Our family seriously feels so lucky that we got to go on a Disney Cruise a couple of weeks ago. The planning started last fall when we found a "kids sail free" deal on the Disney Cruise site. We had taken advantage of this deal a couple of years ago and knew that it was too good to pass up. We booked the trip along with our friends the Blasers. We kept it a secret from the kids and had the cruise announced Christmas morning as their present.
The great thing about a cruise is that you get a lot of family time plus couple time and alone time. You also get to see a few new places and never have to unpack. Plus you don't have to cook or clean for a whole week! One of my favorite things to do was to take my book (
The Distant Hours) and find a cozy spot near the adult only pool in a lounge chair and read. Perfect!
One of the kids favorite things was the self serve ice cream. Hannah came up with a clever way to get the most ice cream at one time by putting two cones together.
The activities on the ship were running non stop. We took part in lots of trivia games. My boys won the foosball tournament! We also went to a lot of movies at the ship's full sized movie theatre. We saw Wreck it Ralph in 3D, Chimpanzee, Lincoln, The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Brave. Plus every night after dinner we went to a show. It was either a Broadway style Disney play or a magician or ventriloquist.
The ship has an adult only restaurant and the food is truly amazing. The four adults booked dinner there on two nights of the trip. The great thing about service on the ship was that we sent the kids off to our assigned dining room for the night and our regular servers took care of them. The boys did order and eat 5 desserts while they were dining without parents. I think they enjoyed themselves!
Did you know Disney has their own private island that many of their Disney Cruise ships visit. It really was a perfect day. It started off with Jennie and I running a 5K and then doing an hour long yoga class on the beach. Yoga at the gym will never compare to the Bahamian beach in the background. We had a BBQ lunch, kids played in the water all day and we had time to rent bikes and relax in hammocks. When can we go back?!?
One of our days on land included a visit to Disney World. We has such a fun time checking out Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. We were exhausted by the end of the day and happy to return to the slower pace back on the boat.
We made a morning stop in Key West, Florida where we do to walk to the southernmost point in the continental USA. We also bought and devoured a key lime pie while we were there.
The dining on the boat is a smooth operation We had one morning assigned for a character breakfast where we had all of the favorite Disney characters visit our table during our meal. Lunch was either at a buffet or pizza, sandwiches or burgers by the pool. French fries always went with lunch or for an afternoon snack. I'm pretty sure I ate fries everyday of the trip.
For dinner, we rotated between three assigned dining rooms and our servers stayed with us each night. It was fun to dress up a little bit and enjoy a four course meal every night. The bonus is that if you can't decide between the steak and salmon, you can order both! Or more importantly, if you want both the chocolate cake and ice cream sundae, no one will tell you can can't order both desserts.
I really didn't take any good pictures of our staterooms, but decided to show this one of all six kids passed out after watching a movie while the parents were out playing cards. Our rooms each had a queen bed, plus two bunk beds and a murphy bed. Plenty of space for the 5 of us to sleep.
If you ever get a chance to go on a Disney Cruise, I highly recommend it! We will be watching for the next "kids sail free" deal for sure!
