8/4 Magic--Day 2--Sunday—at sea

[miksicnarf]

I slept pretty well the first night, but I was awakened by some noise from the deck above. I’m not sure exactly what time it was, somewhere between 5:00-7:00 a.m. I was afraid that would be something I’d have to deal with all week, but as it turned out that was the only morning I heard anything. Alex woke up at 9:00 with a slight nosebleed, no problem. I called room service and ordered French toast and OJ for her, and two thermoses of coffee for Michael and I. The Oceaneers Lab was scheduled to be in Common Grounds this morning at 10:00 and Alex wanted to go. After taking my time and relaxing on the verandah with my coffee, I laced up my sneaks and headed down to deck 4 where I did my usual three mile walk (12 times around deck). There were just a handful of other walkers and joggers. The painting we’d smelled the day before during the safety drill was going on on both sides of the ship. I heard the ship’s whistle at noon, just as I was finishing up.
Back at the room, the boys were just getting up. We all went to the Italian buffet at Topsiders (as was usually the case, the food was just OK; desserts were much better!). Alex and I then went to the DIS meet in the Promenade Lounge at 2:00, where we met Starwood, Blueyze, DisneyJen, the Tecdavidts, and I believe MinnieMaid. It was great to finally see them, and we had a nice chat
I went to the Quiet Cove pool for a short time, where a belly flop contest was taking place. Then Alex and I went to the DVC members social in Off Beat at 4:00. That was a fun time! We were given DVC ball caps as we entered, and free drinks. We played a Jeopardy-like game based on DVC, with prizes awarded in about 6 different categories, with values from 100-500 points. The 100 point prize was something like a luggage tag, and the 500 point prize was a DVC beach towel with a picture of the ship on it, with other prizes falling in between. The game was very informal, with members shouting out answers to others so everyone won a prize. Alex was called on early in the game, so I told her to choose DVC Locations for 500. The question was “What is the newest DVC location that’s available for reservations?” I told her the answer—Villas at Wilderness Lodge, and she was thrilled to win the beach towel
Michael had gone to play bingo at 3:15, but had no luck. Alex and I went to check out the gift shops. She wanted a model of the ship, so I bought her that for $25 along with a DCL pin for myself. The captain will be signing the model ships on Thursday. We also stopped at Shutters and bought our boarding photo.
Again, the guys weren’t interested in going to the show—I’m not real sure what they were doing all day, other than Mikey was playing basketball. So only Alex and I went to see Hercules, and we both really liked it.
Then it was time to get ready for formal night. Although they grumbled and complained, the boys looked mahvahlous in their suits even though they had to wear sneakers with them…hehehe. Michael wore his tux with the Mickey bowtie and cummerbund I’d bought him, Alex wore a long black skirt and a black camisole with a purple silk shirt over it and I wore a long gown with an ivory, pearl-studded bodice and black skirt. We all cleaned up pretty nice! We posed for a photo in front of helmsman Mickey, then went into Lumiere’s for dinner. Michael bought a bottle of port wine, following much discussion and learning that not all the wines on the list were available. I don’t remember what everyone had for dinner, but I can tell you that my entrée was my favorite of the cruise—the pork tenderloin with peppercorn sauce and polenta. Tres yum! Michael tipped both Aleksander and Antonia, hoping this would help improve our service for the rest of the week. It failed After dinner I was able to talk everyone into posing for another photo, this time with the ship background.
I had a scheduling conflict tonight—I wanted to see Castaway at 11:15, but didn’t want to miss the dessert buffet at 11:30. Michael and Andrew offered to hit the buffet and bring dessert back to the room for me, so I instructed them to focus on anything gooey Mikey went off to Common Grounds, and Alex came with me to the movie. She fell asleep about halfway through, and I had a heck of a time getting her out of there. Back at the room, desserts awaited—and how! Two plates piled high with goo. I sampled a few things, and I think Alex did too. It was after 2:00 a.m. and we couldn’t power through as much as we would have otherwise, so we saved the rest in the refrigerator. The next day we got to hear Michael's story of procuring these treats: He and Andrew went to Lumiere's and got in the buffet line, each with a plate. Remembering that I was particularly interesting in gooey things, they proceeded to load up their plates.
Michael: Do you think this one qualifies as gooey?
Andrew: Yeah, better get 2 of those.
Michael: Look out, that one's sliding off your plate!
Andrew: Whew, saved it!
With plates piled high, they began to negotiate their way back to the room. As they walked down the hallway, carefully balancing the precious desserts, they heard footsteps behind them. They'd gotten plenty of dirty looks in the restaurant, so they felt guilty about absconding with the goodies. The footsteps came faster...Michael and Andrew walked faster...soon they could see the man approaching behind them...
Michael: Hurry, Andrew!
Andrew: I can't go any faster, I'm losing pie!
Michael: Shoot, we're busted!
Man: Hey!
Michael: Oh, no...
Man: Hey, you guys!
Michael, resigned: Yeah?
Man: Where'd you get all those desserts? That looks awesome!
Michael: Whew!