A Little Trans-Atlantic Magic - The (somewhat) LIVE TR! -updated 07/03/13 - Page 21 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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OMG!!!! I can't take it, how am I going to get through this next year, I want on that ship, NOW!!!
OK, note to self, run to sign up for the Alice Tea Party........got it. I will be taking notes of this TR.
I love seeing Meri with just one missing tooth now
So great of Tammy to pick you guys up, and nice for you gals to have a nice little get together!!
The one thing I can tell you is the second you check in, sit there in the terminal and read every bit of that first Navigator, and have a highlighter on you to highlight anything needed. That's the best tip that PPers gave me, and we utilized it to the hilt!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Yay - you've started! I can see why Meri loved the kids' club so much and spent so much time there - it looks great!
*I* wanted to play in there half the time! The club and lab were SO cool!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
You're on the ship already! It was SO nice of Tammy to pick you up and drive you to the port--and her shower was that day? Grayson is so cute! Hilarious but predictable that Meri disappeared with friends in the first few minutes on board. That's a great story about the pizza, too. The CMs on board are outstanding! The kids clubs look amazing and I love that Belle reads stories in there. Meri's missing tooth is adorable and I look forward to seeing her in all her new outfits.
Tammy was wonderful! It was funny because we had planned for her to pick us up and transport us, and then her coworkers set up this shower for her and she was trying to make both happen. I DID try to talk her into letting us take the Disney shuttle to the port but she was having none of it. And I was glad because I wanted any excuse to see her! Love my Tammy!
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Originally Posted by Thomhazel
I can't believe how much there was for Meri to do on that ship. I'll have to see if she managed to sell the idea to rory so he can work on his dad.
I hope she did! It's so awesome!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Oh, I miss that ship!!
Originally, the club was for the younger school-aged kids, and the lab was for slightly older. They may have done away with that when they added the tween club. No other cruise line compares, though.
I love that Meri had lunch with another family!! She is not shy, is she?
Makes sense about the club being for younger school-aged kids. Meri definitely tracks a little younger on a lot of things so I wasn't surprised she preferred the club to the lab. However with that said, she did do plenty in the lab.
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Originally Posted by num1DVCfan
No wonder Meri loved the clubs so much! When we sailed last year, DS was too small for them so we didn't bother exploring. Now I can't wait for our next cruise.
Did you put your DS in the nursery at all? One thing I noticed, since we passed the nursery (Flounder's Reef) a lot was that the princesses were in and out of there a LOT. They had storybooks in their hands, and I think they went in to read to the little ones, which I found positively charming!
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Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
Oh wow! I love the pics you've taken so far The kids club/lab area looks awesome, no wonder Meri didn't want to leave haha You're making me wish our cruise was coming up faster!! Ahhh!! Can't wait to read more!!
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2000 flights cancelled across Europe due to Air traffic controller strikes, estimate 1 week to get back to normal. Bad as it was you picked the right day ot leave.
Yay, you're on the ship! Those kids clubs are so cool. And I love how Meri just sits down with the other family. Kids are funny, aren't they?
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Our stateroom was on the second floor, #2626. PassPorter lists it as an undesirable cabin, and so we were worried about it a little. I was anxious to see how bad the noise would be, because we were right under the Parrot Cay galley.
Minor worry aside, we were so excited to get to our stateroom and check it out, and we just loved it! The very first thing we did was to hang up our Fish Extender and put the magnets on our door! Unfortunately, my Minnie Head magnets that I worked so hard on wouldn’t stay on the front of the door! So annoying! Instead, we put them on the inside of the door, and they did stay there. Oh well! Our door still looked charming, and I was well pleased with it! Even mom had to admit it was a very festive door!
We saw all of the luggage outside of our window...
One by one, our bags arrived – with my huge one being last, of course. They had taken the power strip out of my bag, so for those of you with that on your “must pack” list, don’t bother. I had to pick it up at the end of the cruise, at security. *sigh* Talk about annoying. And let me tell you, there were about 10 power strips in the box to be claimed at the end of the cruise... so I'm definitely not the only one. However, my tablemate had one in HER room! It was in her carry-on luggage... so... not sure what to think about that. So just be warned!
We ended up not needing the over-the-door organizers, so we didn’t bother opening them up. I was glad, however, to have my hanging toiletry bag and my suction cup organizers for the bathroom! Those two things really made it easy to organize the bathroom. More or less, mom took over the bathroom with the toilet, using that for all of her things, and Meri and I took over the bathroom with the tub. I used one shelf in “mom’s bathroom” for my contact lenses and medications, but that’s it.
We unpacked all of our snacks into the steamer trunk storage, and that was pretty much that! There’s definitely plenty of storage, though I can tell you I would have added a few thing, personally – I would have put hanging hooks or knobs or something on the wall across from the bed, and I would have put a shelf or something beside the bed… and perhaps a few other little things here and there. Ultimately, though, there was plenty of space. I know I overpacked, for sure, but then I knew that going into it!
We relaxed in the room, puttering and exploring, until the lifeboat drill at 3:45pm. Then we mustered in Animator’s Palate with a whole lot of other people. Honestly, the entire thing was a complete waste of time. I know they do it because they have to, but really, it does nothing other than show people where to meet. I guess that’s really the only point. They had different crew members stationed around, and each CM would go through a whole schpiel to their group about what to do with their life vests, etc. Problem is, no one could hear a blessed thing. I remember on other cruises, we actually met at our lifeboat station, on deck, and for those, we could hear and understand the directions. But this was pointless. Oh well, 15 minutes out of our lives, and we were back in our cabin for a bit.
Then at 4:15pm, it was up to the deck for the Sail Away party, which was cute.
We were, of course, joined by some very special friends at the party...
The funny thing about the party, though, is that it came and went, and we STILL weren’t sailing anywhere, lol. We didn’t actually leave and start sailing until perhaps 5pm. So the Sail Away party was more of an “Almost Sailing Away In A Little Bit” party. Please don’t mistake this as criticism, it just amused me because at the end of the party, I expected to be underway, but we were still at the dock!
After we got moving a bit, we wandered around briefly just to see the views and such.
We found the adults-only area, The Cove
As we moved, there were dolphins racing the boat, which was cute!
Finally, we headed down to the cabin to straighten ourselves up, and then it was off to dinner at Parrot Cay to meet our tablemates! I was fervently hoping we had a table to ourselves. Since I knew that was unlikely, I was fervently hoping we had cool tablemates!
Our cabin was 2626, and our table was 26, so 26 seemed to be the lucky number for our cruise! Our rotation was PLA (Parrot Cay, Lumiere's, Animator's Palate). Our table was right beside a window, which was really a neat surprise! We were at a table for ten, and our tablemates were Katrina and Dale, and their son Timothy (9), Suzanne, her father Ken, and her two children Kiersten, who we called Kiki (9) and Christian (6). It was a really nice group. Our server was Taner from Turkey and the Assistant Server was Kadek from Indonesia. They were friendly and enjoyable, and we really grew attached to them by the end of the trip!
When we arrived at the table, there were four kids glasses there, filled with water, and they had the kids' names on them! So cool!
The menu...
Appetizers...
Main Courses...
Meri's dinner... pretty much the same dinner every night...
Mom's appetizer (smoked salmon carpaccio)
Mine (mozzarella / proscuitto bruschetta)
Our window at dinner!
Mom's soup (chilled cucumber soup)
My soup (blue crab and seafood chowder)
Mom's dinner (baked salmon)
My dinner (seafood risotto)
And what's dessert without a Mickey Bar?
My dessert (creme brulee)
Our assistant server, Kadek, with a rose made from a kids menu - he made that for Meri, and that started all of the kids off... every night, Kadek now had to make them each something new out of their kids menus. Bless his heart, he always came through!
Dinner was quite enjoyable, and we had fun getting to know our tablemates and servers. We really lucked out there! Phew!
After dinner, we were positively wiped out! I know the opening show was supposed to be really really neat, but we just couldn’t do it. *I* couldn’t do it. I was so tired, and I know Meri and mom were wiped out as well, so we went back to the cabin and relaxed and went to bed early.
2000 flights cancelled across Europe due to Air traffic controller strikes, estimate 1 week to get back to normal. Bad as it was you picked the right day ot leave.
We almost stayed an extra day, and MAN that would have been a whole mess!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
Yay, you're on the ship! Those kids clubs are so cool. And I love how Meri just sits down with the other family. Kids are funny, aren't they?
Oh yeah, Meri makes herself right at home with people. No boundaries, no fears. Crazy kid.
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2000 flights cancelled across Europe due to Air traffic controller strikes, estimate 1 week to get back to normal. Bad as it was you picked the right day ot leave.
Oh my goodness! I guess that's about right - all I'd heard was something like 200+ flights cancelled from EasyJet and Ryanair and a number from BA. I heard someone on the train back from London yesterday complaining about it, as he needed to get to Perpignan...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
One by one, our bags arrived with my huge one being last, of course. They had taken the power strip out of my bag, so for those of you with that on your must pack list, dont bother. I had to pick it up at the end of the cruise, at security. *sigh* Talk about annoying. And let me tell you, there were about 10 power strips in the box to be claimed at the end of the cruise... so I'm definitely not the only one. However, my tablemate had one in HER room! It was in her carry-on luggage... so... not sure what to think about that. So just be warned!
Whoooa! Since when? Is this something new? I haven't come across this before and we always have power strips (although in fairness, we always bring ours in carry-on luggage). This is massively important for us, as it saves us having to pack multiple US-UK power converters...
Sounds like a great first day and I love your room. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a porthole room, but I think it looks really neat.
Great pictures around the ship! I love your collection of books in the room!
Thanks! We never travel without them! I can't get into e-readers. I know I'm crazy. I used a friends and it just wasn't "right" to me. I'm old-fashioned about books, lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Whoooa! Since when? Is this something new? I haven't come across this before and we always have power strips (although in fairness, we always bring ours in carry-on luggage). This is massively important for us, as it saves us having to pack multiple US-UK power converters...
Sounds like a great first day and I love your room. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a porthole room, but I think it looks really neat.
I had read somewhere prior to leaving that the power strip might be an issue, but I ignored it because everyone I talked to who's cruised on Disney said they took theirs and it was a must-pack. But I ran into a good number of people on board who were upset that their power strips were confiscated. Just be warned!
It was very frustrating because there really aren't many outlets at all in the cabin, and I was having to play "outlet roulette" with the two that were available that I could find. I have lots of electronics and I was constantly needing to charge them (camera batteries, iPod, wave phones, laptop, etc), and I was really frustrated that I had so little outlets to use.
Thanks! We never travel without them! I can't get into e-readers. I know I'm crazy. I used a friends and it just wasn't "right" to me. I'm old-fashioned about books, lol.
I'm also the old-fashioned paper book type of girl. I've tried e-books but don't like them at all. So don't worry, you're not crazy. Or maybe you are which would make me crazy.
OK, I already ate lunch and I'm just drooling over your dinner photos! If you took pics of all your meals, I'll be starving after every update with them! Mmmm, it all looked so good! I don't blame you guys for being tired and going to bed early. You had a long day already!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
A great first day on board! Very surprised to hear about the power strip. I had mine in my carry-on for the Alaska cruise and they didn't say anything about it. If it's a new policy I'm surprised we haven't heard more about it. (I hear you, Cheryl-- it would be really a problem to have to have tons of separate UK/US converter plugs!) Sounds like you organized the room really well. Did you have the bed separated into twins? (I think this option is going away at the next upgrade?). I think the fact that you can have the bed either together or apart is the reason they don't have more shelving next to the bed. Dinner looked great. I'd have fallen right into bed that night as well!
I'm also the old-fashioned paper book type of girl. I've tried e-books but don't like them at all. So don't worry, you're not crazy. Or maybe you are which would make me crazy.
LOL! Good to know it's not just me!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
OK, I already ate lunch and I'm just drooling over your dinner photos! If you took pics of all your meals, I'll be starving after every update with them! Mmmm, it all looked so good! I don't blame you guys for being tired and going to bed early. You had a long day already!
I think I photographed 90% of what I ate, so be prepared!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
A great first day on board! Very surprised to hear about the power strip. I had mine in my carry-on for the Alaska cruise and they didn't say anything about it. If it's a new policy I'm surprised we haven't heard more about it. (I hear you, Cheryl-- it would be really a problem to have to have tons of separate UK/US converter plugs!) Sounds like you organized the room really well. Did you have the bed separated into twins? (I think this option is going away at the next upgrade?). I think the fact that you can have the bed either together or apart is the reason they don't have more shelving next to the bed. Dinner looked great. I'd have fallen right into bed that night as well!
The beds weren't separated, and we weren't asked or given the option. I didn't mind, though. I know I could have asked, but I'm really bad about asking people to do stuff for me - especially stuff like this where it's not really a big deal.
Makes sense about not having shelving beside the bed for that purpose. I didn't think of that!
Working on the next update now... but it'll be a while - photobucket is a stinker.
I am a terrible over packer so any tips on how to organize our room for 12 nights with 2 adults and 2 children would be soooooooo vey helpful
I was able to take a power strip on the Dream, has something changed? I do use hanging toiletries holder, but the suction cup things sound like a good idea, do you have a pic??
your room looked great and I loved all the door decorations... Sounds like you had great servers. I LOL'ed at your comment about the "almost sailing away in a little while" party
I forgot to mention that right before bed, we put out our room service order on the door!
I woke up a couple of times, but was easily able to fall right back asleep. The bed was extraordinarily comfortable, but the pillows were a bit too fluffy for my taste. There were a few noises here and there, later in the evening and early in the morning, but nothing that bothered me. I could see how the cabin could be considered undesirable but the bumps and noises were really negligible to us. A few times, late in the afternoon, I think they were pounding chicken in the galley or something… but we were rarely around to hear it, and when we were, it was more of a source of amusement than anything else. I guess if I had a small child who was napping, or who went to bed early, it might annoy me more, perhaps, but since I don’t, it wasn’t bothersome. We laughed about it.
Meri absolutely loved her little couch-bed, and she closed off the entire area, informing us that it was her room, and we were not to enter or disturb her. Of course, once the lights were out, she decided the curtain could be open, lol.
Meri woke up somewhere around 6am and said that it was time to get up… I told her to get herself right back into bed, and she did and that was the last I heard of her, lol. I’m starting to wonder, now that I think on it, if she was kind of talking in her sleep. Mom woke us finally at around 8:20am, reminding us that room service would be there shortly. We had requested it between 8:30-9:00am. I definitely felt refreshed after such a lovely night’s sleep.
Room service arrived, and we enjoyed breakfast together in the cabin. We ordered a bowl of fresh fruit, croissants, danishes, an English muffin, coffee and juice, and all were lovely! The coffee was good, the juice was fabulous, and the pastries were fresh and delicious! It was a great way to start off our first "full" vacation day! I'm sorry I forgot to photograph it. Guess I was still a little groggy!!
After breakfast, Meri begged to go to the Oceaneers Club. After getting ready, we set off – only to find that it was still “Open House” for the club (meaning I’d have to stay with Meri – which was a big fat NO in my book). So, it was off to the Oceaneers Lab, where they were making Flubber. We agreed upon an 11:30am pick-up (it was 9:20am when I dropped her), and I headed up to Cove Café, where I found a seat, checked Facebook and uploaded some photos, and did a quick update in here. Mom found me not long after, and we sat and relaxed. Gmail wasn’t loading properly, so she couldn’t check her email, much to her chagrin.
Around 10:30am, I got a text from the club, saying Meri wanted to be picked up. What?! *sigh* So off I went to get Meri, hoping upon hope that there wasn’t a problem! When I got there, I can’t say I was surprised that she wanted to leave. It was REALLY loud. They were making Flubber (she had opted out of that) and it was this whole production that was noisy and really over-stimulating for Meri. Believe it or not, she’s a kid that doesn’t often like too much noise. As noisy and chaotic as she is, she gets really overwhelmed if she’s in a new environment and it’s really really loud. I’d guess there were easily 50 kids making Flubber, and there was a woman dressed up in costume as a crazy professor, and she was mic’ed and just really really really loud. Meri was perfectly fine – not upset at all. But she was just ready to get out of there.
We popped back to the room to get into bathing suits, and then it was off to the Mickey pool for some fun. I parked myself at a table and pulled out my book, and she went off to frolic with some other kids. Out of nowhere, mom walked past, and I grabbed her and surprised her! She was heading off to find some ice cream, so she dropped her bag with me and headed off for a bit. Then we sat in the sun until Meri was ready to move on to the Goofy pool.
We relocated to the Goofy pool, where we ran into our tablemates Timothy and Dale. Meri played with them in the pool while mom and I sat at a table and relaxed / read in the sun.
Finally at 11:45am, I decided we needed some food. We grabbed a couple of slices of pizza at Pluto’s Pizzeria (the pieces are SUPER small, more like little appetizer pieces) and then headed over to Topsiders to get some “real” food. The theme today was “Mexican food”. Every lunch had its own theme, more or less. I really liked that when you walked up to the buffet, they hand you a tray / plate / silverware already set up! It’s such a small thing, but it was a nice touch! The kids get this really cool partitioned tray that serves as their plate, and I thought that was awesome, too! They also help you carry your tray if they see you walking toward your table! That part was sometimes a little awkward, because the CM's would just walk up to you and take your tray from you and take you to a table, and it was a little disconcerting, especially if you were heading somewhere else or weren't done yet. CM's were stationed by the drink machines as well, and would ask what you wanted, and get it for you. It was definitely "full service" in so many ways!
Meri got shrimp, strawberries and chocolate chip cookies. I got shrimp, some grouper, a burrito, some carrots, some mashed potatoes and some rolls. Everything was very good.
We sat at a table by the window (a compromise, because Meri wanted to sit outside, and mom wanted to sit inside… I just wanted to see the water) and relaxed. Then Meri got antsy and really wanted to go shoot some hoops. I wasn’t quite done yet, so mom took her up to deck 10 while I finished lunch and then returned to the cabin to relax alone for a little bit!
After mom and Meri returned, I showered to get ready for my massage, and then I dropped Meri at the kids club and I headed up to the spa about half-hour early. Mom headed off to her ship tour. I got checked in by an adorable young man whose name I forget. Did I mention how handsome he was? LOL! He walked me back to the women’s changing room with his arm around my shoulders the entire time… I’d have gone anywhere with him, the little charmer!
I was lounging in a chair, reading my book, when my masseuse came in to get me. Her first words were, “I LOVED THAT BOOK!” I knew I’d love her at that point, lol! She was absolutely lovely! Her name was Kat and she was from New Zealand. She walked me back to our treatment villa, which was very nice. First we sat outside on the balcony, and I soaked my feet in a large bowl of warm water, and then she scrubbed my feet and legs with a sugar scrub. Raspberry, I think. After that, she left me alone on the balcony for about 30 minutes, and I soaked in the Jacuzzi and watched the water go by, and relaxed. I read a little, zoned out a little… it was luxurious! She came and got me when that time was up, and we went inside where she gave me a 55 minute full body massage. It was blissful! I was just so relaxed! Then I had another 15 minutes out on the balcony where she brought me hot tea and fresh fruit, and I could relax a little further.
Before I knew it, my Alone Time treatment was done. It was well worth the money, and I felt so relaxed!
I went to pick Meri up at the Oceaneers Club, and then we headed back to the room to watch the last quarter of the Grizzlies game… it wasn’t pretty, let me tell you. I think the final score was 101 to 82… I didn’t note it, but I think it was something like that. It was painful, but oh well!
After the game, we got all fancied up for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was in Lumiere’s and it was formal night!
We were escorted to our table, and lo and behold – another table beside a window! Two dinners, two windows! We all exclaimed that we couldn’t WAIT to see where our table was in Animator’s Palate! We knew there were no windows, of course, but we were being silly. Suzanne commented that she had considered switching to the later seating, but that no way was she going to give up TWO window seats! We all had a good laugh at that!
Dinner was wonderful as always! I ate until I was stuffed. I didn’t always like everything I tried, but that can be said about any cruise – or really any vacation. I have absolutely no complaints about the quality of the food! Tonight's menu theme was Prince and Princess.
My appetizer (slow roasted duck and cheese quesadilla)
Mom's appetizer (roasted tomatoes and herb flavored goat cheese)
Mom's salad (caesar)
My soup (The Beast's potato and sausage casserole soup)
Mom's dinner (some steak or another)
My dinner (peppercorn crusted NY strip)
At 7pm, all of the kids wanted to go to the Oceaneers Lab to go build a volcano, so a couple of us ran the kids up there, and then returned to enjoy our dessert. It was, I admit, quite fabulous to enjoy coffee and dessert without Meri around!! It was just a lot quieter.
Mom's dessert (strawberries and cream)
My dessert (tiramisu)
Let me tell you, both desserts were listed under the "No Sugar Added" dessert list. And my tiramisu was quite possibly the best tiramisu I've ever had, anywhere. It was outstanding! Positively outstanding. I was sorry I didn't order two! LOL!
We all enjoyed some conversation and then it was time to go pick up the kids, and we all parted ways!
After I picked Meri up, we headed to the theatre to watch Twice Charmed! We ended up sitting with Timothy, Dale and Katrina, which was fun. Meri loved sitting by Timothy, and the two were thick as thieves by the end of the night!! The show was really cute – an inventive little twist on the original, and I enjoyed it.
When the show was finished, we came out to meet Mickey, who was quite handsome all dressed up!
Then we headed to the room and changed into bathing suits, and found this little guy waiting for us!
Meri and I left mom reading in the room, and we went up to Deck 9 to the Goofy pool, and had a little swim. I have to tell you, I was thrilled that the pool was heated! I’ve never been on a ship with a heated pool, and apparently I didn’t read anything about the pool being heated, so I had no idea. What a pleasant surprise!!!
Meri made friends with an 11 year old boy and they played for a bit while I read my book, and then it was time for bed! We set the clocks ahead one hour before going to sleep, so it turned out that we went to sleep at around midnight! Phew!
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Pixie Dust
Kids are funny, aren't they?
Please don’t mistake this as criticism, it just amused me because at the end of the party, I expected to be underway, but we were still at the dock!
PassPorter Guide Author
I guess that's about right - all I'd heard was something like 200+ flights cancelled from EasyJet and Ryanair and a number from BA. I heard someone on the train back from London yesterday complaining about it, as he needed to get to Perpignan... 
I don't blame you guys for being tired and going to bed early. You had a long day already!
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