Ok so being this is the third time I've started writing this blog post and given the time since we went, things are getting a little hazy. I will write what I remember but it might not necessarily be in the right order and there may be gaps. Just a little forewarning :)
So today was cruise day. A 3 night Bahamas cruise. Ports of call were Nassau and Castaway Cay (pronounced key). We got up nice and early and headed down for breakfast. This was included in the room rate and while not all that flash the waffle maker helped make up for it.
After breakfast we went back up to our rooms to organise our bags etc. We weren't taking everything on the cruise. We were leaving a suitcase with souvenirs and some unnecessary clothes locked in our car at the hotel. We got that sorted and headed downstairs again to wait for our shuttle. The driver was nice and efficient, we had quite a few people on the bus and a whole lot of luggage in the trailer. He gave us clear instructions for when we returned of the number to call and where to wait. He was great.
We arrived at Port Canaveral about 11:00am and it was packed. We ended up waiting by the kerb for a about 20 mins in the hot sun. That sucked! Once we were in the terminal it was also pretty chaotic! We got into the check in line for international guest and it was pretty quick. We were given boarding group 23 or something like that so we nabbed some seats and waited. Mum kept our stuff together while we took the kids and checked them in for youth activities. They received their wristbands then and the didn't come off until the final night.
The entrance to the "Mickey Boat"
Character meet and greets while we waited
Captain Mickey
This how Peyton spent the time waiting to get on the ship
We finally boarded at around 12:30pm. We were announced (how exciting) as we boarded the ship and headed straight up to Cabanas for a buffet lunch :D The view of the port was incredible and we were just so damn excited to be on the ship. Lunch was delicious and amazing! The food selection was incredible. From chicken tenders, hot dogs, fries, salad, sandwiches, pizza, cold meats, hot meats.... The list was endless. There was also a soda/coffee tea station where you got all your drinks from. After lunch we found the ice cream. Self serve soft serve ice cream in either chocolate, vanilla or banana or a banana/vanilla or chocolate vanilla swirl. Also delicious!
Admiral Donald Duck
The grand chandelier in the main lobby
Elevator
I think this was a Bahama Mama?
Chicken tenders, fries and ham
Ice cream
The Aqua Duck
By the time we finished lunch it was time to find our stateroom. We located it easily enough and went straight in. The stateroom hosts were busy delivering luggage to the rooms and ours was there within half an hour of us getting in there. The room itself was pretty good. It had a gorgeous queen size bed, a sofa that turned into a bed, a pull down bunk and a murphey bed that came out from the wall. Plus our gorgeous balcony. We were advised not to go out onto our balconies until after we were out at sea as the love bugs were still there in droves. I went for a quick DIS meet before the safety drill.
Our bed
Sofa and mums bed came down from the cupboard behind where she's sitting
Our door
We had the sail away party which was fun and then we went up top to watch us sail out of port. We caught a glimpse of Cocoa Beach (The home of Jeannie you know!)
Then we went to our compulsory safety drill which didn't require us to wear our life jackets which was good. After the drill we went exploring. I think Steve took Brandon to mini golf and I took Peyton to get her hair braided.
She did great and absolutely loved her braids. I mean she didn't let me take them out until we got home to Sydney two and a half weeks later!
Funnel Vision
The smaller Mickey slide and the Aqua Duck above
Sail away party
Party!
We met back in the room and then got ready for dinner. Our first night dinner was at the Enchanted Garden. I loved the décor. Very pretty. We met our servers James and Daniel. We took a special liking to Daniel from the UK, he wasn't perfect but he tried really hard and was really friendly. Our servers remained with us each night at the different restaurants for the 3 nights. We also met our head server who looked over the room and his name was also Simone, he was Italian and it was pronounced See-mon-eh. He was so lovely and became our special friend.
After dinner we checked the kids into the club and I tell you they didn't even stop to say goodbye. They were off like a shot! We then headed down to the theatre for the showing of the Golden Mickeys. I quite enjoyed it but it wasn't my favourite show. Every night they presented a different Broadway type musical production which I loved. After the show we browsed the shops a little and then got the kids and headed off to bed. It was 10:30pm or so and we had had a pretty big day.
I'll add more photos later, when I have a little time to edit and upload them.
