Disney Cruise: Day 2 (Sailing Away)

The next morning, we woke up, grabbed some McDonalds for breakfast, and then got ready to jump on the shuttle bus that would take us to the port. Cohen and Viv took a break by waiting in Grandma's wheel chair.  Love that he has his arm around her.  Such a sweet brother...

We got our first glimpse of our ship through the palm trees as our bus approached the port...

Once we got to the port, we checked in and proved we really were who we said we were...

And then were given our "key to the world" cards.  These are the cards you use on the ship to identify yourself, purchase things, etc.  Everything revolves around your key to the world card...

Then it was time for some group pictures...

So excited to set sail...

The back of the our ship, The Disney Wonder...

Once we got on the ship, we ate lunch at one of the restaurants called Parrot Cay because our staterooms weren't quite ready yet.  It was a delicious buffet.  We ended up going back there several times for breakfasts and lunches throughout the cruise...

After lunch, we were able to get our first glimpse at our staterooms.  All together, we had three rooms--2 for our family (because we have too many kids for us all to fit in one room anymore) and 1 for Mike's parents and David.  The two rooms for our family were adjoining so we could open the doors in between them.  Stateroom numbers 2575 & 2577...

The rooms actually ended up being really great!  Since we had to get two, we decided not to splurge on the rooms.  We decided just to get interior deluxe rooms and call it good.  We figured we wouldn't be spending much time in there anyway, so why spend hundreds more for a window or thousands more a veranda.  But, despite them being interior rooms, they were awesome!!  They each had a queen bed, a couch that turned into a bed & a bunk bed above the couch.  I don't have any other experience with cruises to compare the staterooms to, but Mike's parents said they were much bigger than any other stateroom they had stayed in before...

The bathrooms were great too.  There were two separate bathrooms in each stateroom.  One had a sink and bathtub/shower (which, by the way, I guess having a stateroom with a bathtub is really unusual too.  Most just only have showers.  But, I guess Disney figured little kids would need a bathtub)...

The other bathroom had the toilet and another sink.  It was so nice to have the toilet and shower separate from each other...

The other stateroom was the exact same, just reversed...

It was nice to have two rooms that adjoined.  It made it feel like we had lots of room to spread out and move around. It was even nicer to have two bathrooms for all of us as well!  Made getting ready in the morning that much easier.

Another neat thing Disney offers is that each stateroom has two cell phones that work on the ship!  This allows you to be able to get a hold of each other when you're separated on the ship.  Because we had two rooms, we got four cell phones.  Mike and I each took one, and we gave Connor and Aiden the others.  It was nice to be able to call and check on them when they were doing their various kids' activities and hanging out in their kids' clubs.

I also had to take a picture of the cute throw pillow on the beds.  I love that Disney does cute little touches like this.  Everything down to the details is always perfect...

After settling into our rooms, we walked around the ship to explore a little bit.  Aiden loved to sit in the portholes and look out the window.  You'll see several pictures throughout the trip of him doing just that.  Here he is looking out at Miami...

We also got the kids registered for the kids' clubs and activities.  They gave them these bracelets that they wore throughout the cruise.  These bands identified them and also pulled up pictures of the adults who were allowed to check them in and out of the Oceaneer's Club and Oceaneer's Lab (the kids clubs).  Connor was old enough to check himself in and out of the clubs.  But, when he did so, they always sent a text to both Mike and my ship cell phones telling us that he had checked out and where he was going.  It was so awesome...

Once the kids were registered, we continued exploring.  We headed up to the 9th deck (out of 11) to check out the pools.  There were three pools on the ship.  The Mickey Children's Pool...

Which had this really fun waterslide.  It was, of course, the kids' favorite...

Goofy's pool (which you'll see a picture of in a second), which had a movie screen where they always had movies playing.

And the Quiet Cove Pool, which was for adults only...

David spent a little time in the Quiet Cove Pool, but no one else really did.  It looked fun when I walked over there to take these pictures.  It was calm & they had fun 80s music playing, but we just spent all our time playing with the kids...

On the 10th deck, right above the pools, was the Wide World of Sports.  This was a fun area where they had basketball courts and soccer courts surrounded in netting...

As well as fusball tables, ping pong tables and air hockey too...

We also went to check out the kids' areas as well.  They wouldn't let you take pictures inside the kids' areas (for privacy reasons), so we just took pictures of the boys next to the signs for both the Oceaneer's Club and the Oceaneer's Lab.  In the club, they did fun activities like pajama parties with the characters, made crafts, went through a Toy Story Boot Camp with the green army men, etc...

And Oceaneer's Lab...

Mike was actually able to secretly take a picture of the Oceaneer's Lab, so you could see what it looked like in there.  They had all sorts of computers the kids could play games on & they also did science experiments in here constantly.  They made volcanoes explode, learned about gasses from a funny mad scientist, made flubber, etc...

Both the club and the lab were great places that always had fun activities going on for kids ages 3-12 and great youth councilors who ran the activities.  The kids loved it!  If they ever got bored or just didn't want to do what the rest of the family was doing, they always knew there would be a fun activity going on in both the club and the lab, and they would head over there for awhile.

Connor was at the perfect age (11-years-old).  He was still young enough to go to the Oceaneer's Club and the Oceaneer's Lab, but he was also barely old enough to go to Edge--the pre-teen club for 11- to 14-year-olds...

They did some really great activities here too--like Wii challenges, trivia games, scavenger hunts, and making pizza from scratch.  Connor loved hanging out in Edge, and made some friends as well.  One day, we poked our head in to check on him and I was able to sneak of picture of him in Edge without getting caught.  I decided to throw it in here so you could see sort of what it looked like...

We also found the 24/7 ice cream shop while we were out exploring.  Most the restaurants had specific hours they were open, but there were a few places--like the ice cream place--that were open all the time.  Goofy's Galley served hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. around the clock.  Pinocchio's Pizzeria served pizza at any hour.  And, of course, you could order pretty much anything to your room through room service whenever you wanted too.  But, our favorite was always the ice cream.  We ate so much of this stuff!  I don't know what they put in that ice cream, but it was delicious--and very addicting...

At 3:30 that afternoon, after we finished exploring the ship, we had to participate in a lifeboat drill so we knew where to go and what to do if we encountered a Titanic-type experience--which thankfully didn't happen.

After that, we were all ready to sail away into the Caribbean!  Vivvie was overdue for her nap by this point, and ended up falling asleep.  Grandma was feeling tired too, so she said she would go down to the stateroom with her, so they could both take a nap.  After we got them settled, the rest of us headed back up to the 9th Deck for the Adventures Away party at the Goofy Pool.  (See, I told you I'd show you a picture of it...although, the pool is covered up for the party, so it's not a great picture--but it helps you see the movie screen where you could watch movies while taking a swim.) The sail away party was hosted by--who else--Mickey Mouse and all his pals...

They handed out streamers to everyone and we had a great time waving them around as we danced to the fun music.  Connor doesn't look too thrilled in this picture, but he really was having a great time.  He just has a grumpy resting face...

We were having so much fun that we didn't even realize we were actually moving until we saw the dock moving slowly away from us.  We were actually sailing away, and we were thrilled about it...

See you later, Miami...

Later that evening, we all met up at the Walt Disney Theatre for the first of many shows that we would watch in the evenings.  I was so impressed with all their shows.  I felt like I was watching Broadway productions most nights.  They were incredible!  Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures of them, so I don't have anything to show you from them.  But, we did take lots of pictures of all of us while waiting for the shows to start.  Here we are waiting for the first show "All Aboard" to begin...

It was a fun show about a boy who wants to be a ship captain when he grows up.  It definitely wasn't my favorite show of the cruise because the others were crazy amazing, but it was fun nonetheless.

After the show, we went to dinner at our assigned restaurant for the evening--Trition's.  As you can probably guess, it had a Little Mermaid theme, including this beautiful tiled mural...

Vivienne was obsessed with it, and kept leaving our table to get closer to Ariel...

She loved it, as you can probably tell...

The menus had the same picture on them, so our waiter let Viv keep one because he could see how much she loved it...

Here's some pictures that were taken of us at dinner that first night...

I had to take a picture of the kids food because it always came in cute Mickey-shaped plates and bowls, like this one...

And, even their ketchup was done in Mickey-style as well.  I'm pretty sure my kids are going to request that I pour ketchup on their plates like this from now on...

We chose to do the later dinner time (8:15 pm) because when you choose that option your kids can participate in what's called "Dine 'n Play."  With Dine 'n Play, the kids eat their meals while the adults eat appetizers.  Then, after the kids are all done eating their food, the youth councilors from the various clubs come pick them up and wisk them off to do some fun activity while the parents eat their main courses in peace!  It was awesome!!  It made everyone happier.  The kids didn't have to sit through a two-hour long meal, and the parents got to sit and enjoy their food--rather than dealing with spilled drinks, fighting siblings, and whining.  For those of you thinking about a Disney cruise in your future, I highly recommend getting the later dinner time for this reason.  It was great!

Vivvie never wanted to go with the Youth Councilors, which was fine.  She was happy to sit and chat with the adults while we ate dinner and talked.

After we were done eating, Viv wanted to put on her princess dress because she saw so many other little girls dressed in them, so we went back to the staterooms and got her all dolled up.  She was happy as a clam in that pretty pink dress the rest of the evening.  Here she is posing (and dancing) in front of the Ariel statue in the main lobby...

She even got in a little dance with Grandpa in the lobby as well.  It was so stinkin' cute...

After that, we checked in on the boys at their youth activities.  Connor and Aiden wanted to stay longer, but Cohen was ready to spend some time with us, so we took him and Viv up to the Goofy pool and watched a little bit of Mary Poppins that was playing on the movie screen (while eating ice cream of course)...

Then we did a little more exploring on the ship.  Here are Cohen and Viv on one of the balconies overlooking the main lobby...

We finally decided to get the kids to bed around 11:00 pm.  When we got back to our staterooms, we found our beds turned down and our first towel animal on the beds--a cute bunny.  By the way, how do I get a stateroom hostess for everyday life?  It was great to have my room cleaned twice a day and get a chocolate on my pillow every night...

We got the kids to sleep and then David asked us if we wanted to go to some of the adult activities going on around the ship that evening.  Grandma and Grandpa said they would be happy to stay with the kids while they slept, so Mike, David and I went and watched a game called Match Mate, which was basically like the Newlywed Game.  It was funny--especially because several of the couples were slightly intoxicated, and they were happily spilling the secrets of their marriage.  Hopefully they didn't remember the next morning all the things they told the audience.  Hehe!

After that, we went to the Cadillac Lounge, which was a piano bar.  There we listened to an amazing pianist play all sorts of songs.  He was excellent...

After that, we all headed back to our staterooms around 12:30 that night to get some sleep.  It was a great first day on the ship!  I loved every minute of it!!  I'm pretty sure I went to sleep with a huge smile plastered across my face, excited for the rest of the vacation still to come.  --Lindsay

Disney Cruise: Day 1 (Flying to Miami)

We just got back from the BEST.VACATION.EVER!! Seriously, best vacation ever!!!  It was amazing!  Every single second of it was wonderful.  It's hard for me to even put into words how awesome it was--but I'm going to try.

About 10 years ago, Mike and I made a list of vacations we wanted to take at some point.  It's sort of like our traveling bucket list.  One of them was to take our family on a Disney Cruise.  We wanted to go when we were done having kids, so that they could all be there for it, and we wanted the kids to be at good ages--not too old and not too young--when we went.  Well, a few years ago, we decided the time was getting right and we started saving.  And, this past week, it finally happened!!  We went on the Disney Cruise we had been planning for so long. (Mike's parents and brother ended up coming with us too.)  The entire vacation was wonderful--as you'll be able to see through the next 7 posts I do on it.  I wanted to capture every single minute, so I took over 1000 pictures--plus, we bought all the professional pictures Disney took of us while on the ship.  So get ready for serious picture overload!  I've broken the posts up by day.  And, hopefully, it won't take me as long to write them all up as it took me to write up our National Parks trip from last summer.  We'll see how it goes.  So, without further ado, here's the rundown of our Disney Cruise to the Caribbean.

We planned the trip to coincide with the kids' Spring Break.  They ended up having to miss a day and half of school to make it work, but we figured that would be okay.  So, last Thursday, we picked the boys up from school around 11:30 and headed to the airport for our 1:55 pm flight.  The kids loved watching the airplanes out the window--especially Cohen and Viv.  Viv has never been on an airplane before and Cohen was too young last time he flew to remember it.  It was so much fun to watch their faces as planes took off and landed...

When it was time, we boarded our plane and said goodbye to the 40° temperatures and snow that fell that morning, and headed for warm weather and white sand beaches.  The boys did great on the flight.  They were equipped with books to read and electronics to play with, so they were set...

Viv, on the other hand, got a tad grumpy.  It was nap time when we took off, so she wasn't in the happiest of spirits.  She never cried--but she pouted, refused to sit in her own seat, and made it clear that she did not want her picture taken.  But, I took it anyway...

She fell asleep on Daddy's lap just a few minutes later and spent half the flight in this position.  Poor Mike...

Once she woke up, she was a happy little camper and had a blast watching all her favorite princess movies on her "pink pad" as she calls it (because of its pink case)...

We had a layover in Atlanta.  As we were walking off the plane, Aiden asked, "Where are we again?"  I told him we were in Atlanta, Georgia.  He thought about that for a second and then asked, "Do they speak English here?"  I laughed and told him they did.  After we found the gate for our connecting flight, we decided to grab some dinner.  The girl who took our order had a thick southern accent.  After we had finished ordering and stepped away from the counter to wait for our food, Aiden quietly asked me again, "Mom, are you sure they speak English here?"  It made me laugh, and reminded me of the time when Mike and I had just moved to Louisiana.  We were grocery shopping, and we heard a guy speaking Louisiana Creole (a mixture of English and French).  After we passed him, Mike said, "I have absolutely no clue what that guy just said!"  Haha!  I love the south!!  Here we are enjoying our quick pit stop in the land of peaches--and people who speak their own version of English...

Then, it was off to Miami.  Here are Cohen and Aiden looking out the window at the lights of Atlanta as we took off...

We didn't get into Miami until almost midnight, but even then it was still 73° outside.  It was heavenly for this summer-loving girl!  Mike's Dad and his brother met us at the airport to help us with all our luggage (Side Note:  Do you realize how much stuff you have to take on a cruise?  Holy cow!!  Just plan on packing half your closet!) and we headed to the hotel where Mike's Mom was waiting.  We all hit the sack almost as soon as we got there to get ready for the next morning when we would get on the ship to start our long-awaited Disney Cruise!  I can't wait to tell you the rest!  Have I mentioned it was amazing?!?  --Lindsay