Hannah's dream of going on a Disney cruise came true!! We just got back from a 7-day cruise to Cozumel, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, and it lived up to the hype! Hannah had the time of her life meeting all the Disney princesses and characters and riding the Aqua Duck waterslide/ride TWENTY times with her Daddy. (Mommy rode it zero time, haha!) We loved all the delicious food and the awesome shows in the evening like Aladdin and Frozen. The pictures below only scratch the surface. We got a Go-Pro right before the trip so Stephen got lots and lots of video footage to preserve our memories. We'll post those soon, but for now here's the run-down of our trip and a few pictures of the fun!
Day 1- Embarkation
Hannah got to go on her very first airplane ride! She loved flying. We stayed a night at the Pop Century resort in Orlando, which is a Disney property and promised to qualify us for early boarding on the cruise ship (which it did- we were on the ship way before most cruisers got to board!) Hannah wasted no time shopping at the Pop Century gift shop and started her Disney pin collection with a Minnie Mouse pin and a necklace. After an hour long shuttle ride to the port, we boarded the ship and met Mickey Mouse right away with no line. Then we went to tour the Oceaneers club- which is the kids club on the ship. We had heard that the lines for the Aqua Duck water slide could get really long, so before the ship even set sail, Hannah and Stephen rode it 8 times :) Then we went to the sail away party, and had our first dinner at Animator's Palette. There are big screens all around the restaurant and they were animated to look like the ocean from Finding Nemo and the sea turtle Crush actually talked to you. Dinner was delicious- we had black truffle pasta appetizers, cheesy potato soup, herb crusted pork chop with risotto and sun dried tomato Orzo/ Beef tenderloin, cheesecake and Oreo Sundaes. After dinner we spent way too much money at the onboard Disney gift shops which had the cutest apparel and Disney accessories and stuff. Between the 3 of us we bought 9 shirts and Hannah bought a whole pin collection and of course a pirate night outfit :)
Day 2- At Sea
Hannah and Stephen had breakfast at the Cabana's buffet while I slept in and then Hannah went to the Oceaneer's Club to make a volcano while we had a sit-down breakfast at Royal Court. We spent some time exploring the ship and played at the Aqua Lab splash pad and Hannah and Stephen rode the Aqua Duck some more. That afternoon Hannah had an appointment at the Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique where she got her hair done- complete with a hot pink pony tail and lots of pixie dust. She looked so fancy!! It was so cute because at dinner that night when we walked into the restaurant all the waiters and hosts cheered for her and said "Princess in the house!!" Also all week long everyone referred to her as "Princess" :) We also went to a really cool drawing class that was taught by an actual Disney animator! He taught us how to draw Jiminy Cricket step by step and Mickey Mouse. We all three had such a fun time that we took another one of the classes later in the week where we learned how to draw Happy the dwarf. Our dinner on night 2 was at the Enchanted Garden restaurant where the ceiling changes colors to simulate a sunset and has flower chandeliers that have petals that open up. I had roasted chicken and sweet potatoes and Stephen had prime rib and a baked potato and Hannah had her usual chicken fingers, fries and fruit and ketchup-that our server put on her plate every night in the shape of Mickey Mouse. Our servers were so nice and so sweet to Hannah. She especially liked the Head server named Englebert who did magic tricks for her every night and would hide a squeaker in his hand and make her think that her Oceaneer's bracelet squeaked when he pushed it. He even had me fooled! The show that night was Aladdin and it was amazing. It was like seeing a Broadway play- the actors were so good and the production was super impressive with smoke machines and light projections on the walls of the whole theater. It was very impressive!
We started our day with a yummy breakfast at Cabana's- hashbrowns, Mickey waffles, cinnamon rolls etc. Then we did an excursion and took a catamaran ride to a beach called Passion Island for a beach day. The water in Cozumel was gorgeous- it was so clear and teal green. The beach was fun and Hannah liked swimming and checking out the water hammocks and swings. We had authentic Mexican food for lunch before we headed back to the ship for a fun afternoon. Hannah got to meet one of her favorite Disney princesses- Rapunzel. She was so sweet with her and even waved to Hannah and recognized her when she saw her on the ship later in the week. All the Disney princesses were wonderful. Hannah brought an autograph book with her and got all kinds of signatures from every character and princess she met. After we met Rapunzel we participated in some Frozen trivia before going to dinner at Royal Court. The menu that night was fried bree appetizers, French onion soup, shrimp, lobster, salmon, beef tenderloins and creme brulee for dessert. Englebert amazed Hannah some more with a disappearing crayon trick. After dinner we played the Mid-Ship Detective Agency game where you go all over the ship looking for clues in paintings that become animated when you hold your badge in front of them. (side note- the artwork on the ship is amazing and all the stairwells have drawings, sketches and paintings from Disney movies.) That night was the Frozen show and it was super cool too complete with snow falling from the ceiling and all our favorite Frozen songs.
Day 4- Cayman Islands
Hannah and Stephen got up early and
watched The Lion King on the big outdoor movie screen at the pool
(called the Funnel Vision). The Hannah and I played at the Aqua Lab and
she had a blast getting me soaked. Then Hannah took a nice long nap to
rest up for Pirate Night. We took a boat to the Cayman Islands port but
there wasn't a whole lot to do there since we didn't have an excursion
booked, so we got back on the ship pretty quick. The Disney cruise ship
has a million things to do and we really would have been totally fine
never leaving the ship all week. We played another round of the Mid-Ship
Detective Agency game, and then we skipped the sit-down dinner that
night (because it was all weird seafood for pirate night that didn't
sound good to us) and we ate a yummy dinner at Flo's Diner instead where
I had a delicious mozzarella and tomato panini, and Stephen had a
burger and fries and then we got ready for Pirate Night and went to
Mickey's Pirate Party where Captain Hook tried to take over our ship!
Later that night we also went to the Pirates of the Caribbean party
where Captain Jack Sparrow arrived repelling down from the top of the
ship and we learned lots of pirate songs and watched fireworks over the
ocean. It was lots of fun and very entertaining people watching as some
cruisers were in full pirate attire.
Day 5- Jamaica
We
slept in after a late Pirate's Night. We got off the ship and explored
the Jamaica port which was very cute and had lots of shops. Hannah
bought all kinds of jewelry and accessories and we got a little wooded
carving of two turtles. Then we got back on the ship and swam and
played and then Hannah met Minnie and Daisy. Our dinner was at Enchanted
Garden again and it was delicious- we couldn't decide on the entrees so
our waiter brought us each two! I got alfredo ravioli and also turkey,
stuffing and sweet potatoes. We had cheesecake for dessert and then
Hannah went to the Oceaneers club for a glow dance party.
Day 6- At Sea
(some of
the pictures are out of order and most of the princess pics are in the
above collage with the Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique pics) Stephen managed to
score Hannah tickets to the Princess Royal Gathering where she got to
meet a bunch of princesses all at once! She had a wonderful time meeting
them all and we got lots of cute pictures. She also met lots of other
characters that day like Pluto, Chip & Dale, Captain Hook, and
Mickey Mouse again. Hannah and Stephen rode the Aqua Duck at night and I
don't think there are too many people that rode that ride more than
they did that week! 20 times has to be some kind of record. That night
the show was a magician which was just ok. It was hard to beat the
Aladdin and Frozen shows because they were just SO GOOD!
Day 7- Castaway Cay Bahamas
We got up early and got off the
boat around 8am to beat the crowd at Castaway Cay- Disney's private
island in the Bahamas! It's gorgeous! There were plenty of chairs with
umbrellas and we found a great spot on the beach. Hannah and I made a
drip castle and she made all kinds of friends with kids at the beach who
helped us with our castle. We had a yummy BBQ lunch at Cookies Too on
the island and then Hannah and Stephen went down the water slide in the
ocean and then we went on a snorkeling adventure. We heard that there
was treasure in the snorkeling section of Castaway Cay like a Mickey
statue, a sunken ship, and the statue of Prince Eric from The Little
Mermaid. Well, it was too far out in the ocean for me and Hannah to make
it, but Stephen snorkeled out there and found all the fun things (video
to come). I wish we had more than just a day on the island because it
was so much fun and it went by way too fast. That night we had dinner at
Animator's Palette one last time and we got to animate our own
characters that showed up on the screens with Mickey in Fantasia! They
even gave us our drawings to keep with gold seals on them that say
"Official Disney Animator". It was really cool! The show on the last
night was called Disney's Believe and it was about a girl trying to get
her dad to believe in magic. It had lots of familiar Disney songs in it
and it was really good. It was a wonderful, relaxing week and it was so
much fun getting to see Hannah so happy! She was the perfect age for
this trip and all the Disney magic! :)
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