Tortola

Our first port day was Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. 

Beautiful, right?  Jason took that picture because he was a go-getter and got up early to watch us dock.  I was snoozing.

Breakfast before excursion time.  Mindy’s cruise travel tip #3:  when they say “meet in the theater at 10am for your excursion,” that means “be in the theater at 9:45 so you hear instructions about all-aboard time because if you show up at 10:00 on the dot your excursion group is already walking off the ship.”  Not sure why so punctual this year, as last year we waited a long time at the meet-up points to be dismissed. Something about covid, I’m sure.

Step one was to take a very quick selfie in front of the BVI sign,

and then board our water ferry.

This was the only day we had kind of icky weather. It was cloudy and spitting rain while we rode to Virgin Gorda, but it cleared up after a bit.  See: sunshiney photos below.

Travel tip #4:  If you’re on the back seat of a boat and there’s no wall behind you, not even a raised lip, don’t put your snorkel mask under your seat or it will disappear into this at high speed:

(It’s ok. It was only one of us and that one who would least mourn its loss.  And it wasn’t our government-issued ID, thank God.)

Once on Virgin Gorda, we debarked the ship and boarded open-air mini-buses, which took us to where we could begin our hike to The Baths.

With scenic overlooks!

And cute little lizards

After a brief swimming stop at one very beautiful beach, where we snorkeled some and explored little tidal caves between the boulders; we hiked some more on a path that wound in and out through little spaces between boulders and cool shallow waters in the shade to another beach.

At the second beach we did what might be called “white-water snorkeling,” meaning the waves may possibly bash your brains out on the boulders you’re swimming between.  It was exciting.  Overall The Baths was gorgeous and not quite like anything I’ve seen before.

A hike, mini-bus ride, and boat ride later, during which I may or may not have fallen asleep with my head on a table, we arrived back on Tortola, where Jed and Ada came with me to stroll the little strip of shops while keeping a VERY CLOSE WATCH on the time, making sure we were back on board an hour before all-aboard.

A coffee break with Ada was very welcome.  Swimming, white-water snorkeling, hiking, sunburning, boating, clinging to the bars of a mini-bus that lacked basic safety features [like a door or wall or floor or seat belt separating me from the ground going past at 50mph], worrying about missing all-aboard and getting left behind, spelunking watery caves…all made me somewhat fatigued by afternoon.

Sunset over BVI

Apparently Tortola day was also Pirate Night, which I didn’t know was a thing on every Disney cruise, except, apparently, during covid times.  They left us pirate bandanas in our room when we had the day’s cleaning service, which was very fun.  Somehow after spending the day hiking and swimming in the Caribbean sun and then getting I-don’t-know-what-they-put-in-that-drink at the adult bar, my perception of Pirate Night was about as fuzzy as this pic I took during the pirate deck party.

Piratey fireworks, arrr. 

Time to drink lots of water and go to bed, because next day was an early port call!

Pixar Day at Sea

We embarked on Saturday; Sunday and Monday were sea days while we motored south.  Monday was also Pixar Day at Sea.  

Most of us didn’t go all out like we did for Star Wars Day last year, but I wore my Nemo suit and Lizzy had her Disgust costume (from Inside Out).

Our sea days were spent searching out and then holding on for dear life to scarce deck chairs; kids skipping off to kids’ club; snacking; lounging; soaking in the pool in front of the big screen; playing mini golf; and generally doing whatever we felt like.

We had second seating this year for dinner—8:15!—which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the sunset.

And practice our selfie faces

The late-night Pixar deck party/fireworks show was very cool.

I can’t remember now if it was this night, but the lack of Liz and Caleb in this picture make me wonder if this was the time they went back to kids’ club and stayed until it closed at midnight.

It was a fine week of anything goes.  Wear a fish costume to dinner?  Sure.  10- and 12-year-olds out on their own til midnight?  Why not?  Ice cream for lunch?  Who cares?  Sounds great.

Sail away

Hey!  We went on a cruise.

We’ve been home long enough now that I’ve sorted through our laundry and even most of our photos.  My tan is fading and I have my feet back underneath me, both in terms of sea legs wearing off and remembering how to function in real life.

I feel refreshed and unusually un-depressed for early March.  But I also feel proud of us that we pulled it off.  We didn’t get covid at the last minute!  We didn’t miss the flight, or the boat!  We didn’t get arrested going through security!  We didn’t lose our passport and get indefinitely stranded in a foreign country or an airport terminal!

All valid concerns.

Mindy’s cruise travel tip #1:  arrive at the airport early.  And by that I mean, definitely the day before the ship leaves, but also multiple hours before the plane leaves.

Travel tip #2:  Find a nearly deserted gate with wraparound windows looking out to the runway, spread out, and relax.

Some of us need time to recover from the fear of getting arrested in security. 

[In what other circumstance in life do you have panicked thoughts like, “Do I have any explosives in my back pocket that I forgot about?]

Boarded, stowed, buckled and away we go!

It was so sunny and mild in Florida that we were already thrilled with the change.  We walked to dinner from the hotel and ate outside!

There being only one choice of shuttle time from the hotel to the port, we arrived well before our official boarding time and found a spot on the patio to wait it out for a couple hours. 

But lo, we were directed to join the line and ended up making our way through customs, security, and the terminal so quickly that I was astonished to find ourselves onboard by lunchtime!

Last year’s embarkation was such a protracted and arduous journey that I was prepared for an exhausting experience, with granola bars, water bottles, fully charged devices, and numerous warnings for the kids to prepare to be patient.  We were overjoyed to find it so painless.

It was a great time for the kids to hop on the Aqua Duck.

And for me to enjoy a Mickey cappuccino.

Last year Disney skipped the famed Sail Away party, and all events on deck were socially distanced.

Not so this year.  The only spot we could find to squeeze in was behind the stage, so we had a good view of the dense crowd.

More thrilling to me than the Sail Away party was the actual sailing away.  Watching us thread our way methodically out of port meant vacation had truly started.

SpaceX launch site

Happy though we were to make it a family vacation, there were times here and there when the kids were all occupied and we slipped away briefly to an adults-only lounge.

Our dinner servers knew that this trip was to celebrate Jeddy’s imminent graduation, so they gave him a special dessert that was garnished with a chocolate that had “congratulations” printed on it, which Jeddy then stuck to his shirt.

Congratulation indeed to Jeddy, and to us for getting him this far, and for having a fabulous send-off trip.