Our Cruise

Okay, here is the link to the pictures I took on our cruise. I started writing down some thoughts but, it was over whelming. I am not a very good writer because I get lost in details. Let's just say we went, we had a wonderful time, you should all do sometime and that was it. We came home. Naaaa, didn't think that would float.

Okay, I'll try to start it but, I know I won't be able to finish and then you will have looked at the pics and will be done. But here goes nothing.

We left here Saturday morning around 10:30 for Port Canaveral which is almost across from us. It is on the East Coast of Florida. We were a little later leaving than normal because we stopped to let my mother know we were going. I know I know. I waited till the last minute so she didn’t develop some ‘mystery’ disease and try to inflict tons of guilt. It worked out well. She was stunned but, she had a week to get over it and I had made arrangements for people to check in on her and had already prepaid her lawn service, bought extra groceries for her and had all her medicine portioned out for the next two weeks. It takes about two hours to get to the cape and the ship wasn’t scheduled to begin boarding until 1:00 so we were fine.

I don’t know what I covered with the last cruise so bear with me if I repeat myself.
Disney mails labels with your stateroom number on them weeks before you leave. This speeds up the whole process of checking in. They are also all color covered so the porters immediately know which deck to go to. When you arrive and before you ever park your car, you pull up to a terminal where the porters remove your luggage and all you have to do is park. Which in my case was certainly no sweat as the handicap parking is right at the front entrance where you enter to pass security. Once you get through there, you head over to check in and turn in your paperwork that if you were smart, you printed on line and filled out before arriving. Because we had cruised with Disney before we had some sort of VIP status of being in the “The Castaway Cay Club” which mean that we were able to get in this super short line to be processed.

As you enter the ship, they take your family picture. I think we purchased it on the first cruise but, not this time. Those photos add up. Besides, we don’t need a butt load of photos to remind us how fat we’ve become. After the pictures, you enter the main lobby of the ship and there are crew members lined up on either side. One steps forward, gets your name and over the microphone announces, “Disney Magic Welcomes Lori and Darlene” and then they all applaud, shake your hand and smile as you walk past them…kind of like being on a celebrity run way. You just feel so dang special you can’t help but smile like an idiot and turn five shades of red. At the end of that line, one crew member steps forward with the greeting, “This way for lunch.” Another thing about Disney that I doubt other ships do; as you enter and leave a dining room you are greeted by a crew member holding a container of sanitizing wipes. The ritual quickly becomes second nature. You also do it when you leave and before you reboard the ship after a shore excursion. You’d be hard pressed to get ill from germs like has happened in some cruise ships. Lunch was at Parrot Cay, a tropical carribbean type resturant with a huge buffet with everything from seafood to cold cuts and everything in between like chicken wings, roast beef, ham, etc., They also have cold sweet soups that I adore like their chilled Orange and Mango Soup. And the deserts, which I didn’t eat any of because I stuffed myself with the soup, were plentiful.

We finished lunch around 2:00 and headed for our stateroom on the seventh floor. It had a private verandah like the one on the first cruise, but this one had a clear plexi-glass wall so you could look out over the ocean while you’re sitting on your couch. The one we had before, it was a solid color so you couldn’t see anything unless you looked over the rail. On the first cruise I was actually afraid when I heard Lori had booked a stateroom with a verandah. I don’t know why but, I had this ridiculous thought that a big wave would rock the ship and I’d go flying over the edge and the ship would go on by before they ever noticed I was missing. No chance of that since they make the rails to come up to the middle of your chest. I just have a vivid imagination. Anyway, now it would be hard NOT to have a veranda. I think we would feel like we were in a submarine or something. When we got to our room, our luggage was already outside our door. They are so efficient and quick that no one ever waits for luggage. And so begins the awesome quick personalized service. We never see anyone coming in or going out of our room yet, the bed is always made and then turned back at night with chocolates, orgami animals and the next day’s schedule. Buckets of ice stay magically full.

After video taping the room and the view from the port, we got ready for our little drill. This is always important and is required by law before a ship can leave port. I feel sorry for the little people...the two and three year olds that have to wear what looks like a body suit. It is huge and they can’t move at all. I think it is meant for them to lie on their backs or something.

After that drill, you are free to do as you please. They have a sail away party on the top deck and of course more food. With Disney, you choose before the cruise, which dining time you prefer. We are late eaters so we always choose the last meal which is around 8::00 pm. There are three theme restaurants and you rotate to a different one each night. You keep the same waiters and you are assigned to a table with people who will be your dining companions every night unless one of you decides to do room service or eat at Palo's which is an adult's only Italian cuisine restuarant.

Sunday morning we arrived in Key West. We ate breakfast up on the top deck so we could watch for the end of Florida to draw near. Breakfast was another buffet style with everything on it. I had a half of bagel and lots of salmon with capers, red onions and cream cheese. I love that. I also actually ate some oatmeal. Figure I should do something healthy since it was the ONLY thing healthy I was doing. I think I also ate some eggs, hash browns and bacon. Yes, excessive but, no toast. :D I also had coffee, orange juice AND chocolate milk….but, that is what you do on a cruise.

One of the first pictures I took was of a Coast Guard boat coming along side our ship. I still don’t know why they escorted us in. Could be we were close to Cuba…could be the Disney Magic is actually registered in the Bahamas and as such is a foreign ship. Who knows. They didn’t shoot us even though if you look closely you can see the machine gun on the front bow. I was totally enthralled with them. I took a gazillion photos and I filmed them. They would hang back and then rev their engines and fly down the side of the ship. I went to the other side and there was one there too. I went back down to our room and shot these pics from our verandah. I also took a picture of an island that is out from Key West. I don’t know it’s name but, it is full of new homes and they all have the same thing in common….no garages. LoL I guess they all arrive by boat.

When we docked we got ready for a long walk. I wanted to go to the Hemmingway House which we had skipped the last time we were in Key West. My mission was to get a picture of the solid white cat named after Spencer Tracy. Once we cleared the docks it was only about 10 blocks away. I can’t walk fast so, needless to say it took a while. We finally stopped and had lunch at Sloppy Joe’s and then went on to Hemmingway. Gotta have more food in order to keep our strength up. On the way back we took a few pics of some of the neat stuff in the stores. I'll let you go ahead and look since you read this far. Hopefully this link will work. If not, don't blame me. lol

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