Day 18: The Journey Home

We woke up bright and early, around 6:00, and loaded up the suitcases. By 6:30, we were downstairs waiting for the bus to the train station. It was incredibly quiet at this hour of the morning. We saw absolutely no guests and maybe two or three cast members. The bus showed up after a few minutes and took us straight over to the train station. We arrived about 45 minutes before our 7:27 train departure, and quickly realized that the train station did not have heat. I found a machine to validate our tickets, and then we waited for our platform number to be listed. About 10 minutes before our departure, the platform number came up, and we headed downstairs. Our train was already there waiting, so we found our correct seats (unlike last time), and put our luggage overhead.

After a quick ten minute ride, we were pulling into the station at the airport. European transportation is awesome! We headed upstairs to find the same confusing check-in system as in Barcelona, but fortunately, we were in the know this time. We had a little bit of trouble scanning our passports, but were able to get it figured out with some help. Then, the lines began. First we had to wait in the bag check line, then the passport control line (why we did this on departure I will never know), then the security line (why was I the only one who had to take his shoes off, no one else did). Thank goodness we got to the airport three hours early. By the time we were done with the lines, it was only an hour and a half until our 10:40 flight.

We headed downstairs to the giant Air France club, which we were able to use with our Delta Sky Club membership. We grabbed a table and enjoyed a nice breakfast, since we had left Disney before breakfast started. Aside from an expansive food selection, the lounge had international newspapers and wifi, a perfect way to pass the time before our flight. From the lounge, we headed to our gate, where we had to wait in a line to get into the gate area, and then fight our way through the herd to board the plane. Even though we were flying on a 747, the world's second largest aircraft, they decided to board everyone at the same time. Once onboard, we had the good fortune to be able to spread out, since the plane wasn't full. Dad grabbed an exit row seat with several feet of legroom, and Mom and I took the window and the aisle of our row. It made for a much more comfortable flight.

Shortly after takeoff, we were served a delicious dinner of either meatballs or pasta, I chose the meatballs. In true French style, the meal came with fresh bread, a vast improvement over our bagged bread on the Delta flight. Several movies were shown overhead throughout the flight, 2 in English and one in French. They also had a self serve beverage station by the middle galley, which was both a great place to get a drink and a great place to stand up and stretch. I passed the time by trying to sleep and playing on my iTouch. Before I knew it, we were being served our pre landing lunch (ratatouille and turkey with a really delicious chocolate souffle type dessert), and started our descent into Atlanta. Overall, Air France was one of the most impressive airlines I have flown. They took great care of us on both of our flights. We had excellent service and excellent food. I can highly recommend them.

Upon landing, we were subjected to the always interesting processes of US Customs and Immigration. We had to pass through passport control, then wait 45 minutes for our bags, then pass through customs where they didn't even look at our forms, then turn our bags back over to the airport, and finally, pass through security again. It was incredibly aggravating. I don't know how the poor people who don't speak English figure out what they are supposed to do. It was bad enough being US citizens. We managed to make it to our flight with no problem, but discovered an incredibly busy airport with huge lines at the gate, and everybody looked angry. It turned out, that there had been a fire onboard one of the underground shuttles, and it had shut down the airport. A bunch of flights were delayed, and people were having trouble getting new flights. We had not been issued boarding passes, so we tried waiting in line, but were promised that our Air France boarding passes would work. Boarding time came, and our Air France boarding passes didn't work. Fortunately they let us stay right by the door as they printed our boarding passes. Problem solved. We hopped on the plane and headed for home.

We had a short, uneventful flight, and arrived in Orlando just a few minutes late. We were worried about our bags arriving, given our tight connection, but they appeared very quickly. The parking lot shuttle showed up in about 10 minutes, we grabbed our car, and headed for home. What an amazing trip!

Up Next: Some Final Thoughts

Day 17: Disneyland, Paris

We woke up around 9, we had to sleep in a little to recover from Paris, and then headed down to the Yacht Club to get breakfast. It was a little busier then the day before, but we managed to get a table after just a short wait in line. After breakfast we stopped in the store, and got some ideas for what we wanted to buy. After all, we so far hadn't bought a single souvenir on the trip. We got ready and then headed for Disney Studios. While we were waiting in line to get our tickets, I all of a sudden heard someone say "Mike, seriously!" I am thinking, we are in Paris, who on earth would know me. I turned around, and there was Dave from the ship. He was starting his vacation the day we got off, and had gone to Paris to meet his girlfriend. What are the odds? We chatted for a little while and then headed into the park.

Dad and I took a quick ride on Tower of Terror (same as Anaheim but still awesome), and then rode Rock N' Roller Coaster (different story line but same ride as Orlando). After that, we realized that we had pretty much seen the entire park. While Studios is a nice place to spend a few hours, it really needs to be looked at as another land of Parc Disneyland, there is not nearly enough to do to spend an entire day. We spent some time in the store, and started to realize that almost every store on property carried almost exactly the same things.

Next, we headed across the esplanade to Disneyland and headed straight for Discoveryland and Space Mountain. This ride is way different then in the US parks. It has an accelerated uphill launch and inversions. I would say it is a lot closer to Rock N' Roller Coaster then Space Mountain. Once we finished Space Mountain, we took a ride on Buzz Lightyear, and I vastly improved my score from the day before. Once we had finished our ride, we set off in search of lunch. We had seen some cool restaurants in Adventureland and Frontierland, so we headed over there to check out menus. All of the restaurants in Disneyland are absolutely beautiful, they went to great effort to build these restaurants. At least one restaurant in each land is table service, and some restaurants even had live entertainment (American country band playing in the barbecue restaurant). However, after checking several menus, and observing a very odd buffet, we noticed on the map that the new Pizza Planet restaurant offered a Pizza, Pasta, and Salad buffet. We headed back to Discoveryland where we started, and made one of the greatest discoveries of our trip, an all you could eat buffet for 16euro. YAY!

We headed inside and had a great conversation with the person at the register. She wanted to know all about Disney World, and how it compared to Disneyland Paris, as she had not had an opportunity to visit the US parks. We had a fantastic meal that even included a self serve soda fountain, I had a line of cups to prove it. With how much food we ate, I am sure that Americans will no longer be allowed in that restaurant, lol. From Pizza Planet we headed to the train station to take a ride to Frontierland but we found out that it was closed. This would become a trend throughout the evening, that everything started closing down well before the park, but there was nothing on the map or the schedule to tell you when something would be closing.

We started the hike back across the park to Pirates, and took another ride. Then, we explored Discovery Island, the pirate equivalent of Tom Sawyer's Island. Dad and I took a ride on the scariest ride ever, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. I definitely felt in peril, but not in the good we designed this ride well kind of way. I felt peril in the this rickety thing is going to fall apart and boy does it hurt to ride this kind of way. And they tell me this thing use to go backwards, that would have been a nightmare.

After Dad and I escaped peril we headed into Fantasyland to ride some more rides there, but alas, everything we wanted to try was either closed for the night or closed for maintenance. We then headed back to Frontierland (lots of walking in this park) and took a ride on Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor. Interestingly, we were the last group to ride Phantom Manor before it closed, even though the park didn't close for another hour. From there, we stopped by Casey's Corner to use our free soda coupons that came with lunch. The line was ridiculously long, so I ran to the deli where I was able to get our drinks in no time. We then decided to grab some ice cream, which turned out to be an excellent decision since it was Ben and Jerry's. We took a stroll through the Emporium and checked out the Liberty Arcade that runs behind the Main Street stores to help protect people from the French winters.

Once we were done in the Emporium, it was time to say goodbye to Parc Disneyland. We stopped in the Disneyland Hotel to check it out. It was probably the most Disneyesque of any of the hotels and was very fancy, but not quite my kind of place. We made a quick stop by the train station to buy our tickets for the following morning and then moved onto Disney Village and stopped in the Disney Store to buy all of our souvenirs. I really wanted a t-shirt, but adult males must not wear t-shirts in Europe because I could not find a single one.

We finished up our shopping and then quickly toured the rest of the hotels. We thought our hotel was weird, but it only got weirder. Our first stop was Hotel New York. This was where we had originally asked to stay. It was very nice, similar to the Swan or Dolphin, but not quite a Disney hotel. It was more what you would expect of a hotel in a big city. Then we went over to Hotel Cheyenne and Hotel Santa Fe, the two budget hotels. Hotel Cheyenne was like an old western town, and it was weird beyond belief. I can't even begin to describe it. We then went past Hotel Santa Fe, which resembled an old broken down apartment complex. Finally we arrived at Sequoia Lodge, which was the coolest, and most Disney like of all the hotels. Sequoia had a beautiful pool with a slide, and most of the rooms were in lodge buildings making it the only one of the six hotels to have grounds to explore. The lobby and the restaurants were beautiful. Well done Disney, I guess 1 out of 6 isn't bad.

Back at Newport Bay, we stopped by the store to grab the last few items we wanted, and then Mom and I went downstairs to check out the pool. As I mentioned earlier, we were staying on the Admiral's Floor. We were supposed to have a bunch of benefits such as a private dining room for breakfast, but all we really got was a special check-in desk, free pool towels (why do they charge for these anyways), a kettle (to appease the Brits), and a really nifty sign by the elevator telling everyone how special we are. The pool was a very nice indoor/outdoor pool, the outdoor part was closed until summer, with a giant ship and steering wheel. There was also an arcade and a fitness center located right by the pool. The one odd thing about the pool, arcade, fitness center area, was that it was down a long hallway on the first floor by a bunch of rooms. It was not connected to a public area. Also, there were only two doors in and out of the hotel, both from the main lobby. If you were staying at the end of a wing (the wings are really long) on the first floor, you had to go up to the second floor, all the way to the lobby, back down to the first floor, and out. I really don't know how Disney forgot their many years of experience when they were building this hotel.

After we finished exploring our unique hotel, we stopped by the front desk to exchange all of our euro coins for notes, and to ask what time the buses started running to the train station, since we had to leave very early. Then we did some packing, and went to bed.

Up Next Day 18: The Journey Home

Day 16: A Day in Paris

We woke up around 7:30 and headed down to the Yacht Club restaurant for breakfast. All of the Disneyland Paris hotels include free breakfast, a nice touch. We had a delicious meal of fruit, yogurt, chocolate croissants, and cereal (where have I seen this before, lol). The restaurant was pretty crowded, but we managed to survive just fine. Since the parks didn't open until 10, we were beating the rush. After breakfast we got ready and then hopped on the bus to the train station. We stopped at the Paris transportation ticket window to buy a 1 day Mobilis pass which allows you unlimited use of the Paris Metro and the RER commuter train system. After making our purchase, we headed downstairs and found a train waiting for us. Since Marne La Valle Chessy was a terminus on the RER A, we didn't have to worry about going the right direction.

We spent about 45 minutes on the A line as we crossed the countryside and headed into the heart of Paris. About 2/3 of the way, the train headed underground to enter the city center. We got off at Chatelet Les Halles, a massive underground station that was very difficult to navigate. Using my trusty iTouch we were able to find our way to RER B and ride for one stop to the Notre Name stop.

We popped above ground around 9:10, we had scheduled to meet Mary at 9 but Chatelet was confusing, and shortly after we met up with Mary. This was our first time seeing Paris, and it was even cooler then you expect. The metro stop where we had chosen to meet up was right on the river Seine, and we were given an incredible view of Notre Dame. The architecture is just amazing, and you know instantly that you are in Paris.

As we headed across the river to Notre Dame, Mary gave us a warning. Gypsy women will be walking around asking if you speak English, you must flat out ignore them or you will probably be robbed. This turned out to be good advice as we ran into these people almost instantly. If you are planning a trip to Europe, learn to avoid eye contact with these people and ignore anything they say to you. They never gave us any trouble when we ignored them. In front of Notre Dame, there was a giant bread festival going on, a true slice of Paris culture. We spent a while walking through Notre Dame and enjoying the incredible architecture. Incredibly, there was actually no charge for entering the cathedral, there was only a charge for climbing up top.

When we were done inside, we took a stroll through the gardens between the cathedral and the river to see the famous gargoyles and flying buttresses. What an incredible place. Around back, there was another large garden right on the river and something you rarely see in Europe, free bathrooms. After using the bathrooms, we headed to a metro stop and hopped across the city to Le Tour Eiffle. As we came up the steps from the metro station, we got our first sight of the tower. WOW! That is all you can say. No movie or picture can prepare you to see it in person. It is huge, much bigger then you expect, and located right next to the river. We walked under the tower and marveled at its immense size. There was a huge line for the elevator to the first floor (surprisingly, the line to walk up the tower was very short), but we had already planned on doing the Arc De Triumfe instead of Le Tour Eiffel.

We headed across the river to get some better pictures, and to enjoy a higher perspective on the tower, walking through the many vendors and entrepreneurs of Paris along the way. The view from the top of the hill was fantastic, and we soaked in the view for a while before hopping on the metro and heading to the Champs Elysses. After just a few stops on the metro, we were strolling along the Champs Elysses, taking in the sights and sounds of one of the most famous streets in the world. We were all starting to get hungry so we stopped at an Italian restaurant called Vesuvio. Yes, an Italian restaurant in France, don't judge us. We had a fantastic 3-course meal. I had an antipasti platter, a pasta sampler, and chocolate gelato for dessert. We also learned that it is possible to get tap water in Paris, if you ask nicely.

After lunch, we took the underground tunnel across the 8 lane traffic circle, and popped out under the Arc De Triumfe. We grabbed tickets, and started the climb towards the top (there is only an elevator available for disabled persons). There are three different levels within the arc, two inside and one outside. The first level had some displays and artwork, the second level had a gift shop and a mini Arc De Triumfe museum, and the third level was the observation deck. The view from the top was beyond belief. The Arc sits in the middle of a traffic circle connecting 8 roads, so you could see down every major Paris artery. We also had an incredible view of Le Tour Eiffel. Something funny happened well we were up there. I was wearing a Florida sweatshirt and all of a sudden I hear, Go Gators!!! Some people from Oviedo, FL were standing right behind me, what a small world. After spending a while soaking in the view, we headed back downstairs, taking a moment to stop at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

We crossed back under the traffic circle and hopped on the RER towards the Luxembourg Gardens. Mary's school was located right near the gardens, so she knew the area well. We stopped at a local bakery to get croissants and drinks, and then set in the garden. This was truly a magical experience. There were no tourists, and no crowds. We were surrounded by locals, enjoying a beautiful day in the gardens. The gardens themselves were just incredible. There were giant fountains, lawns, gardens, playgrounds, tennis courts, it just went on and on.

After sitting in the garden for a while, we hopped back on the RER and headed for the Louvre. Even if we didn't have time to go inside, we wanted to see it. We got off the RER at the Musee d' Orse, and walked down the river to the Louvre. I cannot begin to describe how large this museum is. It seems to go on, and on, and on. We also ran into many of the "do you speak English" women here. An interesting thing about the area, was that it holds one of the other three arcs of Paris. This arc, lines up directly with the Arc De Triumfe and the new Arc downtown, right along the Champs Elysees, very cool. We also got to see the famous glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre that caused so much outrage when it was constructed (almost as much as Le Tour Eiffel caused). It seems like the Parisians get outraged quite often.

We decided to try and see if we could take a boat ride on the Seine, so we squished ourselves onto the metro (it was rush hour), and rode for a few stops. We then had to switch to an even busier metro, but this wasn't so bad since the line rode outside, and we had a fantastic view of the tower. We walked down to the boat docks (the main boat company docks are by Le Tour Eiffel), but the times didn't work well, so we decided to just head for home. We walked Mary back to the metro station and said our goodbyes. What a wonderful tour guide!

We hopped on the RER C and had something scary happen. When we boarded the train, our tickets were inspected by the metro police (this was new to us), but we could tell they weren't looking for us. Onboard the train with us were three metro police and three conductors talking to someone in the corner. Even the Parisians seemed confused by what was going on. We were very glad that we had only three stops to go.

We managed to escape the C, and hopped on the B for one stop, and then boarded the A for the rest of the journey back to Marne La Valley Chessy. We had a beautiful ride through the country, our seats were on the second level of the train so we had a better view then in the morning. About 45 minutes later we were pulling into the station. We sure gave those metro passes a work out. We stopped at the New York restaurant again for dinner and then grabbed some sodas at McDonalds. After that, we headed back into the hotel, and once again collapsed into our ridiculously hard beds. I don't really think I have ever been this tired in my life, but it was worth it.

Up Next Day 17: Disneyland, Paris

Day 15: Disneyland Paris

We woke up around 8 and grabbed breakfast in the lounge. Chocolate croissants, cereal, yogurt, and fruit. What a delicious breakfast. Afterwards, we headed back to the room, packed everything up, and left for the terminal 3 RER station at 9:15, where we were meeting Mary at 9:45. When we arrived, I walked around the station, and Mary was already there. YAYAYAY!!!! It is so cool to see people you know in another country. We hopped on the CDGVAL and headed over to the TGV train station in Terminal 2. We arrived to find a long line for tickets, but fortunately we had almost an hour before our train ride. Somehow I became an English speaking tour guide and had multiple people from various countries asking me directions.

With Mary's help we got tickets for the 10:28 train and headed down to the platform. The train arrived right on time and we rushed on, because the TGV trains don't waste much time. We didn't realize that we had assigned seats, but fortunately no one needed the seats we were sitting in. After a quick 10 minute ride we arrived at Gare Marne La Valle Chessy, the train station within the Disneyland Resort. The train station is located right next to Downtown Disney and the bus stops for the hotels. Since we had several bags, we hopped on the bus, and about five minutes later, we were pulling up to our hotel, Disney's Newport Bay Club.

Newport Bay Club was designed by the same person that designed Yacht and Beach Club, and from the outside they look quite similar. From the inside they are very different. We headed into the lobby and found complete chaos. The lobby was way too small to handle the hotel and there was a huge line for the check-in desk. Fortunately we were staying on the Admirals Floor which had just a short wait for check-in. While waiting to check-in, Pluto walked by and high-fived Mary and I, gotta love Disney hotels. Adrien checked us in and was one of the nicest Disney employees we have encountered. He is hoping to work at Epcot in the France pavilion because he loves the United States. He gave us a fantastic room that was already available, room 5280. We headed upstairs to our room which was on the 5th floor and overlooking Lake Disney and Disney Village, beautiful view. The room, however, was a slightly different story. We were staying at the Disneyland Paris equivalent of a hotel like Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom, but if this hotel were at WDW, it would be an All Star. The British described the hotel well, cozy.

We dropped our stuff off in the room and then headed for Parc Disneyland. On the way, we got our first taste of the bizzaro-world Disney we found ourselves in. It all felt so familiar, and yet it was not at all familiar. Disney Village puzzled us, but I will get into more detail on this later. We arrived at the entrance to Parc Disneyland which is just incredible. The Disneyland Hotel sits right over the turnstiles, and in front of the hotel is a giant garden with flowers, a large pond, and a fountain. We had a little difficulty getting in, but finally got our tickets from guest services and made our way through the cast member entrance. After entering, you are standing between the train station and the Disneyland Hotel. Passing under the train station, we got our first view of Main Street and Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

While Main Street is extremely similar to the Magic Kingdom's Main Street, Sleeping Beauty Castle takes your breath away. It is sitting on a small hill surrounded by fountains and gardens. Absolutely incredible. Also, this Main Street still has cars and trolleys running up and down like the Magic Kingdom used to. After stopping to take several photos, we headed into Frontierland and rode Phantom Manor, followed by Big Thunder Mountain. Phantom Manor has an entirely different story line from the US parks, but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to note that they didn't have a narrator during the attraction, in an attempt to make the park accessible to multiple languages. Big Thunder Mountain certainly packs a punch. I was just starting to think how it seemed so similar to ours, and then we plunged at high speed into the abyss. The Mountain is situated in the middle of the river, similar to the location of Tom Sawyer's Island at the US parks.

After riding Big Thunder, we stopped at Fuente del Oro, a mexican restaurant in Frontierland, for lunch. In keeping with the European way of dining, all of the Disneyland restaurants offer prix fixed lunch menus that include an entree, a side, a drink, and dessert. I had chicken fajitas, crispy fries, churros, and a coke light. With the cast member discount, the prices were actually better then in the US. Overall, a very impressive meal.

From lunch, we headed through Adventureland and over to Pirates of the Caribbean. The ride is inside a giant fort behind a dense Caribbean jungle. I have to say, the theming in this park is absolutely incredible. Everything is just perfect, and it is clear that lot of effort went into this park. The line for Pirates takes you through a fort and then through a palm tree filled seaside lagoon before boarding. Similar to California, the ride sails by the Blue Lagoon restaurant before its first drop. Also similar to California, the ride has many segments that the Orlando ride does not including a second drop. This was a really fun ride.

After Pirates we headed through Fantasyland and over to It's a Small World. Fantasyland is huge in this park, and has a ton of unique rides, gardens, and waterways. It's a Small World is similar to Disneyland on the outside and even has the train run through it. On the inside, it was almost identical to its US counterparts, aside from being the only It's a Small World to have a tribute to the United States. From It's a Small World, we headed over to the castle to look around inside and go up to the balcony. The castle is incredible both inside and out. It even has a dungeon underneath where you can go see the dragon.

After exploring the castle, we went to Discoveryland to ride Buzz Lightyear, which was really cool. You can actually pick up the guns and point them at the targets, way easier to aim. We decided to check out Parc Walt Disney Studios so we hopped on the train at the Discoveryland station and rode to Main Street. Then we headed across the esplanade and into the Studios. The main entrance, stores, and restaurant are inside of a giant sound stage ready for any Hollywood Director. It is a neat effect and also helps protect you from the French winter. In the central courtyard of the park, was the famous Partners statue with Mickey and Walt. We decided to do Cinemagique, so we got in line and were seated shortly after. Cinemagique is a tribute to the Magic of the Movies and is unlike any show I have seen before. Martin Short is the star along with a French cast putting the show in two languages. I won't give anything away, but the show is not to be missed.

We then checked out the Armageddon special effects spectacular, which was anything but spectacular. I highly recommend you avoid this at all costs. I'm still not sure what happened. There was a lot of shouting in French, smoke, water from the ceiling, random fire bursts, and then the entire floor dropped. Very odd. It was getting late, so Mary and I took a quick ride on Crush Coaster, which was unexpectedly intense, but awesome, and then we headed out.

We wanted to grab dinner to we headed through Disney Village looking for some place to eat. What an odd collection of stores and restaurants. There are the traditional things such as Rainforest Cafe, Starbucks, the Disney Store, Planet Hollywood, a Movie Theatre, and McDonalds. Then, there is King Ludwigs, Billy Bob's Country Buffet, Buffalo Bill's Wild West and I am not kidding, Steakhouse. All of this and several other places, were rapped into the oddest looking and bizzaro Disney buildings ever. It was like Downtown Disney West Side gone wrong. Very strange.

We stopped at New York Deli to grab food, and it turned out to be a great decision. They also had the prix fixed menu, and we were able to use the cast member discount. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, fries (these people sure love their fries), and an apple beignet. After dinner, we dropped Mary off at the train station and then headed back to the hotel. We took the long way around Lake Disney passing the Characters in Flight hot air balloon ride, Hotel New York, and Sequoia Lodge. Once back at the hotel, we collapsed into our surprisingly hard beds. What a great day at Disneyland.

Up Next Day 16: Paris, France

Day 14: Off to Paris

After 10 amazing days onboard the Disney Magic, it was time to say goodbye. People often wonder if they can stand being on a ship for 7 days, let alone 10 days. Let me tell you something, 10 days still isn't enough time. This was once again, the best cruise ever.

We woke up around 7:30 and headed to Parrot Cay for breakfast at 8:00. A nice benefit of late dinner is that you get to have later breakfast times. Since our flight wasn't until 12:30, we were not in a rush. We had the table to ourselves, and enjoyed one last meal with Summer and Igor. Willy stopped by to say goodbye to us, and wish the Gators luck in the coming year (Willy is a big Gator fan). We said goodbye to Summer and Igor, and headed down the gangway. On the way out the ship, we stopped to thank Brent for a great cruise, and let him know how well shore excursions had taken care of us. After our difficulties in both Pisa and Villefranche, we had left comments with the shore excursions team. The managers took great care of us on both accounts.

Once off the ship, we grabbed our bags (no immigration since we were coming from another EU country) and breezed by customs. There was an insanely long line for taxis, but they kept it moving pretty well, and we headed for the airport. I had read that the Barcelona airport could be pretty confusing, and that turned out to be very true. Fortunately, our driver did know where Air France was and dropped us off by their check-in area. European airports are set up much differently then most US airports. You must first find an e-ticket machine that serves your airline (not necessarily the one next to your airline that has a huge line, look around a little) and then get in a slow moving line to check your baggage. If you are flying out of Europe, I highly recommend online check-in. It will save you a good deal of time.

Once checked in, we headed through security, where we did not need to take off our shoes or remove our liquids. It was very nice. Past security there was a giant shopping mall and a large food court. We stopped at a really expensive pizza restaurant for some lunch. This airport definitely took advantage of the term "airport prices." They made Disney look cheap. We headed towards our gate and discovered that gate assignments are not posted until about 15 minutes before boarding, since all of the gates are shared by all airlines. All we knew is that we were in concourse B. So, we grabbed some seats in B and waited for our gate to show up. We lucked out, and were only about 5 gates away from our flight.

Boarding was a bit chaotic, as they just boarded everyone at once, but we made it onto the plane and to our three aisles seats that we had found at check-in. Air France was an impressive airline that included free drinks and sandwiches in flight. The sandwich was a bit odd (seafood sandwich), but it was food nonetheless. In no time we were landing at Paris CDG and were waiting for our bags. Our bags came fairly quickly and then we walked over to the train station and grabbed the CDGVAL shuttle that runs between terminals. This brought us right to terminal 3 where our hotel (and several other hotels) was located. The Hilton was absolutely beautiful and we were able to upgrade to a larger room that also had access to the executive lounge meaning free food, drinks, and most importantly, computers with free internet.

We brought the bags up to the room and spent some time reorganizing our stuff. Mom and I went down to the lobby to see if they had an electrical converter, but they did not. Back at the room, we grabbed Dad and headed over to the lounge to grab drinks and snacks. They had two computers and it was so good to finally be able to check facebook and emails at our leisure. Around 5 we headed down to the lobby so I could call Mary and set plans for tomorrow. After that, we headed over to the TGV train station via the CDGVAL to get a general idea of how things would work the next day. We decided to grab food in the airport, since we had heard the prices at the Hilton were pretty rough. We finally found a little cafe where we bought ham and cheese sandwiches and chips, which we brought back to the hotel to eat. We had dinner in the executive lounge and then I spent some time working on blogs well Mom and Dad went back to the room. After getting several things written I went back to the room and collapsed into bed.

Up Next Day 15: Disneyland Paris

Day 13: A Second Day at Sea

I slept in until 10. It was so nice to have a relaxing morning after a hectic seven days. We had Palo brunch reservations at 10:30, so we got ready and then headed upstairs. We had made plans to join Mike and Susan and I had talked with the matre'd to arrange for us to all be seated together. We met up with them at Palo, and were given a great booth right by the food. We finally had Sasha as a server. I had heard about him from many people, so it was great to finally get to experience him. He took us on a tour of the buffet and then we dug in. We ordered several pizzas and entrees. At one point Sasha asked us if there was anything we were missing. I decided I was missing a tilapia. I love cruising. At dessert time, we had already filled our plates, but Sasha brought us an entire plate of even more desserts. So incredibly full.

After brunch, I headed down to Rockin' Bar D for the Adventures by Disney presentation. We were on the first DCL cruise that included an Adventures by Disney tour, so the presentation was hosted by the onboard Adventure Guides. It was a great presentation, and I really would love to go on one of the tours. After the presentation I walked around for a while before running into Hilda, Tim, and Jenny in the atrium. The activity selection was very limited for the day, so we walked around for a while and then hung out with David and DJ Matt by the adult pool. There were supposed to be pool games, but they were cancelled due to the cold weather. As a side note, throughout the morning the seas had been very rough, but the Captain had sped up. By this time, we were sitting just offshore of Spain, not moving, hiding from the weather in a bay.

Tim and Jenny had to head out so I grabbed some ice cream and headed back to the room. Mom and I decided to go down to Diversions to play games. Most of the games had disappeared, so we played checkers, and Mom destroyed me. After Diversions, we headed to the theatre to watch Disney Dreams. They have made several changes to the show, and it was much better then the last time we saw it. I headed off to the Promenade Lounge to work on blogs, but ran into Hilda and ended up talking with her for a half an hour right up to dinner. Dinner was in Parrot Cay, and it was actually the first time we ever had dinner in Parrot Cay on the last night of the cruise. Service was a little slow, the beef was backing up in the kitchen, but we had a good time and enjoyed the farewell parade. Summer got me a huge slice of Baked Alaska, and then I headed off to catch the end of Till We Meet Again.

After Till We Meet Again it was time for Pub Night, and what a Pub Night it was. Dave was the tennis player, Neville was the funniest taxi driver I have ever seen, and Oscar was a hilarious undertaker. Oddly, for the first time in three cruises I did not end up on stage. I am losing my touch. Once the show ended my friends and I all spent a while taking pictures with the cruise staff and each other. I ran up to Studio Sea to say goodbye to Katrina and Hilda who were running karaoke, and then I joined everyone in Diversions for a couple games of mafia. It was a ton of fun and helped me forget the last night of cruise sadness. The girls went to bed, so Tim, Warren, and I played one last game of Jenga, right by several of the senior officers who were hiding in Diversions, and then I headed for bed.

Up Next Day 14: Off to Paris

Day 12: Ajaccio, Corsica

After a great night of sleep, we woke up around 9 and headed down to Parrot Cay for breakfast. We were seated by Kendall and saw Sammy working the dining room. During breakfast, there was a crew drill going on, so half of the crew was running around in life jackets, including Sammy. As we were leaving breakfast he pretended to save us, right before the abandon ship siren sounded and he had to take off. We spent some time out on the Verandah admiring the view. We were amazed at how beautiful Corsica is. It has the look of a Mediterranean city, with the blue water, mountains, and palm trees of the Caribbean. We went ashore around 10, and stopped by the tourism office to see if there were any internet cafes, since we were getting really desperate for internet. There was only one in town so we headed off in search of it.

We finally found the internet cafe after a few wrong turns/a scenic walk, and discovered that they had internet but no computers. There were no tables available, so I tried to see if I could log onto the internet. Fortunately, my friend Matt, the DJ onboard, was just leaving and gave me the wifi code. We checked all of our emails and facebooks to make sure there were no problems at home. After leaving the internet cafe we walked through the sea side plaza with the many statues of Napoleon (Corsica was Napoleon's birthplace). We then took a walk down the palm tree lined seaside promenade, just incredible.

Around 1:00 we headed back to the ship to grab some lunch at Topsider's. The meal was delicious and the view was incredible. It was also a very warm and comfortable day, compared to some of our colder days earlier in the trip. After lunch, Dad headed back to the room to take a nap, while Mom and I went back ashore to take one last stroll through town. After all, Corsica was our last port on the cruise. We stopped in a grocery store to grab some wine for Dad, and then I grabbed some chocolate gelato using my limited knowledge of French. Fortunately I ended up with what I wanted. When we walked over to the water we saw something funny. There were these two macho guys grabbing dart guns and strapping knives to their legs to go fishing, but the moment the water hit them, they lept in the air. It was really funny. During our last stroll along the waterfront, I was rambling on in Spanish, and some Magic passengers thought I was foreign. When I offered to take their picture in front of the Magic, they were shocked that I spoke in English. At least I can convince Americans I speak Spanish well. We saw Slobodon, our assistant server from spring break, heading back to the ship and chatted with him for a while. Mom and I barely recognized him in normal clothes.

We headed back onboard the Magic, and noticed a special offer for deck massages, that was too good to pass up. I went to the spa and set up an appointment for my first ever massage. While we were waiting, the pizza chef Marjorie, made a Blue Cheese and Spinach pizza just for us. She and Mom had talked before, and said that she would be happy to make one for us whenever. It was absolutely delicious, and a very magical moment. After that it was time for a half an hour deck massage by the adult pool. The temperature outside was great, and it was a perfect way to unwind after 7 straight port days.

Tonight was semi-formal night, and the new Villains Tonight show which had just prem-EARed a few cruises before ours. As a huge fan of Hercules the Muse-ical, I was very excited to see the show. I enjoyed the show, and it was a million times better then Toy Story, but it still wasn't up to par with DCL's other shows. The music and sets were fantastic, but the lines were very awkward and the jokes were a little weak. You really have to wonder what happened to DCL's show writing. After dinner I went up on deck to watch us sail away from Ajaccio and had a beautiful view of the Corsican mountains as we sailed away. Then I headed downstairs to the Promenade Lounge, in my nightly tradition, to listen to the band play and work on my blogs. Around 8:30 I headed upstairs to Animator's Palate for the Captain's Gala dinner, aka lobster night. I had a delicious dinner of lobster, venison, and chocolate lava cake. It doesn't get much better then that.

After dinner we headed to Rockin' Bar D for Danny Buckler's magic and comedy cabaret show. I can say without a doubt, that Danny Buckler had the funniest act I have ever seen at sea. And I have seen some really funny acts. I was in pain from laughter. After the show, I talked with Danny at the bar for a while. He is a big improv guy so we talked comedy for about half an hour while the Disco Legends dance party got under way. After a while I headed over to Diversions to join my gang for some card games. After the girls went to bed, we all stayed to play giant Jenga. We could have gotten a few more levels, but we were on a ship and it had to keep rocking. Around 1, it was off to bed.

Up next Day 13: A Day at Sea