The Land, The Sea and The Dark Side ... With a Toddler! The (cruise) TR! UPDATE 2/20!

[ariel1025]

Hey y'all, if you're jumping on over from The Land portion of this TR I'm so glad to have you on board with me!

If you are climbing aboard as a new reader this TR is a three part vacation that started at Walt Disney World with a two night stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. If you're interested in our memories there please jump on over

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2932896

If you're only interested in the cruise portion of this TR, you are in the right place and I'm so glad to have you as a new reader!

Here's a quick intro for those only joining us at sea



(from left to right) First up, there's me. I'm Shannon, a 30 year old Disney lover, dreamer, planner and self-proclaimed addict. I don't think I will ever tire of the magic that is in a Disney vacation whether it's on land or at sea.

Next up is the Hubs, Candi. Also 30, he got bit by the Disney bug a few years back and now encourages our yearly rendezvous' with the Mouse! He does, however, prefer our cruise trips to our land trips and has this strange belief that vacations are for putting up your feet and relaxing

That cutie in the arms of my Handsome man is our son, Candido. He is fifth generation so we go by his middle name, James or his nickname, Cinco. James tunred 16 months during our trip and although this was his first trip where he could experience all Disney has to offer, he technically had been on a Cruise and to Epcot in my belly

Joining us on this trip we also had my parents, Ken and Mary. This was their very first cruise and their first time to WDW since our family vacation in 1998 Since they live over 600 miles away from us I was beyond ecstatic for them to be able to create these memories with their Grandson!

A Few Quick Details:

Ship: Disney Magic

Embarkation Date: May 18, 2012

Debarkation Date: May 23, 2012

Itinerary: Key West, Day at Sea, Nassau, Castaway Cay

This cruise was originally planned to be a double dip at Castaway Cay on board the Disney Dream. However, too much hemming and hawing over time off resulted in there not being any more rooms available for DVC (which is how the three of us were booking). So, we chose a cruise that fit the dates we wanted which was this one. Would we miss our second stop at Castway Cay? How would we like Key West? Would we be sad that we were on an "oldie" and not a "newbie" ship? And, just how would a cruise live up to my parents expectations?

[jedijill]

Coming over from the Land portion!

Can't wait to hear all the details.

Jill in CO

[LuvEeyore]

Jumping over with you!!

[TinksMomma]

YAY! I'm excited to read your report! We are taking our little one along with my parents on their first cruise this October and DD will be 16 months!

[wild.zinnia]

Can't wait to live vicariously through your trip report.

[ariel1025]

Originally Posted by jedijill

Coming over from the Land portion!

Can't wait to hear all the details.

Jill in CO

Yay, so glad to have you here!!!

Originally Posted by LuvEeyore

Jumping over with you!!

Welcome aboard!

Originally Posted by TinksMomma

YAY! I'm excited to read your report! We are taking our little one along with my parents on their first cruise this October and DD will be 16 months!

Awesome! What cruise? I found 16 months to be the perfect age. He still enjoyed hanging out in his stroller, wasn't afraid of the characters and was able to sit through dinners and shows (most of the time)

Originally Posted by wild.zinnia

Can't wait to live vicariously through your trip report.

So glad to have you here!

[SoonerGirl]

Hey Shannon, jumping over from the land portion of the trip, I'm so excited to hear about your cruise! Sounds like arriving at the port a little later is the way to go, minimal lines, no long waiting period to board and your room is ready right away!

[ariel1025]

After the muster drill I finished unpacking our suitcases real fast and then we made our way up to the top deck...it was party time!



We debated for a minute if we should stop at the pool deck, giving Cinco a chance to hang out where most the other kids would be. But, I was worried that he (as well as all us shorties ) wouldn't be able to see anything except on the big screen, so we headed up to the top deck as originally planned.

It was already somewhat crowded, as expected, but we were able to find a spot just big enough for all of us to stand against the railing. At this point James was getting pretty tired, so I wasn't sure how long we would be able to hang around. I was just hoping that he stayed awake (and calm!) long enough to see the characters come out. And, perhaps, even do a little bit of dancing for me. Beyond that, I wasn't concerned as we could go onto our verandah when the ship began pulling out of port, if needed.



About 15 minutes after we got out there the party began and at first James wasn't too sure how to react.


Chubby baby hands and arms make me all giddy inside



At one point while all the CMs were dancing around trying to get everybody excited I went to adjust my ponytail and noticed how hot my hair/head was. That's when I realized that we forgot James' hat back in the room. I hated for anybody to miss the party, but the sun was beating down way too hard for him not to have it. Candi offered to run back and get it since it was my parent's first Sail Away party and he wanted me to enjoy it with them. While he was gone I noticed that they were only passing out the streamers on the pool deck and I wished I would have grabbed one for James when we were down there. I could have tried going down there at that point, but it was so crowded that I didn't want to deal with it. And, at that moment, I don't think James would have cared to play with it, as he was downright exhausted.



His poor little eyes kept falling shut and then he would shake his head and pop them open like he knew he would be missing out if he fell asleep. I kept looking for cues to see if I needed to take him back to the room. But, he wasn't irritable or fussy so I decided to just wait it out and see what happened.

A few minutes later Candi returned with James' hat and it was perfect timing because it was right as the Cruise Director came out, so I knew the characters would be following shortly.


Sadly I don't remember his name







Everybody was going crazy...laughing...screaming...cheering...and counting down to the beautiful cruise horn telling us we were headed out to sea!





There is really no way to explain the excitement. It's just a rush of happiness. It's kind of like the feeling you get when you wake up on vacation day knowing all the excitement that lies ahead of you. But, with all the other people around it makes you even more giddy, if that's possible


Yeah, wanna guess who slept through all that

Once the dance party went into full swing we made our way to the opposite side of where we were standing so we could watch the ship make its way through the water. The party gets me all pumped and full of adrenaline. But, seeing the ship gliding through the ocean makes me feel calm and serene and a whole different type of happy.





And that's how we spent the next twenty minutes or so; just going back and forth between watching the party and watching the ocean.




I love that my Mom was enjoying herself


And my little man even woke up enough to join in on the action





Soon enough, James officially declared that he was done with the party so we let my parents know we were headed back to the room to give the baby time to rest before dinner. They chose to stay at the party a while longer, which made me super happy. One of my biggest worries going into the trip was that they would always feel like they had to follow our schedule, thus missing out on things if necessary for James. So, them staying behind really put my mind at ease and allowed me to let go of that fear

When we got back to the room it quickly became apparent that James had no plans of taking a nap so we just relaxed on the verandah hoping he would cuddle and stay calm long enough to be rejuvenated for the show and dinner...

[ariel1025]

Originally Posted by amandaw

That's great to know! Thank you!

We are going on the June 1st Eastern Caribbean sailing on the Fantasy!

Ahhhh, so jealous I can't wait to cruise both the new ships!!

Originally Posted by SoonerGirl

Hey Shannon, jumping over from the land portion of the trip, I'm so excited to hear about your cruise! Sounds like arriving at the port a little later is the way to go, minimal lines, no long waiting period to board and your room is ready right away!

Hello, hello! I know several people that push to get to the port early and be some of the first in line. To each their own. But, I much prefer being able to sleep in a little, enjoy some breakfast and have minimal crowds at the port when I arrive

[amandaw]

Those Sail Away parties sure get crowded, don't they? When we went on the Dream last year, we went above the pool deck too. It does seem like the best place to actually see the show.

So glad y'all enjoyed the party & are off at sea!

[LuvEeyore]

Love the update. I am a broken record...James is so cute!!

[lar42]

I believe the cruise director was Peter. We sailed on the last "Magic" cruise out of Port Canaveral in May before she set sail for New York.

[Mom2Finn]

We went on a Magic cruise last May as well. We put our six month old in the nursery twice and had a bad experience as well. We ended up showing up early the second time and found her laying on the floor sobbing while everyone ignored her. We didn't go back.

We are taking another cruise on the dream this may and our daughter will be 18 months. I am hoping it goes better.

[ariel1025]

Originally Posted by Mageemommy

I love reading about your trip! James is so cute! You are right the cubby hands just make ya melt! I am glad to know he is feeling better as a pediatric intensive care RN, i see lots of RSV this time of year. It is bad. Poor guy!! Congrats on the new addition. Cant wait to hear more!!
Mikka

Thank you so much Major kudos on being a PIC Nurse. I can't imagine how both, rewarding and emotional, of a job that must be

Originally Posted by amandaw

Sounds like y'all were having a nice, leisurely day!

The pictures of James in the splash area are so cute! And I agree with you - the splash area should have an age limit. If I remember correctly from when we sailed on the Dream, that one does have a maximum age. But, don't quote me on that.

I absolutely cannot wait to sail on the Dream for the Nemo themed splash zone. Although at that point James will be potty-trained I'm sure the next little one will love it!

Originally Posted by Mom2Finn

We went on a Magic cruise last May as well. We put our six month old in the nursery twice and had a bad experience as well. We ended up showing up early the second time and found her laying on the floor sobbing while everyone ignored her. We didn't go back.

We are taking another cruise on the dream this may and our daughter will be 18 months. I am hoping it goes better.

I'm so sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with the nursery as well I was really hoping our situation was a one-time fluke as I know that isn't the type of service that Disney expects or promotes of it's CMs. I'm not going to lie - it is going to be hard for me to give them a second chance on our next cruise. James will be old enough to go to the Oceaneer's Club (Lab?) but we will have the new one who will need to go to the nursery. ::nervous::

[ariel1025]

After leaving the DVC presentation my parents and I split up to all do our own thing. I know that I went back to the room to check on the boys; and, if I recall correctly they weren't napping but were just laying around watching TV and playing. If memory serves, we ordered some room service - random things including the cheese plate, my fave! - while I got our clothes out and ready for the evening. Tonight was semi-formal night which meant a trip to the laundry room was in order to get all of our clothes ironed. I think I also checked on available washers as we were in need of some clean clothes, but as expected, they were all taken. Once all the clothes were ironed I laid them out so that we could quickly change after the show. This was the one night I was really hoping to get some good pictures in the lobby so I wanted the process of changing and getting in line for pictures to go smoothly (and quickly).

As an aside, we never wore our dinner clothes to the show. Since we usually got snacks/drinks I was always worried we would spill and ruin them before it was time to go to dinner. Since there is enough time between the two, we chose to just change every night before dinner.

A few minutes before we needed to get to the theater we met up with my parents to make sure we could get seats together. Tonight's show was "Twice Charmed" another first for us. I think this is the show I was most excited for and it didn't disappoint! I was completely engaged from start to finish and was so glad I got the chance to see it. Cinco, however, did not agree with me and got fussy towards the middle of the show. At first he was distracted with the Mickey crackers we got for him. But, that novelty soon wore off and Candi had to take him out to the hallway to avoid him disrupting others. They did make it back in for the show's finale, but since he missed about 15 minutes of it, Candi wasn't quite as taken with the show as I was.

Once the show ended we let my parents know we were going to run to change and then head to the lobby for pictures. They decided to hit the gift shops to look around while we did that, as they weren't interested in any pictures for themselves.

When we got back to the room to change James was being stubborn and having a fit about putting his vest on. The show situation and this should have been major red flags about his mood. But, I was so set on taking pictures that I thought for sure he would be fine once we got back out of the room.

We got to the lobby and looked at the background offerings for the night and chose the one we liked best. It was the nighttime cruise backdrop and yes, it's slightly cheesy, but we still love it The line was somewhat long, but seemed to be moving quickly so we jumped in, knowing we had limited time before we had to be to dinner. As we moved along in line James became more and more active and fussy. He was refusing to be held, but wouldn't stay near us when we let him down to move around. He kept trying to run off and Candi was getting frustrated that he wasn't listening and wanted to just leave the line and forget about the picture. I'm sad to say that things just spiraled downward from there. The next time James started to run off Candi snapped at him, so I snapped at Candi and grabbed the baby and told Candi (I admit, with attitude) that he was just a baby and wanted to walk that he should just stay in line and I would move around with James. I quickly picked up the baby and took off towards the open area of the lobby to let him run around. Well, the baby was none too pleased that I picked him up and started screaming bloody murder. I'm talking the ear piercing, great big crocodile tears, the world is going to end tantrum type screaming. I moved as quickly as I could to let him down, but the damage was done. He was mad, he was tired, he could sense my frustration and his Dad's frustration and he was done for. Nothing I did from that point changed anything. Not letting him down, not taking him over to the windows, not pointing out the characters. Nothing!

At this point I was ready to call defeat and tell Candi to get out of line when one of the Ship Officers (is that the correct term?) came over to talk to James. I'll admit I was more than slightly embarrassed and, at first, was thinking of any way possible to quickly get out of the conversation He was so incredibly nice to James though. He tried doing high fives with him. That didn't work. He tried peek-a-boo. That didn't work. He tried silly faces. That didn't work. At this point I was fighting back tears so hard and I think it was completely noticeable. The Officer told me to wait one second that he would be back. He came back out a minute later with a box of kleenex and told James to take as many as he wanted. If you know toddlers they love to pull wipes out of their container, kleenex out of the box etc. James all of a sudden stopped crying, and looked at me for confirmation that this was ok, but was too hesitant to actually grab one. So the Officer said, well maybe Mommy can show you how it's done. And told me to teach him. Secretly, I think he knew I needed one to dry my own eyes and didn't want to embarrass me. Once I grabbed one that was all James needed. He then reached his little hand out and shrilled with laughter as he pulled out his own. The Officer told him "you need more than one grab another" and so he did. They went back and forth on this for at least 10 kleenex. So much so, that James couldn't stop laughing when they were done. I will forever be grateful for that kind, kind gentleman and what he did for us that evening. Of course, in my current state I didn't even think to grab his name.


My parents took this picture at some point - the Gentleman who saved our night is the one on the end next to my Dad.

I repeatedly thanked the Officer for his kindness (and took my Dad's camera with the above image to the Guest Services desk at the end of the cruise to tell them my experience and how incredible he was) and headed back to the line to find Candi. When we got there we were only 3 people back in line. I apologized for my attitude and told Candi all about what just happened. He said he could see us talking to him and was happy to see James laughing and calmed down. Out turn in line came very quickly after that.


When we looked at our pictures that night Candi apologized for getting frustrated over taking them. That he is glad I remember to push to capture the memories and have "such an obsession" over pictures because time really does move quickly and it's so easy to forget how little Cinc used to be. As a side note, this picture is now enlarged and hanging over Candi's desk at work

By the time we finished up with our pictures it was time to head into dinner. It was a quick hop over as we were in Triton's tonight. I was so happy our rotation had us here for semi-formal night, it really does help to set the mood! As always, the service was great and we all enjoyed our dinner. And, I'm thinking food was part of everyone's foul mood as we all had much bigger smiles after the food hit our bellies!





With dinner complete we had two more things we needed to accomplish that night...