Cindy D. - December 2005

Who: Cindy D. (41), Gary (49), Nathan (9 1/2) and Zachary (8)
What: Disney Cruise - on the Magic - our 1st cruise ever!
When: December 17 - 24, 2005
Where: Port Canaveral, Key West, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Castaway Cay
Why: Celebrating achievement of our black belts in Taekwondo (Cindy, Nathan and Zachary - August '04)

Friday, December 23rd – Castaway Cay
I woke up this morning with a sense of anticipation – finally going to see Castaway Cay which I had read so much about and seen so many pictures of. We hurried for breakfast, and then were out on the verandah watching us dock, and then the wonderful procession of Cast Members as they left the ship and went to their posts on the island to make our day ashore as magical as our days at sea had been. I commented to Gary that it was something that looked choreographed! We were on the starboard side of the ship so we got to see the happenings right from our room. We headed down to Deck 4 so we’d be close to getting off the ship near the front of the groups.

Castaway Cay is amazingly beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. We walked up to the main part of the island after feeling the snow from the snowmen (it was the weekend of Christmas after all) and got some photos with Mickey and Minnie along the way. We checked the kids into Scuttles Cove and then went off to explore the island. We walked down to Serenity Bay where we plopped down on a couple of chairs for about 1/2 hour and then we walked back to the middle of the island. My sunglasses broke, so I had to get a new pair. We ran into friends while looking for sunglasses and then decided to all get lunch together, so we did. During lunch, our friends told us about the scavenger hunt she was going to do – so after lunch, the two men went back to the beach to sit in the shade while she and I went on the scavenger hunt. I got a packet for me at the information booth, and then we checked in on our kids. Nathan was ready to go, so he hung out with me for the rest of the afternoon. We did the scavenger hunt – some of the clues were tough, and if it weren’t for Nathan’s keen eye, we’d have never figured a couple of them out.

Around 2:30, we checked Zachary out and then went to get our bikes we had reserved. I hadn’t been on a bicycle in years, but it came back to me instantly! We rode to Serenity Bay and took the path there to the end, and then on the way back, we checked out the new bike trail. Zachary and Gary took off ahead of me and Nathan, and we didn’t catch up with them til we came across them where Zachary had wiped out. His poor knee was a mess, but he was a trooper and rode his bike back up to the main part of the island and then hobbled with me to the First Aid station where he got good care! Gary and Nathan had already headed back to get back onboard, so Zachary and I went back after getting him cleaned up.

Dinner that night was back at Lumiere’s. The kids went with us, and then we went to the show and then Zachary went back to the Lab for the evening. After the show, I started packing and finally got done about 10:30 – just in time to realize I missed the Til We Meet Again show in the atrium. I hated that because I really wanted to see it – I just forgot about it. Next time I’ll start packing on Thursday! I went down to see if Zachary was ready to come back but he wasn’t, so I left him in the Lab and just wandered around the ship, kinda saying goodbye, kwim? I went to Diversions where it was Pub Night and the CMs had a hilarious skit that made me laugh til I had tears. Definitely something to see.

Close to midnight I went to blast Zachary out of the Lab and turn in my pager (it was due back by midnight). Then off to sleep with a wake-up call for early. I don’t remember falling asleep that night, but when we woke up, it was….

Saturday, December 24th – the last morning
… and we were docked in Port Canaveral. What a sad sight that was… I was hoping we’d still be out in the sea and have a little extra sailing time, but alas, we were right on schedule. I got up, dressed and packed up the carryon, and then got the boys up one at a time to get them up and dressed for the day. We were all pretty pitiful, and of course tired from having not gotten much sleep the night before. And of course when Zachary went to the bathroom, he had some drippage which required him to need a change of underwear – only problem was that I had packed it all so he didn’t have a spare – oops! I’ll remember that next time!

We took one last look around the cabin and went down for our 7 a.m. breakfast and were glad we weren’t in the 6:30 crowd  Breakfast was fine, a little rushed and limited selection of food, but it was nice to be able to say a proper goodbye to our servers and tablemates. The line to disembark was forming in the Atrium, so we watched it grow longer and longer but then it moved pretty quickly.

After breakfast, we walked around a few more minutes, one last trip to the restroom, and then queued to get off the ship. We were sure dragging our feet… I’ve never seen such unhappy kids on the day before Christmas.

We got into the room where the luggage was and as we headed up to our area, a big burly man shouted “Porter? Anyone need a porter?” and I shouted back “me, me!” so he came over with his cart, helped us get our 8 bags, directed us where to go for the shortest line through the customs check, and then he took us outside to where the Radisson shuttle would collect us. The shuttle was already there, so we were whisked away from the port pretty quickly and then dropped off at our car where we loaded up and were on the road home by 8:15 a.m.

Top Five Most Helpful Tips

1. Join the Cruise Meet thread for when you're traveling.
2. Over the door shoe holder - great for storing toiletries without cluttering the counter.
3. Keeping a stack of $1 for room service tips - very handy.
4. Read the Navigator the night before and highlight what you want to do even if you don't do it.
5. Secret Verandah on Deck 7 - we did go out there a couple of times that I didn't even write about.

Top Five Things Learned & Would Do Differntly Next Time

1. Start packing on Thursday.
2. Don't let DS eat so much mac/cheese at a time.
3. Take less clothes.
4. Order creme' brulee for dessert the FIRST night and SECOND night and THIRD night.
5. Re-book earlier in the week....

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