Today was a sea day so CSP & I slept in a bit. We had breakfast at Royal Court
then went to the Tube for the Castaway Club Gold & Platinum reception. This was our first time attending the reception.
They said they sent out about 400 invitations, and about 100 or so people attended. Darren, the cruise director spoke
and then came around and spent some time with each table. Captain Thor spoke as well. You could have your picture taken with each of them. No, Captain Thor did not carry a hammer, much to CSP’s disappointment. Wait staff passed around drinks, hors d’oeuvres, fruit and cookies. CSP downed 4 mimosas! He said next year we’re getting there early for the drinks! Mind you this was 10:30 in the morning! Ha! There was a special guest at the reception- Minnie Mouse! Do you know how special it is to be able to walk right up to a character for a photo without a long line?? 
It was awesome! And she was too cute too- I’m so used to giving hugs with a kiss on the cheek and she “kissed” me back, complete with smoochy noises!
After the reception CSP & I did a little shopping at the gifts shops on board. We drooled over BB8 then picked up our magnet (we get a dated Disney Cruise Line magnet each year), a Stitch pin for my lanyard, a sparkly Ariel shirt for Ellen’s birthday tomorrow, and a cute anchor shirt for MOM of CSP for taking care of the pugs and the house while we’re gone.
We went back to the room to drop off our goodies and met up with the Family (Amy, Kevin, Ellen & Colin). They needed lunch too so we all went off to Royal Court for lunch. We went back to the room afterward to find the stateroom host had opened and linked our balconies together to make one huge balcony! CSP started watching Thor 2 for a little while on demand (so cool, you can start and stop movies by bookmarking them).
Next it was time for our first Mixology class! We went to the Skyline Lounge and for the next hour or so we learned about making fun drinks from Ashley the bartender
.
Kevin even got in on the action! 
We had 5 drinks: a champagne drink
, a mojito
, a rum drink
, a chocolate martini
, and a shot called the Big Elephant.
Forgive me for not knowing all the drink names. They can’t print off recipes for us anymore and I had both mine and CSP’s chocolate martinis and shots! I was lucky I remembered how to get back to our room!
After Mixology CSP wanted a coffee so we went to the Cove Cafe in the adults only section on the pool deck.
CSP asked for a 4 shot cafe latte. The barista could not believe CSP actually wanted 4 shots of espresso in his latte! We were walking around and realized that all of deck 11 ( the pool deck) was deserted because of early dinner (our dinner is at 8:15). I mean, NO ONE around. Perfect time to ride the AquaDuck! So we ran down to the room and CSP got changed, then we ran back up to the entrance of the AquaDuck. They wouldn’t let him ride!!! They said he needed a partner and there was no one around to ride with him. I couldn’t do it because of my vertigo + mixology = I was already dizzy! So we went back to the room to get ready for Formal Night and dinner.
Everyone looked so lovely for formal night! We saw Daisy Duck on the way to dinner in her sparkly dress! 
I love her little tail sticking out!
Some people really go all out with floor length gowns and tuxedos! Disney sets up backdrops all over the main atrium for professional photographs. So we had some taken before dinner, but we totally forgot about them the rest of the week so we never saw them! Who knows if they even turned out! Doh! 
We were back in Royal Court for dinner, which is a gorgeous restaurant. Dinner was a French theme tonight so CSP was happy with his escargot!
When we got back to our room after dinner there was a little sign to set our clocks forward an hour upon retiring for the evening. 
Plus a cool dinosaur!
Next up….Day 4- Sea Day and Ellen’s birthday!!!
Bless Your Heart 