Disney Cruise

It's time to tell you about the MOST AMAZING family vacation EVER!  I took notes on my iPad while we were gone, so if formatting seems weird, writing style changes day to day, or I miss some bad auto-correct mistakes, please forgive me.

SUNDAY 

We headed down to Cocoa Beach, Florida on Sunday, Jan 12.  The drive took 13 hours including stops.  Despite my plan that the kids would nap several hours of the trip, they didn't. Well, Jason fell asleep 5 minutes before dinner, but I don’t think that counts!  By the time we checked into hotel, we were exhausted and all went right to sleep.

MONDAY

The next morning, we had breakfast at hotel, walked down to beach briefly, then took a shuttle to Port Canaveral.  We got there early, had an easy check in, and boarded by noon instead of 1:30. That was a pleasant surprise!

Waiting to board the ship

on board!

Daisy Duck

Mickey Mouse

Once on board, we had a little bite at the buffet, then explored the ship.  The kids took a nap, then Abbie did water slides for almost an hour (I was so surprised that she wanted to do that!!) while Tony and Jason checked out the welcome dance party.  Afterwards, we bathed and got to dinner.  Our table mates were really nice.  They’re from Canada and have a 6 year old girl and 4 year old boy.  Our servers were great, too.  The main server even cut up Abbie's food for her each time he served her a course, and he took great care of Jason, who doesn’t do restaurant dinners very well.

Some of my food highlights for the trip were deep fried Brie with cranberry preserves, baked salmon over cauliflower mash, greens, and

some other veggies that I have never thought to cook, truffle scented stuffed pasta, and a mustard coated veal chop over tomato risotto.  My appetite was much lower this time than the last cruise we took (our homeymoon), and I couldn't finish any of my meals.  Dessert each night left much to be desired, which is probably a good thing.

The kids managed to eat relatively healthfully, minus the one night that they each had chicken fingers… and the fact that the chef insisted on serving French fries with EVERY dinner, even if I specifically asked them not to!

In our first three hours of being on board, Tony had 3 small ice cream cones. 

By Tuesday afternoon, I think he was up to 5!  I have to laugh... Auto correct made that say Tuesday "fatter noon".  True that!  By the end of the trip, the total was well over 10, I think.  You might say that self-serve ice cream is Tony’s favorite part about cruising! J

After dinner, Jason and I hung out in the room and he got to bed by 9pm. 

Abbie and Tony went to the "Villains Tonight" show and got back around 945pm. 

Abbie was excited and wired.  She didn't get to sleep until after 10.

TUESDAY

Tuesday morning, we woke early (so much for sleeping in).  We had a nice

breakfast at the buffet, explored the ship a little more, went to a Disney

Junior dance party and Abbie got her picture taken with Minnie (no line!).  We got Mickey on Monday night, but had to wait at least 15 minutes for that one.  Mostly, we're having the kids wave at the characters instead of stranding in line to see them.  Jason won't get too close anyway!

Minnie Mouse

Mid morning, after docking in Nassau, we took a bus to the Atlantis resort,

where we played in the water park, Abbie did a ton more kids’ water slides, and Tony did the giant drop slide. Abbie begged to do the big slide, too (crazy girl!).  We ate lunch, played some more, then changed and took our time heading back to the ship.  Good thing I brought sneakers for the kids, because we did a TON of walking!  I was afraid they would get blisters in their last-season sandals, which Abbie did, and Jason probably was starting to, so sneakers were perfect for the walk back.  We saw awesome buildings, part of the aquarium, the casino, and the bridge resort room where Michael Jordan reportedly spent 14 nights at $25,000 per night!

On the way back to the ship, we passed through the market where Tony and I had hung out last time we came to the Bahamas on our honeymoon.  It was very

different visiting the island this year, especially with kids!

Tuesday afternoon, currently, the kids and Tony are sleeping.  I tried to nap, but the caffeine from my Coke at lunch (no tap water available!) seems to have wired me and prevented my much needed nap.  I'm hoping to acquire some cold I medicine this evening, because I am battling a tough one with lots of sneezing, congestion and watery eyes.  I look like I've been crying all day!

Dinner Tuesday night was in the Animator's Palate room, where the walls began as black and white sketches and ended in a colorful show with a surprise appearance by Mickey Mouse. 

Tuesday night, after dinner, we ran into Tiana and Rapunzel, which thrilled

Abbie.  Then, Abbie and I saw the theater show "Twice Charmed" about a twist on the Cinderella story.  Afterwards, Abbie was exhausted and we went straight to bed.

Tiana from The Princess and the Frog

Rapunzel from Tangled

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning, I got in a run finally!  I started the "couch to 5k" training program before vacation and really wanted to continue this week.  I missed Monday's run, and might miss Friday's, too, but at least I did it once!

After showers, we tried the sit down restaurant for breakfast.  The food was

fine, but honestly, I prefer the buffet.  We then donned out suits and headed to Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.  Upon arrival, Abbie got her picture with Donald Duck, then we enjoyed some time on the sand and Abbie swam some. 

Midday, Abbie went to the kids drop-off area, while Jason came with us for lunch.  It's amazing how much easier it is to have a meal with him when it's just the three of us!  We ate tons of delicious fresh fruit, including probably a whole mango, and some of the BBQ fixings from the buffet.  Then we wandered down the island until we stumbled upon a spash zone for toddlers.  I really thought Jason would not want to try it, but he dove in and had a BLAST!  After spending quite a while there, and sneaking in some more ice cream, we gathered up Miss Abbie and headed back to the ship for baths and naps.

Wednesday evening, all we managed to do was go to dinner and see a few

characters.  The kids were tired, so we skipped watching Frozen in the

theater that night.  For dinner, we sent Jason to the nursery so we could have a more peaceful meal.  Abbie joined us until she had finished eating, then she went to the kids' Club to play.  After dinner, we saw Peter Pan, which was one of the highlights of the trip.  It was "pirate night" and Abbie was dressed as Tinkerbell.  Peter Pan really took a liking to Abbie.  They played leap frog, crab walked and practiced their flying poses together.  As we were walking away, he asked his photography assistant for Abbie's name and stateroom number, which led to us receiving an invitation to a private character greeting on the last night of the cruise.

Peter Pan

Captain Hook and Mr. Smee

THURSDAY

Thursday was the last day of the cruise, and it was COLD!  After greeting the

four princesses on the boat, The kids had some time in their respective kids'

areas, while Tony and I took a very windy walk around the ship and settled in to watch “Brave” on the pool deck.

Thursday afternoon, despite the cold, we took Abbie up to the pool deck to

ride the water slide again.  She must have ridden 10 times, and Tony even went a few times, too.  They were frozen, but so glad that Abbie had a chance to do it again before we left.

Dinner in the evening was ok. But what came after was MAGICAL.  We saw the

Disney original show "Dreams", then went to the private character greeting. 

There were just a handful of families there, and only about 4 or 5 kids total

(including our two).  At first, we did not know what we were in for, but soon

Peter Pan stuck his head out to play hide and seek with Abbie, then Mickey,

Minnie, Donald Duck, DaisyDduck, Goofy, and almost all of the other character from the ship came out.  Abbie got to hug them all, talk, dance, and get her picture taken.  It was incredibly special.  By the end of it all, it was 10:15pm and we were all exhausted.  It was absolutely the greatest end to the cruise we could have ever asked for!

Waiting to meet princesses in the ship lobby

FRIDAY

On Friday, we got off the ship, returned to our car to deposit luggage and

headed out to Sea World.  Our original plan was to stay at the beach, but

temperatures were in the 50s, so we ditched that one.  Sea World ended up being a lot of fun.  We saw two shows, pet stingrays, ate expensive food, and played in the kids' area.  Jason rode the little kids' train 3 times, and Abbie rode her first roller coaster... Twice!  She is becoming quite our little daredevil! 

By the time we left the park, it was 6:30pm and Jason completely conked out in there car.  The rest of our trip left much to be desired... I have been sick since the first day and now seem to have an ear or throat infection, Tony is feeling under the weather, Jason had a horrible night terror, and Abbie woke up with a fever and stomach bug Saturday morning.  BUT, Monday through Friday were so incredible, it completely overshadows the rest.  It was the greatest vacation we've had and we hope to be able to do it again in a few years!