The Adventures of Jane Hat ~ WBTA 2018 | Complete

I'm so sorry you got sick on the trip! It's awful! Rich did a great job of documenting things though.

Jill in CO
 

Today is Halifax day and I was really looking forward to this port because of the Titanic Cemetery, however, I never went ashore today because this was my sickest day of the trip. It was just horrible. So, I just slept all day.

There end of entry.

Ha, kidding, Richard went out and enjoyed Halifax for me and made sure to take lots of photos so it would feel like I was there. He did not go to the cemetery because that was more of a ‘me thing’ as he says but, he did do everything else on our list!

We woke up to room service breakfast and then I promptly fell asleep afterwards. Rich headed off the ship around 9:30-ish. During our planning, we were going to head out around 9am and catch a cab at the port so we can see the cemetery, then call up a cab to take us to the gardens. Due to my health (or lack there of) Rich went straight for the Halifax Public Gardens, with a quick stop at a drug store to get me some more cold medication, by foot. These gardens have different sections and seemed beautiful from the photos and best of all, it is free admission. With the schedule a bit thrown off, Rich arrived about an hour before he planned to get there, so he just walked around for a bit enjoying the flowers.


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Rich thought this house was really cute. It is.


::MinnieMo
JANE HAT ALERT::MinnieMo
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Not as cute as this photo though!


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This shows about when he got there: 10:15am
The plaque says:
PRESENTED BY HALIFAX DARTMOUTH
BETA SIGMA PHI IN COMMEMORATION OF
THE 100TH BIRTHDAYS OF CANADA’S
CONFEDERATION AND THESE
PUBLIC GARDENS. JUNE 21, 1967


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A local universally celebrating 200 years with flowers


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The plaque reads:
LADY SOMERS
Named after the wives of British admirals with a connection to the West Indies, the
vessels were affectionately known as the Lady Boats and provided an efficient cargo
service for many years. The 4,665-ton Lady Somers had storage space for 9,300 cubic
metres of general cargo and approximately 410 cubic metres of refrigerated goods.
The western run consisted of monthly summer sailings from Montreal to Bermuda,
the Bahamas, Jamaica, and British Honduras before returning. The ships operated
out of Halifax during the winter months when the St. Lawrence River was frozen.
Built by Cyril Mitchell


The photo above has two small ships in the pond, just above the plaque. The ship closest (looks a bit more like a white blur) is the Lady Somers and the ship farther back (another kind of white blur) is the Titanic. It was a great little spot and it would have been nice to get a closer look of the ships.


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Rich took this photo because Japanese culture is something I’ve dedicated a part of my life to (studied in university, a study abroad, multiple trips and learning the language) so he thought I’d appreciate this marker.
Plaque reads:
HALIFAX - HAKODATE
TWIN CITIES
THESE PLANTS FROM JAPAN
COMMEMORATE
THE TWIN CITY AGREEMENT
NOVEMBER 25, 1982
AND THE GROWING FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN
HAKODATE, HOKKAIDO
AND
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
DEDICATED AUGUST 4, 1986


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It’s been about an hour now and Rich headed towards the main building (Horticultural Hall) for a
free guided tour around the gardens, which starts at 11am.


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Horticultural Hall. Built in 1847 to serve as a meeting room for the Halifax Horticultural Society and the cellar was also used to store vegetables. It now serves ice cream and looked like a coffee shop.


Rich noticed that there were two groups from the cruise waiting for a tour as well. The first group was an official port adventure and they were lead off with their private guide, the second group was just on their own and were waiting for the free tour, just like Rich. They waited there until 10 after and the guide STILL wasn’t there, so they decided to stop waiting and enjoy the gardens on their own. Since Rich toured most of the garden himself already, he decided to just look at the last section before heading out.

I would like to add a little blurb here about that tour. During my research, I found the tour page and emailed the gardens to make sure the information is still current and if we needed a reservation for just 2 people. They replied saying that we would need to advise the person at the desk in Horticultural Hall that we have arrived for the tour. Richard did do this and they said that the guy normally meets out front and so he and that other group (that were told the same) waited out front. The guide just never showed. The email they sent was quite detailed on how to find your way to the hall as well.

Upon writing this entry (7/26/19) the tour site now shows that you need to email and request one of the daily tours instead of just showing up.
I’m glad they changed policy because it was a bit sad that Rich didn’t get to tour, it would have been nice to get some more information about the plants and such.


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A Weeping Mulberry. Rich thought the way it grew was cool.


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Rich says he liked how various groups spelled out words and designs with the flowers.


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Duck butt.


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Pretty flowers


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This bird let Richard get really close to it so he took a picture.
“I was enjoying nature that day”


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A Japanese Umbrella Pine.
He took this photo for me since it involves Japan. Sweet huh?


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Rich had fun watching the birds bathing and frolicking in this fountain


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These flowers look like birds when bloomed!


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Beautiful general shot to show the beauty of part of the gardens


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Ever since I was little, when I was given a camera, I always had at least one picture of a duck in it from our vacations. Now, there always has to be a duck photo during our trips lol


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This is a fluffy goose!


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It’s so fluffy!



Video of fluffy goose preening


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Rich believes this is a veterans memorial fountain


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Goodbye Public Gardens!


Richard left the gardens and headed northeast, towards his next tour destination; the Maritime Museum. This was in our original plans and it was Richard’s pick (mine was the cemetery and the gardens was for both). If you do end up walking in the city, be advised that there are hills going up towards the garden away from the harbor waters, they varied in steepness. Going back towards the waterfront, he was going downhill.

On the way to the museum, Rich found some colorful areas …


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He loved the pride crosswalks


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He said there were pianos everywhere along his walk.


I had printed out maps of the areas we would be walking and so he followed those and ended up walking down Spring Garden Road, left on Barrington Street, right on Salter St., left on Lower Water St. (where the waterfront pier is) and the museum is on the right after a few minutes walk.


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On the way in, as part of the museum, he passed this recreation of the original BLUENOSE II ship



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Upon entering the museum, you are greeted by a parrot


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The parrot was repeating people’s words


A torpedo


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This is a military Hydrofoil vessel



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There was a collision in the narrows (of the harbor) between a ship that was carrying ammunition and a ship that was carrying relief supplies (all for WWI). They exploded.
This is a fragment from a hull that was twisted by the force of explosion.


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Richard loves sail boats


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A model of a steam engine for a paddleboat


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This is a scale of the Maretania. There were lots of these types of models lined up in the area.


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This is the area that showed you how to do your name in Morse Code



~ continued in next post ~
 
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Halifax, Canada
Part 2


After the museum Rich took a look at the shopping guide that Disney provided for us with our Navigators, he saw that there was a crystal shop (NovaScotian Crystal) and decided to go take a look since we just love artisan glass type work (right?). This was not on our original list of locations to visit.
The shop is located a bit north of the museum, along the boardwalk but Rich had a hard time finding it and ended up walking WAY north and decided to turn around, this is when he was able to see the storefront. So, if you’re going to head here, keep in mind it’s hard to see the shop front walking north.


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Blowing crystal


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Cutting the pattern into the crystal


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Polishing crystal


He wanted to get something from the store but it was a bit more than what we had budgeted for, so he didn’t get anything. The pieces started at about $40CAD and went up to the hundreds from there.

On his way back, he was able to get me a beaver tail! I had heard about these, they are flat pastries (kind of large) that are a bit crispy outside but soft/chewy. It was pretty funny because Rich had to ask for a double wrapper so he could put it in the backpack and get it onboard for me. It was a little squished, not warm but still pretty good.


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Photo from the website, but he got me this cookies and cream one


On the way back to the ship, Rich gave a dollar to one of the many street musicians that was playing along the boardwalk. He made it back in time for us to order room service for lunch. Let me tell you, this whole cruise I have been ordering the All Aboard cheese platter that included grapes and these grapes were huge! Consistently huge, it wasn’t just an order here or there, every time there was a cluster of gargantuan grapes on my plate. I think this is why I ordered the platter so much, I was craving fruits and veggies while I was sick.


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The giant grapes


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Seriously, these European grapes are huge!
That is my hand, which aren’t big but still …


After more sleep, with Richard watching more movies in the cabin, it was dinner time. Boy, it was hard to get myself out of bed today. As mentioned before, I was the sickest today than I was the first few days. THIS was that hump of getting worse before better. There were two things that motivated me to get ready and go to dinner; 1) Our head waiter promised us some authentic Indian food this evening, and 2) Our dining servers are amazing and I didn’t want to let them down.
So, I got all prettied up for Semi-formal night and hauled myself down for some spicy goodness.


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A photo of our cabin door with magnets we made and were given.
We made the Fish Extender ourself.


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Goofy and Donald in their fancy clothes.
We weren’t able to stop them, but it was fun seeing Goofy in a kilt.


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My appetizer. Couldn’t find the exact menu item but it’s shrimp with what looks like a dill sauce.


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Rich's appetizer (still can't find the menu) but it looks like shrimp, with tuna and ... something else.


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THIS is why I can’t find the menu, because all this delicious Indian Curry was brought out for me.


Since I voiced my slight disappointment that the curry from last night was not spicy, the head server got excited that I wanted spicy and promised me this feast today, and my gosh, it was definitely worth hauling my sick butt out of bed.
I didn’t order appetizers or entrees from the dining menu because I knew I couldn’t eat a lot … but Rich did …


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Rich’s Entree: Looks like Beef Wellington, his favorite.


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Dessert! I believe we ordered the same thing, but I can’t find what it was :(


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Look, a Mickey head in the compote!


Richard was STUFFED. He ate his food AND helped me with the curry (I wasn’t able to finish, so much!). He had a food baby in his tummy lol.
Tonight was also the Animator’s Palette drawing show where you draw a person/creature and is featured in an animated short on the screens in the dining room. It was hilarious because I drew cruise ships for shoes on my person and it looked so funny when it was animated on screen.

After dinner, I was fueled up enough to be able to do a little photoshoot to show off my Orange Bird dress with my beautiful Dooney and Bourke Balloons Barrel purse :)


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This was showing I wasn’t feeling so great


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But I pushed through!


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My purse, ta da


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Now I’m just getting silly


So my career as a model may not take off any time soon but it was nice to be able to show off the dress and purse, I’m proud to have them and so very grateful to be able to have afforded them. Now that I exerted all the energy I saved up, it was definitely time to go to bed.


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A Dinosaur friend greeted us.
I think our room attendant took pity on me being sick so he gave me all the chocolates :D


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I thought it was really fun that he got my stuffed animal in on the set up (it’s a manatee)


To clarify, yes, I bring stuffed animals with me on trips, they help comfort me with my anxiety and helps me still be connected to my home with something familiar in a non-familiar setting. I brought the manatee pictured above and my Elsa plush from the Disney Store :)

Now, off to sleep for the next day!





PRICING



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After all that sleeping from the past few days, I was well enough to go up to Cabanas to get my own breakfast and bring it back down to the cabin and eat. I did not go outdoors and made sure to thoroughly sanitize my hands prior, but hey, I was able to!

I even was well enough to go do an activity on the schedule (finally!). At around 11:15am we headed over to the Oceaneer Club for a Craft Corner Open House. Upon entering, there was a sanitation station and I made sure to disinfect my hands (don’t want to get the kids sick). We ended up making paper Mickey Bars! They had construction type paper with the wooden sticks with foam shapes and stickers to decorate. I didn’t get to take a photo but if you REALLY would like to see, I can upload a photo.

After doing some activity, it was time for me to rest again while Rich went ashore and explored St. John a bit …


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Look at that beauty


::MinnieMo
JANE HAT ALERT::MinnieMo
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Needed a proper documentation of the hat and the ship, of course

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Rich found Theodore the Tugboat!


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He was moored up right to the dock by the Magic.


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In fact, I could see him from the Bridge Cam channel in the stateroom


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See, right next to the ship :)


Our plan for this port was to really just take a look around the immediate area. We ultimately decided not to go to the Reversing Falls because it was just a bit farther than we wanted to go.

DCL docked at the Diamond Jubilee Cruise Terminal (NOT the West Side Docks).

Turns out this was a good plan anyways since I wasn’t able to go. However, I did find an event going on right next to the terminal during my research, in fact, I think it took place around the port area, not just the docks. It was an Art Festival that lasted a few days, today was when they were doing the rock carving sculptures and we planned to take a look. Thankfully, Rich was able to take a few photos for us …


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This is the artist working on the piece in the sign above


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The sculptures were in varying states of completion and Rich said it was pretty cool watching them cut the stones. I found this event by checking the Saint John website and looking under their events section. I highly suggest doing this at any port you visit.

Afterwards, he was able to walk through the port market and bought a couple souvenirs on the way back to the ship from the Distant Waters shop. Just a few touristy things that were kind of cool. Then he sauntered back onto the ship. I only got in an hour nap and I knew that Richard wouldn’t stay in port for too long since we didn’t have much planned. Well, he took about three hours from the time that he left until getting back. It gave me a mighty anxiety attack. Turns out that DCL was conducting some lifeboat drills and he decided to hang around to take photos after boarding the ship.


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First he went to check out the ‘mooring room’. That’s what we call it.


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It’s on deck 4


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We discovered this area on the Wonder on our last cruise



And now, the much anticipated life boat drill photos …
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Rich said it was interesting because he was able to watch them make several approaches to the ship for practicing to hook them up. There was a cast member that was just having the hardest time trying to keep the boat stationary to the ship, but he was able to get it and Rich was able to watch them raise and stow the lifeboat afterwards.
Once Richard got back to the cabin, I kind of chastised him for not letting me know he was okay. He knows I get anxious easily, mostly from worry about what COULD happen. Me being upset didn’t last too long though cause getting the photos from that lifeboat drill was kind of cool. He was forgiven … this time.

Anywhoo we watched the rest of Hercules and then Rich went to watch Christopher Robin at the theater while I rested/journaled. I could tell that I was getting better since I wasn’t sleeping as long during my naps and was able to stay awake more. I definitely still needed rest but not as much. So hey, that was good news.
I remembered to take a photo of what we got in Canada since this was our last Canadian port. We didn’t get near as much stuff since we live in Minnesota but still a few fun things.

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Canada Shirt (Rich found it hilarious), Cold Medication, Magnet with sea glass shards as a cat that says “Love is a Four Legged Word”, and some real Maple Syrup.


Then we headed off to dinner at Rapunzel’s Royal Table for her birthday celebration. This evening was an even where the characters were around again, similar to Thug Night.


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This was an awesome piece on the table, it was just so pretty, I had to take a photo


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The special menu


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Ah, this dining room is just so beautiful


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Flynn made an appearance


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We got some drinks in this special fancy goblet.
No idea why Rich is pushing away with his hands, but there you go.


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Rich’s appetizer: Ravioli "Tiroler"; Filled with Pulled Beef and Portobello Mushrooms tossed in a Red Wine-Thyme Reduction served with Roasted Carrots and Pearl Onions (and the bread course of pretzels!)


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My appetizer: Crisp Isle of Corona Shrimp; with Pea Puree, Fried Potato, Pancetta, and Pea Shoots served with a Lemon-Tarragon Caper Mayonnaise.
I did not have the Pea Puree with mine, though.


At around this time, the bards came by.
They were really good!


During the celebration the ‘event planner’ came by to make sure everyone was having a good time. He was very polite and well spoken and apologized for his ‘brother’s’ behavior at the last celebration. Ha, well, this planner and the brother were the same person … it was the thug that sang the ugly duckling song! He really did well at both roles, let me tell you.


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My soup/salad course: Green Asparagus and Broccoli Soup; with Buttered Croutons


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Rich's soup/salad course: Potato Cream Soup; with Carrots, Leeks, Celery, and Knockwurst


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Rich’s entree: Captain of the Guards Roasted Prime Rib of Beef; with a Double Baked Potato, Broccoli, Sweet Roasted Carrots, and a Red Wine-Veal Sauce
(sorry for the blur)


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My entree: Oktoberfest Lemon and Thyme Roasted Chicken; with Fondant Potato, Buttered Kale, Baby Turnips, Romanesco, and a Red Wine-Chicken Jus


Now, the real show begins! It started with our servers participating in a type of lantern celebration …


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Alex!


We whooped really loud when our servers walked by. They are just so awesome. Best team ever. Anyways, then it amped up and then there was a dancing line, lead by Flynn Rider!
Alex asked me to dance with her first and I was just gutted that I had to decline, I really did not have the energy for that yet BUT she did ask Rich to dance with her and hilarity ensued …


They just kind of … lagged behind


It was really cute though and everyone had a great time, everyone was laughing. Rich said he had fun, even though they were kind of behind at first and he was just a smidge embarrassed to have everyone looking at him. I think he did well and thanked him for taking my place.


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Rich's dessert: Rapunzel's Fry Pan Sweet Bread; Fry Bread dusted with Powdered Sugar, Chocolate-Hazlnut Sauce, and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream served in Rapunzel's Fry Pan


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My dessert: Birthday Cupcake Sundae; Butter Cupcake with Strawberry Compote, Birthday Ice Cream, Whipped Cream, and topped with Celebration Confetti


After dinner, we headed over to look at the photo pass photos and we liked 13 of them. An odd note in my journal, but there we go. We did go up to the atrium and passed Donald in his fiesta costume when we were walking by D Lounge.

We ended up going to the shops to figure out what we would want to buy for tomorrow. We looked in the pin books on the register counters and found 2 mystery pins available to trade, so we hurried up (as fast I could go anyways) to get our pins so we could trade. Rich traded for two pins in Mickey’s Mainsail, which were the mystery pin of Disney dogs playing with beach balls, and I traded in White Caps for a Disney Super Bowl MN pin, which was for Rich since he has lots of Minnesota pride.

Back to the cabin …


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Another dinosaur friend … with all the chocolates!


So, funny story. We never did the Anna’s Chocolate Chase activity on Frozen day because, well, I was sick. Not only did I miss Frozen day but I missed out on the chocolate. As you can see, we got 3 of the special Frozen chocolates tonight! I was so excited. I think it was very sweet that our attendant gave them to us. I think Rich told him about how I was sad to have missed Frozen day.

Winding down for the day, we planned our day for tomorrow, our last day on the ship. It was kind of bittersweet because I wanted to do quite a bit since I was getting better, but it was the end of the cruise. I journaled and then we went to sleep.




PRICING
  • Canadian Souvenirs - $17 CAD
    • T-shirt, Magnet & Syrup
  • Popcorn Refill - $2.01

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Sorry for the gap guys. Didn't make my goal :( But I only have two more days to update and I'm hoping to get that done soon.
 
I just found your trip report and Im loving following your adventures. Im from Ireland and have lived in London and visited the Harry Potter Tour and Cobh. Its really interesting to see places I know through the eyes of other people.

Im booked on The Magic for an European cruise in 2020 and I have a sideways room too, not far from you were :)

I love all the aside posts and random updates about your life, and OMG congratulations :) I cant wait to read the rest of your updates
 
that stinks that you were so sick during the trip! Rich did a good job of taking pictures and reporting back for you.

Jill in CO
 


Hey guys, I'm working on the last two days now, hopefully will be up later this evening :)


I just found your trip report and Im loving following your adventures. Im from Ireland and have lived in London and visited the Harry Potter Tour and Cobh. Its really interesting to see places I know through the eyes of other people.

Im booked on The Magic for an European cruise in 2020 and I have a sideways room too, not far from you were :)

I love all the aside posts and random updates about your life, and OMG congratulations :) I cant wait to read the rest of your updates
Hello, nice to meet you ^_^ Thank you very much! Yes, sometimes it's interesting to play 'tourist' in your own town/area. YES! Sideways cabins are the best, they feel so large considering it's an inside.


that stinks that you were so sick during the trip! Rich did a good job of taking pictures and reporting back for you.

Jill in CO
Hey Jill :) Yeah, it did stink, but, at least I was able to enjoy the first part, which, to me, was the best :D He did, didn't he? I had him write stuff down in my notebook while on the cruise so I could have his info, then I had him around when I was writing up those days. I think he took so many photos so I could still feel a part of the trip.
 
Day At Sea #5
9/19

Personal Navigator (to be posted later)​


Today was a much better day, but also a sad one. This was the last day of our cruise and I’d finally started to feel better where I could do activities without having to take multiple naps, I was still coughing up nasties but they were mostly white (infection pretty much gone).
We woke up to room service breakfast and then had to call for maintenance because the toilet didn’t flush all the way (again). While they took care of that, we were able to go to the future booking desk when it opened at 10am so we were able to put a place holder down.

Off to guest services to add a bit extra for our dining team, because they are AWESOME!! We also inquired about custom forms to fill out early but they said they don’t give them out for NYC. In the saga of the lost cup, we asked if they found anything yet (we were able to show them a photo of the cup!) but still nothing.
Meandering over to shutters, we ordered 3 prints (Formal night, Pirate night & Elsa/Anna meet up). As of this sailing, we were told that you can order single photos on Digital but only on the last day, so that’s helpful. We wanted the prints so we can frame them.

At 10:45am we went and made some crafts! It was 3D paper ships that are hard to keep from squishing when packed in luggage, but it was still fun :) We did head back to the cabin so I could rest a bit, BUT I did not sleep, I journaled a bit, watched a movie and Richard came back with some soft serve from the top deck and schwarma for himself. We went to watch Increadibles 2 at 1pm, we thought it was pretty good.
OH! Oh my gosh, it was hilarious. So Rich had his phone in his hand when he went to throw away some trash from the movie theater and as he tossed the trash, he also tossed his phone in there! I was laughing so hard because he had to dig inside. There were some CMs nearby and they got a good little chuckle as well.
Afterwards, we went back to the cabin to start packing up :(

At this point, I had stopped taking notes in my journal (oh no!) but I do still remember a few things (thanks to photos, receipts, and personal navigators!).

We still had a bit left in our onboard account, purely paid with OBC and gift cards, so we decided to do some last minute shopping …

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Stuffed Disney ship (best purchase EVER!), Ariel pin for a friend, Europe 2018 pin, Transatlantic 2018 T-shirt, and a Sea the Magic t-shirt (women’t cut).
This was taken after we had gotten home, hence the fuzzy carpet.


There is a story with this stuff, let me tell you! We were walking around, just after looking at the wooden ship picture frame (which I have been wanting to get since our last cruise) but I wanted to look around more, just in case. Well, I spied those stuffed ships from across the shop, nudged Rich … our eyes met, we looked back at the display of adorable stuffed ships, looked back at each other … and we just knew … one was coming home with us! No second thoughts, no communication other than us striding over to the display like giddy kids in almost perfect sychronization. I’m not sure which ship we ended up getting because we both automatically picked up one and squish hugged it, but, we were happily carrying around the ship while looking for more things to spend money on.

The Transatlantic t-shirt was the LAST size Large available and when we went to the display to get it, there was a man holding it up, deciding if he wanted it or not. Thankfully his wife was with him and saw that we were waiting. I forget how it happened but we said that if they don’t get it, we definitely will. This kind lady convinced her hemming and hawing husband not to get it after all. So, if you are reading this, angel of DCL merchandise, THANK YOU!.

Then … MY shirt. Oh goodness. This shirt was being worn ALL OVER The cruise. I kept seeing it everywhere and it was darn cute. I don’t particularly enjoy buying new Disney t-shirts because they are a bit expensive but, this one was just perfect for me with the sparkly fireworks and words. When we first entered the shops, we saw this shirt being returned to the counter and a CM was prepping to be put back on the rack. After our glorious Transatlantic T-shirt success, I meandered over to the area with this t-shirt and, well, it was THE LAST ONE THERE. Holy crud. Will it fit me? It just so happened that this was a … 1 or 2x which fits my pliantly plump body in the women’s cut perfectly. We snapped that baby up and the rest is … well, in photographic evidence above lol.

Afterwards we went to the first showing of ‘Dreams: An Enchanted Classic’ at 6:30pm and were able to do ANOTHER craft activity; ‘Inside Out Memories’. The craft was plastic balls and we had our photo taken and printed out there so we could put that and other crafty things in this ball.

Then it was dinner time and I FINALLY have more substatial photos …

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Richs appetizer: Lightly Breaded Baked Eggplant; Filled with Sweet Ricotta and Mozzarella, served on Toscano Sauce and Drizzled with Aged Balsamic


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My appetizer: Marinated Tiger Shrimp; with Celery Hearts and Remoulate (I didn't have the celery)


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Our salad course: Beef Steak Tomato and Vidila Onion Salad; With Baby Greens, Spring Onions and a Cabernet Wine Vinaigrette.
(This photo is of mine, without the onions)


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My entree: Oven-Baked Lobster Tail; With Sun-dried Tomato, Lemon Pesto Mash and Roasted Asparagus


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Rich's entree: Fettuccine with Parmesan Crusted Chicken; Chicken encrusted in Parmesan Cheese, with Sweet Peppers and Mushrooms in a Cheddar Cheese Sauce


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Richs dessert: Chocolate Lava Cake; Served with Double Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream


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My dessert: Apricot Trio; Vanilla Cheesecake with Apricot Compote, Apricot Tart-Tatin and Apricot-infused cream.
(This wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be)


After dinner, we HAD to get photos with our Server (Joe) and our Assistant Server (Alex) because they were just the best!
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Alex and I bonded a bit, I think it’s because the first time I saw her, I said she was so beautiful, she looked like a painting in the Louvre. It’s true though!

Went back to our cabin to be met by the most creative creature yet …
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A lighted up penguin!
He was lit up by our Frozen Day snowflake necklace


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Even Manatee got in on our last turn down with propping up the time card (letting us know the clock has been turned back).


It was sad packing up. Usually on these long trips, it feels like it’s time to go home, get back into that routine and such, but it was different this time because I missed a good bit of the cruise and now I’m just getting better, I’m ready do get my vacation on! Alas, not to be.

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I wanted to show off these magnets that were gifted to us through the Fish Extender Exchange. We kept the paper ship, mickey head patch and Transatlantic square magnet inside so they wouldn’t get stolen. They were just too awesome to risk it.


We popped out to the ’Til We Meet Again meet’n’greet at 10:30pm to see if there were any characters that we wanted to see, since I was mostly bedridden and wasn’t able to see many.


::MinnieMoJANE HAT ALERT::MinnieMo
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We were finally able to see Ariel! You see, Ariel is Jane’s favorite princess and I’ve been wanting to get a picture with her with the Jane hat. So there we go!


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Me telling Ariel about the hat and how I would be grateful to take a photo with me wearing it.


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Let’s get Richard in it now!


Ariel is the only character we wanted to see, but a few were definitely out and I would recommend doing it if you’d like to squeeze in any last visits :)
With that, we begrudgingly went back to our empty cabin (suitcases were already picked up). To go to sleep.

Oh, I almost forgot! I bet you’re wondering what happened to that missing cup, huh? Well … we found it. Yup. It somehow got behind my pillows and was wedged behind the mattress and the wall. Like, we are surprised our room attendant missed it. Anyways, mystery solved!




PRICING
  • Popcorn Refill - $2.01
  • Mickey’s Mainsail - $93.52
    • Ariel Pin - $12.99
    • European 2018 Pin - $14.99
    • Transatlantic T-shirt - $24.99
    • Sea The Magic shirt - $32.99
    • Plush DCL Ship - $17.95
    • Disney Visa Discount at 10% was -$10.39
  • Extra Gratuities - $25
  • Future Booking Placeholder - $250



- Back to Navigation -
 
Last edited:
Did you get all of the cool magnets on board? I know I read it but can't remember.
What a great trip report! Thanks for the time you and Rich invested to share with all of us! Photos were great! I feel like I was there. :tigger: Sure hope you are feeling better.
 
Did you get all of the cool magnets on board? I know I read it but can't remember.
What a great trip report! Thanks for the time you and Rich invested to share with all of us! Photos were great! I feel like I was there. :tigger: Sure hope you are feeling better.
Awe, that is truly flattering, thank you so much :)

I do have debarkation day to post still, which is written up but I just need to check with Rich on one last item (he gets home in about 30min) and then I kind of want to do a review of everything. You know, compare what I planned to what actually happened, plus add up all the totals ( :scared1: )

Yes, those cool magnets we did get onboard, with the exception of the 'Happy Anniversary' magnet, which our travel agent made us. There were some other smaller magnets too but these were the ones I knew would have been taken (if someone was to be so inclined). They are on our fridge now.
 
Departure Day
9/20


The saddest day :(
We had gone to bed pretty late the night before, which is a bit concerning because I need lots of sleep to get better. I told Rich to not worry about getting up super early for sailing into NYC because sleep is more important, since I needed him to help more than normal cause I wasn’t 100%, and I didn’t want him waking me up leaving the cabin early.

Well, this guy. Sigh … He did. Not. Listen.

Only a few hours after going to sleep do I wake up to the door closing, and he let it close a bit harder than normal … I was livid. He actually ended up coming back in because he forgot the camera. Yeah, he got an earful.
So, behold the pictures I lost sleep for when I really needed sleep. I hope you guys appreciate it!
P.S. Afterwards, like WAAYYY afterwards, I’m glad he got them too.


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Sailing into NYC.


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The Statue of Liberty.
Blurred, but you can still see her clearly. Almost like an artsy thing.


As you can see, there were other people out and about taking photos as well. I’m sure they got better photos coming in but Rich was also pretty tired and didn’t stay out long, so he came back pretty quick and went back to sleep. Jerkface.

We woke up without our usual room service breakfast :( Got ready and headed down to sit down breakfast at Lumeirs, since that is the last dining room we ate in. We had the later dining, which I think was about 8am? 8:15am? Something like that.


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Got a photo of our cool tux napkins!


I didn’t get a photo of our food cause I was just tired and, well, a wee depressed. Who isn’t at the end though, right? I know we got ourselves some Mickey Waffles, last ones for quite a while!
We gave our dining staff hugs goodbye and wished them well. I do hope they are doing well in their lives.

Then, we had to do one of the most sad things a DCL cruiser will have to do in their lives; we debarked.


::MinnieMo JANE HAT ALERT ::MinnieMo
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Last Jane Hat photo, so sad :(


You would think this is the end, right? NOPE. While I didn’t write this day down in my journal, I remember a bit. Hold on for just a bit longer ;)

After debarking, we headed into the LARGE area to collect our bags, which we eventually found. We packed a few things in the bags that we didn’t get in the night before (like PJ’s and toiletries). There were some porters around and one even asked if we needed help but, you know, we didn’t budget for a porter so we were just going to do it ourselves.

WELL, I suggest investing in a porter. I forget how much it was but man, it would have been worth it. There were two winding lines on either side of this large building, we saw the other line while in ours. The middle area was just kind of open but we found that THIS is where the people with porters would wait for the next officer. That line was so much shorter, like, 6 people deep at the most. The other two lines? I think it took us 30-60minutes to get through. It didn’t help that one of the officers went on break or something.
So, after that LOVELY wait, we ended up heading right outside to get our transportation. From what I remember, you exit the building and there is a road, you cross that road and there is a little island where you stand to wait to cross the light at the next road. Then you are across the street.

There were a lot of men trying to get people to get a taxi ride with them, those guys that heckle you and if you don’t give them your business, they start swearing at you. Yeah. That’s exactly what we wanted right after our lovely cruise. (note sarcasm).

We decided that we wanted to do Lyft from the port to LaGuardia airport because it was private and just a straight shot and they could pick us up wherever so we didn’t have to worry about finding the ‘right spot’.
After crossing the street, we crossed another one to the left and waited in this area where there were construction posts up. There were a lot of people waiting in this section, I believe they were doing Lyft or Uber as well. It took about 10-15minutes for our driver to get to us.

Let me tell you. I am SO GLAD I don’t have to drive in NYC.

Upon arriving to LGA, aka, the worst airport in the country, we had quite a long wait ahead of us. I believe we arrived at around 11am or so and our flight didn’t leave until 2:15pm. Even though it was a long wait, we would rather wait and know that we would catch our flight than deal with the stress of taking an earlier flight.
Not much happened while waiting, but there was a child in a stroller and, I believe it was the grandmother, stopped pushing it for a moment while taking her hands off it and her back was turned and the stroller fell backwards with the child in it. Holy crud, EVERYONE got up that was sitting down to help. Well. We didn’t. We were sluggish and not horribly close. The grandmother looked so remorseful and embarrassed, I felt sorry for her. The child was crying but looked to be okay.
It was quite a sight to see these meandering/listful people waiting in a terminal all of a sudden spring to life to help these people. It just stuck out in my mind.
Later, when lining up for boarding, the mother, grandmother and child were waiting and the kid looked just fine.

We flew from LGA to STL (St. Louis, MO) and had a bit of a stop. We arrived around 3:55pm and our flight out wasn’t until 7:10pm. We decided to eat at Chili’s in terminal 2 since we had not eaten since early that morning. Our server was full of energy and when he found out that I love spicy things, he kind of was REALLY excited. Based upon his accent, he was from the south and I’m sure being from the south, living in the northern states, it must be miserable because they think mayo is spicy. It is for me, and I’m not even from the south!


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Behold our empty appetizer.


Haha okay, so the story with the photo is that some diner ordered a plate of buffalo wings and then disappeared. Well, guess who is server was? The fine gentleman that was also our server. Since he knew we liked spicy, he gave it to us saying that he would have to throw it out anyways. So, we had a free appetizer and we devoured them so fast that I forgot to take a picture until afterwards lol


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Rich’s entree: Chipotle Chicken Fresh Mex Bowl; Grilled chicken, pico, field greens, Mexican rice, corn & black bean salsa, avocado, shredded cheese, tortilla strips, cilantro, chipotle pesto, house-made ranch.


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My entree: Santa Fe Chicken Salad; Spicy grilled chicken, pico, avocado, cilantro, tortilla strips, house-made ranch & a drizzle of spicy Santa Fe sauce.


Haha okay, so, all that dry spice is because, again, I like spicy and our server was really excited about that. Thankfully I asked for the dressing on the side because that stuff was pretty spicy too but oh so delicious. It was quite a delicious meal and I guess we were missing some Tex-Mex cuisine. If you think about it, DCL doesn’t really have that onboard.

After our meal we sat by the huge windows. Okay, maybe sat wouldn’t be the best word. We kneeled on our seats, facing the back and was making commentary on everything on the tarmac and near our gate outside. THEN we got really excited because we saw our luggage come out!


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The blue, green, and purple suitcases on the right.
Our last one is between the end of the trolly and that red suitcase (the one with our blue suitcase on top)


Yeah, so excited. We started honing in on our luggage and watching other luggage be put on the carts and such. We really were acting like sport commentary children or something lol at least it entertained us. Once it got dark out, we weren’t able to see outside much so we had to sit in our seat (like boring adults) and amuse ourselves.

The flight ended up being delayed by … 2ish hours, I think, and we didn’t end up getting into Minneapolis until around midnight. We do not live far from the airport but it was really hard to find a Lyft ride at might night in this city. I think we ended up using Uber and we got a driver, but then they cancelled us. Then we got another driver and he was really weird. Like … he didn’t get a tip, he wasn’t even trying. By this time, it had taken us about 45 minutes just to get a driver and then another 25 minutes to get home … it was late and we just kind of went BLAH.


And there is the pretty anticlimactic end to our epic vacation.


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Our favorite souvenir. We love it.
Pardon the sheet on the window, we had only moved in about a month and a half before the cruise.
We have proper curtains now!


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We named him WOMP WOMP, like the sound of a ship’s foghorn.
Best. Gift. Ever.




PRICING
  • Lyft from port to LGA - $50ish
  • Auntie Ann’s - $13ish
    • Pretzel with Cheese
    • Pretzel Mini Dogs
  • Chili’s - $25ish (not including tip)
  • Uber from MSP to home - $17ish



- Back to Navigation -
 
Boo to the trip being over! But thanks again for your great detailed report and pictures! I'm leaving in 3 weeks and I'm super excited!

Jill in CO
 
:thanks:Loved reading the "Adventures of Jane Hat"!!! Sorry that you were unwell during the cruise, that is the worst thing, but you made the most of the situation when able. Congratulations on your engagement - your ring is just gorgeous.
 
I will be doing one wrap up post. People were curious how the cruise worked out compared to my planning and also adding up those totals. Not majorly important but that's why I haven't updated to complete.


Boo to the trip being over! But thanks again for your great detailed report and pictures! I'm leaving in 3 weeks and I'm super excited!

Jill in CO
Jill, you're welcome!! I hope i helped :)
I'm excited for you! Are you going to do a trip report?

Really enjoyed your report!!!
Less than 3 weeks to go.... :bounce:
Thank you! YASSS! I remember that close, it drags by but also goes really fast.

:thanks:Loved reading the "Adventures of Jane Hat"!!! Sorry that you were unwell during the cruise, that is the worst thing, but you made the most of the situation when able. Congratulations on your engagement - your ring is just gorgeous.
You're welcome and thank you :) Yes, the best was eating all those huge grapes, watching all the Disney movies we don't own, and food! Well, the best while being sick.
Thank you very much, he got it at the jewelry shop on Main Street in Magic Kingdom ❤ We are planning a DCL wedding for 2022
 
Stonehenge
Part 3​



Back on the bus, we headed to the Stonehenge site. I was really anxious because we had 10 minutes until the souvenir shop closes and I REALLY wanted to get some items that I saw in the online gift shop. So I kind of hurried up the tour person, but it turned out that I didn’t need to. They kept the gift shop open for us.

There was some Mead and Strawberry Wine that I really wanted to get and Stonehenge cookie cutters. We ended up getting those plus an Elderberry Wine, which entitled us a free wine tote bag. This bag was extremely helpful in carrying the bottles around. We had fun shopping for some other things and then we had to go out of the gift shop since it was, finally, closing.

There were some exhibits outside that we visited shortly while waiting for the rest of the group. They are meant to be the type of dwellings that you would have found around Stonehenge at the time of erection.

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There was also a stone slab representing how the people could have moved the giant stones. They are crazy heavy. Many men had to pull on the same rope to move them. The stones were quarried from much farther away then where they were found.


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Rich posing with the heavy stone

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I told him that pose was not adequate, he had to really PULL!
Pull Richard, pull!


We had noticed our water canteens were low, so we tried to find a drinking fountain to fill them up, but there wasn’t any at the visitor’s center (where we were). The guide told us that the cafe will fill them up for us (for free!). And yup, they did. It was quite nice of them.
So, if you need water and have your own drinking container, the cafe at the Stonehenge Visitor Center will fill them up for you.
The way that it works now is that the visitor’s center is a good bit away from the henge, so taking the internal shuttle bus is the fastest way. Of course, you can walk it and there were a few people walking back.


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On the shuttle bus, looking back at the visitor center


Next to the henge is a huge sheep field and the sheep were gathered in the area closer to where visitors walked. We had security guards escorting us because the Stonehenge site is closed at this point. The tour allows us entry into the henge after hours (or before, depending what tour your schedule).
One of the sheep actually made a bid for escape when it found out the fence wasn’t electrified. Lol so we had a fun show of the guards corralling the escaped sheep. When the sneaky bugger finally was put back on the other side of the fence, he just started bleeting in protest lol


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Sheep and Stonehenge


Once the sheep was where he belonged, 3 security guards escorted our group off the normal path and towards the stones. Everyone went straight for the inner area of the circle. There was really only one rule: No Touching the Stones.


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We made it. We are at the inner circle of Stonehenge.


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How does this selfie thing work again?


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There we go!


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Some graffiti on one of the stones


Then, I really had to do some Jane Hat photos, they were, of course, priority!

::MinnieMo JANE HAT ALERT ::MinnieMo

There are multiple because, well, you really only get to go to the center of Stonehenge once in your life.

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I decided that I needed to just soak up the energies of the center, so I laid on the ground to soak in the energies and connect to the Earth. Since we couldn’t touch the stones, this was the best way I could think of doing so.


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Rich found it amusing


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Then I got him to lay down on the ground with me


It turned out to be a wonderful angle to get a full, close up, view of the more central stones.
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It was around this time when a member of our group, which happened to also be part of a social media group for the cruise, said something that I found pretty hilarious.

He said to me” Excuse me, could you move your shadow?” HAHA!! Once Rich and I stood up from laying down, our shadows were cast on one of the stones because of the setting sun. This man was being a pretty awesome dad and was documenting his daughter, who also ended up sitting down, enjoying the energies and spiritual aspect of this site. I thought it was really sweet, he was doing his dad best to encourage and support her, it was pretty awesome. That question is just something you don’t really hear that often lol. After more photos, ended up joking with him about Peter Pan and shadows. It was all in good fun.

We took MANY photos while we were here, enjoy …

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Behind the scenes look at everyone looking at the stones.
Rich was suspicious of my intentions and wanted a ‘good photo’


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A ‘good’ photo. It is rather nice.


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Not touching the stone, but dang close


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At least my shadow can touch the stones …


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This photo shows how the stones are made to interlock on top, see the notch at the top of the stone on the left?
They’re basically like old legos. Old, heavy legos.


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There is a road that goes right past Stonehenge



~ Continued in next post ~
Did you go on this tour from Adventures by Disney or from the Disney Cruise? What was the name of the tour? Thanks!
 
Did you go on this tour from Adventures by Disney or from the Disney Cruise? What was the name of the tour? Thanks!
No, I did not take an Adventures by Disney tour. At the end of every day in the trip report, I have listed prices and links. I believe the price has changed since we booked but the tour provider was Anderson Tours and the tour was Stonehenge Special Access Inner Circle Evening Tour.
I highly recommend an inner circle tour if the dates work with your vacation :)
 

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