A first time cruiser's DREAM Report 4/10-4/14

[Daynuh]

First, a little introduction...I lurked on these boards getting all the tips I could in preparation for our Dream cruise. I wanted to post my experience as a "Thank You" to all those on this board who were kind enough to share all their tips, tricks, stories, creative designs and pixie dust that helped make this a wonderful experience for me and my family.

This was our first cruise. Really, our first family vacation. We traveled with my siblings and their families, as well as my parents, but I'll mainly be writing from my immediate family's POV which includes my hubby, my son, age 8, and my 3 daughters, ages, 6, 5, and 3.

So we arrived in Orlando Saturday afternoon. We stayed in the Hyatt in the airport. I love that airport. After walking past the Harry Potter Store and the Disney Store my kids wanted to shop more than eat!

Sunday morning we rented a car to drive ourselves to the Port. After having breakfast, we didn't leave for the port until about 9:30, getting us there at the port at about 10:30.

I'll never forget driving up and seeing the ship for the first time. The whole car did a "OH MY GOSH!!" It is big and beautiful!! And kinda dwarfs the other ships around it!
After going through security, filling out the health form, we ended up with boarding group #8. They didn't ask anything about our online boarding time (which was actually 11) My sis arrived about 20 mins later and got group #10. She's a second time cruiser so she got to check-in the no line at all Castaway Club side.
However, since our reservations were linked, they boarded with us when they called group #8.
When we arrived at shortly before 11. Yes, it was busy, but not terrible. But, within half an hour, it felt like I turned around and people flooded into the check in area.

CHARACTERS AT PORT: Mickey Mouse switches out with Minnie..one lucky family got to take a picture with both! Also Goofy was walking around too. My girls got lucky and were able to get a photo with him.

REGRET/TIP: I wish I would've listened to the posts about not getting in the kids club line. What can I say, first time cruiser, wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything haha...but trust me, rather, trust those posts here. There's no reason for you to stand in that line. Getting the wristbands for the kids can easily be done once you board the ship by simply dropping by Kids Club early on. Instead, go stand in the crazy line for your picture with Mickey in front of the model of the ship!!!

We were onboard, by 12:30 if not before then. It went very quickly. I thought it was so cool to have them announce your name as you come onboard. What I didn't know was that a CM starts walking with you to officially welcome you and tell you where to go for lunch. We just kept walking and I turned and wondered, "Why is she following us?" haha.

Walking into the atrium for the first time kinda just took my breath away. It was surreal. How often do you see things in pictures, brochures, advertising, and wonder if it actually does look like that? In this case, it does. I almost felt like I was walking into a picture in my cruise brochure, if that makes sense.

After a few minutes I remembered I had a few things to drop off at Guest Services. Christian, who helped me at the counter, told me only 2 items per stateroom. Luckily, we had 2 staterooms. So I dropped off 2 pillowcases with fabric markers, a bag of candy, and a thank you note, all in ziploc baggie for one stateroom. For our second stateroom I dropped off 2 photo mats with pens and a thank you note. The mats were too big for a ziploc bag, so I couldn't put candy in that bag!

Then we headed upstairs to Kids Club. I was really nervous for my 3 year old, so I wanted to tour the place with her (and thanks to a TIP FROM THESE BOARDS) I wanted to take pictures with the clubs basically empty!
There were only 2 other families there when we came in so we got plenty of pictures of the kids in the different areas. The only problem? They didn't want to leave to go grab some lunch!

We hit Enchanted Garden to meet up with the rest of my family. I can't even remember what I had, but I know it was good! haha. I definitely remember the ice cream was the best I've had!

Before we knew it, it was 1:45 and we could see our staterooms. Most of our luggage was already there when we got there. And as the kids were decorating our doors with magnets (AGAIN, THANK YOU TO THESE BOARDS FOR THE MAGNETS!!) the rest of our luggage arrived.

I was reading over the navigator we received at Port and saw the Mandatory Safety Drill at 4pm. Well, none of us wear watches and we turned off our cell phones, so when I looked at one of our stateroom clocks and it said 3:30 I began rushing everyone out of the room...

TIP: Make sure your clocks are set to the right time!!!

As we were wandering around the ship trying to find our meeting place for the safety drill, I kept saying to my hubby, how come nobody seems to be in a big hurry to get this drill?? haha. Then we ran into the Duck himself, yes, Donald, who signed an autograph and posed for a picture with the kids. Then I asked his handler what time it was...needless to say, we were 1 hour ahead of ourselves!! haha.

So we went to the pool...and my oh my, that was my first taste of "feeling the crowd" on the ship. The kids and hubby tried to get in line for the aquaduck, but they were closing it down in preparation for the drill. So they came back down and played in the Nemo area. So happy we purchased a waterproof camera for this trip!!

Then before hitting the pools, snapped a quick picture with Goofy again and got his autograph. Then the kids literally sat in the pool because, well, that's all there was room for!

Next up was the safety drill. Which was a hot sweaty process. We weren't lucky enough to be in the theater like some cabins...we were standing out there shoulder to shoulder with families next to us for quite some time.

TIP: If you are outside for your safety drill, watch where the crowds gravitate before you make your move. We thought we were going the quicker way. Boy were we wrong. It took us awhile to make our way back to the pool area for the Sail Away party...

 

[Daynuh]

I thought it was ridiculous the safety drill was at 4pm and the sail away party was at 4:30. I mean, I know the scheduling is tight with the first dinner being at 5:45 and I know it's hard to fit all these activities in, but by the time we filed out of our safety drill area and back to the pool. There was no spot for us to clearly see the Sail Away party. So after a few minutes, I just sent the hubby with the older 3 kids to the Aquaduck while me and my youngest wandered around the deck. Before you know it, we set sail...and after a bit of waiting, the family finally made it off the aquaduck! So we headed back to the stateroom to get ready for dinner.

Our first restaurant was Animator's Palette. I really wish we had more time here to look around and see all the details of the restaurant. We were lucky to be seated next to a screen so Crush would be able to speak to our kids.

We loved our servers. They were so kind and patient with all the kids in our party (total of 8 kids, ranging from my 11 year old nephew to my 3 year old daughter) They always put ketchup on their plates in the shape of Mickey Mouse and they quickly learned the kids' favorite part of their dinners were the Micky Mouse shaped ice cream bars! haha.

This was the restaurant that had the shrimp cheesecake I read about but was a tad scared of haha...my hubby ordered it and you know, I was pleasantly surprised! I can't say I truly enjoyed my dinner that evening mainly because I was starting to feel the motion of the ship, which I didn't expect.

Soon after the kids finished their ice cream bars, they were asking about Kids Club. So we brought them back up, checked them in, and away we went. Ok, I didn't go away that quickly, I lurked around outside to make sure they were okay. And they were...or so I thought.

TiP: If you have kids in kids club. Ask the CMs there to send a test message to your Wave Phones, just to make sure you receive them!

We carried the wave phones everywhere. That evening we went to watch the Golden Mickeys. I held that phone in my hand the whole show because I was nervous for my 3 year old. As we were leaving, the phone went off and we thought, well, that was good timing. Our 3 year old wanted to be picked up.

Well, we only carried 1 of our 2 phones. We found out later, a text message was only received by the other wave phone in our room...that was sent an hour beforehand! My daughter was fine, she wasn't crying uncontrollably or anything, but I hate to think what if she was?
After that, we had them send test messages to the phones to make sure they were okay. Which they ended up being fine. I guess that one missed message was just a fluke!

My other 3 stayed a bit longer after we picked up their sister. They just didn't want to leave that Kids Club. Eventually we convinced them their red-blood shot eyes meant they needed some rest...that and my hubby wanted to catch the movie that evening! haha

So, that brought Day 1 basically to a close.

Oh...any AAA members? We received a plate of fruit as our welcome gift. Which came in handy when the kids wanted a quick snack while in the room.

More to come, but please feel free to ask any questions...

 

[PizzieDuster]

Great report! Can't wait for more!

 

[Daynuh]

I forgot to mention we were in connecting inside staterooms on deck 9. We had the virtual portholes that were so cool! I didn't know we would have "visitors" passing through the portholes at any given moment. The kids would get so excited when one would appear on screen!
Gotta love that extra Disney magic! My sister came to our room late one evening wanting to see, but she kept missing them. haha. The didn't come as often late at night-just her luck! haha.

We were kind of off the beaten path. Our rooms were in the middle and faced no other rooms. So it's like we had our own little hallway. This also meant people didn't see our decorated doors unless they were walking slowly by and actually looking. Nonetheless, it did make it easier for the kids to know which rooms were ours and sadly, I have to say one of our magnets did go missing.
BIG THANK YOU TO THOSE CREATIVE DIS'ers on these boards who provided all those great designs for magnet making! The kids loved them!!

I could count on one hand the number of doors decorated in our neck of the ship. And even those decorated simply had maybe 3 or 4 at the most.

The bedding was so comfortable. The kind of bedding that you feel "hugged" when you fall into bed!

Up next, DAY 2...Princesses in the Atrium, oh my!

 

[jerseygirl74]

My family and I are going on our first cruise next April, so all tips are appreciated. Why did you leave the candy with the pillow cases? May be a ducb question but I must know. Thanks, Michelle

 

[Daynuh]

My family and I are going on our first cruise next April, so all tips are appreciated. Why did you leave the candy with the pillow cases? May be a ducb question but I must know. Thanks, Michelle

Not a dumb question at all!! It was just another great tip I got from these boards! Several people suggested you include a small bag of treats for the CMs when you leave your items to be signed. Some say it's a good "bribe" others says it's a good token of appreciation for them signing your items. Others have posted that CMs truly appreciate the treats since they're on the ship for so long, they appreciate "outside" treats. Mind you they sell candy at the gift shop, but by us including it, it's not cost to them.

Others have suggested also leaving treats with the CMs at Kids Club. I actually brought treats for them but for some reason it totally slipped my mind during the cruise to bring it to them.

 

[Daynuh]

Okay, so after studying our navigators before going to bed on Night 1, we saw that the Princesses would be appearing in the Atrium at 9:30. I have 3 girly girls, so you know, there's no avoiding this for me!!
We also had to meet in the D-lounge at 11AM for our heading into Nassau. The morning was hectic to say the least.

We got in line for the Princesses which of course was pretty long. Closer to 9:30, we were in the section of the line that were given cards to come back at 9:45. A "Princess Fastpass" for lack of a better description.
They gave a limited number of these passes out, if you didn't get one, you had to wait until Wednesday morning when the Princesses would come out again.

While waiting for 9:45 to roll around, we were able to meet Peter Pan and Aladdin in other sections of the ship. Then, my girls finally made their rounds with Belle, Tiana, Aurora, Aerial, and Cinderella.

Quick change for my girls out of their princess dresses before heading to the D-lounge.

After checking us in and getting our wristbands, we got in line to head into Nassau.

TIP: If you're traveling with a large group, stay together. I know that seems like pretty obvious information, but with the different lines you had to go to for checking in then getting your wristbands, along with a line for buying bottled water if you wanted...our families got separated and actually didn't even end up on the same tour bus!

Our Atlantis tour was interesting, looong and hot, but interesting. Once was enough for me, and I know if we ever go back, I plan to stay on the ship when we dock in Nassau again. Except I'll probably get off to get our passports stamped again (Thanks to a tip from these boards!) We got the first stamps in our passports!!

Dinner this night was Enchanted Garden. My 6 yr old, who loves cooking, asked to stay in Kids Club because they listed a "Anyone Can Cook" program during our dinner rotation.
She finished early and I picked her up to come down and have dinner with us.

TIP: Ask for details from the CMs in the Kids Club for any programs your kids show an interest in. "Anyone Can Cook" was really just decorating a cupcake.

TIP/REGRET: We missed formal night. Pay attention to those navigators!! I know, how can we miss it? People were dressed up, wouldn't that have clued us in? Wouldn't the "formal" backdrops they were setting up in the atrium, clued us in? You would've thought, right? I can't even tell you how it happened, but we missed it.

This was the evening me and hubby stumbled upon the food in the District!! Chicken wings, teriyaki something on a stick, hot dogs...what a find!! If only I wasn't stuffed from dinner!! haha.

Also, a good time to mention that the kids loved coming back to the room in the evenings to see what kind of towel animal our stateroom host left for us.
We had an elephant wearing my sunglasses, a lobster, a dog, but I think all our favorite was the monkey ninja hanging from a hanger! haha.

Up next, Castaway Cay and Pirate Night!!

 

[jenseib]

I'm loving to hear your veiws. We sailed the 31st of March. Isn't the ship just beautiful.

 

[Daynuh]

I'm loving to hear your veiws. We sailed the 31st of March. Isn't the ship just beautiful.

Thanks and yes, there are just no words to describe that ship! It literally took my breath away. I could hardly believe it was even better than I imagined. We loved it so much, while on board we kept talking about booking our NEXT one!!

 

[Daynuh]

Morning of Castaway Cay started late (as usual! haha) I have to say I always planned on waking up early, roaming the ship before it got too crowded and enjoying some "me time"...yeah, never really happened! Something happens to time when you board this ship, not only do you lose track of it, when you find it, it seems to be moving in fast forward!! haha!

Anyway, so after breakfast in Cabanas, we headed off the ship. Halfway to the tram pick-up my hubby realizes he forgot the tickets for our package (biking and snorkeling) so he has to trek it all the way back up to our stateroom!!

TIP: Grab those towels as your leave the ship!! They don't have them located on the beaches. Though, I did see a few at the desk in the adults only beach.

TIP: I really don't think we even needed the tickets. I'm not saying leave them behind on purpose, but I think the guy at the bike place has some kind of list he checks off or is really nice and takes your word for it.

Many people do walk to the beach, but with 4 little ones quickly growing grouchy, we waited for the tram. It came quickly and away we went. We stopped at the first stop (I think) the one that took us right by Kid's Club. We dropped the kids off. They do ask you if you brought a wave phone with you, which we did. They also asked if we put sunblock on all of them, which we did. We left them there long enough that they would also feed them lunch for us. Also they have a few water stations around the Kids Area, so remind your kids to drink it up!!

We then walked over to the bike rental place. Helmets are provided.
TIP: In case your lugging your beach bag or towels with you, grab a bike that has a child seat attached to it. Strap in your baggage!

We rode around what I think was the 5K path. Went up the lookout tower, biked past the private cabanas near the adults beach. Then parked the bikes to take a dip in the water. The adult beach is, as expected, nice and quiet. Practically empty. The water was absolutely beautiful.

Afterwards we walked over to have lunch-yes, you guessed it, at the adults only lunch place. Ah, so nice. You have to understand, I'm a stay-at-home mom with my 4 little ones, taking my first ever vacation. So, to be able to eat a lunch with just me and my hubby, and not have to worry about cutting someone else's food, wiping someone's mouth, getting up to get someone a drink...it's like heaven! haha.

The food was great. Salads, burgers, steaks, ribs, cookies, ice cream. Good ol' fashioned outdoor picnic kinda feel, except we didn't have to prepare any of it ourselves!

After all the quiet time, we thought it best to go spend time with the kids haha. So we biked back over to return our bikes and walked to check them out of Kid's Club. They were covered in sand, and of course, having a blast.

We went and got the snorkeling equipment and headed into the water. My younger 2 were a little scared, so I stayed close to shore with them while my hubby took my older 2 to the sunken ship area to see all the fun stuff underwater. Apparently there are different points marked by buoy for things you can see. They only made it to one, but got some pretty cool pictures.

Before we knew it, the time was nearing to return everything and get back on board! We all needed showers! haha.

For Pirate night, you are given bandanas to wear.
REGRET/TIP: I wish I would've brought pirate clothing for the kids to dress up in. It's really neat to see all the characters dressed up in the pirate costumes and how often would you be able to get a picture like that??

So we did character pics and had dinner.

There's a Pirate Party happening in the pool area, but like the sail away party, you want to get a good view, plan ahead and get there early!!

I got a TIP from this board that the less crowded area to view the fireworks was by Currents. So this is where my family planted themselves. It was a good view of the fireworks, but just a FYI, there's also some kind of show on Funnelvision going on too that we obviously couldn't see from Currents. We could hear it, but not see it.
And IMO, the fireworks weren't all that great.

FOR THOSE WITH KIDS: at the same time, they were having "Pluto's Pajama Party" in Kids Club that my 5yr. old and my niece decided to go to. They got a pillowcase to color and keep. Let me tell you, that was the one kid's club event the other kids in the family wished they would've attended! My 5 year old said nobody was even pajamas, but oh well!

After the Pirate Party, Cabanas was open for a late night buffet. We thought it was just a dessert party, boy were we wrong! We walked in as a guy was passing by with a huge turkey leg!! You know, the kind they sell in parks for like $8!

They also had a taco bar, ice cream bar, among other things...point being, it was more than dessert!!

Next up, our Day at Sea...

 

[rutgers1]

I was on the same cruise. The fireworks were much better from down on deck 9 by the pool. They had a Pirates of the Carribean-like video playing that somewhat went along with the fireworks. I think the video made it better, though I actually think that they could have done more with it. It would have been cooler if the video was just an at-sea battle video with the fireworks coordinated with the cannon blasts. They "kind of" went for that effect with the audio, but it could have been better.

Thanks for the trip report!

 

[Jennigator3]

Great report so far! Can you tell me which waterproof camera you got and how you liked it? We are thinking of getting one for our cruise on May 1st.

Also, what kind of pirate costumes did people have? Were they really elaborate? We don't have anything for the kids yet and now I'm thinking we should grab some before we leave.

 

[Daynuh]

I was on the same cruise. The fireworks were much better from down on deck 9 by the pool. They had a Pirates of the Carribean-like video playing that somewhat went along with the fireworks. I think the video made it better, though I actually think that they could have done more with it. It would have been cooler if the video was just an at-sea battle video with the fireworks coordinated with the cannon blasts. They "kind of" went for that effect with the audio, but it could have been better.

Thanks for the trip report!

Thanks and I will definitely take a note of that for our next cruise (years from now, but never too soon to start taking notes, right?) Do they do this kind of show on the other ships too? Is it the same?

 

[Daynuh]

Great report so far! Can you tell me which waterproof camera you got and how you liked it? We are thinking of getting one for our cruise on May 1st.

Also, what kind of pirate costumes did people have? Were they really elaborate? We don't have anything for the kids yet and now I'm thinking we should grab some before we leave.

May 1st!! I'm so excited for you!!!
My hubby researched up down and all around for cameras. All cameras have pros and cons, obviously. Not one received consistently rave reviews. We wanted one that would snap great indoor low light shots, seeing as we would be taking a lot of character pictures aboard, in addition to being waterproof. We finally settled on a Sony. A Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5.
It comes with detailed instructions on using it underwater and cleaning it after use. It's been working well for us. And takes way better indoor shots than my older Nikon.
I'm far from being a photographer. I just wanted simple point and shoot and good quality images. It takes a little fiddling around and testing with the different scene options, but overall, we're very happy with it.

As for the pirate costumes. There was quite the range! Nothing (like my kids, haha) to full blown looks like you walked out of the Pirates movie attire.
Some with just pirate hats and eye patches. I say I wish I would've brought SOMETHING extra only because I literally brought NOTHING pirate. Good luck!!

 

[Daynuh]

So our day at sea, the one morning I didn't really have to get up early for...or so I thought, until my sister tells me that our dad wants to ride the Aquaduck and that I should have one my kids go with him. SUPER.

My dad is a really early riser. I always say he likes to wake up the sun. He also hates waiting for someone. So, when we talk and say he wants to ride it early before it gets hot and there's a long line, well, that means EARLY.

Try as I might, I didn't get up until 7:15 and tried calling his room. No answer. GREAT, I think to myself. Now I'll have to try and track him down at breakfast somewhere because it's a hit and miss if he even hears his wave phone ringing!

I hit Cabanas which is pretty empty. I don't see him. Aquaduck isn't open yet, so I decide to have some breakfast..finally, "ME TIME!" haha.
As I start to eat, I notice water hitting the windows and for a split second I think, "why are they washing the boat??" haha. Then I realize, it's raining! Not only that, there's also lightning!!
I imagine it'll be a very crowded day at sea with everyone cooped up...and no Aquaduck to ride!!

I decide to just head to my parents room and see if they're there. Lo and behold, they are! In fact, my dad had just gotten out of bed! What happened to early rising?!?! Apparently they were so sound asleep they didn't even here the phone ringing! I tell them it's raining, no go on the Aquaduck. My dad seems relieved. haha.

So I head back to my stateroom. Remember we're in an indoor stateroom with no windows. About 9am our phone rings. My nephew's calling asking if Papa's going on the Aquaduck? "It's raining" I tell him. "It WAS" he says, but it's not anymore! The sun's out!"
"WHAT?" I say. "Ok, if I can track him down, I'll let you know"

So I do and tell him the kids are waiting to take him on the Aquaduck.
We all meet up and my brave dad hops on. There was no line outside leading up the Aquaduck so we thought it'd be fairly quick. IT wasn't. We waited for quite sometime. I myself didn't actually go on the Aquaduck, but they say it winds around inside so it's a little deceiving how long you'll wait. Not to mention, they only send one raft at a time-or so it seemed.

Finally off the ride, which my dad really enjoyed! And according to our Navigator, Toy Story characters will be doing a Meet-n-Greet in the Atrium. My 6yr. old is a HUGE Jessie fan, so we couldn't miss this.

I find out they were going to have Woody, Buzz, and Jessie trade out over the next hour. GREAT. Jessie of course is last to come out, but you know the line was already forming more than 30 minutes before Woody was even scheduled to come out!

So we sit and wait. They set up a Toy Story backdrop off the side of the Atrium. We sit and watch the 2nd round of the Princesses in the Atrium. Finally, Woody comes out. As soon as we're done, we get back in the line that appears never-ending...after all, we're really here for Jessie!
As we're standing there, the CM comes to the back of the line and tells people since they're trading out, most likely we'll see Jessie. Fine with us.
Only I think that scared people away because all of a sudden a good chunk of the line disappeared and we were suddenly nearing the front again to see...Woody-AGAIN. But, after a few minutes they brought out Buzz. Ok, we can get Buzz too, why not?
Until we see them closing the line and not letting people in anymore. Didn't understand what was going on. So right before we take our Buzz picture. A CM goes to the back of the line and says, "Those wanting to see Jessie, the line will start here" are you kidding me?? THAT'S where I want to go...but just a few steps from Buzz, I can't walk away now. Only to see the line getting longer for Jessie. It was a tad frustrating.
But we finally get our place in the Jessie line. And after 20 minutes of watching Buzz photos, finally, Jessie!!

When we get closer, the CM says, "do you have your camera, card, and any autograph books ready?" and I say with a big sigh, "OH YES. We're ready!" and they had a good laugh and said, "For the 3rd time this morning, right?"
My 6 year old was in her Jessie costume for Halloween-complete with big red hat, so were very easy to remember!

Finally, characters were done!! But now it was about time for the Dance Party with the characters. So we hung around the Atrium for that. The kids really enjoyed being able to dance around with them. Watch out though because it gets pretty crowded.

TIP: If you or your kids aren't really interested in being in the middle of the Dance Party or the character goodbye show, hang out by Shutters before each of the those events. Right by the stairs leading down to the Atrium. That's where the characters are announced and come out of and they'll wave to your little ones before they head downstairs and right as they come back up.

Now, me noting that tip during the Dance Party backfired on me when it came time for the Goodbye Show thing. I decided we'd just hang at Shutters and watch from above. Little did I know before they would sing their songs and such, they were doing a final meet-n-greet with all the main characters. So in case you missed a photo op or an autograph, THIS was the time to do it!!

So I rushed my family into the elevators (my little one was in a stroller, so couldn't run down the stairs!) and jumped in Daisy's line and then ran over to Pluto's line. Yeay for getting the ones we missed!! It was kinda nice, because it was such a relaxed kinda feel to the whole thing.

Most shocking moment of my trip. As I was waiting in line for Pluto. I saw my parents rushing over to get picture with Minnie. I think my jaw hit the floor. THAT moment I knew this cruise does something magical. You have to understand, my dad always said, "Disney's just for kids" very, machismo kinda Dad. My mom couldn't tell Goofy from Pluto from the dog on the street.

This cruise changed them. Just today they were going through our photos of the trip and naming all the characters with my 3 year old!! It was the cutest thing.

 

[Daynuh]

So after the whole meet-n-greet session, they call it to an end so the little show can begin. They show a video on these two screens that come down up near the top of the stairs. I think it's video of the current cruise? I'm not sure.

They sing a little song, do a little dance, and it's over. They finish by shooting out the golden mickey head confetti into the atrium. I'm still finding pieces of that in pockets here and there. haha.

Since we were lame and missed formal night, my sister suggested we dress up this last night so we can get a formal shot of our family together. So we got all dolled up and met in the Atrium right before dinner.

My sincerest apologies to anybody who had the misfortune of being behind us in line that night. We ended up being THAT family that took 20 different shots, arranged 20 different ways. But, I have to say, the pictures came out really well. My fave was the one of my parents with all the grandkids.

In addition to the ones being taken on the stairs and by the Donald Duck statue, they had a plain white backdrop set up along the side for professional family shots. My sister's family had theirs taken and those came out REALLY well. I wish my family would've done it too. Were the pictures pricey? Yes, but as my sister said, to have it done back home, the sitting fee alone would cost X-amount, so they milas well go ahead and buy it on the ship!

This was the evening we had our reservation at Palo. So we brought the kids into the Royal Palace and took a final picture with our servers. We settled them in and then left them with my family. We then rushed back upstairs to finish packing. Our reservation at Palo was at 7:30. Bags needed to be outside of your stateroom for pick up by 10pm. We had no idea how long dinner would take so we wanted to make sure they were basically ready to throw out the door.

Then we headed upstairs, but took the extra few minutes we had to enjoy the sunset-or sun getting ready to set. haha. It was nice, it actually felt like a date night!

Palo was awesome. Everything, was great. I really thought it would be too "foo foo" for me, but it wasn't. and OMG, the desserts. We ordered 3 of them, and a 2nd helping of one of them. We're crazy, I know, but totally worth our $$$!! If you're debating whether or not to do this, DO IT. You won't be disappointed!!

After dinner we walked over to Shutters, procrastinators that we are, to decide on pictures. Before even coming onboard me and hubby said no way are we going to get suckered by the professional pictures and the outrageous prices!! Not gonna happen.

yuh-huh...Slap the big "SUCKER" sticker across my face. Especially because they got shots I didn't get that came out really well.
After much debate, we finally decided on our stuff, and seeing as how late it was and my kids were about to pass out on the floor in front of me, it was time for bed!

oh, i forgot to mention, when we came back to our stateroom before going to Palo, our pillowcases and photo mats were delivered to our room. They came out SO WELL!! I was scared to see how many would actually sign...I was not disappointed at all. From Stitch to the Princesses, to the Remi, the Incredibles, Toy Story characters, and of course the All-Stars...we got them.
I truly HEART DISNEY!!

So we got the kids in bed and gathered up the last of our belongings. Then, hubby asks if I've seen the wave phone? umm...nooo. OH GREAT. Last he had it, was at dinner at Palo. He realizes it was left in his coat pocket and he must've packed it away in the suitcases which of course have already been taken away. OH GREAT.
We call Guest Services and tell them the situation. They say as long as we find it and give back at Port, there will be no charge. PHEW.

Our breakfast time is 6:45 in the Royal Palace. We hit the sack for a few hours....but too tired once the morning comes. We don't want to force our kids to sit at breakfast half-awake and grouchy, so we decide we'll just skip it. I felt really bad because I wanted to say goodbye one more time to our servers. But even she told us the night before if we don't make it, there's a buffet at Cabanas. They must know a lot of people just can't make it that early, right? I hope so.

So, we take one final look at our rooms and head downstairs.
It truly felt sad knowing that would be the last time we'd be standing in that atrium. I started moving really slowly and my hubby asked, "Are you sure you're ready to go?" and I said, "No, I'm not, but what can we do?"
So, we took one last look and then walked off.

The luggage area is, well, it's what you imagine lost and found luggage would look like. Surprisingly, we found ours pretty quickly (and that wave phone too, thank goodness!) a quick walk through customs, and just like that, the vacation was over.

 

[jeaniemom]

Thanks so much for your report and all the tips! We are cruising for our first Disney cruise on May 12! Yikes! Sooo not yet ready, but your report helped!

 

[Daynuh]

Thanks so much for your report and all the tips! We are cruising for our first Disney cruise on May 12! Yikes! Sooo not yet ready, but your report helped!

May 12!! coming up fast! I'm jealous! You'll have a great time!! I'll try to post more tips on here as I think of them!

 

[Daynuh]

First, if anybody a few quick steps for me to post pix on here via my Facebook album, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to share a few pictures!!

For those of you who are into meeting the characters like we were, I wanted to give you list of who we saw around the ship. There were so many that I didn't expect to see...

CHARACTER LISTS

Mickey
Minnie
Donald
Daisy
Goofy & Max
Pluto
Chip & Dale
Lilo & Stitch
Aladdin
Tinkerbell
Aerial
Belle
Cinderella
Tiana
Snow White (she wasn't at the big Princess Atrium one for some reason tho)
Aurora
Woody
Jessie
Buzz
Mr Incredible
Mrs. Incredible
Remi
Jack Sparrow
Captain Hook & Mr. Smee
Peter Pan
Jiminy Cricket

There very well have been even more that I didn't meet or get a glimpse of, but those are the ones I can remember.

 

[Solveig]

Thank you for the great report!