Dear Friends:
The next several posts will be all about our recent family vacation on a Disney Cruise to the Caribbean.
Let me just put it this way - this was the best family vacation that we've ever had. That's not hyperbole, it's exactly what happened ; )
Due to an unexpected bonus from work, we had the money to do something we have dreamed about for a long time. This, combined with the fact that the kids were finally the right ages, made it a perfect opportunity. I've been lucky enough to take several cruises in my life, and this one was simply a step above all the rest.
As you can imagine, a Disney Cruise is targeted at the entire family. That, in itself, sets it apart. However, there were little touches in almost every part of the cruise that supported the reputation that the Disney Cruises have earned. The ship was spotless at all times - the staff was incredible, at every level, the quality of the onboard entertainment was very high...and the Disney "magic" could be found everywhere...
We started the adventure by flying to Orlando...very, very early in the morning. From there, we boarded special shuttle buses that took us to Port Canaveral about 45 minutes away. This is located adjacent to Cape Canaveral.
Encounters with Disney characters happened throughout the cruise...and started immediately:
We boarded the ship (Disney Fantasy), and decided to explore a little bit. We did a little research, and had our swimsuits ready-to-go before our actual luggage arrived.:
The atriums of most cruise ships are beautiful. The Disney Fantasy was no exception. Here's a panoramic shot of the "hub" of the ship:
Our daughter was SO excited for the trip. She dressed in very special clothing - all Disney themed - and had been planning this for weeks. Our friends let her borrow a special Disney skirt for her to wear. Doesn't she look comfortable on the deck???
You're going to see a LOT of pictures of us with Disney characters...so just get used to it. We found Chip and Dale on the walking deck:
I loved the architecture/design of the ship. Here's an example of a detail - the elevator floor indicators have a Mickey "hand" that points to the position of the elevator car. I love it:
We reached our stateroom and feel in love, immediately. What you can't see in the picture, is the bunk bed that folds down from the ceiling, over the couch. That created a bed for G-Man, while L took the sofa bed...leaving the regular bed for my wife and I:
The kids loved to just camp out in the port hole and watch the view. Here, we're still docked next to another ship...but we watched the ocean and island stops along the way:
One of the cool features of our ship (and other Disney boats) is called the "Aquaduck". Essentially, it's a water slide that runs above the top deck, and circles the length of the ship. You can watch everyone below, as you splash along the tube. It was SUPER fun!
not my photo, of course
We prepared for the inevitable life boat drill, and had fun bumping into each other with the life vests on. This, obviously, was an important part of the drill:
As I said - you find Disney characters everywhere. If you like to pose with these characters, and you didn't come back from the cruise with a ton of pictures...you just weren't trying at all. The nice thing is that the encounter was so much more relaxed that what you find at Disneyland or DisneyWorld. You have more time to interact with the characters, which is a bonus for the kids. More on that later...
Like most young girls in the U.S., our daughter is in love with Disney Princesses. Belle is a favorite, especially when we had just seen Beauty and the Beast in theaters before we left for the trip.
Most cruises have a "sailing away party" to celebrate leaving port. Disney's party was at another level....as you can see...
Here's another nice touch, especially for families. There was free soft-serve ice cream during the entire trip. The lines weren't that bad, and you had quite a few choices of flavors. This was a great part of every afternoon on the ship:
Not only that, but they had free sodas, as well. Since we usually end up paying to have this privilege on other ships...it was a nice touch:
Our friends gave us another great tip - why not combine both of these amenities, and create awesome ice cream floats every day???
That evening, we dined at our first of three restaurants. Each venue had it's unique style. The first was the Royal Court. Here, even the bread baskets were shaped like Cinderella's carriage:
The kids were a little tired from the long day...but were still having fun. Our dinner appointments were always later in the evening, which worked for us. After dinner, we usually just headed to bed. But the dinners were so uch fun:
The kids had tons of choices for dessert. G-Man focused on having a Mickey Ice Cream Bar every night while we were there. I think he has good taste ; )
The adult desserts weren't too bad, either. I can only imagine how many hundreds of chocolate Mickey faces they had to make every day!
That's it for our first day on the cruise. There will be 6 posts in all, so make sure to come back and see our adventures on Day 2!
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