We decided to fly to Orlando a few days earlier to enjoy the same lovely resort we stayed at the last time we did Disney. We had to wake up at the crack of dawn (3am!) to make it to our early morning flight, but that didn't stop the kids from jumping straight into the pool before going to a sushi buffet dinner for Father's Day! We had so much fun just lounging at the pool and relaxing in the lazy rivers. We went to Disney Springs for a bit and Justin and I even managed to sneak away for a day to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios since they had made some pretty amazing additions to it since we were there in 2014. We even splurged on the Fast Passes to avoid the lines and ended up staying all day to get the most out of it!
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| You can't even tell they woke up at 3am! |
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Father's Day 2018 - drove forever to find the BEST sushi buffet EVER  The gals with the Lego Friends at Disney Springs
  We were hoping to see Incredibles 2 on the ship!  Fascinated by the Lego roller coaster at the Lego store.  Lego Races   |
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| Harry Potter World! |
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| Butterbeer! |
And then embarkation day FINALLY arrived. I had told the kids the morning would be filled with lots of waiting - driving to the airport and waiting for our shuttle service to take us to the port then waiting at the port until getting the go-ahead to board the ship. I think I was antsier than they were, though! When we finally arrived at the port, we were greeted to one of the longest lines I had ever seen - and I immediately groaned with frustration since we had already been waiting most of the morning. However, in typical Disney Awesomeness, the line moved so quickly and we were onboard the ship in no time at all! Even now, Xavier and Lissie remind me not to get frustrated in long lines because they might be fast-moving like on the Disney Cruise!
That was just the beginning of the Amazing Disney Experience. As we boarded the ship, we were greeted to much fanfare as our name was announced on the speakers while we walked in on a red carpet with cheering from various Disney characters and employees. Our room wasn't quite ready, so we had our first awesome (buffet, of course) lunch and then changed into our swimsuits to enjoy the waterslides and movies by the pool while the crowds were low.
When we finally received access to our room, I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't adjoining with my parents' like we had originally thought. I was looking forward to connecting our balconies to make one bigger one and, let's be honest, the idea of leaving the kids with the parents while Justin and I went back out in the evening was a perk I had been looking forward to. But, as it turned out, it wasn't so bad after all. We were always exhausted at the end of the day anyway, and my parents were just a couple of doors away for us to harass them as needed. Haha.
Those rooms, though! I had never been in a more spacious cruise ship stateroom. We had a balcony. The kids had their own little section with bunkbeds and a lightup sky at night. We even had two bathrooms (one with a tub, one with a toilet, but both with sinks), which made getting ready easy-breasy. If there wasn't so much other stuff to do, I wouldn't have minded being in our room more!
That first day ended with a Welcome Aboard party, our first really cool live Disney performance, a celebratory Anniversary dinner for me and Justin, and the kids spending some time in the kids-only zone (one of the best parts about the trip was being able to drop them off at the play place, where they had GPS bands so they could be spotted wherever they were and could run around and just be kids!).
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Happy Anniversary to us!  First of many soft-serve cones!      Leave it to this guy to be shirtless while dancing at a kids-zone party.  Couldn't stay up for the muster station drill.  Happy Anniversary! |
When we arrived at Castaway Cay that first day, we snorkeled and bike rode around the island, and of course spent time in the water and sand. That night, we watched an amazing live show of Beauty and the Beast before yet another fabulous dinner.
Land!
Wearing her Belle dress since we were going to watch Beauty and the Beast
Couldn't hang for the show
The next day, we landed in Nassau, but we opted not to get off the ship (I had been there before and I really just wanted to take advantage of all the ship had to offer while the crowds were low). We were first in line to ride the AquaDuck (the best waterslide ever), and rode it about a gazillion times before the lines started getting long. We mini-golfed and spent more time at the pool, letting the kids hang out in the Kids-Only spot while Justin and I found peace in the Adults-Only section. That night was the ever-anticipated Pirates Night where Justin unveiled his coveted Hook costumes - he was Rufio, Xavier Thudbut, Lissie Tinkerbell, and me Captain Hook. It ended with fireworks, and it was of course, a pretty amazing show.
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Lissie just happened upon Minnie and Goofy going on a jog!             |
Saturday, we were back at Castaway Cay. Justin and I were one of the first to get off the ship because we had signed up for the Disney 5K around the island. It was hot and crazy and slow, but definitely a fun experience - with Goofy running with us, too! Afterwards, the kids met up with us and we hung out together before letting them go to the kids-only portion of the island because Justin and I had heard that the food and peacefulness of Serenity Bay (the adults only section) was amazing. Back aboard the ship, we were able to watch the newly-released Incredibles 2 in 3D. Justin likes to quip that it was the most expensive free movie ticket ever, haha. One last yummy dinner and then a Farewell Party with the Disney characters, during which the kids bawled like babies when they realized that it was time to say goodbye. I admit that I, too, was pretty upset by it all and immediately started plotting in my head ways to get back on a Disney ship.
He got a special birthday dessert since his birthday was the last day.
On Sunday, we just had time to finish packing before breakfast before it was time to leave the ship. We drove back to the airport where, again, we waited for ever before finally making our way back home.
We splurged and purchased a photo package so the kids could get their pictures/autographs with the Disney characters. This ended up being an adventure in and of itself when we got home to discover that half of our photos were missing and we got someone else's pics instead. However, it (sort of) worked itself out and we still have the memories to cherish forever:
It was, for sure, the best family vacation ever. Grateful that my parents were there to share in the fun and the memories (and the expenses, haha). The food was incredible, all of the restaurants were amazing, the shows were typical Disney-awesome, and the soft-serve ice cream was literally endless. I would recommend a Disney Cruise to anyone who wants a Disney experience but doesn't want to deal with walking through all of the parks. Having done both, I would definitely do the cruise over Disney World in a heartbeat.
I'm still trying to figure out how to swing another Disney cruise in the future, but alas. The world is so big, and there's still so much to see. Who knows where our next adventure will be.....
