9 elevators to go to breakfast. He quickly went to the cabin and alerted Nathan & Scott. They got some paper from Sean and took the DCL pen from our room and off they went. We confirmed our booking for adjoining cabins on deck 7 just forward of our current cabin. Sean even let us take a peak at the rooms that he happened to be cleaning.
Nathan and Scott were in back in the cabin. They were the proud owners of their own little pieces of Ducky Williams art. Nathan had a drawing of Grumpy and Scott had Eeyore signed To Scott from Eeyore and Don Williams, WDW 2004 and to Nathan from Grumpy and Don Williams. Don told them he preferred to draw with pencil but made some great drawings for the boys with the DCL pen. He made them feel very special and just asked that they didnt let everyone know that he drew for them. We put them in with our Christmas lithograph for safekeeping. We plan on having them framed.
We were finally able to set foot on the shore of Castaway Cay around 11am. This was the first time we all had to wear sweatshirts. The boys had their picture taken with Pluto and Chip and Dale on the peer, stopped by the post office to mail postcards (which was closed), and then off to She Sells for Castaway Cay pins and collectables. Scott was so relieved to finally get those pins. Hed been looking forward to this moment for two years. We headed to the beach, which was beautiful but very empty. Nathan is quite the water lover and didnt mind that the air was cold he wanted to swim. We started out on some lounge chairs on the family beach there were plenty and took turns going to Cookies BBQ. The food there was marginal, probably the most uninspiring on the whole cruise. What we all loved was the fresh fruit bar. The cast member would cut up any type of fruit you wanted. Scott had many pears. Scott & Walt took the camera and went to explore the island a bit while Nathan and I pulled beach chairs over to the Boat Beach where he could swim. Like a good mom, I sat in the chair and gave him the thumbs-up from the shore while he swam.
By about 2 pm we had all had enough of the cold beach. It was probably for the best because we had to organize and try and pack up that tree! On our way back to the ship we were able to drop off our post cards. No stamps because the postmaster wasnt able to make it to the island that day. Nathan and Scott headed to the Stack so Walt and I could start our organizing.
At 3:00 pm we were in the Rockin D waiting for Taylor Masons last show. He was also given the OK to sell his DVD. This sent me scurrying to the room for cash. The show was really fun and lasted a bit over a ½ hour. After the show, Nathan was right at the front of the line for DVDs. Taylor then let anyone who wanted to line up for pictures with him and the puppets. He staged great shots for everyone. When it was our turn, Walt had Romeo, I held Juliet, Nathan worked the Kernel, Scott held Paco, and Taylor worked Sumo. Our first picture was a normal one and the next was with everyone, including the puppets, with their mouths wide open. Some of our favorite pictures!
Back to packing, sigh. We were pretty much finished by dinner. I had put the suggested tip amount aside in the safe at the start of our cruise. I had downloaded the cute cards I had seen posted on the DIS boards that said thank you for making our Christmas cruise magical and had our family name, Dexter, MI in each one. Walt and I decided to add extra in each envelope. I have to tell you I was so attached to Marc and Stoyan that I was a little teary when we said goodnight to them after dinner.
FAREWELL VARIETY SHOW
Again, DCL did not disappoint. The nights entertainment was the juggler from a few nights before in the Rockin D - Randy Cabral, and Rich Purpura was the headliner. Randy was much better tonight and included the audience a bit. Rich was hysterical! He danced, did magic tricks, and quite a stand-up show. Lots of audience participation. He even quipped some jokes about Taylor Mason and his family who were in the audience. One of the funnies things he did was his Top 10 Things You Wont Hear on a Cruise Ship Some of our favorites:
· Whats that honey, I cant hear you from way across this cabin.
· Ten days on this floating buffet and I havent gained a pound!
· Where is a photographer when you need one?
After the show we went back to the cabin and finished our packing. The bags needed to be out by 10:30 pm. We kept a few things out for the next morning and had our backpacks filled to the gills.
DAY 10: NOW ITS TIME TO SAY GOODBY 12/28/04
We had early breakfast this day and lingered over our meal a bit. We were done and in the lobby before 8am. We went up to deck 4 and hung out in the comfy chairs up there for a bit before getting in the line to disembark. It seemed like we were waiting forever before the line started moving. Mark and Mary were at the railing on deck 4 above the exit and were waving at the DISers who were leaving. Too soon we were in the huge luggage area. TIP: pay the few dollars for a porter! They collect all your luggage and breeze you through emigration. We were flying NWA so our porter took our bags right to the terminal-side check-in. The NWA representative even printed our boarding passes. The trip to MCO was not as exciting as our last DCL bus trip. We made it to the airport by 10am. I had packed some DVDs and our portable player. We found some nice benches outside the shops and near the food court and prepared to dig in. WARNING: All the plugs in the main part of the terminal are on the floor and have a recessed plug surrounded by a brass cover. Your big ol DVD player plug will not fit down there. Trust me there isnt an adaptor or an extension cord for sale in the entire airport.
After a thrilling six hours in the airport we flew back to Michigan and were greeted with four inches of snow and a temperature in the teens.
For those of you still with me, it was the trip of a lifetime. I hope this report helps others in their trip planning and brings back happy memories for the wonderful DISers who were with us. We didnt participate in all the DIS activities but we did feel great knowing that everywhere we went we had a friend we could hang out with. For anyone reading this report in advance of their own Magical vacation I encourage you to become familiar with some of your shipmates by becoming active on the cruise meets thread. Youll be glad you did
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To recap our cast of characters: DH Walt, ME Teresa (aka TksBaskets) - compulsive planner, & DSs Nathan & Scott who at time of sailing were just a bit under 14. Cruise history, ringing in 2003 on the 4-day Wonder NYE cruise.
A SHORT ADDENDUM TO PART I (aka our trip to the Health Clinic)
Taking advantage of ALL the services on the Magic
Shortly after lunch in on day 5, Nathan (who had a raspy voice from the start of the trip) complained of not being able to hear out of his right ear. We figured he had sand in his ear from the swamping we took at Happy Bay. I called the health number on the phone and the nurse told me to bring him down at 3:30pm. This was great because it was before the posted hours. Down we went to deck 1. We knocked on the clinic door and were promptly greeted by Colleen, one of the nurses. No temp great! Dr. Varney arrived and looked in his ear, which did indeed have some sand in it. The nurse irrigated the ear with saline and hydrogen peroxide and back came Dr. Varney to take another look. Good thing we went because Nathan had a severe ear infection and was placed on antibiotics. Did you know you bill goes right on your shipboard account?? How handy! It was fun chatting with the medical team down there. Dr. Varney travels all over the world with his wife (think Dr. Sloan from diagnosis murder because he looked just like Dick Van ****!), and was just back from a 3-week Hawaii cruise. He said the Disney ships have THE BEST medical facilities on the ocean! They can even take x-rays right on the ship. That is comforting for a mother to know. ANOTHER TIP: If you are looking for a medical item that isnt in the gift shop, you can usually get it in the infirmary. Later in the week we bought a little cold sore medicine for under $8. BTW: It counts as and emergency room visit and most insurance companies will reimburse you the cost of the visit.
DAY 6: CHRISTMAS EVE IN ANTIGUA
Hard to believe my trip report is half over! Our agenda for the day included our Stingray Swim and Snorkel that met at noon in the Buena Vista Theatre. I had wanted to eat breakfast at Lumieres but we learned you have to get your sorry selves down there before 9:30am. Nathan must have planned it that way so up to Topsiders we all went for his breakfast of hash browns. I recommend the omelets that are made to order there. Be sure to look for them. (I must admit the Mickey waffles are mighty tasty tooJ) The boys ran off to Quartermasters/Stack after breakfast and Walt and I headed to the Cove Café for the drink of the day Egg Nog Latte. It was another warm, sunny day, with the temperature around 80 degrees. It was our first time in the Café and we really liked the atmosphere. We played a few games of checkers and enjoyed about the best decaf latte Ive ever tasted. They gave me a piece of bread on the side and asked if I wanted two. Being so conscious of watching the ol calories, I declined (not). What a mistake. DH ate the bread and it was like a yeast dough coffee cake. He wanted the other piece! If you like expensive coffee, youll love this place.
STINGRAY SWIM AND SNORKLE
Around 11 am we all met up in the cabin with our assorted goodies from Plutos. We made our way to the BVT on time and had to wait a few moments for towels to be delivered. Our Disney Cast Member was D.J. Pike, who was an actual DJ. He was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our waiting time. There were quite a few of us waiting for this excursion. Soon we were on our way following DJ and a Belle sign. We boarded another van and rode about 25 minutes or so out to Seaton's Village. We were divided into groups for what boat we would be riding out to Stingray Village. The snorkel equipment was in good repair. We all were wearing our water shoes, which we learned we needed to take off so we wouldnt damage any stingrays. Im betting there were about 20 people per boat.
Our driver got us quickly out to where the Stingrays were. The water was about four feet deep. I must confess that Im a pretty paranoid mom and made the boys wear the little yellow vests. There was probably between 50-80 snorkelers and I was worried about keeping an eye on the boys. After a bit of teenaged rebellion I just told the boys, I dont care if you even inflate the darn thing, you are going to wear it. (Both Nathan & Scott did admit that it was fun to just float around). The area with the stingrays was enclosed and there were several guides who helped us catch, feed, and pet the stingrays. They were very interesting to watch interact. There was a huge sea turtle Bob who was just outside the fence and we all dove down to see him. There was a nice reef area close to the boats were we were able to pick up starfish Patrick and Conch. We probably spent about an hour in the water there. The boats were anchored two across so we needed to cross through one boat to our own.
WARNING: plastic seats may become slippery when wet and produce a hazardous environment for your big, wet feet. I did a thrilling gymnastic move that resembled a half-pike as I slid onto the skiff. I was able to catch myself before landing in a heap on the bottom of the boat.
Back at Seatons Village we were offered a glass of punch (rum or not). There were a few outdoor showers and very nice shower facilities in the womans room (dont know about the mens ;-) ) The restroom was very clean. One unique extra was a guide who was opening coconuts with a machete. It was worth the $2 or $3 that we paid just to watch him open them. First he hacked a small hole in the side to insert a straw so you could drink the milk. When you were done with that, he whacked the top off and then carved a piece of the coconut into a spoon. Scott and Nathan learned that gooey coconut meat was pretty disgusting to eat but made for a nice picture. Speaking of pictures, the stingray people took photos of our family and of us individually. They had them on display on computer screens in the shop. Of course everything was costly, but we were able to get the pictures we wanted on CD. Hopefully I can figure out how to include one! Of course Nathan and Scott flashed their big baby blues at me, and both ended up with a Stingray City hat. We took a van back to the ship and Walt started talking to this nice woman in the front seat. As they chatted Walt mentioned that he was from Dexter, MI and the woman said, Theres a girl on the DIS boards from Dexter, TksBaskets. What a small world! Walt said, thats my wife, shes sitting right behind me! Here we finally met tkdlisa. We DISers really were everywhere! We were back to the Magic by about 3pm.
SANTAS VISIT
OK, so my boys are a little old, but from 1:30pm 3:30pm and 4:00pm 5:30 pm Santa was in the Atrium lobby handing out special gifts. The older children could choose either a DCL visor or a DCL CD holder. Both boys chose the visor. Nathans became almost a permanent fixture for the next few days. Younger kids could pick a little Brother Bear stuffed animal.
THE SPA THAT WASNT
Walt and I had booked a Resul (formally under a different name) that is the couples spa where you have a private sauna/spa area with assorted soaps and lotions for an hour. Wink wink. Like the giddy newly weds we are (married 18 years this summer) off we went to the Vista Spa. When we arrived we found that the Resul had been double booked and that we couldnt have our private spa. We were bummed. They offered us the time in the Rainforest room but by then our bubble had been burst and we said, No thanks, must be fate. Since we were already in our suits and the boys thought wed be gone for an hour, we went to the hot tub at the Quiet Cove Pool. We ended up having a great time talking to a couple from Canada and then two young sisters who were traveling with a third sister and their parents. We had seen these girls (all of 18 & 20) almost every night at the Rockin D Bar. Arent you the guys who sit at the far left table in the middle section in the front row? We sit two tables down from you YIKES, people know us by the spot we sit in. Walt and I are creatures of habit! One girl had been called up for a card trick during an adult cabaret show and they had seen my close encounter with the duck later in the cruise. We laughed about the woman who always sat front row center who had a, shall we say, interesting laugh that she couldnt seem to control. They were delight to talk with and Walt and I went down to change for dinner thinking we had truly made lemonade from our spa lemons.
GOLDEN MICKEYS
Tonight was another formal night. After our visit to Santa, Nathan wasnt feeling well. We did get plenty of sun that day and I think his antibiotics were upsetting his stomach too. He decided to rest in the room instead of going to dinner. We were in AP tonight and all the servers were in formal wear. Scott enjoyed having his picture taken with the servers. When I mentioned that I hadnt gotten a picture of our head server yet, Scott was a man with a mission and went to find him for me. My mom needs a picture of us for her scrapbook. Perhaps a bit embarrassing, but I was glad to have the picture! Our wonderful serving team were concerned about Nathan and Stoyan again brought us a to go Sprite when we were done with dinner. Scott went ahead to check on his brother while Walt and I made our umpteenth trip to shutters to pick up the boys picture with Santa (yes, I did fill my 20 punch card this cruise. That scrapbook will be heavy!)
The Golden Mickeys show is set up much like you are attending the Golden Globes or the Oscars complete with red carpet. Nathan was feeling a bit better after his big nap and went to see the show. We sat very close to the back on the isle in case he needed to bolt, which luckily he didnt. While we waited for the show they had Rhona Rivers greeting the arrivals and doing interviews that were broadcast on the big screen. Most were children as I recall and it was pretty cute. We all enjoyed the show and Nathan was glad he went. The boys went back to the room after the show and Walt and I headed to our favorite haunt to see Seabreeze and the comedy juggling talents of Randy Cabral. He was a young fellow who seemed to drop about as many as he caught but I figured that was probably part of the act. He was pretty funny about goofing up. We stayed for a bit of the band, but I needed to go back to the room to change for Christmas Eve mass. Nathan and Scott were asleep in the room by the time we got back at a bit before 11pm.
MASS
It was really special that the Disney Magic had a semi-retired priest on the cruise to celebrate mass. Christmas Eve mass was at 11pm in the Walt Disney Theater. I went up and was very happy to find Mary and Mark arriving the same time I did. We waited for a few moments to enter and had a great spontaneous discussion with those around us about the DVC. It seemed the overwhelming opinion was that the place to be was the Beach Club with Boardwalk a close second. If only money grew on a big tree in our back yard .
The service was wonderful. The alter was on the stage and the assistant cruise director and other cast members participated in the service. It was the first time Id seen Evian water used in the celebration of mass. Midnight mass was always special to me growing up and I was glad to have the opportunity to worship with my friends on that holy night. By the time I bid Mary & Mark Merry Christmas it was nearing midnight. All was quiet at our cabin as I asked Mickey for an early wake-up call for the next mornings immigration and slipped into bed.
SURPRISES FROM DISERS
Our message fish was busy this night and we had Christmas cards for DOOBELOVER (Sue), The Goose family, and Dee47 & family. I wished I had thought of that but want these wonderful people to know how special that was for us. Im saving your cards for my scrapbook.
DAY 7: CHRISTMAS DAY IN ST. THOMAS
Every night the next days Navigator would be in our room. I would look it over hand highlight the events we wanted to try and get too. So much to do, so little time! I saw that Taylor Mason was doing the main show in the WDT. Nathan had drawn a smiley face on it already.
Rise and shine for immigration in the Walt Disney Theater. With passports in hand we filed in both sides of the theater. DCL had refreshments for us including eggnog. When we entered the theater, each child was given a Disney pin. We filed to the front, presented our passports, and were quickly shuffled out the side door through the cast corridors. It was really quite painless except for the early hour. It was about 7:30 am by now. We decided to go to Lumieres for breakfast so I could finally get my eggs benedict. It was a very nice breakfast and as a bonus we were seated right next to Don Williams and his friends/family. He had mentioned that he would draw for people if they saw him at dinner, but Walt and I didnt really want to disturb his Christmas breakfast. He was very friendly and we all wished each other a Merry Christmas. The boys went off to their activities while Walt and I went up to deck 9 to make some Christmas phone calls. Our Verizone phone worked like a dream. It was delightful to call our family back in Michigan and tell them we were sitting on deck, overlooking the harbor in St. Thomas, while enjoying the sun and 80 degree temperatures. We then called a couple of close friends and told them we wished that they were with us! Like that commercial priceless!
MAGANS BAY
We had cancelled our excursion for the day (remember I didnt want to die mountain biking) so our day was pretty flexible. I had a good friend who was just back from a cruise in November and she raved about Magans bay. The Disney excursion was full and we didnt really want to get going early and spend 5 hours at the beach. The cast members at the service desk are very helpful suggesting we just take a taxi there.
At about 9:30 am we went to Topsiders for a snack and hash browns. Outside of Topsiders, conveniently placed by the aft elevators and restrooms, a cast member was selling a shore excursion kit which included a DCL soft-sided cooler & a six-pack of Evian. I had purchased this and a couple of DCL water bottle lanyards (it has a cord on the end to go around the neck of a bottle) for a buck each before our horseback riding earlier in the week. Nathans favorite shorts didnt have a pocket and these lanyards were perfect for holding our two-way radios. I stuffed a few boxes of Cheerios and granola cereal in my backpack and our shore excursion kit was complete. Soon we were on our way to the taxi dispatch area and for $5 a person we were on our way to Magans Bay. The taxi was a tuck with four rows of seats with a canopy in the truck bed. How they made it up those hills, I dont know. I was sitting right next to another ships doctor. He was a young guy and having a blast on his tour. Also with us was a woman who was the director of the childrens program on another ship.
It was kind of funny that we didnt pay when we left, but pulled over about 10 minutes down the road where the driver collected his fee. We had about a twenty to thirty minute ride through some beautiful countryside to Magans bay. We only had to pay $3 each to get into the beach, which was a fee to enter the park. The beach was beautiful. There was, of course, a large gift shop. We rented two beach chairs for $4 each plus a deposit. Loungers were readily available too, but would have been much harder to lug down the beach wasnt I nice to think of my DH like that?! We trooped a ways down the beach to a nice spot not far from the rest rooms. The water was very clear and salty. One of the most interesting things we saw were pelicans that would dive from really high up straight down into the water and come up with fish. Nathan and I floated in the water and they would dive 10 feet from you. It was fascinating to see them filter the water out of their throats and then see the fish flopping in their throats. We took turns sitting on the chairs getting a little sun or swimming. About 2pm, we were out of boxed cereal and getting a little hungry so I checked out the burger/pizza stand. EIGHT DOLLARS for a burger???? We gathered our goods, got the deposit back for our chairs, and headed to the taxi dispatch area. We didnt have to wait any longer than 10 minutes for our taxi. TIP: We spent less than $20 a person for our round-trip transportation, beach chair, and entrance to the beach. Three hours was plenty long for our family. The Disney excursion for the same destination was $42 for an adult and $32 for a child. It was very easy to do on your own. Our family saved $118 doing this excursion on our own!
Marc had told us that lobster tails would be served for dinner that night so we just had a light snack. The line at Plutos was very long, so I had had pizza from Pinocchios Pizzeria, close to the goofy pool. I had a nice table and soon Walt joined me with his hot dog and fries. The pizza was OK, but could not compare to the wonder burgers from Plutos. Nathan went to take a dip in the hot tub while Scott went to the arcade. I sat and read because Nathan likes company and Walt headed to the cabin to relax. By 4 Nathan was ready to head to the cabin. Sean soon came by with our Christmas gift a great lithograph by Don Williams entitled, Deck the Lobby with Boughs of Holly featuring Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, & Santa Goofy dressed in their holiday finest in front of a decorated tree in the Atrium. Dinner was beyond our expectations. When Marc said lobster tails we expected little things not so! I also love prime rib so Marc made me a surf and turf plate with both! Nathan & Scott both had the lobster tail and Walt had lobster tail and roast turkey. About ¾ of the way through our main course, Marc brought Walt another lobster tail! They had this marvelous looking Double Chocolate Yule Log that I just had to sample. It even had a little mushroom on the side. Remember I told you there was one night we could barely walk away from the table?? This was it. Nathan got in the habit of enjoying an after dinner glass of milk while Walt and I had our cup of coffee. We went back to the cabin to change and get a good seat for Taylor Masons show. We did have time for a little shopping before the show!
TAYLOR MASON
I cant say enough about this entertainer. During his first little variety show in the WDT a few children were called up from the audience to help with the puppets. One little girl (about 8) had a major case of stage fright and sprung a leak. Taylor quickly whisked her behind the curtain and to a cast member and seamlessly breezed over it with a funny stage fright line and had the boy next to her run the Kernel (an ear of corn puppet). Walt and I both mentioned that that girl would never forget that moment and felt really bad for her.
During this full-length show, Taylor picked several kids out of the audience, one being the same girl from the earlier show and asked her if everything was taken care of before she helped him. He made it all very special for her, commenting on how he could tell shed had some experience on stage. She had his most popular puppet, a little pig called Paco. We were sure this wasnt a coincidence and that Taylor wanted the little girl to have a positive experience and must have arranged this with her parents.
Once again we were positively rolling in the isles during his show, which was mostly ventriloquism with a bit of keyboarding thrown in. Whatever DCL had to pay him to book him for the cruise was well worth it!! We had had a very long day and went early to bed that night. The boys watching Shrek 2 but we made them switch the channel and we watched most of The Terminal with Tom Hanks.
DAY 8: AT SEA 12/26/2004
Ah a sea day. That means our family was able to sleep in! We had breakfast in my favorite restaurant Parrot Cay this morning. After breakfast Walt and I waited to talk to Donna to book our next Disney cruise. She took down our information and told us she would call our room with a quote. We had decided to cruise in two years (to save up the $$) over NYE. They have a Western cruise leaving 12/30/06. We got a quote for adjoining category 8 cabins on deck 7. By that time, Nathan & Scott will be 16 and will love having the extra space.
Our first scheduled activity of the day was another Disney Behind the Scenes with Don Ducky Williams in the Buena Vista Theatre. This time we had the entire family with us. Scott and Nathan really enjoyed hearing Dons story of how he became a character artist. His lesson in persistence was good for the boys to here. Once again, we werent lucky in the raffle, but we did get a nice picture of Don with Scott. Scott wanted to ask him if he could draw Eeyore for him. Don was very gracious and said he couldnt draw for him then but perhaps at dinner. Unfortunately, he had late dinner and we are early eaters. He mentioned that perhaps we would catch him at breakfast and that he most often ate at Topsiders.
BUENA VISTA THEATRE TIP: Dont sit in the back row unless you like to rest your chin on your knees. There is about three inches less let room up there.
Off to Plutos for lunch before we went to Treasure Ketch for Captain Thords signing. Being with Walt, we were towards the front of the line. I purchased a little $20 lithograph (no, not a Don Williams) of the Disney Magic at Castaway Cay by Larry Dotson for the captain to sign. One boy in front of us had the captain sign the Captains Choice LE pin from the cruise. He signed the seal and it looked quite nice.
Nathan & Scott went to the 2:30 showing of the Incredibles and Walt and I were in line by 2 pm to have Ducky Williams sign our lithograph. Mary was right behind us and we enjoyed chatting with here. This is also where we first heard about the Tsunami disaster. Our prayers went out to all involved. Mary took our picture with Don and then we returned the favor for her. She had hers signed to Mark & Mary and we wished we would have had ours a bit more personalized. Hind site and all perhaps on our next cruise!
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing on deck 10 while. It was very windy on deck 10 but I managed to read the Nora Roberts book I had brought along for just such an occasion and Walt enjoyed the warm sun.
THE ADVANTAGE OF TEENAGED SONS
After dinner we wanted to take in the family cabaret show featuring the comedy of Rich Purpura. Walt and I like to linger over coffee so we sent the boys ahead to get our table in the Rockin D. When we had arrived we found one of Nathans dress shoes in each of our seats. People kept asking them if anyone was sitting there so he used his shoes to save our seats. Nothing I would have thought of, but no one wanted to sit on one of his shoes!
Rich Purpura was hysterical too! Again, the little children were sitting in front of the stage on the dance floor. One particularly precocious child (read bratty) kept interjecting comments in a loud sing song voice as only a 10 year old know-it-all girl can. We were very familiar with her voice after three family cabaret shows. Rich did some incredibly bad magic tricks (on purpose) and we all had to laugh at his expressions and comic timing. Our favorite line was when Rich did a disappearing trick and the girl shouted, I know how you did that and he quickly replied shut up. We laughed so loud!
DISNEY DREAMS
We enjoyed the 8:30 performance of Disney Dreams and found that we liked sitting to the left of center down by the stage. We had previously been left sitters. Nice vantage point if the center section seems to be filled. We had seen this show on the Wonder two years before but enjoyed it again.
The boys were off to collect another arcade card did you know there is a new card each day? I have a whole collection for my scrapbook. Can you guess where Walt and I went? You got it. Back to listen to Seabreeze and take in the adult cabaret show with Rich Purpura. The young ladies from the hot tub were there with their folks and we told them how nice it was that they were booking another cruise for their family. Many grins from the girls and their folks said they were thinking about it. The show was fun and I enjoyed my spicy Bloody Mary.
The theme nights are pretty fun. Tonight was 70s night and many cast members are decked out in period costumes. Walt and I actually were pulled up to dance this night and enjoyed our evening. Back in the room we found the boys finishing off their room service and watching movies. I had a message from Donna with a quote for two rooms on our next cruise (gulp!). By this time DH was in such a DCL state of nirvana that he was all for booking again. Must have been the pixie dust from Disney Dreams! Wish us luck that his school schedule cooperates and we can keep our reservations.
DAY 9: CASTAWAY CAY 12/27/04
On our NYE 2002/2003 we woke up on New Years Day and the Wonder wasnt able to dock at Castaway Cay. Today we woke up bright and early and again it was VERY windy, overcast, and cool. The high temp was in the 60s. While we were heading up to Topsiders for breakfast so the boys could look for Don Williams, we saw our cruise director, Brent. We asked him if we were going to be able to dock this time and he said he was heading to the bridge to find out. Not good news L. At topsiders, the boys had an unsuccessful search for Ducky. They headed back to the cabin after breakfast and Walt and I went up to deck 10 to watch the Magic dock. There was a brisk wind and it was about 9am by now. There had been quite the storm the night before and the predator nets on the family beach had been compromised (read: big sharks may have entered the bay). There was an announcement that most of the excursions for the day had been cancelled due to the rough seas. Come to find out the vendors who run the excursions were unable to get their equipment over to the island. We met Mary and Mark up on deck and as of that time their Jet Ski excursion was still a go. Burr. It was eventually cancelled. Captain Thord was able to get the Magic safely to the peer. We were thankful that we werent jinxed and were going to finally see the island. When Mary and I were talking I told her that Nathan and Scott were fighting over our extra Castaway Club pin. I told her that Nathan offered to let Scott have it. Later that afternoon we had a letter on our message fish from Mary. She had given Nathan one of her Castaway Club pins for his collection. I was so touched at what a sweet & generous person Mary is. Nathan was thrilled!
I went to deck 4 to confirm our next cruise and Walt stayed on deck 10 to watch the action for a bit. There were several announcements made about added activities due to the inclement weather and the closing of the family beach (we could play in the sand, but not swim). One of the additions was another show in the Rockin D Bar by Taylor Mason at 3:30 pm.
Walt joined me on deck 4 and told me as he was coming down, he saw Ducky Williams coming out of the deck 9 elevators to go to breakfast. He quickly went to the cabin and alerted Nathan & Scott. They got some paper from Sean and took the DCL pen from our room and off they went. We confirmed our booking for adjoining cabins on deck 7 just forward of our current cabin. Sean even let us take a peak at the rooms that he happened to be cleaning.
Nathan and Scott were in back in the cabin. They were the proud owners of their own little pieces of Ducky Williams art. Nathan had a drawing of Grumpy and Scott had Eeyore signed To Scott from Eeyore and Don Williams, WDW 2004 and to Nathan from Grumpy and Don Williams. Don told them he preferred to draw with pencil but made some great drawings for the boys with the DCL pen. He made them feel very special and just asked that they didnt let everyone know that he drew for them. We put them in with our Christmas lithograph for safekeeping. We plan on having them framed.
We were finally able to set foot on the shore of Castaway Cay around 11am. This was the first time we all had to wear sweatshirts. The boys had their picture taken with Pluto and Chip and Dale on the peer, stopped by the post office to mail postcards (which was closed), and then off to She Sells for Castaway Cay pins and collectables. Scott was so relieved to finally get those pins. Hed been looking forward to this moment for two years. We headed to the beach, which was beautiful but very empty. Nathan is quite the water lover and didnt mind that the air was cold he wanted to swim. We started out on some lounge chairs on the family beach there were plenty and took turns going to Cookies BBQ. The food there was marginal, probably the most uninspiring on the whole cruise. What we all loved was the fresh fruit bar. The cast member would cut up any type of fruit you wanted. Scott had many pears. Scott & Walt took the camera and went to explore the island a bit while Nathan and I pulled beach chairs over to the Boat Beach where he could swim. Like a good mom, I sat in the chair and gave him the thumbs-up from the shore while he swam.
By about 2 pm we had all had enough of the cold beach. It was probably for the best because we had to organize and try and pack up that tree! On our way back to the ship we were able to drop off our post cards. No stamps because the postmaster wasnt able to make it to the island that day. Nathan and Scott headed to the Stack so Walt and I could start our organizing.
At 3:00 pm we were in the Rockin D waiting for Taylor Masons last show. He was also given the OK to sell his DVD. This sent me scurrying to the room for cash. The show was really fun and lasted a bit over a ½ hour. After the show, Nathan was right at the front of the line for DVDs. Taylor then let anyone who wanted to line up for pictures with him and the puppets. He staged great shots for everyone. When it was our turn, Walt had Romeo, I held Juliet, Nathan worked the Kernel, Scott held Paco, and Taylor worked Sumo. Our first picture was a normal one and the next was with everyone, including the puppets, with their mouths wide open. Some of our favorite pictures!
Back to packing, sigh. We were pretty much finished by dinner. I had put the suggested tip amount aside in the safe at the start of our cruise. I had downloaded the cute cards I had seen posted on the DIS boards that said thank you for making our Christmas cruise magical and had our family name, Dexter, MI in each one. Walt and I decided to add extra in each envelope. I have to tell you I was so attached to Marc and Stoyan that I was a little teary when we said goodnight to them after dinner.
FAREWELL VARIETY SHOW
Again, DCL did not disappoint. The nights entertainment was the juggler from a few nights before in the Rockin D - Randy Cabral, and Rich Purpura was the headliner. Randy was much better tonight and included the audience a bit. Rich was hysterical! He danced, did magic tricks, and quite a stand-up show. Lots of audience participation. He even quipped some jokes about Taylor Mason and his family who were in the audience. One of the funnies things he did was his Top 10 Things You Wont Hear on a Cruise Ship Some of our favorites:
· Whats that honey, I cant hear you from way across this cabin.
· Ten days on this floating buffet and I havent gained a pound!
· Where is a photographer when you need one?
After the show we went back to the cabin and finished our packing. The bags needed to be out by 10:30 pm. We kept a few things out for the next morning and had our backpacks filled to the gills.
DAY 10: NOW ITS TIME TO SAY GOODBY 12/28/04
We had early breakfast this day and lingered over our meal a bit. We were done and in the lobby before 8am. We went up to deck 4 and hung out in the comfy chairs up there for a bit before getting in the line to disembark. It seemed like we were waiting forever before the line started moving. Mark and Mary were at the railing on deck 4 above the exit and were waving at the DISers who were leaving. Too soon we were in the huge luggage area. TIP: pay the few dollars for a porter! They collect all your luggage and breeze you through emigration. We were flying NWA so our porter took our bags right to the terminal-side check-in. The NWA representative even printed our boarding passes. The trip to MCO was not as exciting as our last DCL bus trip. We made it to the airport by 10am. I had packed some DVDs and our portable player. We found some nice benches outside the shops and near the food court and prepared to dig in. WARNING: All the plugs in the main part of the terminal are on the floor and have a recessed plug surrounded by a brass cover. Your big ol DVD player plug will not fit down there. Trust me there isnt an adaptor or an extension cord for sale in the entire airport.
After a thrilling six hours in the airport we flew back to Michigan and were greeted with four inches of snow and a temperature in the teens.
For those of you still with me, it was the trip of a lifetime. I hope this report helps others in their trip planning and brings back happy memories for the wonderful DISers who were with us. We didnt participate in all the DIS activities but we did feel great knowing that everywhere we went we had a friend we could hang out with. For anyone reading this report in advance of their own Magical vacation I encourage you to become familiar with some of your shipmates by becoming active on the cruise meets thread. Youll be glad you did
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