I'm Outnumbered! Parenting Alone Through The Panama Canal (EBPC 2017)

[arielmomma]

Day 13, Monday, November 6, 2017, Sea Day

I woke at 8:30am feeling rested but lazy. I stayed in bed watching TV on my tablet and ate some of the leftover desserts from last night's pirate party. The tarts were to die for! After awhile, Jimmy woke and crawled into bed with me to listen to his audiobook.



Eventually, I needed to be productive. I left the cabin to run errands. While I was out, I snagged Jimmy some pizza. It was already shaping up to be a very hot and humid day outside.



I returned to the cabin briefly then left again to get myself some lunch. I headed for Cabana's. Today they were serving maple glazed duck. This was amazing!



Here is my plate: Gemelli pasta with cheese sauce (yum!), banana-coconut bread pudding (delicious!), the maple-glazed duck (Wow!), French fries, and mushroom risotto (good).



When I returned to the cabin, Emily was still asleep and Jimmy was still nestled in my bed. He'd eaten the pizza I'd brought him and asked me if I would get him some more. So, I headed back up to deck 9. While I waited for fresh pizza to come out of the oven, I visited with the CMs and watched a bit of The Lion King.



While I was upstairs, I slipped back into Cabana's and made up a plate for Emily. Oka was kind enough to give me a tray to carry the food.



By the time I made it back to the cabin, it was nearly 12:30pm and this is what I found. Fortunately, she woke up before her food got cold.



In fact, she woke up ravenous. I ended up making another lunch run.



While the kids finished eating and got ready for the day, I went to The Walt Disney Theater for Ron Clemens' presentation on the making of The Princess and the Frog. I'm glad I went. It was very interesting.



When I returned to the cabin, two of these beauties had been pixie dusted into our FE. Thank you to whomever gave my kids these and all of the pixie dusted gifts we received. Just because your gift may not be pictured in this report doesn't mean that it wasn't appreciated. (It just means my camera wasn't readily available when we received them.) We treasure all of the Pixie Dust and FE gifts we receive. Thank you to the generous souls who choose to add a little extra magic onboard!

 

[arielmomma]

It was time for dance class. Today we learned the swing. I love this dance. All three of us got into this lesson. We liked to experiment with different moves.

After class, we stayed in Azure for the Dreams (Aladdin song) dance class hosted by the Walt Disney Theater choreographers. It was a lively good time.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. This evening we were in Animator's Palate with the Seasons menu.





I started with the chicken bastela.



Jimmy had the lobster ravioli.



Emily had the seafood sampler.


I also had the iceberg lettuce and baby spinach salad.



Emily had a side of French fries.



For my main course. I had the Chilean Sea Bass. I LOVE sea bass. This was no exception.



Jimmy had the grilled garlic jumbo shrimp.

 

[arielmomma]

For dessert, Jimmy ordered two sundaes.



Emily and I ordered double peanut butter pies...



and one to go. These are scrumptious!



Emily also had the strawberry crème cake.



Emily's dinner art.



Cris taught Emily how to make a napkin duck.

 

[arielmomma]

After a brief stop by our cabin....



it was time to head to the Walt Disney Theater for Frozen Musical Spectacular.



Since we arrived early to get good seats, we passed the time being silly.







The performance was as amazing we remembered. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[arielmomma]

After yet another stop by our cabin (for sugar), we headed off for evening activities.



Our first stop was the D Lounge for So You Think You Know Your Family.



After the game, the kids and I split up. They went to their clubs, while I went to Azure to play Family Feud...



and watch Kyle Knight and Mistie. These magicians are truly astonishing. I ended up aiding in the same trick I participated in on a previous cruise where several of us held cardboard numbers in envelopes while another audience member randomly chose a phone number out of a thick phone book. I'll tell you, I'm still baffled by how they do it!



After the show, I made my usual run for late-night snacks. Tonight the Promenade Lounge offered wings and mozzarella sticks.



Jimmy was back in the cabin when I arrived. Emily wanted to close down the Oceaneer Club, so he accompanied me to deck 4. After a quick pizza run, that is.



Jimmy listened to his book in a lounger while I walked deck 4 until midnight. We returned to the cabin shortly before Emily. We got ready for bed and watched Big Hero 6 before finally calling it a night.



Up Next...Relaxation After a Restless Night

 

[arielmomma]

Day 14, Tuesday, November 7, 2017, Grand Cayman

The night was long and very, VERY noisy! Metal cutting, sawing, and hammering, while we tossed and turned and covered our heads with pillows. Later in the day, our tablemates told us that they'd replaced a porthole on deck 3 during the night. It must have been directly over our heads. Needless to say, I woke at 9:40am like a zombie rising from the dead. Jimmy said that he woke at 8am unable to sleep despite being completely exhausted. Letting Emily sleep, I accompanied Jimmy to Cabana's where he grabbed a bagel and cream cheese. We returned to the cabin and ate breakfast together - him with his bagel, me with my saved peanut butter pie from last night's dinner. The rich goodness brightened my sleepy spirits.

We showered, dressed, and hung out in the room until Emily woke at 11:30am. At this point, we were all hungry again so we headed back up to Cabana's. Jimmy started with cookies and two flavors of ice cream - dulce de leche and butter pecan.



Emily also started with dulce de leche ice cream, but also added some real food.



Like Emily, I went for a full meal. Other than the piece of fish, French Fries, and the peach panna cotta, the rest of my selections came from the "Indian Corner" of the buffet. I don't recall what any of the dishes were called, but I did note that they were really good.



This was our view from our table. What a gorgeous day!





The food was obviously good because I went up for seconds.



For dessert, I joined the kids in having ice cream.







I also had the coconut rice pudding. This was delicious!

 

[arielmomma]

I'm so grateful that we didn't have any excursions planned in Grand Cayman today as we had very little energy to expend. Instead, we spent much of our day relaxing. We left Cabana's and went to the Promenade lounge for 3D Chip-n-Dale crafts.



Aren't they cute?



We then went outside to enjoy the heavenly day.



Emily and I walked a few laps, while Jimmy listened to his audiobook.







It wasn't long before Emily needed to rest.



Once Emily was revitalized, we played a couple games of shuffleboard.



Then it was back to chillin'.



Ahh! This is the life!

 

[arielmomma]

All the relaxing made us hungry. I ran up to deck 9 to get us some snacks.

Jimmy had pizza and ice cream.





Emily had an ice cream cone...



and split a chicken tender sandwich with me.





I wanted a bit of dessert so I ran back up to deck 9 to Cove café for some goodies to share with the kids.







Jimmy was bummed when I told him it was too close to dinner for me to mug anymore treats from Cove Café.



I spent the time we had remaining before dinner walking deck 4. It truly was a lovely day.

 

[arielmomma]

One last look at the ocean before...



we headed to Tiana's Place for dinner.













I started with the artichoke ravioli.



Jimmy had the shrimp and grits.



While Emily had the sweet corn chowder off the children's menu.

 

[arielmomma]

Jimmy tried the Boudin Sausage. He didn't care for it.



For her main course, Emily had the half chicken.



I had the sea bass, which was amazing as always. Jimmy stole my shrimp.



It was time for Mardi Gras!



Cris and Geoffrey



Emily with one of her favorite princesses.

 

[arielmomma]

Time for dessert!



The kids being silly while we waiting for our sweets.







Jimmy and Emily both ordered double beignets.



I had the lemon mousse bombe (Amazing!) and...



the white chocolate bread pudding (Fantastic!).



Oka brought us the chocolate gateau for us to try. It was very rich!

 

[NC DCL fans]

Thank you so much for putting together such a great trip report! We are following along just dreaming of all that great food! I just dont know how you have found the time this week to post so much! We are in packing mode!! We hope to thank you in person on Sunday at Port Canaveral! We can't wait! Our first PC cruise! Yippee!!

 

[NC DCL fans]

Sorry. It made a second post..

 

[arielmomma]

After dinner, Emily wanted to swim and Jimmy wanted to watch The Mighty Ducks on the Funnel Vision, so we made our way up to deck 9.



Jimmy and I started out on the loungers directly in front of the movie screen. However, it soon began to rain.



So, we sought shelter off to the side at one of the dining tables.



The pool remained open.





What's a movie without a salty snack? I got us a giant plate of French fries to nibble on while we watched.





Near the end of the movie, Emily left the pool and joined us.



Which meant, we needed more snacks.

 

[arielmomma]

Thank you so much for putting together such a great trip report! We are following along just dreaming of all that great food! I just dont know how you have found the time this week to post so much! We are in packing mode!! We hope to thank you in person on Sunday at Port Canaveral! We can't wait! Our first PC cruise! Yippee!!

You're welcome! Thank you for following along. This week has been crazy! I think I finished packing last night (fingers crossed). I really wanted to try to finish off this trip report before we left. It's feeding my excitement. I look forward to meeting you in just a couple of days. We're going to have such a great time!

 

[arielmomma]

The movie ended. We were going to head back to the cabin when we realized that the Edge was hosting a special time for the tweens on the Twist-n-Spout. Since she was already dressed for it, Emily couldn't pass up the opportunity.





Since we were going to be on deck 9 a while longer. Jimmy opted for some ice cream.





Of course, when Emily returned and realized that Jimmy had ice cream, she had to have some, too.



Her first cone met an untimely demise, so I made her another one. She wanted it as tall as I could make it.





We returned to the cabin. While Emily showered, Jimmy watched TV and I went for a walk on deck 4. I returned to the cabin at 12am and we all got into bed. Hopefully, tonight we'd get a good night's sleep.



Up Next - Play Time While in Port

 

[arielmomma]

Day 15, Wednesday, November 8, 2017, Cozumel

The roar of the propellers woke me at 7:45am as we pulled into the port of Cozumel. I laid in bed awhile and ate my last slice of saved peanut butter pie for breakfast. Jimmy woke long enough to crawl into bed with me and fall back asleep. Thinking he was on to something, I snuggled under the blankets and watched TV on my tablet until 10:30am or so when I got up and got ready for the day. When I got out of the shower, this is what I found.





Jimmy woke when Emily and I started talking. The kids asked me to get them some snacks. Ready to get moving for the day, I ventured up to deck 9. This is what I encountered - rain, rain, and more rain.



Emily asked for French Fries



While Jimmy asked for pizza.



I returned to the cabin with the grub. The kids ate and dressed. I then banished them from the room so that I could start packing to go home. (I still get a bit teary-eyed just thinking about it.)

 

[arielmomma]

While I packed, the kids took pictures of the Oceaneer Club.

 

[arielmomma]

When I finished packing, I joined the kids in the Promenade Lounge for a game of Pictionary.





When the game ended (We lost miserably), we headed up to Cabana's for some real food.

 

[arielmomma]

Here's my plate. Everything from the "Asian Corner" was wonderful!



Jimmy had a bowl of dulce de leche ice cream.