Morning at the Hotel
We stayed the night at a local hotel and enjoyed continental breakfast in the lobby with giddy children! We had the typical waffle, fruit, bagel, and spilled cereal to start our day. Of course our bags for the cruise were packed up separtely and I was keeping those puppies locked up tighter then Ft Knox- so the child which encountered the spilled milk got her dress fixed by hair dryer back in the hotel room. These 3 children were completely nuts the entire morning- and their extra excitement and energy in our small room lead to some behavior issues- but we found a movie on the tv, got a "present of the day" and waited for our embarkment time to arrive.
Park N Cruise
11:30am rolled around and we were still an hour away from our assigned embarkment but we had to get out of that hotel with the crazies! We thought a car ride would be fun so we headed toward the port- 4 minutes later the car ride was over and we were there (small town). Jonathan had arranged the parking stuff weeks ago and it was a smooth process- we pulled up to the curb and the porter took our suitcases (they were delivered straight up to our room and we never had to touch them it was Disney magic!) Jonathan dropped us off as he parked across the street and then we began the real journey.
Embarkment
There was a security check point- similar to the airport (X-ray bags and walk thru metal detector). We had all our paperwork already filled out- this is where I have to thank my husband, he is a very organized traveler and the paperwork is his task. Honey you are the best!!!! The line moved quickly and in no time we were handed our "key to the world" cards. These little things really are your key to the world on the boat- they are your charge card, room key, meal schedule, security ID. As we left the line we had our (first of many) picture taken with Mickey! All 3 crazies love the mouse and have never been shy or scared of the characters-even Sam was all about the photo op:) There was another photo taken on the bridge to the boat- I was beginning to see a trend- pictures are taken all the time, everywhere! The bridge lead us to deck 3 of the boat and we entered through the main lobby. There are many cast members here, clapping and announcing your arrival- "Disney Magic welcome the Haines family!!!!!" yayayayayayayay! Very cute and a bit over the top.
Lunch and Exploration
By now its 12:30 and lunch was calling us to Topsiders. This joint turned out to be almost directly above our stateroom so we frequented it. Lunch was a buffet- there was plenty of fresh fruit which was a huge hit the entire week at EVERY meal- the crazies love fruit- because they are fruity! Bellies full we left lunch feeling happy about our week ahead. Annnnnnnnd then it started.... "When can we swim? I realllllllly wanna swim now! Come on you said we were gonna swim! This is boring! I want to swim!" Well we hadn't even been to our room and swimming was not going to happen at that point, so the bad attitudes and pouting continued. All that prior excitement had turn to impatience and it was nap time. Jonathan and I shared looks and I was beginning to doubt that this was going to be a magical vacation.
Safety First
Before the ship can set sail there is a mandatory Captain's safety brief. This is held on the deck 4 which is where, in an emergency, you would load into the life boats. They conduct a demonstration on the life vests and the emergency procedures. Really puts you a Titanic frame of mind! We are told this is all in the "unlikely chance of an emergency" but in the back of your mind you clearly see Jack and Rose freezing, clinging to life on that floating door in the Atlantic. But we're in the Caribbean and this water is warmer, so instead of freezing to your death you are eaten be a shark!
Our room was fabulous! On the 8th deck (this is the highest deck of rooms) we had a veranda with 2 chairs and a table, 2 bathrooms- toilet and sink in one/bathtub and sink in the other, queen bed for us, a couch that turns into a bunk bed for the girls, and a pack and play for Sam, desk, TV, table chair. There was a lot in this room so we made use of the provided furniture, unpacked our suitcases and stowed them away. I was completely nervous about our veranda (funny because this turned out to be my very favorite thing about the trip) we sat out there a few minutes just as the ship was pulling out of port and then you wouldn't have believed it but sure enough there were 2 dolphins playing along side us!!!!! This helped the crazies to see that we were going to have fun even if we weren't swimming in the pool-wheeeeew so glad those dolphins were there!
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| On our veranda checking out those dolphins! |
Dinner
Disney Cruise Line dinning assigns you a table and restaurant each evening. You sit with the same folks for the duration of the cruise. This is the fancy meal of the day (you are not bound to attend-there are other fast food, room service and buffet options for dinner if you chose). The first night we met our servers Lucie from the Czech Republic and Johan from Columbia. We enjoyed getting to know them as well as our other table family throughout the week. Tonight's dinner was at Lumiere's and appropriately enough French cuisine was served. The crazies ordered from the kid's menu and then enjoyed a Mickey ice cream bar for dessert!
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| Johan is a ketchup artist- Mickey ears! |
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| the boys |
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| dessert time |
Kids Club
One of the highlights of our trip was the Oceaneer Club. After dinner we attended the open house, talked with the counselors, looked around, and played. This place was great for any paranoid parent like myself, they provide these GPS id bracelets for the children, they check into the club with these and to pick up your children you must know the personal password. After the open house the girls were both interested in staying for the welcome party. So Jonathan, Sam and I continued to explore and learn our way around the boat while the girls dance, sang and played with Goofy!
Tonight's show was a welcome aboard, informative presentation, by Peter the cruise director. We were introduced to some of the comedy and musical acts onboard and previewed a few of the Broadway style shows to come. They also made some general announcements-glad we attended for this info. This was not the most entertaining for the small crazies but they maintained decent moods even at this late hour.
Bath and Bed
9:30 wrapped up the evenings events and we headed for our room for baths. Opened the door to find a cute towel animal (different one each night very cute!!!). Thank goodness for a bathtub (other cruise lines just have showers Disney is an industry first) bubbles and bubbles later the crazies were clean. The stateroom host Loyd had already turned down the beds so the girls tried out their bunks! They loved it! Annabelle on top and Lu on the bottom- they crashed in no time and so did we.
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