"The Dapplebeans Rejuvenation at Sea" June 20, 2009 *TORTOLA/TONS OF PICS*

[HeatherD]

Luggage isn't a problem! You can either summon it, suspend it from your broom or use Hermione's suspention spell that she uses in the teeny tiny purse in #7! Can you imagine that purse going through security?

 

[CRUIZEN MAMMA]

Luggage isn't a problem! You can either summon it, suspend it from your broom or use Hermione's suspention spell that she uses in the teeny tiny purse in #7! Can you imagine that purse going through security?

Hermione's a girl after my own heart- bet we'd get lots of beverages in that purse
Oh gosh, look what we've started, this has gone from an entertaining TR, to a discussion of how to Harry potterize a disney vacation, sorry RV

 

[anetnmike]

Sheer brilliance-all of it - I say!

 

[RoyalVizier]

tsk tsk ye of little imagination- you only need Harry's cloak of invisability. Who needs airfare when you can just move to wherever you need to be without being seen?

I'm thinking flying over on your own broom would be good - plus you can stop and see the sights! However, luggage handling might be an issue!

How about a giant flying car--possibly Hummer Size Super Stretch Limo so we can travel together w/ other luggage?

Luggage isn't a problem! You can either summon it, suspend it from your broom or use Hermione's suspention spell that she uses in the teeny tiny purse in #7! Can you imagine that purse going through security?

Oh gosh, look what we've started, this has gone from an entertaining TR, to a discussion of how to Harry potterize a disney vacation, sorry RV

Holy heck! Look what I did? I derailed my own trippie with mention of Harry. Hey, it's fine with me. DCL cruising and Harry Potter all wrapped into one thread... nothing better!

Just think of the numbers of conversions I can make to the RV fan club & Ollie club......

Hmm... that Facebook idea is looking like it may be becoming more and more of a necessity, huh?

Next installment is coming up shortly... sorry for the gap folks, I've been away!

 

[RoyalVizier]

Day 5: A U-Turn and Pool Scoop

After boarding the ship, we hustled it up to our room so that I could very unceremoniously flop onto the bed. Again, something about sunlight and fresh Caribbean air rips the energy violently from my body. I was ready for a bit of a lay down so we vegged for a bit. Then my wife started to eye the full clothes hamper we had brought with us and decided it was time for a load of laundry or two. Socks and undies were starting to poke out the top. We figured it’d be a good time to do it as most people were probably off the ship enjoying St. Thomas. Just an FYI to any who want to know… the washers and dryers (as least on Deck 2, I’m not sure if all laundry rooms are converted over yet) now take only your KTTW room key card for payment. They are no longer coin operated. You swipe you key into the washer and/or dryer and it just gets added to your shipboard account. It’s $2 a load. So that roll of quarters we got prior to leaving for Port Canaveral… not helping us out. Surely I wasn’t the first person in the history of DCL to pay part of my shipboard account with a roll of quarters? The Guest Services lady didn’t look at me funny, so…

Our next stop was lunch because not only does the sun and the fresh Caribbean air suck the energy from my body, but it also makes me incredibly ravenous! We decided to go for Topsiders lunch instead of our usual visit to Goofy’s or Pluto’s. It was Tex-Mex today so we had gone through the line and loaded up our plate before I realized that the other side of the buffet line was the kid’s side! OHMYGOSH! Chicken fingers and pizza and corn dog nuggets and French fries oh my! But having just filled my plate I figured I’ll go through that side of the line on my second time around. So we got a seat and ate and it was very good. Extremely good pasta and marinara sauce. When I went back for more, I was faced with empty trays and crew members wiping everything down! I realized that it was 2:00 pm and they were closing up. DRAT! Ah well… I didn’t need seconds of anything anyway. But I did make a quick swing by the ice creams sundae station to beg for a scoop of strawberry ice cream with strawberries on top before she put everything away. Yum!

While we were up top we took some beautiful pictures, I’m so thrilled with how they turned out.

Then it was pool time. We were in the pool for a long time. We went between the pool and the hot tub many many times. Our big topic of discussion in the pool was the DCL Med cruise, otherwise known as The Obsession. The seed had been properly nurtured by the warm island sun and the crisp sea breeze and had blossomed into much more than a mere thought, but was now a thrashing, thriving Audrey 2 demanding to be fed. So there was much contemplation going on in the Cove pool at that time. While we were wading and enjoying the serenity and contemplating our vacation future, a ship wide announcement was made paging a family to report in to Guest Services. It was about time to pull out of port so I figured maybe they were making sure these people were on board. Well, this announcement was made again and again about every 10 minutes or so and we still hadn’t left. Finally just a bit later I noticed that we were moving, getting on our way to Castaway Cay. Well just after this, I noticed a whole bunch of people lining the side of the deck looking down at the dock so of course I joined them to find what appeared by my assumptions to be a mom, her two children, and a grandmother standing on the dock looking dumbfounded (like this --> ), shopping bags in hand. Guess this was the missing family, huh? I am awful at gauging distances, but we really weren’t that far away. We had only moved laterally away from the dock and hadn’t really gone too far. Being the magical cruise line that DCL is, we pulled back up to the dock and let them on. I would be so embarrassed if somehow I did that and caused the ship to have to come back for me. I’d be mortified.

*** New Ship Speculation ***
There was one time that my wife went to the hot tub and I stayed in the pool (I didn’t want to get boiled anymore). I could see her chatting it up with another lady in the hot tub and she was in there for a long time. When she rejoined me, she told me that she had been talking to a DCL cast member and they were talking about the new ships, the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy. In a nutshell, she learned that Alaska is a very probable itinerary for one of the new ships, but didn’t know if that would be a special itinerary like the Magic going to the Med once a year or if it would be permanent… also Hawaii was of much interest to DCL but the logistics were a bit complicated on that one because it would require the cruises to be so lengthy. She said it would take five sea days just to get from the port of Los Angeles to Hawaii so the cruises would probably have to be 14 night itineraries. Personally, either of these possible itineraries excite me to no end! An Alaskan cruise has been on my wife’s and my radar for quite some time and to be able to do Disney in Alaska would of course be ideal. So there you go… take it for what you will.
*** End of New Ship Speculation ***

We went back to the room, grabbed showers, rested, relaxed… we watched some of Hotel for Dogs, and got dressed for dinner. It was the white background for the professional portraits in the atrium this evening which is our favorite so we had some pictures done. Here are the ones we got from that night.

Then our daughter wanted to see Alice who was hanging out in Preludes so we headed over there.

The Queen of Hearts took quite a liking to me. I was just standing there, very unassuming, waiting for my daughter to get her picture taken… just standing there in the background, when the Queen walked up to me and stuck out her hand. So I kissed her hand like a gentlemen should because don’t you know that’s what you do when you are in the presence of royalty. And I must admit… the Queen is kind of foxy. As my wife and I walked away side by side, the Queen followed us for a bit, stalking us, and I could tell that she wanted to lop my wife’s head clean off her shoulders, because she was walking away with the Queen’s newfound stud boy.

Dinner this evening was in Lumiere’s, and here’s our food.

I don’t know what to attribute this to, too much talk about the Med cruises or maybe my Bath scrape had become infected and my brain was being annihilated by disease, but the conversation over the course of this dinner was odd indeed. Let’s just say without getting into any detail that the two main topics of discussion turned to belly buttons and nudists.

At the completion of the meal we mentioned to Jozsef that we wouldn’t be at dinner the following night in Animator’s Palette because that was Palo night. He understood, and he invited us to character breakfast the next morning. So we left and did our usual routine of going back to the room while our daughter retired to the Stack. We originally planned to take in some more pool time, but weariness overtook us and we opted for bed. Lights out.

Up Next: Napkin Madness and A New Obsession

 

[HeatherD]

OK,how many obsessions can one TR have?!?!? Loving the TR - makes me excited for our, which is 9 weeks from today!

 

[anetnmike]

DH's biggest issue with rebooking is that he is bored with the itineraries. He would LOVE to do Alaska! I have read the same info other places as well. I can only imagine how awesome Disney would make that !
Maybe that trip could be your new Obsession ...
Loved the update RV, your pictures are excellent!

 

[TiggersPal]

I too have heard rumors from people about the Alaska and Hawaiian cruises and can only hope it works out - however I doubt I'll be waiting for the Alaska cruise for DCL. I don't think I can wait another year or two at this point. I'm really thinking about doing one next May - even though we have the TransAtlantic booked on Magic from Barcelona in 09/2010 as well. I guess time will tell!

 

[RLccweems]

I love all the pics of the streets of St. Thomas....and your tr is the best so far. I'm trying to catch up on my reading.

 

[RLccweems]

Two at once--it's like a double dip!

Smileneyes: I lost my prescription sunglasses. They never made it home. Can you use Google Earth & your Sherlock Holmes-like powers & find them.


Hot tub & fireworks!!!

The secret's out. It will be added to the tips list on the DIS in no time.

After going to the party w/ kids that looked this excited to be there (Look closely Rclweems) I think RV's going to have in the hot tub next time. Especially w/ his increasing fanbase.

But seriously, you continue to me the master RV.

Chad just about lose it when he saw this Mary!!!

He said the pirate party is too kiddie...and next time him and Liam will go hang out somewhere else.

Thanks for the well needed laugh!!!

 

[RLccweems]

I love the pics of your wife with the island in the background...very nice. And the family pics turned out great. Your dd is so very pretty...I see she got all her looks from your wife. As for the Queen of hearts....that's too funny!! I spit out my lemonade all over the screen just then!! Keep the TR coming...I'm enjoying to no end!

 

[TiggersPal]

I love the pics of your wife with the island in the background...very nice. And the family pics turned out great. Your dd is so very pretty...I see she got all her looks from your wife. As for the Queen of hearts....that's too funny!! I spit out my lemonade all over the screen just then!! Keep the TR coming...I'm enjoying to no end!

Indeed I too loved the photos! Always enjoy seeing your photos and your trip reports RV.

 

[MagicMe]

*** New Ship Speculation ***
There was one time that my wife went to the hot tub and I stayed in the pool (I didn’t want to get boiled anymore). I could see her chatting it up with another lady in the hot tub and she was in there for a long time. When she rejoined me, she told me that she had been talking to a DCL cast member and they were talking about the new ships, the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy. In a nutshell, she learned that Alaska is a very probable itinerary for one of the new ships, but didn’t know if that would be a special itinerary like the Magic going to the Med once a year or if it would be permanent… also Hawaii was of much interest to DCL but the logistics were a bit complicated on that one because it would require the cruises to be so lengthy. She said it would take five sea days just to get from the port of Los Angeles to Hawaii so the cruises would probably have to be 14 night itineraries. Personally, either of these possible itineraries excite me to no end! An Alaskan cruise has been on my wife’s and my radar for quite some time and to be able to do Disney in Alaska would of course be ideal. So there you go… take it for what you will.
*** End of New Ship Speculation ***

Well if these itineraries happen it will be on the Wonder (which is expected to head to CA when the first new ship arrives in Port Canaveral). The new ships are too wide to fit throught the Panama Canal and that won't be widened for several years.

 

[SweetSpot]

I love your discription of the Baths. It was an amazing experience, and one of my favorite places, but I was really beaten up afterwards. I knew what I was getting into when we decided to go to the Baths but didn't expect to take a 17 year old boys trail through instead of the regular path. We went through the smallest and narrowest spaces, sometimes on our hands and knees. I had bruises on bruises, lumps on my head and a large bloody gash on my leg. Probably should have thought twice about going into the ocean with blood pouring out of my leg, I can hear the theme of Jaws now.

This is my DS on top of one of the many huge rocks he climbed. I don't remember the last time I saw him have as good a time as he did at the Baths.

 

[smeecanada]

Great trip report, RV. Sign us up for the Hawaii trip - 10 sea days - bring it on. RELAXATION and a few good books - I'm so there. The Captain also mentioned Hawaii during the Castaway Members meeting. He got great applause to the speculation of Hawaii even with the amount of sea days. We're heading to Alaska on Saturday with RCL - using it as a scouting trip to get the lay of land and going to it right when DCL goes there. We've already been warned that RCL is not Disney. Should be interesting.

 

[RoyalVizier]

OK,how many obsessions can one TR have?!?!?

Tons!!

I can only imagine how awesome Disney would make that!

Right!!

I'm really thinking about doing one next May - even though we have the TransAtlantic booked on Magic from Barcelona in 09/2010 as well. I guess time will tell!

There's no such thing as too much Disney cruisin'!!

Well if these itineraries happen it will be on the Wonder (which is expected to head to CA when the first new ship arrives in Port Canaveral). The new ships are too wide to fit throught the Panama Canal and that won't be widened for several years.

Ohhhhh I hadn't thought of that or ever heard that... nice trivia!

We went through the smallest and narrowest spaces, sometimes on our hands and knees.

Yea, I was really self conscious when it came to those real tight and low places because we were always surrounded by others and no one else had to get down on their hands and knees to get threw those spots. Everyone else was crouching and duck-walking with no issue but for some reason my 6'4" frame doesn't crouch and move in the forward direction at the same time.

We're heading to Alaska on Saturday with RCL - using it as a scouting trip to get the lay of land and going to it right when DCL goes there.

How fantastic!! Check in when you get back!

Everyone gets the thumbs up today!

 

[IrenicMom]

Everyone gets the thumbs up today!

Must be an awesome day in the kingdom

 

[Jennifer48]

 

[Tearsa Smith]

Ok, I have been lurking in here long enough, and have to check in. Love this TR, and just had to tell you. I have read many as I am working on getting our first Disney cruise booked, and yours is by far the best!
Tearsa

 

[RLccweems]

Ok, I have been lurking in here long enough, and have to check in. Love this TR, and just had to tell you. I have read many as I am working on getting our first Disney cruise booked, and yours is by far the best!
Tearsa

RV is one of the best when it comes to writing these trip reports!!