Day 5 - St Maarten our 1st Port of Call

Room service arrived within minutes of hubby and I waking up.  What great timing. Don’t ever say those breakfast door tags don’t work. We needed to be checked in for our excursion at 8:15... which is early for us on this trip, so we decided to have breakfast come to us. Our shore excursion today was an island tour with a stop at a butterfly farm.

The tour started off rocky as it took a bit of time to get us on a bus, but once it was all organized we had a good time. Our guide was good and we had good seats on the bus.

In Marigot, on the french side of the island we had some pastries at Serafina's, a French bakery and picked up a fridge magnet and key chain in a tourist shop. The tour stopped for an hour here. Then on to the butterfly farm. Lots of butterflies and even a huge moth. 

Getting off the Ship for our tour 

Great views

marks the border between French and Dutch sides of the island

Having a true french macaroon

Some yummy mini donuts

a nice cool drink 

view of the bay on the french side - Marigot

Daddy, I am soo hot and tired 

Butterfly farm

Monarch Catapiller

Butterfly farm guide holding a huge moth

HUGE

The little lady surprised the guide by telling him the right answer to a question about monarch butterflies. He didn't realize she had endured hours of education on them, since they are her brother’s favorite butterfly. He is a funny kiddo - He very much likes monarchs... but doesn't want anything to do with the rest of them. His happiness level at the farm was all over the map - up then down, then back. But we had a nice visit and were ready to get back to the ship and air conditioning.

Our ship!

Ain't she a beaut?

A gorgeous day

We lunched on board at Cabanas and then tried our hand at the Midship detective agency. This is really pretty cool. It's an interactive treasure hunt of sorts. Taking you all over the ship looking for clues and using “magic pictures” to help you solve the puzzles. Today we did the Case of the Plundered Paintings. I won’t ruin it for you and tell you who the painting thief was, but I will say I was wrong. I had forgotten a key piece of info and am not the best detective after all. But as a family team we did solve the case... or “Crack the case” as our little lady insists we say.

We wrapped up the case just in time to take the kids to the club and go to our spa appointment. Hubby and I have never done a couple's massage before, and this was a real treat. Our therapists were wonderful and when it was over I was sure he had fallen asleep and he was sure I had. We both had an extremely relaxing time.

Picking up the kids and getting ready for dinner was next. Dinner was pirate themed, actually the whole night is pirate themed. Lot of people are dressed as pirates and there is a deck party later in the evening with pirates and fireworks.. Disney says they have the only fireworks at sea. Cool.

Here is our last minute “I need a pirate skirt” craft I threw together for the little lady. I prepped the bandanna pieces at home and brought them along with the elastic. Its a “skirt” (she wore it over leggings) made of bandanna pieces tied to the elastic. I found this on a crafting blog online.. or youtube.. I can’t remember now. It looked cute online and the little lady helped a bit at home. But the finished product has big ole knots all around, which can’t be too comfy, but she wore it all night.

Ready to be tied together for a skirt... didn't take pic on her - sorry

After dinner the boys hit the deck... up to AquaDuck. Which they rode..... wanna guess? 10 times. I totally didn't believe the kiddo when he told me. 10 times!!!! crazy.

Our lady hit the clubs again and I had about an hour all to myself.

The big to-do on Pirate night is Buccaneer Blast, or the fireworks. Hubby was the only one who made it up on deck for them. Our AquaDuck fan was a bit (please forgive this) quacked, from all the water fun. (sorry, I couldn't help myself) Somewhere along the way I think he took in a fair amount of water and wasn't feeling so hot. Our little lady was just pooped. That's not what she would have said, but it was clear to anyone around, she was wiped out. We spotted a few from our room porthole as we were getting into bed.

Day 4 - Pirates, Ducks and Wishes

Today was really a great day. It had fewer bumps along the road than previous days and several great “ahhh, so this is what vacation feels like" moments.

We woke up and split up... the boys went to the AquaDuck and the girls went to a Neverland Pirate event/show/dance thingy. Our little lady had a blast. She was upfront with all the other buccaneers and played the games, danced along and learned all the pirate words. And it all ended too soon, according to her. 

a very brave pirate, trying to teach 5-7 year olds how to do the grapevine :}

We then headed up to the pool deck to have breakfast on deck and meet the boys. Our timing was a wee bit off, as we were done eating when they arrived, but hung out with them and headed on from there. 

breakfast and a view

Next on the agenda was a family variety show for hubby and the little lady and quiet time for the boy and I - which we always make the most of.

The little lady went to the kids club for fun and lunch afterwards and the rest of us connected to grab some food on deck. One thing I have to say about the food... it's readily available... whenever you want.. food can be found. And to my surprise, the portions aren't huge. A turkey wrap is cut into 4ths or 5ths but you can ask for as many as you want - no judgement I promise. It's great to sample different things.

After lunch I collected the little lady and we headed to a family craft time. Pipe Cleaner crafts! This was much lower key than I would have thought.... I was expecting some kind of instruction. But what we got was samples, supplies and a cheerful host/helper who wandered and chatted. To be honest I wasn't impressed, but the kid was into it already so we hung out. And by the end I was having a blast. She is a free-form artist and I sometimes forget how much fun coloring outside of the lines can be. The boys started out with us, but bailed to go explore, etc.

my finished creations

the little lady's finished creations

at craft time....cool room, right - it's one of the clubs on board

This afternoon was the second installment of the kids club detective game they played yesterday, so they had to go see what was next -- which gave me a chance to go to what has in the past been my favorite part of a Disney Cruise.. the Rainforest Room. Hubby had hit the treadmill so I met him there after the kids were checked in to the club. And I was in the heated tile lounger for maybe 3 minutes, before my favorite spot on the ship was reaffirmed. Hubby likes the steam rooms, saunas, etc. But give me one of these loungers and I am set. On the classic Disney Ships (Magic and Wonder) the loungers are in an interior room without windows. That might sounds drab, but they have done a great job, its really a nice place to nap, read, nap, whatever. And on the new ships - like we are on for this cruise, the loungers face a wall of floor to ceiling windows looking out to the ocean. Ahhhhhhhhh. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

If I had no other responsibilities I would probably nap the day away in one of these chairs. Bliss!. Hubby got me to try each of the steam-type rooms and the tropical showers they have are a hoot. But the loungers are still my fav.

When the kids event was over, hubby ran down and picked them up. I met them all on the pool deck and we did slides for about an hour. 

view of the mickey slide and AquaDuck 

Pool deck - Huge screen and more of the Aquaduck

Mickey slide!

everyone loves it!

Then it was time to get ready for dinner... where did the day go?

Dinner was good. The food is good, but the menu isn't quite to our tastes, so it's not the easiest thing to judge. Yes, it's prepared well, yes, it's beautiful... but eh, I would prefer something else. But each night something has been outstanding. Tonight it was my soup. WOW! seriously good stuff. Entree - eh, it was fine. Dessert... good. But can I have more of that soup?

After dinner the little lady and I got in line to meet captain Mickey. This was one of those moments, when you are looking around taking in your whole environment and you just feel content and happy. We waited about 15 minutes and the line was in a great location to people watch. The guy at the piano was playing classic love songs, that everyone knows - the atmosphere was upbeat and fun, Dads were dancing with little daughters dressed up, kids were meeting Cinderella on the other side of the stairs, kids were clapping along. It was a bit surreal, but that might have just been from my vantage point. It was another “Vacation” moment for me.

After our photo op with Mickey, it was time to head to the show for the night: “Wishes”. Lots of fun. After it was over, hubby made a mad dash to get the little lady back to the club for Pluto's Pajama Party. But she needed to go in PJs... thus the dash... back up to the room, then down to the club, before it all got started.

A funny thing about being on the ship.. you're really so far removed from the real world. Kids go to a party at 9:30 on the ship.... little kids. I picked her up at 10:30 and the place was packed. At home bedtime is between 8 and 8:30. But I don’t think they have fallen asleep before 10:30 or 11 since we got on the ship. Crazy!!

Ok, fun photos of the day....
remember the beautiful chandelier? today something has been added...

see it? a paper airplane 

a close up shot. 

they had a paper airplane contest in the lobby earlier in the day... I say this one was the winner :)

Day 3 - The Big Blue

Today was our first sea day, or as Crush the turtle says... the Big Blue, dude.

We all slept later than we had anticipated, but it didn't surprise me too much, since I sleep great on cruises. But it did make the little lady and I need to rush a bit to get to the Princess meet and greet. We arrived at the listed start time and there were at least 100 people in front of us in line. But Disney does this for a living and have it down to a science, so the wait wasn't horrible and we even got to meet a prince along the way.

Princess meet and greet

While we were meeting the local royalty, the boys were exploring the ship a bit and polishing off our quick breakfast. I dropped the little lady off at the kids clubs on board, which she has been LOVING, and headed back to the room...which had already been cleaned :)

Hubby hit the gym and sauna in the ships “Rainforest Room”. I dragged our son down to the shops before we had lunch. He picked out the required vacation T-shirt and a model of the ship to display at home. I got a cruise line beach towel and a mystery pin to add to my collection.

In the afternoon we all came back together to watch the ships executive pastry chef make apple strudel. It was part of the “Anyone can cook” series they have on board. It was low key and very interesting. Our cooking-channel-loving boy decided even Alton Brown could learn something from this chef, which made a few of the people seated around us smile, since he declared it in the middle of the presentation. We didn't stay quite to the end of the presentation, but we did sample the finished product. I hate to eat and run, but he was running a bit long, time wise and we had plans to see the afternoon matinee of Aladdin. So we ate and ran... sorry. It was good eats!

The show was fun, You know the story and have seen the movie, this was about an hour long and they did a nice job. The kids enjoyed it and once again we were off. This time to take them both to the kids club for an activity. With a very little time to ourselves we stopped at the future cruise reservation desk and talked with them about a future cruise and did some ironing before formal night.. hubby ironed clothes and I ironed my hair... curling ironed ;)

He picked the kids up and it was time to get all dressed up. By the way they were both talking a mile a minute about their club activity, it was a blast apparently :)

For dinner tonight we dined in Animator's Palate, and we had a special guest at dinner...Crush the turtle! Our serving team is getting to know our likes etc. -- They brought the second basket of bread before we asked tonight and I would expect them to have the kids drink orders down in the next night or two. Anyway, dinner and the show were great, we even still looked somewhat tidy when it was over, so we hit the photographers in the lobby on our way upstairs, and had a picture taken. We will see how it turns out.

both taken after dinner

Since we already saw the show for the night (Aladdin) we hit the pool deck. Yes, we changed first, a long dress doesn't work so well on the water slide ;)

On this ship the big water slide is called the AquaDuck.... and it's fast, you actually go up a hill at one point. We rode two to a tube (they are double seater tubes). I went first with our boy and Hubby and the little lady followed. Well, halfway down I was hoping at least one kid wouldn't want to go again ;) It was fun, but once was enough for me in a sitting. And when I saw our daughter's face as she climbed out I knew I had found the kid to hang out with. Our son LOVED it and he and hubby went back up the stairs to get in line, while us girls found the Mickey pool to splash about.

Ok, so now I have a minor gripe (I know, I am on vacation, and everything is sunshine and flowers, but this I don’t get). They have a screen - for movies and the like, outside by the pools. And by screen I mean HUGE screen. Its like a movie theater size screen. Now the idea of being able to show movies outside seems great....but the reality I experienced tonight was a pool full of people, sitting in the water, watching a movie. Not swimming, not playing, but watching Gnomeo and Juliet. Seems like you kind of miss the fun of swimming.  The movie had really just started when we got to the pools and our little lady was quite distracted by it, as was everyone else. (Maybe I just have it all wrong, people don’t go to swim, but to watch a flix, and hey, let's sit here in the water while we do? I am trying here.)

So we hung out til the boys had another go around on the AquaDuck, then declared it time for bed. The kids weren't happy to say the least.

So I haven't seen all of Gnomeo and Juliet, but I assume it doesn't end well for the cute little lawn gnomes.... not sure I want to get into all that with my 6 year old tonight.

Our departure from the pool deck was wrought with emotion - and bedtime didn't come easily. But they are asleep or at least quiet enough now that I can type for a bit. Overall it was a good day, despite having to leave the pool deck before they wanted to. When we asked our water slide loving boy how many times would have been enough, so he was ready to leave peacefully.... the answer came back.... “26”! Ha! Sure kid, keep dreaming :)

One last story from our day: Our son loves lots of things, trains being high on the list, followed closely by cooking shows - Good Eats has been a family favorite for years. As a toddler there were times when the only thing that would calm him was the opening credits of Good Eats (the song with the food kaleidoscope), just ask hubby about the 2004 election night, sometime. So it's fair to say he has seen every episode at least once, which is part of why he said with complete confidence that Alton Brown could learn something from the ship's executive pastry chef... I am still giggling about that. Well, tonight was formal night and our dapper boy wore black pants, a white shirt, a black vest and a black tie. He and hubby were heading to the dining room when he commented to his dad: “This is a great uniform...I look like a bartender.”. It took hubby all of 20 seconds to put the pieces together.... Good Eats has done a handful of episodes that had recipes (formulas?) for cocktails and in those often Mr. Brown dons similar attire to what our amazing boy had on this evening. To say hubby had a hard time containing his laughter would be putting it mildly.

So Alton Brown if you ever stumble across this, please don't take offense - in either my son's lack of faith in your ability to produce a superior apple strudel or his lack of interest in growing up to be a bartender.

Day 2 - Bon Voyage

We had a wonderful lazy morning at the Hyatt. The cruise line came and picked up all our bags (except for a few we planned to carry on the ship) and we had an easy breakfast in the room. Once we were ready, we headed down to the main terminal building and over to the area where the Disney Cruise buses leave from.
We had a short wait for our bus, and then we were on our way.
It's less than an hour out to the port and it went so fast. Before we knew it we could see the Disney Fantasy out the bus window.

The Disney Fantasy!!!! 

Our timing worked out really well and we were able to walk right on the ship once we had checked in.

Getting ready to board the ship

view down the ship from the gangplank

View from lunch at Cabanas

Once we had been properly welcomed aboard, we headed upstairs for lunch. We found Cabanas and a table and took turns exploring the buffet. This worked out well and soon it was time to explore the ship. Hubby picked up our passes to the rainforest room in the spa, and the kids and I had some soft serve from the self serve machines up on deck... yikes... that is what every summer vacation needs - 24 hour self serve soft serve ice cream. Oui. We found our way down each deck til we hit the kids clubs. It was open house/registration and our little lady was ready to go. Our boy prefers mellow stuff to typical kids club type things, so he needed a bit more convincing to explore, but since it was open house we were able to join them. The clubs are pretty cool. Donald was there and having fun with the kids. I have to say that duck is not good at hula hooping, and it clearly bums him out. But he has other skills to fall back on, so I am sure he will be ok. Our little lady was having a blast with him.

Well, before we knew it, it was after 1:30, which is when you can go to your staterooms.

And it also means soon our luggage would show up and I could unpack. I enjoy a trip so much more if I am unpacked, so this is a little more exciting to me that it should be. The kids and hubby hung out with me for a while. We planned to keep things mellow today and not get too sucked into the party that Disney makes of departure.

trying on our floatation vests.

comfy... not really 

Our last bag arrived before dinner and I was able to put things away and get into vaction mode.

Dinner tonight was at Royal Court. We ended up with a table for 4 - no tablemates this time. Our serving team Nestor and Richards seem good. The name Nestor sounds familiar to hubby from the Disboards. I will need to check that out at some point.

This is our first trip with early dinner seating, so we have to get used to this time after dinner and before the show. Tonight's show was the Welcome Aboard show. The on board cast seem great and the special guest talent (Ron Pearson) was oh so very funny. Seriously funny guy.

The show ended at 9:30 and we headed back to settle in and go to bed. Tomorrow we will really get into cruise life.

Ya gotta see the chandelier.....

Sooo sparkly

Day 1 - Three Meals, Three Airports, Three States

If you could hear kids counting down to take off this morning on an airplane, you were probably on our flight.

My alarm went off at 4am. But that wasn't when I started to wake up. About 15 mins earlier the hotel alarm clock went off playing the radio.... It was a very patriotic song - Glen Campbell or Neil Diamond... It was early, I don't really remember. But the lesson I learned is always check to see if your hotel clock is already set.... I use my phone for an alarm.

Anyway, the shuttle to the airport worked great and so did the family line for security.... Awesome! We were grabbing breakfast and walking to the plane before we knew it.

Our flight into Denver was uneventful. And lunch was a bit of food from all over the terminal.  I am 90% sure I saw Temple Grandin at the airport, but I didn't think approaching her was what she would have wanted. And I got 3 Starbucks mugs!!!! Which is one more than I was hoping for! And it's providing us with some minor packing challenges. But well worth it :)

So I can add Colorado, Denver and the bonus mug... Vail!

Moving on our second flight was very similar to the first...  Just slightly longer. We arrived in Orlando and survived the most crowded baggage claim I have ever experienced here. Then we wandered across the terminal to the Hyatt, our home for the night. For us and several hundred kids/teens competing in a hip hop dance event at the Hyatt. Me and hip hop dance go together so well, don't you think....hmmm, maybe not.

We dined at the Macaroni Grill here in the airport... Kind of like a real Macaroni Grill.... But not as good. Food was fine, once it arrived. Wouldn't you think airport restaurants would be quick-ish? But we relaxed and enjoyed not needing to be anywhere. On the way back to our room I was able to buy the Florida and Orlando Starbucks mugs!!! Yes, I may have a bit of a problem.... I will seek help when I get home :)

In our spacious room we enjoyed a mellow evening. Baths for kids and some coloring before bed. Tomorrow.... The ship!

Our room in Orlando Hyatt (forgive the mess. I didn't think to take pictures until right before bedtime)
through the open door, you'll find the next room...

a Murphy bed and dining room table....

Hide-a-bed and second 3/4 bath down that little hallway. It was a great spacious room. 

Day 0.25 - Almost Bon Voyage

We haven't really left yet.

Packed last night. Loaded car this morning and spent the day tidying up the house and running errands. But we aren't sleeping in our own bed tonight. We are at the airport Doubletree, as our flight leaves at o'dark thirty.... It seemed wise to stay close. Plus they have a great park and fly option. So we are trying to get to sleep in an awesome "family room" (w/2 queen beds and a king). We all ate the warm cookies they so kindly provided. Our not-so-subtle son said "Mom, don't forget to ask about the cookies". And the kids ate all of their cookies.... Walnuts and all!!!!! Yup, that's something to note :)

Weekend getaway continued....

We woke up this morning feeling slightly more refreshed than yesterday morning.

Breakfast was right downstairs. Yummy pancakes and french toast was enjoyed by all. 

After eating our fill, we were off to Stanley Park to hit the Aquarium and ride the miniature train. We didn't know there was a big festival thing happening in the park and that parking was going to be hard to find. 

But we found our way and found a parking spot and soon we were enjoying the wonders of the Aquarium.

We rode the train on our way out and before we knew it, we were heading home. 

the little lady with a backdrop of jellyfish

Our big kid with a dolphin in the tank behind him

the much anticipated train ride

My camera was low on batteries so I didn't take many pictures.
It was a good trip.