Sept 29 - Oct 6: Trippin' with the Mimis and a 17 month old - completed!

[ibela]

Today was our first day getting a wake-up call, we had Mickey's Island Jam breakfast at 8:15 and today was our day for matching dresses! I was a little nervous because I had only read about the Jam here on the boards and knew about the dancing and was concerned little Fallon would get knocked over by the older kids in their rush to dance with Mickey and pals. No need for concern, Fallon almost pushed them over running to him. She thought it was a photo op, she backed up into his lap and looked confusing trying to find the Shutters photographer:

For us, this breakfast was one of the top highlights of the cruise. The characters were so great with her, when she honked Mickey's nose he honked hers back:

After the breakfast we went to Flounders to check on availabilty - we had been waitlisted for the brunch and they called us the night before to tell us they were a holding a table for us on Monday! A quick check with Flounders confirmed we were all set. Off went Fallon and off we went back to the room to change into Palo brunch clothes. The food was amazing and I was really glad we went because I had been on the fence about brunch. Our waiter, Sylvester, was fantastic and made sure we ate until we were stuffed. Halfway through brunch someone's pager went off and I realized we never got a pager for Fallon!! The Palo manager was very upset and we saw him call Flounders (twice because it took them a while to run the pager up to us) and kept coming over to make sure we were ok and confirmed with them that SHE was ok. Floudners offered to keep her there longer at no additional charge, but as soon as she woke up we picked her up because she slept through lunch. Fallon was treated to a special lunch that day - we brought her a pizza from Palos! (Pizza is her absolute favorite food.)

Back to the pool. We planned on catching the matinee of Twice Charmed but Fallon fell asleep. At this point I missed more of the Art of Entertaining series.

We went back to the room and got ready for dinner, Parrot Cay night. After we finished it was still too early for the show so we changed Fallon into her PJs and went for a walk on the deck. She fell asleep right before Twice Charmed and we weren't allowed to take the stroller in. We put ear plugs in her ears and brought her in, she has slept through a wedding (with a band) with them in her ears but the crowd cheers were too loud for her and she woke up. Good thing because she loved the show, "oh wow!" must have left her lips 100 times and very loud clapping all throughout the show.

After the show she was pretty awake and plenty of characters were out (which she usually misses this time slot). She had her PJ Mickey doll with her and when we saw Princess Minnie we couldn't resist. This became one of our favorite photos of the cruise (really, the one taken by Shutters):

Remember our deal from the previous night? Well, he took her to the room to go to sleep and I met up with some fellow DISers for Spring Break Bash in Rockin' Bar D! I don't want to give too much away (PM me if you really want to know!) but we did some silly fun things for a jello shot! You know what - it was good too. About 40 minutes, and a 2nd jello shot later, I went back to the room to find them both fast asleep.

 

[ibela]

Good job I cant wait did you rebook

Great start, can't wait for more.

Subscribing!
Interested in hearing your report since I'm cruising with a 17 month old next month!

Great trip report! Alexander from Russia was our asst. server last year. We loved him!! Not only a great server an absolute pleasure to talk to and to get to know. I hope he's still on the ship next month.

Thanks for all the encouragement! It really helps me focus on getting it done!!

And thanks for the correct jajomo - I forgot! But Alex definitely did say he's coming back . . .

 

[KimAshton]

OMG she is just too precious in that pic with minnie.

 

[ibela]

Time to go shopping!! Before the cruise I had seen a GORGEOUS watch and figured if I could find it at a really good price, I’d treat myself to it - hey I deserve it! We had docked right next to the biggest boat ever – a Royal Caribbean beauty we overlooked at our Topsiders breakfast – it kind of dwarfed the Magic but we still loved our boat! Anyway, we took some obligatory photos by the “Welcome to St. Maarten” sign and set off on foot to do some shopping. We chose to stay nearby because, well, just because we were going with the stroller and weren’t really sure what to expect. We walked around the shops a bit but I didn’t get the watch. Only 2 stores carried it (Gucci watch, the other stores weren’t authorized dealers) and the prices were the same as back home. We walked around a bit more and then we got separated which was stressful because he had all the documents (including my KTTW card and ID) so I don’t know how I’d be able to get back onto the ship. Finally found each other and it started raining. We came back to the ship soaking wet and decided to go for lunch and the pool (hey, we were wet anyway). The Navigator had listed character strolling on Deck 9 but we didn't see any?

Fallon and I were ready for dinner before Erik (don’t remember what he was doing) so I took her downstairs for more photo ops. We saw Chip & Dale (in their pirate gear) and Fallon got so excited she ran right over to them to pose for a picture before I could stop her – with another family. In hindsight, I wonder if the Shutters photog snapped a picture of that. I would’ve gotten it just for a good laugh . . . anyway, when it was our turn for the picture they remembered her from the first day and they played Ring Around the Rosie with her again! The Shutters photog got that shot (which of course I HAD to buy) and it was all just super cute. The line for the white background photos was empty (lesson learned: go when there are a lot of other photos being taken) so I took her over there and we had a nice session, got a couple of great “Mommy and me” shots.

After our yummy dinner we went to get a family picture with Pirate Minnie (who Fallon now called "Mimi" and then dropped her off at Flounders so we could enjoy the Pirate Night deck party. A quick pic just because I love this one:

I couldn’t believe how many people were dressed up in pirate gear, I actually felt a little out of place with just my bandana and Pirate Minnie tattoo (courtesy of DVC, thank you). It was a lot of fun and the fireworks were just so cool to see, I was really glad the rain had stopped and that we didn’t have to miss it. After it ended we still had a little time before we had to pick her up so we got some goodies at the buffet and took our plates to Quiet Cove to enjoy.

 

[ibela]

We woke early to go through Customs. It took all of 2 minutes so we had some breakfast and headed out to the Sky Ride which was the only thing I had reserved for the day. For anyone traveling with an infant: do NOT take your stroller with you, there are lots of steps. Fortunately there were nice people around who helped but I would not take the stroller again. Actually, I don’t think I’d even go again. We got to the top and caught the very tail end of the bird show, those are some smart birds . . . so we took some pictures from the top (amazing view, will attempt to add a picture tonight), had a frozen Bushwacker (SO good) in a souvenir mug (too cute), walked around a handful of the souvenir shops they have, and went back to the boat. Erik was going to go back into town to pick up a few things but with the early all aboard time we decided to just stay on the boat.

We took Fallon for a quick dinner and then dropped her off at Flounders – tonight was Palo dinner night for us. We asked for the same server from our brunch (Sylvester) and he was wonderful again. Great drinks (I tried a limoncello martini and a Toblerone chocolate martini at his advice and Y-U-M) and great food. Wow were we stuffed. Most of this TR has been focused on our experience with Fallon but I have to write about what we ate for 3 reasons: 1) I had high expectations and 2) I took a picture which I have to add later on because I took the picture for that sole purpose of posting it here and 3) when I told Erik that people on the DIS say they order like 3 of each course for 2 people he thought that was crazy. We told Sylvester our likes/dislikes and he picked all the food. Our appetizers (we may have hit them all): eggplant, ahi tuna, mushroom thing, and grilled shrimp. All were super yum and I barely got a taste of the mushroom app before it was all gone! After the bread with the dipping sauces, some prosciutto with olives, and lemon sorbet later we ready for our entrees (I asked that he skip the pizza since we tried it during brunch): tuna (delish) and risotto (just ok) for Erik, and some vegetable soup bowl thing (really good), rack of lamb (delish), and the best scallops I have ever had. Erik thought it was funny that I took out the camera for a picture of the scallops and announced it to Sylvester, who offered to take the pic thinking I’m taking one of Erik, who then said “no, she’s taking a picture of the food, not me”. Hey, I can see my husband everyday but when’s the next time I’m going to see scallops the size of small crab cakes?!

Feeling beyond full at this point, we had dessert. I had the chocolate soufflé and some other chocolate thing, I don’t even remember what Erik had. I know we were both ready to burst at this point. While waddling out (2.5+ hrs later) we spoke with another couple who also couldn’t believe the amount of food they consumed (although in our defense, we didn’t finish every little morsel on our plates). Before we left we asked to meet the chef, he was very nice and we were both surprised at how young he is!

Fallon was fast asleep in Flounders so we headed to Rockin’ Bar D for 80s Night. To my fellow DISers from the thread who stood me up (everyone went to bed early?): you missed a really great time! We caught the tail end of the comedian before hand and he was very funny, too bad we didn’t get there earlier. Anyway, the dancers from the shows came out dressed in 80s gear and did several choreographed numbers which were great. I dragged Erik up to dance with me and he was picked for a contest on stage (he didn’t win but he did get into it, too bad I didn’t bring the camera). There was also a ‘Battle of the Bands’ which was cute and here’s my confession: I cheered for the women b/c it became a gender contest but really, the men were better.

Somewhere about this time we started tossing dates around for rebooking.

 

[frdeb1999]

That picture with Minnie is just too cute! Sounds like you had a wonderful time!!

 

[ibela]

Thanks! We even made a crystal from the PJ pic with Minnie.

 

[JDBlair]

To my fellow DISers from the thread who stood me up (everyone went to bed early?): you missed a really great time!

***Clears Throat*** In my defense, I was averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night by that time. So, this was Wednesday and by then, the lack of sleep had caught up to me (6 days averaging 5 hours a night when I usually average 8-10 hours of sleep a night) and the extremely full belly I had from Palo's dinner that night didn't help!! I sat on the edge of our bed to change my Palo dining clothes in to something more comfortable and started to nod off. I didn't want to miss 80's night but at the time I was nodding off, it was 8 pm and 80's night was a good 2+ hours away. So, we can blame lack of sleep, the rocking of the ship (man, I loved that!!) and a very full belly from Palo's with the extremely yummy chocolate martini. All of this made for a very excellent nights sleep! But I am kicking myself for missing 80's night!

 

[jns]

Thanks for sharing
looking forward to seeing all the photos
great report

 

[ibela]

***Clears Throat*** In my defense, I was averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night by that time. So, this was Wednesday and by then, the lack of sleep had caught up to me (6 days averaging 5 hours a night when I usually average 8-10 hours of sleep a night) and the extremely full belly I had from Palo's dinner that night didn't help!! I sat on the edge of our bed to change my Palo dining clothes in to something more comfortable and started to nod off. I didn't want to miss 80's night but at the time I was nodding off, it was 8 pm and 80's night was a good 2+ hours away. So, we can blame lack of sleep, the rocking of the ship (man, I loved that!!) and a very full belly from Palo's with the extremely yummy chocolate martini. All of this made for a very excellent nights sleep! But I am kicking myself for missing 80's night!

That's ok, just know it was a LOT of fun. I guess you'll just have to book another one . . . !

Thanks for sharing
looking forward to seeing all the photos
great report

Thanks! I'm going to try and finish it up by Thursday.

 

[ibela]

We awoke to a gloomy day. Our vacation was almost over so it was sort of fitting, but no worries because we still had a full sea day ahead of us. After a quick breakfast at Topsiders we realized that her socks were missing from the night before. OK, back to some pool time. Erik and I alternated staying with Fallon and going to Quiet Cove individually, wow was it nice and quiet there. I wish I had time to be there earlier in the week.

I missed more (the final) Art of Entertaining activities. That’s a whole week and not a single session attended. Further, I had wanted to attend the martini tasting – didn’t get to that either. Also scheduled for that day was Family Kite Making which I thought would be great to fly a kite that we made on Castaway Cay. They were having fun running around the pool area and being entertained by the band playing, so I went to make a kite by myself since I just knew she’d love it the next day. Tip: get there early and be quick. When I got there (a mere 5 minutes late) they had run out of markers so I sat with a plain white kite for 5-10 minutes, then when they brought the big box of markers all the kids rushed over and started grabbing 1 of each color. I figured I wanted a nice kite too so I squeezed in on the side and grabbed about 10 different colors. I felt a little silly decorating by myself so I tried to do it quickly, about 15 minutes later I headed back to the pool to show them but no one was interested. I was determined to do at least 1 thing I had planned beforehand so I did make the galley tour. It was pretty cool to see how the kitchens are set up (and SO clean) and how they feed so many hungry people. I asked what the #1 most ordered food is, thinking it’d be lobster or steak but nope, the answer was chicken fingers - by far! So far I hadn’t even tried it, was I really missing something so great?? I had less than 2 days to find out.

After the galley tour I rushed back to the room for our Tea with Wendy (Alice and the Mad Hatter couldn’t make it). By the time they showered and got ready, we missed the tea. She took a cute pic with Wendy and we left. We went back to the room to get ready for dinner. It was Semi-Formal night (aka Lobster night) and I knew there’d be plenty of great photo ops to be had.

We lined up for Formal Mickey, really I lined up and Erik took Fallon to the side so she could watch. It was time for him to leave (and be replaced with Formal Minnie) so Fallon started saying loudly, “Bye Mimi” and waving. He came over to take her hand and walked out with her! She couldn’t take her eyes off the Mouse (Mimi/Mickey) as they walked down the hall:

OK, I was still on the line and when the other Mimi came out (I mean Minnie) they passed each other in the hall and Minnie and Mickey nuzzled noses – too cute! OK, so Fallon saw Formal Minnie and got super excited, “Hi Mimi, hi Mimi, hi Mimi” 3 times all in 1 breath. She was SO excited that the Shutters supervisor (or whoever he was overseeing all the photogs at the time), went and got us a stock photo of Minnie and a Sharpie so that Minnie could autograph the picture before the pic. We quickly posed and went in for dinner.

My lobster was warm, moist, and overall tasty. It was a good dinner and then we dropped Fallon off at Flounders. I asked if they had happened to see her socks and they told me they hadn’t and that dad had asked them earlier. They then said they’d call the manager and ask about it. I said I didn’t know he had asked and it was just a pair of socks and really no big deal. They asked what the socks looked like, by now I was getting a little embarrassed because it’s just a pair of socks and I didn’t want to make a big deal about it . . . so after dropping her off we went to Disney Dreams, Shutters, and strolled around the boat before picking her up and getting ready for our final blissful day.

 

[Shannon1984]

Great trip report. I was also at 80's night by the way. I was by myself and didn't see anyone either. I didn't even see you or your husband. I loved watching the performers. I think I left halfway through. It was fun.

 

[ibela]

Great trip report. I was also at 80's night by the way. I was by myself and didn't see anyone either. I didn't even see you or your husband. I loved watching the performers. I think I left halfway through. It was fun.

Hi! I actually did see you briefly but you were hanging towards the back and then when I looked again you were gone. I thought their choreographed numbers were great.

 

[MiaSRN62]

HI Irene ~
Great TR. It's fun reading TR's from those who were on the same cruise. You really can get a different perspective. I'm just sorry I never got to meet up with you. I was in the minority and cruised with teens (and we had the 8:30 pm dinner. Often didn't get out of the restaurant until after 10 pm). Teens who were not that into the Stack. They are sort of shy and just wouldn't go. So they were attached to my husband and I most of the time. Your daughter is adorable.

Wanted to mention we also had Alexander and Erwin---loved them !

Thanks for the report and pics !

 

[Gr00vyChc]

To my fellow DISers from the thread who stood me up (everyone went to bed early?): you missed a really great time!

GUILTY as charged.. I wanted to go, I planned to go.. but my body told me it needed sleep.. really I heard it But we had so much at the Spring Break Bash! LOVED the jello shots! I wish they offered more.. I should've written that on the comment card.. MORE JELLO SHOTS puhleeese

Love your trip report so far girl!

Gr00vyChc

 

[MiaSRN62]

ibela says :To my fellow DISers from the thread who stood me up (everyone went to bed early?): you missed a really great time!

Yet another meet I missed ? Sorry. I really wasn't even aware that we were supposed to have a meet at 80's Night and we were there ! Guess I was out of the loop..........
I only stayed about 20 min because I was feeling really tired after dinner. But my dh stayed at least an hour or more after I left. He was in full-out party mode

 

[ibela]

GUILTY as charged.. I wanted to go, I planned to go.. but my body told me it needed sleep.. really I heard it But we had so much at the Spring Break Bash! LOVED the jello shots! I wish they offered more.. I should've written that on the comment card.. MORE JELLO SHOTS puhleeese

Love your trip report so far girl!

Gr00vyChc

Thanks! And you should have stayed a little longer at SBB - they brought out another round of jello shots and all I had to do for it was walk over and take 1!

Yet another meet I missed ? Sorry. I really wasn't even aware that we were supposed to have a meet at 80's Night and we were there ! Guess I was out of the loop..........
I only stayed about 20 min because I was feeling really tired after dinner. But my dh stayed at least an hour or more after I left. He was in full-out party mode

Aww, it was an informal meet. Maybe if you stayed later we would have seen each other. I didn't get selected for any contests.

 

[TrickTony]

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there!!!

Just testing out the site, I am a Disney fan with faith, Hope, trust andpixie dust. My occupation is Magician so I do believe in magic. Every cruise with Disney is a wonderful adventure for my whole family. My wife and I have our time with the kids in the Oceaneers lab. We head off to Rockin Bar-D for live music,Dancing,the adult show and bingo the kids like to join us for that I like the activities for the kids in studio sea and the first run movies it's so much to do for everyone It really is a dream come true

Hope to see you real so on our next criuse You'll be Aboard

Gail Tony Tone'nae Will

 

[TrickTony]

Hi there,

I was on the Sept. 29th sailing and I found out about disboard, thought I give it a try.
once I figure it out this could be fun. If you remember me it's OK just saying Hey there to my fellow cruisers

Tony aka : (California) A fun kinda Guy!!!

MAY ALL OUR DREAMS COME TRUE

TrickTony

 

[ibela]

I forgot to mention: Thursday night was also Dessert Buffet night in Lumieres. There were 2 tables with a line going down each side. As we were moving down the line, there was a mountain of profiteroles in the middle surrounded by all the different cakes. I don’t like them and passed them by but this woman across from me (on the other line at the same table) asked out loud if those were for eating. I responded with, “they’re dessert and this is a dessert buffet so of course they’re for eating”. She looked unsure and remarked they were untouched, I pointed out so was the cake in front of me but I had no problem cutting the first slice. Point made I guess, and she then took 1 off (with a bit of a struggle). As soon as it hit her plate, a waiter rushed over to tell her they weren’t for eating and were for display only. Um, oops? Lesson learned: don’t eat the profiteroles at the dessert buffet. And a tip: eye the desserts and then help yourself to the chocolate fountain (there are both milk and white chocolate) – strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows, bananas all were super yum covered in chocolate. As for the other desserts, they all looked better than they tasted.