A Christmas Ship Comes Sailing In (A Cam and Luke TR) Completed 2/18 - Page 19 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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We go on
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It's time to move on and move forward.
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Just put my snow shovel down - whew! now I'm all caught up. Your pictures look so warm and inviting! We just dug out of 30 inches of snow.. I want to scream. There is so much ______ snow here in NH that we have no place to put it and it is going to snow again tomorrow night. But reading your report is making me calm! So thank you for writing it.....
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Those turtles are so dang cute. That is one place I would like to visit in the future. I need to get back to GC because there are a few excursions I would like to try there.
Just put my snow shovel down - whew! now I'm all caught up. Your pictures look so warm and inviting! We just dug out of 30 inches of snow.. I want to scream. There is so much ______ snow here in NH that we have no place to put it and it is going to snow again tomorrow night. But reading your report is making me calm! So thank you for writing it.....
We didn't get snow, but our temperatures have dropped back to winter levels, so I'm enjoying looking back at a warmer time, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenseib
Those turtles are so dang cute. That is one place I would like to visit in the future. I need to get back to GC because there are a few excursions I would like to try there.
Grand Cayman does have quiet a few interesting excursions.
OK, I have read the whole thing....just got back from a RC cruise out of Galveston and have been remiss in replying to anything. Sorry to hear Key West was disappointing but not really surprised. I have heard there is a butterfly place there that is really nice. If you ever are back at Grand Cayman, I highly recommend the swimming with the rays adventure. It was fantastic....maybe even life changing. I was enthralled with the rays and loved touching them - even kissed one. We did the same island tour yall did, before the ray adventure. Hell was not much to look at but good for lots of jokes. This latest cruise we took stopped at GC and we stayed on board. It was a lovely quiet day. THe adult pool area was almost empty all morning. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your cruise.
Great shots with the turtle! I am not a fan of transferring to and from the tender, but they are very good at it!
The crew made it so much less scary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Love the pictures from the turtle farm!! Glad the turtle you got to hold wasn't slimy. Sounds like a scary transfer from the tender boat!
I couldn't have made it without the crew helping me on and off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcneal
OK, I have read the whole thing....just got back from a RC cruise out of Galveston and have been remiss in replying to anything. Sorry to hear Key West was disappointing but not really surprised. I have heard there is a butterfly place there that is really nice. If you ever are back at Grand Cayman, I highly recommend the swimming with the rays adventure. It was fantastic....maybe even life changing. I was enthralled with the rays and loved touching them - even kissed one. We did the same island tour yall did, before the ray adventure. Hell was not much to look at but good for lots of jokes. This latest cruise we took stopped at GC and we stayed on board. It was a lovely quiet day. THe adult pool area was almost empty all morning. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your cruise.
Around 2:30 we returned to the room to relax. I worked on notes and read for a while. At 3:30 I started to get ready for dinner as I didn’t want to feel rushed. By 4:30 we realized the ship was in motion again. We were dressed and headed out of the room by 5:30. But before that we sat on the verandah, watching three other ships and the setting sun. Unfortunately, we missed most of the sunset because of our dinner time.
See how almost black that water is, which shows it is very deep here.
Almost everyone at our table was back tonight, except for Laurie, who was under the weather do the ship’s motion. At least that is what she initially thought before she learned she had cold and sinus infection. Yuck! We were back at Lumiere’s this evening, and dress was cruise casual while the cuisine was French. For our appetizer course, Luke and I both selected the Slow Roasted Duck and Cheese Quesadilla. The last time I had duck it was cooked so dry it was tough, so I’ve avoided it for quite some time. This dish was done just right, tender duck. For the soup/salad course, Luke opted for The Beast’s Potato and Sausage Casserole soup. I had the Radicchio and Endive Caesar Salad. Both dishes were tasty, but I would have like a smidge more dressing on mine.
I must say I loved the pacing of our meals, which Agus had down perfectly. We never felt overfull when the next course arrived. Our main courses were Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip with Garlic-smashed Potatoes, sautéed Fennel and light dill foam for Luke and Oven-roasted Tom Turkey Breast with green beans, sweet mashed potatoes, and rosemary stuffing (very much a Thanksgiving type meal for me). So delicious that we cleaned our plates. The dessert course found me dining on the Prince Charming Flour-less Chocolate Cake (vanilla and chocolate cream with Hazelnut chocolate sauce), may have been my favorite dessert. Luke immediately check the menu for ice cream, selecting the Princess Aurora sundae (Rocky Road, topped with cookie crumbs, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream). Another wonderful dinner with good company and good food!
After dinner we went to Shutters to see how our photos had turned out. There are terminals set up throughout Shutters for photo viewing. Several were very good, a few were just okay, and one was totally hilarious. It was taken of just me on Formal Night at our table in Carioca’s. My eyes look like those of a deer’s caught in a car’s headlights. Luke and I couldn’t help laughing every time we looked at it. And for some odd reason we kept scrolling back to it. We noted that our photos were stored in Donald Yellow 13, and checked out the prices for various photo packages. At the beginning of last year when we were setting up our vacation budge this trip hadn’t even been imagined. So when we booked at the end of July, we did begin saving for souvenirs and such, but I still felt $400 was excessive for all our photos both in print and digital. That would have eaten up almost all of our souvenir funds. After looking over the prices, Luke felt that one or two 8 x 10s would suffice. But I hoped after a few more nights, we might decide we could do the ten 8 x 10s for $149. Because we were unsure of what we were purchasing, I did not feel comfortable taking a photo of my crazy eyes on the computer screen. But honestly, they looked like this .
Next we stopped by the DVC desk for a little gift, a cup holder that has a stake in the bottom to hold the cup holder in the ground or sand. Clever gizmo. Afterwards, we headed to the room to change before the show as it had felt so nice last night to be comfortable during and after the show. We headed then to the Walt Disney Theater for tonight’s show, only to discover that rather than being a half hour early, were a whole hour early as tonight’s show started at 8:45. Somebody (me) had not paid attention to the time on the Personal Navigator. So what to do? Shop, of course. Luke had seen a couple of coffee mugs he liked and I wanted a pair of DCL lounge pants. Once these were paid for we returned to the stateroom to drop off the package. We realized just about a week ago that there was one more thing we planned to purchase but forgot, two Vinlymations one each of Chip and Dale in sailor suits.
At some point in our ship wanderings we saw this wall art and loved it because it has Hewey, Dewey, and Louie, three of Stefanie's favorites.
By the time we returned to the theater the doors were open. We found seats were in the middle of the front section. The show tonight was Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On. Sadly, a lot of folks did not show up tonight, and they missed a terrific show. Great singing and dancing as the cast retold Walt’s legacy. When the show was over around 9:30, Luke and I were done for the day. Back in the room I took notes and uploaded photos, now my usual routine before bed. We also watched a movie, but I see I left its name out of my notes, and no memory now.
Overnight we would gain an hour as we sailed into the Central Time Zone (normal for us). Extra sleep! WooHoo! I think both us were sound asleep as soon as the movie was over.
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It's too bad the photo prices are so high on the ships. I have had that same dilemma of which package to purchase. The pair of constellation plates in the stairwell are my favorite pieces of art on the Magic!
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I want to scream. There is so much ______ snow here in NH that we have no place to put it and it is going to snow again tomorrow night. But reading your report is making me calm! So thank you for writing it.....
DLinNH
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Mary - not enough trips!
The dessert course found me dining on the Prince Charming Flour-less Chocolate Cake (vanilla and chocolate cream with Hazelnut chocolate sauce), may have been my favorite dessert. Luke immediately check the menu for ice cream, selecting the Princess Aurora sundae (Rocky Road, topped with cookie crumbs, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream). Another wonderful dinner with good company and good food! 
Luke and I couldn’t help laughing every time we looked at it. And for some odd reason we kept scrolling back to it. We noted that our photos were stored in Donald Yellow 13, and checked out the prices for various photo packages. At the beginning of last year when we were setting up our vacation budge this trip hadn’t even been imagined. So when we booked at the end of July, we did begin saving for souvenirs and such, but I still felt $400 was excessive for all our photos both in print and digital. That would have eaten up almost all of our souvenir funds. After looking over the prices, Luke felt that one or two 8 x 10s would suffice. But I hoped after a few more nights, we might decide we could do the ten 8 x 10s for $149. Because we were unsure of what we were purchasing, I did not feel comfortable taking a photo of my crazy eyes on the computer screen. But honestly, they looked like this 
.
So what to do? Shop, of course. Luke had seen a couple of coffee mugs he liked and I wanted a pair of DCL lounge pants. Once these were paid for we returned to the stateroom to drop off the package. We realized just about a week ago that there was one more thing we planned to purchase but forgot, two Vinlymations one each of Chip and Dale in sailor suits. 
The show tonight was Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On. Sadly, a lot of folks did not show up tonight, and they missed a terrific show. Great singing and dancing as the cast retold Walt’s legacy. When the show was over around 9:30, Luke and I were done for the day. Back in the room I took notes and uploaded photos, now my usual routine before bed. We also watched a movie, but I see I left its name out of my notes, and no memory now. 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
Glad you enjoyed the show and survived the rocky seas! 
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