Day 3 - December 6 - Second Day at Sea

We find ourselves out at sea for the second straight day.

An overall strange day. First is the loss of an hour, as the clocks went forward last night. It appears that the Caribbean does not observe day light savings time. Second, yesterday we needed to be up early for the character breakfast, today there are no morning requirements for us, and third, everyone is generally tired from the last couple of days of hustle and bustle.

The results, brunch (actually closer to lunch) for the family instead of breakfast.

I think that it should be pointed out inside cabins are dark. It is quite easy to lose track of time in the mornings.

Trivia Fact #2

Disney makes a lot of eggs every day.

Blogger Side Note - Room Size

I was a little concern prior to the trip about the size of the room. I will say that the room is not large by any means, but is sufficient for anyone who is not planning on staying in their room their entire vacation.

Misadventures of Stitch

The afternoon, saw the children in kids club. Deb, Chloe and I spent time strolling throughout the ship, doing a little shopping. It should be noted that I was causing no trouble and minding my own business, I was attacked by a large blue alien. He moved quick and with a purpose. Unprovoked, he stuck his claw in my ear like a wet willy, and while distracted proceeded to steal the stroller and began to push the baby down the hall. Thanks to some fast acting Disney crew members, Stitch was quickly apprehended and Chloe was returned to her parents, much to her disappointment.

Blogger Side Note #2 - Disney Characters

Being a veteran of the Disney parks, we are familiar with Disney characters being surrounded by security and treated like rock stars. I also understand the need for this with the amount of people that only want one quick picture, or one quick autograph. The boat is a completely different animal. The lineups were smaller and more manageable. The characters appeared to be more interactive and I am sure that we were lucky in some situations like the Stitch story above, but we found characters throughout the ship.

Disney Trivia Question of the Day

How many cups of coffee are served on board per day?

Shuffle Board Game

With a little extra time on our hands, the kids challenged their dad to a little game of shuffleboard. A quick game to 50. It was my intention to go a little easy on the girls, and I shot from the regular line while letting the girls play forward of that position. I am glad that we didn't play for money, as the girls decided to give Dad a good old fashion whopping taking him 51 to 7. After the game, Chloe decided to give me a few tips for the rematch.

Evening Entertainment

Tonight entertainment was another Broadway show called Villains. The premise is a simple one, Hades needs to add more evil to the underworld or be replaced. As with Cinderella the previous night, the show was incredible and a must do on the cruise.

Abbey's Comments

On Friday we went on a plane. The plane ride took 2 hours and 17 minutes, to get to Orlando. I had pop and cookies on the plane and sat next to my Dad. I didn't like the plane because my ears hurt. My Dad and Mom surprised us with a limo ride to Port Canaveral. I like the limo because there was rainbow color lights on the inside. There were 4 movie screens inside the limo. The movie was Madagascar 2. There was free pop and water inside. On Saturday, we got on the Disney Cruise Boat. The boat has 11 floors. I like to order room service because you don't have to pay. I had breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. I also met Stitch, Max, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderello, Snow White, Tiani, Belle and Alice. On Tuesday in St. Martins we went to a butterfly farm. My mom put a blue butterfly on my dress. On Wednesday, we were in St. Thomas, and I went snorkeling with sea turtles. I had a waterproof camera and I took a picture of two turtles, and a stingray. The temperature of the water was 83 degrees. I have two more days on the boat and then we are going to Disney World for a week.

Emily's Comments

When I was at the airport, I had to wait 4 and 1/2 hours to get on the plane. I finally got on the planeand I sat beside my mom. I liked it when we went up, and when we were above the clouds and the houses were really really small. We had no car so we had to rent one and it was a LIMO. It took us to the hotel. I liked it because it had a whole lot of lights. We did not arrive at the hotel until 10pm., I went to bed at 11 pm. The next day we boarded the boat. I liked getting on the boat, and my dad, and sister, Abbey, explored the boat. At night we went to the theatre and saw a live performance called The Cinderalla Story, A Twist. The next night we went back to the theatre and saw Villians. I thought Villians would be scary but it wasn't. We also went to a butterfly farm in St. Maartin. I didn't like it because it was outside and rainy. I did not get to feed any, but 4 butterflies landed on me. The next day, I went swimming in the ocean with stingrays, fish, and sea turtles. I wasn't scared, but I felt a little sick on the boat as it was rocky. The last stop was at Castaway Cay where I got to feed stingrays, but it was scary. My mommy and daddy said it felt like a vaccum. It was scary because they would swim all around me and I did not want to get stung. The last night we went to the theatre and saw A Dream Comes True, my favourite part was when Ariel performed. I am hoping my parents take me back again.  

Day 2 - December 5 - The Journey Begins

The adjustment to the ships movement has been a bigger transition than first thought. The only one who has made a seemless transition is the baby.

I swear that I woke up this morning thinking the ship was going to roll over. My legs seemed much higher than my head, and the ship just wasn't rolling, it was moving to one direction. The only thing left to do was rollover and go back to sleep.

Trivial Fact #1

The ship is huge, and we still need to take a couple of moments to figure out where we are. Our cabin in an inside state room located on the sixth deck at the front of the boat.

King Kong Moment

The kids decided that this morning we should attend a paper plane making sesson. Yes, there is a class. I guess if you can have basketweaving in college, than you can have paper plane making on a cruise. After an intense 15 minutes of making our planes they were ready for flight. Our instructor gave us last minute instructions, namely (1) not to fly the plane into the ocean and (2) not to throw your plane at another person. The countdown began, the green light given, and paper planes were being thrown everywhere. For the next few minutes I became the object of most airplanes. I realize that I am a little large, but was I trying to climb a building carrying a woman? No... I am beginning to understand why that ape kept swatting at those planes.

Rule #13

When participating in a paper plane making class, ensure you are in the back of the room when the planes go flying.

I thought I would include a picture of the planes. Any guesses on who constructed this plane??

We also went to our first origami class and learned how to make paper flowers. Dad, Mom, Emily and Abbey worked their magic, and attached is a picture of those flowers. For the record, Chloe has yet to master the art of folding paper. She has mastered crumbbling paper, and eating paper.

The other major event of the day was the character breakfast. Chloe had the following review:

           Eggs were good
           Pancakes were better
           Mickey and Minnie were neat and deserved a smile
           Goofy and Pluto were met with mixed emotions
           Chip and Dale - full meltdown, but in her defense they were a bunch of crazy chipmunks.
           Watching Dad and the girls have to wear funny hats, priceless.

Disney Trivia Fact Number 2

How many eggs are prepared daily on a Disney Cruise Ship?

Crazy News of the Day

At dinner, we were told that the clocks would move forward an hour. But not too worry at the end of our week we would move the clocks back an hour and recover that time.

Day 1 - December 4th - Departure

Day 3 was met with a lot of anticipation. We met in the lobby of our hotel, boarded our shuttle and off we went to the Disney Cruise Line Centre.

We had arrived a little earlier than expected but there was already a sizable line. I must admit that Disney has a way to keep a line moving and before we knew it, we were at security. Deb of course set off the metal detector, and needed to be ushered to the side for a metal wanding. The rest of us, tried to ignore her, in case she didn't make it through. It only lasted a couple of minutes, as Chloe kept saying MA.. MA...MA... Fortunately, Deb made it through security.

Interesting Kid Fact

Chloe now has two words... MA... and WHAZAT... they can apply to any situation and to understand her, you need to focus on the situation, and the her emphasis on the syllables.

Interesting Travel Fact

There were no Tim Hortons between the hotel and the Disney Cruise Centre, and therefore the journey was quite quick.

We than proceeded with our check in, and I decided to see about upgrading our rooms. It was a long shot, but upgrades were available. But with every bit of good news comes some bad news. The upgrade from our room, was to a master suite and Disney was not upgrading for free, so we passed on it.

We were given a boarding number and sent to the chairs to wait for the official boarding. With TV screens and leather type couches, the wait was not very long. Chloe took a few minutes to stroll the area looking for any large mice that may be there, and to her surprise found one.

Interesting Travel Fact #2

Disney cruises are an exciting affair for many people and when they call a boarding number, 50 or so people are admitted to the line to go on the boat. Some do not always have the class to calmly walk to the staging area, but rather run like buffalo. Chloe narrowly escaped injury. It also appears that knocking over a baby to get on a cruise ship does not require a look back or an apology. This may be a new trend, and I welcome others to run like a zebra being chased by a lion to the nearest lineup and try taking out a small child.

After escaping possible trauma or death, our number was called and we boarded the ship, having our family name called out to all, with mild applause. Apparently, the new Tim Horton's travel system has not caught on, and my fame has not been assured.

Interesting Disney Cruise Travel Fun Fact

Which item is longer from tip to tip, the Eiffle Tower or the Disney Cruise Ship.

We spent the majority of our afternoon unpacking, and exploring the boat.

Slight Interruption

Our blog has hit a slight road bump. Due to satelite problems on the ship, we were left without internet for most of the cruise. The girls and I have taken notes and I will start to post again later this evening and into tomorrow. It is my intention to finalize the cruise portion of the blog over the next little bit.

Greg

December 3 - Flying Far Far Away

Today is the day - the trip is officially beginning.

We have conned my parents (thanks guys) to help us bring stuff to the airport, and we are ready to go.

Learning from yesterday's fiasco, I told everyone that we needed to be ready to leave for 9:30, with the true intention of leaving for 10:30. It is now 10:15 and we are on our way. Rule #11 is a success, and will be carried forward from this day forth.

Interesting Travel Fact

1) Number of Tim Horton's between my parents and the Buffalo airport that we went by, four. Its becoming a new travel game, or it can be a way to measure the distance from one place to another. If channel 4 can measure the amount of snow by the size of a person, who to say that you can measure distance by the number of Tim Hortons that you drive by. Anyways, number of stops 1. It appears the last stop before crossing the bridge from Canada into the US has a duty free shop, a McDonalds, and a Tim Hortons. Should put a sign out from. If you want Timmy's coffee, go back the way you came, or stay here, cause this is the last stop for it.

2) I may not have a math degree, but when the current going exchange rate is $0.98Cdn to $1.00 US, and you decide to purchase something in Canada with US currency the price should not really go up. Buying apple slices from McDonalds, I had the choice of paying $1.04 Cdn or $1.09 US. Really?? What the h? McDonalds needs to make $0.05 on the going exchange rate. It appears that Super Size has had an inpact on the industry.

The Story Continues....

We crossed over the border waiting to be humbled by the fury of the "storm". This just in, a recalculation of snow fall on the american Fort Erie side of the border. It is no higher than the ankles of an albino alligator. (I am beginning to like this measurement style). The results, an immediate arrival to the airport. Not bad, if you want to spend 4 hours waiting in chairs for your plane, with only 2 stores, and 4 food locations to keep you occupied. However we did find the Fisher price gate, this is where Fisher Price has donated some of their toys to keep children occupied while waiting for their flight.

Kid Facts

How many times can a kid run across the playground, jump over the toys that have been firmly attached to the ground, before taking a header, that wil require immediate medical attention. For this young boy, the number is 7 times, before trying to fly across a Fisher Price kitchen, just nicking the top and banging into a row of steel chairs, that also did not move. Medical attention was not required, but a small break of 10 minutes was needed before the next show. Parents reaction, minimal.

The Story Continues....

We finally began to board the plane, and I learned that either bring a bunch of small children, or pay the early boarding fee, cause if not, and the plane is full, your not sitting with your family.



Interject

I first want to go on record as saying that our flight with SouthWest was the best flight I have been on. The staff was very professional, trying to be funny, and very competent. Yet I was surprised by only one thing. When checking our bags (and by the way traveling with 4 girls) tends to bring out a lot of bags, I was told to put the heaviest bag on the scale first. We had 4 significant size bags and I picked the one that appeared to be the heaviest. It hit the scales at 42.5 lbs. The lady tagged it, and put it on the belt. When bag number 4 hit the scales it registered at 44.5 lbs, and I was told that this was your heaviest bag. I am not sure why you need to define which bag is heavier, but if someone can tell the difference between 42.5 and 44.5 lbs by lifting a suitcase.... "your the man", unless your not a man, than your mostly likely "the woman"

Kid Facts #2

Our middle child, Abbey, decided that she would neither chew gum, or drink water as the plane descended to help with her ear popping. Kids can be stubborn, but science doesn't lose. Update to rule #3, you can negotate with anything but hunger, fatigue, and science.

The Story Continues....

Our trip concluded with a small surprise for the children and that was using a car service to transport us from the airport to the hotel.

After a relaxing drive, we are now calling it a night.

Kids Thoughts (this will be the last time, I paraphrase for them). Starting tomorrow each one will write their own paragraph or two discussing the good and bad of the trip.

Emily

Good - Limo Ride and First Airplane Ride.

Bad - Long wait at the airport

Abbey

Good - Limo Ride, Trying to negotate with George on a purchase price for the vehicle (she offered him a $50 Disney Gift Card), there working out the details, and trying to convince Dad to have a limo instead of a plane bring us home.

Bad - Wait at the Airport, Airport Pizza,

December 2 - Voyage Home

It's tough to be a blogger. I sit here at the end of day 2 recapping day 1 events as no family members had a WI-FI connection. Who doesn't have a WI-FI connection. Public schools who are broke have a WI-FI connection.  Santa and his technically savvy elfs may need to make a stop this Christmas season.

The start of the vacation began with much anticipation and a plan (see rule #1). The plan was simple pack a vehicle and be on our merry way by 11 am. Actual departure time 12:30. I have forgotten how many rules I have, but I will start with Rule 11 - when traveling with Women - lie about the departure time. If you need them for 11, tell them 10, you now have a fighting chance to making 11.

Crazy Travel Fact

(1) Between our home and our parents home (approx 200 km), there is 14 Tim Horton locations along the way. We stopped in 8 of them. It would have been 9 but I felt the kids could hold it for the extra 1 and 1/2 blocks to their grandparents house.

(2) To travel 200 km on a stretch that is mainly 80km per hours, it took us just short of 4 hours. Extrapolating that for a driving distance of 2200 km (trip from home to Orlando), adding in various stop breaks, eliminate the crazy amount of Tim Horton stops (good thing they are not all over the US). It would take us a week. We suck.

Learning about my Children

Last year after telling my two girls we would be driving for 2 days, I learned that it takes about 40 km from the boarder to hear "when are we stopping for the day". Today, I learned that approx 70 km from the house, is the appropriate time to say "Dad I forgot the charger to my DS and it is low on batteries."

New Rules

Rule #12 - Regardless of the age of the children or the number of times your wife says, yes we packed them. Do a double check of the bags. Aggravation is worth years on your life.

End of the Day

As the day began to end, news travelled quickly that Buffalo (our departing city) was having a snow storm. Accounts varied, from 6 inches (approx. 15 cm to those that follow the metric system), to 18 inches (approx 45 cm) to the armpits of a man (thanks channel 4). On a side note, is measuring snow by the size of a man really an accurate measurement. Has the scientific community accepted another form of measurement.

This just in from the weather network, it has snowed in Buffalo, we calculate the level of snow as approximately 12 inches, 30 centimeters or the knee level of man that is the size of an Ewok.

I must admit that it did bring out the crazies, with their phone calls and emails trying to figure out what we were going to do... I was heading to bed, we weren't leaving until the morning. There was no need to figure out what we were going to do. The city's public work department was going to figure out what to do. (By the way they did an excellent job).