1 Mom, 2 Daughters and 3 Days of Wonder! **Completed 6/29!** About This Page:

[belleandmaddysmom]

Love it! Can't wait to hear about the late dinner seating. We are late seating also, not by choice. So I would love to hear your take on that!
Great pictures too!

[OffKilter_Lynn]

I think I'm going to copy Miss Em's method of greeting crew members from now on!

[lauren-roxy]

What a great update with wonderful photos of the girls!!

[DyanKJ130]

Great update!! Sounds like Emily is a real character herself! So glad that Katie was feeling comfortable enough to ask for photos. The show sounds wonderful. Looking forward to more

[statelady01]

After the show and a twee bit o' shopping, we headed to the lobby to see if Captain Mickey was there like we expected.. and sure enough he was. Emily was not enthused about the line for him but I convinced her that it looked much worse it really was. And that turned out to be the case too. We said hello to the Big Cheese in his sailing finery:



By the time we were done with Mickey, it was almost time for dinner. We were one of the first ones seated- and I was thrilled that DCL honored my request of seating us at a four top by ourselves. I didn't think Katie would do real well with complete strangers and would be more relaxed.

Our serving team was nice enough but not knock you off your socks impressive- which was a complete opposite from my first Disney cruise.

I told our head server that Emily wanted to do the Dine and Play but Katie and I would remain behind. We ordered drinks and our meals at the same time- we all were starving. Emily went for the pizza, I ordered french onion soup and the beef filet. Katie asked for chicken and fries.

I noticed soon after dinner that Emily's DCL Mickey had assumed his rightful place at the empty chair at our table. He enjoyed himself.



Emily and Katie's meals came out so quick she barely had time to get into the breads. Good thing, though as it was already 8:45. We loved how the ketchup was presented!



I would consider Emily to be a rather dilligent conisseur of pizza and she gave hers a big thumbs up and that plate was completely clean.



My filet appeared soon after and it was spectacular- it looked so good, I whipped out the camera:



Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two kids going to the front of the dining room. I had thought there would be a loudspeaker type announcement or at least the counselors being a bit more obvious- but that wasn't the case. If you do the Dine and Play, hope you are at a table that has a direct view of the main entrance- if not, keep watching for the gaggle of kids making their way to the front.

Katie had ordered a Mickey Bar for dessert so she worked on it while I went with Emily to meet the counselors and check her in. She was very excited and I reminded her to page me when she was ready. Off the kids went- it was a pretty sizeable group too- about 15 of them.

When I got back to the table, I finished up my filet and by this point, Katie had just had it- she was tired, overwhelmed and desperately needed down time. We gathered our things and headed up to the room at about 9:20.

When we got back to the stateroom, Glenn had done a beautiful job of making the room up. Lights were on, bunk was pulled down and a lovely arrangement on the bed greeted us. There was something so relaxing and comforting about the room softly lit like that- instant stress buster for Katie and for me. Incidentally, the half with wrinkles came from Katie sitting- the other half is Glenn's untouched handiwork.



Katie immediately reached for her day bag and set her DVD player back up using the power strip ( # 1 essential item for any cruise as far as I am concerned) and got herself snuggled into her bed. She was so happy to be there and she immediately relaxed.



I turned on the tv and read the Navigator for the next day. Katie and I highlighted everything we wanted to do, including the character appearances. I didn't mean to bring a highlighter, but it came in really handy.

About 11:10, the pager went off. I had a tough call to make- Katie did not want to go with me to get Emily. She came up with the solution. "Mom, get Emily. Katie stay here, watch movies." Uh, I couldn't exactly call Kevan for his opinion- but she was 12 and I asked her if she was sure. "Yes." I repeated the scenario to make sure she understood what she was suggesting. "Katie, I am going to get Emily. Do you want to come or stay here?". Response: "Stay here."

Okkkaay, off I dashed up three flights of stairs to Deck 5 and around the corner to the Oceaneer's Lab. Emily was waiting and we signed out. When we returned to the room, Katie was in the same exact spot and position as I left her- and looked at me as if to say.... "What are you doing back so soon?". I think she felt rather grown up and she was fine. Every day, she grows a little more into her adolescence.

Emily tried out the top bunk but we were feeling a little rolling by this point, so she decided she wanted to stay with me in case she got sick. Lights out around 12:00- all of the Austin girls crashed quite easily. It had been a day we had been looking forward to for months and all in all- our first hours aboard went down as a success.

Coming Up Next: Pool, pool and well, more pool

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a great night! Glad the Dine and Play worked out!

[DrDolphin]

Sounds like a really wonderful evening!!

[chezp]

What a great evening - I love the pic with Captain Mickey.

[Kenny]

Great updates! The Golden Mickey's update brought tears to my eyes... 'nuff said!
The first day ended very nicely.

[lauren-roxy]

What a wonderful evening!!!

[MickeyMAC]

Great updates--Katie really looks like she is enjoying it.

[belleandmaddysmom]

Looks like you had a wonderful first day! I am glad that the Dine and Play worked well. I will keep my eyes peeled for the gaggle of kids too! I am sure my girls will love to eat and then hit the club! Your dinner looked delish! Katie looked really comfy in her bed watching DVDs. Can't wait to hear more!

[Hugmonster]

I am really enjoying reading about this trip. It looks like you girls had so much fun.

[Grammy Grumpy]

Ok, I officially have tears in my eyes. Your evening adventures were so awesome. Glad the girls enjoyed the Mickey and Minnie. Hope they will bring fond memories of this wonderful time together.

Also, after seeing Emily eat plate after plate of pizza at CP recently I know what she can do in that area!

Can't wait to hear more!

[OhToodles!]

I can't believe this was just the end of day 1!