You know your youth is long gone when...

...a 3 night Disney cruise without the kids takes 12 hours of solid sleep to begin the recovery! LOL! Poor old Tracey!




Hello again and welcome to the next SweetPee adventure! If you don't already know me go check out some of our other adventures down there in my signature. You'll learn things you never wanted to! For those of y'all that do, HIIIIII!!!! ((waving like a fool))

Two big things are missing in this trip that you'll notice right away: Chandler and Brian. This trip was my "surprise" anniversary present from my sweetness. Even though our anniversary wasn't until September, I got the call from Mickey (SURPRISE!) on July 4th weekend. I was so excited! My old man totally stinks at surprises so it amazed me he had been able to get with Tammy (disneyfalcon) to book the cruise, airfare, and pre-cruise hotel. Woot! I had the next 2+ months to pour over the details, daydream, and diet! September came before I knew what hit me!




You know your youth is long gone when...

...you've officially been married for half of your entire life! Yep, I was just 19 years old when we got married in September 1993. See where that number in my username comes from? Half of my life. That's a long time. And what an adventure it's been!



Wednesday, Sept. 26
Tracey worked half the day. I packed and got my toes did.

I know. Right? Who takes a pic of THAT?! I do. LOL!

Chandler & Tracey's mom drove with us to the airport (HOU) so Chandler could drive the Tahoe back home. No paying to park. Niiiiice. Gawd, I'm old! My KID is taking us to the airport now! Ugh!

We had a few hours to kill so we had dinner at Pappadeaux on Mustang Engineering's kindness. We used the nice gift card Tracey got at work for stepping up as a project lead even though he really didn't want to. Nice little folio the gift card came in:

I Instagram'd this one! I had a yummy sangria-ish something (can't remember the name) and Tracey had a double Crown & diet Coke.

I had this really good tomato & mozzarella w/blue cheese crumbles and balsamic. It was delish! I also had a cheesy baked potato. I got my cheesecake dessert to go.

We had a pretty uneventful flight. Good luck to the baseball team from Oklahoma who were going to the WWoS to play in a tournament. They were pretty funny. Had a whole game of catch (someone brought a football?) waiting at the baggage claim in MCO. I was sooooo tempted to get in on that. I love to play football!

Gathered our bags and got checked in at the Hyatt right there in the airport. Had a king room overlooking the runway. It was a nice room. I'd love to say "perfect" but the bed was pretty uncomfortable. Everything else was quite nice...especially the fantastic price I got: $106 total!

Yeah, I know you're all thinking, "Why didn't you go out to a WDW resort?" Cruising is a different animal, people. There's a method to my madness here. Plus, WDW so grossly overprices their rooms just so they can discount 'em. It's the principal. I can smile knowing this once I didn't wear the "sucker" cap.

In bed asleep at midnight. Big day tomorrow!

 

[s&k'smom]

Now wait a minute you got a cruise plus kids who remembered your anniversary?!?!

 

[fractal]

Great pics and videos of Atlantis - those slides and river look ridiculously awesome! Disney Cruise to Atlantis sounds like a strong sales pitch - thanks for the tip!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

At this point we were both veeery aware that we needed to be drinking water, lots of water, and food for our bellies. I held onto Tracey and staggered my way back to the stateroom with him. We were in time to enjoy the sunset from our killer verandah!

So on this trip we were determined to do things new to us. We had 3 nights which meant 3 dinners. 2 of those 3 were going to be Palo & Remy. So the 3rd night left us with 1 new to us option: Cabanas. The problem is dinner doesn't get served in Cabanas on the first or last night of the cruise so that left just tonight for dinner there. No need for an assigned seating or reservation. Cabanas for dinner is NOT a buffet like at breakfast and lunch. It's a seated dinner and the CMs who are training for the main dining rooms will be your servers. We checked our Navigator for the dinner service hours. Also from all my reading, I knew this is where people go who don't want to "dress" for dinner. I get that. But then I also read that the suggested dress for all dining rooms is what's listed on the Navigator which is never less than "cruise casual". Just so we weren't totally laid-back in shorts & tshirts I brought a polo for Tracey & a casual sundress for me. When we popped into the podium at Cabanas at 7:15-ish we were easily the best-dressed folks present. I think the servers were a bit confused. The podium person asked to see a key and started to explain where we should be eating and at what time. No, no. This is where we want to eat! And so, we were seated right away.

My guess is this also is the venue where parents with children less-trained in manners come. The table next to us was a man with like 6 kids and they were running amuck! The one little boy kept doing this slide across the booth seat thing, obviously determined to come sit with us at our table. Eventually 3 or 4 of them were up and running, rolling in the floors, even the servers looked appauled. Kills me. We trained our boys early on restaurant behavior. I know each of them made trips out to the car at least once...you know, where there were no witnesses...and it didn't take more than that. I think the irritation of the wait staff was spilling over, too. They didn't start out too personable. Yikes! What was I thinking?!

It wasn't long and the wild bunch left. It seemed the entire dining room, guests and servers alike, breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was all uphill from there!

The menu is a sampling of items being served in the main dining rooms:

And, hello! I've not seen these pretty special linen napkins before!

For my appetizer I had the mushroom risotto.

Then I had another appetizer, the mushroom dish. I have no idea what the heck the green stuff was but it tasted great!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

You didn't go on CnG!?! Ok, we have to meet up next time at TL - be there!!! It's nothing but squeals and laughter the whole way down.

Ok, your plan sounds good too! Where do I sign up?

Nope. No CnG. I know, we're nuts. Honestly, our thinking when we looked at it was, "We've done these before..there's other stuff we want to do.." We've been to the original Schlitterbahn (New Braunfels, TX) where the uphill water coaster originated. Before Disney did it. There's like 4 or 6 of them there. We've been to Schlitterbahn in Galveston right up the road from us. There's 2 of them there. We were looking for theming & scenery at TL more than anything because that's what Schlitterbahn doesn't have. LOL! Subsequent visits I'm sure would be packed with things we hadn't gotten to before.

I definitely think we should plan a land/sea trip together! Yeah! Y'all could show us BB & the things we missed at TL then we could all go on a cruise and we could show y'all that! Ugh! Let's go tomorrow!!!!

Kel what an amazing trip report so far! I am so jealous of all the Disney Cruises you have been on! One day I'll be on that ship!

Thank you! We're so hooked on the cruises! Parks? What's that?! Nooooo....where's the boat?!?! LOL!

Now wait a minute you got a cruise plus kids who remembered your anniversary?!?!

Oh yes! The boys get that from their dad! They don't forget special dates! Well, okay, Chandler was stuck at the grocery store with me when I was perusing anniversary cards that I purchased but never even gave to Tracey. LOL! That's awful! No, we "agreed" to not do cards this year in lieu of the cruise but the agreement came after I purchased the cards. I guess the cards will keep until next year. Right?

Great pics and videos of Atlantis - those slides and river look ridiculously awesome! Disney Cruise to Atlantis sounds like a strong sales pitch - thanks for the tip!

Knowing your family from the report(s) I've read and talking to you, I'd say a Disney cruise would be enjoyed by all. So would a trip to Atlantis but at least for us the cost dictates which way to go for the vacation choice. Although, I have spent time eyeballing a Playa Del Carmen dedicated trip. There's so much cool stuff there that it could be a trip unto itself. Just sayin....

 

[NewfieFan]

Nope. No CnG. I know, we're nuts. Honestly, our thinking when we looked at it was, "We've done these before..there's other stuff we want to do.." We've been to the original Schlitterbahn (New Braunfels, TX) where the uphill water coaster originated. Before Disney did it. There's like 4 or 6 of them there. We've been to Schlitterbahn in Galveston right up the road from us. There's 2 of them there. We were looking for theming & scenery at TL more than anything because that's what Schlitterbahn doesn't have. LOL! Subsequent visits I'm sure would be packed with things we hadn't gotten to before.

I definitely think we should plan a land/sea trip together! Yeah! Y'all could show us BB & the things we missed at TL then we could all go on a cruise and we could show y'all that! Ugh! Let's go tomorrow!!!!

Yeah, well I forget you people have already seen stuff. We ain't got nuttin' here! CnG was out first water coaster and it ranked pretty high on our list of "Fun stuff to do at Disney". I couldn't believe I got the kids to go on it (they can be such wusses) and then I couldn't get them off. Now BB and TL are tied. We love the family raft ride (Teamboat Springs) at BB and now CnG at TL.
Would you still do some land? I know the parks are not your "cup of tea" anymore.

I'm loving all the detail and stories in your TR (as per usual)!

 

[Gojira ゴジラ]

KttW cards swiped, bags sent thru the scanner, and we were back onboard.

Where did you store all your belongings while Aquaventuring?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Where did you store all your belongings while Aquaventuring?

Locker. I misquoted the price & need to go fix that. The small locker is $7, the medium is $9, the large I'm not sure. At Atlantis you must have a credit card to pay for the lockers. They won't accept cash. We put the valuables in the locker and only kept sunblock, flip flops, and the towels from the Atlantis towel hut (they're included, no additional $) at our "camp" spot. If someone wants to take the stuff at the chairs it won't kill us...although the hubby's flip flops would toast my tush but good because they were expensive. LOL! We store our KttW cards, DLs, cash, clothing, etc. in the locker. Yes, we brought cash onto Nassau just in case we saw an extra we wanted, for tipping, etc. I'm glad we brought some because we were able to get the postcard stamps on the fly.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yeah, well I forget you people have already seen stuff. We ain't got nuttin' here! CnG was out first water coaster and it ranked pretty high on our list of "Fun stuff to do at Disney". I couldn't believe I got the kids to go on it (they can be such wusses) and then I couldn't get them off. Now BB and TL are tied. We love the family raft ride (Teamboat Springs) at BB and now CnG at TL.
Would you still do some land? I know the parks are not your "cup of tea" anymore.

I'm loving all the detail and stories in your TR (as per usual)!

Well, yeah! Texas has some cool stuff. If you ever want to escape those brutal winters know you have a place to crash. It's hard sometimes to not go do more local fun stuff and save for the big trips. And there's soooo much for homeschoolers! I found us a secular group so now my problem is weeding out what's the most beneficial if all the outings. Lol!

Yeah, I'd do land portions partially at the WDW property. Prob'ly wouldn't be rushing to find a room on-property. I'd go to the water parks in a heartbeat! Prob'ly wouldn't be interested in the 4 parks which is why I wouldn't be likely to stay in a WDW resort. There's no need. Ideally, I'd like to stay at the Bonnet Creek Wyndam (the new one), Hilton, or Waldorf. Especially since I found the trick to scoring those places super cheap. So, yeah, we'd be game for the water parks.

I think I might be the oddball who resists investing any real time or money on-property next September before or after the girls cruise. LOL!

 

[miriamsolana]

Sweetpee! You're making me feel I'm actually there! Atlantis and all your videos are great. O.M.G the mixology class! want it!! Now I'm laying on my bed craving for a B-52! I know I have Baileys and Kalhua...but no Grand Marnier! Well, I have to work pretty early tomorrow anyways.. It's wonderful you took the time to write such detailed and super fun TR! Love it! I read you are thinking of maybe coming to Playa del Carmen someday? You should! It's beautiful! One of my fav places to go here in Mexico.

 

[Gojira ゴジラ]

Locker. I misquoted the price & need to go fix that. The small locker is $7, the medium is $9, the large I'm not sure. At Atlantis you must have a credit card to pay for the lockers. They won't accept cash. We put the valuables in the locker and only kept sunblock, flip flops, and the towels from the Atlantis towel hut (they're included, no additional $) at our "camp" spot. If someone wants to take the stuff at the chairs it won't kill us...although the hubby's flip flops would toast my tush but good because they were expensive. LOL! We store our KttW cards, DLs, cash, clothing, etc. in the locker. Yes, we brought cash onto Nassau just in case we saw an extra we wanted, for tipping, etc. I'm glad we brought some because we were able to get the postcard stamps on the fly.

Oh nice. That's not too bad at all. Thanks for the info.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Yeah, I could live with #3, too. LOL!

Thanks, Tammy! I think the Pentax Optio purchase was so worth it and then some. Just you wait until we get to CC!!!

Ooh, I was going to ask what camera you were using. It did a really great job!

The backside picture cracked me up!

Chase did the shark tank slide. He said you really go to fast to see the sharks. We did the slide where the inner tubes float more slowly through and you can appreciate the sharks more. If that's possible...

Oh my word there were a ton of drinks in mixology! That's crazy!

Are you glad you ate at Cabanas? Other than the unruly children I mean?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Sweetpee! You're making me feel I'm actually there! Atlantis and all your videos are great. O.M.G the mixology class! want it!! Now I'm laying on my bed craving for a B-52! I know I have Baileys and Kalhua...but no Grand Marnier! Well, I have to work pretty early tomorrow anyways.. It's wonderful you took the time to write such detailed and super fun TR! Love it! I read you are thinking of maybe coming to Playa del Carmen someday? You should! It's beautiful! One of my fav places to go here in Mexico.

I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures & video. The mixology class was fun...and brutal. Playa del Carmen...when you look at the cruise ship excursions for Cozumel you can see that there's tons to do. The problem is that the good stuff is in Playa del Carmen so you eat up hours out of your day traveling over to the mainland. I don't think I'd be happy with that. But there's such cool stuff to do there, like Xel-Ha and XCaret. I'm dying to go to those places but I don't want to pay almost $200 a person to go to those places and feel like I need to come back. I think in this case it'd be smarter just to go to Playa del Carmen and stay a few days at least. I'm a little fuzzy on some of the travel details, like where would you fly into? Cancun doesn't look that terribly far but I'm totally in the dark when it comes to that part of the world. LOL!

Oh nice. That's not too bad at all. Thanks for the info.

Sure! The lockers aren't that terribly expensive. They're comparable to what we pay for a locker at our local Schlitterbahn.

Ooh, I was going to ask what camera you were using. It did a really great job!

The backside picture cracked me up!

Chase did the shark tank slide. He said you really go to fast to see the sharks. We did the slide where the inner tubes float more slowly through and you can appreciate the sharks more. If that's possible...

Oh my word there were a ton of drinks in mixology! That's crazy!

Are you glad you ate at Cabanas? Other than the unruly children I mean?

Yep, Target had the Pentax Optio WG-1 on sale back in the summer right after we moved. I stretched a bit and bought it. Then I got on eBay and purchased the Pentax floating wrist leash for less than $10 shipped. I tried it out to see if it actually would float the camera. It does! Stays on the surface! Love the camera, tho. It's waterproof, shock-proof, and resists cold temperatures (you know, in case it snows in Florida again while we're there). LOL!

We did the shark tank slides back in May. I tried to explain to the people who were miffed when they found out the Leap of Faith, etc. was going to to be closed that you really don't "see" the sharks at all. You're going so fast you have to close your eyes to keep from getting your eyelids ripped off from the water spraying up. LOL! We loved that tube slide thru the shark tank, tho! I think we did it like 3 times in May! LOL!

Mixology was a lot more drinks than I thought it'd be. For anyone looking for an inexpensive power-hour, this one's for YOU!

Actually, yes, in the end we both agreed we were glad to have done Cabanas. I kinda quit on the reporting last night abruptly. Had to get dinner and then the debate was on. Tracey HAD to see the debate. I couldn't sit still for all that (politics really stress me out) so I busied myself doing laundry, cleaning, etc. LOL!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Now, that's a backside I like to look at.

Great pics and great story! Keep it coming. Love the mixology class, and love your hair. We've got the same hair (or really close). And we are cut from the same cloth - you're so funny! I've never had a martini and yes, I've always thought shots are for slammin'. Now, I want a Disney cruise. Gotta figure out a way to talk the hubby into one.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Yep, Target had the Pentax Optio WG-1 on sale back in the summer right after we moved. I stretched a bit and bought it. Then I got on eBay and purchased the Pentax floating wrist leash for less than $10 shipped. I tried it out to see if it actually would float the camera. It does! Stays on the surface! Love the camera, tho. It's waterproof, shock-proof, and resists cold temperatures (you know, in case it snows in Florida again while we're there). LOL!

We did the shark tank slides back in May. I tried to explain to the people who were miffed when they found out the Leap of Faith, etc. was going to to be closed that you really don't "see" the sharks at all. You're going so fast you have to close your eyes to keep from getting your eyelids ripped off from the water spraying up. LOL! We loved that tube slide thru the shark tank, tho! I think we did it like 3 times in May! LOL!

Mixology was a lot more drinks than I thought it'd be. For anyone looking for an inexpensive power-hour, this one's for YOU!

Actually, yes, in the end we both agreed we were glad to have done Cabanas. I kinda quit on the reporting last night abruptly. Had to get dinner and then the debate was on. Tracey HAD to see the debate. I couldn't sit still for all that (politics really stress me out) so I busied myself doing laundry, cleaning, etc. LOL!

I love those floating straps! My camera is a tiny bit to heavy for it I think. I just make whoever is carrying it keep it around their wrist.

That's exactly it! I hate those slides!! I feel like I can't breathe because the water is coming at your face so fast and furious! I greatly prefer the tube option.

I'm glad you liked dinner at Cabanas. One day I will skip a dining room and try it. I avoid the debates like the plague. They completely stress me out. Stephen's out of town and Chase watched downstairs!

After we watched Survivor of course.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I apologize for the abrupt cutoff last night. I can't believe how late it got on me! Continuing our Cabanas dinner....

It appears I had a steak dish. In fact, we both had this. I was going to town on the delish steak when I looked over and saw Tracey totally mesmerized by the tender little veggies so I ate those, too. They were fantastic!

For dessert Tracey asked for a dish of plain vanilla ice cream. Is it just me or does vanilla ice cream scoops look naked to you?

And I had the sacher torte, I believe it was. I was so sophistication-ified! I poked at the chocolate words on my plate until they came off so I could eat them. I guess one could say at least I didn't just go full-on face-to-plate, huh?

During the course of the meal our waitress really grew more personable. Very sweet lady. Cannot remember her name for anything, tho. She chatted with us ever so briefly about our anniversary. When she left us for the final time she turned and said something along the lines of: You are very blessed...What you have is what I hope to find someday. She really wasn't terribly young. Probably closer to our ages. It struck me how foreign the idea of having gone thru my 20's and now my 30's without having had my best friend with me the whole way would be. Still a tad buzzy in my head, I looked over at Tracey and felt fully in that moment just how blessed I was. Seriously. Some people go an entire lifetime looking for a yin to their yang. For whatever reason, mine came into my life at a pretty tender, young age. Why perfectly wonderful humans don't have this the way I do is beyond me. I don't think I'm anyone particularly special to have deserved such a blessing. I dunno. Some things make no sense at all. I'm a lucky girl, tho. I really am. I don't want to take that for granted.

From all my reading I know we didn't have to tip our wait staff at Cabanas because these CMs have a different pay structure than the regular servers. Tracey & I both felt like in the end the service was really good. We're always happy to give a little when the service warrants so we left a $20 on the table. I hope we made our waitress smile. She was good to us.

We wandered down to the atrium to see what was shakin'. There were officers eeeeverywhere so we stopped to chat with several. Including Captain Henry. This wasn't our first encounter with Captain Henry, tho. I forgot to write about that! I don't want to leave it out so here's the story:

On embarkation day (yesterday) while we were briefly eating outside Flo's V8 Cafe I saw a gentleman in an officer's dress whites walking along in our direction. He looked sooooo familiar. I tried not to stare but he picked up on my gaze and walked over. When he approached I blurted out, "Are you the captain? You look familiar..." Right when I asked I saw his nametag and it WAS the captain! LOL! He smiled and said, "Yes ma'am, all day today at least." Very pleasant gentleman. I laughed and explained how impressed I was to have recognized him from the few pics I've seen and told him how I'd read such wonderful things about him. He said, "Oh my! I think I'm blushing from all this!" I came right back with, "Well, imagine how I feel...meeting a celebrity and all!" We all got a good chuckle over the exchange. Tracey and I thanked the captain for such a wonderful cruise with top-notch surroundings, details, and service. We love our Dream-y boat!

So tonight we bumped into Captain Henry again and he asked how everything was going. Such a nice gentleman! We gushed over how amazing everything has been and how much we've been enjoying ourselves. Remember, I was still feeling a bit tipsy, I smiled and asked, "Can you possibly find a good storm around here to steer us into???" He laughed and gave me the most confused look. I explained how we were such fans of 'The Deadliest Catch' and the thought being in those crazy high seas was so exciting to us. He went on to tell us about his experiences in the North Sea, where the waves easily dwarfed the ship(s) he was on. I remember my dad telling me crazy stories about the North Atlantic and the North Sea with seas so big every wave scared you more than the last. Dad says in his later sailings up to the top of the world he found humor in watching the young guys who were seeing such for the first time ball up in the floor and cry for their mothers. So I understood what the captain was saying. He smiled and said, "Seas like that are why I'm here happy to these little Bahamas cruises over and over. We just don't see that here." Understood. But I still want to see the crazy seas of the North someday! Call me crazy. I think it's in my blood, actually.

We also meant the gentleman who was in charge of "hotels" on the ship. We gushed to him how amazing our room was and how impeccable the room steward was. We loved Robbi! There was a group of important-looking official folks gathering on the main stairway to take a picture so I asked this particular officer what the occasion was for the photo. He pointed out that there were officers, service staff, and the fellows at the top were maintenance crews. The picture was to mark the occasion, some of the service staff were leaving so they wanted a picture. I totally stalked me a couple shots:

In this pic the head of hotels is the gentleman second from the left. The captain is the tall center guy on the bottom row:

Next we wandered over to the shops. I carefully steered clear of the Dooney displays because at this point I was so far from a decision over which I liked better that I told myself that I wasn't going to get either one. If I couldn't decide, I wasn't going to get one at all. When I told Tracey this he just shook his head and said "whatever". See? I win. No Dooney! We turned our focus to ideas of what we could bring home for the boys. We were so clueless. And we were on the hunt for a Christmas decoration. I like having ornaments from all the places we go. Tracey had a little hat fun:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We left the shops no closer to any firm ideas of what to bring back for the boys. Maybe they would end up with a roll of Disney Dream toilet paper. I dunno. LOL!

We had missed both showtimes for the big production show of the evening: Villians Tonight. We saw Villians on our Dream cruise last year so it's not like we made it such a priority to see it again. We were more interested in things we hadn't done yet. That said, it's time for....



...the Midship Detective Agency!!!!

So you go to the Midship Detective Agency desk, select your case (stolen puppies or stolen artwork), get your case card, and off you go following the map of the ship to the different clue locations. We chose the stolen artwork case.

These were inside Mickey's desk. I took the pic so I could take the time to read them later:

Off we went in search of the stolen artwork and clues to tell us whodunnit. It was fun! You go to the "clue spots" which are marked with an inlay in the floor near a piece of interactive artwork. When you stand on the clue spot, hold your card up facing the art piece, it comes to life. Sometimes you see a little scene play out. Sometimes you find a piece of stolen artwork to discover. Sometimes you have to move your case card to accomplish a task (like move it up and down to squeegee the glass clean and find a clue). On your little case book you keep track of your clues, cross off suspects according to your clues, etc. It's quite fun! All the clues are located near the forward, midship, or aft elevators and in the Vista (art) Gallery. We started forward, took the elevator down to the bottom deck, got our clue, used the elevator to get all our forward clues, then moved to midship. Elevators up and down, get the clues, then move to the gallery. Finally we went aft, used the elevators to the different decks, and solved our case. It was soooooo fun! Yep, it was who we were guessing but I don't want to tell you. You need to go sail on the Dream and solve the case for yourself! I'm not sure if you're supposed to keep your case card along with the case book. I didn't see anything that said we shouldn't so I still have it. Should I have returned that? If so, I'll mail it back! LOL!

It was getting to be around 10 or 10:15. As previous Dream cruisers know, it's Pirate Night and the fireworks will be shooting off soon. Well, we've seen that. Plus we were pretty darned worn out. Instead of joining the crowds on the upper decks we opted to go back to our room and sit out on our own verandah comfortably. When we got back to our room, look what was waiting for us!!! I'm certain I squeeled on this one!

What?! A 3-dimensional model of our Castaway Cay cabana that we'll be in TOMORROW!

The envelope in the top had the instructions for getting there, more info, and our cabana wristbands. I was so stinkin' excited!

I took the envelope out and placed the roof on top for full effect:

If you've not been on a Disney cruise to Castaway Cay since the addition of the private cabanas you might not understand the significance of them. First and formost, they are VERY hard to reserve. There aren't many of them and they are in very high demand. There are just 16 family cabanas that are situated on a private cove overlooking the family beach area. The views there are spectacular. The beach area in front of those cabanas is roped off and limited to only the cabanas guests. These cabanas are number 1-17 (there's no #13). Each nicely furnished cabana w/ceiling fan comes with a stocked refridgerator (canned sodas, bottled water, fresh fruit, & cold/moist washcloths for refreshing), cushy furnishings and loungers, sunblock, towels, a small safe, a basket of chips, magazines to read, a hammock, floats, tubes, snorkel gear, an hour of bicycle rental, sand toys, and fresh water outdoor shower. Sounds heavenly, huh? Well, you're gonna have to pony-up to the mouse big for these...$499 for the day for guests 1-6. You can add 4 more guests to your cabana for $50 more per person. So, for instance, next May when we will be there with my brother and his girls *IF* we can get a family cabana for the 7 of us it will cost $549. On the adult-only beach, Serenity Bay, there are 4 adult-only cabanas available. They don't accommodate as many people and have a few differences in the offerings. They don't have the sand toys in the cabana. You aren't on a private beach in these cabanas; they sit at a higher elevation and overlook the adult beach. The Serenity Bay cabanas cost $399 for the day. For all the cabanas, after you check-in you will be brought to yours via golf cart. Inside every cabana is a "call" button. If you want to go somewhere you need only push the button and the cabana concierge will be at your door asap to take you. The concierge will bring you more of anything you need including adult beverages for an additional fee. It's truly amazing service and pampering. The prices are steep, yes, but you are paying for something very special, totally incredible!

So what makes the cabanas so hard to obtain? Wouldn't you think the high price would make them cost-preventative? Well, there's not many of them. They are HIGHLY sought after. The problem is that prior to sailing concierge guests and platinum level Castaway Club guests who are paid in full can start booking dining, excursions, cabanas, etc. at 120 days prior to sailing. People will book concierge level JUST to get this booking advantage so they can get a cabana. These folks will be online at midnight exactly 120 days from sailing to scoop up the cabanas with the best views. Next, gold level Castaway Club members who are paid in full can start booking at 105 days prior to sailing. What the concierge guests and platinums didn't scoop up, the golds usually do. Then, the silver levels (that's us) who are paid in full can start booking things at 90 days prior to sailing. First timers who are paid in full bring up the rear with their booking window opening at 75 days prior. So you see, for something so limited and sought-after, the low guys on the totum don't have much of a chance at scoring the cabanas. I got my "surprise" phone call from Mickey at about 86 days prior to sailing. As soon as I got off the phone, I jumped around squeeling for about 5 minutes then jumped online to do our online check-in and start booking! I was shocked when I saw multiple Serenity Bay cabanas and a few family beach cabanas still available. Could NOT believe it! I snapped up a Serenity Bay cabana and decided if I did nothing else for an upcharge on this cruise, the cabana was going to be IT! The 3-dimensional cabana the night before totally sent the anticipation thru the roof! Such an awesome concept!!!! Enough about all that....

Also on our bed was a card and gift from the Dream concierge team! We got 2 different prints as concierge gifts from our May cruise on the Magic so this one now makes 3! They're all gorgeous!

Um, and did you see the blanket monster on our bed?! Love it! Tracey took the silly glasses, put them on, gave me a saucy pose, and said, "Sexxxyyyyyy".... Oh yes! I agree! LOL!

We threw on our jammies, hit the loungy-chairs on our verandah, listened to the festivities from the top decks, and watched the glow of the fireworks bursts reflect off the water. It was perfect in every way. Not a lick of disappointment or regret for not going up to see the show. We were together in our happy place. It couldn't have been any better.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Now, that's a backside I like to look at.

Great pics and great story! Keep it coming. Love the mixology class, and love your hair. We've got the same hair (or really close). And we are cut from the same cloth - you're so funny! I've never had a martini and yes, I've always thought shots are for slammin'. Now, I want a Disney cruise. Gotta figure out a way to talk the hubby into one.

It's a very shapely, curvy backside for sure! Definitely worthy of admiration from everyone!

My hair has a natural curl to it, not a lot but enough. The only time I let the curl stay is if I'm being lazy and don't dry & flat iron it. I used to have very curly hair, kept it spiral permed, but that was a loooong time ago and probably totally dates me again. LOL! When it's curly it wants to frizz. It's crazy how I used to live with curly hair and was fine with it but now I can't seem to tame the frizz to save my life. I forgot!

I learned a lot from Mixology! Totally broadened my horizons!

I could give you tips to talk your hubby into one but it's not very PG, if ya know what I mean. It's the ultimate barter, if ya know what I mean. I'm evil, I know... Sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do. LOL!

I love those floating straps! My camera is a tiny bit to heavy for it I think. I just make whoever is carrying it keep it around their wrist.

That's exactly it! I hate those slides!! I feel like I can't breathe because the water is coming at your face so fast and furious! I greatly prefer the tube option.

I'm glad you liked dinner at Cabanas. One day I will skip a dining room and try it. I avoid the debates like the plague. They completely stress me out. Stephen's out of town and Chase watched downstairs!

After we watched Survivor of course.

The fast slides irk me sorta like tent camping does. It's a lot to go thru for not a whole lot of payoff. It's just not worth it. You have to walk aaaaall the way up all those steps, force yourself to push over the ledge, feel like you're falling to your death, the water rush renders you blind & breathless, all for what? 2.5 seconds? Not worth it. But every time my teens see these they go running up looking back at us like they expect us to be the chickens. No way! I won't have them thinking I'm old and unable. Soooo I go up with them...hate it the whole way...but my kids still think I'm a tough-as-nails momma so it's all good. LOL!

I didn't know you hadn't done Cabanas for dinner! I was expecting a salad bar & carving station along with the table service but neither of those was present. I was bummed. I needed the water from the veggies at the salad bar. I'm glad we tried it but I'm not so sure I'd intentionally ditch a MDR to do it again. If the MDR seating was that much of an inconvenience I'd accept Cabanas as an alternate option to fill the tank. Does that make sense?

 

[fractal]

OK - just read about your mixology class and you had me cracking up! Felt like I was there with you guys slamming them back - except I'm not buzzed.

For $15 I think I would sign up for a class each day!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

OK - just read about your mixology class and you had me cracking up! Felt like I was there with you guys slamming them back - except I'm not buzzed.

For $15 I think I would sign up for a class each day!

LOL! Told ya we were lightweights! Ha! Actually, when we first got married Tracey was 21 and so super-skinny (wore a size 28x34 Levis!) that he totally couldn't hold much alcohol at ALL. I was on the wagon from 17 until after I got married so I wasn't exactly giving him any competition. He does much better now that he's got more body to absorb it all but still, we so rarely drink. We decided next time we'll invest a little in "conditioning" ourselves more. Or maybe we won't because we don't spend as much on drinky-drinks when we can't drink much. LOL!

I'm not sure about the longer cruises but on the short ones they only offer 1 Mixology along with various tastings. I know there's a beer, wine, champagne, tequila/margarita, and martini tastings all for a small nominal charge of like $10 -$15. It's not bad at all. I really enjoyed the Mixology because I felt we got a bit more variety than if we'd done a specific tasting. On longer cruises I'd be willing to sign up for several of the different tastings. I've read on some cruises when Mixology filled up so fast that they added additional ones. You can't book them prior to getting onboard the ship. You have to go straight to Guest Services (or in our case, the Concierge) to book them. If/when you go, do it as soon as you board because they can fill up quickly!

Better still, if/when we get the families together in the same place someday we should do our own Mixology! Wouldn't that be fun?!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

With all the prepping to get ready for this morning that I did last night I still knew I'd have to get up early to make the most of the time. Last night I think I was asleep at 11:30. Practically EARLY!

This morning I got up at 7:00. Even after drinking nothing but water last night and eating dinner I still woke up with a bit of a hangover. Ugh. Brutal. I hate mornings. I'm glad I got up, tho, because we were able to enjoy the ship's approach and docking at the island:

Kelly's toes goes to Castaway Cay!

I think Captain Henry can back this big girl on a dime!

We hit Cabanas for a quick breakfast. I had my usual muesli & coffee with milk. We saw Jack & Lisa and confirmed with them that they got their envelope from us last night. They were so kind to us and we enjoyed their company so much. We decided early-on that we wanted to "gift" them with an official invite to our cabana today. It's not like we were going to doooooo anything in there...I mean they're kinda wide open and I promise it wouldn't be a very pleasant show anyway. So we arranged with Andreia, the concierge, to send a couple wristbands to Jack & Lisa's stateroom so they could join us in paradise. They had received their "gift" and they were super-excited, the thank yous started flowing but, really, there was no need. That's just us. We always think the more the merrier so we were that much more excited knowing we'd have outstanding company during the day.

We were down on deck 1 waiting in line for the gangway to open out onto the island at 8:25. It was kinda nice to pass right by the crew handing out towels to the guests coming off the ship. We had those waiting for us already. We walked straight over to the tram stop and hopped on the first tram headed out. We rode all the way out to Pelican Point, hopped off, then caught the first Serenity Bay tram (it's a different one). We got out to SB before the cabana hosts had opened the check-in hut so we chatted up a CM at the bike rental stand right there by the SB tram stop. She was cool! I forget her name but she was one of the CMs who lived on Castaway Cay full-time. We asked how she managed to get that slot and how she liked it. She said she loved it, particularly now that they were in a slower season and were getting a day off each week. Even on days that a ship isn't at the island they work. They fix the bikes, clean the gear, clean the facilities, fix things that need repair or maintenance, etc. There's always work to do. She loves the island life even though it's hard work. Sounded interesting. I wonder what it'd be like to live that way.

Anywhoo, while we were chatting away I tried to snap a picture but my memory card was saying "locked". Hhhmmm...I opened up the camera, took out the SD card, slid the switch to "unlock", put it back in the camera, tried to snap a pic again, and got the "locked" message. It was an older locking SD card. Every time I was puting it in the camera the lock switch would slide to the locked position. Panic! I bought this stupid camera for TODAY! I needed it to work! Our new "friend" jumped on the radio and found out where the nearest shop that sold SD cards was. Back at the Pelican Point tram stop. Okay. Tracey hopped on the next tram back to go get one. I waited patiently. When he returned he not only had my SD card, he had Jack & Lisa with him as well. Perfect! Our cabana host was there and put us straight onto his cart. He whisked us off to Cabana #19....you know, for our 19th anniversary. LOL! And here we are:

Jack, Lisa, Tracey, & me:

And just plain old us:

So I wanted to get a bazillion cabana pics but it was hard to do with so many people and all that excitement!