Ten from Texas -- January 12, 2008 Western Caribbean

[laura_hattaway]

Of course, the day started with swimming. Ken had gone up on deck first thing this morning, and Daphne woke up soon afterwards. D and I swam by ourselves for more than a half hour, the only ones in the Goofy pool. It was super! Then I called Ken and he came back down for a dip, too. Soon, the Brownies joined us. I came back up to the room for a shower, and was enjoying the view from the verandah as we approached Cozumel.

I’d dressed and stepped back into the bathroom to comb my hair. When I came back into the room, there were people about twenty feet away from our sixth deck doors! We’d backed into port and another ship was right beside us. Glad that didn’t happen while I was still au naturale!

A bit before 10 o’clock, we all got dressed and decided to walk briefly into port, just to say we’d been in Mexico. The Brownies didn’t want to go, so their kids stayed in the kids’ club. The three of us went alone, walking a bit and hitting Margaritaville. Then D and I returned to the ship, where she watched the end of Peter Pan, we did our Bible study, and then we played for a while in the arcade. We ate lunch at Lumiere’s, the first sit-down meal besides dinner we’ve done (Ken and I did Palo Sunday). We had a seat right by the porthole facing Cozumel, and a nice lady sat and visited with us.

Ken was back in the room after lunch, and the Brownies were in the pool. We joined them on deck again while the kids swam for another hour. At 2, the kids and dads went down for a nap, while Sarah and I did some arm work at the fitness center. Neither of us felt obligated to do cardio or legs, since we’ve been doing stairs since our arrival. I’ve ridden the elevator three or four times, but have taken the stairs almost exclusively. They’re nicely padded and carpeted, though, so it’s not too tough.

Daphne and Ken both woke up at 4:30. I was already dressed in my pirate garb, and they quickly got ready. We were going to do pirate line dancing, but no one had showed up for it. Instead, we got into line to get a picture taken with Jack Sparrow. The Brownies came into the atrium at the same time, so we took each other’s pictures (I’ve yet to purchase any of the professional portraits).

It was open house at Ocean Quest again, so we went back down there. Sarah and I did stop motion movies while the kids played assorted games. Ken did some Wii tennis. It was a low-key time killer ‘till dinner.

The Pirates in the Caribbean menu was fabulous, but there were so many interesting offerings, it was difficult to choose. Ken got the crab cakes, gumbo, macadamia-crusted mahi mahi, and bananas foster. I had the seafood couscous, chilled honeydew and mango soup, mahi mahi, and tropical fruit in meringue with vanilla sauce. Mmm. The servers were all festively attired, as well, and there was a round of after-dinner limbo. This was especially entertaining, as the ship had pulled out of port as we dined, and for the first time since we boarded, we were listing noticeably.

We came back to the room to regroup, then Ken went to the Walt Disney Theater to see National Treasure 2. Daphne and I elected to go to the Buena Vista Theater to see Enchanted (again). I had already taken my contacts out, and Daphne was in her pajamas and barefooted. Ahh, ship life!

Enchanted ended as the Pirates deck party was starting, but Daphne said she was too tired and ready to go to bed. I didn’t push it. It started at 9:45, which is late enough, anyway. But since we’d been on East Coast time for the better part of a week and had to go back to Central time just for the Cozumel day, it felt like 10:45 to us.

Ken got in shortly after we did. He wasn’t up for the party, either, as the rocking has made him ill. Now in bed, he seems to be feeling better. Today was a fun one, and tomorrow is an at-sea day. We’re doing a galley tour, and Daphne will get free time in her club, which she’s been wanting to do. Her (and the Brownies’) dislike of the structured activities makes me see that they are already conditioned to do their own things in their own time and have probably been ruined for the school day set-up.

 

[laura_hattaway]

Our second and final sea day was an enjoyable one, even though we spent very little time outside. The sea days especially are when I appreciate Nana and Pappy springing for a verandah.

Daphne and Ken went up to the pool as soon as she got up; we knew later in the day it’d be packed. We thought we might be able to get into Mickey’s Island Jam as we’d missed our day to do it (I didn’t hear our server, but apparently he gave us a heads-up). When we got there, the first one was just ending. We didn’t feel like waiting an hour to eat, plus we wanted to do a craft. So we all went up to Topsiders and had the buffet.

As Daphne, Hannah, Nana, and I were going up the stairs, the characters from the breakfast were just heading back “home.” So we stopped at a landing and watched them all pass: Mickey, Chip, Dale, Stitch, Lilo, and Pluto. They all gave the kids five, and it tickled Daphne to see Pluto walking up the stairs on all fours, just like a… well, dog!

Today was the first time I’d tried the smoked salmon from the buffet and, honestly, I couldn’t taste a difference between that and Palo’s salmon. Our assistant server, Vally, was in Topsiders this morning, which the kids loved. They’ve been so fond of Vally and the head server, Pimon. Yesterday when Daphne and I ate lunch at Lumiere’s, she told me she didn’t like the server and wished ours was in there instead.

Next, all four kids and I went to Animator’s Palate to decorate kites for flying on Castaway Cay tomorrow. As we were finishing that up, Mickey and Pluto both came through, on their way to the second breakfast, I guess.

We dropped our kites in the room and went back out to the Promenade Lounge for the Mickey 200 (again). Daphne and I wanted to avenge our previous wipe-out. The car we built stayed together, but we didn’t win. It was a fun process, though! Aunt Sister joined us half way through it. It’s neat: they let the adults be the “engineers” (knife-wielders), and the kids get to design the cars. I hate to be cynical, but a couple of the vehicles looked like they had some grown-up input. None of those won the speed race, though, so it was all good.

We bought Daphne a set of Speedo goggles from Treasure Ketch. The ones she’s been wearing all week I got for $.50 at CVS when they were on clearance. They’re fine, but now that she’s worn them for a week, she has two sores on the sides of her nose. These don’t have a bridge rest at all, so hopefully will minimize damage.

D and I came back to the room for a nap. She watched TV for half an hour while eating a hot dog (I had a couple of slices of veggie pizza from Pinocchio’s Pizzeria; it was excellent!), then went down for a two-hour snooze. Palo called to tell us that there had been a cancellation so invited us to high tea. Since we had tickets for the galley tour, we declined.

I had to put D’s shoes on her in her sleep, and Ken carried her down to the kids’ club for a brief stay while we browsed the kitchens.

The Chef de Cuisine of Animator’s Palate, Oscar, lead the tour. All six adults went, and though we didn’t see a lot of action (the kitchens weren’t open for dinner yet), we did get some interesting information… and a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie! Two interesting tidbits: everything eaten on the Magic is made from scratch except for the ice cream and doughnuts. Also, “wet” food garbage is allowed to be dumped into the ocean as fish food.

I saved my cookie for Daphne, who was ready to leave as soon as we got there. She hasn’t enjoyed the club much, but I didn’t plan to put her in there and not see her this vacation at all. I’ve just used it the couple of times Ken and I have had something to do alone.

After she ate her cookie, she said she wanted to swim, despite the body-to-body conditions of the pools. She tried the Goofy pool first, complaining that her new goggles didn’t work and fogged up as soon as she went underwater. I took a look at the pool and realized it was the water that was foggy. So we went over to the Mickey pool, and she found a new friend with whom she swam for an hour.

We came back to the room and invited Hannah and Mackenzie, who had been visiting Nana and Pappy, to come over. Ken was finishing up the beer tasting in Diversions, and I was getting dressed for semi-formal night.

The girls were hysterical. At one point, Daphne pulled Mackenzie out on the verandah and said, “My mom thinks I’m crazy because I say I can speak parcel-tongue, but I really can. I’m a third snake, a third cat, and a third human. She just doesn’t understand me, though.” A few minutes later, D took Hannah out and announced to Mackenzie, “I’ve already told you this.” Mackenzie said, “I still want to come.” Hannah started to protest, but Daphne argued, “My mom told me that you had a bad attitude yesterday, and she said, ‘Speaking of bad attitudes, you have one, too.’ She was talking about this –“ pointing to the three of them, specifically how the two older ones shut Mackenzie out, whether on purpose or accidentally, and hurt her feelings. “I don’t know why I’ve been so mean.” Hannah said, “I don’t know why I have, either. Anyway, what were you going to tell me?”

They went on gossiping about their human personalities, and Hannah said she was a vampire, and all sorts of stuff they thought I couldn’t hear because the door was slid almost shut. I called next door to have them listen, but when they went out to eavesdrop, the girls caught on. They finished their visit in the restroom, then the girls left to get dressed for our semi-formal dinner.

Everyone met in the lobby for portraits, then it was on to Parrot Cay for the Captain’s Gala. I had some savory roasted shrimp, mushroom soup, venison and potatoes, and lingonberry cheese pudding. The pudding was my favorite dessert of the week. Ken had the shrimp, soup, lobster tail, and warm chocolate lava cake.

Following dinner was a High School Musical family dance party. That was a fun way to get out the wiggles and spend time between dinner and the show. Tonight was Disney Dreams. I thought it was on par with Twice Charmed, but it had a lot more special/interactive effects.

Once again, my family is sleeping. But I’m getting ready to go downstairs for the chocolate buffet. I don’t plan to eat, except with my eyes. And I told D I’d bring her a plate for breakfast. We ARE on vacation, after all.

P.S. Super score! Sarah and I were the first ones in the chocolate buffet line. Woo hoo! (I have no shame whatsoever.)

 

[laura_hattaway]

Daphne happily awoke to a giant plate of chocolate dessert samples this morning. Before that, Ken had let me go out on Deck 10 to see the sunrise. Wonderful. We all donned our bathing suits and headed up to the deck to swim. When get got to the pool, all of the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Chip, and Dale) were rehearsing the Sail Away party routine. We had a front row seat to the action!

Daphne swam a while, then the Brownies joined us. The grown-ups ate breakfast, then near 9 o’clock, the Brownies and we started down to the lower decks for debarking on Castaway Cay. We were all in place and they’d started taking off supplies. There was already a crowd gathered. At 9:20 or so, they opened the gangway and we were off. We heard the “all clear” announcement several minutes after we got off of the ship!

We walked to the tram stop and rode down to the retail area. We walked to the family beach, then we walked and walked some more. We planted ourselves at the far end and had it to ourselves for more than half an hour. Finally, others joined us, but it was never very congested. A lady to whom my sister talked said this was her fourth Disney cruise and that the beach near the ship is often too crowded to facilitate walking. We had a great spot!

Each of the adults took turns exploring, some underwater, some around the island itself. At 11:30, we three went to Cookie’s Barbecue for lunch. I had a grilled mahi mahi sandwich, the tomato red onion salad, banana bread, and some pineapple. Ken had ribs, chicken, a hamburger, and some penne pasta.

The Brownies joined us, then Ken and Sarah left to parasail. We all went back down to the beach where the kids played in the water some more. Nana and Pappy had wandered by during lunch and joined us on the beach a bit later. When Ken and Sarah got back, our family went to the game pavilion. Daphne and I played foosball, then Ken and D did the mini-golf and billiards. We also started both the giant Connect Four the giant checkers games, but Daphne was getting moody.

We went to check out Monstro’s Point, and it’s either no big deal or we missed something. After a bit of ice cream, Ken was ready to come back to the ship. Daphne and I rented bicycles and rode out to the observation point. It was a gorgeous ride and a unique view from the top of the tower.

The two of us returned to the ship a bit after 4, and Daphne swam for 20 minutes or so. We got ready for dinner, turned in the kids’ club pager, browsed our pictures at Shutters (I didn’t purchase any, but they were cute!), and took one last look around Mickey’s Mates.

Daphne found something she wanted to buy Nana to show how grateful we are for the trip. However, she suddenly had to go to the restroom, and it took her so long, it was dinnertime. Now, I’m too exhausted to go back down there, so maybe we’ll find something suitable at Downtown Disney tomorrow.

Our last dinner was at Lumiere’s. I had the seafood trio appetizer (shrimp, scallops, and salmon terrine), Florida citrus and spinach salad, chicken Wellington (stuffed with mushrooms and baked in puff pastry), and banana crème brulee Napoleon. Tasty. Ken had the artichoke dip, some soup (this is the one menu I forgot to photograph!), seafood linguini, and chocolate decadence. We got to tell the servers thanks and good-bye. I probably won’t see them again. Our assigned seating for breakfast is 7, and I doubt we’ll be up and dressed by then. Ken might.

I’m not glad the vacation is over, but it will be nice to be home again. Can’t wait to see the scrapbook!

 

[laura_hattaway]

Ken made it to breakfast by 7:00 on the all-ashore day, but D and I didn’t. When he returned, though, we were ready to go. We grabbed our day bag and went to Topsiders Buffet. I don’t know if it was because we were in the middle of “bunkering” (refueling) or because they didn’t want us to be so sad to leave, but the hash browns tasted like cardboard (oily cardboard) and the sausage was like a solidified water snake. The pastries were still great, though, so I enjoyed a chocolate croissant and a bear claw.

As we finished up, we were cleared to go ashore, so we made our way through Shutters and toward customs. The baggage claim area is overwhelming! I wish we could have taken pictures. We have red and pink and green bags, and it was still difficult to find our luggage. Once we did, getting out wasn’t any big deal.

We drove back to Cocoa to kill a few minutes at Ron Jon’s and get a no-longer-included-in-the-price diet Coke. Then we drove toward Christmas for our airboat ride. It was very foggy, but Captain Bruce was raring to go. Another family was there, too: a mom, an 11-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl. The kids all had fun with the headphones. They were all miced, not just the captain’s, so we could talk amongst ourselves during the ride. We explored for an hour, took a stand-up break, and did another half hour. It was beautiful, and Captain Bruce was a character. He clearly loves the Florida in its natural state. Mid-way through the excursion, Daphne announced (in the headphones for all to hear), “This is a lot more fun that I thought it would be.”

That was high praise from a gal determined to be depressed about having to get off of the Disney Magic. We went fast, we saw lots of birds, and we even saw a bunch of alligators. Because it was chilly and foggy, we found only one out of the water. It didn’t matter to the kids, though. Or the grown-ups, for that matter. It was neat!

Next, we hit Downtown Disney. Ken got “accidentally” separated from us in the vastly huge World of Disney, so D and I wandered around by ourselves for a while. We eventually wandered into Goofy’s Candy Company where Daphne got a heart cookie, I got my last dessert of the trip: chocolate-covered caramel marshmallows, and we picked Ken up a slab of English toffee with chocolate. When we got back to the car, Ken was crashed out in the front seat. He seemed cheerful enough about being awakened for candy, though.

He went with us the rest of the time, and we finished up with an early dinner (or late lunch) at the Rainforest Café. While we were waiting on our pizza, D kept knocking her loose tooth on accident. It had been bugging her all week, including our last night on the ship, when she sat under the table for half an hour trying unsuccessfully to yank it out. I asked her to give me one chance, I put my fingernail behind the tooth, and with one tug, I removed it. Yea! We put it in the waterproof credit card Nana and Pappy had lent us for that purpose, and Daphne was able to eat with less pain (there is another tooth loose).

Just before 5, we started toward the airport. We checked our bags at 5:50 for our 7:49 flight. At that time, we were told it was delayed. So we sat at the airport until 10:30, which, except for the fact that we were tired and the airport seats are uncomfortable. By the time we got home at 2 o’clock, D and I could barely stumble back to the bedroom (managing a pet for Kaley, of course) before going to sleep. Ken needed his computer fix. I’ve been doing laundry and uploading pictures all morning. We also had church at home since we missed it this morning.

I’ll finish up with a few final thoughts later. Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful trip.

 

[laura_hattaway]

My six year old reports the following:
I had fun swimming in the pool and playing with my cousins. I had fun playing all around where I could play by myself. I don’t know what my favorite food was that I loved. I liked all of them! I ordered the Minnie Cheeseburger most of the time. The adult dessert menu is better than the kids’ menu.

I didn’t like the club. They were mean to us; they didn’t treat us nice. They gave us cranberry sauce in blocks and they said it was Jell-o, but it wasn’t. They gave us coffee-flavored ice cream. Yechh. They didn’t play that much games with us. They just bossed us around. They said they were going to play with us, but they didn’t.

I liked Goofy’s Pool better than Mickey’s. It’s better to swim in; it’s easier. I liked the slide, though. It had water in it so you could just shoot down it. And it had twists. It was really fun, too.

In the restaurants, they treat you like servants. They are never mean to you. They give you a lot of stuff. You just order what is from the menu, and they don’t stop you.

The beds were really, really soft. They were nice and comfortable. My bed was on the couch. Well, at first I thought it was just on the couch. But I did not know that you could fold over the couch, and there was a bed on the other side.

All of the shows had princesses in them, and I hated that part. I LOATHE princesses. My favorite characters are Goofy, Pluto, and Mickey. One time I saw Pluto walking up the stairs (and this is really funny), and I saw him walking up the stairs like a REAL dog. He walked on his hands AND feet.

The towel animals: swan, turtle, stingray, monkey, dog, snake, and elephant.

Castaway Cay was very fun, and I got to swim in the ocean and find shells and rocks and bones. It was very, very fun. And I LOVED it. I left my beach ball out on the beach and it blew away out where you fly your kites, but we found it ‘cause we were walking across to get our bikes and my mom saw it. I was so happy to see it and my dad tried to do it, but there were stickers and ants there. My dad couldn’t get the beach ball, and I was so sad that I heard that he couldn’t get it. I wanted it so badly I just cried. I heard my dad say, “I’ll use my shoes to get the beach ball,” and he finally did.

They are so talented here. I’m never going on any cruise but a Disney cruise. So when I can afford it, I’m going on a Disney Cruise.

 

[VacationKicks]

Great trip report and so you posted it so quickly! Sounds like you and your family had an awesome time.

 

[LisaSp]

...great report! And I looked at all of your photos--you had some great ones! Thanks for sharing!

 

[laura_hattaway]

1: The ship.
I've heard a lot of people say that as soon as you get to know your way around, it's time to get off the ship. If you're on a three-nighter, maybe. But by day two, we had it down. My daughter could find her way around. Looking at deck plans before the trip was overwhelming, but once we were onboard, the layout was simple and everything was easy to find.
We loved being able to go see a movie in our PJs, D loved running around barefooted unless we were going into a restaurant, and it was just neat to feel so at home somewhere that you can do so much stuff you can't do at home!

2: The food.
It was great. There were a couple of things that weren't my favorite, but that's a commentary on my preferences, not the quality of the food. People who complain about the food on the Disney Cruise must either cook better or eat at much nicer establishments than I am wont to visit in my normal life.
Also, the portions at dinner are completely reasonable. I ate all four courses every night and never felt like I had to waddle away. I gained no weight on the cruise, and don't think that's necesary. I also didn't try to maintain any kind of eating regimine. I just had some fruit and bread at breakfast (and salmon, on occasion... mmm), a sandwich or piece of pizza at lunch, and then the full dinner. The day we had lunch at Lumiere's, I went for the entree only. One is not obligated to cram every scrap of edible goodness in one's gullet just because it is there. Maybe people do that and that's why they're so turned off of the quality. Hunger is the best pickle and all.

3: The kids' clubs.
I was impressed with the scope and quality of the programs, but they just didn't work for my child. The spaces are so neat, my daughter wanted to explore and play on her own. I understand that when many children are present, there has to be a game plan or there is chaos. For Daphne, though, this was vacation. She expected to be able to play, not have to do carefully structured activities.
Also, the clubs are extremely loud, and I'm not talking about children. The counselors leading the activities are on microphones, and they try very much to get the kids pumped up by encouraging them to be noisy. Then the person on the mic gets even louder, and pretty soon no one can hear himself think.
We used the club as a "babysitter" twice when we had adult-only activities. We'd planned to let Daphne go as often as she wanted, but she never voluntarily asked to go to the club. Again, this is something that reflects our tastes and not the quality of the programs. She just preferred to watch TV or explore the ship or swim (an average of three hours a day).

4: The family activities vs. having the ship to ourselves
We enjoyed learning how to draw Disney characters, the Mickey 200, and the after-dinner dance parties. There are plenty of fun things for the family to do together. We were a little surprised to find that a lot of the more lively activities are at 10:15 PM... I guess some families can stay up that late and still function, but my child turns into a pumpkin pretty soon after 9:00. So we missed the game "shows" and trivia contests and the like. The upshot of this is that when Daphne woke up at 8 o'clock raring to swim, we had both pools to ourselves for a good two hours. We loved getting up at a leisurely pace, heading up to the deserted deck, eating by the pool, and getting to enjoy the water before anyone peed or pooped in it!

I highly recommend January as a prime cruising time, if this was any indication. The weather was close to perfect, we never felt "crowded," and the ship sailed smoothly most of the time.

Thanks to my parents for a trip we will never forget (and probably won't ever be able to duplicate unless we win the lottery, which we don't play, so I don't think the odds are that great...).

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Your TR and pics are awesome.. TXS for sharing....

 

[plutospup]

Thanks for a great TR! I especially enjoyed Daphne's thoughts on the cruise

 

[scoutsmom99]

Thanks for sharing your trip report and all the fabulous pictures you took. It is making me very excited for my cruise in September

 

[podsnel]

I really enjoyed your wonderful trip report- thanks so much for sharing!!! Your photos are FANTASTIC, and I truly loved them- the Key West panorama sunset should be in a contest!!! Your food photos were great, too- I'm very happy to hear the food was very good, it certainly looked delicious!!!
Daphne (what a cutie!) did a great job with her comments, too!! Thank-you!