PB and Westley Get Locked Up

[akfandisney]

both you Thank you for post picture and Tr I love it all.

I have to say a Three day disney cruise is too short.
My job Vacation time is Oct- Dec and I get One month off.

PB did you get My PM and well?

I would like be a mouse in your bag and see all my self.

[Princess Buttercup]

Originally Posted by nursemelis374

I am so jealous! You guys totally deserved a trip like this! I am loving the report so far! Keep it up.

Thanks Nursemelis! I think you would have liked being on this cruise! They had various activities for singles to do. I met a sweet gal about the same age as you on the Aruba snorkeling excursion and later on she was in something called "Dancing with an Officer" that she and others performed in the crew talent show near the end of the cruise.

Originally Posted by flynnibus

wow 15 days?

Amazing. The photos of Castaway Cay reminded me of my cruise on our honeymoon (non-Disney). I wished the boats actually stayed in port longer for activities like - rather then just one day.

How is getting on/off the boat in port? Long lines at all?

Thx for the photos - most excellent report so far!

I would have liked to stay in Castaway Cay for two days. It was so awesome there.

The lines weren't bad to get on and off the boat at the ports because they system was really efficient and not everyone was coming or going at the same time.

Originally Posted by akfandisney

both you Thank you for post picture and Tr I love it all.

I have to say a Three day disney cruise is too short.
My job Vacation time is Oct- Dec and I get One month off.

PB did you get My PM and well?

I would like be a mouse in your bag and see all my self.

AKADisney Fan....I DID get your pm and it was funny!Glad I got to see you even though it was just for a few minutes at DL on Sunday!



I worked all day , but Ken was home in bed with the same thing all of us who went on the cruise have taken turns fighting, so he has more reporting and pictures to add........

[Villains Fan]

Originally Posted by Skywaygrl

I'm in bed sick with the cold that was going around the ship.

Originally Posted by Westley

Me too. I finally had to give in to sleep and medicine yesterday, and slept all day today. It was trying to get to me even before we left so I hope we're at the end of it!

I think it has all gotten us now...I have a slight case of what I'm calling the "cruise crud" too. But I'm fighting it tooth and nail and it hasn't developed into a full-blown cold yet <crosses fingers>

Hope you guys feel better soon

Originally Posted by Princess Buttercup

^ I purposely didn't use any of my vacation time for almost a year and a half so I could take the two weeks off. And Ken gets more vacation time than I do. Plus , he's on salary and has a normal boss who doesn't try to gyp him out of his earned vacation time!

Same with me, I have saved up vacation time for the last year and a half so I could have the time off too. Now I have to start saving for the next trip (yep, got that travel bug feeling now )


I have no idea why the only pictures Ken has of Day 3 are our towel animal.


Day 3 must have been a very quiet day, I don't have pictures and can't see anything from the schedule that I did either. I think that was eat, nap, and read day

I just crack up everytime I see this picture...too funny!

[Westley]

Ok, got the strength to continue so here we go...

• We had a Prem”ear” at sea for Prince Caspian – those who wanted to could see the 12:01 showing of the film on=board, something that’s become customary on Disney cruises when a Disney film comes out.



• While Anne shopped, I tried to capture some of the decoration details around the shops.






• the “congress of the flops.” I see some leftover swim-fin damage there


• Lumiere’s was the perfect location for our French night dinner.


• Anne even brought along her French poodle.




• I liked the lights, with the rose detail


• Today was Shayne’s birthday, so there was some shopping done on board. Here is a bit of the present-opening






• Our assistant waiters being themselves. That looks like our Zolo Malbec in Adrian’s right hand.


• the fancy group dinner shot.


• 382 Belle and the Beast danced through…


• the cake that lasted for days


• 393 Our waiters again, happy to see us go for the evening, I’m sure.




• After dinner, Katrina steals the poodle…


• ...and plays keep-away with Joe. "Aw, c'mon guys give him back"








• All’s well that ends well


• And the hidden Mickeys approve.

(these cover the elevator shafts in the foyer)

• We had arrived at Panama, and anchored overnight to wait for passage in the morning. The wind was down so I wandered around and took these shots of the ship at night.






It was a little strange to see lights in the distance having been at sea each night, but pictures of blurry lights in the distance aren't much fun

And finally, the evening's towel animal

[Princess Buttercup]

^ Awwww! I loved it when our stateroom host, Calvin, would do cute things with my little lion! It made me smile every time!

There was one day when he had my lion attached to a bottle of wine so the next day I left the empty wine bottle on its side and had the lion laying face down next to it to make Calvin smile too!

I have to say too that Shayne's birthday celebration dinner was very sweet and made me teary eyed! I love my little cutie pie friend and I am so glad she beat her cancer and was able to be on this trip to celebrate her birthday, anniversary and just life in general! : )

[Coheteboy]

Oooooh! That's rad! Lumiere's! Do you have the names of the other restaurants and shops on the cruiseline?

[Westley]

The Panama Canal
Anne woke me up before dawn to sit with our gang in sort of a “first-watch” aft on deck 9.



We were still at anchor waiting for our pilot for the day. I stuck around in back until we got to the Gatun Locks and then moved to our starboard veranda to take pictures from there. I took over 600 pictures during the day, so I’m not sure if I’ve really selected the best for this report. Maybe I’ll make a bigger photo gallery elsewhere later ☺




I was curious about why these guys were about. They seemed to be enjoying watching us go by, but why were they there in the first place?



It turns out that almost anyone not actively working our transit stopped to wave and or take pictures. So you’ll see lots of cameras in the hands of the folks not waving.






As you can see, these are the pictures from our veranda. Just behind us, this Panamax cargo ship was following in the locks on the other side.


As we neared the control house, some of the ships photographers appeared alongside and took pictures of everyone visible.






At each control house, there were people hanging out and staring back and waving at us. All the waving was fun.


With all of the busy-ness of the locks, it was easy to forget we were traveling through jungle.


Anne disappeared around this time and peddled her way through the locks on an exercise bike. Apparently others got this idea too, but they were a little less committed (1 mile in 2 hours!) so a “no photos” sign was posted to keep the “lookie-loos” out of “our” gym.
Overall, my memory of the day is kind of a blur to me. It was hot, and I got a little cranky until I discovered the "Panama Hats" and cool Corona’s at the bar. They served them in these plastic containers.


After the first set of locks we were in “the lake” and time slowed. I started taking some really random pictures, and also got some pictures showing why that military boat was hanging out earlier…




If you look closely you’ll see a US Navy sub up ahead trailing a collection of support boats. That’s why security seemed elevated earlier.


My fellow travelers will notice I'm a little ahead of the narration with my photos, so I’ll break here and sort through some more photos. More to come! Panama day isn't even half over!

[Princess Buttercup]

^ Cohete Boy, There was Animators which had black and white decor which turned to color on the show night. The waiters also started out in black and white vests then switched to brightly colored vests. There was also Parrot Cay which had tropical decor . They held character breakfasts there which everyone got to attend at least once, singles buffet lunches every day at noon and dinner for each group three times during the length of the cruise.



On the 9th deck was the Topsider buffet that had breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Then there was Plutos Dog House where you could get fast food type items. There were also two locations called Preludes by the Walt Disney Theater which were like concessions stands with popcorn, peanuts, candy , etc.

[aashee]

I'd love to sail the Panama Canal someday. What a neat ship. Great trip report and loving all the comments!

[Princess Buttercup]

These vehicles were pretty cool! They weigh over a ton and cost a fortune , but they have a very important job. There is always one on each side of each ship that goes through the locks and they have cables attached to the ships that keep them perfectly centered in the locks since there is only TWO FEET clearance on each side of the ship!


Anne disappeared around this time and peddled her way through the locks on an exercise bike. Apparently others got this idea too, but they were a little less committed (1 mile in 2 hours!) so a “no photos” sign was posted to keep the “lookie-loos” out of “our” gym.


It was so obvious who were the "regulars" at the gym and who were the lookie loos. I had to laugh at the guy who was drinking a coffee while peddling the exercise bike at the pace of a snail....he tried to convince me that he always drinks coffee while he's working out because it's been proven that it makes your muscles hurt less!


Being at the Panama Canal at night and then the crack of dawn was such a totally cool experience that I'll never forget. Everyone was so excited whether they were on the ship or on the land. The Disney ships bring a lot of excitement because often times, the characters will come out and wave to the crowds too. And we heard that in some ports , the characters were going off the ship to children's hospitals and other places to cheer up kids. I think that's neat!

[mousercise]

Hope everyone is feeling better!

Originally Posted by Princess Buttercup

These vehicles were pretty cool! They weigh over a ton and cost a fortune , but they have a very important job. There is always one on each side of each ship that goes through the locks and they have cables attached to the ships that keep them perfectly centered in the locks since there is only TWO FEET clearance on each side of the ship!

That is crazy! More pictures!! It looks like such a neat experience to go through the canal.

Originally Posted by Princess Buttercup

It was so obvious who were the "regulars" at the gym and who were the lookie loos. I had to laugh at the guy who was drinking a coffee while peddling the exercise bike at the pace of a snail....he tried to convince me that he always drinks coffee while he's working out because it's been proven that it makes your muscles hurt less!

Sure...

[mikeland]

This TR continues to be wonderful. I wonder if there was an aerial photo available of the ship as it transited through the locks themselves. I have a similar photo with this image from when I transited though the canal, but it was on another cruise line.

[Princess Buttercup]

^ Yes, there is an aerial picture.


Also, here's a shot of Earkid and Kevin's door to their stateroom.



Ken and I didn't know about this beforehand, but since the doors are metal, many people bring photos and other fun things to decorate their doors. Earkid found out about it so she decorated their door as well as ours! It made our doors so cute and easy to find.

We had a good location on the ship . WE were right smack in the middle of deck 6 and right near the elevators and middle staircases so it was quick and easy to get to any location on the ship.

Skywaygirl and Disneyphile and her dad had a pretty neat location too...they were at the back (aft) of deck 6, but they were right near the staircase that led to a nice outside deck that had great views. They were also near a staircase that would take them directly up to the Topsider buffet.

Disneyphile was very sweet and brought us all highlighter pens and mini sticky notepads and ink pens. The highlighter pens came in handy for marking the activities on our daily Navigators that we wanted to do each day. And the pens and notepads came in handy for leaving messages for people on their doors.

[Olympicnut]

Just loving these cruise TR's. And thank God nobody caught malaria while traversing Panama

[All4dISNEY]

more more more!!! Love this TR!