We walked across the ship to the forward section for a spa tour at Vista spa on deck 9, forward. We had my mom in the wheelchair still, but it was already proving difficult, there were narrow hallways/walkways and tons of high 'lips' in the floor that the chair kept catching on, so it was extremely frustrating for us all, especially my mom. Once in the spa, she got so upset, we decided we would just not use the chair again most likely. The spa was extremely nice and Nancy signed up for a massage that night. My mom and I signed up for a massage package for the next day. We also signed up for the rainforest pass- 2 of them for $65 or $15 a day- so we got the 2 for $65, which got us in the spa anytime we wanted to use the heated tile chairs, saunas (including a great aromatherapy one, extremely hot one and a dry one which i didn't even dare). there were also showers with settings for different things like rain, tropics and more. It was very relaxing, unfortunately it would turn out to be a waste of money as my mom and I only used it once due to our busy schedule. Next time, i'll buy it day by day instead.
After the spa, we headed to our rooms- it was now about 1:30 and rooms were ready. We went to my mom's first, which was about 6 doors down from us. She had a nice bag/basket waiting from Nancy, Mandy and I as a birthday present- yes, it was her birthday on Monday, 5/11!!!! We also each got a bag full of goodies from the DIS Podcast team and Dreams unlimited travel- including this cut Bon Voyage photo album/memory box. Our bags contained bottled water, chips, snacks, buttons, magnets and more. It was a nice surprise!! Nancy and I were in room 6522 and my parents were in 6534. The only difference in our rooms is that they had a verandah and we did not- just a large porthole window, which was fine for us- I was barely in the room! It is nice and large for a cruise (so i hear!) and has split bathrooms- one with sink/toliet and second with sink/shower/tub. Of course the toliet sounded like it might suck you down with it! 
There was a Carnival ship in port too with a cool tall waterslide. We ended up 'racing' them back to port too.
this is the Deck 9, Adult only pool and bar area. Very nice and we enjoyed that area a lot. Then at 3:30-4pm, it was time for the boat drill, which was highly efficient and fast!
Then we headed up to deck 10 to watch the Sail Away party- the cruise director, Christian came out and all our favorite friends, including Mickey. and then it happened, that sweet sound........the 'when you wish upon a star' ship horn. It brought a tear to my eye! I noticed it is even on a CD i got in my fish extender! 
After the sailaway party, we then had a welcome party with the DIS group at Wavebands at 5pm- it was more like 5:30, so we headed over and met the Podcast team and Dreams team. it was nice to put a face with a name! We enjoyed a drink and a bit of socializing, but we are a bit shy, so I didn't meet quite everyone I wanted to. Plus we were pretty beat and had a show to get ready for. The Golden Mickeys were at 6:15. I missed the cute 'red carpet' they have setup, since we got there just in time. The show was great and we highly enjoyed it!
our Podcast team
Beautiful glass in the lobby
After the Golden Mickey's show, it was almost time for our 8:15pm dinner seating. We had rotation APPT, which is Animator's Palate, Parrot Cay, Parrot Cay and Triton's. Basically Disney offers 4 sit down restaurants, so you eat at one twice during your stay. You dine with the same group each night and your serving team also rotates with you, so you have the same staff the whole time too. I had heard great things about the service on the ship.....so I was looking forward to that magical disney service- what they are known for, heck, I used to be a cast member giving it. So I had high expectations and well, our team just fell short. Victor from Thailand and Helen from the Bahamas were sweet, but just not great. Victor forgot my dessert the first night, so i waited while everyone else ate. He also couldn't remember who had ordered what and was delivering our dishes to the wrong person at the table- a big no no. So that was a bit disappointing. Animator's Palate was a lot of fun though- the walls are black and white, then slowly color is inserted by back lighting to show the full colorful scene around you at the end. Even the waitstaff start out in black and white, then change to color by night's end. So it was a lot of fun to experience. We were seated at a table of 8, but it seemed we were always 'hidden' behind a drink/bus station, where we never got a good view of the restaurant. We were very lucky to be seated with such great tablemates- Kathy and her mom Ann, as well as Kristen and Sandy, all from the disboards. We really enjoyed their company and learning more about them.
Here comes the 'food porn' as we call it. AS some of you know, I am not an exotic eater, more of a meat and potatoes type of girl. I don't eat a lot of vegetables and don't do seafood. So the vegetarian and seafood dishes were out for me. they offered a vegetarian dish each night, as well as at least 2-3 seafood selections, a chicken dish and a steak. So I decide on the pasta this night, topped with prosciutto and turkey. I thought the turkey was an odd choice, but it was good. I passed on the salad and soup as none of them appealed to me and well, I don't eat salad, everyone finds that so strange. LOL I had some sort of chicken flatbread for an appetizer.
We all laughed because my dad, who is an exotic eater, kept ordering chicken for dinner every night. He rarely does beef, due to gout, but I thought he might try some seafood, but nope, chicken every night, it became our little joke.
The flatties made an appearance at dinner too! Next to the drink of course!
Animator's Palate - we were also seated near the table where Jeff and his wife were seated with Todd and his roomate, which meant there was always something fun happening with Todd (see back of his head here). He got Kathy up to dance with him! And wore a tiara to dinner most nights. That thing looked like it hurt too!
And finally it was time for dessert.......I went with a chocolate cake and it was good, but not fabulous.
Dinner ended about 10:30pm and we were pretty pooped, so we just went back to the room to call it a night. Other folks were heading down to the clubs, but I was just too beat from all the early mornings and not sleeping well at night. A theme for this cruise for me was that it was just too busy, there was too much going on between the cruise itself (shows/dinner) and the DIS group events and then the ports. I was always on the go and rarely had 'sit by the pool' and relax time. I could have, but i really wanted to do the events I had signed up for, some of them were once in a lifetime type things that I would never have the chance to do again. I can always lay out by a pool. But it still made the entire cruise very busy and not really relaxing.
After the sailaway party, we then had a welcome party with the DIS group at Wavebands at 5pm- it was more like 5:30, so we headed over and met the Podcast team and Dreams team. it was nice to put a face with a name! We enjoyed a drink and a bit of socializing, but we are a bit shy, so I didn't meet quite everyone I wanted to. Plus we were pretty beat and had a show to get ready for. The Golden Mickeys were at 6:15. I missed the cute 'red carpet' they have setup, since we got there just in time. The show was great and we highly enjoyed it!
our Podcast team
Beautiful glass in the lobbyAfter the Golden Mickey's show, it was almost time for our 8:15pm dinner seating. We had rotation APPT, which is Animator's Palate, Parrot Cay, Parrot Cay and Triton's. Basically Disney offers 4 sit down restaurants, so you eat at one twice during your stay. You dine with the same group each night and your serving team also rotates with you, so you have the same staff the whole time too. I had heard great things about the service on the ship.....so I was looking forward to that magical disney service- what they are known for, heck, I used to be a cast member giving it. So I had high expectations and well, our team just fell short. Victor from Thailand and Helen from the Bahamas were sweet, but just not great. Victor forgot my dessert the first night, so i waited while everyone else ate. He also couldn't remember who had ordered what and was delivering our dishes to the wrong person at the table- a big no no. So that was a bit disappointing. Animator's Palate was a lot of fun though- the walls are black and white, then slowly color is inserted by back lighting to show the full colorful scene around you at the end. Even the waitstaff start out in black and white, then change to color by night's end. So it was a lot of fun to experience. We were seated at a table of 8, but it seemed we were always 'hidden' behind a drink/bus station, where we never got a good view of the restaurant. We were very lucky to be seated with such great tablemates- Kathy and her mom Ann, as well as Kristen and Sandy, all from the disboards. We really enjoyed their company and learning more about them.
Here comes the 'food porn' as we call it. AS some of you know, I am not an exotic eater, more of a meat and potatoes type of girl. I don't eat a lot of vegetables and don't do seafood. So the vegetarian and seafood dishes were out for me. they offered a vegetarian dish each night, as well as at least 2-3 seafood selections, a chicken dish and a steak. So I decide on the pasta this night, topped with prosciutto and turkey. I thought the turkey was an odd choice, but it was good. I passed on the salad and soup as none of them appealed to me and well, I don't eat salad, everyone finds that so strange. LOL I had some sort of chicken flatbread for an appetizer. 
We all laughed because my dad, who is an exotic eater, kept ordering chicken for dinner every night. He rarely does beef, due to gout, but I thought he might try some seafood, but nope, chicken every night, it became our little joke.
The flatties made an appearance at dinner too! Next to the drink of course!
Animator's Palate - we were also seated near the table where Jeff and his wife were seated with Todd and his roomate, which meant there was always something fun happening with Todd (see back of his head here). He got Kathy up to dance with him! And wore a tiara to dinner most nights. That thing looked like it hurt too!
And finally it was time for dessert.......I went with a chocolate cake and it was good, but not fabulous.
Dinner ended about 10:30pm and we were pretty pooped, so we just went back to the room to call it a night. Other folks were heading down to the clubs, but I was just too beat from all the early mornings and not sleeping well at night. A theme for this cruise for me was that it was just too busy, there was too much going on between the cruise itself (shows/dinner) and the DIS group events and then the ports. I was always on the go and rarely had 'sit by the pool' and relax time. I could have, but i really wanted to do the events I had signed up for, some of them were once in a lifetime type things that I would never have the chance to do again. I can always lay out by a pool. But it still made the entire cruise very busy and not really relaxing. Day 4- Nassau, Bahamas coming up next!!! Will Dad order chicken again? oh the suspense!
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