Disney Cruise 2000!

25 October 2000 - It's Wednesday evening. mom, Dad and Cassie came to drop off my new laptop then take me with them to Milwaukee to stay the night. So , we drove and finally got to the hotel by the airport. Brian, Anne, and kids, and Cheryl and Erick were also staying there. We ran and got a bite to eat, then off to bed early.

26 Oct - Up at 4:15. We rushed to get ready, then met the others in the lobby to head for the airport. We were there early, then we got on the plane for the first leg of our journey to Philadelphia. Then they told us that we couldn't fly to Philly because of the weather, so everybody off the plane. Dad did some finagling that took quite a while and got us on another flight rerouted to Kansas City. So, we waited forever to get on that flight, thinking, "Are we going to make the boat?!" Our flight to Kansas City was a hoot. The four of us had the back-most row and we had a jolly good time. We landed, and then had to about an hour to kill in the airport. I swear, that is the most (or one of them) boring airport in the world. Cassie and I played cards while we waited. We boarded the flight to Orlando. While on the flight, I did some work. When we were coming into Florida, Cassie and I saw rainbows in the clouds that were giving off popcorn showers. A good omen... We landed and hurried off the plane, where we were met, in the lovely Florida heat, by two cruise people. They hurried us to the bus area, where we loaded the six of us {can't remember where Brian and co were...} then took off post-haste. The bus pulled into the docking area of Port Canaveral at 4:55, and the boat was set to depart at 5. We RAN onto the ship through the cargo entrance, just happy to make it. We rushed up to the lobby, and got all our forms taken care of, just looking around in awe at how beautiful everything was. Whew! Once we caught our breath, we made our way to our stateroom on Deck 2. Cassie and I are staying with Grandma K. The room had a large bed, a couch, a table, a toilet, a shower TV and a thousand Disney touches. It looked very nice. We stored stuff and changed, then went to surprise everyone else. Anne, Brian and kids; Dave, Kathy and kids; Stacy, Robbie and kids; Grandma were already on board. They were having a Bon Voyage party with music on the 9th deck, so we went up there. We found everyone, hugs all around. We chatted up there for a bit, then I went looking around a bit. Then down to change for dinner. The boat had entered the gulf stream, so the seas were starting to get choppy. VERY choppy. All the family went down to see the show Voyage of the Ghost Ship. The boat was rocking so much, I got really nauseous. I left the show to get some air. I went to the shops to get some dramamine. That didn't help, because I rushed back out of the theater and headed for the nearest restroom. The show was getting out just as I came out, so I met the rest of the family to go to dinner. Oh, I felt so terrible! I took more dramamine, but it didn't stay in long. We were dining in Animator's Palate. It was a neat restaurant. The walls had character sketches and drawings that went from black and white to color. I tried to enjoy everything. What little dinner I ate was excellent. I didn't feel bad about being sick, though. A lot of people were getting sick and they said that these seas were the roughest they had in 5 years. Lucky us. Our servers, Egi and Arturo, were wonderful. They gave me better seasick medicine. I felt better after dinner, so Dad and I walked on the upper decks. It was really windy. There were two other cruise ships on the ocean by us, and the waves were so big that we could see their lights moving inches/feet on the horizon. I started to feel bad again, so I went down and threw myself into bed. I slept like a log.

27 Oct - We got up at 8:30 this morning. Grandma and the four of us went to eat breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet. Man, the food is good! After breakfast, we watched the boat dock in Nassau. We gathered our stuff for the day, then headed off the boat. We got hit up by a local tour guide the second we got off the boat. Phil told us he would take us all over for $23/each. Mom said okay, Cheryl & Erik joined us, and we headed off in an old Mitsubishi van. Phil took us onto the island and downtown, to see all the shops and people hawking their wares. He showed us the pink government buildings, then took us across the bridge to Paradise Island to see the Atlantis hotel - this ungodly huge expensive hotel. Phil dropped us off, and we went in and looked at the decor and the aquarium. Then Big Phil came back and took us back over onto New Providence Island. He drove us down to see an old fort, all the time shouting at people on the streets and telling us about the history. He showed us the really poor part, then the water tower, then dropped us off. We looked around the Straw Market, tasted some rum {got carded because they didn't think I was 18. Grrr.}. I got my hair braided on the top and bought a pretty blue purse. Then we headed back to the ship to get ready to snorkel. We caught some lunch, then met everybody in the Promenade Lounge to wait. Finally, we were ready to go. They loaded us (about 110+ people?) onto a boat, where we got equipment and headed out. The place we were going to snorkel was a "park" east of the island. We were instructed on use, then we got to go in. It was really neat! We could see lots of types of coral and fish. They left us to swim a while. I got salt water in my eyes a lot, and I started to get chilly, so I went back on the boat fairly early. I dried off as best I could, but I was still shaking cold. You'd think Caribbean water would be warm. We started heading back when everyone was on. Everybody but Rob's family and Grandma (and Cheryl and Erik) went snorkeling. On the way back, I saw a cloud in the distance that had two waterspouts forming. Very kewl. {yes, I wrote that...} I finally warmed up enough, and we had a little Kienert dance party at the back of the boat. When we got back, we went back to our cabins to shower. Then Grandma and the four of us went back into Nassau to get key chains for Cassie. We didn't want to stick around long there, because started to get rough dark. We came back on the boat and met people in the Promenade Lounge for happy hour. Anne bought me a margarita. Tonight, we ate dinner at Parrot Cay, where everything looked very tropical. I got the stuffed pasta shells on Beth's recommendation. Great dinner. Cassie spilled two drinks, one onto John. After dinner, there was a deck party. We danced the night away there, then Kathy and I danced some more. After that, we went down to WaveBands to watch karaoke, but I didn't stick around long because my eyes hurt. So, I went to bed. Oh yea, and Cassie almost broke her fingers on the door and chopped a big chunk out of her fingers. 

Cassie, Cara, Erik, Cheryl, Mom, Dad by the Atlantis Hotel fountain

28 Oct - Slept in a little bit again. When we woke up, we were docked at Castaway Cay. We got ready and got breakfast. Cassie and I went off the ship with Dave, Kathy & kids. Cassie and I got our picture taken with Mickey. Then we staked a claim at the beach. Then we went swimming. The water was a little cool, but the sun was shining, and everything was gorgeous. I ran and rented us some floats, then we swam with everybody. Cassie and Beth went to get their hair braided, which took a while. I went swimming again, then decided to take a walk. I didn't take sandals and ended up burning my feet on the asphalt. I got back, then Mom, Dad and I took the tram to the adult beach. It was very quiet over there - no music. Oh, we bought some souvenirs after the hair-braiding was done. We ate lunch down there and saw Arturo before coming back. Then back in the water. I just wanted to rest on my raft, but Tyler kept pulling me around. After a while, we went back to the boat. Changed, then headed up to the ESPN Skybox to watch some college football. The Badgers ended up winning. Cassie and I went down to Shutters to see the pictures they had taken of us, then we went to buy my trip souvenirs. Back up to the Skybox where Mom, Dad, Dave and Kathy were drinking beer. We brought Mom down to Shutters, where she bought our pictures and did a little souvenir shopping of her own. She bought Cassie and me beaded bracelets - clear for me, purple for her. we enjoyed the sunset with Dave and Kathy. Cassie and I went back to the cabin to take a nap, but Grandma came in and that was the end of that. We packed luggage, then got ready to have our family picture taken before dinner. It took a while to get everyone together, but we got a nice family picture taken with everyone. Then we went to dinner at Triton's. Very French-style. It was beautiful with pastel colors and stained glass. Very classy. I tried the herb-encrusted sea bass, but I found I still don't like fish. Dad got everybody champagne and toasted Grandma, who had arranged and paid for the trip for everyone. For dessert, I got cherries jubilee. I wanted to do something, but everyone else was packing, and I was getting tired. The four of us ended up walking around the ship and I took videos of everything. Then we put out our bags and went to bed. 

Dad, Cara, Cassie, Mom

29 Oct - We got up pretty early to get ready to go to breakfast. We ate and bit everything adieu before disembarking. From there, we waited to check luggage and catch a coach to the airport. Everyone but Brian and co are flying back together. Cassie and I checked out a few airport shops - Orlando has an awesome airport for that sort of thing. Then we went and sat by the family until it was time to board the airplane. Mom, Cassie and I were in a row together. I was so tired, I tried to fall asleep. I'm not sure, but I think I did. They didn't have anything vegetarian for lunch, so I got lots of carrots. 

{transcribed 2/10/2020}