love2travel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 1,210
Come back Linda, we are all waiting.
The Incredibles' Disney Magic Cruise 11/4/06 [THE END, FINALLY!! posted 7/2]
- Thread starter lindaso
- Start date
lindaso
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
- Messages
- 713
I'm still here. Here's some more. I'm getting there, the end is in sight!! 
Friday November 10th, cont…My sand castle is better than yours
We make it back to our spot after lunch and the boys get busy making more sand castles. It’s time for me to find the Mickey statue I’ve been obsessing about for months. I get myself ready with the snorkel gear and feel ridiculous wearing the blow up life vest that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning.
I invite the kids to go with me but I get no takers. I invite Christine and she actually considers it (she’s not really a water person). Keith helps convince her and she gets the gear on (including the ridiculous blow up lift vest that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning). Keith eyes the kids who are all playing nicely in the sand, looks at Chuck and says that maybe he’ll go too. Chuck who is most definitely attached to his chaise tells Keith to go ahead and he’ll watch the kids.
So while we wait for him to get ready, a man walks by and tells me that the best place to see fish is right underneath the water playground. OK, we’ll check it out.
We make our way out into the water and head over to the playground to see what the guy was talking about. Oh my God, he was right!! There are gazillions of fish hanging out between the wooden poles and the netting of the playground. I have a strong urge to yell “SWIM DOWN” at them.
We swim over to the snorkel area underneath all the ropes. I’m happy that Keith is here since he knows where he’s going and I don’t. I feel a bit 3rd wheelish with the 2 of them holding hands so I go off ahead a bit. We see a fish every now and then and there are some areas where we see a whole bunch at once. We make our way over to the white floating buoy and Keith points to where Mickey is.
I feel a great peace seeing the underwater Mickey…another thing to check off the list. Why must I obsess over these things? Mickey is cool and I’m glad I saw him but life wouldn’t have ended if I missed it. We swim around a bit more and see some more random fish and eventually head back toward the beach. I get used to the flippers and swim without using my arms. Now if I had some gillyweed, I could get rid of the snorkel.
We are quite a distance from our camp but eventually we make it back. I get to the shallow water and take off the ridiculous blow up life vest that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning. Just as I’m walking on the sand, a boy walks up to Tommy and Kyle. He stops and says, “my sand castle is better than this one” in a very matter of fact way. Tommy looks up at Kyle and says “why does everybody keep walking by and saying that?” He’s not angry, he’s just pondering the obvious. It strikes me as so funny! I guess our red buckets aren’t as fancy as the buckets sold on Castaway Cay and apparently many kids felt the need to point that out! Yeah, but we have the last laugh cause we spent WAY less on beach toys than their parents NA NA NA NA NAAAAAAAAA!
So, this little boy, after hearing Tommy’s response, tries to backtrack by saying “but your castle is nice too” as he walks away. I wonder if the kid wanted to play and just went about it in the wrong way?
I go for one last dip in the water and take Tommy out to see the fish underneath the playground. He’s wearing his pool goggles and I’m wearing the snorkel mask. We don’t get very far into the water before a lifeguard whistles at us to put on the ridiculous blow up life vests that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning. Tommy is excited to see all the fish without having to deal with the snorkel mask and breathing tube.
Afterwards, all 5 kids play nicely together in the sand with no fighting. The 4 adults relax on our chaises and enjoy the sun. Honestly, it doesn’t get any better than this. No one is whining, no one is crying, no one is complaining. It’s truly a magical day here on Castaway Cay.
Here’s our crew proving that miracles can happen:
The crowd starts to thin out as people head back to the ship. I consider all the work I have to do with packing and Shutters but I put it out of my mind and enjoy every possible second of paradise. This has been one of the best beach days our family has ever had.
Here’s another good one of “pish-boy”:
A Castaway Cay worker comes around and tells us when the lagoon closes. [trip report confession…I can’t for the life of me remember what time he told us. It was unusual, like 3:45 or something. It was earlier than I expected.]
Here’s a shot I took that afternoon. I don’t know why I took this shot. What did I do before digital cameras?
We get the very last minutes in before it’s time to pack up and head back to the ship. It’s then that Chuck tells me he wants to buy souvenirs for his family. I sigh, wishing that we could put an end to this family souvenir thing. Why exactly does his family need a souvenir from a vacation they haven’t been on? I know we don’t need any more t-shirts from vacations that they’ve been on. Really, the only time it makes sense to me is when you buy your kids souvenirs from a trip you took without them (they look forward to it and it alleviates your guilt!) But I know I won’t get anywhere with my philosophical position so I watch as he heads into the gift shop.
He picks out 4 beach towels at $20 a pop and when he asks me which one I like best for us, I ignore the fact that it’s another $20 and pick out my favorite for the pool this summer.
The area around the gift shop is really crowded but we get through it soon enough. We grab another shuttle back to the ship and arrive just in time to wait on a huge line to embark the Magic. Normally, a line like this would make me crazy but I really don’t mind it since it means we took extra time on the beach. I really wanted to get every minute possible out of Castaway Cay and I feel I accomplished that.
While waiting on line, we can tell which girls got their hair braided on Castaway Cay. It looks more like Alyssa’s hair from their last cruise. There really is a huge difference between ship braids and Castaway braids. The braids on the ship are much bigger, hurt less, and cost less. But the braids on Castaway Cay look so much nicer. I wonder what we would have decided if we realized the difference beforehand?
Christine and I discuss our plan for the next few hours. It’s now 4:45 and we have to clean everyone up for dinner, finish up with Shutters and PACK to go home. We also have to stop by the kids club and pick up t-shirts for Kevin and Alyssa. I know there’s no way I’m making the show tonight. I’m not even sure I’m making it to dinner tonight.
We eventually decide that we should skip dinner and the show and get our stuff done. Neither of us have any desire to say goodbye to our servers. The guys can give them the tips and be done with it. The longer we wait on the line, the more antsy we become about our pictures. We still need to see the shots from last night's semi-formal night. We still don't know for sure what shot we're using for our Christmas cards and Christine wants Bahar to finally answer her about photoshop!
We finally make it back onto the ship and start the process of getting everyone clean. Again, having 2 bathrooms is very helpful in this regard. We put the debarkation discussion on the TV but I don’t really pay close attention to it. I peruse through the papers Elsa left on the bed but I don’t really read them carefully. We get the suitcases out from under the beds and I start separating the things we need for tomorrow. Right now all I know for sure is that those suitcases need to be in the hallway by 11:00!
Christine knocks on the door to tell me that Keith doesn’t want her to miss dinner. Chuck didn’t really give an opinion when I told him but Christine doesn’t want to start a fight so we decide to go to dinner and we’ll skip the show.
We make our way into our 3rd dinner at Parrot Cay. I am happy we decided to come…it is, after all, our last dinner on the ship. Glenn greets us and Melroy brings the kids’ drinks…in covered cups for everyone except Stephanie. I can’t resist, it’s our last night. I smile as big as I can at Melroy and ask him “how old are these kids?” I have to ask cause there’s no way he knows Stephanie is younger than Alyssa. No way does he know the ages of the kids he’s been serving all week!
The kids smile big at Melroy as they wait to hear his answer. He gives me the very first smirk of the entire week as he says, “I’ll be right back.” “Oh no you don’t, don’t go checking the computer,” I tell him as he smiles, knowing he’s busted. Yup, the very first smile from the man the entire week!
My boys get their very last order of chicken fingers of the vacation. We convince Steph to get the steak from the adult menu, which she really likes. I’m in a seafood mood and have the seafood medley appetizer and the seafood linguine pasta. Both of them are really good. We watch the parade the servers participate in and don’t really feel excited about it. It’s sad watching the other tables cheer for their servers with love in their eyes. We give a slight cheer for Glenn but that’s all we can muster. We don’t feel the need to take pictures with them.
I have the chocolate decadence for dessert and Kevin has his first Mickey Bar of the cruise. The guys give Glenn our envelopes and decide to be open and honest with him. Keith asks him how long he’s been working with Melroy and Glenn says this was their first shift together. Chuck tells him that Melroy is dragging him down and he should find someone else. Glenn agrees and says he’s tried to motivate Melroy but he’s just not motivated or happy to be working on the ship. Both guys tell Glenn he should dump Melroy as soon as he can and Glenn sadly nods his head saying he will be able to in 2 more weeks.
Glenn explains the process of breakfast in the morning and names the ungodly hour we’re expected to be back at Parrot Cay. Like the character breakfast, I already know there’s no way we’re making it. We have plenty of time to kill before our flight and we’re in no rush to leave the ship.
We say goodbye to our servers for the last time, reluctantly give Melroy our envelope and make our way out of Parrot Cay. The guys will take the kids to the show while we moms take care of all the things that moms take care of in the last few hours of the last night of the cruise.
Christine and I head straight to the lab where they hand us 2 t-shirts for our absentee graduates. Then it’s back to the staterooms to collect our brown Shutters envelopes. It’s time to see Bahar!!
Up next…"Oh great, not more scrapbookers"; it’s 10:45, do you know where your family is?
Friday November 10th, cont…My sand castle is better than yours
We make it back to our spot after lunch and the boys get busy making more sand castles. It’s time for me to find the Mickey statue I’ve been obsessing about for months. I get myself ready with the snorkel gear and feel ridiculous wearing the blow up life vest that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning.
I invite the kids to go with me but I get no takers. I invite Christine and she actually considers it (she’s not really a water person). Keith helps convince her and she gets the gear on (including the ridiculous blow up lift vest that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning). Keith eyes the kids who are all playing nicely in the sand, looks at Chuck and says that maybe he’ll go too. Chuck who is most definitely attached to his chaise tells Keith to go ahead and he’ll watch the kids.
So while we wait for him to get ready, a man walks by and tells me that the best place to see fish is right underneath the water playground. OK, we’ll check it out.
We make our way out into the water and head over to the playground to see what the guy was talking about. Oh my God, he was right!! There are gazillions of fish hanging out between the wooden poles and the netting of the playground. I have a strong urge to yell “SWIM DOWN” at them.
We swim over to the snorkel area underneath all the ropes. I’m happy that Keith is here since he knows where he’s going and I don’t. I feel a bit 3rd wheelish with the 2 of them holding hands so I go off ahead a bit. We see a fish every now and then and there are some areas where we see a whole bunch at once. We make our way over to the white floating buoy and Keith points to where Mickey is.
I feel a great peace seeing the underwater Mickey…another thing to check off the list. Why must I obsess over these things? Mickey is cool and I’m glad I saw him but life wouldn’t have ended if I missed it. We swim around a bit more and see some more random fish and eventually head back toward the beach. I get used to the flippers and swim without using my arms. Now if I had some gillyweed, I could get rid of the snorkel.
We are quite a distance from our camp but eventually we make it back. I get to the shallow water and take off the ridiculous blow up life vest that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning. Just as I’m walking on the sand, a boy walks up to Tommy and Kyle. He stops and says, “my sand castle is better than this one” in a very matter of fact way. Tommy looks up at Kyle and says “why does everybody keep walking by and saying that?” He’s not angry, he’s just pondering the obvious. It strikes me as so funny! I guess our red buckets aren’t as fancy as the buckets sold on Castaway Cay and apparently many kids felt the need to point that out! Yeah, but we have the last laugh cause we spent WAY less on beach toys than their parents NA NA NA NA NAAAAAAAAA!
So, this little boy, after hearing Tommy’s response, tries to backtrack by saying “but your castle is nice too” as he walks away. I wonder if the kid wanted to play and just went about it in the wrong way?
I go for one last dip in the water and take Tommy out to see the fish underneath the playground. He’s wearing his pool goggles and I’m wearing the snorkel mask. We don’t get very far into the water before a lifeguard whistles at us to put on the ridiculous blow up life vests that I can’t imagine will actually save someone’s life if they are actually drowning. Tommy is excited to see all the fish without having to deal with the snorkel mask and breathing tube.
Afterwards, all 5 kids play nicely together in the sand with no fighting. The 4 adults relax on our chaises and enjoy the sun. Honestly, it doesn’t get any better than this. No one is whining, no one is crying, no one is complaining. It’s truly a magical day here on Castaway Cay.
Here’s our crew proving that miracles can happen:
The crowd starts to thin out as people head back to the ship. I consider all the work I have to do with packing and Shutters but I put it out of my mind and enjoy every possible second of paradise. This has been one of the best beach days our family has ever had.
Here’s another good one of “pish-boy”:
A Castaway Cay worker comes around and tells us when the lagoon closes. [trip report confession…I can’t for the life of me remember what time he told us. It was unusual, like 3:45 or something. It was earlier than I expected.]
Here’s a shot I took that afternoon. I don’t know why I took this shot. What did I do before digital cameras?
We get the very last minutes in before it’s time to pack up and head back to the ship. It’s then that Chuck tells me he wants to buy souvenirs for his family. I sigh, wishing that we could put an end to this family souvenir thing. Why exactly does his family need a souvenir from a vacation they haven’t been on? I know we don’t need any more t-shirts from vacations that they’ve been on. Really, the only time it makes sense to me is when you buy your kids souvenirs from a trip you took without them (they look forward to it and it alleviates your guilt!) But I know I won’t get anywhere with my philosophical position so I watch as he heads into the gift shop.
He picks out 4 beach towels at $20 a pop and when he asks me which one I like best for us, I ignore the fact that it’s another $20 and pick out my favorite for the pool this summer.
The area around the gift shop is really crowded but we get through it soon enough. We grab another shuttle back to the ship and arrive just in time to wait on a huge line to embark the Magic. Normally, a line like this would make me crazy but I really don’t mind it since it means we took extra time on the beach. I really wanted to get every minute possible out of Castaway Cay and I feel I accomplished that.
While waiting on line, we can tell which girls got their hair braided on Castaway Cay. It looks more like Alyssa’s hair from their last cruise. There really is a huge difference between ship braids and Castaway braids. The braids on the ship are much bigger, hurt less, and cost less. But the braids on Castaway Cay look so much nicer. I wonder what we would have decided if we realized the difference beforehand?
Christine and I discuss our plan for the next few hours. It’s now 4:45 and we have to clean everyone up for dinner, finish up with Shutters and PACK to go home. We also have to stop by the kids club and pick up t-shirts for Kevin and Alyssa. I know there’s no way I’m making the show tonight. I’m not even sure I’m making it to dinner tonight.
We eventually decide that we should skip dinner and the show and get our stuff done. Neither of us have any desire to say goodbye to our servers. The guys can give them the tips and be done with it. The longer we wait on the line, the more antsy we become about our pictures. We still need to see the shots from last night's semi-formal night. We still don't know for sure what shot we're using for our Christmas cards and Christine wants Bahar to finally answer her about photoshop!
We finally make it back onto the ship and start the process of getting everyone clean. Again, having 2 bathrooms is very helpful in this regard. We put the debarkation discussion on the TV but I don’t really pay close attention to it. I peruse through the papers Elsa left on the bed but I don’t really read them carefully. We get the suitcases out from under the beds and I start separating the things we need for tomorrow. Right now all I know for sure is that those suitcases need to be in the hallway by 11:00!
Christine knocks on the door to tell me that Keith doesn’t want her to miss dinner. Chuck didn’t really give an opinion when I told him but Christine doesn’t want to start a fight so we decide to go to dinner and we’ll skip the show.
We make our way into our 3rd dinner at Parrot Cay. I am happy we decided to come…it is, after all, our last dinner on the ship. Glenn greets us and Melroy brings the kids’ drinks…in covered cups for everyone except Stephanie. I can’t resist, it’s our last night. I smile as big as I can at Melroy and ask him “how old are these kids?” I have to ask cause there’s no way he knows Stephanie is younger than Alyssa. No way does he know the ages of the kids he’s been serving all week!
The kids smile big at Melroy as they wait to hear his answer. He gives me the very first smirk of the entire week as he says, “I’ll be right back.” “Oh no you don’t, don’t go checking the computer,” I tell him as he smiles, knowing he’s busted. Yup, the very first smile from the man the entire week!
My boys get their very last order of chicken fingers of the vacation. We convince Steph to get the steak from the adult menu, which she really likes. I’m in a seafood mood and have the seafood medley appetizer and the seafood linguine pasta. Both of them are really good. We watch the parade the servers participate in and don’t really feel excited about it. It’s sad watching the other tables cheer for their servers with love in their eyes. We give a slight cheer for Glenn but that’s all we can muster. We don’t feel the need to take pictures with them.
I have the chocolate decadence for dessert and Kevin has his first Mickey Bar of the cruise. The guys give Glenn our envelopes and decide to be open and honest with him. Keith asks him how long he’s been working with Melroy and Glenn says this was their first shift together. Chuck tells him that Melroy is dragging him down and he should find someone else. Glenn agrees and says he’s tried to motivate Melroy but he’s just not motivated or happy to be working on the ship. Both guys tell Glenn he should dump Melroy as soon as he can and Glenn sadly nods his head saying he will be able to in 2 more weeks.
Glenn explains the process of breakfast in the morning and names the ungodly hour we’re expected to be back at Parrot Cay. Like the character breakfast, I already know there’s no way we’re making it. We have plenty of time to kill before our flight and we’re in no rush to leave the ship.
We say goodbye to our servers for the last time, reluctantly give Melroy our envelope and make our way out of Parrot Cay. The guys will take the kids to the show while we moms take care of all the things that moms take care of in the last few hours of the last night of the cruise.
Christine and I head straight to the lab where they hand us 2 t-shirts for our absentee graduates. Then it’s back to the staterooms to collect our brown Shutters envelopes. It’s time to see Bahar!!
Up next…"Oh great, not more scrapbookers"; it’s 10:45, do you know where your family is?
discruiselovers97
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2006
- Messages
- 413
It just hit me...This report is going to be over soon! It is so weird, when I find a really good trip report I can't wait to read it all as soon as possible but then it is so good that at the end I am sad it will be over. Well I can't wait for the rest. Good last post!
Madisonznana
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 1,605
Missed you Linda! Another fine installment!
Karen
Karen
love2travel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 1,210
Another installment that we enjoyed! 
mruhaak
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2005
- Messages
- 2,539
Linda-
I keep hoping for gillyweed too...
I bet you're looking forward to July this year just like I am!
You've done a great job with your report! It feels like you've been cruising for months!! Wouldn't it be nice if that was true huh!
Melanie
I keep hoping for gillyweed too...
I bet you're looking forward to July this year just like I am!
You've done a great job with your report! It feels like you've been cruising for months!! Wouldn't it be nice if that was true huh!
Melanie
We waited to get the braids done until we got on Castaway Cay because we also heard they look better and last longer. Alison got the headband style and they gave her 26 tiny cornrows because her hair is so thick. Oh, and she had tears rolling down her face the whole time because they made them so tight! Yes, they lasted a long time and looked great, but they weren't able to get them until the last full day of our cruise and they were expensive. I'm pretty sure that Alison would have rather had less cornrows earlier in the cruise - and our wallet would have appreciated it as well!
NHdisneylover
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2007
- Messages
- 18,122
I am enjoying your report. I haev been waiting patiently for the next installment. Now, I have decided to bug you for it instead!
About the sandcastle comments: Do you still have your CC activites sheet? Was there a sandcastle building contest that afternoon? There was whne we were there last September. Anything built along the family beach was considered an entry. Perhaps the little boy thought you were comptenig and your family had just missed that a contest was going on? We totally missed it until we comented on a really nice castle and the perosn told us they wnated to win.
About the sandcastle comments: Do you still have your CC activites sheet? Was there a sandcastle building contest that afternoon? There was whne we were there last September. Anything built along the family beach was considered an entry. Perhaps the little boy thought you were comptenig and your family had just missed that a contest was going on? We totally missed it until we comented on a really nice castle and the perosn told us they wnated to win.
lindaso
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
- Messages
- 713
You are doing a fantastic job!
You should do standup!
No standup for me...public speaking is NOT for me!! I'll take Word and a keyboard any day!!
mruhaak said:
July will be very exciting this year. We are debating buying 2 books so Steph and I don't have to fight over who gets their hands on it first. And I've already been informed by my lovely daughter that I better not plan Kevin's b-day party on the 7th b/c I'll be at the movies with her for OoTP.
NHdisneylover said:
It's very possible there was a contest. I didn't have the navigator on the beach (big suprise!!) so I'm not sure. That would make sense on why many kids commented to the boys. In hindsight, it's a good thing we didn't know about the contest b/c Chuck and Keith would have gotten into making one and the kids would have fought!!
VacationKicks
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2006
- Messages
- 287
I just found this trip report and it is great! I've been reading it on and off all day. My dh keeps asking what I am doing, I just respond, "Research for our cruise." and it buys me more time to read.
But now I've caught up and have to wait with everyone else for the next installment.
Only 15 days until our first Disney Cruise!
But now I've caught up and have to wait with everyone else for the next installment.
Only 15 days until our first Disney Cruise!
love2travel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 1,210
Linda, come back, please!
for your next edition.....
ashman
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2005
- Messages
- 944
I know, it's been a month and that's really pathetic. I will try to make time to finish. I promised I would finish and I will. The new ships might be done by then though
Well you can just finish this TR from the internet cafe aboard the new ship!
Don't it stink when life gets in the way of a good trip report?
love2travel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 1,210
I know, it's been a month and that's really pathetic. I will try to make time to finish. I promised I would finish and I will. The new ships might be done by then though
Hey Linda, have you convinced Chuck to go on another cruise yet? He has to give it another try.
Hope all is well!
ILUVEVERYTHINGDISNEY
I love that Mouse.
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2007
- Messages
- 78
Great Trip Report.
I just started reading this yesterday and couldnt put it down. The pictures of your kids are wonderful. Your kids are beautiful! Enjoy them. Kevin is soo cute. He is like my jacob who just turned 9. Our first cruise is in August and my husband, Mike, is like your Chuch. He is hesitant on going on the cruise becuase he is afraid of getting sea sickness. Everyone raved about the patch and I was surpirsed that your patches didnt do a thing. I will have to have back up for the patch. Did you husband have any side effects from the Bonine?
Thanks for the trip report and please hurry and finish. This report is like I am living it through your eyes. Its Well written!
I just started reading this yesterday and couldnt put it down. The pictures of your kids are wonderful. Your kids are beautiful! Enjoy them. Kevin is soo cute. He is like my jacob who just turned 9. Our first cruise is in August and my husband, Mike, is like your Chuch. He is hesitant on going on the cruise becuase he is afraid of getting sea sickness. Everyone raved about the patch and I was surpirsed that your patches didnt do a thing. I will have to have back up for the patch. Did you husband have any side effects from the Bonine?
Thanks for the trip report and please hurry and finish. This report is like I am living it through your eyes. Its Well written!
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