A Trip Around The World + An 11-Night Fantasy Trip to Paradise! June 14-28, 2017! *COMPLETED 8/24*


Picture of my Dad and I in front of Spaceship Earth.
Ahhh reppin Sporting KC and the Royals!! That is a great pic of you and your dad!

You jam packed soooo much into your trip thus far (speaking of all the updates you given) I'm tired for you :faint::rotfl:

It was way too early to drive to the airport! However, whenever I fly to Orlando, these early flights are a lot more manageable since I know where I’m going (Walt Disney World). :)
I hate waking up real early but my preferred time to fly when I'm heading out to my vacation destination is the morning. It doesn't always happen though.

In September our flight to MCO leaves at 7:10am (the earliest flight wasn't a non-stop and we prefer non-stop). But we're also going to Vegas in October (technically a work trip for my husband that we're extending to a vacation and my mom is joining us as well) and that flight leaves KCI at 5:50am so it'll be an early early morning for sure. I'll probably be able to sleep on the plane for the Vegas trip but I'm not so certain I will be able to for WDW--the excitement will be too high :hyper:

We arrive at All-Star Sports, and even though we got a text saying our room wasn’t ready, we went to the check-in desk anyways. We were able to get a preferred room like we purchased, but didn’t get a high level room. We were ok with that, so we were able to have a room at 10 a.m.
How did you like the resort and the room?? I know when online check in pops up for our upcoming trip I'm going to request third floor myself. Currently we have a Preferred room booked though that was a switch from Standard to Preferred when room discounts came out.

After Tower of Terror, it was time to see Fantasmic with the dining package!
The last time we went in 2011 this is what happened the night we were trying to see Fantasmic:
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Several delays and lightning in the sky later....it was cancelled for us :sad1::sad2:. I'm really hoping we get to see it in September but the only irritation is the Star Wars show would basically overlap with Fantasmic. I really wish they would spread them out a bit more especially with the pre-show they've got going on just before the Star Wars show starts. Right now Fantasmic is at 8:30 and Star Wars is at 9:00pm.

Splash Mountain is one of our favorite rides especially on a hot Florida day!
I'm super jealous since Splash is closed for our trip :sad:. It is a good ride for sure.

we were on our way to see some ghosts in the Haunted Mansion!!!
I love love love Haunted Mansion. When Grim Grinning Ghosts pops up on my Spotify playlist or on Pandora or on my YouTube playlist my husband just shakes his head. He just doesn't understand :laughing:

No trip to the Magic Kingdom is complete without relaxing on the PeopleMover!
Oh you already know PeopleMover is one of my fav rides. I agree no trip is complete without going on it at least once....or you know multiple times :D

The first place we went to in Animal Kingdom was Pandora
I have really enjoyed seeing everyone's photos of Pandora. Nice to hear you enjoyed the land and FoP and I can't wait to experience it :-)

we left Pandora to see my favorite Disney Theme Park show, the Festival of the Lion King!
Sooo after some more looking into it myself and showing my husband some stuff about it we decided to put Festival of the Lion King on our list of things to do!! Really all the talk about it at dinner at Cheddars made me look into it more. Glad I did :-)
 
Day 2: Am I in a Rainforest? - Part 2!

The rain has started to fall!



After the safari, we had a Rivers of Light Dining Package booked at Tiffins. Tiffins is absolutely amazing, and it is also the only restaurant on property that recognizes previous guests with special gifts. We got a letter on our table saying welcome back, special cookies to take with us after we dined, and the picture (Picture might change based on the day) that everyone gets if they eat at this restaurant. So, the appetizer I got was a lobster Popcorn Thai Curry Soup, and it was absolutely delicious! The entree I ordered was the scallops. It was really difficult to order something other than the wagyu beef, because that is some of the best beef I have ever had anywhere. I was feeling seafood this particular night though. The dessert I chose was a chocolate gnash, and it was really good. The dining package cost $67 per person.
Definitely worth the price!













After we ate, we walked through the rainforest (Animal Kingdom) like everyone else and went to ride Dinosaur.





I was praying the rain would stop before Rivers of Light all day. As of 7:00 p.m, the rain was still going strong.



What do you do when it is still raining, you go see your favorite show again, the Festival of the Lion King! I was able to get a fastpass for this showing. I changed our 3rd fastpass to this instead of going on Kali River Rapids in the rain.



After Festival of the Lion King, it was time to go get a spot for Rivers of Light! So, we started making our way to the theater. On the way, we got a great view of the Tree of Life.



There was also some great news! The rain decided to stop at 8:30 p.m. even if the forecast still showed rain until 10 p.m. After praying all day, Rivers of Light started at 9:15 p.m, and we were sitting in the first dining package section in the 3rd row. Great seats!











I find Rivers of Light to be a fantastic show. It is beautifully done, and I feel like it is the right “kiss goodnight” for Animal Kingdom. As a musician, I really like the music score. This is quickly becoming my 2nd favorite show on Walt Disney World property.

When Rivers of Light was finished, I went on my favorite ride on Walt Disney World property, Expedition Everest. I was able to get a 4th fastpass for this ride. This ride is so much better at night!





This was a great afternoon and evening in Animal Kingdom besides all of the rain. The rain actually dropped the temperature to the 70’s which made walking around the park really enjoyable. There are so many aspects to this park that I love. The details are just incredible and that is probably what makes it my favorite of the 4 Walt Disney World Theme Parks. I also really enjoy this park at night.



Well, day 3 of my trip was fast approaching, so I decided to head back to All-Star Sports at that time and get some sleep. Since I have now been to all 4 Walt Disney World Theme Parks on this trip, which one would I be going to for my last full day at the parks?
 
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Day 3: Traveling to the Future and Around the World (Showcase)! - Part 1!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the 3rd day of my fantastic Disney World vacation!

Today, we traveled to EPCOT which stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired. Just kidding. EPCOT actually stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Today was an interesting day, because we decided to switch our schedule while we ere in Animal Kingdom on Day 2. We originally were going to park-hop to Magic Kingdom after our dinner reservation and use our fastpasses over there. Well, we decided we would rather see Illuminations on our final evening at the World, so that prompted me to change our fastpasses for EPCOT suddenly. So, what fastpasses could I get almost last minute at EPCOT, keep reading to find out.







Welcome to Future World at EPCOT!

Up first, we went and did stand-by for Soarin. I’m a bigger fan of the California film than the new Around the World film. There is way to much CGI in the new film which makes me think it lack authenticity (2 places you visit are completely CGI).



Up next, we had a fastpass for Living with the Land! It definitely wasn’t needed since it was a walk-on. I usually use my 3rd fastpass for Mission Space, but since that is closed on this trip, I decided to just get a fastpass for Living with the Land.







After riding Living with the Land, we had a fastpass for Spaceship Earth, so we headed towards the great big golf ball!



Then my Dad needed his Starbucks.



Next, we had fastpasses for Test Track. However, Test Track was down all morning, so we were not able to ride. We decided to wait and use our “anytime” fastpass after dinner if it is up and running at that time…Sadly, Test Track never opened at all on this day. You will see what we did instead later in this report.

We then walked to World Showcase!



We were on our way to eat lunch when they had a surprise character palooza between Italy and the American Adventure pavilions. The characters out were Daisy, Rafiki, Minnie, Chip & Dale, Winnie the Pooh, and Baloo. I ended up getting my picture with Rafiki and Chip & Dale. I was so happy to see a Lion King character in EPCOT. Please keep in mind that this is always a surprise. Disney doesn’t always do this and the location can always change. Disney magic at its best!







We ate lunch at Katsura Grill in Japan. This is a great quick service option, and it is sorta hidden in the Japan pavilion. That can make eating at this quick service location peaceful. The entree I chose to get was the chicken teriyaki. It was really good. I really like Asian cuisine, and I would choose this quick service option over the one in China if you are looking for Asian cuisine.





After eating lunch, it was time to go listen to my favorite singing group, the Voices of Liberty! They sing daily in the American Adventure pavilion underneath the rotunda. They are absolutely amazing! This was also the day where I would be sitting in the American Adventure all afternoon to listen to them.





I ended up listening to the 12:20 p.m, 1:05 p.m, 1:50 p.m, 2:35 p.m, 3:20 p.m, and 4:05 p.m. performances by the Voices of Liberty. You might wonder why I like to sit in the American Adventure all day to listen to them? Well, when i can sit in an air conditioned room in the afternoon, hear my favorite singing group, and stay out of the rain, it’s a great afternoon for me! They also sing different songs each set, so for me to hear all of my favorites, I need to go to several performances. I am also musician/singer, so this is what I like to do.



After the Voices of Liberty, it was time for dinner! By this point, the rain that had been going all afternoon has pretty much stopped. So, it made it for a nice relaxing walk to the restaurant we were eating at that evening.

*Day 3 continued on the next post*
 
Day 3: Traveling to the Future and Around the World (Showcase)! - Part 2!

We had dining reservations at my Dad’s favorite restaurant, the Rose & Crown. I’m not the greatest fan. but our family comes from an English background, so i feel like it’s a cool thing for us to do on each trip. I will say that I shockingly enjoyed my meal more this time around than previous experiences at this restaurant. You can’t go wrong with the fish & chips which is what I ended up ordering as my entree. I was actually still hungry after the entree that I ordered the sticky toffee pudding for dessert. The dessert was excellent. Highly recommend it.







We then travelled to one of my favorite pavilions, Canada! We saw the Circle Vision video, O’ Canada.







After Canada, a Cast Member at Test Track told me that it might not open today (6 p.m.) at this point. Test Track actually never opened at all today. So, we decided to get pictures with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy at the Character Spot with our anytime fastpass.







When we were finished taking pictures with characters, we travelled to Mexico to ride Gran Fiesta Tour.





Next, we travelled to China and saw Reflections of China which is the Circle Vision movie in China. While we waited for the movie, the Chinese Acrobats came out to perform. They were really good!





After China, we travelled World Showcase until we got to France.







We decided to see Impressions De France for the first time. That was an interesting film.



After we saw the movie, we made our way over to the fastpass viewing area for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. We were able to get a 4th fastpass for Illuminations. Illuminations is also our favorite nighttime show at Walt Disney World.









Illuminations was amazing as always even if we were standing in the direction of the wind! EPCOT was also a great way to spend our last full day at Walt Disney World.



I’ll be traveling to one more park in the morning before our Disney Cruise transportation picks us up from our resort. Which one will it be?
 


How did you like the resort and the room?? I know when online check in pops up for our upcoming trip I'm going to request third floor myself. Currently we have a Preferred room booked though that was a switch from Standard to Preferred when room discounts came out.

Sooo after some more looking into it myself and showing my husband some stuff about it we decided to put Festival of the Lion King on our list of things to do!! Really all the talk about it at dinner at Cheddars made me look into it more. Glad I did :-)

Thanks for joining in!

The room and the resort are honestly ok. I'm not a big fan of the values, but we are staying there because of the price point. I use these resorts just to sleep to be honest. It is themed very well though.

Festival of the Lion King is amazing!!! You will enjoy it!
 


Day 4: A Final Morning at the World!

Good morning from the All-Star Sports Resort!



On my final morning at Walt Disney World, I traveled to a foggy Animal Kingdom.



I arrived at 7 am. for morning Extra Magic Hours. I was heading to Pandora like everyone else. When I entered Pandora, I was greeted by foggy floating mountains.



So, my original plan was to ride Na’vi River Journey, but that was down when Extra Magic Hours started. So, along with everyone, I got in the Flight of Passage line. It was now 7:10 a.m. The Flight of Passage line curved around the path before seeing the floating mountains. A couple minutes later, we were moved to the path that goes towards Africa.





The stand-by queue for Flight of Passage is amazing along with the animatronic they have in the line!



I got on the ride at 7:50 a.m. A 40 minute wait during Extra Magic Hours is not bad. The great thing about riding at the time I did was the park opened at 8 a.m, and I had a fastpass to ride it again! So, back in line I went!





By 8:15 a.m, I had been on Flight of Passage twice!

So, Na’vi River Journey was still down, and I decided to leave Pandora. The view of the floating mountains will never get old though! This land is absolutely beautiful!



After leaving Pandora, I decided to get wet on Kali River Rapids!





After getting wet, it was a perfect idea to go ride Expedition Everest twice! I did it once stand-by so I could ask for the front row. The next time I rode it, I did the single rider line.





It was now time for my final ride at Walt Disney World, the Kilimanjaro Safari! I had a fastpass for this attraction. I had a much better experience getting photos on this safari than the one a couple days ago.

















Goodbye Animal Kingdom! It has been fun!





It is now time for an 11-Night Southern Caribbean Disney Cruise
aboard the Disney Fantasy!



I will be back with updates from the cruise in a couple weeks.
 
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:wave2: Hello! A little late to the party but joining in! Love the foggy mountains at AK.
 
Zach....your energy on those hot Florida days is amazing. Now are you gonna let your father take it easy on the cruise? Maybe sleep in one morning?
 
I'm back from a fantastic voyage aboard the Disney Fantasy! I'll begin updates in the next couple days.

Zach....your energy on those hot Florida days is amazing. Now are you gonna let your father take it easy on the cruise? Maybe sleep in one morning?
Thanks for joining in Terry! Relaxing is what a cruise is for lol. I only had 3 days + a morning to enjoy the parks so I wanted to try and get as much done as I could. My Dad didn't stay with me the whole time at WDW.
 
Zach, I can't wait to read more of your report. It was so nice meeting you on the cruise!

Hi :wave: joining in. I hope you are having a wonderful cruise. I look forward to hearing all about it.
Hey, old friend! I haven't seen you in such a long time!
 
After praying all day, Rivers of Light started at 9:15 p.m, and we were sitting in the first dining package section in the 3rd row. Great seats!
What beautiful photos. Those do indeed look like great seats with all those details you can see.

Up first, we went and did stand-by for Soarin. I’m a bigger fan of the California film than the new Around the World film. There is way to much CGI in the new film which makes me think it lack authenticity (2 places you visit are completely CGI).
I was really excited to see the new film but I have heard of the CGI complaints.

Test Track actually never opened at all today.
:sad: Well that's a bummer.

Next, we travelled to China and saw Reflections of China which is the Circle Vision movie in China. While we waited for the movie, the Chinese Acrobats came out to perform. They were really good!
Well that's neat to see the acrobats before the movie. They looked quite talented in that picture.

When I entered Pandora, I was greeted by foggy floating mountains.
Ohhhhhh that's pretty.


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Glad you had a good time at WDW before your cruise. Seemed like you had a good mix of action with relaxation. Really enjoyed all the photos you took and provided :hyper:
 
Day 4: It’s Embarkation Day!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my trip report about my amazing Disney vacation. Now at this point, sadly my trip is now over, but I am ready to dive right in and tell you about one of the best cruises of my life!

Now, I have been on so many cruises, but not all of them have been Disney. In fact, I have only cruised with Disney recently within the past two years. I started with about 9 Carnival cruises then 1 Royal Caribbean Cruise. Alas, I now started cruising with Disney, and this was our 5th Disney Cruise. We have been on every ship and the Fantasy is our first repeat ship. Now, with the 15 cruises I have been on, this cruise was going to ports that I have never been to before (not including Castaway Cay). So, that is some background into my cruising history, so lets dive right in to this cruise!

My Dad and I were traveling on the first ever 11-night Southern Caribbean Cruise sailing for the Disney Fantasy. Another fun fact about this cruise…This is the longest cruise the Fantasy has ever done without getting new passengers.

Day 1 of the cruise = Embarkation Day!

My Dad and I finally checked-out at All-Star Sports around 11 a.m. and we were ready to head to our cruise. Our transportation arrived at 11:30 a.m. (15 minutes early), and we had 3 more stops after that (Yacht/Beach Club, Boardwalk, and Caribbean Beach). After driving around Walt Disney World for about an hour, it was finally time to head to the Disney Fantasy!





Arriving in Port Canaveral, and we had a great chance to take pictures of the Disney Fantasy! There was also a Carnival ship in port.









We arrived at the port around 1:30 p.m. and we were on the boat at 1:45 p.m. I’m positive Disney has the best embarkation process of any cruise line (at least at the Port Canaveral terminal). We were welcomed aboard by hearing our family name, and that means it was time for the cruise of a lifetime!



Embarkation day is always a crazy day for me. Sometimes we need to try and change our main dining time, book spa appointments, change port excursions, eat lunch, etc. All of this had to be done within two hours after we boarded before the drill. First, we went to the port excursions desk, because I had been trying for weeks to change an excursion in one of our ports of call to another excursion. So, we went to the desk to try and change, and the best news ever came when we were told that there was room on the excursion I had been trying to get. So, that was a great start to the cruise. The next thing on our list was change our Palo reservation. So, we went to the Royal Court Dining Room to try and change our Palo Reservation to Pirate Night. We didn’t have Disney pixie dust at this desk, because Pirate Night was full (like it had been online). After that, we went to our room to drop our stuff off and headed off to eat lunch at Cabanas. Normally we like to eat in one of the dining rooms, but we showed up 2 minutes late.

At this time, we decided to go check out our stateroom. This means one thing…Time to decorate our door! All of the stateroom doors on Disney Cruise Line ships are magnetic. So, you can see I filled our door with some magnets. (Please note that I colored out any magnets with our last name due to personal reasons). @TheMaxRebo …You might recognize some of my magnets.


After dropping off our stuff in our stateroom, I wanted to head to the spa, and my Dad went to the DVC Member Event. I would join him in a bit. I ended up getting a tour of the spa, booking the Rainforest Room, and getting a raffle ticket. I would end up going to the DVC Member Event for a few minutes before going back up for the Spa Raffle. The DVC Member event literally hasn’t changed, and it is always the same thing. So, after a few minutes there, I went back up to the spa for the raffle. Sadly, I didn’t win anything. It was worth going, because I would meet my first DISer while walking out after the raffle (@lucas and her husband). It was great to finally meet someone who I had talked to for a while on these boards.

Up next, the Safety Drill. I will not talk about this any further due to safety reasons. Just know that this is MANDATORY and the crew will find you if you are roaming around the ship. Please don’t delay people’s vacations because you want to get an ice cream cone from Deck 11. Thank you.

After the drill, it was time to get the party started by going up to the top decks for the Sail Away Party! This is your first chance to see the characters and hear the many famous Disney Cruise Ship horns!







My Dad and I at the Sail Away Party!



The Cruise Terminal from the ship.



After partying with all of the famous Disney characters and cruise staff, it was time to walk to the front of the ship and sail away from the windy Port Canaveral.









Then it was time for dinner! Our first night was in Animator’s Palate which is probably my favorite dining room on all of the Disney ships. The detail in this room is amazing, and also all of the fun effects are great to look at. I’ll be honest, I can get distracted from eating sometimes from all of the effects in this room.









On this particular evening, I ended up getting the fried calamari, clam chowder soup, grilled chicken with Mashed Potatoes (originally came with sweet potatoes), and a dark chocolate dessert.









The food on this particular evening was very good. It definitely gave me high expectations for the rest of the cruise. I say that, because I have had hit or miss experiences with the dining room food on Disney Cruise Line. We will see if they keep it up.

After dinner, it was time to go get in line for the first show of the cruise, “A Fantasy Come True!” Now, on my previous Disney cruises, people have began a “line.” A line never existed on this cruise. It ended up being a mob which annoyed me, because I only got my favorite seats inside the theater about 3 times. “A Fantasy Come True" is really a welcome show where they talk about what to expect on the cruise and see one of the variety acts. It really was a very cheesy way to do it, but it was still good.



After the show, it was time to head to Europa (adults only area after 9 p.m.) for the first events in the Tube. Dino was the adults club host on this cruise. They had a game show called Intuition and then a comedy show with Wayne Cotter. He was absolutely hilarious!

It was time to head back to the stateroom and head to bed. We had an indoor stateroom with the virtual porthole. This was our first time experiencing the virtual porthole, and it was really cool. Sadly, throughout the cruise, I never got a picture of any of the characters that went across the screen. Normally, I would notice them when it was to late. I really liked the pillow on my Dad's bed though.





Also, the first of the nightly towel animals! Tonights towel animal we got I want to guess was a frog.



Time for bed, because we had a sea day the next day!
 
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Day 5: A Fantasy Day at Sea!

The cruise has started, and we have gone through one day on board the ship. Now, it is time for day 2 of the cruise, and it was a sea day! I’m a huge fan of sea days, but it is always hard to decide what to do.

Here is the Navigator for the 1st Sea Day of our cruise:



My day started with going to the Art of the Theme Show Tour. This tour is given on most sea days, and it is only for adults 18 years and older. I won’t give too much away, but this tour is a great way to notice some different aspects of the ship that you might not have noticed the first day or on previous cruises. In many ways, Disney has incorporated aspects of their theme parks into the cruise ships. One of the stops that we got to learn more about is the chandelier in the main atrium/lobby area.



Next was breakfast in Cabana’s.

After breakfast, I had my first spa appointment of the cruise. I ended up getting a 75-minute Hot Stone Massage. This was a great way to start the cruise by relaxing. It’s expensive, but I had planned to have a couple treatments done while on the cruise. To find out what my next treatment was, keep reading through my trip report. :)

After my massage, it was time to eat lunch. I usually found myself around the pool area where I would get a lot of spicy chicken sandwiches and chicken fingers throughout the cruise.

I had planned to do a couple of events during the afternoon, but I decided to go to the Rainforest Room for the first time. The heated lounge chairs and the private whirlpool spas are the bonus to this room. I spent many hours of my vacation here. Also, the views you get of the ship from the whirlpool spa area are amazing. The Rainforest Room is really the secret of the Senses Spa. It is so relaxing, and I highly recommend getting a cruise pass.











I spent enough time that it was time to get ready for our first formal night when I was done in the room.

A picture of my Dad and I dressed up for formal night:



We would be spending our first formal night in the Enchanted Garden Dining Room. We had a pleasant surprise when we walked in. Our table was one of the booths that are right when you enter the room. There are only 10 of these booths inside this dining room. The rest are tables with what looked to be like white wooden chairs. Normally, Enchanted Garden has been my least favorite dining room, but being sat there made me appreciate the space even more.









I would always get a virgin strawberry daiquiri each evening since I do not drink alcohol.



That evening for dinner, I ended up getting the lobster ravioli, wedge salad, scallops, and chocolate garden torte.











This meal was one of the best meals I have had in Enchanted Garden.
The ravioli was great! The salad was just ok, but that is because I took the tomato off. I'm not much of a sliced tomato person. The scallops were very delicious. The dessert was good as well. I'm not much of a dessert person. You will definitely notice that in my next report.

The Mickey on top of the fountain in Enchanted Garden:



When we were done with dinner, I decided to go up to Deck 12 to get some pictures of the sunset before heading to the show for that night.





It was finally time for me to see Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular again!!! For us Disneyland people, that might sound familiar. That show was at Disney California Adventure for years, and I was so upset when it was replaced with Frozen. So, the only place you can see it now is on the Disney Fantasy. There are some slight changes since it is on a cruise ship, but it brought back so many memories of seeing it so many times at Disney California Adventure. I really like that show so much!!!



After seeing Aladdin, I had some time before an adult variety show, so I walked around the shops. I didn't buy anything yet, but I did eye some items that I would buy later in the cruise.

Now, one of the best variety acts I have ever seen on any Disney ship was on our cruise. John Charles was performing for all of the adults this evening! He is absolutely amazing! He can pull any artist/song and play it while playing the guitar, but his concert was so much fun. He was the only variety act I saw get a standing ovation at both times “without asking for one.”

After this performance, I would go back to the room to see what towel animal we got. We got an elephant!



Each evening, I would find myself going up to the adult area on Deck 11 and relaxing for a bit in peace and quiet. I would usually end up getting some pizza and a soda as well before going to bed.



We had a sea day again the next day!
 
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What a great Disney vacation you had planned out! I would love to take a Disney cruise with my daughter to enjoy some adult time. I was sad when Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular left Disney's California Adventure Park - I haven't yet seen the Frozen act yet.

That was great that you got one of the rare booths in Enchanted Garden! The ending of your 1st sea day sounded perfect - nice and relaxing enjoying the ship :)
 
Great updates! I like reliving the cruise. And, it is even nice to read about and see some things I missed. Just have to catch them next time!
 

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