So we booked this Disney Cruise over a year and a half ago...
like before my sister found out she was {surprise} pregnant with her second!
We had to add his wee little self on. haha Seriously, we booked it as soon as the ship dates were announced because that's when you get the cheapest rates. We knew a break in between Black Friday and the busy Christmas season would be the BEST time for me to take a vacation and likely Chad too (as a USPS rural carrier, he's crazy busy from Black Friday - after New Year really....)
We didn't mention a word to the boys and kept it a secret for a loooong year and a half.
We let our elf surprise them with gifts the morning :
a Disney cruise ornament and Mickey snow globe.
They also had fun new Mickey surprises (like from the Dollar Tree) to travel with and new matching Tom's (Christmas light) shoes. They were ready to ride...
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| These Tucker + Tate Packable Puffer Jackets have been lifesavers this Winter and came from Nordstrom Rack! |
Our Disney travel agent Jennifer, with Magical Adventures by Jennifer (she's free! gets paid by Disney) booked us hotel rooms for Thursday night. The drive really wasn't too terribly bad and the boys did great. We settled in to our hotel and ordered take out, then watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Still didn't really feel like we were going to be in swimsuits the next day. We were in the mindset of all things Christmas!
The next morning we woke up refreshed and ready to cruise...
(this little booger barely made it on the trip since Disney requires babies to be six months at time of cruising and he was just 6.5 months. He was the absolute BEST surprise and the easiest baby. FYI: Disney does supply playpens, strollers, even diaper genies on board. Amazing service and so accommodating to babies!)
Our hotel had a free shuttle that took us just across the street to Port Canaveral.
First glimpse of the big ship made us all soooo excited! Chad and I have only ever been on small Carnival ships, so it was fun to experience this with the kids...
You then you go through security and end up in the "terminal/lobby" where you have check in and get a number that they'll call when it's your # (your turn) to board the ship. Loved the replica in the lobby and Mickey and the gang came out and posed for pics, but the lines were pretty long so the kids were just excited to wave from afar.
you enter a corridor / walkover through the mickey ears that takes you onto the ship...
they take pics right before you board...
We had signed up for the first boarding around 11am or so! It took us around an hour to go through security, drop your big luggage, get checked in, wait on our "group" to board and then go through the walkway, have pics made, walk onto the ship. (*they announce your family name when you walk on the ship. so cool. The entire crew claps for you too. The kids thought that was something.)
As soon as we got on the ship, we had our beach bags/carryons and went straight to Cabanas - which is the all-you-can-eat buffet of the ship that's open most hours of the day. You can eat inside or outside around the pool and splash pad area. There's so. much. food. We staked out a table outside with a view...
after a yummy lunch, we changed in the nearby restroom and went straight over to snag lounge chairs by the pool! Cade had fun on the smaller Mickey slide (shown in the pic below) by himself and then he and I went down the AquaDuck slide. That's the clear tube slide you see there that goes all over the ship, even off the edge and is so so fun!
You do have to be 48 inches to ride , so that's why Charlie had to stay behind. Bless he was just content in the pool and they DO have lifejackets for littles. All sizes. Oh and towels too! Everything was easily accessible and you didn't even have to check them in or check them out.
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| I'm pretty sure their swim trunks came from The Smocking Bug. I had plenty of time to buy things as I saw them on sale , then I kept a box full upstairs as I gathered things for the trip! |
servers will come around and get you started with a fruity drink.
aaaah let vacation begin...
Save your souvenir cup and you can get the discounts on the special "drink of the day" each day!
It was 65ish degrees in Florida on this Dec 5th, so sure it felt AMAZING sitting in the sun but a bit chilly once you climbed the stairs for the AquaDuck and got soaking wet. Eeeesh.
All in the name of F U N.
Charlie was also super excited when he realized it was all you can eat pizza and ice cream!
After two hours + by the pool , we were allowed in our rooms around 2-3pm where the luggage was waiting outside our door. We got settled in and then around 4pm it was time for the muster drill.
Luckily ours was outside on a certain deck and what else do you do while waiting on the muster drill? Take pics and video, duh! Look at Cade with the GoPro...obsessed
sweet baby girl. the princess.
I found these cute Santa mickey hats at HobbyLobby, of all places, for just a few bucks each...
We went straight from the muster drill to the SAIL AWAY PARTY at 4:30. We got up on the 12th upper deck to kinda look down over the 11th (less crowded, best views).
seeing their precious faces light up when they saw all of the characters was worth every. single. penny.
We went back to the room and had to change rather quickly because we had the early dinner time at 5:45 (you can pick 5:45 or 8:15 and obviously with our wee little ones we picked 5:45). Y'all I did not even have time to wash my hair for this dinner, I literally took a quick bath, redid my makeup and just undid my hair out of a ponytail. The beauty of VACATION!!!!!
There's rotational dining on the Disney Cruise which means you eat at a different restaurant each night, but you have the same server. The first night it was Royal Palace for us!
Charlie was so wiped out he fell asleep in my lap. haha Everything was delish, of course you eat and eat and eat on a cruise. Calories don't count then, right?
afterwards we just walked around the ship and met characters, which in my opinion is one of the BEST perks of the Disney Cruise and best for little ones who can't necessarily ride all of the rides at DisneyWorld anyways. On a Disney Cruise, the characters are everywhere and the lines are short to meet them because obviously there's only so many people on the boat. So much easier than lugging little ones all over the big theme parks , but I do hope to take our Charlie to Disney World next year when he turns FIVE.
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| Charlie decided to tuck his shirt in....BAHAHA |
Macy meeting Cinderella was probably one of the highlights of the trip. I mean if this precious picture doesn't melt you into a big ol' puddle then I don't know what will...
There were movies and shows we could have went to (mom and Charles did) but we were all exhausted (aka the kids were absolutely whooped) and that was a wrap on DAY 1.
We all crashed and were ready to wake up in Nassau...
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