We’ll blame the Force: The UnDisney family on their 5th cruise - SWDAS (Eastern) Jan 28-Feb 4, 2017

[Conorama]

Disney Springs ... or the Un-Disney Family venturing closer to actual Big Mouse than ever before.

Since we had effectively skipped lunch, priority 1, before meltdowns (and no, I'm not just talking about Conor) was for more food. We quickly decided on Bongo's Cuban Café as it was different than anything we can get at home (our usual approach to vacation eating, where possible).

We had to wait a bit for our food, which provided time to peruse the HUGE map on my phone, and make a plan. For those who were not aware (as I wasn't) Disney Springs used to be called Downtown Disney, and it's something like an outdoor mall.. if malls were the size of small villages, and they were made by Disney.

We had 3 goals based on pre-cruise research: Lego store , Star Wars store, and Mexican food. Note that very little Disney actually played into our plans, since the men's fandom for Star Wars predates Big Mouse taking it over. Oh, and socks. I was still looking for socks, due to the Big Purple Packing Incident.

The food arrived and YUM. (I do not generally take photos of my food because hungry. There are a few rare exceptions here and there...)

Conor downed his food and was primed to speed off to the Star Wars Galactic Outpost. He refused to consider going in anything else- candy store? Nope. Super heroes? (Withering look.) Starbucks? Nope. STAR WARS.

Oh my. It may be small, but it's full of Star Wars paraphernalia. First stop was the Tsum Tsum section.

For the uninitiated (those who do not yet have Tsum Tsums in their lives, picture a small, gerbil-sized stuffy, that is stackable. It's essential a 3D oval. Back in October during our trip to Stake Canada, we visited a Disney Store and Conor met these evil wee things for the first time. With his money, he purchased an Ewok and I thought we were done. Then, we visited another Disney store after Christmas and he had saved up Christmas money, and he got a few more... made worse by the post-Christmas sales. (2 for 1 .... oh goodie!) Then he got a few as late Christmas gifts (I had to buy the Princess Leia one after Carrie Fisher died... while not a Star Wars fan myself per se, I always loved Leia.) Then, the little critter bred, I'm sure. And got into some engorgement charms or something, as we now have some that are more like cat-sized, and then, horrifyingly, a Stitch one that is bigger than a basketball. Yes, there are hard plastic ones. At our house, we just go for the fuzzy kind.

Anyhow- there was a very happy young man when he found ... wait for it ... a Jawa Tsum Tsum. (You know - when you become a parent, you just don't imagine things like "Jawa Tsum Tsum" coming out of your mouth.) That was a no-brainer that he would use his fancy US money for. We also told him we would get him one thing at the store. Cue ...

Build your own lightsaber.




I thought we would never leave. I started scanning the area for seating ... heck, for a place to nap, as this would go on for ever. This is Conor heaven... contemplating all the different combinations and permutations of colours of blade, handle thingies, gadgets, and the like. His own unique lightsaber was a concept that came close to him achieving perfect happiness. (We did not birth a sheep- Dude is all about being different.) A one of a kind lightsaber!

In case you were worried, we had packed a lightsaber already. One of the 3 we have at home. A blue one, which is HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT ... to people who are not me.

This was not enough though. He wanted a purple one, with lots of thingies and whatchamacallits and thingamabobs. 30 minutes later, we finally extricated him. So we're clear- this is a tiny store ... like what you might find as the gift shop in a hotel, but slightly larger. The lightsaber is very much in frequent use nearly 2 months later (it makes the lightsaber noises, so I know very well that it's used often).

Really- the only way we got the child to move on was to wave the map in front of his face and show him the part marked "Lego Store".

And then, we had more happiness. Not, to my surprise, because of the fact that there are 3 gagillion Lego sets there, but because it had "Make your own Mini-figures" stations. This is Lego genius. You take a bunch of bits and bobs from mini-figures (there are probably 7 million in my basement alone) and put them in a bin ... and let kids make their own ... 3 to a package.




I can't get any photos of Conor's face, because it was always firmly in the Lego bin. However, as we only had to pay $9.99, it was a totally painless trip to the Lego store.

Having achieved goals 1 and 2, we still had about 30 minutes before our dinner reservation. There is this massive Disney store right across from the Lego store, cleverly called World of Disney. This is like some kind of Disney quicksand. We were used to what we had seen in the airport and on-board- small shops, with a lot of merchandise. (I'm told the cool kids call it merch. I am not cool, and merch is not a word I use.)

This was like a maze of interconnected small stores ... for example, the Star Wars Galaxy Outpost was practically replicated as a tiny part of World of Disney.. and that was just a tiny bit. We kept losing one another in this place- it's huge. Fortunately, we had paid our daily roaming rate, so texting kept us from getting too lost... so long as the instructions went like this:

"Where R U? " (I'm a lazy texter.)
"In the Mickey section."
"That means nothing. What else do u see?"
"Stitch?"
"Forget it, I'll meet you outside near the Lego store."

We would reconvene, and, girding our loins, decide to go back in to look for socks. 5 minutes later.


"Where R U? "
"In the section with t-shirts."
"That means nothing. What else do u see?"
"Hoodies?"
"Forget it, I'll meet you outside near the Lego store."

Having done this twice, we finally decided to see if we could eat early, as clearly this was just too Disney for us, and the only socks were ones I would never wear again.

Food from the heavens...

Astute readers will recall that I conned DH into venturing into more Disney than we ever had before because of the food. We perused several options, but he quickly caved to my request (read: desperate pleas) that we go to Frontera Cocina for Rick Bayless' Mexican food. I've had a food crush on RB for years. I live for really good Mexican food, and it's sorely lacking up here in frigid land, except for 2 summers when we were graced with a really good Taco food truck... now disappeared.

It wasn't hard to convince him, so he nabbed reservations. I will go on a bit here - because it is important that I remember this meal.

We were, at this point, exhausted and frankly cranky. (A rime I did not intend to make but I enjoy it.)

However... Rick to the Rescue! OK, no, he wasn't there, but a very nice waiter took care of us. I don't drink much alcohol at all, but an occasional really good Margarita is occasionally required. This was a beyond awesome Margarita. DH tried some beer and Conor opted for his current fancy drink du jour: A Shirley Temple.

We ordered.

First up ... the best guacomole EVER. We worked hard to avoid sticking our faces in the bowl and licking, though it was tempting. Here's Conor who is (sorry about this folks), indulging in his new favourite pastime of horrible puns. This is: "Use the Fork, Luke!"



On the bottom left of the photo, you'll see a bit of our other appetizer - Coctel Rojo- which consisted of some ridiculously happy seafood swimming around (not literally) in incredibly flavourful sauce. DH and I refrained from beating each other off with forks and shared like a big boy and big girl. Conor even nabbed some of the scallops.

The mains came out- and I fell in love with my beef. I am drooling now thinking of it. It was also huge.

From the menu:

Carne Asada
Red chile-marinated Creekstone Natural Black Angus steak, black beans refritos with Cotija cheese, caramelized plantains with crema and queso fresco, tomatillo salsa, warm corn tortillas

The waiter told me how long that steak ages, and I forget, but suffice it to say, it had acquired some wicked flavour through whatever Rick did to it.

DH had some enchiladas which left him speechless. Conor had quesadillas from the kids' menu, but I know the waiter customized them somehow for him - how, I forget, but Conor was very chuffed at this special treatment.

Somewhere in here, I realized I was at risk of falling asleep, (and I would have been happy), but I thought someone else might want to use our seats. While Conor finished up his ice cream, and took photos with my phone of the decor, our waiter helped me lovingly pack up my leftovers (yes, we were going on a cruise the next day - your point?) and we paid the bill, which wasn't too painful, and we judged it well worth it.





We waddled out of the restaurant, and then high-stepped it all the way back to the car (long walk actually) because it was COLD. Like 8 degrees celsius cold with a breeze and the sun had gone down.

Fortunately, the drive back to MCO was traffic-jam-free, and we figured out how to return the rental car.

Were we ready for bed? Yes. Was it only 7:00 p.m.? Yep. And so nope, we had to get to our ultimate destination for the night... which shall be revealed in the next post.

Good night!

 

[bcwife76]

8C? Wow.....two weeks prior and it was nearly 20C at night! Guess a cold front came in with you from Ontario

I had to ask my husband what a blue light saber meant, that's how 'non-Star-Wars' I am, too

Mmmmm......love me some good Mexican food!

$9.99 for the minifigures is good, it's $12.99CDN at our local Lego store so with exchange I'd say it was even

 

[Conorama]

8C? Wow.....two weeks prior and it was nearly 20C at night! Guess a cold front came in with you from Ontario

I had to ask my husband what a blue light saber meant, that's how 'non-Star-Wars' I am, too

Mmmmm......love me some good Mexican food!

$9.99 for the minifigures is good, it's $12.99CDN at our local Lego store so with exchange I'd say it was even

Yep - it was chilly! Only really felt it after the sun went down though- but no one busted out the shorts, that was for sure.

It was also cool the next morning, but otherwise, we had great weather.

 

[kittymamma]

Not only do I LUUUV your reports but am amazed at how timely you get them out to those of us who are hanging on to every word. You are a mom , wife, caregiver to a geriatric cat, you work and are obviously a talented scribe. Your trip ended on Feb 4 and we are already reading about it in your frequent updates....amazing... and much appreciated !! Your ratio of photos to text is also just perfect. Kudos all around to you .

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Love your report so far! Looking forward to more. We're booked on this same itinerary (with SWDAS) for next February

 

[Conorama]

'Twas the night before the cruise ...

Back at MCO, Conor made a beeline to the main attraction ... the (as he calls it) Harry Potter store. He had already had a quick look earlier, but he was a man on a mission, having saved up his allowance for this (much more than for DCL souvenirs... more even than for Star Wars souvenirs, really).

I swear, he paused, in awe, before entering. There was nothing in the Harry Potter store that was not examined or contemplated. We had made a deal that I would buy him one souvenir (a reward for something or other), but after that, he had to use his own money.

He examined Every Single Wand. Keep in mind we already have 3 official Harry Potter wands, plus a vast array of modified sticks. In the end, he picked Syrius' wand as the souvenir I would buy him. He then decided to purchase ... well, this:



What? You can't tell what that is on his head? Well then...





That is a Pigmy Puff, for those who are sadly not as well read in HP lore. It burbles. It still burbles, but one day it will stop burbling due to batteries and rewards for patient parents.

Dude also sussed out a few things he might buy if he didn't spend the rest of his $$ on the ship. He's a planner.

I will confess to parental purchases as well. I got a new lanyard for work (Gryffindor, of course), and DH got a "I solemnly swear I am up to no good" t-shirt that transforms in to the Marauders' map when in the son.

I also had an order received by owl post for my good friend at work who has 3 teens/pre-teens who love Harry Potter, so I offered to pick up wands for them. Oddly (or not), the order was for 4 wands ... for 3 kids ... hmmmm. My favourite request: "Neville's wand, or Ron's wand (before it was broken)". This resulted in no fewer than 5 wands in our luggage on the way home, but happily, customs wasn't worried.

It also resulted in a hilarious moment at work after I got back. I brought the wands to work - they come in their own boxes and a special little bag, and the 4 were then in a big bag. I ran into my friend in the hall, so I brought him the wands. He was giddy. (I believe the line was: "Finally I get to be the cool parent!" I had thought he would pay me back by e-transfer or something, but he carefully placed the precious cargo in his office, and then proceeded to pull out his wallet hand me cash (those things aren't cheap) - by way of $50 bills, explaining he had just been to the bank (who does that anymore???) . As the cash was changing hands, our boss came around the corner and found us in, well, mid-transaction.

We think we convinced him it was all for wands... it helps that he is a huge HP fan as well. Phew!

Just before going back to our hotel room, Conor purchased a Disney gift card to use on the ship- Mr. Money bags.

Anyhow... somehow we got Conor into a bath to calm down (note that he is in his PJs in the 2nd pic above). Meanwhile...

What do they carry at MCO stores anyway???

At this point in the day, my feet felt ready to fall off but I still had no socks... so I refrained from sitting down or nothing further would be accomplished that night. While Conor was in the bath, I headed off into the big old airport and tried to find socks and a few other odds and ends I thought we might need and had jettisoned due to the Big Purple incident (I will stop yammering on about that soon - promise).

There are NO SOCKS at MCO. Or there were none on January 27th anyway. I discovered this after accumulating something like an additional 3000 steps.

Fortunately, I was able to stagger back to the Hyatt, and my beautiful leftovers were there to help restore me.

This was our first time not using DCL for ground transportation to get to port, which meant no using the magical luggage disappearing service ... and ... I liked it. (Gasp). What I liked, specifically, was not having to have the bags all perfectly ready to go for early morning.

This was particularly helpful seeing as I believe Conor fell asleep 3 nanoseconds after his head hit the pillow (next to the Pigmy Puff) and, although I was Puffless, the same can be said for me.

I hope to do the same now. Good night, and tomorrow, I'll get us on the ship.

 

[Conorama]

Not only do I LUUUV your reports but am amazed at how timely you get them out to those of us who are hanging on to every word. You are a mom , wife, caregiver to a geriatric cat, you work and are obviously a talented scribe. Your trip ended on Feb 4 and we are already reading about it in your frequent updates....amazing... and much appreciated !! Your ratio of photos to text is also just perfect. Kudos all around to you .

Wow- thanks! I was feeling guilty about taking a long time to get started. Once I start, I like to power through until it's done. Most of this I do on the couch with the geriatric cat, so it's all good.

Love your report so far! Looking forward to more. We're booked on this same itinerary (with SWDAS) for next February

Thanks! We loved the itinerary in addition to Star Wars. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

 

[Conorama]

Day 1 - AKA - Back on our 'home ship'

Morning came, as it inevitably does, and Conor and I nominated ourselves to pop out to Starbucks to pick up breakfast and to prevent a Code Coffee situation. Traditionally (I can't believe we have a tradition about cruise days now...sheesh) we would have gone to the hotel's buffet breakfast, but we had generally decided to work on keeping costs down on the little things, so Starbucks got our breakfast cash.

This also meant a much more laid-back morning to clean up, dress up, and pack up for the day.

DH had confirmed with Happy Limo the evening before and our driver arrived on time (9:30 I think). We really didn't miss the "magical bags disappearing act" - all we had to do was pack the things and put the tags on; stick'em on a cart, push the cart into the elevator down to the main level, and then the driver loaded them into the trunk and he unloaded at the other end, handing the bags directly to DCL folks - so if you were worried this was difficult - nope. The only minor added issue was that we brought Conor's booster seat, but that's easy to carry/install so no biggie.

The only wonky thing was that the driver was worried because he had not been able to text us to confirm - which we figured out was because our phones hold Canadian passports... but I am still puzzled - why would this not be something Happy knows about? Or was there something unfriendly about our phone? We think they like other phones...???

We arrived at the great exotic (for us) destination of a Publix, assured by our driver that this was where there was the best supply of alcohol, though there is a small liquor store (or that's what we call it in Ontario) nearby if needed. I took grumpy pants (Conor, not DH in this case) on a quest for a snack before boarding, and, if the clothing gods were being kind, SOCKS. (My feet were freezing- it was still 9 degrees C).

Happily, Publix has some of everything, which, being Canadian, we didn't know. DH sourced some wines we like, and some beer. Conor found a snack. I found some of the toiletries abandoned due to Big Purple (last reference until later!) and, oh happy day for my feet, socks! Men's socks, mind you, but socks, and, well, who cares with socks? My feet certainly didn't care. Conor helped me pick some that weren't too boring.

We had carefully packed our carry-ons that morning with an allowance for "booze room". I was given the 2 bottles of wine for my backpack, and DH took his beer into his rolling bag.

And then, we got to Port Canavral - too early, I thought (yes, we think things like that).

Port to boarding

Alas, I spoke too soon ... there was quite the car line-up coming into board, so we crept along for another 15 minutes or so. This permitted me to do my "round up the stuff that has spread around the back seat" (I'm a spreader, much to DH's eternal chagrin, and Conor inherited that gene).

It wasn't bad though, and we arrived at DCL. Once our luggage was out and all nicely clumped together (including the booster seat) on the side walk, it was whisked away. We were given what was clearly a well-rehearsed spiel about how to get through security, etc., but we assured the nice man that we had done all that before, so we headed off to where he pointed. This line-up was short, but we had to show our cruise documents and (I think anyway) photo ID for the grown-ups. This granted us entry into the familiar port building, and we had another short line-up for security.

Boozy backpack and friends made it through no problem and we glided elegantly up the escalator to check in, which had another short line to getting our (sigh) 4th set of sliver lanyards and 5th KTTW cards, and boarding number 4, I think. (We never actually care... so I don't usually remember.)

As is generally the case, Conor had zero interest in lining up to see Captain Mickey (only when we had to wait forever in Vancouver was this something he would do at port), nor did we wish to stand in yet another line to get his Magic Band for the clubs. Instead, the penny squisher was sought out and the collection added to, while everyone (in various stages of agreement) was mandated to do a bathroom check.

We engaged in debate about whether we would lunch at Cabanas or at a "sit-down" restaurant (though one does still sit, you know, at Cabanas) and Conor broke the tie in selecting Cabanas.

And when boarding group 4 was called, we walked through the big ears anxious to get through the gauntlet of family photo (ick) and name announcing (cringe). With gritted teeth & fake smiles, we made it.


That part of the day when you have to drag your bags all over the place with you

Conor *was* happy to be back on the Fantasy - he has declared that this is our home ship, whatever that means.

I am not a huge fan of this part of the day, as it feels very unsettled until we get to our cabins and (whinging here) we have to manage our carry-on bags, which were heavier than usual this time due to the wine, but it's short-lived, so we cope, without complaining, mostly. Well kind of. A bit anyway. Maybe.

In brief, what we've learned as UnDisney folk:

• Lunch at Cabanas is always good, so long as you get in before the masses, because people get very antsy on day 1 about the buffet lines.
• The ice tea is good and unsweetened.
• The drink of the day (if you pause on deck 11, which we did, since the sun was warm finally) can be procured without a fancy cup.
• Cove café is open and ice lattés are better than the drink of the day.
• The navigator tells you where to go to get tickets for booze tastings and to check on dining arrangements (that's DH's job)
• You can check your kiddo in to the clubs on board and the lines are not long usually

To no one's surprise, Conor's mood improved dramatically after lunch, (his parents might have been less grumpy too) and we sauntered off to check into the club. He was really funny- like an old man checking on a family cottage or something he hadn't seen in a while - pointing out to me what was the same (most of it) and what was different.

After the old man finished his tour, he had to go and check on ... the mystery game. Of note, you can't actually do much with the game until the cabins are ready but, well, this does not stop Conor and Pigmy Puff, now named Wiggles.





You can find a few magical pictures that are accessible though.




Fortunately, it was now approaching 1:30, which meant that the drag-your-bag game was coming to an end. Conor was OK to pause the mystery game because, as you can see, evil parent that I am, I mandated him to wear his own backpack, and it was heavy, and he was TIRED. Perils of becoming a Big Boy.

We found a non-busy elevator (perks of experience) and wended our way to good old 9120.

And then, one of my favourite moments of day 1:





(Note also Star Wars shirt #2).

In case some are considering this -we got the package with the throw, but not the glow in the dark version. The throw makes it worth it, in my opinion- that thing is super-cozy, and it is a permanent fixture on my lap these days (working on my old lady vibe).

A slightly blurry (sorry) view of the rest of it:



So- we have a frame and an oddly triangular pillow as well. The hanging thingies are all magnetic, so you can move them around the cabin (read: out of the parental way). There is also a door magnet and a thingy on the window to the veranda, but I don't know if those were provided to everyone or not.

Suffice it to say, that this provided delight and amusement all cruise long, and many of those things are now firmly filed as precious objects in my house ... Conor is still working out how to hang the hanging thingies since, frustratingly, our ceilings are not metallic.

We'll come back to the little card on the left next to the (I think) improved beach bag for Silver members a bit later.

This appears to be a good place to pause. More later!

 

[Conorama]

Day 1- in which we venture into a few DCL things we've never really done

We hung out in the room a bit to recover from crowds (#IntrovertsAreWe), and our luggage started to arrive. Conor started to get a bit antsy, so he and I headed out to mystery (that's a verb now). Being 8 now (vs. 4) he is much faster so I basically jog around after him. He finished mystery 1, and started right up on mystery 2. We strategically ended up appropriately at the muster drill, met up with DH, and survived that as usual.

We had decided to actually view the sail-away party, so we made our way to the aft elevators and up to level 10... whereupon Conor tried to open a sliding door while DH didn't see this and hit the automatic button which caused the door to slide, and, well, ouch. Fortunately, it was just a bit of a skin tear, but it was on a finger and someone was very upset. DH was dispatched to get the kid-friendly drink of the day, and we sat down on Deck 10 to watch the show, work on not crying, and apply cold drink to the injured finger, whilst cuddling.

This did not bode well for staying for the whole show, so we decided that a bit of Disney TV might be in order, and some unpacking. For the first time, ever, we figured out the on-demand side of the TV and found some movie that Conor actually likes ... there are not many! This also distracted him fairly well as I cleaned his injury, and fit him with a (what else) Star Wars bandaid.

So- we're at 5 cruises - and we've only even tried to attend 2 sail-away parties, and failed at both. I believe it is a sign.

At this point, I thought to ask DH about our dining assignment - I forget our rotation (we'll probably figure it out as I write this...) but I know we started at Animators. He then (sheepishly) confessed that we were sharing a table because he, um, forgot to request a 4-top when he switched our reservation around.

There was stunned silence in the room. We've only ever shared when we traveled with friends.

Yes, yes - I know many people love this, but ... #IntrovertsAreWe. I'll note now that it worked out just fine, but it was a bit of a shock.

We quickly changed the conversation to the "pick your own adventure" card re: SWDAS - this is where you rank the activities you would like- I think it's 4 character meets and then the Jedi Training academy. I was not permitted to have an opinion on the ranking. Conor was very clear on what he wanted, (no bad guys, no training academy), so the card was filled out, and readied to be put in the appropriate bin on time.

We readied ourselves for supper ... and Conor collected the 15 essential items he feels he had to bring to supper. These days, this includes a notebook, many pens, other random art supplies, a stuffy or 3 (Pigmy Puff now), his wallet, some kind of Lego or related toy, and a book. Fortunately, I am Super-mom, so I had a bag ready for this, so that pockets were not overloaded.

Here's a random pic of Conor in a porthole, with bag, hat, and Wiggles the Pigmy Puff.



Where we are very pleasant dining companions

We arrived first for our table at Animator's, and settled in. DH had been told that the other family had 3 kids, similar in age to Conor, so we looked about expectantly.

I don't feel right writing about other folks (even when it's good!), so I'll just give a short overview of the week. Night - Kids don't talk to one another much at all. Night 2 - they were away. Night 3 - a bit of conversation starting from time to time with the kids. Night 4 - we were away. Night 5 - we were away. Night 6 - SWDAS - and, by fluke, Conor ended up next to the oldest girl (his age), and BINGO... we have lift-off. Super-enthusiastic chatting and bonding. (Dude has girl and boy friends, but often talks up a storm with girls who have similar interests ... like Star Wars). Night 7- more bonding & giggling.

It was their first cruise, so Conor was, on night 1, politely explaining a bit about what to expect as Crush came on, but he was pretty quiet otherwise.

(Oh- the parents were very nice, but since they were at the polar opposite end of the table, conversation wasn't easy!)

Our waiters were very good - they didn't blink on all the nights when Conor ordered from the adult menu and ate like a horse, and checked with us each night before bringing a Shirley Temple.

All in all- sharing a table was totally fine, but we didn't like it as much as when we are quietly on our own. Partly it's the whole "too many people" issue that we have. And, well, too much Disney.


Finally - we get through a whole show and we like it

On cruise #1, we got through Aladdin as a matinee, but Conor did NOT like it. We didn't even try on #2. I think we tried once each for a bit on #3 and #4 but no go.

Cruise #5... we have breakthrough! We got through whatever the opening show was. (Failing Disney here again.) It was the welcome one that has a rather cheesy story about a family on DCL, but with different other things thrown in, like, in this case, a teaser of the magician.

Biggest difference this year for us, I think, is that Conor is much better able to stay up past 8:00. (I've been working on the stay up past 9:00 myself and I'm making progress...)

Regardless, he giggled and laughed his way through, and was 100% taken by the (Canadian!) magician Shawn Farquhar.

Having completed this milestone, we were all exhausted, so headed back to cabin.

Some things don't change -for those who read the other TRs, we still have bath, books, & bed, and while we shorted bath & books a bit, we still had approximately 3 parsecs from when he closed his eyes to when he was out ... and I wasn't far behind.


Reflections on Day 1 - Version 5.0

I generally try to think back on the whole day so as to capture the 'big picture' vs. just the details. Overall, this was very smooth, and although some of our venturing into new territory (sail-away party) wasn't terribly successful, it wasn't such a big deal- we really had no huge expectations for it, so when it wasn't great ... no biggie.

I don't love day 1, generally- too much running around and lugging bags, and schedules, and all that jazz, but for a day 1 - this was pretty good.

Really- we had all our luggage (and all fingers were ultimately intact) - so the rest was just plain gravy.

Up next - Day 2 at Sea.

 

[bcwife76]

Poor boy and his finger glad it was just a flesh wound.

Day 1 is always a bit of a hassle, isn't it funny to say? But yes, juggling bags, getting in rooms, getting through muster drills and hordes of people in various areas But yay for being ON the ship!

Love the Star Wars decorations, very cool

 

[TestingH2O]

Ah! I just got off the Fantasy yesterday and finding your most recent TR is helping the adjustment. I can't wait to hear about this it's ready too since we booked an Eastern while on board.

I so understand the challenge of a new suitcase. Mine is big blue and I have the same problem.

 

[Conorama]

Poor boy and his finger glad it was just a flesh wound.

Day 1 is always a bit of a hassle, isn't it funny to say? But yes, juggling bags, getting in rooms, getting through muster drills and hordes of people in various areas But yay for being ON the ship!

Love the Star Wars decorations, very cool

Flesh wound and very hurt feelings! But yes, there is a sense of relief for having actually arrived with all luggage intact!

Ah! I just got off the Fantasy yesterday and finding your most recent TR is helping the adjustment. I can't wait to hear about this it's ready too since we booked an Eastern while on board.

I so understand the challenge of a new suitcase. Mine is big blue and I have the same problem.

Nice! I hope the weather was great. Thanks!

 

[Conorama]

Day 2 - At Sea - with general laziness

I won't report in chronological order for this day at sea, largely since it would put everyone to sleep as we try to chill out on the first day at sea. Instead, I'll just report on some highlights.

First, lest you think much has changed, I provide proof that Conor is a morning person (as am I) as he was keen to get up, grab breakfast, and then get going on the Mystery Game (in his PJs). In fact, in this photo, I am now reminded that the thing doesn't actually turn on until sometime after 8:00 - maybe even 9:00?

However, he tried.



We had vowed to try a few new things on this cruise, so DH and Conor ventured into the land of learning to draw Big Mouse, while I organized our cabin and started to get FE things together for delivery.

I joined them, though, just before lunch. Conor was displeased with his creation (perfectionist) but I was impressed (I can barely draw stick people and, well, I might be a wee bit biased). I'm sure his Totoro pen helped. Santa found that too - clever soul. (You either know Totoro and love him, or you don't know him at all.)





A brief plug is included here for having an occasional lunch at the MDR that is open that day - it's great when you need a break from the masses (it doesn't take us long to get to that point).

Voila Conor (in the Star Wars shirt of the day) happily chowing down on fish from the adult menu.




Now, fear not. He did not forget our unfinished mystery. He and I headed off after lunch to catch the Muppet who had stolen the props for the show. I was happy to do this, in part because I was about to spend time lying on my back at the spa (so this was exercise) and because, in a fit of sheer brilliance (oops) DH had booked a tasting at the same time I was at the spa that afternoon, which meant we had to hope Conor would be content at the kids club. In other words, like any good parent, I was guilted into running around the ship with the boy.

Here we have exhibit C (or whatever we're at) showing how much he loves this game.




I engineered things (not my first rodeo) to have him nab a snack at the Vista Café on deck 4 (with coffee for me), landing gracefully at the lab side of things (where Conor chose to stay this trip as he is a BIG boy), having determined that Camilla the Chicken (Gonzo's girlfriend) was the culprit.

The plan was for me to relax at the spa (facial - something I have no time for in the real world) while DH did a quick tasting.

I will note that the view from the spa is nothing to sneeze at.



When I emerged from the spa, I checked my phone- the app was working for us this time so we did use it to keep in touch- though I will note that at the kids club, they asked us to still use the Wave Phones when the kiddo was there because the app was a bit 'glitchy'. This was thus given to DH as I can't use those things to save my life. (I am actually very tech-y - I just hate the Wave Phones. Because I'm just like that...)

Apparently, tastings take longer than facials ... so I fetched a generally happy child, who was then immediately annoyed that he would have to dress up for supper.

Astute readers will realize that Formal Night was upon us. We had dispatched DH's suit & dress shirts and a few other items off to the nice people who press things better than I could ever hope to do, EVER (definitely a great perk at DCL and still oddly affordable). Conor's outfit, for once, didn't require pressing. We had been to a Sikh & Hindu wedding for a good friend, and when I had shown Conor the photos of what to expect at the various ceremonies, he was giddy with excitement for the clothing that is usually worn. E-bay to the rescue for that one ... and he now considers this as his formal wear, and, well, I wasn't going to argue since he actually likes wearing his 'Kurda pyjama' - and it is about as comfy as PJs.

I didn't have anything quite as cool to wear but did tidy up reasonably well, and we seem to have missed getting a photo of DH entirely. Oops.




(Note the mystery game card by my foot... as always!)

We were on our own at the Enchanted Garden that night at our table, and has a peaceful supper ... with the 1/6 of the other people on the ship, give or take. So maybe not so peaceful.

In order to work off supper, we engaged in a bit of post-prandial exercise.




I'm pretty sure (but am frankly to lazy to check at this moment) that we also headed off to watch Aladdin, which went over MUCH BETTER this time around. 8 years of age is just about perfect for this, in our world - he thought the funny parts were hilarious, he loved the magic carpet character (as did we), and was not TOO horrified by the romance. Happy pants.

I'm sure we just plain collapsed at this point, which is about what I'm going to do right now. Good night!

 

[Ensusieasm]

I was so happy to stumble upon your latest trip report today. It is such fun to share in Conor's joy and excitement. Thanks so much for taking the time to entertain and inform your loyal followers!

 

[LejaOneKenobi]

Thanks for your awesome post! Thinking of doing a Star Wars DCL since my kids are getting older and we are all massive Star Wars fans

 

[kid-at-heart]

I love Conor's formal wear. His attire looks comfortable and stylish, perfect for an eight year old boy, heck perfect for anyone, any age. You both look absolutely lovely.

I am a major introvert so I can understand not want to share a table with strangers.

Kate

 

[Bethany10]

I stumbled onto your first trip report last night and wound up reading until almost 1:00 in the morning. I was so sad to read that you had not planned on doing another cruise. Logged in to see if you had other posts and laughed my head off that you're now on your 5th cruise. As I did not check the date on your first report it wasn't until this one that I even realized my DS is Conor's age. My goodness the jump in time from that first report to this one!

Also, BIG thank you for posting about the Pygmy Puff. There may or may not be one headed our way for DD's Easter basket. She is a HUGE Harry Potter fan and when we started planning the trip that led me back here the first thing she said was I want a pygmy puff from WWOHP.

I have truly enjoyed your reports, especially your perspective as a non disney family. One of my concerns about going is that the entertainment is going to be too young for them. I love that clearly you've enjoyed your trips enough to go back and have found your own path outside of the Disney bubble.

 

[Conorama]

I was so happy to stumble upon your latest trip report today. It is such fun to share in Conor's joy and excitement. Thanks so much for taking the time to entertain and inform your loyal followers!

You're welcome- though last week was a bit brutal at work, so I am behind... we'll try to catch up this week.

Thanks for your awesome post! Thinking of doing a Star Wars DCL since my kids are getting older and we are all massive Star Wars fans

Thanks! I think 8 was just about perfect - but then again, I saw lots of older kids having a ball.

I love Conor's formal wear. His attire looks comfortable and stylish, perfect for an eight year old boy, heck perfect for anyone, any age. You both look absolutely lovely.

I am a major introvert so I can understand not want to share a table with strangers.

Kate

Thanks! He does love colour and bling.

I stumbled onto your first trip report last night and wound up reading until almost 1:00 in the morning. I was so sad to read that you had not planned on doing another cruise. Logged in to see if you had other posts and laughed my head off that you're now on your 5th cruise. As I did not check the date on your first report it wasn't until this one that I even realized my DS is Conor's age. My goodness the jump in time from that first report to this one!

Also, BIG thank you for posting about the Pygmy Puff. There may or may not be one headed our way for DD's Easter basket. She is a HUGE Harry Potter fan and when we started planning the trip that led me back here the first thing she said was I want a pygmy puff from WWOHP.

I have truly enjoyed your reports, especially your perspective as a non disney family. One of my concerns about going is that the entertainment is going to be too young for them. I love that clearly you've enjoyed your trips enough to go back and have found your own path outside of the Disney bubble.

I'm so sorry you were up so late! Wiggles is very happy living with us now - and he likes to watch the wand-making processes that take place in our garage. Apparently, you can never have too many wands, so the men pick up sticks, and do magical things with them to make unique wands, which get brought out to the mall, for example. I love that university-aged folks are huge Harry Potter fans too- so he always gets comments from people working in stores.

I agree re: DCL from the UnDisney side of things -we generally just look for what works for us and we've never felt like we were lacking for non-Disney things to do. We also don't feel obliged to plan something for every minute (that is my work life- not my vacation!) so I think that helps.


And with that... let's get day 3 done!

 

[Conorama]

Day 3 at Sea- where we eat well, I darken the door of a Mixology class, and we don't go to a show.

It is telling it took me this long to post this very short report of day 3. The hospital where I work is moving, you see, and it's coming up starting this week. If I stop posting after Thursday, you'll know why (I say, rather ominously).

Thus, my days are spent as follows:

• Reading 10 memos about the upcoming move.
• Answering 50 questions from colleagues who don't read the 10 memos a day
• Tracking down answers to *my* questions that are not mentioned in memos ("Oh! We had not thought of that- we'll get back to you...")
  
• Purging stuff (mostly done in January actually)
• Looking for stuff I already packed.
• Answering the question about: "Are you excited" with "Um, have you ever moved before? We're in THAT part of the move. The part where you wonder why on earth you ever thought this was a good idea - that's where we are. Excited is scheduled for, um, 1 month after the move, maybe?"
• Oh, and doing the things that are actually part of my job- health care, teaching, dealing with email and all that jazz which doesn't really slow down just because we're moving.

This, on top of the fact that Conor's Spring skating show is coming up and that this involves (must learn to read the fine print on these forms before checking 'sure, my kid would love to be in the opening number too') 9 rehearsals in 2 weeks, (6 this week), means that I am barely keeping up with matters like, well, my kids' homework, or, well, actually seeing my house during day light, never mind writing a TR.

Speaking of homework (note the seamless segue there), we caused Conor's day to be ruined by having him do some homework, it appears. The deal is that we choose when he does homework, and then he picks where he does homework. He does not have to enjoy it, but he does have to do it and not complain.

This was a Vista Café day, it appears, likely due to bribery with a milk steamer with vanilla.

Feel the joy, but don't feel too bad for the kiddo- his homework was pretty darned light, because his teacher is great. He had already done all of his math, because math, so he just had to write 2 paragraphs on 4 days of the trip.




While we did homework (and I sipped an iced latté of course), DH did laundry. Thrilling! (But necessary- the clothes from the plane were taking up too much room in the laundry drawer.)

We undertook yet another mystery at this point (of course we did), and then nabbed some food for the kiddo on Deck 11, so that he could saunter off to the lab fed & watered (Yes, it was a rather lazy morning.) He still does not eat anything at the lab, or partake in any of the organized activities, but he loves it basically because he doesn't have to follow a schedule (wonder where he gets that?). This year, he bonded with a lovely CM from Australia and spent much of his time sketching with her at the animation table.

Meanwhile, DH and I dusted off some (relative) finery and headed to Remy for brunch. We did this back on the Dream (cruise #2) and were very keen to go back again. I learned the last time thought that it makes no sense for me to upgrade to the champagne parings (I just nap for the rest of the day) so we had agreed ahead of time that DH would do that, and I would get a few sips of each glass.

Moderation is the key to a happy marriage, and is also key to not falling asleep in the very yummy food.

I did not take any pics of the food, but I can assure you, it was very, very, very good.

Determined not to sleep away the day, I fetched Star Wars Boy and walked out on Deck 4 for a bit, and he perused the shops, again, to determine how he would spend his hard-saved allowance.

MUCH to my chagrin, he decided he would return after supper to buy (sigh) ANOTHER light saber. His money, his choice, is the rule... and this was belongs to Ezra someone-or-other and turns into a gun too. Ick, but what do I know?

As we were definitely heading for parents of the year awards again, after some more hang-out time and a snack for the kiddo, he was yet again deposited at the lab, whilst his parents ventured off to a mixology class, as part of the "let's try new things ... at least once in a while ... without, you know, going all crazy about it".

DH is a veteran taster, but had never been a mixer. Having read all about the mixology classes I figured it was worth a (sorry!) shot.

I made a drink- this one I liked- I cannot remember what it was called, but it involved muddling, basil and strawberries and, well, yes, some form of alcohol or other that I promptly forgot.

Here it is ... whatever it is .... in all its glory.




I then dutifully tried everything else, and handed each and every glass over to DH after 1 sip. This is one way we save money on Disney cruises!

This meant, though, that I had no compunction about leaving early to fetch the kiddo, who was more than ready for quiet hang-out-on-our-veranda time, and then deliver most of the rest of the FEs time.

One that note- we did oddly well on the FE front- very little Disney stuff that wasn't us at all. Conor was over the moon at one particular journal that was dropped off (complete with little leather-ish lanyard things to wrap it up with), and that became THE THING to carry about. We decided that we would track all the countries of the people we met, and it was an impressive list by the end of the trip. We had to make it hard, though, and write the country in French - thank goodness for the French-English dictionary on my phone, as I'm pretty fluent, but French names of tiny Caribbean countries just doesn't usually come up in discussing grade 3 math, or even geography, really... We also enjoyed the actual laundry bag, another bag that was intended for me (think big wallet-type thing) that was promptly adopted by Conor, and (preview for tomorrow) the hideously bad Disney & Star Wars puns on tiny little pieces of paper.

After supper at the MDR du jour (Royal Court - with tablemates), we busted out early to head to Officer Pin trading, a favourite for the kiddo.

A pro-tip I had learned was to go on eBay and buy a lot of pins- (yes, yes, yes, I know some/most/all of them might be fake- but my kid doesn't care and he doesn't trade seriously yet). Thus, 5 cruises in, Conor still had his 'traders' and had some he had outgrown. He loves Officer pin trading, so this was a main focus.

He likes to drape his 2 lanyards over his (inevitable) Star Wars t-shirt in "Chewbacca fashion" (criss-cross) Many young folk came up to him to trade while waiting for the Officers, which threw him a bit, but then he rallied, and had a good time, smoothly adopting his "why yes, I've done this forever" wise persona, at the age of 8.

Gotta love DCL for this one- a huge array of Officers, all dressed in white, march down the huge stairs in flamboyant fashion, to trade pins (mostly) with kids, with huge smiles on their faces. Love it.

In the photo below, you'll see Officer #3 chatting with Conor .. whereupon he asked him a difficult question- did he want to pick a pin from his lanyard, or did he want the secret pin. Conor pondered for 3 parsecs (see, Star Wars reference! ), and asked for the secret pin.




And then.... OH THE HAPPINESS!!! (It opens up too - beyond thrilling!)



This required much very excited chattering for the next 30 minutes.

Finally, with new light saber and new pins in hand, we headed back to our cabin for an early night, (with no show- I think it was the ventriloquist? Or the hypnotist? Something like that anyway) because we would need all of our energy for our trip to the Baths the next day at Tortola .... on our own, with nary a paddle of power in sight.

Conor enjoyed a nice long soak in the tub (not possible after shows, due to the need to Get Him In Bed), and we all appreciated the chilled out nature of our night.

Good night!

 

[TestingH2O]

After supper at the MDR du jour (Royal Court - with tablemates), we busted out early to head to Officer Pin trading, a favourite for the kiddo

Was the lobby oppressively crowded for this? On our cruise it was almost unbearable and I don't mind crowds. I'm trying to figure out if it was a fluke or it's always like that.

Finally, with new light saber and new pins in hand, we headed back to our cabin for an early night, (with no show- I think it was the ventriloquist? Or the hypnotist? Something like that anyway) because we would need all of our energy for our trip to the Baths the next day at Tortola .... on our own, with nary a paddle of power in sight.

Yay!!!! I'll be very interested to hear these details.