[geeman]

After months of planning, and a night at the CBR (see my separate report on MNSSHP in the Trip Reports section), the day of the cruise had arrived.
I had rented a car from Budget at the Airport, and proceeded to drive to the location in Port Canaveral where we'd have to take a shuttle from. Checking the car back in was not a problem, and before long, we were watching the Disney Magic appear for the first time before us.
Check-in process at the terminal was so smooth, I barely remember it. We had hoped to ask for upgrades, but were already on line to enter before we even realized it. Chip and Dale, dressed in sailor outfits, greeted us at the terminal.

Upon entering, a booming voice announced our entry aboard the ship, and there was a smattering of applause, as if we'd just become instant celebrities. Our room was ready, we dumped the bags, had a quick lunch at the buffet in Parrot Cay (which was actually quite good, really!), and settled in. While I never lost site of the magic of it all, Amneris was having a harder time getting used to it, since it was her first cruise. An unopened box of Raisin Bran sat in the refigerator, and our safe refused to lock with the room key, but other than that, the quarters were adequate.
We watched the kids dance at the sailaway party, and I held back emotions as we heard the ship's horn blare out , "WHEN - YOU -WISH- UP-ON A STAR". We were on our way! (Interestingly, while watching the videotape of the sailaway party, I noticed that a couple of our table mates, who we had yet to meet at that point, were standing right by us as the ship's horn blared out the tune! So it IS a small ship after all, too!).

We wandered about the ship that day, getting ready for the week ahead. Rested a bit, then saw the show and Dinner and did some light shopping onboard. Our tablemates,at the elegant onboard restaurant, "Lumiere's" were also all around our age and traveling without children, and we all shared more than our part of laughs and conversation for a good part of the night. Our over exhuberant servers took a bit to get used to, but by the end of the week, it was like a time with old friends.

On Sunday -
Our first port of call was Key West. After a character breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and the Chipmunks, (the site of tables full of adults getting pictures with costumed characters is quite humorous, actually), we head off the ship and explored the quait, sunny town. Amneris was less than impressed, since we're not drinkers, there seemed little else to actually "do" there. I took in the scenery, the sights, and then later, on board, the magnificent Sunset. I saw the crowds line up in Mallory Square and looked over and got some amazing shots of the sun setting in the distant sea. Breathtaking.
That night, dinner was at Animator's Palate. There is a special surprise for those of you who don't know about this restaurant, so I'll try not to spoil it, but it's name derives from the many animated works of the Disney artists.

Our first day at sea was the first chance we'd had all weekend to just kick back and relax and do nothing! The most we did was watch a cute show about Castaway Cay featuring the Disney characters, and we also finally caught "Freaky Friday", which was playing at the onboard movie theater. The place was jammed packed. We had to sit on the floor throughout the entire movie. We also caught a trivia contest, a little late thanks to me :-( - where if we'd made it on time,we'd have tied for first place, instead of 2nd place. Of course, it was a Disney Trivia contest. This was also our formal night, but that didn't stop Amneris from taking a quick dive in the adult pool merely minutes before dinner! We'd also sat in for Hercules The Muse-I-Cal". Since we are big Disney music fans, were were looking forward to this, but were slightly disappointed with it (hey, we're from NY - we see REAL shows! ). She felt it made the MOVIE look good. :-)

On Tuesday, the ship headed for the CAYMAN ISLANDS...more to follow...