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Who/When/Where:
Who: Sue (me - 46), DVC member
Sheila (46), Cruise Companion
Dates: December 3-11, 2004
Travel Method: Personal car, cruise ship
Resort: Old Key West (1 nt), Disney Magic (7 nts)
Experience: Frequent Cruisers
INTRODUCTION:
This will be
my 15th cruise, and probably the 7th or so on Disney. Sheila has done all but 2
of the Disney cruises with me, and she & her son Colin joined my son Chris & me
on a HAL cruise last year. We're sailing on the Western Caribbean itinerary,
which is the exact cruise we did together in November 2003 and which I repeated
on HAL in May 2004. We love cruising, and the #1 goal is always relaxing for a
week. We don't care if we see the shows or not, generally prefer not to go
ashore, and don't even mind skipping dinner in the dining room. We don't
tolerate cigarette smoke, so the Beat Street clubs are off-limits to us at
night. We also both tend to rise early, and enjoy letting
the sunlight wake us rather than using any
alarm. I plan to work on my tan this week, maybe see a couple movies, hang out
online with SB, and perhaps train for our walking of the Disney half-marathon
next month.
We're booked in a category 9 cabin on deck
2 (#2578), which is pretty much midship if I remember correctly. I like deck 2,
as the window in the cabin is huge and I like being that close to the water. On
HAL I always get a nice verandah, but the verandahs on the Disney ships aren't
worth the extra cost for me. We'll probably see Golden Mickey's because Sheila
has never seen it. Whether we attend any other shows is questionable - generally
we'd prefer relaxing with a glass of wine (in a non-smoking lounge) vs being in
a crowded theater seeing a show we've already seen at least once. I requested a
large table, with no children, so hopefully we'll have interesting dinner
companions. One
night we'll eat at Palo, and I'm looking
forward to the new Pirate night menu although I will not be wearing a bandana!
We've talked about trying brunch at Palo. Everyone raves about it, but we've
always thought there's no way. However, we might try a
10:30 brunch
time
since our dinner is
8:30. We've
done the dinners so many times, we could even skip dinner (it's no big deal) or
just eat an appetizer or two instead of a full meal.
We're going to a wine & cheese party hosted
by someone on the
DIS board, in their 1-bedroom cabin. It'll be fun
to see what that looks like, and to spend time socializing with fellow Disney
enthusiasts. We've had a thread running on DIS for several months. I brought a
bottle of the Rosa Regale I bought at the Food & Wine Festival, and think Sheila
will like it as well. Last cruise we bought chambourd and mixed it in the bottle
of champagne someone sent me the Rosa Regale should taste even better & not have
to be mixed.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing the
holiday decorations on the ship and on Castaway Cay, especially since this will
likely be my last Disney cruise. I used to be able to squeeze several weeks of
vacation away from work, but that's no longer the case. I have to limit myself
to 4 weeks, which means a week for Hilton Head, a
HAL cruise,
and then there's just 2 weeks left for WDW. I'm not willing to give any of that
up for a Disney cruise, so these cruises had to go.
The current plans (subject to change) so
far...
Fri 12/3: Drive to WDW after work, check in
OKW
Sat 12/4: Board Disney Magic, book Palo
Sun 12/5: Key West
Mon 12/6: Sea Day, Wine/Cheese Party,
Golden Mickeys
Tue 12/7: Grand Cayman
Wed 12/8: Cozumel
Thu 12/9: Sea Day
Fri 12/10: Castaway Cay
Sat 12/11: Leave Magic, return home
DAY 1 FRIDAY DEC 3, 2004:
Plan: Drive to WDW after work, check in OKW
Actual: I left work around 5:30, met Sheila
in a McDonalds parking lot
around 6, then followed her to her parents
house in Sebring, FL. We left my car parked there, and she drove us the rest of
the way to Old Key West. Check in was a breeze at almost
9:30 at
night! We were given a 3rd floor studio just across the street in
building 14. Since I knew I needed to access every heavy piece of luggage Id
brought, I asked if there was a ground floor studio available. The best they
could do was a 2nd floor unit in building 40, so we decided to stick
with #1435. Climbing to the 3rd floor really isnt that much worse
than climbing to the 2nd floor. During the drive my boyfriend SB & I
had talked a few times, then he called as we got to the OKW parking lot to say
hi,
and then called while we were at the front
desk to say he missed me basically to make me laugh since wed just
talked 2 minutes before!
We brought our stuff up to the room and
then drove over to the Marketplace to find something to eat. There was no line
at Earl of Sandwich, so we shared a caprese sandwich and ate it there. Sheila
had never heard of it being a sandwich, but she liked it. Sharing it was just
enough food, too - neither of us
wanted very much. We drove back to OKW, getting there around
10:30 or so.
I got online and Sheila read the cruise Navigators and menus Id printed from
www.castawayclub.com. SB called a few more times, just quick calls but the
last time he & his buddy had it set up so Barry Whites song Cant Get Enough of
Your Love was playing for me. They were NOT drunk or anything - just being a
little silly. The electrical outlets in this studio really suck - when I plug
the phone charger in it just falls out to the floor, so I had to use the one in
the kitchen. Every time SB would call Id go flying out of bed and running
across the studio to get the phone before it went to voice mail while
Sheila just laughed at us <g>.
Overall it was a long day, but its good to
be here on the eve of another cruise. It was really nice being a passenger for
the 2nd half of the trip, since I hate driving after dark. The
frequent calls from SB were really cute - Im going to miss talking to him on
the phone once the ship sails.
DAY 2 SATURDAY DEC 4, 2004:
Plan: Board
Disney Magic, book Palo
Actual: I
woke up around 7:30 and decided to get my shower out of the way. I think Sheila
was probably awake over on her side of the room - she was watching tv when I
came out of the bathroom. For breakfast I made some cappuccino and ate a piece
of biscotti, while Sheila went to Goods to Go and got a cup of coffee and a
snowman-shaped rice krispie treat. We hung out in the studio talking about our
plans for the week. I talked to SB for a while, and she talked to her dad -
finally about 10 we decided to leave OKW.
We stopped
at Publix to get wine for the wine/cheese party on Monday
afternoon.
They didnt have any wines with a screwcap, so Sheila also bought a corkscrew. I
bought a champagne bottle stopper, which we can use to keep the Rosa Regale from
going flat. We dont drink enough to finish a bottle of anything
in one
sitting. She bought a bottle of merlot and I got a nice Riesling.
Unfortunately, she only likes the reds and I only like whites - so we
generally
cant share a bottle (Rosa Regale will probably be the exception). After
leaving
Publix it was an easy drive to the port, with no traffic at all. She
dropped all
of the bags off (including me) at the terminal, and went to go park
the
car while I
went inside. The line was long at security, then long again
waiting to
check in, then longer still waiting to board! By the time we got
inside
they were already letting people on the ship, and
by the time we finished
checking in the boarding line was pretty short.
SB and Chris
(my 18 yr old son) both called while I was waiting for Sheila to
return from
the parking lot. One weird thing - they used to send a Bahamas
form with
the cruise documents, but this time they did not. At the terminal
they gave
the forms to everyone, which means people had to slow down and go fill
the stupid
thing out! That was a bit aggravating. Soon we were checked in,
and I saw we had the dining rotation expected (LAPLAPL) since we were an
adult-only
party.
Getting on
the ship we bypassed the embarkation photo opportunity. We wouldnt buy it, so
theres no point having it taken. We went directly to Rockin
Bar D to book our Palo reservations, which didnt take very long at all.
We
got dinner for Sunday night at 7, and brunch for
Monday morning. PJ booked us
at 11:30 but told us to just show up at 10:30 and
hed be able to seat us
right away. With that done, we headed up to
Topsiders on deck 9.
The lunch
was the usual buffet, and we were both a little hungry. I had some
cucumber
salad, a small chicken breast, a roll, some French fries & a little
of the
orange mango soup. It was all ok - not bad but not anything special
either.
Sheila I think had the salmon, fries, cucumber salad, and some shrimp.
We shared a
small chocolate tart that was nothing special either. It was
getting very
cloudy, the wind was picking up, and I was starting to get really
cold. I
dressed in what I thought would be warm clothes this morning, but it
wasnt warm
enough! We wandered around, grabbing a chocolate chip cookie for
each of us
as we passed Scoops. We took a few photos around the upper decks,
then stopped
at the spa/fitness center.
The fitness
classes are complimentary, so we checked the schedule and I went into the gym to
sign us up for several of them while Sheila stood in line to
book the Spa
Taster (massage & facial). She did this last time and really
liked it.
The sign up area was torture, thanks to the unruly children screaming
and jumping all over the sofas (so much for keeping the under-18 year
old
people out). I complimented the lady behind us on
how well-behaved her young
daughters were, and she told me her girls were
appalled by the other brats who
were
there.
Finally Sheila got through the line, and we were out of there. I had
thought
about getting a haircut before the cruise, but with my traveling I
had no time.
I checked the ship prices - the haircut I can get at home for
$15
is only $52
here <g>. After the initial shock, I decided what the hell
its only
money, and I dont have time to take care of it at home. So, I booked
a haircut
for tomorrow.
We walked
around some more, checked our cabin and dropped off our carryon
bags. The
luggage hadnt arrived, unfortunately. We went up to the internet
cafe so I
could get that started, but it wouldnt work until 3pm (about 45
minutes later). We wandered around some more -
found a neat gingerbread house
built
on deck 3.
It was real - I could see where someone had broken the ears off
some of the
Mickey-shaped cookies on the roof. We checked out the Cove Caf
(coffee/wine
place) and found theyve got some nice outdoor tables but they
all
have
ashtrays on them. A couple smokers were there, and it was absolutely
disgusting!
We went inside and sat for a while, where it didnt stink.
Around 3
Sheila went
outside to call her son Colin (hes away in the Air Force now),
and I went
back to the Internet Cafe and signed up for the unlimited plan to
keep in
touch with SB. I let him know I was back online, Sheila arrived, and
soon we
returned to the cabin to check on the luggage. I saw on aol it was 59
degrees - no
wonder I was so damn cold!
The luggage
STILL hadnt arrived - weve always been fully unpacked &
settled
before the lifeboat drill, but that was not going to happen this time.
At 4
when we went
up to the drill it still hadnt arrived! One nice thing about
the cold
weather is we wont be hot & sweaty during the lifeboat drill
gotta
find the
bright side, lol. The drill was miserable - too many whining,
crying young
children who were really too young to understand why they had to be
there.
Michael called during the drill, and I was relieved to hear that a work
situation we
expected to be very difficult actually turned out pretty well.
Id been
worried about him, so it was good of him to call. We finished up
talking on
the way back to and inside the cabin - Sheila took my life jacket
off
for me,
which was nice. I sat at the porthole, enjoying our view - 2 large
construction dumpsters and pallets of trash from the previous cruise. We
laughed
that we were
in the dungeon on the last Disney cruise and this time we have a
dumpster
view <g>. Once we sailed though, the lousy view was left behind!
My luggage
arrived, and I was able to start unpacking. We had maintenance
come to
reset the safe because there was a problem with it. We went up on deck
for the
sailaway, but didnt bother with the party. It was too crowded and
too noisy.
We wandered around the forward area and I noticed a Christmas tree
up on the
mast. At 5 SB called to say Bon Voyage, and soon we were sailing
away. The
countdown and blowing of the ships horn didnt happen until 10
minutes or
so later (we left at 5). Once we got out to the open water we headed
back downstairs, where we found Sheilas luggage had been delivered.
We unpacked
and figured out what to do tonight. Ive been on the road for
quite a
while, except for 3 nights at home right before this trip. I was
surprised to
find I had 17 pairs of underwear in my suitcase - more than
enough for
a 7-day
cruise, lol. I also discovered I still have no sense of direction on
ships. I know what forward & aft are, but I invariably turn to head
forward
and hear Sheila say no Sue, this way, lol! It
doesnt matter what
cruise
line, what
ship - I rarely make the right turn.
I was not
hungry at all, but were going to go to dinner at Lumieres.
Itll be
nice to meet our table mates, and I dont have to order much if Im
still not
hungry. We changed into casual evening clothes and went upstairs in
time for the 6:30 Welcome Aboard
variety show in the big theater. The show was
ok - it
featured the Disney cast & characters doing a few production numbers,
and in
between they had the magician Mike Super and the comedian Gary Delena.
The acts
werent bad, but they certainly didnt wow me either. The
comedian
makes up song parodies, which were entertaining.
When the
show ended we left the theater and stood at the railing on deck 4 to
wait for the
tree lighting ceremony that was scheduled at 7:45. They delayed
it, citing the show getting out late as the reason, which made no sense
to us
since we came from the show after it ended and
had been standing there quite
a while. Seemed like a Disney fib to me <g>.
Finally it got started, and
they insisted on the crowd singing 3-4 Christmas
carols. We were both wishing
theyd just light the damn tree, lol - sounds
grinch-like but thats what
we
wanted to
see. Neither of us are into the singing around the Christmas tree
scene - a
little too sappy, I think. They had a large number of guests turn
out
for the lighting, along with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy & Pluto.
We stopped
at Preludes to get a couple of wine glasses, then returned to the
cabin and
poured a glass of each of our wines. It felt too cold to be out
walking the
deck, so we stayed indoors. Our dinner tonight is in Lumieres,
which is the
French restaurant (the fanciest one). Dress is casual ship-wide
tonight,
which is a change from how they used to do things when the cruise line
first started. Back then Lumieres used to request better dress, while
the
other 2 requested casual attire. Now the dress
code for the evening applies to
all three. We headed upstairs to dinner around
8:25.
Were at a
table for 6, with first-time cruisers. There is Dawn & Diane, a
mother & adult daughter from Ohio,
and Bonnie & Dennis, a husband/wife from NewYork City. Everyone was very nice,
once the conversation started flowing.
We were the
last to arrive, and the other people were seated on either end of
the table,
across from their other half. Sheila & I sat across from each other
at the
inside chairs - but it worked out well because it was easy to talk
with people
on either side.
We met our
server and assistant server, and got the excellent speech. He
wasnt too
pushy, though. The food and service were excellent throughout the
meal, and
everyone enjoyed their meals. I had the mixed garden salad (love
the goat
cheese topped croutons) and the rigatoni pasta with 4-cheese cream
sauce. I
remembered having the pasta once before, and it was very good. Sheila
had the fried camembert cheese, mixed garden salad and salmon for her
entrée.
The others had either the beef tenderloin or the
duck, along with shrimp
cocktail, escargot, cream of cauliflower soup,
chilled vichysoisse soup, the
fried
cheese. For
dessert 3 of the people had the honey cinnamon apple tart, which
was a very
large portion. I ordered the sugarless chocolate mousse, but it had
a funky
taste. It must have been HAL where I had a sugarless chocolate
mousse that
was good! Sheila & Dennis skipped dessert, having just coffee. Our
server also
brought a couple of portions of creme brulee for us to share, and
omigod was
that good! I left my mousse uneaten and ate over half of one of the
creme brulees! I dont normally like it, but this was very good.
When we
finished eating I excused myself and went to the internet Cafe to
hang out
online with SB for a while, then returned to the stateroom. Sheila was
already in
her bed reading. DVC had delivered a Welcome Aboard packet
with
a couple of lanyards and some information Ill
look at later. The member
reception is tomorrow morning at 10, and we
usually attend to get whatever
freebies theyre handing out. Ill try for a
baseball cap for SB. I
finished up
the report for today, then got ready for bed and looked over the DVC
stuff and
tomorrows Personal Navigator (schedule of
activities).
Today was a
nice day, other than the weather being much colder than wed
like. Its
great being back on a cruise ship, and there is a benefit to
repeating
the same
cruise - the ship is familiar right from the start and other than
heading in
the wrong direction its a breeze finding everything.
DAY 3 SUNDAY DEC 5, 2004:
Plan: Key
West, DVC Reception, Palo Dinner
Actual: Id
forgotten how wonderful it is sleeping on a cruise ship!
Hearing the
faint hum of the engine, hearing the waves hitting the hull -
its very
soothing!
The beds & pillows are comfortable, too - and we had no human
noise from
anywhere (the hall, other cabins). It was really nice.
Id set my
little travel alarm for 6:30 and got up shortly after that. I
went into
the bathroom to brush my teeth, and found Sheila up watching tv when I
came back
out - one nice thing about traveling with her is we both like to get
up early.
She probably gets up earlier than I do, in fact. The ships
channel said
it was 75 degrees outside, which was good news. It also reported a
strong
breeze, which is not so good - definitely bad for the hair! We got
dressed, put on our sneakers, grabbed some water and headed up to deck 4
to try
to
do 15 laps
(5 miles). I wore my pedometer to track our walking.
The
pedometer ended up not working properly - it was measuring distance way
too fast. 3
laps is a mile, but it registered a mile after 1.5 laps. We used
it only for
measuring time, and I was disappointed at how slow we were! We
ended up
doing only 3 miles. Sheila had trouble with her toes going numb, and I
decided to
stop when she did rather than continue. Well walk more later,
after it
cools down (how funny yesterday we were freezing and today want it to
cool down,
lol). Sheila went to Cove Cafe to buy a Cafe mocha (not very good)
and I went
to the stateroom to get my cappuccino (just added water at the
beverage
station).
We met on
deck 9 & had breakfast at Topsiders, eating outside on the sunny
deck. It was gorgeous out there, and not busy at all! I was amazed by
the
number of people eating indoors - they can do
that at home, so why waste the
chance to eat outside on deck?? We each got one
of the small Mickey waffles and
some melon. I also had a hash brown and a piece
of plum tomato with melted
cheeses and oregano on top. Sheila had some
scrambled eggs. Everything tasted
good, and it
was really nice sitting outside.
After
breakfast I went to Cove Cafe and got online for a little while, and
Sheila
wandered around up on deck 10. We met at the DVC Member Celebration,
which began
at 10am in Diversions. It was well attended, but not mobbed like
last time.
They talked about whats new in DVC, and asked for people who have
used their
points at the non-Disney places. Most of the people there had used
their points
for the cruise prior to this cruise. Personally I think the # of
points it
takes to cruise now is ridiculous, and has been for a couple of
years. They
drew tickets and if the person answered a question they got to pick
a
prize. Most people got picked, including both of us. We each got one of
the
blue dvc bags they gave as a gift one night on
the last member cruise. The
event ended about 10:45 and we went back to the
stateroom to get changed into
swimsuits.
One thing I
noticed today is things were much louder than necessary. The
music at the
Goofy pool could probably be heard in Cuba! Even the quiet adult
pool had a
guitar player singing and his volume was pumped up so high we
chose to
take lounge chairs next to the basketball court to get away from the
noise. He
wasnt bad - it was just too loud! The ship was cleared for
people to
get off
earlier than planned, which was nice. The big crowds disappeared at
that point
and we were left with a nice peaceful ship & a beautiful warm sunny
day. HALs
Veendam pulled in after us, and docked in front of us at Mallory
Square. We
were at the other dock, near the shops - and a Carnival ship came
in and
docked behind us. I imagine the port was busy with 3 ships in today!
Around 12:30
I went to Plutos and brought back an order of chicken tenders
for us to
share. Actually we each ate 1 and we threw the 3rd one away we
didnt want
to eat much before our Palo dinner, but we did find room to each have
a chocolate
chip cookie! Certain priorities remain even when on vacation or
when a
dinner is scheduled! I talked to my Dad up in Boston for a while, and
read a
couple of magazines, then just closed my eyes and rested a while.
Sheila left
just before 2 for her massage/facial at the spa. I stayed until
just before
3, then packed up our stuff and made a brief stop at the internet
Cafe to get
online before returning to the stateroom. I changed back into
non-swimsuit
clothes and went up to the hair salon just in time for my 4pm
haircut
appointment. The stylist was a nice girl from South Africa. She
didnt
talk much,
but spent a lot of time working on little sections of hair & making
sure everything was perfect. Afterwards she sprayed some stuff on my
hair to
separate the curls, but it dried all stiff and I
didnt like it (I didnt
say
anything,
since Id given her the ok to do it in the first place). I was
surprised
that the charge for the haircut was only $30 instead of the $52 I saw
on
the price
list yesterday. Thats really not bad considering were on a
cruise ship.
I stopped at
Cove Cafe and found SB online. We instant messaged for a while,
and then my
son Chris called so I talked to him a bit, too. He thought I
should be
off the ship, enjoying Key West - but I enjoy the ship more than Key
West!
Eventually I went back to the stateroom, arriving just before 5. Sheila
was out running
around the ship somewhere, so I went ahead and took my shower,
rinsing the
spray stuff out of my hair!
After drying
my hair I had just enough time to get up on deck for the Key
West sunset,
so I went up and took a few pictures for my friend Missy. Santa
Goofy and
Chip & Dale were posing for photos in the atrium, and Pocahontas was
up
on the 4th floor near the elevators. I skipped all that, and
returned to the
stateroom, running into Sheila out in the hall on
her way back. Shed spent
the rest of the afternoon reading on deck 9 & now
was back to get ready for
dinner. While she showered I had a glass of wine
and downloaded her photos onto
my laptop. Yesterday her memory card filled up
(there were lots of photos
from before the cruise), and she said shed just
buy another card. However,
after nearly having a stroke when she saw the
price of the cards on the ship (I
stifled a chuckle at this point) she decided to maybe look for one on
shore at
Key West. I
suggested instead to have me download all of her photos onto the
laptop, then
when I get home I can burn them all onto a cd for her since shes
never been
able to get them downloaded onto her computer. She liked that
idea, so
thats what we did. I can even upload hers to Ofoto when I get to my
hotel Sunday
since Ill have high speed wireless internet then rather than
dial-up like
at home.
Sheila
poured herself a glass of wine once she finished getting ready, and we
hung out in
the stateroom until shortly before 7. At Palo we were seated
right away
by PJ. We had him as our head waiter last year, and he is one of the
nicest people on the ship! Our server was Andrew from the
Philippines, and he
did a
fantastic job for us. We started with the stuff the bring everyone -
breads,
spreads, antipasto, parmesan cheese & proscuitto. We ate what we
liked, and
left the rest - the garlic mayo spread was great on the bread,
especially
with pieces of parmesan cheese or a garlic clove on top - mmmm! I
planned
to order a
glass of the moscato wine, but it was not on the menu or the wine
list. I
asked Andrew about it and he said they still have it - its their
most
popular
wine. I guess theyre keeping it a secret by not having it on the
menu??? He
brought me a glass, and it was great. Sheila brought a glass of red
wine with
her, and didnt need to order another one.
For
appetizers Sheila had the fried calamari, which she said was very good.
I had the tomato & mozzarella salad, which had a really interesting
presentation. They used plum tomatoes but took all the soft & seedy part out,
leaving
just the shell. They placed 5 small balls of the
fresh mozzarella into a pile
in the center of the plate, then placed 4 tomato
pieces on top to completely
enclose the cheese. They had some leaves sticking
out of the top, and some
pesto and balsamic vinegar along the side. It
looked nice, and was absolutely
light & delicious. I also ordered todays special
appetizer, figuring wed
share it. It was slices of melon and strawberries
in balsamic vinegar, with a
bunch of prosciutto shaped into a big rosebud. It
looked pretty, but I dont
like
prosciutto and the fruit was a little weird with balsamic vinegar <g>. The
melon was
incredibly ripe - it almost melted in my mouth. The melon at
breakfast
was nothing like this, unfortunately!
For entrees
Sheila had the penne pasta with crabmeat & topped with several
large
shrimp. I got the filet mignon, which is presented with a gorgonzola
sauce topped
by mashed potatoes with some sort of leaf and a portabello mushroom
on top, and the filet on top of that, topped off with skinny asparagus
spears
and a cherry tomato. It looked very nice, but the
filet was huge. I ate
around the edge and ate some of the potatoes but
left the rest. Andrew had told
us
hed ordered
a chocolate souffl for each of us, but also had us order
something
else from the dessert menu. We were feeling ok after the appetizer,
but
dessert did us in! Besides the 2 souffles we ordered the pistachio torte
(me)
and the panna cotta (Sheila). Everyone at
surrounding tables was looking at
us when we
had 4 desserts on the table! We noticed people who had sat behind
us (a
couple) had 2 souffles EACH, plus the tiramasu. We were amazed anyone
could eat 2
souffles, although Im not sure why anyone would want to! We both
liked the
other desserts better than the souffle - and neither of us ate more
than half of
the souffle. I never would have thought Id be saying this, but
it was just
too rich & chocolaty. Our dinner took just about 2 hours from
start to
finish, and it was a wonderful meal.
We headed
out on deck to try to walk off some of our dinner. We started on deck 10 but it
was a bit cool in the wind, so we went to deck 9 but ran into
obstacles
where they were pressure cleaning the deck. We ended up on deck 4,
and probably
walked 1-2 miles all together. We pretended the funky suits stored
at the bow
of the ship were attacking me, and got caught by a couple of
ladies who
were out walking and stopped to look & laugh at us <g>. Sheila
headed
back to the
stateroom to watch a Tom Hanks movie she wanted to see, while I did
another lap
around the deck and then spent quite a while instant messaging
with SB in
the internet Cafe. The ship sailed at 10:15, but I was online and
missed it.
In the dark theres not much to see anyway - Tuesday will be
better
since we
sail at 5.
I got back
to the cabin sometime before 11, and saw we had another blanket
animal. We
havent had any towel animals yet. Last night we never did figure
out what our
blanket creature was - it looked like a blob. Tonight it was a
swan - a big brown swan, lol! I was about to take a picture of it when
Sheila
destroyed it to spread it on her bed. She tried
putting it back for me, but it
looked really pathetic, so she pretended to stab
it to kill it, and I took a
picture of that instead, lol.
I finished
up the report & then got ready for bed. I always read the
Navigator
for the next day before going to sleep, and I did a little reading
since I
wasnt that
tired yet. Today was a terrific day. I love having the ship to
myself when
everyone else has gone ashore! Its so peaceful & relaxing laying
on a chaise
lounge without 100 other people crowded nearby. Dinner was
top-notch,
as always. Even my haircut was a pleasant surprise, and its one
last
thing I have
to deal with when I get home next week!
DAY 4 MONDAY DEC 6, 2004:
Plan: Sea
Day, Palo Brunch, Wine/Cheese Party, Golden Mickeys
Actual:
Today is our busiest planned day, and since its a sea day and the
pools will
be mobbed it made sense to me to plan it that way. We have 2
fitness
classes, a fitness seminar, brunch, a party, captains reception, a
show,
and probably
dinner (if were not still stuffed from brunch).
I got up
around 7, dressed and went up on deck 4 to walk for a while. Sheila
was awake by
the time I left, and we agreed to meet here in the cabin for our
exercise
class. I noticed my knee was a little more swollen than usual, and
remembered (duh) the doctor telling me to avoid stairs while
recuperating.
The past 2 days weve been using the stairs
almost exclusively, climbing 7
flights at a time like we normally do. Ill have
to lay off that and start
using
the
elevators when going that far.
Because I
wasnt sure about the knee I only walked a mile - plus it was
pretty warm
on the sunny side of the ship <g>! I went back to the stateroom and
got stuff to
make a ½ cup of cappuccino. I added the water up at the beverage
station on
deck 9 (using the elevator this time), then rode back down to deck
3 & went to
the internet Cafe for about 15 minutes. Back in the stateroom I
told Sheila about a trivia project a friend is working on, and we
watched cnn
to see what was going on in the world. Around
8:05 we headed up to the fitness
center for
the 8:15 Body Energizer/Fit Ball class.
The class
was full, with too many people actually. Some of the guests had to
be down a little hallway just to find room. The class used resistance
bands
and the fitness balls - it was a tough class, but
it felt good to be doing
something. A couple of exercises were impossible
because of my knee, but in one
case I was able to use the ball to adapt it, and
in the other the instructor
just had me do something totally different. Darn,
I thought I was going to get
to just lay there & do nothing <g>. After the
class we walked around on deck
4 for another mile, then headed inside. Sheila
went to the stateroom and
took a quick shower, while I headed to the
internet Cafe and spent time instant
messaging
with SB.
I got back
to the stateroom in time to dress for brunch (resort casual no
shorts or
jeans), and we made it up to Palo right at 10:30. We asked PJ to put
us in
Andrews section again, and Andrew was glad to see us. It was nice
that he
already many of our likes and dislikes, so he just took care of us
without a
lot of question. They hand you a glass a champagne as you enter,
which
you can
leave at your table. Andrew took us up to the buffet portion of the
brunch and
explained what everything was. They had big shrimp, giant crab legs,
and FL stone
crab claws. There were a lot of funky things Id never try, a
whole
breakfast fruit & breads/pastry table, cheeses, and a whole dessert
buffet. In
addition, they make pizzas to order and have 3 breakfast and 3 lunch
entrees, along with a couple of soups. The breakfasts were eggs
benedict,
omelet
or pancakes.
The lunch choices were tilapia, pasta or beef tenderloin.
Everything
looked amazing, and the service was impeccable.
We went
through the buffet, but neither of us got very much because we knew wed be too
stuffed to try much else. Its amazing to watch the other people
though -
they had plates full of food, and ate like they would never see
another meal
again! We tried part of a sticky bun, which was probably the best
sticky bun
Ive ever eaten. I had a little cheese, and tried a stone crab
claw
but wasnt
impressed. Sheila had some shrimp and some cheese, and Im not
sure what
else. I tried the chilled gazpacho, but barely ate half of it. It
was
very good, but so spicy my throat was burning and
Sheila said my face was
turning pink, lol! We shared a margherita pizza,
and that was also very good.
Sheila skipped the entree, but I ordered the eggs
benedict just to try it. I dont normally like it, but I figured here at Palo it
would probably be
excellent and I was right. Everything about it
was just perfect - I didnt
finish
even one
half of it, but I ate more than I planned because it was so good.
Andrew
brought us a selection of desserts, including a strawberry tart, ricotta
cheesecake
and tiramasu. We tried them all and decided the cheesecake was the
best by far.
Sheila went up to the dessert buffet to see what else she might
want, but
came back with just another of the small cheesecakes. I helped her
eat it, but
knew I was not going up to look at the desserts because I was too
full as it
was!
We were at
brunch for about 1.5 hours, and it was a wonderful experience. If
I was going
to cruise Disney again, Id definitely do this! We left Palo and
went down to
the shops, where I picked up a couple of things a friend had
asked for.
After dropping my purchases off in the stateroom and changing back
into my
shorts/tank we headed up to do some walking around deck 10.
My jaw
dropped when we stepped outside down near the Mickey Pool - it was an
absolute mob
scene in that whole area on decks 9 & 10. Think Magic Kingdom on
the most
miserable busy day of the year, and thats what it reminded me of.
There is no
way in hell I would be able to stand being in that area, so Im
glad I never
brought Chris on a cruise until he was old enough to be off on his
own! We
fought our way past the seventeen million deck chairs, strollers and
running
children and found it almost as busy at the Goofy Pool. The adult
pool wasnt
too bad, but it was still very busy - more crowded than I like.
The
decision to do non-pool stuff today was definitely the right one. We did
a
few laps, then went down to deck 9. Sheila
stopped by the spa and I went over
to Cove Cafe
and instant messaged with SB for a little while until she
returned. We
walked on deck 4, but I was getting tired and just wanted to go
inside!
She stayed
on a deck chair and I went to the stateroom and updated the
report. I
could have used a nice long nap, but that wasnt going to happen!
Our cabin
steward hadnt serviced our room yet, and was beside himself
apologizing
for that. We didnt care, but I did let him know we leave early
in the
morning, so
we agreed hed do us around 8 each day. That should work well for
everyone.
Today hell come back at 1:30 when we leave, and I imagine we
might be his
last stateroom to do.
Around 1:30
we popped open the Rosa Regale even though we were still full
from brunch.
We poured a couple of glasses and took them with us up to the
wine/cheese
party where we planned to eat NOTHING. The party was hosted by
someone
on the DIS
board who had booked a 1-bedroom suite (#8522).
We enjoyed
meeting the other DIS people and we stayed about 45 minutes.
Everyone was
leaving at that point, off to do other stuff. We decided to skip
the
3pm exercise
class and see the 2:15 matinee of Golden Mickeys. We got there
just as it
was about to start, and enjoyed the show. Sheila had never seen it
before,
which is why we went. We walked a lap on deck 4 after the show, then
I went to
the internet Cafe and she went to the stateroom. We met back up in
the
stateroom around 3:45 and went up to the spa for the 4pm seminar on
strong backs and flat abs. The seminar was interesting, and we learned a
few
pilates exercises. One couple who was there weve
run into everywhere it
seems!
We wandered
around on deck 9 for a while, but it was very windy. Scoops didnt have any
chocolate chip cookies - Ill have to complain to DCL (kidding).
I went
inside to shower & dress for the evening, and Sheila hung out on deck
for a while. After I was dressed I went up to the internet Cafe to send
a
quick email to a friend, and ended up instant
messaging with SB for most of the
time. I ran
back down to the stateroom shortly before 6 and Sheila was there.
She changed
into her evening clothes and we headed upstairs to see the 6pm
showing of
National Treasure. We were going to see it Thursday night, but by
doing it
tonight that leaves us Thursday free in case we find something else to
do.
Originally we were going to see Golden Mickeys tonight, but got that done
this
afternoon. Whew - its tough work being on a cruise, lol!
The movie
was excellent - I loved it! The theater was almost full, which
surprised me
on Golden Mickeys night. When it finished we had just 15 minutes
until
dinner, which tonight was in Parrot Cay. It was a challenge finding our
table since it was our first visit. I wondered why nobody was helping
guests
to their tables but then realized we should have
been at the character
breakfast here this morning (no thanks <g>). All
of our table mates were
present, and
we had
another great dinner. Our serving team really do a good job, and they
serve us
promptly. I had the tropical fruit appetizer, while Sheila had the
crab
appetizer and a garden salad. The others mostly had the crab, except for
Bonnie
having the chicken wings (very tiny wings) and some who had a soup.
For my
entree I chose the baby back ribs this time, and they were delicious!
Its too bad
it took me 7 or 8 cruises to find the best thing on this menu,lol. Sheila had
the ribeye steak, which she said was good. For dessert she had
the lemon
meringue pie, which was an adorable individual little pie. I got
the creme
brulee cheesecake to go. I stopped at the internet Cafe after
dinner
to meet up
with SB online, and chatted with him for a while. Weve always
ended out
day being together online, even when Ive been at Comedy Warehouse
and
getting in late. Its a nice routine, and one I would miss if I hadnt
done
the internet package.
I went down
to the stateroom, where Sheila was in her bed reading tomorrows
navigator.
Were not late night people at all, lol! Tonight we had a towel
animal - it
looked like a dog - no more blanket blobs <g>. I finished up
the
report & got
ready for bed, snacking on some of the cheesecake since I wasnt
sure it would keep overnight (the plate is too big for the fridge, so we
put
it over the ice bucket).
We survived
our busy day! It was a good day, and everything went really
well. The
Palo brunch is a definite dont-miss for anyone cruising, and if
you
havent seen National Treasure yet you need to!
DAY 5
TUESDAY DEC 7, 2004:
Plan: Grand
Cayman
Actual:
After another night of sleeping well on the ship, I woke up just
before 7am
and saw we were already at Grand Cayman. The big Carnival ship
(Miracle)
was just outside our window. I quickly got dressed & headed up on
deck.
On the other
side I found Celebritys Century, and coming in was HALs
Zaandam. I
started walking on deck 4, and Sheila joined me once she was up &
dressed. I
did 3 miles, and she did 2, then we decided to go have breakfast up
on
deck. We both got some fruit, then Sheila added scrambled eggs and I had
them
make me a small tomato/cheese omelet. Wed
stopped at the beverage station
and made our own Cafe mochas with a mix of decaf
coffee and hot chocolate. She
said it tasted as good as the one she bought at
Cove Cafe the other day
(which
wasnt very good). I thought it was ok, but will stick with my regular
cappuccino
from now on.
After
breakfast we changed into our swimsuits and headed up to deck 10. It
wasnt crowded at all, and we spent most of the day there either dozing
or
reading. Around noon I went to Scoops and
Topsiders and brought us back a plate
of fruit and
a couple of the chocolate chip cookies. Around 2:30 Id had
enough sun,
so I stopped at the internet Cafe and then went to the stateroom to
take my
shower. Sheila was partly in the shade, and shed just started my
friend
Leannes
novel - Highland Wishes. I knew shed have trouble putting it
down! I
finished up the cheesecake from last night, updated the report, then
headed back
up to the internet Cafe for a little while. An issue had come up
at
work, and I
wanted some assurance they were taking care of it.
SB was
online, so after checking on the work thing we spent almost an hour
chatting.
Id meant to get back to the stateroom before we sailed away, but
never did.
Sheila came up to confirm that I was going to miss the sail away -
she figured
I was busy talking to him & had lost track of time. She headed out
to watch the
ship sail away, and I finished up with SB - giving myself almost
10 minutes
to return to the stateroom, dress for the evening, and meet Sheila
upstairs for
the Castaway Club reception. It doesnt sound like much time,
but I did
it, lol!
We were in
line shortly before they started letting people in, and were
ushered into
Rockin Bar D. The spread looked the same, but I noticed the
chicken
tenders were
missing. The hot items were spring rolls, chicken wontons,
coconut
fried shrimp & fried jalapeno poppers. There were the usual cold
canapos,
but I never
know what is on them and so I never take any. They said there
were 700
repeat cruisers on board, which is the highest % of any cruise line.
However, I
know thats not true unless theyre ignoring HAL for some reason.
We got a rum
punch (the complimentary drink) to go, and went to the movie
theater at 6
to see Mr. 3000. This is a baseball movie, about a real player.
The lead guy
was a total jerk, but developed into a decent person by the end of
the movie.
It was a good movie - not as good as National Treasure, but
certainly
worth seeing.
After the
movie we found the atrium to be a mob scene because some of the
characters
were out. There were so many people in the area the noise was
deafening,
and the kids were especially obnoxious (parents, if the kid is
screaming
in line
perhaps you should skip the character greet). We ran into the
counselors &
kids from the club, who were literally crawling on the floor in a
very
congested area by the elevators. I was appalled, and shocked when I saw
the
crawling was something the counselors were
telling the kids to do - it was
very
inappropriate in that setting (& dangerous)! We decided to remove ourselves
from the
mobs, stopped by the Promenade Lounge for wine glasses then returned to
the
stateroom.
I wrote out
a note for a friend who works for DVC - one of the cast members
on board
will email her at work to get the message to her for me. Sheila
poured
herself a glass of wine, but I wasnt in the mood for any tonight
(after 1.5
rum punches
I had no room for more alcohol). I headed up to the internet
Cafe and
Sheila watched some tv for a little while before meeting me up there.
Tonights
dinner is the Small World menu, with choices from various
countries.
Bonnie & Dennis are eating at Palo tonight, but the rest of us will
be in
Lumieres again. I ordered the chilled cucumber &
mint soup, which was good.
I also had
the greek salad, which was pretty bad. The feta cheese was way too
salty, and
the onions were too strong - I couldnt eat it. Sheila had the
lobster
bisque, which she said was good this time (it was too salty last
cruise). For
entrees Sheila got the salmon and the rest of us ordered the
chicken
fettuccine
alfredo. Everything at this course was excellent. For dessert the
other 3 got
the apple pie, and I ate part of the ice cream sundae with butter
pecan ice
cream. Our server also brought a portion of the bread pudding -
Diane & I
each tried it, but neither of us liked it.
After dinner
Sheila went for a walk, and I got online. Back in the stateroom
we had a
towel rabbit from our steward, and a card reminding us to turn the
clocks back
an hour. Sheila watched a movie & I did some reading after
finishing up
the report for today.
Today was a
nice relaxing day - exactly what I expect cruising to be like!
Some people
might think its strange to skip the ports, but we like the ship
much better
than the ports.
DAY 6
WEDNESDAY DEC 8, 2004:
Plan:
Cozumel
Actual:
Since the clocks were supposed to be turned back an hour last night
when I woke
up at 7:30 it was really 6:30 ships time. Sheila was awake, so
we got
dressed & then I set her up on the laptop to review her photos and
delete the ones she didnt want to keep. Around 7 we headed up on deck
and
walked
2 miles
together, then she sat in the shade while I did one more mile. It
was hot on
the sunny side of the ship, so I walked inside in the air
conditioning
on that side <g>.
Along the
way we noticed a few things worth mentioning - one good, the others
not. First,
we kept seeing instances where guests had been somewhere and
walked away
leaving their trash on the floor even though a trash can was not
more
than 2 feet
away. I picked up stuff and threw it in the trash, not
understanding why people have to be such pigs! Second, why do people feel
its
appropriate
to come out of their cabin and be in a public area while still
wearing
their
pajamas??? There was no mistaking that it was pajamas we saw, and it
wasnt only
on the children (although thats just as inappropriate). It seemed
really
low-class, and not what you expect on a cruise ship. Third, walking on
deck 4 is
tough because its not wide enough to accommodate the joggers &
walkers.
Youre constantly having to get out of the way, which is a real
pain. Ive
complained about the crappy deck on the Disney ships before, so enough
said for today. Fourth - this is the nice thing we saw. Theres an older
man
on board who
every morning is out on a deck chair with his 2 kids, reading to
them. Weve
seen him every day. The kids are elementary school age, and sit
there
quietly, listening to whatever novel the guy is reading from. You dont
see that
much, but it was nice to see.
We returned
to the stateroom to drop off stuff and get my cappuccino, then
went up to
Topsiders on deck 9 for breakfast. It was much busier than
yesterday,
since the ship was still sailing. We both started with fruit again,
then
Sheila added
eggs & a Mickey waffle while I went to the omelet station and got
another
small tomato & cheese omelet. She found us a table out on deck, which
was a stroke
of luck since it was so crowded. As we were eating we got close
to Cozumel,
so we went to the edge of the deck and watched the ship pull into
the dock.
There was a
Celebrity ship anchored offshore, NCLs Norwegian Magesty at a
dock ahead of us, and Celebritys Galaxy sharing the dock we were
assigned to.
We were
docking in San Miguel, and I could see several other ships at the
other dock 3
miles down the road. As we pulled in the captain sounded our horn,
and the
people on the Galaxys deck cheered and clapped, lol! The dock is
narrow, so
we were really close to each other. The Galaxy looks like a nice
ship,
although I
dont like they way their promenade deck is on 2 different desks
and requires
you to climb stairs to get from one end to the other - thats
tough on
anyone in a wheelchair or anyone wanting to jog. The NCL ship -
well,
lets just
say Im not a fan of NCL and consider their ships (even the new
ones) to be
bottom of the line cruising - kind of the Walmart of the cruise
ships.
Once we were
secured at the dock we returned to the stateroom to change into
our
swimsuits and headed up to deck 10 by the adult pool. It was another
gorgeous
sunny & breezy day, and it was delightful being out there for about 4
hours. We napped, read, chatted a bit, and today Sheila went on the
lunch run.
She brought back fruit and chocolate chip
cookies. She claimed 3 of them
stuck together so she just took them all, forcing
us each to eat 1.5 cookies -
somehow it wasnt a hardship for either of us
<g>. I went back to the
stateroom
just before
2 and got my shower out of the way, Sheila returned after I was
done - we
had plans to go ashore to do some shopping and figured we wanted to
be off the
ship by 3. I headed up to the internet Cafe to instant message with
SB while she got her shower & got ready. All too soon Sheila arrived -
dang,
I wouldnt have minded if she took hours to get
ready, lol.
We headed
off the ship, and were surprised to see quite a few police officers
carrying M16
rifles. That seemed a bit much, but we just took it as a cue to
not do
anything stupid <g>. Cozumel hasnt changed - its still
congested,
thanks to all of the cruise ships. The sidewalks in front of the shops
are
pathetic - huge holes covered with pieces of
plywood or tile. Heaven help
anyone in a wheelchair! The constant solicitation
by the shopkeepers trying to
get
us into
their store got tiresome, but we knew what we were looking for and
ignored them
all. Sheila bought a pretty slide for her mom for Christmas, and a
necklace to
wear with her dress tomorrow. I just got some vanilla for a
friend. Ive
been here enough times there isnt anything else I want or
need.
We returned
to the ship around 4:30 or so, and decided to finish our wine
while
watching the sunset. We took the wine up to deck 10 but the sunset was
not
the greatest
- too many low clouds. It was fun watching several of the
cruise ships
sail away, however. By 7 or 8 we were the only one left at this
dock
area. We walked around on deck 10, doing a mile up there, then went down
to
the stateroom. I poured the rest of my wine, and
went up to the internet Caf
for about an hour. When I returned Sheila was
out, so I headed up to do some
walking on deck 4 since there was plenty of time
before I needed to dress for
the evening. Deck 4 was partially closed off, so
I went up to deck 10 and
walked 2 miles up there. When I returned to the
stateroom Sheila was there -
shed been
wandering around decks 9 & 10 but we never ran across each other. We
hung out in the stateroom until it was time to go up to Animators
Palate for
our 8:30 dinner (which feels like 9:30 to us).
Tonight is
the special Pirates of the Caribbean menu, which Im looking
forward to.
They also give everyone a bandana, but I refuse to wear stuff like
that. I
dont do the little Dutch girl hat on HAL cruises, so Im certainly
not
wrapping a
bandana around my head here, lol! Tonight Dawn wasnt feeling
well, so it
was just 5 of us at dinner. Diane & Sheila had the crabcake
appetizer,
Dennis had the crab/shrimp/salmon appetizer, and Bonnie & I ordered
the
pineapple. This was a fresh pineapple spear accompanied by a
coconut-covered
banana & orange glaze. It was fabulous!! I also
ordered the chilled honeydew &
mango soup, but didnt like it because the mango
flavor was too predominant.
The others had a salad or spicy vegetable gumbo
soup.
The entrees
were really terrific. Three of them had the shrimp and scallops
over pasta,
Bonnie had the roasted pork loin, and I decided to try seafood
even though
I generally hate seafood. My friend Michael is a big seafood lover,
and before the cruise wed talked about red snapper - he showed me sites
on
the internet, and thought I would like the flavor
of the fish. Tonight it was
coconut crusted oven-baked snapper (Dennis said
it was red snapper), served
over fried rice. I cautiously took a small bite,
and loved it - I ate almost
the whole portion! The coconut really added to
it, giving it a nice sweet
flavor.
During
dinner I had one of those moments where you just want to crawl under
the table &
disappear. We were discussing the Pirates of the Caribbean movie,
and I
commented that I might be the only woman who found Johnny Depp to NOT be
appealing at
all. Sheila piped up to explain to everyone that its just
because I
dont like men with beards & long hair. Dennis was seated to my
right,
with his
full beard and long hair pulled back in a pony tail! I wanted to
smack her,
lol - and I didnt know what to say to Dennis that wouldnt
make it
worse than
it already sounded. Sheila did that for me - she told Dennis that
didnt mean
I wouldnt speak to him, just that I wouldnt want to snuggle
with
him.
HELLO????? His wife was happy to hear that, but I certainly had no
desire to
snuggle with anyone other than SB <g>. Luckily Dennis didnt hold
this
little conversation against us, and afterwards it did seem a little
humorous.
The servers
all did the limbo parade, getting most of the guests up in the
process. We ordered dessert - Dennis tried the sugarfree rice pudding,
which
was so awful he didnt eat it. The rest of us had
the white chocolate
cheesecake on a macadamia barnacle bottom - that
was very good, and pretty
light for
cheesecake.
We were finished with dinner just in time for the deck party and
pirates buffet. Sheila headed up on deck, but I went to the internet
Caf
where SB was waiting online. The fireworks were
due to begin at 10:45, and I
almost missed them. I left the internet Cafe at
10:40, took the elevator up to
deck 10, climbed back down to deck 9 (the
fireworks are shot from deck 10 near
Palo), then climbed up the stairs to deck 10 midship. Just as I got to
the top
of the stairs the fireworks started, scaring the
crap out of me! I have to
admit - I was impressed with the fireworks. I
wasnt expecting much, but
they
were a nice
big display and overall more than I thought theyd do.
Im
not
impressed with the deck party - I hate those things because theyre too
crowded &
noisy. I guess Im not a party animal! Deck 9 by the Goofy pool
and
deck 10 in that area was wall-to-wall people. The characters were on
stage,
except for Mickey, who was up on deck 10. I
didnt see or hear the show they
did, since
Id rather be talking to SB than watching the characters (not that
hes not a
character every now & then). We decided to get out of the crowd and
headed back
down to the stateroom.
I updated
the report and Sheila watched some tv. The clocks get moved
forward an
hour tonight, so tomorrow well actually be at the time we started
out
at. Our
steward left us a towel frog who was wearing my sunglasses. Hes
never
taken away
the other animals, so weve got quite a zoo developing in our
stateroom.
Were starting to run out of room for them, too!
Today was
another great day. I just love cruising, and especially being on
the ship on
port days. The weather has been perfect, we got our shopping done,
dinner was
one of the best menus yet, and the fireworks exceeded my
expectations.
DAY 7 THURSDAY DEC 9, 2004:
Plan: Sea
Day
Actual: I
woke up before 7, and decided to get up and start the day. After
I got
dressed Sheila was awake, so I headed up to walk on deck 4 and agreed
to meet her
there when she got upstairs. It was very windy today, and the ship
was moving
pretty fast. I did 3 miles, and I think Sheila did 2. We went
inside to
the internet Cafe to send some stuff to Mary, and found SB online.
Sheila sat back where she couldnt see our instant message, which was
very
considerate of her. We got the Mary stuff taken
care of, and I stayed to talk
to
SB for a
while longer. This unlimited internet package has been so great -
worth every
penny!
I met Sheila
up on deck 9 for breakfast, which we ate outside in the sun. We
had the usual breakfast foods - why mess with success, lol! After eating
we
stopped at the shops so I could buy a 2004 DCL
photo album, then returned to
the stateroom to change into our swimsuits. Since
the ship was going to be so
mobbed today we decided to lay out on the
secret deck 7 aft. Theres
also
shade there,
which is important for Sheila.
We were up
there from about 9:30 until afternoon. I had my sunny spot,
Sheila
stayed in the shade, and different people came & went throughout our
stay.
I finally
left shortly after 2, having had enough sun at that point. Sheila
was
engrossed in Leannes novel, and just moved her chair to follow the shade.
I took a
brief break to jump online, catching SB just before he headed out
for a while. On the way back I stopped on deck 9 to get a banana for my
lunch
and a chocolate chip cookie for each of us. Deck
9 was sheer bedlam I
dont
know how
people stand it, even though they have small children. Once I left
for good I
returned to the stateroom and updated the report, then worked on
the photos
taken so far (downloading, naming, deleted the unwanted ones, etc).
My hotel
Sunday night has high -speed internet, so I wanted them all ready to
be uploaded while I was there.
After
finishing with the photos I went up to the internet Cafe and spent
another 45
minutes chatting with SB. By the time I finished I was starving, so
I
went in search of food that wasnt fruit or chocolate chip cookies. Up
on
deck 9 I settled on a single chicken finger,
which hit the spot. I took it back
to the
stateroom and found Sheila there. We had about 15 minutes before our
4:30 Fitball
class up in the spa.
There were
only 5 people taking the class - 2 men, another woman and us. Im convinced the
instructor is possessed by some evil force. That girl has
more energy
than a kindergarten class, and had everyone sweating up a storm. It
was a great
class, but its also a tough workout. When it ended we walked a
mile on deck
10. It was so windy we only lasted a mile before heading back
down to the
stateroom shortly before 6. Once the sun sets it gets cool really
quickly,
particularly with the wind.
I updated
the report and Sheila filled out the tip stuff & took care of that
at the front desk. I took my shower first, ran up to the internet Cafe
while
Sheila showered. SB & chatted for about half an
hour, then I returned to the
stateroom and poured Sheila & I some of the rosa
regale. It should be gone
tonight - provided we each drink 1.5 glasses,
which is easy to do. Around
7:30
we went
upstairs to sit in the Promenade Lounge and do some people-watching.
The lounge
was hopping, with lots of people on the dance floor.
At 8:30 we
went to Parrot Cay for our dinner. Everyone was at the table
tonight.
Tonight is the Captains gala dinner, with semi-formal dress. We saw
several people dressed appropriately (looking very nice) but also way
too many
yahoos who either dont know or dont care how to
dress. Ill admit
this
is a pet
peeve of mine, and I go more casual than normal because I know Disney
doesnt
enforce their dress code. Enough complaining, though <g>.
This dinner
menu is not one of my favorites - in fact, the warm chocolate
lava cake is
the only thing that really appeals to me out of the entire meal.
For an
appetizer I ordered the tropical fruit salad, but only ate the 3 pieces
of pineapple because I didnt like the other fruits. Others had the
fruit
also, or soup, and Dennis had the clams. I
skipped the soup/salad course others
had the
cream of mushroom soup, the chilled tomato consomm or the garden
salad. For
an entre Sheila & Dennis had the lobster tail, which was quite
large. I
tried a taste, but I still dont like lobster at all. SB absolutely
loves
lobster, and it had been a long time since Id tried it - I was
thinking
maybe Id
developed a taste for it after all, but that didnt happen! When
Dennis
finished his our server came over and asked him if he wanted another
lobster tail
- which he gladly accepted. Dawn had the grain fed chicken
breast,
Bonnie &
Diane had the pasta, and I ordered the halibut. Again, Im not a
seafood
eater - but nothing else on the menu really appealed to me. The fish
was
ok, but not something Id seek out in the future.
Dessert was
the highlight - Bonnie ordered the cherries jubilee, Dennis
ordered just
coffee, but the rest of us had the warm chocolate lava cake,
which
now is
served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Our server
brought over
a covered plate to Dennis, and asked him to remove the lid. On the
plate, written in chocolate, was “just coffee”, lol! After dinner I
went
back
to the
internet Cafe, for my end-of-the-day talk with SB, and then met up with
Sheila out
in the atrium. There was a holiday program with a choir and Mrs
Claus just
ending. We went out to deck 4 and walked a couple of laps before
returning to
the stateroom to update the report (me) and get out of the
uncomfortable shoes (Sheila).
Tonight is
the dessert extravaganza in Lumieres at 11:15, and for whatever
reason we
decided to attend. I dont think either of us wants to eat a single
thing, but
if anything looks too good to pass up we will take it back to eat
tomorrow. We
headed upstairs around 11:05 and joined the back of the line that
had already
formed. They started letting people in early, which was a good
thing. I
thought the dessert extravaganza was a big disappointment it
consisted of
several tables with a few cakes on each one. Who wants big slices
of cakes??
The desserts should be smaller sized so you can try a number of
things.
Nothing really looked great to us, either. I took some photos and
Sheila
carried a plate. We ended up with a petit-four thing and what might be a
truffle. The
plates were warm, so the chocolate started to melt right away. In
the
stateroom I transferred the chocolate into a Ziploc bag and when I tasted
the
chocolate that had gotten on my fingers I didnt like it at all. Oh
well, I told
Sheila this was probably a good thing since if it tastes lousy I
wont eat it
tomorrow!
Today was
another relaxing day, filled with a couple of my favorite things -
lounging
around on a deck chair and talking to SB. Tomorrow is our last full
day, and
well both be sorry to see the cruise come to an end.
DAY 8 FRIDAY DEC 10, 2004:
Plan:
Castaway Cay
Actual: This
morning I woke up around 7:10 - definitely too late to make
the 7:15
Fitball class! That was ok though, as I was more in the mood to just
walk. I got
up and got dressed, then found Sheila awake when I came out of the
bathroom. We
agreed to meet up on deck 4, and I headed out. SB had said hed look for me
early, but I thought 7:20 was too early. However, I took a
chance & he
came on just after I did. We talked for a while, during which time
Sheila
dressed & started walking on deck 4. When she didnt see me she
figured
I was
talking to him, lol. I caught up with her eventually and we walked 2
miles this
morning.
After our
walk we stopped at the stateroom to get my cappuccino then headed
up to
Topsiders on deck 9. We had the usual breakfast stuff, plus at Sheilas
suggestion
we picked up cereal, milk & yogurt for breakfast tomorrow. That
way we dont have to sit in Lumieres and can avoid the screaming kids,
strollers
and suitcases that will be crowded into Topsiders. Its always such
a mess
on the last
day - Disney really should take a lesson from HAL on how to
handle this better.
We ate out
on the deck and soon the ship turned to back into Castaway Cay.
After eating
we changed into our swimsuits and walked off the ship with just a
few minutes
wait. The winter wonderland I thought existed on Castaway Cay
was a huge
disappointment. Its basically a tree and a plastic snowman couple
on the dock
- with the fake snow blowing. Once you get onto the island
itself,
theres no holiday stuff. They did decorate the trams with garland
and
antlers,
which was cute. However, I guess I was expecting more.
We decided
to set up camp at the far end of the family beach. The downside
is
screaming, crying kids but the plus side is convenience and what we feel is
actually a
prettier beach than the adult beach. We were the first to arrive
out that
far, so we got a hammock, umbrella and chairs in the front row. It
was
beautiful for almost an hour, then it got very cloudy & windy. I was
actually
cold in the hammock! We decided to give it a half-hour, but it turned
nice
again and we ended up staying until
2pm (4 hours).
We had lunch
at Cookies BBQ - we each had a little potato salad and half of
a
cheeseburger. I looked at the ribs, but I always take some and theyre
never that
great. This time I was smart and skipped them. We walked back to
the
ship at 2 so
we could take photos along the way, including some by the winter wonderland
scene <g>. Once we were back on the ship I went to the
internet
Cafe briefly
and Sheila worked on redoing her fingernails. I downloaded the
photos from
both of our cameras, and copied a few of mine into her directory
so shed
have them too.
When that
was done we went up on deck to walk around. Deck 4 was partially
closed off
because they were washing the lifeboats, so we headed up to deck 10
and did
several laps up there. The final stragglers were returning to the
ship, with
everyone due on board by 4:30. I stopped in Cove Cafe and talked to
SB, while
Sheila wandered around some more. Just before 5 I remembered the
sailaway,
but got there after the ropes had been pulled in and the ship had
pushed away
from the dock. I usually enjoy watching that, but given a choice
between SB
and sailing away, I dont mind that I missed the sailing away.
Its a
little sad
that this is probably my last visit to Castaway Cay, which is a
very nice
island. However, thats by my choice - there are just too many
other
things I
want to do more, and Disney prices for DVC members have truly gotten
ridiculous.
I returned
to the stateroom once I saw there wouldnt be a nice sunset
tonight, and
found Sheila getting ready to take her shower. I started my
packing
while she
was in the shower, then she started hers while I took my shower. The
Captain came
on & warned everyone the high temperature tomorrow is expected to
be around 60 - but Id already checked online and knew a cold front was
passing
through tonight. Theyre expecting windier conditions than any of the
previous
nights, due to the cold front.
After wed
packed as much as we could we went upstairs and took some photos
by the
Christmas tree, then came back to the stateroom and downloaded them.
When that
was done we headed upstairs in search of alcohol. I wanted a glass of
the moscato, but that isnt sold everywhere. We stopped by the piano bar
lounge on
Beat Street (Sessions?) but neither of us liked the stale cigarette
stink in
there so we didnt stay. I knew Palo had the moscato, so we headed
up
there. PJ
was outside the restaurant and assured us we were welcome at the
bar.
I got my
wine, Sheila ordered a kahlua & cream, and we both enjoyed chatting
with the bartender for the next hour. We left around 8 and stopped at
Cove
Cafe, where I got online briefly to chat with SB.
Just before 8:30 we entered
Lumieres for our final dinner of the cruise.
Dinner was
excellent, and tonight they did the parade of nations and the
baked Alaska
presentation. Our serving team both have a great sense of humor,and
itll be a
shame to leave them. Our dinner companions were all very nice -
but also
very interesting in a number of quirky ways Ive chosen to leave out
of the
report (I did verify they dont read Disney stuff online).
Tonights
menu had the appetizer chicken tenderloins coated in cracker, with
honey mustard sauce. Thats my single favorite appetizer, so I ordered
that.
Dawn & Bonnie did also, and Bonnie liked them so
much she asked to skip her
salad in favor for another chicken appetizer.
Sheila and Dennis had the
crawfish & lobster bisque, and Diane had a salad.
Dennis also had some seafood
thing with shrimp, salmon and Im not sure what
else. For my entrée I
ordered the
roasted red
snapper (to give it a try) and it was perhaps the best non-Palo
entre I had
all week! I was so surprised that I really liked it a lot, and I
ate the
entire portion of fish (granted, its not that big, but still). It
was served
on a spicy orange sauce, which had a nice kick to it. Sheila & Diane
had the
seafood linguine, Dennis had the boneless lamb and Dawn & Bonnie had
the beef
tenderloin.
I skipped
dessert tonight - Ive had most of them before and for me at least
none are
worth the calories. Dawn & Bonnie had the Chocolate Decadence,
which is a
small ice cream sundae with a chocolate mousse pastry & chocolate
cookie. It sounds a WHOLE lot better than it ever was when I ordered it.
Diane
had the banana napoleon and Sheila had the deep
dish apple cranberry pie (very
good). Dennis skipped dessert also.
I said my
goodbyes to the group and headed back up to Cove Cafe to meet SB
online at
10. My friend Maria instant messaged me just before SB got on,
wanting to
know what the hotel tax rate is on Hilton Head Island. I laughed -
do I
look like a freakin South Carolina tax expert??
I had to sweetly remind her
I dont pay hotel tax, being part of the DVC
elite <g>. Sheila arrived while
I was instant messaging with SB, and sat on one
of the couches to read more
Leannes smutty book. Seriously, its an
excellent book - Sheila just
keeps
blushing at
all of the sex & smut because she knows the author. She didnt
think Leanne
thought like that, but you cant get that book out of Sheilas
hands
without
risking losing a limb!
When I
finished with SB I went over and joined Sheila. We sat there chatting for a
while, and I ordered a Cafe Toledo - chocolate flavored coffee with
baileys,
kahlua and whipped cream. It was very good! We got back to the
stateroom
before 11 and finished with the luggage we wanted them to handle for
us. I
finished up
todays report and Sheila continued her smut-fest reading
Highland
Wishes (a book I highly recommend to anyone).
Today was a
beautiful day on the island, except for the brief period when it
was pretty chilly. Its been a wonderful cruise, but Im ready to get
back
to the real world again.
DAY 9 SATURDAY DEC 11, 2004:
Plan: Leave
Magic, return home
Actual: All
good things must come to an end, including cruises. When I
woke up at 5
we were already docked in Port Canaveral. I turned on my phone but
didnt get
up until 6. After getting dressed I went upstairs to make
cappuccino
and get online at the internet Cafe (basically killing time I
knew SB
wouldnt be
up that early <g>). Sheila stopped by after she got dressed, then
we
ate breakfast in the stateroom (cereal & bananas from yesterday). Around
7:45 she saw people leaving the
ship, so we grabbed our luggage and headed out.
Getting off
the ship was a breeze, but getting out of the terminal was a pain
due to the long lines of people. The people working did the best they
can -
there is just an awful lot of people in the same
place at the same time. We
were on the road by 8:15, which wasnt bad at
all.
We stopped
in Sebring, where I had left my car at Sheilas parents house,
then I
continued home to Ft Myers on my own. The trip home from the ship took
just about
4.5 hours, which feels like a very long time after being on a
cruise for a
week!
SUMMARY:
This is the
first time Ive finished a Disney cruise without having another
one booked or at least planned. However, I keep looking at the points
chart
and cannot bring myself to book it even though I
technically have enough points
to do so. If Im going to use my cash, Ill book
HAL - so Im afraid my
DCL
days are
over. I will miss the ship, as its almost like a 3rd home (after
dvc resorts)
to me, and Ill especially miss Palo.
We both had
a wonderful week. Sheila is the perfect travel companion we
get along
well and both feel free to do things together or separately. Our next
trips
together will be 1 night in January for the Disney Marathon, and then well
spend a week in Hilton Head in April (provided there is still
availability
when I call this week).
MAGICAL
MOMENTS:
- The
holiday decor on the ship was really pretty, and the
Christmas
music in the background was a nice touch. Finally being able to see
this
made my final Disney cruise a little extra special.
- The
internet package made it so easy to stay in touch with SB
during the
trip. Were living in different states right now, and are used to
talking
several times a day. The thought of going 6-7 days without that contact
was not a
good thing, so I was very glad to have the internet available.
Perhaps
someday Disney will let guests access the package from their own laptops
- that would
make it perfect!
- Palo
dinner & brunch were both excellent! The restaurant is
beautiful
yet comfortable. The service is top-notch. The food is excellent and
is
served with an excellent presentation. Theres simply nothing I dont
love
about Palo - except perhaps that I cant eat
there every night <g>!
- Staying
onboard while in port was an excellent decision for us.
We both
cruise with the single goal of relaxing, and theres nothing more
relaxing
than lounging around on an almost deserted cruise ship all day!
Weve
cruised
enough that the ports are been there, done that to both of us, but
we
really enjoy
seeing everyone else disembarking!
- The new
fireworks display was a very nice surprise. I had no idea
they were
starting this, and was quite impressed by what a nice job they did.
Its a dont-miss for any future Magic cruisers!
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