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I have been meaning to post earlier... (the whole trip)
The cruise was the easiest trip I believe I have every taken and much more simple than going to Disney World; absolutely no problems and any questions or concerns were easily answered or resolved.
We traveled with four of us...
DH, DD seven, DD five, and myself. We took a category 11 cabin, which I was worried would be too small but we were all pleased when, after dinner, we returned to find the couch was turned into bunk beds. I was unaware that this would be the case.
My girls loved it because that is something I would never have in our house (too many bunk bed horror stories!) We had the split bathroom, which was nice, and more space for clothing than I even realized. Since we were traveling for an additional eleven days after the cruise, we had plenty of clothes...
Even though we had the Cat. 11 cabin, we passed up an upgrade prior to sailing to keep our cabin in the middle of the ship just in case. None of us had ever been on a cruise and for three days, I did not want to spend it with anyone ill, if we could help it.
We flew in from Chicago on the earliest flight, leaving at around 7 AM, arriving in Orlando about 10:30 AM and by the time we arrived at the ship, it was NOON. We marched right on, and registration took less then three minutes and in we walked...
My seven year old lost a tooth as we were about to enter, and one of the employees took her aside, to get her something for her mouth, which was bleeding, and also gave her a small Mickey Mouse figure.
She started her trip right. Now, I had to remember my duties as tooth fairy that night (even though she does not believe, she still wants to reward!!)
Like everyone else, we were shuffled in to Parrot's Cay for a buffet lunch, which we all thought was good. Chip 'n Dale showed up, so the girls loved that.
Then we went to explore the ship. We went to sign up the girls at the kid's club... When we arrived, it was very busy and disorganized and even though we finished the process and got our pager, I think because our first experience there was not the best, our girls never really wanted to go back. Before we went on the ship, they had really been eager to go ... and I had read how much so many kids love it, so I think it could have just been when we got there, they were especially disorganized.
By then, it was 1:30 so we went to check out our cabin. We learned that though we had tried to get an earlier dinner seating originally, we were wait listed. Before we left, we were told we were still at the late dinner seating. So, we were surprised when we learned we had been switched to the early seating.
We checked out the 9th deck, but decided not to go swimming because of suitcases had not yet arrived and though we had swimsuits, we did not have our clothes for dinner.
At 4:00 was the safety drill, and when we returned from it, our luggage was at our cabin!
Our first dinner was at Animator's Palate. The room fascinated my girls. The food was good. Our waiter and his assistant were excellent; the assistant did little magic tricks for my girls, which they loved!
At the end of dinner, a boy about 12 years old, threw up about five feet from our table, in the middle of the room. They offered to move us to another table ... they covered the vomit. A couple of minutes later, someone came in and cleaned the area vigorously. All taken care of. (And the boy was OK, too, reunited with his family...) We did not move since we were almost ready to leave anyway, but it was very nice that they offered.
That night, and every night, the girls had a
After dinner, we went to Shutters to check out the photo from when we arrived. We took the ten photo deal. We ended up with ten, plus two of the bigger portrait photos. (when I arrived home, I did a memory book, complete with Disney stickers, and it makes us all want to book another cruise...)
We went out on four, catching some fresh, sea air ... the girls got changed and swam for a while in the Mickey pool and after that, we called it an early night because we had been up since 4:15 AM
PS Tooth Fairy almost forgot, but did deliver
DAY TWO
NASSAU
In the morning, I got up before six, to try to get a photo of the sunrise, but it was always too hazy. Our weather, though, was perfect. No one was up on nine but me, except for all of the cast members who were cleaning, cleaning, cleaning... I noticed that they did a lot of cleaning throughout the ship, which made me feel
Had breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. You can get an omelet, made however you like, and sit outside as you are arriving at port...
We went to Atlantis, a beautiful hotel, but the next time we do this cruise, I would not spend the money to go there. But I wanted to see this hotel and having seen it, I would consider going to Atlantis! It is spectacular. But you cannot get all the benefits of it and for much less money, you can go to another beach on Nassau for several hours and get lunch. We did not even do the Aquarium tour that is included in the price, though we did walk and look at the fish in the area that is free for anyone.
And since we were with the kids, we were not going to gamble, though on the way out, I threw a few $$ in the slots! (I came out ahead $1.25)
We got back to the ship at around 2 PM and by the time we had all showered, we had enough time for some photos with Chip 'n Dale, Mickey
and Minnie 
Dinner that night was at Parrot's Cay, and the one we enjoyed overall the most. After dinner, Mickey and Minnie were dressed up in the formal wear and so formal photos were taken. Very cute!
After dinner, was the Golden Mickey's which was as much fun as everyone says.
Later that night, was a party on Nine, they covered the family pool, and had a live band, and the kids were having a great time.
A buffet was being set up, but we were full, and my five year old was getting tired... (seven year old was already out for the count!)
DAY THREE
Again, I was up early, and my seven year old joined me ... still no sunrise photo. But we walked up to the basketball court and threw a few free throws. We got something to drink and then got everyone else up. Back up to the Beach Blanket Buffet.
Then off to Castaway Cay. Loved that Donald Duck was waiting for the girls when we walked out ... next was Goofy! Two great photos. And we also got a good one of the family with the ship in the background.
We had no problem getting a place to sit, in the shade, but spent the morning in the water, until lunch. I had to buy a shirt, because I could feel the sun burning my shoulders a bit, so we decided it was a good time to get lunch and go back to the ship.
The girls did not have too much sun, though, and they went to the Mickey pool while I showered. I met them after.
We sent my husband to the disembarkment meeting, just so he would not ask me the same questions over and over again! But they replay the speech on the TV in the rooms later that evening.
Dinner that night was Triton's. It was good, too but not our favorite. We had to return the pager we never used. And we gave out our tips.
After dinner, we went to Shutters to find all of our photos. As I said, we picked ten exactly, plus two of the more expensive Portrait photos. It was well worth it because in addition to my photo, my memory book looks incredible.
We then went back to our cabin after dinner to pack up so we could leave everything outside of our room.
Though we were supposed to eat at Triton's, at the early seating, the last morning, we decided to go once again to Beach Blanket Buffet, as anyone could go there between a range of morning hours and since we did not have a plane to catch and we were in no rush, we did that. There was a smaller choice of foods, but it was sufficient.
Disembarkment was as easy as everything else, including customs and getting to the location where our rental car agency was sending someone to pick us up; I think once we arrived at the location to wait for their bus, we waited maybe five minutes.
We were picked up, got our rental car and drove to Boca Raton. Could not believe that we arrived there before NOON! Spent the next eleven days relaxing on the beach...
I am sure that I missed stuff, but here is what I think... if I could have fit in the extra day, it would have been well worth it! There was so much to do on the ship and not enough time to do everything.
I can't wait to go back, especially when my kids are just a bit older and we can do a few more of the activities on the excursions which we could not do because they were too young.
The Navigator has all the info that you need... including the times that the characters appear for photos! We missed some photos on the first day, not realizing that, but it was OK because I probably would have had too many.
Book your excursions beforehand... the ONLY line I saw on the entire ship was for those people who did not book ahead of time. And when you do book ahead of time, they call you with a recorded message to tell you where and when to meet.
What to wear at dinner at night: I was concerned about this, because once we went to Boca, for the most part, you can wear anything anywhere... But we wore dresses or skirts, and that was fine (if you are not a dress/skirt person, nicer pants, capris are fine, too) but wearing jeans/shorts at dinner is a no-no, though there was always someone who was not quite dressed properly... It is definitely not as dressy as other cruises but still, most people did look nice.
Anyone who is apprehensive about doing a cruise (I was) need not be... it was great fun!
Though the ship was pretty near full, it never seemed crowded. Since there are a lot of things to do at the same time, people are never all at the same place. The pools were never crowded; the party at night was never too much. Even dealing with the elevators was not a problem... my kids loved the main ones, because they are glass, but during peak hours, we walked or used alternate elevators.
And finally, while Disney World is a lot of fun, this is both fun and relaxing. I never heard whining (about the heat, the lines, the walks...) on the cruise, like I did last year when we went to Disney World for a week! And just to not hear all of that is so much worth it!
If I could figure out how to post my photos, I would... if anyone wants to help me figure it out, please let me know and I will do my best to try!
PS My kids just saw the post and made me add some more info and smilies!
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4285900845
Click on Enter:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4285903397
Or you can click on Index to see all at once...
I have been meaning to post earlier... (the whole trip)
The cruise was the easiest trip I believe I have every taken and much more simple than going to Disney World; absolutely no problems and any questions or concerns were easily answered or resolved.
We traveled with four of us...
DH, DD seven, DD five, and myself. We took a category 11 cabin, which I was worried would be too small but we were all pleased when, after dinner, we returned to find the couch was turned into bunk beds. I was unaware that this would be the case.
My girls loved it because that is something I would never have in our house (too many bunk bed horror stories!) We had the split bathroom, which was nice, and more space for clothing than I even realized. Since we were traveling for an additional eleven days after the cruise, we had plenty of clothes...
Even though we had the Cat. 11 cabin, we passed up an upgrade prior to sailing to keep our cabin in the middle of the ship just in case. None of us had ever been on a cruise and for three days, I did not want to spend it with anyone ill, if we could help it.
We flew in from Chicago on the earliest flight, leaving at around 7 AM, arriving in Orlando about 10:30 AM and by the time we arrived at the ship, it was NOON. We marched right on, and registration took less then three minutes and in we walked...
My seven year old lost a tooth as we were about to enter, and one of the employees took her aside, to get her something for her mouth, which was bleeding, and also gave her a small Mickey Mouse figure.
She started her trip right. Now, I had to remember my duties as tooth fairy that night (even though she does not believe, she still wants to reward!!)Like everyone else, we were shuffled in to Parrot's Cay for a buffet lunch, which we all thought was good. Chip 'n Dale showed up, so the girls loved that.
Then we went to explore the ship. We went to sign up the girls at the kid's club... When we arrived, it was very busy and disorganized and even though we finished the process and got our pager, I think because our first experience there was not the best, our girls never really wanted to go back. Before we went on the ship, they had really been eager to go ... and I had read how much so many kids love it, so I think it could have just been when we got there, they were especially disorganized.
By then, it was 1:30 so we went to check out our cabin. We learned that though we had tried to get an earlier dinner seating originally, we were wait listed. Before we left, we were told we were still at the late dinner seating. So, we were surprised when we learned we had been switched to the early seating.
We checked out the 9th deck, but decided not to go swimming because of suitcases had not yet arrived and though we had swimsuits, we did not have our clothes for dinner.
At 4:00 was the safety drill, and when we returned from it, our luggage was at our cabin!
Our first dinner was at Animator's Palate. The room fascinated my girls. The food was good. Our waiter and his assistant were excellent; the assistant did little magic tricks for my girls, which they loved!
At the end of dinner, a boy about 12 years old, threw up about five feet from our table, in the middle of the room. They offered to move us to another table ... they covered the vomit. A couple of minutes later, someone came in and cleaned the area vigorously. All taken care of. (And the boy was OK, too, reunited with his family...) We did not move since we were almost ready to leave anyway, but it was very nice that they offered.
That night, and every night, the girls had a
After dinner, we went to Shutters to check out the photo from when we arrived. We took the ten photo deal. We ended up with ten, plus two of the bigger portrait photos. (when I arrived home, I did a memory book, complete with Disney stickers, and it makes us all want to book another cruise...)
We went out on four, catching some fresh, sea air ... the girls got changed and swam for a while in the Mickey pool and after that, we called it an early night because we had been up since 4:15 AM
PS Tooth Fairy almost forgot, but did deliver
DAY TWO
NASSAU
In the morning, I got up before six, to try to get a photo of the sunrise, but it was always too hazy. Our weather, though, was perfect. No one was up on nine but me, except for all of the cast members who were cleaning, cleaning, cleaning... I noticed that they did a lot of cleaning throughout the ship, which made me feel
Had breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. You can get an omelet, made however you like, and sit outside as you are arriving at port...
We went to Atlantis, a beautiful hotel, but the next time we do this cruise, I would not spend the money to go there. But I wanted to see this hotel and having seen it, I would consider going to Atlantis! It is spectacular. But you cannot get all the benefits of it and for much less money, you can go to another beach on Nassau for several hours and get lunch. We did not even do the Aquarium tour that is included in the price, though we did walk and look at the fish in the area that is free for anyone.
And since we were with the kids, we were not going to gamble, though on the way out, I threw a few $$ in the slots! (I came out ahead $1.25)
We got back to the ship at around 2 PM and by the time we had all showered, we had enough time for some photos with Chip 'n Dale, Mickey
and Minnie Dinner that night was at Parrot's Cay, and the one we enjoyed overall the most. After dinner, Mickey and Minnie were dressed up in the formal wear and so formal photos were taken. Very cute!
After dinner, was the Golden Mickey's which was as much fun as everyone says.
Later that night, was a party on Nine, they covered the family pool, and had a live band, and the kids were having a great time.
A buffet was being set up, but we were full, and my five year old was getting tired... (seven year old was already out for the count!)
DAY THREE
Again, I was up early, and my seven year old joined me ... still no sunrise photo. But we walked up to the basketball court and threw a few free throws. We got something to drink and then got everyone else up. Back up to the Beach Blanket Buffet.
Then off to Castaway Cay. Loved that Donald Duck was waiting for the girls when we walked out ... next was Goofy! Two great photos. And we also got a good one of the family with the ship in the background.
We had no problem getting a place to sit, in the shade, but spent the morning in the water, until lunch. I had to buy a shirt, because I could feel the sun burning my shoulders a bit, so we decided it was a good time to get lunch and go back to the ship.
The girls did not have too much sun, though, and they went to the Mickey pool while I showered. I met them after.
We sent my husband to the disembarkment meeting, just so he would not ask me the same questions over and over again! But they replay the speech on the TV in the rooms later that evening.
Dinner that night was Triton's. It was good, too but not our favorite. We had to return the pager we never used. And we gave out our tips.
After dinner, we went to Shutters to find all of our photos. As I said, we picked ten exactly, plus two of the more expensive Portrait photos. It was well worth it because in addition to my photo, my memory book looks incredible.
We then went back to our cabin after dinner to pack up so we could leave everything outside of our room.
Though we were supposed to eat at Triton's, at the early seating, the last morning, we decided to go once again to Beach Blanket Buffet, as anyone could go there between a range of morning hours and since we did not have a plane to catch and we were in no rush, we did that. There was a smaller choice of foods, but it was sufficient.
Disembarkment was as easy as everything else, including customs and getting to the location where our rental car agency was sending someone to pick us up; I think once we arrived at the location to wait for their bus, we waited maybe five minutes.
We were picked up, got our rental car and drove to Boca Raton. Could not believe that we arrived there before NOON! Spent the next eleven days relaxing on the beach...
I am sure that I missed stuff, but here is what I think... if I could have fit in the extra day, it would have been well worth it! There was so much to do on the ship and not enough time to do everything.
I can't wait to go back, especially when my kids are just a bit older and we can do a few more of the activities on the excursions which we could not do because they were too young.
The Navigator has all the info that you need... including the times that the characters appear for photos! We missed some photos on the first day, not realizing that, but it was OK because I probably would have had too many.
Book your excursions beforehand... the ONLY line I saw on the entire ship was for those people who did not book ahead of time. And when you do book ahead of time, they call you with a recorded message to tell you where and when to meet.
What to wear at dinner at night: I was concerned about this, because once we went to Boca, for the most part, you can wear anything anywhere... But we wore dresses or skirts, and that was fine (if you are not a dress/skirt person, nicer pants, capris are fine, too) but wearing jeans/shorts at dinner is a no-no, though there was always someone who was not quite dressed properly... It is definitely not as dressy as other cruises but still, most people did look nice.
Anyone who is apprehensive about doing a cruise (I was) need not be... it was great fun!
Though the ship was pretty near full, it never seemed crowded. Since there are a lot of things to do at the same time, people are never all at the same place. The pools were never crowded; the party at night was never too much. Even dealing with the elevators was not a problem... my kids loved the main ones, because they are glass, but during peak hours, we walked or used alternate elevators.
And finally, while Disney World is a lot of fun, this is both fun and relaxing. I never heard whining (about the heat, the lines, the walks...) on the cruise, like I did last year when we went to Disney World for a week! And just to not hear all of that is so much worth it!
If I could figure out how to post my photos, I would... if anyone wants to help me figure it out, please let me know and I will do my best to try!
PS My kids just saw the post and made me add some more info and smilies!
too late of course, but it is all in my head for my next cruise! 
nap! 
the ship, the way people dressed, just to get an idea of what to bring and what to expect. 
with my horrible computer 
so it may be a day or two before I get to it. 
