Day 2: Day At Sea

(NOTE:  So I tried to log on tonight and while the internet is working, the blog website is not (it's being blocked by the DCL I.S.P. again....grrrr)....so we're doing an experiment here.  I actually DO have email  access and technically I can send emails to my blog that should post as blogs.  We aren't really sure how this will work in terms of images and formatting, but thought it was worth a try.....but be warned you may be looking at a post that doesn't work at all.  If that is the case, then when I finally can log on again, I will try to delete and/or fix it.  I am really hoping that this works because I'd hate to have to not post my daily blogs.  Even though writing these blogs does eat up some of our free time aboard the ship and makes for some late nights....I have to confess that I really enjoy writing them because:  1.)  it is a great way for Jason and I to recap together how we spent our day and really crystallize some of our memories, AND 2.) I know that so many folks out there are enjoying reading our posts!!)

Anyhow, Day 2 aboard the ship, a sea day, has come to an end----and it was a fabulous day.  You can see our magnet for the day in this post---we were particularly happy with this one because it has the ship out to sea and is cute because it has Dumbo in it (there were only so many characters we could put flying over the ship! LOL).  In the past we've had people ask us (especially when they hear about us doing the TransAtlantic cruises with so many days at sea), "Don't you get bored being on that ship and not being able to get off and go into a port?"  Jason and I always just shake our heads and think----the only people who can be "bored" on a Disney ship at sea during a day are people who have no idea how to have a good time!! LOL Today's sea day was great and we didn't have one "bored" moment all day.

First of all, sea days are nice because if you want to you can sleep in.  We slept until about 9:15am (which, the way we've been running on this vacation, felt like we slept until noon!).  We always sleep with the curtains open on our veranda/balcony so that even if the sun doesn't wake us up...when we do wake up, we are greeted by the sun over the ocean----now THAT is some Disney Magic!! *smile*  After we got up, we got some breakfast, got showered and dressed and then headed down to a reception they were having for all the gold  and silver Castaway Club members (people who have done 5 or more cruises).  It was a nice affair with some snacks and the captain of the ship was there  and talked to us a little bit...and Captian Mickey was there, too and we got pics with him (they were taken by the ship photographers so we won't get the CD with those pics until the end of this cruise...but we'll post them then).

After that, we went up on deck and played a little ping pong, walked around the pool and then hung out with Robyn and Tina, our Adventure guides, a little bit on Deck 7 where they were having informal "office hours."  They're both so friendly and easy to talk to that seeing them and spending time with them is always a pleasure.  After talking to them, we went to lunch, which was nice. Here is a picture of Jason at lunch (in Parrot Cay, one of the tropical themed restaurants on board) in front of one of the large porthole windows with the Mediterranean Sea in the background (although you can't really see that).

After lunch we did a few interactive activities on board.  Disney is very good about programming things to keep you busy and active like games, classes, etc.  We took tow classes today----it was a very folding kind of day!!  The first thing we did was go and learn from one of the wait staff how to do fancy napkin folding.  We learned how to do six different napkin shapes:  Mulan fan, corn, tuxedo, bird of paradise, Peter Pan shoe, and candle.  It was interesting and fun and interactive.  Here is a collage of pics from the class:

After that we had a short break, played some more ping pong and then went to an origami class where a cast member from the Philippines taught us how to make daisies out of paper.  This, too, was fun and interactive.  These are the kinds of little things that Jason and I enjoy doing because they're something we'd never do at home, don't take a lot of time or skill...and are just plain fun....plus, we ended up with two "souvenirs"----paper flowers!!  They are apparently going to offer a few more classes where you learn to make different kinds of flowers...so Jason and I are definitely going to do those classes if we can, too...so by the time the cruise is over we have a paper bouquet!!  Here are some pics of us doing the class and our flowers:

Following this, we had a special Adventures by Disney event.  They brought us together in a room and we got to spend time with the ship's historian who gave a really interesting and kind of academic talk about some of the ports and cultures we are going to experience on our tours.  He definitely knew his stuff, loved history and was eager to share his enthusiasm about the history and culture of this region-----and a cool thing was on several occasions when we was talking about the different areas, he would say, "If you really want to experience the culture of this area in a special way, you should go to_______----but that's not a very touristy area so very few people get there"....and then Robyn and/or Tina would chime in and say, "Actually we are doing that" or "We're not doing that, but we're doing something very similar"....so following the event you definitely got the feel that we are going to experience the ports in a way that most cruisers won't be able to.  They also served a really nice buffet of snacks at the event for us. (They REALLY like to feed you on these cruises...LOL...thank goodness we did a lot of walking in Barcelona and will be doing more walking as the trip proceeds so we can walk off some calories!!)  Here are some pics of the event:

We also got a new pin from Adventures by Disney today.  Here that is:

After that event, it was time for a quick swim in the adults only pool before we showered and got ready for a show and dinner.  We had been planning on skipping most the evening shows on this cruise because we will be so busy and tired from our Adventures AND most the shows will be repeated in the second half of our trip so we'll see them then----but tonight was "Twice Charmed"...which is a musical twist on the Cinderella story you can only see on stage on the Disney Magic and is one of my favorite shows...so we decided to go ahead and go.  Tonight was also formal night.....so we got to get all dressed up in our tuxes!!  Here are some pictures we took (this counts as the "tie of the day"):

Tonight's vest and bow-tie set were tinkerbell which I made myself (although you can't really see it clearly in the pics).  They were a big hit and we got many compliments.   

Dinner was, again, amazing.  We like our tablemates more each night and have been getting to know the other Adventures by Disney folks, too.  All in all....a great sea day....and at the end of the day we came back to our room to our towel animal for today:

......and now we're off to bed because we have an early morning tomorrow to head into Malta & Gozo!!

"See" you there!!