Tag Archives: Cruise ship

Cruise Memories-Part 1

13 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

My husband and I enjoy cruise getaways. But it wasn’t always the case. Twenty five years ago, we were offered a chance to go on a three day Bahama cruise at a reasonable price. My husband wasn’t thrilled and reluctantly agreed to go. By the end of the cruise, he was hooked and looking forward to a seven night cruise.

Since then we have enjoyed many seven night cruises, some even longer. Earlier this month our daughter invited us to join her on a 4 night cruise. I was a little disappointed it was so short but wasn’t going to turn it down.

She lives within easy driving distance to the cruise terminal and it was an easy drive until we arrived at the terminal. I don’t know what their problem was but traffic was jammed up. We barely made it onto the ship before it was time for the Emergency drill.

Disney Destiny

Fortunately, our muster station dismissed us as soon the drill was completed even though announcements were being given. We dashed to deck 11 in search of food, having missed lunch. What we didn’t realize was that due to scheduling everyone missed lunch. Deck 11 is set up similar to a food court only much cooler. We made our food choices and secured seating before the rest of the passengers arrived. Those were some long lines!

We had set our hearts on ice cream for dessert but oh my, the ice cream line was two deep. Never one to miss dessert we retired to our room and ordered our favorite room service treat.

Two pots of coffee and chocolate chip cookies.

Our first and only port stop was Castaway Cay, the cruise line’s private island. It was a gorgeous day and the island is beautiful. These days our favorite place on the island is the cook shack. From the ship we made our way to the dining pavilion and claimed a prime spot. (With an ice cream machine view.)

Most people fill a cone with ice cream. Husband filled a drinking cup. To his credit, he didn’t go back for seconds.

For this cruise we rented a Feather Light brand mobility scooter. It collapses by pressing a button. Once collapsed it was easy to store in our cabin when not in use. On a previous cruise we had to leave the scooter at Guest services when not in use, a royal pain. It was also easy to put on the tram that transports passengers on the private island and the crew were very accommodating.

I only took these pictures on the island, not sure why. Being there brought to mind previous cruises when our grandchildren were young. Good memories.

It’s getting late and I have an early start tomorrow. We are back into the swing of our active social life, you know, doctor visits. Will continue the post next week.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2025 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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And Yet Another Cruise-2

4 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

We’ve been on the four older Disney ships many times, and were looking forward to sailing on the Disney Wish this time.  We had heard great things about it.  So let me just say …it is a COMPLETELY different ship than the others!  The Disney Wish, the Disney Treasure, and the Disney Adventure are the three newest ships in the Disney Cruise Line, and are in a different “class” from the four older ships.

We found that it’s the “little things” that make up the difference.  

        1.  The four older ships have the “Cabanas” on deck 11 – most cruise lines would call that the Lido deck.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

It is a buffet for all three meals each day.  On the Wish, it is called Marceline Market.  If you know Disney’s story, you know that his family lived in Marceline, Missouri for a while, and Walt loved that town.  The Cabanas has a “beach” feel to it.

The Cabanas – picture credit Judy Wills

Marceline Market has a lot of wood and separate areas for seating.

Marceline Market – picture credit Judy Wills

In the Cabanas, I can help myself to what I want to eat – in the Marceline Market, it is handed to me.  There is a lack of “freedom” there that is strange….not bad, just different.

            2.  All four of the older ships have similar three eateries – Animators Palate is on all four of the ships, and the Enchanted Garden is on at least two or three of the ships.  

Photo credit – Judy Wills

Photo credit – Judy Wills

There is usually a more “formal” restaurant, such as the Royal Court or RoyalPalace,

Photo credit – Judy Wills

 but it is different on each ship.  It is not as formal as Palo or Remy, which are the high-end restaurants whose cost is extra, but has the feel of “formal.”

            3.   On the older ships, on deck 11, there is the huge screen where there is constantly showing either a Disney movie, or something “Disney.”  That is the same on the Wish.  That is also the deck where the pool is, so one can sunbathe, swim, eat – whether snack or a full meal – and watch a movie all at the same time.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

On the older ships, whenever I wanted a soft-serve ice cream cone, I could just go and get it – as many as I wanted.  On the Wish, someone gets it for me and hands it to me.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

Again, the lack of “freedom” is there.  I guess I’m spoiled in that respect.  Fred suggested that it is a “health” or “cleanliness” issue.  I’ll go along with that.

Okay, I’ll stop whining now.  The Wish is a great ship, and we did enjoy our cruise.  The stateroom seems to be just a tiny bit larger than the ones on the older ships.  Not much, but enough to be apparent.  And we did have the split bathrooms again, so that was nice.

There were some fascinating things about Marceline Market – the “dividers” between the eating sections had glass cases that held such things as very antique toys, clocks, and one had a metronome in it.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

 Others had bakery goods – bread loaves, etc.  One had different types of cookware in it. 

Photo credit – Judy Wills

One off-shoot from the main eating area was a bit small, and held small round tables just for two people.  We never ate in there, but it looked cozy.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

We liked the place they arranged the glassware (actually plastic glasses) where we could grab a glass and get our own drinks from a machine.  Look closely in this picture and you will see the area half-filled with glasses.

Photo credit – Judy Wills

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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And Yet Another Cruise

28 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Recently, Fred and I took another cruise.  I really enjoy cruising.  I can’t really verbalize just why that is – is it because I grew up in a land-locked state?  Is it because I like the motion of the boat/ship in the water?  So many questions with so few answers.

I think the first time I was ever on a boat, it was a sailboat.  We were living on Tyndall AFB, Florida (Panama City) at the time, just preparing to move to another base.

Photo Credit Google Search

 We had spent an entire week cleaning the apartment we’d lived in for five years, and were exhausted. 

Photo Credit Judy Wills – our half of the duplex

A fellow worker in Fred’s unit had use of a sailboat for the owners, and had the permission of the owners to take it out any time he wanted.  So he took our family and two single men from the unit out our last day in town.  It was wonderful!  The sail was up, the wind was off the Gulf of Mexico, the sun was out – and there was no sound other than the wind and the waves.  Peaceful and quiet.  Just what we needed.  Our Janet was an adventurous little thing in those days, and she was allowed to “steer” the boat at one point.

It took a while for me to convince Fred to just try cruising.  His parents wanted to take a sea/land tour of Alaska, and wanted the family to go with them.  The cruising part was only for three days, but that was enough for Fred to realize that today’s cruising was not anything like the troop ship he was on when he was a teenager.

And so, once Fred was able to experience “cruising”’ – he fell in love with it as much as I had.  We have done some sailing with other cruise lines – Holland America (one of our favorites – especially the one to Alaska!) and Norwegian Cruise Line.  We sailed to Bermuda with Holland America for our 50th Wedding Anniversary, with both daughters and their families with us.  That was a great cruise!

However, we’ve discovered that our favorite cruise line is Disney.  A major decision is that there is no casino on board the ship!  No smoke-filled room one must walk through to get anywhere else on the ship!  Yay!  We like the fact that the children on board have activities that can keep them occupied nearly all day – and they love it!  Disney ships have two smokestacks.  Only one is actually a smokestack – the second one is built specifically for a place for the teenagers to be entertained.  Amazing!

This most recent cruise we were on was our 10th with the Disney Cruise Line. 

Photo credit Judy Wills – The Disney Wish

The fact it was our 10th Disney cruise kicks us up into a higher category of Disney travelers.  We get a few more “perks” from now on that we didn’t have before.  Just a few:  we can check-in quicker and earlier; we have a free meal in Palo – one of the high-end restaurants on the ship that we normally avoid because of the cost.  There are others, but I forget what they are at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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