Today is Thursday January 15th, our last full day at sea. We plan to be lazy. I awake early, get some tea and rolls at Topsiders and run through two loads of laundry, all before 7:00 AM. Chatted with a couple of women in the laundry room, one of whom was also from Colorado. The other woman had been on nine seven day cruises! Lucky her. They had small children and much preferred the Eastern. She thought there was not enough to do on the Western. I had always wondered about that. Grand Cayman and Cozumel have always been hyped mainly as dive destinations. We had been in Cozumel over 12 years ago and I did not remember much on the island to do. But Palancar Reef, where we dove, lives in my memory as the most fantastic place I have ever been on or under the water in. By 7:00 there was a steady parade of folks hoping to get several loads of laundry done, to no avail. Get there early folks, or watch those times on the washers and dibs the machines as they become available. The lady across from the laundry said someone was even in there at 2:00 A.M.!
Returned to the room to find the guys dressed and ready to go to the Character Breakfast. Just Peter, Whistler, Gameboy and I went; Rack and Gma were sleeping in. We were going to skip it, but since the kids were up, off we went. The character breakfast is too rushed for my taste, you only have about one try to get that picture! Have all your cameras ready to go, turned on, no-red-eye pre-flash. I missed a couple of the characters because I had to change film! After the breakfast, I took Gma and kids to deck nine. Rack was exercising and I forget where Peter was!
Fetched Gma some Topsiders breakfast. Tried to get some tea for myself, but again they were out of Earl Grey tea and I had forgotten to bring some bags. Watched while the kids swam. I always sit at the edge of this pool. The deep overhang prevents you from seeing your kids if you are in a lounger. They were all taken anyway. At least all had items on them. Only about five had actual bodies in them. Major kid soup in the Goofy pool. I dont think this can be called the family pool. It was just wall-to-wall with the 6-12 age group. Even the hot tubs. The kids love it. The three kids with the raw coughs were back as well. My throat was starting to get sore. Was it them? Or just my once a month sinus infection? Was this the beginning of being confined to the cabin?
Kids then went to clubs and Gma went to the verandah. Rack and I went to the Haunted Mansion movie talk by Jason Surrell. This was very entertaining. He has written a book about the attraction and the making of the movie. He showed slides of the real mansion as it was built for the movie, without all the top floors, which were added by computer on film. We had just seen the ballroom set, recreated at MGM studios, seen the movie the week before the cruise and rode the ride, so it was very fun. Plus the guy was very funny, peppering the talk with all kinds of gossip that just we lucky listeners now know (sure ). He was a good image of an Imagineer. Rack and I then snuck off and had lunch at Lumieres. We told the woman seating us that we were sneaking off without the whole entourage. We were the first seated at a table for six. A bit later a young woman with a very fussy toddler was seated with us. Uh, oh. Now being parents we were not going to gripe, but. The woman drank some water, then pulled her fussy toddler, who was seated in a booster seat next to me, and went out the back door, she never returned. If you read this, we did not mean to chase you away. Feeling guilty, we had the crab and cod cakes and wine. It was nice, just the two of us. Happens so rarely. I had forgotten other cruisers admonishments to make it VERY clear you wanted to dine alone.
Then off to Surial bath. Everything was working! The jets of steam barely worked on our last trip, so now I finally knew what Barb and Tony were talking about when they cautioned you about burning your feet. The only downside was just having red mud. I missed the grey and white muds and the salt scrub. The red mud also stained my nails and cuticles. But lots of fun. You dont need to know. Time up. We had purchased a Rainforest pass for afterward, which we were then not charged for, maybe because we only sat on the heated loungers for a while, eyes closed floating, very peaceful. The only breaks in the peace were a few other folks coming in and out and then a parade of first the manager, then an officer, then two repairmen trying to fix the lion fountain, which was not running.
Then we gathered everyone in our stateroom (the counselor knew who Peter came to fetch after asking if that was the kid who whistled all the time, see, ha, you thought I was exaggerating) and ate more cheese plates. Found out another Magic pixie dust happening. On the last cruise, Rack had kicked around, looking for others his age to hang with. Not much luck, he met one nice young woman for a few games of basketball. I was concerned he was bored with just our company all the time, he was not finding any company near his own age. Gma and Rack had gone to the buffet lunch at Parrot Cay. Anton was there and arranged to seat them with two ladies about Racks age. We had been running into these young lwomen a lot of other times on the ship, but Rack was too shy to start up a conversation. Finally, bless Anton, they got a chance to talk. (I do wish the DCL would do something about a young singles meet. Throwing this group in with the divorced and traveling alone is not the moniker to entice them. He spent time talking with a few of the CMs at different times, too bad they are not free to mingle more with cruisers such as he.)
Got ready for semi-formal night, mostly. Peter (who rarely wears one lately) was having senior moments trying to remember how to tie a tie. We were all laughing pretty hard. Especially the kids when Peter did not call it a senior moment but a brain-um, cant type the other word HERE or Ill get kicked off the DIS. They had worn pre-tied bows for formal night. Now the kids and Peter needed ties knotted. We brought Rack in on it, but his tie was new, already tied, and he always kept them this way, just slipped them down and put them on. Where was Angel? She knows how. We tried to dissect how it was done from Racks tie, but could not figure it out. Peter finally got two of them tied, one on himself and the other by knotting it on himself and slipping it off. Couldnt maintain the memory, though, for the third. (Note to self: download instructions from the Internet and add that to the standard suitcase kit, along with the wipes, tea bags, dryer fabric softener sheets and detergent tablets.)
We went off to try and get formal portraits taken. We knew we needed to get there early. We needed a lot of time with the photographer. A lot. Nearly all of our other pictures, upwards of 20 by now, had turned out pretty bad. It is hard to get six people to look good in the same picture, especially when one of the photographees is seven and thinks it is a hoot to make a stupid face every time someone turns a camera on him. We found our favorite photographer, Nes, who had managed to pull off of a couple of decent portraits of us on Formal Night. She spent a lot of time with us tonight since she did not have anyone else in line. The first thing she did was tie Gameboys tie for him, what a peach! Had about six pictures taken, she kept retaking due to Whistlers antics. One of these was finally worth buying. You folks who buy a lot of pictures in Shutters are obviously a heck of a lot more photogenic then us, or at least know how to keep your eyes from closing, hair from frizzing, sons from scowling and mugging and variously located dew-laps from showing.
Then to dinner in Animators Palate, non-show night, Captains Gala menu. The drink servers got the kids and Rack, seconds before we got into the dining room, Rack ended up having to sign for two cokes and a drink they thought were free, as on the Captains welcome night. I was upset, why pay for cokes when they can have all they want in one minute? Neither my kids, nor Rack, had any idea they were not free and had sipped before being informed (warn your kids, and your adults!). While DCL does not push drinks in the clubs, I do think this lobby drink thing is sneaky, especially after everyone has been primed with the free drinks there one night.
Another bottle of Conundrum. I had mushroom soup and the salad with dried tomato chips. Then turkey, Adinas suggestion. I usually eat turkey once a year. She laughed when I explained to her I kind of like the stuff, but hate it, too. I think a lot of women from the U.S.A. have this love-hate relationship with turkey. You HAVE to cook it for Thanksgiving. It takes forever, your whole house smells of it for weeks, you have to deal with that dismembered carcass for EVER afterward, and it takes everyone at the table about 10 minutes to eat it. Tonight it was wonderful, even the breadfruit stuffing. I had had the lobster last year and wanted something new, Adina also brought me the halibut to try. Another week with her and I would have been sunk. Rack, Gma and Peter had shrimp, perfectly deshelled by Anton. Rack had lobster. Peter had the beef. I had the cherries jubilee, although I missed whatever flaming ceremony there might have been. Others had lots of cheescake and ice cream sundaes. A good menu, second (distant) only to Palo. Took Gma back to her room.
We went to see Gary DeLena (wild pink shirt, dude) in Rockin Bar D. I bought drinks for Rack to make up for the lobby incident. Mr. DeLena is a very silly entertainer who had the kids in stitches with his dumb jokes and guitar playing. He also had the adults laughing pretty hard by the end, too. Whistler got to do his Stitch for the early audience. We then watched Disney Dreams, a nice show, but again I was half-asleep by the end, Whistler was fully asleep. Tried to wake Whistler for the stars at the end, a lovely touch. We liked this stage group better than the last group, this little girl was not nearly as whiney and cutesy as the first one we had seen. Back to the cabin for all but Rack. He went out to party with the ladies from lunch. Thank you thank you, you charming ladies, you know who you are. The rest of us crashed.
The last day is coming .so sad.
Tink
Returned to the room to find the guys dressed and ready to go to the Character Breakfast. Just Peter, Whistler, Gameboy and I went; Rack and Gma were sleeping in. We were going to skip it, but since the kids were up, off we went. The character breakfast is too rushed for my taste, you only have about one try to get that picture! Have all your cameras ready to go, turned on, no-red-eye pre-flash. I missed a couple of the characters because I had to change film! After the breakfast, I took Gma and kids to deck nine. Rack was exercising and I forget where Peter was!
Fetched Gma some Topsiders breakfast. Tried to get some tea for myself, but again they were out of Earl Grey tea and I had forgotten to bring some bags. Watched while the kids swam. I always sit at the edge of this pool. The deep overhang prevents you from seeing your kids if you are in a lounger. They were all taken anyway. At least all had items on them. Only about five had actual bodies in them. Major kid soup in the Goofy pool. I dont think this can be called the family pool. It was just wall-to-wall with the 6-12 age group. Even the hot tubs. The kids love it. The three kids with the raw coughs were back as well. My throat was starting to get sore. Was it them? Or just my once a month sinus infection? Was this the beginning of being confined to the cabin?
Kids then went to clubs and Gma went to the verandah. Rack and I went to the Haunted Mansion movie talk by Jason Surrell. This was very entertaining. He has written a book about the attraction and the making of the movie. He showed slides of the real mansion as it was built for the movie, without all the top floors, which were added by computer on film. We had just seen the ballroom set, recreated at MGM studios, seen the movie the week before the cruise and rode the ride, so it was very fun. Plus the guy was very funny, peppering the talk with all kinds of gossip that just we lucky listeners now know (sure ). He was a good image of an Imagineer. Rack and I then snuck off and had lunch at Lumieres. We told the woman seating us that we were sneaking off without the whole entourage. We were the first seated at a table for six. A bit later a young woman with a very fussy toddler was seated with us. Uh, oh. Now being parents we were not going to gripe, but. The woman drank some water, then pulled her fussy toddler, who was seated in a booster seat next to me, and went out the back door, she never returned. If you read this, we did not mean to chase you away. Feeling guilty, we had the crab and cod cakes and wine. It was nice, just the two of us. Happens so rarely. I had forgotten other cruisers admonishments to make it VERY clear you wanted to dine alone.
Then off to Surial bath. Everything was working! The jets of steam barely worked on our last trip, so now I finally knew what Barb and Tony were talking about when they cautioned you about burning your feet. The only downside was just having red mud. I missed the grey and white muds and the salt scrub. The red mud also stained my nails and cuticles. But lots of fun. You dont need to know. Time up. We had purchased a Rainforest pass for afterward, which we were then not charged for, maybe because we only sat on the heated loungers for a while, eyes closed floating, very peaceful. The only breaks in the peace were a few other folks coming in and out and then a parade of first the manager, then an officer, then two repairmen trying to fix the lion fountain, which was not running.
Then we gathered everyone in our stateroom (the counselor knew who Peter came to fetch after asking if that was the kid who whistled all the time, see, ha, you thought I was exaggerating) and ate more cheese plates. Found out another Magic pixie dust happening. On the last cruise, Rack had kicked around, looking for others his age to hang with. Not much luck, he met one nice young woman for a few games of basketball. I was concerned he was bored with just our company all the time, he was not finding any company near his own age. Gma and Rack had gone to the buffet lunch at Parrot Cay. Anton was there and arranged to seat them with two ladies about Racks age. We had been running into these young lwomen a lot of other times on the ship, but Rack was too shy to start up a conversation. Finally, bless Anton, they got a chance to talk. (I do wish the DCL would do something about a young singles meet. Throwing this group in with the divorced and traveling alone is not the moniker to entice them. He spent time talking with a few of the CMs at different times, too bad they are not free to mingle more with cruisers such as he.)
Got ready for semi-formal night, mostly. Peter (who rarely wears one lately) was having senior moments trying to remember how to tie a tie. We were all laughing pretty hard. Especially the kids when Peter did not call it a senior moment but a brain-um, cant type the other word HERE or Ill get kicked off the DIS. They had worn pre-tied bows for formal night. Now the kids and Peter needed ties knotted. We brought Rack in on it, but his tie was new, already tied, and he always kept them this way, just slipped them down and put them on. Where was Angel? She knows how. We tried to dissect how it was done from Racks tie, but could not figure it out. Peter finally got two of them tied, one on himself and the other by knotting it on himself and slipping it off. Couldnt maintain the memory, though, for the third. (Note to self: download instructions from the Internet and add that to the standard suitcase kit, along with the wipes, tea bags, dryer fabric softener sheets and detergent tablets.)
We went off to try and get formal portraits taken. We knew we needed to get there early. We needed a lot of time with the photographer. A lot. Nearly all of our other pictures, upwards of 20 by now, had turned out pretty bad. It is hard to get six people to look good in the same picture, especially when one of the photographees is seven and thinks it is a hoot to make a stupid face every time someone turns a camera on him. We found our favorite photographer, Nes, who had managed to pull off of a couple of decent portraits of us on Formal Night. She spent a lot of time with us tonight since she did not have anyone else in line. The first thing she did was tie Gameboys tie for him, what a peach! Had about six pictures taken, she kept retaking due to Whistlers antics. One of these was finally worth buying. You folks who buy a lot of pictures in Shutters are obviously a heck of a lot more photogenic then us, or at least know how to keep your eyes from closing, hair from frizzing, sons from scowling and mugging and variously located dew-laps from showing.
Then to dinner in Animators Palate, non-show night, Captains Gala menu. The drink servers got the kids and Rack, seconds before we got into the dining room, Rack ended up having to sign for two cokes and a drink they thought were free, as on the Captains welcome night. I was upset, why pay for cokes when they can have all they want in one minute? Neither my kids, nor Rack, had any idea they were not free and had sipped before being informed (warn your kids, and your adults!). While DCL does not push drinks in the clubs, I do think this lobby drink thing is sneaky, especially after everyone has been primed with the free drinks there one night.
Another bottle of Conundrum. I had mushroom soup and the salad with dried tomato chips. Then turkey, Adinas suggestion. I usually eat turkey once a year. She laughed when I explained to her I kind of like the stuff, but hate it, too. I think a lot of women from the U.S.A. have this love-hate relationship with turkey. You HAVE to cook it for Thanksgiving. It takes forever, your whole house smells of it for weeks, you have to deal with that dismembered carcass for EVER afterward, and it takes everyone at the table about 10 minutes to eat it. Tonight it was wonderful, even the breadfruit stuffing. I had had the lobster last year and wanted something new, Adina also brought me the halibut to try. Another week with her and I would have been sunk. Rack, Gma and Peter had shrimp, perfectly deshelled by Anton. Rack had lobster. Peter had the beef. I had the cherries jubilee, although I missed whatever flaming ceremony there might have been. Others had lots of cheescake and ice cream sundaes. A good menu, second (distant) only to Palo. Took Gma back to her room.
We went to see Gary DeLena (wild pink shirt, dude) in Rockin Bar D. I bought drinks for Rack to make up for the lobby incident. Mr. DeLena is a very silly entertainer who had the kids in stitches with his dumb jokes and guitar playing. He also had the adults laughing pretty hard by the end, too. Whistler got to do his Stitch for the early audience. We then watched Disney Dreams, a nice show, but again I was half-asleep by the end, Whistler was fully asleep. Tried to wake Whistler for the stars at the end, a lovely touch. We liked this stage group better than the last group, this little girl was not nearly as whiney and cutesy as the first one we had seen. Back to the cabin for all but Rack. He went out to party with the ladies from lunch. Thank you thank you, you charming ladies, you know who you are. The rest of us crashed.
The last day is coming .so sad.
Tink
