These days are always so full. Here we are at the hotel again, and we had a great night's sleep. That's super important. Also cool: we didn't have to check out until noon or something like that. We were gone before that, but we got to sleep in. I went downstairs to pick up some light eating from the free continental breakfast, and Mom spent a good bit of time on these seasonal nails!
They look amazing, but they took a really long time to get on! And foreshadowing here: a really long time to get off!
Here's the view of our boat from the hotel, another neat thing we like about this location. You're so close you can see the boats!
And the live-cam online from Port Canaveral had a great view too! So we were ready to head out this morning, and it wasn't quite time to get on the boat yet. We drove down past Ron Jon, and noticed that the Wizard of Oz Museum has moved to a new location. On the way back, we stopped at a park that I was wanting to check out, one right behind the hotel pretty much. It's called the Manatee Sanctuary Park.
Other than these, manatees are spotted here seasonally in the cooler temperatures, and even then not that often. So we weren't expecting to see any. But we did see turtles there, and the park was really super pleasant to walk around.
From one viewpoint, we could actually see the Disney Wish! Mom's got her ears on already!
Not sure what kind of nest this is, or even if it is a nest. It had that look about it.
Okay, so from here, it's less than two miles to the terminal.
We got to the parking deck and it was nearly full already. This is the view of the Disney Wish from our car. And we went in the terminal a little earlier than our scheduled time, but they were ready to let us on. One of our greeters liked Mom's candy corn earrings so much that she sent us to the Pearl line, which is super short, and got us in a lot quicker. And they were ready to let us on the boat, just like that.
First of all, check out my shirt. I love my shirt. It's the "Hotel Transylvania 3" shirt that Dracula wears on the cruise ship. Secondly, this was taken with our cellphone. We opted not to do the photo package this time around because it's just three days and it's just the two of us. We saved some money there, and some time too. One thing about these cruises are the lines of people waiting to meet characters or get photos at certain locations. And while that's actually pretty fun - we've got plenty of those for each cruise, this was a different sort of cruise for Mom and I. So we took the cellphone with us and the employees there are so great to take pictures with it for us, as well as have the option to maybe buy one later on from the digital collection. We went through the pictures at the end, and there weren't that many - we were okay passing on it this time.
So here we are at one of our favorite places:
The gang plank! Yes, it's like the Christmas gift before it's opened - so much to look forward to here! And indeed, just like always, the crew calls out your name, announcing it to the ship as you board, "Welcome Aboard the Cypher Family!" It's just the two of us this time. We were back on board the Disney Wish, and it was decorated for Halloween on the High Seas. The Pumpkin Tree - her name is "Boo" - was there to greet us, as were characters and plenty of applauding staff.
We had built up an appetite by this point, so I think you know where we were heading to: food! We went to Arendelle for our first meal aboard the ship. Instead of going to the busy chaos of the buffet upstairs at the Marceline Market, we go for the sit-down meal instead. And it was really good!
Doesn't Mom look great today? She's all dressed up for the seasonal fun, and that food looks delicious!
But this dessert item is mandatory by this point. It's a Chocolate Marquise Bombe:
Chocolate Marquise Bombe: A rich, domed chocolate dessert (frequently served as a no-sugar-added or specialized option on embarkation and main dining menus) featuring smooth chocolate mousse or marquise layers.
We've had this for three straight cruises now, the first dessert item on the boat and perhaps our favorite dessert item on the whole cruise. We just love it!
Afterwards, the room was probably not ready yet, and we were considering a trivia or something when we passed by Hook's Barbery, a place to get hair cuts and spa treatment on the ship - and it's all themed to Captain Hook himself. I hadn't gotten a hair cut in a long time for precisely this moment, and I thought it would have to be scheduled out and complicated, but in fact we walked right in.
I got a haircut on the Disney Wish! Mom was snapping pictures from the waiting area as I got a really super trim. He cut it pretty short there. But it was a fun experience, one of those things on my list that I always wanted to do. Back years ago, I remember getting a haircut at the Magic Kingdom in the barbershop there, and sure enough, the barbershop quartet came in, serenading us as we got a trim. That didn't happen here, but it was still cool nonetheless.
Check out the map of Neverland! I don't think Hook has figured out where Peter Pan and the Lost Boys are yet. Behind this wall are all the alcoholic beverages available after a certain hour. It's part of Hook's Barbery, and in fact most of these places have these intricate alcoholic beverages that have mixings of exotic far away ingredients and frequently mist and smoke and unique containers. We don't drink alcohol, but there are mocktails without any alcohol, and those are fun. We just came here for the haircut, and that was pleasant enough.
Mom noticed right away the bottom of the cabinet. Yes... it's a HOOK!
So here we are from our verandah, really nice. Always get a cabin with a view. You can even view the bridge up there, pretty close by. We'd wave back and forth from time to time with the crew up there. You can even see our car at the parking deck from here.
The views will get better, of course. Inside the cabin, the theme was Moana.
As always, a really nice cabin. The beds are so comfortable to sleep in. And for the most part, it was super quiet at night. Mom was unpacking, and part of my job was getting the themed magnets out there on the door. It seems almost mandatory now to have magnets on the cabin door. But we also have the new "fish extender," a place to receive gift items from fellow cruisers. We got a lot over the course of this cruise. Every time we were there, we'd reach in and there'd be a few items.
You probably also noticed this lollipop holder we put out there. We brought along a lot of lollipops for passengers walking by. This was the first round, a lot of cat lollipops that Mom ordered earlier.
And behold! Before we even left we were "pixie dusted," getting a few items from nearby cabins. That one in the middle is an absolute keeper! It's Halloween on the High Seas, so it's just like trick-or-treating. In just a little bit, I would be out there with my pumpkin-shaped bag, all full of gifts and candy, dropping by and pixie-dusting other passengers' doors. Super fun!
Ah, the terminal and parking deck. One last view before we leave the country. Mom and I were then off to our first trivia game, one themed to Pixar movies. We went down to Triton's Lounge for that, a place we were at a few times before last cruise, and this was a lot of fun. We didn't win this one - the girls next to us did. They were pretty fun. We actually got a question right that they didn't, but they won the whole thing. Don't worry, I think we'll do okay on this cruise.
We did some walking around, and I suddenly remembered one thing that I heard about on this cruise, something I really wanted for my birthday!
Look at this incredible thing! It's the Mayor from "Nightmare Before Christmas," and at first, I thought it was a popcorn bucket. But it's actually a drink container with a really, really long straw! This was a big hit, and a lot of other people were laughing at it too. Let's head back to the cabin a moment so we can watch Florida get smaller and smaller.
During trivia we were launching out to sea, and by the time it was over with we could see the coast of Florida off on the horizon. Time for a soft-serve ice cream!
Mom got one you see above, a chocolate and vanilla swirl. I tried a banana strawberry mix, but you really can't beat the chocolate and vanilla! We walked around for a bit looking at the decorations, and getting ready for the lighting of the Pumpkin Tree.
The Grand Hall is pretty big. On floor three below, a character arrived to tell the story of Boo, the tree you see there. Boo has a nice part to play in Cinderella's story. She's a pumpkin tree, and she actually provided the pumpkin that turned into the carriage for Cinderella. True story!
We were watching this all from the fifth floor, a nice overhead view of things. You can see great from all around there, really. And at a certain point, the lights all change and things get Halloween Orange!
It's short and sweet, and of course the kids love it. By "kids," I mean "Mom and I" too.
Mom and I went down two floors from our room to a large laundry area that is actually decorated nicely, Fairytale Laundry. We were here a few times to iron some items out. If you look closely at the shirt, you know where we're going for dinner tonight: Worlds of Marvel!
But before we do that, we're off to the Walt Disney Theater!
Tonight's production is called "Seas the Adventure," and it's a fun compilation of various Disney movies and characters, all hosted by Goofy as he tries to navigate. Along the way there's Crush the turtle, Moana, Elsa, Merida, and a big number from Tiana and the cast of "The Princess and the Frog."
The show is fantastic. The lighting, costumes and puppetry are dazzling and it's just a wonderful night at the theater. We got there early enough to sit where there's no one in front of us. I had my big Mayor drink with me and we enjoyed the show together.
Afterwards, we had a bit of time before dinner, and we missed out on one trivia game. But there was this other thing going on, and it wound up being one of the very best highlights of the cruise for me.
It's called Villains Game Night, and we just popped in to simply watch it all. We have fun watching the families compete and laugh and so on, but I had no idea that I was going to be pre-selected for the part of the show where grown-ups go to the front of the room to interact with these villains and compete.
The Game Night format is somewhat like Hollywood Squares, where questions are asked of the villains in their spots on the tic-tac-toe board, and you have to either agree or disagree with their answers. And if you get that right, you claim the spot. The idea is to get three in a row. The room is divided into sides, "The Skulls" and "The Crossbones." We were team Crossbones. First off, the teams had a few kids up there, the kid on our side dressed as Maleficent, and of course she was delighted to talk with Maleficent up there. She wound up winning for our side of the room, but again, it's all fun. She didn't get three in a row - neither did - so it came down to whoever got the most squares. Which meant we got to hear from all the villains, and that was super fun.
But yes, we won round one. And I thought that may have been it, but then two grown-ups were chosen, and so up I went to compete. I chose Hades right away and got the center spot after disagreeing with him that Zeus is the one in charge of Mt. Olympus. I actually missed the question to Kronk about Yzma - did she turn into a rabbit? I couldn't remember, but my team was super supportive - we were cheering for both sides no matter what, because honestly we were all winners in this one.
My opponent missed a huge question from Maleficent, and that set me up for the win if I could get Gaston's square. His question was about expectorating - is he good at it? Anyone Disney fan from the 90's will get that one right away, and yes, that was me. He's especially good at expectorating! And with that, "The Crossbones" got the win for the night. And just look at all this swag I won tonight just for participating!
Pretty amazing collection there. Again, this may seem like such a little thing, this game. But we loved it, and what a surprise to get called up there on stage like that. We got back to the room to put our prizes away, and that's when we saw our first towel animal!
And then, it was off to Worlds of Marvel for dinner! We've been here before, but this time around we were able to focus a bit more on the ongoing story, and enjoy some different entries too!
One thing that didn't happen on this cruise: our dining companions. We had this table for six all cruise long, and the thing is that smaller parties of cruisers like us (party of two) are paired up with others for the journey. Well, on this cruise, no one showed up. We had a table for six for all three nights, and we had it entirely to ourselves!
This is a fun restaurant, a fun theme. You have these devices (below) and you press them at certain times that Ant-Man and the Wasp tell you to. There's a movie that plays while you eat, and it's Ant-Man and the Wasp doing some experiments with their technology, and of course things go awry.
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| Our Avengers Menu! |
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| Scott Lang hosts "Miracles from Molecules" |
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| The tablecloth pattern is pretty cool! |
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| Hope Van Dyne is hoping you order something good. |
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| Love these plates! |
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| The device on our table... alongside some bread dip. |
Inevitably, things do go wrong because Ultron himself is on the way to the cruise ship. But fortunately, so is Miss Marvel, the new Captain America (Falcon), and Captain Marvel. There's a fun battle on deck, and along the way, a few references to the cruise ship's chicken tenders. We were watching a vlog earlier that also commented on how excellent these are... I think we'll have to try some tomorrow!
Meanwhile, tonight's dinner was just perfect. I had scallops and Mom had this shrimp, plus a nice chicken dish as well. I had the wedge of lettuce with bacon and blue cheese, and overall it was a great eating experience.
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| Mom enjoying some tea after a delicious meal! They took good care of her gluten-free needs! |
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| At the end, Spider-man breezes by to greet everyone! |
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| I didn't even know he was there - I was just testing the camera! |
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| He did stop to say "hi" to us, and he liked the Captain America shirt I was wearing...! |
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| Dessert for me: Key Lime Pie. Mobius would be very proud. |
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| Mom got this really delicious treat too! |
Afterwards, it was time to head back to the hotel room. There were activities galore going on. We marvel at those movie times that start at 11:30pm or whatever on a cruise ship, imagining getting out of the theater at 1:00am or whatever to head back to the cabin.
As for us, we were quite content to watch a few things on the television in the cabin. We saw "Muppets Haunted Mansion," tonight, one of my favorites. It's time for some sleep though. We said our prayers, and as Mom put it, the waves gently rocked us to sleep. Goodnight!
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