The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

It was time for our last evening of the cruise. I could hardly believe how fast those three days had gone by.

Our final dinner on the Dream was to be at…

The beautiful marble floors going into the restaurant…

Each of those squares on the shield represents a section of the restaurant. They have Belle (rose), Cinderella (slipper), Sleeping Beauty (crown) and Snow White (apple) areas in the restaurant. We were seated in the Belle section.

Our view…

Menu…

Right off the bat I knew this would be my least favorite of the three restaurants because the menu didn’t have anything on it that just jumped out at me.

That is one beautiful restaurant though. Everything was dripping with gold, crystals, marble, you name it.

I know it’s shocking, but once again DD started with a salad. I think she kept ordering them just to see Roque pour the dressing out of that fancy silver dish!

Several of my DIS friends tried to convince me to order the escargot, but sorry girls, I just couldn’t do it! However, DH was very brave and chose to give them a try.

He said they tasted like mushrooms!

I played it safe and ordered the French Onion Soup.

It was good but the layer of cheese on top was too thick. And that is coming from a serious cheese lover.

DH and DD both ordered the Princess Delight (without alcohol, $5 each). DH said he was embarrassed to order it because of the name, but he had to try it after reading the description. It was a mango and passion fruit drink. I ended up drinking half of DD’s and I have to say it was the best drink I have ever tasted! It was AWESOME!

DD ordered the kid’s steak and Roque cut it up for her. Then Kristina came over and drew Rapunzel on her plate with ketchup! She had the ketchup twirling all along the edge of the plate to look like her long hair! DD deemed that “very cool!”

The dessert menu is a royal invitation.

Princess cupcakes for DD…

I had the “Sweet Temptations.”

The Vanilla Crème Brulee in the middle was my favorite, but they were all good. The other two were peanut butter mousse and mango cheesecake.

Then Roque came over and asked DD to name one of her favorite Princesses, to which she answered, “Tiana.” So he took her kid’s menu and started to fold it…

into a frog!

And it really hopped! If you pressed down on the back of it, it would pop forward. We were very impressed! He also made her a mini cruise ship!

We gave our tip envelopes to Roque and Kristina, and thanked them for the wonderful service they had given us during the cruise. Another waiter took this picture for me.

I took a few more pictures on the way out.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

This is the enormous light fixture in the center of the restaurant. It is gorgeous!

One last shot of that amazing lobby chandelier…

We had so much to do that night and I was getting worried that we wouldn’t get it all done. Our next stop was the kid’s club. We had to return DD’s bracelet that night or get charged $50! We wanted to see what that area was like anyway, so we went to check it out.

Pixie Hollow…

Andy’s room…

Even I wanted to play in there! So cool!

Monster’s Inc…

They had these really cool automatic hand sanitizers that you have to use going in and out.

We thought the kid’s clubs looked awesome! Any child should have a great time playing in there.

We wished we had more time to stay and play around, but time was ticking. I still had a long list of things to get done.

My next stop was Shutters (the photo shop). It was pretty crowed up there. It seems that everyone waited until the last night to purchase their pictures. I had been told not to do that, but you sort of have to wait until the end so you can see all the pictures they have taken. I ended up buying three 8x10s, which you have already seen, for $60. They were pretty pricey, but I am glad I bought them. I had to leave some behind though and that was very hard to do.

But we’re moving on….

Next up was a little souvenir shopping. I looked through every shop and finally decided on this blown glass ornament.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

We were really pushing it on the time so we made a mad dash for the…

We would be seeing our last show of the cruise, “Believe.” The storyline was great and very touching. It basically told the story of a little girl who was desperate for the attention of her workaholic father. She was continually trying to get him to notice her and take time to enjoy life but he was completely consumed by his career. A whole series of Disney characters came to him and basically tried to show him the error of his ways through their songs. Towards the end he sees a vision of his daughter being swept off her feet by her Prince Charming and he finally realizes that he has precious little time with her before she will become a woman and leave home to start a life of her own. I’ll be honest, I was close to having an ugly cry by the end of it!

The show starts with Tinkerbell flying around the ceiling of the theater with a long trail of pixie dust behind her. DD loved this! All I caught of it was a little green blur.

Baloo taught him about the Bare Necessities of life…

Grandmother Willow and Pocahontas showed him how to Listen With Your Heart…

Rafiki explained the Circle of Life…

This was my favorite segment! The music, costumes, stage setting, everything about this was awesome! They brought the house down!

Then the princesses came out and that is when the father finally sees the light and realizes that his baby girl will only be little for a little while.

And that’s all folks! It was such a good show! Bring a hanky though if you are a sap like me!

As much as we wanted to do some more shopping or check out other things on the ship, that clock just kept ticking louder and louder. We felt like Cinderella edging ever closer to the midnight toll of the clock tower!

We had to have all our bags packed and in the hallway by 10:30, so I knew we had to go straight back to the room and get on it. They pick up your luggage on the last night of the cruise and go ahead and take it to the storage area. I left out just the things we would need to get ready in the morning, basically our clothes for the next day and our toiletries bag. Everything else got packed up…

DUM, DUM, DUM!!!

We had all done so well on the cruise thus far that I decided to go ahead and pack up the medicine bag as well. I wanted to have as little as possible to carry off the ship in the morning, and since none of us had gotten seasick, I let the Dramamine and Bonine go with the luggage as well. How on earth was I to know what a huge mistake that would be!

We got everything packed just in time and placed the luggage in the hall at 10:30 on the dot. We all decided that we better get showered before bed because we had to get up super early the next morning. We were scheduled to be at breakfast at 6:30 and had to be off the ship by 8:30 or so. By the time we all got showered, it was pretty late, so off to bed we went. I had slept so well each night of the cruise and was looking forward to one last night of being gently rocked away to dreamland.

Well, I spent about an hour or so in that wonderful place of peaceful sleep before I awoke around 1:00 a.m. to the most horrible feeling. At first I wasn’t sure what was going on. The ship was rocking back and forth wildly and I could hear noises that sounded like water hitting the sides of the ship. I sat up in bed and instantly felt a wave of nausea come over me. About that same time, DH woke up and asked me what in the world was going on. He too was feeling pretty disoriented. I turned on the TV to try and find a weather channel or the news, but no luck there. Not even a radar could be found. It was obvious though that we were going through a pretty rough storm.

I tried to lie back down, but that only made it worse. I got up, sat on the couch for a while and tried to focus my eyes on something stationary. It was no use though. The rocking went on continuously for hours! I spent most of the night in the bathroom, green as a four leaf clover and sick as a dog! I think that was seriously the longest night of my life. Just imagine yourself being stuck on the teacups for about 6 hours and you’ll have a pretty good understanding of how I felt.

DH was up and down all night too but he did manage to doze back off a few times. Thankfully DD never missed a beat. When she woke up in the morning, she had no idea what had gone on all night. It never ceases to amaze me what kids can sleep through!

So there you go! Not nearly as exciting as you were hoping for, but that is why I am hesitant to rebook another cruise. I know it was a fluke thing and probably wouldn’t happen again, but the events of that night are still pretty fresh in my mind. I'm sure once some time has passed and my memory fades a bit, I will be brave enough to give it another try though!

Up next… Bye-bye sea, hello land!!!

 

[petals]

I so want to do a cruise but that is one thing I would be afraid of being seasick the entire time.

 

[Woth2982]

Not gonna lie, I almost cried right here at work at the description of that final show! With the exception of the rocking ship, it sounds like a wonderful last night at sea. When you get hesitant look at those photos from earlier in the day on CC and you will forget all about being sea sick. I experienced that on a cruise I went on a few years ago. After that I vowed never to have an inside cabin again. We get a balcony so i can go out and look at the horizon and stabilize my brain.

 

[marDgreen88]

What a beautiful restaurant! Wow. That kid area looks AMAZING. I can't blame you for wanting to play! Sounds like a great show, too!

Ugh, so sorry about your last night! That sounds terrifying. That's like the one reservation I have about cruising because I can get sick for no reason sometimes. Did you ever get an explanation about the storm or anything?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

What a beautiful restaurant! And that kids club looks like so much fun!!

I'm glad you enjoyed the show so much on your last night. It sure looks fantastic. At least you got to enjoy that before the seasickness set in. Yikes. I am so sorry that happened. That must have been so awful. I can definitely see why you are hesitant to book another cruise. Good thing it was only that one night and not the whole cruise.



Thanks so much for sharing your entire cruise experience with us. I have really enjoyed it! Looking forward to the land portion!

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Rinky, sounded like a fun evening at Royal Palace - we loved the decor at that restaurant too - I really liked how the dessert menu was like an invitation!

'Believe' looked wonderful - that was the one show we missed on our cruise (due to a 3 hour meal at Remy on our last night!) but your photos are great, I'm hoping that show is on the Fantasy ship next year

Sorry to hear about your sea-sickness... I can see why it makes you reluctant to book another cruise as that memory must stick in your mind we didn't feel ill at all while at sea, luckily, but I had brought lots of medicine and the pressure-point wrist bands.. just in case!

Looking forward to hearing about the 'land' portion of your vacation... I was so glad we were heading to Disney World after the cruise, otherwise I don't think we would have got off the ship!


Emma x

 

[sharonW]

Except for the last "green" nite, your ship experience just gave me chills and the pics brought tears to my eyes, only disney can bring such magic and wonder, soooo amazing!! It simply all looks beyond awesome!!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I so want to do a cruise but that is one thing I would be afraid of being seasick the entire time.

Yeah, I was worried about it before we ever cruised but after I got through the first two days without getting sick, I thought I was ok. But that storm was something!

Not gonna lie, I almost cried right here at work at the description of that final show! With the exception of the rocking ship, it sounds like a wonderful last night at sea. When you get hesitant look at those photos from earlier in the day on CC and you will forget all about being sea sick. I experienced that on a cruise I went on a few years ago. After that I vowed never to have an inside cabin again. We get a balcony so i can go out and look at the horizon and stabilize my brain.

Sorry! It was a really touching show though. I was seriously on the verge of a full fledged boo hoo fest right there in front of everyone that night!

I think we will try the balcony if we cruise again. I hope that will help me to not have another episode like before. Not sure it would have been any help in the middle of the night during a storm though.

What a beautiful restaurant! Wow. That kid area looks AMAZING. I can't blame you for wanting to play! Sounds like a great show, too!

Ugh, so sorry about your last night! That sounds terrifying. That's like the one reservation I have about cruising because I can get sick for no reason sometimes. Did you ever get an explanation about the storm or anything?

Yes, it was a cold front coming through that put a huge line of thunderstorms in our path. It brought some gorgeous weather to us for the remainder of our time at Disney but man did it stink that night!

What a beautiful restaurant! And that kids club looks like so much fun!!

I'm glad you enjoyed the show so much on your last night. It sure looks fantastic. At least you got to enjoy that before the seasickness set in. Yikes. I am so sorry that happened. That must have been so awful. I can definitely see why you are hesitant to book another cruise. Good thing it was only that one night and not the whole cruise.



Thanks so much for sharing your entire cruise experience with us. I have really enjoyed it! Looking forward to the land portion!

Yes, that was not the way I had envisioned my cruise ending. We had several not so perfect moments on that cruise though, but in the end, the good far outweighed the bad. And I am very thankful that I wasn't sick the whole time! That would have been a nightmare! I think I did really well under normal weather conditions, but that line of thunderstorms just set that ship in motion and I couldn't handle it!

Hi Rinky, sounded like a fun evening at Royal Palace - we loved the decor at that restaurant too - I really liked how the dessert menu was like an invitation!

'Believe' looked wonderful - that was the one show we missed on our cruise (due to a 3 hour meal at Remy on our last night!) but your photos are great, I'm hoping that show is on the Fantasy ship next year

Sorry to hear about your sea-sickness... I can see why it makes you reluctant to book another cruise as that memory must stick in your mind we didn't feel ill at all while at sea, luckily, but I had brought lots of medicine and the pressure-point wrist bands.. just in case!

Looking forward to hearing about the 'land' portion of your vacation... I was so glad we were heading to Disney World after the cruise, otherwise I don't think we would have got off the ship!


Emma x

Royal Palace is really nice, and the food was good even though it wasn't my favorite of the restaurants. And the show is WONDERFUL! If they have that one on the Fantasy, you should check it out!

We were really glad to be going to WDW after the cruise too. I think it would've made leaving the ship much harder that last morning if we were going home. And needless to say, I was REALLY happy to be getting to the land portion of the trip!

Except for the last "green" nite, your ship experience just gave me chills and the pics brought tears to my eyes, only disney can bring such magic and wonder, soooo amazing!! It simply all looks beyond awesome!!!

All in all, the cruise was a wonderful experience. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was still awesome! I learned a lot on that trip that I will use to make the next one better. Most importantly, I learned that you never pack up the Dramamine until you are OFF the ship!

 

[sjs314]

The Royal Palace restaurant was really beautiful. I can not believe DH at the escargot YUK! The thought just repulses me

The toy story kids place was amazing made me want to be a kid and go there just from looking at the pictures.

I read another TR about a cruise and recall something about the last night the ship rocking now I am not sure but it had to do something with the engines reversing or something and where your cabin is if you felt it bad or not. I knew I should have kept notes. Something I definately will have to research now for sure before I ever book a trip, I had forgot all about reading about that until it happened to you and from the other TR the person found out it happens every trip

I think it is a blessing kids sleep thru things so well.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was reading the last update and looking at the pictures and thinking "what a great way to end the cruise" until...........the seasickness episode. I'll have to make a note to keep the motion sickness meds handy just in case we need them.

My hubby is a little worried about the restaurants being too fancy. He is a preacher's kid and was made to dress up all the time when he was a kid. Now, he won't wear a suit coat or tie unless he absolutely has too. Hopefully, we won't feel out of place at Royal Palace.

 

[lovegrumpy]

To bad you got seasick the last night. Can't wait to hear about you land portion.

 

[MeMom]

Cataway Cay and the shows on the ship would be the biggest draws for me for cruising. I know I would love both of those. Taking a thousand pictures of the cool things on the boat would keep me busy, too. I'm not one to sit out by the pool for very long, and I know I wouldn't like 'going underground' to the smallness of my room.

Our girls would have a blast in the kids' club and at the pool. I don't see myself ever taking a cruise, to be honest. I wish they had a day cruise to CC and back. That would be perfect for me. Thanks for all the great pictures which enabled me to cruise from home.

 

[MEK]

Oh No!!!!!!! Your last night of sea sickness sounds terrible. WOW! I will admit, I am a little worried about that when I take a cruise. I've only been on one cruise (a long time ago) and, although I did not get sick on the cruise, my head rocked for the next 24 hours after I got often. I was so freaking dizzy once I hit land. It was crazy. But full on sea sickness sounds horrible.

Otherwise, what a lovely end to your cruise. Dinner and the show sound fabulous. So glad everything was such a success. Your daughter's blue dress is so cute. Thanks for doing such a great job describing the cruise in perfect detail.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The Royal Palace restaurant was really beautiful. I can not believe DH at the escargot YUK! The thought just repulses me

The toy story kids place was amazing made me want to be a kid and go there just from looking at the pictures.

I read another TR about a cruise and recall something about the last night the ship rocking now I am not sure but it had to do something with the engines reversing or something and where your cabin is if you felt it bad or not. I knew I should have kept notes. Something I definately will have to research now for sure before I ever book a trip, I had forgot all about reading about that until it happened to you and from the other TR the person found out it happens every trip

I think it is a blessing kids sleep thru things so well.

Yeah, the snails weren't for me either. They might be the best tasting things in the world but it's just a mental block for me. I'm really surprised that DH ate them. He is usually much more adventurous than me, but he still has his limits.

I'll have to check into what you said about the ship on the way back. I know for certain that we went through some rough storms. I saw it on the weather channel when we got to CBR, but that have made it even worse. Whatever was going on, it was a rough night that I do not want to repeat!

I am so thankful that DD slept through it all!!! There is no way I could have handled a sick child on top of what I was dealing with. And since there was only one bathroom, that would have been a disaster!

I was reading the last update and looking at the pictures and thinking "what a great way to end the cruise" until...........the seasickness episode. I'll have to make a note to keep the motion sickness meds handy just in case we need them.

My hubby is a little worried about the restaurants being too fancy. He is a preacher's kid and was made to dress up all the time when he was a kid. Now, he won't wear a suit coat or tie unless he absolutely has too. Hopefully, we won't feel out of place at Royal Palace.

Yes, if you don't learn anything else from this TR, just make sure you keep your motion sickness meds OUT of the luggage the night before the cruise ends! However, I will tell you what I have since learned. I read on the DIS after we got back that if you get sick at any point in the cruise, the ship's doctor will provide you with motion sickness meds free of charge. I sure wish I had known that that night!

I wouldn't worry about the clothing for the cruise. I saw way more people dressed casually than dressed up. My DH wore a polo and khakis or dress shorts each night. I was a little worried at first, but then I saw that most others were dressed down too. I even asked our waitress about it and she said that people dress a lot more casual on the short cruises than the week long ones. I say go and have a good time and don't worry about the clothes!

To bad you got seasick the last night. Can't wait to hear about you land portion.

I know. Not the best way to end a cruise, but it was still a great trip!

Cataway Cay and the shows on the ship would be the biggest draws for me for cruising. I know I would love both of those. Taking a thousand pictures of the cool things on the boat would keep me busy, too. I'm not one to sit out by the pool for very long, and I know I wouldn't like 'going underground' to the smallness of my room.

Our girls would have a blast in the kids' club and at the pool. I don't see myself ever taking a cruise, to be honest. I wish they had a day cruise to CC and back. That would be perfect for me. Thanks for all the great pictures which enabled me to cruise from home.

CC and the shows were my favorites too. And the dolphin encounter! And yes, your girls would love all the kid's stuff. I sure hope you can make it to CC someday.

Oh No!!!!!!! Your last night of sea sickness sounds terrible. WOW! I will admit, I am a little worried about that when I take a cruise. I've only been on one cruise (a long time ago) and, although I did not get sick on the cruise, my head rocked for the next 24 hours after I got often. I was so freaking dizzy once I hit land. It was crazy. But full on sea sickness sounds horrible.

Otherwise, what a lovely end to your cruise. Dinner and the show sound fabulous. So glad everything was such a success. Your daughter's blue dress is so cute. Thanks for doing such a great job describing the cruise in perfect detail.

The sea sickness IS horrible! I hope you don't experience that. Just learn from my mistakes and maybe you'll be ok. And I know what you mean about the rocking. I felt that way for two days after we got off the ship! That's the price you pay to play I suppose!

I've got one more cruise update and then we will head to the land portion so make sure you stick around!

 

[jenseib]

Bummer about the sea sickness. I need to remember to not pack away meds like that too for the future. Or at least keep out the bag of ginger snaps.

 

[kittylady1972]

Well I have just LOVED your TR so far...and then that last post...oh how terrible! Good to know about the meds though...and something to keep in mind if I can convince my own mom to attend our cruise in November. She gets terrible motion sickness...but is actually considering going on the cruise with us now after reading something about the size of the ship and thinking she'd be fine. Of course, right now some other health concerns have made us not even bring up the thoughts of the cruise again until she gets past that...but I am still hoping she'll go with us.

Can't wait to hear about the land portion next!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

On the fifth day of Swinter my vacation gave to me, a respite from the sea and scarecrows, pumpkins and leaves!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Ok, let’s wrap this cruise up, shall we!

I had been up and sick since about 1:00 a.m., DH had been in and out of sleep for most of the night, and DD was not thrilled about getting up at six in the morning to go eat breakfast. Needless to say, we were not a pleasant bunch. Somehow though, we managed to pull ourselves together, get dressed, and pack up the last of our things.

By this point, the ship had FINALLY docked and I could feel sweet, wonderful, fabulous stillness underneath my feet!! I was so thankful that the ship was not rocking that I could’ve dropped down to my knees and kissed those marble floors!

I thought I would do one last run through the shops before we left that morning, but I had forgotten that they are closed while the ship is in port. Nothing was open down there, but it was such a pretty area that I had to take some pictures.

On the final morning of the cruise, you are sent back to the restaurant that you ate at the night before to have your farewell breakfast. That meant we would be eating at Royal Palace.

Don’t we look like a bunch of seasick slugs!

We could see from the porthole in the restaurant that it was still raining lightly outside. That storm was determined to linger! It appeared that the washout we were supposed to have while on Castaway Cay was delayed a bit and that was what we ran into through the night. I guess I should be grateful that it didn’t ruin our day at Castaway Cay, but it sure made for a hellacious night!

Just in case you forget that you are getting booted off the ship in an hour or so, they make sure you are reminded when they hand you the menu.

DH and I both ordered this…

He said it was very good. I took two bites of the potatoes and I was done. I felt so sick at just the smell of it that I asked Roque to go ahead and take it away. I hated to waste so much food like that, but I just couldn’t do it. I drank two glasses of ginger ale and that was it.

DD got the pancakes and loved them!

And of ‘course Roque had to make it fun so he cut the pancakes into the shape of the sun.

After breakfast we talked with Roque and Kristina for a little while about life on a cruise ship. They told us about their families back home in India and Australia. It was very interesting to think of how they live on that ship, so far from home and family. On one hand it seems like such and adventurous and exciting life, but on the other hand, I felt bad for them because I can’t imagine life meaning much without my family nearby. We had the same discussion earlier in the week with our stateroom hostess who was from Korea. She had five children back home being taken care of by her mother. She had lost her husband and was working on the ship to send money home to support her family. She said she just couldn’t make it in Korea on her own with five kids. I admired her for doing what she had to do to support herself, but my heart broke for her and her children having to be so far apart.

Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end and that includes this Dream cruise. We said our goodbyes to Roque and Kristina and told them how much we would miss them!

Then we made a quick stop in the lobby bathroom.

And I took a few last pictures on our way out.

And at 7:30 a.m. we were saying goodbye to the Dream.

I snapped this on the way down the escalators going into the luggage storage/customs area. I was quickly told that pictures were not allowed. Ooops! But you can see there are plenty of porters waiting if you want someone to take your bags to the car for you. We had a really nice guy help us out and it was worth the tip not to have to lug all that stuff ourselves. He had a hand cart and wheeled all our bags out at once.

We headed out of the parking garage and paid our $15 a day for parking. And just so you know, I had read that the parking charge for a 3 night cruise would be $45, but it was $60! They charged us $15 for being parked in the lot that day until 7:30 a.m.!

One final look back before moving on to the next leg of this Swinter adventure!

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Goodbye summer… fall, here we come! Even the weather changed as we were leaving. When we boarded that ship three days earlier is was hot and very humid! Perfect for cruising! But the storm that came through during the night brought a cool front in and the air was so crisp and clean. It was a blast of glorious fall weather, right on cue!

So that ends our wonderful cruise on the Disney Dream. It wasn’t perfect but it was still grand! I learned so much and I will use that knowledge to make the next cruise even better. That is, whenever I get up the nerve to sail again!

I have one final matter of business to wrap up before we move on to Disney World though… our fish extender goodies! My DD had the best time checking her pouch each time we came back to the room. It was a real highlight for her. And we did receive some really nice things from our fellow Dissers. Lots of time, creativity and effort went into some of these creations so I wanted to give them their due!

The adult goodies…

To brush the sand off your feet when you leave the beach…

Engraved key chain…

Notepad…

We got several nice magnets.

DD’s prizes…

LOTS of candy!

Bottlecap necklace…

And this is what I made and gave as our fish extender gifts.

Candy bags and bookmarks for the kids…

Bookmarks for the adults…

Bottles to bring back sand from Castaway Cay…

The note inside the bottles…

And that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride!

Up next… Seven nights and two more seasons of Swinter to come at Caribbean Beach Resort!