Disney Christmas: Day 6 of 8

Wednesday was an "at sea" day with no stop. We decided to try the breakfast at Enchanted Garden. Derek was out early and ate breakfast alone as usual. Adam skipped breakfast as usual.

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Helen takes a call from Adam on the wave phone

Adam wants Mom to cuddle with him

Owwww!

Each evening the room host delivers the Personal Navigator, which lists the activities for the following day

Adam in line again for more chicken fingers

Mid morning ice cream stop

We went with Adam to the arcade. We found out when we got our bill that Derek thought when we told him he could get 1 or 2 arcade cards that it meant he could get 1 or 2...a day. Adam was upset that he was making his card last.

Adam had been wanting to play minigolf for days and we finally got around to it

Adam tallies up the scores. After the golf game we were enjoying the view across the water and looking for sea life. We asked a worker if they ever see any sea life. He said they see dolphins from time to time and have seen a large manta ray. He was on the initial trip across the Atlantic from the ship yard and said the waves reached the upper decks and that the ship was designed for short calm trips and not ocean crossings. He told us that the extra food is ground up each day and released into the water but only after the ship is 12 miles from port due to some legal restrictions.

Un cafe

Early afternoon ice cream

We watched the Muppet Movie with Adam. It was really cute. Derek told us later that he came in at some point with his friends but we never saw him.

The show was "Believe". Adam was doing something and didn't join us, but skipped dinner with us to see the later showing.

Always some nice entertainment in the lobby

There were always groups lined up to get their picture taken in the lobby, although we never did. The pre-trip info said that there was a formal dinner night. I figured there was no way they would enforce it but I never found anything saying it was optional so I brought a jacket. It turned out that they didn't really care and the only indication was a note on the Navigator newsletter saying it was an optional formal night, so I didn't bother with the jacket. I did at least wear jeans each night. However, there were plenty of people that did dress up and they looked really nice - especially the big extended families. We liked to find a nice spot to watch the lobby activity from above. We were surprised how many large families there were on the trip. It seemed like most dinner tables had extended families - many of them 10 or more people.

There was an interactive detective game but Adam didn't decide he wanted to play until the last night. He's in line here to get the material but he never did start the game.

Derek surprised us by joining us for dinner on the last night at Animator's Palate

Our terrific waiters, Sulchak and Dennis. They really took care of us each evening. Dennis, our head waiter, is from Croatia. He never steered us wrong. We got to where we would just let him tell us what to order. Sulchak, the assistant waiter, is from Ephesus, Turkey and told us about it being the home of Mary (mother of Jesus). When he found out I knew a little about football (soccer) and some of the players, he really warmed up to us.

We were a little miffed with the pre-trip info about tipping, but after seeing how hard the staff work and how well they do their job - we thought they deserved more. We learned they typically work on 6 month contracts and usually return home for a couple months after the end of the contract. Some of them work at home but most just relax. Sulchak told us that he is building a house and spends his time on that. One waiter told us that he goes home to a small town in Ecuador where he runs a small bakery business.

It was really neat that there was such an international feeling and that the workers were so friendly and competent.  

We were just finishing up dessert when Adam called to join us after his show

Adam turning in his kid's club ID bracelet

Adam wanted a late evening snack