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Disney
Magic
November
22-29, 2003
Just ask our travel agent Tim Larison, I have been
planning this trip since May (shortly after the last
land/sea and right before buying into DVC).
It started as 7 of us on the
Thanksgiving Magic, a 7 or 8 day trip, it ended up being 8 of us in all on an 11
day trip! It is really long, be
prepared.
Cast
me, hubby Vince, our girls Wendy (15), Michaela(6) and
Sierra (5), Wendy’s
friend Brittany (14), my mom Donna and Step-dad Len.
2 connecting rooms 7528 and 7530
11/22 Thanksgiving Magic - precruise and embarkation
day
Pre-Cruise
Mom is a snow bird so they were already in
Florida
. They went over Wed 11/19
and stayed at a studio at the Wilderness Lodge on our points. The other 6 of
us flew in on Thursday night after work & school, luckily uneventful and
even
early on Delta, straight thru flight. We arrived right before 9 pm. Went down
to find our driver with Yourride and surprise the girls with the limo and to see
if all our luggage made it. I booked a stretch limo for this leg of the trip
only, the rest will be in a van. We couldn’t find our driver so we headed over
to baggage claim and while the other 5 kept getting luggage off, I kept a
lookout for our driver and tried to call the company but the cell phone kept
hanging up in baggage claim. 4 kids, especially 2 teen have alot of luggage for
11
days! It was all there. A nice porter offered to help and when we said we had
a driver, he ran right over, picked him out immediately and hooked us up so
we gave him our business. We did get down there earlier than expected and our
luggage came really quickly. We were on our way in the limo within minutes.
Although not as appreciative as I thought they should be,
all 4 girls and even
hubby had a great time in the limo drinking cokes out of the minibar and playing
Disney trivia with the driver. He was great, wish he could be our driver the
rest of the trip but he only does limo’s. I think the teens were always
expecting a limo from that point out but they were wrong. Mom had already
checked
into our 2 bedroom at the Beach Club, room 154, loved it! She was waiting
downstairs as our limo pulled up. The 6 of us were hungry so we headed down to
Beaches & Cream. I only like their ice cream but they were about the only
thing
open. I should have just gotten ice cream. Vince and Michaela had the hot dog and
loved it. Sierra just wanted Strawberry Shortcake but didn’t make a dent in
it,
it was huge! I didn’t like my turkey sandwich. We walked around and then went
to bed.
Friday - Went to Fresh Mediterranian Market at the
Dolphin for Breakfast.
This is one of the best meals we had the whole trip. everyone, even my picky
mother absolutely loved it. We then went back so the girls could go swimming at
Storm Along Bay. We stayed there until time to get ready for dinner at Trails
End at
Fort
Wilderness
and the movie at the Campground, Jungle Book. Dinner was
very good. The teens took the boat over to Contemperary and road the monorail
and did the arcade and met us back after the movie.
Saturday (We are going to the boat!) - We woke up
early and had breakfast at
Kona Cafe at the Poly. It was the most disappointing meal of the trip. Ok, but
nothing special and the service was horrible, but since we had 8, she got her
tip no matter what. We headed back to the Beach Club to call the bell hop and
meet our driver. He was waiting for us even before bell services got up to
our room. It worried us because it was Alladin tours and not Your ride but he
knew alot of info so we got in. Your ride had farmed out this leg(and the other
2) and they were great but it would be nice to know. Mom thought they were
stealing us away from Your ride. We were at the port in no time and I was
feeling
very sick. I was so scared I was going to throw up in the terminal and be
sent home. Mom gave me some kind of gum and I felt better just as we got out of
the van. I think it was due to breakfast but 3 of us had the Tonga Toast and no
one else was sick. Traffic was bad getting in but once we were in the Disney
lot, we got right in. The teens took the little ones to watch TV and see Max
while the grownups checked in. Got checked in in no time! Walked right on the
ship. I headed to get our Brunch ressies with no problem, and the others headed
to the room. We met our room steward, Samuel from
Costa Rica
and he was
absolutely the best! We changed into bathing suits and mom headed to fix one of
her
shore excursions and me, Vince and the 2 little ones headed to lunch. The
teens left us for the trip and we barely saw them again. Mom and Len joined us
very shortly. I wanted Parrot Cay but by this time it was after
2pm
and it was
closed. The embarktation buffet on the Wonder was really bad when we went but
this was great. The desserts were very good as well.
We then took the girls to
the Mickey pool until the drill. Drill went very quickly, we were outside and
then we headed to the Sail Away. I had some unpacking to do so I met mom and
the girls there. My girls hate loud music so I was very suprised to find them
in the midst of all of it on the dance floor. Then we went back to the Mickey
Pool until time to get ready for dinner in Parrot Cay. This was the dinner I
had been waiting for, I love their ribs. Overall, the Magic’s food seemed to
be
alittle under par from the Wonders but it could be because of all our
anticipation of our favorites. I also had the Chicken wings, excellent as usual
and
the Sweet Onion soup was fabulous. The girls fell asleep at the table so we
didn’t get to do Sierra’s birthday cake, they told me they would do it
Sunday. Mom
had the
Kentucky
bourbon pecan pie and is still talking about it. If it was a
dessert with liquor in it, it became mom’s best friend but this was by far
her fav. Len had the lemon meringe pie and said it was wonderful and Vince had
the Creme brulee as usual. I had left and brought the girls up to the room and
the teens left as soon as they ate their main course to get up to the teen
club. Navneet from
India
was our main server and he was nice enough to send up 2
banana cupcakes for me & Sierra after dinner. This was Sierra’s fav last
time
and mine too(it is on the kids menu) but this time they were horrible, very
dry. Mom & Len explored, we lounged in the room with the girls and the teens
lived at the stack.
Both rooms had towels and pins for the Castaway Cay Club
and we had the photo
book gift package from Tim.
This was moms, Lens and
Brittany
’s first cruise. Girls came in around
midnight
I think. luckily they ended up in moms room so she had the pleasure of
making sure they were in every night. Very calm seas so far!
Sunday Nov 23rd - Our 1st day at CC! We had 2 days at
CC this week instead of Key West due to the Power Boat
Competition. Vince, the teens and I had the Nature &
Kayak excursion booked this morning while mom & Len
took the girls to the beach. The teens had breakfast delivered while
I took the girls up to topsiders.
The Nature & Kayak excursion was one of the best I have
ever done. I have lost over 50 pounds in the past year
& half but still have some to go and I am not the most
active person in the world. When I read about this, I really wanted to
do it. I have also never been in a kayak and will not come close to a canoe.
My family thought I had flipped. My husband said he would go with me, if nothing
else to take a picture of me when they airlifted me off the island, he is
so supportive! I got the teen's biology and P.E. teachers to give them credit
relating to this excursion so they were forced to go as well. It is described
as a 40 minute walk to your 1 hour kayak to a 30 minute swim on a private
beach and then a 20 minute walk back. Ricky was our guide and he
had to assistants, Joey and I can't remember the guy's
name. They were all great but Ricky was the best. Once he
found out this was the girls homework, he took extra time to
point things out and told them to write this down, spelled things for them,
told them some stuff he thought would impress the teachers, etc. The walk
wasn't bad because we stopped alot to see animals, birds, plants,
etc and discuss them. Then we got in the 2 person kayaks
and headed to our private beach. We saw sharks while
kayaking and stingrays. The 2 old folks beat the teens both ways!
The beach was amazing, we found lots of stuff for thier report and Vince found
the biggest Florida Horse Konk(alive) that the guide had ever seen. The girls
had a blast finding stuff, having Vince come over to pick it up(just in case)
and then running it over to the guides to find out what it was then take
their pictures for their report. Really cool! Then we kayaked back and then
walked back down the bike path back to the adult beach.
I was tired and hungry at that point so Vince & I ate at
the adult beach, bummed because they didn't have ribs but
i heard they had them at Cookies. But the chicken was
about the best I have ever had and the slaw was great too. I absolutely
love their Strawberry frozen yogurt and it did not disapoint. The teen
girls headed back for room service. We found mom, Len & the girls at the
gift shop on the island(big suprise) and then we headed back to
the boat, we were pretty tired.
Tonight was Lumiere's. Len got too much sun and slept for a
day, he missed dinner tonight. Lumiere's is my least fav
menu, sorry. But we love the Deep fried camembert Fritters
but they were not as good as on the Wonder. I had the cream
of Cauliflower soup and it was wonderful and I had the Beef Tenderloin. I
had the White chocolate domes(wonderful) and mom & I both had
the Grand Marnier souffle. The souffle was too eggy for me
but the sauce was good! Mom only ate the crust part and
dipped it in the sauce but she approved.
I forgot that they brought Sierra's birthday cake tonight. But
they came over to sing to her and it was mostly men, which
Sierra is scared of, especially a big crowd of them. They
promptly stopped mid verse and left the cake. We took it
back to the room and it was great, we ate it most of the week. It was the
white on with confetti on it, one of the best cakes I have had.
She also got a pin saying "I'm Celebrating"
Nobody saw Hercules tonight, we took the girls to see Brother
Bear and we really liked it although I cried most of the
way thru too. The teens went to the stack. Mom went
shopping and exploring then retired on the verandah.
Day 3 Monday
1st day at Sea
This was our Palo's brunch day! We are not really interested
in the adult only rest or the menu we have seen but was
really looking forward to brunch. We had ressies for 11.
We let the kids sleep in, the big ones ordered room service
and I took the little ones up to the buffet for breakfast. Even on the navigator,
it said jackets required for brunch. When we got up there, all the guys
were in polo shirts and some even in shorts. No one was in jackets except
our 2. Boy were they miffed! Kristian was our server and we have
never eaten so much food in our life. Very good. The
stollen with almond paste with fruit and whipped cream was
indescribable. Absolute heaven. Tiramasu was good but not the
best, better later at dinner. The chocolate pie thingy was good but strong.
Capacinno mouse was ok. Omelets were wonderful, entrees were so so, too many
desserts to try though. I also had the extreme mimosa which was good. After,
we took the kids to swim and get chicken fingers and pizza from Pluto's
and Pinnochio's. Then up for a nap.
We had problems getting ready on time for dinner this whole
trip, I guess it is since there is 8 of us! Vince & I
were the only ones ready so we headed down to the CC
reception. We didn't get there until 45 minutes after it started so
we had some appetizers and drinks. Also today was formal night and our whole
clan cleans up very nicely. I think everyone enjoyed getting all fancy.
We ate at Animators Palate and I can say that the Butternut
Squash soup is wonderful as well as the boston creme pie.
Len & I went to see Darren Romeo after dinner. I think he
does an incredible job at the impersonations, I didn't
like the other part of the show but the impersonations
were absolutely the best.
Kids passed out right after dinner each night.
Day 4 Grand Cayman
Our ship got in later than normal to Grand Cayman because of
being at CC on Sunday instead of Key West but we knew this so we
had the first Stingray excursion scheduled at 10:30 am.
All 8 of us were doing this! This was the first excursion
that meets on the pier so we headed to the tender. Very
smooth ride, everyone enjoyed it. We got there way early so we shopped at
the little store right next to the meeting place for Disney
excursions. That's the only store that our 6 shopped at
but we got a lot. I was disappointed when the 4 beautiful
Grand Cayman outfits I bought turned out to be made in India and
elsewhere! Oh well, should have read the tag.
Pretty soon we were on our way to the
buses and then at the dock. Everything went smoothly. We loved the swim
with the stingrays, the little ones were a little aprehensive but did well.
I have never been scared of stingrays but trying to handle the
waves, a 5 year old and worry about stepping on one, I was
a little nervous as well. I have fed many stingrays so
know the drill but these are very well trained stingrays.
We did not get to hold it down in our hands and they just suck it up. I had
2 or 3 very large stingray friends and when they knew I had the
squid, they would head butt me in the chest until I
dropped the squid and then swim off with it. Very cool but
strange. Vince & I took the little ones back on the boat a little
early and while changing, our 6 year old locked herself in the bathroom.
She was hysterical, we tried to talk to her and get her to unlock it but she
had lost it. We visited one of the crew and they had it popped
open in about 30 seconds. Our excitement for the
day!
Afterwards, mom & len went shopping and
the 6 of us went to get our picks from the store and headed back. Disney does
the tenders right with drinks and tents and lots of boats going back &
forth. Mom picked up some rum cakes for me and these are the
best. We didn't get enough, since we ate most of them so I
just ordered online for more. I tried to convince my hubby
that we had to go back to get more rum cakes and he pulled out
the reorder form! Darn! It was free shipping and they will be here before
Christmas so that works, still would rather go get them myself.
I think we rested for a while before dinner. Tonight was
Parrot Cay and the It's a small world menu. I had the
Fresh fruit with Citrus sherbert(very yummy), romaine
& grape fruit salad(yummy as well), I tried some of Vince's quesadillas(very
good) and I tried the Roasted Chicken from India, I wasn't feeling my best
so was worried, but this was extremely good. I am not that much of an adventurous
eater but this was good. And the Tiramasu which says it is from Palos,
was much better than the one we had at Palo's, extremely good. Len
had seafood most time and everything was excellent.
Len & I saw Darren Romeo tonight and the only part I liked
was the Impersonations, they were out of this world.
Day 5 Cozumel
I think we all did the usual for breakfast, some room service
some topsiders. me, Vince, Wendy, Brittany, Michaela, and
Sierra were doing the Dolphin Encounter at Chakanaab park
today and we met at 10:30 to leave. Mom & Len were doing
the Fury Cruise and it left at 12:30. I think they explored the ship and took
pictures of Cozumel until they left.
Chakanaab - We had wanted to do the Dolphin Encounter when we
went to Nassau last time but it was fully booked so we
were so looking forward to this. I had prewarned the teens
that they had better act like this was the best thing we had
ever done since it cost around $600 for the 6 of us to do. We got to the meeting
place and waited for the ship to clear and our vendor to come up to get us.
He never did, Disney finally took us to him on the dock. Not off to a good
start. So they take us over and we go down the dock, up the escalators, over
the road, and then down the escalators to get the cabs. We got a
van with another couple and their toddler.
I have to say that you have not lived until you have
taken a cab in Cozumel. We have taken one in Jamaica and it was something
but this is by far the scariest thing I have ever done. First we start going
down all these streets and allies at full speed, and assumed we
were on our way to Chakanaab, nope about 10 minutes later
we realized you can't turn left out of the mall so you had
to do all that just to turn around. Got to be an easier
way. I have never seen so many vw bugs in my life. One was sticking out of
the ally and our taxi driver kept going and I can tell you there
was not more than 1/4 inch between us and them. Wendy and
I were in hysterics, my husband was clueless and just
jabbering with the lady in the seat next to him! I was waiting
for the scraping sound but somehow he cleared him.
So the drive to chakanaab was not too
far and we were about to be with the dolphins! So we thought.
We got the speech, changed clothes, put everything in the locker(they provide)
and gather around. Well they ran out of children's lifejackets and we still
had about 15 kids that needed them. They were bringing them over
2 at a time. Finally after atleast 20-30 minutes, they had
enough for everyone. We go down and wait next to the
dolphin tanks for another 30 minutes or more. Many of us were
getting down right impatient. For all that money, you would think they would
have their act together. Finally we move but in the wrong direction. they
decide we were going to see the Sea Lion show first. We wait in
line over by the sea lion show for about 10 minutes. We
were next to last and everyone was getting mad. Finally
the employee comes up from behind and says sorry, we are going
to do the dolphins now, let's go. So we ended up being 1st in line! Hesaid that
some of the dolphins were not cooperating so it put them behind, I mentioned
kids do the same thing! hint, hint. So as we pass by some of the dolphin
areas, he says they have 2 dolphin babies and shows us Foxy and her baby and
then we see the other one. Foxy and the other momma are still working so the
ones that get in those areas, get up close and personal with the
babies, unfortunately not us. All of the areas, have steps
that go right to the platform that you stand on except
one. Guess which one we got! Michaela and Sierra can't swim
and this is really deep water. So Vince swims over with Michaela riding on
him and I get Sierra, luckily she is tiny. I am huffing and puffing but we
make it fine. The encounter is really cool and you are in the
water for a very long time, 40 minutes or more I think. It
more than makes up for all the waiting.
We bought the video and lots of photo's and it came to about
$123 Us. I know not to use my CC in Cozumel but since this
park is so recognized, etc I decided to use it. When I got
my cc slip to sign, I nearly had a heart attack. It said
$1420!!! The clerk saw my face and said "No, that is peso's, peso's"
and wrote the $123 US at the bottom. (Soon as we docked in
Florida and I could get cell phone service, I called and
sure enough I was charged $128, I can handle that).
The girls shopped at the shops and we went to the little
beach.Sierra fell in love with it. We all did. We didn't even see the snorkeling
area, it looked very cool when we saw it. We missed the
sea lion show too because we wanted to get back. We did
not see hardly any of the park, really wished wehad, maybe next time.
We went down right before 3:30 to wait for our cab. We had
to split into 2 because they didn't have any vans right then. So
Vince took Michaela and Brittany and I took Wendy &
Sierra. About half way back, they pass us and then a
minute or two later, we come to a screeching halt behind another
cab, with about 2 inches to spare which sends poor Sierra up to the front
seat. Our driver is yelling at a car ahead of us saying "idioso"
and I ask what happened. He said he did a "circle in
the middle of the street", I ask "a u-turn"
and he says "no! circle in middle of street", ok I don't know the
difference but oh well.
The teens were supposed to be getting info and pictures about
cozumel but all the camera's were with Brittany and she wasn't
getting our sign language until they passed us. After we
got back to the mall, Vince took the teens shopping and
gave them a lesson on bartering and I took the little ones back
to the ship. We seemed to always miss the sit down lunch so we got room service.
Vince & the teens returned shortly after and showed off all their purchases,
mostly jewelry and bragging about talking down the price, Now that is a
lesson on Mexico!
Mom & Len went on the Fury Catamaran excursion. They
showed back up about 5:30 pm. They had a blast. They had
unlimited margarita's and beer. They even taught them how
to make minnie mouse ears out of towels and mom showed off her handy
work to Samuel our room steward. She told him she would teach him but he has
to drink 4 margaritas first! They were taken to Fury's beach and could snorkel,
swim, kayak, etc and they said they had a wonderful lunch. Best $40 they have
ever spent they said. I could say the same about our $100 a piece for chakanaab.
I thought they had returned just in time for dinner but they
decided they loved cozumel and came back to change and go
back to explore it. The teens were going on the teen fury
cruise at 6pm and that just left Vince, I and the little girls
for dinner. I think the teens liked the teen cruise but Wendy thought the
Nassau one was better. Our server's seemed a little upset that it was just
us 4 but most of the other tables were empty. There was a huge
group that normally sits next to us and they were all
gone, I would guess 25 or more people. This was the dinner I wanted the most but
it turned out to be just ok. Vince had the cheese arepas
which I tried and were good. I had the roasted chicken
drumsticks that were very good but a little cold. We both
had the black bean & cheddar cheese soup and neither cared for it. I thought
it was awful. I was hoping for a cheese soup with some black beans and
it was the opposite.
I had wanted to try the Fruit stuffed pork loin but when they
told me the fruit was prunes and apricots, I quickly
changed my mind. I got my 2nd choice, the poblano pepper
glazed chicken, it was good but not great. Vince had the
vegitarian chili and it was good but too much celery.I had the Pina Colada bread
pudding and it was great but not what i was expecting and
the Banana Flambe which was ok.
When we got back to the room, Mom & Len and the teens all
got back shortly after. The teens went to the Stack.
Vince, Len and the kids went to bed after the big day and
mom & I went to the Mexicali party. It was really cool and those cm's
have alot of energy. We stumbled onto the buffet and started with the real
food but only took a few bites and decided dessert should be first. The fajitas
were awesome but dessert was calling. Everything was really good but the Mexican
crepes were to die for!!! These were awesome and with ice cream even better.
Mom wanted a picture of the Christmas Tree on the top of the
ship that had been lit up earlier but it was not lit now.
We explored the ship but missed the Haunted Mansion
premiere. The teens saw it but I am not sure if it was tonight
or some other night. Also I forgot to mention that they
had a trampoline at Chakanaab for $10 and it looked really
cool. We recommend both excursions. Mom & Len also
went to Carlos & Charlies and said the food was really good and
cheap but definately not a family friendly place, but they loved it.
Day 6 Thanksgiving at Sea
My only issue with this whole trip is that Thanksgiving did
not feel like Thanksgiving, but that is not Disney's
fault. I prefer this way than the usual. I didn't even
realize it was Thanksgiving until later in the day. we did
usual breakfast and then swam and hung around, shopped etc most of the day.
Mom & I decided to try Bingo today since it was jackpot
day. The little ones wanted to do it too. My mistake was
getting them each the 3 play cards and then getting the
bonus for the final games. So mom & I each had 9 games to watch
each game and then 15 for the final games. The kids pooped out fairly quickly
and we were quite stressed trying to keep up. They will only get the 1 play
games next time! We didn't win but it was fun. I decided
to go back for the later game and mom watched the kids at the pool. Vince
was going with me so in advance I bought 2 of the 6 play for each game and
then 2 bonus for the final game. Well he fell asleep and didn't want to go
so I tried to do it by myself. I quickly realized I wouldn't be
able to watch 24 games for the bonus so one game, alot of
people won so while they were verifying, I called up to
the staterooms for help. My not so cheery hubby came down
to help in plenty of time. We didn't win anything, bummer!
We finally got to do Lumiere's for lunch today. Mom & Len
did the seafood buffet at topsiders and Len said it was
fabulous. I don't see a menu that matches up with what we
had on castawayclub.com so I don't have a cheat sheet. I had fruit
for appetizer that was good, it was supposed to be the one with honey lime
but when I had it for dinner, this one was very different and much better.
He had turkey and I had some kind of chicken stew that i did not
like at all. I had 2 desserts but I don't remember what.
They were good. We had Corinna (I think) and Pema for our
servers and they were great. We saw Pema at breakfast the
next day and she recognized us. She did the ketchup in Mickey mouse head shape
and then our assistant server at dinner, Daniella had to learn how to do it.
She wasn't thrilled at first but the next night, she was happy to have learned
a new trick for the other tables and she had gotten much better.
This was semi formal night and a special thanksgiving menu.
All the characters for the formal pictures were dressed in
Pilgrim outfits. We were bummed not to have the Captain's
Gala menu because Len wanted lobster but he finally gets it
tomorrow.
 Pilgrims Punch - Southern comfort, triple sec, sprite and a
splash of cranberry juice. (These were very good)
Appetizers
Grilled Vegetables and Beef Prosciutto with green tomato
sauce(veggies were good but didn't care for the beef)
Fresh Fruit Cocktail with Orange Blossom Honey(excellent)
Main Course
Honey Glazed Baked Virginia Ham - served with sweet corn
cakes, roasted red skin potatoes, whole green bean on a rich madeira sauce (huge
portion, pretty good)
Oven Roasted Young Tom Turkey - with bread fruit stuffing,
sweet mashed potatoes, green peas, pan-roasted juices and freshly made cranberry
relish(very good especially the stuffing and mashed potatoes, mom & I got
each of the above and split)
Desserts
Pumpkin cheesecake with fresh berry sauce(kids loved)
Warm Chocolate lava cake with a double chocolate sauce(pure
heaven, I had 2)
We still didn't see any shows. mom & Len checked out
Diversions.
Day 7 CC again!
2nd stop at Castaway Cay!!!!
When we were told that 75 people had worked around the clock
since we left on Sunday to turn the island into a winter
wonderland, our response was "Why the heck did you do
that?" but it was wonderful and it did not feel like we had been
to CC twice, 2 very different experiences which was very cool.
Today, mom & Len were taking the teens on the Seahorse
Snorkel excursion and Vince & I were taking the kids
to the beach. They loved the Seahorse Snorkel and once the
teens got the hang of it, they loved it as well. Len had to come find
us to see if we had cash so he could go back and tip the staff more because
they made his rum punches with extra rum! Mom said she found a huge starfish
that was pretty deep and one of the crew went down and got it and
handed it to her and took her picture.
When my half of the cruisers got to CC, we got some chairs and
then I went and borrowed sand equipment from Scuttles Cove
for the girls and rented snorkeling equipment for me. I
wanted to see the submarine and then mom was going to try
for it when they got back. I set Vince and the girls up at the beach and I
went snorkeling. It was very far for me to the submarine and I
had a hard trouble finding it. I did see a very huge
stingray at the very beginning. I asked a few people but
they didn't know where it was. Finally I took a break holding on
to a rope and asked a guy about 20 feet away. He said "Um, mam, I think it
is right underneath you", I looked down and sure enough.
Duh! On my way back, some little kids were getting a ride
in on a surf board with the lifeguards, I wanted that
ride!
We stayed at the beach for awhile and then figured it was time
for mom to get back so we headed up to the shop and then we were going to eat.
Mom was shopping! Mom was in a bit of withdrawal without the sales the day after
Thanksgiving but guess what! Disney had 50% off sales in both the island shop
and the ship shop. Most were old WDW merchandise but she was very happy. I ended
up doing alot of xmas shopping on the island and they sent it up to the ship for
me, very nice!
They had bbq pork chops today and lobster. Len had 2! The
drink Sunday was the Konk Cooler but today was the Snowflakes. This drink was
the best! It has rum, coconut, vanilla, and creme de cacao. They put whipped
cream and coconut on the top of it on the island, but not when we got more at
dinner. I had never had a konk cooler, so I ordered one for me, a snowflakes for
mom and a tropical depression for Vince. All were very good but the snowflakes
was our fav by far. We had them at dinner and I let the teens get the
nonalcoholic which tasted different because they didn't have the creme de
coacao(I think) but still very good. I don't know if these will be on the
regular cruises for the holiday's but if they do, you have to try one.
They had the big snowman statues and Christmas tree on the
island when you got off the ship and did portraits with them. They had bubble
snow which we loved. The tram was decorated as a reindeer and all the cm's had
either red/white scarves or stocking hats on. They made sand angels and sand men
in the kids club and they had a gingerbread sandcastle making on the beach. I
assume it is still there as they sprayed glue on it, it was very cool. They
normally have all the "miles to" signs but now they posted a miles to
the north pole sign. The absolute best was the Carribean Christmas music.
Everyone was asking shipmates if they carried it but they didn't. They had
Carribean "12 days of Christmas" that was awesome but I don't remember
the presents. It was a totally different experience from Sunday but both were
perfect.
At 5:30 pm(after we were all ashore), they had advertised a
Castaway Cay Christmas Tree Lighting. It said it was viewable from port side
decks 4, 9, and 10 and from port side stateroom verandahs(I told mom we should
have gotten port side!). It was really cool, the captain, Mickey and what we
were told was a Make a Wish child were on the island and lit the tree.
We had the Best of Menu tonight and we were back in Parrot
Cay. I had the Honey Mustard Chicken tenderloins(good but not as good as room
service or Pluto's) and KY Bourbon & Maple glazed pork tenderloin . This was
excellent and the baked acorn squash was very good. Mom says she doesn't like
squash and was pretending that it was twice baked potatoes liked it as well. I
had the Chocolate Decadence(way too chocolatety) and the Deep Dish apple pie
with cranberries(this was incredible, I was moaning). I am not a big apple pie
eater but this was very very good. Wendy had the Celebration cake which I think
is cheesecake mixed with strawberries and she is a huge cheesecake fan and
thought this was just ok.
Then we went to do some last minute shopping then I was in
charge of overseeing the luggage packing and getting it ready to go in the hall.
Mom and I went to the 10:45 pm Haunted Mansion(just ok) My kids have never made
it to the "Till we meet again" with the characters but mom and I
passed it on the way to the movie and there were a ton of characters, many who
you never see and some we didn't know who they were. I never thought it was
worth waking them up for but now I know how to get a boost to their autograph
books
Day 8 time to go!
Last night while trying to go to sleep, I kept hearing a
rattling sound and everything was kinda shaking. It felt
like sleeping in a freight train. I heard some awful sound
for a while and figured out it was mom going out on her verandah
in the next room. I went out on ours and the wind was horrible, felt like
I was being thrown overboard and the waves looked really rough.
Not any rocking really just alot of shaking and rattling.
We told our servers that they would not be seeing us at 6
something, no offense but we were going back to WDW and
were not being picked up before our time. We all went to
topsiders around 7:45 or so. Very hard to find a table(especially
since no one was crazy enough to eat outside) so we found a whole empty section
over by the closed buffet(probably were not supposed to be there but there
was not a sign or ropes and we had no place to sit.)
We walked right off the ship and what a rude awakening we got!
It was absolutely freezing and the wind was horrible. I
don't think it got out of the 50's today so it was either
in the 40's or 50's when we walked off. We got all of our
luggage and walked to the towncar tent and got all loaded up and we were off.
I can't say enough about your ride and the people that they contracted for
some of the legs, Alladin Tours.
Weather was absolutely perfect all week until Saturday.
85-90's all week. It threatened to rain at the 2nd CC but
it didn't. Not too hot or too cold. We were really
blessed.
One really cool thing that happened this week was: A couple of
days before we left, I got a pm from a dismember Jon in SC
that hadn't posted on the 11/22 thread but had a 6 year
old who was also very shy and didn't think she would do the
clubs. I wrote back that his daughter and Michaela should get together, sounded
like a great match. I never heard back from him. I didn't know if I would
make it to the dismeet so I told anyone who didn't find me, to contact me
in rooms 7528 or 7530, I didn't know which I would be sleeping
in. I don't know which day but it was fairly early in the
cruise, my mom was on the verandah of 7530 and some lady
peeked over the barrier from 7532. She said "Hello, neighbor"
and my mom thought that was alittle strange. Well then she said "Do you
have a 6 year old in your cabin?" and mom said yes. The lady
said "I think my husband and your daughter have been
talking on the internet", my mom thought it was my
teenager and was about to kill her. She came and got me and I met Jon, his
wife and kids. After I left town, they saw my post, thought the room sounded
familiar and went and pulled out their docs. Very small world! My daughter
never stopped asking about playing with their daughter Katie all
week. We tried a couple of times but it never worked out.
We had early seating, they had late. Katie ended up doing
the clubs, mine didn't, etc.
We headed to the Beach Club to check in and our room wasn't
ready until nearly 3pm. We basically took over the
Solarium room and the kids did their homework. Mine love
Stormalong bay and that is why we stay before and after and they were
not thrilled they couldn't swim. About 1:30 or 2pm, I finally subcomed and
went to watch them swim. No way was I getting in that water. They mostly did
the hot tub. I thought for sure they would get sick.
We did Whispering Canyon cafe for dinner, not too happy that
they wouldn't accept my Disney Visa reward card but dinner
was good. I had booked the Wishes fireworks cruise for
that night and they picked us up from Wilderness lodge dock.
It was absolutely amazing but freezing. We were bundled up in blankets and
jackets/sweatshirts that I got at the gift shop earlier but we
froze. But it was great and we saw the electric light
parade from a different view just a few feet away on the
water!
We had Boma for Breakfast on Sunday which was wonderful and
then let the kids swim until 1pm. It was going to get to
70 today and probably mid 60's when we swam. I ran them
into the bathroom to change and went out for our 1:30 pm pickup
from your ride. They were there on time, if not early. We were at the airport
by 2pm and checked in a few feet from the van. It took maybe 5 minutes.
The Delta room down by the walk out flights was packed and
most flights were overbooked by 1 or 2 but ours wasn't and
it was only about 5 minutes late and then we were home
unfortunately. Luckily we had sent most our luggage back with mom
in her truck who was coming in the next couple of days to visit so it was
much eaiser on us.
We had a few family fights here and there but all in all it
was an amazing 11 days! Since then, it has been horrible,
my dad's heart attack, my
grandmother's knee surgery delayed, my step dad Len was in the
ER yesterday and I have had maybe 15 hours sleep all week.
I have put over 100 miles on the car each day trying to be
everywhere and last Sunday our water heater busted and flooded our
kitchen, I am in desperate need of a vacation! Unfortunately, no one here
is very sympathetic!
If you are still with me, thank you for staying.
__________________
Tiffany in Kentucky
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