Bucket List Vacation - Disney Cruise

One of my bucket list items has been to take a Disney cruise vacation when the children were young enough to make this a special family vacation but old enough to relish in the experience.  After scheming with my good friend from medical school, Jess, 1.5 years ago, we headed off on the Disney Dream over February school vacation.

 What shocked me most was the utter size of the ship.  After docking in Nassau beside a Royal Caribbean ship similar to the cruise we took when I was in college, it made complete sense why none of us really felt any rocking.  It was closed to twice the size!  In fact, Micah requested not taking Dramamine on the second day and did quite well.

Getting ready to board in Port Canaveral.  We were all excited about this new affair.

 Inside our cabin at bedtime when the beds were turned down.  Every inch of space is utilized.  Every cabin comes with their own private deck.  Because we booked adjoining cabins, the separator to the decks was rolled back connecting them.  This led to many "meetings" of varying combinations including Rowan and John regarding smashed pennies.  Each cabin also had "two" bathrooms; one with a sink and toilet and one with a sink and shower.  That came in extra helpful with 5 people in one cabin.

 A must do is decoration of your cabin door.  Plentiful options can be found on etsy.  Not only did this create a lasting keepsake but helped all find our cabin easily.  We found ourselves wondering to look at other cabin doors.

 All sorts of blanket / towel creatures greeted us when we returned back for the night.  The kids began to look forward to who we would see next.

 Though this was a bucket list vacation to do when the kids are still young, I found any age would enjoy this vacation.  Disney certainly does it right on so many levels.  Activities were broken into categories including "Fun for All Ages", "Adults Only" and a 1820 Club (only for ages 18, 19 and 20).  In addition there were 4 kids clubs based on ages; teens, tween and kids as well as a nursery.  At least once per day the kids requested to go to the Oceanaire's Club or Oceanaire's Lab.  Parents were only allow in for pick up or during open houses.  Hence why the paucity of pictures.  

 Dinner was amazing in both atmosphere and selection.  Our first night we were assigned to Animator's Palate complete with Crush who talked to neighboring tables.

 Dessert anyone?

 

 Quinn and Izzy were ecstatic to learn they didn't have to order off the children's menu.  And boy were they adventurous.  This was Izzy's second try of escargot.   

 There are three dinning rooms that you rotate through.  However your servers stay with you.  We truly enjoyed them including indulging Victoria with ranch dressing for her broccoli every night and crayon puzzles.  We were only able to solve 2 our of 5 puzzles.  These were great brain teasers.

One evening the kids stayed at the kid's club allowing us to have an adult only night.

 While the kid's enjoyed time at the kid's club, we partook of adult only time and visited Pink: Wine and Champagne Bar.  Maybe not the most desired place for the men, but the drinks were certainly right up my alley.

 Micah needed one-on-one time with John which landed them at the Mickey 200.  Teams created racecars out of potatoes and carrots.  Wheels were supplied.  As expected, John stuck to the construction parameters.  Unfortunately many did not giving them an unfair advantage during races.  Micah finished third in his heat. 

 There was no casino on the ship.  Bingo was the closest we could come which paid out if you won.  The first night we played, Joe won $142... on his 42nd birthday.  Coincidence?  I think not.

 Kids could play as long as an adult accompanied them to claim any payouts.

 Quinn and Izzy were like two peas in a pod.  At one point I had to remind Izzy that this was a family vacation.  Not a Quinn and Izzy vacation.  Oh the memories these girls will have.

 While the older two got along great, the younger three did equally as good.  Victoria didn't mind that many times she got mama all to herself.  But she easily joined the boys for activities that were interesting to their age... the pool being a big one.

 A much coveted activity on board was the Aquaduck.... a 765 foot water coaster that circumnavigates the periphery of the top deck.

 One thing to enjoy ONLY on a Disney Cruise is Pirate Night.  This is a themed evening where you can dressing up letting your inner pirate out.  The finale is a fireworks show.  John thought Opa would enjoy learning the shell of these fireworks are made out of corn husks which allows Disney to be one of the few ships who can shoot fireworks over open water.

 

 What is the likelihood that another couple would have the exact same pirate costume???

Sunrise and sunsets... simply majestic over the ocean.



Disney World's Magic Kingdom

 Our second day had us journeying to Disney World to spend the day at Magic Kingdom.  A month before I woke up early to schedule our Fast Passes being able to find slots for two ride on our to-do-list; Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain.  At some point in the day, Thunder Mountain broke down making us have to give up those Fast Passes for another ride.  Embracing technology allowed us to monitor on the ride app if and when the ride became up and running.  Shortly after lunch it was so off to stand in line I went while John rode the carousel with the kids.  By the time they arrived the wait had gone from 35 minutes to 105 minutes!  While doing this, my good friend and her family were waiting in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, a total of 3.5 hours before they got on!  At the end of the day we did everything we came to do plus some.  Of course there were some rides we didn't even talk about doing and so a return trip is likely in our future but not for several years.

 An oldie but goodie... The Jungle Cruise.

 Taking a break from walking had us stop and enjoy The Tiki Room.  Victoria likes the female birds while Micah enjoyed the chanting totem poles.

 The Haunted Mansion was the first ride for which we had to stand in line.  Regardless we arrived during a fluke as the wait for us was the same as the Fast Pass holders... 10 minutes.  John had to keep repeating to Micah that the ghosts were nothing more than projectors.  That made two of them scared with one (Victoria) loving our hitch-hiker ghost at the end.

 Another set of twins!

 For lunch we dined at Cinderell's castle.  Seeing all the princesses great the tables was a delight for Victoria.  Izzy, who at times tries to seem older and not interested, just couldn't hold back either by the time the princesses arrived to our table.  Micah tolerated them better than I thought and didn't mind being in the pictures as long as he could wear his hat.

 Dessert for the kids was design your own cupcakes.  Great idea for entertainment.

 John was not entirely expecting the level of food for adults making for everyone giving this experience two thumbs up.  John's selection - beef tenderloin and buttered shrimp.  We both enjoyed our lunch and dessert selections.

 My dessert selection.... Jaq & Gus - amaretto cheesecake with almond crust and macerated peaches.  So delectable....

 One of our tradition is to bring home a set of Mickey's ears with their names embroidered on the back.  We were displeased with the choices of ears this time around.  It was hard for me to know if that was due to the fact that the demand for ears has declined or we were there at the wrong time.  After talking to a shop worker were learned that the ears change depending on the season or events.  We were in-between the choices.  Thus we opted for something a bit out of the box.  John pointed out that this made our trip here unique for our ear collection despite note getting our name embroidered on them.  Each demonstrated everyone's personality to a T.  Micah received more comments from Disney staff and was called "dapper" on more than one occasion.  This may be a look for him.

 Splash Mountain was where we learned of Micah's new dislike of flume rides after his experience from Sea World.  As he didn't get too wet on this ride, he's rethinking his dislike.

 We are done!  Before heading back to the hotel for a much needed nap, Mickey treats were in order.

 That evening we ate at Chef Mickey's to meet a few characters before heading back to Magic Kingdom for night rides.  We wanted to see the Main Street Electrical Parade but this was disbanded recently.  Instead Disney has an Electric Water Pageant.  This plus utter exhaustion for the twins prompted them to head back to the hotel for a much needed good nights sleep.  Izzy and I met up with my good friend, Jess, and her daughter, Quinn, for a bit of fun before the park closed.

 Quinn and Izzy were like long lost twins in so many areas.  I know Izzy was so looking forward to hanging out with Quinn.  We had one hour before the park closed and were able to pack in 3 rides; Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.  Hard to believe we got through those lines in one hour.  I guess putting rides that have longer lines during the day to right before the park closes is one way to do it.

 The following day the kids hung out by the pool before heading off to our next adventure.  They are definitely my kids as all they wanted to do is swim.  Oma & Opa, does that sound familiar.... I don't care where we stay as long as it has a pool!