5 Night Very Merrytime Western Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Magic: Day 4

Our second day at sea started off with our usual wake-up call: our son waking us up at 7:00am. He actually gets up every day at 6:00am, but he is required to play with his toys quietly while we sleep. This extra hour asleep alone is worth the cost of the two separate rooms in a one-bedroom concierge suite!

First, here is today’s daily navigator:

For breakfast, I went up to Cabanas (at least three times!) to get a bunch of grub for us to eat. I then went over to the Concierge Lounge for more food and a fantastic café latte from their super-amazing self-serve espresso machine. This machine produces (by far) the best coffee on the ship!

After my husband ate his breakfast, he went to the gym, while I hung out in the stateroom with my son. When he returned, we switched places, and I then went to the gym. My husband and son eventually left the stateroom while I was out.

I wanted to have an early lunch, as I had a massage booked at Senses Spa at 1:00pm! So, I stopped by the shawarma station at Pete’s Boiler Bites on Deck 9:

This was the real deal, folks! Both lamb and chicken shawarma were available, with all the fixins’ on pita bread. I got the lamb, and it was quite yummy!

Back in the stateroom, Flora was at it again:

I’m not quite sure what that giraffe was looking for in the drawer, but I hope he finds it!

I quickly showered so that I could make it in time for my massage appointment. I learned from the hubby that my son refused to go to the Oceaneer Club. Oh well! Not my problem, as I had a massage to get to!

I headed over to Senses Spa on Deck 9 about ten minutes prior to the start of my massage. I had booked the Thai Herbal Poultice Massage. I had never had a massage on a cruise ship. This particular massage was supposed to last 75 minutes. Disney Cruise Line’s website has the following description:

“This energizing, rhythmic massage utilizes scented herbal poultices that are heated and applied to the body at strategic pressure points that relax the muscles and release tension. Your therapist then follows with an array of Eastern and Western massage techniques and acupressure movements combined with essential oils that will transport your body on an exotic journey of total renewal.”

Of course, I had no earthly idea what a poultice was. Per Google’s dictionary, a poultice is “a soft, moist mass of material, typically of plant material or flour, applied to the body to relieve soreness and inflammation and kept in place with a cloth”. Makes sense, but it ended up not being what I expected…

The poultices were heated, and each one was VERY hot. On a number of occasions, I had to tell the therapist that it was too hot. So, she had to wait a few minutes before applying them to various parts of my body. The texture of the poultice was kind of rough, so it was not that pleasant. A hot stone massage is much better, as the texture of the stones is smooth, which equals soothing. The poultices were far from soothing.

Another thing that was a bit annoying about the massage was the therapist herself. She kept telling me how tense I was. Um, yes, that’s why I’m here for a massage!!! I am not a fan of massage therapists who talk to me during the massage, let alone one who keeps telling me that I am tense.

When the therapist wasn’t applying a poultice or commenting on my tension, the massage wasn’t all that bad. She put some type of arnica-based muscle gel on my apparently very-tense upper back muscles. It felt like Ben-Gay, but it probably was the best part of the massage. Of course, when the massage was done, she tried to sell me the Ben-Gay product for some exorbitant amount of money, but I passed. The $5 Icy Hot I have at home will do just fine!

Despite the issues I had with the massage, I still walked out of Senses Spa feeling quite relaxed. I had no desire to use my wave phone to touch base with my husband and son (especially since I knew he had not gone to the Oceaneer Club), but my motherly instincts presided, and I gave them a ring. They had been doing various character meet and greets throughout the afternoon. They also had hung out in the stateroom (my son watched Disney cartoons, while my husband read a book on the balcony, listening to the soothing ocean waves).

Since the boys seemed to be content, I decided to go on a much-awaited shopping expedition! It was time to hit Mickey’s Mainsail and Whitecaps on Deck 4. Ready to get my 10% discount for spending over $50 with my Disney Visa credit card (which you literally can do in two seconds in one of these stores), I picked up all this loot…

A blingy Mickey pin:

A cute photo album:

An emoji luggage tag:

A Disney Cruise Line-branded hoodie:

And, finally, my now-coveted (after having won the Oscar), Coco-themed hoodie:

Of course, I wasn’t done….I also went to Vista Gallery, as I was eyeing a few prints. I picked up these adorable works of art, which were created by Darren Wilson:

After maxing out my credit card (just kidding!), I decided it was time to get back to the stateroom and change my outfit in time for dinner. Once changed, I headed over to the Concierge Lounge for my requisite pre-dinner drink and then met up with my husband and son, who were doing their usual round of Disney character meet and greets in the Lobby Atrium.

With wine glass in hand, I was able to quickly take a shot of tropical-poinsettia-shirt-Donald as he walked by:

Dinner was at Lumiere’s, the Beauty and the Beast-themed French restaurant. The décor was beautiful. Here is a photo of one of the light fixtures:

There was a whole row of these light fixtures, each with the encased rose showing fallen rose petals at various stages. This is the first light fixture, closest to us, as we were near the entrance. Towards the back of the restaurant was the last light fixture, which literally had one petal left on the stem.  A beautiful reference to the movie!

The cover to the menu was beautiful as well:

For our meal, my husband had the wild mushroom-stuffed pasta in a vegetable broth, while I had my usual multi-course meal: French onion soup, farmhouse salad, and conchiglie pasta with buttered lobster. For dessert, I had to have three(!) items: Tahitian vanilla crème brulee, strawberry shortcake sundae, and the classic opera gateau.

Before going to bed, I joked with my husband that the next day was going to be the best day of the year. (Actually, that was no joke.) We would be arriving at Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay – woot woot!!!

Up next: Day 5 – Castaway Cay