Cruising with Character

We were on a Disney cruise so naturally there were often Disney characters about. I got to play with some and I also had some pictures. The first to play with me was Pluto. My humans and I had recently boarded and he was waving down to other arrivals from the deck above the entrance. He broke off to play with me a little. I am always a little careful with Pluto. He is a d*g; he has a history of chasing my character and he has put me in his mouth before now. This time, he was very good and gentle.

We didn't get a picture of Pluto but here are a couple of those we did. These two pictures were both taken in the Atrium and on the same day.

The first picture is from my own feature film and I am with the little wooden boy and the insect. Pinnocchio recognised me at once and was very happy to see me. He gave me a nice cuddle. Prr. Prr. The ship's newsletter for the day said it was quite rare for Jiminy to make an appearance so I suppose it was nice to have a picture of them together.

In my other picture, I am with Lilo and Stitch. Stitch was also very good and gentle but I was glad Lilo didn't let go of me. I had seen Stitch playing around with some of his other visitors.

The atrium was a nice place to have pictures taken but it wasn't the only spot on the ship. I had some taken on the next deck up in various locations and one even up by the family pool - I was very brave to go near the water even if it was to see Chip and Dale!

Prrrr.

DVC Gift

The Disney Vacation Club had a strong pressence on our cruise. Lots of the passengers were members - including several on my humans' dinner table. There was also a prominent sales desk (Where in Disney isn't there?).

DVC sent its members a gift. In the picture, I'm looking at the one sent to humans. It was a rather nice, solidly made box full of goodies. There were lanyards (again, what aren't there lanyards for in Disney?), there were pens and there was lots of sales literature.

The box was solidly made. My humans were not the only couple at their table who were upset at the idea of what to do with it. They didn't want it; they hadn't asked for it; and they had no reason to take it home. But they didn't want to waste it by throwing it away. After a few days thought, they did the obvious thing. They gave it back.

Prrr.

Different Things

There are lots of things for the humans to do on a ship like "Disney Magic" - even when they are not looking for characters for me to have a picture with! And the great thing is that the two of them can do different things.

On our first day out of Barcelona, Andrew and I relaxed on comfy deck chairs (Andrew reading) while Mikki went ashore to see Monte Carlo. Here are some pictures. Andrew took the one of me but I don't know who took the one of Mikki.

Andrew liked relaxing and reading on the quiet shaded deck (Deck 4). The chairs were quite comfortable. It was also a good job so few of them were being used because lots and lots of them were broken. They were alright for lying on but if you tried to adjust them to a more upright position (as for reading), most of them collapsed on you without warning. Fortunately, of course, this didn't worry me.

Mikki saw a motor car museum and the "changing of the guard" at the prince's palace. I don't think that was up to Buckingham Palace standards and I am not sure my humans want to admit they lived over 20 years in London and never saw that. In the picture, she's standing above the yacht harbour. Monte Carlo is a place where you really need your yacht to be very expensive! Toy cats are a lot more ecomonic - and in my view much more rewarding.

Prrrr.

All Aboard

Here are my first pictures from the Disney Magic. Anyone who's been aboard will recognise the statue as the one in the main atrium (where you come aboard) outside "Lumiere's" restaurant. For anyone who only knows "Disney Wonder", it is where that ship has Ariel's statue.

I'm not sure I liked the statue that much. Mickey's costume reminded me (and my humans) of the "SS Totally Sinkable" on the effects tour there used to be in the Studios. That's hardly the image you want for a cruise.

Towards the end of the cruise, we met three captains in one day: Mckey Mouse, Jack Sparrow and a human called Marco. I think he's the one who really commands the ship but I didn't go with the humans to meet him. My second picture is with captain Mickey. Look, he's giving me a nice little stroke.

Yes, I got one with Jack Sparrow too - but you'll have to wait for that.

Prrrrr.

Barcelona

We are back from our holicay (vacation) and I can start to tell you all about it.

We had a few days in Barcelona first. The humans took a half day tour and then visited a few highlights. They most liked the "Casa Batllo", an amazing house designed by Gaudi. They even tried learning to say "please" and "thank you" in catalan.

We were lucky with the location of our hotel - quite close to the main streets and itself in a lovely (and recently created) square. The humans enjoyed eating at several of the many good value restaurants. I was content to get this picture sitting on a large sculpture in the square.

We were in Barcelona for 5 nights before joining "Disney Magic".

Cruising to Come

Here's a picture taken in our stateroom on our last Disney cruise. Obviously, the pose has been specially arranged. We were normally on the bed or sofa.
I think we have a very similar stateroom on our next cruise. Mikki has told us that the room is the same size. The main differences are that there is a slightly restricted view - and that it costs less because the restricted view was enough to get it downgraded to a cheaper category. I said it costs less. What I meant is it would have cost less if we had paid for our cruise the previous time. My Mikki won that cruise. She's really very lucky. She also found the cutest toy kitten in the world. Perhaps she's very clever too!

Prrrr.

Bath Day

"Bath Day" is one of my favourite Disney classic shorts. That's hardly surprising. It is one of very few where Figaro was the star and it reminds you that Figaro does appear as a star in his own right. That's very rare for characters other than the "Fab Five" of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy.

Figaro is just like most real cats: he does not like having a bath one little bit. And I am true to my character because I don't like it either. But it is something my humans sometimes insist on before we go on holiday (vacation). I have to admit I do come out looking cleaner and that makes my pictures look even better.

The picture shows Floppy cat and me waiting to dry after coming out of our bath. it takes about a day to dry out fully. That's a day without a really good cuddle!!!

Oh, behind us you can see another of my humans' pictures. This one's not of Figaro but of the pesky pixie, Tinker Bell. You can see it has two signatures: of Allison Lefcort (the artist) and of Tinker Bell herself, Margaret Kerry. We met Margaret a few years ago in Warwick and she signed the picture for us. She was really nice.

Once I am dry from my bath, Mikki helps me look even smarter. I am very glad to report my Mikki does not treat me in anything like the way Minnie Mouse treats Figaro. No bow; No perfume. My Mikki does do a little repair work on my nose and eyes after the bath because the water can wash away a little of the black.

The best thing about the bath is that it means the Disney trip is not far away. Prrr.