The one with the Nationwide Commercial (June 4th Wonder -- finshed, 07/17)

I love your report...and your postive spin on things! If everyone was blessed with your positive attitute....there would be a lot less stress from the kvetchers and complainers on any trip!!

Ok....I do feel a bit old reading about your past experiences at other "80's Nights"........I went to a lot of 80's nights myself......BUT THEY WERE IN THE 80'S!! :lmao:

I will be so disappointed when your report ends!
Thank you!!
 
tjeagle said:
I love your report...and your postive spin on things! If everyone was blessed with your positive attitute....there would be a lot less stress from the kvetchers and complainers on any trip!!

Ok....I do feel a bit old reading about your past experiences at other "80's Nights"........I went to a lot of 80's nights myself......BUT THEY WERE IN THE 80'S!! :lmao:

I will be so disappointed when your report ends!
Thank you!!

:teeth:

I have a few friends around here that might just say the same thing. They are constantly getting on me because I didn't have a crush on so-and-so, or don't know who starred in that-one-movie. Don't get me wrong, I consider myself fairly "up" on the 80's -- but apparently not as much as someone who was a bit older during them, go figure! ;)

Glad you're enjoying it. :goodvibes
 
Great trip report Jen! I've never really fancied a cruise until now... :rolleyes1:

Don't tell DH - he won't let me read the rest :rotfl:
 

We were at number 77, it must be that area, and it was only on the first night that it was so loud. Funny. I can't believe we never ran into each other, what a small world.
 
I really enjoy your trip report! Now I'm off to see the pictures. :)
 
Jennifer,
So good to read your trip report. I couldn't figure out why your first day wasn't a day at sea. I forgot that I had a Hurrican Rita altered cruise. So far it sounds like you had an awesome time and I know the feeling about missing it as I want to go back so bad. Looking at your Nassau pictures made me wish I had more time to explore the island but we only got there around 12:30 on Tuesday due to the storm and had our Bridge tour on the boat at 3pm. Perhaps someday I will have to go back and go to the Atlantis resort and spend more time exploring the island. I can't wait to read more.
 
Everyone says they don't like Nassau, and never post pictures. I loved your Nassau pictures and would love to visit there someday!
 
Sorry it's been so long! This week has been a long one ( :guilty: ), but I promised myself I'd try to get through at least another installment!

On to Castaway Cay....
 
Tuesday -- Castaway Cay

First of all, there are no words to describe how beautiful Disney has made this island, and how serene and downright perfect they made Serenity Bay. Nothing, whatsoever will do it justice ... so you should just go, especially if you haven't already. ;)

We woke up Tuesday morning a bit later than the previous days, since we had a fairly late night before (and had no excursion meetings to make). We decided to hit BBB for breakfast again, since it was a bit faster than Parrot Cay and had the same items - if not a few more at times. We ate around 8:00am, and headed off the ship.

As you get off the ship, Disney has some photographers in the most amazing places. They have literally found the most breath-taking photo spots possible, and planted someone in each spot. There were also character greetings along the path, and it truly felt like a Disney paradise right from the start!

We made the obligatory stop at the Post Office first thing, as to avoid lines later. Kyle and I decided to walk down to the SB tram stop rather than riding the first tram, so we could take this time to explore the island. We were pretty sure that once we got out on the beach we wouldn't be coming back until it was time to get on the ship. The shops were very cute, and I of course had fun telling Kyle the backstory, while he looked at me like I had two heads. The best part though, was when someone else overheard and believed me! I told him to look in his stateroom book, but now that I think about it I should have led him on. It was pretty funny :teeth:

Before we had left, if you recall, we made a late-night trip to Walmart -- in large part to purchase some goggles. The sole purpose of those goggles was to go down and get a picture by the Mickey statue in the snorkeling area. That was pretty much the ONLY thing I wanted to do on CC, and I would have been set. I had read that you could bring your own snorkel gear, so I figured bringing my own goggles would be fine as well. Apparently not :confused3 We were not allowed in the area at all, without full snorkel gear -- so no Mickey picture for Jennifer :sad2: I was REALLY bummed, as silly as that seems now! The goggles ended up having a better use though, and I didn't have to fight some kid for the view ;)

Finally, we were on the tram to Serenity Bay. Already sweating like crazy. We were thrilled that the expected rain was nowhere in sight, but MAN was it hot! And it was only about 9:30 in the morning! :eek:

I'm not even sure I have much to say about our time on SB. There were no hammocks obviously at that time, which Kyle was bummed about. But there were also virtually NO people, so we had our pick of chairs otherwise. We set up a bit at the top of the beach, as well as a few chairs in the water, and pretty much just relaxed all day.

The barbecue was fantastic in Castaway Air. They had a variety of entrees, most of which I don't remember. Kyle had a burger, and I had a grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich. There were also various salads, a buffet of fresh fruit (including grapes! I hadn't seen a grape the whole trip, I kid you not! Guess who piled a plate full..... :rolleyes1 ). The cookies here are TRULY outstanding, and I have to point out that they are different than the ones room service and elsewhere on the ship. I remembered people raving about them, and got some cookies on the ship (a few times) which were not very good at ALL. These were great, though. Too bad they also had banana bread, so I had to split the face-stuffing among two favorites! :rolleyes: By the way -- If you read Passporter, it says there are no free drinks here, but that you have to purchase at a nearby bar (even soda). This was not true for us, so I guess I should point that out :) They had soda, lemonade, etc just like at the beverage station. Ooh, and soft serve ice cream, including chocolate cookie dough! ::yes::

Back on the beach at about 2:00, we laid out a little more. I have never put sunscreen on so much in my life, I tell ya! We also spent some time (when we were too hot to stand it any longer) swimming out and looking around underwater. We swear we saw a few stingray in the morning, but couldn't ever get close to them. Has anyone else seen them here? We also saw a few really large fish, some starfish, seabiscuits, etc. It was almost as good as the snorkeling excursion, but also free and without the silly mask that constantly filled with water! :thumbsup2

At about 4:00, we decided to head back to the ship. We were absolutely exhausted from the heat, and uncomfortable from the sunscreen, sweat and saltwater combination for that long.

Kyle said as we were leaving, that he couldn't stand walking back. Not the activity, but the feeling. He said he has never understood my near-devastation when a vacation draws to an end, but he was honestly yearning for more time on this one. "Next time we should definitely do a 7-night" ( :banana: )

"But I'm sure we'd feel the same way leaving no matter how long we sailed. It has just been perfect, and I feel like I could stay on this island forever."
 
Thursday, cont'd

After our bittersweet "goodbye" to the Island, we made our back onboard the ship. I'm sure I don't need to point this out, since someone already noticed my repeat pictures of the ship.... but as gorgeous as she looked in Nassau, it was absolutely majestic to see her docked on CC alone, right up alongside the shore. So, you can bet there are a lot more "boat pictures" :rolleyes1

After getting ready for our evening at Palo, we headed to the lobby for a few more pictures. I dragged Kyle there almost every night, as it honestly always takes about 30 pictures of us (in a formal setting) to get one we both like, of each of us. It's really quite pathetic. :rolleyes:

Palo was outstanding. So many people had said it was "the best meal of my life". Well, I was a little skeptical. I've eaten at some REALLY memorable places, and I figured that - while I'm sure it's spectacular - some of that hype had to be from the overall experience. It certainly couldn't be the best restaurant in the entire world (the real world, not the Disney one ;) ).... so there had to be an explanation as to why nobody had "ever" had a better meal.

Well, unless we fell prey to the ambience as well, I have no better explanation to offer to you! The food was definitely up there at the top of my list. But add to that the view... and the service.... and the fact that it "only cost $20" (don't remind me that the rest was included in that first giant price I paid, please. thank you :teeth: ). It really was superb! Kyle had told me I should get the Fairy Tale Cuvee here, even though we really hadn't been buying drinks otherwise on the ship. Wow, is it good! I was really impressed. Little hint though -- $40 on the ship, $27 in Downtown Disney. Make a detour before or after your cruise if you want some! Kyle had a limoncello martini, which was also very good!

We had grilled eggplant and calamari for appetizers, as well as a pizza margherita. We forced ourselves to only get small portions, but oh my gosh -- that might be the most willpower I've ever had in my life!

For my entree, I had filet mignon. I can't remember for the life of me what Kyle ordered. And then came dessert :love:

I had already ordered a chocolate souffle, but Yoost (our fabulous server) decided to bring out his 3 favorite desserts. So.... along with the Souffle, we had the tiramisu, and the Panna Cotta custard dessert. Yum. It was all SO good, and I literally was in pain afterwards from eating so much! I couldn't get over the feeling, and promised to never eat again! :rotfl:


Don't worry, I had my fingers crossed.

After dinner we walked around Deck 10 a bit and watched the sunset. It was absolutely perfect. Again. I don't know how those words can honestly be uttered while on vacation (come on, even at Disney World we all have our little bumps along the way).... but it was really all we could say, at so many times throughout the trip.

This phrase wouldn't end with this evening's show, that's for sure. I heard going into this that The Golden Mickeys is great. I heard that Disney Dreams was everyone's favorite, but GM is a close second. Well, if you think that, then I respectfully disagree. Disney Dreams is really well made. Theatrically, I think it's the best (but let's not get ahead of ourselves). But The Golden Mickeys literally had me choked up with tears. Even Kyle couldn't keep his eyes off the screen, and was absolutely mesmerized during the hero tribute. I wish that we could have seen this with Roy Disney (we'll be sure to watch in the stateroom next time!), but honestly Whoopi didn't detract from it -- since we didn't know anything different. Her interaction with the narrator was really so little of the show to us (although I suppose it's the main point :rolleyes: ) ... but the clips and the overall narration were so well planned out. As cheesy as it sounds, it really embodied everything that we love so dearly about Disney as a whole. It was truly magical! And the announcer out on the red carpet interviewing the kids was priceless! :goodvibes

We had planned on staying dressed up after the show, and going to the romantic music on the deck instead of - gasp! - the pirate party. I had been looking forward to the Party, but this just seeme like a better fit to end the night.

That is, until we saw these girls in the cutest t-shirt ever. And then we saw that our server tracked us down outside the dining room (I'm sure on accident, but still) to give us bandanas. Well, what's a girl to do?!

So we headed back to the room (after an ABSOLUTELY necessary stop at Mickey's Mates :rolleyes1 ) and got ready to party!

The deck party was really cute. We ran into Cruise Director Andy in the elevator, who promptly told us he had been made fun of for his costume. We thought he looked great (as did all the cast, and several of the guests!) so we stopped for quick picture after we got to the deck. The fireworks were a lot of fun, the characters came out into the crowd to dance.... it was really a very cute night! And it turns out that, on this particular sailing, the "romantic music under the stars" wasn't that great, so we felt we made a good choice. Besides, there's always next time. And Mickey did NOT fly into the adult party next door to come to their rescue, might I add ;)

We called it a night after a quick stroll down Route 66. Tomorrow we would be settling our tips, packing up our luggage, etc so we were a bit melancholy. I was beyond thankful at this point, that we had kept this reservation despite all the stress that may (or may not) have been alleviated had we stayed home. We were making the best memories, and really escaping the stuff we couldn't control anyway.... and catching up on all the celebrating and spending quality time together that we had missed so dearly during his medical school. Despite all the things going on that had me in such a frazzled state before we left, I couldn't remember a time I felt happier with life in general, and my life with Kyle in particular. :cloud9:



Ok, sorry for the sap. I think that'll be the extent of it, but I couldn't help but remember all those thoughts while I was recalling those details. We're smack in the thick of residency now, so those moments were all too precious! As much as I cherished them then, I appreciate the opportunity especially tonight, to relive them :goodvibes
 
Pictures -- through Day 4


http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/tink2020cruise/
Photobucket is giving me fits tonight, so your best bet is to view one this as a slideshow. For some reason, all the files are loading at various sizes, and I don't have the patience to figure out which ones shouldn't be resized, etc. I'll try and make them equal sizes another time. Sorry!
 
Jennifer....I check back as often as possible to read your report! The last few threads actually gave me goose bumps! :thumbsup2
 
Your trip report is wonderful! I really like the pirate t-shirt you're wearing in the pics. :teeth:
 
tink2020 said:
Monday -- Nassau

On the way to our meeting point, we ran into Peter Pan and Wendy, before they really got set up -- so we actually took a minute to say hi! Man, the lines for characters on the ships are UNBELIEVABLE! At least on our trip, thus the pictures of characters minus Kyle and/or Jennifer :rolleyes: I'm not sure we've run into Peter and Wendy before, but these two were excellent. You know what I'm talking about, when some of them are just spot on, you know you've met the real ones! :thumbsup2


Hey there! I am enjoying your report - we were on the same cruise, and so far, I agree with everything you've said! :) I agree completely with meeting Peter Pan and Wendy - he was by far the best character we have ever met! He was so good with the girls, I think they fell in love with him. :rotfl: The lines were always long, but they went fast.

OMG - I was just looking at your pictures - beautiful, btw - we were down the hall from you! Rooms 2004 - 2010. I remember seeing your door and telling the kids there was someone from Cincy - we live in Lima, just a couple of hours north of you.

You really are capturing all the good of that trip - it was magical and amazing and a thousand other things I can never describe. Thanks for writing a report!
 
Rhoda said:
Hey there! I am enjoying your report - we were on the same cruise, and so far, I agree with everything you've said! :) I agree completely with meeting Peter Pan and Wendy - he was by far the best character we have ever met! He was so good with the girls, I think they fell in love with him. :rotfl: The lines were always long, but they went fast.

OMG - I was just looking at your pictures - beautiful, btw - we were down the hall from you! Rooms 2004 - 2010. I remember seeing your door and telling the kids there was someone from Cincy - we live in Lima, just a couple of hours north of you.

You really are capturing all the good of that trip - it was magical and amazing and a thousand other things I can never describe. Thanks for writing a report!


How cool that we were so close! My DH is from Ottawa, OH and my MIL works at Lima Memorial! :goodvibes
 
Jennifer,

I normally don't post but I had to comment on your title because it definitely caught my attention. I work for Nationwide corporate in downtown Columbus so I'm very familiar with the "Life Comes at You Fast" commericals. They made us watch them at the all associate meeting in April until the meeting started! :rolleyes: I just thought it was funny that another Ohioian would talk about those commericals. I can't seem to escape them!

You did a lovely job on your trip reports.

Of course us Jennifers have to stick together.

Jennifer in Grove City
 
Great report Jen - I'm glad you and Kyle had such a great trip. Is there more to come in this trip report? :)
 
rosiejo said:
Great report Jen - I'm glad you and Kyle had such a great trip. Is there more to come in this trip report? :)

Yeah, 1.5 days. I swear I'll get to it! :goodvibes
 

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