2017 Orlando & Disney Cruise
Day One--Wednesday, February 08, 2017
It’s 9:45 PM here in Orlando and I’m wiped out. Margo is in bed and Pam and Jayme are in the room beside us, watching TV. They are both pretty tired as well.
Yesterday was spent with the final packing and such. We bought a new suitcase for our last vacation and the baggage handlers ended up bending a handle, rendering it a pain in the butt to use. So we went out and bought two more. Margo has packed them both three times now. She has fussed over this trip more than any in recent memory. Maybe that is because Pam and Jayme are going. Maybe because a cruise is involved. Either way, I will be glad to be getting on with it.
I also hope we don’t annoy the hell out of each other. When we went to California for Sister Stephanie’s Golden Jubilee, the four of us all went to Disney’s California Adventure. We had a great time. This time we will be a three different parks, on three consecutive days, and then a four day cruise. Separate rooms, so we have a fighting chance to not killing one another. The adventure begins in the morning.
For me it was a mixed day. Travel days always suck. You spend most, if not all, of the day fighting through one hurdle after another, done of it any fun. Get to the airport, check bags, clear security, find gate, wait to board, board and find seats, the flight (which in our case, today, included not one, but two teams of high school cheerleaders on their way to a national convention in Orlando), land, retrieve bags, get rental car, drive to hotel, check in, unpack, and then and only then, can you start to vacation a bit.
We started our day at 3:30 AM MST, and by the time we got to our hotel and situated it was about 1:30 PM EST, a difference of 8 hours. So we had put in a full day and had not had lunch yet. We decided to remedy that by going to Universal Studios City Walk, a plaza filled with shops and restaurants, a movie theater, and a putt-putt golf course. This was not a difficult choice, in not an inexpensive choice, because we are staying at a Universal Studios resort; Cabana Bay Beach Resort.
Cabana Bay is a retro, circa 1955 era hotel, with the feel of an old Howard Johnsons, and decorated in 50s Art Deco. But, the bed feels nice and it is clean and big enough. Because it is a Universal property there is a shuttle that takes us right to City Walk. The trip took 10 minutes and would have been half that except for traffic. If we had an urge to, which would likely die quickly, we could actually walk to the area. It’s only about ¾ of mile, via a path. But, walking sounded as pleasurable as another flight filled with loud, giggly, teenage girls.
Yesterday was spent with the final packing and such. We bought a new suitcase for our last vacation and the baggage handlers ended up bending a handle, rendering it a pain in the butt to use. So we went out and bought two more. Margo has packed them both three times now. She has fussed over this trip more than any in recent memory. Maybe that is because Pam and Jayme are going. Maybe because a cruise is involved. Either way, I will be glad to be getting on with it.
I also hope we don’t annoy the hell out of each other. When we went to California for Sister Stephanie’s Golden Jubilee, the four of us all went to Disney’s California Adventure. We had a great time. This time we will be a three different parks, on three consecutive days, and then a four day cruise. Separate rooms, so we have a fighting chance to not killing one another. The adventure begins in the morning.
For me it was a mixed day. Travel days always suck. You spend most, if not all, of the day fighting through one hurdle after another, done of it any fun. Get to the airport, check bags, clear security, find gate, wait to board, board and find seats, the flight (which in our case, today, included not one, but two teams of high school cheerleaders on their way to a national convention in Orlando), land, retrieve bags, get rental car, drive to hotel, check in, unpack, and then and only then, can you start to vacation a bit.
We started our day at 3:30 AM MST, and by the time we got to our hotel and situated it was about 1:30 PM EST, a difference of 8 hours. So we had put in a full day and had not had lunch yet. We decided to remedy that by going to Universal Studios City Walk, a plaza filled with shops and restaurants, a movie theater, and a putt-putt golf course. This was not a difficult choice, in not an inexpensive choice, because we are staying at a Universal Studios resort; Cabana Bay Beach Resort.
Cabana Bay is a retro, circa 1955 era hotel, with the feel of an old Howard Johnsons, and decorated in 50s Art Deco. But, the bed feels nice and it is clean and big enough. Because it is a Universal property there is a shuttle that takes us right to City Walk. The trip took 10 minutes and would have been half that except for traffic. If we had an urge to, which would likely die quickly, we could actually walk to the area. It’s only about ¾ of mile, via a path. But, walking sounded as pleasurable as another flight filled with loud, giggly, teenage girls.
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We decided on Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for dinner. We all liked the food. Not spectacular, but pretty good none the less. We had a good time talking about what ever came up and spent close to an hour just sitting in a shaded pavilion, enjoying the weather.
There were shops to be visited, so we hit the souvenir shop at our restaurant, and then on to the Universal Studios Store, where Margo got a new fanny pack, and her own magic wand, inspired from the Harry Potter movies. Universal has interactive areas where her wand will actually make things happen. Things like turning on a fountain or making something move. It’s like she is a real wizard. I am sure we will get to play with it. We're just like kids out here. We made a stop the Chocolate Emporium where I spent $12 for four pieces of candy. They were good, but not $3 per piece, good. Still we are here to enjoy, so why not. We did managed to skip the $12 milk shakes at the same spot. |
Jayme and me in front of Jimmy Buffett's place
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By this time it was 5 PM or so, and we were getting tired. But, Jayme had eyed the putt-putt golf as we walked in, and it was obvious he wanted to do it. So, we did. It was fun and had a Sci-Fi/UFO/Alien theme. It was well done, with balls going into one hole and coming out another. Each of got at least one hole in one. It only took about 40 minutes and was a great way to start our vacation activities.
We debated about going to Wal-mart to get supplies; water, snacks, and such. We had almost decided against it, when we saw the resort prices. $3.50 for a yogurt. $3.00 for a bottle of water. Wal-mart was only about 5-10 minutes away, so we went. We both got enough to last us all week. So we are set.
Tomorrow is a day at Universal Studios Florida. We are all looking forward to this first full day of vacation. I only hope we can all hold up.
We debated about going to Wal-mart to get supplies; water, snacks, and such. We had almost decided against it, when we saw the resort prices. $3.50 for a yogurt. $3.00 for a bottle of water. Wal-mart was only about 5-10 minutes away, so we went. We both got enough to last us all week. So we are set.
Tomorrow is a day at Universal Studios Florida. We are all looking forward to this first full day of vacation. I only hope we can all hold up.
Day Two--Thursday, February 09, 2017
Well, Day Two is done, and no one died. We did better than that, but I set my expectations low, so as not to be disappointed. I was up at 6:10 AM, and Margo about 25 minutes or so before that. We were ready to go downstairs right at 7 AM, which was when the Bayliner Diner opened for the day. I wasn’t in the mood for much breakfast. I was in bed by 10 AM, but that was only 8 AM back home. I guess my body was on Colorado time and Florida was just going to have wait.
My morning was not all sweetness and light, however. I had discovered the night before that I lost both my spring loaded lance (for my blood sugar) and my FitBit. I last saw both of them at the airport. Oh, well. I can track steps on my phone (over 23,000 today) and I can self-poke my finger with the spare lances in the carrying case. Incidentally, my blood sugar was 142 this morning. I tried to eat sensibly yesterday, and maybe it worked. The extra walking probably did not hurt.
Margo and I had both been thinking about Enzo and his cancer. Taking him to the cancer doctor and more or less being told his time is definitely finite put a damper on this trip. But, we are both determined not to let it ruin this trip. But it has me thinking about my own health in a different light. Not that I am any more concerned about when I am going to die than I was last week. It’s just that if I feel this heartbroken over what the dog is putting my daughter through, it makes me feel like I might put her through the same or worse if I end up eating myself into an early grave. I’m Type 2 diabetic, hypertensive, asthmatic, and obese. None of those are good.
Enzo's tumor. Poor dog
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With respect to the dog, his tumor has gotten bigger and it looks worse (via a picture), but it did not seem to grow much today, as opposed to yesterday. Jessi took Eve in for her appointment. She got her last (I hope) treatment, and the vet looked at the picture of Enzo This vet, his normal one, said we should think about radiation, if we can afford it. That number will come to us soon. She thinks that has a better chance of shrinking the tumor. I guess we will deal with that soon enough.
I was able to contact Pete, and he is going to be able to take time off to go with Jessi if Enzo has to be put down. I could not stand it if she had to put this dog down by herself. |
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Anyway, back to our day at Universal Studios-Florida (USF). We finished breakfast, hopped on the shuttle bus and were dropped off at City Walk, by about 7:50 AM. City Walk serves as the jumping off spot for both of Universal’s parks; Universal Studios-Florida (today’s park) and Islands of Adventure (IOA). Here is where it gets somewhat complicated. Because we are staying a Universal resort, we gain early entry (one hour) to their park. But, not at USF, because they don’t do early entry this early in the year. However, we have a Park to Park ticket, so we can move from one park to the other on the same day.
Now see if this makes sense. We headed straight to IOA and take advantage or the early entry and ride the very popular Forbidden Journey (Harry Potter) ride. We finish with that and then take the Hogwarts Express (Harry Potter train), when it opens at 9 AM over to USF, which is the same time that park opens. That was our plan, and that is what we ended doing. Margo and I had ridden Forbidden Journey several years ago (2012?) when we were last in Orlando. It’s a very well done simulator like ride that switches between screen simulation and moving through normal sets in the building. Pam and Jayme had little idea what to expect. We explained it the best we could, but our descriptions did not do the ride justice. Jayme loved it. Pam less so. She liked it, but it’s not here thing. Personally my stomach was not completely settled and while I wasn’t nauseous, I also did not enjoy it like last time. Being older, fatter, and more rickety might have had something to do with it. |
Me and Margo with our Minion Mayhem 3D glasses
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The train ride did not meet with my expectations. The Hogwarts Express, in the movies, moves between Hogsmead, near Hogwarts Castle (from the books) to Diagon Alley (from the books), which is set in London. The actual train ride put you inside an enclosed railroad berth, with bench seats to look out the window. Only the windows were movie screens so you could see the English country side, and the various Harry Potter characters. I thought it didn’t quite work. I never felt I was riding out in the country side. It always felt like I was watching a movie. I was glad when it ended.
When we got off, we immediately walked to the far end of the park to ride the Despicable Me ride. It was another simulator like ride. They do a great job, using the queue to tell a story and set up the ride. I enjoyed that part as much as I did the ride. Pam and Jayme had never seen any of the Harry Potter movies or the Despicable me movies, so the set ups meant less, and to tell the truth they did pay much attention to them. But it didn’t matter, the ride was dive, spin, turn, turn jerk, back, turn for about three minutes and we were done.
When we got off, we immediately walked to the far end of the park to ride the Despicable Me ride. It was another simulator like ride. They do a great job, using the queue to tell a story and set up the ride. I enjoyed that part as much as I did the ride. Pam and Jayme had never seen any of the Harry Potter movies or the Despicable me movies, so the set ups meant less, and to tell the truth they did pay much attention to them. But it didn’t matter, the ride was dive, spin, turn, turn jerk, back, turn for about three minutes and we were done.
Pam and Jayme riding Kang and Kodo's Twirl n Hurl. It was pretty tame.
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Pam, prior to leaving was concerned that Jayme would hate these parks, because to the crowds. But, he was all smiles coming out of every ride. He’s having a great time, even though Pam was thinking he was going to be crumpy because of the crowds and prices. But, he is taking the attitude that you are going pay when you are on vacation, and the crowds have been nothing to speak of. But, I except things to get worse.
There were more of these dark thrill rides, similar to Forbidden Journey; Transformers, Mummy’s Revenge, Men in Black, and even the Simpsons. They all worked the same way. There was a story of some sort. You were going to rescue someone or some normal activity went wrong. Then you would go on the ride of your life; with more ducking and diving; spinning and juking. |
Killin' aliens. Jayme is pleased. I'm mortified. Pam and Margo have had their minds taken over and are zombies now. The teeny bopper is one of them.
You would save the day in the end and then all of the Universal people would clap and hope you would join in as rolled back home.
I’m officially too old, or too jaded. I didn’t get much out of these rides. Even the ones that were new. It was kind of “been there, done that, don’t need another damn t-shirt” kinda thing. But, it was nice being with family. We mainly talk about what we were doing next, how this ride stacked up to the last one, comparisons to Disney’s California Adventure or maybe Enzo.
I’m officially too old, or too jaded. I didn’t get much out of these rides. Even the ones that were new. It was kind of “been there, done that, don’t need another damn t-shirt” kinda thing. But, it was nice being with family. We mainly talk about what we were doing next, how this ride stacked up to the last one, comparisons to Disney’s California Adventure or maybe Enzo.
Margo, Pam and Jayme after the Mardi Gras parade
Day Three--Friday, February 10, 2017
I got a pretty good night sleep the night last night. My body adjusted to the new time zone and I was pretty tired. I was up once during the night for a minor stomach thing, but nothing that caused me any grief and I was right back out.
We were up and downstairs at the Bayliner for breakfast at 7 AM and then out the door to catch the bus. There was one very noticeable change from the day before. It was colder. It was about 50 degrees and Margo and I were in shorts. The high was supposed to get to the low 70s, but the sun was going have to gain some elevation first. By the time we were at Islands of Adventure it was still too low to do anything except cast shadows. I was OK. I felt it, but it was still in the “I can ignore it” category. Margo; not so much. She wasn’t complaining, because she did not want to spend $60 on a sweatshirt or jacket, but the downside was she would be miserable for the next few hours. So we made a quick pit stop. Pam & Jayme also grabbed some additional cloths, and we were on our way.
We started off by riding Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey again, and about three quarters through there was a glitch and the ride stopped. I thought that was kind of interesting because we got to see a major attraction with curtain lifted. We got to see a bit about how it worked.
As fate would have it we stopped right in front of a portion done with film magic, instead of animatronics. We were right in front of a white concave picture screen. The part of the show we were in, we were “flying” on a broom. So all of the visuals that simulated the flight had stuttered, jumped, and then frozen. The lights came on and we were staring at white. I was on an end, so I could just peak to see a walkway on the ground, the overhead rails that our “broom” was one, and some sensors looking things. We were hanging in a neutral position, not back or forward, so we weren’t being stressed. I did wonder about some of the others, who may be now resting on their chest or back. But, it only lasted for about two minutes, and the ride resumed.
We rode a kidding roller coaster in Harry Potter next (still kind of cool), and then on to Skull Island; Reign of Kong. I thought this one was exceptionally well done. You are in a truck/jeep/tram conveyance and the story is that you are on safari and are resupplying a previous group that was doing anthropology work on Skull Island, home of King Kong. On all (except Harry Potter) of these dark rides you are given 3-D glasses. The effects on this one were well done, and on both sides of the tram. Action, like dinosaurs chasing you, King Kong fighting a T-Rex, ect, happened on both sides, and had the animals jump over you, or slam against the tram. It was really well done and was my favorite of either day.
When it ended, I mentioned that we should get right back in line and do it again. We had walked through the queue in longer time than we waited in line. Literally. It must have taken 2-3 minutes to walk up front, and maybe 1-2 minutes until we were in our seats. So, we got right back in line and once we caught up to the end of the line, our wait was less than 5 minutes, maybe less than three. That just doesn’t happen a lot at these type of parks.
Jayme is having a great time. He marveled at the effects and story. It was hard to tell with Pam. She says she likes them, but really only mentions the things that made her uncomfortable in some way. Margo doesn’t mention anything unless you ask. But, then again neither do I. But, no one is complaining about what we are doing or miserable. Everyone looks to be having a good time.
Islands of Adventure, the park we are visiting today, doesn’t have as many rides or shows that we are interested in doing or seeing. It’s definitely geared towards the younger crowd, so it is heavier of mega-coasters and other such thrill rides. None of us care for the big, bad roller coasters anymore. God has convinced us all that having our butts over our heads is clearly in the bad idea camp. So, with less of these kind of rides we finished the day earlier.
We still had plenty of fun. We wrote the Spiderman Ride and the Jurassic Park River Adventure. We bought the picture from that one. We even spent some time in Dr Suess Landing, riding a couple of the kiddy rides. There were a couple of shows, the best of which was the Sinbad (the sailor, not the comedian) Stunt Show. The finale included a flaming high fall, and the whole show as laced with comedy.
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The last thing we rode was the Popeye Bilge Rats Barges river ride. This one has you in a big inner tube bouncing down a rapid filled river, bouncing off the sides, and getting varying degrees of wet. It starts at a wet butt and goes all the way to drenched. We wore ponchos to avoid drenched, but walking out there with a dry posterior was not possible. So of course, Jayme and I rode it twice.
No seemed to be in a picture taking mode. I posed with Popeye and Olive Oil, but that was pretty much it for documenting the day. About the last thing we did was some dessert at a place near the park entrance. Once we finished those, the girls wanted the shops for an hour, while Jayme and I talked about the day and other topics of importance. It was nice just to relax and get off our feet. |
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We did get an Enzo update. His appetite has been iffy the last couple of days, but towards the end of today, it did improve. Jessi ended up cooking him some rice to mix with his dog food and he liked that a lot. Jessi said the tumor at least has not grown today, and the inflammation has improved some. Good signs, but that is far from where we would like him. He is too close to a bad turn being the last turn, so we are all still praying for him.
Pam and I had been craving Cracker Barrel’s Chicken and Dumplings, so we found the closest restaurant and that was our dinner tonight. The four of us got out of there at about $55 in damage, including the tip. The food was a lot better than here at the resort.
That was it for the day. We spend the rest of our waking hours in our rooms and resting up for tomorrow. Saturday will be our lone Disney park day, at Epcot, and I am not expecting the same friendly crowds. I hope I am wrong.
Pam and I had been craving Cracker Barrel’s Chicken and Dumplings, so we found the closest restaurant and that was our dinner tonight. The four of us got out of there at about $55 in damage, including the tip. The food was a lot better than here at the resort.
That was it for the day. We spend the rest of our waking hours in our rooms and resting up for tomorrow. Saturday will be our lone Disney park day, at Epcot, and I am not expecting the same friendly crowds. I hope I am wrong.
Day Four--Saturday, February 11, 2017
Another day in the books. Epcot is open until 9 PM. The two Universal Parks closed at 7 PM each of the two prior days. That should have meant that we were out an extra two hours. We ran out of gas well before then, and ran on fumes until about 7:30.
We got a slightly later start than I was planning on, because we lingered over breakfast. That made all three days at the Bayliner. The food was good enough, close, and only moderately expensive, instead of outrageous. The 15 minute late start was of little consequence, as we still got to Epcot in time to be near the front when they opened the park.
After one wrong turn to begin the day we were at building housing the ride Soarin and after a short wait we were on the ride. Margo and I have ridden a version of this three other times. Pam and Jayme, once. We all liked it, with Pam not liking the initial feeling of gliding, on her prior time. Previously the glider trip we basically toured California. This trip we had the new and improved, warp engine hang glider, because we got to tour the world. The trip last 2-3 minutes which is standard for most rides. It was really cool. Everyone liked this version of ride and it immediately put us all in a positive, can do mood.
The building that housed Soaring, called The Land, also contained a couple of other tours/shows Living with the Land, an agriculture based slow ride, which told how the Indians only took what they needed and didn’t pollute, and then the white came and ruined the whole continent. Then told of Epcot and governments efforts to save the world. Of course they failed to mention that the Anasazi disappeared from the America’s because they over consumed the resources of the American Southwest, and were not above wasting nearly whole carcasses of buffalo.
The other was the Circle of Life, which was completely conservation and environmental based. More America bad, and then the 1960s happened and we learned about recycling and planting trees to replace the ones that were being cut down. Never mind that Weyerhaeuser figured that out 75 years prior, that if he wanted to continue to harvest trees he had to plant them, and planted more than he cut.
Overall it was an informative tour, but I am getting sick of being preached to by these experts, who are having to rethink their policies every ten years. I recall back in 1988 there was a major fire in Yellowstone National Park. The policy back then was let those “natural” fires burn, because that is the way Mother Nature intended, and it was good for the forest. Only the damn thing got so big it devastated it burned up 1/3 of the park. Now they try to put them out. Grrrrrrrrr. I hate when my vacation takes this kind of turn.
We headed over to the area that had all of the Finding Nemo based attractions. The crowds so far, had not been bad, so it was a bit of a shock to see a large concentration of rug rats and parents in this area. They had a parking lot, at least 500 square feet, filled with strollers. There had to have been 75 at least. We, as in all of us, had seen these shows in California, and about two minutes into the noise of all those kids convinced us that another part of the park was a better choice for us. This does not bode well for us on a Disney cruise, does it?
Another part of our reasoning was that as the crowds had built up in this first hour plus at the park was wreaking havoc with my touring plan. I wasn’t crazy about this plan to begin with. It was too tight, and I did not get the Fast Passes (early entry to a ride) that I wanted. I have a phone app that would update my plan as the day went on, factoring in the wait times posted in the park (technology, huh?). Well the update at this point was kicking a ride called Test Track off the island. I knew this was going to be Jayme’s favorite, so I chucked the plan, and we headed off to do Test Track right that second.
Me and Jayme in front of the Coca-Cola Cool Wash near Test Track
Test Track is a car ride. The premise is that you are the driver in a prototype from Chevrolet and will be driving this car on a test track. The ride is pretty fun, with you reaching speeds of about 65 miles per hour. But, I am not sure any amusement park ride is worth an 80 minute wait. That was the posted wait time when we go to where we were going. Test Track and all of the big thrill rides have a “single rider” line. This is a separate queue that people who are willing to be separated from their party and fill in the empty seats when they exist. On this ride, which seats six, three across, most cars had a couple of empty seats. The wait for this line was “only” 35 minutes. I talked the guys into going that route, because, as I mentioned no ride on the planet is worth standing in line for 1 ½ hour. The waited ended up being just a little shorter and as expected Jayme was very impressed with the ride. He walked out of there chattering all about one aspect or the other. It was the right decision to make sure we did this ride.
Afterwards we did lunch and I went to check our fast passes. I had one Mission Space, and I thought I had one for Frozen at 5 PM. As it turned out I screwed up the Frozen fast pass. We didn’t have one. We had one for the first ride we did, and it was expired. I don’t know how it happened. I don’t even remember getting one for that ride. . Another, Ah well. We did the Mission Space.
Mission Space is a simulated journey to Mars. You are actually in a centrifuge that spins you around. It simulates the G-forces you might experience during a launch. I’m sure an actual launch is much worse, but this is bad enough. It ended up messing with Margo’s equilibrium. For most of the rest of the day she said it felt like the ground was moving under her feet.
The ride itself ended up being delayed while we were in it. I amused myself on all of these by announcing to the out group that we were all going to die. These were “thrill” rides, and while you are in the middle of parts of them, dying does not seem like it such a remote possibility. When the ride went dark, it definitely broke tension, and we bantered back forth about who broke the ride. They got it going in about 5 minutes and we were soon wondering about survival. Jayme liked this one, too.
This really finished things up for us a far as the thrill rides. We still had another couple of educational rides to do, one of which was Ellen’s Energy Adventure. This one had Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy, teaching us about energy. I would like to tell you it was very formative and interesting, but I fell asleep. I was tired. I was getting plenty of sleep, but I was getting more exercise.
We finished up with Future World, the ride portion of the park, and wandered into the World Showcase. To be honest I don’t care for the World Showcase. I do like the food and drink you can buy there, but the rest, especially after you have spent the day on the rides in Future World seems pedestrian and uninspiring. To be fair, we did not do any of the three rides in the World Showcase. We just did not have the time or energy. We did not even feel like finding a decent meal there. None have a sophisticated palate. We are all pretty much meat and potatoes kind of people. Except, for Pam. Pam is a meat, potatoes, and shrimp person. But, Epcot likes to be pretentious and pretend to have upscale cuisine. I suggested another trip to Cracker Barrel, and that fit everyone’s food taste.
But, we still had shopping to do. Margo and I were not going to rely on the cruise ship or one of the two ports to complete our shopping, but in hindsight, it would have been best to wait until Nassau. Live and learn. So we stopped at several shops and go a bunch of overpriced stuff for the kids back home. They will like it. Pam and Jayme did their shopping, too, picking up stuff for their family and Pam ever on the lookout for Eeyore. Pam collects Eeyore. Pam comes from a family that raises mules, so that collectible came about naturally.
Afterwards we did lunch and I went to check our fast passes. I had one Mission Space, and I thought I had one for Frozen at 5 PM. As it turned out I screwed up the Frozen fast pass. We didn’t have one. We had one for the first ride we did, and it was expired. I don’t know how it happened. I don’t even remember getting one for that ride. . Another, Ah well. We did the Mission Space.
Mission Space is a simulated journey to Mars. You are actually in a centrifuge that spins you around. It simulates the G-forces you might experience during a launch. I’m sure an actual launch is much worse, but this is bad enough. It ended up messing with Margo’s equilibrium. For most of the rest of the day she said it felt like the ground was moving under her feet.
The ride itself ended up being delayed while we were in it. I amused myself on all of these by announcing to the out group that we were all going to die. These were “thrill” rides, and while you are in the middle of parts of them, dying does not seem like it such a remote possibility. When the ride went dark, it definitely broke tension, and we bantered back forth about who broke the ride. They got it going in about 5 minutes and we were soon wondering about survival. Jayme liked this one, too.
This really finished things up for us a far as the thrill rides. We still had another couple of educational rides to do, one of which was Ellen’s Energy Adventure. This one had Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy, teaching us about energy. I would like to tell you it was very formative and interesting, but I fell asleep. I was tired. I was getting plenty of sleep, but I was getting more exercise.
We finished up with Future World, the ride portion of the park, and wandered into the World Showcase. To be honest I don’t care for the World Showcase. I do like the food and drink you can buy there, but the rest, especially after you have spent the day on the rides in Future World seems pedestrian and uninspiring. To be fair, we did not do any of the three rides in the World Showcase. We just did not have the time or energy. We did not even feel like finding a decent meal there. None have a sophisticated palate. We are all pretty much meat and potatoes kind of people. Except, for Pam. Pam is a meat, potatoes, and shrimp person. But, Epcot likes to be pretentious and pretend to have upscale cuisine. I suggested another trip to Cracker Barrel, and that fit everyone’s food taste.
But, we still had shopping to do. Margo and I were not going to rely on the cruise ship or one of the two ports to complete our shopping, but in hindsight, it would have been best to wait until Nassau. Live and learn. So we stopped at several shops and go a bunch of overpriced stuff for the kids back home. They will like it. Pam and Jayme did their shopping, too, picking up stuff for their family and Pam ever on the lookout for Eeyore. Pam collects Eeyore. Pam comes from a family that raises mules, so that collectible came about naturally.
Pam and Jayme with Spaceship Earth
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Margo found a way to make me smile. Check her hand. You can't see where mine is.
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Finally, about 7:30 PM (You would think I am a 1000 years old, whining about being dead tired at 7:30) we made it back to the car. We had a bit of revelry at Pam expense. Early in the trip she told us she was looking forward to finding some boiled peanuts, and we all said we would keep an eye out for a stand. These stands are normally found in rural areas and we were not going to be traveling much on those. As we were driving down this very touristy and decidedly urban section of town, Jayme says something to the effect that “too bad we were too tired to stop at the Boiled Peanut stand”, gesturing behind him. Pam, who was very quiet up until this point became animated exclaiming “Really! There were boiled peanuts?” Jayme said “No” and we all started laughing for way longer than that deserved. We were just so tired the bit of levity worked to drain exhaustion from us, and the longer we laughed the better we felt. We were all feeling much better by the time we got to Cracker Barrel.
That was pretty much it for the night. We got back and Margo finished backing. She is rock when we go on trips. I might plan them and get us set up for success (most of the time), but she keeps us functioning. She keeps the money and any important papers, knowing exactly where everything is at any time, she does the packing, and ask me to mostly just stay out of her way. We really do make a pretty good team on these trips.
But, not things were rosy at this point. I was starting to feel myself become congested. This went beyond normal, and I was worried I had picked up something in a park, or from Pam, who was fighting off something. But, there was nothing to be done, so off to bed.
That was pretty much it for the night. We got back and Margo finished backing. She is rock when we go on trips. I might plan them and get us set up for success (most of the time), but she keeps us functioning. She keeps the money and any important papers, knowing exactly where everything is at any time, she does the packing, and ask me to mostly just stay out of her way. We really do make a pretty good team on these trips.
But, not things were rosy at this point. I was starting to feel myself become congested. This went beyond normal, and I was worried I had picked up something in a park, or from Pam, who was fighting off something. But, there was nothing to be done, so off to bed.
Day Five--Sunday, February 12, 2017
As I feared, I woke up feeling worse. It appear to be some sort of sinus bug. I was achy, stuffy, and felt miserable. Margo was fine, so that was good. We made a clean sweep of breakfast by eating at the Bayliner, for the third time. The food had been decent the whole time. The scrambled eggs had sometimes been undercooked, but that is notorious at any breakfast buffet.
We shoehorned all of our luggage back into our rented Impala and we were off for the airport. Once we turned in that car, we both gain our freedom from the responsibility of providing transportation to ourselves, and be at the mercy of those who would take on that task. All and all, I was happy to have someone else do the driving.
Check in of the rental car went smooth. We got a luggage cart ($5 rental) and moved everything across the street from the rental car area to the Disney section of the Ground Transportation area. I figured that Disney would be right on top of things, making it nearly impossible to get to the wrong place, and I was right. As soon as we got within hailing distance, someone was asking us “Cruise or Hotel”, and moments later we were checking in with the bus team. Disney got us loaded and not long after we were on a comfortable, air conditional, restroom provided bus, with video monitors, and told we had a 50 minute drive in front of us. I was expecting an hour. 10 years ago when we arranged our own shuttle, we arrived in the evening, and a little Asian woman greeted us with a van. It was an OK van, but we definitely did not feel special and there was no entertainment.
I was feeling somewhat better, but I still tried to sleep on the way. I was not very successful, but I was also not driving, so there was not complaints coming from me. We claimed all of the luggage and divided up between carry on and loaded on. The loaded on would be delivered to our room sometime during the evening. What we carried on would need to sustain us until then.
Check in went fast and they pointed to a waiting area, and told us we could board when our group was called. I think we were Group 26, and they were on 11. I figured we had some wait so I went back to the letter I started last week. I didn’t get very far and we were being notified we could board. By the time I signed off on the letter and sent it whizzing through the Ethernet, they were on group 30.
Margo talked with Jessi right before we boarded, to get the latest on Enzo. His tumor had appeared to be a little smaller and was less firm. He would eat treats and rice that Jessi would cook for him, but was showing little interest in his food. But, still that was better news that we could be getting. I was hoping that once we went under radio silence he would not take a turn for the worse. That would be bad on too many levels.
When we quickly got to the front of the line to get on the ship, we were announced. They asked us our names and announced over the PA system, “Please welcome, Bill and Margo Kretzer”. We got light applause from the Disney team there, and then Pam and Jayme were announced as “The Kretzer Family” It was 1 PM. We were told rooms would be ready in 30 minutes. So we went to find food.
Getting ready to board the Disney Wonder! Excited!
Deck Nine had an area serving Pizza and Fruit. We all found something to at least satisfy our hunger and kill a little time. Everyone was in a good mood, and Pam and Jayme were admiring all of the surroundings, and the view of the Atlantic. But, we were all anxious to get into our rooms, dump our carry-ons, and maybe unpack some.
The first impression of the room was “Wow”. A big bed, in the back, lots of wood paneling, drawers and cupboards, in front, on one side, and couch and table on the other. Then you walk in, and realize the hallway, which is about five feet long is barely wide enough for me to walk through. The bed looks big, because the room is small. The bathroom is closet size. I remember our other cabins being small, and I doubt this one was much if any smaller, but it was obvious early on that this room would be used for showering, sleeping, and changing clothes. Any other reason was a waste of time.
On a cruise you usually have a formal night and on a Caribbean Disney trip, a Pirate night. But, today was neither of these, so we did not have to worry about changing cloths. Our job now was to busy ourselves enjoying the trip. Another change from 10 years ago was technology. There were no apps in 2007. At least they were not common. But in 2017 Disney has a very nice cruise app which gives you a ton of information, including the activities of the day. Jayme suggested taking a walking tour of the ship, scheduled for 2:30 PM. So off we went.
The tour ended up being a disappointment. They really only showed us decks 3 and 4. That was OK, because a lot of things, like Guest Services, were there. But, Deck 9 is pretty important, as it has their buffet restaurant, and the fast foods stations. But, we figured it out. On a cruise ship you will find the food soon enough.
Our next activity was both scheduled for us; the very mandatory Guest Assembly Drill. Which is the politically correct way of saying where to go and what to do if the boat sinks. 10 years ago we had to go wearing our life vests. Now they have figured out that it was a complete waste of time and made everyone look stupid and uncomfortable. But, all in all it was painless. It did start the pattern of having every single instruction and announcement done twice, the second time in Spanish. I don’t know why that bothers me, especially on a ship that caters to an international audience, but it does. I need to work on that. It doesn’t do any harm and helps others. Maybe because it makes me feel excluded.
Moving on. We went back to our rooms just to see if we had any bags back. We didn’t, and then made our way up to the upper decks to watch the ship cast off and move from Port Canaveral to sea. To tell you the truth I don’t remember it even happening. I know I was there and I know we moved, but it was not that big a deal for me. Disney has their Adventures Away party, where their entertainment team gets the kids out in the party deck area on Deck 9 and tries to pump up the crowd. I hate those artificial calls for excitement. It just reels forced and fake. But, I clapped and gave a few whoops to do my part.
The first impression of the room was “Wow”. A big bed, in the back, lots of wood paneling, drawers and cupboards, in front, on one side, and couch and table on the other. Then you walk in, and realize the hallway, which is about five feet long is barely wide enough for me to walk through. The bed looks big, because the room is small. The bathroom is closet size. I remember our other cabins being small, and I doubt this one was much if any smaller, but it was obvious early on that this room would be used for showering, sleeping, and changing clothes. Any other reason was a waste of time.
On a cruise you usually have a formal night and on a Caribbean Disney trip, a Pirate night. But, today was neither of these, so we did not have to worry about changing cloths. Our job now was to busy ourselves enjoying the trip. Another change from 10 years ago was technology. There were no apps in 2007. At least they were not common. But in 2017 Disney has a very nice cruise app which gives you a ton of information, including the activities of the day. Jayme suggested taking a walking tour of the ship, scheduled for 2:30 PM. So off we went.
The tour ended up being a disappointment. They really only showed us decks 3 and 4. That was OK, because a lot of things, like Guest Services, were there. But, Deck 9 is pretty important, as it has their buffet restaurant, and the fast foods stations. But, we figured it out. On a cruise ship you will find the food soon enough.
Our next activity was both scheduled for us; the very mandatory Guest Assembly Drill. Which is the politically correct way of saying where to go and what to do if the boat sinks. 10 years ago we had to go wearing our life vests. Now they have figured out that it was a complete waste of time and made everyone look stupid and uncomfortable. But, all in all it was painless. It did start the pattern of having every single instruction and announcement done twice, the second time in Spanish. I don’t know why that bothers me, especially on a ship that caters to an international audience, but it does. I need to work on that. It doesn’t do any harm and helps others. Maybe because it makes me feel excluded.
Moving on. We went back to our rooms just to see if we had any bags back. We didn’t, and then made our way up to the upper decks to watch the ship cast off and move from Port Canaveral to sea. To tell you the truth I don’t remember it even happening. I know I was there and I know we moved, but it was not that big a deal for me. Disney has their Adventures Away party, where their entertainment team gets the kids out in the party deck area on Deck 9 and tries to pump up the crowd. I hate those artificial calls for excitement. It just reels forced and fake. But, I clapped and gave a few whoops to do my part.
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We stayed up there for a while getting some ice cream and another snack. At this point it time it more people watching than anything. There were plenty of people who were already using the pools, so we would watch the various people walk by, marveling in what they might be wearing and in a few cases, how little. Luckily those dressed immodestly had the bodies to pull it off. There was one guy in a scruffy beard and dreadlocks. I just don’t know what world that is acceptable, but there must be one. I just can’t imagine him having any kind of traditional job. But, you already know I have pretty conservative tastes, and admittedly I would have to stop and think to fit him in.
Margo and Jayme had both been having problems with their Disney Cruise app. This app would give us the ability to text back and forth, without incurring phone charges, so we were thinking it pretty important. I suggested that we find Guest Services and see if they could help. We also thought it would be a good idea to visit Shutters, their home of the photo services. We took an elevator down to 4 and were walking past the Promenade Lounge, when we saw a lonely looking guy at a desk that said DisneyConnect@Sea. That sounded to me like the right person to talk to, and I was correct. Daniel, who was from Serbia, was a tremendous help. He got Margo’s app reinstalled and soon she was up. Jayme was also up in just a few seconds. Yeah for Daniel. The Shutters visit was pretty quick. We had four pictures, the boarding pictures, to view. |
Margo decorated our door (and Pam and Jayme's too) in hearts and puppies.
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The big show of the evening was “The Golden Mickeys”. This is a Disney take on the Golden Globes/Oscars. I had low expectations, but we were here and seeing the entertainment was part of what we were supposed to do. The show was OK. I wouldn’t call it great, but it was worth seeing once. I know I am starting to sound like a sourpuss, but I think feeling under the weather, and being tired was making me pretty jaded. Bed was starting to feel better and better. Pam, Jayme, and Margo liked the show, so it was certainly a good call.
After the Golden Mickeys, we thought we would go to the 7:30 Bingo. The Grand Prize was $500. The last time we went bingo was free. This time they wanted $30 for six sheets. So it would have been $120 for the four of us. I thought that sounded a bit much and said so. The others agreed with me, but I don’t know if they were just being polite, seeing that I was getting a bit grouchy.We were close enough to our dinner time, 8:15 PM that we decided that was our next goal. There are three main restaurants on the Disney Wonder; Animator’s Palette, Tiana’s Place, and Tritons. That’s three restaurants, and we would eating four dinners. Our Key to the World Card told us which restaurant we would repeat, and which order.
Key to the World Card? That is something that had not changed in 10 years, at least not very much. When you check in at Port Canaveral, every single person, be you a two week old baby, to 110 year old World War II vet, is issued a little credit card like thing, which Disney’s marketing team has called “The Key to the World”. Why does every company have to try to pretend that whatever they are doing is100 times more important than it really is?
Anyway, this card acts as room key, credit card for all Disney purchases, gets you on and off the boat, and printed on the front is a lot of useful information. There is your name, your dinner time, your restaurant order (ours starts with Animator’s Palette, did Tiana’s Place twice, and then finished with Tritons), has your table number (because you sit at the same one, with the same other guests, each night), and the actual dates of your cruise.
So, at 8:15 we were at Animator’s Palette, the only restaurant that was on the Disney Magic, last we sailed on Disney. It was also my favorite. Not because of the cuisine, but because of the décor and how it changed. Ten years ago, it had many black and while sketches, along with a number of bigger pictures. As the dinner progressed these sketches would gradually start to add color, until they were fully colorized by the end of the night.
After the Golden Mickeys, we thought we would go to the 7:30 Bingo. The Grand Prize was $500. The last time we went bingo was free. This time they wanted $30 for six sheets. So it would have been $120 for the four of us. I thought that sounded a bit much and said so. The others agreed with me, but I don’t know if they were just being polite, seeing that I was getting a bit grouchy.We were close enough to our dinner time, 8:15 PM that we decided that was our next goal. There are three main restaurants on the Disney Wonder; Animator’s Palette, Tiana’s Place, and Tritons. That’s three restaurants, and we would eating four dinners. Our Key to the World Card told us which restaurant we would repeat, and which order.
Key to the World Card? That is something that had not changed in 10 years, at least not very much. When you check in at Port Canaveral, every single person, be you a two week old baby, to 110 year old World War II vet, is issued a little credit card like thing, which Disney’s marketing team has called “The Key to the World”. Why does every company have to try to pretend that whatever they are doing is100 times more important than it really is?
Anyway, this card acts as room key, credit card for all Disney purchases, gets you on and off the boat, and printed on the front is a lot of useful information. There is your name, your dinner time, your restaurant order (ours starts with Animator’s Palette, did Tiana’s Place twice, and then finished with Tritons), has your table number (because you sit at the same one, with the same other guests, each night), and the actual dates of your cruise.
So, at 8:15 we were at Animator’s Palette, the only restaurant that was on the Disney Magic, last we sailed on Disney. It was also my favorite. Not because of the cuisine, but because of the décor and how it changed. Ten years ago, it had many black and while sketches, along with a number of bigger pictures. As the dinner progressed these sketches would gradually start to add color, until they were fully colorized by the end of the night.
A swan, the first of our towel animals. The cabin steward would make a new one each evening
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This time they revamped it, so only the main sketches would change, but they did not do anything except change which character was sketched until desert. At that time, they colorized quickly, and then evolved into a full animated show. I thought it better before, when the change was more gradual.
As for the food, it was OK. The service was spectacular, they bent over backwards to get us anything we asked for. I had a Lemon –Thyme chicken. I thought it was under spiced, but moist enough. I some sort of chocolate thing for dessert and it was good. It was well after 9 PM by now, and I was wiped out. Someone had suggested we visit the hot tubs, and as I usually climb into our tub when I a feeling poorly, I thought this a great idea. We ended up in one with a guy from Ohio and lady who took her 87 year old mother on this cruise for her birthday. We must have stayed for 30 minutes. The water wasn’t as warm as I like it, but it still felt good. Once we were done, we all headed back to the rooms to change. I had wanted to go see Disney’s version of the Newlywed Game, called Match Your Mate, but I really was dead tired, so I was in bed by 10 PM. Jayme went exploring a bit, but I think he was the only one with any energy left. I hoped that a good night sleep would perk me up I was still stuffy off and on, so I was concerned it that was possible. I would know in the morning. |
On the Promenade Deck. Margo's Apple i7 takes a good picture!
Day Six--Monday, February 13, 2017
I slept more quantity than quality, thankful that I did not have to get up early. I was also thankful that I did not appear to have gotten worse.
Breakfast was at Cabana’s, the buffet restaurant, at about 9 AM. They had a pretty decent selection, but while I wasn’t nauseous, I did not feel much like eating. The others were gung ho and ready to enjoy the Day at Sea.
I think we ended up on the deck with their shops soon after breakfast. Pam enjoys her shopping. Margo, too, I like to look more than shop, and Jayme is more in my camp. The prices were so high, that I didn’t see anything I had to have. I basically kept moving around, more people watching then anything. Pam mentioned she had her eye on a Swarovski crystal Eeyore. It was about $250, making me very glad I did not collect Eeyore memorabilia.
We had all resolved that if we were paying for a Picture Package ($200 for a digital copy of every picture they took), we had better start standing in line to meet some of these Disney characters and get our pictures taken. Tinkerbell was scheduled for 10:30 AM. I felt a little out of place standing in line with the kids and their parents. 10 years ago we had Jolene and Jessi (adult version, but still our kids) with us, so I could at least pretend that we were in line for them. Not today. Anyway Tinkerbell was just as nice as could be and treated us, four 50 somethings standing in line to meet a 20 something dressed up as a fairy, like it happened on every American street at least once a day.
She was such a tiny little thing!
I look like I have wings (boo)
We ended back up at Cabana’s for lunch. Once that was done, Margo though “So You Think You Know Your Family” sounded like fun. I was not sure what to expect, but Margo was hoping to get chosen to play. I thought it unlikely, because this was family show, which meant they want to get kids involved. We had left all of those at home.
It turned out I was right. They wanted one child and one parent per team, and a total of four teams. They would seat kids in the front and parents in the back, on the stage, and ask the parents a series of questions, the first being “What is your child’s favorite food?” Surprisingly, only one out of the four got that. The MC did a good job of making it funny. We laughed along with everyone else and had a good time. It made me wish that I had not skipped the Newlywed game from the night before. Those have been side splitting funny in the past.
Next up was a Donald Duck picture at 2 PM. It went like the first one except the Donald wasn’t allowed to talk. Probably talking in a good Donald Duck voice is hard and would just encourage the line to move slower. It went fast enough, but they are pretty strict about when you can get in line. This one started at 2 PM. You had until 2:15 to be in line or you had to catch him at another time.
It turned out I was right. They wanted one child and one parent per team, and a total of four teams. They would seat kids in the front and parents in the back, on the stage, and ask the parents a series of questions, the first being “What is your child’s favorite food?” Surprisingly, only one out of the four got that. The MC did a good job of making it funny. We laughed along with everyone else and had a good time. It made me wish that I had not skipped the Newlywed game from the night before. Those have been side splitting funny in the past.
Next up was a Donald Duck picture at 2 PM. It went like the first one except the Donald wasn’t allowed to talk. Probably talking in a good Donald Duck voice is hard and would just encourage the line to move slower. It went fast enough, but they are pretty strict about when you can get in line. This one started at 2 PM. You had until 2:15 to be in line or you had to catch him at another time.
We worked in a Name that Disney Tunes show. This was a full audience participation game based on the show Name that Tune. As in the original show, they would only play a portion of the song. The people that showed up were hard core Disney watchers. Each song would have three questions associated with it; the song title, the movie it was from, and a bonus question about the movie. One point for each question, and 20 songs. That made for 60 possible points. The winner had 59 points and there were several others in the 50s. We had 10 points. We sucked. No more Name that Tune for us.
We had all noticed, via our Disney Apps that there would be various drink tasting events on the cruise. So we figured we would go sign up. Jayme and I got tickets to the Beer Tasting event. Margo scored the last ticket for the Mojito tasting class, and the Martini one was sold out because one group bought them all. That one turned out to be OK anyway.
We had managed to kill off most of the afternoon. Margo had found out that they would be taking formal pictures, as today was Formal Day, at 5:15 PM and 7:15 PM. It was pretty close to 5:15 PM, so we figured we would try for that, getting in on the tail end. Pam needed to take a shower, so I was skeptical that she would be ready any time soon. So after Margo and I were dressed we headed up stairs to see what was going on, picture-wise. Mickey was scheduled sometime, and he is always high on the Disney list.
It turned out that Margo and I got two sets of our Formals done, and were back up at the room at 6 PM. Pam was just finishing up, so we headed back down, just in time to be told that they had closed up, so they could move to the dining rooms. They would be back a 7:15.
Jayme noticed that “Dreams” the Disney production show of the night was starting in 15 minutes. As nothing on the ship is terribly far from each other, we were there in about 2 minutes. We got our seats and saw a show about a little girl who dreams about being able to fly like Peter Pan, and visits several of her favorite Disney movies gathering the “belief” need to fly. Spoiler Alert: She flies in the end. I liked this show a lot more than the first one. I thought it was better written and was more elaborate. It was just more fun, too.
Pam and Jayme also enjoyed this show. They were enjoying everything about the cruise. Well. Maybe not the “fine cuisine”, but certainly all of the friendly accommodating people, and the constant availability of something to do, just an elevator ride of steps away. None of us were complaining about the weather, even though we had heard Denver had reached 80 while we were gone. The views of the ocean could have you watching them for an hour, just watching the waves collide, change, swirl, and disappear into another, multiplied by as far as you could see.
They had not experienced a hotel in which you had a single person responsible for just 12-16 rooms, and could then stop and talk to you, greet you by name, and keep you informed of things on the ship. That same guy would stop by two or three times per day to work on your room and on= the final one, leave you a towel folded like an animal.
In the dining room, there were two waiters per table, who would bring you silverware for every course you ordered. Saving your fork was not something you worried about. If you wanted ice cream for dessert they would go find you some. It was just something that they had not seen and both were soaking it up. Margo and I had seen it before, so we knew what to expect, but we did not mind being spoiled
After Dream we went right back downstairs to resume formal picture taking. Margo and I did not get retakes, but we did all four get our pictures taken at all three stations. It went fairly quick, and we enjoyed the live music that was going on at the same time.
We had all noticed, via our Disney Apps that there would be various drink tasting events on the cruise. So we figured we would go sign up. Jayme and I got tickets to the Beer Tasting event. Margo scored the last ticket for the Mojito tasting class, and the Martini one was sold out because one group bought them all. That one turned out to be OK anyway.
We had managed to kill off most of the afternoon. Margo had found out that they would be taking formal pictures, as today was Formal Day, at 5:15 PM and 7:15 PM. It was pretty close to 5:15 PM, so we figured we would try for that, getting in on the tail end. Pam needed to take a shower, so I was skeptical that she would be ready any time soon. So after Margo and I were dressed we headed up stairs to see what was going on, picture-wise. Mickey was scheduled sometime, and he is always high on the Disney list.
It turned out that Margo and I got two sets of our Formals done, and were back up at the room at 6 PM. Pam was just finishing up, so we headed back down, just in time to be told that they had closed up, so they could move to the dining rooms. They would be back a 7:15.
Jayme noticed that “Dreams” the Disney production show of the night was starting in 15 minutes. As nothing on the ship is terribly far from each other, we were there in about 2 minutes. We got our seats and saw a show about a little girl who dreams about being able to fly like Peter Pan, and visits several of her favorite Disney movies gathering the “belief” need to fly. Spoiler Alert: She flies in the end. I liked this show a lot more than the first one. I thought it was better written and was more elaborate. It was just more fun, too.
Pam and Jayme also enjoyed this show. They were enjoying everything about the cruise. Well. Maybe not the “fine cuisine”, but certainly all of the friendly accommodating people, and the constant availability of something to do, just an elevator ride of steps away. None of us were complaining about the weather, even though we had heard Denver had reached 80 while we were gone. The views of the ocean could have you watching them for an hour, just watching the waves collide, change, swirl, and disappear into another, multiplied by as far as you could see.
They had not experienced a hotel in which you had a single person responsible for just 12-16 rooms, and could then stop and talk to you, greet you by name, and keep you informed of things on the ship. That same guy would stop by two or three times per day to work on your room and on= the final one, leave you a towel folded like an animal.
In the dining room, there were two waiters per table, who would bring you silverware for every course you ordered. Saving your fork was not something you worried about. If you wanted ice cream for dessert they would go find you some. It was just something that they had not seen and both were soaking it up. Margo and I had seen it before, so we knew what to expect, but we did not mind being spoiled
After Dream we went right back downstairs to resume formal picture taking. Margo and I did not get retakes, but we did all four get our pictures taken at all three stations. It went fairly quick, and we enjoyed the live music that was going on at the same time.
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This might be the best picture of us during the whole trip!
Dinner was at Tiana’s Place tonight, at our normal 8:15 time. That was going to be a bit of a problem because Margo’s Mojito tasting was at 9:00 PM. That was going to make for a fast turnaround. We mentioned this to Arjay and Marcel, our two waiters, and they assured us they would get us out on time. We had to skip dessert, but we made it.
Tiana’s Place is based on the movie Princes and the Frog, and is set in New Orleans. That meant Cajun food. It also came with a small floor show, which we missed. I should mention our table mates. Our table seats eight, so half were occupied by strangers. The first pair, Carla and Nick were from Great Britain.
Tiana’s Place is based on the movie Princes and the Frog, and is set in New Orleans. That meant Cajun food. It also came with a small floor show, which we missed. I should mention our table mates. Our table seats eight, so half were occupied by strangers. The first pair, Carla and Nick were from Great Britain.
Day Two's animal, an elephant!
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The other was a male gay couple, Brad and Greg. They were both really nice and knew how to break the ice. We didn’t visit very much on day one, but we chatted more on Day Two. But they had barely gotten their on this day, before we had to leave. Mojito tasting was up on Deck Nine, at Signals, their outside bar. We learned that a Mojito has club soda rum, mint leaves, and lime. If you don’t make it too strong, it is very drinkable. I shared Margo’s because there was no way she was going to finish each one. They made us a Regular Mojito, a Classic Mojito, a Raspberry Mojito, and a Mango Mojito. |
Margo drinking her Mango Mojito. She is ok with the mojito, but is wondering why I am using her phone
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I never did learn the difference between a classic and a regular. The two flavored ones come from using flavored smoothie mixer. The mango one was really good. They finished up by making a drink with Brazilian Rum. The rum has a specific name that starts with a “C”, but I can’t remember it.
Once done with that, we went back to our rooms. I texted Pam and Jayme, and we arranged for a 9 AM breakfast again, I took some Sudafed, which Pam had brought, and I went to bed. Margo followed, but I was so tired I don’t know if she was in bed two minutes or two hours later.
Once done with that, we went back to our rooms. I texted Pam and Jayme, and we arranged for a 9 AM breakfast again, I took some Sudafed, which Pam had brought, and I went to bed. Margo followed, but I was so tired I don’t know if she was in bed two minutes or two hours later.
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Tasted to death mojitos
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Day Seven--Tuesday, February 14, 2017 (Valentine’s Day)
I was up about every two hours last night. I was stuffy and the Sudafed usually affects me by making me feel like I am awake even when I am out. The sleep is still usually good, but it feels awkward all night. This was no exception. It also appeared like this bug had moved into my chest. I was coughing, but not bringing anything up. Still, I did not feel nearly as bad as this all sounds. I was tired, but not exhausted, and my spirits were still good.
It had not escaped me, when I planned this trip that Valentine’s Day would come to pass while on ship. So I knew I had to be prepared in advance. Trouble was I didn’t know what to get her. It has to small and easy to hide. My own personal electronics bag is the only one she doesn’t pack, so it had to fit in there, along with everything else. That pretty much narrowed it down to jewelry. But, what kind. The answer did not come to me until the week before we left; Disney jewelry. There had to be such a thing, right? There was still time to overnight it, if needed. After looking on line, I settled on first trying the Helzberg store in the old Aurora Mall, which appeared to be the official Disney jeweler. IF that didn’t work out, I would risk something via mail. It did work out, and I found a cute diamond and ruby Minnie Mouse ears pendant.
Now how to get it ready. I packed a gift bag, a Disney Valentine’s Day card, and gift bag paper in my bag. At night, Margo told me she was going to go to Deck Nine to get herself a coke. Ordinarily, even feeling like I did, I would have done it for her, but she didn’t want to put me out. While she was out, I assembled the gift and hid it in the one cupboard with room. I knew she had already been though that space, and I was reasonably certain it would be safe until the morning. I was right. She was up before me, and had my gift out. She got me a new watch and some candy. I haven’t figured the watch out yet, as it has some new and complicated functions. I think one is even a speedometer. Then I gave her the pendant. She liked it and put it on.
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Breakfast was at the same Bat time and same Bat Channel. But, today after breakfast we would be getting off the boat. This morning we had docked at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. We had just one excursion planned, a glass bottom boat tour. It is one kind of conveyance Margo and I have never done. That was not until 11:15 and we were getting off the ship at about 9:40. We had some time to explore.
Castaway Cay, from the ship
We got off the boat and had several pictures taken with the island and the boat in the back ground. Then we walked to Pelican Point which is where the family area and food is. We made a detour so I could get a hat. I had underestimated the sun and overestimated my tolerance to it. I was loaded up on sun screen, but I was squinting constantly. Margo was both proclaiming the wisdom of the purchase and her prescience when she stated “I knew he’d be getting a hat”. She claimed to have advised me to take one. But, I'm guessing that advice came in the form of the question, “Are you taking a hat?”
We got off the boat and had several pictures taken with the island and the boat in the back ground. Then we walked to Pelican Point which is where the family area and food is. We made a detour so I could get a hat. I had underestimated the sun and overestimated my tolerance to it. I was loaded up on sun screen, but I was squinting constantly. Margo was both proclaiming the wisdom of the purchase and her prescience when she stated “I knew he’d be getting a hat”. She claimed to have advised me to take one. But, I'm guessing that advice came in the form of the question, “Are you taking a hat?”
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But, I digress. After a bit of shopping by Margo and Pam, some bathroom breaks we were on our way back the other direction, to Marge’s Barges, our point of departure. We waited a bit longer than I expected and did not dispatch on time, but I guess we are on island time, and should not worry about such things.
On the ride out to the coral reef where we would be looking at the fish, we passed by large area of coral that were now ten or twenty feet out of the water. We were told that the water table had shifted and that the coral on top was now dead. Birds would seed, via their droppings the coral and grass and other vegetation would grow at that time the strip would be known as an island or a Cay. A cay is smaller than three miles in length. Cay is also pronounced “key”. I think I knew that, but with the spelling to distinctive and certain, when you see Cay, you say KAY. I know I will continue to screw that up.
The reef itself was not what I expected. It looked like plants growing on the sea floor. I guess I was expecting a spider web of tubular and other odd shaped hard things. But, the fish didn’t care. We didn’t seem many type of fish, even though there was a fish chart showing about fifty different kinds of multi colored fish. But, we did get to feed them. Did you know tropical fish like oatmeal? They do, and these fish have been fed to the point they will start to gather when they see the boat. It was fun to feed the fish. The boat ride was relaxing, the weather was in the upper 70s, and it was very beautiful.
Our guide, who was a local lady from Abaco, a nearby island, and the Captain, Captain Lenny, also from Abaco, were nice, and informative. Captain Lenny did his best to keep us over good spots and the lady was telling us many fun facts about the area and wild life. We learned that corral needs four things to grow. Salt Water, sunshine, algae, and the salt water has to be warm. We also learned that there are 150 regular people who live on Castaway Cay. I wouldn’t have guessed that.
On the ride out to the coral reef where we would be looking at the fish, we passed by large area of coral that were now ten or twenty feet out of the water. We were told that the water table had shifted and that the coral on top was now dead. Birds would seed, via their droppings the coral and grass and other vegetation would grow at that time the strip would be known as an island or a Cay. A cay is smaller than three miles in length. Cay is also pronounced “key”. I think I knew that, but with the spelling to distinctive and certain, when you see Cay, you say KAY. I know I will continue to screw that up.
The reef itself was not what I expected. It looked like plants growing on the sea floor. I guess I was expecting a spider web of tubular and other odd shaped hard things. But, the fish didn’t care. We didn’t seem many type of fish, even though there was a fish chart showing about fifty different kinds of multi colored fish. But, we did get to feed them. Did you know tropical fish like oatmeal? They do, and these fish have been fed to the point they will start to gather when they see the boat. It was fun to feed the fish. The boat ride was relaxing, the weather was in the upper 70s, and it was very beautiful.
Our guide, who was a local lady from Abaco, a nearby island, and the Captain, Captain Lenny, also from Abaco, were nice, and informative. Captain Lenny did his best to keep us over good spots and the lady was telling us many fun facts about the area and wild life. We learned that corral needs four things to grow. Salt Water, sunshine, algae, and the salt water has to be warm. We also learned that there are 150 regular people who live on Castaway Cay. I wouldn’t have guessed that.
Feeding the fish oatmeal
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Coral (I guess) on the reef. Not very impressive
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My stomach was awake and suggested we head to lunch. Lunch was at Cookies Two. I never saw Cookies One, but I like this food. I had a baked chicken thigh, baked beans, corn, coleslaw, and a cookie. The chefs at Tiana’s and such will hate this, but this was the best meal I had while I was on any resort or ship. The two Cracker Barrel meals were the best on the trip. I suppose that says more about me than the food.
I think all of us, except Jayme, were tired, and the idea of just lounging on the beach was not overly appealing. It was beautiful, no doubt, but it wasn’t quiet and peaceful. It was decided to go back to the ship. Jayme ended up exploring the ship, something he was enjoying. I remember doing the same on our other Disney cruise. I went to bed. Margo got me up at 3:25. I splashed some water on my face, in my hair, ran a brush through it, and met Jayme at the door. It was time for beer tasting.
I had done Disney’s beer tasting class 10 years ago, and thought it would be a lot of the same. But, it wasn’t. This time it was done by a guy named Laurence, from England. My prior one had been facilitated by an American, so this one had a different perspective. Jayme insisted he was not going to like any of the beers, as he had specific tastes in beer.
Laurence told us we would be tasting five beers and we would be starting with the lightest. I assumed he meant in color, but it appeared he meant in weight of alcohol. He started us with Lindemans Framboise Lambic. Framboise means both raspberry and fermented with fruit. Lambic means in uses natural airborne yeast. It was the color of Dos Equis Amber and smelled fruity. Which is how Laurence was teaching us to evaluate the beer. Look at the color, smell it, and then taste it. The taste was fruity and it was easy to drink. Jayme and I both liked this one.
We went through the other four beers, all European, and more bitter in varying degrees. We tried an Indian Pale Ale of some sort. Not pale in color. Lots of Hops. Bitter. Yuck. The third beer was La Trappe, a monk brewed beer that was a Quadruple, meaning it was fermented three times, and was still fermenting in the bottle. It was very bitter and undrinkable by Jayme and my standards. Fourth, was Fullers ESB. ESB means Extra Special Bitter. It was bitter, but not overpoweringly so. I was able to finish this one. The last was an English dark of some sort. Not as bitter as the La Trappe, but still to bitter to really drink and enjoy.
Although I did not enjoy most of the beer, I did learn a bit. Laurence shared the story of Indian Pale Ales (IPA). When India was a colony of Great Britain, it had quite a population of English subject there, and they really missed their beer. India had beer, but it was generally made from rice or millet, and English missed their version. But, traveling the great distance by ship, unrefrigerated, left the beer spoiled and undrinkable by the time it arrived. The IPA has more hops, which acts a preservative, and kept the beer from spoiling on the month’s long voyage.
The final part of our class was Laurence’s party trick. You run out of beer too early in your party. What to do? Find as many partially finished glasses of premium beer (and if you are serving the stuff we had been drinking, that should not be hard). Set them aside. Get a pint glass and fill it 90% full of water. Slowly pour some of the premium beer you had gathered into the water. When you glass is full, you have made Budweiser.
Jayme was not amused, as he is a Bud Lite drinker. This definitely highlighted the British, for that matter, European’s, opinion on most things American. But, it was in good fun. Laurence also derided Corona, so it was meant as a dig on the American’s taste for a lighter, less bitter beer.
My stomach was awake and suggested we head to lunch. Lunch was at Cookies Two. I never saw Cookies One, but I like this food. I had a baked chicken thigh, baked beans, corn, coleslaw, and a cookie. The chefs at Tiana’s and such will hate this, but this was the best meal I had while I was on any resort or ship. The two Cracker Barrel meals were the best on the trip. I suppose that says more about me than the food.
I think all of us, except Jayme, were tired, and the idea of just lounging on the beach was not overly appealing. It was beautiful, no doubt, but it wasn’t quiet and peaceful. It was decided to go back to the ship. Jayme ended up exploring the ship, something he was enjoying. I remember doing the same on our other Disney cruise. I went to bed. Margo got me up at 3:25. I splashed some water on my face, in my hair, ran a brush through it, and met Jayme at the door. It was time for beer tasting.
I had done Disney’s beer tasting class 10 years ago, and thought it would be a lot of the same. But, it wasn’t. This time it was done by a guy named Laurence, from England. My prior one had been facilitated by an American, so this one had a different perspective. Jayme insisted he was not going to like any of the beers, as he had specific tastes in beer.
Laurence told us we would be tasting five beers and we would be starting with the lightest. I assumed he meant in color, but it appeared he meant in weight of alcohol. He started us with Lindemans Framboise Lambic. Framboise means both raspberry and fermented with fruit. Lambic means in uses natural airborne yeast. It was the color of Dos Equis Amber and smelled fruity. Which is how Laurence was teaching us to evaluate the beer. Look at the color, smell it, and then taste it. The taste was fruity and it was easy to drink. Jayme and I both liked this one.
We went through the other four beers, all European, and more bitter in varying degrees. We tried an Indian Pale Ale of some sort. Not pale in color. Lots of Hops. Bitter. Yuck. The third beer was La Trappe, a monk brewed beer that was a Quadruple, meaning it was fermented three times, and was still fermenting in the bottle. It was very bitter and undrinkable by Jayme and my standards. Fourth, was Fullers ESB. ESB means Extra Special Bitter. It was bitter, but not overpoweringly so. I was able to finish this one. The last was an English dark of some sort. Not as bitter as the La Trappe, but still to bitter to really drink and enjoy.
Although I did not enjoy most of the beer, I did learn a bit. Laurence shared the story of Indian Pale Ales (IPA). When India was a colony of Great Britain, it had quite a population of English subject there, and they really missed their beer. India had beer, but it was generally made from rice or millet, and English missed their version. But, traveling the great distance by ship, unrefrigerated, left the beer spoiled and undrinkable by the time it arrived. The IPA has more hops, which acts a preservative, and kept the beer from spoiling on the month’s long voyage.
The final part of our class was Laurence’s party trick. You run out of beer too early in your party. What to do? Find as many partially finished glasses of premium beer (and if you are serving the stuff we had been drinking, that should not be hard). Set them aside. Get a pint glass and fill it 90% full of water. Slowly pour some of the premium beer you had gathered into the water. When you glass is full, you have made Budweiser.
Jayme was not amused, as he is a Bud Lite drinker. This definitely highlighted the British, for that matter, European’s, opinion on most things American. But, it was in good fun. Laurence also derided Corona, so it was meant as a dig on the American’s taste for a lighter, less bitter beer.
Day Three--No animal, but we did get a Valentines Day heart
But now, it was time to get ready for Pirate Night. Yeah! I was impressed that Jayme was getting into the spirit of things. He is pretty conservative. His dress is consistent as the sunrise. A long sleeve western shirt, jeans, a cap, and either tennis shoe or work boots. No shorts. Short sleeves on occasion. Having him dressed in any costume presumably meant he lost a bet. But, he and Pam had gotten their back in October. Jayme had even tried it on, (including a wig!), and sent us a picture. He was definitely looking forward to it.
As we all were. It was going to be fun to play dress up. We were all costumed out and ready to go by 5:15 when the photographers would be taking pictures with pirate themed backgrounds. We made our way to the elevators and a little girl, probably about 4 looked at us as we walked by. She looked to her Mom and asked “Are they going Trick or Treating?”
As we all were. It was going to be fun to play dress up. We were all costumed out and ready to go by 5:15 when the photographers would be taking pictures with pirate themed backgrounds. We made our way to the elevators and a little girl, probably about 4 looked at us as we walked by. She looked to her Mom and asked “Are they going Trick or Treating?”
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The photographers had a couple of different backgrounds, and we had our pictures taken with them both. Last time the Pirate pictures were among the favorites that we took, and I was expecting nothing less from these. The pictures went fast, which was disappointing. I thought most of the photographers were much too concerned about quantity over quality. I didn’t like the composition of several of the photos, and the poses looked overly contrived at some point. The photographer can never control the goofy expressions on the faces, but they can try for an extra shot, or even try a different pose if their subjects look uncomfortable. But, I guess they have to get through a lot of people. And, we did end up with some really good pictures.
We had killed just about enough time to go to the nightly show, Charles Peachock. Charles is a juggler and went fairly deep on the show America’s Got Talent. I thought he added some nice twists to juggling, but all and all, I wouldn’t have paid to see it. If was a street show it would have been worth a few bucks. Sorry, Charlie.
We had killed just about enough time to go to the nightly show, Charles Peachock. Charles is a juggler and went fairly deep on the show America’s Got Talent. I thought he added some nice twists to juggling, but all and all, I wouldn’t have paid to see it. If was a street show it would have been worth a few bucks. Sorry, Charlie.
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Life on a cruise ship is going from one amusement to another. Constantly giving the people something to see and do. At this point we were stymied. The most appealing was live music at the Cadillac Lounge. Seeing as it was Pirate night, and all of the previous music we had notice had been high energy and high decibel, we thought we would give a shot. Strikes One and Two.
The live music was a lady on a piano, playing chamber music. This was perfectly suited to the ambiance of the Cadillac Lounge, a quiet, upscale lounge that looked like it was designed to cater to those with age and money, if it were in the real word. There were about four other couples in there, all dressed in dressy casual attire. In our flamboyant pirate costumes, the Sesame Street song “One of These Things” definitely applies. No one even gave us more than a glance of acknowledgement.
We sat down on some cushy chairs sans table, and one of the Disney crew came over. All of us but Jayme, henceforth known as The Wise One, ordered a martini. Margo had a Pick Cadillac. Pam had whatever the Drink of the Day was. As it was Pirate Night, I am sure it was rum based. I had an appletini.
The drinks arrived, and we were all underwhelmed, except for The Wise One, whose expectations were met perfectly. The Disneyette explained Margo drink. Some involving chemistry, in which her drink would change color. It was dark and I couldn’t make out all of what she said, so I don’t know what actually happened. She moved over to me, and blah, blah, no something or other in it, so it’s not green.
We tasted them and scrunched up faces abounded. We were reminded why it was we don’t drink hard liquor. There was something about the balance of the liquors in mine I found appealing enough to make a couple more attempts at it, but no.
Our waitress, when she came back several minutes later to check on us, was shocked that we all hated them and asked profusely if there was anything she could do to make them better. She may have offered to add a sweetener, but no one was in the mood. We hung around until we thought we could get into dinner and then left.
Dinner was at Tiana’s again. A comment Jessi made 10 years ago on Disney #1, “Fancy Food equals Gross Food”. I argued the other side of the point back then, but to be honest, I was sick of eating stuff that sounded like it was just concocted in a cooking school in New York. I ordered their strip steak, or at least I thought that’s what it was. I ended up with prime rib. It was good, so I did not care in the least. I don’t even remember a thing about the rest of the meal, other than I opted out of the dessert menu and asked for chocolate ice cream, following my brother’s lead of the past two days. My only complaint about that was I should have asked for a double portion. It was yummy.
During the jugglers show the ship’s Cruise Director had said to be up on deck at 10:20 to see the fireworks. We were up before 10 and as expected it was packed. We found a fair spot on Deck 10, and waited. The crew were trying to pump up the crowds, like on our sail away party. It was working great for the people in front of the stage (kids), but everyone else was pretty much tapping their feet waiting for the fireworks. They finally happened at 10:30. They were nice, but Margo was already well past the point of caring. She gave me a 10:30 deadline. If they don’t start by then, bed. I was with her. We have seen fireworks. We have even seen them over water, in the Caribbean. Sleep felt so much better. We were there 15 minutes later.
The live music was a lady on a piano, playing chamber music. This was perfectly suited to the ambiance of the Cadillac Lounge, a quiet, upscale lounge that looked like it was designed to cater to those with age and money, if it were in the real word. There were about four other couples in there, all dressed in dressy casual attire. In our flamboyant pirate costumes, the Sesame Street song “One of These Things” definitely applies. No one even gave us more than a glance of acknowledgement.
We sat down on some cushy chairs sans table, and one of the Disney crew came over. All of us but Jayme, henceforth known as The Wise One, ordered a martini. Margo had a Pick Cadillac. Pam had whatever the Drink of the Day was. As it was Pirate Night, I am sure it was rum based. I had an appletini.
The drinks arrived, and we were all underwhelmed, except for The Wise One, whose expectations were met perfectly. The Disneyette explained Margo drink. Some involving chemistry, in which her drink would change color. It was dark and I couldn’t make out all of what she said, so I don’t know what actually happened. She moved over to me, and blah, blah, no something or other in it, so it’s not green.
We tasted them and scrunched up faces abounded. We were reminded why it was we don’t drink hard liquor. There was something about the balance of the liquors in mine I found appealing enough to make a couple more attempts at it, but no.
Our waitress, when she came back several minutes later to check on us, was shocked that we all hated them and asked profusely if there was anything she could do to make them better. She may have offered to add a sweetener, but no one was in the mood. We hung around until we thought we could get into dinner and then left.
Dinner was at Tiana’s again. A comment Jessi made 10 years ago on Disney #1, “Fancy Food equals Gross Food”. I argued the other side of the point back then, but to be honest, I was sick of eating stuff that sounded like it was just concocted in a cooking school in New York. I ordered their strip steak, or at least I thought that’s what it was. I ended up with prime rib. It was good, so I did not care in the least. I don’t even remember a thing about the rest of the meal, other than I opted out of the dessert menu and asked for chocolate ice cream, following my brother’s lead of the past two days. My only complaint about that was I should have asked for a double portion. It was yummy.
During the jugglers show the ship’s Cruise Director had said to be up on deck at 10:20 to see the fireworks. We were up before 10 and as expected it was packed. We found a fair spot on Deck 10, and waited. The crew were trying to pump up the crowds, like on our sail away party. It was working great for the people in front of the stage (kids), but everyone else was pretty much tapping their feet waiting for the fireworks. They finally happened at 10:30. They were nice, but Margo was already well past the point of caring. She gave me a 10:30 deadline. If they don’t start by then, bed. I was with her. We have seen fireworks. We have even seen them over water, in the Caribbean. Sleep felt so much better. We were there 15 minutes later.
Day Eight--Wednesday, February 15, 2017
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It was another night of tossing and turning, trying to find a spot where I could breathe. It could be a lot worse. During the day I mostly feel fine. I’m stuff and I have to cough every now and then. But, by then of the day I am dog tired. Of course I was dog tired at the end of the day before I was feeling under the weather.
Today we were in Nassau, and going to be riding Segways. We were to group together at 7:30 AM down up on Deck 4. So, I was up a 6:30 AM, and Margo at least a half hour earlier. We had told Jayme that we would be skipping breakfast. Our plan had been to just grab a bagel of something, and not sit down. But, at 7:05, all four of us were walking out of our doors at the same time, so we figured we had time for something quick. We were right where we were supposed to be at 7:30 and they started handing out towels. I was puzzled and a bit annoyed. What the devil did I need a towel for to ride a Segway? As it turned out everyone in the room, about 30-40 people were going to a place called Blue Lagoon Cay. This had many activities on it, some of which, like the beach, you might get wet. I wasn’t in my swim trunks, and was not getting wet, today. At 7:30 AM, on vacation, I am in little mood to amend my state of mind. I put my towel back. We got off the ship and made our way to the staging area of the ferry. Nassau is on Nassau or Paradise Island. We needed to be on a much smaller piece of land, the old Salt Cay. We would later learn that this island has served a variety of purposes and has been known by several names, adding Treasure Island to those I have already mentioned. So a boat ride was needed to get there. The boat ride also included an occasional comment by the guides with us, showing us the multi-million dollar homes of Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods. The guide threw out figures like 10 million. We Americans do value our entertainment. I don’t begrudge them for earning and spending the money, but it is still a bunch. Makes me more envious than anything. If only I was rich, instead of so good looking. (Stop laughing). |
Nassau Port Tower and Administration Building
Atlantis Resort. Looks like the place to vacation on this island
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We arrived at the cay at about 9 AM. It is a beautiful little island, which has a tiny, Hollywood-like, opening through the island, into a stunningly beautiful lagoon. Blue water, rimmed with white sand, palm trees, protected by the ancient corral we had just passed through, and a little village for support. It made me forget why I was there, until I got the first glimpse of the segways leaning against a shack off to the right.
Our two guides, Jamillion and Leslie, greeted us, and we stowed our gear. It was just us four, plus one other couple from Great Britain. Margo and I were the only segway vets, this being our sixth experience. Pam was very apprehensive about this event. She was sure she was going to have trouble stepping onto the machine, and then balancing. But, she was fine. Jamillion helped her and they were buddies the whole rest of the tour. Jayme also had a great time. He had the hang of it a minute after he was on. They really are easy to ride. The hardest part is getting on. That is not much harder that stepping onto a stair.
Our two guides, Jamillion and Leslie, greeted us, and we stowed our gear. It was just us four, plus one other couple from Great Britain. Margo and I were the only segway vets, this being our sixth experience. Pam was very apprehensive about this event. She was sure she was going to have trouble stepping onto the machine, and then balancing. But, she was fine. Jamillion helped her and they were buddies the whole rest of the tour. Jayme also had a great time. He had the hang of it a minute after he was on. They really are easy to ride. The hardest part is getting on. That is not much harder that stepping onto a stair.
The tour itself was shorter and slower than past experiences. There was only one spot to get moving and as we had to ride single file and not pass the guide they very much controlled the speed. The scenery was nice. We stopped by a shark encounter station they are building, and got to see the nurse sharks swimming in the water.
We made another stop at McCutheon Tower, a twenty foot tower than has really nice views of the island. The top was accessed by a tight spiral staircase that was a bit too tight as you got to the top. But, we all made it and spent a few minutes just taking it all in.
There was one other stop, which allowed a picture to be taken, and then we were back to the beach. The whole thing lasted less than an hour. It was a nice romp through the trees and brush, and a good introduction to Segways for Pam and Jayme. I will be surprised if they don’t ride another in the foreseeable future.
We made another stop at McCutheon Tower, a twenty foot tower than has really nice views of the island. The top was accessed by a tight spiral staircase that was a bit too tight as you got to the top. But, we all made it and spent a few minutes just taking it all in.
There was one other stop, which allowed a picture to be taken, and then we were back to the beach. The whole thing lasted less than an hour. It was a nice romp through the trees and brush, and a good introduction to Segways for Pam and Jayme. I will be surprised if they don’t ride another in the foreseeable future.
Termite nest. We were told this is a small one
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A cannon protecting the approach the old approach to Blue Lagoon Cay
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This guy is part of the show at Blue Lagoon Cay. He's a captive animal
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McCutcheon Tower
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We were warned many times that the ship was leaving at 2:30 PM, with or without us. While there were other amusements to be had, there was also an actual city that we could at least explore the tourist section of. The next ferry back to Nassau was at 11 AM, and we were on it.
During both the ferry ride (there and back) and while on Salt Cay, we noticed places that had been damaged. I remembered that a hurricane had hit the area in 2016, but I thought it was in the summer. Hurricane Matthew had actually hit in October. We saw a few buildings with no roof, and one expensive looking estate that was heavily damaged, but also looked like the storm had only added to the deteriorated state, rather than caused it. We all wondered what circumstance had caused this multi-million dollar property to look like it had not been touched in many, many months.
But, that was all quickly forgotten as we got back to port and was pointed towards Bay Street, the shopping (and tourist) section of Nassau. We ended up hitting the various shops until about 1:30 PM. Pam discovered that diamonds were not cheap in the Bahamas. When she asked to see a tennis necklace that did not look much more than what she owned, she was informed it was $110,000. Whatever. A person could win the lottery and still feel like he was living a pauper’s life around the money here.
Margo and I found some touristy stuff, all at reasonable prices. We did not see any Disney logoed stuff, so for that you had go elsewhere. But stuff geared towards the Bahamas, we were in the right place. I got a nice polo shirt and a Del Sol t-shirt. Margo got a sweatshirt, and both got small rum cakes. The samples were pretty tasty. Those sold us. Being hungry did not hurt their chances of making a sale. Pam and Jayme also had no trouble spending money and had a couple of sacks when we found each other again.
During both the ferry ride (there and back) and while on Salt Cay, we noticed places that had been damaged. I remembered that a hurricane had hit the area in 2016, but I thought it was in the summer. Hurricane Matthew had actually hit in October. We saw a few buildings with no roof, and one expensive looking estate that was heavily damaged, but also looked like the storm had only added to the deteriorated state, rather than caused it. We all wondered what circumstance had caused this multi-million dollar property to look like it had not been touched in many, many months.
But, that was all quickly forgotten as we got back to port and was pointed towards Bay Street, the shopping (and tourist) section of Nassau. We ended up hitting the various shops until about 1:30 PM. Pam discovered that diamonds were not cheap in the Bahamas. When she asked to see a tennis necklace that did not look much more than what she owned, she was informed it was $110,000. Whatever. A person could win the lottery and still feel like he was living a pauper’s life around the money here.
Margo and I found some touristy stuff, all at reasonable prices. We did not see any Disney logoed stuff, so for that you had go elsewhere. But stuff geared towards the Bahamas, we were in the right place. I got a nice polo shirt and a Del Sol t-shirt. Margo got a sweatshirt, and both got small rum cakes. The samples were pretty tasty. Those sold us. Being hungry did not hurt their chances of making a sale. Pam and Jayme also had no trouble spending money and had a couple of sacks when we found each other again.
We were all hungry, which is what got us back on the boat an hour early. We went to Cabanas and I scored a table with a great view of the harbor and island. It was straight out of a movie. I don’t recall what I had, certainly fruit, which I had been eating a lot of on this trip, but I do recall that I did not eat as much as I normally would. As a matter of fact I think I actually lost two pounds while on this trip. We linger awhile, until the call of packing called Margo. We get off the ship tomorrow.
Jayme went down a deck to find us a seat. Pam went to take a nap. Margo was going to work on packing, and I needed my computer. I was about four days behind on at least taking notes for this letter. You don’t really think I remember all of this as it happened? I need all the help I can get.
Jayme had found us a reasonable quiet spot, and I worked until 4:30 or so typing notes. I actually did not type constantly. Jayme and I would gawk or just talk about the trip. We both agreed that even though we had had a great time, we were both ready to go back home. Not that a few more days off from work would do us any harm, but home sounded good.
We had a couple of errands left to run. First we need to make sure we were all set at Shutters. We had both purchased photo packages and wanted to make sure we did not have to sign something. We also wanted to view all of the pictures. I turned out we had 75 of them. More than I had expected, and we could have worked harder at having them taken. But as Margo spoke for all of with the statement “I’m all pictured out”
We also had the matter of tips. There are four people to tip each cruise; the guy who cleans up the suite, your two servers, and their boss. Disney will automatically charge a certain amount to your account to make things easy. You can go to Guest Services and increase or decrease that amount. We all agreed that our team deserved more.
We went there found the line surprisingly short and we soon had not only that chore taken care of, but Pam also got a new customs form. None of us were anywhere close to needing to declare anything. We had not purchased any liquor or tobacco.
Other than the final packing and getting luggage out by 10:30 to be picked up, we had two final things to do. Dinner and distributing the tips. We were not planning on going to Triton’s, the last restaurant. We were all sick of fancy food. We were all tired. Maybe not Jayme, he was going strong, but he wasn’t against skipping fine dining.
The tips went easy, and we found out when we talked to our servers that breakfast would be at 8:15 for us, at Tritons. So we would be eating there after all. Cabanas would be closed and no room service, so at least this choice was going to be an easy one.
I had thought Cabanas was open for dinner, but Pam thought she saw where they were closed. Turns out she was right. Plus the fast food places were closing up early, as it was the last night. I supposed this is when they would get the more detailed part of the maintenance schedule done. That left rethinking the Triton decision or room service. We all ended up opting for room service.
I had run out of gas again, and while I was hungry nothing sounded good. I ended up ordering a bowl of pineapple chunks and that, plus a pudding from the frig (we had brought snacks on with us) took care of me.
I stayed out of Margo’s way and helped her to weigh bags until everything was parked. Then we drug out three bags to the hall an hour before the deadline. I was done for and I went to bed. Margo followed shortly.
Day Nine--Thursday, February 16, 2017
Our last real vacation day was behind us, and all that was left was the travel and hurdles associated with that. It won’t be necessary to go too deep into those, which were a reverse of getting to Port Canaveral, only accomplished in a single day.
Out big issue of the day continued to be all of the luggage. Margo and I had three big pieces that we checked, plus four total carry-ons. Pam and Jayme, the same. That is a lot of bags for 8 hands. Luckily at every stop there was someone on hand to help out, with only the promise of a little cash as incentive. I think I am pass the days of puffing out my chest and thinking I don’t need help. I’m gimpy, asthmatic, and fat. I need help.
We made to the airport and had to wait for several hours to check our bags. The flight I booked was not until 6:30 PM. We were off the ship at 9 AM, and only had an hour’s worth of travel time. I know I had to rule out several flights because they were much more expensive, but I probably could have done better. I did check availability when we got to the airport. It would have been $200 per person to swap flights, because of the difference in price. It was not worth $400 per couple to save five hours.
So we waited. Orlando’s airport is rich in shops and we all took a turn guarding bags and exploring them. We had an airport lunch, which was not as overpriced as Denver. When we could check bags, Pam and Jayme discovered that they had two bags well over weight. We thought they might be. Jayme did not care, he was planning to pay the fee, until he was told it was $75 per bag. He was expecting less than half that.
The lady that weight them came up with a solution. Southwest sold fair size tote bags, which could serve as another checked bag. Buy that for $25, stuff 15 lbs. into it, and the other two bags would clear. Worked and saved them $125.
More waiting once we found our gate. More exploring. The plane ride back was uneventful. Bumpy in a few spots. I had filled that time, plus most of the waiting typing this letter. So, for me at least, the time was not wasted.
The one thing that did surprise me about the flight was that after an hour of typing, I glanced up, and saw the lights of a big city. I don’t end up flying a lot at night and most of those are in the west. There are not that may large cities to overfly. But, from the point I looked up, until near home, I could almost always look up and see city lights, never knowing which city it was, but still surprising that America had become that urbanized. Well, at least in the southeast and Midwest.
We all had a pretty good time. I most enjoyed the things that were brand new; Skull Island ride at Islands of Adventure, Nassau, the Glass Bottom boat, and Salt Cay. The other stuff was pretty good, too. Being in a consistently warm climate was nice.
I think Margo agreed with me on what was most fun. Pam and Jayme loved everything. It was almost all new, fresh, and exciting to them. Neither of them had ever been to a foreign country, taken a cruise, seen the ocean, or ridden a Segway. They visited three different world class amusement parks, and taken a glass bottom boat ride. Not bad for one vacation.
We don’t know about next year. I’m leaning towards a road trip up to North Dakota. But, we could use air miles and do San Francisco. I definitely want to do something completely new, and ticking a state off my list would be a big plus, as well. I guess I have some time.
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