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

[dolphingirl47]

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.

Oh dear, poor Claire. I am glad that she was OK.

Corinna

 

[lorimay]

Your Pictures are the best!
We did the Southern Caribbean cruise on The Magic in April/May of this year and all we couldn't stop talking about the color of the water, in every port it was just so beautiful.

Poor Claire, thats a total move I would make :/

 

[jedijill]

I hope Tortola is able to recover. It looks like a lovely island. I'm booked on an Eastern cruise next year and I really want to visit.

Jill in CO

 

[jenseib]

Really nice pictures of Tortola. Glad you got to see it twice before Irma. So much destruction from her and Maria.

I know...I am so sad there is so much destruction. I hope they can get back on their feet soon.

Poor Claire with the "trip" to the bathroom on the boat. I hate boat bathrooms and will wait until land if at all possible. Of course land always looks closer than it is and at least once I was the one pushing people out of my way once in land!

Yes, I hate those boat bathrooms too. These weren't too bad. Not great...but I have seen much worse before.

Oh dear, poor Claire. I am glad that she was OK.

Corinna

I know! I am so glad she didn't hurt herself.

Your Pictures are the best!

Thanks!

We did the Southern Caribbean cruise on The Magic in April/May of this year and all we couldn't stop talking about the color of the water, in every port it was just so beautiful.

I am sold on the Southern cruises. They are just beautiful. I hope I can do one again in the future.

Poor Claire, thats a total move I would make

LOL....yeah...me too!

I hope Tortola is able to recover. It looks like a lovely island. I'm booked on an Eastern cruise next year and I really want to visit.

Jill in CO

I hope so too. The Eastern itinerary is really so nice.

 

[jenseib]

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!


tort34 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


tort35 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


tort89 by Jenseib, on Flickr


tort90 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


tort257 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I then ran up top to get some more pictures.


tort23 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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


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Isn’t this just gorgeous???


tort248 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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[jenseib]

And there is my house! LOL.


tort275 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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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


tort285 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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


tort22 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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!!!!


tort277 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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 our view. 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.


tort21 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


tort26 by Jenseib, on Flickr



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.

 

[rndmr2]

Caught up on the last couple of updates. That little beach you went to was really pretty, I can't get over the color of that water.

Beautiful pictures of the island!

All the trivia games sound like fun, I always liked to do things like that on cruises.

 

[Timon]

Your Tortola excursion looked lovely! If I could tolerate the heat better, it looks like it would be a good choice. Sadly, I end up exactly like your phone during your Cabanas lunch

Poor Claire, glad she was okay! Kira is also very clumsy, we bet every day how many times she is going to hurt herself It's just little things like bumping her elbow into the counter or something silly but she is ALWAYS doing it.

Yeah, damn families getting in the way of our visiting time

 

[jenseib]

That little beach you went to was really pretty, I can't get over the color of that water.

It was so pretty. I hope they fared ok with the hurricane or can rebuild.

Beautiful pictures of the island!

Thanks

All the trivia games sound like fun, I always liked to do things like that on cruises.

We love to do trivia....even though we are not that good.

Your Tortola excursion looked lovely! If I could tolerate the heat better, it looks like it would be a good choice. Sadly, I end up exactly like your phone during your Cabanas lunch

Being in the water made it bearable. The water felt wonderful. On the veach, getting in the water was just wonderful too. We are not the lay in the sun kind of people so much, but if we can stand in the water up to our necks...we are fine!

Poor Claire, glad she was okay! Kira is also very clumsy, we bet every day how many times she is going to hurt herself It's just little things like bumping her elbow into the counter or something silly but she is ALWAYS doing it.

Yep...total clutz here too. I wonder if it is because she is so tall compared to other kids her age....like she hasn't realized her body has longer legs. LOL.

Yeah, damn families getting in the way of our visiting time

I know! Skip always acts like I am crazy to want to get away without him or both him and Claire....Um I love you...but I need ME time too. He doesn't realize it makes things better for us when we miss each other. He's turning into a grump old man anymore too. I laugh at some of the things he says.

 

[ukintheus]

Your photos of Tortola were beautiful. It was a fun filled and packed day! We love the trivia but I had also heard (or read) that people come prepared for the scavenger hunts and things like that so it always puts me off.

 

[jenseib]

Your photos of Tortola were beautiful. It was a fun filled and packed day! We love the trivia but I had also heard (or read) that people come prepared for the scavenger hunts and things like that so it always puts me off.

It's a shame that people just can't enjoy the fun.

 

[jenseib]

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.


sea1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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 on them…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.


sea3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


sea4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


sea12 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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.


sea13 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I loved the photos that you took while sailing away from Tortola. That is great that one of your teams won the trivia.

Corinna

 

[sherilynn]

I swear my 14 yr old daughter and Claire are so much alike. Every comment about your daughter made me smile, because it fits my Savannah exactly. I'm not cool either and I know the scowl oh so well. LOL

Oh and your underwater pics are wonderful! What kind of camera are you using? I'm hoping something user friendly for the clueless.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That looked like another fun day. What a shame that you ended up missing the trivia though. That was nice that Claire got the chance to watch the new Spiderman movie.

Corinna

 

[bcwife76]

Finally catching up!

Love your photos of Tortola, we were there in January and it's just so heartbreaking to see the destruction of that beautiful port!

Fabulous day at sea!

 

[jenseib]

I loved the photos that you took while sailing away from Tortola. That is great that one of your teams won the trivia.

Corinna

It is such a beautiful port. I hope they can rebuild and make it better.

I swear my 14 yr old daughter and Claire are so much alike. Every comment about your daughter made me smile, because it fits my Savannah exactly. I'm not cool either and I know the scowl oh so well. LOL

Glad I am not the only one!

Oh and your underwater pics are wonderful! What kind of camera are you using? I'm hoping something user friendly for the clueless.

I have an Olympus Tough. I can't remember which model I have, but it is a few years old now. I have tried some others over the years, but this one takes the best underwater pictures for me so far and it does fairly well with most other pictures. It's just not great for night shots or moving too fast....but no point and shoot really is.

That looked like another fun day. What a shame that you ended up missing the trivia though. That was nice that Claire got the chance to watch the new Spiderman movie.

Corinna

We really did a lot of relaxing this cruise compared to others but enjoyed it so much.

Finally catching up!

Love your photos of Tortola, we were there in January and it's just so heartbreaking to see the destruction of that beautiful port!

Fabulous day at sea!

It makes me so sad. I hope they can rebuild so that we can all visit this beautiful area again.

 

[jenseib]

July 7, 2017, Day 12, 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.


cast80 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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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We typically walk out to the beach in the morning verses the tram. We love to take in all the beauty along the way.


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We found Fred and claimed our chairs for the day.


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We saw some parasailers going up and wondered if Patty and Caleb were among them.


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I have never snorkeled at Castaway Cay, so I brought my snorkeling stuff off the ship today so we could remedy that. Our spot was right by the snorkel lane.


cast14 by Jenseib, on Flickr


They do provide vests, and I have one, but we needed one for Claire.


As we got into the water, I noticed Brook’s family joined our seats too. She was taking random pictures and I don’t think she saw me, but I waved to her anyways and she caught this.


cast79 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I hadn’t realized the snorkeling lane was so long and you have to swim quite a ways before you see anything good. The ground was also full of sea grass.


cast15 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I did see some sand dollars down there.


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And a few big fish.


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And what looked like ant hills. LOL.


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Claire was having issues and at one point we had to go back to shallower water so we could trade vests and play with her snorkel. Hers had lost the little clamp to hold it to her mask. She was holding it up but she complained a lot about it.


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We did not bring our flippers off with us and I think we probably should have.


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[jenseib]

At one point the teen club arrived and totally over took us as they went by…but we spotted Zach and some of this friends.


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[Timon]

I never heard from Cass, so I wasn’t sure if they were going to come out to our spot or not.

I do remember Patty texting me saying they had some seats but we were just getting off the banana boat and I knew we were only going to be on the beach for a short while so I told her not to save us seats.

The only person I saw that day on the island was Brook and only as she walked by, she didn't see me.


Sad I didn't get to join in on the card playing but our schedules were just so different and being with my family was my priority. The one time I had a few free hours, I messaged everyone to play but no one responded, oh well, c'est la vie