(Previously... Days 1 & 2)
Day 3 - Monday, September 21st
Another amazing, and arguably too big, breakfast at Cabanas....
10:30am: Inside Out was playing in the Walt Disney Theater -- in 3D -- so I went to that. It was my first time seeing the movie and I really enjoyed it.
After the movie, I got some lunch, and saw that some of the Disney characters were dancing on deck 9.
In the early afternoon I went to "Crafts: Tile Coasters" in O'Gill's pub. I sat at one of the small tables with some nice ladies. The ship's motion was making me so dizzy, I felt like I was going to fall off my bar stool. But I enjoyed making the coasters. I will say that O'Gill's is probably not the best place to do that particular craft, since the lighting is so dim in there, and there are so many different-colored tiles to work with. Still, I enjoyed the event, and when they repeated that craft later in the cruise, I went again... and brought a small flashlight with me that time.
I had heard that there were several pin books around the ship where one could trade pins: the three shops, Shutters, and Guest Services. So after Coaster-Making I went to each place and did a couple of trades. I ended up trading one of my Mickey pins for one of Lady Tremaine & Lucifer. I'm sure that's a major Disney Sin, but I didn't care! Mickey pins are common enough, and I love that cat.
I was still feeling dizzy and weird from the ship's motion, but I discovered that one way to combat that feeling was to sit by a window and look out at the water. Thank goodness my room had a porthole! I also started hanging out in the porthole seats on deck 3 a lot.
I didn't go to the show that evening, the Beatlemaniacs. However, I did go to Ultimate Disney Trivia in O'Gill's. I wasn't planning to play, just watch, but 2 guys sat by me, and I ended up sort of teaming with them. We got 12 correct out of 25. :)
Dinner was at Animator's Palate. I had heard about the atmosphere of the place, how the room goes from black and white to color over the course of the dinner, but I was still blown away by how cool it was! Animator's Palate is true Disney magic.
I didn't order specialty drinks too often, but this is one night I did. I got the Bora Shake, which is described as "Pina Colada, Fresh Bananas, and Blue Ocean." Mmmm!
After dinner, I went to an event called "Disney Wheel" in the D Lounge. It was Wheel Of Fortune done via computer, projected onto a screen. I am a WoF fan, but most of the puzzles were solvable after just a few letters. There were kids there, and it seemed like more of a family event. I left before it ended.
I went to bed a little early that night, because the next morning we'd be docking in Funchal, Madeira!
Day 4 - Tuesday, September 22nd
I happened to wake up just as we were approaching Madeira, so I hurriedly got dressed and ran up on deck 4, and then deck 9, to take photos.
The Boa Morte Levada Nature Walk was a guided tour about 5 kilometers -- and it involved walking up lots of hills and along unstable ground... stones, steps, etc. Sometimes our tour guide would stop us to tell us about something. She spent a lot of time talking about the levadas, or waterways, that were built to provide water for locals and farms. As it was a "nature walk," I was expecting to see lots of flowers and maybe even some animals, but... mostly we saw farms, buildings, and levadas. Still, when else am I going to visit Madeira? This was an interesting way to see the island, and I certainly wouldn't have walked these trails without a guide.
Behold the levada!
Honey, fruit juice, rum. I normally don't drink, but I did sample it. It was pretty tasty! We got to hang around for about 30 minutes before boarding the bus again. Then our tour guide handed each of us a recipe for poncha and one of the wooden sticks for mixing it.
Back on the bus and back to the boat...
I should mention that we were originally scheduled to depart Madeira around 1 or 1:30, but the day before, the captain announced that they were extending the time ashore. People were given an extra 3 hours to enjoy the island, and most people seemed very happy about that!
Back on the boat I had some lunch. Then I went to my stateroom, where I relaxed and watched Disney movies and napped.
A treat from lunch...
I skipped the show that night, but I did make it to the Officer Pin Trading event. I traded away three pins and obtained pins of Lady Kluck, Gus & Jaq, and Donald and his nephews in a car. I also bought the Transatlantic 2015 pin. You can see all the pins I had at this point, below. (Ignore the one with the white cross; it wasn't a Disney pin, but rather one I got in Switzerland.) I bought Slinky Dog and the large Donald pin from the shops. Chip and Dale would get traded away later in the cruise.
Dinner was at Carioca's again that night. We had left Madeira by then, and I was feeling worse and worse. I felt like I was sitting in a rocking chair that I couldn't stop. I just ordered a baked potato and vegetables. Even so, I ate very slowly and didn't finish everything.
But don't worry....
Things get better!
Next: Days 5 & 6
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