Fantasy Western Feb 6 - 13 2016
Who we are:
Mom – LeanneDad – Gary
Kiddos – Kevin (16), Ryan (14), Dylan (10.5) and Lauren (9)
We were with my best friend J, her two daughters E (12) & O (8), our neighbors J & M and their two boys L (11) & G (10) and friends we met on our last cruise, J&J and their son D (11) We had another table top for 16 and the same amazing server we had last cruise.
Windy!!
Pre-Trip - This cruise we booked just over a year out, opening day for our cruise - October 29th 2014. We were thrilled that our neighbors, my bestie and past cruising friends booked with us. With the Canadian dollar dropping, we knew we had a lot of saving to do for the trip. Lots of decisions to be made and reservations to be completed - I was in my element! Plus I got to help two families new to cruising organize their plans - yeehaw! Four months after we booked, Disney announced our cruise would be the 3rd Star Wars Day at Sea (SWDAS) - everyone was so excited. I'll admit, I am not really a SW fan but my husband and daughter are - so I humored them
We knew we'd be driving from Toronto to Port Canaveral, since airfare was so expensive. Plus the kids wanted a road trip, Mom not so much but since I am typing this out - good news, we made it! Our plan was to drive down a few days before the cruise to check out Orlando and soak up the sun. Remember the word soak, that comes into play really soon...
My only regret after our 2014 cruise, was that we didn't eat breakfast or lunch in one of the restaurants or order room service - would this happen? Wait and see. Mama had goals.
Wednesday February 3rd 2016/Thursday February 4th 2016 - Travel Day 1 & 2
Today we started our journey to Florida. Shockingly the kids slept last night, I figured they'd be wired. DH worked a night shift the night prior so he stayed up until dinnertime and then crashed while I packed up last minute things. We were up at 3:30am and out of the house just after 4am. I won't bore you with all the details, but the view was beautiful until we drove through some pretty crappy rain and wind through NC and SC which slowed us down. We stopped for the night in Orangeburg, SC at a hotel that had an indoor pool and hot tub. Kids were thrilled even if it was freezing.
Thursday woke up to grey skies and drizzle, yay. Started heading south again, in pouring rain to the point in Florida I thought we'd have to pull over - lots of car accidents had us on our toes until about Daytona Beach where it quickly started to dry and heat up (double yay!) At this point I started reading the DIS boards where I found out the fantasy was limping back to port Canaveral missing their scheduled Castaway Cay stop on Friday. I was nervous but knew Disney would make it right and that we'd board just fine on Saturday, but would we? Read on.
Welcome center
Our first order of business, was to hit up the Nike Outlet store in Orlando, followed by quickly checking into our hotel the Embassy Suites before heading to Disney Springs (aka Downtown Disney for you oldies) to shop some more.
We had only been into the Lego store then World of Disney when it started to pour. It was getting harder and my kids were whining about being "starving" for Olive Garden that we decided to make the mad dash for the parking garage. Bad idea. It was raining so hard that we all got soaked - remember my soak reference earlier - we did it, literally.
We had to make an unscheduled stop at the hotel to completely change our clothes and toss everything into the bathtub. Finally made our way to Olive Garden (triple yay, we don't have them in our area of Canada anymore and we love it) where we ordered dinner, kids all ate maybe 1/3 of theirs before they were too full - starving my butt Luckily our server was amazing, brought us a huge side salad, breadsticks to go and packed everything into doggie bags. Guess who didn't have to pay for dinner on Friday night, leftovers for all! We went back to our hotel where the kids had a swim before heading to bed. While Mom got to check out the super fun laundry room, to wash and dry a whole ton of rain soaked clothing.
Next up, Sail away dream... make room for the broken fantasy.
Today we started our journey to Florida. Shockingly the kids slept last night, I figured they'd be wired. DH worked a night shift the night prior so he stayed up until dinnertime and then crashed while I packed up last minute things. We were up at 3:30am and out of the house just after 4am. I won't bore you with all the details, but the view was beautiful until we drove through some pretty crappy rain and wind through NC and SC which slowed us down. We stopped for the night in Orangeburg, SC at a hotel that had an indoor pool and hot tub. Kids were thrilled even if it was freezing.
Thursday woke up to grey skies and drizzle, yay. Started heading south again, in pouring rain to the point in Florida I thought we'd have to pull over - lots of car accidents had us on our toes until about Daytona Beach where it quickly started to dry and heat up (double yay!) At this point I started reading the DIS boards where I found out the fantasy was limping back to port Canaveral missing their scheduled Castaway Cay stop on Friday. I was nervous but knew Disney would make it right and that we'd board just fine on Saturday, but would we? Read on.
Welcome center
Our first order of business, was to hit up the Nike Outlet store in Orlando, followed by quickly checking into our hotel the Embassy Suites before heading to Disney Springs (aka Downtown Disney for you oldies) to shop some more.
We had only been into the Lego store then World of Disney when it started to pour. It was getting harder and my kids were whining about being "starving" for Olive Garden that we decided to make the mad dash for the parking garage. Bad idea. It was raining so hard that we all got soaked - remember my soak reference earlier - we did it, literally.
We had to make an unscheduled stop at the hotel to completely change our clothes and toss everything into the bathtub. Finally made our way to Olive Garden (triple yay, we don't have them in our area of Canada anymore and we love it) where we ordered dinner, kids all ate maybe 1/3 of theirs before they were too full - starving my butt
Luckily our server was amazing, brought us a huge side salad, breadsticks to go and packed everything into doggie bags. Guess who didn't have to pay for dinner on Friday night, leftovers for all! We went back to our hotel where the kids had a swim before heading to bed. While Mom got to check out the super fun laundry room, to wash and dry a whole ton of rain soaked clothing.Next up, Sail away dream... make room for the broken fantasy.
Friday February 5th 2016 - Travel Day 3 - Cocoa Beach
Friday morning started out by sleeping in until about 9am, having a wonderful breakfast at the Embassy Suites including made to order omelets and then packed up to get on the road. We had a few stops to make - Walmart, American Girl store and ABC for beer and wine on our way into Cocoa Beach. Coming up along the causeway we could see the dream in the distance, how exciting to know we'd be there tomorrow setting sail. Tried to check into our hotel Best Western, but it wasn't ready yet, so we met up with my bestie for a quick stop to Ron Jon's and IHOP for a late lunch.
Kids were excited to swim so we went back to the hotel, got our room keys and noticed the kids got changed in record time. The pool was heated and the sun warm, so it was nice to sit and relax, while the kids burned off some energy. At 4:30, we hauled them out to head down to the beach to see the ships sail out and then walked out on the pier to see the beautiful view. Some people mention having to pay to go out on the pier but both cruises we've been out there and never been asked.
My water babies, who made a dash for the ocean soon as they saw it
Bye bye dream
My crew
Dinner tonight was leftovers from Olive Garden, luckily we had a fridge and microwave - even the second time around it was still delicious! Then it was time for me to reorganize bags, repack luggage and figure out what we'd be carrying on the next day. I kept an eye on the DIS boards and the marine traffic website to ensure the fantasy was still enroute to PC, so we were good. No emails from Disney to let us know about embarkation hour changes, which made me hopeful. Everyone was asleep very early, excited for embarkation day.
Friday morning started out by sleeping in until about 9am, having a wonderful breakfast at the Embassy Suites including made to order omelets and then packed up to get on the road. We had a few stops to make - Walmart, American Girl store and ABC for beer and wine on our way into Cocoa Beach. Coming up along the causeway we could see the dream in the distance, how exciting to know we'd be there tomorrow setting sail. Tried to check into our hotel Best Western, but it wasn't ready yet, so we met up with my bestie for a quick stop to Ron Jon's and IHOP for a late lunch.
Kids were excited to swim so we went back to the hotel, got our room keys and noticed the kids got changed in record time. The pool was heated and the sun warm, so it was nice to sit and relax, while the kids burned off some energy. At 4:30, we hauled them out to head down to the beach to see the ships sail out and then walked out on the pier to see the beautiful view. Some people mention having to pay to go out on the pier but both cruises we've been out there and never been asked.
My water babies, who made a dash for the ocean soon as they saw it
Bye bye dream
My crew
Dinner tonight was leftovers from Olive Garden, luckily we had a fridge and microwave - even the second time around it was still delicious! Then it was time for me to reorganize bags, repack luggage and figure out what we'd be carrying on the next day. I kept an eye on the DIS boards and the marine traffic website to ensure the fantasy was still enroute to PC, so we were good. No emails from Disney to let us know about embarkation hour changes, which made me hopeful. Everyone was asleep very early, excited for embarkation day.
Saturday February 6th 2016 - Embarkation Day
Tink. My eyes flew open just after 7am on Saturday morning, first thing I did was refresh my email, marine traffic website and our cruise facebook all confirming the same thing - the Fantasy was in port! YAY!!
I tried to go back to sleep but lets be real, we are GETTING ON THE FANTASY TODAY! I'm never a morning person until when vacation rolls around. After peeking out the window and seeing bright sunlight and blue skies, I got everyone up , shoes on and shuffled the kids over to breakfast while DH went in search for a new camera battery since ours was acting up and I wasn't taking chances being in the middle of the ocean with no camera. The area where the breakfast was served at the Best Western was packed, granted there were 12 of us trying to find seats - but we got everyone fed, back to rooms to get dressed and luggage ready to go. Of course, then we still had a bit to wait, so the kids went down to the ocean with our friends while I showered and got ready. Had a quick facebook conversation with a cruise CM who has become our friend - who confirmed that they were working on the mechanical issue and that he wasn't aware of a delayed sail away. What time would we leave port? Keep reading....
Just after 11, DH got back and we packed up the truck - port bound. This was the first time we had parked at port so it was a different process of dropping off luggage but was very quick and organized. Paid our $72.00 for the week, thanks to our hotel coupon and unloaded our goods right on the 3rd level.
Little Miss, tearing up as we drove in
By now it was almost 11:30 and boarding had begun. Once again, we were mere minutes in line waiting to check in, so quick in fact I had to finish signing the illness form at the desk. Photos taken, lanyards and cards on - away we go.
Our friends waited for us, so we went first so we could capture their photos as they got on board. We dropped the kids and men off on deck 11 for lunch and swimming while the three Mom's went to get tickets for the princess gathering and anna & elsa. By the time we had lunch, signed up for our wi-fi, activated our DCL app chat and dragged the children from the aqua duck - we were able to go check out our staterooms and begin unpacking. It was just starting to drizzle as we went downstairs and sadly didn't stop for some time. We went to our group Meet & Greet, then back to unpack more until the 4pm drill. Thankfully it was inside the buena vista theater so we didn't have to stare at the rain
Sailaway party was moved inside. We've seen it before so we went up to deck 9, hiding from the rain but still outside in the warm air. 5pm came and went, no movement. Our dinner rotation was RAERAAE and like last cruise we got our server Erhan that we requested along with his new assistant Yoga. It was close to 7pm when we finally felt movement of the engines and thruster moving us away from port! Kids were all done dinner, so they ran out into the hall to watch the lights pass us by up the channel (it was dark by this point)
After dinner, the kids were dying to go hang out in the club, so we wandered around, ending up outside the Meridian lounge, where we spent almost every night of our cruise at some point. I coined it 'cheers' since by the end of the week, DH knew everyone up there. I was exhausted so we rounded up the two younger kiddos, showers for all, I ordered them warm cookies and milk from room service and then right into bed (yay 1/3 cruise goals completed). The entire cruise, our oldest two were out at vibe activites until 1-2am, both of them said out of the three it was the best cruise yet.
Tink. My eyes flew open just after 7am on Saturday morning, first thing I did was refresh my email, marine traffic website and our cruise facebook all confirming the same thing - the Fantasy was in port! YAY!!
I tried to go back to sleep but lets be real, we are GETTING ON THE FANTASY TODAY! I'm never a morning person until when vacation rolls around. After peeking out the window and seeing bright sunlight and blue skies, I got everyone up , shoes on and shuffled the kids over to breakfast while DH went in search for a new camera battery since ours was acting up and I wasn't taking chances being in the middle of the ocean with no camera. The area where the breakfast was served at the Best Western was packed, granted there were 12 of us trying to find seats - but we got everyone fed, back to rooms to get dressed and luggage ready to go. Of course, then we still had a bit to wait, so the kids went down to the ocean with our friends while I showered and got ready. Had a quick facebook conversation with a cruise CM who has become our friend - who confirmed that they were working on the mechanical issue and that he wasn't aware of a delayed sail away. What time would we leave port? Keep reading....Just after 11, DH got back and we packed up the truck - port bound. This was the first time we had parked at port so it was a different process of dropping off luggage but was very quick and organized. Paid our $72.00 for the week, thanks to our hotel coupon and unloaded our goods right on the 3rd level.
Little Miss, tearing up as we drove in
By now it was almost 11:30 and boarding had begun. Once again, we were mere minutes in line waiting to check in, so quick in fact I had to finish signing the illness form at the desk. Photos taken, lanyards and cards on - away we go.
Our friends waited for us, so we went first so we could capture their photos as they got on board. We dropped the kids and men off on deck 11 for lunch and swimming while the three Mom's went to get tickets for the princess gathering and anna & elsa. By the time we had lunch, signed up for our wi-fi, activated our DCL app chat and dragged the children from the aqua duck - we were able to go check out our staterooms and begin unpacking. It was just starting to drizzle as we went downstairs and sadly didn't stop for some time. We went to our group Meet & Greet, then back to unpack more until the 4pm drill. Thankfully it was inside the buena vista theater so we didn't have to stare at the rain
Sailaway party was moved inside. We've seen it before so we went up to deck 9, hiding from the rain but still outside in the warm air. 5pm came and went, no movement. Our dinner rotation was RAERAAE and like last cruise we got our server Erhan that we requested along with his new assistant Yoga. It was close to 7pm when we finally felt movement of the engines and thruster moving us away from port! Kids were all done dinner, so they ran out into the hall to watch the lights pass us by up the channel (it was dark by this point)
After dinner, the kids were dying to go hang out in the club, so we wandered around, ending up outside the Meridian lounge, where we spent almost every night of our cruise at some point. I coined it 'cheers' since by the end of the week, DH knew everyone up there. I was exhausted so we rounded up the two younger kiddos, showers for all, I ordered them warm cookies and milk from room service and then right into bed (yay 1/3 cruise goals completed). The entire cruise, our oldest two were out at vibe activites until 1-2am, both of them said out of the three it was the best cruise yet.
Sunday February 7th 2016 - Day at Sea - Formal Night
Slept in a bit today, especially compared to our past cruises where my kids were wired and 'starving' and took the youngest three up to Cabanas for breakfast and swimming. First thing we noticed, it was freezing - brr. It was also very choppy, I popped a gravol not long after that as I wasn't feeling so well. It was so windy. After eating the kids did go jump into the pools and aqua duck for a bit but as you see I was in a hoodie. No judgement on the sippy cup - it's 5pm somewhere and I am on vacation.
DH got a SW coozie in his FE gifts, he used it every day
Yes, this was before lunch! LOL
We had lunch in Cabanas again, wraps for Mom and then got them all changed. Adults had a private 2pm mixology class that I organized for our facebook cruise group and my oldest son was taking my daughter and O to the princess meet n greet since the times overlapped. Such a great boy!
Mixology was awesome, we were looking forward to the upcoming one on Thursday. Ashley was our bartender in Skyline and he was amazing. We made 5 different drinks in that hour, it was so much fun and I'm not ashamed to say Vacation Mama got a wee bit tipsy After that I headed to the shops to take a look around and then back to the room to prepare for dinner, it was formal night.
We took some family pics in the lobby, tonight we'd be eating in Animators Palette, we love this restaurant. Unfortunately, while the food was amazing, the movement wasn't. Our stateroom was midship and I am prone to motion sickness, so it wasn't a good combination rocking back and forth back in AP. I made it through entrees, when I had to excuse myself from dinner and retreat back to our room for some meds and a nap, I missed out on the cookies and cream sundae. I was in the room for a bit, watching the superbowl. The kids came in to get on gear to swim, so I went up on deck with them. It was so busy, disney had chairs set up, blankets and a whole bunch of yummy treats up by Flo's, drumsticks, pulled pork on a bun. I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't partake but it smelled delicious. Once the superbowl was done, the kids went to change and disappear into their respective clubs - I went with hubby up to Meridian for a drink. During the evening, the captain shared with us that we'd be arriving into Cozumel a little later, that any excursions affected with a new meeting time would be notified - we were but only by like 30 minutes. So no sleeping in... I heard a few people wondering if we were going so slow due to the mechanical issue that occured the week prior, would we make it to Cozumel?
Slept in a bit today, especially compared to our past cruises where my kids were wired and 'starving' and took the youngest three up to Cabanas for breakfast and swimming. First thing we noticed, it was freezing - brr. It was also very choppy, I popped a gravol not long after that as I wasn't feeling so well. It was so windy. After eating the kids did go jump into the pools and aqua duck for a bit but as you see I was in a hoodie. No judgement on the sippy cup - it's 5pm somewhere and I am on vacation.
DH got a SW coozie in his FE gifts, he used it every day
Yes, this was before lunch! LOLWe had lunch in Cabanas again, wraps for Mom and then got them all changed. Adults had a private 2pm mixology class that I organized for our facebook cruise group and my oldest son was taking my daughter and O to the princess meet n greet since the times overlapped. Such a great boy!
Mixology was awesome, we were looking forward to the upcoming one on Thursday. Ashley was our bartender in Skyline and he was amazing. We made 5 different drinks in that hour, it was so much fun and I'm not ashamed to say Vacation Mama got a wee bit tipsy
After that I headed to the shops to take a look around and then back to the room to prepare for dinner, it was formal night.We took some family pics in the lobby, tonight we'd be eating in Animators Palette, we love this restaurant. Unfortunately, while the food was amazing, the movement wasn't. Our stateroom was midship and I am prone to motion sickness, so it wasn't a good combination rocking back and forth back in AP. I made it through entrees, when I had to excuse myself from dinner and retreat back to our room for some meds and a nap, I missed out on the cookies and cream sundae. I was in the room for a bit, watching the superbowl. The kids came in to get on gear to swim, so I went up on deck with them. It was so busy, disney had chairs set up, blankets and a whole bunch of yummy treats up by Flo's, drumsticks, pulled pork on a bun. I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't partake but it smelled delicious. Once the superbowl was done, the kids went to change and disappear into their respective clubs - I went with hubby up to Meridian for a drink. During the evening, the captain shared with us that we'd be arriving into Cozumel a little later, that any excursions affected with a new meeting time would be notified - we were but only by like 30 minutes. So no sleeping in... I heard a few people wondering if we were going so slow due to the mechanical issue that occured the week prior, would we make it to Cozumel?
Monday - Cozumel and a new pirate party
Woke up around 8:00am today, turned on all the lights so everyone would wake up and started to pack our day bag. We had booked the Fury Catamaran excursion through DCL, loved the fact that it left right off the pier and wouldn't be shoved into buses like sardines. Our new time to meet in the WD theatre was 9:15am vs our original 8:45a so we had time to eat breakfast in Cabanas (in case you are wondering still 1/3 on the ordering room service, eating breakfast and lunch in a restaurant at this point. Would that change?) and check out our approach into Cozumel.
Slathered everyone with sunscreen and headed down to sit with our group. Since we hadn't yet docked, we had a bit of a wait in the theater but once the gangways were out they started moving people out. Our walk was a whole two minutes outside to board the catamaran where they took our family pic, loaded us up with snorkel gear and off we went.
It was pretty choppy,
I was hoping wherever we ended up it would be calmer - no dice. The snorkel place was only about 10 minutes away, the older children enjoyed it but my younger two did not. I ended up taking them back to the catamaran along with my friends daughter and some random child who was losing her mind with her Mom. 
After they got back on, I went out to snorkel for a bit, it would have been beautiful if it wasn't so choppy - I couldn't see much so I went back to the catamaran. They started passing out margaritas, beer and pop for the non-drinkers. We sailed a little further south when all of the sudden the staff started pointing and told us all to get to the front of the boat - were we going to have to jump overboard? No, we saw a pair of these!
They beautifully led us down the ocean for about 10 minutes, it was so amazing, DD cried from excitement. It didn't take long for us to reach the beach location where we'd make our final stop. We had to wade into the ocean to get onto the beach, it was helpful to keep your shoes off and put them once back on the sand. There were tons of chairs, bathrooms, and lunch you could pay for (we skipped it, except DH - $11.00us for a burger and two side salads!)
The kids loved the ocean and all the inflatables - we'd do this excursion again. It was about an hour later they called us back to the boat for our ride back to the ship where they had the kids up dancing and partying. So much fun!
We went back to the ship, back on board I think about 2pm-ish. We changed quickly, sent the kids up for lunch and to their clubs and headed out to check out Cozumel with DH. It was warm, a wee bit breezy - perfect weather day. We shopped a bit, took some pics with parrots and headed back to the ship. I don't really love the vendors, so we don't spend much time there. Grabbed some lunch once back on board and went to relax on the pool deck while the kids swam.
Dinner tonight was in Enchanted Garden, as usual -- the food was amazing. Kids took off early to hit up the clubs before the pirate party and then we picked them up to go see Freddy Fusion's magic show. After that we wandered around until it was time for the Hunt Fer Jack - it was so different without fun fireworks and it wasn't crowded at all. The two younger kids went back to the room for bedtime cookies & milk and went to bed, they were exhausted after all the swimming that day. We went down to grab some appetizers and then to the tube for karaoke and then meridian for a bit.
Up next... different view of Grand Cayman... and getting that much closer to SWDAS.
Woke up around 8:00am today, turned on all the lights so everyone would wake up and started to pack our day bag. We had booked the Fury Catamaran excursion through DCL, loved the fact that it left right off the pier and wouldn't be shoved into buses like sardines. Our new time to meet in the WD theatre was 9:15am vs our original 8:45a so we had time to eat breakfast in Cabanas (in case you are wondering still 1/3 on the ordering room service, eating breakfast and lunch in a restaurant at this point. Would that change?) and check out our approach into Cozumel.
Slathered everyone with sunscreen and headed down to sit with our group. Since we hadn't yet docked, we had a bit of a wait in the theater but once the gangways were out they started moving people out. Our walk was a whole two minutes outside to board the catamaran where they took our family pic, loaded us up with snorkel gear and off we went.
It was pretty choppy,
I was hoping wherever we ended up it would be calmer - no dice. The snorkel place was only about 10 minutes away, the older children enjoyed it but my younger two did not. I ended up taking them back to the catamaran along with my friends daughter and some random child who was losing her mind with her Mom. After they got back on, I went out to snorkel for a bit, it would have been beautiful if it wasn't so choppy - I couldn't see much so I went back to the catamaran. They started passing out margaritas, beer and pop for the non-drinkers. We sailed a little further south when all of the sudden the staff started pointing and told us all to get to the front of the boat - were we going to have to jump overboard? No, we saw a pair of these!
They beautifully led us down the ocean for about 10 minutes, it was so amazing, DD cried from excitement.
It didn't take long for us to reach the beach location where we'd make our final stop. We had to wade into the ocean to get onto the beach, it was helpful to keep your shoes off and put them once back on the sand. There were tons of chairs, bathrooms, and lunch you could pay for (we skipped it, except DH - $11.00us for a burger and two side salads!)The kids loved the ocean and all the inflatables - we'd do this excursion again. It was about an hour later they called us back to the boat for our ride back to the ship where they had the kids up dancing and partying. So much fun!
We went back to the ship, back on board I think about 2pm-ish. We changed quickly, sent the kids up for lunch and to their clubs and headed out to check out Cozumel with DH. It was warm, a wee bit breezy - perfect weather day. We shopped a bit, took some pics with parrots and headed back to the ship. I don't really love the vendors, so we don't spend much time there. Grabbed some lunch once back on board and went to relax on the pool deck while the kids swam.
Dinner tonight was in Enchanted Garden, as usual -- the food was amazing. Kids took off early to hit up the clubs before the pirate party and then we picked them up to go see Freddy Fusion's magic show. After that we wandered around until it was time for the Hunt Fer Jack - it was so different without fun fireworks and it wasn't crowded at all. The two younger kids went back to the room for bedtime cookies & milk and went to bed, they were exhausted after all the swimming that day. We went down to grab some appetizers and then to the tube for karaoke and then meridian for a bit.
Up next... different view of Grand Cayman... and getting that much closer to SWDAS.
uesday
Today we'd be in Grand Cayman for the day. Woke up this morning about 8:30 and headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. The captain came on and said we wouldn't be tendering from the regular location on the west side of the island but rather from the south side, with a 15-20 minute ride via shuttle to Georgetown, we'd be sharing the shuttle with the two other ships anchored there and to expect delays. Since we didn't have an excursion planned, I made the decision to stay on the ship and relax. We went swimming, hit up the hot tub, did laundry and watched snow white on the funnel vision - had a really relaxing day.
Best way for a morning coffee
Dinner tonight was in Royal Court and it was the Prince & Princess menu (with an indian flare at our table). After dinner, we went to see The Magic & Illusion of Mike Super which was amazing and so funny. Post show, kids went back to the room to watch movies. Adults went to the Tube for 80's challenge, which we sucked at and some dancing. It was a really great day "at sea"
Bought the TShirt...
Up next, Star Wars Day at Sea and who danced all night long??? ...
Today we'd be in Grand Cayman for the day. Woke up this morning about 8:30 and headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. The captain came on and said we wouldn't be tendering from the regular location on the west side of the island but rather from the south side, with a 15-20 minute ride via shuttle to Georgetown, we'd be sharing the shuttle with the two other ships anchored there and to expect delays. Since we didn't have an excursion planned, I made the decision to stay on the ship and relax. We went swimming, hit up the hot tub, did laundry and watched snow white on the funnel vision - had a really relaxing day.
Best way for a morning coffee
Dinner tonight was in Royal Court and it was the Prince & Princess menu (with an indian flare at our table). After dinner, we went to see The Magic & Illusion of Mike Super which was amazing and so funny. Post show, kids went back to the room to watch movies. Adults went to the Tube for 80's challenge, which we sucked at and some dancing. It was a really great day "at sea"
Bought the TShirt...
Up next, Star Wars Day at Sea and who danced all night long??? ...
Wednesday - pic intensive!
I know, I know, this is the day you've been waiting for! I'm going to start out by saying we had a GREAT day, so if you're looking for negative reviews - look elsewhere. I will say that I was disappointed in no cantina in the bar, but we did our own fun pub crawl and closed down the tube at 2am. What a long but fun day!
Below are food pics, not just on SW day but all week. Decided to share it here so that my report isn't full of food I miss so terribly already
http://s270.photobucket.com/user/macleodzoo/library/Cruise Food
We woke up around 8am, so excited to see what the day had in store for us. I tried really hard not to read spoilers so some of the day would be a surprise for me. At some point during the week (I cannot remember for the life of me exactly when..) the tickets for the meet & greets appeared in our room. Because we had 2 connected rooms, we got tickets to all three of them. We were out on the pool deck for the next little bit, saw some stormtroopers while the kids swam. Bespin in the Pub was up first at 9:30am, we got a photo with Boba Fett, in the hallway we saw two imperial guards which of course hubby had to get a photo with. They took their roles very serious We wandered around a bit before ending up in Royal Court for lunch (yay, finally off our bucket list!)
Lauren and auntie Jackie
At some point according to photos we spent some time in Satellite Falls and trying the drink of the day - Galaxy in a Glass (not my fave at all) Tatooine in the DLounge was at 2pm, we got to meet C-3PO and R2D2 and then finally in the Tube was Dark Side at 4:50pm.
We were the last in our time group to arrive Captain Phasma was there, but taking over for her at 5pm was Darth Vader. When we left DH was a little disappointed and asked the CM if he could get another ticket to meet Vader, she said to just scoot in line again as some people hadn't shown up yet for their time. Score - so DH and the kiddos got to meet everyone they wanted to, except one...
After that we went out onto Deck 4, as I heard sometimes you see the characters walking up the port side and boy were they right - he couldn't stop for a photo so we took one on the run (literally!)
Dinner was in Animators Palette and the new star wars menu - I have to admit our group ordered a lot of food as we wanted to try everything - sand people salad, beef empanada's (DH ordered more), mos espa sandwich, flatbread was all passed around the table. I think I had the nerf steak and the sundae for dessert - it was so good and a welcome change from what is normally offered. After dinner most of our party went to watch the Force Awakens,DD went to make Chewy cookies and I wandered around listening to jazz music, taking photos and then went to grab some space for Summon the Force. The show was awesome, but I have to say I preferred the pirate fireworks - either way it was fun.
We grabbed some snacks at the star wars buffet and then took the kids back to the room to watch some movies, we adults were on a mission. Tonight was our "unofficial" pub crawl, since I had told them ahead of time no one wants to be hungover on Castaway Cay, this was our last night to do it. Started out with a drink in La Piazza, which actually was playing Cantina music, there was no special drink menu or anything but still fun. They were getting ready to close so we wandered over to Skyline so Ashley could make us chocolate martinis. They were pretty strong and we were pre-drinking during the SW day so it didn't take much to get us in the mood to go dancing. We shut down the bar at midnight and then hit up the Tube where we danced until almost 2am. There was really no one in the bar, which meant we had the dance floor to ourselves. Apparently we were outside at Meridian after that, as photos prove, but not everyone in our party remembers that Amazing day at sea!
Up next... MORE mixology?! My liver is crying for mercy! Our last day at sea
I know, I know, this is the day you've been waiting for! I'm going to start out by saying we had a GREAT day, so if you're looking for negative reviews - look elsewhere. I will say that I was disappointed in no cantina in the bar, but we did our own fun pub crawl and closed down the tube at 2am. What a long but fun day!
Below are food pics, not just on SW day but all week. Decided to share it here so that my report isn't full of food I miss so terribly already
http://s270.photobucket.com/user/macleodzoo/library/Cruise Food
We woke up around 8am, so excited to see what the day had in store for us. I tried really hard not to read spoilers so some of the day would be a surprise for me. At some point during the week (I cannot remember for the life of me exactly when..) the tickets for the meet & greets appeared in our room. Because we had 2 connected rooms, we got tickets to all three of them. We were out on the pool deck for the next little bit, saw some stormtroopers while the kids swam. Bespin in the Pub was up first at 9:30am, we got a photo with Boba Fett, in the hallway we saw two imperial guards which of course hubby had to get a photo with. They took their roles very serious
We wandered around a bit before ending up in Royal Court for lunch (yay, finally off our bucket list!)Lauren and auntie Jackie
At some point according to photos we spent some time in Satellite Falls and trying the drink of the day - Galaxy in a Glass (not my fave at all) Tatooine in the DLounge was at 2pm, we got to meet C-3PO and R2D2 and then finally in the Tube was Dark Side at 4:50pm.
We were the last in our time group to arrive Captain Phasma was there, but taking over for her at 5pm was Darth Vader. When we left DH was a little disappointed and asked the CM if he could get another ticket to meet Vader, she said to just scoot in line again as some people hadn't shown up yet for their time. Score - so DH and the kiddos got to meet everyone they wanted to, except one...
After that we went out onto Deck 4, as I heard sometimes you see the characters walking up the port side and boy were they right - he couldn't stop for a photo so we took one on the run (literally!)
Dinner was in Animators Palette and the new star wars menu - I have to admit our group ordered a lot of food as we wanted to try everything - sand people salad, beef empanada's (DH ordered more), mos espa sandwich, flatbread was all passed around the table. I think I had the nerf steak and the sundae for dessert - it was so good and a welcome change from what is normally offered. After dinner most of our party went to watch the Force Awakens,DD went to make Chewy cookies and I wandered around listening to jazz music, taking photos and then went to grab some space for Summon the Force. The show was awesome, but I have to say I preferred the pirate fireworks - either way it was fun.
We grabbed some snacks at the star wars buffet and then took the kids back to the room to watch some movies, we adults were on a mission. Tonight was our "unofficial" pub crawl, since I had told them ahead of time no one wants to be hungover on Castaway Cay, this was our last night to do it. Started out with a drink in La Piazza, which actually was playing Cantina music, there was no special drink menu or anything but still fun. They were getting ready to close so we wandered over to Skyline so Ashley could make us chocolate martinis. They were pretty strong and we were pre-drinking during the SW day so it didn't take much to get us in the mood to go dancing. We shut down the bar at midnight and then hit up the Tube where we danced until almost 2am. There was really no one in the bar, which meant we had the dance floor to ourselves. Apparently we were outside at Meridian after that, as photos prove, but not everyone in our party remembers that
Amazing day at sea!Up next... MORE mixology?! My liver is crying for mercy! Our last day at sea
Thursday February 11th 2016 - Day at Sea - Hangover City...
Haha the title says it all. Apparently, we had so.much.fun the night before that I woke up at 6am for some lemonade and advil (thank goodness I grabbed some on my way back from wherever we were the night before) and went back to sleep for a few hours. Kids started to stir about 9:30 so we went up to Cabanas for the first of a few coffees I'd down that morning. Our cruise crew slowly started to wake too, they all looked like I felt as we nursed a coffee and non-greasy food, we had our 2nd private mixology at 2pm so we needed to get it together soon. We watched the kids swim for a bit, took them to play mini-golf, relaxed up on deck 13 as we sailed past Cuba while they did kids club stuff.
After a quick lunch, we had our meet n greet with Anna & Elsa in AP, it's about the only thing we took photos of today.
We met our friends in Skyline for mixology which was amazing - can't remember what we made but it was good! Late afternoon was 90's trivia in O'Gills which we rocked, I wish I had brought more friends along with me, it was fun - next time! Dinner tonight was in Animators Palate - our show night! So exciting to watch the kids, many of which were seeing it for the first time. We took the kids for a quick swim and then went back to the room to begin the saddest part- packing. I hate doing it all when we come back from spending the day on Castaway Cay, so I pulled out suitcases and tossed in our FE gifts going home, dirty laundry, figured out what we'd need out for our car ride home and packed up our bag for the island. 10:45pm Mike Super was back in the WD theater for adults so we watched that and ended our evening in Meridian. Another late night, next up - why aren't we docked yet?!?
Haha the title says it all. Apparently, we had so.much.fun the night before that I woke up at 6am for some lemonade and advil (thank goodness I grabbed some on my way back from wherever we were the night before) and went back to sleep for a few hours. Kids started to stir about 9:30 so we went up to Cabanas for the first of a few coffees I'd down that morning. Our cruise crew slowly started to wake too, they all looked like I felt as we nursed a coffee and non-greasy food, we had our 2nd private mixology at 2pm so we needed to get it together soon. We watched the kids swim for a bit, took them to play mini-golf, relaxed up on deck 13 as we sailed past Cuba while they did kids club stuff.
After a quick lunch, we had our meet n greet with Anna & Elsa in AP, it's about the only thing we took photos of today.
We met our friends in Skyline for mixology which was amazing - can't remember what we made but it was good! Late afternoon was 90's trivia in O'Gills which we rocked, I wish I had brought more friends along with me, it was fun - next time! Dinner tonight was in Animators Palate - our show night! So exciting to watch the kids, many of which were seeing it for the first time. We took the kids for a quick swim and then went back to the room to begin the saddest part- packing. I hate doing it all when we come back from spending the day on Castaway Cay, so I pulled out suitcases and tossed in our FE gifts going home, dirty laundry, figured out what we'd need out for our car ride home and packed up our bag for the island. 10:45pm Mike Super was back in the WD theater for adults so we watched that and ended our evening in Meridian. Another late night, next up - why aren't we docked yet?!?
Castaway Cay day. It's so bittersweet since we LOVE the day on the island but we know it's the last time we'll be getting back ON the ship - it's sad. The day always goes by so quickly as well. Woke up at about 8:30am, grabbed our day bag and headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. Got everyone fed and first layer of sunscreen on while the ship docked and they called all ashore. We grabbed our day bag (always bring an extra empty bag for towels, we pack them on the pool deck but they'll have them when you get off the ship as well, you can't get them by the beach) and got off the ship. We always wait for a bit after all ashore is called, we never have to wait like cattle! Hopped on the tram and went to the 2nd beach by pelican plunge, found a section where we could grab chairs for those in our party and set up shop.
I may, or may not have filled my water bottle with the rest of my sparkling champagne and OJ, mimosa's on the beach - yes please! Some of the kids went to line up for the slide, others grabbed our floats we reserved. We spent the day swimming, snorkeling, grabbing drinks from the bar, eating and just soaking up the sun. Around 4pm we started gathering our stuff and hopped on the tram for our ride back to the ship. There was a small line up to get back on board, but wasn't a big deal at all, it took longer to get in the elevator. We got back to the room and I started to wash sand out of our stuff, while the kids went up for a quick swim (as if they didn't swim enough on the island....) I finished up packing our bags so they were ready to be put out that evening except for what we'd need before the next day. We made sure to drop off our info for booking a future cruise, loved that we didn't need to set a date, just do a placeholder.
Last sunset
Our last dinner was in Enchanted Garden, I had a salad, beef wellington and apple pie - so good. After dinner, we said our goodbyes to our amazing dining team Erhan and Yoga, the three older kids went to their clubs, Daddy went to his "club Meridian", I took Lauren to go see Wishes. After the show we got the two younger kids showered, into PJ's and ordered our last round of warm cookies and milk. Put out our luggage, kids had a treat and then we went to the lobby to watch the see ya real soon party. While we love to see all the characters one more time, it sucks because tears are always stinging my eyes - we don't want to be kicked off the ship! I put the kids to bed and then headed to the Tube for a little bit, danced a little then back up to meridian until it was way too late, saying goodbye to all our friends.
Getting off the ship was super easy. We planned to sleep in a bit since we were eating in the buffet and driving home, no rush for a flight but that didn't quite work out. They started announcements about 5:45am - may as well start getting ready to go home. We showered, watched TV for a bit, grabbed our day bags, tossed on hoodies, met our group up in Cabanas for breakfast. We got to the atrium about 8:30am, there was a bit of a wait to get our alcohol that we bought at various ports. No line for customs and we were off the ship just after 9. In the car and driving away by 9:30am. The drive home wasn't too exciting, we drove for 11 hours before stopping in Beckley WV for the night. Arrived home Sunday evening, took a few days to unpack, thankfully we re-booked on board or I'd be *really* sad! Thanks for reading!!
I may, or may not have filled my water bottle with the rest of my sparkling champagne and OJ, mimosa's on the beach - yes please!
Some of the kids went to line up for the slide, others grabbed our floats we reserved. We spent the day swimming, snorkeling, grabbing drinks from the bar, eating and just soaking up the sun. Around 4pm we started gathering our stuff and hopped on the tram for our ride back to the ship. There was a small line up to get back on board, but wasn't a big deal at all, it took longer to get in the elevator. We got back to the room and I started to wash sand out of our stuff, while the kids went up for a quick swim (as if they didn't swim enough on the island....) I finished up packing our bags so they were ready to be put out that evening except for what we'd need before the next day. We made sure to drop off our info for booking a future cruise, loved that we didn't need to set a date, just do a placeholder.Last sunset
Our last dinner was in Enchanted Garden, I had a salad, beef wellington and apple pie - so good. After dinner, we said our goodbyes to our amazing dining team Erhan and Yoga, the three older kids went to their clubs, Daddy went to his "club Meridian", I took Lauren to go see Wishes. After the show we got the two younger kids showered, into PJ's and ordered our last round of warm cookies and milk. Put out our luggage, kids had a treat and then we went to the lobby to watch the see ya real soon party. While we love to see all the characters one more time, it sucks because tears are always stinging my eyes - we don't want to be kicked off the ship! I put the kids to bed and then headed to the Tube for a little bit, danced a little then back up to meridian until it was way too late, saying goodbye to all our friends.
Getting off the ship was super easy. We planned to sleep in a bit since we were eating in the buffet and driving home, no rush for a flight but that didn't quite work out. They started announcements about 5:45am - may as well start getting ready to go home. We showered, watched TV for a bit, grabbed our day bags, tossed on hoodies, met our group up in Cabanas for breakfast. We got to the atrium about 8:30am, there was a bit of a wait to get our alcohol that we bought at various ports. No line for customs and we were off the ship just after 9. In the car and driving away by 9:30am. The drive home wasn't too exciting, we drove for 11 hours before stopping in Beckley WV for the night. Arrived home Sunday evening, took a few days to unpack, thankfully we re-booked on board or I'd be *really* sad! Thanks for reading!!
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