Magic 5-night March 2017

[anricat]

Hello all! Here I am with another trip report from our latest cruise. Trip reports from our previous cruises are in my signature.

Here is the cast of characters:

Summer: me, trip planner
Roger: my DH
Emmaline: my DD, age 8
Jan: my mom
Steve: Jan's husband, my step-father

This was our fourth cruise with DCL. We’ve previously sailed on the Dream (3-night Bahamas), the Magic (5-night Caribbean Halloween), and the Wonder (7-night Alaskan). We booked this cruise from a placeholder we made while on the Wonder. We weren’t planning on using it for this cruise, but my parents decided they were ready to see what all the fuss was about and so we booked this one to take together. We had two staterooms on deck 2 midship, oceanview category 9B. Our rooms weren't connecting. Their room was just slight forward of the midship elevator lobby, starboard, and ours was a little aft of the midship elevator lobby, also starboard. This was our second time on deck 2 and we love it!

Thursday March 16, 2017
Travel Day: Austin, TX to Fort Lauderdale

Steve and my mom picked us up to go to the airport and take his car. He gets 5 days of free parking at the airport as a disabled vet so we opted to take advantage of that. Our 11:10 AM flight to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) on Southwest was uneventful and we landed on time at 2:45.

I had gone round and round with how to deal with transit and accommodations for this one - looking at all the different options. For our last cruise out of Miami, we took a shuttle to the Intercontinental for the night and then took a taxi the next morning. Since there were five of us, we needed two rooms and there were more people to shuttle. Eventually, we decided to rent a minivan at the airport and stay in FLL, returning the car to the Avis in downtown Miami and taking their shuttle to the port.

I found a nice time share on the beach that we rented through VRBO. We were able to get a two bedroom suite for much less than reserving two rooms. And, I thought it could be fun to be on the beach. What I didn’t count on was spring break! Even though the airport was only 4 miles from our hotel, it took us an hour to get there. All told, by the time we arrived at our hotel, even though we landed on time at 2:45, it was already past 5 when we checked in.

We dumped our suitcases and waded through the crazy wall-to-wall spring breakers to a local restaurant called Coconuts. We were worried about getting a table but we lucked out and were able to get seated right away.

After dinner we rearranged our luggage in preparation for embarkation and went to bed early.

 

[anricat]

Friday March 17, 2017
Embarkation Day, Miami

We woke up and got dressed and packed and went to breakfast a little bit down the (now completely deserted) road at Boccaccino Cafe. It was basic breakfast foods with eggs and such and we were back to the room around 9:30. We checked out, loaded up the car and started the trek to Miami. The traffic was pretty regular (aka horrible) and it took us well over an hour. Steve and my mom dropped Roger, Emmaline and I off at the port with all the bags while they returned the car. We had a port arrival time of 11 and theirs, as first time cruisers was 11:30. We arrived pretty much exactly at 11 and checked in, got our Navigator and were assigned boarding group 3.

At around 11:30, my mom texted that they were back at the port and I met them outside of security around 11:40. I took them to the check in line where they received boarding number 7. I said, “Oh that’s not bad, you’ll be on board pretty much right after us, or we can just wait for you.” The woman at the counter said, “Oh, what number do you have?” I told her we were 3. She took my parents card back, tore it up and presented them with a new card that had a 3 on it. That was very nice of her.

Shortly thereafter, around 11:50, they started boarding and group 3 was called about 5 minutes later and we were through the photos, and onboard at almost exactly noon. First we went down to Carioca’s for the buffet, only to find it’s now table service like they rolled out recently on the Wonder. We didn’t really want that menu so we went up to Cabanas, but it wasn’t crazy yet and so we had a pretty good pick of seats, though it was inexplicably hot up there so I took off my sweater (it was a little chilly in Miami) with a high of only about 70 (yes, I say “only” because that isn’t particularly warm for Miami and with a high temp of 70, it actually was in the mid-60s in the morning.

Here's our embarkation photo with the completely wrong itinerary on it. (Though we did do this itinerary in October 2015 and it's a good one, too, just not the right one for this cruise.)



After lunch, Emmaline wanted to go to the pool and the Twist and Spout slide. We hadn’t worn our swimsuits under our clothes like we have in the past because the weather had actually been a little chilly and we weren’t sure we wanted to swim. But she decided that she did so I took her to the bathroom and she changed while everyone else grabbed some poolside chairs.

While she swam and everyone else chilled our next to the pool, I ran down to give our bottle of wine to the dining team in Lumiere’s to chill. They told me that unless we wanted it that night, it would be better to bring it to the dining team at dinner. After that, I ran up to the fitness center to see what the schedule would be for spin classes on the sailing and when the sign ups would be. Instead of 24 hours in advance of the class like on the Wonder in August, she said I could sign up for any of them right then. So I signed up for 9:15 on our sea day.

By the time I was done with all that and went back to the pool, it was 1:30 and our rooms were ready so I went to go drop off our stuff and show mom and Steve to their room while Roger and Emmaline stayed at the pool. I had two backpacks, Roger’s sweatshirt and my purse that I was lugging around. I got to the door of our room on deck 2 and tapped my KTTW card and it wouldn’t open. I tried again. The handle didn’t budge. So up I went with all the bags up a level to Guest Services. They issued me a new card and I trekked back down and tried again. Nope. The light blinked green, but the handle wouldn’t budge. I used the phone near the elevators to call and they said they would send someone. While I waited, I tried and tried, getting odd looks from passersby, while I awkwardly swore to them it was our room. Finally, the handle turned and the door opened just as maintenance and our stateroom host arrived. Of course. Feeling like an idiot, I went in and dropped our stuff off and organized a few things.

Roger and Emmaline came back from the pool shortly thereafter and she showered and changed for our Facebook group meet up at 2:30 in the Promenade Lounge. Roger stayed in the room and had a rest. After that, we went back to the room where we found that some of our luggage had arrived so we unpacked a bit and Emmaline decorated the our door (and mom and Steve’s door) in advance of our muster drill at 4 PM.

After the muster drill, Roger took Emmaline to the sailing away party on deck 9, while I went to go see if the Future Cruise desk was open because I was anxious to rebook our cruise (I had booked it opening day and the price hadn’t changed so I was eager to rebook with the onboard booking benefits before the price went up). They would open later that evening. Then I went up to the sailing away party and relieved Roger who went back to the room to relax a bit more and unpack. Mom and Steve decided not to go to the party. They were in their room or went to Cove or Keys or something.

I love how happy Emmaline is in this photo. Amusingly enough the brown haired girl with pigtails right next to her ended up being our table mate!



Our show that night was early at 5:30 instead of the usual 6:15 (we had second seating dinner) because they were showing the new Beauty and the Beast movie PremEar for it’s release day. So we didn’t have the normal welcome show that night. We all really enjoyed the movie!

At some point, I realized that I was missing my sweater and after rifling through the room half a dozen times with no success, we through back to the last time I had it, which we decided was in Cabana’s at lunch. I went off to Guest Services to see if they had it, but they didn’t. I checked a couple more times over the course of the evening, but it wasn’t there. And unfortunately, it was my only sweater and I often get cold in the theatre and dining room so I was anxious to have it back.

After the movie, Roger and Emmaline returned to the room to further organize and unpack while I went to the future cruise desk (which has inexplicably been renamed to the “Disney Vacation Planning Desk”) and rebooked our cruise at 10% off. Woo!!!

At 8:15, we went to our first dinner in Carioca’s where we met our serving team of Jay (server) and Tiago (assistant server) who were fabulous. We also had some table mates that had a daughter who was also 8 years old. They were nice and the girls made friends, though they did have a few ups and downs throughout the cruise so it wasn’t quite as great of a friendship as she made on our last two cruises with the girls she met. A couple of nights ended in tears and things were a little difficult a couple of times.

Dinner was good. Carioca’s isn’t my favorite menu, but I was happy enough and full before we all went to bed so we could be fresh and ready for our first port of call the next morning, Key West.

Roger and I at Carioca's.

 

[KBOhio]

Following along. I enjoyed your Alaska trip report and excited to find you have another one started!

 

[anricat]

Following along. I enjoyed your Alaska trip report and excited to find you have another one started!

Aw, shucks! Thank you.

 

[anricat]

Saturday March 18, 2017
Key West

One thing I didn’t realize when I booked our room was that it was a connecting stateroom to the one next to it. This ended up being less than ideal. First, we were missing an entire piece of furniture—the little chest of drawers that usually resides at the foot of the bed was a door and second, we could hear the neighbors pretty well through the door.

Somewhere between 5:45 and 6 AM, a chiming sounded from the other room, waking me up. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but it continued. It was some kind of alarm clock - probably on their phone. It finally stopped and I tried to go back to sleep, only to hear it start in again 10 minutes later. This time it went on forever. Finally, it stopped. I got comfortable again and it went off again 10 minutes later. This time I counted. That stupid thing chimed 38 times. No joke. 10 minutes later? You guessed it! Finally, at 6:30 (ten minutes before my own alarm) I got up, tossed on my running clothes and made my way up to deck four for a run.

It was still dark and Key West was approaching as I started my run, passing someone running in the wrong direction. I surpassed the desire to give them the stink eye and continued running until I hit the section of track that enters the forward mooring station where it was roped off. “Mooring Operations Underway.” Fantastic. So I ran back the other way and soon realized that the five or so other people out running were making a big “U” turning at the forward mooring station on each side. Each time a new runner would enter the fun, I could see them debate about giving me the stink eye and then upon realizing what was going on, would settle into our little silent agreement to run a “U” keeping to the right and being careful in the little narrow aft section.

My GPS recorded my run and it's quite an interesting interpretation!


After about 30 minutes we were docked in Key West, the sun was shining and I finished my run, making my way to deck 9 to get a snack, knowing that I would still be the only one in my family awake (unless that stupid phone was still merrily chiming away and woke everyone else).

I relaxed on deck 9 with a croissant and some hot cocoa and checked my email and Facebook since we were in a US port. After awhile I made my way back to the room and showered and Roger and Emmaline got up and the three of us went to breakfast at Cabana’s. Mom and Steve just had some light pastries and fruit from Daisy’s de Lites up on deck 9. Around 9:30 we were all ready to disembark and made our way over to the Shipwreck Museum. Our admission price included a short 15 minute tour at the beginning, which we enjoyed, then we spent time exploring the museum. They also had an observation tower with an incredible view of the island (including the Magic).



After leaving the museum, we found the bus stop for the hop on hop off trolley we had reserved and we all got on and began the ride around the loop. We got off the trolley first at the Southernmost Point, which was absolutely MOBBED with people. There was a long line you could wait in if you wanted a photo alone with the marker. We didn’t and just took some quick photos in the distance that have other people in them. Oh well. Leaving there, Steve decided he wanted to rent a golf cart to ride around in. We began our walk to our lunch destination—a sandwich shop—but it wasn’t really what Mom was interested in so Steve picked us up in the cart and we made our way to another option. That place had an hour wait, so we tried a few other places without much luck. One of the places had available seating at the bar, but Roger and I weren’t really interested in eating lunch at a bar so Roger, Emmaline and I went back to our original little sandwich shop while Mom and Steve ate there and then we regrouped at the Earnest Hemingway Home.



The home was nice and the grounds lush and beautiful. Roger did the tour, but Emmaline was primarily interested in the cats so I followed her around to find them. I think I would have gotten more enjoyment from the property if I had been more of a fan, but I recall reading the Old Man and the Sea when I was in junior high and thought it boring. I haven’t picked it up since to try again.



We left the Hemingway Home and decided to split up because Emmaline and I were feeling done with Key West. My mom and Steve set off to explore in their golf cart, Emmaline and I went to do a little shopping and then go back to the ship, while Roger stayed behind to do some rum tasting.

On the way back to the ship, I stopped in a little clothing store near the trolley stop and found myself a new sweater. Mine never did turn up. I hope the new owner is enjoying their cheap cardigan from Old Navy. (Grr.) We also bought our requisite fridge magnet to commemorate a new destination. We have quite a collection going on the fridge of places we have visited.

Once back on board, Emmaline and I changed into our swimsuits and had some snacks, watched the funnel vision and did some swimming on deck 9. The show this evening was Twice Charmed and it was also “optional dress up” night. We changed into our fancy clothes and went up to see Twice Charmed. I had thought maybe Roger and I would skip, and Emmaline could go with my parents but she really wanted us to all go together so we did and I was actually glad I saw it again, as it was better than I remembered.

After the show, we took some formal photos together in the lobby before my mom and Steve went off to Keys to enjoy a drink together before dinner. We visited with the captain and then met with Minnie and Donald in their formal wear since we missed them last cruise on formal night. (We still need Daisy and Chip and Dale - next time!) Dinner was in Lumiere’s and we all enjoyed ourselves before going back to the room to collapse into bed to prepare to enjoy a nice day at sea the following day.

 

[ironz]

Yay, oh yay!! Y'all take the best photos. Can't wait to read more!

 

[anricat]

Yay, oh yay!! Y'all take the best photos. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you!!

 

[anricat]

Sunday March 19, 2017
Day at Sea

Our day at sea promised to be jam packed with activities. Once again, I awoke to the sounds of the neighbors alarm clock. This time they weren’t so snooze-happy and I was able to get back to sleep. Still, as per usual, I awoke before anyone else and went to have a snack on deck 9. I came back to the room and Emmaline and Roger woke up and got ready. At 9:15 Emmaline went off to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique with my mom supervising while I went to spin class and Roger went for a run on deck 4. I believe Steve relaxed in their stateroom.

My spin class was a great workout and I enjoyed it very much. After class at 10, I met Emmaline and my mom back at our stateroom where I did some slight hair restyling to add the special Rapunzel hair piece I made to go with her dress before I took Emmaline to the princess meet and greet at 10:15. After the princess meet, Roger met us in the atrium and he and Emmaline went off to meet Captain America at 10:45 while I went back to the room to shower (I went to the princess meet still sweaty) in preparation for a visit to Palo with my mom and Steve for brunch.



At 11:30 I met up with them and the three of us went up to Palo where we had an amazing brunch. Roger and I have had dinner in Palo twice and while it’s good, and nice to get away just the two of us, I was never wowed by the food. I was wowed at brunch, though. It was so delicious. The antipasti was always my favorite at dinner and this was antipasti on steroids. It was so good. I think I sampled almost all the dessert items! The chocolate covered strawberries were amazing and that little cream puff with the hazelnut cream was one of my favorites. I did order the artichoke ravioli off the menu and they were good, but the other items at the buffet were better.



While we were dining at Palo, Roger and Emmaline went the Frozen meet and greet at 11:30 and then to Shutters to look at our photos. After that, they continued their daddy/daughter time with lunch together in Lumiere’s before doing some shopping and then returning to the stateroom to relax and await our return.

We returned from Palo and I took Emmaline to the character dance party at 1:15 (which was inexplicably on the paper Navigator but not in the Navigator app on the phone so I almost missed it). After that, we returned to the room to consider our options and decided upon towel folding at 2 PM. Towel folding was a lot more fun than I anticipated and Emmaline was pretty good at it. In Alaska in August, she had a private towel folding session with our stateroom host so maybe she retained some of that!



After that, Emmaline and I went up to deck 9 for a “snack” before going back to the atrium to meet up with everyone to watch Jack Jack’s Diaper Dash at 3. After laughing at the babies, at 3:15 we went to O’Gills Pub, er, I mean, the Snugly Duckling to see what the Snugly Duckling takeover was all about. They sang some songs and then played “Thugo” (a quick game of free Bingo with Rapunzel characters). Mom and Steve decided to go off on their own to Quiet Cove so we parted company.



We popped into the Star Wars shop next to Fathoms and Emmaline saw the book of pins and decided wanted to do some pin trading, so we took her to trade some pins with the people in the shops and while there, I bought a t-shirt and Emmaline got a little set of Rapunzel play figures. Back in the room, we tried to figure out what to do next. I convinced Emmaline to give the club a try and go for the Rapunzel lantern making activity. She somewhat reluctantly went up there. She’s been not so keen on the clubs on our last couple of cruises. A crew member told me that 8 is a tough age for the club/lab.

While she was at the club, I ordered some room service for her return: All Hands on Deck platter (cheese and crackers), hot cookies and fruit. A few minutes after placing the order, there was a knock at the door. That was fast! I opened the door to find a crew member holding a single plate while she opened to reveal a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries. Wow! There was a note apologizing for the difficulties with the room. It was very nice of them. Then another 10 minutes or so and our room service was there. While Emmaline was gone, Roger and I made use of our alone time to watch cartoons on the stateroom TV. Heh.



An hour later, Emmaline wasn’t back, but I knew the craft would be done so I went up to check on her. She was playing some games on an iPad. I asked her if she wanted to come back and have some snacks and she did so she came back to the room and we all snacked while watching Rapunzel on the TV until it was time to go see Rapunzel the Musical in the Walt Disney Theatre.

After the show it was time for Officer Pin Trading outside the theatre and Emmaline traded all the pins she had wanted to trade. Pretty much every time we’re on board we get a new cache of pins. I’m pretty sure it’s about the trading and not the pins at this point. Though she did get some cool pins this time so I’m hoping I can convince her to keep some of these. She has a few she keeps each time.

After trading, we went to Fathoms to watch JunNk perform a variety show. They were really quite good. They had a similar thing going to Stomp with percussion elements, comedy, dance, and singing. It was a fun show. I would have liked to see them perform longer and in the big theatre. Hopefully on a future cruise they will be on board again. After that it was time for dinner and we were in Animator’s which is always a favorite. Even though she knows he’s coming, Emmaline still gets excited to see Sorcerer Mickey. Seeing her face light up, I might have gotten a little something in both my eyes…

 

[TestingH2O]

Seeing her face light up, I might have gotten a little something in both my eyes…

So special. Those are amazing moments. You are so lucky you caught it on camera.

 

[ironz]

Wonderful! Her Rapunzel costume is perfect. You are so talented.

 

[fltink]

Can you tell me who your cruise director was?

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Some of my family are on the Magic right now with the KW, Nassau, CC itinerary! I've loved reading through yours! It's making me wish that my mom and I had looked into this cruise more..rather than the 4 night Dream one we had just taken!!

 

[anricat]

Can you tell me who your cruise director was?

Our cruise director was Leslie and the captain was Jason.

 

[anricat]

Monday March 20, 2017
Nassau

I debated about getting up and working out this morning, but I decided to sleep in and take it easy in the morning. Still, I was up before everyone else so I went off to deck 9 to have some snacks. After a bit, I came back to the room and got everyone else up. We opened the curtain and there was an ambulance there loading someone on. I didn’t mention in my previous post about the events from the night before.

The night before, while I was putting Emmaline to sleep, around 10:45, I heard screaming in the hallway near our room. At first, I dismissed it as kids, but then I realized that it was legitimate distress. I opened the stateroom door (as did many) to see a woman running down the hall with someone in her arms frantic screaming, "HELP ME!!!! HELP!" Someone was on the phone calling to get her help. I was so shaken and I can still hear her voice. Unfortunately, the ambulance increased my concern. I did find later that the woman (who was on our Facebook cruise group) had found her daughter having a seizure (the girl had never had one before). They got medical attention in Nassau and then boarded the Magic again, only to have another. They were told by Disney that they could not continue the cruise, but found themselves without passports. Eventually they did get home and their daughter has been diagnosed with a form of adolescent epilepsy and will be on anti-seizure medication until she outgrows it. It was brought on by fatigue and lack of sleep. I'm so relieved that everyone is (more or less) okay and that they got home, though I feel badly at how their trip ended. Nobody wants that. The moral of this story is to travel with passports and trip insurance because you NEVER KNOW.

Moving on, we all met up for breakfast in Cabana’s where I had made to order eggs which made my breakfast immensely better. The stuff that they call “eggs” in the buffet are…not. We left breakfast and regrouped and disembarked from the ship around 10 AM. We walked over to the Pirates of Nassau museum. We all really enjoyed the museum. It wasn’t overly big - we probably spent 30-40 minutes there. I had some neat stuff and a lot of good information. I liked the way it was arranged. Someone put some thought into it.



At this point we decided to split up because Roger was interested in going to John Watling’s Distillery and the rest of us weren’t interested. Mom, Steve, Emmaline and I walked back toward the ship, hitting the straw market on the way. Steve bought a ball cap that said Nassau and Emmaline wanted a little wooden turtle. After that, we made our way back to the ship, getting back on board around 11:30. Mom, Steve and I were ready for lunch so we made our way up to Cabana’s after dropping things off in our rooms.



Right as we sat down at Cabana’s, we had a message that Roger was reboarding the ship so he came back and ate with us. He said that the distillery was okay but not great, but that on the way back he spotted some rum at a local shop he was interested in taking home. With regards to John Watling’s, the house is nice and has a lot of historical photos, but the distillery itself is a plain warehouse, so nothing interesting to see there. There’s a “tavern” in the house where you can buy a flight or a cocktail when your done walking around for the few minutes it takes.

After lunch, he disembarked again and went to buy the rum while Emmaline and I went to go find some activities and Mom and Steve went to spend the afternoon in Quiet Cove. Emmaline and I decided to go to the Promenade Lounge where there was a tile coasters craft happening. We got there a couple of minutes late but had no trouble jumping in and making our coasters. We each made one and it was a fun little craft. After that, we stayed in the Promenade Lounge for Pirate Trivia. The questions were pretty hard, but Emmaline’s class at school is studying pirates and she did really well! Ultimately, we came in second place. The woman in first, however, was so impressed with Emmaline’s performance that she gave her the prize - a luggage tag. Emmaline was super excited.

We went back up to the room to meet up with Roger who had made it back to the ship and was having a little rest in the room. Emmaline wanted to change in her pirate costume and I decided it was time for some alone time so I went to Quiet Cove with my Kindle and Roger took Emmaline to the Pirate and Princess party in D Lounge. Eventually, we regrouped on deck 9 for some snacks. While we were up there, they announced a hula hoop contest. First, the dads went. That wasn’t much of a contest. All the hoops dropped to the deck straight away. Then mom. I entered and didn’t win, but came in second with a pretty good run. Then boys went and finally the girls. They had so many girls that they did three rounds of 5 girls each. Emmaline was in the last round. The girls were so good and it was going on for so long they had them do things like step forward and backward, stand on one leg, etc. She’s pretty good at hula hoop and as a gymnast, she has a lot of strength and flexibility. She got up there and won her round! She was so excited. It was very cute. And just by happenstance, Mom and Steve had made their way out of Quiet Cove in search of snacks just in time to see her win it.

After we were done snacking, we went back to the Promenade Lounge for “Pirate Crafts” which turned out to be pretty lame. They had a paper pirate hat you could cut out. You win some, you lose some, I guess. From there, it was time to meet all the pirates in their costumes. She met Goofy, Stitch, Minnie, Mickey, and Hook & Smee. While she was greeting, Roger and I took turns getting ourselves decked out in our pirate gear and eventually Mom and Steve appeared in their pirate outfits.





Eventually it was time for our show for the evening, Hector is Magic. On our previous sailing (on the Wonder in August) we had a magician and he wasn’t that great, but I really enjoyed Hector. He did some more standard magic stuff (cutting in half, switching and disappearing, etc.) but he also had a really interesting shadow puppet thing he did with his hands that was fascinating that was actually one of my favorite parts of the show.

After the show, I took Emmaline directly to deck 9 to prep for the pirate party. Before the show, I chatted with Darrell for a couple of minutes and he commented on our costumes. I’m not sure if I mentioned Darrell previously. He’s on the Cruise Staff team (wears those navy and red striped shirts with white shorts and dances at the Sailing Away party and does some of the activities on board). Anyway, I remembered Darrell from our last time aboard the Magic because he was so complimentary of our Halloween costumes and was so nice to us, it really made me feel so great. So on the first day I saw him and introduced myself and he said he remembered us and was glad to see us again. He’s just the friendliest guy. So we chatted several times over the course of the cruise. He’s one of those crew members you can tell just really loves his job, loved being there and is always giving 110% (honestly, that’s a huge majority of the crew, but there are always a couple that stick out).



Emmaline danced and had a great time at the pirate party. I stayed down on deck 9 with her. Roger was up on deck 10 and my mom and Steve came for a bit, but decided it was louder and more crowded than they wanted so they went elsewhere. At 7:30, I was wondering if it was going to be dark enough for fireworks, and I was concerned about wind but by 8 PM, it was plenty dark. Though there was still some wind which prevented Captain Mickey from doing his little zip line stunt, but the fireworks went off without a hitch and they were actually better than I remember.

After that, Emmaline danced until I finally dragged her away to dinner. I have to say, I enjoyed the new pirate menu. I think the options are much better than the previous one. We left full and happy.

 

[anricat]

Tuesday March 21, 2017
Castaway Cay

The last day of the cruise is always so bittersweet. So much fun to be had, yet the packing and knowing it will be over soon is always in the back of my mind. It’s so hard!

The last two times we went to Castaway Cay, Roger ran the 5k and I stayed with Emmaline. This time, we asked my mom and Steve if they would stay with her so we could run together. We woke up and I tossed on my running clothes and went up to deck 9 to grab some snacks for us. When I got back, Emmaline was awake, despite my hope that she would sleep in a bit. My mom arrived at our room at 8 and we made our way to Fathoms to check in for the race. We checked in and waited until around 8:15 when they started the pre-race briefing.

At 8:30 we gathered together and disembarked the ship. First we all stopped at Scuttles Cove so that those with kids that needed to get dropped off could do that. Then we arrived at the start line and waited some more. I was glad I had a hefty snack. According to my GPS, we started the race at 8:55 AM. We were very lucky with the weather. It wasn’t too hot, maybe 70 degrees when we started. In case you're curious about the course, here's the map from my GPS watch:





A little under 30 minutes later we finished the race and took the tram back to the ship. By this point, Mom, Steve and Emmaline disembarked and we told them where to set up camp. On the ship, Roger and I changed into our swim suits, put on sunscreen and finished packing up our beach bag. By the time we disembarked the ship and got back on the tram and over to where my mom, Steve and Emmaline were, it was time for Mom and I to go to our parasailing excursion. We were so lucky with the weather. All day it was sunny and warm with almost no wind.

Parasailing was fantastic. Just being on the little boat out in the water with the incredible views of the island and the ship was a lot of fun. And the parasailing itself was really cool. The guys that did the excursion were really great as well. I’m super glad we did it.







After parasailing, we met back up with Roger, Steve and Emmaline and went to Cookies 2 for lunch. After lunch, Steve and Mom decided to go over to Serenity Bay and enjoy some time together over there. Roger and I took turns playing in the water and the sand with Emmaline. The water was a little chilly, but once you got used to it, it wasn’t too bad.

After awhile Mom and Steve went back on board. We stayed on the island a little while longer before headed back ourselves since we needed to get cleaned up and packed.

Once back on the boat, we ordered our usual All Hands On Deck platter from room service (I think this was our third order of the trip) while we took turns showering and some Mickey cartoons played on the stateroom TV. We worked on getting things packed up, which, due to the generosity of people in our Fish Extender group was proving to be difficult.

Ultimately we got most everything packed before going to the final show of the trip, Disney Dreams, which we’d seen twice before because it also plays on the Wonder (though it’s slightly different on the Wonder). We all enjoyed the show. After the show Emmaline went with my mom and Steve for a walk and Roger and I finished packing and then went for a walk around deck 4 and then a final visit to Shutters to make sure we wanted to keep our photo package we ordered. I had mixed feelings about it, but we were splitting the cost with my mom and Steve so it was a little more worth it. We tried to stick one of us in as many photos with them as possible so they could get them since it was tied to our room. In the end we still ended up with some of their photos (of just them), which was a nice little bonus for them.

Then it was time for our final dinner of the cruise. I liked the changes that they made to the final night’s meal. In particular, the mushroom pasta appetizer was amazing. I ordered a second helping! We finished our meal and went back to the room to get to sleep so that we could be up early to disembark.

 

[ironz]

Love the photos from parasailing! And glad you and Roger had the chance to run together-- a much smoother line than your GPS from the deck run.

 

[anricat]

Tuesday March 21, 2017
Disembarkation Day

Disembarkation Day dawned painfully early, like it always does. My plan was to let DD sleep as long as possible, but alas, as soon as the ship was cleared, those annoying and loud announcement woke her up. We got up and went for breakfast in Lumiere's. We said our goodbyes to our table mates and serving team and told the latter that we would see them next year.

Once we were done with breakfast, we picked up our photo CD, hit the bathrooms and then left the ship. Luggage pickup and customs was a breeze and we went outside to find the rental car shuttle. We asked a few people and found the right spot and waited for the shuttle. We all loaded up and waited for a few more people to get on and were driven back to the Avis in downtown Miami to grab our minivan. Thankfully this was completely uneventful.

We made the short drive from there, back past the port (bye Disney Magic, *sniff*) to Jungle Island. Jungle Island was very pricey (like, I almost fell over when she told me the admission price for our family of three) for what it was, which was a mixed bag. The birds and smaller animals were great, but the primates and big cats were in VERY small cages and it was pretty sad. They used to be called Parrot Island and had primarily birds and small creatures. They should have stuck with that model. I can't say I recommend it. The birds were amazing, but we left feeling sad about the other animals there.



We made our way to a little lunch spot called La Sandwicherie and had some really good sandwiches which were a little pricey, but big enough that we could take the leftovers with us on the plane and eat for dinner. So I think for two meals, the price was pretty good and they were unique and tasty.

After lunch, we drove back to Fort Lauderdale, turned in our rental car and boarded a plane for home. Until next time!

 

[TestingH2O]

Just reread your report because we just booked this cruise for 3/22/2019! So excited!

Do you remember who you used for your golf cart in Key West? I think we might rent something the day we are there.

 

[anricat]

Just reread your report because we just booked this cruise for 3/22/2019! So excited!

Do you remember who you used for your golf cart in Key West? I think we might rent something the day we are there.

I don't. It was my step dad that impulse rented the cart. They have them on lots of corners. Have a great cruise! We had a really nice time.

 

[TestingH2O]

I don't. It was my step dad that impulse rented the cart. They have them on lots of corners. Have a great cruise! We had a really nice time.

Thanks!