Baby on the High Seas - A Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Trip Report *new 4/15*

[Dugette]

Sounds like a nice, relaxed day.

Aw, too bad he didn't enjoy the Buzz meet! You just never know with toddlers, it seems. Back in June, as much as she loved Frozen, Izzy HATED meeting Anna and Elsa!

The Splash area looks fun. I can imagine how he'd try to jump in there anytime you were nearby. Everytime Izzy sees our neighborhood's pool, she wants to jump in (yay for fences!)

Looking forward to more.

 

[jedijill]

Rory is adorable! Looks like everyone is having fun so far. I'm so glad Disney took care of Rory's allergies so well.

Jill in CO

 

[schmass]

Sounds like a nice, relaxed day.

It was. Perfect combination of relaxing and fun!

Aw, too bad he didn't enjoy the Buzz meet! You just never know with toddlers, it seems. Back in June, as much as she loved Frozen, Izzy HATED meeting Anna and Elsa!

I really think it had to do with needing a nap. He did better with other characters later during the cruise. Too bad about Anna and Elsa, I imagine you either had to wait a while or use a FP+ to see them.

The Splash area looks fun. I can imagine how he'd try to jump in there anytime you were nearby. Everytime Izzy sees our neighborhood's pool, she wants to jump in (yay for fences!)

Looking forward to more.

It was a lot of fun. Fences around pools are definitely a necessary thing!

Rory is adorable! Looks like everyone is having fun so far. I'm so glad Disney took care of Rory's allergies so well.

Jill in CO

Thank you and welcome! I used to live in Colorado - we moved back to Boston about 4 years ago.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The Rainforest area sounds really nice - especially if you need a break and just some relaxing time .... actually, having one of those heated lounge chairs in a room in my house that the kids don't know about would be wonderful

Sorry the Buzz meet didn't go better - hard to know how little ones will handle those meets. Our last trip we didn't think our son (2.5 yo) would like meeting Buzz as he had been scared of character but he wound up loving it and was one of the best meets we had. So who knows.

The splash area looks really nice! Bet that is a popular place for younger ones.

Hope formal night went well!

 

[jedijill]

Thank you and welcome! I used to live in Colorado - we moved back to Boston about 4 years ago.

I moved here 6 years ago from Missouri. I love it here and never plan to move!

Jill in CO

 

[schmass]

The Rainforest area sounds really nice - especially if you need a break and just some relaxing time .... actually, having one of those heated lounge chairs in a room in my house that the kids don't know about would be wonderful

I would loooove to have one of those chairs at home. But you're right, it would have to be kept a secret!

Sorry the Buzz meet didn't go better - hard to know how little ones will handle those meets. Our last trip we didn't think our son (2.5 yo) would like meeting Buzz as he had been scared of character but he wound up loving it and was one of the best meets we had. So who knows.

He definitely had varied reactions during the different meets throughout the cruise.

The splash area looks really nice! Bet that is a popular place for younger ones.

It is! It never seemed overly crowded though, which was nice.

Hope formal night went well!

Update on that coming soon!

I moved here 6 years ago from Missouri. I love it here and never plan to move!

Jill in CO

It is definitely beautiful there. I miss it sometimes!

 

[KatMark]

Sarah, slowly catching up.

What sweet pictures of Rory after breakfast, on the verandah, playing and then in the splash area.

Sounds very relaxing and wonderful in the Rainforest Room.

Sorry the meeting with Buzz did not go well.

 

[schmass]

Sarah, slowly catching up.

What sweet pictures of Rory after breakfast, on the verandah, playing and then in the splash area.

Thank you. And I hope you are doing okay with everything.

Sounds very relaxing and wonderful in the Rainforest Room.

So relaxing and wonderful...definitely one of the highlights of the cruise.

Sorry the meeting with Buzz did not go well.

It's okay. I'll just pretend it went more like this (from February):

 

[schmass]

Day 2 - Part 2 – Formal Night

Before the trip I couldn’t find the perfect outfit for Rory for Formal Night, so I got my sewing machine out of storage and made him a bowtie and suspenders. He didn’t really tolerate them well when I tried them on at home, so I wasn’t sure how the outfit would go over when he actually had to wear it for a few hours. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind it at all!

Posing with his Diaper Genie while getting dressed

I wanted to head down to the Atrium a little earlier than normal so we could take some pictures and also because they were giving out complimentary beverages.

While we were in line for a picture we met this cast member who had some little cards with Mickey and Minnie. She tried to give one to Rory, but he wanted the whole stack. It was pretty funny and we had a nice little interaction with her.

I was hoping for a really nice family photo in our formal wear but unfortunately none of them came out very well. This was the best of the bunch, but still not great.

Our dinner this evening was at Enchanted Garden, so we went down to Deck 2 and made our way to the restaurant. Once again, Rory’s beverage was waiting for him. Since we had ordered his meal the night before, his soup came out really quickly.

He played with blocks while he waited.

I had the Lobster Ravioli, Asparagus Soup, and Pan-Seared Sea Bass for dinner, all recommended by Alexa, and all wonderful. Although I didn’t have room for any more food, I had the Sticky Date Pudding for dessert, which was also very good. It looks like Rory had pasta and fruit.

Alexa would not only cut up Rory's food for him, she would also cut mine and Michael's if we were busy feeding him. It was amazing service!

After dinner, we headed back to the room.

And found this:

Rory went straight to bed again. I think he was getting so much stimulation during the day that even with his naps, he was sleeping really well at night. It was great! Once he was down, the ILs came to our room. FIL stayed with Rory again and read, while the rest of us went to see Aladdin. I was really excited to see this show, as it was one that I hadn’t seen on either the Dream or the Magic. We really enjoyed it. I realized that I kind of had seen the show before, though, in Disney’s California Adventure. It was a few years ago, but I’m pretty sure it was almost exactly the same.

After the show, we headed back to the room. Michael and I started watching Divergent, but I’m pretty sure I only made it a few minutes before falling asleep!

Up next: Palo Brunch!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

OMG (do the kids still use OMG?) Rory is so cute in his outfit! Great job making those!

That little reception sounds fun and yeah for free drinks! That is funny that he wanted to take the entire deck - and in the last picture it looks like he is trying to give the one he has back

Dinner sounds nice and really does seem like some amazing servers!

Glad you enjoyed the Aladdin show - we recently saw it on Broadway and it was amazing!

 

[KatMark]

Can I just say that Rory is the most handsome little guy I have EVER seen in his formal attire? I just love it.

I think it is a very nice family picture.

What great service you had at dinner...love when you have someone who is willing to help beyond the call of duty.

I'm glad you got to see Aladdin.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Love the latest updates! He is adorable in his formal attire!

 

[cscream13]

I love the formal night outfit for Rory! The tie and suspenders are adorable!

 

[Dugette]

Aw, cute little bowtie and suspenders you made for Rory! Adorable!

Disney service is amazing. Love how great the cast members were with Rory - and even cutting up your food, nice!

 

[jedijill]

I love Rory's outfit! He is such a little dude.

Jill in CO

 

[Mousemommy1]

Following along!!!

We are planning on our 1st Disney Cruise for April 2016, and our kids will be 11, 9 and 15 months at the time. We were planning on April 2015, but found out we were expecting and due in January, so have to put those plans on hold...we are doing our annual Disney trip in April 2015 instead.

I really can't wait to finally do a Disney cruise. We are planning on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean as well!!!

 

[schmass]

OMG (do the kids still use OMG?) Rory is so cute in his outfit! Great job making those!

Thank you! They were actually pretty simple to make!

That little reception sounds fun and yeah for free drinks! That is funny that he wanted to take the entire deck - and in the last picture it looks like he is trying to give the one he has back

He actually was trying to give it back! He wanted all or nothing!

Dinner sounds nice and really does seem like some amazing servers!

They are the BEST!

Glad you enjoyed the Aladdin show - we recently saw it on Broadway and it was amazing!

I heard the Broadway version is amazing. We just saw the stage production of The Lion King in Boston and it was sooo good!

Can I just say that Rory is the most handsome little guy I have EVER seen in his formal attire? I just love it.

Aw, thank you!

I think it is a very nice family picture.

Thank you. I was hoping for something Christmas card worthy, I think. Oh well!

What great service you had at dinner...love when you have someone who is willing to help beyond the call of duty.

It was hard coming back to reality after that.

I'm glad you got to see Aladdin.

Me too

Love the latest updates! He is adorable in his formal attire!

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the report!

I love the formal night outfit for Rory! The tie and suspenders are adorable!

Thanks!

Aw, cute little bowtie and suspenders you made for Rory! Adorable!

Thank you!

Disney service is amazing. Love how great the cast members were with Rory - and even cutting up your food, nice!

It was amazing and we definitely appreciated it!

I love Rory's outfit! He is such a little dude.

Jill in CO

Ha, thank you!

Following along!!!

We are planning on our 1st Disney Cruise for April 2016, and our kids will be 11, 9 and 15 months at the time. We were planning on April 2015, but found out we were expecting and due in January, so have to put those plans on hold...we are doing our annual Disney trip in April 2015 instead.

I really can't wait to finally do a Disney cruise. We are planning on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean as well!!!

Welcome! Congratulations on your new addition!

You will love the cruise!

 

[schmass]

Day 3 – Part 1 – Sea Day #2

Rory woke us up at 7:30 and once again he was in a great mood! We could hear him giggling in the pack n play from the other side of the curtain, and we brought him into bed with us to snuggle for a few minutes. At 8:00 we headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. We got Rory his smoothie, breakfast potatoes, and fruit. Michael and I restrained ourselves and had a very small breakfast because we were headed to Palo brunch at 11:00! Having experienced it twice before, we knew that we wanted to save room for what was to come! I did get a latte from the specialty coffee area at Cabanas. The regular coffee on board is really bad. I had gotten some the day before and it tasted like beef stock. FIL is a major coffee drinker and he couldn’t really stomach it. He started getting Americanos at the specialty coffee spots and they gave him a card where the 6th one was free. Well, by this morning (day 2), he had already earned a free coffee, and he generously gave this to me.

We arrived back in our room about 9:30 and put Rory down for his nap. He started to get into such a routine that he would even try to help set up his pack n play if it wasn’t set up. It was pretty cute. While he slept, I went to the fitness center to work out. I had brought 3 workout outfits, so that was my goal – I had to work out 3 times during the cruise. That day I used the elliptical and the weights, as there wasn’t a class I wanted to take, and I only had about 45 minutes.

After getting back to the room and getting ready for brunch, the ILs came to our room to watch Rory, and we headed up to Palo!

We arrived at Palo and were asked to wait for a moment in Meridian, the bar between Palo and Remy. We decided to take a photo while we were there.

After a couple of minutes, we were called and let to our table. Ian from South Africa was our server. He brought us up to the buffet and explained all of the items to us. He then showed us the hot items that could be ordered, and described them in detail. He led us back to our table and offered us complimentary champagne or mimosas. We both went for the champagne. As he left to go get our champagne, we went up to the buffet for round one. One thing I noticed that was different this time was that there were servers there to put anything from the buffet on your plate. In the past one would help themselves, but this time it looked like they didn’t want guests helping themselves. There were three tables set up – one had pastries and fruit, one was seafood – crab legs, shrimp, ahi tuna, etc, and one had things like bruschetta, vegetable stack, eggplant parmesan, etc. I tried to make healthy(ish) choices for the most part, but I did go back for seconds, ordered an entrée and a pizza, and had a dessert plate – yikes!

Everything was wonderful. The chicken parmesan is amazing and served with risotto instead of pasta and is so good that I order it every time. I rarely eat chicken parm in “real life” but I can’t resist it at Palo.

Michael ordered the lasagna as an extra entrée and was too stuffed to eat much of it, but I couldn’t stop eating it. Again, this is something I never order – I honestly don’t really even like it normally. But I actually pushed my dessert plate away in favor of finishing off the lasagna. I was actually dreaming about it yesterday and made my version of lasagna, but a vegan lasagna doesn’t really have that same taste, not sure why…

Our dessert plates:

Anyway, we were more than happy with our meal, and Ian was great. We told him that we’d be back in a few days for dinner and he said that he would be serving us again. He offered to take a picture of us and brought us a special dessert plate since we were both celebrating our birthdays. We didn’t have room for those strawberries, but somehow we made them disappear.

While we were at brunch, I brought up the topic of the on-board booking offer. If you book while you are on board, you pay a reduced deposit (10%), receive a 10% discount on the cruise price, and receive an on-board credit (for the next cruise). You have to sail within 18 months, however. That was the part that was making it even a discussion, rather than just booking right away. 18 months would put us out to March 2016, and Rory would be 2 months shy of turning 3, therefore no kids club for him. We also hope to have another baby in the next year, so we’d be sailing with 2 little ones that couldn’t go to the club. We went back and forth and decided to talk about it again a little later during the cruise.

While we were stuffing our faces, Rory was having fun with his grandparents. They took him to meet Goofy, which didn’t go so well.

They took him to lunch and couldn’t believe that he ate an 8 oz. portion of salmon and still wanted more food. And they took him to the captain’s wheel, which he apparently didn’t want to leave.

They weren’t back at our room when we returned around 1, so I headed to the Rainforest Room for an hour of heaven. This time I picked up the scrub, and used the saunas, the hot aromatherapy shower (no cold water for me, thank you!) and a tile lounger. When I got back around 2, Rory had just gotten back to the room. We tried to put him down for a nap, but that wasn’t happening so we brought him up to Nemo’s Reef. This time he wasn’t hesitant at all – he loved it! I could tell after a while that he was getting tired, so we brought him back to the room around 3 and this time were successful at putting him down for his nap. I read in the room, while Michael went to the Rainforest Room.

Up next: Conclusion of day 3!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The Brunch at Palo looks great! So. much. good. food. One thing is for sure, one won't go hungry on a Disney Cruise!

Bummer about the regular coffee. We are kinda coffee snobs too (not that bad, but don't like "bad" coffee) so that would definitely be an issue (plus I tend to drink like 8 cups a day at work). I know they recently upgraded the coffee in the resorts at Disney World so hopefully they do the same soon on the cruise lines!

Of course he wouldn't want to leave the Captains Wheel .... you can't just leave?!?!?! Who would steer the boat!

 

[Dugette]

Really nice to see what your Palo brunch was like! That is something we definitely want to do when we do a Disney Cruise. Looks awesome and thank you for the entree recommendations! I actually love lasagna, so I might need to try theirs!

Too bad Rory didn't hit it off with Goofy, but glad he enjoyed driving the boat!