Day at sea - 25th September
OK - I was not able to connect to the internet yesterday when I wanted to post yesterday's blog. So now I am further behind... So I will try to make this short, in order to deal with some of the as yet unanswered questions that I want to talk about.
So... What we did on our first day back at sea:
Slept in 'til 9 AM.
Buffet breakfast at Beach Blanket buffet
Dropped the kids off at the kids clubs - Gabriella was a junior chef and made chocolate chip cookies, Kiara played on the slide and in the Captain's closet - dress up, reading, colouring etc.
Alex went to a Q and A session with broadway singer/TV and film actress Susan Egan, the original Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and the voice of Meg in Hercules - Disney Cruises offer a number of these types of "Disney Behind-the scenes" talks from Disney insiders. This is the first one that I attended and it was very interesting, a glimpse into a different world!
Maritala started to tackle her favourite task - laundry! yay! There are three coin-operated laundrettes for passenger use on board ship (as well as the regular laundry service) which is good for longer cruises, allowing you to pack a bit lighter, and/or rescue a favourite item that get something spilled on it, for example...
Both children stayed for lunch and part of the afternoon sessions - Kiara had some quiet play and Gabriella rehearsed for tomorrow's talent show - looking forward to that. I then pulled Gabriella out for an event on deck called Mouse2O - while Maritala went to a presentation at the spa on losing body fat fast... really necessary for many of the cruisers, ha ha.
Mouse2O was a family-friendly afternoon fun-fest, with family water-relays, arts and crafts, music and dancing with Disney characters, and more. Gabriella was so excited "I danced on the stage with the characters!" She also got an airbrushed tattoo.
Alex finished the laundry (well, I just picked it up and folded some of it)
Kiara wouldn't leave the club when we went for her, so Gabriella signed in to the 3-4s group for the afternoon
We started packing - we know how many day's worth of clothes we still need, and want to avoid too much of a rush at the last minute. Yes, boring.
We split up again for the early part of the evening. Maritala chose to get a hair cut (she doesn't have time at home, you see) - no picture yet.
The girls went back to the club to play and make art and craft picture frames, and I went to the show.
The show was "Susan Egan - Belle of Broadway", which was a low-key but enjoyable one-woman show with the talented singer.
We pulled the girls out to go eat, and I finally had a bad meal. The cool thing about cruising, and the inclusive nature of the dining, is that all I had to do was pull our waiter aside and ask for a different meal, and 3 minutes later there it was. No embarrassing scenes with the maitre' d etc. and no having to chomp through an inedible "Indian style" vegetable biryani.
The girls hadn't napped this evening and therefore were not able to hold it together any later (who could blame them). Maritala and I had hoped to go and see the crew member's talent show. But there was no way the kids could stay any longer in the kids club, even though they had little mattresses out for kids to sleep on.
I ended up going to this show alone, which was a shame for Maritala. The staff played to an absolutely packed house, and while some of the acts were borderline, the audience response was wonderful. Indeed, some of the performers were extremely good - practically good enough to be in the actual Disney shows - and the finale was absolutely hilarious.
I know this was short on text - though heavy on pictures. The next one may be the other way round...
What to expect from my next post...
Show times and dining - how does that work?
Advantages of late dining?
Movement and noise levels on the ship...
More descriptions and photos of the cabins and other parts of the ship.
What is "free" (well, included in your price) and what is extra?
Smoking?
Speak to you later...
So... What we did on our first day back at sea:
Slept in 'til 9 AM.
Buffet breakfast at Beach Blanket buffet
Dropped the kids off at the kids clubs - Gabriella was a junior chef and made chocolate chip cookies, Kiara played on the slide and in the Captain's closet - dress up, reading, colouring etc. 
Alex went to a Q and A session with broadway singer/TV and film actress Susan Egan, the original Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and the voice of Meg in Hercules - Disney Cruises offer a number of these types of "Disney Behind-the scenes" talks from Disney insiders. This is the first one that I attended and it was very interesting, a glimpse into a different world!Maritala started to tackle her favourite task - laundry! yay! There are three coin-operated laundrettes for passenger use on board ship (as well as the regular laundry service) which is good for longer cruises, allowing you to pack a bit lighter, and/or rescue a favourite item that get something spilled on it, for example...
Both children stayed for lunch and part of the afternoon sessions - Kiara had some quiet play and Gabriella rehearsed for tomorrow's talent show - looking forward to that. I then pulled Gabriella out for an event on deck called Mouse2O - while Maritala went to a presentation at the spa on losing body fat fast... really necessary for many of the cruisers, ha ha.
Mouse2O was a family-friendly afternoon fun-fest, with family water-relays, arts and crafts, music and dancing with Disney characters, and more. Gabriella was so excited "I danced on the stage with the characters!" She also got an airbrushed tattoo.Alex finished the laundry (well, I just picked it up and folded some of it)
Kiara wouldn't leave the club when we went for her, so Gabriella signed in to the 3-4s group for the afternoon
We started packing - we know how many day's worth of clothes we still need, and want to avoid too much of a rush at the last minute. Yes, boring.
We split up again for the early part of the evening. Maritala chose to get a hair cut (she doesn't have time at home, you see) - no picture yet.
The girls went back to the club to play and make art and craft picture frames, and I went to the show. 
The show was "Susan Egan - Belle of Broadway", which was a low-key but enjoyable one-woman show with the talented singer. We pulled the girls out to go eat, and I finally had a bad meal. The cool thing about cruising, and the inclusive nature of the dining, is that all I had to do was pull our waiter aside and ask for a different meal, and 3 minutes later there it was. No embarrassing scenes with the maitre' d etc. and no having to chomp through an inedible "Indian style" vegetable biryani.
The girls hadn't napped this evening and therefore were not able to hold it together any later (who could blame them). Maritala and I had hoped to go and see the crew member's talent show. But there was no way the kids could stay any longer in the kids club, even though they had little mattresses out for kids to sleep on.
I ended up going to this show alone, which was a shame for Maritala. The staff played to an absolutely packed house, and while some of the acts were borderline, the audience response was wonderful. Indeed, some of the performers were extremely good - practically good enough to be in the actual Disney shows - and the finale was absolutely hilarious.I know this was short on text - though heavy on pictures. The next one may be the other way round...
What to expect from my next post...
Show times and dining - how does that work?
Advantages of late dining?
Movement and noise levels on the ship...
More descriptions and photos of the cabins and other parts of the ship.
What is "free" (well, included in your price) and what is extra?
Smoking?
Speak to you later...
On to... 26th Sept - Another Day at Sea
[Back to... St Kitts - and Pirates in the Caribbean]
posted by Alex at "Let's Take the Kids Travel Agency" | 10:20 PM
1 Comments:
I was trying to find an itinerary from this cruise and happened upon your blog. I started reading it because I really enjoyed that cruise. When I came to this page I was shocked and pleased to see a picture of my little girl in there. Delaney passed away in May 2008 and so it is a blessing to have gotten to see a new picture of her.
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