Sea Day

Today is our last day of the cruise. It's a sea day, which basically means we're floating back to Port Canaveral, since it's only like, over there. But the weather is beautiful, so it's a nice day to be on the water.

We started today with brunch at Palo. While most of the menu at Palo on each of the four ships is exactly the same, today peach bellinis were on the free drink menu, so of course, I got my favorite. There were also a few differences in the menu, but as always, chicken parm was on there and was promptly ordered. And consumed. And while Molly and I didn't exactly overeat, we certainly ate plenty and promptly retired to our room for the requisite post-Palo nap.

Palo brunch means you're always full at lunchtime, so we skipped that. Although we also may have been napping at that point anyway. We used the time after nap to pack up our things - tomorrow we actually have to leave our room and go home. We managed to get everything shoved into our suitcases, ready to be put out in the hall later this evening.

Later in the afternoon we headed to the lounge and ended up on the sun deck at sundown. The deck was pretty much deserted, and as slow as we were going, it was a nice way to wind down (from what, I don't know, but it was still very nice). I read until there was no light to read. We said our goodbyes and thanks to Joanne and Glenn, our concierge hosts, since we probably won't see them again and headed to dinner.

Last night, Molly had commented to our head server about how she wished they had strawberry soup. Tonight as we headed to our table, he saw us and told us he had strawberry soup for us - and he did! It was such a sweet surprise, one of the reasons that we cruise Disney. After our soup, we ordered our regular dinner, ate, and then said our thanks to our servers.

We returned to our room and put our bags into the hall for pickup. The best thing? Tonight was my last pill!!  It seems to have worked, since my very angry spot on my abdomen has become docile and almost nonexistent. And since I have been taking the pills completely engulfed in two cartons of yogurt, it seems to have waylaid the havoc the pills were doing to my stomach. Here's hoping the staph that was is no longer, and has completely left the building. The building being my body, that is.

Pretty soon it was time to go to bed.  We turned on whatever movie was on the Marvel channel, Molly configured the sleep timer on the remote control, and soon we were both asleep. It's been a great, albeit short, cruise. Just what we wanted!!

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Blessings today include: brunch at Palo and very friendly and chatty server; beautiful day on the sea; getting bags packed; passing out cookies to our hosts and hostesses; strawberry soup for dinner; last pill

Castaway Cay

Today we docked at Castaway Cay. While I did technically sleep around nine hours, they were not the same nine hours from last night. Molly is trying to get me to drink more water, which means I got up several times to relieve myself of said water. My masseuse says my body will get used to all the extra water, which I hope it will, since last night it did get used to the extra sleep.

Last night we did go to our assigned dining location, which was Tiana's. It's what used to be Parrot Cay. During the Wonder's recent dry dock, they remodeled the restaurant to be themed on "The Princess And The Frog." And they did a splendid job! The room is light and airy and Tiana walks around greeting her guests. There's a three-piece band that plays during dinner, and I understand that at some point there's a parade (did I mention we got Mardi Gras beads from our server?) which we skipped out on (we can handle only so much fun). The food was really good and it's a fun place to dine.

We also saw the new stage show, "Frozen." It's based on the movie of the same name and follows the story. Some of the story is done with puppets (Olaf the Snowman would kinda be hard to keep up with the stage lights) and the special effects are pretty awesome. And of course, it's Disney quality, so it's absolutely a delight.

But back to today. Molly and I decided to stay on the ship and not venture out to the island. We decided to enjoy the quietness on the ship. We sat on the deck and read awhile before having lunch. We then returned to the room to watch a movie, read, and get caught up on a few blog posts. Now, about those catch-up blog posts ... They are pretty much all photos - but at least they're something! There may be hope for a total catch up after all!

Tonight is pirate night, which means fireworks. I'll try to get a couple of photos - if I'm still awake, that is!

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Blessings today include; reading and napping on deck; shrimp for lunch; getting caught up on blog posts from December 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 17, 20, and 22

Nine Hours and Nassau

After closing the curtains and trying to close out every possible crack where light could come through, we slept. And slept and slept, finally waking up at 7:00am. By my calculations, that amounted to 9 hours of sleep – possibly the most sleep I’ve gotten in ages. And was it wonderful? Quite! Maybe I should make this a habit …

Anyhow, today we dock in Nassau. I’m sure it’s a great place, but after many cruises that have docked here, it just holds no appeal for me. One of these days I’m going to get over to Atlantis, but not this trip.

We went for breakfast and then to the lounge and sun deck. It was a bit windy, so after a short nap we returned to our room, which was being cleaned. We had picked up the DVD list and spent some time picking out DVDs, then I had a decision to make – the outside hot tub or the whirlpool tub in our room. After careful consideration (having already carefully considered the DVD list), I opted for the in-room. Mainly because I could not have to worry about strangers sitting with me, and I would have to take a bath anyway.

By the time I had finished, Molly had procured the DVDs and popcorn, so we started watching “Thor” and I worked on updating the blog. I know – I’m on a cruise – why aren’t I out on excursion or sitting in the hot tub or lounging by the pool? Well, it’s because on a cruise, everyone has all the opportunities of doing whatever the heck they want to (without having to worry about where to eat) – and I want to watch movies and sleep and eat and blog. And so I am!

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Blessings today include: chatting with our host and his Roomba; getting DVDs and watching a few; catching up on blog posts February 21, 22, 23, 24. 25. and 26

Non-Starting and Embarking

Today was the Princess Half-Marathon. Although I did manage to complete the 10K yesterday, I knew at the finish that doing the half marathon today would be a ill-advised idea. Molly had decided with her foot issue that her participation would also be a poor idea. So instead, we both slept later than 3am (although I did get up to tell Katie and KB good luck – they are the runners today). Once we got up, we packed up and headed for Port Canaveral – we’re going on a cruise!!

Actually we headed for the airport. First we had to turn in the rental car and get on the cruise bus. When we dumped our bags, we thought was saw KB’s already on the truck – but alas, she was instead finishing up the race. We managed to get all that accomplished and soon we were on our way – along with a cranky toddler (not ours – just a few seats ahead of us). In no time we were at the port – waiting to get on the ship.

And then we were!! We’re cruising fancy on this trip – concierge – so we headed to the brand new concierge lounge, which was super nice. Molly had a few of the free glasses of champagne (and maybe met a new friend). We decided to go have our traditional first-day meal (shrimp and mashed potatoes/gravy, among other things) before going to our room. We took our post-first-day-meal nap, and then it was time for the muster drill.

Unfortunately, our assigned muster station was on the sunny side of the ship. We were at the front of the line, which meant the sun was directly on us. Then for some reason, there was a long pause, which mean it was getting warmer. Eventually Molly changed places with me, eventually they did the whole “this is how you put on your life jacket”, and eventually some lady in the back of the line offered her seat to me. There were a few moments of fun when we eavesdropped on the family beside us. They had to be from Louisiana with their accent, and the tween-aged son was asking about how the Titanic split in half. To which the dad replied that it split when it hit the ocean floor. Then the boy wondered why there was no oil spill. I wanted to tell him that was because the Titanic was powered by coal, but I decided to mind my own business. I am learning that (a) I don’t have to share all the knowledge lodged in my head (because sometimes it ain’t all that correct), and (b) people don’t necessarily want to know all my knowledge.

Anyhow, once the drill was done (and since I was sitting in the back of the line, the drill leader felt sorry for me and let me go early), Molly headed off to get a manicure and I headed back to the room. Our bags were there so I unpacked us. By the time Molly returned from her pampering, we decided to order room service. Which was sooo good. We opted out of eating in our assigned dining room for tonight.

Eventually we knew we would have to leave so our room steward could clean our room/turn down our bed/make us all comfy, so we decided to go to the shops. Then we went to the bar where the Oscars were on. We watched for awhile, then decided to return to the room. Once there, we realized that the Oscars were also on the room television. We watched as long as possible before passing out.

All in all, a good day!!

That looks like KB's suitcase - but where is she??

Oh yeah, she was running 13.1 miles ...

Guess we'll go ahead and board the bus ...

Molly has some champagne, peruses the info, and perhaps makes a new friend??

Embarkation comfort food - yumm!

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Today's blessings include: KB and Katie finishing the race: Chelsea doing me a big one; getting on the bus and then the boat; having a great stateroom; Oscar watching

10K!!

Last night I was still a bit unsure as to whether I would do the 10K today. I asked God about it, even threw out a few fleeces, to which He answered with directions to do it. And so I got dressed and met up with our roomies (KB and Katie) and headed for the bus. Well, KB and I headed for the bus – Molly and Katie lagged behind find some sustenance. Did I mention it was 4am?

When we got on the bus, Chelsea and Emily (Laura’s girls) were on the bus. They said that Pam, Laura, Bethany, Ainsley, and Haley had already left on an earlier bus. We all eventually ended up at the same spot and made a few photos. Soon it was time to start.

We were all in different corrals, so we parted ways. Molly, Katie, KB, and I were all in the same corral. Once we crossed over the start, Molly and Katie took off and left us. KB slowed her pace and stayed with me throughout the entire race. As you can see, we had some fun…

Unfortunately, just after the start, Molly’s food started giving her problems. She said at one point she had to sit down, and at another, she just wanted to throw up. After she finished, she went to First Aid and got it iced. She got on the bus to return to the hotel, where she found Laura and Pam and all the girls. Meanwhile, KB and I were finishing the race.

Once everyone was finished and back at OKW, Pam, Laura, and I got a photo. They were headed to Animal Kingdom while my group was headed for the couch/bed. Katie went to eat lunch with friends, and the rest of us watched movies (and took naps).

That night, Molly, KB, Katie, and I decided to go to Shake Shack for dinner. And it was great – for a bit. Then somehow the grease bomb that was our burger seemed to form a large lump in our stomachs. While no one got grossly ill, we all agreed that perhaps it wasn’t our best idea. We went to the outlet mall where nobody really bought anything of importance (except swim trunks for a Steve project) and then we headed home.

We all went to bed, with Molly and I considering skipping the half marathon tomorrow. We also started packing up, because there’s a lot going on tomorrow!!

Sometimes you have to go slow because your friend is slow ...

And sometimes you can go faster if you pull your friend along ...

And sometimes you just do what you have to in order
to drag your friend across the finish line!

The only thing worth wogging for!!

Fun times!!

Three Friends - then, now, and forever!!

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Blessings today include: finishing the 10K and KB staying with me; watching movies with KB and Molly; Shake Shack (kinda) and outlet shopping