When You Wish Upon A Star...POOF your teens vanish!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 5, 2013

Disneyfalcon said:
Naps at sea are Da Bomb! Lol! Sleeping in general is. I sleep like a baby on cruises!

That is such a funny story about Brian and the carpet cleaners. He probably did scare them to death!

Love your shopping spree. Well done!!

Character in the wild!! Love it!!

Yep. I sleep like the dead onboard ship especially when we're clipping along and the movement is good. It's like being rocked gently on a cloud. I never have trouble sleeping on cruises the way I do at home. It's so wonderful!

I guess I prepared Tracey somehow for what letting me buy stuff at Lilly would be like. I did mention earlier in the day that it could be extremely painful for him. He was so right that it'd be more painful for me than it would be for him because I'm the one who handles all the money. LOL!

sam_disney said:
Ok I have finally caught up on all of this report. One word... WOW!

I HAVE TO DO A CRUISE! I am really loving your report and everything about it. I love your goonies tshirts btw... HEY YOU GUYS! awesome!

Can you tell I've enjoyed reading this? lol

HEY YOU GUUUUYS!!!! Stinkin' awesome! Again, can't recommend cruising with Mickey and the gang enough. It's amazing from top to bottom, beginning to end. Just when you think the ship is your new eutopia you wake up and you're in another port with more adventure to be had. It's all gooooood!

Kristia said:
Love your Key West pictures! Still bummed we were unable to go into port on our Key West day due to bad weather. I am bound and determined to get there someday!! Although they didn't give you much time there that day did they? I would definitely want to stay a bit longer!

No, never enough time in Key West. We had to scoot out of there early-ish to lend plenty of time for the journey back across the Gulf of Mexico. As awesome as this port was it was almost bittersweet because we knew we had just 1 more full day at-sea before we had to crash back to reality. I liked seeing the island in the morning like we did vs. the afternoon like last time. The morning is so peaceful and holds such promise. When you land in Mallory Square in the middle of the day it's like you've stepped off the trolley into chaos. This time it was a gradual thing and never got so crazy hectic. It was, in my eyes, the better half of the day to be there!

Disney_Belle said:
Why yes, yes I am an anti-seafood picky-petunia like you! And I catch so much trouble for it because I'm from New England!

Try living in Southeast Louisiana where everyone wants you to come to crawfish boils during the season. Ugh! We always showed up with plenty of beer and a steak for me to throw on the grill. Still, I surely do miss Louisiana. I'd go back and tolerate the fishy folks anyday!

Disney_Belle said:
Oh, and Brian and the carpet cleaners is hysterical!

Wasn't it, though! I loved the visual. LOL!

Gonzo79 said:
I am a huge Jimmy Buffett fan,aka Parrothead. Glad you got to see the original Margaritaville. Its definitly my favorite one.Man I got to get back to Key West. Love your trip report.

I used to be a big time Parrothead! I still have tons of Margaritaville and/or JB stuff stashed away. At one time I had like 3 of the Reyn Spooner tropical shirts, too, but I sold them years ago. It's been just since we got back that Chandler picked up my old copy of 'Tales From Margaritaville'. You'd think he discovered hidden treasure the way he acts about reading each of the stories. Then he's digging thru my cds, asking a bazillion questions about the other books I have, etc. I think I've got another generation of Parrothead here. Next time JB is in town I'll have to take him and show him what it's about! LOL!

Jose said:
OMG! That TR was VERY COOL!!!

Wait now! I'm not done! We still have to get thru Key West night and the final full day of at-sea awesome-sauce! Glad to have you along for the ride! Stay tuned!

Mrs.Skellington · Feb 5, 2013

Is it really sad that when ever I see the Goonies quotes I say them in the voice of the characters. Loving the report, Sweetpee. Can't wait until September!!!!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 5, 2013

Mrs.Skellington said:
Is it really sad that when ever I see the Goonies quotes I say them in the voice of the characters. Loving the report, Sweetpee. Can't wait until September!!!!

Thanks! I do the voices, too, of course. I mean, it's the right way to do it so definitely not what I'd think of as sad. I can't wait until September either! Gonna be FUN!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 5, 2013

Let's see, where were we? Ah, yes. Just took a nap. I was just looking at my notes and saw where I noted that we fell asleep listening to 'The Incredibles' on tv. Made for some very interesting dreams as I was in that twilight state. LOL!

We freshened-up and headed down to Sessions, piano bar in the nightclub district, deck 3, forward. Chandler happened by the stateroom when we were heading out and opted to join us. Taking our underage teen to a bar??? Whaaaaat??? Well, yeah! This is where we were invited to join a concierge reception for all the concierge guests. There's even supposed to be a 'special guest'!

On our way down to deck 3, Disney Magic elevator toes!

We were one of the first families to arrive. Tawanda was at the door excited as ever to greet us. Gotta love Tawanda! Oooooh, it's a priiiiivate function.....but so is going to the bathroom.....should we be excited?!

But then we saw the spread. Yes, let's get excited! There was lots of little finger foods which Tracey was asking me if I was really going to try to take pictures of all of it. No, but I did get the shrimpy-ship for ya!

This was my plate. I was trying to take it easy since I was more about the other best thing they had there but I'll get to that. Here I had a lone coconut shrimp (I do eat these), pigs-n-blankets, and a slice of port wine cheese (I think it was):

There was free drinky-drinks being offered by the cocktail servers. Basically they went table to table offering what was on their tray: apple martinis & bahama mamas. Apple martinis are okay but I prefer lemon drop martinis. So, when asked can I offer you a cocktail I asked how much of a bother it would be to order a lemon drop martini even if I had to pay for it. No bother and no cost. Great! So the server headed off to get my drink. Love love love lemon drop martinis!

Tracey drank a bahama mama with pinky-finger extended for full effect. It's hard to look manly sipping a fruity cocktail from a straw:

Chandler? Well, he drank fruit punch of some sort minus any spirits. He was a real trooper easing back with 2 more of the best thing in the spread for me every time he got up. Best thing? Mickey crispy treats on-a-stick, of course!

Tawanda caugh Chandler handing a couple more off to me. Chandler laughed and said, "She makes me do it! She's like a crackhead for the things!" Ratted me out! Tawanda was rather amused with me, though. Yes, they're my favorite. LOL!

Our cocktail server came by to see if we wanted another drink. I said, "I hate to ask you...." to which he replied, "That means YES!" and he was gone again to fetch me another lemon drop. Geez, free lemon drop martinis and Mickey crispy treats. Life. Is. GOOD!

Our special guest finally arrived, too. I think the whole room was instantly electrified with joy! It was Captain Mickey! WooHOO! A photographer was with him and every family had a great meet-n-greet and photo op. Tracey & I purchased the picture because it was something fun we got to do with Chandler kinda like the pic I have of me & Brian back in September 2011 when we ran the Castaway Cay 5k.

Chandler asked Tawanda about the possibility of scoring a few more of the free arcade cards. They made arrangements to call each other via Wave Phone later. Cool!

After the reception I rushed up to our stateroom to grab a little cash out of the safe. I need to remember to bring some bucks to these things to at least give the servers a little tip. I returned to Sessions and made sure to give Ivo, the sweet server who took care of my lemon drop martinis, my thanks. Awesome fella. Very sweet. If I was young & single I'd have been all about chasing that dark haired, blue eyed cutie. LOL!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 5, 2013

We returned to the stateroom and took our time getting dressed for dinner. I took another long soak in my glorious bathtub. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing?! I wore my new Lilly dress, too. Talk about feelin' like a million bucks! **sigh**

Towards the end of getting dressed Tracey hurried me some so we could make it to the 6:15 show of "Dreams" in the Walt Disney Theater. I was so relaxed I wanted to just ignore him. I didn't care if we missed the show thinking it was one we had already seen. I'm glad we went and I was wrong! Apparently, Disney Cruise Line's "Dreams" show is an award winner for best ship production twice and was a total must-see! The show was incredible! The best we've seen yet! I even took out my notebook and wrote down a few must-remember moments to comment on later. I loved when Peter Pan was quoting Fairy Godmother's bibbiti-bobbiti song. He sang: "Sali-ka-noooodles...ketchup-on-poooodles..." Love it! Then, when Peter wraps the quilt around Ann Marie's legs for the Little Mermaid number it was a total inspiration because the quilt texture was like fish scales. Too freakin' awesome! I could soooo make a quilt of bright blues, greens, and metalics to look like fish scales when placed over the lap. Mermaid quilt! See?! Crafty inspiration could come from anywhere at anytime! Oh, and then there was the "Under the Sea" number. Good grief! I wrote down that I was far more blown away by the interchangeable show sets on a cruise ship than I was the scene set to the same song in the New Fantasyland attraction. The bubbles from the bubble machines were like the icing on the cake. Why no bubble machines in the attraction? Good bang for the buck, if ya ask me. Overall, I was completely blown away. Best ever! If you have the time to search "Disney Cruise Line Dreams Show" on YouTube you'll get just a little taste of the awesome-sauce here. Nothing beats seeing it for yourself, tho. Nothing! ((I'm totally listening to the show from YouTube now while I'm typing...LOVE!!!))

After the show we headed into the lobby/atrium and took a pic with the Mickey statue but they didn't make the cut when it was purchase time. Oh well.

Tonight was the Captain's Gala night so we had some goodies awaiting us. More than Tracey & I would ever have guessed, actually! So tonight dinner was at Parrot Cay. It was no time and the boys were down to meet us so we could get seated.

I sure wish there had been some of the roaming photogs in the restaurant for dinner tonight. It would've been a good night for them!

Before any food was brought out we saw Tawanda walking into the restaurant behind us with one of the ship's officers who was carrying 2 navy blue gift bags. Both were beaming ear-to-ear at us. Um...what is this?!?! I looked at the boys who were both now grinning like fools, too. Whaaaaat????

Tawanda and the officer came over to us and explained that they were there to make a special delivery on behalf of the two outstanding gentlemen we had at the table with us.

Tracey and I both thanked Tawanda and the officer (who I wasn't able to catch her name) then looked back at our smiling boys questioningly. When we turned again, Tawanda and the officer were gone. I think they wanted to leave our little family to the moment we had unfolding here. Inside the gift bags we held were matching navy blue and khaki tropical-ish printed shirt for Tracey and sundress for me. We had admired them in the gift shop early in the cruise and noted they were on sale. We even mentioned we intended to purchase these before leaving. And here they were, gifts from our smiling sons.

The shirt and dress were thoughtful and special enough but it was the handwritten letters that accompanied them that were the real treasure. Tracey and I read the letters together, one from each of the boys, and we both cried right there in the middle of the restaurant. Heck, I'm getting choked-up just typing this and thinking about it. I gave thought to whether or not to share the letters with you. Were they too personal? Well, the boys let some of the counselors in Vibe read what they wrote so I figured it was okay. Chandler and Brian both said everyone who read the letters gushed over how awesome the whole thing was. Tawanda later gushed to us over how awesome our two boys were and how much he enjoyed helping them put the surprise together. So without further adieu, here's what Brian had to say (he told us he messed up & meant to address the letter to both of us

):

And, Chandler:

Ah. We've got some good boys. **sigh** The moment was priceless and oh so very special.

Thankfully, Malwyn came along with the perfect thing for the moment! He brought Tracey & Brian each French onion soup from Lumiere's because he knew they loved it so much!

Tonight I had a salad and the parmesan chicken with fettucine.

Brian had the beef tenderloin dish while Tracey & Chandler each had the lobster.

And Chandler had extra lobster:

Malwyn brought Chandler a little more lobster:

I skipped dessert. I was just too full. Tracey & Brian had a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. Chandler? He had more lobster:

I guess I don't need to mention how much Chandler really loves to eat lobster. LOL!

We kinda rushed Malwyn & Putu with our dinner so Tracey & I would have time to change before the adult show tonight. When we returned to our stateroom to change we found our afternoon/evening snack waiting for us. Favorite yet! Too bad I was so full:

We also found our nightly critter waiting to greet us:

I'm pretty sure tonight is when we were given the reminder to set our clocks back to CST, too.

Tracey and I got to Rockin' Bar D @ 9:45 or so to make sure we got good seats for the 10:15 show. There wasn't hardly anyone there, a stark contrast to when we tried to see an adult show in here on our Magic cruise last May. No problem. We enjoyed CC Maxx's '70s covers, I caught up my notes, and we ordered cocktails. I had a lemon drop martini. Tracey got a Crown & Diet Coke. $20 w/tip.

Some other folks came in gradually but it wasn't a packed house by a long shot. Oh well. Another round of drinks: lemon drop martini for me and mudslide for Tracey. $18 after tip.

I think at this point we totally didn't even care about the money anymore. Let's drink. LOLOLOLOL!!!! We did have a round of ice water for both of us before the next round. LOL!

The show tonight was the same physical comedy act/jugging as a few nights ago in the Walt Disney Theater. This time the show was definitely more adult in nature, tho. At some point during the show Mike made a reference to John Holmes which had me giggling along with everyone else but Mike pointed at ME and said, "Oh yeah! She liked that one!" Tracey immediately called back to Mike, "That's 'cause she's a FREAK!" I could've DIED!!! I didn't even know it was possible for Tracey to embarrass me anymore! It was all good, I was laughing but I reached over and put my hand over his alcohol-loosened lips just in case! LOLOLOL!!!

Aaaaaand we had 1 more round of lemon drops-n-mudslides to finish out the show. That was so fun! We stuck around to watch the '70s disco tribute dancing performance. That was cool. Then they were pulling the audience up to do the Electric Slide to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop". Tracey knew I could throw down the slide from waaaaaaay back in my muuuuuuuch younger days at Club 31, the little hole-in-the-wall BYOB club out in the boonies in Alabama where we'd dance the night away barefoot in our cutoffs like there was no tomorrow. Having consumed all these drinky-drinks I was certain I'd do a perfect face plant instead of shake what my momma gave me so I declined. Oh but I wanted to throw it down sooooo bad, y'all!!!

And hey! Why not do a class to teach cruisers The Hustle before 70s night?! Disney? Y'all listenin' to this?!

We hit up the drink station for 2 cups of ice water each on our way back to our room. We got back around 11:30 (late for us!). I took a nice long soak in my tub again then finished my notes while the Bourne Legacy played on tv. Tracey was out like a light. One of the last things I wrote for today was: "I can't believe we just spent $56 on bar drinks!" Yeah, that's a little out of character for us. But then again, I spent more than that for a pair of shorts earlier in the day.

Chandler came in around 2 a.m. Brian??? 5:00 to 5:30.

obrienIII · Feb 6, 2013

Great report! I even got a tear in my eye. I'm so proud of my nephews! They are growing up to be such gentlemen. These memories are what life is all about. I'm all caught up now, but need sleep. Some of us have to work in the morning. I'll talk with you soon. Love, Jerry

obrienIII · Feb 6, 2013

How many lobster tails did Chandler eat? I'm so glad food is included in the cruise fare, because he can do some serious damage! I'm remembering a previous trip to Fulton's

Tidbit · Feb 6, 2013

Ok 1st off I am loving this TR!!! 2nd we have got to meet the next time you come "home" to P'cola.....Starbucks on me or maybe Krispy Kreme!!! By the way guess who was in concert here in P'cola last night!!??

We also home school our youngest, so I know what you mean when you let them spread there wings, and it sounds like them are having a ball!......my oldest boy goes to the local public school...ekkk!!! My little home schooler is in 9th grade, and he's on the "late" afternoon-evening sort of schedule too! LOL

I just love what your boys did for you guys....sounds like something my guys would do, but ummmm were is the picture of the "gifts"!!!!

I agree with your brother ^^^^^^ dang that boy can EAT some lobster!!! Yummmmm!

LindsayLoves · Feb 6, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
Tawanda caugh Chandler handing a couple more off to me. Chandler laughed and said, "She makes me do it! She's like a crackhead for the things!" Ratted me out! Tawanda was rather amused with me, though. Yes, they're my favorite. LOL!

You and me BOTH. I may have made a run into MK after an amazing dinner at Artist's Point before returning to our hotel just to get one. My brother wanted to stay for EMH but I was just there for the snack. I also realized when I got home that I have no pictures of them because as soon as they were in my hand I was chowing down on it.

OMG your boys are too much! You and your husband must've done something right with them! The handwritten notes are the icing on the cake. I love that Chandler signed his full name. Too cute!

Ariel484 · Feb 6, 2013

Great report, Kelly! I feel like every time you talk about one of your trips you have a great story about your boys.

Such gentlemen!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

obrienIII said:
Great report! I even got a tear in my eye. I'm so proud of my nephews! They are growing up to be such gentlemen. These memories are what life is all about. I'm all caught up now, but need sleep. Some of us have to work in the morning. I'll talk with you soon. Love, Jerry

Work??? What's that??? Oh yeah, that's what you commoners do with your time. LOL! ((Inside joke! No flaming, y'all!))

I kinda knew the boys were up to something but not sure what. I certainly wasn't expecting the surprise we got. Those letters are totally priceless. I'll treasure them forever.

You are up late. What's wrong with you? Lemme guess, too excited (about May) to sleep? LOL! Me, too!

obrienIII said:
How many lobster tails did Chandler eat? I'm so glad food is included in the cruise fare, because he can do some serious damage! I'm remembering a previous trip to Fulton's

Um, I think it was a total of 5. May have been 6. We definitely got our quarter's worth that night. LOL! Hey! I warned you about taking him to Fulton's! I hate to be cliche here but, well, I told you so. I'm hoping he got his lobster on enough on Captain's Gala night that it won't hurt so bad next month when he gets free reign for birthday dinner again. I keep asking where he wants to go. So far, no answer yet other than 'The Disney Magic'. LOL!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

Tidbit said:
Ok 1st off I am loving this TR!!! 2nd we have got to meet the next time you come "home" to P'cola.....Starbucks on me or maybe Krispy Kreme!!! By the way guess who was in concert here in P'cola last night!!??

We also home school our youngest, so I know what you mean when you let them spread there wings, and it sounds like them are having a ball!......my oldest boy goes to the local public school...ekkk!!! My little home schooler is in 9th grade, and he's on the "late" afternoon-evening sort of schedule too! LOL

I just love what your boys did for you guys....sounds like something my guys would do, but ummmm were is the picture of the "gifts"!!!!

I agree with your brother ^^^^^^ dang that boy can EAT some lobster!!! Yummmmm!

Looks like I'll be over in P'Cola / South Alabama after Valentine's Day. Will likely be over that way for 10 days to 2 weeks. My grandmother who lives in P'Cola (near Cordova & Sacred Heart) fell a month ago so my mom has been rotating with my aunt & cousin so she's not alone at home anymore. Mom usually spends 4 days at a whack at Gramma's so I'll prob'ly be with her when she's there during my visit. We really should meet up for coffee and or KKs!

I totally know Jimmy played there last night!!! My mom called to laugh at me & tell me "I told you so!" When I turned 19 I went to Pensacola to get my first tattoo. Mom's then-husband told her she wasn't going to change my mind so she might as well be there for it. I chose a parrot because I was so into the Parrothead thing at the time. She kept telling me I'd someday wish I didn't have that on me. Last year I had laser tattoo removal for that tattoo which is why she wanted to tell me she told me so. LOL! If only she knew....having that crappy tattoo laser'd off was intended as a cleaning of the slate. I have much grander plans for that area that encompass much more than just the back of my shoulder. LOL!

Pictures of the gifts! I dropped all our dry cleaning off yesterday so I can't get a pic yet but I'll be sure to after I pick everything up tomorrow.

LindsayLoves said:
You and me BOTH. I may have made a run into MK after an amazing dinner at Artist's Point before returning to our hotel just to get one. My brother wanted to stay for EMH but I was just there for the snack. I also realized when I got home that I have no pictures of them because as soon as they were in my hand I was chowing down on it.

OMG your boys are too much! You and your husband must've done something right with them! The handwritten notes are the icing on the cake. I love that Chandler signed his full name. Too cute!

I'm the same way! I never remember to take pictures of my treasured crispy treats because my mind is totally focused on consuming them!

We've tried really hard to raise these 2 to be, amoungst other things, generous in spirit and appreciative of the blessings life brings our way. Those notes are treasures I'll keep forever and ever. Chandler signing his full name. That KILLS me! Every time we have a card that we all need to sign for someone I'll take it to each person with a pen. When I go to the boys I always say the same thing: "Sign this. Only use your first name. They know your last name." Guess I wasn't there to remind Chandler we kinda know which Chandler it is who wrote us the letter. Or maybe he signed his last name because he knew we'd laugh about it. LOL!

Ariel484 said:
Great report, Kelly! I feel like every time you talk about one of your trips you have a great story about your boys. Such gentlemen!

I guess I do, don't I? I could go on and on about my boys. Chandler especially is a very sensitive caretaker type. He's extremely generous in any way he can think of. I don't even wanna talk about how much we fussed at him for spending so much of his hard-earned money on all of us for Christmas. He's a lot like his daddy! He also is constantly doing things that are intended to take care of me. Like a year or so ago when I was sick with the flu and he still only had his driver's permit. He made a list of groceries and supplies that we needed for the house and brought my purse so I could give him my debit card. He took my car down the street to Mimi's house, got an adult to ride with him up to Walmart, did all the shopping, came back, and brought me more kleenex, meds, and soup in bed. Caretaker. LOL!

Pooh'sBuddy · Feb 6, 2013

What sweet young gentlemen!

Disney_Belle · Feb 6, 2013

How stinking sweet are those two boys?! My word, that got me all choked up! Great job, Mom and Dad, you should be so very proud!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

Pooh'sBuddy said:
What sweet young gentlemen!

Thank you! I think they're keepers but then I could be a little biased. LOL!

Disney_Belle said:
How stinking sweet are those two boys?! My word, that got me all choked up! Great job, Mom and Dad, you should be so very proud!

We are so very proud. They aren't ultra-athletes or super-scholars but they're great human beings which has always been the goal.

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

Friday, January 25 - I wish last days could last forever...

I was pretty wakeful after 2:00 waiting for the boys to come in. That's a first for this cruise, huh? I finally rolled out of bed sometime around 7:30 a.m. which was really 6:30 now since we were now back on Central time. We were in no particular hurry to get dressed for breakfast. Whatever we did we didn't make it to breakfast at Lumiere's until just after 8:00. I liked the way the napkins were folded at each place setting this morning. Looked like a men's jacket or something folded up:

What I came for: Eggs Benedict one last time!

After breakfast we made our way up to the shops to exchange our presents from the boys for the right sizes. They were close! I give them credit! You could tell they pay attention when I shop! While there I took a few merch pics. I liked this ladies hoodie:

I saw the red polka dot dress, the black polka dot skirt, and I think the coordinating sweater at Mouse Gear a few days ago. I don't think the tee with the anchor applique was there, tho:

No new Disney Dooneys for me this time around. I have both these prints already. I would love to get that bottom center weekender in the old DCL sketch pattern but not for $395. That's the only one of that print that wasn't at a sale price last May when they were clearing out the sketches. They still haven't put a sale price on it, either. If they had, it'd be in my closet right now. LOL!

While there Tracey bought me the Citizen Eco-Drive watch I'd been eyeballin' the whole trip. It's hard to see but there's a Disney Cruise Line logo in the face. AND, it was on sale!

After taking care of these few things we went up to Shutters to look over all our pictures and decide what to do for purchasing. For $349 you could get the photo cd with copyright release with every picture including the Photopass shots from WDW. There were some other package prices but I forget all of them. We looked through all our pictures, counted up what we couldn't leave behind, then did the math adding up how much it would be. If we got close to the $349 we'd just go with the cd. Fortunately, we weren't even close. LOL! We put in the order via the kiosk for what we wanted and that was that!

We returned to our stateroom to get all our gratuities put together for our service team. We had prepaid the standard gratuities for the head server, server, assistant server, and stateroom host. There's not a prepaid amount for concierge. On the next to last or last night your stateroom host will leave you the "green sheet" that has all the receipts for your standard gratuity amounts and the little envelopes. It's perforated so you just rip off the receipt for each person and place it in the corresponding person's envelope. We bring cash (remember the trip to the ATM yesterday???) to add to the standard amount if needed. We always leave a little extra for the server, assistant server, and stateroom host. This cruise we felt like Sean, our stateroom host, made our stay extra great so we left him a considerable amount. Also, we were sure to give a considerable amount to Tawanda, our concierge, since we felt like he made our cruise overall eeeeextra magical.

While I stuffed envelopes Tracey filled out our comment card. Past Disney Cruise Line cruisers know the gravity of the all-important comment card. It's crazy the way there's so much weight put in those things but I suppose it's the cruise line's way of making sure every "i" gets dotted and "t" gets crossed by every level of CM the guests come in contact with.

And then......**sigh**......we began the dreaded task of packing. It's amazing how much crap you accumulate over a week!

Tawanda came by for a nice visit. Love Tawanda. It was awesome getting to know him and having this opportunity to tell him how much we appreciated him.

Time to take a break from packing and go to lunch! Back to Lumiere's! On our way into lunch the lobby/atrium was filling up with guests there for the scheduled dance party. From inside the restaurant we had some interesting views out the windows of the characters & guests dancing. For lunch I had just a burger & fries, nothing to take a picture of. I tried the buttered bread pudding for dessert but didn't really like it. On our way back out to the midship elevators we saw the confetti mess left behind from the party. Yikes!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

Tummies now full, I bet you'll never guess what it was time for! A nap!!! How'd you guess?!?! LOL! For our nap today we turned the tv off and left our verandah door open so we could hear the sounds of the water against the ship. It was so beautiful outside. Not at all hot. Not at all cold. It was perfect.

After we got up we could definitely tell we were close-ish to Louisiana. Big platform!

Kind of hard to tell. May be just another platform or could be a tanker at a load facility. Could be both:

We had a message on our phone from Shutters saying our pictures were ready for pick-up so that's what we did next. We walked the upper deck again and got some ice water. We returned to our room, dropped off the pics, and found our afternoon snack waiting for us. Petit fours:

I grabbed my tumbler, loaded it up with coconut rum, then hit the drink station on our way to our next destination. And this is when I discovered the complete and total mind-blowing combination of coconut rum and "Poppin' Pink Lemonade" from the drink fountain. Oh. My. Goodness. Why did I take so long to try this?!?! Off we went to Diversions in the night club district on deck 3 forward to get seats for the adults-only 80s & 90s music trivia! When we got there Tracey ordered himself a Mudslide and we were ON for trivia-ing!

So basically 80s & 90s music trivia consists of the resident cruise line DJ (not the special guest DJ onboard) plays a little 15 second snippit of an 80s or 90s hit and you have to guess what it is. There were 20 songs to guess. You had to try to guess the artist and the song. Each song had a potential of 2 points each. Man, did we have FUN! I thought we did pretty darned good, too. Tracey doesn't remember music the way I do so he didn't think he'd be much help. When clip #10 was played I was utterly clueless. Not even an inkling of an idea what that was. Tracey sipped his drink then said quietly, "That's DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Summertime". Um, didn't sound anything even remotely like that song to me. I asked him if he was sure and he said, "I'm not wrong." Okee-dokee. I had no clue so I figured writing down something beat nothing. LOL! Ended up, he was right! We were like 1 of 3 groups in the room who got it right, too! So funny! The group next to us was like 15 people and they had a kid maybe 10 or 11 years old come in in the middle of the game. Nobody said a word. We wish we'd known we could bring a kid. Chandler knows a LOT about music! We coulda used him on Team Sloshin' Suttons! We had such a blast! It was a total walk down memory lane! And OMG! When going back through the songs to review the DJ played a larger clip of each song. When he played the larger bit of Tag Team's "Whoomp! There it is!" Tracey and I were dying laughing. That was a song we used to play Freeze Dance with the YMCA day camp kids on rainy days the summer we met. We were both day camp counselors. So after the Freeze Dance one day the kids wanted to see the counselors get down so all us girls (because the boys were big wusses) got out on the floor and layed down the moves. Tracey still talks about how my mooooooves drove him nuts! I LOVE IT! Here's our trivia score sheet.

Out of a possible score of 40 we got 24 which was good enough to earn us like 3rd place. The winner was a chick who played by herself. Impressive. The 2nd place couple was a couple about our age. At least we beat out the group of 15 with a kid!

As soon as trivia was over it was approaching time for our Mixology class in Sessions. How convenient! That's like right around the corner in the night club district. We headed over there and grabbed some good seats. While waiting for the class to start I took some pictures of the old photos on the back wall of the club. Tell me these do NOT make you think of Jack Nicholson in The Shining! Creepy!!!!

This one especially!

This is a close second:

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

This time around we had a bartender standing out in front of the bar talking about drink mixing stuff. He talked about pouring, different liquors, lots of little info. He mixed a drink while we all looked on while servers were busy walking around delivering one of the drinks he was mixing to each person's place setting. First up was the Sunken Treasure: 1 oz. Malibu rum, 1/2 oz. Midori, 1 oz. orange juice, 1 oz. pineapple juice, and 1 oz. blue curacao.

Then, the demonstrating bar tender started mixing variations of a vodka cocktail and asked the room to guess what the name of the cocktail was. If you guessed it, you won it. I found that rather irritating. I mean, if we knew all this stuff why would be in a Mixology class??? Right? We didn't know any of those so we got a whole lot of nothing from it.

Next we were going to use the items on our little table to make our own Mojitos. We had lime, mint leaves, & sugar syrup to do the little crushy thing with the little wand. Then we poured in the Baccardi lemon and club soda. When the presenting bartender asked what we thought I didn't hold back: "Tastes weak like it's just ice water with lime. It needs more rum or something."

Next up was a demonstration of the bartender mixing a blue margarita and we were each brought one to drink. Here we had: tequilla, blue curacao, lemonade, & Triple Sec. Neither Tracey or I were particularly impressed since neither of us are all that wild on margaritas.

Now was a demonstration making a layered shot. The bartender made a "4th of July" by layering grenadine, blue curacao, and vodka while the servers brought shots to each of us.

Bottoms up!

I'm not overly fond of vodka, though. Bet you can't tell, huh?

Time for another mystery drink bonus. As soon as the bartender picked up the Kahlua bottle Tracey shouted out "B-52!" That was our awesome layered shot from our Dream mixology class. Winnah!!!

Down the hatch!

And that was it. Class over. Definitely was a lot more fun on the Dream. This felt more a lot less like a mixology class and more like a mixology demonstration. Still, all those drinks for $15 isn't the worst considering how much each cocktail would normally cost. Then again, I wouldn't normally drink 3 out of 4 of those drinks. I wonder if there's a way to find out ahead of time what format the class will be so you can ditch the reservation if it's the demonstration type. I realize it would've been near impossible to do the behind-the-bar thing with that many people. Personally, I'd pay twice as much to guarantee small groups so you get the hands-on. That was so much more fun!

After class we chatted up another couple about the cruise and different things about it. This was their first ever cruise with their 5 & 7 yro daughters. The Mrs. had kinda a bad taste going because she booked through a friend who is a Disney-specific agent over a year ago. They paid full price for the cruise and were never told anything about the Kids Sail Free promotion that it seemed most of the cruisers onboard had booked under. They waaaay overpaid. She was a little miffed with her friend to say the least. Overall they weren't very wow'd which was sad to hear. They said the kids club their daughters were in was so packed with kids bouncing off the walls the counselors seemed overwhelmed as did their daughters. Neither of them even wanted to go back after the first day. We tried to share experiences about our past 3 DCL cruises and commisserate over how different some things they didn't like were from the norm with the Kids Sail Free promo sailing. Very nice couple. We suggested if possible they slip away and do a short run on the Dream by themselves to get a whole different vibe. And I strategically mentioned Kingdom Konsultants! LOL!

flynnibus · Feb 6, 2013

your TR stamina is impressive

And waking up at 7am or earlier? You guys are nuts

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 6, 2013

We stopped by the stateroom to grab Tracey's tumbler so we could do a loaded refill before tonight's show. Our last show.

We were both feelin'...uh..."right"...

...from all our mixology beverages but we weren't going out light on this cruise. We filled our tumblers at the drink station then commented as we passed the Quiet Cove (adult-only) pool that it's crazy that our 4th Disney cruise was coming to an end and we STILL had never even so much as placed a toe in a ship pool. We had never even touched Disney cruise ship pool water. Time to make that right! There was nobody in the adult pool and there were only a few people sitting on loungers in the area. We sat our drinks down on a nearby table, ran up to the pool's edge, stepped out of our flip flops, and stood in the super-shallow water. I took a picture but it didn't turn out so good. A.) I was tipsy. B.) I was hurrying. C.) I was giggling like a school girl!

Mission accomplished! On our way back out of the pool area I spotted this towel creation sitting out in the open and I couldn't stop myself. Last night perfection:

We got down to the entry doors to the Walt Disney Theater just before it was opening for seating. We ran into Brian with a bunch of his friends and one of the friend's parents. Of course we hit it off with the friend's parents. Great family from Austin so not far from us. We've since vowed to get the kids together, exchanged email addresses, and thinking about coordinating to sail on the Carnival Magic out of Galveston together in early 2014.

The show, "Remember the Magic", was great if not a bit of a tear-jerker. Tonight was like a reflection and farewell with little bits of all the shows we'd seen on our fantastic cruise pieced together with some created scenes of life onboard. I wrote some notes...boy are they scribbly...so here's some of my thoughts: The Rodeo Rhythm Kings were great. When they did the dueling harmonica and fiddle number I thought they'd bring down the house! The acted-out scene with the plain-jane looking couple standing at a ship rail just like what Tracey and I had done so many times during this week then they had the princesses & princes come out...the whole sentimental bit...how the lady by the rail would always was and always will be the man's princess...yeah...Tracey & I were clinging to each other crying. Yes, we are pathetic. LOL! But really, he always makes me feel just like that, like I'm THE princess. It was such a touching little number on a personal note. I even noticed couples in the rows in front of us reaching for each other. Man, Disney knows how to hook us all!!! Oh! And I wrote down that the juggling guy, Mike Price, juggling the glowing balls in the pitch black was really a trip when you see it tipsy! LOL!

After the show we returned our tumblers to our stateroom. We looked at the bridge report channel again. Out of the deep water now.

This was pretty awesome. Tracey took this picture at the exact moment that the screens were changing. It looks like a double exposure shot:

Last critter for the trip. A seal? Wearing my reading glasses? LOL!

No Navigator for tomorrow to read over. Nope. Just this depressing note:

The view from the verandah:

Chandler happened to come by the stateroom with a gift from an "anonymous" person who happened to know how much I loved Mickey's crispy treats on-a-stick. He dumped a whole bag full of them out on the bed. I love Tawanda!

Time to go to the last supper.

Tonight we were DCL rebels and decided to heck with dressing for dinner. We went in jeans & tshirts with flip flops and I totally didn't even CARE that we were ignoring the recommended dress for the night. We were sure most folks would. We weren't wrong.

When You Wish Upon A Star...POOF your teens vanish!

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