Days 8 – 12 Days at Sea full of Rest and Relaxing

Instead of going into the mundane details of each day, i thought I’d list some of the fun things we got to do while relaxing and eat great meals:

Brunch at Palos – always a special treat for Ken and I to enjoy the adult restaurant for their special brunch

Lots of Dodgeball and Basketball – The boys have been playing on the top deck.   It’s quite a challenge with the winds blowing the ship motion.

Enjoying the clubs – Kaleb is in the teen “The Stack” and Peter is in the “Ocean Quest” (for the last time).  Both groups have lots of activities, video games, and parties.  The group of kids on board is much, much smaller than normal.  Kaleb has about 36 teens (and only 4 boys).  Peter has a bigger group and a really nice set of guys to hang out with this trip.

Movies – We have a movie theater on board.   We’ve seen  Toy Story 3 in 3D, Prince of Persia and Sorceror’s Apprendice.  DCL even debut a new movie, but we didn’t get to it.  If a new Disney movie comes out while onboard, you can see it at the theater.

Ladies Tea – Palos offers another special treat – Afternoon Tea.  Since I’m surrounded by men, I’m thankful for the DISboard ladies who planned a large group tea for us (otherwise I’d have to go by myself).  It’s a great time to get to know some of the other ladies on board and enjoy the lovely scones and tea sandwiches with a big pot of tea.

Reading time – One luxury with so many sea days is time to read a FEW books.  Ken and I have both gotten through a number of books on this trip.  We chose different location.  I spent my time on deck getting sun while Ken would be in the cool of the coffee shop.  It’s nice to get through some of the books I’ve been wanting to read.  Love having the Nook this trip.


Anniversary Celebration at Palos and more - Disney does a great job making your special days even more special.  Kaleb and Peter managed some great surprises.  First, we had HAPPY ANNIVERSARY on our door.  Our room steward, "P," made a lovely towel cake.  Both boys did lovely cards for us as well.  We celebrated with the singing of Happy Anniversary at dinner with the boys the night before.  On our Anniversary (26th), Ken and I went to Palos for dinner.   Dinner was off to a great start with some warm bread that turned out to be a box containing a beautiful necklace (way to go, Ken!!).  Probably the best wedding anniversary celebration ever.


Daily dips in the hot tub - Ken enjoyed getting into the not-so-hot stainless steel hot tubs each evening after the adult areas cleared out for the first dinner rotation.  It's become a tradition of sorts from past Disney cruises.  Ken likes to wait until he can have a hot tub to himself (or maybe with just me).  


Ralaxing in the Rainforest - With a long cruise, it's worth it to purchase a cruise pass to the Rainforest room.  Located in the spa area of the ship, the Rainforest Rooms offer multiple wet and dry saunas,  aromatherapy, and amazing heated, tiled stone chairs.  Since I was sharing the room with all men, it also offered me a refuge to change and get ready for dinner each night.  By choosing 2nd seating for dinner, I would often have the place to myself.  What a luxury.


Ping-pong with Dad - Ken and the boys daily played quite a bit of ping-pong and fooze ball.  The tables are on the deck with the pools.  Between the wind and the rocking to the waves, playing these games offers a unique challenge on board.  Ken and Kaleb also palyed a bunch of basketball, too.

Character Breakfast - There is no lack of getting great pictures with ANY Disney character while onboard.  The character breakfast is a special breakfast where all the classic characters (Mickey, Minnie, etc.) are brought around to each table for family photos.  AND you get to where a napkin on your head.


Fabulous shows and adult entertainment - Disney out does itself with entertainment on these long voyages.  In addition to the regular broadway style shows, they bring in variety acts throughout the trip.  The nice thing about the variety acts is they would also do a late night adult show, too.  We went to the new Villians broadway show which was a treat.   Ken and I had a great time at number of variety acts.  We loved the comedy, but my favorite was the Musician/Comedian.  His show was taking request from the audience for songs they'd like him to play.  From Lady Gagga to Jimmy Buffett, it was great to see his intrepretation.  Even better was the audience sing-a-longs.  Amazing how many songs we all knew the words to . . . LOL.


The days at sea crossing the Atlantic were amazing.  We traveled about 25 miles per hour the entire time.  I thought the trip would be rougher with higher seas, but it was nearly calm the entire way across.  Each day would start a bit cloudy and they brighten up with sunshine.  It was odd not seeing land for five days.   It made me wonder how Christopher Columbus had done it.