Spoonful of Sugar
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2006
- Messages
- 236
Haven't read any yet. I'm subscribing so I can read it with my boyfriend later. The pictures are great! 
Magical Western Cruise 9/23-9/30/06-fun w/ a preschooler! Castaway Cay added w/pics
- Thread starter vpalmer
- Start date
Disney owl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2001
- Messages
- 3,920
Thanks for sharing
Thank You for taking the time to post this Trip Report. I'm really enjoying reading about your cruise on the Magic and can't wait for our own cruise to start.
It's easy to tell from your pictures and descriptions that your family had a wonderful vacation. I'm sure you're looking forward to your next one.
Happy New Year and Best wishes!!!
It's easy to tell from your pictures and descriptions that your family had a wonderful vacation. I'm sure you're looking forward to your next one.
Happy New Year and Best wishes!!!
I promise to finish this report in the next week! Between moving into a brand new house and Christmas I had to put this on the back burner but I will finish it soon. I promise!
Friday, September 29
We awoke Friday morning to this view from our verandah:
Yippee! We were finally at our most anticipated destination: Castaway Cay. There had been some talk of rain, but it looked like we had escaped that forecast today. We quickly got ready and saw this immediately upon disembarkation:
We werent even booked on an excursion but I was just so excited to see the words Welcome to Castaway Cay that I couldnt resist the picture. We immediately saw Terk from Tarzan at The Post Office and DD had yet another photo opportunity. We quickly considered taking the tram but dismissed it when we determined there would characters along the path to the beach. We passed the black Pearl and Captain Jack Sparrow. But of course my three old quickly dismissed him as scary and we moved on.
Soon enough we happened upon Pluto, Goofy and Mickey Mouse all at separate stations with virtually no lines. DD was in heaven!
We stopped at She Sells and I bought an album for the rather large collection of 6x8 photos I had amassed from Shutters by this point. I preferred the fun albums on Castaway Cay over the bland 6x8 variety I found on the ship.
We then headed straight for the ocean and the swimming area was perfect. It is in a lagoon so there are virtually no waves and the temperature was perfect. We rented the $6 mat and it was well worth the money. It was used by one of us for at least the next two to three hours.
Around lunch time we headed towards Cookies Barbecue and stopped at the pavilion to see Minnie Mouse dancing with kids. DD jumped right in and within about 30 seconds Minnie grabbed DDs hand and they began dancing together. I bet she dance with DD for at least a couple of minutes. It was yet another magical moment for all of us. DDwas literally on top of the world at this point.
After working up an appetite dancing, DD had worked up quite an appetite so we headed to Cookies. Surprisingly the hamburgers and other offerings were actually pretty good. Even DDs hot dog look decent and judging by the way she gobbled it up, it was yummy too. The covered pavilion with picnic tables was perfect. There were plenty of picnic tables and everything was really clean. There were even two frozen yogurt machines in the corner of the pavilion for dessert. Yum! Soft serve yogurt is one of my favorite treats so I was excited about that.
After lunch, we headed down the path towards the adult beach and stopped at the bike rental area. Apparently, behind the bike rentals, there is a huge sandy area meant for flying kites. We brought down our kite that we made in the Family Fun craft on Thursday and tried our best to fly it but it was pretty much a futile effort because there was very little wind that day. We still had fun though!
It was about 3:00 by this point and we decided to go back on board and clean up. My MIL and I went to the Disembarkation talk in the theater which was pretty much a waste of time since it was on the stateroom TVs later but she wanted me to go with her so I did. We then headed to Lumieres for our farewell dinner. It was fantastic and a fun dinner. The servers were upbeat and after our meal a parade of servers brought Flaming Baked Alaskas into a dimmed dining room. Very cool!
This was followed by one of my favorite experiences. Every server carried a flag from their home country in a parade around Lumieres. Having a father from a different country myself, it is important to me that my daughter be exposed to all cultures and here it was right before me. It literally almost moved me to tears, but I am sure it being our last night on board contributed to that as well.
After dinner, Eva wanted to dance. Imagine that! Well, they were having a family dance hour in Rockin Bar D and the guest band on board was performing. On our way t here, we ran into Michael from the activities staff again and he entertained Eva with his juggling once again. This time he noticed DD was carrying her favorite stuffed seal (she has slept with him every night for over three years) and he juggled the seal along with the pins. We were impressed.
In Rockin Bar D, there were just as many cast members on the dance floor as kids, which I thought was a nice touch. DH and I sat down and I ordered a drink while DD danced.
It was that moment that epitomized what a Disney cruise offers that other cruise lines just cant touch. I mean where else can you feel completely at ease having a drink in a bar while your kid dances? Seriously. I am a paranoid mom in general and even I was completely comfortable and that is saying something!
The lead singer of the band came down and danced with DD a bit and that was another magical moment to watch.
By this time, I was determined to get DD in bed because I knew we were headed to Disney World the next day and I wanted her to be well rested. Yeah right. Well I put her in bed and packed and nearly two hours later at 10:00 guess who was still wide awake? As a last minute impulse decision I decided to take her down to the Till we Meet again character encounter in the lobby since she was still awake. Well, I had not charged either of my dead batteries for my camera yet because I was just going to do it right before bed not thinking we would need our camera that night. I actually thought I had a little battery left but was sadly disappointed to find my battery almost completely dead during the most awesome encounter of characters ever!!! There were many characters you hardly ever see and some were exclusive to the ship altogether. There were probably 50 characters just wandering around taking photos and signing autographs and here I was with no camera. DD was too excited to see how stressed I was over it but I did manage to snap a few pictures by turning on my camera, snapping madly, and turning it off again.
My last and probably most magical moment of the cruise came when DD popped on the lap of Belle. She and Belle talked at length and DD was so excited because they were finally both wearing their yellow dresses at the same time. Earlier in the cruise DD was disappointed that she was in the yellow dress and Belle was in her blue dress, then the next time we saw Belle, she was in her yellow dress and DD was wearing her Snow White dress. So this was the moment and then Belle and DD start discussing taking a picture in their yellow dresses and by this time my battery is 100% gone and I apologize that I cant take a picture because my battery is dead. At the same time I am doing all I can to hold back the tears. I felt about three inches tall. Well immediately a dad right beside me says give me your memory card, so I do and he takes two beautiful pictures of DD and Belle and hands me back my card and said something like, some moments are just too important to miss. If you are reading this thank you again!
Saturday, September 30
We woke up early and headed to Lumieres for our final breakfast on board. Our luggage had been taken the night before so we pretty much ate breakfast and just walked right off the ship. It was amazing how seamless the process was. As soon as we left the ship, we found the Donald Duck section in the port holding all our luggage. We grabbed our bags and headed through customs and then boarded a bus (actually a van) headed to the Contemporary resort.
That pretty much concludes the cruise portion of our vacation. If anyone is interested, I can write up the Disney World portion of our trip as well but I will probably only do so if there is any interest seeing as our vacation took place over three months ago!
We awoke Friday morning to this view from our verandah:
Yippee! We were finally at our most anticipated destination: Castaway Cay. There had been some talk of rain, but it looked like we had escaped that forecast today. We quickly got ready and saw this immediately upon disembarkation:
We werent even booked on an excursion but I was just so excited to see the words Welcome to Castaway Cay that I couldnt resist the picture. We immediately saw Terk from Tarzan at The Post Office and DD had yet another photo opportunity. We quickly considered taking the tram but dismissed it when we determined there would characters along the path to the beach. We passed the black Pearl and Captain Jack Sparrow. But of course my three old quickly dismissed him as scary and we moved on.
Soon enough we happened upon Pluto, Goofy and Mickey Mouse all at separate stations with virtually no lines. DD was in heaven!
We stopped at She Sells and I bought an album for the rather large collection of 6x8 photos I had amassed from Shutters by this point. I preferred the fun albums on Castaway Cay over the bland 6x8 variety I found on the ship.
We then headed straight for the ocean and the swimming area was perfect. It is in a lagoon so there are virtually no waves and the temperature was perfect. We rented the $6 mat and it was well worth the money. It was used by one of us for at least the next two to three hours.
Around lunch time we headed towards Cookies Barbecue and stopped at the pavilion to see Minnie Mouse dancing with kids. DD jumped right in and within about 30 seconds Minnie grabbed DDs hand and they began dancing together. I bet she dance with DD for at least a couple of minutes. It was yet another magical moment for all of us. DDwas literally on top of the world at this point.
After working up an appetite dancing, DD had worked up quite an appetite so we headed to Cookies. Surprisingly the hamburgers and other offerings were actually pretty good. Even DDs hot dog look decent and judging by the way she gobbled it up, it was yummy too. The covered pavilion with picnic tables was perfect. There were plenty of picnic tables and everything was really clean. There were even two frozen yogurt machines in the corner of the pavilion for dessert. Yum! Soft serve yogurt is one of my favorite treats so I was excited about that.
After lunch, we headed down the path towards the adult beach and stopped at the bike rental area. Apparently, behind the bike rentals, there is a huge sandy area meant for flying kites. We brought down our kite that we made in the Family Fun craft on Thursday and tried our best to fly it but it was pretty much a futile effort because there was very little wind that day. We still had fun though!
It was about 3:00 by this point and we decided to go back on board and clean up. My MIL and I went to the Disembarkation talk in the theater which was pretty much a waste of time since it was on the stateroom TVs later but she wanted me to go with her so I did. We then headed to Lumieres for our farewell dinner. It was fantastic and a fun dinner. The servers were upbeat and after our meal a parade of servers brought Flaming Baked Alaskas into a dimmed dining room. Very cool!
This was followed by one of my favorite experiences. Every server carried a flag from their home country in a parade around Lumieres. Having a father from a different country myself, it is important to me that my daughter be exposed to all cultures and here it was right before me. It literally almost moved me to tears, but I am sure it being our last night on board contributed to that as well.
After dinner, Eva wanted to dance. Imagine that! Well, they were having a family dance hour in Rockin Bar D and the guest band on board was performing. On our way t here, we ran into Michael from the activities staff again and he entertained Eva with his juggling once again. This time he noticed DD was carrying her favorite stuffed seal (she has slept with him every night for over three years) and he juggled the seal along with the pins. We were impressed.
In Rockin Bar D, there were just as many cast members on the dance floor as kids, which I thought was a nice touch. DH and I sat down and I ordered a drink while DD danced.
It was that moment that epitomized what a Disney cruise offers that other cruise lines just cant touch. I mean where else can you feel completely at ease having a drink in a bar while your kid dances? Seriously. I am a paranoid mom in general and even I was completely comfortable and that is saying something!
The lead singer of the band came down and danced with DD a bit and that was another magical moment to watch.
By this time, I was determined to get DD in bed because I knew we were headed to Disney World the next day and I wanted her to be well rested. Yeah right. Well I put her in bed and packed and nearly two hours later at 10:00 guess who was still wide awake? As a last minute impulse decision I decided to take her down to the Till we Meet again character encounter in the lobby since she was still awake. Well, I had not charged either of my dead batteries for my camera yet because I was just going to do it right before bed not thinking we would need our camera that night. I actually thought I had a little battery left but was sadly disappointed to find my battery almost completely dead during the most awesome encounter of characters ever!!! There were many characters you hardly ever see and some were exclusive to the ship altogether. There were probably 50 characters just wandering around taking photos and signing autographs and here I was with no camera. DD was too excited to see how stressed I was over it but I did manage to snap a few pictures by turning on my camera, snapping madly, and turning it off again.
My last and probably most magical moment of the cruise came when DD popped on the lap of Belle. She and Belle talked at length and DD was so excited because they were finally both wearing their yellow dresses at the same time. Earlier in the cruise DD was disappointed that she was in the yellow dress and Belle was in her blue dress, then the next time we saw Belle, she was in her yellow dress and DD was wearing her Snow White dress. So this was the moment and then Belle and DD start discussing taking a picture in their yellow dresses and by this time my battery is 100% gone and I apologize that I cant take a picture because my battery is dead. At the same time I am doing all I can to hold back the tears. I felt about three inches tall. Well immediately a dad right beside me says give me your memory card, so I do and he takes two beautiful pictures of DD and Belle and hands me back my card and said something like, some moments are just too important to miss. If you are reading this thank you again!
Saturday, September 30
We woke up early and headed to Lumieres for our final breakfast on board. Our luggage had been taken the night before so we pretty much ate breakfast and just walked right off the ship. It was amazing how seamless the process was. As soon as we left the ship, we found the Donald Duck section in the port holding all our luggage. We grabbed our bags and headed through customs and then boarded a bus (actually a van) headed to the Contemporary resort.
That pretty much concludes the cruise portion of our vacation. If anyone is interested, I can write up the Disney World portion of our trip as well but I will probably only do so if there is any interest seeing as our vacation took place over three months ago!
CTPinkPrincess
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2005
- Messages
- 551
Wonderful trip report! I have tears in my eyes at your daughter's picture with Belle and how that dad took pictures for you! 
What a great report. Love the ending of someone taking the photos for you. That is a great shot of your DD & Belle! Thanks for taking time to share.
DreamCruiser100
ARGHHHH........A Disney life for me!!!
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Messages
- 797
What an amazing trip report. MY FAVORITE so far!!! It was sooo wonderful having all the pictures, I read it aloud to my own DD as she excitedly looked at all the pictures dreaming of what a fantastic time she will have when it is our turn to go in October. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your memories. It was appreciated by my family SOOO much.
UGAFan0829
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2004
- Messages
- 4,456
WOW! Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to post your report. You have a beautiful family, and it was nice to live the cruise through your report and pictures. I have to admit that the part about the gentleman taking the picture of Belle for you definitely brought tears to my eyes. It looks like you had a wonderful vacation, and it made me really want to get another cruise booked soon!
Maddiesmum03
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2007
- Messages
- 434
thanks for the link to your fantastic trip report. It was lovely to see how much your DD enjoyed it all as our DD will be just 4 when we cruise this Nov and I know she will LOVE all the character interaction ( and dancing! ). The pictures of the Dolphin encounter were great to see as this is one of the things we intend to do with her. I wasn't sure from the dolphin website if we would be in the water with the dolphins because of the low age limit ( over 1's) so it's great to see you up so close with your dolphin! thanks again
AQW
Blessed beyond measure!
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
- Messages
- 423
I never thought I would be moved to tears by a trip report, but yours did it to me several times! Your DD dancing to "I Hope You Dance"... the spontaneous leg-hug after the dolphin encounter... that kind gentleman taking photos of your DD and Belle (bless him!!!)... awwww, I'm gonna tear up again! LOL I, too, have a beautiful and joy-filled DD, and I saw her so much in your descriptions of your DD's experience. Thank you so much for this detailed trip report and for posting all your great pictures! 
I never thought I would be moved to tears by a trip report, but yours did it to me several times! Your DD dancing to "I Hope You Dance"... the spontaneous leg-hug after the dolphin encounter... that kind gentleman taking photos of your DD and Belle (bless him!!!)... awwww, I'm gonna tear up again! LOL I, too, have a beautiful and joy-filled DD, and I saw her so much in your descriptions of your DD's experience. Thank you so much for this detailed trip report and for posting all your great pictures!
Now you are making me cry! Thank you!
2angelsinheaven
Loves making dreams come true!
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2003
- Messages
- 7,225
What a wonderful trip report. Thank you so much for sharing with us. My eyes are teary, what a sweet thing for that gentlemen to do, and then there was the hug at the dolphin encounter, oh and the "I hope you dance"... what wonderful memories you have. Thanks again.
I'm just getting around to finishing this trip report and I wanted to say Thank You for sharing your memories of your family vacation. I think I read these reports because it feels good to share these joyful times. These are the kind of wonderful memories I wish for everyone!
Thanks again and enjoy your next adventure!
Thanks again and enjoy your next adventure!
rkandmjsmommy
<font color=blue>2006: A year for letters....<br><
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2003
- Messages
- 2,544
Veronica
Your trip report was Amazing, I am wiping tears away as I am reading it. Thanks for much for taking the time to write everything, I am so looking forward to our Crusie in 2008
AMAZING REPORT!!!!!!!!!!
Your trip report was Amazing, I am wiping tears away as I am reading it. Thanks for much for taking the time to write everything, I am so looking forward to our Crusie in 2008
AMAZING REPORT!!!!!!!!!!
dizzi
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2007
- Messages
- 7,054
Thanks for the trip report!
It was great.
I love the fact that your clothes matched in your family pictures, this is very important to me also , and nice to know i am not alone!
You trip also made me decide that i will be getting a verandah, the pictures were beautiful! And i want to have the same thing!
It was great.
I love the fact that your clothes matched in your family pictures, this is very important to me also , and nice to know i am not alone!
You trip also made me decide that i will be getting a verandah, the pictures were beautiful! And i want to have the same thing!
MyGirlLovesMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2007
- Messages
- 166
Wow, what an incredible trip report. I still have a lump in my throat. My dd will be 3 when we take our first cruise in October, and the pics of your dd reminds me of her. So now I'm excitedly picturing my own daughter doing all of these amazing things and I can't wait. Thank you so much!
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