Ok, so I am going to try the trip report.
2-3 weeks prior to the cruise:
I am starting here because this is when I was in serious countdown and packing mode. I actually started researching and buying about 3 months prior to the cruise. So, I actually laid all the items out on our dining room table (someone on disboards suggested). This worked very well, because I could see everything and still had items on hangers that I didn't want to get wrinkled. Over the weekend I made sure I had everything bought and packed. Believe it or not I still forgot DH nice brown shoes. Good thing there are Walmarts everywhere. I were ok for the cruise.
Our party consist of myself, DH, DD(3), and DS(5). I packed a large suitcase for our children and one large suitcase for us. We also packed a bag for toiletries. I also had carry on bags for the kids (consisted of beach towel (you don't need), bathing suit, and whatever items they wanted). Next I went to Hobby Lobby and bought one of their canvas bags (originally $10, but they were 50% off) and bought an iron on Mickey patch. Put this together at home and this was my carry on bag for only $10. Much cheaper than those sold in the Disney store. This worked great the day at Castaway Cay as well.
May 5th:
This the day we left for our vacation.
We live in Georgia, so we decided to just drive down. My DD and I started the day by dropping DS at school. We then hit the nail salon to get a pedicure and manicure. She absolutely loved this. As soon as DS was out for school (12 noon), we headed home to load the car and leave. We drove down to Gainesville,FL and spent the night.
May 6th:
We woke up early and hit the road to our destination (Radisson Resort at the Port). We arrived around 11am. Checked in and hit the pools for an hour(the kids were ready to get in the water).
Upon recommendation from the front desk, we went to Kelsey's pizzeria for lunch. Very good food and service. After lunch we headed to The Dinosaur Store. This is a cool place and the kids had a blast. The kids played in the adventure area for awhile before we headed back the pool. For supper we ate at Grill's. Great atmosphere, ok food. While we were eating, Carnival's Maiden Voyage went by. The kids thought this was so cool as they waved to all the people on the boat. They even commented that they "wanted to ride on one of those". They got their wish!!
May 7th:
We met several families through dis boards and decided to all eat breakfast together the morning of. This was good because all the kids got to meet before. After breakfast it was off to the port.
We were on the first shuttle(10:30) to the port.
I would recommend this highly. You will arrive to the port early, but it is not crowded and you get a great boarding number. We got #2.
As we were coming up the escalator, I noticed we were one the very first people. In fact we were second in line to check-in. Check-in went pretty smooth, expect that we had an older gentleman that was slow. Next, picture ID's and then off to sign kids up for programs. Then we waited for about a half hour and we boarded the ship. I was great to see the expression of the kids' face when they announced our name!
We headed up to Beach Blanket for lunch.
Pretty good. I was fixing my DD plate and forgot to put stuff on my plate. Trust me, I didn't miss a meal. Of the food I did remember to put on my plate, it was very good. After lunch, off to the pools.
This is my only complaint of the whole trip. 1. not enough seating around the Mickey pool. 2. Hot/slick flooring around the pool. Had several children burning their little feet.
Soon it was time to see our room and get ready for the drill. It went very smoothly. The kids got very uncomfortable in the BIG life vests. Small price to pay for a great trip. Then back up to deck 9 for the sail away party. We were right up front so the kids could see Mickey and the gang. The party was going good until the gang came out. Some very rude lady behind my pushed her children, that were bigger than my kids, right in front of the kids. I was sooo mad. How rude to push her kids in front of my DD (3). She couldn't see a thing. I'm sorry but some people have no respect. Ok, off my soap box. Sorry. We left as soon as Mickey and the gang were gone to watch as we sailed away. The kids thought it was cool to be on the boat waving at the people eating this time. After leaving port we went back to the room to get ready to watch Golden Mickey before supper.
This was awesome and the kids were cracking us up. They just kept getting more excited and louder with each new character.
That night we ate at Animator's Palate.
Our servers were wonderful (Brett and Anthony). They took extra time with the kids and really catered to them. I had cheese flatbread and Veal. It was ok, nothing special. We didn't eat dessert that night b/c the kids were exhausted.
May 8th:
I awoke very early that morning. I guess I was so excited. I wanted the kids to sleep a little longer, so I headed out to take pictures and to deliver our FE gifts(which by the way the kids loved). By the time I returned the kids were waking up. We got ready, ate breakfast at Beach Blanket, and headed down to Deck 1. My DH and I had been to Nassau before, so we just decided to only do a little gift shopping and go to the Pirates Museum. That was interesting. It was kinda neat to see, but we won't go back. First walking into the place was a little scary. It was dark and I didn't know if something was going to pop out from behind something. After we got past the first little bit, it was more interesting. There was several interesting facts. The best part was the pirate at the entrance. He interacts well with the older children. DS really thought he was a pirate!
After the museum we headed back to the boat to change into swimsuits and eat a little lunch. DD decided to have a tantrum, so DD and I stayed behind for her to take a nap while DH and DS went to the pool. DH said DS played on the slide the entire time.
That night we ate supper at Parrot Cay. I liked the food chooses this night better. I had the crab dip? and the Mixed Grill. I loved the entire entree. My DH had the ribeye. He thought it was ok only b/c it was very fatty. I had the sweet temptations for dessert, he opted for the sundae. Both of which was very good.
After dinner it was time to head to the Pirates Party. We decided to stay on Deck 10 after the bad experience down front. Good choice. We were right in front of the screen and had a perfect view for the whole night.
We even got the see Mickey right above us. The fireworks display was amazing. It is just really neat that we can do that in the middle of the ocean.
We didn't stay for the dessert buffet, the kids we to tired.
May 9th:
Yeah! Castaway Cay day.
This was my favorite day. I love the beach and Disney has really done a great job with their island. We slept in this morning. We were all slept very well and were exhausted from the day before. I got up, packed our bag, and headed to Beach Blanket for breakfast. I didn't want to miss the Mickey waffles. Yum! and so cute!
After breakfast we headed to the Gangway. Once of the boat I spotted a table with bottle waters. They have a package that includes a Disney cooler and 6 bottle waters for $17. We didn't bring a cooler, so this was perfect for us. It gets really hot and we wanted to make sure the kids stayed hydrated. Also we don't drink, so water was good for us. I would recommend bringing your own soft sided cooler and just buying water from them. They will fill your cooler up.
So off to our spot. We boarded the tram and was dropped off at the family beach area. As we were getting off and walking by Stitch, Mickey walked right beside us. Luckily he took over Stitch's place and we were second in line. We then walked over the Pluto and immediately had our picture taken. No lines. Yeah! Off to the beach.
I had read that many people recommended closer to Heads Up Bar, but we picked our spot in front of the water play ground.
It wasn't that crowded, but I don't think our boat was full. Unfortunately we didn't spend much time at the playground only b/c it was pretty deep. DH and DS played about 30 min. out there.
After lunch at Cookies, we headed back to the ocean. We left the beach around 3:30-4. Once on board, we changed and DH and DS went to the arcade and DD and myself went to rebook. Yeah! Have a 4 day planned for August 2010. That took awhile so we headed up to get DH and DS to look and pick our pictures. Wow are they expensive. I had to buy the pictures with Mickey and Pluto though. We also had our picture taken with the boat at Castaway Cay. Love that picture also.
As we were walking back to our room, we saw a lot of commotion on Deck 4 balcony. We went out to see what was going on and heard and saw a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. They were loading a gentleman onto it. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
After the excitement it was (sadly) time to say goodbye to Castaway Cay. We decided not to eat supper in the dining room this night. We were all tired (from spending the day in the sun). We all ate chicken fingers. Great supper huh! DS wanted to play a little soccer before heading to the room and then it was off to bed. Our last night on the boat was nothing special.
Unfortunately the Golden Mickey was the only show we attended. We either busy doing other stuff or to tired. We did spend part on one day making kites, racing toads, and playing bingo (which we won one of the cash prizes). I honestly don't remember which day that was so I'm adding it here. The kids did like making the kites and racing the toads. That were into the bingo for the first round and then they were ready to go. Glad we stayed, since we ended up winning. I would recommend going to this bingo session only b/c they hand out one free card to every player and they also hand our Disney stuff to each child. It was nothing fancy (tattoos, posters, door hangers, buttons, magnets, etc).
Ok so I hope this helps people out. I definitely can't wait to return and I am very excited about the 4 day. Hopefully we will be able to attend more shows and also watch movies.
Thank you for reading!!
2-3 weeks prior to the cruise:
I am starting here because this is when I was in serious countdown and packing mode. I actually started researching and buying about 3 months prior to the cruise. So, I actually laid all the items out on our dining room table (someone on disboards suggested). This worked very well, because I could see everything and still had items on hangers that I didn't want to get wrinkled. Over the weekend I made sure I had everything bought and packed. Believe it or not I still forgot DH nice brown shoes. Good thing there are Walmarts everywhere. I were ok for the cruise.
Our party consist of myself, DH, DD(3), and DS(5). I packed a large suitcase for our children and one large suitcase for us. We also packed a bag for toiletries. I also had carry on bags for the kids (consisted of beach towel (you don't need), bathing suit, and whatever items they wanted). Next I went to Hobby Lobby and bought one of their canvas bags (originally $10, but they were 50% off) and bought an iron on Mickey patch. Put this together at home and this was my carry on bag for only $10. Much cheaper than those sold in the Disney store. This worked great the day at Castaway Cay as well.
May 5th:
This the day we left for our vacation.
We live in Georgia, so we decided to just drive down. My DD and I started the day by dropping DS at school. We then hit the nail salon to get a pedicure and manicure. She absolutely loved this. As soon as DS was out for school (12 noon), we headed home to load the car and leave. We drove down to Gainesville,FL and spent the night.May 6th:
We woke up early and hit the road to our destination (Radisson Resort at the Port). We arrived around 11am. Checked in and hit the pools for an hour(the kids were ready to get in the water).
Upon recommendation from the front desk, we went to Kelsey's pizzeria for lunch. Very good food and service. After lunch we headed to The Dinosaur Store. This is a cool place and the kids had a blast. The kids played in the adventure area for awhile before we headed back the pool. For supper we ate at Grill's. Great atmosphere, ok food. While we were eating, Carnival's Maiden Voyage went by. The kids thought this was so cool as they waved to all the people on the boat. They even commented that they "wanted to ride on one of those". They got their wish!!
May 7th:
We met several families through dis boards and decided to all eat breakfast together the morning of. This was good because all the kids got to meet before. After breakfast it was off to the port.
We were on the first shuttle(10:30) to the port.
As we were coming up the escalator, I noticed we were one the very first people. In fact we were second in line to check-in. Check-in went pretty smooth, expect that we had an older gentleman that was slow. Next, picture ID's and then off to sign kids up for programs. Then we waited for about a half hour and we boarded the ship. I was great to see the expression of the kids' face when they announced our name!We headed up to Beach Blanket for lunch.
Soon it was time to see our room and get ready for the drill. It went very smoothly. The kids got very uncomfortable in the BIG life vests. Small price to pay for a great trip. Then back up to deck 9 for the sail away party. We were right up front so the kids could see Mickey and the gang. The party was going good until the gang came out. Some very rude lady behind my pushed her children, that were bigger than my kids, right in front of the kids. I was sooo mad. How rude to push her kids in front of my DD (3). She couldn't see a thing. I'm sorry but some people have no respect. Ok, off my soap box. Sorry. We left as soon as Mickey and the gang were gone to watch as we sailed away. The kids thought it was cool to be on the boat waving at the people eating this time. After leaving port we went back to the room to get ready to watch Golden Mickey before supper.
That night we ate at Animator's Palate.
May 8th:
I awoke very early that morning. I guess I was so excited. I wanted the kids to sleep a little longer, so I headed out to take pictures and to deliver our FE gifts(which by the way the kids loved). By the time I returned the kids were waking up. We got ready, ate breakfast at Beach Blanket, and headed down to Deck 1. My DH and I had been to Nassau before, so we just decided to only do a little gift shopping and go to the Pirates Museum. That was interesting. It was kinda neat to see, but we won't go back. First walking into the place was a little scary. It was dark and I didn't know if something was going to pop out from behind something. After we got past the first little bit, it was more interesting. There was several interesting facts. The best part was the pirate at the entrance. He interacts well with the older children. DS really thought he was a pirate!
That night we ate supper at Parrot Cay. I liked the food chooses this night better. I had the crab dip? and the Mixed Grill. I loved the entire entree. My DH had the ribeye. He thought it was ok only b/c it was very fatty. I had the sweet temptations for dessert, he opted for the sundae. Both of which was very good.
After dinner it was time to head to the Pirates Party. We decided to stay on Deck 10 after the bad experience down front. Good choice. We were right in front of the screen and had a perfect view for the whole night.
We didn't stay for the dessert buffet, the kids we to tired.
May 9th:
Yeah! Castaway Cay day.
So off to our spot. We boarded the tram and was dropped off at the family beach area. As we were getting off and walking by Stitch, Mickey walked right beside us. Luckily he took over Stitch's place and we were second in line. We then walked over the Pluto and immediately had our picture taken. No lines. Yeah! Off to the beach.
I had read that many people recommended closer to Heads Up Bar, but we picked our spot in front of the water play ground.
After lunch at Cookies, we headed back to the ocean. We left the beach around 3:30-4. Once on board, we changed and DH and DS went to the arcade and DD and myself went to rebook. Yeah! Have a 4 day planned for August 2010. That took awhile so we headed up to get DH and DS to look and pick our pictures. Wow are they expensive. I had to buy the pictures with Mickey and Pluto though. We also had our picture taken with the boat at Castaway Cay. Love that picture also.
As we were walking back to our room, we saw a lot of commotion on Deck 4 balcony. We went out to see what was going on and heard and saw a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. They were loading a gentleman onto it. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
After the excitement it was (sadly) time to say goodbye to Castaway Cay. We decided not to eat supper in the dining room this night. We were all tired (from spending the day in the sun). We all ate chicken fingers. Great supper huh! DS wanted to play a little soccer before heading to the room and then it was off to bed. Our last night on the boat was nothing special.
Unfortunately the Golden Mickey was the only show we attended. We either busy doing other stuff or to tired. We did spend part on one day making kites, racing toads, and playing bingo (which we won one of the cash prizes). I honestly don't remember which day that was so I'm adding it here. The kids did like making the kites and racing the toads. That were into the bingo for the first round and then they were ready to go. Glad we stayed, since we ended up winning. I would recommend going to this bingo session only b/c they hand out one free card to every player and they also hand our Disney stuff to each child. It was nothing fancy (tattoos, posters, door hangers, buttons, magnets, etc).
Ok so I hope this helps people out. I definitely can't wait to return and I am very excited about the 4 day. Hopefully we will be able to attend more shows and also watch movies.
Thank you for reading!!
