Trip Report Surviving the Fantasy - Making the most of moments before they're gone...

PartOfYourWorld · Jun 18, 2013

Kelly! I am finally getting around to reading your report (actually...I have alot of them to catch up on LOL. Might as well read the newest one first!)

I second everyone here about cousins, and you know the funny thing? I've been far away from some them ever since I was born..well on one side at least. Sometimes I don't see them for a year+ (all the way in Canada) but when they come to visit, it's like they never left. In fact I call one of them my big brother, because to me that's what he is. I love them to death. Don't know what I would do without them. Love all my cousins!!!!!!

Typhoon Lagoon is my fav water park at Disney. Details are amazing! It has been waaaay too long since I've been there too. So thank you for letting me live that experience through you!!!!

So I find it really funny that we were there at the same time pretty much and missed you at Port Canaveral by a day! While you were boarding the beautiful Fantasy, me and my husband (woohoo!) we're enjoying our day at Castaway with the Dream. Did we pass each other over night? LOL. Anyways now that my secret is out..I LOVE CRUISING. Just had to throw that in there.

I'm happy that you and Ashley are posting about the Fantasy. We are looking to take a week long cruise on the Fantasy for our anniversary next year...we're thinking an Eastern looks more appealing to us. I'm curious reading about your Western cruise.

And just like your little nieces I did the same thing (well almost you know what I mean) when I saw the ship from the bus. There is just nothing like that view..anticipating the cruise and what is to come....its the best...oh man I'm tearing up here writing about it it affected me so much.

I'm so sorry you were sick on your cruise

That must have been no fun at all. But I hope things get a little better for you at least!

Thanks for posting all those videos of the awesome fam. Love it.

Can't wait to read more!

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

derelicte19 said:
Ohhh, Kelly I'm so sorry that you were sick!! If it's any consolation, I was sick the first few days of our WDW trip. Not flu like sick but I had a sore throat and congestion and lost my voice! It was definitely not fun and I am afraid like you of being quarantined. It sounds just terrible!!

On a happier note, Animators Palate looks amazing and I am so in for those Wasabi mashed potatoes. YUMM-O!!!! Love me some wasabi! I actually was just eating wasabi hummus and crackers earlier today scanning over your TR.

We talked to a lady on our last cruise in January who's daughter got seasick the first night. They went down to medical just in case it wasn't something else. Yep, quarantined for 24 hrs. She said the CMs were super nice, brought movies and toys and stuff to her, so they tried to make it as fun as they could. But they steadily checked every 30 minutes or so and made sure the little girl hadn't left the room. Crazy! I felt so bad for them. It was their first cruise and the lady didn't know they'd do that. She was like, "HUGE lesson learned!" LOL!

Oh man, those wasabi potatoes are something else. When you get a bite it's not a big deal because they're just potatoes, nothing too special. But then that little hint of a warmth hits your mouth and you're like, "oooooooohhh". That's when I'm hooked and start shoveling.

WishIWasAtWDW said:
Yay! I'm so excited you started your trip report, Kelly!

That's great that your kids are so close to their cousins. My Mom's side of the family has always been really close so the cousins all have a great time together. I am trying to get some of them to go to WDW with us. Can you believe that they have never been?! My Mom and I want to plan a girls trip for next year with my Aunt and cousins. I'm hoping we can make it happen.

I LOVE your censored pictures. That is too funny! Hahaha

That parking lot sounds terrible! I would have lost it. Why do people have to be so rude?! Ugh. I love the video you posted though! Hahaha That is some very candid footage and I love it. I would have said the same thing if someone asked me where we were going. Hahaha

I was so sad to hear that you got sick on your cruise. I hope that it didn't ruin the whole cruise. When we sailed on the Dream, we were almost as Aft as you could get and the vibrations were pretty bad each morning that we docked. I can't even imagine what that must feel like if you aren't feeling well.

I can't wait to read more and I hope you start feeling better soon! Maybe some more drinky drinks will help.

Those parking people were misery incarnate. There's no other way to describe them. I get that their jobs aren't fun because it's out in the heat dealing with clueless people. But, you know, we all have choices in life. Don't like your job? Go get another one. If you're going to be at work no matter what then make the choice to make it a pleasant experience for you AND others vs. the other end of the happy spectrum. There's no sense in all that misery. It doesn't help anything. In fact, I'd venture to say all the barking and ordering of people about is 90% of the reason why they missed 2 pieces of our luggage that should've been on the darned bus.

That video of me at the lot is going to go down in family history the way Jerry has at the end of the January '09 trip. "It blows." Yes, leaving your amazing vacation blows. LOL!

Nah, being sick didn't ruin everything. Can't wait for everyone to see!

iloverags2 said:
Yep, that's how we feel about TL too! You cannot beat the theming...incredible! Oh, how I love the story about your mom and poopy! LOL!

I'm so sorry your first day even was just lousy, but I hear ya on not wanting to visit medical. That's a death sentence right there. "I banish thee to your stateroom!" I dread hearing those words. In the midst of all of that, you are a super aunt taking care of Sarah with her worries. You ROCK!

All this TL talk is making me want to buy tickets for Tracey & me to go before our do-over!

Oh man, yeah, quarantined would be the worst. Clip my wings. It'd be awful. I suppose it'd be worse with an inside room, tho. Either way, nobody likes to feel trapped. That's my biggest fear, the feeling of being trapped.

GenerationX said:
Your report is, as always, very entertaining! It seems to lessen the blow of something crappy happening when you know you're going to end up telling the story ... and it's going to make an awesome story! Bad pictures? Same thing! The more unique the picture (in whatever way), the better. You, though, have taken this concept one step further to include actual embarrassing videos of yourself. I commend you! It makes the report so much more colorful and real worldy.

I can't wait to read the rest, as your upcoming adventures sound like they're going to be highly entertaining!

Man, some of our pictures coming up take craptastic to a whole new low. LOL! But, they're the pics we got for whatever reason so they're the pictures the world shall see. What can ya do??? Embarrassing pics. Embarrassing video. Keepin' it honest. Like I told my brother, if it was a trip report of all rainbows & sunbeams it'd be a tale of fiction. Nobody would buy into it. Gotta keep it real. Plus, I think of a rollercoaster. The thrill of the ride is the ups, downs, twists, & turns. That's how you have to tell a story. Without any lows you'll have no highs. Without any twists you're just riding along on a straight line. NO fun!

Oh yes! My brother the embassador and the Federales shall entertain, I'm sure.

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

PartOfYourWorld said:
Kelly! I am finally getting around to reading your report (actually...I have alot of them to catch up on LOL. Might as well read the newest one first!)

I second everyone here about cousins, and you know the funny thing? I've been far away from some them ever since I was born..well on one side at least. Sometimes I don't see them for a year+ (all the way in Canada) but when they come to visit, it's like they never left. In fact I call one of them my big brother, because to me that's what he is. I love them to death. Don't know what I would do without them. Love all my cousins!!!!!!

Typhoon Lagoon is my fav water park at Disney. Details are amazing! It has been waaaay too long since I've been there too. So thank you for letting me live that experience through you!!!!

So I find it really funny that we were there at the same time pretty much and missed you at Port Canaveral by a day! While you were boarding the beautiful Fantasy, me and my husband (woohoo!) we're enjoying our day at Castaway with the Dream. Did we pass each other over night? LOL. Anyways now that my secret is out..I LOVE CRUISING. Just had to throw that in there.

I'm happy that you and Ashley are posting about the Fantasy. We are looking to take a week long cruise on the Fantasy for our anniversary next year...we're thinking an Eastern looks more appealing to us. I'm curious reading about your Western cruise.

And just like your little nieces I did the same thing (well almost you know what I mean) when I saw the ship from the bus. There is just nothing like that view..anticipating the cruise and what is to come....its the best...oh man I'm tearing up here writing about it it affected me so much.

I'm so sorry you were sick on your cruise That must have been no fun at all. But I hope things get a little better for you at least!

Thanks for posting all those videos of the awesome fam. Love it.

Can't wait to read more!

Cousins are so awesome! I agree! One of my cousins is how I even found WDWMagic! That makes cousins even BETTER!

Cruising is amaaaaaazing! Yes, things can go awry that cause it to be less amazing at times but that can happen on any vacation. We took our first Disney cruise in September 2011. It's been less than 2 years and we just completed our 5th sailing. FIVE!!!! Isn't that nuts???? Come September I will be on 2 more cruises in the span of 2 weeks. So by the time I end September I'll have completed 7 sailings. Addictive? Juuuust a little. Not much. Nah.

We so would've opted for the Eastern, too. The Eastern is where St. Maarten and Maho Beach are. Tracey is such an aviation freak. One of his bucket list things to do is to sit on Maho Beach for a 747 flyover. Thanksgiving week this year we're booked on an Eastern on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas (giganto-ship) with all of Tracey's family. They won't cruise Disney.

We thought by doing the Western on Disney then the Eastern with RCI we'd have the Caribbean covered. The problem is when I go to these places I find so much cool stuff that it can't be done in 1 cruise. So now we gotta go back. Addictive. Juuuuust a little. LOL!

journ116 · Jun 19, 2013

Hook, line, and sinker! Can't wait to read me! oh, and take a cruise

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

May 26 - Mixin' it up at sea.

Tracey got out of bed around 6:30 and, like the angel he is, went up to the drink station to fetch me some hot tea. I took more meds then went back to sleep. This is when I was sweating it out the hardest. At 7:30 my darling husband brought me a bowl of musli, another hot tea, and some milk down from Cabanas. I felt like I had broken my fever in the last hour so I had that coming-alive feeling. Sitting up and eating really helped. I stayed in bed and slumbered until 9:30. I really was feeling the momentum pick up so I decided to try a shower. I knew Carlos would need to come in the room to clean up, too. Taking a shower and getting dressed always makes you feel a million times better. When it was time for meds again I dug the cold & flu stuff I had packed in my full-kit out. I was quite alarmed at how fantastic I felt after taking cold & flu meds. Is that a bad sign or what???

While I was getting dressed Tracey & I discussed what we could tell Carlos so he'd change out our sheets after just 1 night sleeping on them. I had sweat so much there was no getting around that. We decided to tell him we forgot to turn the air down or something lame like that. My congestion was audible. I'm sure he knew. Carlos was gracious as ever when we bumped into him in the hall. He assured us he would take care of everything and told us he wanted us to feel at home with him. What a sweetheart. I needed this right now.

We went up to Cabanas so I culd have more coffee, hot tea, and milk. That was about 10:30 or so. We strolled the decks a little looking around and taking it slow to see how I did. We made our way down to the shops to see what they had in the way of medicines, especially sore throat lozenges. Tracey laughed at me but I took a pic of the sundries shelves in Whitecaps for future reference. Circled are what ended up being my life savers: Contac Cold & Flu and Halls Triple Action Drops. I think Jerry took to buying these things up in quantity, too.

We perused the shops a bit just to see what might be new or on sale. I took pics which totally cracked Tracey up.

Jerry & the girls bumped into us in the shops, too. Then we all browsed together oohing and aahing over what all we liked. Does anyone ever shop in a Disney shop and not have fun-with-hats time???

Okay. So I'm totally perplexed as to the purpose of these mini-ears. Are women supposed to wear them as fascinators or are they just little collectibles??? Regardless, I'm totally irked with myself for not buying several because they'd be great to put on my dolls. Ooooh...or to put on my little dog & take pictures!!!

More retail regret. Why didn't I get one of the captain's outfits for Duffy??? I <3 Duffy. He's so soft. I want to hug him and squeeze him and love him and...

Sarah had given up on us slow-pokes and ditched us so now we were down to just Sydney, Jerry, Tracey, & me. We meandered out of the shops area towards the atrium. Photo op!

Uncle Tracey doing his best Sydney pose. Nailed it.

For whatever reason, I think maybe we ran up to put our purchases in the staterooms, we ended up on the midship elevators that have the artwork painted in the elevator shaft. We ran into a couple people on this cruise that were slightly odd, like the guy (you can't see him) that was on this elevator that thought Tracey was from South Florida or something because he had on a Guy Harvey shirt. No, Guy Harvey is pretty much everywhere. Duh. In the video you'll hear an interesting little conversation. I don't know why it is that whenever I turn on the video someone will utter a swear word killing the G/PG rating for me. Sheesh! Jerry totally humors us at the end. Anything to tease his little sister, huh? I was trying to capture the artwork as we traveled but it didn't turn out so good. Oh well. Beats nothing.

Next, we stopped in at the little Shutters room that adjoins the art gallery on the Fantasy. This space isn't like this on the Dream. It's just more art gallery. We pulled up our pictures on the little touch screen thingy. Ooops! All we had at this point was our boarding pictures.

Of course we looked over the artwork in the gallery. I think I found a new favorite. I love that Carl & Ellie are together in the twilight of their lives in Paradise. That's gonna be Tracey and me.

This is a great painting with so much fun exploding off the canvas. I wouldn't buy it but think it'd be a great souvenir to remember a Fantasy or Dream cruise.

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

journ116 said:
Hook, line, and sinker! Can't wait to read me! oh, and take a cruise

Yay! I wish I could take everyone on a cruise with us so all of you can have the high seas adventures!

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

We continued to wander about the ship. Oh, never too many pics of the atrium chandelier.

We passed through the Europa nightclubs that I didn't see yesterday. The theming in each is so incredible! Here's a shot of Ooh La La.

I didn't take a pic of the actual bar because they were setting up for a champagne tasting, I think. This is like a little space between clubs that's set up like it's a quaint little cafe area. So well done.

Well, somewhere nearby we had a potty stop. I took pictures of the cool circular "stalls" but they're actually little rooms. The tile work is exquisite.

The curved sliding frosted glass doors are so neat!

Next, we walked into Skyline which is the cool bar that has the backdrop of different cities behind it so it's like you're looking out windows over those cities. What's really awesome is that when you look at the city scapes the headlights of the cars are moving. You can see people moving. Then, magically, every so often (I forget the interval) pixie dust showers down over the "window" so you see an entirely different city! This being part of the Europa District you see different European cities. One wall of Skyline has this big sculpted piece that I'm pretty sure highlights the skylines you see.

I believe we're currently looking at London.

On the wall opposite the bar is this glowing faux fireplace. Totally adds to the ambiance.

Then, there's O'Gill's Pub. Had to go in here. In case ya can't tell, we're of Irish descent. My dad's dad was born in Ireland. And, according to @Tiggerish, the O'Brien's are descendants of royalty. I thought my dad was full of it on that bit of info but 'tis true, apparently. Who knew??? ((Other than Dad.

))

There were people in here doing some sort of picking for Fantasy sports teams or something like that. I don't get the whole concept but I know in real life it's a popular thing.

I was trying to get a picture of the painting all the way on the left (none of those pics were even recognizable) when Tracey coined a new "move". He'd do this funny thing where he'd swing his arms around and do his hips at the same time so his whole body ended up doing a Disney point. It's so funny to watch him do it. Heck, we've all been doing it ever since!

I think we were headed for the drink stations so we took the aft elevators outside the clubs up to deck 11. The deck 11 elevator bank lets out into Cabanas. To access the drink station or anything else on-deck you have to pass thru Cabanas. Kinda weird (like when you're in your bathing suit trying to scurry to your stateroom) but that's the way the ship was laid out. I kept noticing something missing in this elevator bank. Nigel! Where's Nigel?! Here's a link showing Nigel in the same location on the Dream. This is totally a "borrowed" pic. I take no credit. Where did Nigel go? You can kinda see the little spots where he'd be attached.

While out at the drink stations we marveled at the insanity that is the family pool decks. I. would. never. Not even if I had little kids who begged. No way, Jose.

Well, I must've been feeling a bit better. Or overly optimistic. I drank one of Jerry's beers!

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

Then we made it a point to see something that I'd been wanting to see on a Disney cruise: Jack Jack's Diaper Dash!!! We found a good perch up above the atrium and watched all the fun from above. First, they have a parent of each competitor show their little ones how it's done.

Then the emcee goes to each baby and asks them about their strategy. She asks a question, holds the mic over in front of the baby, you see the baby just grabbing at it with their hands, then she makes up a funny response the baby supposedly gave. It's really very cute. Then, the babies get in position at the start.

It's so funny when they do the official start. It's all this anticipation..."On your mark! Get set! GOOOOOO!!!!"...then 2 out of 3 babies sit down and look around at all the cheering people. It's so funny!

The baby in the middle took off pretty good but then he was sidetracked by the left baby's container of Cheerios. Oh NO!

Left baby was having none of that! Those are HIS Cheerios! So off he went!

Luckily, middle baby decided the plush Jack Jack was appealing which got him back on track...for the WIN! Right baby was pretty freaked out by all the cheering. She just sat and cried.

Just when you think it's over, it's on to the FINAL HEAT! The emcee interviews both of the babies that made it to the finals which continues to be adorable. Then, we're ready for finals!

The right baby, who was previously the middle baby, was the fastest last time but I think left baby must have had a taste for those Cheerios and he was HUNGRY! That little guy took off like a shot once he spotted Mommy with the Cheerios cup!

Left baby WINS!!!! The cheers were deafening!

Needless to say, Jack Jack's Diaper Dash was absolutely adorable and super-fun to watch. Even us parents who are looooong gone from the baby days had a ball watching. Sydney, who obviously hasn't done the whole motherhood thing yet, also enjoyed it just as much as we did. It's sooooo cute!

After the Diaper Dash we were pretty hungry so we went down to Royal Court. I had my favorite panini sandwich with extra cheese. Soooooo yum!

Tracey had a cheeseburger.

Jerry had some sort of fish (?) We'll just call it Mystery Fish.

Sydney had some pasta dish. Again, the name fails me.

Key Lime Pie dessert.

With lunch complete we headed back to the staterooms for a little rest and more meds.

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

Now, I was supposed to meet up with my fellow WDWMagicers that were on this same cruise but I overslept. I'm soooooo sorry, y'all! I was tryin' to get well! I didn't wake up until 3:30. Yikes! I'm pretty sure Jerry took a nap, too, and I know he was hittin' up the cold & flu meds right along with me. Every time he'd be looking rough I'd ask him when was his last meds and give him another dose. Yeah, I tend to over-mom people sometimes. I guess I come by it honest. My mom is like that, too.

At some point during the afternoon it looks like Jerry & Sydney did more verandah pics!

I made that bag of Sydney's!

Jerry? You didn't make good on your threat to bring a fishing pole, did you???

Good boy!

Such a great pic!

You will never guess what this is!

You can see it in the distance again here:

Here's me on our verandah and Tracey looking at it!

I'll give ya a hint!

Here ya go!

iloverags2 · Jun 19, 2013

Your feeling better sounds too good to be true.

But I'm glad you did have fun exploring some of the ship...gotta love any Ellie & Carl piece of art. And how adorable are those babies in the diaper dash! Oh, I must say I love the little central piazza in the Europa district...very well thought out. That is so bizarre about Nigel...he was there last spring:

Looking forward to more and hoping you were able to enjoy the rest of the day!

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

I know, I know. What a nerd! But seriously! How many people do YOU know that can say, "I saw Cuba with my own eyes?!" Of course the cool-factor is all about the forbidden-ness of Cuba. My dad has been there. At least now we can say we saw it. Right?

Jerry, Tracey, and I freshened-up and headed out to our 4:00 Mixology class in Skyline. I wasn't entirely sure how I'd do with it but I didn't want to miss it. Maybe I wouldn't have booked it yesterday if I'd known how bad I'd be feeling today. What's done is done. Let's GO.

Our class ended up being 20 people, I think. I thought the class was handled pretty well. Each person had the chance to make at least 1 of the drinks so it worked out well. This is the setup on the bar. Everyone gathers around to watch & enjoy.

Our first cocktail was a Stingray which consists of Captain Morgan's rum, Midori, cranberry, and pineapple. Four of the cocktails had 5 guests pouring/mixing 4 glasses each. If you do the math every-which-way you'll figure out that each of the 20 guests got to pour/mix something. I did the Stingray.

Next was this vodka-based cocktail that had all the smooshed-up fruit-n-stuff in it. I sipped it but didn't drink it all. I really don't care for vodka and the taste was all-vodka to me.

Here's Julian from Jamaica, our class instructor. @WishIWasAtWDW had him, too. He was really great!

Next we had these. I didn't write it down either. Some sort of Cosmo??? Bottoms up!

Oh that's attractive, darling....

The drinks will totally get to you. Wowzers! Some of the people in our group were obviously having more trouble absorbing it than others. One chick was so flippin' annoying. She saw Jerry wearing a University of Alabama hat so she took it upon herself to screech "GO VOLS!" every 5 minutes or so. Good Lord. They should be allowed to cut some people off, mid-class or not. Sheesh! So, to try and keep the class attention on the bar because the group to my right were getting quite boisterous and, at moments, raunchy

Julian did tricks. Here he is with Tracey's hat.

Next up was the Brain Hemorrhage. Tracey is really awesome at pouring layered shots so he volunteered on this one. Jerry went with him to try his hand, too. Julian said he worked for many years at Hedonism in Jamaica and this was quite the popular shot to order. Here's Tracey showing Jerry how to do it.

Layering it on.

Then the part that makes it the Brain Hemorrhage.

So why is it called a Brain Hemorrhage? Well, there's these layers of Sambuka and Baileys. When you drop the grenadine on top the red droplet(s) sink to the bottom. The goal is to create this little column so it looks like the brain stem.

Jerry put some serious effort into his.

Enjoy, guys!

Still trying to keep the focus, Julian did a bar trick for us!

Just when you think he's killin' it, Julian kicks it up a notch! Yes, he balanced a cocktail on top of a bottle on his nose!

The obnoxious people continued to be obnoxious. GO VOLS!!!! Luckily, the guys to our left were really cool. They definitely held their drinks a lot better than some of the others. Ugh! So if the Tennessee guys at the left end of the bar are reading this, THANK YOU for being cool. If we'd been sandwiched between obnoxious lushes I'd have left.

Anywhoo, our last cocktail was some champagne & juice thing. It was yummy, too. I enjoyed it. Definitely helps to end with something that goes down a little lighter than a shot.

We lingered a few minutes chatting up the cool Tennessee guys but then we headed on out. I tell ya, by now I was feelin' pretty dang good. I think Jerry was, too. We had such a great time! Go-Vols screecher or not!

**edit**

I'm totally forgetting another of the strange people-interactions we had on this cruise. There was a chick to the side of us that was like this self-proclaimed all-pro-smoosher. I forget the name of what it is they call that part when you use the little smooshy-tool and mush up all the stuff in the glass. Anywhoo, she made such a production about being this fabulous smoosher. Then she handed out her cocktails to the obnoxious bunch. For whatever reason she mentioned to Tracey or Jerry that she was sorry she didn't hand either of them one because she had to take care of her man. It was kinda odd. Then, later in the class, she asks Tracey is he a truck driver.

Um, no??? Not that there's anything wrong with driving trucks for a living but what the h3ll would prompt this lady to randomly ask Tracey if he drives a big rig for a living?!?! Oh, well, according to her she has a good friend who owns a shop where they sell hats and his hat is mesh in back which is called a trucker hat so she assumed he drove a truck. ?!?! I'm not kidding. Complete and utter moment if ever I've had one. Um, if you shop anywhere at all you know that the mesh-type caps are pretty much everywhere. Everywhere. I mean, the cap itself is a salt water fishing gear company. Shall we now assume he's a commercial fisherman??? I dunno, y'all. Some days I have these moments and I'm amazed all over again. Sheesh!

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

iloverags2 said:
Your feeling better sounds too good to be true. But I'm glad you did have fun exploring some of the ship...gotta love any Ellie & Carl piece of art. And how adorable are those babies in the diaper dash! Oh, I must say I love the little central piazza in the Europa district...very well thought out. That is so bizarre about Nigel...he was there last spring:

Looking forward to more and hoping you were able to enjoy the rest of the day!

You could definitely tell Nigel was supposed to be there. There's little holes in the shutters where he should've been. My guess? Some helicopter parent let their little "angel" hang on him and broke him. That's just my guess. We definitely had a pretty good rest of the day!

epcotisbest · Jun 19, 2013

I stared and stared at those photos trying to guess. I was seeing whales, dolphins, marlin, Ariel, the S.S. Minnow, the professor and Mary Ann, but never did guess Cuba! Thanks for sharing. Enjoying the report.

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

We got back to the stateroom, redosed our meds, and dressed for our formal night dinner. We wanted to dress before the show so we could hit up a photo op or 2 all dressed up before dinner. Kelly's toes go to the show in heels!

This is the cruise director. I can't remember his name but pre-show talks by the CD always get on my nerves. I came to see the show. Go away.

Tonight was "Aladdin". It was a fun show to watch. Genie's humor makes the show, that's for sure. At one point the show had some technical difficulties when the set changes didn't happen the way they were supposed to. That was interesting. I thought Jasmine's song was a bit drawn-out. Overall, it was a good one and I'd go see it again.

While we were waiting for someone to make a potty stop after the show @heatherkatheleen & her other half, Chris, bumped into us. I'm so glad Heather came up to me and introduced herself. I felt soooo bad about not making the meet earlier. We chatted a bit which was nice then headed towards the atrium to scope out a good family photo op.

Tonight is the Captain's Reception night. There's waiters and waitresses walking around with trays full of cocktails that they hand out for free. Yeah, it's the Captain's Cocktail Reception! Yes, the Captain of the ship, Captain Marco I believe, is onhand but I don't think we met him. Thanks for the drinks, Captain! We got in line for the staircase picture. Oh! And here's where you see our awesome take on "formal"! The guys brought khakis, shirts w/ties, and navy sports coats to wear as "formal". Well, after Mixology and getting into "the zone" taking formal into your own hands just sorta happens. Jerry, Tracey, & Chandler decided they were gonna do it their way. I totally encouraged it. I thought it was fabulous. I still do!

Does this not scream "We're in the cruisin' zone!!!!" Many cast, crew, officers, guests, etc. made it a point to compliment the guys on their interpretation of the dress suggestion for the evening. I'm still totally over-the-moon for what they did. Awesome! Tracey called Brian on his Wave phone to tell him what they were doing but I think Brian had already dressed himself so he stuck with the khakis w/his ensemble. I still have no idea who helped him with his tie.

While we're waiting, family toes goes to the Captain's Reception!

It was kinda funny to see drinks offered to Sydney and Chandler at the reception. Neither of them took one, not that we would've stopped them, but it was just strange. I guess Chandler being so tall and Sydney being so..uh..womanly with that figure..

..they could've been mistaken for legal age. ????

Technically on DCL the drinking age is 21. We (both teens' parental teams) sorta subscribe to the same mode of parenting in that we are okay with teaching our kids about drinking responsibly ourselves. If they're with us in the right setting a drink is okay if they want one. If they want to drink alcohol they don't need to sneak or put themselves in unsafe situations. Unbeknownst to them, we've purposely eliminated the mystique. Now that we've covered that because, yeah, later on you'll see these 2 with drinky-drinks, we can move on.

Tracey & Sydney like to impersonnate each other. Brian likes to bomb any photo he can. LOL!

OMG! While we were in line for the stairway photo op in the atrium Tracey kept looking at the guy with his family behind us and he would whisper, "Dude, I know that guy from somewhere" or "I know I've met him before" or "That guy looks so familiar". I kept shooshing him. Tracey has had many drinky-drinks today. I thought he looked a bit familiar but, you know, some people just look like someone you know. I kept telling him, "Babe, you do NOT know him. Leave him alone. You've been drinking a lot. Don't say anything!" But as we neared the end of the line Tracey simply couldn't contain his over-friendly-self anymore. He leaned over and said, "Hey man, where are you from because you look so familiar to me." I rolled my eyes and pretty sure I mumbled, "Oh God, here we go." The man was really friendly back and answered, "Arizona." I said, "See? We've never been to Arizona. You don't know him." The guy smiled and said, "Well, I'm also from New Jersey. You might recognize me from television, though. I'm on a show called Property Wars."

Holy CRAP!!! It's SCOTT from Property Wars!!!!! I watch that show all the time! I love real estate and DIY shows!!! It's a Discovery Channel show, in case you've never seen it. Tracey was all, "I told you so!" Rightfully so! We talked to Mr. Menaged and his family for a few minutes. I asked him how much of the way the "players" all coming off like major jerks is in the editing or any scripting. His response? Maybe 5%. To be in that business with so much tough competition it takes these guys that are complete jerks to be successful. Wow! I would've guessed it was more in the editing or scripting. His son was a handsome young man. Looks so much like his dad. I asked his wife if it was weird to see her man on tv like that. She said it was strange because it's like you're watching home movies or something but then you're not because it's a show. I can see that! So, me being the crazy nerd I am PLUS drinky-drinks AND the fact that Scott and his fam were really awfully friendly I had the nerve to ask for a picture for my trip report!

Eventually we got up to the staircase and posed for pics. Here's the group shot.

And us.

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

epcotisbest said:
I stared and stared at those photos trying to guess. I was seeing whales, dolphins, marlin, Ariel, the S.S. Minnow, the professor and Mary Ann, but never did guess Cuba! Thanks for sharing. Enjoying the report.

OMG!!!! I flippin' LOOOOVE this!!!! I didn't really think anyone would take the time to guess. I always scroll right to the answer!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!

Tiggerish · Jun 19, 2013

That's right--Brian Boru knocked off an O'Neill as High King of Ireland in 1002, and started the O'Brien dynasty which ruled over various bits of Ireland until 1542, when England's Henry VIII took over the whole place. The O'Briens went on to be earls and barons (and still are!)

Loving the report and the photos, sux that you were sick, you are a trooper to keep going and documenting the whole vacation while feeling so poorly. Every new post makes me more eager for the Dream in September!

Is it wrong to be amused by the fact that they stocked pregnancy tests and condoms right next to each other in the sundry shop?

Tiggerish · Jun 19, 2013

And since I was typing while you were posting formal night, I gotta add--you look fantastic in polka dots!!! Great dress, girl! And I like your guys' take on formal.

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

We were about 15 minutes late to dinner because that line for the staircase pic was looooong. On our way into Enchanted Garden:

Not sure what made me want to take menu pics. Afraid I'd forget what we had???

These are the people I travel with. And, yes, in all our glorious lack of appropriateness, it's fun. I'm sorry.

No, I'm not.

Oh the many talents my man has. I could say so many things but I think Tracey says it best.

So I took pics of the menu so I wouldn't forget what we had but then I only took pics of Sarah's plate! LOL!

And her ketchup art!

All I wrote down was that I had a salad and beef. I'll guess that I went with the wedge salad and the prime rib. LOL! Nobody had dessert. We were all stuffed from our dinners.

After dinner we returned to the stateroom to get out of our less-comfy clothes. Here's our towel sculpture for the evening and tomorrow's Navigator.

No going out late tonight either. Nope. I needed to be well. So, we opted to order out some room-service dessert and watch some on-demand movies.

I ask you, what could possible be better than Mickey's Premium bars delivered to you in bed by room service? Here's the answer:

**sigh**
The crispy treats are my favorite Disney treat. Looooooooooove...

I slept a bit better tonight with the right combo of meds. I still was annoyed by the constant vibration we felt. The aft rooms don't just vibrate when the thrusters are being used when getting in or out of port. No, it's constant. You feel it more during docking or pushing off and when the ship is clipping a long faster. So, yeah, I felt it but was still able to rest. I didn't sweat anymore but I kicked out of the covers several times.

Overall, I can't complain. I may be sick as all hell but I feel like I'm coping well and managing to have some fun, too. It's all in the perspective, right?!

'Til tomorrow when we get up close & personal with the rays and the fishies!

sweetpee_1993 · Jun 19, 2013

Tiggerish said:
That's right--Brian Boru knocked off an O'Neill as High King of Ireland in 1002, and started the O'Brien dynasty which ruled over various bits of Ireland until 1542, when England's Henry VIII took over the whole place. The O'Briens went on to be earls and barons (and still are!)

Loving the report and the photos, sux that you were sick, you are a trooper to keep going and documenting the whole vacation while feeling so poorly. Every new post makes me more eager for the Dream in September!

Is it wrong to be amused by the fact that they stocked pregnancy tests and condoms right next to each other in the sundry shop?

My dad called me one day out of the blue prob'ly a few years ago going on & on about Brian Boru and I was all, "Whatever, Dad", because he comes up with some odd stuff that he wants to call and tell us sometimes. It's so random. But, yeah, I guess it takes on a new meaning how Tracey says I'm his "Princess". LOL!

Believe me, it crossed my mind to drop the trip reporting notes and stuff but then I couldn't. First of all, if I wrote a report that I was sick thru then it takes on another perspective that isn't that common. It's Jerry & the girls' first cruise. They were looking forward to the feature in one of my reports. Ultimately, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't do a report so I kept on plugging away. I'm so glad I did!

NOOOOO, it's not wrong to be amused by the pregnancy tests next to the condoms! We laughed about it, too!

Could you imagine being unprepared and desperately needing either one of these things on a cruise?!?! Maybe they place them next to each other to boost sales. Condoms: for when you don't want to need a pregnancy test. Or, pregnancy test: for when you failed to use a condom. ROFL!!!! See??? It's not just you!

Tiggerish said:
And since I was typing while you were posting formal night, I gotta add--you look fantastic in polka dots!!! Great dress, girl! And I like your guys' take on formal.

Thank you! I love my pokey-dot dress! It's really comforable. The black strappy heels I wear with it are also the only comfortable heels I've ever owned. I love them. Since the trip Tracey has mentioned me cutting off and hemming his tux pants. The jury is still out on that. It could happen.

Sumrdog · Jun 19, 2013

You are really cracking me up today, and I totally needed it! My daughter got her tonsils out this am, and after a pretty rough couple of hours

; we are now comfortably ensconced on the couch at home. In between offers of jello, pudding and popsicles; I desperately needed a happy distraction. And there was your trip report!

I love the "Holy crap that's Cuba" photo, I laughed out loud and then your little rant on the trucker hat; hilarious, what was with that lady? Sorry you were sick, but so far it sounds like you powered through...Hopefully that keeps up.

You need your own blog...Well maybe you already have one. If you don't, just know that your writing is great, you're so funny! I hope you add more soon. I will be here, on the couch with my little one the next two to three days...

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