Are You Ever Coming Home?...No! I am playing with Wizards,Farkles & Sparkling Friends

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I decided to head back the boat too now.

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It wasn’t too long after I got back on that it was time to leave and they gave the signal for everyone to return and then we were on our way.

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Hello Caves…..so sad I didn’t get to go in one of you.

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They had a cooler with beverages and I went got us some drinks.

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The drowned rat look!

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As we were sailing to our next destination, I felt a pinch on my foot. I looked down and it was this big (well he looked big to me) yellow and black spider. That sucker just bit me. I quickly got him smashed…but that sucker hurt.

Our next destination was a beach, Pirates Bight!

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We docked and headed up towards the beach.

As we got off, I asked the crew if a yellow spider was poisonous. I told them I didn’t want to go home with some Caribbean fever. LOL. They said no, and looked at what was left of the remains, and the one guy was like…oh that is the terrible poisonous such and such…and then laughed.

I don’t know how that sucker got onboard, but I was not a fan of him. I was fine, but my foot was sore for a bit.

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I parked myself at a picnic table and Claire and I talked for a while with the lady I had become friendly with.

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We debated going to get a snack or something to drink, but our friends husband brought out 2 drinks he had bought and it had come to something like $27…um we’ll wait. We don’t HAVE to have anything right now.LOL.

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After a bit we decided to head to the bathroom…however Claire wasn’t smart and didn’t go. She will wait till the last possible second. I try to tell her to go when she can because there may not be an option later.

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The bathrooms were actually pretty nice for an island bathroom.

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We headed back to the beach and set our stuff down next to our new friends’ family and decided to hop in the water.

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We started talking to some people in the water and it was just nice hanging out and getting to know new people.

Some had come into Orlando during the rain storms and they were telling us about their flights.

We got the signal it was time to head back to the boat, so we got out of the water and grabbed our stuff.

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As we got back onto the boat, the crew had a hose and they would wash our feet off before we got on. It was really nice. They kept the boat nice and clean.

I really liked this island beach and we were so happy to have done this excursion. Time to sail back to port.

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Claire now had to go to the bathroom. I asked her if she could wait, but she said no. I pointed out where they were and told her to be careful going down the steps as they were steep. (I had used the bathroom on the boat earlier). We were wobbling in the waves and she made her way to the steps and I lost sight of her then. The next thing we all hear is boom boom boom. My new friend asked me if that was my daughter and I said yes….she is super clumsy. I quickly tried to slide out of my seat…no easy feat when you are wet, and ran over to find a crew member helping her. I asked her if she was okand she said yes. I am sure she was mortified too. The crew member helped her down the stairs and directed her to the bathroom. He helped her back up the stairs then and she came back to sit down. I double checked to see if she was alright. She is not good with pain and usually is dying with any little issue. She said over and over she was fine and I told her to tell me the truth. But she was fine. Thank goodness. And Claire is really clumsy. She tells me she falls/trips several times a week at school and it’s a running joke with her and her friends. ….and I’ll be honest. I am a little clumsy myself at times. I have fallen at Disney World and Disneyland…but usually when it has been raining and my shoes get slippery. Claire just trips over air!

Soon we were back at the port.

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I now had to go use the restroom, but I waited till we were on dry land. There was a line, but it moved fast. We then looked at a few shops, but the only thing we bought was something that Jeanne had messaged me to pick up for her. Most of the shops in port are upscale. I would have liked to have gotten a magnet, but I didn’t really see a cheap type shop to look for one….though we didn’t look hard either.

We were tired and just wanted to clean up, so we headed back to the ship.

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I was walking too slow for Claire’s taste.

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Come on MOM!!!!!

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Look at that water!!!! Gorgeous!

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We got back on and Claire headed off to shower and I went up top for a bit.

We had a wonderful time on this excursion. Last Oct. we had done the dolphin swim with my sister’s family in Tortola and then basically got back on the ship. The port was only newly being built up and a lot of stores were empty. I thought Tortola was beautiful, but didn’t offer alot. With this excursion I really changed my mind about Tortola and hope to go back and do it again. We had that good of a time on it. Sadly, Tortola’s port is closed for the unforeseeable future at the time I write this. I hope and pray they can recover and be a thriving island again and allow us tourist come and spend some money with them.

After we got back onboard, I had gone up top, while Claire was getting cleaned up and changed. I was talking to some people…I had met several over the course of the cruise and would talk to them daily….and someone pointed out a group of guys that had been onboard the ship since April…..laying carpet!

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I talked to them a bit. I forget where they were from, but I want to say the Neverlands or Germany…they did have thick accents. They said they lay the carpet at night when the ship is less busy and do a section every night. They were about halfway done I believe and had been on the ship for something like 2 ½ months. Super nice guys!!!! They told us they had done the Magic beforehand and were on for several months then too. It kind of sounds like this is what they do…go on ships for several months and replace the carpet. Not a bad life eh?

We had a conversation about the NCL Escape next door. People were guessing things about it…thinking it had been in service for years…but it is a new ship.

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Disney cruisers are snobs….I’ll admit it…and many of us didn’t like the look of the NCL ship. That being said….I have sailed NCL 3 times and had a wonderful time each and every time and I would not hesitate to sail them again. I just prefer the look of DCL’s ships…and I am a Disney snob.

I grabbed Claire then and we went to get some lunch.

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Our view from our table.

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I had my phone sitting on the table and I got a warning flash up that my phone had overheated and it could not be used till it cooled down. Oops. Never had that happen before. I put it in my bag in hopes it would cool down.

I believe Claire was in the mood for chicken wings again, so we ordered some room service for her. She was obsessed with the wings and I think she would have been happy to have them for every meal.

We only had a short port day today as we had to leave in time to make it over to Castaway Cay….so we were pulling out by 2:30 I believe. A few pictures from our room.

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I then ran up top to get some more pictures.

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The Escape wasn’t too far behind and followed us for the next day.

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Isn’t this just gorgeous???

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And there is my house! LOL.

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There was a Disney Trivia at 3:45, so several of us met in La Piazza to try our chances today. I think it was Cass, Jeanne and I and several of the kids. I believe we did 2 teams this time, but shared answers. I am a loud talker, but I was really trying to be quiet when we discussed our answers….but we noticed a lady next to us basically copying down what we would say…so we had to become even more secretive….this is life or death after all! Hahahaha

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Well we had a winning team this time! Yay!!!!

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After that, we sent Claire, Caleb and Nick off to play hide and seek with the officers….and I think that us adults went to do TV tune trivia in O’gills…which spills out into La Piazza because they don’t have nearly enough room in these places for all the people that show up.

We did not win, but we had a fun time trying to guess the answers. Some people were really good though and named just about every one. I believe there was a tie and they had a song to break it….which I think they both got as well. You never realize how many of those older detective and hospital shows have similar sounding theme songs till you try to guess them in trivia!

After that, it was time to go back to the room and get ready for dinner. We skipped tonight’s show, which was Magic Dave. We saw him Oct. and didn’t need to see him again.

Sadly Cass’s family was skipping dinner again tonight. I understood why, but I missed being able to talk to her more often. Our darn families and their wants and needs kept getting in the way. Plus I did know the heat was getting to Cass and she was not always feeling the best.

Dinner was in Animator’s Palate tonight. We invited Patty’s family to our table once again and we found out they had put in a request for a platter of mozzarella sticks as an appetizer. YUM!!!!

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I don’t remember which menu we had tonight.

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The dress up family was in Star Wars garb tonight.

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One thing I wanted to do this cruise was have breakfast or lunch in the main dining room. Time was running out and I mentioned it to the others and they all wanted to as well. Ferdi told us the brunch hours for tomorrow and we decided that it would work out for all of us.

After dinner several of us went to see Wayne Cotter’s adult show in the Tube. As always, the place was crowded and we found seats at the bar tonight…which blocks ourview. 80’s music trivia was after that.Patty, Brook and I stayed for that. This was done with basically one side of the room against the other and it was funny to watch. We were located right in the middle, so we kind of played along with both sides.

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It was nice chatting with Brook and Patty. We were noticing people from our facebook group and some forums etc. One girl we sort of recognized…Brook had the scoop on her…and she was drunk every night and was told that she closed the bars down each and every night. She came up and ordered a drink and she got something full of liquor. I can’t even imagine what her bar bill was at the end. I guess that kind of thing always surprises me as I like to enjoy my cruise….and remember it. Hahaha. But that is the way she likes to cruise and she was really young…early 20’s I would say, and I remember being that young and going out to the bars each weekend…so I guess I relate in that way.

Because this cruise had a lot of Platinum and Gold Members, a lot of people knew each other on this cruise and some of the people we met knew things about a lot of people. We had been told of a couple who cruised regularly and were determined to win all the games and came prepared with back packs of the “random” stuff needed for some games.

Basically, Brook, Patty and I had a gossip session. Hahahaha. But it was a lot of fun.

We all were super tired though and couldn’t last much longer and called it a night.

Back at the room I found our towel animal.

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I think this is the night that Nick had gone back to his room to read and Claire and Caleb still kind of wanted to do something. We hooked them up on the chat feature and told them to message each other if they ever wanted to do something….and God forbid either of them would do that. It would be so embarrassing. LOL! When there were 3, they had no issues, but just 2, one being a girl and one a boy….nope! I came back to the room to find Claire watching another movie.

We settled down and went to sleep. Tomorrow is a Sea Day and Claire was allowed to sleep in again.

July 6, 2017, Day 12, Day at Sea

I let Claire sleep in a bit as I went off for my morning walk with the girls. I believe it was just Jeanne, Patty and I. Sadly I was going pretty slowly today with my blistered feet. I also had thrown in some laundry and I had to stop and keep checking and moving it a few times.

I didn’t really mention this before, but I did laundry a few times this cruise. Because it was a longer cruise, many people were doing laundry this sailing and the laundry rooms were constantly packed. To the point that it was normal for people to wait and then pull clothes out when a washer or dryer was done so that they could get theirs started. There were a few times when I just couldn’t do it when I wanted to. Claire kept running out of shorts, so I had to do some this morning….of course later I found 3 more pairs in another drawer. Oops!

After the walk, I got cleaned up and had Claire get up for brunch and we met everyone at Royal Court. We had a huge group this morning. I believe it was Claire and I, Jeanne and her 3 kids, Patty and Fred and Caleb, Brook and I think her gang too.

When we arrive, Ferdi and Lewis were at the entrance and took us to a table. We were happy thinking we would have them as our servers, but we didn’t. They were just seating us. He did tell us our waiters were good and he told them to take special care of us.

We made our orders and I was starving and had big eyes ...LOL.

Claire and I had yummy shakes.(or maybe it was a smoothie).

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I can’t remember the name of this, but it was good.

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The pastry man was slow again today, but he made it over and we all devoured a few options.

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I saw risotto on the menu, so my decision was super easy. It was good too. I think Jeanne’s girls got it as well. They now started pointing out risotto dishes to me when they saw them….I think they realized I loved the stuff too.

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Claire got a steak…no picture….but she said it was the best steak she had all cruise. Unfortunately, this whole cruise seemed to be hit or miss with her steaks and a lot had fat onthem…which she hates. She’s super picky. She was happy she woke up to make it to brunch today.

When I had ordered….I ordered my dessert too, which was chocolate cream puffs. I prefer the white cream, but beggars can’t be choosers. I jokingly said….and I would like 500 chocolate cream puffs. Then I thought I better amend that. They may not realize I was joking and actually bring me out 500. LOL.

By the time they arrived I was so full, but I managed to get 2 down.

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I had noticed there was a Pixar Trivia today and had mentioned it at one point in our chat session. It was going to be close to get done with brunch and make it there. Cass messaged us about the time the entrees were coming out that they were heading to trivia. Our meal went pretty slow, and sadly I knew I would make it. Of course she won when I wasn’t with her!

After brunch we decided we needed another round or 2 of Farkle. We just loved the game and had so much playing together. We headed to Cabana’s and moved some tables and got settled. Henry wanted to join us today, but Brook and Joe were heading off to watch something, so we said it was fine for him to stay with us.

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At one point he went to the bathroom and we realized he was gone and started to panic. We sent one of the boys to look for him in the closet men’s bathroom and he wasn’t there. Oh gosh! We are watching him and he is gone! He comes strolling back shortly after and he had gone to the bathroom up a level near Palo and Remy. Whew!!!!

After a while it was time for an ice-cream break.

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Brook and Joe came back before we were done. They had told us to take Henry to the club after we got done…but nope, we were still playing.

Many of the kids wanted to go play Bingo, so they all headed that way. Kelsey was sure she was going to win the jackpot today and was already thinking of ways of spending the money.

While they played, I went up with Patty, Fred, and Jeanne to the Satellite Falls area. Of course the first time I actually make it to the area, it’s a little chillier out and windy. Patty and I sat under the falls and one lady told me they had been off for most of the cruise and this was the first she has seen them running. Then rain came and blew the water right in our faces….well that’s enough of that kind of fun. Hahaha.

Kelsey and Emily came up and said they almost won! They were with the last 3 standing in the jackpot and then someone else won. She was shaking still from the excitement of it all. We later found out Caleb was super excited too and he was holding the card for her and she was going to give him $100 if they won.

We then headed back to the room to lounge around a bit and get ready for the evening. Tonight’s show was Disney’s Believe and I think we skipped it. I have seen the show 3 times already and it’s not a favorite.

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Trivia was calling…70’s music trivia tonight. I believe I played with Cass and Rob tonight. I think Jeanne and Emily came too.

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Again, we were big fat losers!!!

Dinner was at Enchanted Garden tonight and once again, Cass and family were swimming, so we invited Patty and family to our table.

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It was kind of funny as each night we would kind of rotate where we sat…except at Enchanted Garden. We almost always sat in the same seats there every single time.

Claire was being fed….but I didn’t get a good picture of it.

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Oh….I believe tonight was semi-formal night….so lobster for me!

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Tonight there was a treat for us. Spiderman was opening tomorrow and they were going to show it on the ship. This had been the talk for months before the cruise. This movie is NOT a Disney film, but is being distributed by Disney since Disney owns Marvel now…or something along that line. No one knew if it would be shown. Brook heard early on that someone she knew, knew the person who was bringing the “reel” to the ship when we were in Port Canaveral and supposedly it was supposed to be super-secret.

The movie was at midnight and as much as I wanted to see the movie, I was just so tired and we would have a long day at Castaway Cay tomorrow. I couldn’t do it. Claire wanted to go, but not with just the boys. If Emily went, she would go.

After dinner we still were not sure if she was going to go, so we headed back to the room.

Tonight’s towel animal.

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Jeanne messaged me that Emily was going to go and told me what time to have Claire ready. Claire was so excited!

Off they went and off to dream land I went. She came in really late, but she said the movie was really good (I still have yet to see it) and that they had a bunch of fun waiting for it to start. I told her I was too tired to talk tonight, so let’s get some sleep and we can talk about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Castaway Cay!

July 7, 2017, Day12, Castaway Cay

It was another hot day today. Several of my friends were interested in running the 5K on Castaway Cay, but the heat and humidity was making them have second thoughts.

I believe a few of us walked a few laps on deck just to make up for that….well I would never run anyways. Hahaha.

Castaway was looking beautiful as we docked.

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We had some breakfast and headed off the ship. Claire and I were heading to find Fred, who had a spot already on the beach. Zach was hanging with his friends and Caleb and Patty were going to parasail. Jeanne and her family had friends with some cabana’s and they had been invited to join them for the day. Brook I believe did run the 5K and we saw them a few times on the beach and they set their things with ours. I never heard from Cass, so I wasn’t sure if they were going to come out to our spot or not.

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