A Magical Anniversary in the WILDERNESS *Pixie Dust Everywhere* Completed 11/19 New TR Link

[Jenny Sanders]

Sad to say goodbye to the WL but so excited to cruise... Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[missjackiemcg]

About ten to fifteen minutes out from the Port we stopped at a local 7/11 for Dan to pick up two six-packs of beer to bring with us onto the ship. Disney Cruises allow each passenger to bring on a six-pack or two bottles of unopened wine or champagne at each port. Since I don’t really drink, he got to use his allotment and mine to bring on two six packs of beer. We were lucky to have stopped when we did because I don't recall seeing any places closer to the port to grab anything like this. So if you are doing this I would suggest either stopping somewhere closer to Disney before hitting the road or planning ahead where you can stop along the way!

We are definitely figuring this into our plan! I think we are planning to use a car service for getting us to the port. The two we have narrowed it down to both offer a grocery stop, so hopefully the drivers can offer a suggested place to stop. My Mom doesn't drink either, so we are definitely putting an extra 6 pack in her bag!!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I think I need to mention that while I was excited for the cruise Dan was beyond excited. He has ALWAYS wanted to do a cruise but I always steered away because I wasn't sure it was really for me. If I'm not going to Disney, put me on a beach somewhere and I'm happy! But we had been watching random vlogs on Youtube prior to our trip and happened upon a Disney Cruise vlog and we both fell in love with the idea of a cruise (well I did ONLY if it was a Disney Cruise!). In that moment we basically decided to add one on to our July trip! So this was basically Dan's dream come true!

Yeah I was the same way - never really interested in a cruise. Then I started reading these trip reports, especially @chunkymonkey's, and did more research and now I'm super excited for my first cruise in February!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Sounds like a great pre-cruise morning! No stress!

It really was! Smooth sailing (no pun intended!) the whole way!

It is my dream to do a Disney Cruise so I can't wait to hear all about it.

You definitely should! Its pricier than other cruise options but in my opinion it was totally worth it! I definitely think we'll do another one in 2019! I tried to convince DH of a March 2018 one but we have so many other trips planned next year (aruba, WDW and DLR) we'd probably have to give one of those up and we've never done DLR before so hopefully 2019!

 

[Cloe Colton]

We are definitely figuring this into our plan! I think we are planning to use a car service for getting us to the port. The two we have narrowed it down to both offer a grocery stop, so hopefully the drivers can offer a suggested place to stop. My Mom doesn't drink either, so we are definitely putting an extra 6 pack in her bag!!

Definitely do it! We only did it at the first port but apparently you can at all ports which is so awesome! (And a lot cheaper than Disney prices for beer! haha). And they were totally cool with Dan bring ours to the pools and the theater and even the beach at Castaway Cay so it was definitely worth it. Also, for what its worth, Dan actually put all twelve in his bag (I told him this was the deal because they have to go in your carry on and I did not want to carry them! and no one ever said anything to him so idk how closely they pay attention. I wouldn't ever bring more but if you have one person with like a rolling suitcase might be easier to put them in there!

Yeah I was the same way - never really interested in a cruise. Then I started reading these trip reports, especially @chunkymonkey's, and did more research and now I'm super excited for my first cruise in February!

Honestly, I think @chunkymonkey's were half the reason I was on board when Dan brought it up! You're going to love it! I really feel like it was all of the best parts of Disney wrapped in a pretty bow. I just wish we had maybe done the 4-night instead of the 3-night because by the time we figured out where everything really was (like had a good handle on it) it was time to disembark! But I am glad that since we weren't sure how we would do with sea sickness or just liking the cruise in general that we went with the 3-night!

 

[missjackiemcg]

We only did it at the first port but apparently you can at all ports which is so awesome! (And a lot cheaper than Disney prices for beer! haha). And they were totally cool with Dan bring ours to the pools and the theater and even the beach at Castaway Cay so it was definitely worth it. Also, for what its worth, Dan actually put all twelve in his bag

Oh, thanks!! Those are both great tips! I wasn't sure if it was like you can only drink them in your stateroom. This is even better!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Yay, Cruise time, I have been on 2 cruises, not Disney, but still fun! Looking forward to hearing about your cruise!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Yeah I was the same way - never really interested in a cruise. Then I started reading these trip reports, especially @chunkymonkey's, and did more research and now I'm super excited for my first cruise in February!

Thanks!! You're going to LOVE it. It's like all the Disney fun, without the heat, the hassle to pay for stuff, and it's like the best service ever!

Honestly, I think @chunkymonkey's were half the reason I was on board when Dan brought it up! You're going to love it! I really feel like it was all of the best parts of Disney wrapped in a pretty bow. I just wish we had maybe done the 4-night instead of the 3-night because by the time we figured out where everything really was (like had a good handle on it) it was time to disembark! But I am glad that since we weren't sure how we would do with sea sickness or just liking the cruise in general that we went with the 3-night!

Aww thank you! I love DCL so much! LOL I know what you mean about not enough nights. We went from a 5-night, which certainly wasn't enough, to a 7-night, which is probably the minimum I would go on now, and we just booked the 10 night from Hawaii in 2020! Soo excited but too long of a wait. Maybe I'll have to throw in a short cruise to tide me over, LOL.

 

[tiggerpals]

Loved seeing your last day at WL but super excited to see your cruise! I haven't managed to talk my husband into a cruise yet, but definitely trying to figure out how to get on a Disney cruise. I loved reading @chunkymonkey's trip reports and excited to read yours too!

 

[amazingact21]

I know exactly what you mean when you say your hubby really wanted to cruise but you didn't. My husband LOVES cruising and used every trick in the book to convince me to go on the Disney Magic for our honeymoon. At the time, I wasn't head over in heels in love with it, but now that it's been 7 years, I want to go on another one so much. Just seeing your pictures of the port and reading about preparing to board made me remember how relaxing and fun cruises are. I can't wait to hear what your experience was like and what your final thoughts were.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Yay, Cruise time, I have been on 2 cruises, not Disney, but still fun! Looking forward to hearing about your cruise!

Not that I've ever been on any other cruise but I definitely think you should try a Disney one someday!

Aww thank you! I love DCL so much! LOL I know what you mean about not enough nights. We went from a 5-night, which certainly wasn't enough, to a 7-night, which is probably the minimum I would go on now, and we just booked the 10 night from Hawaii in 2020! Soo excited but too long of a wait. Maybe I'll have to throw in a short cruise to tide me over, LOL.

Its the best! The Hawaii one looks so amazing! I feel like adding Aulani on to that one is just a no brainer! I think the next one I want to do is the 7-night Western Caribbean but I was so tempted to do another short one in March!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Loved seeing your last day at WL but super excited to see your cruise! I haven't managed to talk my husband into a cruise yet, but definitely trying to figure out how to get on a Disney cruise. I loved reading @chunkymonkey's trip reports and excited to read yours too!

Funnily enough I was actually the one who needed to be talked into for the cruise! DH tried after we had decided to book one to get me to book Royal Caribbean since it was half the price but I felt like the extra cost was worth it for the Disney Cruise. He did his own research and came to the same conclusion I did and we don't regret going with DCL one bit! I would suggest watching vlogs with DH of people on Disney Cruises. Blair Lamb was the youtuber we were watching when we decided to go and she did a really great job of vlogging everything but there are just so many out there to watch!

I know exactly what you mean when you say your hubby really wanted to cruise but you didn't. My husband LOVES cruising and used every trick in the book to convince me to go on the Disney Magic for our honeymoon. At the time, I wasn't head over in heels in love with it, but now that it's been 7 years, I want to go on another one so much. Just seeing your pictures of the port and reading about preparing to board made me remember how relaxing and fun cruises are. I can't wait to hear what your experience was like and what your final thoughts were.

Yeah it was a tough sell for me! I still don't think I would do one on a different cruise line but I guess never say never! I was really impressed by how stress free it really was! Even with being first time cruisers we never felt like we were behind the eight ball or missing out. It was so great! I am thankful though that I now know of a trip DH will most likely say yes to! haha

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 9 Part 2

One of the first things we did when we got through the ears before they took our photo was pull out the lanyards I had bought us for the cruise. They were super handy for keeping track of our room keys since you need it for almost everything and I would recommend them to anyone! This was definitely a tip I had learned from my research prior to the trip. I was glad to have bought them! We were actually asked a couple times during the trip where we had gotten them to which DH was very impressed with my planning and research

Link to lanyards if you're interested

I apparently took mostly videos of our time walking onto the ship but I do have a couple of photos! We were just so in awe of everything!




We did have them say “The Colton” family as we walked on so Dan was very happy about that!

Once we were past the awe of walking onto the ship we made our way up to deck 11 to grab some lunch and check out Cabanas. Before we made it there though Dan ran into a CM selling an alcohol “package”. In all of my research I hadn’t come across anyone mentioning this and had no idea if it was a good deal or not. We decided to purchase the package which was 12 beers for a 10 beer price that came with a Disney Cruise Line cooler. When we bought it I thought this was like get 12 vouchers and use them anywhere on the ship/during dinners/at the bars/etc. But it wasn’t, it was just 12 beers for the price of 10 but Dan could drink them anywhere on the ship. Even though it wasn’t what I thought it was, I think it was worth it for him and the cooler actually was perfect for bringing beers to Castaway Cay with us so probably saved us some money in the long run! And the cooler was really nice and a souvenir in itself so we weren’t upset by it! I think in total it was around $76? So for $6 a beer we didn’t find it to be too bad!

Once we had purchased the beer we finally made our way to Cabanas and man oh man it was pretty crazy in there!



But we did manage to find a table and get something to eat. I wasn’t really all that hungry at this point so I think I just picked at whatever I threw on my plate lol it wasn’t spectacular food but it wasn’t horrible. I think I was just overwhelmed by all of the people. Especially when a family overtook a table on either side of us and it just felt like we were intruding on them when we were sitting there first. We didn’t hang around much longer after they sat down!

After lunch we took some time to explore the ship and figure out where everything was including where we would need to go for the muster drill. We were in E which was hard to find (it was in one of the theaters) but we really shouldn’t have worried about it because the stateroom hosts help you when it comes time for the muster drill anyway!




We even ran into Stitch on our travels!



Once we had explored it was finally time to check out our room! Our luggage was waiting for us once we got to our room.




We loved our room! We paid a little more for a family-sized verandah room and it was so spacious, we loved it! It really wasn’t all that much more than the normal verandah room so we were happy with our decision. We were on the 9th floor port side. I had wanted starboard side since they apparently have a gorgeous view of Castaway Cay in port but since we had booked so late and waited a few days before actually booking, the only midship, verandah room on a higher floor that was left was this one. But I think in all honestly it didn’t really matter. If I had booked the starboard-side room, we would have been directly under the main deck (because the only starboard rooms left were on deck 10 – probably why lol) and I’ve heard the noises of people walking can be kind of annoying. So for our next cruise I would probably still go with deck 9 (but probably starboard haha). I also loved the two separate bathrooms and our shower was so big for what I would expect on a cruise ship! I feel like the space alone is worth the Disney cruise cost!

After checking out our room and dropping off our carryons we decided to change into our swim suits and hit the pool. We did stop for an ice cream first though!



Then it was time for relaxation and the pool!




I loved how the adult pool had three different levels within the one pool, it was perfect if you just wanted to dip your feet in, take a whole body dip or just sit on a bench in the water. While we were relaxing this guy decided to start talking to us and after a while we realized he was actually on the cruise with his wife and their two young kids. His phone had “died” and he lost them somehow so instead of looking for them he had decided to go for a dip in the adults-only pool where they would never be his wife ended up walking by at one point and she was pretty ticked. I really didn’t blame her!

After a while we heard there was another adults-only pool on the deck above us so we went to check that out. It was actually so nice being in the adults-only sections on the Disney cruise because most people who are on a Disney cruise are with their kids (except for that guy^ ) so we usually had everything to ourselves or at least they were never crowded!






It was a perfect way to start our cruise! Plus, it was nice to get away from the masses of people all trying to do the same thing at the same time. That was really the only thing I didn’t like about embarking. We probably should have done something other than head to cabanas first thing since that’s exactly what everyone else was doing but I’m not really sure what else we could have done!

At some point while laying by the adults only pool they blasted the horn and I swear I felt that in my soul! Lol it was so loud but so cool!

After the pool we went back up to our room to freshen up before heading to the muster drill. We took some time to sit out on the balcony before it was time to go. We weren't really sure how the muster drill would go but we figured we would just figure it out!

We also took this time in the room to put on our sea sickness bands. We were both pretty concerned about getting sea sick (although I’ve heard the voyage to the Bahamas isn’t usually too bad) so we went with the sea sickness bands! They weren’t very fashionable but they seemed to work! We never took them off though so I guess they could have not worked at all but I would wear them again anyway! We also had Dramamine on deck if we needed it and I also purchased ginger candies to settle the stomach, we were prepared! We also heard that it is important to put them on prior to leaving so we wanted to make sure they were all set.

Ginger candies - we didn't actually need these during the cruise but they've come in handy at home for an upset stomach!

Sea Sickness Bands

For our muster drill our location was in one of the theaters which I was not mad about since we got to get a comfy seat while the drill happened and were in the air conditioning! It was awesome!



After the drill was over we went back up to the top deck to watch the Sailing Away party!







I had to floss!



I'm not very good at it but it seemed appropriate since it was the it move this summer.

After the party we stopped down at Flo’s Café for some burgers after the party (because we were on a cruise and its free so why not!) and the burger was actually SO GOOD. It definitely hit the spot! I loved that they had all of the fixins available to really make the burger you wanted.



After our second lunch we decided to head back to the room. It was around the time we had to decide if we were going to watch the show this night and start to get ready or to skip it. At this point, Dan wasn’t sold on watching the shows on the cruise (and I was good with skipping the first show) so we took some time to just relax in the room and then go shopping.



I mean look at that view!

Since the stores aren't open in port I wanted to make sure we did get to go shopping! While we were shopping I heard some of the songs in the hallway and I kind of wished we had watched this show (Golden Mickey’s) over watching Believe show on the Sunday but it was okay. There’s always next time! Most people must not skip the shows because our Stateroom host was very surprised to find us still in our room when he stopped by!




After we went shopping and I went crazy spending money we went back up to the room to get ready for dinner. We were assigned to the late rotation when we booked but that's what I would have picked anyway! Our dinner tonight was at Animator’s Palette. I had called prior to the cruise and asked for Royal Palace, Enchanted Garden and Animators Palette because Animators Palette was the one I was least excited for and didn't mind skipping for our dinner at Palo. It wasn’t the rotation I had asked for but they did give us a table to ourselves which I was happy about and was my other request! In the end, I was actually happy we got to eat here so the rotation didn't matter!



Dan took some pictures of me in front of the mosaic



We had some time before dinner so we grabbed some drinks from the bar. This bar was one of Dan’s favorite parts of the ship. It reminded him so much of the bar from the movie Passengers which is apparently his favorite movie.

I don’t remember what my drink was called but it was very good and pretty reasonably priced!

I'll be back with dinner and our night soon!​

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great start to your cruise!! Can't wait to hear about dinner!

 

[missjackiemcg]

When we bought it I thought this was like get 12 vouchers and use them anywhere on the ship/during dinners/at the bars/etc. But it wasn’t, it was just 12 beers for the price of 10 but Dan could drink them anywhere on the ship.

This is interesting!! I had read about coolers being offered for purchase before excursions (filled with water, I think), but this is the first time I've heard of a beer cooler package. Kind of cool! So, were there 12 beers in it already?? I think I'm still confused!

It was actually so nice being in the adults-only sections on the Disney cruise because most people who are on a Disney cruise are with their kids (except for that guy^ ) so we usually had everything to ourselves or at least they were never crowded!

When we split our Honeymoon land and sea with Disney, people thought we were nuts! It's hard to avoid kids at the parks for sure, but on the cruise it was amazing how having separate areas for adults really did the trick!! We loved the adults pool, beach on Castaway Cay, etc.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Can't wait to hear more...

 

[Cloe Colton]

Sounds like a great start to your cruise!! Can't wait to hear about dinner!

It really was!

This is interesting!! I had read about coolers being offered for purchase before excursions (filled with water, I think), but this is the first time I've heard of a beer cooler package. Kind of cool! So, were there 12 beers in it already?? I think I'm still confused!

The beers and cooler were delivered to our room on the first night! We just paid for it and then hoped that it would be in our room later haha but they were! And then the cooler was also dropped off then as well!

When we split our Honeymoon land and sea with Disney, people thought we were nuts! It's hard to avoid kids at the parks for sure, but on the cruise it was amazing how having separate areas for adults really did the trick!! We loved the adults pool, beach on Castaway Cay, etc.

Yeah it was so nice how uncrowded the adults-only areas were! That was one of Dans main concerns about going with DCL over another cruise line but he agreed that it really wasn't bad at all! The cruise, to me anyway, actually felt more kid-free than Aulani on our honeymoon!

 

[missjackiemcg]

The beers and cooler were delivered to our room on the first night! We just paid for it and then hoped that it would be in our room later haha but they were! And then the cooler was also dropped off then as well!

Awesome! So you didn't even have to lug it around with you after buying it. That sounds great. I have added this to my list for our 2019 cruise

 

[Cloe Colton]

Awesome! So you didn't even have to lug it around with you after buying it. That sounds great. I have added this to my list for our 2019 cruise

Yeah, it was super convenient! Just look for the guys on deck 11 by Cabanas holding the platters of made drinks. That's who sold it to us!

 

[Cloe Colton]

After our drinks we still had some time before dinner so we stopped for some pictures with the chandelier before heading to dinner




Then it was time for Animator's Palette! We really loved that for dinner all we had to do was walk down a hallway and we were there. You didn't have to account for traffic or travel time, it was great!






I really loved all of the artist details, especially the butter knife! They had these available to buy in the gift shop and I regret not buying one because it was just too cute!

To start I had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes and the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. I mean why not get two starters when you aren't paying for the meal??




I think we ended up sharing the soup but these were both SO good.

To eat Dan had the Tuna Steak and I had the Herb Crusted Pork Chop.




Everything was SO delicious. This was the meal I was least excited for out of all of the restaurants on the cruise and it actually exceeded my expectations! It may have even been one of my favorites!

We ordered a dessert to share but they also brought us a Happy Anniversary cake. It was so nice!




I had forgotten I had even told them during my call for requests that the cruise was for our anniversary and my birthday. So it was so nice for them to remember!

After dinner we went to the “So you think you know your family?” show.




I am a sucker for all game shows so I knew I wanted to watch this one! And it was so funny! They really did a good job picking the contestants, especially the family on the left. The mother-daughter duo were HILARIOUS. It was great! While we were watching Dan and I would try to answer each of the questions for each other to see how we would do (couples couldn't participate, only family members) and one of the questions was “who is their favorite Disney character?” I asked Dan who he thought mine would be, thinking it would be the easiest question ever and of all the characters he guessed Anna from Frozen!

I’m not sure how he missed the boat on Cinderella being my favorite Disney character but I was shocked he didn’t get it! My bridal shower was Cinderella themed and we have a Cinderella painting and carriage as decoration in our living room (I would have also taken Rapunzel (our wedding song was I See the Light from Tangled) or Elsa (I dressed as her one Halloween) but no, he chose Anna)

After So You Think You Know Your Family, we went off to the adults’ section to watch a magic show and their version of the newlywed game.



The room itself was so cool! It looked like a butterfly!

The magic show was kinda meh. I mean he did have some interesting tricks but he was one of those magicians who calls out the audience THE WHOLE TIME for not believing his tricks which I don't prefer in a magic show. Like I know I'm being tricked but I have no idea how its done so let me enjoy my ignorant bliss! The MC for the Newlywed show though, he was HILARIOUS! He actually got the crowd going before the magic show and I wish he had just done a comedy act because he was just that good. And all he was doing was asking everyone where they were from and then making jokes from that.

When the newlywed show started I almost volunteered us to be contestants but they asked for someone newly married (under a year) I felt weird raising my hand for that when we’ve actually been together for ten years. It was more fun to watch anyway! I will say though, we did the same thing for this trivia as we did for the family trivia and we said the same answers for all of them for this. So at least we are good newlyweds! (He just apparently doesn't know what I like )

Overall, we really enjoyed all of the entertainment! It was nice to just have to walk from place to place and not worry about driving anywhere. Plus, the navigator app was awesome. You could scroll through the list of available activities and favorite the ones you were interested in and when they were about to happen you'd get a pop up on your phone reminding you. And the app would tell you where the event was happening. There were also maps to show you where everything was! It was super handy, I don't think I ever even really looked at the paper copy of the navigator, I didn't need to!

We came back to our room to find a penguin?? Not sure what this guy was but still appreciated!



I'll be honest, I did feel a little sick this night from the boat moving but after taking a hot shower and a Dramamine I was knocked right out and felt great.

Miles walked: 3.4

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