Ok, time to try to finish this!! The cruise was absolutely fabulous!!!
Weather: perfect!!! The days were warm around 80. The nights were a bit cooler, but not cold. We never needed sweaters or sweatshirts. We did not have one drop of rain either.
Castaway Cay: I love this island! The four of us rented bikes for an hour, which was a blast. We rode all around, including out to the observation tower. This offers a great view of the island. The beaches were not crowded at all. The water was chilly at first, but not bad after you got in. There were many adults in the water. The rest if my family enjoyed Pelican Plunge, while I "guarded" our stuff. I am a chicken, freely admitted!!! We ate at Cookies Too for lunch and enjoyed the bar b q. I loved the Christmas decorations on the island.
Dining: We had AACL for our dining rotation, which was exactly what I wanted. We sat at table 77 and had Valentine from the Ukraine and Dipa from Indonesia. They were both lovely and very interactive with the kids. My son enjoyed having everything cut for him. I told him to not get used to that... I am not a "foodie" at all, and in the past I have had issues with finding things to eat. Not this time!!! We so enjoyed the food! I ate more seafood in four days than in the past year!! The lobster Mac and cheese in Lumiere's was amazing!!! My husband had the Chateaubriand and loved it as well. The wait staff was so very accommodating to my very picky 11 yo daughter. After the first night, there was always a dish of grapes awaiting her. This pleased her greatly!!! My son is so much more adventurous about food than she is. He ordered several soups and/or appetizers off the adult menu and loved them! I really enjoyed the show in AP!! For breakfast, we went to either Lumiere's or Cabanas. I preferred the buffet, while DH really enjoyed the sit down service at the other.
Aquadunk: I can only tell you what my kids thought of it, as there was absolutely no way that I was going to try that!!! "Sick!!!" They went on about 15 times each through out the cruise. It was closed at several points, not sure why.
Movies: We watched Frozen in 2D as a family, and then they went back and watched it in 3D. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie!!! I think this is the best one Disney has produced in awhile. The music is wonderful. The characters were adorable.
Kids clubs: our kids spent some time in the Oceaneer Club and Lab. They loved the new superheroes areas. My daughter could have gone to the tween area but chose not to do so. As she would have had to go alone, I am not surprised. She's not very outgoing and is more comfortable with her brother, even when he drives her crazy!!
Holiday theming: I loved the decorations!!! I thought it was tastefully done without being overdone. We went to the King Triton Christmas Tree lighting on the first night. We made gingerbread houses in a class with the pasty chef, Christian. We got pictures with Santa!!! I think that was only offered the day at sea. I loved seeing the characters in Holiday outfits.
We rebooked on board for next December n the Wonder. That's how much we loved it!!!
All in all, this was an awesome trip!!! Honestly, the issue with the safe was the only one we had. Until of course we tried to leave... We were scheduled to fly back to Philadelphia on Sunday at 1205 PM. First we were delayed an hour. So at 1:05 we are ready to take off and actually got out to the runway...before being called back to the gate. Yes, the flight was cancelled! We ended up staying overnight and flying out the next night. That flight was delayed an hour, and we really thought we were screwed again!!! Now that we are back home, in the snow, I wondering why I thought being stuck in South Florida was a problem...
Please feel free to ask any and all questions!!!
