2015 Disney Cruise Day 4 - At Sea

Our Disney Cruise trip report continues with a look at our day at sea, the final full day of our cruise.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

We were up again at our usual time, not sleeping in too late after all the Pirate Night festivities from the night before. But apparently quite a few people do that, judging by the lack of a crowd at Cabanas at breakfast. We enjoyed our usual breakfast buffet, probably eating too much as we did every other morning we had eaten there. It was going to be difficult to go back to normal breakfasts after the cruise was over. But we had one more day left, so there wasn’t time to dwell on the distant future.

Laura checks out the morning view from our verandah.

After breakfast, we decided to enjoy our morning on the ship. Zach and Katie were scheduled for separate times in the sports simulator, but that was all that we had scheduled for the entire day. We walked around on the upper decks, enjoying the morning sun, and Laura and the kids also enjoyed the ping-pong table for a bit. I’m not really sure why they enjoy that as much as they do, but they do. We then went to our rooms and lounged for just a bit in our rooms before Brant, Karen, and Zach headed out to go to the simulator. Katie stayed with us, and we decided to take a trip on the AquaDuck.

Some of the kids play ping pong…

Other kids enjoy an adult conversation without some of the kids around.

The part of the AquaDuck that goes out over the edge of the ship. Except that it goes by so quickly that you almost don’t notice it as you are zipping by.

The other side of the ship, which doesn’t have the AquaDuck flyout. In case you wanted to compare.

The AquaDuck line wasn’t all that long, so in no time we were zooming around above the decks of the ship, being splashed with cold water as we went. It would have been nice if they had been able to make that a longer ride, although I know why they couldn’t. Still, it is over way too quickly for me, but it is still fun. Jaylin and Katie also went down the Mickey slide a couple of times, while Laura and I lounged contentedly as we waited for them to finish.

The pool deck was already filling up with people. From the earlier post Disney Dream Pool Deck.

Whoosh! Whenever people zip by, it always makes me think of a toilet flushing, for some strange reason.

Check out those cool Mickey Mouse mirrors in the restroom. Yes, I made sure there wasn’t anyone else in there before taking a photo. Wouldn’t want anyone thinking I’m weird or anything.

The people to pool ratio is like 27,000 to 2. Or maybe my math is just a little off.

We then decided to wander by the sports simulator area to see if Zach was finished yet, but he wasn’t. However, we did find Goofy, who was out playing mini golf for the morning. He took his turn on the course just like everyone else did, often trying some sort of trick shot or funny business. And when it wasn’t his turn, he was usually posing for pictures or signing autographs while waiting for his chance to go again. It was really cool to see him out and about like that, and not where we had to wait in line to see him as you almost always have to do with the characters in the parks now, and even most of the characters on the ships these days. It reminded me of the old days when the characters used to roam the parks and play around with guests as they did, instead of all this orderly, long line stuff that they do now. I know that crowds dictate that somewhat, but I still miss those days.

Goofy was out playing golf on the course inspired by him. Love those cool golf clothes. I don’t think I could pull off that look.

Zach eventually finished his time, and we reunited for just a bit before it was Katie’s turn. So that time, all of the Riedels went off together, leaving us Burnses together. Which was a perfect time for another AquaDuck trip. And then Laura got a few braids in her hair at the hair braiding station. She had wanted to get some at Castaway Cay as she usually does, but the rain there had made that impossible.

Laura and Jaylin in an elevator. What, don’t you take family photos in an elevator?

We had beautiful weather that morning, and in fact all day long. I checked the television channel in our room that shows where we were going and where we had been, and it showed that we were going in a big circle. Captain Henry had said earlier in one of his announcements on the loudspeaker that he would try to arrange nice weather for our day at sea to make up for the rain at Castaway Cay, and he was apparently making good on his promise by finding a sunny spot in the ocean and circling there. No complaints from me at all.

Nobody was inside, because everybody was outside finally enjoying the sun.

Those are some of the coolest door handles. But what does the D stand for? Hmm.

We then decided it was time for lunch and a movie, and we changed out of our wet clothes to get ready for those. Lunch was at Flo’s Cafe, which are a series of walk-up counters with different items. I settled on a hamburger, although everything there looked good.

Looking out from inside. What a great view.

The recently-released movie Tomorrowland was showing in the Walt Disney Theatre in the early afternoon, so we all went there after lunch. Most all of us had been interested in seeing it, so it was nice that we were able to see it on the ship without paying any extra as we would have done if we had seen it in the movie theater back home. We were able to get good seats, and we didn’t have a long wait before the movie started.

Once the movie had ended, we were all a little, um, disappointed. Or maybe confused. The movie wasn’t quite what we were expecting it to be. I was thinking, “That was it?” Definitely different than the movie I thought it would be. On the one hand, I was thinking that at least we didn’t have to pay to see it in the theater. But then on the other hand, I’m not sure it was worth giving up an afternoon of our cruise to go see it. Oh well, you don’t know about some movies until you see them for yourself, I guess. But after seeing it, I wasn’t exactly surprised that it hadn’t been tearing up the box office.

Laura enjoys the verandah for just a little while longer. Could we just take this view home with us?

I like the cruise line logo in the chairs. Can we just take that home with us, too?

We had some time left before our dinner, but we didn’t want to change back into swimsuits again, only to have to change back one more time. So we wandered the ship for a while, and enjoyed our verandah for a while. The Riedels were once again going to the evening show, Disney Dreams. And the Burnses were once again skipping it. If you are keeping score, that means that we (the Burnses) didn’t see any of the stage shows this time around, and we were okay with that. I know they are good and lots of people enjoy them, but they aren’t necessarily our thing. So it is nice that those who want to go to the shows can go, while those that don’t want to go don’t have to go.

Laura, Jaylin, and a giant mouse. But it’s okay - he wasn’t a stowaway.

Cool blanket thing on the bed. And no, we didn’t bring it home with us.

We eventually got dressed for dinner, and then we put our luggage out in the hall for them to gather to unload when we reached the port the next morning. I looked several times to make sure I had all that I needed for the night and the next day, because I am always afraid I will forget something important. I made it okay this time, though.

We spent some time on the Deck 4 Promenade waiting for our dinner time. And on this night, there was actually a fantastic sunset, which we hadn’t had for any of the previous nights on this cruise. We took some time to take some photos of the sunset, as well as some photos of us in front of the sunset, which is more tricky than you might think. It was a good way to wind down the day, and to begin winding down the cruise, too.

Girls at dinner in the Enchanted Garden.

The Riedels were once again waiting for us at the dinner table when we arrived at the Enchanted Garden restaurant, as was their custom. Don’t call them late for dinner, as the old joke goes. Dinner was once again delicious, as it always is. And our service from Constantin and Potchara was also good, as it always was. After dessert, Constantin brought Zach a special dessert that said “Congratulations,” in honor of his high school graduation, which we were celebrating on the cruise. A nice touch that wasn’t necessary. Especially after we had already had our regular dessert. But that didn’t stop Zach from enjoying it. We again delighted in talking to Constantin and Potchara, and it was a little sad to leave the restaurant when we were finished, even though we knew we would see them again for breakfast the last morning.

Zach with his special dessert to celebrate his high school graduation.

It was getting late, but we weren’t ready for the night to end, since it was the last night for our cruise. We spent some time enjoying the night air on the upper decks by the pool, wandering by the big screen as some people were out watching a late night movie. We didn’t stick around for the movie, though, but instead we kept on walking a slow, leisurely walk, enjoying the atmosphere of being out in the ocean on a fine ship.

Some sort of towel animal on our bed. And lots of chocolates, too.

Laura finds a nice place to sit for a few moments out on the upper deck.

Enjoying the evening air.

Several people enjoyed their last night by watching a late night movie on the big screen.

That’s a mighty big mouse logo way up there. But still cool.

Goodnight, Mickey pool! I see you are already drained of your water.

We eventually made our way back to our rooms to get ready for bed. While Jaylin was getting ready, Laura and I went back out on our verandah for just a bit. We saw that the moon was quite bright out, so I got my camera to get a few photos of the moonlight reflecting off the water, which looked really cool.

Pretty cool view of the moon at night out over the water. What a great way to wind down our cruise.

And then we drifted off to sleep for our final night on the Disney Dream.

But wait, that’s not quite all! Check back soon for the final part of our cruise report!