PTR I LOVE Comedians with Guitars.....

[jenseib]

We changed our clothes and then headed up to get a bite to eat.

I guess I felt the need to take this elevator picture.

 

 

We decided on tacos.

 

 

 

The guy kind of insisted we have fries with it too. Who am I to argue? LOL

 

 

Isn’t this just so cute?

 

 

The tacos were pretty good and filled the void. After all it had been at least 2 hours since we last had eaten!

I took a few pictures while we sat there.

 

 

 

Then I believe we headed back to the room to freshen up.

 

It was now getting close to time to leave, so the camera was out again. I had wanted to get the horn, but I missed it by just a few seconds with my video.

 

 

 

 

A little bit of video.

 

 

 

And some more video.

 

 

This one was funny as this guy was running down the pier but waving and I waved back. At one time he did a little dance, but my video skills here are pretty bad.

 

 

 

 

 

And one last video.

 

 

So we had showered and gotten ready for the evening. While getting dressed, Lisa suggested I wear one of her dresses. I swore it wouldn’t fit, but she insisted I try it on, and it actually did, so I went with that dress for the night. It was fun wearing something different.

I had planned to go to the show tonight, but it just didn’t sound appealing to Lisa, so she was going to stay back and miss it.

The show was John Charles, the guy we had followed on board the day before in Grand Cayman, who was carrying a guitar. It was listed in the Navigator as “Featuring the Music and Comedy of John Charles”.

 

I was now ready to head out and decided to use the bathroom before leaving the room. As I walked in, Lisa asked “so you are just going to go and watch some guy play a guitar?” And I hollered back, “well I think he does jokes with his music”.

 

I came out of the bathroom and Lisa had her sweater on and standing there waiting for me, like she planned to go. So I asked if she was now coming and her response was “I LOVE Comedians with Guitars! You didn’t tell me that part”. And then I just burst into laughter. It was the way she said it and it was so random I couldn’t stop laughing. Throughout the rest of the trip, we would randomly say it again and just start laughing again.

 

So we went to see the comedian with the guitar and he was GREAT! He played songs that we knew, he made up songs that he said our crew would sing, and it was just so much fun. We were both so glad to have gone and seen it. So much so, that we vowed to see his adult show the next night.

[jenseib]

After watching the show I think we just kind of walked around a bit before dinner. It was raining out now.

 

 

On deck 4, even though it’s covered, you still got whipped by the rain and wind, so we headed back to the room for a bit.

 

 

We had a new friend waiting for us tonight.

 

 

Soon it was time to go to dinner, which was in Animators Palette. Tonight we were getting the full show!

 

The menu.

 

 

 

 

 

Bread was served. Garlic and Herb Foccacia Bread.

 

 

 

I tried to take a lot of pictures through the room tonight to document the changes.

 

 

 

 

 

Someone took a picture of Lisa and I.

 

 

OOOOOHHHHH! A change!

 

 

Carolyn and Brook told us they were thinking of doing an excursion the next day in Cozumel. We had originally planned to wing it, but they said they kind of wanted to do something real. I told them I was also kind of thinking about doing one as well. Lisa said she wasn’t too sure. We decided that in the morning we would go to the Port Adventures Desk and see what was still available.

 

Mary grabbed herself a roll and look what she pulled out!

 

 

When I made my order this evening, I decided to try some new things. I told Raphael that I would like the Rock Shrimp and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake. I have heard mixed reviews of this and I just wanted to try it. He immediately said no, ….not good. LOL. I said really? Is it that bad? And he told me he rarely sees anyone like it. Ok then. I had planned on the Wild Mushroom Risotto as my main course, and again he told me no, it wasn’t big enough. Ok, strike 2. So he had me order the risotto for my appetizer and something different for my main course.

 

Soon the appetizers arrived.

Here is my risotto.

 

Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist, Served with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

 

 

 

And he surprised me and also brought out the Sesame-flavored Rock Shrimp and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake with Asian barbecue sauce and topped with Micro Greens to sample.

 

 

I am going to tell you now, it was pretty good. It actually reminded me of a cheese ball and would be really good to eat on crackers. Raphael was surprised. I told him that I certainly couldn’t eat the whole thing, but a little amount was good. They really should serve a side of crackers with this. If I ever get it again, I will ask for crackers.

 

Lisa and I both had the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup with bacon bits and chives, I believe.

 

 

And I believe Lisa had Confetti Tomato Salad With Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Olive Oil, Jerez Vinegar, and Herb Dressing.

 

 

We enjoyed our appetizers.

 

I continued to take pictures around the room as color changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner soon arrived.

 

Brook and Carolyn were going for the Gusto tonight. I believe they order 4 meals between the 2 of them so they could sample several things. Here is what they got.

 

 

 

Ready to CHOW!!!!

 

 

I ordered the Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken Breast On top of Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Grain Mustard Jus.

 

 

Again this was very good. I think I had this on the Dream in 2011 as well.

I don’t have a picture of Lisa’s plate. She most likely got the same as I, or the Salmon, as that was one of her favorite things this cruise. She kept saying she should order something different, but I said get what you like and be happy!

 

More pictures of the changing room

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of videos too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we stuffed ourselves silly, the dessert menu came out and we made our selections.

 

 

 

 

And soon that arrived at our table.

 

I believe I got 2 tonight and I can’t remember for sure, but I think I got the Buckled Warm Apple Crumble with ice-cream.

 

 

And Animator's Sweet Temptations , A Trio of Strawberry Sable, Cranberry and Orange Cheesecake, and Double-Fudge Chocolate Cake.

 

 

 

I am sure Lisa got the sweet temptations too as she got this almost every night.

 

If I remember right, we liked parts of it, but it seems like one thing wasn’t a hit, but I can’t remember which one.

 

And again, I took more pictures of the room changing.

 

 

[jenseib]

This is the night we got the full Animators Palette show too. Our servers said we could move a little closer to the empty table next to us.

 

 

It darkened a bit and they had some things playing on the screen throughout the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The servers marched out.

 

 

And Mickey joined the fun.

 

 

 

That guy is one fast mover. He was up and down the aisle and I really had a hard time catching him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was a lot of fun, but it went pretty fast and honestly I don’t remember a lot of it already now. I will need to see this again to take more in.

 

Raphael and Luis posed for a few pictures then.

 

 

 

These guys were just great and so much fun.

 

 

Luis was giving us some wise advice.

 

 

After dinner, Lisa headed back to the room, but I wasn’t ready yet, so I set out on my own. I went and checked the weather on deck 4.

 

 

It was no longer raining, so I headed up top for some more night time shots.

 

 

 

I just love seeing the ship all lit up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was pretty quiet up here again tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I roamed around for about 30 minutes or so and then headed back to the room. As I opened the door I saw a piece of paper on the ground. As I picked it up I saw it had a note on it. It was an excursion sheet and Brook and Carolyn had left it for me and said they ended up signing up for the Ruins and Tequila tour for the next day. They had it circled and told me to get to the desk early if I wanted to go and sign up for it.

I was sure at that point. It sounded fun, but yet, I don’t really drink much, especially tequila. Lisa was sleeping, but woke up when I came in. I told her about the excursion and she told me she didn’t want to go, but she didn’t care if I went. I decided I would see if I woke up early enough in the morning and then go from there. Of course that left me thinking about it all night and I slept so badly. I kept waking up thinking I missed getting up, only find that only 20 minutes had passed. I should’ve just told myself yes from the start and I am sure I would’ve slept better.

[jenseib]

Sept. 27, 2012, Thursday, Day 7

 

Today’s navigators.

 

 

 

 

 

I had not slept well the night before and I think I just gave up around 6 AM. I got up and dressed and made my way to see if I could sign up for the Port Adventure. I just knew after a sleepless night, I was meant to go on this excursion. I can’t remember if the desk was open this early or not, or if I came back a little later, but I am thinking it was. I do remember the girl I had to sign me up was not real quick at doing it. Even though I had the paper with the one I wanted circled, she seemed to have issues finding it. But I finally was signed up.

 

Time to watch us pull into port.

 

 

 

 

 

It was such a beautiful morning and the sunrise was so nice to see. A few cast members were excited about our arrival too.

 

 

 

There were more people out on deck this morning too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed watching us dock.

 

 

The sky was just beautiful.

 

 

 

I took a couple of shots of the sports deck, as I wasn’t sure if I had taken some earlier in the trip. When you take as many pics as I do, you do forget what you have taken.

 

 

 

Around 6:40 I went and got a quick bite to eat.

 

 

 

And then I went back up top.

 

 

 

I then went back to the room to gather my things and let Lisa know I was going to head off the island. She was going to stay on the ship and then when I got back the plan was to get back off the ship together and look around.

 

I went to our meeting spot and waited for the other girls.

 

 

 

 

Brook, Carolyn and Shelly all arrived soon after. They said Susan was going to stay on the ship today as well.

 

A round 8 we headed out.

 

 

 

 

They had these bike carts to carry people back and forth, for a cost, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

I turned back to get a picture of the ship, but got my friends in there as well.

 

 

 

Ah! There is one!

 

[jenseib]

Continuing our walk down the peer into Cozumel.

 

 

 

It was kind of funny as this family was walking with us. I assumed he was part of the group and we stopped for a bit to wait for our guide, Ceaser. This family realized that we were a group and then took off. It was kind of funny.

 

We went through a shopping plaza to get to our buses. It was kind of funny all the stores advertising drugs for sale. A popular sign we saw was for Viagra. You can get this over the counter here. I joked that I should get Skip some for a souvenir.

 

 

We went up over the road and then back down.

 

 

 

I got a quick shot of this guy. I think he really wants you to tip him to take his picture.

 

 

And of course we had many vendors asking us to come into their shops. I guess they really don’t have a clue what a group adventure is. Are we really going to stop and buy while the rest of the group goes on?

 

We made it to our bus and it was already hot and steamy out.

 

 

 

We met Ceasar and he talked the whole way out to the ruins. He was a very good guide and he was very passionate. He also told us the Corona and Dos Equi beers are what Mexicans consider the cruddy beers and pass them off to the Americans. LOL!

 

A picture of our ticket.

 

 

As we drove, I tried to get shots out the window.

 

 

 

Carolyn was kind enough to let me have the window seat.

 

 

 

This would’ve been such a cool shot if I actually got it in focus!

 

 

A glimpse of the ship as we drive along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More shots as we drove to our Mayan Ruin Destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we have now arrived!

 

 

 

A little taste of Disney with the shaped topiary.

 

 

 

We were given about 10 -15 minutes to walk around, and use the bathrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the bathroom roof. It was actually really clean in here.

 

 

 

 

When we met back up, Ceasar told us about some special gem stone they sold here. Of course we were able to get a special discount if we wanted to buy one.

 

 

 

And then it was time to head out to see the ruins.

 

 

 

This kind of stuff just fascinates me!

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

As we gathered around we got some info about this area and the ruins here.

 

 

 

I was a bit camera crazy, I’ll admit it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I discovered a hidden Mickey here too!

 

 

See it?

 

 

Those Mayans were some smart people!

 

There were quite a few of these guys all around too.

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a lady in our group who was asking some questions. She looked so familiar and sounded familiar. I got to talking to her a bit and she wasn’t from anywhere that I would know her from, but it bugged me. Finally it dawned on me. I swore she was “Bonnie” from last year’s season of Biggest Loser. She even had a cane, and Bonnie had knee issues. I really thought it was her, but when I got home I asked Bonnie on facebook. Yeah, I have biggest loser people as my friends. LOL! And she said no, it wasn’t her, but she wished it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this arch was so cool!

 

 

 

Ceasar told us about the Mayan roads and about the culture and a bit about his own culture too.

 

 

 

He was an excellent guide.

 

 

He talked about the Mayan Calendar and compared it with the Aztecs. Now this was back in Sept, so we were all still waiting on the ending of the Mayan calendar at that point. Ceasar said his belief was that we would just have a new beginning. And being that we all are still alive, I am thinking he was probably right!

 

 

 

 

We then had a few minutes to take pictures and Brook and I took pictures of each other.

 

 

 

And on we went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This tree was kind of creepy as every so often you would see an iguana poke his head out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We learned what some of these areas were and represented, and I have to admit I no longer remember much of it.

 

 

[TBpony414]

Continuing to follow along and enjoy reading about your travels. The ruins are neat to see and the iguanas looked intimidating!

[jenseib]

Continuing to follow along and enjoy reading about your travels. The ruins are neat to see and the iguanas looked intimidating!

 

Thanks. I've been slacking. I have a bunch of updates written, I just need to get them posted.

[jenseib]

It just amazes me how old this place is, and yet it still stands, even after the forces of nature.

 

 

 

I don’t remember why, but we did talk about this flower. It totally escapes me why now though.

 

 

Then he handed it to me and said I could keep it.

 

 

Once we went back up front though I just set it down. I surely didn’t want to get in trouble for taking plant life off the grounds and I am pretty sure I probably couldn’t take it back on the ship nor take it off when I got home.

 

We then got to wander just a bit on our own, basically working our way back to the front center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing they had mentioned in the booklet about booking this excursion was bug spray. We didn’t bring any, nor bought any in the local stores onsite there. I did notice towards the end that I was getting bitten though. So you should probably get some if you take a tour like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the bathroom and browsed a couple of the shops. I think I got Claire a little doll in one and then headed back to the bus. They were offering water and coke as we came back, I think I had some coke, but I can’t remember for sure. Anyways, I have heard Mexican coke is different and if I had some, I don’t remember a different taste.

 

 

Soon we were loaded up and on our way.

 

 

 

As we drove towards the tequila factory, Caesar talked some more. Then all of a sudden the hum of the AC stopped. What! It was hot out! We were on a brand new bus too. Caesar said they would call in for a replacement bus once we got to the factory. Thanks goodness !

 

 

Soon we arrived and this is the sign that greeted us. I thought it was so funny.

 

 

Thank GOODNESS they have a free “peepee” station!

 

The driveway to the Tequila factory was kind of long, but scenic.

 

 

 

We parked behind the building and all got out.

 

 

This was our tequila tour guide. And see the lady in the green shirt. She’s the one I swore was Bonnie from the Biggest Loser.

 

 

I believe this is the agave, which is the fruit that makes tequila.

 

 

 

 

One thing we learned was that tequila can only be tequila if it is from a certain area, like champagne in France. So I don’t remember all the rules, but they did not officially grow the Agave here to use to make it, and I can’t even remember for sure if they were allowed to make it here either or just sell it. Honestly, our guy was kind of hard to understand, so I was only picking up pieces of what he said.

 

Looks like something fun was going on here.

 

 

 

We then headed inside.

 

 

 

We each were to pick up a couple of little cups for the tasting.

 

 

I was trying to take pictures too, but our dude said to wait till it was over and keep moving on for now.

 

 

 

 

I am not really a fan of tequila, so I was worried how much of this I would like. The first couple were the basics and pretty gross.

 

 

But then he pulled out some flavored ones and some of those were pretty darn good.

 

 

 

After the official tastings, we were allowed to go and taste others, but I had had enough. I don’t drink a whole lot in my “older” age, so I didn’t want to be falling down after a few too many tequilas.

 

I went around and took a few pictures instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did use the free “peepee” station as well. And just because it was free, doesn’t mean it was the nicest. It wasn’t too bad actually, but it could use a little loving care.

[jenseib]

I headed outside and took a few more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our new bus had arrived and we all loaded onto it and set off once again.

 

 

 

 

We now were going to go to a beach, not to swim, but to get a few pictures and just look around.

 

We passed some beautiful scenery on the way.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s with all the cows just out by themselves? It was home was calling to me.

 

 

You can just barely make it out, but there was a horse alone in this picture too. You can see his brown back side.

 

 

 

 

Over on the other side, the water side, Caesar had told us about the turtles that are protected and the nesting areas. We got a glimpse as we drove by.

 

 

 

 

This was a new highway next to the road we are driving on. I guess it has been in the works for a VERY long time. 10-20 years. It was supposed to be completed already, but it wasn’t and they have once again started on it.

 

 

An unfinished area.

 

 

I have no clue what this place is.

 

 

Soon we arrived at the beach!

 

 

Was this place EVER gorgeous!!! Just stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

I took about 5 zillion pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just loved watching the waves crash on the shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brook and Carolyn picking up shells.

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

This area was just pure heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brook took my pictures. Actually she took a bunch and I couldn’t figure out what she was doing.

 

 

And then I found out. She wanted a big spray of water behind me. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brook taking pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took a picture inside one of the holes and sadly there was a bit of garbage in it. I actually saw garbage here and there on the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

Brook wanted me to get some pictures of her, so she went up to the top of the arch.

 

 

We had to wait for people to get out of the way.

 

 

And then I took a couple, but I had to crop them because there was still some lady standing to the side. You can see she is looking at us and stopped, but she wouldn’t move further back. In one picture she was actually pointing, like she knew she had to wait. LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I honestly couldn’t stop taking pictures. It was just so beautiful. I even left feeling like I didn’t take enough.

 

 

I loved the different colors of the water as you looked out at the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

A few last pictures of the beach area before we had to go back to the bus.

 

 

 

 

There were a few vendor stands there by the road and I got a couple of quick shots before I boarded the bus.

 

 

 

And we were off again. We actually saw some work going on with the new road.

 

 

Our last stop was at the oldest town of Cozumel. Though wouldn’t that technically have been our first …..at the Mayan ruins?

 

 

This was pretty much a bummer of a stop.

 

 

 

 

You could tell they were very poor here. It was kind of dirty and just icky feeling there.

 

 

 

 

 

I think these guys were trying to sell pictures with the horse.

 

 

The highlight of this stop was to show a Mayan Temple next to a Catholic Church.

 

 

 

With the lens I had on the camera at the time, I couldn’t get a picture of the 3 together. I actually couldn’t even really get the temple in one shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed inside the church to take a look around. I didn’t stay in it very long because it had a bad odor. It was kind of musty.

 

 

 

 

The lady in the green is the one I thought looked like Bonnie from the Biggest Loser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we looked in the church, we had a little bit of time to look around. This place was small and not much to really see. Most of us just headed back towards the bus.

 

 

 

I stopped off and used the bathroom. YUCK I should’ve held it. It was dirty and they had napkins laid out to pick up on your way in. Also a tip box. They got no tip from me. I did my best not to touch anything in there and got out fast. My tip is they need to do some cleaning!!!!!

 

 

For some reason there was a family that lingered there and we all were waiting on the bus for them to get back so we could leave. Finally they causally strolled back and off we went! Next stop was back in town.

 

 

I took a few last pictures as we approached town.

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to do a little bit of shopping before heading back to the ship.

 

 

I looked at quite a few things, but I think I only ended up getting a magnet.

 

I was having an awful headache at this point so I said goodbye to the girls and headed back towards the ship on my own.

 

I had to walk over the road again and I took some pictures of the view.

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

I headed back down towards the pier.

 

 

 

That’s quite the walk and a lot of people were using the biker carriage things.

 

 

 

 

A little bit of Goofy’s backside!

 

 

I headed back to the room, and if I remember right I found Lisa there or she came in right after I did.

We decided we needed to get some lunch.

She told me about her day. She had hung out at the pool and there was a bee problem and they ended up closing the pools down since it was such a problem. One lady got stung and they were going to charge her basically $200 just to have it looked at. This is one thing I don’t like about cruises. They have a Dr. onboard, but to actually use him, you pay through the teeth.

Her and Susan also decided to go ashore together for a while, but didn’t do too much. Mostly just walking around.

 

We headed up to Topsiders to get some food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found a seat and soon Brook, Carolyn and gang all joined us.

 

 

 

Lisa said she was able to call home today, it actually went through. I wanted to try, so we decided after we ate, we would head back to shore and try calling. I also was going to bring my kindle along as I knew Jimmy Buffets had free wifi, so I could at least send an email to my MIL and let her know how things were going if I couldn’t call.

 

We had a fun lunch and soon Lisa and I left.

 

 

I did not get a signal when we got off the ship, so we started walking.

 

As we got to the end of the pier my phone perked up. SIGNAL!!!!!

I did the 2 way beep to Skip. At the time we had Nextel and used the direct connect feature all the time. We since then had to switch to completely Sprint as they are doing away with Nextel. He and his brother chose to keep direct connect through Sprint, but I went with an iphone and I haven’t looked back since!

I wasn’t sure if Skip would answer. It had been days since I talked to him and he probably figured at this point that I couldn’t call. He answered almost immediately and he didn’t say hi, how are you, or any of the normal pleasantries. He answered with a vulgar statement about missing me. YEP, I married a guy with pure class! The thing is, when using 2-way, it’s like a walkie talkie and everyone around could hear what he was saying. Lisa and I both gasped and Lisa said, “He can’t say that kind of stuff here”. I quickly let him know I was in a public area and he behaved after that.

He updated me on how things were and things were going pretty smoothly. He had taken Claire to school and picked her up a few days when he could. I had that arranged with MIL and my friend Kelly, as I didn’t want him to gripe at all about having to do anything while I was gone.

After a few minutes of talk, we said good bye, and I let him know that I probably wouldn’t talk to him again till we got back to port.

 

We, well mostly me, decided to look around just a little more. I was on the hunt for something for my niece who had turned 3 that week and her family party was going to be the day after I got home.

 

 

 

I ended up finding a cute little tiny leather purse. I think it was $15 apiece. But you could get 2 for a cheaper price, I decided to get one for Claire too. And they talked me into the next size up, which was a better price for 2. I think only $5 more.

 

We just wandered a bit and ran into these girls.

 

 

 

 

I was just standing there, kind of zoned out taking pictures and a girl said something to me and I almost didn’t hear it. Then I heard Lisa say something like, I was in a zone and didn’t notice her. I looked and it was Erin, one of Mary’s friends. So we chatted a bit as we both took pictures.

 

 

They had done a snorkeling adventure that day and she said she loved it. She highly recommends it.

 

After a bit, we decided it was time to head back to the ship. It was really hot out today.

 

 

As we headed back to the ship, I took lots of pictures once again.

 

 

 

 

I just love this blue water!

 

 

 

I love how Disney gives you cold wet wash clothes as you come back.

 

 

 

We headed back on the ship and I think we went up near the adult pool and talked a bit and had a cool drink. I then had a light bulb moment. My phone still had service and Claire was at my friend Kelly’s that day. (It took me awhile to figure which day of the week it was first. LOL). Kelly had Nextel as well and we were linked for direct connect. So I beeped her and she answered. She said all was fine and then she had to pull Claire away from playing with her daughter. Seriously, Claire was not all that happy to have to stop playing. She mostly gave me yes and no answers and not much more. Then she told me she needed to go back and play. So much for missing her mother! But when I did get home later that week, she was waiting up for me and VERY happy to see me.

 

We decided then to go for a swim. Well I said I would sit in the hot tub, and Lisa does more laying out.

I got in the hot tub and holy cow. When it’s hot outside, the hot tub is HOTTER! Burning hot!

I moved over towards the pool and sat on the edge under one of the waterfalls next to a lady. That water was even hot, but not burning hot.

We started talking and come to find out, she was the lady that Lisa had told me about earlier. They had talked and her Daughter in law was the one stung by a bee.

 

Lisa had ran back to the room for something and once she arrived back, she jumped in and we all talked a bit. After a bit, Brook, Carolyn and gang had joined us at the pool.

We didn’t swim ,but just either sat on the side or bobbed around in the pool. The water was very high today, so you had to kind of jump around to keep you head above the water line.

Soon a band set up and started playing.

 

 

This girl was really into her act.

 

 

A little short video.

 

 

 

And then they announced that the horn was going to go off soon. I got my camera ready. I had been trying to record that sucker the whole trip and now was my chance!

 

 

No mistaking it this time. I GOT it! And it was LOUD!

 

We now were sailing away once again.

 

This is the waterfall thing I would sit against. It was one of my favorite places on the ship.

 

 

The band kept playing

 

 

At one point as we were all bobbing around in the pool, Carolyn made the comment, “we are on our way home now”. UGH! A guy nearby said to us that he could’ve went the whole cruise and been happy never to hear that phrase! LOL

 

A view from the pool.

 

 

And someone lost a balloon!

 

 

We spent a good amount of time in the pool and we all had so much fun just talking and joking around. But all too soon we realized we should probably go shower and get ready dinner at Palo and the show that night.

 

The show tonight was Dreams and it was one I had wanted to see. Our Palo reservation was going to make us cut into it a bit, but we had hoped to get there in time to see most of it.

[jenseib]

We headed back to the room and took our showers and got ready for the evening. I also spent some time out on the balcony. I just LOVE the balcony. I don’t know if I could go back to an inside room after having one 3 times now. They are just wonderful!

 

There had been a Carnival ship in port at Cozumel as well, but further down at a different pier. We left about the same time and we could see it almost the whole way back to Galveston.

 

 

 

I played around and took some different pictures.

 

 

 

 

I can never get enough of the blue water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon it was time to head up to Palo.

We were the first to arrive. We decided we wanted to take a picture of each of us by the sign, but a server from Palo came out and took one of both of us together.

 

 

 

We stepped outside while we waited for the other girls, but it was REALLY windy up there so we headed back inside.

 

 

They told us we could have a seat at the bar and wait for the other girls. So we did just that.

We got a pose of one of the servers as I lifted my camera.

 

 

 

 

We felt obligated to order a drink while we waited. I just felt like it would be rude to sit there and not order anything. Soon the other girls (Brook, Carolyn, Shelly, and Susan) arrived and not long after that we were taken to our table.

 

 

 

 

 

I basically got a lot of not so good pictures.

 

 

 

And our drinks. I believe Lisa had a mudslide.

 

 

I had an amaretto sour.

 

[WFChris]

Those port towns all look a lot lamer than I imagined them to be.

[jenseib]

Those port towns all look a lot lamer than I imagined them to be.

 

Alot fo the ports are pretty poor in areas. They usually survive from our tourism.

[jenseib]

Our breadsticks arrive next at our dinner at Palo

Freshly Baked Bread on Our Pizza Oven. (Grissin Sticks, Olive and Ciabatta Rolls, and Focaccia Bread)

 

 

Our server! I can’t remember his name, but it was something hard to say and only Susan could master it right away.

 

 

And then the Palo's Cold Antipasti Specialties presented from our Antipast Cartello;

Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan-Reggiano, Marinated Olives, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

served with Palo's Famous Dips and Olive Oil.

 

 

 

 

I tried some and I have to say, it’s all pretty foreign to me and not something I really cared for.

 

 

I was trying to get a picture of the roses, but I just wasn’t getting it right.

 

 

 

For an appetizer I ordered the Mozzarella and Plum Tomatoes with Balsamic Dressing.

 

 

 

Lisa got the Frito di Calamari, Lightly-crusted calamari I believe.

 

 

And Shelly got the Sicilian Pesto Marinated Grilled Shrimp I believe. I am looking things up on menus online and they don’t all sound right.

 

 

I think everyone else got some variation of those 3 as well.

 

For the next course, both Lisa and I got the Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli with a light truffle burro Bianco.

 

 

I thought it was good, Lisa thought it was disgusting. She didn’t like the texture and she was expecting something more like regular ravioli and more of a red sauce I think. I would say, I would prefer that too. This was good, but not fabulous.

 

And then I believe we were served a palette cleanser.

 

 

 

For our main courses ….this is where I messed up. I was the one who suggested this night for Palo and it turned out to be Lobster night on the ship. I am one who loves to get Lobster whenever served. We were told we could still get it in Palo, but I really should’ve tried something that I couldn’t get in the main dining room. I didn’t. I got the Lobster. It was good, but I kind felt like I was wasting money getting something here I could’ve gotten in the dining room.

 

 

It was served beautifully though.

 

 

 

Many of us got the Lobster. A couple also got the Beef Tenderloin "Palo" served with Palo signature Barolo red wine sauce or Gorgonzola Sauce.

 

 

The food was good, but it didn’t WOW me at all. I think I came in with too high of expectations. To me nothing we had so far would make me think it was better than the dining rooms.

 

Dessert time! Of course we all had to try the Chocolate Soufflé with Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This again was good, but it did NOT WOW me at all. I thought the vanilla one served in Tritons was just as good. Actually maybe even more to my liking.

 

I have this picture, and for the life of me I can’t remember what it is, and I am sure someone can remind me. I think it was some kind of after dinner thing for digestion?

 

 

We all kind of agreed that the food was good, but not something we would rush back for. It was the first Palo dinner for all of us. Brook has done the brunch and she said it was MUCH better than the dinner.

I have now sailed the Dream since then and I did do the brunch on it. It was 100 times better than the dinner. I will most likely never do dinner again, but I will try the brunch out again.

 

We were running late for the show now and we had asked our server for our bill. He was kind of slow to get it and he was a bit mixed up with everyone asking for their own. I think with an extra tip and drink my bill was $30-$35. To me, it was NOT worth the price at all, but I am glad I tried it.

 

We rushed off to the show and it had already begun and we quickly found seats. We enjoyed this show too.

 

After the show I think we might’ve headed back to the room for a bit and then we were all going to meet up at the John Charles adult show in Rockin’ Bar D.

When Lisa and I arrived it was pretty busy already. They were finishing up another show, if I remember right. We just found some seats and sat. We later spotted Brook, Carolyn, Shelly and Susan across the way. It was too crowded to go over and try to squeeze in with them.

 

We enjoyed his show once again. I think the first time we saw him was better, but this one was good too.

After it was over, Lisa said she was dead tired and left. I moved over near the other girls and sat down. One hit Wonders was next and we sat and watched that a bit.

Remember the lady we called Jazzy on the first day. The older lady who could DANCE! We had seen her several times throughout the cruise and she was here tonight. We watched her dance a bit to some of the songs. Soon we all started getting tired and one by one left.

I decided to take a walk up on deck before heading back to the room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was close to midnight now and I headed back to the room and went to sleep.

 

Another long, but very fun day!!!!

[jenseib]

Sept. 28,2012 Day 8

 

Navigators of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

I believe I actually tried to sleep in a bit today. Which might mean I slept till 7. I think by 7:30 this was the view from our balcony.

 

 

That Carnival Ship was still out in the distance

 

 

We still had a full sea day left, but it was kind of sad that we were heading home.

 

Lisa and I got some breakfast.

 

 

Rumor is that when the Magic goes in dry dock they are going to take this aft seating out or at least make it smaller. That saddens me. This was our favorite spot to eat every day. It was just beautiful and peaceful.

 

 

After we ate we headed to the adult pool area and just sat around and watched the guys work.

 

 

 

 

We decided to head to the guest service desk and check our accounts. We both paid ours off with cash. I wasn’t sure if I would add anything more to my account, but it was nice not to have it all go on my credit card.

 

 

 

 

Then of course we headed to the shops.

 

 

Lisa was looking for something here, but I don’t remember what or if she found it.

 

 

 

We browsed around and I had been looking at a sweatshirt. It was on sale. Not screaming Disney, but did say Disney cruise line on it. I decided to get one for myself. I don’t have pictures of it. At least not that I remember taking. It’s blue and pretty basic with an Anchor on it, but I liked it and the price was good. I also found one in Claire’s size, also on clearance and grabbed it. Then I thought ….hmm , my niece Abby just had her b-day and her family party was going to be the day after I got home (Sunday). I hadn’t gotten anything yet for her besides a small purse in Cozumel, so I got one for her as well.

And I also had been looking at the frame. I bought a few prints last year on the Dream and some were on odd size and I have yet to find a frame to fit them. So I took the plunge and bought one that would fit the picture. I immediately framed it when I got home.

 

 

I also debated on getting Abby a Disney gift card. They had the cutest one with a DCL theme on it. But I only wanted it for $10. Just a filler gift. The minimum had to be $25, so I passed on it.

I got some candy and a few other small things for Claire and her cousins and added right back to the account I had just paid off.

 

We then headed back to the room and put away our purchases and went to the pool.

 

I sat under my favorite spot, the waterfall for a bit.

 

 

The other gals were out there again too. The water was a bit cooler today, but still nice and not as high either. We bobbed around in the pool again for an hour or 2 and chatted away. This is the life. I am not a swimmer, but I don’t mind bobbing around and talking on a hot day.

 

After a while we got hungry so we headed off to Topsiders.

 

 

It was a seafood buffet today and also a BBQ on the back deck.

 

 

We headed back to our favorite spot and found a table.

 

 

 

MMMMMM! Crab legs!

 

 

We enjoyed our meal and as you know, when eating crab legs, it takes a bit to crack them, but it is so worth it. These weren’t the best I ever had, but they were still good.

 

We never got anything off the BBQ grill, but I did take a couple of pictures.

 

 

 

We then headed back to our room.

 

I got changed. I wanted to go to a towel animal class. No one else had seemed interested, which was OK by me. I think Lisa went back to the pool.

 

I found a seat quickly. I seemed to have a good view from what I could tell. We were given some towels and a sheet with some directions.

 

 

 

While I was waiting for it to start, a Mom came in with her 2 sons. They sat down in the row in front of me, but luckily they were not blocking my view. But I found them kind of annoying. Mostly because the Mom was a loud bragger talker. You know the kind, they talk really loud so you can’t help but hear every word they say and then it’s about things they are sort of bragging about and then you see them kind of look around to see if others heard and wanting a reaction. I really can’t stand those kinds of people. I can take them in small doses, but she just kept going on and on and on about things. Things that had nothing to do with the class.

So she bragged away and I played around with my camera and then all of a sudden the Dad of the family surprised them and walked in. Well she got even louder then. She was so excited that Dad chose to come to the class, and blah blah blah, but we ALL heard about it. And of course he sat right in front of me and his head was totally blocking my view, so I ended up moving my chair so I could see better.

 

Soon our host arrived and he brought up another helper who just kept making towels for show.

 

 

 

He told the kids to go out on the floor where you would have more room and loud talking Mom went out as well, but she still never shut up.

 

 

We were instructed on a few towels. I thought it was fun.

 

 

 

My elephant.

 

 

 

My dog.

 

 

Working on a monkey.

 

 

 

 

I had the most trouble with the monkey, but I am sure with practice I could master him.

 

 

After we were done, I went and took some pictures of some of the sample animals.

 

 

 

 

 

After the class I just went around and took more pictures on the ship.

 

 

I was trying to get Mickey from every angle.

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

A few more pictures around the Atrium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The port excursion desk was empty now that we were heading back to Galveston.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And walking down the hallway.

 

 

 

I decided I needed more pictures of the Promenade Lounge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lounge had a ton of these mirrors all over and I tried to get pictures of most of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is also an internet café located here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made my way out and took more pictures along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I headed out towards the pool. I think I found Lisa on the top deck catching some rays.

 

 

And look who else I found.

 

 

 

I went down and sat along the edge and chatted with them.

 

 

I took a couple of pictures while sitting there too.

 

 

 

[jenseib]

After chatting with the girls by the pool, I made my way back towards the room. We were going to meet a little later and go on the Art of the Theme Show Ship tour.

As I was walking I took a few pictures once again.

 

This totally cracked me up. This little girl was getting her hair braided and was sound asleep.

 

 

Toy Story was playing on the big screen.

 

 

 

I headed back to the room and freshened up. I believe Lisa came back for a bit too. She wasn’t in the mood for a tour, so she was just going to go off and do her own thing.

 

The tour was to meet outside of Palo. I was one of the first to arrive.

 

 

And while you wait, you take pictures ….right?

 

 

 

 

Brook and the others arrived. Brook took this picture. I have the stupidest look on my face. LOL

 

 

This was our guide. I believe his name is Andy.

 

 

 

One of the last to come in for the tour was Jazzy! Remember her, the lady who can dance. We are such dorks, but we acted like we had a celebrity joining us.

 

 

 

 

Andy started up. He was really good. He was fun and informative. We learned about the book Palo has. Everyone who dines there is supposed to sign it. Something we did not know, and I had planned to go back later and sign it but I never did.

 

 

He also told us about the glass in Palo, and for the life of me I don’t remember its importance anymore.

 

 

 

We also learned about the guy that watched the ship being built and made this mask as a gift.

 

 

 

We moved on making stops here and there and learning different things like the carpets and how some have different meanings and the different signs on the ship. Many of it you notice, but not really, more subliminal.

 

 

 

 

Andy made a joke about the wave phones. He said he had been with Disney since Feb (it was now Sept) and he still couldn’t figure out how to use the dang things. Which was pretty funny as they are horrid. I can’t figure them out to save my life.

 

While standing here Lisa comes walking down the hall. We tried to get her to join us, but she left shortly after. It was kind of funny as Andy had said something about Fluffy. I can’t even remember what, but I looked up and saw Lisa, and Fluffy is her nickname. Back in our bar days she always had a ton of fluffy hair and people just started calling her that.

 

We made a stop near the nursery. I didn’t know this, but originally the ship was not built with one. This was an extra kitchen area. After a few months of sailing they realized this was a must for Disney and they gutted it and converted it. The Wonder was built the same way and on her transatlantic crossing she was gutted and redone into a nursery as well.

Also I did not know the glass was on one way mirror so parents can come and look in, but the kids don’t see them.

 

 

We next made our way towards the atrium.

 

 

See the lady with the yellow tank top? That’s Jazzy!

 

 

 

Something I did not know was that the chandelier is made of plastic and not glass, as glass was too heavy.

 

 

And look who we spot! It’s always fun to see a character out.

 

 

 

I LOVE you Goopy!!!!!! (Claire used to always call him that and he was her favorite when she was about 2)

 

 

We checked out these pictures with facts about the ship. If you ever get a chance take a look at them. They are really interesting.

 

 

 

Another character sighting! The Big Cheese himself!

 

 

If you remember way back earlier in this report I mentioned that Walt was missing something in this picture.

 

 

It was his cigarette! I am not sure if the original ship mural had it or if it was made this way from the start. I have heard from some that it was there, but Andy made it sound like it wasn’t.

 

 

Moving on.

 

 

 

It was kind of funny as when we would stop at times, a few other people would stop for a bit and listen in. I am sure not everyone realized they had “free” ship tours. I am really glad I read about it and took it. It was very interesting.

 

We started to head outside and guess what? It was raining! But Andy said he had something he wanted to show us and we had a roof over us, so we would be fine.

 

 

The ships belly button! This is where the 2 halves were brought together and welded. The Wonder also has a belly button, but was made as a whole rather than halves, but they felt she needed a belly button to so they just put one on her. I don’t think the Dream and Fantasy have them though.

 

 

Trying to get artsy while Andy talked.

 

 

The sun was trying to peek through.

 

 

 

Andy then told us the story about the ships color. Monica Blue. I have heard this story before and it is always similar, but not always the exact same. Basically the story is that they were trying to come up with a color. They wanted black like the old ocean liners had, but yet that was drab, and they wanted blue, but there was some issue with that. Monica, who was a secretary or something along those lines was wearing a very dark blue skirt, dress, or pants, depending on who tells it and they said I want that color and they had the color made specially going off her clothing. So it is now called Monica blue. And she still works for the company, and if I remember right is quite high up now.

 

And then a freaky thing happened. Look at the sky.

 

 

It cleared up in a matter of seconds. Andy looks back and gives this funny look and says “well that is a bit creepy”. LOL

 

 

We finished up talking a bit outside and headed back in for the final bit of the tour.

[jenseib]

We headed back inside to finish up the tour.

 

 

 

And what do you know? Another character sighting!

 

 

 

He was happy that we were all gushing over him.

 

 

We finished up with Andy, and he told us something about this pole, but I can’t remember once again what the importance of them are.

 

 

And if you look directly up, guess what you see?

 

 

A hidden Mickey!

 

The tour pretty much ended and a few people stuck around and asked a few questions and some of us took some more pictures as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we all headed back towards our rooms.

Some of the girls stopped to talk to the DVC guys. The shorter one in the blue shirt pointing, we had met him earlier and he was from Toledo, OH. I live 30 minutes from there and when we talked to him we found he was really from Maumee, which is where my sister lives. Small world.

 

 

 

You could tell we were getting closer to Texas. The Oil Rigs were all over once again.

 

 

 

 

Once back in the room I got ready for the show of the night, Remember the Magic.

 

Lisa and I headed off to the show and met up with the other girls. We found a seat together and really enjoyed this show.

We all had tears, even Lisa. She told me that she is now a convert! She really enjoyed sailing with Disney.

I also want to say that Lisa thanked me over and over for inviting her on the cruise. Now she paid her own way, but she said she never would’ve done this if I hadn’t asked. I was really happy that she had enjoyed herself. It made me really glad I had invited her as well.

 

After the show, we headed back to the room for a short while before dinner.

 

Our favorite stateroom host, Rodrigo had come through for us! He left us some extra lotions.

 

 

The sky was beautiful, so I attempted to take a few pictures.

 

 

That speck of light out there is the Carnival Triumph.

 

 

 

Before we knew it, it was time to head to our last dinner of the cruise. Boo hoo!

 

 

Lumiere’s was our spot tonight.

 

We settled in and chit chatted and took a look at the “Till We Meet Again” menu.

 

 

Out came the rolls.

 

 

I think Chris said something about keeping the ice tea coming and they brought her out several! LOL

 

 

Lisa mentioned that we didn’t have many pictures of the 2 of us together, so Brook took one for us.

 

 

As for our appetizers, I have lovely pictures, but no clue what they are. I have looked at menus and not one seems to have a description that fits either one of them. So here they are.

 

 

 

If anyone knows what either of these is, I would love to know. LOL

 

I believe for the soup I had the Crawfish and Lobster Bisque served with roasted corn-chili relish.

 

 

And Lisa had the Potato Leek Soup garnished with sour cream, chives and caviar.

 

 

For our main courses, again I am not seeing a good match on the online menus. I have no clue what this is, but it looks like an alligator head on veggies. LOL! This was Lisa’s. I am guessing some kind of fish or chicken.

 

 

This was mine, which I think was some sort of beef tenderloin.

 

 

Dinner was good once again, even if I can’t remember what I actually ate.

 

I did however take a picture of the inside of the dessert menu.

 

 

And then the servers paraded around with the Baked Alaska.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High Fives for all!

 

[jenseib]

Then Luis and Raphael posed for us. Luis was always being so funny.

 

 

 

This was the look we got often from Luis. He had the funniest eye expressions.

 

 

Brook asked if they would take a picture with Crush. She had been taking pictures through the trip with him for her son Henry.

They decided to hold Crush for ransom.

 

 

They totally were cracking themselves up.

 

 

Dessert then came out after all the goofing around. I think both Lisa and I got the Till We Meet Again Sweet Temptations - A trio of Celebration Cake, Chocolate Decadence, and Cappuccino Mousse.

 

 

I kind of wished I had gotten the Baked Alaskan as well, but I didn’t because I was too full …and too fat. We all were joking how our clothes were fitting pretty tight this evening. I was smart and saved my roomiest dress for this evening!

Julie, who is a tiny little thing said she had very little that she could fit into and wasn’t sure what she would wear home. LOL! She said her cruise consisted mostly of lying around or drinking or eating. Sounds like a fun vacation to me!

 

After dinner was over, I think we roamed around a bit then came back to the Atrium for the till we meet again fairwell party. This party was CROWDED!

 

 

They were playing a few Disney tunes to get us in the mood.

 

 

 

Soon Peter came out and the characters came not far behind.

 

 

I took a TON of pictures and about 70% of them are completely blurry. I don’t know what the deal was, but I couldn’t take a good picture to save my life. And with it being so crowded, it was hard to get them as well.

The other 30% weren’t all that great either.

 

 

 

After the characters come out, they have a little bit of time set aside for some last meet and greets. I went around and tried to get pictures of some of the characters.

 

 

 

This girl was Lisa’s favorite. She noticed her at the 2nd show. Her arms are so muscular. Probably too muscular, but I should could take lessons from her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

I continued to walk around and try to get pictures of the characters at the Till We Meet Again party. Lisa gave up shortly after the show started and found a seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched Cinderella for a while.

 

 

 

She basically had no line so I went up for a picture.

 

 

It was just crazy in the Atrium though. Lots of people packed in a small area.

 

 

I spotted Jazzy up a level with her friend.

 

 

Soon the meet and greet portion was over and the characters returned to the stairs for a little bit more of a show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really was hard to get a decent picture with the poor lighting and so many people around.

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t know why Cinderella and Belle have such funny looks on their faces. I guess they were sad the cruise was ending too.

 

 

 

 

 

Goofy was so funny! As he walked up the stairs he totally fell and of course everyone had a good laugh.

 

 

 

Slowly each character started to say goodbye and head up the stairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye Mickey!!!!!

 

 

Lots of confetti fell and I picked up a few pieces for Claire. And looked around and had a really good laugh. Not only were the kids crawling around on the floor getting confetti, but adults were! Women in dresses were all over the place fighting over confetti. Seriously, do you need confetti that badly? And they weren’t standing up till every scrap was picked up. I guess that makes cleanup for the cast members easier.

 

I find Lisa sitting on a couch and talking to a guy. His wife was one of the confetti picker uppers. LOL! But she wasn’t as bad as some. She collected just enough to give the kids some and was happy with it. I started talking to him and then his wife and small world …..she was on our cruise facebook group.

 

We chatted a little bit and then headed up to the top of the ship once again. We decided we would have one last drink together for fun.

 

It was very quiet up there tonight.

 

 

I got a strawberry daiquiri.

 

 

I have no clue what Lisa ended up getting.

 

We just sat around and sipped our drinks and talked for a bit.

 

 

We had had such a fun vacation. Lisa was so glad to have come, and I was so glad she came with me. She also said having the other girls along made it even more fun. They all seemed to get a long great, just like we were all friends for years.

 

After our drinks, we headed back to the room for our last night of sleep. Lisa said she has sleeping issues at home and the ship was wonderful. She wasn’t sure if it was the rocking motion or the daily dose of bonine, but something was making her sleep like a rock!

[jenseib]

Sept. 29, 2012, Sat. ~ Day 9

 

This is the worse day for most cruisers. Time to go home, or at least get off the ship. And sadly, the whole atmosphere is so different this day. It even feels like the crew, who you have come to love and know, now want you to get the heck off this ship. LOL

 

I woke up EXTREMELY early. We didn’t have early breakfast, but we did have to get our things together, plus I wanted to see us pull into port.

 

I actually didn’t sleep well. One of those nights where you think you might miss getting up on time, so you get up all the time to check the clock.

About 5 AM I gave up and went out to the verandah to take a look. We were now making our way to the port. I quickly grabbed my camera.

 

It was so dark. I took a ton of pictures and the all pretty much look the same. Pitch black with a few lights in the distance.

 

 

 

I decided to head up to the top and take some pictures from there, and not disturb Lisa.

 

 

 

 

I had never seen this before, so a quick shot was needed.

 

 

 

As we got close to port, it was just beautiful and peaceful. Again, not many people were out and about. Also, the weather was a bit chillier today and it had the feel of rain.

 

 

Pictures don’t do justice to the beautiful lights all around.

 

 

 

The docking was amazing. We pulled into the port and then we had to make a 180 turn to park the ship so it was facing to leave. It was dark and my pictures are not great, but I can’t tell you how amazing this was. I swear it looked like we barely made clearance in the narrow channel.

I was running from front to back and watching. It really was a neat thing to experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I can’t even stress how amazing it was to see this happen. I was so happy I was up early and got to see it.

 

I took a couple of more shots on the deck before I headed back to the room.

 

 

 

A few pictures of the pool and slide rules.

 

 

 

 

 

And then I put my good camera away for good. The rest of the trip my pictures are taken on my point and shoot. And sadly that means a lot of blurry pictures.

 

I went back to the room and we both got ready and made sure everything was packed. We checked and double checked. We packed my carry on and my extra duffle with our things and decided we would check both of those in at the airport, so I packed my big Dooney purse and backpack and Lisa’s small duffle and her purse with everything we would need for the flights.

This is one reason I love South West. The 2 free bags per person was really a great thing to have.

 

We still had time before breakfast and before we had to be out of the room, so we took a look out on the balcony.

 

Here comes that Carnival ship we had been sailing along most of the way back. I wondered why it came in so much later than we did, but maybe they only allow one through the channel at a time.

 

 

And yes Boys and Girls, that IS the Carnival Triumph. Who knew in just a few short months she would have so many problems.

 

 

I suddenly felt the need to take more pictures of our room

 

 

 

I took many more, but they are all extremely blurry, and you have seen pictures of it already.

 

We were ready and Lisa wanted to be sure to vacate on time so Rodrigo would be able to come and clean and get our home ready for the next round of guests, so we headed out.

 

 

Many people were in the atrium waiting to disembark.

 

 

Chris, one of Mary’s friends, had kept her luggage with her the night before as she wanted to get off the ship early. Her daughter was coming to pick her up and she needed to be to work by 11. She said she knew it would be cutting it close, but if she could get right off first thing, then it would be ok. That didn’t work though. We had a slow up with customs. I think the thought was they would be off around 7:30 or so. It was already 8 and many people were getting restless.

 

Then we heard this announcement.

 

 

This was not true. There was still something holding them back and they couldn’t get off. We ran into Chris who was not so patiently waiting in a VERY long line on the other side of the elevators. And someone had dropped a bottle of booze and it really reeked in the area. We said goodbye to her and found a spot to sit.

 

Why I took this picture of myself, I have no clue.

 

 

While waiting we headed outside to watch the Triumph makes its 180 turn.

 

 

 

I talk in this video, but I swear it doesn’t sound like me. Maybe I was horse that day.

 

 

Dolphin! (kind of like Squirrel! on Up!, as soon as you see one you lose concentration on everything around you)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, this was very interesting to watch. Our ship was better though!

 

They already were starting to work on the ship.

 

 

 

[jenseib]

We decided to head down to breakfast. HOLY COW! It was a mad house. The first seating was still in there and the ship still wasn’t letting people off. I think at one point they did start to let those off who had their bags, but our bags weren’t clearing customs yet, so the atrium was packed with people trying to get off the ship and others trying to get in line for Lumieres. We were told we had to use the side entrance because the atrium was too full.

 

 

We squeezed down the hall and had to ask people if they were there for breakfast line or leaving the ship. Luckily the breakfast line was shorter. Somewhere along the line we did run into the other girls as well.

We stood for quite a while, shoulder to shoulder with our fellow shipmates. Finally we were allowed in.

 

 

And guess who shows up? Chris! She said they still were not letting her off the ship, so she might as well sit down and have breakfast while she waited. It was nice to see her one last time.

 

Breakfast is VERY basic on this last morning. They want you to get off the ship as fast as you can, well normally they do. This day was not the norm.

 

I didn’t take food pictures. I was just done with it at that point and my point and shoot doesn’t do a very good job. Brook however took a photo of all of us.

 

 

And then I took one of her so she wasn’t left out.

 

 

You can see in the picture that people are still out in the atrium waiting to get off the ship.

 

I do believe that someone said they only wanted bacon on this morning and the guys brought out like 2 HUGE plates full. LOL. So bacon was passed around for all.

 

At some point during the meal, we noticed the people moving and announcements were made as well. Chris finished up and said good bye and headed out.

 

Once we finished, we said our good byes to the waiters.

 

 

These guys were just fabulous and really worked well together. I would recommend this pair to anyone.

They were fun, prompt, and good!

 

I took a quick blurry shot of the mural in the room.

 

 

Time to head out. We wasted as much time as we could in the restaurant, but it was now clearing out. Sadly though, there was still a wait to get off the ship. None of us wanted to leave, just wasting time standing there, so we headed to deck 4 to waste some time.

 

 

We took turns using the bathrooms and then an announcement was made that the ship was fueling and no smoking was allowed on the ship. Well we had to see this.

 

 

 

 

A look at a very empty deck 4.

 

 

A few more shots.

 

 

As you can see, this day matched our moods, grey and yucky.

 

 

 

It was now time to go. I had stated a few times when planning this trip that I wasn’t getting off the ship till I was kicked off and I would be kicking and screaming the whole time. Well I was partially right. We heard an announcement that all remaining passengers HAD to get off now. What a bummer!

 

We gathered our things and headed out. The plan was that we would use a porter. Typically using a porter means a getting through customs easier and not messing with your bags. I think it’s worth the $10 or so dollars I would tip him to do this. Amazingly the line for porter users was extremely long. Like to the steps off the ship long. I was shocked. And we decided to head straight to baggage claim on our own. I doubled checked with Lisa as she was already pulling one of my carryon bags, and she was fine with it.

 

I took this quick picture, though technically I don’t think you are supposed to.

 

 

As you can see, almost all the bags are gone. It was VERY easy to find ours in the middle of nothing. We got in line for customs, using the passport line. That one also moved much faster. We spotted Peter, our cruise director in civilian clothes getting off the ship. He must’ve been going to spend some time in port on his own for a bit.

We got through customs easily. I am often nervous about going through, though I have no reason to be. It’s just a nerve racking kind of procedure.

 

After customs we lost Brook, Carolyn, Susan and Shelly. Brook was riding back with them as her flight was later than ours and they planned to stop for food and then drop Brook off at our airport before going off to theirs. So with that in mind, we didn’t look for them, but it would’ve been nice to say good bye one last time.

 

Outside it was a mess. It was raining and a ton of people lined the sidewalk. I told Lisa that I would fetch the car and come back and pick up the bags. BUT I couldn’t find the stinking shuttle. I asked on cast member and they directed me out in the middle and of course it was raining. I asked someone else; who said no this was for Disney buses and pointed me further down. I asked another person and he said no that wasn’t the parking lot shuttle either. Finally I found it on my own and it was not anywhere near where they pointed me. How could these people not know where the parking lot shuttle was located? I was a bit ticked off. Then I had to wait a while, thankfully under shelter. Most people were bringing their luggage right on the shuttle which took more time to load and less room for people. I did make it on the 2nd shuttle though.

I was let off very close to the car and got in. But now the task was to find my way out. They waved me in a different direction than where we came in at, so I went the other way. Only to get in a line and once I got to the booth they told me this was the line for people arriving. UGH. That can only happen to me. She directed me on how to get out, but again I had guys telling me I was going the wrong way. I had to stop and roll down the window a couple of times and tell them I was leaving. They all seemed puzzled by this. I know I wasn’t the only person leaving, but yet I was getting the runaround. Believe me; I would’ve loved nothing better than to stay on that ship!

FINALLY I got out and on the road and made my way to the terminal. There was quite the back up, but I finally inched my way up there and of course the person in front of me parked way back, even though they could’ve inched up about 6 more feet. I just left the back end of the car hanging out and Lisa started rolling the bags over. We jammed them in the car, waited for the slowpokes in front of us and then pulled out once again. Lisa said she never saw the rest of the girls and wasn’t sure where they went. And about 2 seconds later we saw them standing along the other side of the terminal and Lisa rolled the window down and shouted goodbye and no one heard us! LOL

 

I gave Lisa my camera and told her to shoot a few last pictures as we drove off.

 

 

 

We weren’t exactly sure how to get back to the airport. We did have some google maps and sort of remembered our way in …but we had done so much weaving, going wrong ways on one way streets that we weren’t exactly sure. But we found our way to the main road easier than the map had told us and looked for highway signs.

Off we went in the pouring rain. That drive pretty much sucked. I don’t like driving an unfamiliar car in pouring rain, but we did OK.

 

Along the way we needed a bite to eat, so we stopped off at a Burger King I think, or some sort of Fast Food place. We made a potty stop and ordered some food and kept going. As we got closer we made a stop to fill up the car before returning it. The rain had stopped now pretty much. I filled it up and Lisa paid, saying that she never would’ve gone on a trip like this if I hadn’t invited her. That was nice. By the way, gas was much cheaper here than at home.

 

We got back to the Enterprise office and turned the car in and then headed on the shuttle bus over to the airport. We were dropped off near the SW counter and we checked in. We checked all 4 bags in and were happy to be rid of them for a while.

I texted Brook and she said they had stopped off for a bite, but were already heading to the airport. I was surprised how close behind us they were.

Inside we waited in quite a line for security. When we had walked by it on our arrival, no one was there, today was much different. Very busy!

 

Once we got through we headed to our gate and sat down for our wait. Not too much later I got a text from Brook. She was at the airport and her gate was near ours, so she came over and we chatted for a bit longer. She checked about getting on our flight, as we both were stopping at Midway, and she could, but nothing earlier for her to get back to NYC, so she decided to keep her flight as is and just explore the airport after we left.

Brook had the CUTEST pair of shoes on. I asked her where she got them and she said on the ship. How had I missed these? So cute!

 

 

Sadly I looked at them while I sailed on the Dream in Nov and I needed an 11 to fit comfortably and they only went up to size 10. I crammed my feet in a few times hoping something would change, but they still hurt. At WDW I looked at World of Disney and found a Men’s pair, but it only had a tiny Mickey on them and was not nearly as cute. Total Bummer!

 

It was our time to board and we said one last good bye to Brook and headed out.

 

Our flight was a normal flight. I took a few pictures out the window on our first leg.

 

 

 

 

I always find these kind of shots with the engine kind of creepy.

 

 

 

And after about 1 ½ - 2 hours we were landing in Chicago.

 

 

I don’t think our layover was too long. I think we had time to take a potty break and get settled in for a bit and once again time to board. This is where I ran into a lady who clearly had a late boarding number and went right up in front of most people. I had to laugh, but oh well, if it’s that important to her, then let her go.

Most of this flight was dark and luckily this flight was only about an hour.

We landed and headed to find our bags. The airport was so empty at this hour. I texted my Aunt and Uncle who were picking us up (as Amanda, my sister was out of town for the weekend), and let her know we had our bags and we found them right away. Her husband is from Poland, and he can be hysterical at times. He just pulls in and parks right in the middle of the road there. LOL. People honk and he doesn’t even care. We quickly loaded and jumped in the car. Aunt Laura was worried about us making the drive home that night. She kept saying we could spend the night, but both of us just wanted to get home. We got back to her house and loaded my car and she gave us directions to some fast food in the area and then how to get back to the highway.

We got our food and headed down the spookiest road ever. I can’t remember if it was raining, or just really dark, or both, but this was a hilly curvy road with trees lining both sides and darn scary. Finally we found civilization and made our way to the highway.

 

The drive was LONG! We did have to make one stop for gas and once again Lisa paid. I told her she didn’t have to, but she insisted. She asked how much it would take, and I said I had no clue, and she said, well you are getting $27 worth because that is what I have handy. And the funny thing is, it took like $26 and some change and I think we forced the last bit in to make 27.

 

I must say the last half hour was brutal. My back was hurting, I was tired and getting uncomfortable from sitting all day. I had to open the window a bit and roll my shoulders to keep awake. I vowed then that for my Nov trip coming up, I would be spending the night in Columbus, since once again we had an evening arrival. This was just too hard.

We made it to Lisa’s house around 11 PM and we got her bags out and fished through mine to find the stuff she had packed in there as well and said a goodbye and on to the 6 minute drive to my house!

I arrived home with Skip asleep and Claire laying on my side of the bed wide awake and waiting for me. She was a very happy girl to see her Momma home. I gave her something small (don’t remember what) and told her that her other prizes would have to wait till the next day. We hugged a bit more and then I put her to bed and hit the hay myself. Yes, Skip was happy to see me too and we chatted a bit, but I finally told him I just needed to sleep. But I could tell he missed me, which was nice.

 

I gave Claire her prizes the next day and she enjoyed them. (We also had my niece’s b-day party that day too). And in only 5 weeks we would be off on a family adventure at WDW and on the Disney Dream!

 

Thanks for sticking with me and helping me relive this wonderful vacation with my friends. There is talks of another future trip as well. Hopefully it will all work out for all of us!