We Survived! 9 days of land & sea - with a 3 year old! -9/1- NEW PIC I HAD TO SHARE!

[amandaw]

Andy's Room looks so amazing! That would be so much fun for a little kid. I've always thought that I would feel bad checking in my boys, but I guess it would just have to depend on whether or not they minded. I could see how those clubs would be entertaining for hours and they'd never miss us.

It really was amazing! Between the amount of things to play with in the club and lab and the organized games & activities, I think most kids could stay in there from the time they board the ship to the time they had to get off & never get bored. And what was really great, is that it seemed like they did a good job of trying to target every different age group, developmental stage and interests.

 

[imama]

Just got all caught up in your report and I am LOVING it! Reid is absolutely ADORABLE! And I sooooo love that he is a mover and a shaker like Jane. He reminds me a lot of my son, Jay, who is SUCH a great ten year old. We had lots of challenging moments when he was little, but they have all paid off. Spirited kids turn out great!
And I love your pictures! My Disney trip got me so ticked off at my camera that I decided to buy a DSLR as soon as we got back. I missed SO many good shots because the shutter speed of my point and shoot was so slow. Loved the class I took too! We have LOTS in common!
So hoping your moving and packing is going okay! I have moved MANY TIMES and I know what a pain it is. But it's soooo worth it in the end!
Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Princess97]

I am loving your trip report. Like you our last cruise was on a Carnival ship and it was back in 2004. When we docked in Nassau I wanted to jump ship and climb aboard the Disney Magic and every since that time I have been dying to go.

We travel to Disney World 3-5 times per year with our timehare but a Disney cruise has been too expensive. I booked early for April 21-28,2012 on the Disney Fantasy for our 15th anniversary in the same room category as yours.

Reid is adorable and so cute in Andy's room. Looking forward to more reporting.

 

[amandaw]

Just got all caught up in your report and I am LOVING it! Reid is absolutely ADORABLE!

Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!

And I sooooo love that he is a mover and a shaker like Jane. He reminds me a lot of my son, Jay, who is SUCH a great ten year old. We had lots of challenging moments when he was little, but they have all paid off. Spirited kids turn out great!

I'm telling you, when I read the intro of your TR, I couldn't get over how much Jane sounded like Reid! That gives me so much hope to know that Jay was a challenge but now is so wonderful! I've had one other person tell me that "spirited" children turn out so great, so I'm hoping the same will be true for Reid! *fingers crossed*

And I love your pictures! My Disney trip got me so ticked off at my camera that I decided to buy a DSLR as soon as we got back. I missed SO many good shots because the shutter speed of my point and shoot was so slow.

Thank you! Once you go to a DSLR, there's just no turning back. There were a couple of times I used my p&s camera (like on the beach), but the pictures were just ok.

Loved the class I took too!

I really want to get into it even more. I just have too much going on at the moment. But, once we get settled, I'm either going to look into more classes or into some books to start learning even more. And I need to just go out & do some more picture taking to find out more & more what works & what doesn't.

We have LOTS in common!

Yes, we do! I love how on these boards you can meet people from all over the world, that you've never seen face to face, yet share so much in common. It's such a great, invisible, connective thread.

So hoping your moving and packing is going okay! I have moved MANY TIMES and I know what a pain it is. But it's soooo worth it in the end!

It's going pretty well. I'm almost done. We have movers coming on Wednesday before we do the closing on our house. But, we're trying to move most of the boxes ourselves, since the movers charge by the weight of the items moved for you. Tonight was officially the last night I cooked in my kitchen. Very bittersweet!

Can't wait to hear more!

I'm hoping I'll be able to do another update by Sunday night. I feel like it's taking me forever to wrap up the first day of the cruise!

 

[amandaw]

I am loving your trip report.

Thank you so much!

Like you our last cruise was on a Carnival ship and it was back in 2004. When we docked in Nassau I wanted to jump ship and climb aboard the Disney Magic and every since that time I have been dying to go.

Our Carnival cruise in 2004 also went to Nassau. Was your cruise over the July 4th holiday? That would be too funny if we were on the same cruise! I had the just about the same feeling when we were on Carnival & docked in Nassau, but I just wanted to check into Atlantis to stay there & then fly home!

We travel to Disney World 3-5 times per year with our timehare but a Disney cruise has been too expensive. I booked early for April 21-28,2012 on the Disney Fantasy for our 15th anniversary in the same room category as yours.

I'm so excited for you to go on the Fantasy! I want to do the same thing for our 15 year anniversary in 2014. I'm telling you, it'll be NOTHING like your Carnival cruise! Do you know what your stateroom # on the Fantasy is?

Reid is adorable and so cute in Andy's room. Looking forward to more reporting.

Thank you! He is such a (sweet) mess! I feel like I've been reporting to y'all on this 1st cruise day f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I'm sure everyone's ready for me to wrap it up. I'm hoping to do an update by the end of Sunday. Stay tuned....

 

[KatMark]

Okay, I want to play in Andy's room too!

Great pics and what fun Reid was having.

 

[emma212010]

How fun!!! I love Andy's Room! Reid was so cute dancing! I'm excited to see what's for dinner!

 

[amandaw]

Okay, I want to play in Andy's room too!

Great pics and what fun Reid was having.

Thanks! Reid had a blast in there! I think the club and lab could be quite entertaining for adults as well!

How fun!!! I love Andy's Room! Reid was so cute dancing! I'm excited to see what's for dinner!

Thanks! That club is soooo much fun! I was surprised Reid busted a move on the light floor. He loves to dance at home but can get shy elsewhere, that is until he warms up to people. Dinner will be served shortly....I'm going work on an update!

 

[amandaw]

We left off with us in our room rushing to make it for our 5:45 pm early dining seating. We got ready and headed out of our cabin at 5:40 pm. Luckily, we didn't have far to go and we made it to the restaurant by 5:45. So, which dining room were we in the first night? This one:





Yes, we were going to feast like kings & queens this night! We checked in & were lead to our table - #35. Now, I had not requested this, but we were seated by ourselves at a four-top table. This probably worked out for the best since Reid was not well-behaved for dinner every night on the boat.

The table across the aisle from us was up against a window, so we could see out of the large porthole window & watch us sailing away. We were introduced to our assistant server first. His name was Antoine and he was France. He was very nice. Then, we met our server, Mircea. He was from Romania & extremely friendly & informative.

Here's a picture of Mircea. It's not the best, but Reid took it, so it's actually not that bad for a 3 year old.



And here is a picture of Reid & I in the dining room. This is before he started acting up.



So, we will begin our meal with appetizers. Ed chose the Pomegranate Duck. He thought this was very good. He said you could really taste the pomegranate. I had the cold lobster & shrimp. I thought it was good, not exceptional. The lobster was a little tough. And they also started us out with a bread selection that was very good.

Next up: soup/salad course. Ed had the French Onion Soup. This was very tasty. I had to try to it because I had almost ordered it. Well, I should've stuck with my original choice of the french onion soup because my Royal Palace Salad was not all that great. I didn't really care for their strawberry vinaigrette dressing.

Then, it was time for the main course. Now, I normally don't go in to what Reid ate because it's always normal childrens menu items. But, I have a few things that I thought were nice & wanted to point out. So, Reid chose chicken fingers & french fries. The first thing that I thought was nice is that our assistant server, Antoine, came out to put ketchup on his plate for him & it looked like this:



I thought the Mickey ketchup head was so cute. They did this every night for him. Secondly, by the time the main course arrived, Reid was just not being very nice. He threw a fit that he did not want me to cut his chicken. But, he would not take bites of the strips. Here comes our server, Mircea. He offers to cut Reid's chicken & Reid is like, "Okay" (all with a sweet smile, too). From that point on, Mircea cut Reid's food up for him every night without any prompting and even though I told him a million times I would do it. But, he refused to let me do it. He told me I was on vacation too & should just sit back & eat my meal & enjoy. I could so get used to that!

Now let's get on to the real main dishes! For the main course, Ed & I both chose the beef tenderloin with lobster on top. Again, the lobster was good but a little tough. However, the beef was wonderful! It was so tender & cooked to our liking. It came with a side of mashed potatoes that were also quite tasty!

Then, it was on to my favorite part of every meal: dessert! Ed had the souffle. This was excellent!!! I had the Tahitian Creme Brulee. This was also very good. Both desserts are excellent choices, but if I could only choose one, I would have to go with the souffle.

On this night, we thought the service & food were both excellent. Our only complaint would be that the food took a little long to come out. We finally finished up at 7:45, but we did have to bring Reid to the potty two times during dinner. At one point during the meal, Cinderella & Tiana came into the restaurant & walked around, waving at everyone. They didn't go to any tables. But, it was neat to see them. At the end of our meal, Mircea came to our table & did magic tricks for Reid. We all really enjoyed this. I'll leave you with a few more pics of the dining room as we make our way out.







After leaving the Royal Palace, we headed back to our cabin. I wanted to get us unpacked & settled in for the next couple of days. When we got to our room, we were greeted by this creature:



We hadn't been in our room long, when someone knocked on our door. It was our stateroom host, Ronald. He came in to let us know some things about the room. Well, before he could get to that, Reid insisted on showing him all of his toys. He was so sweet with Reid & even sat on the floor & played with him & his toys for a little while. Then, he made another animal for Reid.



He explained the wave phones to us. And then there were two features in the room that he explained, that I really liked. The first is that there is an iPod dock next to the bed. It also works for iPhones. So, we could put our phones in it & charge it & we could've played music if we had wanted to. The second feature that I really liked was on the TV. They have all sorts of On-Demand Disney movies. They have all the animated classics, live-action movies & all the Pixar movies! This was great! Any time I needed Reid to sit still, I would just put on one of the Toy Story movies.

Once Ronald left, I wanted to take some sunset pictures off of our veranda. Come enjoy the view!







Something I forgot: when we had first gotten into our room earlier that day, I had called & put in a request for our bed rails. They were in our room when we got in from the Sail Away Party but didn't do anything with them. When we got in from dinner, Ronald had pulled out the couch to make Reid's bed & he had the bed rails installed.

So, Ed got Reid ready for bed & I began to unpack. Now, on this night, the boat was rocking! I don't know if it was just rough waters or maybe it's always that way heading away from Florida, but I wasn't feeling too hot. I took a Bonine & soon began to feel okay. I knew we wouldn't be going to that's night show, The Golden Mickey's, but I really wanted to see it. The great thing is that they also show the shows on a channel on the TV. So, I put that on while I finished unpacking. It didn't take me long & then all 3 of us were in our beds, watching the show. The next thing I know, I woke up & the show was over. All 3 of us had fallen asleep. I shut off the TV & closed my eyes to go back to my peaceful slumber.

NEXT UP: Nassau, Bahamas: What will we do?

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow, I realize it is a Disney cruise, but it sounds like the CM's are everything you could expect and more. That's very nice how they are going out of their way to give Reid some extra special attention. I love the view from your veranda... absolutely beautiful.

 

[amandaw]

Wow, I realize it is a Disney cruise, but it sounds like the CM's are everything you could expect and more. That's very nice how they are going out of their way to give Reid some extra special attention.

I have to say, I was very impressed with the CM's on the cruise. With Disney, you know you are going to get excellent customer service & they are going to be great with kids. But, they really went above & beyond my expectations. I love the park CM's but I think the cruise CM's have them beat.

I love the view from your veranda... absolutely beautiful.

Thank you! It was so surreal to be able to step out onto that huge veranda and enjoy such beautiful, relaxing views. It really was amazing!

 

[PirateKate]

Wow...beautiful views, a royal dinner, very helpful CMs, and all the Disney movies you can watch. Sounds about perfect to me.

 

[CandleontheWater]

The dining room looks lovely! I'm sorry that Reid wasn't at his best, but doesn't it just beat all how toddlers can be beasts to their parents, but then turn around and be nothing but sweetness to strangers. I'm glad everything got worked out and Reid got to eat his chicken. The ketchup hidden mickey was a cute touch too!

That's awesome that your server cut up Reids food every night, I bet you wanted to take him home by the end of the cruise! I know I would have!

You got some wonderful sunset shots off the balcony, how pretty! I'm excited to hear how your day in Nassau went!

 

[pinkxray]

Your dinner sounds amazing. It’s so nice that your waiter cut up Reid’s food for him. Sometimes kids will eat more when other people step in. It’s annoying that they won’t eat for you, but as long as they are eating it’s all good.
The stingray on the bed is so cool. I don’t think I have seen that before.
I love that there are movies on demand. I hate that Disney has pretty much no channels at their resorts. I thought DH was going to go insane if Caitlin turned on Stacey one more time.

I love your view. It’s looking more and more like a cruise won’t be happening for a few years which is fine since I want to expand our family first, but I still wish we were able to go next summer when I see these pictures. I guess the view will still be as good in a couple of years.

 

[imama]

He cut up Reid's meat for him every night!!! That is the SWEETEST thing I have ever heard! And if Disney couldn't sell me on a cruise, THAT statement just did! How absolutely wonderful that he wanted to make sure you got a chance to relax too. I absolutely love that!

The cruise is sounding just lovely! Especially the part about the Disney movies on TV! That would be so nice to have at my house!

I cannot wait to read the rest!!

 

[harleyquinn]

THANK YOU! You have officially sold me on taking my DD on our first cruise in 2013. She will have just turned 4. I know all kids are different, but seeing the joy on Reid's face has given me all the proof I need that a 3 or 4 yo isn't too young.

Can't wait to hear the rest!!

 

[amandaw]

I've been MIA the last few days due to our move. I'm hoping I'll have time later in the weekend to come back & do an update to the TR!

Wow...beautiful views, a royal dinner, very helpful CMs, and all the Disney movies you can watch. Sounds about perfect to me.

It really was a great way to start the cruise!

The dining room looks lovely! I'm sorry that Reid wasn't at his best, but doesn't it just beat all how toddlers can be beasts to their parents, but then turn around and be nothing but sweetness to strangers. I'm glad everything got worked out and Reid got to eat his chicken. The ketchup hidden mickey was a cute touch too!

The dining room was so pretty & elegant. Yeah, it always kills me when Reid shows his ugly side to me & then turns around & is perfect for someone else.

That's awesome that your server cut up Reids food every night, I bet you wanted to take him home by the end of the cruise! I know I would have!

You know I did! Part of me felt guilty for having someone else cut my child's food when I am perfectly capably of doing it myself. But, I quickly got over that!

You got some wonderful sunset shots off the balcony, how pretty! I'm excited to hear how your day in Nassau went!

Thank you! It was so peaceful to just walk out on to the balcony & stare into the sunset.

Your dinner sounds amazing. It’s so nice that your waiter cut up Reid’s food for him. Sometimes kids will eat more when other people step in. It’s annoying that they won’t eat for you, but as long as they are eating it’s all good.

The dinner was delicious! Since I was about in tears from Reid by the time our waiter cut his chicken, I was just happy for someone to step in & help. And at least Reid ate a little bit & kind of calmed down.

The stingray on the bed is so cool. I don’t think I have seen that before.
I love that there are movies on demand. I hate that Disney has pretty much no channels at their resorts. I thought DH was going to go insane if Caitlin turned on Stacey one more time.

Yeah, I really liked the stingray. I was so excited when he told us about all of the on demand movies. I wonder why they don't do that in the resorts.

I love your view. It’s looking more and more like a cruise won’t be happening for a few years which is fine since I want to expand our family first, but I still wish we were able to go next summer when I see these pictures. I guess the view will still be as good in a couple of years.

The view was to die for! Yeah, I think our next cruise won't be until 2014 (for our 15 year anniversary) since we want to add to our family as well. But, at least you know what awaits you. And the long wait will make the cruise all that much better once you get on the boat!

He cut up Reid's meat for him every night!!! That is the SWEETEST thing I have ever heard! And if Disney couldn't sell me on a cruise, THAT statement just did! How absolutely wonderful that he wanted to make sure you got a chance to relax too. I absolutely love that!

I LOVED our waiter!!! He was so wonderful with Reid. And, like you said, he wanted to make sure we enjoyed ourselves as well. And it was all very genuine. You didn't feel like he was doing it because he "had" to.

The cruise is sounding just lovely! Especially the part about the Disney movies on TV! That would be so nice to have at my house!

I cannot wait to read the rest!!

I would give anything to have the on demand movies at my house, too! Do you know how much stuff we could get done?

THANK YOU! You have officially sold me on taking my DD on our first cruise in 2013. She will have just turned 4. I know all kids are different, but seeing the joy on Reid's face has given me all the proof I need that a 3 or 4 yo isn't too young.

Can't wait to hear the rest!!

Yay! I'm so excited for y'all! I would say 3 or 4 is definitely NOT too young! She will have a wonderful time!

 

[lbuzz52]

Hi!
I just found this, and I have to say you make the dream sound very intriguing! I can't wait to see what other fun you get into there!
It sounds like your park portion went very well! Your son is a cutie!

 

[amandaw]

Hi!
I just found this, and I have to say you make the dream sound very intriguing! I can't wait to see what other fun you get into there!

Welcome! The Dream was spectacular. I highly recommend it to anyone who will listen!

It sounds like your park portion went very well! Your son is a cutie!

Thanks! We had a great time in the parks! So much fun & magic!

 

[KatMark]

What a great CM you had at dinner keeping Reid occupied and happy.

Love the creature on the bed too!