This year we decided to take the family on a Disney Cruise. Chris and I went on one almost 20 years ago (not Disney). It was a great memory and we had hoped for the same experience with the kids. Overall we made some wonderful memories and the kids can't wait to go on another. Avery said when she gets married and has a family they are definitely going on a cruise. So even though it had it's highs and lows, it left a good impression. The ship was really beautiful even though it was one of the smaller and older ones in their fleet. It was fully decked out for Christmas, as were the characters, staff and rooms. Christmas carols played on loop and filled the halls, dining rooms and activities centers. It was considered a Very Merry Time Christmas cruise and it was completely holiday themed from top to bottom.
We left from Galveston and headed to Key West, Castaway Cay - Disney's private island, and Nassau, Bahamas. It was 8 days, 7 nights with the first 3 at sea, the next three at the ports and the last two at sea coming home. We had to cross the Gulf of Mexico and those first few days were really rough for me and the kids. We were all pretty seas sick and took Dramamine to get through the days, but it makes you sleepy, so I can't say we had the best time, but we made the most of it. Although Chris was perfectly fine and was only made miserable by our sickness, many others on board suffered the same fate. Several people continued on their way while their children stopped every few feet to be sick in the lunch bags they carried around. Another woman we met was ready to fly home at the first port and I think a few passengers did. The crew assured us calmer seas were ahead and that once we got to the first port, they were right. Our trip through the islands was a welcome relief even though only one port had good weather, and then the trip home, while promised at 50/50 for calm waters was also great until the last few hours to Galveston where the seas shook us up one last time before we docked for good.
Key west was the best port and we will definitely try to return sans ship someday. We rented an electric car about the size of a golf cart and toured the island. (Stock photo - not us - forgot to take a pic of our car, but it looked just like this but with kids in the back)
It was a nice warm day with just a few intermittent sprinkles and we got to see the whole island in about four hours. This was the way to go for us and we were quite pleased with our decision to skip the traditional tours as we drove around and saw the horrendous lines for everything. Castaway Cay was lost on us mostly due to the rain. We debarked and since we had a break in the rain we rented a paddle boat and sailed around a lagoon with stingrays and starfish. It was the highlight of the island. Next we took a walk to the lookout and not only was it far, but it started raining and then we got bit by nats once we got to the lookout. This time we were ready to get back on the ship and shower. They had other water activities on the island, but most things were cancelled because of the rain. Last we went to Nassau in the Bahamas and since the rain wasn't going to let up we were recommended a tour by the agent who scheduled our trip. We got transportation to and from the big Atlantis Resort on the island and a tour of the resort and aquarium for a very reasonable price for most of the Disney excursions. The island is still a bit shady in the tourist areas and can be a bit risky to go it on your own. The tour turned out to be a perfect activity for us and inspite of the weather, it was quite enjoyable. The resort is beautiful to visit, but I wouldn't want to stay there. Our ship seemed crowded, but this resort was ridiculous. Taking a tour was fine, but people who paid thousands to go there must really like other people to drop that kind of cash on a resort like that.
Back on the boat, we had three full meals at different restaurants and lots of quick service places to pick from with kid friendly food if we decided sit down wasn't what we wanted at the moment. Everything was included, so no cash was needed on board. Chris ate his weight and I had a wonderful Chef taking care of me for lunch and dinner. The kids tried some new food (mostly Avery) and got a big kick out of having ice cream EVERY night for dinner. Our servers learned what we liked and most of it would be waiting for us at dinner each time. The favorite was big pretzels by the pool at Goofy's Galley. Our family is not very refined food wise!
The shows on board were Broadway caliber and based on the rough seas coming over, our compliments go out to the performers for their sure-footedness during those shows. We also had many character greetings which were some of the kids favorite activities and also the on ship movie theater which showed the new movie The Good Dinosaur....so awesome! There were two kids clubs the kids had ID bracelets for: the Oceaneer's Club and the Oceaneer's Science Lab. Miles was old enough to check himself in and out and was the first time he had this kind of self-sufficiency. It was nice to see him have some responsibility and be in charge of getting himself to and from activities on his own. He REALLY enjoyed the freedom and the computer station at the lab, ie. video games! Avery went once or twice, but in typical Avery fashion would call to be picked up shortly after drop off. There were some parents on board who saw their kids at check in and check out and the rest of the time they enjoyed the adults only sections of the ship with their own lounges, pools and amenities throughout. Avery is really great when the two kids aren't together, so she isn't much of a bother, and we had some nice times together, just her and I. It all worked out well, except one day we wanted one lunch alone and she gave us just enough time to eat before she decided she was done.
Overall the trip holds some good memories and we made the most of it, but it may be a while before we go again. Definitely have to pick a better season to sail during the next time out. I think we expected more based on our first trip, but everything changes when you have kids anyway, so if it's not the seas or the weather rocking the boat, it would have been the kids. I think it was a pretty successful trip, all things considered and the second to last day at sea that was gorgeous and sunny made up for a lot! We did so much and still felt like if we had time we could have done more. We met some great people and even found a few friends from Houston on board that had the same idea we did. In Disney language: It's a small world after all!
There were professional photogs everywhere throughout the whole trip that had you posing for outrageously priced photos with and without characters that you got to see without the price tag until the last day. We chose about 8 ridiculously overpriced photos out of the hundreds they took and settled with what we had in our cameras for the rest. Here are the ones we chose to buy followed by the ones from our SLR camera and then separate posts for my phone photos and Chris'. We ended up taking about 700 photos all together, so even if these posts seem photo heavy, these are just a drop in the bucket to all that we actually took:
PRO PICS:
Embarkation
Formal Night
Semi-formal Night
Our favorite - Chip and Dale!
DIGITAL SLR:
Embarkation day - It was cold and very windy!
Character greeting:
Character breakfast:
Best day at sea - best day ever!
Movie at pool - showing Disney movies almost 24/7
One of the many kids pools. Super crowded when the sun came out and surprisingly in the cold or rain. Some swim fans are relentless.
Avery getting her hair beaded
Our room:
Couch turned into a bed and bunk bed dropped out of the ceiling above it.
Artwork on board was really nice.
Three main dining rooms not quick service but sit down:
Triton's - we were here twice
Art deco lounge
More art work:
Parrot Cay - we were here twice as well for dinner, but this was Avery's favorite breakfast buffet.
Rescue/relief life boats. Thought we may have to use those once or twice on the way out to sea :)
Animator's Palate - cool restaurant that started out black and white and changed to all color throughout dinner. Really neat effect. We were here three times for dinner.
On board art gallery with very expensive Disney inspired art. Oh to be really rich!!
Movie theater
Chris' sunset:
Area of the ship dedicated to the Disney Cars franchise:
Continue to older posts for our phone pics. Some repeats, but good port photos.
