WDW and Disney Cruise--What A Way to Celebrate!

[TLinden16]

Day 1--Friday January 19, 2007

I got out of bed at about 4:00 a.m. after a restless night’s sleep. I had been a bit concerned about getting to the airport this morning, as a slushy mix was supposed to hit Boston overnight, and I was worried about slick roads and flight delays. My sleepless night was for naught because the storm never really happened, and it was clear and dry when the town car picked me up at 4:45 a.m. that morning.

I arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston at about 5:30, 90 minutes before my 7:00 a.m. flight to Orlando for a night at Disney World, followed by a week on the Disney Magic (my first ever cruise), and two more nights at Disney World (including my birthday). I grabbed a bagel and cream cheese at Johnny Rocket’s at the airport, and headed to the gate to relax until flight time.

The flight was uneventful, and the plane landed within a few minutes of the scheduled arrival time. I quickly made my way to the tram to head to baggage claim. I think my bags were the last off the plane--it just took forever to get them. Bags finally in hand, I called my friend KarenNY, who along with Iluvdisney, were picking me up at the airport and would be my roomies on the cruise.

We drove over to Saratoga Springs Resort, where we were staying before the cruise. We were in a second floor studio in the Congress Park section of the resort. I really like the rooms at Saratoga Springs, but the resort itself is a bit too big for my liking. I like my resorts more compact and easier to manage.

We decided to go over to Wolfgang Puck’s Express for lunch. I ordered a barbecue chicken salad and crème brulee. KarenNY and Iluvdisney shared some kind of Chinese salad, and KarenNY got the butternut squash soup as well. My salad was very good. The barbecue sauce was very tangy, and not too spicy--although there was way too much of it on the chicken. The crème brulee was outstanding--very tasty. KarenNY and Iluvdisney seemed to enjoy their meal as well.

After lunch, we went to the World of Disney so I could buy some Disney Crocs. KarenNY and Iluvdisney didn’t really think that the Crocs would be very comfortable, but after trying them on, they realized that they were as comfortable as everyone says. We must have spent 20 minutes trying them on and picking out colors before we all walked out of that store with Disney Crocs on our feet--I got the black ones with a red strap, KarenNY got the red ones with a black strap, and Iluvdisney got the blue ones with a green strap. Throughout the trip, KarenNY and Iluvdisney talked about how comfy the Crocs were. We all had very happy feet.

Before leaving Downtown Disney, we took a picture of our feet in Crocs. Since we all have been to Disney World so many times, we thought it would be fun to get pictures of our feet in different places around the world--we even got others to stick their feet in for pictures.

We then walked back over to Saratoga Springs Resort to drop off our old shoes, and hopped on a bus over to the Animal Kingdom. KarenNY and I took a ride on Expedition Everest, and then we all went to see the Flights of Wonder Show. We also went on the safari, where we saw quite a few animals despite the lateness of the day.

We headed back to Saratoga Springs to change into warmer clothing before heading over to Epcot for a while. We went on Spaceship Earth and the Nemo ride at the Living Seas. I had not been on the Nemo ride yet. It was cute, but not something that I feel the need to rush back and see again anytime soon.

We then headed over to the Land to have dinner at the food court. I got the Mongolian beef with rice and noodles and a chocolate chip cookie. The beef was very tasty with a slight kick. It was good, but some of the beef was a bit on the tough side. The chocolate cookie wasn’t as good as the ones I’ve had on previous trips--it had a slight minty flavor to it that made it a bit unusual.

After dinner, we took a ride on Living with the Land, which I hadn’t done since they changed it to prerecorded narration. It was a good tour, and you definitely could understand the prerecorded voice better than many of the live guides I’ve had in the past--some of them just didn’t enunciate very well.

I headed out of Epcot to go over to Jellyrolls for a couple of hours. I arrived there a few minutes after 8:00, but no one was onstage yet. One of the piano players, Tommy, came over to me to say hello, and he explained that Michael, the piano player he was playing with, was stuck in traffic due to a car crash. Tommy was debating if he should go on his own, and I told him he should. Michael arrived within a few minutes, and they took the stage.

At 9:00, my beloved Scotty and Ray took to the stage. They were as wonderful as ever. I put a large tip on the piano to get them to sing “Drift Away” for me, which they sang along with Michael and Tommy at the top of the hour. If you ever go to Jellyrolls when Scotty and Ray are working, I highly recommend requesting “Drift Away,” as they do a wonderful job on it.

When they finished, I caught up with Scotty to tell him that I was leaving for the evening as I had been up for so long, and was very tired. I told him I would be back after the cruise. Ray happened to walk by as I was talking to Scotty, and he put his hands out and looked at his watch, trying to figure out why I was leaving so early. He gave me some good natured ribbing about my early departure, and I told him I would be back next Saturday to celebrate my birthday with them.

I headed out on the Boardwalk to call Iluvdisney and KarenNY to see if they were still at Epcot when I heard someone shout my name. It was Iluvdisney and KarenNY. They walked over to the Boardwalk to meet me, and we all took a bus to Downtown Disney and walked to Saratoga Springs together.

I crawled into the couch bed at Saratoga Springs, wondering if I would even be able to sleep with the excitement of leaving for my first cruise the next day. The couch bed was surprisingly comfortable, and sleep came pretty quickly. I slept really well--I guess the sleepless night before leaving really made me tired enough to sleep well that night.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 2--Saturday January 20, 2007

I woke up early and hopped in the shower to get ready for the ride to Port Canaveral for the cruise! I couldn’t wait to get in the car and head to port to see the ship! I had never gone on a cruise before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I had never even seen a cruise ship up close before, let alone stand in one. In fact, any knowledge I had of what happens on a cruise probably came from watching “The Love Boat” when I was a kid. I wasn’t sure if I would like cruising--I usually keep on the move, and I didn’t know if I would be able to relax on the ship.

I was a bit antsy waiting for KarenNY and Iluvdisney to get ready. I was going on a cruise! I wanted to leave now! I decided that I would go out for a walk to get rid of some of my energy, and KarenNY, recognizing that I was getting hyper, gave me a job to do--she sent me to get her a cup of coffee at the food court. I had a general idea of where I was heading, but I wasn’t all that familiar with the resort. Iluvdisney gave me some directions, and I headed over to the food court to get the coffee. I wound up sitting at the pool for a few minutes and enjoying the beautiful morning before heading back to the room. Amazingly, I made my way back to our room without getting lost. I actually decided that I might even be able to handle staying at Saratoga Springs for more than one night sometime.

We were soon loading our bags into the car, and would be on our way to Port Canaveral! We sure traveled with a lot of stuff! But we’d be gone for a long time, so we needed a lot of stuff. I brought four pairs of shoes, and enough clothes to dress a small country. It’s amazing how much stuff you need to bring on a cruise! Formal wear. Semi-formal wear. Cruise casual wear. Swimsuits. Tropical wear. T-shirts. Shorts. Jeans. The list goes on and on.

After a quick stop at CVS to pick up some forgotten items, we were on our way to port. I was surprising calm for the first half of the ride (in retrospect, I have to wonder if my travel mates slipped me something to keep me calm for the car ride--they know how hyper I can get when I travel--Just kidding). About three quarters of the way there, I started with the “Are we there yet?” Good thing we were only about 15 minutes away at the point, because I felt an excitement that couldn’t be controlled building up in me, and KarenNY and Iluvdisney would have pushed me out of the car if it had gotten any worse.

Suddenly, as we were driving down this long straight stretch of highway, KarenNY asked me if I could see what was in the distance. A couple of miles ahead was the Disney Magic! I was getting my first glimpse of the ship I would be spending most of my time for the next seven days. It was bigger and more beautiful than I ever imagined, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Even as the car turned off the highway, my eyes followed the ship.

We pulled into the fenced in port, and dropped off our bags with a porter. KarenNY left Iluvdisney and I behind, and headed over to turn in the rental car. Iluvdisney and I walked around the building, and got a closer look at the side of the ship, snapping a few pictures. As I looked in awe at the ship, the lyrics from the Broadway musical Titanic swirled around in my head:

There she is
Towering high
Broad and grand
Ship of dreams!
Sailing day!
Morning bright!
Take your flight!
Ship of dreams!

Getting through security was pretty quick, easy, and painless, and we were soon up in the main terminal. It sure was buzzing with excitement! Hundreds of people were mulling about, watching TV, chatting, looking at the ship model, and just getting ready to board that ship!

We went over to the DVC booth in the terminal, and talked to Cristina, a bubbly cast member, who quickly became our friend and would share many laughs with us on the ship. She told us that Adarsh would be working with her. KarenNY and Iluvdisney knew Adarsh from a previous cruise, and Iluvdisney was excited to hear he would be on the cruise. Cristina was a bit disappointed that Iluvdisney was reacting so excitedly about them, so I quickly jumped into action, saying, “Woohoo Cristina” and vowing to be the president of her fan club!

When KarenNY arrived, we jumped in line to check in. I was so excited to check in and see that Goofy was on my Key to the World card! He is my favorite character, and was hoping for Goofy on my key so I could put it in my scrapbook when I got home from the cruise. They gave us lanyards and pins, and we waited for our group number to be called for embarkation.

Soon, they called our group number, and I could barely contain my excitement as I showed the cast member my photo ID and made my way up the gangway. We stopped to have our embarkation photo taken, and soon were at the doorway to the ship! We were greeted by Ian, a nice cast member from England, who announced us over the speaker system: “Please welcome Karen, Mary, and Karen to the Disney Magic!

The assembled cast members applauded as we walked on, and one came over to greet us. I was awed by the beautiful entry way of the ship. I tried to take in every detail--the beautiful railings of the stairwell, the Mickey statue, and the glass elevators. There was so much to take in! I couldn’t believe I was finally onboard the Disney Magic!

The cast member who greeted us pointed KarenNY in the direction of Rockin’ Bar D, where she was hoping to make reservations for a brunch at Palo for us, and he pointed Iluvdisney and I in the direction of the Topsiders Buffet.

Iluvdisney and I made our way through the buffet. It sure was huge with a lot of nice choices. I can’t remember everything I ate that day, but I know I had a nice salad, and some roast beef. We originally grabbed a table outside, but it was a bit cold and windy so we moved inside to finish eating. The food was good, and my stomach was happily digesting my first meal on the ship.

After lunch, Iluvdisney and KarenNY gave me a mini tour of the ship, showing me the pools, the drink station, the clubs, the spa, Palo, and many other nooks and crannies around the ship. I was really lucky to have two veteran cruisers to show me around the ship and point me in the right direction. I couldn’t have asked for two better travel mates!

At 1:00, we were able to go to our stateroom. We were in room 6072, an outside stateroom with a Verandah. The room was small, but roomier than I expected. It would definitely be cozy quarters, but there seemed to be plenty of storage space for all of our stuff. I thought the privacy curtain and the split bathroom would make it easy for us to get ready in the mornings and at dinner time.

We stepped out onto the verandah, and took a look at the other ships getting ready to set sail on journeys for thousands of passengers. I couldn’t help but smirk and say out loud to the passengers who could not hear me, “Hahahahaha. Our ship is better than yours.”

While in the stateroom, I called my DIS friend Goofy4Tink. Goofy4Tink puts up with a lot from me--everything from shouting woohoo while I’m around her to singing songs from the Country Bear Jamboree. I always have to one up Goofy4Tink, so getting on a Disney cruise before her was a big thing for me. I had to call and share it with her. I told her that she was on the cruise with me, and she played right along, saying a seagull pooped on her head. Goofy4Tink is a good friend, and I look forward to taking a trip with her on the Disney Wonder in December of 2008.

We quickly began to unpack our bags, and get settled in the stateroom. We went down to guest services and booked a galley tour for later in the week. We ran into Adarsh, the DVC cast member, at guest services and chatted with him while we waited in line. Adarsh was kind enough to pose for a foot picture with us as well.

We took a few laps around deck four before we had to get ready for the safety drill. We went back to the room and got our life vest and awaited the signals to head downstairs. Our lifeboat was opened for us to see, and I was amazed by how many people were assembled to fit into the boat. It didn’t seem possible that we would all fit in there if the unlikely event that we had to evacuate the ship.

After the safety drill, we made our way up to deck 10, where we were going to watch the sail away party. We watched everyone dancing down on deck nine, and waited for the horn to play that sound that everyone going on a Disney cruise loves so much: “When you wish upon a star.” Soon we were moving. I waved to the cast members with the Mickey gloves and all of the people standing on the banks.

While we were on deck, I asked a woman if I could give her son one of my extra bottle of bubbles. Imagine my surprise when she asked me if I was a DISer. Many DISers had talked about meeting up on Sunday and blowing bubbles so we could find each other, so she decided to ask me if I was a DISer. Leave it up to me to decide to give bubbles to a kid and have him be the son of a DISer. Unfortunately, I can’t remember her user name, so if you are reading this now, give me a shout out.

I couldn’t resist calling my friends and family to share my sail away with them. I called all of my sisters, and a few of my DIS friends to share my excitement with them. I watched as the land grew further away, wondering what fun and adventure was in store for me on this cruise.

At 6:15, we headed to the Walt Disney Theatre to see “Welcome Aboard! Let the Magic Begin.” The show featured ventriloquism of Jimmy Tamley and the magic of Rich Purpura. Jimmy Tamley was really funny, introducing us to his puppet Granddad. Rich Purpura was so crazy funny. We made not to see them at the Rockin’ Bar D later in the week.

After the show, we went to our stateroom to get ready for dinner. We were starting our dinner rotation in Lumiere’s at 8:30. We were at a table for eight with a Herman and Liz, a nice couple from Texas, and Brenda, Jack, and 10-year-old Dylan, a great family from Maryland. KarenNY recognized our server Sompong (Sammy) from a previous cruise, and she got a big hug and kiss from him. We knew we would have a good server on this trip!

I started off with a cup of tomato basil soup. The soup was tasty, but not very hot. I followed that with a mixed garden salad with tasty goat cheese croutons and red wine vinaigrette. The salad was pretty good, although a bit bland. For my entrée, I ordered the Dijon-Mustard Roasted beef tenderloin, which was very tender and had a lot of flavor. The duchess potato it was served with was delicious. For dessert, I ordered the crème brulee. You can’t go wrong with crème brulee. Yum.

After dinner, we went to the 60’s dance party at the Rockin’ Bar D. The band Entwine played a bunch of Beatles songs as crew members dressed in their groovy 60’s outfits. It was very entertaining.

After the party, I went out on deck for a bit to enjoy the night air. It was so dark that I could see only a short distance ahead. It was so strange to not see another ship, or land anywhere near us. We were truly away from reality.

I was in bed before midnight, satisfied with the start of my first cruise.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 3--Sunday, January 21, 2007

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early, ready for a full and fun day at sea. KarenNY, Iluvdisney, and I went up to Topsiders for breakfast. I really enjoyed the fresh fruit, hash browns, and Mickey Waffles.

After breakfast, we went down to Diversions for the DVC Member Celebration. DVC cast member Mike, Amil, Cristina, and Adarsh updated us on what was going on with DVC. We all got a goodie bag with hats, lanyards, magnets, and temporary tattoos. They gave out a lot of door prizes. I won a really cool DVC beach towel.

After the member celebration, we took a walk around deck, and headed to Topsiders for lunch. After lunch, we went to meet up with some folks from the DIS at the Goofy pool. It was so crazy busy at the pool that we only ran into a few other people.

I then changed into my bathing suit, and headed over to the adult pool. It was very windy, and the water was very chilly, so I didn’t stay in the pool very long. I wound up sitting in the hot tub for a while chatting with Iluvdisney and a nice couple from the Chicago area.

I then went over to the Rockin’ Bar D to play some bingo. I didn’t get a bingo, but I won one of the raffle prizes. I won a Castaway Cay excursion that included bike rental, tube rental, and snorkel rental for everyone in my stateroom. It would be fun to take advantage of some of those features later in the week.

Goofy was scheduled to appear in front of the Walt Disney Theatre that night before the Golden Mickeys show, so I went to see him. He was dressed up in a gold tuxedo. Since it was formal night, I decided to run upstairs and change into my formal wear to have my picture taken with Goofy.

After getting a picture with Goofy, I went to see the Golden Mickeys show. I really enjoyed the show. I loved seeing scenes from many of my favorite Disney movies. I loved the little preshow with the red carpet interviews too. This was just a fun show. This was my favorite show of the cruise.

After the show, I met KarenNY and Iluvdisney at the Captain’s Welcome Reception. I even had a couple of complimentary drinks which seemed to have very little alcohol in them (that’s what you get for free). We had our picture taken with Captain Tom, and also posed for some of the other picture stations they had set up.

We then headed over Animator’s Palate for dinner. I really liked this restaurant. It was fun watching the pictures go from black and white to color while we dined. I started my meal with a Caesar Salad, which was very tasty, although it was a bit dry. For my entry, I got the lemon peppered oven-baked stuffed chicken with a side of filet mignon (yes, I ordered a side of filet mignon to go with my chicken). The chicken was very good--lots of flavor and very juicy. It was served with awesome jalapeno cheddar cheese mashed potatoes. The filet mignon, which was wrapped in bacon, was very tender and flavorful. For dessert, I ordered the Boston Cream Pie, which was passable, but not nearly as good as the Boston Cream Pie I can get back home in Boston.

After dinner, we headed over to the Rockin’ Bar D to see Rich Purpura, the Greatest Magician in the World…Almost. He was very funny. He really seems to have mastered the art of making himself look foolish to get a laugh. I also stopped in to the piano bar and watched Tom Moss perform for a while, but I didn’t think he was very good, so I left the bar.

I wandered around deck four for a while before heading back to the room to go to sleep.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 4--Monday, January 22, 2007

Monday turned out to be the day we ate, and ate, and ate some more. Not realizing that this was the day that our character breakfast would be scheduled, KarenNY made our reservations for the Palo brunch this morning. So our day looked something like this:

9:45 Character Breakfast at Parrot Cay
11:30 Brunch at Palo
5:00 Daily snack to hold me over to our late dinner
8:30 Dinner at Parrot Cay

But before our first meal of the day, I made arrangements to meet with Mike from DVC to purchase more points. They had some decent incentives to make the purchase on the ship, and I went there thinking about buying 50 more points at Saratoga Springs, but wound up buying 30 more Boardwalk points instead, which is what I really wanted anyways. There were a couple of incentives available on the ship that saved me a couple hundred dollars, so I was happy.

After my meeting, I headed up to Parrot Cay to meet the others for breakfast. Since I knew we would be eating again at Palo in about 90 minutes, I ordered hash browns and chocolate milk. We got to witness history in the making during this character breakfast. While this was neither confirmed or denied, it appeared the Mickey was trying to get in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest dash through the tables at a character breakfast. He was just flying around the room. When he got to our table, he touched my shoulder, posed for a quick picture with Dylan, the only kid at our table, and ran off to the next table. He didn’t even acknowledge any of the adults at the table. We had to get a cast member to bring him back to us so the rest of us could get pictures with him.

The rest of the characters were great, though, and I made a point of letting all of them know that the adults wanted pictures with them too. Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale all made their way to our table without running away like Mickey did.

After breakfast, we wandered around a bit until it was time for our brunch at Palo. We had a nice table next to a window. We were giving mojitos with our meal. I started off with some cheese and crackers from the buffet table. The cheeses were very good, sharp and tasty. I then ordered a sausage pizza, which had a thin, crispy crust and spicy sausage. It was awesome--one of the best things I ate on the ship all week. I also tried the chicken parmesan, and some kind of a veal dish (I can’t remember exactly what it was). The chicken was delicious and served on a very creamy and tasty rice--another favorite dish of the trip. I didn’t like the veal very much--I only had a couple of bites of it. For dessert, I tried some white chocolate mousse, which had no flavor to it, and some mini pastries--my favorite was a mini éclair with white chocolate frosting.

Our server at brunch, Toni, was a real hoot. He was telling KarenNY about the fish offering and he said, “I woke up early and caught it myself.” Then, he was trying to talk Iluvdisney into getting a glass of fresh squeezed juice, and he said, “I squeezed it myself.” He was a lot of fun.

After brunch, I went to the room to change into my bathing suit, and went up to the pool. It wasn’t quite as windy this afternoon, so the pool was a bit more enjoyable. At least until the seas got a little more choppy and the water in the pool started splashing all around.

After my swim, I went to the Rapid Fire Auction. I had never been to an auction before, and I thought it would be fun to watch, and maybe even bid on something. They had a lot of neat sports memorabilia, Thomas Kincaid prints, and Disney prints. I wound up purchasing a hand painted Mickey Mouse picture that will look really nice in my guest bedroom,

After taking care of payment for my picture, I headed over to the Walt Disney Theatre to see “Twice Charmed.” This show had a nice story line, and the music was good, but I didn’t love it. I almost felt like they were trying to be too Broadway in this show--they were trying to make it this big huge production, but it wasn’t really that big. There was some technical difficulties during the show, so they stopped it for about five minutes in the middle. It looked like they were getting ready to cancel the rest of the show at one point, but then they announced they would continue.

I then headed over to Studio Sea to see “Who Wants to Be a Mouseketeer?” Pikey from the entertainment crew was hosting, and he was very good. He was funny and helped everyone win the game. I really liked Pikey a lot.

I then met the others for dinner at Parrot Cay. I started off with the Spice Island Chicken Wings, which were very tasty and sticky. They were so good that I didn’t even care when I got the sauce all over my face. I could have eaten a dozen of them! I followed that with the Mixed Greens salad, which was good. For my entrees (yes that’s plural), I ordered the Island Roasted Rib-Eye of Beef and the Baby Back Ribs. The ribs were very tasty, but the meat wasn’t as tender as most ribs I’ve had at other places. The rib-eye was very good, although very fatty. The rib-eye came with a great twice baked potato. For dessert, I got the French Toast Banana Bread pudding and the Crème Brulee Cheesecake. I figured I’d have a couple of bites of each. They were both so good that I wanted to eat every bite of both of them. I wound up eating the French Toast Banana Bread pudding that night, and bringing the cheesecake (minus the two bites I had before I decided I wanted to eat all of both desserts) back to the room to have it for breakfast the next day.

After dinner, we went to see the ventriloquism of Jimmy Tamley. He was really funny. At one point, he brought out a baby ventriloquist puppet, and he picked someone out of his audience to be the mom, and another person to be the dad. He brought the mom and dad onstage, and put masks on their faces to make them look like puppets, and spoke for them. It was really funny.

I took a few laps around deck 4 before heading to bed.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 5--Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I was up bright and early Tuesday morning, and I was excited when I went to the Verandah and realized that I could see land for the first time since Saturday! I have to say that not seeing land for a few days was the strangest thing about being on a cruise. It really bothered me at first, but I did get used to it.

It was really beautiful sitting around watching, as we pulled into St. Maarten. What a beautiful island--bright colorful buildings, and lots of boats. I couldn’t wait to explore it!

Once we were ready, we stopped up at Topsiders for breakfast, and then headed over to Rockin’ Bar D to meet for our excursion, the Under Two Flags tour of St. Maarten. Our dinner table mates, Herman and Liz, were also going on the tour, so we met up with them in the line after we exited the ship, and we all got on the same bus.

I really enjoyed the tour. We got to see a lot of the island, and learn a bit about the history of the island. We had this really funny driver/tour guide. He told us that the driver was named Eddie, and the tour guide was named Millers. He would have conversations with himself in the middle of the tour--for example, he’d say, “Driver, pull over here” or “Tour guide, talk about this.” It was pretty funny.

We had the opportunity to get off the bus in Marigot, the capital of the French side of the island. They had an open air market with dozens of merchants. I didn’t buy anything. I got turned off from buying things after one of the vendors yelled at me because I didn’t want to buy a t-shirt from her.

In the chaos of the marketplace, Iluvdisney and I lost KarenNY. I told Iluvdisney that if I lost her too, I would just meet her back at the bus. Sure enough, I did lose sight of Iluvdisney. I walked back to the bus, stopping to take some pictures along a dock, and then spotted KarenNY. We went back to the bus, and realized that Iluvdisney was not there. We had a few minutes, so we started walking back to the marketplace to look for Iluvdisney. I spotted her in the distance, but lost her as I got closer to the point where I had seen her. KarenNY and I went back to the bus. I told the driver that our friend was not back yet. He told us not to worry about it.

KarenNY told the driver that he could leave without Iluvdisney--much to my surprise. I think most people would have thought that if someone was going to abandon a friend on the wrong side of the island, it would be me, not KarenNY. I told her that Iluvdisney would kill us if we left her behind, and KarenNY said that she was a big girl and could make it back on her own. Thankfully, Iluvdisney made it back to the bus, a few minutes late, to the sounds of a rousing round of applause led and encouraged by KarenNY.

As we made our way further into the tour, our driver pulled into the parking lot of a gift shop so we could take a picture from up high. Just a few feet in front of our bus was a huge Iguana in the middle of the road. It was a really pretty shade of green, and had a really long tail. We had the chance to get off the bus to take pictures of him.

When the tour ended, we headed back to the ship for lunch at Topsiders. All of the meals we had at Topsiders blended together, but I did want to mention that one day I had a really great make your own pasta dish at the chef station in the back. I was able to pick out the ingredients I wanted from a selection of meats and veggies, and then picked out the sauce I wanted. It was very tasty. Another day, I got some really great fried rice at the chef station in the back. If you go to Topsiders, make sure you see what is available at the made to order section behind the main buffet--there are a lot of great choices there.

After lunch, we headed back out on the Island. We took the water taxi over to the downtown area. We walked along the beach for a while, and even stuck our feet in the clear blue water. It was warm and beautiful. Growing up in Boston, I never liked going to the beach because the beaches up north are usually dirty with murky water. The water down in the islands was clean, clear, and beautiful.

We walked to the main shopping area and browsed around in the shops. KarenNY had been looking for some earrings, and we went into this shop that had a great salesman. I really liked him a lot. He was pushing hard to make a sale, and offered free earrings to all of us, and gave us sodas. KarenNY did make a purchase in the shop, and I left there happy to have encountered the salesman, Jim. I really liked him.

We also stopped in a casino for a while. I didn’t do very well--I lost about $20. KarenNY and Iluvdisney both walked out of there with a bit more money than they walked in with.

After wandering around a bit more, we headed back to the ship. Since there wasn’t a show that night, we had some extra time to get ready for dinner. We wound up ordering room service. KarenNY got the All Hands on Deck cheese tray. I got tortilla soup and a Caesar salad. Iluvdisney got some fruit and cookies. The soup was a bit bland, but the Caesar salad was very good.

Iluvdisney and I also went out on deck 4 to play some shuffle board because everyone should play some shuffle board on a cruise. I had never played before, and imagine Iluvdisney’s surprise when I was really good at the game. I beat her without any problem the first two games we played. I guess maybe the years I spent poke checking on defense when playing road hockey had finally paid off. Iluvdisney beat me the third game. I was losing steam, and by the time I started to play defensively to keep her from winning it was too late. It sure was fun, though.

In the middle of our games, a little boy and his grandmother stopped to watch us. The little boys name was Kiefer, and I could tell that he really wanted to try the game, so I offered to let him try pushing the pucks down the deck. He really seemed to be having a blast, and I cheered him on at every shot. He was adorable, and the smile on his face showed what a great time he was having (and the smile on grandma’s face showed how much pleasure she had watching her grandson play, and how appreciative she was to Iluvdisney and I for letting her grandson play). When he was done, he gave me a high five, and happily walked away with his grandma.

We then got ready for dinner, and headed to Lumiere’s for our Pirate Dinner, stopping along the way to have our picture taken with Pirate Mickey. Our server Sammy was very hyper this day. He was running around like a mad man, singing and just being silly. I half thought that he had enjoyed too much of the Island rum that day.

I started dinner with the Pirate’s Golden Pasta Envelopes, which were basically fried raviolis. They ever excellent--not too fried and served with a tangy pasta sauce. I followed it with a Jerk Chicken Salad, which was also very good--nicely chilled and flavorful chicken atop mixed field greens. For my entrees (yes, that’s plural again), I ordered Castaway Cay’s Chicken Breast Rubbed with Island Spice and the Black Pearl’s Beef Tenderloin. I’m guessing that this was a good meal--it doesn’t stand out in my mind as being really great or really bad, so it must have been just good. I wound up skipping dessert that night, deciding that I would hit the buffet during the pirate party instead.

After dinner, I went up on deck to watch the pirate party. It was fun watching Mickey fly across the boat to start the fireworks display. The fireworks alone were nothing spectacular, but the fact that they were being shot off a boat in the middle of the ocean made them really special.

I hit the buffet for dessert, and made myself a crepe and an ice cream sundae. Even though I was full from dinner, I couldn’t resist trying one of the turkey legs, since I enjoyed them the few times I had them at Walt Disney World. I did not like the turkey leg on the ship, though. It was smothered in barbecue sauce, which made it messy and difficult to eat.

I then headed back to the room to get some sleep. We had to be up early the next morning to go through Immigration in St. Thomas.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 6--Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Today, we arrived in St. Thomas at about 6:30. We were up at about 7:00, and threw on some close to head down to Immigration. The Immigration line moved pretty quickly, and we were done within 15 minutes. We went and grabbed some breakfast at Topsiders--the lines were pretty long since everyone had to be up early this morning for Immigration.

After breakfast, we got ready for a day in St. Thomas. The ship docked on the far side of the Island (we were told it was the first time anyone can remember the Magic docking there), so we hopped in a cab to take us over to the Sky Ride. When we arrived downtown, we were transferred to a smaller cab to take us to the Sky Ride.

The Sky Ride was nice but a bit pricy at $18. We did spend quite a bit of time up there, though. We got some nice shots of the Magic far away. It was a very pretty view up there. I had my grumpy moment of the trip while we were at the top of the hill. KarenNY wanted to do the nature walk, and I reluctantly agreed. Now, I hate being out in the woodsy areas with creepy crawly things, and each time they mentioned a creepy crawly thing, it only made me more grumpy. Between that and climbing up and down about a million stairs up there, I got really grumpy.

But once we finished the nature walk, my grumpiness was gone (less than 15 minutes after it started), and all was right in the world again. We snapped a few more pictures, and headed down in the sky ride.

We began to walk to the Downtown area to do some shopping. We stopped at Wendy’s and got frostys along the way, which made me forget all about my earlier grumpiness. The frosty made the walk downtown so much more enjoyable. We browsed around in the open air market, where I bought my niece some wooden bobble head animals, and then went to the shops. I bought my niece a Swavorski Crystal necklace.

After our shopping, we headed back to the ship for lunch. After we ate, KarenNY and Iluvdisney went back out shopping at the shops near the dock, while I went up to the pool. It was nice and relaxing at the pool. The pool was calm since the boat wasn’t rocking, and I enjoyed just relaxing by the pool. Iluvdisney came to join me, and we had frozen margaritas by the pool. Yum.

Someone from the DIS, Calmom, was staying in the Roy Disney Suite, and she was kind enough to invite the other DISers on the cruise up to her suite to take a look around. It was gorgeous! Very spacious with two bedrooms, a living room, a sitting area, a little kitchenette, and a huge deck. The was tons of storage space and huge walk in closets. It was neat just looking at all of the artifacts around the suite, and admiring the size of the place.

Even more impressive than the suite was Calmom’s family. They were all so nice. Three of her four boys were there when we stopped by and they were all just really handsome and sweet. It was nice to spend a small amount of time with such a great DIS family on the cruise.

After touring the suite, we headed down to the Walt Disney Theatre to see the Dangerous Comedy of Wilde and Haines. Their act consisted mostly of juggling, and it was a lot of fun. They had a couple of funny bits, including one were Wilde juggled on a unicycle, and another where they took a boy from the audience and wanted to juggle bowling balls above him as he lied on the ground. It was very entertaining.

We then headed off to Animator’s Palate for the Master Chef dinner. I started off with the Onion and Bacon Tartlet, which was very tasty--the bacon had a nice smoky flavor. I followed that with the chilled potato and dill cream soup, which was rather interesting--I couldn’t decide if I really liked it or not. For my entrée, I ordered the Lemon and Lime Roasted Half Chicken. The chicken was a bit on the bland side, but it was served with an asparagus risotto that was excellent. For dessert, I ordered a chocolate mint ice cream sundae, which was so good that I had our assistant server Rodel get me a second one.

After dinner, we headed to Rockin’ Bar D for the 80’s Dance Party. Since I’m a total child of the 80’s, I really enjoyed this. Iluvdisney and I even danced at the party! They had the entertainers on the ship do dance numbers to some of the songs--”Footloose” and a medley of Michael Jackson songs. They were really great. They also had a battle of the bands--Bon Jovi versus the Go Gos. They picked five guys from the crowd, put them in wigs and leather vest and made them lip sync to a Bon Jovi song. Then they picked out five girls, made them change into towels, and got them to lip sync to a Go Gos song. They also showed everyone how to dance like George Michael does in the old Wham videos. At one point, our cruise director Christiaan walked in and did the dance, which was wicked funny--he makes the best facial expressions.

I stood along the deck to enjoy the fresh night air before heading up to bed.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 7--Thursday, January 25, 2007

I woke up after a solid 7 hours of sleep and got ready to enjoy our last sea day of the cruise. When we were ready, we headed up to Topsiders for breakfast.

After breakfast, KarenNY and I went over to the signature entrée presentation at Studio Sea. They were preparing Sonoma Stuffed Chicken Breast and Risotto. I volunteered to help stuff the chicken. The chef didn’t cut the bag enough, so getting the stuffing in was rather difficult, and finally, he just did it himself. It was fun though, and we got to sample the dish, which was very tasty.

I then went to the Buena Vista Theatre to see the Imagineer Presentation on the Disney Castles. It was neat seeing the blue prints for the castles, pictures of them in construction, and pictures of the castles that inspired them. The speaker, however, was not very good. She was a very dry speaker, and didn’t really hold my interest in what she is saying despite the fact that I was interested in hearing about the castles.

I then headed over to Diversions to meet KarenNY and Iluvdisney for the DVC presentation. It was geared towards people who were interested in purchasing DVC, but there were quite a few members there. I even took the microphone and explained why I made my decision to buy DVC, and what I liked about it. We had really great guides giving the presentations on the ship--Mike and Amil were funny and really played off each other.

After the DVC presentation, we went to grab some lunch at Topsiders. Later in the afternoon, we headed to Lumiere’s for the Galley tour. Going to the Galley was really neat. It was spotless, with lots of bright and shiny stainless steel. I was impressed by how clean was! Our tour guide Matt told us that they are constantly cleaning the galley, and the Captain inspects the Galley at least once a week. I was amazed that they were able to create sit down dinners for 2642 in such a small area! Matt also told us some interesting facts about the food on the ship:

*I knew this one already, but thought I’d share it anyways. All of the food that is consumed on the ship is loaded on to the ship in Port Canaveral, including the food for Castaway Cay. The cruise line is not allowed to get food for the ship in any of the other ports.

*I asked Matt if they ever run out of a certain dish on the cruise, and he assured me that there has never been a cruise where a guest was denied any dish on the cruise. He said that from experience, they are really good at estimating how many they will need for each cruise.

*Any left over items can’t just be saved for the next cruise. Any left over meat is cut into small pieces and fed to the fish in the ocean.

The highlight of the tour was the hot chocolate cookies they served us in the middle of the tour. The chef took them out of the oven and they were served hot, gooey, and fresh. It was worth doing the tour just to get a cookie. It was probably the best dessert I had all week!

The prize for the final jackpot Bingo game was over $4200, and of course we wanted to try our luck at it. The bingo game was a lot of fun because the entertainment crew was joking around with each other in between calling numbers. Pikey and Simone were really give each other a hard time. Earlier in the week, Pikey had done something that resulted in him apologizing to Simone, and agreeing to do any dare that Simone set forth for him. Simone announced that the dare was for Pikey, who was afraid of heights, to go sky diving with her the following week. I wish I knew if they actually went though.

Getting back to the bingo game, for the final game where someone would win the big jackpot, we listened closely as Pikey announced number after number for the coverall game. At one point, he asked for people to stand when they only had one number left. There were about five people standing when I realized that I too was just one number away from the big jackpot. I stood up, and hoped that they would call my number--I 24. Everyone was screaming at Pikey to call the numbers that they needed, and when he called the next number, it wasn’t I 24, and someone else called bingo. My dream of winning the big jackpot had passed.

That evening, I went to see the Disney Dreams show. It was very cute, and a lot of fun. It was fun seeing all of the kids in the audience shaking their hands screaming “Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust” with the characters in the show.

I then went to see Who Wants to Be a Mousketeer? again. This time it was hosted by Ian. The first contestants were a dad and his little boy. They didn’t win. They guessed an incorrect answer, even though Ian basically gave them the correct answer The show was a lot of fun to watch. Some of the families who got picked to participate were so excited when they got to step into the hot seat.

I then headed to Parrot Cay for dinner. Tonight was the Captain’s Gala. This was my least favorite menu of the week. It was too heavy on seafood for my liking. I skipped the appetizer, and just ordered a Garden Fresh Salad. The Salad was nothing special. I ordered the Fettuccine with Parmesan Crusted Chicken for my entrée, and also the Blue Cheese and Asparagus risotto, which I shared with KarenNY and Liz. The chicken was excellent--one of my favorite dishes of the trip. The risotto was fantastic as well. For dessert, I ordered the warm chocolate lava cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was very good--rich and gooey. Very delicious.

After dinner, we headed over to Rockin’ Bar D to see the Dangerous Comedy of Wild and Haines again. The club was packed! I had been hoping that I could get seats for all of us, but there were hardly any empty single seats available by the time we got there, never mind three together! I did manage to get a seat on the side, but it wasn’t very good, as I couldn’t see a lot of what they were doing. KarenNY and Iluvdisney wound up standing in the back on the side.

After the show, I hung around to watch the 70’s Dance Party for a while. It was so funny seeing the entertainment crew come out in their 70’s outfits, especially Pikey in a huge afro wig. They picked five guys from the audience, and made them take off their shirts, put on some appropriate head gear and become the village people. It was so funny. Then they picked out three ladies to have a lip sync contest to “I Will Survive.” The woman who wound up winning was a sweet older woman who said something that had everyone in the audience in stitches. Unfortunately, what she said would be inappropriate for a family message board, so I can’t write it here. They also had three guys do a John Travolta dance off that was absolutely hysterical. I really enjoyed watching others make fools out of themselves to get a free drink!

I stopped by Lumiere’s to check out the late night dessert buffet. I decided not to have anything though. I was still full from dinner!

When I had my fill of the party, I continued my nightly ritual of spending some time out on deck 4 enjoying the fresh air before bed.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 8--Friday, January 26, 2007

We woke up early and went up on deck 10 to watch the ship as it pulled into Castaway Cay. It sure was a beautiful view! We watched a cast member step on the nose of the boat to put up the Disney Cruise Line flag as we approached the island.

Rather than wait for the ship to completely dock, we headed over to Topsiders to grab some breakfast. For the most part, the breakfast food at Topsiders was the same--good but nothing special. I can’t remember which day it was, but one day they had fresh hot sticky buns on the buffet, and those were incredible. I could have eaten five of them (if I had a death wish, that is). We ran into our dinner tablemates Herman and Liz at Topsiders, so we sat with them and discussed our plans for Castaway Cay.

KarenNY and I were ready to go on the island, but Iluvdisney was checking e-mail, so we had to wait. I wound up going downstairs to get her, and was very annoying in the process. I was excited and antsy, and wanted to get on the island! I wouldn’t leave Iluvdisney alone until she came to the room to get ready.

We were finally off the ship and heading out for a fun day on Castaway Cay! We started to walk in the direction in the tram stop to Serenity Bay, the adult beach. We stopped along the way to take pictures of the Disney Magic, the Flying Dutchman, and Goofy! KarenNY and Iluvdisney made a quick pit stop, and while I was waiting for them, Jack Sparrow walked by and said hello to me.

We then took the tram to Serenity Bay. Oddly, KarenNY started talking to some guy on the beach, and they realized that they had met on a plane ride from New York to Orlando a few years back.

Serenity Bay was not very serene that day. It was very windy, and the waters were very choppy. I couldn’t resist taking off my shoes and dunking my feet in. The water was actually quite chilly, and I let out a rather bizarre screech because of the cold water. But I stayed in long enough for Iluvdisney to snap a couple of pictures for me.

We relaxed on the beach until it was time for the lunch buffet to open. We ran into our dinner tablemates Liz and Herman there, so we sat with them at lunch too. I wasn’t overly impressed by the offerings on the buffet at the adult beach. I got a bit of potato salad and a piece of steak. I figured I’d eat again at Cookies when we headed back to the family beach area, as they had more of a variety there. I did like the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, though, even if they served the smallest ice cream servings ever.

After lunch, we took the tram back to the family beach area. We had plans to bury a postcard in the sand for some DIS friends who would be at Castaway Cay the next day, so we headed towards the Head’s Up Bar to bury it. At one point, KarenNY needed a pit stop, so I buried Iluvdisney’s feet in the sand while we waited for her. Actually, I grew quite fond of throwing and kicking sand at Iluvdisney--it annoyed her but she was a good sport about it.

We stopped and got pictures of ourselves relaxing in hammocks near the Head’s Up Bar with the Disney Magic in the background. It’s a great place to get some neat pictures.

We then headed over Cookies for more lunch. The options here were must better. I got some chicken, ribs, and corn on the cob. The chicken was very tasty. The corn was good, but a bit on the mushy side. The ribs were very tasty, but not that tender. I also got more chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which was served by Toni, our server from Palo earlier in the week. Overall the food on Castaway Cay was passable, but nothing really memorable (except for maybe the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream).

After lunch, KarenNY and I rented some bikes (which I had won earlier in the trip at the Bingo game). Iluvdisney decided to skip the bike ride, so she found a spot to relax on the family beach, where the waters and winds were a lot calmer than they were on Serenity Bay.

The bike ride was a lot of fun. I hadn’t ridden a bike in about 20 years, so when I first got on it, I was a little unsteady, but quickly had no problem riding it (although I have to admit that I did get nervous when I saw kids riding in the area--you just don’t know what kids are going to do on the bikes sometimes. We road down the landing strip and past the adult beach to the lookout point. It was really pretty down there--it was so peaceful looking out on the water. We also road along the bike trail that was off the landing strip. We stopped at the lookout tower and walked up it. There were some pretty views from up there, and I got a neat picture of the top of the ship that makes it look like it is riding on the trees.

After the bike ride, KarenNY and I went to see Iluvdisney on the beach. I rolled up my shorts and walked thigh deep into the water. The water was too cold for me to change into my swimsuit and go in all the way, though. It sure was pretty, though. Very clean and clear.

After relaxing on the beach for a while, I headed to the gift shop to pick up a few things before heading back to the ship. I really enjoyed my day at Castaway Cay. I hope I have the opportunity to go back someday when the water is warmer so I can really enjoy the water! I’m not really a beach person, but the water is so clean and clear down the islands that it’s very tempting.

When we got on the ship, we got ready for our final night of the cruise. We all went to see the Remember the Magic show at the Walt Disney Theatre. It was a neat show, and I liked how they tied in the show we saw on the first night in with this show.

After the show, we got ready for dinner. Since I had some time, I went to a trivia game. It was a lot harder than I expected, and I did horrible.

I ran into Ian, one of the entertainment cast members, after the trivia game, and had a nice conversation with him. He gave me a bit of insight about what life working on a cruise ship was like. He told me that he had only been working the Disney Cruises for about three weeks, and that really surprised me because he worked so well with the rest of entertainment staff--I would have guessed they had been working together for many months. He mentioned that he would be transferring over to the Wonder soon, so if you are going on the Wonder, and you see Ian from England, be sure to say hello to him. He also told me that I should go to see the Pub Show that evening at Diversion so I could see him make a fool out of himself, and I promised him I would.

One of the things that surprised me about this night on the ship was how different the atmosphere and energy seemed on the ship. Gone were the relaxed vibes of cruising. It was replaced with an almost frantic energy. Everyone seemed to be rushing around in a frenzy trying to get that last minute packing done, purchasing those pictures, and just fitting in as much as they could. It was a very bizarre thing to be a part of for me.

I met the others for our final dinner at Lumiere’s. We ran into the rest of our table mates in the lobby, so we all walked in for our final dinner together. As soon as I saw Sammy, I gave him a big hug. I was sad that this would be my final dinner with Sammy and Rodel, but we decided we would go to Lumiere’s for breakfast in the morning so we could have one more meal with them.

I started my meal with the Honey-mustard Chicken Tenderloins. The chicken was a bit on the dry side, but the tasted good. Rodel brought extra servings out and gave anyone who wanted it extra pieces of chicken. I then had the Romaine Salad with Artichoke Chips. The salad was OK--nothing special. For my main course, I ordered the Grilled Beef Tenderloin. I asked Sammy to cut my meat for me that night, since I had liked the way he cut the meat for the kids at the tables he was serving. He quickly cut my meat and fed me a couple of bites. It was nice to have someone cut my meat for a change. For dessert, I ordered the Baked Alaska. I had never had Baked Alaska before, and I wanted to try it. How could I not order the Baked Alaska after the parade of the Flaming Baked Alaska through the restaurant? It was good, but I think I was so tired of eating by this time that I didn’t eat very much of it.

We also celebrated my birthday this night. Ronald, our head sever, walked over with a cake for me. Sammy, Rodel, and two other cast members walked over to sing Happy Birthday to me. They other two cast members were behind me at first, but I made them move so that Sammy and Rodel would be in the pictures singing for me. Sammy cut the cake so that everyone could have a little piece of it with our dessert.

Herman and Liz presented me with a Magical Moments Certificate to commemorate my birthday. Liz said that they had looked for a birthday card for me in St. Thomas, but could not find one. So, they went to guest services, and they got me the Magical Moments Certificate. It was very thoughtful of them to make that effort, and I really appreciated it.

I spent much of our dinner telling Sammy and Rodel that I was going to bring them home with me. Sammy told me he would not come with me because it was too cold in Boston, but Rodel said he would come. And when I told Sammy that he would share a room with Rodel, he said, “Oh no. I can’t share a room with Rodel. I don’t trust him.” Since Sammy said he wouldn’t come, I decided I would bring another server--Beethoven-- home with me. I had run into Beethoven several times during the week, and he was just a sweetie. He was actually the assistant server at the table next to ours, and I saw him at the restaurant on Friday night. I took a picture of him, and he asked if Rodel was my assistant server. When I told him Rodel was my server, Beethoven said to me, “Rodel is good. He’s my friend.” So, it made sense to take Beethoven home with me too. So that was settled.

After dinner, KarenNY and Iluvdisney ran up to our room to put out our luggage while I went with Liz to get us seats for the pub show in Diversions. As Liz and I walked to Diversions, we ran into our cruise director Christiaan. He sure worked tirelessly to make sure that everyone had a good time on the cruise. He seemed to be on his feet and smiling at every event. I swear he’s a robot or something.

Imagine my surprise when Christiaan said to me, “How did you enjoy your first cruise?” KarenNY and Iluvdisney had met Christiaan on a previous cruise, and when we talked to him earlier in the week, they mentioned that I was on my first cruise. I spoke to him one other time on the ship all week, so I was surprised that he remembered that detail after a week of meeting hundreds of people on the ship. He is really a sweet guy, and I excitedly told him about my favorite parts of the cruise, and told him I was bringing Rodel and Beethoven home with me, and how Sammy wouldn’t come. Christiaan probably regretted asking me because I was rambling on excitedly like a child, speaking a thousand words a minute about my cruise.

Liz and I grabbed a table at Diversions for the Pub Show and waited for KarenNY, Iluvdisney, and Herman to arrive. I even ordered a Cosmo, which seemed to have very little alcohol in it (I don’t know if they were rationing alcohol or what, but there was very little liquor in most of the drinks I had during the cruise).

The Pub Show began with Christiaan playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. He did really well with the actors that the passengers shouted out. Pikey shouted out a couple of names that he knew would stump Christiaan, and Christiaan told him that he wasn’t taking names from Pikey. Pikey told someone else to say Elvis Presley (I think it was), and Christiaan couldn’t do that one. But Pikey could. It was pretty funny.

The show continued with Simone and Pikey leading the audience in singing “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean.” The girls had to jump out of their chairs every time a B word was said, and the guys had to jump up every time an M word was said. Then Pikey sang a song he learned from one of the inspirational leaders of our country--Homer Simpson. He sang a version of “Do Re Mi” that was about beer. It went something like this:

Do I use to buy my beer
Re the guy I buy beer from
Me for whom I buy beer for
Fa the distance to the store
So I think I’ll have a beer
La lalalalala beer
Tea no thanks I’ll have a beer
Which will bring us back to beer

After Pikey’s inspirational song, then entertainment crew performed a skit called “If I Were Not Upon the Seas.” From what I’ve heard this is something that is done on many cruise lines, and it’s definitely worth checking out. It was a very funny skit where the crew members told what they would be doing for a living if they were not working on a cruise ship--Charley was a sergeant major, Simone was a blackjack dealer, Ian was a tennis player. Other crew members were a seamstress, a taxi driver, and a lighthouse watcher. The final crew member to make an appearance was Pikey, who wanted to be a ballerina and came out dressed in a pink tutu. The sight of Pikey dressed in a pink tutu is enough to send anyone into a fit of laughter. The skit was absolutely hysterical, and definitely worth checking out if you have the chance. It’s also probably about as risqué as it gets on a Disney ship.

After the show, KarenNY, Iluvdisney, Herman, and Liz went on their own way, and I followed the entertainment crew to the Rockin’ Bar D so I could say goodbye to some of them, and thank them for making my cruise so much fun. I wound up dancing with them for a while. They even got me doing the Electric Slide. Now, for some reason I just can’t get these silly line dances no matter how hard I try, but Ian and Keyon were very sweet, encouraging me and doing the steps with me. They sure are nice guys. We also did the Cha Cha Slide, which was a lot of fun (and easier than most line dances I’ve done).

At one point, I was sitting off to the side, and one of the cast members dragged me and a bunch of other people up on the dance floor to learn another dance. He taught us how to make a peanut butter sandwich. I was laughing so hard I could barely do what he was telling us to do. Charley, one of the entertainment cast members, was doing the dance with us and his over exaggeration of the steps had me in stitches.

After a while, I walked out on deck and sat in a chair for a while, just enjoying my last evening on the ship, and reminiscing about all of the fun times I had with my friends KarenNY and Iluvdisney. I enjoyed the company of my friends (and they didn’t push me overboard). I met a lot of nice people. I also enjoyed the crew on the ship. It was definitely a cruise to remember, and really a perfect first cruise for me

 

[TLinden16]

Day 9--Saturday, January 27, 2007

Happy Birthday to me! I noticed city lights outside the window when I woke up, so I got out of bed and went out on the Verandah to watch as the ship went through the channel and on it’s way to port. The seagulls and the coast guard were leading the boats down the channel. Although I was sad to have to be up early and get off the boat on my birthday, I was also happy because I knew we would be going to Disney World, where I would get to spend the day with some of my other friends, and top off the day at my favorite place--Jellyrolls.

We quickly got ready to leave the ship. I took a quick walk around the ship to take a few more pictures and buy a picture at Shutters before we vacated the room. We went and sat in the Promenade Lounge to wait until our 8:15 breakfast at Lumiere’s.

When we walked into Lumiere’s, Liz, Herman, Brenda, Dylan, and Jack were already seated at the table. Sammy was lingering around, and I gave him a big hug. Rodel wasn’t around at the time, but both him and Sammy would get lots more hugs from me this morning. When we were all seated at the table, my tablemates sang Happy Birthday to me.

Our final breakfast together was fun and sad at the same time. We shared our memories of the cruise, some laughs, and exchanged e-mail address. We really lucked out and had some great tablemates on the cruise. I ordered the express breakfast, which had eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. It was OK, but nothing special.

After breakfast, we took a long time saying goodbye to our tablemates and Sammy and Rodel. I noticed Iluvdisney was getting teary eyed because she was so sad to be leaving the ship, so I told Sammy to go give her a hug. Next time I looked, KarenNY and Iluvdisney were gone from the restaurant. I told Rodel that I would have to stay on the ship since my friends left me behind, and he told me that I could stay with him. After one more big hug for Sammy and Rodel, I went out to the lobby and found KarenNY and Iluvdisney.

We walked down the gangway and exited the ship. I was surprised by how easy getting off the ship was. We got a porter to help with our luggage, and then we quickly made our way through customs. We just handed in our forms, showed our passports, and we were on our way.

Iluvdisney and I stayed with the luggage while KarenNY went to get the rental car. We were soon on our way to Disney World. When the ship was out of view, I said something I’ve said many times since being off the ship: “I miss Sammy, and Rodel, and Keyon, and Ian, and Pikey, and Christiaan.”

KarenNY drove us to Orlando International Airport, where Iluvdisney would be picking up her rental car, and KarenNY would be picking up her daughter. Iluvdisney drove me over to the Boardwalk Villas, where I would spend the next two nights.

I arrived at the desk right around checkout time, so there was a long line. I wound up going to the ladies room and changing into the shorts I had in my carry on, as the day was warmer than originally predicted, and then got back in line in the same spot.

My room was ready when I arrived, which was a very pleasant surprise. I had a package waiting for me when I arrived, a birthday gift from my friend Goofy4Tink. She gave me four boxes of Bottle Caps candy (one of my favorite types of candy from my childhood), a book about girlfriends, and a card telling me the reasons why I’m a princess (and the card was so on the money).

I was in room 5063, which overlooked Heritage Green and had a partial view of the Boardwalk. As soon as I walked into the room, my first thought was, “Wow. This room is huge.” Now I don’t know if the room was really a bit bigger than other rooms I stayed at in the Boardwalk, or if it just seemed palatial after spending a week in a small stateroom on a cruise ship with two other people. The room was in great condition--the bed was super comfortable, and the furnishings were good. I spent some time sitting on my balcony enjoying the view.

After getting settled in the room, I stopped by the DVC model on the Boardwalk. Adarsh had mentioned that he would be working there that day, so I decided to stop in and pay him a visit. I peeked around the door frame, and he ducked out of view when he saw me. The other cast member working in there said, “You two obviously know each other.” I chatted with Adarsh for a few minutes, and we shared some memories of the cruise. It sure was great meeting him and Cristina on the cruise.

I then walked over to the Swan to meet Goofy4Tink and her family for a quick hello. They had stayed at the Swan the night before, and were leaving to head to Tampa for her sons wedding. It was great to see my friends, even if it was just for a quick hello.

I then walked over to MGM, where I would be meeting up with some of my friends I know from the Virtual Magic Kingdom online game. I grabbed a quick bite at the Backlot Express (because I hadn’t eaten enough food on the cruise), and then met up with my friend FlyingPegasus. She was hungry, so she got a quick bite at the Commissary, and we headed to ride the Rock N’ Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. There was a long line at the Rock ‘N Roller Coaster, so we skipped it for now, and I took a ride on the Tower of Terror, which featured a really good sequence. We also went on the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot Tour, which I hadn’t done in a while (it’s just not as much fun since they took out Residential Street). We headed back to the Rock ‘N Roller Coaster and pretty much walked right into the line, but for some reason the cars were loading really slowly, so we wound up with a bit of a wait.

We then headed over to the 50’s Prime Time Diner for my birthday dinner. April in Disney, Electric Lime, Aeryn, and her friends Heather and Jason were already there when we arrived. We were seated within ten minutes. Our waitress was good in character, but her service wasn’t very good. It took forever for her to come and take our order, and then it took forever to get our drinks.

I was a bit disappointed in my meal at the 50’s Prime Time Diner this time around. I’ve eaten there many times, and have always enjoyed the food, but it just wasn’t great this time. I started off with the chicken noodle soup, which was very bland and mostly broth. I then ordered the pot roast. Heather and I both got pot roast that was extremely burnt, which I don’t recall ever getting such burnt pot roast. We wound up sending it back, and the server told us that it is always like that, but they did bring us back pot roast that wasn’t as burnt. It was decent, but not as good as I remembered it being. For dessert, I ordered the Smores. I was disappointed that the serving size had been cut in half. When we ordered them in May, there were 16 Smores, which made a couple of orders easy to share with everyone at the table. Now, there were only 8 Smores.

When the server brought our dessert, she announced that it was my birthday. She made me stand up, and I had to yell “to me” when everyone was singing Happy Birthday. The first time I yelled, the server was laughing so hard--she didn’t think I would be so loud. I then lost it, and was laughing so hard that I couldn’t continue. It sure was fun.

After dinner, FlyingPegasus drove April in Disney and I over to the Boardwalk for an evening at Jellyrolls. FlyingPegasus dropped me off at the main entrance so that I could run up and change into jeans before heading to the bar. When I walked into the lobby, my friend TDC Nala was waiting there for me. We had met a few months earlier at a conference in San Antonio, and saw each other when our December trips to Disney World collided. She was going to try to go to Jellyrolls with me, but she had to meet her friends at the Adventures Club. She was waiting just so she could see me for a few minutes and wish me a happy birthday. She came up to the room while I changed, and walked me down to the bar. It was good too see her, and it was very thoughtful of her to make the effort to come over to see me.

When I walked into the bar, Tommy and Jason were already on the stage. FlyingPegasus announced that the birthday girl was here, and Tommy asked who’s birthday, so I waved as I made my way to the table, and Tommy said he knew it was my birthday. When I had seen Tommy the week before, he was expecting some good news later in the week, so I asked him if it was a go, and he told me it was. Jason just looked at us and said, “Now I know what it’s like to not be involved in a conversation.”

Jason was particularly goofy this night. He was commenting on how all of the requests were coming from my table and one other table of regulars. He kept on calling us the Board of Directors for the bar.

At 9:00, my beloved Scotty and Ray took the stage. Scotty knew it was my birthday, so he did a really great job running through my requests, and taking care of most of them right away. At the end of the night, he played “Beyond the Sea” for “Karen, who just got off a Disney Cruise.”

During Jason and Tommy’s second set of the evening, I got called to the stage for my birthday. Three other people were also called to the stage, and we did the Tree Dance with Jason. Early in the song, Jason leans over to me and says, “I really need to pee.” So, I started laughing. A minute later, Jason was jumping and bouncing around for the song, and I leaned to him and said, “You better tone it down or you’ll make it worse.” He just looked at me with a typical Jason goofy grin and said, “Tell me about it.” I did well on the dance until Tommy quickened up the pace for the last verse. Then I just couldn’t keep up with it.

At the end of the night, I chatted with Scotty and Ray for a while, and got big hugs from both of them for my birthday. Scotty asked me how I enjoyed the cruise. He had just gone on his first Disney cruise a month earlier, so he was curious to hear how I liked it.

I then headed back to my room. It sure had been a fun birthday. I was surrounded by fantastic people all day long, and topping off the evening watching my four favorite piano players perform really made for the most perfect birthday celebration for me.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 10--Sunday, January 28, 2007

I was a bit slow getting up this morning after a long, fun day on my birthday. But I still managed to get ready and head out the door to the Magic Kingdom by about 8:30. I was at the gates just about 9:00, and made my way into the park. My first stop was the Main Street Bakery, where I ordered a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate. I didn’t realize that the cast member didn’t put the cover on the hot chocolate all the way, so I wound up spilling some of it on my shirt--not a good way to start the day. The cinnamon roll was good, but not nearly as good as the one I had in December. It wasn’t as hot and gooey.

After breakfast, I wandered around the shops on Main Street, and then headed over to ride on Pirates of the Caribbean. I headed over to Frontierland. It was too cold to ride Splash Mountain so Thunder Mountain had a long line. I grabbed a fast pass for it, and headed to Fantasyland, where I road Small World and Peter Pan. I also caught Mickey’s Philharmagic. There was a little girl sitting behind me who was screeching from the moment they dimmed the lights. The parents waited until the show was about half way through before the father exited the show with the little girl. I have to say that I get really annoyed when parents don’t take a child who is obviously upset out of these shows--I totally understand that kids get scared, and I feel bad for them when their parents force them to sit through something that is terrifying them when they could walk them out of it.

After the show, I went to the Columbia Harbor House for lunch. I ordered the Garden Galley Salad, jello, and a diet coke. The salad was awesome--one of my favorite fast food meals at Disney World. It’s a garden salad with chicken, pineapple, pecans, and feta cheese. It is always nicely chilled and has a nice sweet taste due to the pineapple in it. It’s a great salad.

After lunch, I left the Magic Kingdom and took the bus back to the Boardwalk so I could change out of the hot chocolate covered shirt. I walked started to walk over to Epcot, stopping at Beaches and Cream for a shake on the way. The shake was very good--thick and tasty.

Once through the gates at Epcot, I went on Soarin’, and grabbed a fast pass for Test Track. I also took a ride on Mission: Space. I then headed over to Nine Dragons to get some dinner. I started off with the Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad. This is one of my favorite things--the cucumbers are cold and very tangy. I followed that with the Sha Cha Beef Skewers (or something like that). They were OK--not as good as they were the first time I had them. I wouldn’t have ordered them if I wasn’t on the dining plan--at $7.99, it is a very expensive appetizer for the three small two small bite pieces of beef you get. For my entrée, I ordered my usual--the General Tso’s Chicken, which was piping hot and had a slight tangy kick to it. For dessert, I got the ginger ice cream, which was just OK--I only ate a couple of bites of it because I was pretty much done with eating for the day.

When I got out of Nine Dragons, I was surprised by how much cooler and windier it was since I had entered the restaurant. I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, and I was freezing! I debated going back to the room and changing and then coming back to Epcot. I decided to use my fast pass for Test Track first, and then headed back to the room.

I was originally planning on heading over to the Magic Kingdom to see Wishes that night, but since it was so cold, I decided that I wouldn’t bother making the trip over to the Magic Kingdom. I went to my room and did some packing, since I was leaving the next day. At 8:00, I stepped out onto my balcony and realized that I actually had a nice view of Wishes, so I sat on my balcony and watched them.

I then headed out to go to Jellyrolls. I ran into pianoman Ray as I was walking to the bar, and he was asking me about my cruise. Once through the front door of the bar, I took my normal bar stool in the back of the bar. Tommy and Michael were already onstage, and in between songs, Tommy told everyone that my birthday was the night before, and then asked me why I was hiding in the back (I always hide in the back when I’m by myself). Tommy announced that he wanted to play a song for me for my birthday, and played “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor for me because he knows I love hearing him sing James Taylor songs.

There was a girl who knew one of the piano players sitting right up front, and she had gotten completely trashed. She was dancing very suggestively, and getting lots of attention from some of the guys at the bar. At one point, some guy stuck a dollar in her pants. One of the bouncers went over to the guy and told him to cut it out, and I could tell that the guy must have said that he was just playing around. I saw the bouncer say, “I don’t care” and made definitely indications that if the guy tried anything like that he’d be out the door.

There were definitely at lot of drunken idiots at the bar this night. I have to say that how drunk they let people get is one of the things that really bugs me about Jellyrolls (along with the smoking). They just don’t seem to cut people off. This girl, and many of the guys, were definitely drunk to the point where they should have been cut off. I hope that they all had designated drivers with them because they were definitely in no shape for driving.

At 9:00, Scotty and Ray took the stage. Not many people were requesting songs early in the evening, so I wound up putting about 8 or 10 requests on there, which was great because I got to hear my guys sing my favorite songs for a good chunk of the night. Late in the evening, Scotty dedicated “What A Wonderful World” to me for my birthday.

My streak of running into creepy guys at Jellyrolls continued on this night. There were actually four guys there that night that made my skin crawl! The first one started to rub my back and when I turned to look at him, he said, “Hello.” I must have given him a nasty look because he then apologized for bothering me.

The second guy was sitting at a bar stool not too far from me. I had passed him when I went to the ladies room, and he said “Hello” to me, so I mumbled “Hi” back. When I walked by him again, he was definitely following me with his eyes. When I was back in my seat, I saw that he was still looking at me (his seat was too my left and slightly in front of me so I could see him out of the corner of my eye). He spent a good part of the next hour looking at me instead of the stage, and eventually got up and stood next to me, waiting for me to acknowledge him, which I didn’t do. He walked away for a minute, and then came back and stood next to me again. When I didn’t acknowledge him, he wound up leaving.

The third guy was an older guy who was just staring at me from the moment he sat down. He made my skin crawl because he just had the look of a dirty old man. He eventually moved over to a seat in my row--the only thing between us was two empty bar stools. He continued to stare at me, but I was careful not to make eye contact with him, and he eventually left.

The fourth guy was by far the creepiest of them all because I wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do. He was very drunk, and I had watched him work the room trying to pick up girls for the past couple of hours. He had failed miserably about three times when he came over to me. He came over, and wrapped his arm around me and said, “Hey, are you looking for a really great guy?” Scotty noticed the guy come over to me and wrap his arm around me, and gave me a concerned look that I knew meant “give me a sign, and I’ll get you help.” (Some of you who have read my previous trip reports may recall a night about two and a half years ago when some guy was bothering me to the point where Scotty had to walk me out of the bar that night). I just say, “What?” The guy leans in even closer to me and says again, “Are you looking for a really great guy? I’m totally trashed.” I say, “I have no idea what you’re trying to say here.” I was debating whether he had reached the point where he was crossing the line and needed a good hard elbow in ribs when he said, “Would you like me to leave you alone?” I replied, “That would be nice.” He gave me a good squeeze, and then walked way.

When the guy walked away, Scotty and I just shook our heads and raised our eyebrows at each other. The entire time that the guy was with me, Scotty kept his eyes on us. I really appreciate that Scotty is always looking out for me when I’m there.

After leaving me, the guy went over to another woman (which got another raised eyebrow exchange between me and Scotty), and she actually invited him to sit with her. I could tell by his body language that he was really working the charm on her that night. It was actually pretty funny to watch this guy working that night.

When the pianos ended and the lights went up, I went to say Goodbye to Scotty and Ray. Scotty and I shared a chuckle about the guy, and chatted for a few minutes. I gave him a hug and told him that I would see him in August (if not sooner).

I then walked back towards my room. I passed the girl who was really intoxicated and another girl on my way to the room. They were standing near the art gallery arguing loudly. The other girl was giving the intoxicated girl a lecture about her drinking that night--telling her that is not a beautiful side of her. The intoxicated girl was getting all defensive and said that the other girl didn’t really care about her. When I got back to my room, I wound up calling the front desk to warn them about the argument going on between the two girls so they could alert security. I stepped out onto the balcony, and although I couldn’t see them, I could hear them still arguing. Within a minute or two, a work crew happened to drive by on a golf cart and spoke with the girls, and the arguing stopped.

I finally got into bed at about 2:15, and was fast asleep pretty quickly.

 

[TLinden16]

Day 11--Monday, January 29, 2007

Despite getting to bed at 2:15, I was up at 7:30, eager to get ready, pack those last minute items, and get ready for my last day in the parks. I checked my bags at the Resort Airlines Check-in desk, and was on my way to the Animal Kingdom at 8:30. I went back to Expedition Everest and grabbed a fast pass, and got in the line to ride it since there was not a line yet.

After my ride on Expedition Everest, I went over to the Tusker House to grab a cinnamon bun. I had one there once before, and remembered it being really good, but this time I didn’t enjoy it as much. It was OK, but not great. While I was eating, another family sat down at the end of my long table, and I started talking to one of the women. It turned out that her husband grew up in the next town over from where I grew up.

After breakfast, I went and took a ride on Dinosaur, and then went to ride on Expedition Everest again. I really love Expedition Everest. I’ve probably ridden it about 40 times since it opened, and I would ride it all day if I could.

I then left the Animal Kingdom, and took a bus to the Grand Floridian. I was thinking about going to the Grand Floridian Café for lunch, but after looking at the menu, I changed my mind. I took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. I went over to Cosmic Ray’s Café for lunch. I wound up getting a bacon double cheeseburger meal. I knew I probably shouldn’t because in recent years, the Disney burgers have been worse than the burgers you get at McDonald’s and Burger King, and this burger definitely was the nastiest burger I’ve ever had. I wound up throwing it out after taking two bites. I grabbed a cup of chicken noodle soup at Cosmic Ray’s, which was surprisingly good. It had a lot of flavor, and big chunks of chicken. I will definitely get it again.

After lunch, I walked over to the DVC booth in Tomorrowland, knowing that Cristina, the DVC employee from the cruise, would be working there that day. I was pleasantly surprised to see David, Jellyroll’s pianoman Scotty’s little brother, working at that booth with Cristina. I always look for David whenever I’m in the parks, and it was great to talk to them.

While I was chatting with them, Iluvdisney called me, so I handed the phone to Cristiana. She answered it, “Disney Vacation Club: Tomorrowland.” I think that Iluvdisney got a bit confused for a second, but she told Cristina she was walking down Main Street, and on her way to see us. Iluvdisney arrived a few minutes later, and we chatted with David and Cristina for a bit.

David mentioned to us that on some days the show at the castle featured characters that blinked and moved their mouths. I told Iluvdisney that we definitely had to see if they were doing that today. We said goodbye to David and went on Buzz Lightyear. I got my typical stinky score, but Iluvdisney got her best score ever.

We grabbed a times guide and saw that the castle show was going on, so we walked over there and watched the end of it. The characters were animated that day, and it was very strange to see. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald were blinking like crazy--it was like they were making up for all those years when their eyes were forced to be in the open position (they must have had a bad case of dry eye). It was so freaky to see their mouths moving! We both took some pictures of them, and I told Iluvdisney that we had to try to see it again.

We walked back to see David, and told him that they did have the animated characters that day, and thanked him for letting us know about it. I also showed him some of the pictures I took.

We then walked towards Adventureland. I stopped along the way to get a funnel cake, which was pretty good, but far too big for me to finish. We went and took rides on the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. We also caught the Jack Sparrow Pirate Tutorial.

We then headed over towards Main Street to try to catch the parade. We actually found a good spot to watch it considering we walked over just a minute or two before it passed our location. We sat on a bench along the railing as you head from Adventureland to the hub, and watched the parade as it came out of Liberty Square. There was a large patch of grassy area in front of us, but we had an unobstructed view of the parade from our seat, and there was no crowd hovering around us.

After the parade, we went and watched the castle show again. It was still a bit freaky to see the characters blink and move their mouths, but I like it. I even took some video with my digital camera this time around.

After the parade, we went to say goodbye to David and Cristina, as we would have to head out so Iluvdisney could take me to the airport soon. They really are two of the nicest DVC booth cast members around.

Before leaving the park, we took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I always enjoy taking a ride on this--it’s just nice and relaxing.

We then headed out of the park and walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the Boardwalk. I grabbed my carry on bag, and we hopped in Iluvdisney’s car for the ride to the airport.

My JetBlue flight left on time, and arrived in Boston on time. It sure was a great trip filled with a lot of fun with some great friends.

 

[TLinden16]

Afterthoughts

I really enjoyed my first cruise on the Disney Magic. I’ve already booked my next Disney cruise--a four night cruise in Dec. 2008 on the Disney Wonder. I was even able to score a secret porthole room for the cruise!

The crew on the Disney Magic is fantastic. Everyone was so nice and friendly. I was always greeted with a warm smile and a pleasant greeting. I can’t recall having even one negative encounter with a cast member. They are really first rate.

Next time I go on a Disney Cruise, I will make sure that I go to a sit down lunch and breakfast a few times. We went to the buffet for lunch every day, and the food was just OK for the most part. The buffet is definitely quick and easy, but the food is what you would expect from a buffet--just OK. I did enjoy the days I was able to have them make fried rice and pasta for me at the chef station in the back though.

I liked having a late seating for dinner, however I think I would have liked it better if we had been on the 8:00 or 8:15 rotation instead of the 8:30. Dinner ran so long every night that it was difficult to make it to the 10:15 shows on time--we usually were just finishing up dinner between 10:10 and 10:20, so by the time we arrived at the Rockin’ Bar D, it was already packed, and often the show had already started. In the future, I think I’ll try to get in an early rotation at the late seating.

 

[disneyfan551]

LOOOOVED your report!! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!! Happy belated birthday!

 

[Hygiene99]

Great report Karen!! Enjoy the snow tomorrow!!

 

[KarenNY]

Thanks for the report, Karen. I'm glad you enjoyed cruising with us.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I just read day 1. Great start so far!

 

[goofy4tink]

I can't wait for my first cruise now......and then the one with you in '08. How much fun will we have!!!!!
I can't believe, in all the times we've talked since you got back, you failed to mention that you bought 30 more points!!!! At least it wasn't 31!! Thank-you for that anyway.
Sure sounds like you had a terrific time. Here's hoping I can meet up with some experienced cruisers in August!!!

 

[iluvdisney]

What a great trip report Karen! I really enjoyed reading it and remembering the fun we had! Glad to read that you truly did enjoy your time with us!

 

[TLinden16]

I can't believe, in all the times we've talked since you got back, you failed to mention that you bought 30 more points!!!! At least it wasn't 31!! Thank-you for that anyway.

I thought I mentioned it. Oops.

I did tell the guide who sold me the points about you, and how I kept on telling you I was going to buy 31 points to one up you

KarenNY and Iluvdisney, I did have a lot of fun with you two. It was a great time. I couldn't have asked for two better people to take my first cruise with And you didn't throw me overboard, so that was a plus.

 

[nativetxn]

Great report, Karen. KarenNY and Mary are so much fun. I have cruised with KarenNY twice and we always have a blast. She really knows her way around that ship.

Sounds like y'all had a lot of fun. I'm so glad. Thanks for the trip report, it was fun to read.

Katholyn