Cruisin' With Mickey-Our WONDERful April Fool's Cruise April 1st - 4th, 2010

[Deweysgirl]

A little background info - Kids Sail Free, DMom and DDad's 38th anniversary on April 1st, DD's 12th Birthday April 2nd, Spring Break for kiddo's, How could we NOT book this cruise!!!

Cast of Characters:

Me - Liz (Loves EVERYTHING Disney!)
DH - Dewey (Tolerates my Disney obsession! Prefers to be riding his Harley!)
DD - 15 AKA "Hollywood" (Glamour Girl)
DD - 12 AKA "BB" (Birthday Girl!)

My folks:
DMom and DDad - Celebrating their 38th Anniversary on April 1st! No Joke!

3/31/10 - Drove to Cape Canaveral from Tampa Bay area. Easy drive, tons of toll booths! Checked in to Country Inn and Suites at 3pm. Rooms ready, clean and comfortable. Freshly baked Chocolate Chip cookies in the lobby! Freshened up and decided to try dinner at Fish Lips. First we drove down to Ron Jon's Surf Shop so Hollywood could do a little shopping. After purchasing shorts, earrings, and an anklet she was sufficiently satisfied. Took some pics and then went down to Fish Lips for dinner. They were expecting a LARGE party upstairs so we were shuffled to the back of the restaurant. No worries...nice view but only 1 ship in Port (Carnival). Food is pricey but was good, service was slow to begin with but got better as the evening progressed.

Fish Lips at Port Canaveral:

4/1/10 - - April Fool's Day and Mom and Dad's Anniversary! WooHoo! Our Cruise Day finally has arrived! Went down to the lobby for the free breakfast, what a nice surprise. Fresh Fruit, Biscuits and Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Make-your-own Waffles, cereals, danish, pastries, muffins, just a very nice spread. This would serve as the beginning of 6 little piggies on a 3 day cruise!

Packed up, checked out, then off we go...drove to the terminal, Yay-The Wonder is in sight!

DDad and DH dropped us and the luggage off, they parked the car.
Then through security, up the escalator and yes! WE ARE HERE! We go to check-in, Mom and Dad are Gold CC Members, we are Silver. They brag about their lanyards. Ok, we get the point!

Then we wait to see what number boarding pass we will get, YIKES! Well here's our April Fool's joke, we get a 10!! I didn't even think they went up that high!!!

Plenty of time to kill now in the terminal before we can board.

But alas, they finally call us and we step onto the ship, our family names are announced and we are thrilled!
Stay tuned for the rest of Day 1...

 

[Jess6001]

I'm on board for this TR! Can't wait to here more!!

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

MORE!!!! you are making me so excited about our first Disney cruise next year....I cant wait!!!

 

[princess22]

Great start! I'm so excited, because that will be me tomorrow!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[ariel1025]

Totally on board for your report We will be boarding the wonder next month and I can't wait to read all about your experience!

 

[Deweysgirl]

Once on board we tried to go to Parrot Cay for lunch but nothin' doin'. They redirect us to the craziness of Beach Blanket Buffet. Of course we have 20 carry-on bags amongst us so maneuvering around in there can be a bit tight but hey, we can't complain, WE ARE ON THE MICKEY BOAT! Ok, there is some minor grumbling but this is to be expected!

Lunch is good, and we are all so hungry because we only just ate 2 hours ago! Our favorites were the peel and eat shrimp, sweet and sour pork, fruit tarts and HUGE chocolate chip cookies! By now our cabins are ready and we head down to Deck 2 for our Oceanview Room, very nice indeed!

We unpack and have a little celebration in our cabin for Mom and Dad's anniversary. I ordered a Fish Extender for them from "GradysMommy" and also requested some door magnets for them for their anniversary gift and also several for us from some wonderful folks on the Creative DISigns thread here on The Disboards. A HUGE shout out to Tiffany, Milliepie, TJBaggott and KellyBell for their awesome handywork! Mom and Dad were thrilled with their fish extender and door magnets. We proceeded to decorate our doors and hang our FE's. Here are a just a few that that I requested:

And a pic of our door and Fish Extender:

I highly recommend participating in an FE exchange! We all had a blast coming back to our cabin and checking for our surprises and gifts that other DISers had dropped off to us throughout the cruise! I also would like to give a big shout out to DebT for organizing the FE exchange on our Cruise Meet thread. Thanks Deb!

At 3:30pm it was time for our DISmeet. We were lucky enough to have been invited to the Roy Disney suite by one of our fellow DISers who were staying in this cabin! This suite is absolutely georgous, ah, someday I hope to have that cabin!! Thanks so much to ppiew for hosting the meet in your beautiful suite and was really nice to meet you and all of our fellow DISers!

Back to the cabin to get ready for the Safety Drill:

Next up, the Sail Away party, Dinner and Golden Mickey's Show!

 

[Deweysgirl]

Adventures Away! The Sail Away Party! LOVE LOVE LOVE this event!!!

We head down to Deck 9, we love to participate in this party and not observe. A perfect place to observe is from Deck 10. If you want to dance, sing, be silly and make a general fool of yourself, Deck 9 is the place to be! The CM's pass out streamers to swish and wave during the party but get there early enough to get them because they do run out and then God Forbid you don't have a swishy wavey streamer thingy to twirl around! Yay! Let's get this party started!

After the party we take a stroll around the ship and watch and wave good-bye to all the people lined up along the shore to wave us off as we sail away. We head back to our cabin to get ready for The Golden Mickeys Show and then dinner. We got PTA as our rotation and first time we tried Second Dining and found that it really worked well for our family. The first seating just seems so rushed for us and the best part about second seating is the late breakfast on the morning of departure.

Oh, almost forgot: for all you Beer Lovers (and you know who you are ) here is the onboard Beer special that you can purchase and I loved the Beer Mug Ice Sculpture!

Ok, back to the show: I know everyone raves about the Disney Dreams show but hands down, Golden Mickeys is our favorite! It's a little corny but I love that we get to see so many characters on stage from Disney's classics.

Now on to dinner: Parrot Cay - the food was delicious, our favorites were the Baked Crab, Warm Banana Bread, Island Roasted Rib-eye and Chocolate Walnut Cake. Our servers were really great! Really, really great in comparison to the last two cruises. We had Marlon from Costa Rica and Stephen from France.

A Parrot Chandelier:

A pic of the restaurant inside:

A wonderful day and we are all exhausted. Back to the cabin, we call it a day. This little fellow was waiting for us upon our return:

Good Night! Tomorrow: Nassau and the Pirate Party!

 

[Deweysgirl]

4/2/10 - Day2 BB's Birthday!

Woke up to beautiful weather as we arrived in Nassau.

We put out our room service tag the night before to have a pot of coffee and juice delivered at 7:30am. Hollywood, BB, DMom and I then set out to find all of the cabins on our FE exchange list to deliver our goodies. Really good excercise to walk the ship from forward to stern on several different decks! After we had delivered our surprises we went back to the cabin to get ready for our day in Nassau. First of course we had to eat! Went to Parrot Cay for the buffet breakfast. Plenty to choose from and we, the 6 little piggies on the 3 day cruise made gluttons of ourselves once again! Our favorites, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, and chocolate croissants.

Once everyone is sufficiently stuffed we head out to Nassau for the day. First stop, the shopping district. We have been to Nassau many times and I don't really know why it gets such a bad rap. Yes, we are approached several times by taxi cab drivers, hair braiders and the like but a polite smile and a no thank you is all that is required. These people are only trying to earn a living too and we find most of the Bahamian people to be pleasant more often than not.


We went to DI to browse the jewelry, DH has to make a stop at the Harley Davidson store to get his t-shirt and then we make our way over to Del Sol. After Hollywood and BB decide on nail polish and I purchased a really cute jacket we turn in our coupon we received on board for a free Del Sol tote bag if you spend $25.00. Well I spent $75.00 so I ask for two tote bags. The clerk is hesitant and then I remind him I spent three times as much as the coupon requires and he throws in another free Del Sol tote.
Harley-Davidson Store

Del Sol

Senor Frogs

Straw Market

Ice-Cream Shop

Junkanoo Costume

Horse and Buggy Ride

We then make our way down to the Straw Market. Hollywood has her heart set on a tye-dye Sweatshirt that says "We Be Jammin". Of course just about every booth only has t-shirts this time of year but alas, we find a lady who has the coveted sweatshirt. She wants 25.00, DH begins to haggle...he says 15.00, the Lady says 20.00, DH says 18.00, she says she won't go lower than 20.00. Ok, he says no thanks, we walk away. Hollywood is bummed she isn't getting her sweatshirt. But little does she know, we have a plan. So we continue browsing through the Straw Market and then out to Senor Frogs. DDad and I decide it's 5:00 somewhere so we get a couple of beers while the girls and DH look through the giftshop. We leave Senor Frogs and the girls decide to have an ice cream at the ice cream shop behind the Straw Market. Then DH decides we will try the sweatshirt lady one more time. Sure enough, she accepts 18.00 this time. Woo-Hoo! Ok, it's lunch time now and of course we are all starving because it's only been 3 hours since we ate!

Back to the ship, we grab a quick lunch of Pizza, Hot Dogs, and Chicken Tenders from Pinoccchio's and Pluto's Pizza. The girls decide they want to stay onboard and watch G Force. Works out perfectly as DDad and DH want to do a little gambling at the Atlantis casino. After getting the girls settled with their drinks and snacks in the Buena Vista Theater we head back off the ship. Easy to get a cab over to Paradise Island right from the pier. $4.00 a person. We jump in the cab and take off. Spent 2 hours in the casino. DDad and DH lose about $100.00 or so. DMom and I made up for what they lost!

We head back for the ship. The girls decided to swim. Well BB swam and Hollywood tanned! We went to see Alice in Wonderland. Then back to the cabin to get ready for Pirate Night! Aargh! Stay Tuned for Triton's and The Pirates in the Caribbean Party.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Great report!!! cant wait to hear the rest

 

[Tora Millypoops]

Great Trip Report so far. I can't wait to read the rest.

 

[Deweysgirl]

Thanks to all of you who are enjoying my TR so far.

Tritons and The Pirate Party! Aargh! Now, most of us are all pirates at heart and our family is no different! We love to dress up and really get into the theme of the evening. After getting slicked up in our Pirate wear we head up to Triton's for dinner and a birthday celebration for BB.

We enjoy the Chilled Jumbo Shrimp, Grilled Beef Tenderloin, and Grilled Roast Chicken. I ordered the 3 Cheese Lobster Macaroni and I had to laugh because BB said my lobster looks like a Goldfish...and it does!

After dinner our servers brought out our BB's birthday cake and a group of waiters came over to our table to sing. Really special!

Then Lo and Behold, they bring out an Anniversary Cake for my parents. We were surprised by this because their Anniversary was actually the day before. They all sang for my Mom and Dad and they really enjoyed that too.

And then as if all of this cake wasn't enough we had to order the Souffle with warm vanilla sauce...DELISH!

Then we roll out to the Deck party and have a great time with this event as always. The weather is perfect, the party goes off without a hitch and the Fireworks display was awesome!

Dancin' and Partyin'

Our Family:

Pirate Mickey Saves the Day!

DMom and DDad:

We of course have to stroll through the food and dessert area and force ourselves to eat the BIG Chocolate Chip Cookies. No room for Turkey Legs, Nachos, Chili, or any of the 50 desserts they offer. UGH! We are busting at the seams!

A WONDERful day was enjoyed by all! We head for the cabin to tuck in for the night...we are exhausted! Sweet Dreams of tomorrow's day at Castaway Cay!!

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

love the posts!!! MORE!!!

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Fantastic trip report! Can't wait for the next update.

 

[2littlegirls]

Loved that everyone dressed up! great family photo

 

[okwminnie]

Great report and photos!

 

[Deweysgirl]

4/3/10 Day 3 – Castaway Cay

Once again we woke to beautiful weather at 7:30am with our morning coffee and OJ delivered to our cabin by room service. I could get use to this! We packed up our beach things in a tote bag to take out to the beach with us for the day. I also got some luggage packed and ready to go so I wouldn’t be so rushed to do it later in the day. I got ready then went out to deliver more surprises to our FE exchange folks. Once back to the cabin, the family is ready to roll! We head up to Parrot Cay for breakfast and then off the ship to this beautiful island!

We decided to stop and set up camp at the family beach past Cookies BBQ and across from the gift shops on the left. We were late getting off the ship and we still found a nice area with chairs and umbrellas and a couple of hammocks! Sweet Bliss!

Chillin!

My toes!

My view looking up from my hammock:

After setting up our stuff and relaxing for a bit a waiter comes by to take our order. Yes, a waiter out on the beach in the sand, I Love it! So DH orders a Pina Colada and I order a Conk Cooler. Once we get our drink’s we went down to the water’s edge. BB jumps in and proclaims, “IT’S FREEZING”. Ok, she can be a little dramatic so I dip my toe in, WOW! ok, all I can say is I AM NOT GOING IN THAT WATER! So, DH and I pull up our chairs at water’s edge, enjoy sipping our drinks and dipping our Big Toe in the water. We watch as BB braves a swim in the ICE pond! Isn’t it weird how little kids can somehow handle the freezing water? Just the brave little numb children swimming along! (I said numb, not dumb!)
Hollywood can’t wait to get back to her sunny chair in the sun to continue tanning. No way was she going in either!

After we relax for awhile of course it's lunch time! I mean after all, it's been a whole two hours since we've eaten!

Well, Hollywood and BB really wanted to try Pelican Plunge so they decide to brave the freezing water so we head over there. They jump in and try each slide once. Of course they both loved the fast slide but are just too cold to try it more than once. Did I mention the water is freezing!

Lunch at Cookies was fantastic! We especially enjoyed the BBQ ribs, potato salad, and BIG Chocolate chip cookies! The girls also enjoyed the soft-serve frozen yogurt.

After lunch we decide to take a bike ride, try to burn off a few of those calories!

Ready to roll!

Bike Path:

Observation Tower: See The Wonder in the distance!

My silly girls!

End of the road!

Flowers along the way:

The bike ride was fabulous fun! We head back to the beach, do a little shopping at Sea Sells Sea Shells, then back on board - a beautiful day!

Stay tuned for the rest of day 3: Animator's Palate and Til' We Meet Again

 

[jockey]

Great report and pics

 

[Tora Millypoops]

Once again, great trip reports!!!

 

[ickletarakins]

More, more, please!

We're doing a 3-day Wonder next month and I feel as if all the TR's I come across (yes, I'm exaggerating a bit) are for 4-day or week-longs...sooo happy to see a *new* 3-day TR

 

[sdjen]

Really enjoying your trip report - thanks for posting!