Our First Ever Real Vacation, Mexican Riviera Cruise June 1-8, 2008 - Page 11 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Great update! The tea party and surprise party look like a lot of fun! the photo of the girls skipping! Congratulations on joining DVC. Looking forward to more
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What a great day! There seems to always be someone at the future cruise desk! I can understand how you could fall asleep during the shows. The shows are very good, but so is the food and.... and.... and there is always something to do and.... and.... you had to keep chasing those skipping kids (that picture is adorable, BTW) and.... and.... I think I only slept past 6am once the entire cruise! Yes, I can understand falling asleep! Congrats on getting the DVC membership!
Just sat here and read your entire report from the beginning--can't believe I've missed out on this! Great job and I have really enjoyed traveling along with you.
Thanks to all for your kind words. I not only enjoyed reading others' reports in prep for my cruise, but also learned so much from them that my family was able to get way more out of our trip than we would have otherwise. I'm happy to be able to give back!
Now that we are through the stomache flu that has plagued our house, I hope to finish up this report in the next few days
I realized I'd better get my act in gear if I'm going to finish this TR before my next cruise, so here is the next installment.
Our door dressed up for Day 7:
We wanted to try breakfast at Lumieres before the trip was over, so we made a point of getting up and out of the cabin by 9:30.
I had eggs benedict, Theo had blueberry pancakes, the kids had their usual breakfast stuff. It was all very good. Afterward Theo took the kids to the clubs on his way to the Performer Q&A in Diversions. I took this quiet opportunity to pack as much as I could as quickly as possible. Then I took my iPod and my book to one of the lounge chairs on Deck 4 and just relaxed. It was a mildly overcast, a little breezy, and absolutely beautiful. I just sat and soaked in the sights, sounds, and smells of being on the ocean. It was at this time that it occurred to me that the scent I'd always associated with the ocean was not the ocean at all, but rather the beach. The smell of being at sea was different from the smell of being at the beach. I'd never been at sea before so I never knew there was a difference until now.
After an hour or so I went back to the room and packed some more. I was joined by Theo and Cecilia. She wanted to leave the club for a while because her age group was going up to the sports deck and she could only sit and watch with her broken arm. Not fun. The three of us went up to the Seafood-themed buffet in Topsiders. Although the lunch was good, I do not remember much of what I ate (apart from Jambalaya) because the desserts were so incredibly good! I'm not at all embarrassed (OK maybe a little) to say that I had banana cream pie, key lime pie, as well as bread pudding.
We had an appointment to sign our DVC paperwork so we took Cecilia back to the club. There was no one at the DVC desk so we sat in some cushy chairs by a porthole and waited. While we were waiting Goofy dressed in his exercise clothes jogged right passed us an waved...no handler, no photographer, no crowd of people...just Goofy in his jogging clothes. That to me summed up part of what was so magical about this cruise.
After we signed all the papers it was time for our Spa Villa Couple's Choice treatment in the Vista Spa. I don't remember the exact order of things, but I think it started with tea and a foot treatment, followed by some time relaxing in a private spa that was out on a veranda in the couple's villa. After our muscles were all softened up we went inside for our treatments. I chose a ½ facial and ½ hot stone massage. Theo chose a ½ facial and ½ Swedish massage. He'd never had a spa treatment before and was worried that he wouldn't like it. He needn't have worried. He is a full convert now. After the treatments there was more time relaxing on a couch on the veranda. Then sadly, it was over. The whole thing was REALLY expensive, but I think worth it to do for a very special occasion or as an alternative or addition to the Romantic Escape at Sea package.
When our time was up we reluctantly left the Spa Villa, went back to our stateroom and changed for dinner. We were in Lumiere's for dinner tonight with the “Till We Meet Again” menu. For appitizers I had the Lobster Bisque and Artichoke and Spinich Cheese Dip. Theo had the Dip and a salad with bacon wrapped olives and dates. For entree, I had the Tenderloin and Theo had the chicken. The kids had their usual dinner fare. Chloe and I were the only ones with room left for dessert. So while Chloe ate Chocolate Cake and I had Banana Crème Brulee Pudding, Theo took the others up to the clubs.
After dinner Theo and I finished packing and then picked up the kids for the “Remember the Magic” show. The kids were sad because it was dawning on them that the cruise would be ending in the morning. The show was good and the theme about the cruise ending but the magic staying helped them to get used to the idea. Ron Pearson, the comedian we'd seen a few days before, performed again. A magician comedian named “Justin Kredible” also performed. He had such a good family act that I wished I'd been able to catch his show earlier in the cruise. Even if you're on a cruise for a whole week, you can't do everything...that's why we have to go back, right?!
After the show we put the kids to bed set out the luggage,
and set a wake-up call for 6:45am.
Here are some of the towel animals we had during the cruise:
We received our wake-up call at 6:45. We had a hard time dragging the kids out of bed:
But once we did we were able to get ready really quickly. So instead of bringing food down from Topsiders, we said goodbye to our rooms and went to Tritons for the “Welcome Home” breakfast.
The kids were still a little grumpy:
We were the only ones from our area to show up so we got lots of personalized service from our servers Marina and Brandon:
After breakfast we got our debarkation sticker (Green Flounder) and waited a few minutes for our group to be called and then walked right off and over to customs. The line looked really long, but it went fairly quickly. Twenty minutes after we stepped off the ship we were in our limo homeward bound.
The kids were so worn out from all the fun of the past week that they slept part of the way:
An hour later we were home. I was very happy to see that the house was still standing. (I have an irrational fear of it burning down while I'm on vacation).
Now that I'm on this end of it, I can say that with all the help we received here on the boards and in the Passporter books, and all the planning we did (in addition to being really fun) truly helped us to make the most we possibly could have out of the week we had on the Magic. Without the legwork and the help of all of you here, I would have been totally manic on board trying to figure out where to go and choosing what to do, and I wouldn't have been able to pack half as much fun in!
Well, thats it! I can't wait to go again. Hope to see you there!
What a lovely relaxing last day - I love the shot of the kids asleep on disembarkation morning. I've really enjoyed reading all about your cruise - thanks for sharing it with us.
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the photo of the girls skipping! Congratulations on joining DVC. Looking forward to more
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Pixie Dust
Glad the kids had fun at the tea party, and you enjoyed the tequila tasting!! 
Sounds like another great day!!
Thanks Kenny, I knew you'd understand
PassPorter Guide Author
Great trip report!!
Go Red Sox!!!
The three of us went up to the Seafood-themed buffet in Topsiders. Although the lunch was good, I do not remember much of what I ate (apart from Jambalaya) because the desserts were so incredibly good! I'm not at all embarrassed (OK maybe a little) to say that I had banana cream pie, key lime pie, as well as bread pudding.
, but I think worth it to do for a very special occasion or as an alternative or addition to the Romantic Escape at Sea package.
The show was good and the theme about the cruise ending but the magic staying helped them to get used to the idea. Ron Pearson, the comedian we'd seen a few days before, performed again. A magician comedian named “Justin Kredible” also performed. He had such a good family act that I wished I'd been able to catch his show earlier in the cruise. Even if you're on a cruise for a whole week, you can't do everything...that's why we have to go back, right?!
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