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

[arielmomma]

We dropped off our carryon backpack in the cabin and headed up to deck 9. Though I was full to the brim, the kids had room for ice cream, so we stopped by Cabanas for a treat.



A single scoop of ice cream wasn't enough. They had to make floats, too.





When the kids finished their ice cream, we went to The Edge, Vibe, and The Oceaneer Club/Lab to finish signing up the kids. We stayed in the Lab and played for awhile.



Before long it was time to head to our muster drill station. On the way I took a couple of shots of the atrium decked out for Halloween.

 

[arielmomma]

Our muster drill station was in Animator's Palate. We were all thrilled to be inside!

We passed the time before the drill began by playing Mad Libs, and



being silly.





The wait ended up being longer than we'd expected. There were plenty of stragglers.

The drill itself was quick and painless. Soon we were off to the Sail Away Party. I took a couple more shots of the holiday decorations on the way upstairs. ​

5...4...3...2...1 (Cue the horn song). We were on our way!

 

[tink1970]

There were plenty of stragglers

There always seems to be more and more. On the May cruise we took last year, one guy asked us "hey do we have to go to this party thing?" Ummm, not a party nor optional

I took a couple more shots of the holiday decorations on the way upstairs.

I the way Disney decorates for different holidays! Since I don't travel during peak windstorm season (mid-Aug to the end of Oct) I appreciate when kind people post the Halloween decor!

 

[suedon70]

Following along and really enjoying your trip report! Would love to do the PC cruise someday!

 

[NC DCL fans]

Thanks for writing another trip report! My daughter and i both read your last one and you did a great job!! We loved it! We are also on the 4-8-18 wbpc cruise with you!! You will have more fans that want to say hi to you on that cruise!! Only 10 more weeks!!! -nancy

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Loving your report! The pasta at embarkation day lunch was one thing none of us have stopped talking about since our first (and only-so far) Disney cruise! Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

-Kelly

 

[disneymomto5]

This is one of the cruises I want to try, so loving your report! Thank you for taking the time to write it. Also, as an aside, I'm very sorry for your loss. Even now I'm sure it must be hard...

 

[poison ivy]

Just dropped in to say hi. We were on the docks in San Diego seeing you off as you sailed away. It was a beautiful day and we wished we were going too. My DGD made me promise to take her on a Disney cruise someday.



Here she is waving goodbye!

 

[arielmomma]

There always seems to be more and more. On the May cruise we took last year, one guy asked us "hey do we have to go to this party thing?" Ummm, not a party nor optional



I the way Disney decorates for different holidays! Since I don't travel during peak windstorm season (mid-Aug to the end of Oct) I appreciate when kind people post the Halloween decor!

I, too, love the holiday decorations and celebrations. Glad you're enjoying the pics.

Following along and really enjoying your trip report! Would love to do the PC cruise someday!

Thanks for joining in.

Thanks for writing another trip report! My daughter and i both read your last one and you did a great job!! We loved it! We are also on the 4-8-18 wbpc cruise with you!! You will have more fans that want to say hi to you on that cruise!! Only 10 more weeks!!! -nancy

I look forward to meeting you in April. I'll be here before we know it. Can't wait!

Loving your report! The pasta at embarkation day lunch was one thing none of us have stopped talking about since our first (and only-so far) Disney cruise! Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

-Kelly

That pasta is soooo good! I'm fantasizing about it as I type. Can't wait to have more in April!

This is one of the cruises I want to try, so loving your report! Thank you for taking the time to write it. Also, as an aside, I'm very sorry for your loss. Even now I'm sure it must be hard...

Just dropped in to say hi. We were on the docks in San Diego seeing you off as you sailed away. It was a beautiful day and we wished we were going too. My DGD made me promise to take her on a Disney cruise someday.

View attachment 298135

Here she is waving goodbye!

View attachment 298136

I love these pics! I can sense her longing to be onboard. She definitely needs a Disney cruise.

 

[arielmomma]

After the Sail Away Party, we returned to our cabin to find all of our bags waiting for us by the door. We had just enough time to unpack before dinner.

Our rotational dining experience began in Triton's. We were assigned Table 74 located directly along the center aisle. As usual, DCL assigned us amazing table mates. They were the Church Family from Washington state: Mike, Julie, and 14 year old Christopher. Our servers were Oka from Bali, Indonesia and Cris from Brazil. They, too, were amazing. Emily made a genuine connection with Cris from their first meeting.

Tonight we had the Let the Magic Begin menu.







I started with the chicken bastilla. The flavor was good but mild. Unfortunately, it was a bit dry for my liking.



Emily had the salmon carpaccio. Yum!



For his appetizer and main course, Jimmy ordered a double portion of calamari. Those of you who've read my previous trip reports know that he is a HUGE calamari fan.



For our soup course, we all ordered the chilled mango soup. It tasted more like oranges than mangos, but it was still delicious.



My main course selection was the mango chicken salad.



Emily had the mesquite grilled chicken breast. This was fabulous! I know what I'm ordering next time.

 

[arielmomma]

Time for dessert.



Emily had the dark chocolate bombe. It was too chocolatey for all of us.



I had the warm sticky fig and pecan pudding. It was as scrumptious as it looks.



Jimmy had the Magical Express Sundae. He enjoyed it.



After dinner, Emily and I did some silly coloring.



Before we left, Cris taught Emily how to make an origami fish.



Here they are in deep conversation. Her first friend onboard.



For tonight's entertainment we opted to skip the All Aboard show. Instead, we went to the Buena Vista Theater to watch the latest Pirates movie. It wasn't the best Pirates movie, but it was a fun way to end our first day.



After the movie we opted to call it a night. We needed our energy. Our adventure had just begun.



Up Next...Breakfast with Character

 

[arielmomma]

Day 4, Saturday, October 28, 2017, Sea Day

I woke at 7am. With Jimmy and Emily still asleep, I showered and updated my notes for this trip report. At 8:15am, I woke the kids so that we could make our 8:45am character breakfast reservation in Animator's Palate.









The restaurant was very busy when we arrived. We were seated at a round table with three other people: a woman alone and a young couple. They were all friendly and sociable, making great dining company.

I'm sorry to sound negative, but other than the pleasant conversation, the breakfast was rather disappointing. We didn't receive any napkin hats. We weren't offered a pastry platter. I ordered the Hawaiian Shores and they left off the pineapple. Jimmy's ordered was messed up twice. Worst of all, the food was wasn't good. We left hungry.

Let me be clear, this experience was the exception. We generally love DCL's food and have had positive character breakfasts in the past. I think our servers and the kitchen staff were just overwhelmed.
​

 

[arielmomma]

While I visited with our table mates, the kids enjoyed the cartoons on the wall screens.



This was Emily's plate. She liked the mushrooms and hash brown.



Jimmy's plate



My plate. I ordered the Hawaiian Shores with a side of sautéed mushrooms. The mushrooms and grilled tomato were good.



Fortunately, because we were on a cruise, leaving Animator's Palate hungry wasn't a problem. We simply headed to Cabana's. The deck was pretty quiet this morning.



Even Quiet Cove was actually quiet - a rarity on a Panama Canal cruise.



These were my selections from Cabana's: smoked salmon, spinach, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. Everything was delicious!



We enjoyed our selections on the open deck, basking in the gorgeous morning at sea. Our less-than-stellar experience in Animator's Palate already forgotten!

 

[arielmomma]

When we finished our snacks, the kids went off to their clubs while I went to the Promenade Lounge. I caught the tail end of door-hanger making. Here is my five minute craft. That's a tear of joy by the way.





After the craft was an animation class. I stuck around to learn how to draw Mickey and Goofy.



While I will never be recruited by Disney to be an animator, I enjoyed the class. I will definitely take more of these drawing classes in the future.



A couple more Halloween decorations.

 

[Shazzie B]

Just found your trip report; we were on the cruise too ( Cadbury Flake lady). I'm in your quiet quiet cove picture, black & white costume, think I need to loose more than 25lb after seeing that. IT was nice to snooze in the peace & quiet - we were still catching up from a 7 hour time difference.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your trip, and reliving ours

 

[condorthb]

Our only less then stellar meal was also the character breakfast. It was crazy busy and our server was almost non-existent.

 

[arielmomma]

Just found your trip report; we were on the cruise too ( Cadbury Flake lady). I'm in your quiet quiet cove picture, black & white costume, think I need to loose more than 25lb after seeing that. IT was nice to snooze in the peace & quiet - we were still catching up from a 7 hour time difference.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your trip, and reliving ours

Thank you for the Cadbury Flakes. They were delicious! Perfect with ice cream as you suggested. You looked like an ideal cruiser should look - perfectly at ease, peaceful. I hope your cruise was a wonderful as ours.

Our only less then stellar meal was also the character breakfast. It was crazy busy and our server was almost non-existent.

That pretty much describes our experience. Fortunately, that was our only disappointing meal. Perhaps they were just off that day.

 

[arielmomma]

After the animation class, I walked the jogging path on deck 4 until noon. Then I met the children in Triton's for lunch.



Emily insisted on showing off her milk mustache.



Can you guess what Jimmy ordered? Why calamari of course!



He also ordered the children's chicken strips for all of us to sample. We all enjoyed them.



I had the marinated artichokes. I love these!



Emily doesn't just prefer her Mickey Bars naked. Apparently, she feels the same way about chicken tenders.



Emily ordered the Penne Rigate. She really enjoyed this.



You'll note that my family ordered rather light today. That's because the menu was offering our favorite dessert of the cruise - the warm hazelnut chocolate molten cake. We each ordered two. Yum!



This desert is almost unfathomably good!






While we all attempted to eat two, only Emily was able to finish them both. She obviously has a hollow leg (or two).

While in Triton's, we had the privilege of running into a few of our favorite servers from the past: Levy, Ratna, and Claudius. It was great to see them again and catch up.

 

[adSimba]

those drawings are shockingly good!

 

[arielmomma]

Flying high on a major sugar buzz, we opted to stop by the Promenade Lounge to make paper airplanes with CM Mitch.





We also made a quick stop by our cabin and discovered that we'd been Pixie Dusted by a family from our Facebook Group. Emily received homemade Disney crayons, while Jimmy received homemade Disney lotion bars. They both adored them. If the giver is reading this - thank you so much. Emily played with hers like dolls.





Though we were full, we decided to check out the lunch offerings at Cabana's buffet.