Coffee on the Verandah - Let the Festival Begin - 5/13

[that's nice]

For a relaxing, do-nothing afternoon, you guys were sure busy!

The adult pool area looks like a joke. There is hardly any room there.

Glad you found the bigger area.

That cheese plate and wine looks good!

[Disney9.9.10]

I think that those ships have a serious design flaw with the adult deck. It should have an adult only entrance and not have a bunch of people and children wandering through it to get to other areas. I know that it is a Disney cruise, but I like my adult time too!

Sounds like you had a bit of a stressful morning, but I'm glad that Kendall made it!

[mickeystoontown]

Oh the picture of you Jeff together is so cute! I love your hat!

It's too bad that you didn't find the adult-only section sooner. It looks quite nice.

[MEK]

So now I know the correct location to get away from all kids. Cool! Sorry it took you so long to find it. There must be so many little (and big) nooks and crannies on that ship.

Glad Kendall was able to at least get a pedi. Better than nothing.

So the moral of this story is I better send a Wave phone everywhere with Denny because he is certain to get lost and misplaced.

[Angies1274]

Great updates!

Your meal at the Royal Palace looks very yummy and your family picture and the individual shots turned out great!!

Your Palo brunch looked wonderful as well. YUM!

Wow! The adult pool does look small….and crowded. So much for relaxation there. Glad you were able to find a more relaxing spot!

[rentayenta]

Full bikini? Hot mama! You're motivating me to do a few sit ups right here in my office.


Great update. I think Michael really needs to reevaluate his whole anti-cruise stance. I think he'd like the whole checking in with kids thing while we do our own thing.

[jeremysdisneymom]

Great update! I hated where the adult only area was on the ship. I really felt bad when you walked through there with Jeremy. It was all so confusing anyway and if you ended up on that elevator there was no way to avoid it. Funny thing was that it was never crowded like it was on your day. Tom and I had it to ourself one day while Jeremy was in the other pool watching funnel vision.

Anxious to see what you did. Oh, and did you book another cruise? I hadn't heard about that. How exciting if you did!! I am looking at a 7 day for 2014. Summer is getting hard to plan with all of Jeremys scout camps and 4-H plus I go to an annual conference in the summer each year. Trying to find a right time that will work with Tom taking minimal vacation time.

[Captain_Oblivious]

Lots of drama for a relaxing afternoon! I'm glad you were finally able to find a spot to get away from the crowds/kids/wind. Whew!

[KatMark]

Great update, Cynthia. However, your "do nothing day" seems to have been a lot of doing a lot of somethings.

Too bad you didn't find the more "private adult area" until later in the pool time. I thought your self-portrait turned out just fine.

Glad that Kendall finally found her way to the spa and at least got part of her treatment. And if I were the boys ages, I'd probably rather do the Aquaduck rather than a comedy show myself.

[PracPerfPatricia]

I took something for my back two hours ago (so I'm not currently the sharpest knive in the drawer) and have no idea what to say about your room situation for NYE other than I really hope it all works out and you get exactly what you want...

The brunch at Palo looks yummy... it's weird that more people aren't there... Sleeping still...?

I love the adult area that you eventually found... that would so totally be me... Very pretty part of ship... great design...

I have to say I'm on you with the Kendall thing... I think I'd have needed more check in time... but a lot of men seem more laid back with the kind of thing... I think it was nice that she still got to get a pedicure...

I'm sure that David would have absolutely preferred doing the Aqua Duck to just about anything else...

you are rockin that 'kini...

[2xcited2sleep]

First off, before I forget, thanks for the french onion soup recipe. Made it this weekend and... YUM!!!! Not as good as if sitting in "France" and being served by a cute waiter but a close second.

I would have been so stressed worrying over whether Kendall would make it to her appointment. Glad she got there even if it was only for a partial treatment.

Have to say that the photos of the pools on the Disney (& other) cruise lines scare me. I know there are a hundred other activities to do while onboard but I am a beach bum at heart. I love the lounge chair and parking it there with a good book. It looks so small!! But then again there is Castaway Cay... which looks like

[Mndisneygirl]

It seems there must be a reason why all cruise ship pools are so small relative to the number of passengers. I just don't know what it is!

I can totally see why Kendall got lost - she probably didn't think she should be near the adult area and had to work around/through that to find the spa! Well at least she got her pedi!

Lots of people complain about that design flaw with the adult area - don't you also have to go through cabanas to go to the pool deck or something weird?

You look awesome in that bikini! All that exercise is worth it. Almost inspires me to start working out. Almost.

What could you do with your free time?...hmm...gosh, I have no idea.

[Chilly]

Doesn't seem to be the best design for a ship does it, very claustrophobic. Glad Kendall made her pedi, as the spa is pretty expensive it would have been terrible to lose the money. I've had 2 massages on board but not sure I will again because of the cost even with my bad back.

[glennbo123]

I'm glad that Kendall made it to part of her appointment and didn't miss the whole thing. I'm sure the inability to communicate was frustrating. Everyone's on vacation, so you want them to have fun...but every so often, information needs to be conveyed, right?

That adult pool didn't look like my thing -- a little too close quarters.

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by EastYorkDisneyFan

Just popping in to let you know the pool at the front of the Dream and Fantasy is actually part of the Teen club and not the CM pool like it was on the Magic and Wonder.

Ah, didn't realize, I forgot they had that small water feature area as part of their sun deck. Funny that not a single teen was out there!

Originally Posted by dizneeat

Great update, Cynthia.

I really had to when you wrote about your quest to find the best adult areas, as the same exact thing happened to us, only that it took until the last part of a back to back to find them.

Talk about not being remotely intuitive! And then what is odd is that wonderful true adult deck, with the nice loungers really has very very few loungers for the available deck space.

Originally Posted by dizneeat

Acccording to our CM friends on board, the area that you thought was the CM pool is actually the teen's pool area.
On the Wonder it was the CM pool and when we saw the one on the DREAM we were pretty impressed with the stylish chairs and all, so we mentioned it to Ana and she laughed and told us that this was a teens area.

I knew they had a sun deck, forgot that it had a small water feature as well. K and her group didn't spend much time in that part of Vibe so I didn't know all that much about it.

Originally Posted by dizneeat

Your boys ARE right, the time of the first show/first dinner seating IS the time to hit the Aquaduck. We rode it 6 times in the summer, with NO line at all. It is also the time to hit the adult pool. We were the only people in there around that time and it was fun to have the pool and hot tub to ourselves.

It is and we knew that which is why we didn't fight them on it. I was just a little surprised as often they might pick a show with us over pool but not this time, or cruise. Sniff!

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

Sorry that you weren't able to totally relax! Still sounds like a pretty good day to me! To be honest, sea days sound so nice to me, for me they are one of the things that attract me to cruising. More so than going to specific destinations. I just feel being in a port for a day would never really get me a feeling of the place I visited, so why bother. That's why after the upcoming cruise I have the feeling that if I like it the next one might be a transatlantic...

That is what my parents love, they go on crazy long cruises! A 2 week one in the spring but they did 41 days last year. I like the at sea days but 17 of them would be a bit much for me (how many they had). Jeff had been anti- cruise for that reason, you are in port for such a short time you can't do all that much. He'd rather just go to the place and really immerse. Which to a large degree I agree with.

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

I think the adult area you found later on is an area that on the Fantasy got a water feature that looks very interesting.

It did get an adult only water feature added. It isn't a pool, really, looks more like a bench where you can sit and get your feet wet, or sit in wading pool depth water with a "waterfall" riainging down on you, at least from the pictures. It does help use the empty space on the satellite deck but I do think they blew it on both ships with out more regular pool area, and deeper water for it.

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

Stupid question: if you aren't sitting directly at a bar, are there servers coming around bringing you drinks or do you have to get up and get them yourself? I kind of like the idea of being totally lazy!!!

Well yes and no. My experience on both ships was they walk around with the DOD at certain times. It didn't seem like all the time but maybe it is, others can probably weigh in more on this. We never ordered one from a lounger so while I'm sure you could ask them for something else, I never tried. I know on the Wonder, it was too cold for most folks so no one was out when we were in the pool/hot tub and we would just walk over to the bar which there, is close to the pool unlike the setup on the Dream. That said they also have DOD "stands" all over the place at certain times and you can grab something there as well. Long answer is I think it varies by ship, at sea versus port day and where you are on the ship.

Originally Posted by natebenma

Tea on the Verandah?

You shall see!

Originally Posted by MeMom

The pool is definitely crowded. Glad you found a quiet place to hang out. I would have had to get out of the wind, too. Wind is not my friend because of my already crazy hair.

I don't think wind is anyone's friend, especially women. My hair whips around like crazy and can take out an eye! Or at least that's what it feel like when it whips my face.

Originally Posted by MeMom

Nice to know about the Aquaduck during the first seating, in case we do ever sail.

It's nice to see pictures of warmer days.

I imagine it is the same during 2nd seating as well. It is a tradeoff, if there is a show you will miss the show for the pool.tub/slide time but sometimes that is absolutely the right call! I could really go for some sun myself.