Trip Report What happens in the Cabana, Stays in the Cabana: A September 2013 Girls' Cruise Adventure

Howe · Sep 19, 2014

After a long extremely active day of sitting, chatting and enjoying POG juice, we were off to see the show of the night, Villains Tonight. [The song is still stuck in my head… “Villains tonight, villains toniiiiiight”]

Despite the poor reviews I had heard, I had high hopes for this show because Hades is my favorite villain! I thought Hades did a good job, but overall this was my least favorite show of the cruise. The set and costumes were great (other than the white mop-people costumes), and I enjoyed the music as well. The comedy was just too cheesy and pop culture references just didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t a BAD show, just not my favorite! I really enjoyed the other two shows! I think a show that includes so many awesome villains should just be more awesome. After the show, I think we all said that it probably would have been better with a drink or two.

Next we were off to dine at Royal Palace. Prior to the cruise, the only thing that really stood out to me about this restaurant was that they had the bread baskets that look like Cinderella’s Carriage.

This place had a lot going for it. In addition to the cool bread baskets, they fold the napkins like shirts…

They have delicious french onion soup…

Tasty Lamb…

Delicious Grand Marnier Souffle…

AND a special princess perfectly photobombs every photo you take! How’s that for Royal?!

During the meal, if those details didn’t make you feel royal enough, they had photographers wandering around the restaurant taking pictures. The photographer was pretty awkward. I have to be honest, I don’t remember exactly how this went down, but all I know is I looked up and @plaz10 was having solo glamour shots taken by the cruise photographer. She really is a special princess I guess. The photographer proceeded to direct several of the girls into perfect poses for their individual glamour shots. Luckily, Holly caught a shot of the awkwardness in action and Jess and Shannon trying to hold it together.

The photographer finally made everyone get up and get together for a group picture. After instructing each of us within inches of the right position, Jess threw this in there.

I honestly don't remember how much I loved the food or drinks because we had such a good time! After a dinner full of laughs and princess photobombs, we headed off to have a few drinks!

HollyBelle · Sep 19, 2014

Match your Mate / PINK

After a round or two of drinks somewhere we headed to Evolution to meet up with the rest of the wdwmagic ladies and pick up our cabana bands for Castaway. Seeing as how we were already there, we decided to just grab some drinks and settle in for what was sure to be an epic rendition of the Newlywed Game. Except NOT. These couples were such a bore.

For anyone who has seen this show, you know what's implied with each of these questions. I mean, there are three couples on the stage and, yet, somehow not a single one of them had a fun answer for "What's the first thing your husband touches when he wakes up in the morning?" Ummm... pretty sure his phone, his glasses, and his CPAP machine are about the most boring answers ever. All due respect to modesty, but you volunteered for this... so give the audience what they want! The poor host was trying his hardest to get something salacious from them but it just wasn't happening. If I recall correctly, one of the couples had a semi-entertaining answer to "Where's the most unique place you and your wife have found the magic?" but outside of that it was a SNOOZEFEST.

So, Jess and I, bored with what was happening on stage started answering the questions as if we were in the hot seat with our respective husbands. It made for a much more entertaining evening, as well as an educational one. Our poor husbands, if they only knew.

Added bonus... all that bonding proved useful the next day when it came time for the cabana festivities!

After the show concluded a bunch of us decided a nightcap was in order. Pink was just the ticket.

I adore the menu and idea behind the theming, but I actually find this venue to be the most lacking of the bar scene on the ship. It's like they need to make one more pass through and add some finishing touches.
Shannon captured a couple great shots of the ambiance:

We settled in one of the large corners of the room with a round of drinks, and shared story after story with one another. Before long, the lights were on and we were being kicked out. Only we hadn't paid yet. And so we were all paraded back in to close out our individual tabs, which turned into a painstakingly long task as the bar guys tried to get their card reader up and running. By this time we'd sucked our champagne flutes dry, and all we really wanted to do was go to sleep to dream about the tropical concoctions the cabana boy would be delivering to our beach chairs the next day. But alas, we were here... hashtag-not-impressed:

Making the best of situations, one mirror shot at a time:

Up next... Jess will regale you with tall tales of the cabana! What she can remember of it anyway.

Ariel484 · Sep 19, 2014

Sunday, September 9, 2013

Castaway Cay...BEST. DAY. EVER!!!

Oh, you beautiful island.

I'd been looking forward to the Castaway Cay 5K for quite awhile now. It had been a long time since I'd run a 5K and I was hoping for a fast time...so I decided (gasp!) not to bring a camera to take any pictures for the race.

Quite a few of us ladies did run the race. We met up in Evolution where the Cast Members gave us some race information (including going over the course...which I didn't listen to very well...foreshadowing

) and we disembarked together. There is a pre-race group picture floating around somewhere out there, I think Siobhan @Tiggerish has it?

The race itself goes through the Castaway Cay bike path, which is enclosed by trees. You then run out onto the airstrip near Serenity Bay (the adults-only beach), turn around and run back. The conditions were rough – it was warm and soooo humid. Partway through it started to rain a bit, which to me felt heavenly.

Anyway – I ran through the bike path, down the airstrip, turned around and went back into the bike path...and I went the wrong way! :hilarious:

I know I'm not the only one that did this - maybe the only one in our group but not the only person in the race. Arrrg. Eventually I realized what I did, turned around and went back the right way. And that's how my 3.1-mile 5K became a 3.7-mile "5K." That just means I earned myself an extra Corona, right?!

So for anyone that's going to do this race in the future, a tip from me to you - pay attention to the CMs when they are describing the course. I mean...really.

Overall, I thought it was cool that it was free and nice that we got a (plastic) finisher medal at the end, but the race was nothing special. No characters, a less-than-scenic course, insane humidity...meh. I've since run the race a second time (end of July this year) and I have much stronger feelings about it after my second go-round...and that's even after running the course correctly.

Anyway...I was in desperate need of a shower and breakfast at this point, so I headed back to the ship to clean up and have some Mickey waffles in Cabanas.

Name that movie!

It was so, so odd being on the ship when it was this empty.

Apparently Castaway Cay morning is when the CMs clean the chandelier! So cool!

I disembarked and was shuttled to the Family Beach...from there I hopped on a golf cart that took me back to the Cabanas. It was POURING rain at this point. But nothing could mess up this day. Seriously. Best. Day. EVER!

plaz10 · Sep 19, 2014

Woke up. Breakfast as usual. Courtney, Holly and I headed over to Cabanas for a quick breakfast – we wanted to soak up as much of Castaway Cay as possible. We also loaded up on some POG at Cabanas to make some more delicious Island Sunsets (Disney Cruise style) to take with us to the island.

After leaving this amazing ship for the first time all trip – we jumped on the tram headed for the Family Beach Cabanas.

There was almost no one on the family beach at this time – which led for some wonderful people-less beach and cabana photos.

Holly’s toes goes to Castaway Cay!

I’ll admit – I was a bit skeptical about a bunch of women without children (in tow) heading to the family beach for the day instead of the adult beach. But all thoughts of that went out the window when I saw our glorious view of the Disney Dream in the distance!

I’ll also admit that I did a little freak out when I saw the clear water – EEEK! Stunning!

plaz10 · Sep 19, 2014

And those Cabanas? I’m certified spoiled. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do Castaway Cay again without the Cabana. It’s a perfect home away from home! And being able to view the beach and the Dream from the comforts of your Cabana couch? Amazing!

First order of business was to round up a prime spot in front of our cabana – we even pulled a 4th lounger up for Shannon for when she arrived from running the Castaway 5K. We briefly discussed our original intentions of running the 5K as well but after a couple more sips of our cruise made Island Sunsets – we all felt we made the correct decision!

We spent this time enjoying the beach (and our drinky drinks) and gawking at the Dream. We also spoke of missing Shannon and missing our husbands (in 2 totally different contexts

) which led to stories of our exes – which led to laughter and thankful thoughts of our current relationship statuses.

Our Cabana had people coming and going throughout the day – which was an awesome part of having 3 Cabanas in a row. At one point…Joanna @joanna71985 came in to tell us of her journey to meet every character on the island – and she was successful! Talk about dedication!

We weren’t super hungry but figured since Cookies is only open during certain hours – we should hit it up before we forgot (and before drinks started flowing)

I believe around this time is when Shannon returned! We joked throughout the trip that she wasn’t running a 5K…she was running a little bit for all of us! So we ran vicariously through her – what a good friend…exercising for the group!

Missy, Tammy and Kelly were hanging out in Cabana 6 – and Missy shared her genius idea with cookies and ice cream. (It seems so simple…yet so perfect)

It started to pour down rain - which made us even more thankful for our beautiful cabanas. Perfect place to wait out a storm.

Throughout the day…Missy and Tammy funneled out and Siobhan and Sherry funneled in.

Drinks were in order! We all ordered some mixed drinks. Drinks of the day and margaritas.

They weren’t exactly up to par. In fact – they weren’t very good at all. Kind of watered down and just not refreshing. Some of us chugged them down (guilty) while others felt they were too gross to drink at all. Not the best. No sense in crying over crummy drinks…time to move on!

There was some special on buckets of beers. It seemed like a perfect order! Coronas all around!

And enter the 8th member of our crew…KOMGRIT! The man walked up from the beach with the bucket of beers like a beacon of light! Good Ol’ Komgrit – always smiling. (Who wouldn’t be smiling – bringing beer to a Cabana full of awesome women?)

Ariel484 · Sep 19, 2014

jesemeca said:
If ya'll keep posting at this rate, I'll never win. I have another day of cruise, plus 3 days in the parks to finish! Not quite fair. Lol.

Very true. It's 4 against 1!!

plaz10 · Sep 19, 2014

The Coronas were refreshing and delicious! After toasting to an awesome day with awesome new friends in an awesome cabana on an awesome beach from an awesome cruise ship…the day was…in 1 word…AWESOME!

Two views of this awesome toast.

***A photo of a photo of a photo.***

We took our Coronas out into the water! We have no pics of this but evidence can be found in both @Disneyfalcon and @lovewdw5 reports.

Back onto dry land… the 4 of us had decided to play some college drinking games in the cabana a few days prior and the other ladies were up to the challenge!

We played Circle of Death (or Kings or Kings Cup as it’s also named) which is when you spread the cards in a circle and each card means something different.

We were having a blast! One of the cards (Jack I think…) is “Never have I ever…” which is when you go in a circle and say something you have never done (“Never have I ever gone to Disneyland) and those who had been to Disneyland had to drink. But let me tell you…the “never have I evers” were much more adult than that. And we really learned a lot about one another that day. Laughter ensued.

With more and more buckets of beers and rounds of shots… more and more stories were being shared. Laughter barely begins to cover the amount of fun we were having – tears streaming down our faces and struggling to catch our breaths. Truly an unforgettable experience!

At some point in the day (the details are running together – was it the many drinks? NO. It’s because it was a year ago, silly!) Holly left to use the restroom. Well cue my immature nature to have someone take a bunch of stupid pictures of us on her camera.

We’re so attractive!

plaz10 · Sep 19, 2014

It had come to my knowledge that a few of my fellow cabana ladies had never had a Jager bomb! This is one of my favorite shots! We called our Cabana friend (not Komgrit – the Host…who’s name I do not remember. But he had the most adorable accent.) And he called the bar to ask if we could get Jager bombs. Nope. ☹ No Jager on the island. Boo. So we turned to one another asking what type of shot we should order – in the name of Shannon, Kelly and Siobhan – we decided to order Red Headed Sluts. Hearing the Host ask if the bar had “Red Headed Sluts” in his accent was a HIGHLIGHT of the day. Alas…No red headed sluts (the drinks anyway…

) So we ordered some other red shot that the bartender on the phone had suggested. Oh…and add a bucket of beers to that order too!

Toasting to all the awesomeness! Thanks to Jess @PartOfYourWorld for the first photo below. And as you can see, Komgrit was doubling as our group photographer as well. What a good man!

Speaking of shots – these were strong but not delicious. Tasting like “licking an envelope” someone said. Pretty accurate.

There were many visits from Komgrit that afternoon...

An order of lemon drops and more beers later…and everything was hilarious. We had crossed the border of tipsy into…more than tipsy. You’d have thought we were 7 old friends who had known each other all our lives.

This is a great photo of the field of battle.

plaz10 · Sep 19, 2014

It was about time to wrap up the awesome day that was Castaway Cay…but not before Sherry could dip her toes into that clear water! It was her BIRTHDAY afterall! So we all headed down to capture this momentous occasion.

There’s the birthday girl (in her fabulous STEELERS gear!) in the water with the Dream!

We decided to all dip our toes in the water before heading out. And attempted to get an ocean toes picture. When it seemed that the coordination of all of our feet with the tide (plus the beers…) led to some hilarity.

My favorite part of this picture is not Shannon falling. It’s Courtney and I laughing our a$$es off instead of helping her.

I mean Courtney and I are REALLY laughing uncontrollably. I’m sorry Shannon. Blame it on the alcohol. (Shannon was fine by the way – it’s not like she was terrible injured and we laughed all the way back to the Cabana…)

But we did get the toe picture! Awesome ladies toes go in the ocean!

Group shot!

As we were packing up – I had not been in the hammock yet. Time to rectify this! Photographic proof!

Then our Host appeared to let us know it was indeed time to head back to the ship.

jesemeca · Sep 19, 2014

Ariel484 said:
Very true. It's 4 against 1!!

I'm working on mine right now, but I still have 4 days to go! And most days my internet hates me! LOL.

HollyBelle · Sep 19, 2014

Before we can move on... let's look at take two of this incident and break it down...

Remarkably, Shannon manages to save the cards while looking fabulous doing it. Kelly appears on the scene to join Siobhan in laughing hysterically at Shannon. Courtney, of course, has looked at me to make sure I've captured this memory on film forever (luckily for all of us, I have). And Jess makes the happy realization that she is holding not one, but two, coronas! Not pictured to my right is Sherry, the only one to actually help Shannon up.

So, where were we? Oh, yes, leaving paradise. It wasn't as sad as it sounds, seeing as how we had all intentions of continuing this party on board the Dream. We collected the last of our things (most importantly, the coronas - leave no alcohol behind) and made the trek back to the ship.

Farewell Cabana # 6, you were good to us...

We were the last to leave Castaway Cay, which is surely something to put in the record books! How dare those cast members? They really did kick us off the island. Albeit, with a smile and wave. So long adorable cabana host who made our day all the more magical every time we asked him to repeat our shot order!

Let's talk about the return trip... first mode of transportation was a golf cart:

I'm just now realizing Shannon is not in these photos. She must've been up front with our driver, who I believe was doing his best to throw us off the back of the golf cart, like it was a sport or something. I kid you not, he was flying. No worries though, Jess and I managed to not only stay on the golf cart, but to capture a sweet corona shot like the trip reporting pros that we are.

HollyBelle · Sep 19, 2014

After surviving the golf cart, we found ourselves waiting on the last tram to come pick us up. So, lemme take ANOTHER selfie, because there aren’t enough already:

The tram appeared and, while it was less thrilling than the golf cart, the memory making didn't stop.

No doubt, these two were deep in a discussion about the Steelers...

And there she is...

The only problem is we've got to, you know, walk from here on out. And this is where it gets a little fuzzy. Of course, only because it was last year and we didn't take notes. It couldn't possibly be for any other reason than that.

We lost Sherry, Siobhan and Kelly... they got ahead of us somehow, so our final selfie with the Dream is shy a few fabulous ladies:

The best thing that happened on our walk back, we found out later. Unbeknownst to any of us, Jess' camera was in video mode and captured a pretty hilarious drunken conversation amongst the four of us. Again, with the point and shoot, she's winning. The conversation isn't fit for a family site, so you'll just have to take our word for it, it was the most hilarious thing ever to play back.

Courtney captured an unintentional picture that perfectly sums up our return trip... a little blurry, but hilarious nonetheless:

And with that, we waved up to Ashley and Darolyn who were out on their verandah (and could undoubtedly hear us coming from a mile away) and then boarded the Dream.

Howe · Sep 19, 2014

After a day of drinking and fun in the sun, the last thing that comes to mind is crawling back onto the boat, washing away the salt and sand and getting all dressed up for a fancy dinner, but Palo had been calling my name for months. Holly and Jess had already decided not to do Palo, but Shannon and I were signed up. After the day we had on Castaway Cay, I think Shannon was questioning that decision but I would NOT let her back out on me. So we got fancied up and headed to Palo, and we were SO glad we did! There was a great group of girls at Palo that night, and we got to sit at one HUGE table in a room to ourselves! The decor was beautiful!

The food here was seriously delicious. After the fun-filled day we had, I wasn’t sure how much I’d be able to enjoy, but oh boy… I had NO problem enjoying every bit of it!

This appetizer was the Grilled Portabella and Polenta. Let’s be honest here, I pretty much ordered it because of the polenta. I loooove me some polenta. But this whole dish was AH-mazing. Shannon tried it and loved it as well. It was soooo creamy and flavorful.

Next it was time for the main course. Our server told us that we could choose a main course and along with a small portion of risotto or pasta. I chose the Beef Tenderloin with the Gorgonzola cream sauce, as did several others at our table.

HOLY COW WAS IT DELICIOUS. I mean really. I didn’t even take a picture of my risotto (which wasn’t very good) because I was way too busy enjoying this dish. I would say that this was the best beef dish I’ve had at any Disney restaurant! It was soooo goood!!!

Here were Shannon’s dishes:

After our amaaaaazing dinners, it was time for dessert. I was already stuffed but I knew i was getting that chocolate souffle. I’d seen it on just about every review I’d read of Palo in the months leading up to the cruise.

It did not disappoint. I would seriously go back to Palo just for this dessert!!! Sometime around dessert the server brought me a little surprise….

Aww, so sweet right?? Except it wasn’t my birthday so it was a little embarrassing! I just went along with it!!!

I think you can tell my face is red in this picture.

Overall, Palo was soooo delicious! And after a day of alcohol on the beach, Palo turned out to be surprisingly a perfect finish!!

HollyBelle · Sep 19, 2014

While Shannon and Courtney were being classy broads with so many other fabulous girls' cruisers, Jess and I were holed up in my stateroom nomming on cheese plates and discussing our dreams and passions in life. NO really, I kid you not. It was exactly the kind of deep soul searching conversation one always has when three sheets to the wind.

What else were we doing, you ask? Taking shots. Taking shots of coconut rum and eating cheese and crackers. Palo has nothing on us.

Eventually we ran out of rum. #sadtrombone Though, seeing as how it was pirate night... in the spirit of piracy everywhere, we helped ourselves to some of Kelly's rum for a few last shots before heading down to dinner.

Because lord knows we needed more shots. And a shout out to @sweetpee_1993 who, I believe, is just now hearing of our treasonous behavior. Thanks, friend!

We arrived at Animator's just in time to find a table of eight for just the two of us. In reality, Sherry had apparently sat at that table by herself for twenty minutes trying to convince the servers that we would, indeed, make it to dinner. Thanks for keeping the faith, Sherry! Just before we got there, however, they picked up her place setting and put her with another table of girls’ cruisers, so as not to have her eat alone.

This picture doesn't really convey the hilariousness of the two of us at a table set for eight:

We were on a roll... so why not order some tasty pirate drinks?

ONLY, they weren't tasty. Somewhere between those last shots of rum in the stateroom and the dinner table we turned a corner. And the drinks sat on the table throughout our whole meal as we started guzzling water. Gotta stay classy… no puking on the Dream.

We may have been drunk, ahem, I mean tipsy, but we were still more than capable of taking pictures of food. Just don't ask us whether or not it was good:

This one's for you, Tammy @Disneyfalcon , with sprinkles:

Howe · Sep 19, 2014

After our dinners at Palo and Animators, Shannon and I changed clothes (and I believe maybe Shannon took a nap?) and headed up to the main deck for some Pirate night fun! I didn’t even bring my camera, so I’m glad the other girls got some pictures.

Pirate night was honestly the first time during the whole cruise that the ship really felt crowded to me. There were people everywhere and it was a little hard to find any of the 27 ladies!! But the ship had a great pirate feel with so many people dressed up, the pirate music, lights, etc.

Most of our pirate gear (the bandanas and the pirate masks and my pirate shirt!) were all thanks to the amazing Sherry!! She is seriously so awesome. During the party we handed off the masks to some very appreciating little kids!

In addition to watching the fireworks, we had a bit of a Pirate dance party on deck with lots of the ladies! After the pirate fun was over, we headed down to Evolution ( i think?) to see Darolyn and Jess perform some karaoke! They performed Summer Lovin’ from Grease and they did a great job! I would never have the guts to perform on stage, so I am in awe of them! After karaoke was over, we had quite the dance party. No pictures of either of these activities, but much fun was had by all.

HollyBelle · Sep 19, 2014

At Sea

So yeah… this is what I’ve got for you:

Four cameras and yet that's the only picture we have to document approximately 6-7 hours of time. Oops. #tripreportfail

The four of us spent the morning of our sea day nomming at the various walk ups, lounging by the adult pool, discussing everything from politics to our love lives, and reliving the awesomeness of the cabana. That about sums it up!

Somebody should start drinking to liven things up around here…

Ariel484 · Sep 19, 2014

Drinking, you say?! Don't mind if I do!

Mixology

We had a group Mixology session scheduled at...I don't know, 3PM? 4PM? Whatever. What I do know is that the 4 of us showed up stone-cold sober...gasp!

Normally Mixology sessions are held in Skyline, but because there were so many of us ladies, we go to do ours in Pink!

It was decided that groups of 5 would prepare drinks for the rest of the group - most of us got to make one drink while a few ladies go to go twice.

Round 1 - the B52 shot! This one was made of Kaluha, Bailey's and Grand Marnier. YUM!

So pretty.

There were a few non-drinkers among us, so during each "round" of drinks there were some leftovers. Any guesses as to which of us ladies were more than happy to "help out" and finish up these extras during each and every round?! :angelic:

I'm pretty sure it was expected of us at this point...gotta give the people what they want. Cheers!

Round 2 was cosmos! Courtney volunteered for this one, so I grabbed her camera and got some shots. Looking back I'm not TOTALLY sure why I did this since we'd long decided that the four of us would pool all of our photos together...err??

Mixology is fun!

How perfectly girly.

Well done, friend!

Ariel484 · Sep 19, 2014

Jess and I were called up for Round 3 - the Sunken Treasure. Hilarity ensued!

Umm...??

We don't even have to try, it's always a good time!!

So this drink is supposed to end up with pretty green/yellow/blue layers. I poured too quickly and messed up one of mine.

Smug much?!

Cheers!

Up next - mojitos! Both Holly and Courtney hopped up for this one.

BRETT FACE.

Paparazzo at work:

Heyoooooo

Typical!

Gotcha, Sherry!

Yummy...

Wait, there are 4 of us...but 8 drinks on the table. Well that's weird...

No wait, it's not weird. It's #awesome!

NOM

The final round of drinks was a non-alcoholic mixture especially for the non-drinkers in the group! I thought it was so cool that they got to make a drink too.

LOL @polymissy

The best part of this was Tammy @Disneyfalcon taking the shot and SLAMMING the shot glass down! Love it.

cfry06 · Sep 19, 2014

Best. Report. Ever! What a fantastic time you all had. I feel like I'm right there with you girls - wish I would have been! And the 4-person reporting style? Great! So fun to read from each perspective and experience.

What a fun trip. Enjoying the storytelling and I look forward to more. Thanks for sharing!

Ariel484 · Sep 19, 2014

Once Mixology was over we were supposed to meet as a group to get our picture taken on the staircase in the atrium. But surely some of us had time to stay behind in Pink for one last shot?!

I asked the bartender for "something girly" and he came up with this - I think it's a Skater on Acid. Yum!

I handed him my camera and he got some great pictures. This is one of my favorites from the trip.

After that deliciousness we headed back to our rooms to get our cruise ears and get the big group shot.

The view from within the group...the actual group shot exists...somewhere. I think Tammy has it?

We still had some time before tonight's show and dinner, so we hung out and got some more pictures!

HEY

Smooches!

The winners of the Random Roommate Lottery!

By far my favorite picture from the trip. In the weeks leading up to this trip I cannot explain how nervous I was that I wouldn't click with anyone on this cruise...but do you ever meet people in person and feel like you've known them for years? That's how I feel about these ladies. Love them so, so much!!