Saturday mornings wake-up call came dark and early. The sun wasnt even up yet and we werent docked. We quickly dressed and gathered the rest of our belongings and made our way to Lumieres for breakfast. Once again, we were the last of the tablemates to arrive. We blame it on DS and his 3 am return to the room I guess saying good-bye to the Stack members took a long time! We had a nice breakfast but we tried to rush. Alexander insisted we didnt need to rush, take our time, and enjoy our breakfast. We begin hearing announcements explaining that due to our late departure from
Castaway Cay, we were late coming in to Port Canavaral and nobody could leave the ship until we cleared customs. This is when I started feeling better and better about not booking us a flight home for Saturday! The lines to leave the ship were growing longer and longer and Deck 3 was wall-to-wall people and the tension was mounting.
We bid our farewells to our servers and tablemates and decide well go hide up on Deck 9. We were in no hurry to leave the ship had no real place to be so we werent in a rush, thank goodness.
We found a table on Deck 9 to crash and relax. DS went through Topsiders and got some pineapple for DD and me. Yum!! We had family picking us up at the port so we could spend the day together and we connected via the phone with them to explain the delay. We watched the deliveries to the dock baskets from Perfect Gift, flowers, and seafood. This view certainly beat the madness on Deck 3.
When our color was called to debark, we made our way to Deck 3. What a nightmare that was. We battled our way through and made our way back to solid ground in no time. What I wasnt prepared for was the warehouse full of suitcases and crazy people!!
When DH and I sailed RC, we debarked, went through customs and calmly found our bags and left. I did not like
DCLs version of finding your bags and then trying to get through customs. Is this normally a nightmare?? I had to wonder if it was completely insane because of the late departure or if its always like this? We couldnt even grab a porter! In the middle of this chaos guess what DD says she needs to do!! Thats right, potty! For crying out loud!! This was not the way I wanted to be reintroduced to the real world!
After customs we made our way outside, found DD the bathroom and connected with our patiently waiting family. We stopped for a visit at Jetty Park. We didnt change in to our suits but put our feet in the water and enjoyed the fun crashing surf. The waves were a sight to behold didnt have waves in St Maarten or St Thomas and DD didnt understand why she couldnt go out as far in to the water as she wanted. We took many pictures and played for a bit in the sand. Ate a snack picnic and spoke about the yummy lunches wed had on the Magic.
From Jetty Park, we headed back towards Orlando but detoured for an air boat ride. This was a fun surprise our family did for us. We really had fun on the ride but I couldnt help but worry about the boat malfunctioning or us falling in the water. The fear of being eaten by hungry alligators never escaped me. For whatever reason, DD felt this ride was a good time to nap. We saw a couple of alligators but they were skittish and would quickly rush in to the water to hide. The most exciting thing we saw were two bald eagles circling above us. Amazing.
Our hotel reservation for Saturday evening was with the Hyatt in the airport and our family dropped us here close to 3 pm. I chose the Hyatt because of the convenience. The idea of simply going downstairs to the airport was extremely appealing with its sense of ease and less stress! We checked in and were in our room in no time. Our room had a view of one of the runways and downtown Orlando. The room was very clean and pretty. It was certainly huge in comparison to the room wed just spent the past week in but I think the room in the Hyatt made us miss our room on the Magic! We put our suits on and made the way to the pool which turned out to be a disappointment! The pool wasnt heated and there was no hot tub. It was too cold to swim so we didnt.
Instead of swimming, we dressed and went to the shopping mall in the airport. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill and when DD began to act up, complained there wasnt a club to drop her off in while we finish our meal in peace. We shopped in the
Disney Store (both of them)! DH bought me a beautiful Mickey watch to thank me for planning such an amazing vacation for the family. I love my watch and had to buy matching earrings and a necklace. Every time I wear it, I am reminded of the amazing time we had on our cruise. Most importantly, I am so grateful the family enjoyed the cruise!
We had a late morning flight out on Sunday and Hyatt sent a porter to our room to help us downstairs with the bags. The porter was amazing!
He loaded all of our bags and walked us to the ticket counter of Delta. He was very friendly and helpful. It was no time that we were checked in and through security. Soon, we were the sad people leaving their vacation and watching the new vacationers making their way in to Orlando trading spaces on the train! Our flight home was easy and painless!
Disney really doesnt prepare you to enter the real world! A week on their ship and you become accustomed to every CM you pass addressing you with a Good ____. Constantly being asked if theres something someone can do for you. Pixie Dust
and smiles all around certainly not present in the real world. DD cried as we debarked the ship. Within 24 hours of being off the ship, she cried because "someone else was hugging my (her) Belle."
We had an amazing vacation from beginning to end
. It was more than I ever dreamed it would be. I tried to soak in every moment of every day and have over 1,200 pictures to prove it. I know when/if we sail DCL again, it will never be the same as our first and future sailings will have big shoes to fill. But I truly believe if those shoes are left to be filled by DCL, we will not be disappointed!
I'm glad you found safety on Deck 4!!
It was a great cruise, wasn't it? 
...Congrats on the booking...but I am sad.
..its not gonna be the same with out you! 
