Photography Class

I have been out today on a Photography Course around Newcastle. The course was run by Neil Atkinson, I have to say, when I first met him I thought he seemed very familiar, but it took me all day to work out why. 15 years ago, he took our wedding photos! Once again proving that it is indeed a small world.

We met up at the Central Bean coffee shop for a latte and a chat about Shutter Speed, Aperture settings etc, and then we headed off for a walk around Newcastle. We went nowhere new, and yet I saw many things I’d never seen before.

Here are some images of Newcastle.

and a very rare photo indeed, a picture of me that I don’t hate

Live and Deadly Roadshow

Late last night, a Dibber offered up some spare tickets to the Live and Deadly Roadshow. I thought it might be a fun day out, and a chance to play with the camera, so I grabbed the tickets and off we went.

It was a bit of a mixed bag to be honest. We should have known something was up when we had to queue just to get in.

From LIve & Deadly

We were eventually in, and our first stop was to see some Birds of Prey.

From LIve & Deadly

Molly fancied the Art tent, but I didn’t fancy that queue

From LIve & Deadly

so we did the Deadly Scene Investigation instead

From LIve & Deadly

this was a bit poor to be honest, some signs on a fence and some clues in a leaflet. I think they could have come up with something a bit better – however, it had no queue, so it gets high marks simply for that.

Those two things done, and now everything had a queue. We had just missed the Bird show with Naomi, so we walked over to the other side of the field, and spotted her showing off her friend the owl.

From LIve & Deadly

Phil offered to go stand in line for the ‘yellow tent’, which had the longest queue in the arena, this was at 11;45, and we wanted to see the bird show at 1:30 and the Live and Deadly show at 2:00. We didn’t think this was going to be a problem…. Whilst Phil was queuing, Molly went over to try the obstacle course.
This guy was showing off while they waited

From LIve & Deadly

This was ok but so slowly moving, and for no need. They were taking groups of 15 in and then they each got about 15 minutes, but if they had just rearranged the course they could have had people continuously moving along it.
While Molly’s group was warming up, a film crew came in and had them all shout ‘Deadly’ into the camera. Molly should be easy to spot in her fetching blue hat.

From LIve & Deadly

She lept over the obstacles

From LIve & Deadly

and gave me a quick smile

From LIve & Deadly

and then we went to find Phil, who was still waiting

From LIve & Deadly

it was 12:40 by this point, and he’d barely made it to the bins

We debated what to do, and decided to try and get some food. there was no food in the event itself, but there were some stands just outside. Molly and I went off to buy some Hog Roast sandwiches, which when we eventually got them, where delicious. I’ve moaned about queues enough, but suffice it to say, we had to queue here as well.
By the time we’d eaten, we were nearly at the entrance of this darned yellow tent, and it was also nearly 1:30 when Naomi’s show was starting. What to do? Abandon the endless queue and watch the show, or stick it out. Well, after all that waiting, of course, we stuck it out and missed the show.
Inside the tent, there were some animals to see and to hold. I discovered why the queue was so long. The tent was tiny, there was loads crammed in, and noone organising things at all, so noone was moving at all, kids were just stood watching something and not moving (and to be fair, after they’d queued for 2 hours, I wasn’t going to move them on)

The tent was yellow which made photography a little tricky.
We met a mearcat

From LIve & Deadly

and enormous frog

From LIve & Deadly

a lizard

From LIve & Deadly

is this a preying mantis?

From LIve & Deadly

and this guy (identity unknown)

From LIve & Deadly

As we left the tent, Naomi’s show was just finishing, so we joined the queue for the main Deadly 60 show. We’d been given tickets for the 2 o’clock showing so were fairly sure we’d not have to wait too long, and to be fair it wasn’t too bad. Although you had to sit on the floor in the tent, and I am getting far too old for sitting on the floor!

The show with Steve was very good, and went on for 45 minutes, so no complaints about this, it was very good, and he talked the whole time.

From LIve & Deadly

From LIve & Deadly

From LIve & Deadly

From LIve & Deadly

From LIve & Deadly

The show finished at 5 to 3, and Naomi’s show started at 3, so we had a big decision to make, did we finally go and see her show, or did we go to the Art tent which no longer had a queue.

From LIve & Deadly

Molly had been desperate to get in there all day, so we headed for the Art tent.
Inside, we found Mike from SMART

From LIve & Deadly

They drew a wild cat (I think) and afterwards they were able to get an autograph from Mike.
After the Art class, we ran over to the main arena and saw the last half of Naomi’s show. To be honest, it was enough!
They did a lot of tricks with a bird flying through people’s arms

From LIve & Deadly

and then we were shattered, and we all just looked at each other and said ‘home’.

We gave it a quick review on the way out, and I was surprised that the kids said they had really enjoyed it. Molly gave it 8 out of 10. I would have said more like 4 or 5. All the things that we got to see were very good, but there just wasn’t enough stuff to see, and none of the exhibits were big enough to cope with the crowds. Apparently there were 8000 people there, and they had 9 activities/events, 2 of which were only running at certain times in the day. It just didn’t have the capacity to deal with the number of people that were there. They ran these last summer, and have already ran 3 or 4 this summer – they ought to have got it better organised by now.

North Shields Fish Quay

So, in more adventures with my camera, I decided to take a walk down the Fish Quay this morning whilst Molly was at her dancing class. I thought I’d find lots of interesting subject matter, but I found it a bit more tricky than I was expecting.

I started with my kit lens, and took a photo of these boats

but I thought it was a bit boring, so I changed over to the zoom lens, and used that for the rest of the walk.
I’m sure there’s a place for the smaller lens, but I definitely prefer the zoomier one at the moment.

I prefer this, it just feels a bit more personal, but it’s still a little bit boring.

This is quite an interesting shop, it’s been there for years, and sells all sorts of random things, including bacon which it claims is the best ever. I must admit I’ve never tried it.

There are lots of very steep staircases coming up off the quayside, and I was attracted to these, but they are quite hard to capture.

This is quite a good example of short depth of field, which was my lesson for today.
and so it this

This is a rather random shot, but there was a binbag overflowing on the ground, and I noticed it was full of these

I’ve no idea what it is, but it looks quite gruesome, I wouldn’t like to encounter it in the sea!

This fella is a bit cuter to look at

and one parting shot of some more stairs.

From fishquay

Playing with my new camera

So,  last month I was on holiday and I took 1000s of photographs that looked sort of like this

 

Also on holiday at the same time was my friend Alison, who took pictures like this

When I got home, and I started to see Alison’s photos, I decided enough was enough, I wanted to learn how to take better photos.

That started with the purchase of a new camera, but I’m under no illusions that all it takes is a fancy new camera.

So when I stumbled upon

I decided to pay attention.

The first lesson was to read the manual, so I scoured it last night and learned how to change my ISO, Shutter speed and Aperture, and then today we got to pick up the camera and experiment.
The instructions were to set the ISO and Aperture static, and change the shutter speed. My subject matter is quite boring but the results were interesting.

As instructed, I took one on every speed but I’ve just put 6 together here. It’s quite cool to see exactly how the shutter speed affects the light. They were all taken in the same conditions, but some look like midday, and other’s late night.

Day 22 – Princesses, Potions, and Planes.

Day 22

 

We are all very tired and with nowhere to go, we aren’t keen to wake up too early.  By the time everyone is up, dressed and we are packed it’s nearly 11 o’clock.   In some ways I felt like we were wasting our final morning,  but we didn’t have anywhere to go and we weren’t going to get to sleep tonight so I could see no point in waking everyone and rushing as out of the hotel.

 

We did manage to pack everything into the 4 big cases, and a couple of carryon bags,   and we head out of Disneyworld and up the Osceola to Mimi’s cafe.   This is a lovely place.  It’s a similar sort of menu to Denny’s or Perkins,  but it’s just so much nicer inside,   it feels like a nice cafe rather than a cheap diner.

 

We had pancakes, sausage, eggs,   a really typical American breakfast.

After our late breakfast,  we pop into the Loop and buy a few supplies for Molly’s birthday party.  It’s her birthday on Saturday and she’s having a Harry Potter party the weekend after school starts.   Michaels have all their Halloween stuff out, so we get some suitable bits and pieces for the party.

 

Shopping complete, and it’s off to the airport, return the car,  and wait in the queue.  Quite boring but has to be done.   The Check In staff are extremely thorough and even weigh our handluggage which is over weight,  so I jiggle it around to that it is acceptable.   Our main luggage is fine,  3 bags are under weight and one is slightly over,  so that is allowed.

 

Through security and into the lounge and I have a Dibb whilst we wait.  At the last minute I decide to do a little duty free shopping and buy some makeup.  Whist I am waiting to pay they start to board the plane,   so I finish my shopping and we are straight on the plane.  No hanging around at all really.

 

The flight is fairly non-eventful.   The food is ok,  the movies are dreadful (I watched Arthur and Paul,   both passed an hour or two but I thought they were both terrible) and eventually we were in Glasgow.  The flight only took 7 1/2 hours due to the wind,  which meant we got back quite early and we didn’t really have time to go to sleep.    The biggest event on the flight was that Molly finally lost her tooth,  she’s had a wobbly tooth since before we left England and it’s been threatening to fall out the whole time but was stubbornly hanging on.   We finally managed to wobble it out somewhere over the Atlantic.

We had used Skypark and arranged for them to return the car to us at the terminal,  which was great.  We just had to walk outside and it was waiting right there,  and it was clean!  A fairly painless 3 hour drive home,  and that was it,  holiday over…..

 

Our ‘official’ plan is to go every other year, but we really all want to go back next year,   and we do have some DVC points available,  so it’s not out of the question,  but it’s going to depend on some very reasonably priced flights popping up somewhere.    We shall just have to wait and see.

Day 21 – Princesses, Potions and Pools.

Day 21

Today is out last full day and for the first time ever,  I think we are ready to go.  We aren’t fed up, or desperate to leave by any means,  but we all feel content and ready for home.

The kids have been asking for Blizzard Beach since we arrived,  and since neither Phil nor I really like it, we’ve been putting it off,   but it’s their request for the last day and so off we go.

We get their right for opening,  and I rush everyone in and find us a perfect spot to sit,  2 sunbeds, 2 chairs,  right under a shade and with a view of the Ski School teen area.  Perfect.

So,  Molly and I go to find her a life jacket,  and I buy a magazine.  I have big plans for the day and they involve a sunbed, a cold drink and a magazine.  Nothing more than that.    When we get back, Katie informs me she’s too old for this area and they won’t let her go on anything.   Molly says she’d really rather be in the big pool!  Aargh.  Times ticking away,  and I’ve got my perfect spot all sorted.

I chuck everything in bags and we dash around to the wave pool,  and find some seats under a shade,  no sunbeds but a couple of chairs which will do.  We get all settled, and I’m quite pleased I’ve got a seat in our second location when Molly informs me that I had misunderstood,  and she wanted to be in the pool at the first area!  Katie doesn’t’ care where we are as she wants to go off and do the big slides.   Ooops.  I guess I should have listened more carefully.

The kids see Goofy so they go off for a photo, and then we all go into the wave pool for a while.   We’ve never really done this pool before as in the past we’ve been in the really little kids area.  It’s good fun, and we get some tubes and float a while.   When we get out,  Katie and Phil go off to investigate the bigger slides,  and Molly and I go back to our original location so she can go on the icebergs.   She has a long wait to try it, but she has a pretty good go when she gets on,  however she falls off about 3/4 of the way across.   She’s annoyed because she wanted a photo taken, but you have to get to the end for a photo.  Undeterred, she’s straight back around and into the queue.  However,  the photographer goes off on a break.  I can’t believe it as I know her main goal is a photo.  However,  she waits in the queue,  and just before she starts to go across a new photographer turns up.   Molly manages to make it all the way across,  and we get a photo.

She has a go on the slides, and then we head back to our chairs by the main pool.  It’s getting to lunchtime now and I’d getting hungry as we skipped breakfast to get to the park early.

Molly plays in the pool for a while whilst I read my magazine,  but there is lightening  off in the distance and so I call Molly out of the pool as I am expecting them to close it.   They don’t close,  so she goes back in again,  but then there is more lightening and some thunder.  Eventually, the announcement comes over that the park will close due to the weather.    We decide to head out of the park before the rain comes down.  It’s not been a long trip to Blizzard Beach but the kids have been on a few slides and we enjoyed the pool.

We get back to the car as it starts to rain, and head back to our hotel.   We change and decide to head to Downtown Disney which is very close to the hotel.  It’s raining a little, but not so much that we need our poncho’s on,  although it keeps threatening to get heavier at any moment.

Molly is still looking for Bullseye, who just doesn’t appear to exist,   at least not in format she wants,  which is plastic rather than soft.    We have a good look in the Toy Store but he is not there.   We’ve not eaten yet today,  so we decide to go to Earl of Sandwich.  We ate here at the start of our trip,  and had enjoyed it.  As, I say to Phil, it feels like months since the last time we’d eaten there,  but it must have been 2 1/2 weeks.  We decide to share sandwiches in order to save some room for ice cream.   Phil and I have roast beef, and the kids have a Pizza Sandwich on ‘big bread’.

After our lunch,  we do some shopping.  Or more realistically,  some browsing.  We do buy a few things,  some antenna toppers (Phil gets a really cool Super Hero Mickey,  I opt for a classic Minnie Mouse),   some Mickey Corn Holders and a couple of picture frames,   but we really don’t buy very much.  Especially considering we had come out with the express intention of buying souvenirs,  but there really wasn’t much that we wanted/needed.  I’d been tempted by a watch all holiday but in the end I just wasn’t that bothered and so I didn’t get one.

After we’ve done some shopping, it’s time for Ghiradelli’s.  Phil and I decide to share a hot fudge sundae, and the kids order kids sundaes.  We rather foolishly assume the kids sundaes will be small.  Smaller than the adults one’s anyway!  They are, of course, enormous.

The ice cream is delicious but there is an awful lot left over when we are finished.

With our shopping done,  we walk back across to the hotel.  It’s not the poshest hotel on the block but you can’t deny the location is superb.

We have a little nap, and I try and pack.   That’s quite an interesting challenge.  We’re allowed 4 20kg bags,   we’ve got 4 cases but we haven’t got a scale so I don’t know what they weigh.   I do manage to get it all into the 4 bags but they are bursting at the seams.   I think we will be ok on weight as 3 of the bags are relatively small.  I think we need to get some bigger bags next time,  except small bags does mean we are more likely to be safely within our luggage allowance.

We are meeting up with Dave, Bev and kids for dinner,  so we get changed and head to Chillis for tea.  I’ve never eaten here before,  and I would rate it as OK but not somewhere I’d dash back too.   It has a similar menu and feel to Applebees but I think I prefer Applebees, although I couldn’t really say why.

Whist we are ordering a balloon artist appears,  and he makes the kids the most amazing balloons.  I don’t really like people ‘pestering’ me in a restaurant,  but I have to give this guy credit,  he was good fun and his balloons were amazing.  James had a wacky hat,  Molly had a castle,  Katie had Harry Potter on a broom stick, and Nicola got Edward (I think, I’m no Twilight expert).  They were all very clever, and he chatted on to the kids whilst he made them.  He definitely earned his tip.

Dinner was pretty good.  Phil had Fajitas,  I had 3 starters, which included Buffalo Wings, Chicken fingers and something else..  It’s a long time since I had decent Buffalo wings but these were really nice.  Quite spicy but cooled down nicely with the blue cheese dressing. The kids had Quesadillas.   We are so over restaurant food by now, that we have no starters and no dessert!

After dinner,  we have to say goodbye to our friends.   We met Dave, Bev, James and Nicola at a Dibb Meet in South Shields 10 years ago,  and we’ve met up either in the UK or Orlando most years since then.   This is the first time we’ve shared so much of our holiday though,  and it really made such a difference to our trip.  The kids all get on so well,   and now that they are a bit older they can go off and leave us to have a chat or a drink.      We just really enjoyed their company,  so thank you guys,  it was brilliant,  and we will definitely have to ‘see ya real soon’.

Day 20 – Princesses, Potions, and Phantom Manor

Day 20

Ok – we aren’t in Paris, so Phantom Manor is a stretch, but I am running out of P words…. 

Well,  after the show we all met up and went into the atrium to watch the goodbye party.    We got a cocktail from the bar, and watched as all the characters waved.  I thought it would be more of a party, but it was a big meet and greet.   The kids went down and met Daisy Duck but we just watched from Deck 4.   After 20 minutes or so they all waved goodbye, and said ‘See Ya Real Soon’,  and then they were gone.

 

We fancied a drink before bed,  and searched around for a bar where we could all sit,  even the kids.   The only choice appeared to be a loud Bar with party games,  but we eventually found a quiet spot on the very top Deck where we were able to sit out under the stars and have a drink.

 

All too soon the evening was over, and the following morning we were up early to disembark.   We decided to skip breakfast in favour of an extra hours sleep, but it’s still very early when we leave the ship and return to the car.   We drive back to Orlando and decide to stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  This was a favourite of ours a few trips back and we have been meaning to return.    We have a lovely breakfast with pancakes, sausages etc.   Molly really fancies a Sausage sandwich and we manage to fashion her one from a side of sausage and a side of toast.

 

Cracker Barrel has a lovely old fashioned shop attached,  so we have a mooch around, but we don’t buy anything.    We pop into the nearby Target and spend some cash in there instead.   We have a $30 gift card to spend,  and we manage that quite well.  We find a nice small bag for Phil’s netback,  some new sheets for Molly’s bed,  and some sweets for her birthday party.

 

It’s around 11ish,  so we decide to head to our hotel and see if our room is ready.   We are all really tired and the thought of being homeless does’t appeal at all.   For our final stop,  we are staying at the Wyndham Downtown Disney,  this was called the Regal Sun when we booked it, but it’s changed hands.   Since it was taken over, they are doing quite a bit of work on the entrance and it all looks a bit of a mess when we pull up.  However,   we get checked in, and our room IS ready,   so we are quite pleased with this.    I booked this online and we paid very little for the room,   so my expectations weren’t too high.  Which was good.

The room was ok,  but it was nothing special.   It was quite drab and had 2 very small beds, I think they were standard doubles,  they seemed tiny.   There was a sliding door to the bathroom which was broken.  It wasn’t a bad room,  it was just very ordinary and we’ve been a bit spoiled unto now,  so ordinary was a bit disappointing.

 

We chuck all our bags just inside the door, and all collapse on the bed.    Everyone is exhausted so a nap is at the top of our priority list.  Unfortunately, Molly can’t relax and after a while we give up on getting her to nap,  so Phil takes her down to the pool and Katie and I crash out completely.   I think we would have slept all night if we’d let ourselves,  but we drag ourselves back awake and decide to head to MK for the evening.   This is probably not our most sensible decision,   but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

We drive to Magic Kingdom,  and we have to pay to park.   This is not good,   I like staying in the Disney bubble and getting free parking,  but we will live!   We park up in Goofy and get the tram and monorail to the parks.

We decide to start with an ice cream sandwich from Main St Bakery,  and the CM makes the biggest Sandwich’s I have ever seen.  They were so big they were hard to eat.

Whilst we were eating,  the parade was postponed due to the wind (I am not sure if it was ever run,  or if they cancelled it).  I don’t think I’ve ever known them postpone the parade, and the weather didn’t really seem that bad to us,  so it was a bit strange.   We decide to walk up to Fantasyland, and it is heaving.  Even Snow White’s Scary adventure has a 20 minute wait.

Every where we turned there were people,  people and more people.    We decided to get fast passes for Pooh Bear,  and then do Mickey’s Philharmagic whilst we waited.   Katie was not pleased with this plan and had a teenage mood whilst we waited,  but bizarrely seemed to really enjoy the show.  Such is life when you are 13.   When we came out of the show,  we thought we’d do it’s a small world but the queue for that was 40 minutes.   It was just insanely busy.   The kids decided to hope on the Carousel as that had a short queue, and I went for a little browse of the shops.

After the Carousel it was time for Pooh Bear,  and this time it was time for Molly to have a moody moment.  She wanted to walk through the standby line as there are new activities in line.  The Standby line was long and we had fastpasses,  so we weren’t about to walk though the standby line,  but I did have to agree the activities looked good,  in particular the honey covered touch screens.

 

When we came out of Pooh Bear,  Molly decided she wanted to try Haunted Mansion,  so we walked around in that direction.  It’s a Small World had a 10 minute line,  so we decided to ride this on the way.   It wasn’t really a line at all,  by the time we had walked around to the boats we were straight on.

When we came out of It’s a Small World it was raining,   and all the people had disappeared,  it was as if they’d all just evaporated.

Molly and Phil went on Haunted Mansion,  and Katie and I went for something to eat.  She grabbed a Jacket Potato from the cart,  and I got a Tuna Sandwich in Columbia Harbour House,  and we met upstairs in our favourite spot.   It was deserted,   I mean, completely, and totally empty.  We were the only people in there.    In the space of an hour the park had gone from crazily uncomfortably busy to completely and totally empty.    It was most bizarre.

We had a quiet half an hour just chilling and relaxing,  and then Molly and Phil returned.  Molly was really pleased with herself as Katie is too scared to ride Haunted Mansion and so she felt very clever.    I thought Katie was going to take a huff but she was ok as we hadn’t made her do it as well.

 

We decided to have one last ride on Pirates, and then head out of the park as we were really all just too tired to do much more.   Pirates had a nice short queue,  so we more or less walked straight on there and had a little Yo Ho Ho’ing.

After Pirates, Phil tried to eat at the Tortuga cafe again,  he’s tried about 4 times but it’s only open for a few hours at lunch time and we had once again missed it,   so we walked around to Pecos Bill’s and he ate in there.  I ran (well walked rather slowly) unto Liberty Square and got Molly a Jacket Potato.  It was 5ish by now, and we were done,  totally burned out and ready for our beds.  We headed back out of Magic Kingdom,  onto the monorail and back to our rather disappointing hotel.

We hit the bedroom and everyone just flaked out and fell asleep,  even Molly.   I don’t know why we were so tired, as the past week had been lazing on the beach and the cruise,  but we were absolutely shattered.

We woke up around 9ish and we were hungry but noone wanted to go out for a meal,  so we went down to the cafe in the lobby of the restaurant.  It’s a grab and go type place, and they had some nice sandwiches,  so we got ham and roast beef sandwiches and took them back up to our room.

Day 19 – Princesses, Potions, and Posh Night.

Day 19

The final day of our cruise,  and we are getting worryingly close to the end of our holiday.

We are all really tired,  this has been a good holiday but definitely not a relaxing one.   Even with three weeks, we seem to have been on the go all the time.    We all wake up slowly and make our way up to Cabanas for breakfast.   I prefer the relaxed buffet for breakfast, rather than the formal dining room.  There’s loads to choose from, and it doesn’t seem to be too crowded,  probably because we are running late.

We decide to go into Nassau for a walk around.    The kids aren’t interested so Molly goes to the kids club,  and Katie & James go off and do whatever it is 13 year olds do.   I think they watch Cars 2.

We head off the dock and it’s really quiet,  we are the only cruise ship in and since we were in dock yesterday I don’t think many people have left the ship.    There are quite a few people offering taxis etc but they aren’t too pushy.   We wander along towards the Straw Market and it’s quite sad.  It’s just devastated,     it looks like they were already building a more permanent structure,  so we suspect this one is just going to be demolished rather than rebuilt.    The high street is very quiet,   and we take in a few t-shirt shops, but really nothing takes my fancy.  We end up in a small bar and I have a virgin Strawberry Daiquiri which is basically a Smoothie,  the others have Beer.      It is really hot in Nassau, particularly after the air-conditioned ship,   so I decide to head back to the ship. Phil and I leave Dave, Bev and Nicola and walk back.   We are almost back when the heavens open and we get drowned!   It only rains for about 5 minutes, but we timed it just wrong so we got soaked!

We are on Deck 2, so it’s very handy to get back to the cabin and get changed.   Phil is talking about lunch but I am suddenly exhausted and can barely lift my head off the pillow,   so he goes to pick up Molly from the kids club whilst I have a nap.    I can’t really nap as I am aware the host is likely to come in and do the room,  but I rest a while and then decide to go and find Phil and see what’s happening.      I find Katie and James having some pizza on Deck 5 and whilst I am talking to them, I spot Molly and Phil across the atrium,  they are doing a Detective game around the ship.       Phil and I decide to go and get some lunch,  so Katie and James take Molly to finish her Detective game.    We go up to Cabanas and get some lunch.   We are quite pleased to find Chicken Pie on the menu ,  we’ve all been craving a pie for a few days     We take our food outside and sit on the deck in the sunshine, and it’s all rather lovely.   Pie and Chips,  a cold drink,   a gorgeous view.   What more could you really want ?

After lunch,  I text the kids and they are all watching the tv in our room,  so we go down and retrieve them.     We decide to go to an Animation class,  and we all learn to draw Mickey and then Phineas and Ferb,    The class is quite good, but the animators at MGM are definitely better artists,  although I am not at all sure it makes any difference to my finished piece of artwork!

The big kids head off again,  and we go back down to the cabin to pack.    We have to be all packed by 10pm,  and on our last cruise that caused a bit of a panic,  so we want to be more prepared this time.

We manage to get mostly packed and Molly and I decide to go to the early showing of the evening show,  as she has been finding the late show to late for her to enjoy.

The show is called Believe, and it’s quite good.    it’s got lots of snippets from various shows in it, and of course a happy ending.   I might even have had a tear in my eye by the end

It’s getting late now,  so we go back to the cabin and get dressed up for Formal night,  then head into the atrium for a photograph.   I’d really like a full family photo, and a Mickey photo, and a Minnie one,  but we don’t have time,  so we opt for a photo with Mickey.    We don’t seem to have had many photos taken this time,  which is a blessing for the bank balance,  but also a little bit disappointing.  On our last cruise we really struggled to choose which ones to buy , and we have the ones we chose on display at home.   This time I think there will only be the  one to choose from.

After the photo it’s down into Animators Palate for dinner.   They have this restaurant on the Wonder,  but although the name is the same,  the theme is quite different.   This version has screens that come to life and characters speak to the guests.  Crush asks us where we are from, and how we would say ‘hello’ in England.  Dave tells him ‘Good Afternoon, Sir’,   and Crush swims around the restaurant telling people that in England we say ‘Good Afternoon, Sir’    It’s quite funny.

Molly heads off to the kids club after she’s eaten,  this routine seems to work well,  she has her dinner whilst we have our starters, and then she goes to the kids club whilst we finish her meal.

The rest of the group go to watch the show,   but having seen it earlier with Molly I decide to take some time out.    I have a wander around the shops,   but worryingly,  I can’t find anything I want to buy.   I think I must be ill!    After I’ve scoured the shops unsuccessfully,  I pop up to see if Molly wants to leave the kids club.  She’s watching a movie and wants to stay there,    so I leave her too it and return to the cabin for a break.     Which is where I am now.     In about half an hour, the show will be over and I will meet up with everyone,  and then later tonight there is a goodbye party which we will all be going too.

Day 18 – Princesses, Potions and Pirates IN the Carribbean

Day 18.

I am rudely awoken by my phone informing me that it’s fully charged.    I don’t know why it decided to ring to tell me this,  but it did,  and I wasn’t best pleased!!

I manage to get back to sleep, and the next thing I know the phone is ringing and the Spencers want to know if we are ready for breakfast.   Umm no,    we are all unconscious.    We manage to rouse everybody and Molly is desperate to go swimming,  so we put on our costumes and head up to Cabana’s for some breakfast.    We find a table near the pool and have some breakfast outside.   Molly had 2 bites and declares herself done and ready to swim so she goes into the Nemo kids area which is lots of squirty water jets.    Our table is right next to this area so she keeps appearing and waving at us periodically.

After breakfast we try and find a chair with a view of the pool so the kids can swim.   in typical holiday fashion all sun-loungers are occupied by a pair of flip-flops or a towel, but no-one is actually sitting on them.   Whilst we are looking we see Dave and Bev on the upper deck.  We head upstairs to see them and when we get there,   they’ve vanished.     We’re a little confused until we see them on the lower deck!  We’d gone up one set of stairs as they came down the other!

We end up sat at a table without a view of the pool,  and the kids finally get to go in the water.    They have a turn down the Mickey slide and a bit of a splash.  We are right near the drinks dispensers,  so we have a drink in the sunshine and then the kids (and Phil) have a go on the Aqua Duck.   This is extremely popular,  so there’s quite a long wait for each ride.   They all come back and report that it’s brilliant.

We are still heading for Nassau,  but all Port excursions have been cancelled.   We can see land ahead,  and we watch the pilot ship pull along side and the pilot jump across!  We decide to go up to the front of the ship and watch it dock.  As the land gets closer, we aren’t really sure what state we will find Nassau in.   For the most part it doesn’t look too badly damaged,  but the Straw Market is completely destroyed.   It is a fairly temporary structure and it looks like it has just been blown away.

After we dock,    it’s nearly time for lunch,   so we drag the kids out of the pool and dress for lunch in the Royal Palace restaurant.

After lunch, Dave, Bev & Nicola decide to walk into Nassau and see if there are any stalls left,  the kids go up to play minigolf, and we watch them for a while.   When they are finished, they do a detective quiz around the ship, and Phil and I go for a coffee in the Cove Cafe.    For a ‘quiet’ adult area,  it’s rather noisy as we are just through the screen from the pizza counter.

After we finish our coffee,  we get a text from the kids to say they have done the detective thing.   Dave and Bev are back from Nassau,  so James goes off to find them,  and we go back down to the room.   We’ve got a couple of hours until dinner,  so Katie decides to go up to the Edge and see w   hat’s happening,   and we have a much needed nap.

We wake up from our nap,   and get ready for Pirate night.  By this point the presents are coming in thick and fast, and we’ve got loads of piratey loot to embellish our outfits.    We get ready and head into the Royal Palace for dinner.   This restaurant is for the Princesses and the waiters look very smart in their outfits.

During Dinner it is announced that we will not be going to Castaway Cay tomorrow,  but will instead be returning to Nassau for the morning.

Molly has dinner and then declares herself tired and that she must go to bed.   She’s not going to be happy with the kids club or any alternative she wants her bed,   so I take her back to the cabin whilst Phil watches the show and Katie and James go to see Pirates of the Caribbean.    Molly puts the telly on, and we sit in bed watching Narnia.   She doesn’t appear to be remotely tired but she’s quite happy to be chilled out in bed,  and if I am honest, so am I.    After an hour or so, Katie and James return,  declaring their film boring,      and then Phil returns from the Villains show.   We all get ready and head up to Deck 12 for the fireworks.   Molly has had a second wind and is now full of energy!

The fireworks are good, and the stage show with Captain Jack Sparrow is pretty impressive too.  Captain Jack is really good!

 

After the show,  I realise I am starving so we head into Cabana’s for a late night snack.    I  have a jacket potato and a steak wrap and it just hits the spot.

After our ‘nearly’ midnight feast,  it’s time for bed.

Day 17 – Princesses, Potions, & Ports

Day 17

So, todays the day we are due to venture out to sea,  and really noone is sure what’s going to happen.    Many other cruise lines have cancelled or rescheduled due to Irene,   but we’ve had no news from Disney.

We pack up and head along to the pier for about 10:20.    When we get there the port officials won’t let us in,   they tell us we must leave the dock area and return after 11.      We drive off towards Grills (where we had eaten a previous evening) to wait.    At Grills we had spotted a sign ‘Decorate with Fish’,  which we found amusing,  so the Spencer’s want to search for it.    We find the sign,    and sit and wonder for a while if we are going to get on our cruise,   and then we decide to head back to the port.   We get there about 10:45 and this time we are let in,   and there are loads of people already there.   What’s that all about?      We are confused but we don’t let it worry us too much.     We check in,  and sign Molly up for the kids club,   and then fairly quickly we are on board.

The atrium is really impressive, and it’s a great way to board,   from fairly boring terminal, straight into this amazing space.

We are directed down to the Enchanted Garden for lunch,   and we have a couple of fun waiters who entertain us during our first meal.    There is a lively atmosphere, everyone is relieved to be on board,  as I think all the cruisers have been quite nervous about the weather.       The buffet is good,  and the desserts are particularly good.   Dave wants to try a few so he has a waiter help him carry them back!

After lunch we have a little wander around the decks, and go and look at the kids clubs.   They are really cool looking.  I think the bigger kids are disappointed that they won’t be hanging out here too!

It’s not long until it’s time to find our room, which is on Deck 2,  very close to the Enchanted Garden.   Whilst we are waiting to get in,  a little girl on her second cruise is really excited telling the kids all about what they can do and how great it’s going to be.   It’s really cute.  Cabin Photos

We go to the DVC presentation to try and score some free gifts.  We do get a bag and a nice hat on the way in,  but we don’t manage to win anything interesting at all which is pretty disappointing.   Katie and James are bored, so they  head off to find the Edge and then meet us at the lifeboat check.    When they meet up with us,  it turns out the Edge was closed so they played some mini golf instead.

We start to unpack, and the kids go off to watch the Sailaway party.   Due to the weather, it’s being held in the main atrium.      They come back waving streamers and banners,   they have really enjoyed themselves.   I’m quite impressed with the cabin,  it’s not huge but there is loads of storage more than at the Boardwalk which is quite impressive for a room half the size.

We get changed for dinner, and head around the corner to the Enchanted Garden.   This is very pretty,    it’s based on Versailles and it changes from day to evening throughout the meal,  although it has to be said this effect is so subtle we didn’t notice until we left and then returned.

Dinner – Photos here,  I don’t know who ate what,  but it was all good.

Molly has some soup to start, and then she decides she’s full and doesn’t want anything else,  so I take her up to the kids club whilst we finish our dinner.

it’s starting to get quite rough, and we are all over the corridors walking up there.  Talking to some of the crew,  some are quite blase, saying it’s not at all bad,   and others think it’s quite rough.

After our meal,   we take a look at the shops before heading into the theatre, and the general consensus is that it is indeed pretty rough.   Sick Bags start appearing in strategic locations, and everyone is holding onto railings as they walk.     We sit in the theatre waiting for the show to start,  and the theatre curtain is swaying madly.      I don’t feel too bad, but Katie is feeling very green and eventually decides she wants to go lie down.   We leave Phil in the theatre, and Katie and I go back down to our cabin.   Our cabin is quite low down and she sits in the porthole and watches the waves and feels much better.   The waves are quite impressive from the porthole.   I don’t think this is a particularly bad storm, but it’s definitely not a millpond.   Whilst we are in the cabin,   we watch the show on the TV.

When the show ends,   James comes down to the cabin looking for Katie,    and Phil returns and suggests we meet up with Dave and Bev in a comedy bar.   Katie is feeling better,  so they go off to check out the Edge,  and Phil and I head up to the bar area.   On the way,  we get a text to say Molly would like to be picked up,   so I collect Molly and Phil goes to find the bar.

Molly and I decide to deliver our Fish Extender Gifts,   so we set off around the ship looking for cabins.   Molly is really into it, and dashes off ahead looking for each cabin and checking out all the fish extenders and magnets on the doors.     We pass lots of other people doing the same which is quite funny.    At one point we bump into Phil who reports the comedy show hadn’t started yet,  and so he joins us in his travels.

When we’ve completed our circuit,   we return to our cabin and find we’ve got loads of little pressies too.      It’s great fun opening everything and we’ve got some lovely things.    We also get some Castaway club presents,  so we are amassing presents at a great rate.

I’d read a little tip about ordering milk and cookies to your room,   so we decide to order some late night coffee and cookies,     and just as it arrives Katie and James return.      They’ve been to the Edge which was a bit quiet,  so they went for Pizza and Ice Cream and some more mini golf.   They have had a really good night and are full of excitement.    We all sit and chat a while,  and have some coffee and cookies,  and eventually its time for bed.

Another one of those days where we’ve done nothing much but somehow never really stopped.