Travel Dates: December 9-18, 2005
Travel Method - personal car, autotrain
Resort - Disney Magic
Accommodations - Category 6, deluxe oceanview with veranda and Cateogry 8, deluxe oceanview
Ages - two adults, two seniors
Cruise experience - two first time cruisers, two experience cruisers but first time with Disney
Comments - this is just the introduction which is long enough in itself

Sailin’ the High Seas the Niklewski (and Disney) Way

Characters –

Me – Sheri (43) – trip report writer. Disney World fanatic. I’m Dory and Piglet mixed together. Pixie dust happens every day, you just have to look past the clouds sometimes to see it.
Husband – Rich (45). He’s a total Eeyore. His attitude is to think the worst will happen and if it doesn’t then you are not disappointed.

We’re from Brasleton, Georgia which is a “suburb” of the metro Atlanta area. We’re about as far north and east as you can go but we’re still in the metro area.

Father-in-law – Ed (75). Laid back, mellow almost retired psychiatrist. Nature lover to the max.
Mother-in-law – Bobbie (69). Extremely active retired nurse and educator. She’ll be go-go-going all cruise long.

The Older Niklewskis are from Hagerstown, Maryland.

Experience –

While Rich and I are Disney World veterans and love to travel, we’ve never been on a cruise. Bobbie and Ed are cruise veterans and have sailed through the Panama Canal (at least twice), to Hawaii, and to Alaska plus many trips to the Caribbean.

Why We Are Going –

For years, Bobbie had been suggesting taking Rich and me on a cruise. Even 24 years ago for our honeymoon, a cruise was offered. Quite frankly, it never appealed to me. I’m more of a “let’s get into the car and go” kind of a woman. But almost every year, an anniversary/Christmas cruise was offered. I declined every time. Until November, 2004.

Bobbie and Ed had graciously given us a family reunion trip to Disney World over Christmas and New Year’s of 2004. They and Rich’s brother joined us. Bobbie and Ed even flew our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter in for a week. I was busy preparing for that trip when Bobbie started in again for a cruise the next year. I thought I’d end the cruise option once and for all by replying that the only cruise I’d even consider would be a Disney cruise. I figured Bobbie would take one look at the price compared to her other cruise experiences and let the matter drop.

Now, Bobbie knows my love for Disney. But she’s also very practical. That’s why I was dumbfounded when, in just two weeks, we were booked on this cruise.

The Planning –

Those two weeks were intense with a flurry of emails going back and forth between Bobbie and me. Bobbie also wanted me to find a travel agent to handle everything. I don’t use travel agents but did the research from allearsnet.com and mousesavers.com and just about every other resource that even remotely mentioned the Disney cruise line. I narrowed my choices down to two and had each of them give me a quote. While both of the options were close to each other, I finally chose the one that really was patient with the many changes we made in those two weeks.

First up was which cruise. This actually was easy. Bobbie said the three and four day ones were too short. Seven days it is. Eastern or Western, though. Bobbie said she preferred more sea days than port days. Eastern it is. When? The in-laws’ schedule is flexible, mine was not. The Eastern seven day cruise December 10-17, 2005 fit perfectly.

When I plan a trip to Disney World, I know what I’m doing. This was a whole new world for me. I’d never cruised before. I utilized the official Disney site to access the deck plans for our choices of staterooms. Since Bobbie and Ed were paying for everything, I wanted to pare down their expense as much as I could. My first thought was a Category 4 Deluxe Family Stateroom with Verandah for all four of us. That was vetoed the next day by Bobbie with her logic that we’d be cramped.

I figured it was a cruise ship and I expected the rooms to be small. But Bobbie was the expert cruiser and said we’d be more comfortable with two staterooms. Actually, I think Bobbie has finally come to the realization that Rich and I are on totally different schedules then they are. They are morning people, we’re up to midnight.

Then I suggested two Category 9 Deluxe Oceanview Staterooms. It would be a little more expensive than the suite but that was Bobbie’s call. The travel agent came back with connecting rooms on Deck 2. I thought that was fine. Bobbie was having a hard time finding the Magic’s deck plans and finally went by AAA to get a paper brochure (I don’t think Bobbie quite trusts the internet). Deck 2 was out of the question. The reason being that Bobbie would feel like we were in steerage. She wanted to be as high up as we could be. She said something about feeling like the doomed immigrants aboard the Titanic.

And then another wrinkle. Bobbie said she needed a verandah. Had to have one. It was essential. Totally non-negotiable. Bobbie does love sitting outside in the morning with her coffee and the newspaper. But two Category 6 Deluxe Staterooms with Verandah would be way too expensive. Bobbie suggested that Rich and I get a Category 11 Standard Inside Statement near their Category 6 Deluxe room.

So in four short days, my first cruise experience went from Category 4 to Category 9 to Category 11. That’s going backwards. Talk about feeling like steerage! Bobbie did say we should feel free to stop over and use their verandah at any time. Err. We’d be out there at midnight. You’d be asleep. Thanks, but no thanks.

I didn’t want to press the issue since I wasn’t paying for this but I did mention that Rich and I do spend a lot of time in our hotel rooms. Especially in the morning to get going. Not being able to see out anywhere would drive me crazy for seven days. I think Bobbie realized that she couldn’t do that either. So we bumped us up to a Category 8 Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom. I did want a verandah but I saw what Disney calls a porthole and knew I could live with it.

I did yet another email to the travel agent with what I thought were the final plans. One Category 6, one Category 8 and it would be nice but not necessary for the two rooms to be near each other. I got the quote back and forwarded the price and the stateroom numbers to Bobbie. We were set!

No we weren’t. Argh! The staterooms were in the middle of the ship. Not only does Bobbie have to be as high up as possible, she needs to be as forward as possible. Another couple of emails and this time, we were finally set.

Bobbie and Ed are in stateroom 6540 (deck 6) and Rich and I are in 7506 (deck 7). I had to laugh because while Bobbie is getting her verandah, Rich and I are higher and more forward than they are.

Next up was the dinner seating. I thought I had this one nailed. Bobbie and Ed can barely stay awake until 10:00. If we did the early seating, I didn’t think they’d enjoy going to the late shows. So I figured on the late seating. Nope. Bobbie said they can’t wait that long to eat. This is going to be interesting because Rich and I usually start making dinner at 8:00. Heck, we’re still battling the Atlanta traffic when the early seating starts. Oh well, early seating it is. And this is the main reason I went with one travel agent over another. This one could get us the early seating. We were on stand by with the other.

With our reservations now in hand, Bobbie put down the deposits and we were set to cruise a full year in advance. Well, everyone else was set to cruise. For me, it was only the beginning.

The Research –

The rest of the Niklewskis are perfectly happy to just show up for a vacation and let the fun and magic begin without any kind of research. Ed will read up on different history of the area and maybe some fun things to do. But he’ll usually do that in the car on the way there. Bobbie will do a lot of the travel arrangements like hotel calling, plotting routes to get there, etc. But most of that with a cruise is already taken care of. Rich likes to be reminded the day before we leave that we’re going somewhere so he’s absolutely no help whatsoever. But that’s not me at all.

I had a year to get prepared for this cruise. I used just about that entire year. After we came back from our nice family reunion trip to Disney World and it was officially the year 2005, I went cruising. On the internet. I read everything on the official Disney Cruise Line site. Then I read everything I could on allearsnet.com. I went to mouseplanet.com and read all the cruise reports for the seven day Easterns. And some seven day Westerns because the ships are identical if the routes aren’t. I really wish more people would do reports for the cruises. Then I followed links from allearsnet.com to any cruise topic boards I could find and hooked up with castawayclub.com. Great discussion board on there so I went through all the posts and learned a heck of a lot.

At the time I started, Disney was not doing online reservations so a lot of the talk was on getting to the port early and sprinting to make the coveted reservations for Palo dinner, kids clubs, and spa treatments. The Palo dinner was appealing to me because I knew we’d be dining with Bobbie and Ed all seven nights so the thought of “escaping” for one night for $10 extra was a bargain. But castawayclub.com also provides menu listings and when I saw the menu for Palo, I wasn’t that thrilled. The brunch was an option but that never came into play.

I really wanted a massage so I was prepared to go in search of that. But then everything changed with online reservations. Two little things like Castaway Club members and REAS. Basically, for Castaway Club members (returning Disney cruisers), you could get your reservations earlier than us first time grunts. Same way for people who reserved the REAS package (Romance Escape at Sea). While I’m a massage fan, Rich isn’t (think George on “Seinfeld” and you’ll know what I mean). Sure, the other things would be nice but the price was way too much. So I basically was shut out of a massage. Yeah, I wasn’t happy but there’re only so many appointments so I’ll just save the money and do it here locally. My only consolation was a compromise with a foot massage and pedicure. The pedicure isn’t needed but that foot massage would be greatly appreciated. I snagged an appointment for noon on Thursday, the 15th. It’s a sea day and the only thing that wasn’t right at spa opening at 8:00. Why the heck would I get up at the crack of dawn and pay $55? Please, this is a vacation.

I paid attention to the little things. I searched the current Navigators (the daily listing of what was going on board). I looked at all the menus. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I learned that an All Hands on Deck from room service (cheeses and crackers) is perfect for after embarking and unpacking. I learned the difference between embarking and disembarking. I found out that you are off the ship by 9:00 your last day. That Disney does the pick up of luggage much differently from other cruise lines. A 15% gratuity is added in if you order an alcoholic drink at a bar or restaurant. That soft drinks are free on Deck 9 and with a meal but not at a bar. That you can take alcohol on board with you.

I learned about the Rainforest Room (at the spa - $15/day or $75 for all seven days – I’m going to try one day and then go from there). It’s not a massage but it’s relaxation and escape and offers hot steam and interesting showers (you do wear a bathing suit here). There’s wine tastings, bingo, a silent auction, Pirate’s night, a new Jumbotron on Deck 9 for nightly movies. I checked the message board every day and learned just a tad more each time.

I found interesting things to do on our stops at St. Maarten (I know I’ll spell that wrong at least a dozen times), St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay. And saw the recommendation to buy the Passport Guide and finally found it. I poured through that thing and learned even more hints. By the time the cruise rolled around, I thought I knew everything. But I also realized that this is Disney and it’s the Magic so I was sure I’d be surprised.

The Debbie Downers -

That would be everyone else in my party. Rich doesn’t pay any attention to all the planning. He shrugs and says I’m better at it than he is. Quite honestly, I am. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a great time. He just thinks in the present, not in the future. Just days before the trip, I was trying to explain to him how we didn’t need that much cash, that the majority of the tips would be through the Keys to the World card (had to explain that to him too), and that the meals were “free”.

We saw Bobbie and Ed over Thanksgiving and I showed Bobbie the Passporter, not expecting much enthusiasm. She thinks she’s the cruise expert so I’ll shut up. But it did intrigue her and then all of a sudden she wants to do an excursion. Which she told us never to do because it’s too much fun just exploring the islands on your own. This was two weeks before the cruise. Snorkeling, while fun the only time I’ve done it, is fine, I’d much rather go out and see an island that I’ll probably never be back to. At that point, I decided that I’m not worrying about what the in-laws are doing, Rich and I are on our own. It might be my first time but I think I’m educated enough to navigate through things.

Bobbie also didn’t believe in most of what I was telling her about a Disney cruise. The bringing of alcohol on board, the rotational dining (“they all do that”), the embarking procedures (“we’ll just be sitting around waiting at the terminal until they call us”), the disembarking procedures (“no, they assign you how to get off – it’s based on if you are flying or driving – we’ll be last since we’re driving”).

Getting There –

I got us a hotel room at the Best Western Oceanfront in Cocoa Beach for Friday night, the 9th. None of us (at the time) wanted anything extravagant and I went with just one room for the four of us (now a mistake) but it was park and cruise and only $79. The hotel is ocean front but our room isn’t. I figured we wouldn’t be there all that long so it was fine.

Rich and I will be driving from our house to Cocoa Beach on Friday. We’ll leave after the morning rush, somewhere around 9:00. I will monitor the funky Atlanta traffic on ajc.com for any “whoops, there’s a tractor trailer overturned on Spaghetti Junction” reports. If everything goes OK, we should be at the hotel around 5:00 or so. I did think about leaving Thursday night and driving halfway there but then shelved those plans (see next section). Plus, Rich and I are now finally both employed and we don’t even make it home until 6:30 so we’d be in red eye territory if we tried to leave Thursday night.

Bobbie and Ed were going to drive from Maryland but a few months before the trip had a change in plans. My mother-in-law is such a worrier. I know – she’s 69 and my father-in-law is 75 and it’s a long drive. But last year was the clincher for them. That wonderful Disney family vacation we all had together. Bobbie, Ed, and Rich’s brother Dave, had a horrible drive down I95. I had warned them about the holiday traffic but to no avail. With them, you cannot get going early in the morning. So they made terrible time. And vowed never to drive to Florida again during the holidays. Which in their minds, is all of winter.

They won’t fly either. They don’t trust the skies unless they have to. Didn’t leave much. Except the Auto Train. Bobbie booked that for them. $550 for a round trip which isn’t bad and they still have their car. They can relax for a couple of days to get there. They will arrive in Sanford at 8:00 AM Friday. If there are no dead cows on Amtrak or someone doesn’t decide to go around the dropped down restraints on the road (which just happen a month ago near where I work). They will check into the hotel and get everything squared away with the shuttle the next day to the terminal. I will get some feedback from them on the Auto Train experience.

Going Home –

We will be disembarking by 9:00 on Saturday. I’m still on vacation so I’m not heading home right afterward. Bobbie and Ed decided they would stay in Cocoa Beach even before the Amtrak decision. They wanted a leisurely day. They needed to be in Sanford for the train ride back.

I wasn’t going to stay at Cocoa Beach. No appeal for me. Disney World isn’t that far away and that’s where we were headed. Until I changed our minds and booked a Christmas weekend instead. I love Disney World but back to back weekends, which I have done, are nice but let’s see what else we can do.

NASCAR rears its head. Daytona is just up I95. We’re going to Daytona USA and doing the whole racetrack thing. I found a good oceanfront hotel for a decent price and an area we know. I invited Bobbie and Ed up for the day but who knows what they will do. At that point, they might be ready to kill us and vice versa!

So that was the planning, at least on my part, leading up to this trip. How would everything work out? A week long vacation with another couple, who we love with all our hearts but are so very different from us.

Dedication –

This entire trip is dedicated to Bobbie and Ed. They are two of the most generous people in the world. But they don’t give because they can. They give because they want. This trip is truly a gift from the heart. It’s the stuff Dreams are made of.

Hang on to your deck shoes, here we go.

Travel Dates - Decembe 9-18, 2005
Travel method - personal car, autotrain
Resort - Disney Magic
Accommodations - Category 6, deluxe oceanview with veranda and Category 8, deluxe oceanview
Ages - two adults, two seniors
Cruise experience - two first time cruisers, two experienced cruisers but first time with Disney
Comments - this is LONG! If you're not into NASCAR or Daytona Beach, skip the last two days and go to The Recap section at the end.

Characters –

Me – Sheri (43) – trip report writer. Disney World fanatic. I’m Dory and Piglet mixed together. Pixie dust happens every day, you just have to look past the clouds sometimes to see it.
Husband – Rich (45). He’s a total Eeyore. His attitude is to think the worst will happen and if it doesn’t then you are not disappointed.

We’re from Brasleton, Georgia which is a “suburb” of the metro Atlanta area. We’re about as far north and east as you can go but we’re still in the metro area.

Father-in-law – Ed (75). Laid back, mellow almost retired psychiatrist. Nature lover to the max.
Mother-in-law – Bobbie (69). Extremely active retired nurse and educator. She’ll be go-go-going all cruise long.

The Older Niklewskis are from Hagerstown, Maryland.

Sailin’ the High Seas the Niklewski (and Disney) Way

Day Zero – Thursday, December 8, 2005 – “I’m Just Grateful for the Time Off”

Both Rich and I worked full days. And had our ups and downs. The down was all the emails that went back and forth between the two of us. The day before we leave and Rich is now asking questions on what attire would be acceptable for formal night, he didn’t realize there was a semi-formal night, and he didn’t have anything tropical for Pirate night. Just last week, we went out to dinner and I took along the Passporter. I told Rich we would be talking nothing but the cruise. That lasted five minutes. He said he knew everything, that he had his wardrobe thought about, etc. The man has the brain capacity of a fruit fly’s life when it comes to anything travel related. I think he just removes the travel stuff when something more important to him comes along. He later said that men do hear women but men choose when they want to listen. Ain’t he so cute?

The ups came with both of our work situations. After three and a half long years, Rich was finally employed again. During the summer, I had switched jobs (Rich now works where I used to work – that would have never happened if I hadn’t left). Rich started his new job in September. So we were both extremely new and expected to take all this time off. Both of us made this vacation a condition of employment and were told by our respective bosses that it was OK and they appreciated the advance warning. Nothing more was mentioned until the trip got closer.

Rich’s boss is very laid back and very much hands off. Nothing has been mentioned on how this would be handled since officially Rich has no vacation. But James just told Rich to have a great trip and he’d see him on the 19th. When I worked for the company, management could advance any vacation time to any employee. So it looks like Rich will get paid for the entire time he’s gone. My boss is a bit more anal retentive, being the Controller and a CPA. Paying someone for not being there when they haven’t earned it means $$$ off the books. I can certainly understand that so I told Warren when I reminded him a few weeks before the trip, he could do whatever he thought was fair. Today, he called me into his office (not a big deal since it’s right next to mine and we only have five people in the office) and said that he would advance me five days of vacation since I had been there “almost” six months (it was four months but that’s OK). The sixth day would be leave without pay. I was very happy with that. Knowing Warren that was the best I could possibly hope for. I would have settled for three paid and three non-paid. I felt this was a very great gift as Warren has had a lot of turn over in my position and I guess he realizes I’m there to stay. I very humbly said “I’m just grateful for the time off”. And I truly am. Warren just said “we all need time with our family”. I love my new job!

It was tough to get through the entire day and Warren was surprised when I told him I’d be working until 5:30. I got everything done that I could and even did some things for next week so he wouldn’t be overloaded. Mostly it was to process checks and trust me, we pay the bills once a week without fail. I got everything set up for that payment run on Monday. Warren would just have to deal with whatever came in on Friday and he’s set. Of course, I’ll have a mound of bills to go through when I get back but that’s the price of a vacation.

I ended up leaving work around 5:15 to make the drive home. Rich also left his work around the same time. We wound up back near the house at the same shopping center. Him to pick up a prescription and get some frozen pizzas for dinner and me to get a hair cut. We were both home by 7:30. Packing still awaited us (me) but we (I) was trying not to panic. I love my husband but I have long given up any hope of him doing anything related to a trip until the night before. This trip, while more involved than any other one we have ever taken, was no different.

So we played around on the PCs for a while and had our pizzas – Rich’s was a “take and bake” pepperoni one and mine was a frozen Freedom bread cheese one. I don’t know what it was but that was a great pizza of mine! I think I was just totally into the vacation mode.

At 9:00, Rich went downstairs to watch TV with our “roommates”, Dawn and Nicole. This is a mother/daughter who are having hard times. They had been evicted and two weeks later Dawn lost her job. They were making the most they could but ran out of options at the end of September. They’ve been staying with us and we had the great news this week that Dawn started a job at a day care center! It’s been tough for them and we’ve tried to make the best of the situation. It’s had some difficult moments but we’re working through everything. More on that tomorrow.

At 10:00, with a first run “ER” on, we started to pack. Total Grr Moments. I had gotten my evening wear together the night before so I put all the delicate things into Ziplocs for safekeeping. Rich finally started to think about what he was taking. I held my tongue as long as I could and then just told him he was on his own for formal night and semi formal night. For formal night, I knew and he knew that he had a nice shirt and a tie. Heck, our son just got married two years ago and Rich wore a suit for that. I had made a concession for the formal night and really didn’t want to pack the suit jacket so I said the shirt and a tie would be fine. Now Rich was concerned that the shirt would be too tight since it pinched his neck at the wedding. And what was he going to do since he didn’t realize there would be a semi formal night? I told him to shut up and went to get the suitcases.

Which were all new (our five cats really like suitcases and there’s no way I’m taking a cat hair infused suitcase on a cruise – yes, they are spoiled but we love them anyway). So I had to figure out how to pack not only for seven days of a normal vacation but then seven days of less casual wear with new suitcases. It wasn’t pretty and was “enlivened” with Rich finally trying to see what he could do with our digital camera.

This camera I’m about ready to chuck. It’s a good camera but I think it has a secret 666 embedded somewhere on it. I’ve lost not one but two recharging units. It’s been on the fritz more than it’s been working. Rich had “found” a charging unit and attempted it. But this camera needs a 5 volt one and the unit was only 4.5 volts. But he tried anyway. About the only thing he managed to do was download the photos already on it and then the camera died yet again. This led to a thirty minute search (of Rich’s) of the entire house to try and find the second recharging unit. We knew it was in the house but countless searches have failed to produce it. We knew the last time we saw it and what it was in. And can’t find it. Every time a search has been attempted, Rich blames *me* for losing the thing. After the first three times, it lost its sense of humor. Again, I was blamed. Not the right timing. I had managed to stuff every nook and cranny of three suitcases with just about everything we owned for a seven day cruise. Plus a laptop computer for a carry on bag, another carry on bag for incidentals, and our denim bag for walking around during the day on the ship and off. It was getting close to midnight so the moods were not the best. It was decided that a stop was needed in the morning not only to get a third recharging unit but at the bank. Two things that could have been done earlier in the week and I trusted Rich to do it. Why I did that is beyond me. I knew we would be late leaving Atlanta. Sheri went to bed after midnight not that happy.

Day One – Friday, December 9, 2005 – “Do We Need a Vacation!”

I had decided to get up at the normal 6:30 AM even though we weren’t planning to leave until 9:00 and the rush hour traffic would be safely died down. We tooled around on the PCs, I packed some of the remaining personal items into the carry ons, and tried to relax as much as possible before the drive and the day. Well, I tried to relax. We each showered and got ready and then the fireworks exploded. And I mean exploded! This was NOT the way to start a vacation and we sure didn’t appreciate it at all. Made me very glad my only son, Chris, is a decent person and always has been.

With Dawn and Nicole living in our house (so far rent free but that’s changing with the job situation), we’ve tried not to interfere with how Dawn raises Nicole. Nicole is about to turn 11 but our seven year old granddaughter, Marlie, is far more mature than Nicole. It’s not Dawn who is in control of their little family, it’s Nicole. Drives us crazy but this is a temporary situation and it’s not our business. We ignore the nightly whine (and I do mean whine) of Nicole to stay up later and Dawn’s usual “just a little bit more honey” indulgence. We’ve endured the nightly stomping upstairs when it finally is bedtime and the crying that Dawn needs to go with Nicole until she falls asleep. We’ve seen Nicole expecting to be waited on hand and foot. And Dawn does it. This morning, though, was the topper. We’re not going to ignore this one at all.

Today was only Dawn’s fifth day on the job. She works 9:30-6:30 which is ideal so she can take Nicole to school and then get to her job in plenty of time. After school, Nicole takes a bus and joins the day care kids (at half price which ain’t bad) at the same place. I knew that they needed to leave the house by 8:30 to get to Nicole’s school (which isn’t the local one since she’s still at the same place from where they used to live). I also knew they just get up, put on clothes and go. Nothing much needed for them. So right after 8:00, we hear the caterwauling. And that’s the only way to put it. Nicole was literally screaming that she did not want to go to school. Rich and I were sitting at our respective PCs which are directly across from each other. I’m closer to the door. I heard everything. Rich just looked up and said “what the hell was that?” He thought maybe some of our cats were getting into mischief. I listened some more and then there was a hysterical outburst of crying from Nicole. And I’m not talking quiet – it was LOUD! The problem I had was I needed to get into that room to get a necklace and a travel alarm clock out before I could pack up the car. Rich and I continued trying to ignore everything, with Rich having more success because he couldn’t hear as much as I could. I was also up and down quite often with little last minute items to pack. I was down to the last two things and cleaning out the car after about 15 minutes of the meltdown.

I walked by the closed door to Dawn and Nicole’s room and Nicole was still screaming. I heard “YOU WOULDN’T CARE IF I DIED!” Quite honestly, at that point *I* wouldn’t have cared if Nicole died. Another five minutes passed and I went downstairs to get the car cleaned out. Dawn was in the kitchen getting something to drink, Nicole was still upstairs wailing. I said “having some difficulties this morning?” as pleasantly as I could. I figured Nicole was just having a bad day. But much to my surprise, Dawn replied, “it’s every morning”. I about died myself right then and there. Rich and I are always out of the house before 7:30 so we never have seen their morning ritual. If I had to go through that even one time, there would NOT be a second time. At that point, I was ready to go into the room, yank Nicole out of there and give her a good dose of Sheri Justice which is definitely NOT pretty. I told Dawn that I needed to get in there and then went out to clean the car.

At least Nicole didn’t get her way and they ended up coming out while I was out there. Nicole balked at even getting into the car. Dawn was clearly upset. I found out later from Rich that Nicole smacked her rolling backpack out the door and he had to yell at her. We have a beautiful hardwood floor and an expensive front door that would cost a fortune to fix. The Dawn and Nicole Show was finally over and it left Rich and me exhausted. It was the longest half hour I have ever lived. And it will be revisited when we get home. There’s no way I’m putting up with that kind of behavior from an 11 year old in my house.

I left Rich to load up Elliott’s trunk (he’s our green Camry that gets great gas mileage) and I went inside (blessedly quiet now) to close things up. PCs were shut down, rooms were checked one more time for last minute items. And more importantly, the cats (who didn’t like the Dawn and Nicole Show either) needed to be said goodbye to. All five are adorable in their own special way. Belle is the only female and she’s almost four. She’s the timid one and it took a while to find her under the cedar chest in the bedroom. That’s not unusual for her as she likes to tuck herself into a corner to sleep. So I waved goodbye from a distance. She yawned she understood. The other four cats, all males, got big hugs. Gus, Belle’s litter mate, doesn’t like to be picked up but tough for this time. Same with Meeko, who is almost two. But his litter mate, Nemo, loves to cuddle so he was easy. Our king cat, Todd, almost nine, is the easiest. He weighs a ton and clearly rules the roost. And he’s so bendable. He got the biggest hug. We will definitely miss these guys. All five are rescued from various situations and have graciously allowed us to adopt them. They enrich our lives and I hope we do the same back to them.

We didn’t leave the house until after 9:00 which was fine but we still had those two stops to make. The bank wasn’t that bad except for some traffic. We knew we didn’t need that much cash but wanted the maximum just in case. Then to the electronics store for the damn recharger. That didn’t take that long but it still was a detour. We were finally on the way south by 10:00. I had told Bobbie and Ed we’d be at the hotel by 5:00 but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Oh well, 6:00 would be fine.

The drive was utterly and completely BORING! It was I75 to I10 to I295 to I95 to Cocoa Beach. There’s nothing to see along the way at all. I had given Elliott enough food the day before (at $1.86/gallon – whoo hoo!) so he was fine for getting us almost to our destination without stopping. But we humans did. I took a snooze and woke up south of Macon. A bathroom and some human food were needed so we combined the two needs and utilized a McDonald’s. Figured to get our fast food fix before all those cruise meals. Then I took over driving and stopped at the Florida Welcome Center just to get some brochures and for a stretch. I foolishly told Rich I could continue to drive and he actually took me up on it. Darn it. We still had four more hours to go so it was the least I could do. I drove us to south of Jacksonville and then I had enough. My eyes were dry and I just wasn’t going to be the best of drivers. We only had a couple more hours so we stopped at a gas station to give Elliott some more food ($2.17/gallon – yeck) and to switch drivers. Rich drove us to Cocoa Beach with me giving directions.

I called Bobbie when we got past Daytona (with me giving proper homage to the racetrack – couldn’t see it from the interstate but we knew where it was). She said for us to call when we got closer since we needed a pass for the car and had to sign a waiver for leaving Elliott there for the week while we cruised. She’d meet us in the lobby. Then she said I did well with the hotel and that they were sitting on the balcony overlooking the ocean. What? We were not supposed to get an oceanfront room. Not with only paying $79 for the night. Bobbie confessed that they had asked for an upgrade once they got there. More on that later.

We finally pulled up to the Best Western around 6:00. I can really predict my in-laws. Bobbie scurried down to meet us and I warned Rich that his parents would be anxious to go to “supper” (we call it dinner) right away. Both of us were extremely tired from the week, the morning, and the drive. Plus, usually at this time, we are still on the way home from work and not really even thinking that much about food, just getting through the front door of our house is the main goal. We got everything squared away with the hotel. I have to give the Best Western Oceanfront very high marks. One of my measuring tools for hotel service is the staff. We dealt with a different person than Bobbie and Ed had checked in with but everything was just like they were told earlier. No problems at all. We drove Bobbie back to the oceanfront building. The lobby and restaurant (Durango’s Steakhouse) are towards Route A1A to grab the attention, the two story non oceanfront buildings are separate and towards the ocean. The eight story high oceanfront tower is right on the beach. Bobbie had given us the room number (806) when we called and sure enough, it was on the eighth floor. Bobbie just has to have a room on a high floor. Proving that I can predict his parents, I told Rich I’d bet him $20 there was only eight floors.

I had packed our things so we only had to take in the laptop bag and one light carry on. The other three very stuffed suitcases remained with Elliott for the night. Once we got to the room, Rich and I were ready for some relaxation. I had a box of wine for the evening and wanted to pop that thing ASAP. I also had the start of what could have been a nasty headache but had taken a couple of aspirin hoping to stop the thing before it really started. Only to discover that for the cruise, I’d only have three pain relievers left. That was not going to do. We also realized that our sleepwear was packed in one of those three stuffed suitcases and there was no way we were going to go through them to find things. If we could, we’d get something suitable but if not, I could at least get more aspirin across the street at Publix. All those issues were decided in the first five minutes. Right after that, Ed said “well, why don’t we go and get something to eat?” I just about died and the look on my face must have been a good one because Ed quickly followed up with “or do you guys want to relax for a bit?” Gee, I don’t know, we’ve been up since 6:30, had the Dawn and Nicole Show to deal with, then drove for eight hours, what the hell do you think? You’ve been sitting on your butt for the past two days on the Auto Train, had an hour drive from that to here and have been walking the beach and watching the ocean all day. I held my tongue though and just replied that I wouldn’t mind having a glass (or two) of wine before we went out. Hell, I wasn’t even hungry yet.

We managed to “relax” for about an hour, telling Bobbie and Ed about the Dawn and Nicole Show. They are very concerned for us but they are parents and think they know what is best. Of course, they haven’t seen the situation in person so they are giving advice, while appreciated, that isn’t necessarily suitable. We listen politely but make our own decisions together. Right at 7:00, Ed made the plea for supper again. I had read the boards and decided on Rusty’s which was a casual seafood place. But popular and I didn’t hold out much hope. I had also discussed Grills with Bobbie. The problem was Rusty’s was to the south, Grills was back north near the port. Since I was in the mood for seafood, I chose Rusty’s. Rich made the comment that we could just go to the hotel restaurant. But that was a steakhouse and that’s not what I wanted.

We piled into Elliott after Bobbie suggested we take their car but have Rich drive. What was the sense? Bobbie is such a parent. Her reasoning is that we shouldn’t use our gas. Jeez, we’re in our forties, both employed and Rusty’s was just down the road. But not according to Bobbie and Ed. They both had it stuck in their minds that it was at the port. That was Grills. They kept insisting we were going the wrong way. I got very frustrated with everyone at that point since Rich, who thought it was cute, kept saying we were going to “Ralph’s”. I had the three of them just pushing me and pushing me. I finally said, in a kidding sort of way, that I would love to kill everyone in the car. Elliott wouldn’t mind the blood. Yes, it had been a long, long day.

We didn’t make it to Rusty’s or Ralph’s. It was too crowded which was expected. Then Ed suggested we go to Grills, Rich suggested back to the hotel and that restaurant. I gave up. The Niklewskis go through what I call the Restaurant Dance. They can never decide on any place to eat. It’s either too expensive, or doesn’t look right, or doesn’t have the right kind of food, or the moon isn’t full, or something. Rich was driving and knew I was getting upset so we ended up right back at the Best Western and the steakhouse. I was worried that it would be too expensive but it worked out OK. When Rich walked in and the first sign he saw was a Budweiser one, he knew it would be a winner.

Dinner (not supper in my book) was OK but just nothing to write home about. It started off a little rocky with the damn margaritas. I swear my mother-in-law never makes it through a meal without complaining about something. There was a special for 2 for 1 margaritas, which were a specialty of Durango’s. All different flavors. I wasn’t in the mood for a fruity drink so I just wanted a glass of wine. The only problem with the drink off was both margaritas had to be the same flavor. Bobbie only wanted a regular one, Ed wanted a flavored one. He settled for a regular one so Bobbie could be happy. Rich decided on blackberry and got two for himself. After ordering, Rich then realized he could give Ed one of his blackberry and take the regular one. To make his father happy. Which it did. Drinks came out, everyone was happy. No they weren’t. Bobbie said her drink was awful, tasted just like lime water, blah, blah, blah. Rich tried the other one and agreed. Then started the whole debate, which seemed to last an hour. Should they tell the waitress the drink was bad? Why was the drink bad? Did the bartender forget the alcohol? Was it too icy? Too frozen? Too much lime? On and on and on. I thought my headache would come back. It was very aggravating. Sometimes I think Rich’s family is too intelligent because everything turns into a full blown discussion. I think there are times there’s even a bibliography attached to some conversations.

Ed finally called the waitress over and told her the drinks didn’t taste that great. The flavored ones were fine but the plain one wasn't. The waitress offered to bring two flavored ones but that wasn’t to Bobbie’s liking. She had to have a plain margarita, darn it. The waitress offered one on the rocks to try. No, that wasn’t suitable either. Bobbie finally sighed, looked at my wine (which was fine and dandy, thank you very much) and said she’s have one of those. Rich settled for a beer. I thought that would be the end of things but this was all followed by another 10 minutes of why those damn drinks were bad. I finally had enough and asked if we could PLEASE change the subject. And I have to put up with a week of this stuff?

The meal was OK. Bobbie had the pulled pork sandwich while Rich and Ed did the chopped steak. I got an open faced prime rib sandwich that was definitely not what I expected. It was more like a regular steak and a whole sandwich. Mine came with fries so Rich generously got a baked potato with his meal and we switched spuds. Of course, Ed had to sample some of the fries. He does that anytime anyone ever orders fries. “Just a couple”. It’s a well worn joke with us. Bobbie and Ed picked up the check for dinner. It was OK but the day was a killer for me and I was ready for relaxation and the true start to my vacation.

It was only 8:30 when we got back to the room so we had no choice but to watch Friday night TV, which we almost never do. Bobbie and Ed used the time to get cleaned up. They had refused to shower on the train because the conditions were cramped. We did get the 411 on the Auto Train. Overall, a very positive experience and one that I think they will consider seriously in the future. They boarded in Alexandria, VA (got lost because of construction so all the Amtrak signs were removed). Left on time and actually arrived in Sanford, FL just a little over an hour late, at 9:00 AM today. I believe the whole trip took two days. They had a stateroom which they said was fine during the day but cramped at night. They had their own bathroom and that’s a big hint for anyone thinking about the Auto Train. Others had to share a common bathroom. One big laugh I got (secretly) was Bobbie’s description of a woman from New York who just wasn’t pleased with anything. This would become my very own little way of reminding myself that people never really see that things they criticize others for are some of their own faults.

Everybody just unwound from the day. Bobbie was asleep by 10:00, Ed a little later and Rich and I turned in about 11:00 which was early for us. We’re usually up until midnight or later. Insane for getting up at 6:30 every morning but it works for us. However, we were exhausted and tomorrow would be a very busy day.

The cost of upgrading the room put the final tab at over $150. It made Bobbie & Ed to happy to have the ocean front room so that was fine. In retrospect, two rooms would have been better. But at the time of reservation, our finances were precarious so we accepted the generosity and went on.

Day Two – Saturday, December 10, 2005 – Schnauzers, Cilantro, and Cold Soup

We all agreed to sleep until we naturally woke up. Which for me was an uncommon nine hours later at 8:00. Bobbie was up around that time and while she promised to be as quiet as possible and go out to the balcony for her newspaper reading and breakfast, she didn’t count on the door opening to extremely bright sunshine every time she went in and out. No problem since I just got up and worked on the report. Rich was OK as well. We felt rested but when is that enough?

Rich had asked me all about getting to the terminal. I knew the details. The hotel arranged for an outside service. We were to be in the lobby at 11:15 to be picked up. I always worry about these things. Have concerns about the shuttle being overloaded and we’d be left at the hotel and miss whatever travel plans we had. Rich was concerned I was concerned. Again, I correctly predicted his parents and Ed had to call down to the front desk and verify the date, the time, the location, the latitude and longitude of the pickup.

Bobbie did her Mother Thing and wanted to know if I had enough aspirin for the cruise. Plus motion sickness medicine. I did have the motion stuff. I was a little concerned since I had gotten horribly sick on my father’s boat a few years back. But that aspirin was a mission. Rich and I set out for the short walk over to the Publix across the street. Bobbie (who had gotten breakfast fixings for her and Ed at Publix the day before) had to advise us to use the walkway. Ugh! I finally escaped from Niklewski Control Center with my husband and we accomplished our goal with a $1.99 purchase of a generic bottle of Publix aspirin (after being reminded by Bobbie that store brands are just as good as name brands and cheaper – she’s never seen my stocked pantry of Kroger brands). Rich picked up a Diet Coke and we walked back The Green Mile, I mean, to the hotel room and the parents. I did feel like I was back in elementary school!

Our meet time for the shuttle wasn’t until 11:15 but, right as I predicated to Rich on our walk, Ed was itching to go at 10:30 because “he could be there early and we might miss him”. They quickly packed up everything and then headed down to the car. Rich and I were already packed so it was a simple matter of me turning off the laptop and stowing that. I thought Ed said something about coming back up to the room so we dawdled a little longer and then realized that Bobbie and Ed had left nothing of theirs back in the room. I guess we’d be meeting them down at the cars.

I took a few pictures from the balcony. You could see the Cape Canaveral shuttle launch pads in the distance. The Best Western Oceanfront hotel in a tower room would be an ideal place to watch a space shuttle launch. Then we took our things down to the car. Bobbie and Ed had already left to go to the lobby! Rich and I chuckled and I did yet another “do I know your parents or what?” thing. Earlier I had told Rich that I wouldn’t be happy until I was actually at the terminal but it didn’t bother me that much because his father would do all the worrying for me. Damn, I hate it when I’m right all the time!

Interjection here. Rich and I are both in a fantasy football league. Our playoffs start this weekend. Because of my “sterling” (she says sarcastically) 3-25 record, I was eliminated very early (heck, I didn’t even get my last two wins until two weeks ago). Rich, however, came out of nowhere and won his division. He had submitted his lineup before we left but had a critical quarterback decision to make. Steve McNair, who didn’t practice this week but probably would start, versus Trent Green. Rich had put in Green but wanted McNair (who was playing a horrible team) but only if McNair was healthy enough. He enlisted our son, Chris, to be the caretaker of making that critical decision right up to Sunday game time. Rich had called Chris last night and got our daughter-in-law, Chandra. Which was fine because she, like her wonderful mother-in-law, is a football fan so knows her stuff. She was online while on the phone with Rich and said she would monitor the situation for Rich. However, Rich read or heard that McNair would be starting tomorrow so he was in a quandary about what to do and how The Kids (as we refer to Chris and Chandra) were going to handle it. We knew cell phones would not be an option once we set sail today at 5:00. So when we got to the lobby, Rich made Sprint happy and called The Kids. Who, of course, weren’t up yet (I mean it was before 11:00). He left a message and then was forced to ponder this whole situation for the next couple of hours.

We met up with Bobbie and Ed and lugged everything into the lobby. Rich and Bobbie moved the cars over to the adjacent Days Inn lot, which was owned by Best Western. Rich made sure Elliott was safe and secure for the next week. He did put the windshield sunshade on backwards. When he told me he had done that, I had to laugh. Rich had proudly gotten a Kurt Busch NASCAR shade this summer. I hated it since I’m not a Kurt Busch fan. After Mr. Busch’s little incident in Las Vegas and his unfortunate suspension for the last two races, this shade hasn’t seen the light of day. Rich said he didn’t want Elliott broken into by a rabid anti-Busch racing fan. OK – lots of sports in the last two paragraphs. Don’t worry, there will be more – tomorrow is football Sunday.

Another family piled out of a SUV and loaded up the rest of the lobby with their suitcases. Ed fretted about the shuttle getting there. I was more concerned about the size of the van. There were a total of nine people and luggage out in the lobby area. But everything was fine as an Art’s Shuttle van pulled up with a trailer for the luggage. Perfect. The driver was fantastic. He made sure we didn’t have to handle the suitcases any more than to get them out the door. He loaded everything, explained how things worked to Ed and the other Dad. I got into the van and was being nice and went all the way to the back. It was difficult since I was lugging our carryons but I managed. Thankfully, I am a small person. Rich followed and then Bobbie who worried about where Ed went. I again correctly replied that he was in the back worrying about the handling of their luggage. For the record, we did adhere the specially provided Disney cruise line luggage tags to our three overloaded suitcases before Art’s got there. At the last minute, Bobbie decided one of her overloaded suitcases would be a carryon. So did Ed. These were the big rolling suitcases but were still small enough for carryons. The thought of dragging one of those all over the ship until the room was ready was not a thing Rich or I wanted to do. We just had the laptop bag (Disney won’t take PCs as checked anyway), another bag with our books, and the denim bag for every day. Rich ended up with the heavy laptop bag and the equally heavy other bag.

The other family in the van turned out to be very nice. The mom sat in front of Bobbie and, of course, Bobbie ended up talking with her the entire way to the Port. But it was such a nice conversation. The other family was going on the Carnival Glory but when the mom heard we were on Disney, she just re-enforced everything I had been telling Bobbie for the past year. How Disney was far better than any other cruise line, how we would love it even though we were all adults, how the food was better, the service was better, etc. I kept poking Rich every time the mom said something extremely positive about the Disney Cruise Line. After about five minutes, Rich begged me to stop. Seriously, the mom just went on and on raving about Disney! Great way to start the day.

The other family was dropped off first and this driver sure earned his tip today. While there was a long line of cars waiting to drop off luggage at the terminal, he went around them, cut through the line and went to the back of the staging area and got the next available parking space. This is the only way to get to the terminal, in my opinion. Driving yourself looks to be a bit of a mess. This was about 11:30 AM. The other family was quickly unloaded and we might get to see (sea?) them again as the Glory is taking the same route as the Magic.

Then we were whisked (and whisk is the correct term) over to Disney’s terminal. I had given Rich $5 to tip the Disney porters that I had read were ready and willing to handle all our bags. Ed took care of paying the Art’s driver and getting the instructions for our return. The fare for this leg was $4/person so Ed handed over a $20 bill and told the driver to keep the change. The driver said the porter would be right there but there was a stretch limo in front of us and I guess they had a huge crowd and an equal amount of luggage. We didn’t see any Disney porter. The driver ended up taking our luggage and walking with us down to the loading area. Needless to say, that $5 in tip ended up with the Art driver than with any Disney Cast Member. It was probably just bad timing but not expected. But we moved on with our carryons and the pull alongs.

Up to the first check point. This was to make sure we belonged here. Passports out, names checked off on a master list. Jeez, if you weren’t going onto the ship, you sure as heck weren’t going to get close to the terminal building. There is no “seeing off of your family” here. We had the Limo Families in front of us so it was a bit of a delay but we used the time to pull out our Passports and we were set. Through that and then entered the line for security check. Thank you bin Laden (more sarcasm inserted) for this procedure. Everyone had something that needed to be checked, pockets that needed emptying, bodies that needed to be searched. Bobbie had a moment when we saw the sign that said no weapons (who would be stupid enough to do that?) or alcohol could be brought on board. The reason Bobbie was pulling along the huge carryon was because she had a couple of bottles in there that she was sure would be destroyed if she checked the thing. I told her to chill, no one cares and Disney allows alcohol on board. This was one point I had tried to get her to believe all year long. Rich and I had three five liter boxes of wine in our checked luggage. Bobbie was sure her alcohol would be confiscated. But we were fine going through security when we got there. Yes, people, your unworn jackets do need to be X-rayed as well. Things flowed smoothly, though.

A word about the passports. We got them. Me for the first time (Rich needed one when he traveled with the Air Force). Through 2005, the US government wavered on if we needed them by 12/31/05 or not. Either way, we didn’t have to have them. But we got them anyway. It really was painless for us although the closest post office to me shut down during lunch which was the only time I could go. But I made it to another one nearby. Yes, it does cost money but it was so much easier than taking my birth certificate. I still have my original one and it’s about ready to fall apart. The ink is actually fading on it. The passport was much more durable and reliable. Now I’m just hoping I get to use it more.

Then up to the terminal area and the line. And what a line! I really didn’t think it would be that bad but it was. First of all, having to deal with three people who couldn’t figure out which line was for US citizens. It snaked outside the queue area but not that much. Rich was insistent we were in the wrong place. Bobbie and Ed were concerned because there were lots of people huddled around the tables filling out forms. I just went over to the correct line and plopped my stuff down. We were in the right place. There was a Nazi lady trying to make sure everyone had their paperwork filled out. I knew I did. But when she got to the guy in front of me and found out he didn’t have the Bahamas entrance stuff done, she made him get out of line to do that. What? I didn’t have that done because I figured they’d take that once we got to the Bahamas. Fortunately, Broomhilda decided to escort the guy over to the tables and I got the forms and did those while in line. I could have done it in Braille since we stood in line for about an hour. I knew with the timing of the shuttle service, this could happen. I didn’t say anything but I dislike standing in line while bureaucracy moves slowly forward. Plus, I was down right thirsty.

The Disney Cast Member at the head of the line to guide us to the next available check in person was great. We were told we would be helped by a world famous lady. Mary Kay. Rich said “oh, she has her own cosmetic company!” Oh – just as we were going to be helped, another Cast Member had come through and asked if we had everything torn out of the booklet. I hadn’t done any of that since, like Rich said, it’s like if you tear off the ticket admission at a movie theatre that makes your entrance null and void. I felt awful that I hadn’t done that yet. Plus, it was a point several times that the credit card you put down for payment authorization has to be presented when you check in. So you can’t just put down an account and not take the card with you. We only have a debit card that looks like a Visa card, acts like a Visa card, quacks like a Visa card, but just has the funds taken directly out of our checking account immediately. It’s much, much better for us to work without having any credit debt at all.

But back to checking in. Mary Kay was great and Bobbie and Ed ended up being helped at the counter right next door. Turns out Mary Kay also had a Polish name (her maiden one) and mentioned that she grew up in Pennsylvania. Small, small world. Where in PA? Dureya. Hey, I’m from Reading, Rich was born in Norristown, Bobbie in Williamsport, Ed in Nanticoke. Until Chandra was made a Niklewski two years ago, all of us were born in Pennsylvania (Chris was born in Kingston). Extremely small world with Mary Kay. She took care of us very well. Made the hour long wait almost acceptable.

When we had cleared security, we were given a card to board with group #11. Of course, by the time we made it through the line, anyone could board. The line to check in now was almost back to the escalators so it was good we were through. This was around 12:30 or so. We walked on board, had our Key to the World cards swiped (from now on, called room keys) and then came the picture crap.

Rich hates having his picture taken. Absolutely hates it. I told him there would be several times on the cruise where it’s just expected. But I wasn’t going to force him. Entering the ship is kind of obvious. We weren’t exactly dressed in our best attire but what the heck. Bobbie and Ed started complaining about how expensive the pictures would be and how they really never buy the things. Which made Rich question why even do the pictures to begin with. Sigh. Just do this and shut up! So we did. First Rich and me, then the four of us, then Bobbie and Ed. With the in-laws saying they’d never buy the damn things. Well, it took five minutes so just behave.

And then we were on the ship! I wanted to take my time and soak in the whole “I’m finally here!” thing. Nope. A Cast Member asked for our last name, I gave it and then it was announced “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the Niklewski family to the Disney Magic!” Wow! I felt a little magic at that point. Which was quickly dashed. Bobbie and Ed needed lunch. On a mission. Had to have lunch. It was free after all. Bobbie was the schnauzer and took off. Here’s the take on the schnauzer. Rich’s family had two miniature schnauzers in his time at home. Snookie and Nikky. Both did the same thing. On family walks, the dog would take the lead, scope out the territory and then patiently wait for the humans to catch up. Bobbie is our human schnauzer. She took off, wheeling the ungodly carryon that I swear grew two sizes in the past hour. Ed followed (with his emptying stomach) behind with his huge wheeled thing. I just wanted to take a pause and get my bearings. It was not to be. I felt like a cow being led to slaughter. All my good feelings went overboard with the trash.

We were herded back to the aft (you board on Deck 3, BTW). There, we could dine at Parrot Cay (which would have been nice but once the schnauzer heard “formal”, she bailed) or take the lift (elevator for all the US people) to Deck 9 for Topsiders buffet. Buffet means more food so that’s where the schnauzer headed. Along with everyone else. I was tired (standing in line kills my back big time) and aggravated. Where was my “WOW!” moment? Gone. Plus, I had to deal with these two huge rolling contraptions in the lift, err, elevator. We got through all that mess, got our hand washing towels for the buffet and then I loudly exclaimed “LET’S JUST GET A TABLE AND DUMP ALL THIS CRAP!” OK, not a magical moment at all but my nerves were frayed. I mean, we were at the freaking kids pool. Not relaxing by any stretch of the imagination. But at least we found the Deck 9 beverage station. I said “Rich, this is where you will be every morning of the cruise”. Rich is a morning Diet Coke fiend and need his cold caffeine fix. I brought travel mugs just for this purpose.

We dropped everything off at a table and then Bobbie and Ed were anxious for food. I figured they’d obsess over leaving half of their belongings unattended so I was willing to stay and not get food. Not in the mood to eat right now anyway. But, to my surprise, the in-laws said “no one will take these things, let’s go”. I grabbed a cup of water and then went to the buffet line.

It was an OK buffet but none of us had any clue as to what was offered. Ed already had some steak on his plate when he saw the peel and eat shrimp. Bobbie couldn’t find the salads. They had a hard time with the desserts. I just grabbed some stuff and escaped back to the table. We ate outside and I was glad. It was a bit noisy with the kids in the pool but at least it was a break. We wanted to wait until after 1:30 so we could get into our rooms. Bobbie was on a mission (she always has a mission) to find out what free exercise classes were available. We were in the aft section, we needed to go forward for our staterooms anyway so I suggested walking along Deck 9 and check out the different pool options and things and then go to the rooms. That’s what we did after enjoying lunch and me getting my Disney mood back. If this was the worst I had to deal with, it wasn’t that bad. I needed and deserved a break from my in-laws. I love them but cannot be around them 24/7 and it was getting close to that dangerous 24 hour mark.

After 1:30 we strolled Deck 9. Well, we walked Deck 9. Schnauzer was in the lead again and the only time she stopped was to point out “Rich’s” pizza. This was one of my little jokes with Rich. He’s a pizza hound. Seriously. He and Chris could easily eat pizza every day of the week. When this cruise was decided on, I put Rich on a pizza diet. He didn’t like it but did fantastically well. He was limited to pizza once a month. Yes, once a month. That was down from once a week. A slice at a sporting event or at Disney World didn’t count. It was the “go to the restaurant and order a whole pizza and eat it myself” or worse, “I’d like two medium pizzas delivered please”. All that stuff went out the window. I’ll tell you, pizza nights were treated like Oscar Nights in our home. Actually, we think Papa John’s believes we moved because we haven’t had delivery pizza in over a year. Rich actually plans his pizza meals now. I left him off the leash for the week.

We did make it down to the spa area and Bobbie was so confused. Maybe it was pulling that huge thing behind her (the suitcase, not Ed). We were right at the spa and Bobbie did a complete turnaround because she didn’t realize that the helpful Cast Member with the handouts was the Spa person. Finally! Bobbie had her exercise class schedule. Nothing that she had to pay for. With that mission out of the way, we could finally escape and get to our rooms. Bobbie and Ed had to see our room first so we grabbed the lift for the flight down two decks. Rich and I were primed for the stairs but not with the Rolling Suitcases From Hell. We found our stateroom of 7506 without problems. Of course, I had known the exact location for the entire year so knew where I was going. Into the stateroom and I was impressed. More description to follow.

We did have this HUGE fruit tray waiting for us from our travel agent. Very nice. More fruit than we could possibly eat ourselves. Plus a dessert tray and a bottle of cider. Excellent way to start the true vacation.

Because we just dropped off our bags and then had to go to Bobbie and Ed’s room. They were one deck below. Again, they had to take the lift. Rich and I walked the stairs. The location of the rooms is nice in that they are both on the starboard side and forward. Just a quick one deck down and then a little back and we are at the in-laws. We surveyed their room and the verandah. After this quick trip, I am a little glad we didn’t get a verandah room. More on that later as well.

Bobbie and Ed ended up with two dessert trays but they got a bottle of Asti champagne and one of cider as well. We’d be well set for snacks for the entire cruise!

After a very quick visit to Bobbie and Ed’s room (6540), I made puppy dog eyes at Rich and said that I’d like to go to the room and unload our carryons and get settled. We had a mandatory life boat drill at 3:30 and that was another excuse. We weren’t at the same location as the in-laws and that was good. What I wanted was just time away from Bobbie and Ed. I wanted my “I’m here” moment and hadn’t gotten it yet.

So Rich and I went back to our stateroom. And I explored thoroughly while Rich quickly found the ESPN and ESPN2 stations. And pondered his fantasy football lineup YET again. He had been agonizing about it all day. Added to my aggravation. Here’s the description of the stateroom. Extremely nice and probably bigger than some hotel rooms we’ve been in. Skip this part if you’ve ever stayed on a Disney cruise. When you walk in there’s the half toilet area on your right and the big closet on your left. Then it’s the other half bathroom area with the shower on your right with the other side of the closet on the left (where the safe is). Then there’s a drawer unit with the ice bucket and glasses on top of it to the left. Then it’s the connecting door (family with kids over there). Then it’s the bed on the right with an upright trunk for more storage space to the left. Then it’s the sitting area with the TV and desk on the left and a couch and table on the right. The porthole is naturally, facing out to sea. Extremely nice area for two adults. TONS of places for unpacking. Lots and lots of hangers in the closets. There is a beverage cooler under the TV and more storage on top. I had heard horror stories about cruise cabins and living areas but this was extremely nice. We would be very comfortable for the next seven days. The only problem I had with the cabin was for both the bathroom areas, you had to step up slightly. I figured I’d stumble most of the times for my wee hours of the morning visits. I actually made it through the entire cruise not having that happen.

We had some time now for a walk around the ship so I grabbed the map and we just started walking. Did all the decks and saw where everything was. Checked things out on a much more leisurely pace. No more lugging around walking suitcases or schnauzers. We checked out the location of all the restaurants, the two theatres, the spa (again). But the highlight was the Wide World of Sports Deck. Specifically, the damn ping pong tables. We had seen these earlier and Rich knew how to play. What he didn’t count on was my play of the game. My sister and I spent countless hours in our basement whapping around the ball while we were growing up. Rich was very smug when we started against each other. In almost 24 years of marriage, this was one sport we never tried together. HA! At the end, Rich said “I might have found something you are capable of doing”. Gotta love the man.

The initial thought for the walk was to get a drink so we checked out the bar situation. The Outlook bar on Deck 10 didn’t have draft beer so that was passed in favor of Signals on Deck 9. Rich got his draft Budweiser and I got a glass of white wine. We’d find out later this was probably not the best option but, hey, we’re cruise virgins and it’s our first hour of true vacation. Those room keys will be getting used.

We made it back to the room and our suitcases were waiting for us outside! Hooray! We had time before the drill so we dragged everything in and did the unpacking. There was no way we could live out of a suitcase for the next week.

By this time though, Rich was antsy. He was so worried about the Steve McNair decision. He still had Trent Green in there. The Kids hadn’t called him back. We were still in port, we still had 15 minutes until the life boat drill. I made him call The Kids. Chandra answered and Rich talked her through how to make the change to his lineup. Would it pay off? I am so glad my son had the good sense to marry this wonderful woman. I consider Chandra one of my best friends now. We have helped each other through so much over the past three years of their togetherness. It really did hurt that we would not be able to chat with The Kids for the next week. That was difficult. But not as difficult as when I was filling out the cruise forms and got to the emergency contact. You know the line from “Love Story”? “Love means never having to say you’re sorry?” Well, cutting the apron strings means “Son, I put you down as my emergency contact”. Chris and Chandra are the only ones with any info on where we are for the next week. I would have even done that if Bobbie and Ed weren’t with us. Sniff, sniff on the growing up process.

After Rich’s lineup was changed (would it work?) but Chandra promising to check even right up to game time tomorrow, our Cruise Director Brent came on and told us the life boat drill was going to happen. I had to laugh at our Cruise Director’s name. Chandra’s daughter is Marlie and her father is Brent who is very much a part of Marlie’s life. So it was very funny our Cruise Director was named Brent. I might have to track him down to give Marlie an autograph.

The Lifeboat Drill. Not a problem. Our life jackets were in the room and very easy to put on. Once the signal went off, it was so simple to go down to Deck 4 and to our assembly area. Very orderly and everyone was participating. The kids were great. We were told to stand in order of height but keep our room together. Easy for Rich and me to do. Since we were only two, we were directed to join another family. All the rooms were checked off as we arrived without us having to do anything. The room numbers are in big black on the front of the orange life vests so that was easy. A very efficient guy checked off everything on a master list. Two more Cast Members directed us and positioned us. Very quickly, we were all at CheckPoint Charlie (C for those who don’t know the military alphabet). I saw the Checking Off Guy do a little smile and give a big thumbs up to the Lead Guy. We were all here! Whoo hoo to all of my fellow life boat comrades. I did look up at the bright yellow life boat and gave a silent wish that I hoped we didn’t need to meet again. BTW – did you know that initially Disney had to get special permission to have their life boats be yellow? That fit in with their paint scheme. They were granted the wish and since then, other cruise ships also have yellow life boats. I don’t care what color they are, I just want them to hold everyone on board and to float once in the water.

We listened to the announcement on what to do during a true emergency (scary thought but necessary) and then we were released. The whole thing took maybe 15 minutes. We were told to be ready at 3:30 but we actually didn’t get the warnings until 4:00. I guess it’s like with my sister-in-law – tell her at least an hour early so she’s there on time. On the way back to the room, we overheard a father explaining to his about six year old son what had just happened. The father’s ominous words were “well, next time we have to do this, it will be for real”. Child “ooooohhhhhhhhh”. Point very well made, Dad.

I checked out the Personal Navigator for what was going on for the rest of the day. I wasn’t that interested in the Welcome Aboard presentation in the Walt Disney Theatre. Just a magician and a juggler and a couple of musical numbers. Until I saw who the juggler was. I just about shrieked. There was a juggler who performed on the Boardwalk at Disney World numerous times. Our friend, Lindy, had told us about him. He also performed before the late, great Hunchback of Notre Dame show at MGM. Randy was his name. We never knew his last name until I stumbled upon an older Navigator during my last year of research and Randy’s picture was in there. IT WAS HIM! He would be the juggler tonight. Decision made to go to that show!

Bobbie and Ed came up to our room for the Sail Away Party. Rich and I took our travel mugs filled with wine along. It was the first day of vacation after all! I headed us all up to Deck 10 where the party was going in full swing. The in-laws had to see everything but I poised myself right outside midship but on the terminal side so I could see the Cast Member send off. I wanted that moment and wasn’t going to let any of the surprises out to Bobbie and Ed. But I did tell Rich that there was no way they’d be able to tell what the ship horn was going to be playing. Sure enough, here comes 5:00 and the horn blasts “When You Wish Upon a Star”. Bobbie and Ed were still midship enjoying the Deck 9 festivities so I had no idea if they “got it”. I saw the terminal Cast Members waving the Mickey hands for goodbye so I went down and got Ed to see it. Schnauzer, I mean, Bobbie *had* to go forward and sense the ship leaving the dock. I stayed and waved to Mickey for a while and then joined the others. I continued to wave to anyone on shore who would wave back. Or on another boat. A casino boat was docked and did some blasts to the Magic. Our captain responded with When You Wish Upon a Star again. That’s when I found out that not only had Bobbie and Ed not known what was being played, hadn’t even heard it the first time! That was the start of the “we don’t get it” moments. By the end of the cruise, I didn’t care. I decided I’m not really a Niklewski after all. I have imagination and Disney Dreams.

On the way out of Port Canaveral, we saw four or five dolphins between us and the port. Chandra loves dolphins and said to be on the lookout for them. I didn’t expect them this close to shore but found out later that dolphins do stay closer to shore. So look for dolphins among the many things to do at the Sail Away Party.

Back to the room for final unpacking and settling in. We could now really enjoy our wine we brought on board. It’s not the most elegant of things but hey, it works for us. I decided for my first night dinner, even though it was “casual”, that a dress was in order. Well, a skirt and black short sleeve pull over. Nothing fancy and something that I would wear to work (although most of the time I follow the lead of the president and just wear jeans). Rich was in work casual himself (he has a dress code). Around 5:30, we went down to Bobbie and Ed’s cabin before dinner. Our rotation was Parrot Cay, Lumiere’s, and then Animator’s Palate. Disney was doing the staggered dining so we had the 6:00 shift (the others were 5:45 and 6:15).

We met our server, Kristian, and assistant server, Michelle. Nice enough people but things were a bit spotty for tonight. Just seemed to take a while in between everything. Our head server, MacLean (Mac), introduced himself later and apologized and said things would get better. Kristian and Michelle had never worked together before and were still getting used to each other. Whatever – it’s food and it’s free and there’s plenty. I ain’t complaining.

I’ll try not to go ad naseum into food description but will try and give some general ideas on what to expect. I started with the fruit medley, passed on any salad, and did the grilled rib eye steak (medium) for the entrée. I finished with a fat free choice of berries in Jello. The rib eye steak, which I thought was going be like the steak I had last night, ended up being what I thought I was getting last night and didn’t! A nice piece of prime rib that I inhaled. Rich couldn’t really decide on a lot but we convinced him to take the plunge and get the glazed chicken wings which disappeared in quite a hurry. He passed on any soup or salad as well despite my saying that he could have substituted the tomato dressing for the more pedestrian ranch dressing. He’s going to learn a lot in the next seven days, ain’t he? Rich wasn’t taking any chances on his entrée and went with the “safe” grilled sirloin. Verdict on that (which is on every menu on the cruise) is that it’s OK but nothing he’s going to repeat (at least sitting at a table). He tried the cream brulee cheesecake for dessert. Pronounced “OK”.

I gave up trying to keep track of Bobbie and Ed’s meal. I do know this was the night. The night I about disowned my mother-in-law and her eating habits. It was The Night of the Cilantro. Kristian had asked us if anyone had any food allergies. None of us do. But it was nice to be asked. Bobbie had some sort of appetizer and couldn’t eat it. Cilantro! She just cannot handle the taste of cilantro. Personally, I don’t see the effect but that’s me. Her soup had a dusting of cilantro. Then she worried about her main course, which was potato crusted grouper. That had Rich cracking up with Bobbie saying “I’ve never had grouper before”. I figured Bobbie would be up on Deck 9 getting a burger later on. The Niklewskis (I went back to my maiden name during this time) had a philosophical discussion on everything cilantro related in the world. When that thing was over, I told Bobbie to make sure Kristian knew that she hated cilantro and she shouldn’t have it in her food ever again. Simple, right? Thankfully, Mac came by after the main course and asked if there was anything he could do to make the dinners more enjoyable. I would have said something (and was planning to do it behind Bobbie’s back if needed) but Bobbie piped up and said she couldn’t handle cilantro. She wasn’t allergic to it but it just tasted bad to her and anything that had it in it would go to waste. Mac wrote that down and we were now cilantro free for the rest of the cruise!

And the other food thing for tonight was the soup option. Bobbie ordered a soup and was surprised to find out it was a cold soup. She mentioned that to Kristian when he noticed she wasn’t eating it (with the cilantro and all as well). Every night after, whenever Bobbie ordered a soup, Kristian did assure her it was a hot one.

Parrot Cay is probably my least favorite restaurant. It’s Caribbean based and maybe that’s it. Bright colors but extremely loud. My right ear has been blocked due to a cold for the past couple of weeks so that made things difficult and the volume level of the restaurant made it worse. It also was difficult to listen to Kristian and Michelle. Unfortunately, we’d be back here two more times. We also had a table just for the four of us which disappointed me. I really wanted more interaction with other passengers. It didn’t look like Disney really had huge tables unless there was an entire family assigned to it. It was also strange with a party of four adults that all the tables around us had lots of little kids. I think Bobbie could have lived without that for the cruise.

After dinner, it was time for the Welcome Aboard show. I wanted to make sure we got there in plenty of time for a decent seat to see Randy. To heck with the rest of the show, in my opinion. We also got our “assigned” seats for the rest of the cruise shows. No, Disney doesn’t make you sit in the same place all the time but with the four of us, we had a routine. A row would be picked out (usually in the lower level of the Walt Disney Theatre) and I’d enter first, taking the fourth seat from the end. Then Rich would follow, then Bobbie. Ed had to be on the aisle. Worked out great since Ed uses the bathroom a lot, and there’s no way I’d want to be seated next to Bobbie. Rich hates the seating “assignment” during sporting events because his mother is constantly asking what is happening. It was a riot at her first (and probably only) NASCAR race last month in Atlanta. Rich’s only comment to me after was “thank you very much – next time YOU sit next to her”.

The only problem with our arrangement was I wanted a glass of wine to enjoy with the show. By the time I passed that down the line, the server had already gone. I got a little ticked because Rich didn’t say anything to Bobbie for a while because he was telling me to yell down the row as to what I wanted. I couldn’t do that with the noise level in the theatre. Then Rich had to tell Bobbie what I wanted and she is a little hard of hearing. Then she tried to pass on my wish to Ed who also is a little hard of hearing. What joy. I did finally get a glass of wine after pouting a bit and Rich is finally shouting what I wanted to the next server. It’s going to be a long week, I think.

Our cruise director, Brent, announced the show and welcomed us on board. There was a little skit on how dreams can come true on board. The story was about a little boy who wanted to be a sailor and how, through the Disney Magic, he ended up becoming the Captain. Of course, the Disney characters made appearances. Cute enough but just OK. Not something I’d repeat if it weren’t for Randy being there. And there he was. Great show, as usual. It was very strange seeing him on stage and not on the Boardwalk. Brent did say Randy has appeared at Disney World more than 4000 times. We hadn’t seen him in such a long time so this really was a treat. The second part of the cute skit was next and then the magician came on.

I’m not a huge fan of magicians but this one, Rich Purpura, was mostly a comedian. He had one bit where he needed a brother/sister kid pair. Boy, he sure picked the wrong ones! Brian and Shannon. Shannon was nine, Brian was five. Shannon clearly wanted to be in the spotlight. It made things very difficult for Rich. But it was funny and he handled things quite well. The funniest thing was when Brian first came up on stage and Rich said “you stand right here over the trap door”. The look on Brian’s face was priceless. The kids ended up spoiling the trick but it was funny anyway. Both Rich and Randy would be doing other performances during the upcoming two sea days so we made sure we’d check them both out.

Then it was grand finale time and I was disappointed. Lumiere showed up in one of the boxes but all that was done was a re-creation of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. Not that incredible. So, I’d have to say the Welcome Aboard show rated about a C. A for the “special” talent of Randy and Rich, D- for the other stuff. Brent, the cruise director, was very good and he made things run very smoothly, had a good sense of humor, and kept things going all week long. Rich was disappointed we didn’t get a perky Julie McCoy but Brent was an excellent Cast Member. Wish they had a tip recommendation for him. BTW, he’s from Australia and said that if we saw him around the ship to say “G’Day”.

After the show, we were all very tired. I knew that the late show would be bedtime for Bobbie. She just cannot stay up past 10:00 under any circumstances. For Rich and me, well, the day had been a long one. I was still trying to get into synch with his parents and while I love them very much, they are so different from me. Rich and I have our own rhythms and moves and get along in Georgia quite well with Bobbie and Ed remaining in Maryland. However, when we are around them, Rich becomes their son and not my husband. I don’t resent that but it’s taken quite a few years and many small arguments to reach a suitable compromise. He is their adult son when he’s with them. I am his wife. We mostly defer to Bobbie and Ed and their wishes. However, I am a strong willed Philly girl so I need my time and space on my own. And with Rich as well. We had just spent the last 30 or so hours with his parents and, boy, did I need a break!

We escaped, I mean, we returned to our room and had the bed turned down and a nice towel swan sitting there waiting for us. Our steward was Margaret and she did a nice job all week long. Every night was a towel animal. She did reuse the towels for a new animal every day. I was worried we’d have seven animals at once and then I’d feel guilty about utilizing all those towels!

We settled in to get used to the TV situation. We are TV freaks and freely admit it. We had checked out the listings. Again, if you’ve cruised Disney before, you can skip this part. But this is info that I hadn’t really known about despite all the research in the past year. On Channels 37 and 38, there is a constant stream of Disney classic films, shown every two hours. Channel 37 started on the even numbered hours, Channel 38 on the odd ones. Chances were you could see a complete movie any time. Samples for the week were Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Cinderella (my favorite), Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, Toy Story 2. There was a nice variety but every time the ESPN signal would fade, it just seemed like the Disney Channels were showing either Cinderella or Lilo and Stitch. Also, on Channels 31-36, there are continuous showings of Disney human films. Times were within a half hour of each other so, again, chances were you could see a complete movie any time. These included The Interpreter, March of the Penguins, Batman Begins, Bewitched. Decent selection, nothing really R rated or objectionable. Also for the cruise, in the Buena Vista Theatre, were almost first run movie in a theatre environment. We had checked those out and when Rich had called Chandra, got the scoop on a couple of them. Sky High and Flight Plan. We knew one was with Jodie Foster and didn’t know which one. It was Flight Plan and Sky High was a family film with Kurt Russell. Thank goodness The Kids know movies like most people know their names. Helps that because Chris works in a movie theatre, they get to see everything for free.

So, with all our TV and movie options ready and available, we checked out to see what was “playing”. It was getting late but The Interpreter was starting at 11:00 and we figured if we lasted, we lasted, if not, no money spent, no harm, no foul. We forgot about the damn time change. All the clocks had to be moved forward an hour. We started the movie and then halfway through decided that we had invested enough time, we didn’t have anywhere to go the next day so what the heck. That’s how we ended up staying up until 2:00 AM on our first night of cruising. I would not recommend that to anyone.

Day Three – Sunday, December 11, 2005 – Juggling, Navigators (UGH!), Football, and Formal Night

I slept until 9:00 and then was up doing the report. Rich stayed in bed until 10:00 and then mumbled “do you want me up yet?” I told him the only thing we had “scheduled” was Randy. We had the Navigator slipped under our door last night and made our plans while waiting for the movie to start. BTW – glad I saw it, don’t have to see it again. Loved Sean Penn in it, though. Randy was doing a juggling workshop in the Rockin’ Bar D on Deck 3. We were still getting used to the layout of the ship but today would be the day we figured out everything. So we didn’t have anything to do until noon.

I had already predicted what Bobbie and Ed would be doing and it wasn’t anything of what we wanted. Ed did the digital camera workshop only to discover that he left his memory card at home! That cracked me up. We had just gotten our digital camera all fixed up (many problems but it was good to go for the trip) so I was the only one with a functioning digital. Drove Ed nuts for the trip. Bobbie surprised the daylights out of me by going to the shopping presentation. I have never thought of Bobbie as a shopper. Rich hasn’t either and he’s known her longer than me. But it was the allure of the possibility of winning a diamond pendant. That would drive ME nuts for the next couple of days. So Rich and I were on our own for the entire day. Big Whoo Hoo!

We got down to the Rockin’ Bar D in plenty of time for Randy’s demonstration. We were asked if we wanted a drink and I had seen the Drinks of Day in the Navigator earlier. We weren’t sure if they would be available in a club bar. They sure are and only $3.50. Rich had a Cool Breeze (vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry juice, Sprite). I had a Navigator (vodka, light rum, blue curacao, orange juice, and pineapple juice). I figured with all that juice, it couldn’t be that bad, right?

Much to our surprise, as we were sitting there waiting for the drinks, Randy comes by and stops and says it is great to see us again! Talk about Disney Magic with a capital “M”! We haven’t seen his performance for quite a while and he took the time to come over and say something to us. He even gave me a hug (take that, Lindy – she’s the one that told us about Randy). It really was nice. We do have our favorite Disney performers and will see them whenever we can. However, we respect their privacy and will enjoy them and then leave. We don’t see ourselves as fanatics who know every single detail of their personal lives. We are fans and nothing more. Fans that show up more than other ones but we are respectful of the talent. So that made this even more special.

Randy did a great job with the large crowd that showed up for the session. We did NOT participate. Rich and I are the whitest white people on the planet. We may have our own rhythm with each other but that’s about it. The lesson started out with how to catch just one juggling ball (soft sided). I knew I would have a hard time with just that! So we just sat, sipped, and watched all the kids and their parents having a good time. There was one mentally challenged boy, Justin, and he was having the time of his life but not being able to catch the ball very well. Randy had him switch over to scarves. Which go slower and are easier to catch. Bet you didn’t know that, did you? Randy had several of the smaller kids switch too. Then everyone went up to two balls, then three if people were ready. It was all nicely done and Randy kept his humor going through the whole time. Made me wonder, though, what did these guys do before headset microphones were invented?

At 12:30, we left Randy and went next door to Diversions, the sports bar. They had trivia at 12:30 and we are trivia geeks so we wanted to see Disney’s version. It was mostly football related and very fast paced. Questions were asked twice and then we moved on. 25 questions in all. That would repeat for all trivia sessions. We didn’t do very bad but we didn’t win either. We did meet another Michelle, who clearly knows her sports trivia. It was football Sunday and the games started at 2:00 and would be here at Diversions. We were definitely interested in stopping by.

It was well time for lunch so we headed to Deck 9. Rich was very interested in pizza. Since it was a total day at sea and all the fast food options are near the family pool, it was a little chaotic. We were still trying to get used to the placement of everything but just jumped in and got a couple slices of cheese for me, and three slices of pepperoni for Rich. For some reason, every single piece of that pizza tasted extremely good. We took a table away from the madness of the Goofy pool, more towards the Quiet Cove adult only pool. OK, I can handle this. We partook in the soft drink offerings at the Beverage Station. And Rich ordered more pizza. Well, he’s on vacation so three more slices for him.

My Navigator (the drink, not the piece of paper) had gone straight to my head. I am not used to mixed drinks. With our lunch finished and food in the stomach, we headed back – to the bar. Diversions for football. Rich’s fantasy team and all. He had talked to Michelle about getting stats and she said she could after the games. We got a table with the Pittsburgh/Chicago game on. Rich had Chicago’s defense so he wanted a huge win and some Steeler Stuffing. Even though my fantasy team was kaput, I had had three Pittsburgh guys so I was rooting for a Bear Feast. A server came over (they are deadly, I swear) and asked if we wanted anything to drink. Rich did the investment of the cruise and got the refillable beer mug. You pay $12.95 for the 22 ounce mug and the beer your first time. Then, throughout the cruise, your refills are only $3.50 which is the price of a sixteen ounce beer. Yes, you need to lug the mug around with you but it worked out. As soon as any server saw one of those mugs empty, they were right there asking if we wanted a refill. When asked if I wanted a drink, I went into brain drain and chirped “A Navigator?” That was really stupid.

I lasted another hour and the 1–1/2 Navigators kicked in. First day at sea and the drinks were getting to me. Last call for Sheri. I headed back to the safety of our cabin and took a nap. Rich stayed at Diversions with his new found friends (Pittsburgh fans but they tolerated Rich). The TV signals did fade in and out and Michelle explained that it was due to the satellite feeds. Can’t really control those things up in orbiting around our planet. Rich’s brother, Dave, works with NASA and he could explain it a lot better. But each of the four TVs in Diversions has a different satellite hookup so if the machine went kaput, they had to switch to something else. Of course, the big game of Pittsburgh/Chicago on the big screen went TU but at least that was put on a smaller screen for all the fanatics. Before I left, I asked Rich to come and get me for the 4:00 Cruisin’ for Trivia in the Promenade Lounge. Told you we were freaks for trivia.

That nap really helped me out and knocked the Navigators out of me. Rich finished up my other half once he got back to the room. For the Cruisin’ for Trivia, it was general stuff and again, we didn’t do very bad but we didn’t win either. Learned some things and that’s really why we do the shows. We end up talking and discussing things. A general “I didn’t know that” comment from one of us will usually have the other one going into how we knew it or when we knew it. This session was definitely family friendly as well. We did drop by Diversions again for a sports update. Rich was doing OK with his fantasy football team but he wouldn’t know for sure until after tomorrow night’s Monday Night game. Which just happened to be our beloved Atlanta Falcons against the dreaded New Orleans Saints in Atlanta and a must win game. Yes, we gave up Monday Night season tickets to go on this cruise. The worst part was we sold them to one of our co-workers AT FACE VALUE! But Lindsey and Brad are nice people so we didn’t feel that bad.

After our sports fest of the day (and those Navigators were out of my system), we went back to the room to prepare for dinner. This was the night Rich was dreading. Formal night. We had gone round and round and round and round about what he was going to wear. No tuxedo for him. Not even a suit. For the past year, I had searched the boards and read everything about “proper” attire. My outfit had been decided upon when the cruise was booked. Same thing I wore to Chris’ and Chandra’s wedding. A long black shell dress. It came with a very matronly blouse with long black sleeves and silver metallic inlays. It was perfect for the wedding but I’m only 43 and I might be a grandmother now but I sure didn’t want to go to the formal night looking like I’m really a grandmother. Instead of the other blouse, I went and bought a short sleeved white beaded blouse at Ross’ Dress for Less for $12. I did not blow a huge budget on clothes for this trip.

For Rich, though, this was a chore. He does not like to dress up. The last time was for the wedding and we went round and round and round and round for that too. For this dinner, I made the decision (I had to – Niklewski decision making takes the length of time for a Paris Hilton relationship – at least a couple of days) for Rich to just wear the dress pants from the wedding suit and the same shirt with a tie. No jacket. He hates wearing a jacket for dinner and I can’t blame him. I do too. However, this decision of no jacket was met with resistance by Bobbie and Ed but that was too bad. I wasn’t willing to pack a darn jacket for just a few hours of a dinner anyway. Daughter-in-law won out with this, much to Rich’s pleasure.

We were dressed and ready to go right around 5:00 and I’m glad. Bobbie then called and said that at the Captain’s Reception, there usually were some drinks and things and she wanted to get down there early. We were in Lumiere’s tonight and that’s right next to where things were going on so Rich and I went down to collect Bobbie and Ed. Now, here’s where the fashion police come into play. For all of Bobbie’s hemming and hawing on what Rich was wearing, this just torks me. Ed was in a suit which is fine. He wears one for work anyway. It’s “normal” for him. Rich has a tough time with the business casual policy at his office. He was used to a jean environment. I’m the opposite. Used to “dressing up” for work and now I can wear jeans any day of the week. But I like wearing frilly junk every once in a while. Bobbie, however, was in black pants and a black shirt. That was her formal attire. Why do guys have to wear “monkey suits” but women now can get away with just anything black and feel OK? At that point, the issue of what anyone was wearing went out the window. I would not discuss it any further.

The Captain’s Reception, in Bobbie’s opinion, was a bust. She expected more based on her other cruises. She was terribly disappointed that you had to wait in lines for picture taking. Rich and I breathed a sigh of relief. That was one of the things we didn’t want on the cruise. Having the persistent photographers hovering for pictures. Rich just isn’t comfortable with that at all. I’m OK but usually look like a dork. Bobbie and Ed take great pictures and they are fine. Just don’t push it on me, please. So we liked that Disney left this option up to the guests. We did get some free drinks which were OK but nothing special. Then onto dinner in Lumiere’s.

Which quickly became my favorite dinner choice. I loved the décor. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney movies. I found out that Bobbie and Ed have NEVER seen the movie!!!! That became a theme for the rest of the cruise. The only Disney films Bobbie has seen were the older classics but only when Bobbie was growing up. So all the nuances were missed for both of them. This was the start of my Niklewski Disney Education. I wouldn’t get it until later that night, though. I explained to the in-laws the subtleties of the restaurant. The significance of the rose petals and why Kristian and Michelle had them on their lapels. And why there were various stages of a rose wilting on the light fixtures. I really, really liked the restaurant. A lot.

For dinner, I got the Pearls of Seasonal Melon although I was tempted by the Escargots. Still have to try those one of these days. I went safe – still having the Navigator flashbacks. I passed on the salad/soup course and then had the beef tenderloin. I swear on this cruise, I killed a cow myself. For dessert, I had the wonderful white chocolate domes with raspberry parfait. Excellent! I cannot remember everything Rich had but we did bring out the Niklewski Restaurant Principle. Two people cannot have the same meal. Grilled into our heads by Bobbie. Just like you can’t eat at a restaurant with a Help Wanted sign out front. Rich went with something other than beef. We think it was a fish dish. Bobbie was surprised that we still followed the Principle. She blamed the Help Wanted thing on her sister, Norma. This was a great meal, though. Kristian and Michelle were more attentive and that helped a lot. Bobbie just can’t sit and enjoy a meal. Too much down time and not enough activity for her.

With ourselves fully stuffed, we headed to the Walt Disney Theatre and The Golden Mickeys. Bobbie wanted some Disney music and was hoping for it. It didn’t disappoint. But before that – we have a few other moments I wish people had written about before. You can take beverages into the theatre. I learned from last night. I went back to the room and got our two travel mugs and filled them with ice and wine for the show. And that’s another thing – we could ask our steward for when we wanted ice. At first, we just said turndown and not morning because we were afraid Margaret would be banging on our door early and we didn’t want that. But it was when she made up the room so we changed it to both morning and turndown. We were never without ice. Pure pleasure for the show. We did our normal sit down and then realized what just happened.

The night before, we had The Breast Feeding Family in front of us. Not that bad and the woman was extremely discrete. Full blanket over her, baby really never seen. Her other two kids were very well behaved and Dad helped out. Tonight, we had them next to me! Over 2000 people on this ship and we get the same family two nights in a row. Again, Baby was hungry but we never saw anything. Personally, I did the bottle feeding thing with Chris but the way this woman handled everything was nicely done. Yeah, she could have gone to her stateroom but as a parent, I would have opted for staying with my family. There was absolutely nothing objectionable with anything. The baby was probably the quietest thing in the theatre.

And then the Golden Mickeys. After a brief introduction from Brent. Who cheerfully informed us that the Jumbotron tomorrow night would be showing the Monday Night Football game! UGH went Rich and me. We HAD to watch that game. We HAD to see it. Must win for our Falcons. HUGE game. But, because of the time change, it didn’t even start until 10:00. Now you know where we will be tomorrow night. But big UGH for the late night.

Then the show started. And that’s when I got it. I really got it. I’ve been to Disney World more than 40 times. I’ve been to Disneyland once. Now I’m on the cruise. With family that I love. But they are Niklewskis. And they don’t get it. Rich does to an extent but that’s only because of my influence. This is a show like the Oscars where they “nominate” certain categories and then highlight one person. Like Cruella DeVil for Villain. The music was great, the talent was great. And that’s when I lost it. Totally. I sat in that beautiful theatre and thought about what Disney has meant to me in my life. It started when I was 15 years old and my parents saved for a year and led a caravan down to Disney World in 1977 for my sister’s graduation. We were a convoy back then. CB radios and all (my dad and his buddies were truck drivers). Only Magic Kingdom was open, we had the true E tickets, and Epcot was a distant dream. But it was a great week. Yes, we spent a week. Disney took a hold of my life. Flash forward to 1981 and a horrible time in my life. I spent an afternoon at a movie theatre and watching Song of the South (probably the last time Disney showed this Classic). I sat in the back of a packed theatre and cried my eyes out, much like I was doing now. Now I was watching the classics and connecting with each one in some way. The songs, the films, the memories. The times with Chris. A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes. Seeing Beauty and the Beast and marveling at the way Belle’s hair just fell back to her shoulder after the Beast touched it. Hearing Rich do Sebastian and “Kiss the Girl” (he’s pretty good). Remembering taking Marlie (our granddaughter) to Disney World her first time and totally surprising her with the trip. Then taking her again and having a very different experience. I got lost in the world of Disney. Everything. Rich noticed and was kind enough not to say anything.

I had to scramble to dry my eyes but quite honestly, I didn’t care. This was why I was here. There was no other world. Just this one. My world.

So, after my Disney Faith was restored, time to move on. It was time to go down to the Rockin’ Bar D and Rich Purpura and his adult only show. Bobbie and Ed were headed back to their cabin. It was almost 10:00 after all. We headed for more fun. Rich was making ample use of his refillable mug. I was making use of my “refillable mug”. The travel one with the boxes of wine back in the room. Cheap I know, but we were giving enough to Disney this trip anyway.

Down to Rockin’ Bar D. Really getting to know the ship now. Little did I know that the Rockin’ Bar D would become our nightly home for the rest of the cruise. Totally unintended but, once again, the Disney entertainment was top notch. We love it at Disney World, especially at Epcot and World Showcase. I heard it was good on the cruises but it was a complete and unexpected surprise to find ourselves getting that much into it. The cruise band was Junction 21 and they really helped with getting us into the entertainment. Two lady singers, one male singer who was on lead guitar, and one female bassist who didn’t sing but Rich thought was “hot”. A drummer and keyboardist rounded out the sextet. They did covers and were pretty good. Very upbeat. We’d get to see them a lot on the trip.

Rich Purpura came on and did a good show again. Not much magic but lots of comedy. Rich enjoyed a beer in his mega mug and I had the mug ‘o wine. Very pleasant way to spend the time before bed. The DJ who filled in between things was very good as well and the staff here would go out and dance up a storm. Rich and I were the sitters. You have to have those people for a show, right? As I said, we are the whitest white people on the planet so dancing is confined to the privacy of our own home. And then it’s only me when Rich is gone and only the cats can see. And they sometimes run and hide. But we love music. We’re just respectful of other people so they don’t go blind with our lack of dancing skills.

After a fun filled day and night, some tears, and those damn Navigators, it was time for bed. We crashed nicely. The only problem was the bed, at least for me. I just couldn’t get comfortable. I ended up utilizing the couch and that would continue for the rest of the trip. The bed was a good size and that didn’t bother me. Rich and I have a king size at home so anything smaller is a chore but that wasn’t it. The last two nights of the cruise, I ended up just going to sleep on the couch and that worked out so much better.

Day Four, Monday, December 12, 2005 – “More Randy, Movies, and Cinderella”

Our second day at sea and one that I thought would be uneventful and boring. But this is Disney and it’s never boring. We slept in as late as we could. For me, getting eight hours of sleep is a joy and that’s about all I could manage. I was up and typing away by 8:30 or so. Rich took the opportunity to doze a little more and did his normal routine. Which was to visit the Deck 9 Beverage Station for some cold caffeine in the form of the magical, mystical Diet Coke. The man is addicted to the stuff. Thankfully, Disney and Coke have a loving relationship or we might have to take our business elsewhere. To Pepsi (whoops, that might get censored in a Disney trip report). Our entire family is and always has been a Coke Family so the Disney connection is perfect for us. Sorry to all the Pepsi fans out there (although they do sponsor Jeff Gordon in NASCAR so they are forgiven a bit). Bobbie and Ed always had to have breakfast and Rich would join them at Topsiders for eats. I’d work on the trip report and watch the same insane stuff on the TV, usually in Mute mode since you can only take Tigger’s voice for so long. We repeated this every morning.

Then Rich came back and took his shower while I dawdled some more. The only thing we had in mind was Rich Purpura’s magic demonstration at – surprise – the Rockin’ Bar D. But in the end, my Rich and I decided that we’d rather just chill and relax. Me to do the report, Rich to go onto Deck 9 at the adults only pool and read for a while. He’s STILL reading Tom Clancy’s Red Rabbit which is my second favorite Clancy novel. Rich doesn’t get into books that much so anytime I can get him into one, I treasure the moments. Which last forever since Rich doesn’t have that much spare time for reading. We each chose our poison so Rich went topside while I got ready for the day. We made “plans” to meet later.

After about an hour, I went in search of Rich. I found him very content and talking with someone at his table. I thought I recognized the other guy but was surprised to find out it was Randy! Talk about unexpected. Randy had remembered Rich and came over to chat. Which they had been doing for a while and continued to do once I joined them. We learned a lot from Randy about everything Disney related. I thought Randy was very honest with his answers and did not take away any of the magic at all. He’s been with the Disney family for about 10 years. Some good, some bad. He does mostly cruise ships now and not limited to Disney. His full name is Randy Cabral so if you see him on any other ship (he did mention Carnival), he’s great and very funny. Randy said that Disney did a house cleaning of some of the roving entertainment and brought in many more but lower paid people. And cut back on the hours of the long timers. So Randy and other favorites of ours from the Boardwalk were limited to about three days a week. Obviously, that’s not enough to live on so Randy found the cruise ships and will do those and fill in with the Boardwalk. I guess if we see Randy at Disney World in the future, we should be grateful. He also told us about the ship’s accommodations for the entertainers and Cast Members. And we talked about lots of non Disney things as well. It was so nice to find a “friend” on board. Something totally surprising and refreshing. After at least an hour, Randy had to excuse himself to indulge in his vice which involved going to Cove Café which, ahem, allows smoking. No lectures from me but if Rich can have his cold caffeine addiction, others can have theirs.

Rich finished his mega beer (those mugs truly are magnets for the wait staff) and then we headed for some hot tub. We had a big hot tub back in Nebraska. It was an outdoor eight seater and there’s nothing better than going out, chipping ice off the cover and soaking for an hour or two. Yeah, we were crazy – probably still are. But it was Nebraska and what else are you going to do, count cows? Oh, back to the cruise. We were relaxing in the tub and looked over at the other one. Randy had finished his break and was over there. We had contemplated going to that one because the other one had a person in it. Glad we didn’t because then it would have really looked like we were Randy Stalkers. Actually, it didn’t count since Randy sat down with Rich earlier. Just an inside reference between Rich and me about so called Stalkers.

After our soak, we headed back down to the room to get ready for dinner. It was very early but there was a method to my madness. We were eating in Animator’s Palate that night. I didn’t want to miss anything. But we wanted to see the movie in the Buena Vista Theatre. Flight Plan with Jodie Foster. That started at 4:00, our dinner was at 6:00 and the play time was 1 hour and 33 minutes. We wouldn’t have time to come back and get ready for dinner and still Meet the Parents. Tonight was casual attire but I was going with above the knee (barely) dresses that, believe it or not, were too dressy for work. I have got to get myself into the jeans mentality. Kind of tough after years of a strict dress code where you were even measured for skirt lengths (cannot be more than three inches above the knee). The liberal person in me went very conservative in dress so this was me going back to my roots.

With both of us properly attired (Rich still grumbling about me not allowing him to wear jeans), we headed for the Buena Vista Theatre. We certainly were getting our money’s worth out of the on ship entertainment today. And we were no where near Bobbie and Ed which helped. For what they did today, they took in the classes that are offered. The first one (and I predicted these when I looked at the Navigator last night) was a talk with Tony Baxter (they had no idea who he was) who explained some of the things going on at Disney theme parks and then a Q&A session. Yes, there is a Disney plan for pirate invasions but they couldn’t talk about it. Kind of strange to even have to think about it. Bobbie would fill us in throughout the week with little tidbits she learned from “that guy”. Jeez, if I had been there, “that guy” would have been asked for his autograph. The in-laws also took in the Making of the Disney Magic talk which explained the nuances of the ship. I should also interject in here that daily swims around 4ish for Ed were mandatory. Sometimes Bobbie joined him at the adult pool, sometimes she stayed in the room and read. I also believe there were some rum drinks being consumed in room 6540 around that time as well.

I guess the point here is that while we are two totally different couples, we could still cruise together and have a great time separately. There’s so much to do on board that our paths crossed very infrequently. We used the voice message system on the phones to communicate. I had left a message for Bobbie and Ed that we were taking in the movie and if we didn’t see them there, we’d see them at dinner.

Rich and I settled into the theatre (glorious stadium seating so your view really doesn’t get blocked that much) and had a complaint right away. Why can’t someone invent a sound free way to get popcorn out of a bag? Good lord, it was rustle, rustle, rustle the whole first half hour of the movie. The family in front and to the left of us (they spread out quite a bit), kept passing this huge bag back and forth and digging into it. I just wanted to stand up and shout “AREN’T YOU PEOPLE DONE YET?!” It wasn’t just them, though. Sounded like the whole theatre was in Orville Redenbacher Heaven. At least the sound level in the movie was high enough to drown out most of the rustling. Now you know why we rarely go to the movie theatre (sorry, Chris). I prefer DVDs at home with pausing for potty breaks and refilling of wine glasses.

The movie was OK and I’m glad we saw it. But like The Interpreter the other night, it’s not something I’ll be running out to add to my collection. I did enjoy the very strong female performances of Nicole Kidman and Jodie Foster in the two films, though. I just thought the resolution in Flight Plan was way too predictable. But it was a pleasant (although noisy) way to spend a couple of hours.

After the film, we decided we had enough time to go up one deck (the theatre is on Deck 5 with all the Mousekeeter stuff – our only contact with the munchkin crowd) and get the parents. Turns out Bobbie had called our room at 4:05 and suggested this option. AFTER she had gotten our message that we were going to the 4:00 movie and then seeing them for dinner. How the hell were we supposed to get that message? But it all worked out. We left for dinner with plenty of time to get to Animator’s Palate. In fact, we had to wait until the restaurant opened. But I didn’t want to miss anything.

The show, while entertaining, was a bit of a chore. Bobbie had no idea who most of the characters on the wall were. We were saying “oh, look, Baloo changed!” Bobbie asked who Baloo was. Or Aladdin. The different princesses were also a bit cumbersome even to Rich. Sigh. Belle is in yellow, Cinderella is the blond. Don’t even get me started on Aurora. No one got her at all and she’s a favorite of mine. But the huge magic breaking moment happened after dinner. The servers do a whole parade with Mickey around the restaurant. I about dropped down, fell on the floor, and choked with Bobbie’s question. Even Rich’s chin hit the table. She asked “just who plays Mickey?”

After a very long pause from both of us, I responded that no one “plays” Mickey. Mickey is real. There’s only one Mickey Mouse like there’s only one Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy. Well, at least my husband got the Disney Magic. His parents either never had it or lost it years ago. I also think this was the night where the dinner conversation came to a grinding halt when politics came into play. Rich and his parents are really anti-government. They were going on and on about having to get up early on Wednesday for customs clearance. Blah, blah, blah. Why, why, why? I am an admitted American patriot. Love it or leave it. I won’t go into either side but let’s just say it was a 3 against 1 debate and I held my own. Could I get some Magic back, please? Yeah, this is Disney, I can.

Next up was the show which tonight was Twice Charmed, the new production with a twist on the Cinderella story. This one turned Rich. Of course, the in-laws were a bit lost since they hadn’t seen Cinderella since it was first released. Oh, and don’t even get me started on our conversation about why Song of the South hasn’t been re-released. At least we all agreed on that one. IT’S STUPID NOT TO SHOW THAT TO PEOPLE ANYMORE! OK, rant off on that one. But when we have a 23 year old niece who goes on Splash Mountain and has no idea of the story line, well, that’s just dumb. Back to the show. Basically, Lady Trumaine and the stepsisters get to turn back time and try to avoid Cinderella from ever meeting the Prince. They do but, of course, true love finds its way and every one, except the evil people, live happily ever after. Cute show. No tears from me, though. I decided I wouldn’t cry anymore on the trip. HA!

After the show, we did try to get Bobbie and Ed to go for some nighttime entertainment. Randy was doing his adult only show in Rockin’ Bar D. We really got to know that place very well! We briefly returned to the room for Rich’s mega beer mug and then headed for the bar. Junction 21 was playing again so we enjoyed them before the show. I was getting smart and just taking my travel mug of wine along with me so Rich was doing all the “drinking”. Hehehehe. Well, he kept signing for the mugs. This was really the best deal he did all week long. One of those mugs lasted him quite a long time.

Randy did a great show again but it was still a little more family friendly. I think he swore once, though. After talking with him earlier, I think that’s just Randy’s personality. He’s such a nice guy. After the show it was time to get serious. FOOTBALL! Falcons versus Saints and on the Jumbotron on Deck 9. We didn’t waste too much time getting up there. This was pure heaven. Rich with his mega mug, me with my travel mug and the Falcons kicking some Saint butt. It was a must win game and they did win. The Falcons have a slim chance of getting into the playoffs and they needed to not only win but hope other teams lost. It would be a long next three weeks for us. Sometimes it sucks to live in a big city with big league pro teams. Not that we go overboard on the Hawks, Thrashers, or Braves. For some reason, the Falcons have us reeled in.

We left at halftime since both of us were drooping by that time. It was close to midnight and St. Maarten was coming up tomorrow morning. This would be my first visit to a “foreign” country. I had been to Canada and just across the border to Mexico but that’s been it. I’d love to see more of the world but I find America just fine and dandy, thank you very much. There are still states I haven’t seen (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho and Wisconsin) so I’ll concentrate on my native land. But we were here and I had some ideas of what to do. I had tried to reserve a rental car before we left but the only site that would do online reservations was not the most user friendly so I abandoned that idea. Sorry to that company but if you have an online reservation form and you fill it out but it doesn’t go through with no explanation, well, you don’t get my business. In the end, I’m glad we didn’t have a car. So, back to the room for the next day.

Day Five – Tuesday, December 13, 2005 – St. Maarten, Narnia, Pirates Aboard

I got up around 8:00 and worked on the report. There was a curtain to pull closed in between the bed area and the sitting area and this was nice for the mornings. Rich would use the time to wake up, I would type and just enjoy the quiet time. I muted the TV but had it on for some diversion. We were docked in St. Maarten and all I can say is the dock area just isn’t very pretty. I do have to recommend getting a cabin on the starboard side which is where we were. Great views from either the porthole (which was more than big enough to sit and watch out of) or your verandah (which Bobbie and Ed used sparingly – glad I didn’t insist on one). For both of the islands, we could see the docks and when we backed into Castaway Cay, we had the best view of the island.

Rich did his morning routine and joined his parents for breakfast. I got ready and they all decided to deboard together at 10:00. Why we had to do that is beyond me but I didn’t have a choice. This was my first encounter with the “locals”. I quickly learned how to say “no thanks” with a big tourist smile on my face. How many creative ways can one come up with to not take a taxi into town? We had been on the cruise ship for the last two days, we all wanted to walk. And walk we did. It really wasn’t that far and thi