Living the Verandah Life! A Feb/March 2022 DCL TR *COMPLETE* 10/7

[khertz]

Living the Verandah Life! A Feb/March 2022 DCL TR

We read the wind and the sky when the sun is high
We sail the length of the seas on the ocean breeze
At night, we name every star
We know where we are
We know who we are, who we are​

Hello, and welcome to my second Disney Cruise Line TR! This was a trip a long time in the making, so I’m really excited to share it with you all! First of all, let’s get some introductions out of the way.

I’m khertz, and I’ll be your TR narrator. I do the note taking and TR writing, while my DH does the photography side. I work as a nurse doing outpatient hematology/oncology with both kids & adults to fund our vacation habits. This is my 2nd Disney cruise, but my 3rd cruise overall (DH and I cruised on Viking with the DIS crew a few years ago). My favorite character is Rapunzel, so I was hoping we’d come across her on this cruise!

Next is DH! Like I said above, he will be responsible for a lot of the photography you’ll see in this TR (although we both took a lot more phone photos than we usually do on vacation). He works in the oilfield and loves all things Disney just as much as I do! We make a perfect pair in that way, although that sometimes means we end up enabling each other when it comes to taking more Disney trips. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing sometimes!! Lol He is a big Donald Duck fan, and never hesitates to tell him he’s #1 which usually makes for a great interaction.

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Next up is DS. He is a 5th grader whose other hobbies include Minecraft & Roblox, Pokemon collecting, and reading (especially Dragon novels). He is also a big Disney fans, and won’t usually say no when it comes to meeting any of the Fab 5. His favorite character is definitely Pluto!

Finally, we have DD. She is in 1st grade and is not as big of a Disney fan in her everyday life as we are, but she definitely turns into one whenever we are in the parks or on the ship! She loves meeting the princesses, and wanted to do so several times over the course of the week. She is also pretty good at making friends with different entertainment CMs, which she did again this trip. Sometimes she likes seeing her “friends” even more than the characters!

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Our cruise took place over the Mardi Gras break when the kids had a week off of school, departing 2/26 and returning 3/5. We had one pre-night at the Boardwalk Villas and a post-day/night at Universal Orlando with a night at Royal Pacific Resort.

This cruise trip was a long time in the making! We had booked a cruise for January 2021 over MLK week using the placeholder we had bought on our 2019 cruise, and even when the pandemic started, we thought January 2021 was so far away that there was plenty of time for things to get better before then, right?! HA! We all know how that turned out!!

So when it became obvious that it wasn’t going to happen in 2021, we got with our Dreams Unlimited TA Kathy to see what our options were. We were able to move our cruise and keep our placeholder discount even though it was outside the 2 year mark, and decided on Mardi Gras week so the kids wouldn’t miss any school. Our original date had been chosen because Mardi Gras week in 2021 overlapped with Presidents Week and the cruise fare was higher, so we chose a week in January when the kids would have a couple of days off for MLK day. But by moving it to 2022, we were able to go to Mardi Gras week for just a couple hundred dollars more and the kids would have the week off so it worked out better.

This time, we were visiting ports that were new to all of us, and after 2 full years away from a Disney park, we were more than ready to be on a DCL ship! I hope you’ll join in!!

 

[khertz]

LINKS

Thursday February 24th-Friday February 25th
Day 1: Boardwalk Villas

Saturday February 26th
Day 2 Part 1: Welcome Aboard!
Day 2 Part 2: Sailing Away
Day 2 Part 3: Animator's Palate & Character Meets

Sunday February 27th
Day 3 Part 1: Sarge Says...Find That Blue Crayon!
Day 3 Part 2: Rich And Famous
Day 3 Part 3: Formal Night

Monday February 28th
Day 4 Part 1: Pool Time & Massages
Day 4 Part 2: Royal Court & Frozen

Tuesday March 1st
Day 5 Part 1: Sun & Sand in St. Maarten
Day 5 Part 2: Animation Show
Day 5 Part 2: Summon the Force Fireworks

Wednesday March 2nd
Day 6 Part 1: St. Thomas SkyRide
Day 6 Part 2: Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me
Day 6 Part 3: Onboard Afternoon
Day 6 Part 4: Enchanted Garden & Character Fun

Thursday March 3rd
Day 7 Part 1: Experiment 626 Takeover!
Day 7 Part 2: Star Wars Dining at Enchanted Garden

Friday March 4th
Day 8 Part 1: Castaway Cay 5K & Family Beach
Day 8 Part 2: More Castaway Fun
Day 8 Part 3: A Royal Evening
Day 8 Part 4: Bittersweet Goodbyes

Saturday March 5th
Day 9 Part 1: Away to Universal!
Day 9 Part 2: Seuss & Spider-Man
Day 3 Part 3: Finishing Up In Universal





​

 

[khertz]

Day 0: Thursday February 24th
DEPARTURE DAY

On our last day before leaving for vacation, it was pretty normal. The kids went to school and I went to work. But DH was home because for the previous two weeks, he had been in Alaska for work and had just returned home Tuesday afternoon and wasn’t going back to work until after our cruise. That gave him the day to get everything we had pulled out packed into suitcases and load the car while we were gone.

After school & work, the kids and I took quick showers and the kids were already in their pajamas when we hit the road at 5:30 pm.

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We didn’t plan on getting too far that night, we had a Holiday Inn Express in Mobile, AL booked for the night. The kids were occupied with their tablets for the few hours until we got there at 10:15 pm or so.

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Since we were mostly ready for bed already, we just needed to brush our teeth and go to sleep!

Day 1: Friday February 25th
BOARDWALK VILLAS

The kids were too excited to sleep in despite the late night to bed the night before. We were up around 7 and had breakfast at the hotel to get us going. We were on the road by 8 am.

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It was a pretty long day in the car after that. We had originally booked an onsite room with our DVC points for that night at Old Key West, and had a couple of waitlists. One of them came through a few weeks prior to the trip and we ended up at Boardwalk Villas instead! While driving, we had our room assignment by 1 pm in the app. So even though it took us awhile to get there, it was nice to know we’d have a room once we arrived.

Not soon enough, we were driving under this welcome sight!

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And soon after that, we were pulling up to the Boardwalk!

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We also realized on the way there that we hadn’t brought any Magic Bands to open our room door. We were still able to go straight to our room and used the app to open the door with no problem. We were in a first floor deluxe studio, which was perfectly serviceable for the one night.

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The table/cabinet under the TV was a pulldown bed, so these studios can actually sleep 5 if needed, but the kids were just happy it meant they didn’t have to share a bed!

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DD commandeered the DSLR camera for a little while and took a few blurry photos around the room, but she did get this cute one of her reflection in the vanity mirror that I love!

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We didn’t have anything planned that night, and we didn’t want to venture too far out, but we did want to go explore! We brought our bags to the room, then went to check out the lobby first. We talked to a CM because it was a race weekend, and we wanted to make sure we wouldn’t have any issues with road closures keeping us from getting to the port. He explained that we should be fine because it was one of the shorter races, so the roads would be open plenty early. Then he offered to take a family photo for us!

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DH and I had strolled the Boardwalk area a little bit on a trip we took without the kids several years ago for a DIS event, because we had to visit the resort to pick up our event credentials. But the kids had never been, and were very impressed! It’s really so pretty with everything situated around the water.

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I tell you, it’s nice getting to experience new resorts, but it really stinks to only get to enjoy it for one night. It definitely doesn’t feel like enough, and makes me want to plan a long trip back there! We are planning a family trip with my parents, and my sister and nephew who will be about 18 months old next year, and hoping to stay at BLT but somewhere on the Boardwalk would be wonderful too! The atmosphere is so lovely.

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We looked at the food options that were available, and thought the Boardwalk Pizza Window might be our best (and most affordable) option so we went over there to place our order. They gave us a pager and told us it would be about 45 minutes before it was ready. Ouch! But it was better to spend $22 on a pizza than paying $10-13 a person for something from the other food cart option or $22+ a person for a table service meal.

While we waited for that to be ready, we took a look at some of the shops.

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Aside from the usual stuff, they have a Wyland Gallery there which has some really incredible Disney artwork! We first visited the Gallery in Hawaii at the Beachwalk and fell in love with the artwork there although we really could never afford any of the really beautiful stuff. But it’s fun to imagine! I will say, in Hawaii only DH and I visited. It was infinitely more stressful being there with two kids and worrying about them touching something and breaking it!!

We didn’t take a ton of photos, but we really just enjoyed the gorgeous atmosphere while we waited for our pizza to be ready. The kids also had some fun running around and playing on the lawn and watching people ride the surrey bikes.

Once our pizza was ready, we took it up to the room to eat and wind down for the night. DH ended up having to make a run to Walmart while the kids and I started getting ready for bed because the pair of shorts DD was wearing had gotten dirty and we had counted on her being able to re-wear them during the cruise under one of her dresses (I think she sat on some melted ice cream on a bench). When we tried to clean them in the sink, we also discovered they had a hole! So he went to pick up a couple of pairs of biker shorts to replace those. Then we got to bed!

 

[iloveeeyore]

I'm loving your report. Your family is beautiful!!

 

[boundfordisney]

Beautiful family pics! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[ThePies]

Staying at the Boardwalk is on my bucket list - the atmosphere just looks so cute!! Excited to see the rest!

 

[Jeepdisney]

Can’t wait to hear about your trip!!

 

[disnygirl55]

Great start to your cruise vacation - looking forward to hearing what's next!

 

[khertz]

I'm loving your report. Your family is beautiful!!

Welcome aboard, and thank you SO much!

Beautiful family pics! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Thank you for joining in!

Staying at the Boardwalk is on my bucket list - the atmosphere just looks so cute!! Excited to see the rest!

It was a really nice surprise. Definitely too short since it was only one night, but it did make it so that we want to spend a trip there in the future if we can. The atmosphere was so fun!

Can’t wait to hear about your trip!!

Thanks for joining in!

Great start to your cruise vacation - looking forward to hearing what's next!

Thank you for joining!

 

[khertz]

Day 2: Saturday February 26th
EMBARKATION DAY

We had our alarms set for 8 am, and we went to bed the night before sure the kids would be up bright and early. But they surprised us and actually slept until the alarm went off! After a quick repack of everything we had used the night before, we got ready and went out in search of breakfast. We ended up at a family favorite, Chick Fil A where we shared some Chicken Biscuits, Chick-n-Minis, hash browns, and a fruit cup for DD. We wanted to make sure we had something substantial since we didn’t know how long it would be before we were able to board the ship and have something to eat for lunch (or even if we would make it on the ship since we still had to test at the port...BUT the fact that you are here reading this TR should tell you how that ended up! )

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It was about 10 am when we finished breakfast and were on the road heading to Port Canaveral. Our PAT was 10:45 am so we were starting off exactly according to plan! The drive went much quicker than our first cruise in 2019, because this time we had a Sun Pass and didn’t have to stop for all of the many tolls along the way.

Soon enough, we could see our beautiful ship in the distance, just waiting for us to embark!

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We were pulling into the garage just a couple of minutes after our PAT, so it worked out perfectly. We drove through and collected our testing kits, then dropped off our luggage and drove around to the actual testing area. The kids were SO nervous about being tested (it didn’t help that I made them do it several times at home with the home kits before we even left Louisiana), but it went very smoothly. And then, the wait began. They told us 45 minutes to an hour.

We found a spot in the garage, and took turns using the restroom then the kids watched a little on their tablets. DH and I started obsessively refreshing, but the service was terrible in the garage. After just 20 minutes, I went over to one of the railings to see if I could get a better signal for when it was actually time to get results and discovered we were clear to sail!! When I tell you I RAN back to the car so fast!!!

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We went through security quickly and were in boarding group 7. No one had started boarding yet, so we had some time to wait inside the terminal.

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In 2019, we spent our time in the terminal reviewing the paper Navigator and meeting Captain Mickey. This time around, it was a little more boring without either of those things as an option. But luckily, we didn’t have to wait long! Boarding started soon after we got in, and our group was called a little after 12 pm. It was time to get on the Disney Fantasy!!

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This cruise was originally planned for January 0f 2021, and when Covid hit, we thought we had plenty of time for things to get back to normal and take our cruise as planned. Of course, that didn’t happen. So that long wait combined with the lingering stress and nervousness of knowing that we could get all the way to the port and be turned away if any of us tested positive (a true fear, since I am a nurse working with the public every single day and the kids are in school, so it’s not like we could “pre-quarantine” before our trip), I have to say it added a huge layer of excitement to walking onto that ship and seeing the CMs cheering for us and Captain Mickey & Captain Minnie waiting on the balcony to greet us!!

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While I did miss the Sail Away Party, seeing Mickey & Minnie’s performance welcoming us aboard and feeling the excitement and being JUST SO READY for this cruise, it brought me to tears!

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The first thing we did was head up to Cabanas for lunch. I know a lot of things have changed very rapidly in the last few weeks, but all of that was after our cruise was over. So for now, we found a seat then headed up to the buffet where we were still being served by the staff. I know some people liked this and are disappointed that buffets are going back to self-serve, but I hated it. It was loud and with the plexiglass barriers and both parties wearing masks, it was difficult sometimes to tell them what we wanted. Especially for the kids, who were hesitant to speak up when they went up to the buffet alone. But it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, and we managed just fine throughout the week.

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I guess it looks like only DD and I were there, but I assure you DH and DS were too! Lol

After lunch, the kids clubs were having open houses. Since DS is 11, he was eligible for both the Oceaneer Club/Lab and Edge. He was really excited to try out Edge! But also at this time, we had to pre-book the time slots for the Oceaneers Club/Lab so during our check in, we had booked a slot for both kids on each of our sea days just to have something booked. DD was super hesitant about going to the kids club at all, but she really didn’t want to go without DS. I was hoping that visiting during open house would make her a little more comfortable.

Of course, no trip to the kids club is complete without stopping to see Pepe’s cabin door.

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Several months ago, I got the itch to start all of the Marvel movies over from the beginning and DD had really only seen a couple of them here and there, so I was excited to let her experience it all for the first time. She surprised me by getting REALLY into it and deciding she was Team Iron Man while watching Captain America: Civil War, and she really LOVED WandaVision. So she had a blast checking out the Marvel Super Hero Academy area. DH and I were so impressed with all of the memorabilia she recognized!

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The interactive game floor they have is also really fun! They started a game while we were there where everyone chose a frog and you stamp your foot on your square to make your frog stick his tongue out and catch the most bugs. I won!

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One of the counselors came over to tell us we could head over to Andy’s Room to meet a special guest.

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We took a moment for the kids to indulge in their favorite cruise pastime, sitting in portholes.

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[khertz]

Day 2 Continued: Saturday February 26th

Then, we wanted to go check out the open house at Edge. Mickey & Minnie were still out greeting guests as they came on board!

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Edge, of course, is much smaller than the Oceaneers Club & Lab, but DS was excited about the foosball table and of course the video games.

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By that time, it was around 2 pm and they had told us on check in that our rooms would be ready around that time, so we headed to Deck 8 to find our room. Quick story, when we booked this cruise we had booked the exact same Family Oceanview room with a large porthole that we had on our first cruise in 2019. We liked the room layout, the kids loved the porthole, and the location was really convenient. We were in our cruises’ Facebook group and a few weeks before our cruise, someone posted saying they had been upgraded. Many of the comments on that post said they also had been upgraded. So I popped onto the app and saw our cabin number had changed from 6044 to 8626, which was a Deluxe Family Oceanview with Verandah!!! So needless to say, we were super excited to go check out our cabin. Our next surprise was that we had a collection of DVC Member magnets on our stateroom door!

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The verandah really made the room feel bigger! The kids were also pretty excited this time to have one of the beds that pulled down from the ceiling to make bunk beds. Shortly after we made it to the room and checked it out, our luggage arrived.

There was a Disney Trivia at 3 pm, so instead of unpacking just yet, we decided to go down to The Tube for that and see how we did.

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We did pretty good, but definitely not worth of a Mickey Medal, unfortunately. The kids were asking for a snack, so we headed up to the pool deck for some ice cream. If you’re keeping score, this is already DD’s second one and it was only the first day of the cruise.

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While walking around the pool deck, we saw a kid from DS’s class at school eating with his family and he went over to say hello. I was pretty excited for him to have a friend to hang out with, but the kid was kind of rude to him throughout the cruise and would barely acknowledge him whenever DS saw him around the ship and told him hello. So that ended up being a disappointment, but it seemed to bother me more than DS at least!

After our snack, we went back to the stateroom to unpack and change for dinner. While that was going on, we started sailing away! It was very nice to get to enjoy that from our verandah!

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[khertz]

Day 2 Continued: Saturday February 26th

Our first dining room in the rotation was Animator’s Palate, and we were scheduled for first dining at 5:45 pm.

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Our server was Steven from India, and our assistant server was Miguel from Portugal. I don’t know if it’s just us, but we didn’t feel the love that some people profess for their serving team. They were just ok. Very nice guys, but they always seemed a bit overwhelmed and preoccupied with their other tables that had more people at them.

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DD got really excited about lemonade during this trip, so that is what she requested at almost every meal.

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The kids enjoyed guessing what shapes the moonfish were making on screen in between appearances by Crush.

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DS & DD both got the macaroni and cheese. DD asked for a bowl of fruit with hers. One of the things you hear all the time about DCL servers is that when they realize you really like something, they make sure they have it out for you before you can even ask. While they never failed to bring DD a beautiful bowl of fruit, we always had to ask (and sometimes remind them) for it. This was not to say this was a huge issue or anything, just an example. We also often had to wait for drinks & refills.

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The menus seemed largely the same as our 2019 cruise, and I think overall we found ourselves drawn to a lot of the same items. I remembered really liking the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes so I got that as my appetizer.

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Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes
Pasta Purses filled with Truffle-scented cheese and coated with a delicate Champagne sauce​

Most nights, DH skipped getting an appetizer in favor of ordering more desserts, so next up we had our entrees. DH chose the steak, and I had the chicken dish.

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Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin
Served on Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind Barbeque reduction


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Lemon Thyme Marinated All-Natural Chicken Breast
On top of Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Grain Mustard Jus​

I am pretty certain I also had the chicken last cruise, and yet again it was really delicious. I don’t think DH had gotten the steak last time, but he enjoyed it also. Then it was time for dessert! Both kids requested Mickey Bars to top off their meals.

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DH and I both had the Fudge Cheesecake and he also got the Lemon Icebox Pie.

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Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake
Creamy Vanilla Cheesecake with a Chocolate Fudge base


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Lemon Icebox Pie
Served with Lemon Curd and Berry Crème



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The movement of the ship was getting to DS during dinner, and I had forgotten to put the Kids Dramamine in my purse so we had to go back to the room once our meal was over to get him a dose. That was luckily the only night he really complained about any motion sickness. Our room had been done up by our stateroom host Agnelo, who we met and we absolutely LOVED him!! He was a fantastic host! The kids were excited to see their bunk beds.

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We had a little time before the show, so we decided to go see what characters we could find! We found Rapunzel & Mulan first, and DD was excited to meet them! They had just changed the masking rules for character meets that day, so we were able to interact with the characters with our masks on, but once we turned to the photographer we were able to remove them for the photos. This only applied for the characters that had photographers with them. If it was a wandering character or a Greet & Wave, masks had to stay on for the whole interaction.

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Rapunzel enjoyed mine & DD’s bows in our hair, and commented to DD that if she were to change out all of the flowers in her long braid for bows, she would need a lot of them so she asked DD to come back and tell her how many bows she had. DD took this very seriously and frequently we’d be walking around the ship, see Rapunzel, and DD would smack her forehead and say, “I forgot to count my bows!!”

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I am also pretty positive that today was the day we first met Nicole. I am not totally sure because I didn’t think to put it in my notes because I had no idea how important she would become to to DD. She was one of the character attendants that we saw a lot, and she remembered DD and called her & DS by name every time she saw them. She would chat with DD about what we had done during the day, and she always looked very excited when she would see DD coming up to get in a character line. She really made an impression on DD, and DD would even call her “my friend Nicole” by the end of the week!

After the princesses, we wanted to go down a deck to see Mickey & Minnie up close. While waiting for them, we met another character attendant named Albert who would frequently entertain us in line with what he called “Dad Jokes.” He was another great one!

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Stitch was wandering around the atrium, so we were only able to get a quick masked selfie with him since he was not stationary.

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The princesses up top had changed out to Snow White & Cinderella, so we went up there next.

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Then we made our way down closer to the Walt Disney Theater to check out the shops. DD had to stop for this photo op along the way.

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Stitch was causing trouble around the photographer.

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Then we headed in to see Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.

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This was a new one for the kids, as DH and I had seen it alone last cruise while they were at the kids club. Both of them really enjoyed it! Our Genie was funny this time, but not as much so as the one in 2019. But we still laughed a lot, and enjoyed singing along to the songs.

It had been a long day, so after the show we headed up to the room to get ready for bed. It was around 11 before we finally settled into bed and went to sleep!

 

[ThePies]

The excitement in your daughters eyes when she had her second ice cream of the day was ADORABLE! What a great first day of cruising!!

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I am enjoying your trip report!

 

[khertz]

The excitement in your daughters eyes when she had her second ice cream of the day was ADORABLE! What a great first day of cruising!!

Haha thank you! She is a BIG fan of sweets especially ice cream so she rather enjoyed the fact that she was allowed so much of it during this cruise!!

I am enjoying your trip report!

Thank you so much!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Hello!! I'm joining in Your cruise is off to a great start, and getting me super excited for my husband and I to do our Anniversary cruise next month--rescheduled from last year!

Your kids have the best smiles!!!

My son was 10 on our Christmas cruise in 2019, and he LOVED that our stateroom host always checked with him on which bed he wanted to sleep in each night. We had connecting rooms with my parents, and sometimes he'd sleep on the top bunk in either room LOL

 

[khertz]

Hello!! I'm joining in Your cruise is off to a great start, and getting me super excited for my husband and I to do our Anniversary cruise next month--rescheduled from last year!

Your kids have the best smiles!!!

My son was 10 on our Christmas cruise in 2019, and he LOVED that our stateroom host always checked with him on which bed he wanted to sleep in each night. We had connecting rooms with my parents, and sometimes he'd sleep on the top bunk in either room LOL

That's so great you are FINALLY getting to cruise!!

Aww thank you.

Our stateroom host definitely spoiled our kids! He was really so amazing, and the kids absolutely loved seeing how he would set their beds up each night and what kind of towel animals we would get!

 

[khertz]

Day 3: Sunday February 27th
DAY AT SEA

Embarkation day had been really fun but really busy. Since we had a day at sea to look forward to, we took the opportunity to sleep in a bit and rolled out of bed around 8:15. It was so beautiful out on the water.

IMG_4316 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We were headed to Cabanas for breakfast, and enjoyed looking at people’s room decorations as we passed. I didn’t take a photo of the one we really liked with a white board where they would post a different “Would You Rather?” question each day with 2 options for people to vote on, and they had some different color magnetic markers to use. But we did get this one of a really great Rapunzel door.

IMG_4319 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We got a table by a window for breakfast, and enjoyed looking out at the most beautiful blue water as we ate.

IMG_4320 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4322 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DS was determined to eat as many croissants as he possibly could on this cruise, and his count started today.

IMG_4323 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After breakfast, the kids wanted to go get signed up for the Midship Detective Agency.

IMG_4327 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4328 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

One of the first activities of the day we decided to try out was called Sarge Says happening in The Tube. It was a fun version of Simon Says with some Green Army Men from Toy Story, who were very entertaining!

IMG_4329 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_6065 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_6066 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_6068 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_6069 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

They tasked us with searching for the missing Blue crayon on board. Then we got to take a photo with them once it was over.

IMG_6073 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After that, we started walking all over the ship working as detectives to find out who stole the dalmatian puppies that were missing, and stopping to meet characters as we did so. First up, we saw Goofy & Pluto.

IMG_6077 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The kids told them we had just been learning different soldier moves with Sarge, so they did a salute for their photo.

IMG_4334 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_6081 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We saw Snow White & Tiana were downstairs, so we wanted to go down to see them since we hadn’t met Tiana yet. But just as we got in line, Tiana had to go in for a break. We decided not to wait for Snow White since we had just seen her the night before. One of the CMs saw us leaving the line and asked for our room number so that he could let us know when and where we could find Tiana, which was really sweet! I got a message later in the app, but it turned out not to be an issue at all since we managed to find her several times throughout the week.

IMG_4335 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4337 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It didn’t take too long until we were back in the shops at the request of the kids, but it proved to be fruitful because we found the Blue crayon!

IMG_6085 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DS had insisted he wanted to spend his souvenir money on a shoulder Porg. Although we kept trying to insist he didn’t need to buy anything right away in case he saw something in port he wanted, he really wanted to buy it. So he walked out the proud owner of a new Porg.

IMG_4339 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4340 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DS also discovered as we walked around that the Porg had more places he could hang out than just on his shoulder.

IMG_4342 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4343 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The next activity we decided to do was the first of many crafts we would end up doing, making door hangers.

IMG_4345 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4346 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4348 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

While shopping, I had picked up a couple of t-shirts for myself, so we stopped back at the room to drop that off and the kids always loved to see where their Bluey & Charmander would be waiting for them. Today it was on our bed.

IMG_4349 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We were ready to head to lunch, and decided to go get something at Royal Court. Cinderella and Belle were meeting on the stairs so we stopped to see them first.

IMG_6086 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4351 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then we headed into the restaurant for lunch.

IMG_4353 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4357 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DD got chicken tenders with fruit, the boys had burgers, and I got a really delicious chicken fettuccine pasta.

IMG_4359 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_6092 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4360 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

 

[missjackiemcg]

What a fun day at sea so far!! My son bought himself a shoulder Figment at WDW over Christmas, and I had to laugh when I saw this picture because it's EXACTLY what my son figured out right after purchasing his!! He loved wearing Figment around on his head because he was sort of heavy for the shoulder and kept flopping over.

 

[greensombrero]

DS had insisted he wanted to spend his souvenir money on a shoulder Porg. Although we kept trying to insist he didn’t need to buy anything right away in case he saw something in port he wanted, he really wanted to buy it.

We deal with this on every trip. I hate it because we usually have had our kids do things to earn money so it’s theirs but you don’t want them to make a bad decision. The one thing I can say is my older kids are much much better now and they impressed me with their approach on our last vacation. So hang in there they do learn!

Enjoying your TR!