Our "Dream" Cruise Trip Report

That bed... the bed of nightmares... even the pillows were bad. We stay in LOTS of Hampton Inns and have never had this issue.

Oh yes, sorry, doughnuts.... that is important info lol....

Our local gas station Spinx has a great selection of EVERYTHING smoothies, sodas, coffee, breakfast foods, sandwiches, etc... I got their idea of a cronut (it was ok...) Joe got glazed and Blondie got vanilla glazed with sprinkles!

I agree with you both! I wrote up ALL of day two last night had pics added and clicked Save.... well, all that happened was my little icon spun around and around and around then this popped up..... I have to start all over again and will in a bit once I get some laundry started! Gonna type it up in word then copy and past it...

Day 2 Sunday February 1 Orlando

After a very restless night of sleep on the bed direct from hell , we all were up and moving around earlier than we needed to be. I was up and dressed when Blondie and Joe got up so he hopped in the shower and she got dressed. Mom and dad were up to so we all went down for breakfast. We decided to go ahead and head out. Boys in one car and girls in the other. The boys were headed to Orlando to play golf while us girls shopped.

I got us there in record time, I love to toll roads, they are usually pretty wide open and I like to put the pedal to the medal so to speak lol. We arrived around 9:20 so we went in the store to get a couple last minute things we needed. STILL VERY EARLY we headed to Downtown Disney (when will they officially change the name to Disney Springs?)

Anywho... There was still lots and lots of construction and we swung around to the end and parked behind the Cirque tent. We got an end space and hopped out! I WAS AT DISNEY!!!!!! We were still pretty early and nothing was open yet. They were testing the balloon but it was way too windy, just watching it made my hands sweaty. We stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and played with the video screen, that thing is super cool. We kept walking and the Lego store was open so we walked thru. We made it all the way down to the Pin Trading and they were opening the doors to Once Upon a Toy, the kids were invited up to join the opening ceremony so Ab jumped in. It was pretty cute, they just did a countdown and took a pic of all of them. We walked in and I got her the character encyclopedia (Thanks CdnSquirrel what a great idea) and a couple other things.

When we came out the Pin place was open so we browsed and purchased a few. We went to Tren-D where I got the filigree Mickey Alex and Ani bracelet then backtracked to Miss Matched. As we were coming out, they had the big pin trading board open, I have never see this before so we hopped in line. Mom started talking to the lady behind us who had a huge bag of pins and she gave Ab 2 to trade so we didn't have to trade any we had. How sweet of her!

Moving along, Blondie got her face painted like the Ice Queen. We headed into World of Disney and the first CM we saw chatted us up about the face paint and got us buttons. "It's my Birthday" for Ab and an "I'm Celebrating" for me and mom. Little more shopping here then on to lunch.

We ate at Cooks of Dublin which was fantastic. Mom and I had the fish and chips of course and Ab got... mac and cheese and chips lol. There were a couple people eating (it was about 11:30) and 2 families of 4 waiting on their food, then us. We waited about 20 minutes and the hottest, crispiest, tastiest fish appeared on our table. It was SO GOOD! The Dalkey Mustard was a perfect match for the fish, I wish I had some of it right now.

After lunch we headed to the Candy Cauldron, when we got to the counter to order, the CM started ringing a bell and had the entire store sing Happy Birthday to Ab. It was so cute, then he gave her a free chocolate covered marshmallow treat!

From there we headed out and took a trip over to the Character Outlet. Got a couple good buys and found out the boys still had about an hour and a half still to play so we headed back to property. We went to the Poly to check out the new lobby. I never saw it the old way so I can't compare. It's a nice lobby. I guess if I knew the old one and the waterfall I would understand what everyone is fussing about. We hopped on the monorail, mom and Ab didn't want to get off at GF, so we went to the Contemporary and hit the shops there. The boys called and we headed back to Poly and got Dole Whips while waiting on them!!!! YAY, it was super yummy of course. I got just the Dole Whip and picky Ab got Vanilla.

The guys showed up and they were starving. Dad is also picky and there wasn't anything on the menu at Kona that interested him so we went down to Capt. Cooks. EVERYTHING Joe and I had was very good. Pulled Pork Nachos, Fish Tacos and Hawaiian Flatbread. Dad ended up with a burger... Glad I got to try 2 new places today!

After that came the best part of the day. Mom and Dad headed back to Titusville while we took Ab over to AKL to show her our new home!!!!! She loved it! We went to Kidani and Jambo to look around. It's the first time I've been to Jambo, it's gorgeous!!!! I can not wait for our first DVC trip there!

After spending about an hour looking around and checking things out, we headed back to the hotel. Ab wanted to stay with my parents which was fine with us, we got separate beds thinking that would make sleeping easier... nope, they were both horrible. I fell asleep after halftime of the Super Bowl and woke up ready to get on the boat at 5:00AM!

Tomorrow BOARDING DAY!!!

A few pics from Orlando!

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They were on the house made chips you can get anywhere in the park. But there were also these tortilla like chips in there that were amazing. (There is one in the very front of the pic) Next time I would ask if they could use all of those instead of a mix of the two. They were like big crispy fried wonton sticks! The pork has a really sweet flavor to it and mixed with the spicy mayo and pineapples it was perfection!

Day 3 Monday February 2 Time to set sail!

Well, I was up at 5:30. Showered, dressed and ready to go! I have GOT to learn to sleep more! We had 11:15-11:30 boarding time so I was obviously anxious. Everyone else got up and moving and we grabbed breakfast in the lobby then decided to hit Target, I needed extra batteries for the camera and mom wanted a book to read on the boat. We then headed to Cocoa Beach to shop at Ron Jon Surf Shop. When we were done there it was still only about 10:00. We drove on to the port, dropped off bags and parked. We were in line to check in by 10:30. We got all of our info taken care of and in lie to register Blondie for the kids club. Right after we got out of that line, they called our section to board!!!!! It was right at about 11:30 so we actually timed everything perfectly.

As we stepped on the boat, I told Ab, "there is no turning back" she ran forward to get on. I loved being announced as we came onto the ship, it just starts the magic off right! We took a few pics in the atrium then headed to find Cabanas for some lunch. Can anyone say Stone Crab Claws? I put a hurting on those things! After eating we went up to get tickets to meet Anna and Elsa. We were in line for and hour and 45 minutes. They only had 2 people at the desk and it was torture, It was hot and everyone was complaining... BUT, we got the ticks On to the top deck to check things out, I was in shorts and pretty chilly so I headed to see if our luggage was in our room, it was!!!! We got situated and went roaming some more before the Sailing Away party.

The party was very high spirited and fun. Blondie was feeling a little nervous about being on the ship. We I took her to the side to see that we were moving, she looked at me and said "NO turning back at all now momma!" Nope, not unless you jump and swim. She was fine the rest of the cruise.

We hit the Golden Mickeys show which was cute. Now that I've seen it, I wouldn't go again. An then to dinner. Tonight we are in the Enchanted Garden. Other than Palo (more on that later) this was my favorite dinner. I had the Tuna and Avocado Tower, Romaine Wedge Salad and Caramelized Scallops. It was all very good, I cleaned all 3 plates! I will admit, I was VERY bad about food pics (all pics) on this trip. So there are only a few but we will get to those soon. Ab went to the Oceaneer Club after dinner and we headed to The District for drinks at The Skyline Bar. Ab called us at 10:30 to be picked up and we headed to the room beat after our full day of fun!

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Day 4 Tuesday Feb 3 Bahamas

Guess who was awake???? ME!!! I am in desperate need of sleep/internet access at this point lol. I went out on the veranda (Is it me or is that a great word?) Mom was on hers and I convinced her to go for a walk. We did about 2 miles on deck 4 and 11 combined. I did not like the Promenade deck, the ends were closed in and I felt trapped. I preferred the openness of 11. Afterwards everyone was up and it was BUFFET TIME. My favorite part??? Asparagus every single morning! And I piled it on!

After eating, we had a 9:15 time to meet the princesses and 9:45 for Anna and Elsa. I told Ab the sisters would not be on the boat so this was a surprise for her. We arrived in the Atrium about 9:05. No one can get in line until their specified times so we roamed around a bit until time. She met Cinderella, Snow White, Tiana and my favorite Belle. We had the character encyclopedia and when she got to Belle, she read her page to Ab. I just stood there like a big old dummy and cried like a baby. She had the best interaction of all the princesses. Now, onto Anna and Elsa and one of the biggest disappointments of the cruise in my opinion. I have already talked about how long we waited in line for these coveted, limited supply tickets The meet and greet for the sisters was in Animator's Palate. All of the screens had Frozen movie stills on them which was cool... All the tables were draped with table cloths covering up the already set tables which really killed the mood to me. They had the lights very dim in the restaurant. It was the shortest interaction of all the meet and greets we did. Other than the fact that Ab was super excited once she realized who it was, I was not impressed...

The kiddo changed out of her Elsa dress and we headed for the island. Nassau was well, Nassau. I had no desire to go but we did for the sake of saying Ab had been. I didn't feel as attacked this time but it was still pretty bad. No, I don't want braids, a taxi or a tour thanks! We went to Del Sol to exchange a shirt she got from the Shopping Director on board, Bahamian T'ings to get cigars (same store we visited on our honeymoon) and the Bacardi store for Rum Cakes!

Back to the ship for lunch and pool time. We just lounged until dinner time. Tonight was Palo for Joe and I. WOW! We were promptly seated by the window (it was dark, no view) Our server Daniel from Hungary was wonderful! I started with a glass of Pinot Gregorio and Joe a Crown and Sprite. First was the Antipasti plate. Olives, artichokes, roasted red and yellow peppers, parmesean and proscuitto with the most amazing balsamic I have ever tasted. This was followed by bread oh the bread... the focchia was outstanding. For appetizers we ordered Fritto di Calamari and Sicilian Pesto Marinated Shrimp. Neither disappointed. I was quite at a loss for what the get for my main course. So Daniel talked us into a tasting size of the pasta then the main course. We both got the Penne Arrabbiata which was a spicy tomato basil sauce with grilled shrimp. The amount of heat with the sweet sauce and basil blended well. I could have had that for my main course. Daniel then came out with a lemon sorbet to cleanse the palaet prior to the main course.Joe had the Oragano and Parmesan Crusted Rack of Lamb which he said is the best lamb he has ever had. The bite I had melted in my mouth. I had the Grilled Tuna with truffle infuse potato risotto and a tarragon veal jus. There are no words. The serving was huge and I couldn't even eat it all. Finally for dessert we shared a chocolate souffle as we were stuffed. As a surprise end, we were brought little shot glasses with the lemon sorbet and apple ice wine mixed. YUMMO. I had mine and Joe's lol I would highly recommend Palo for dinner. Next time we will do dinner and brunch!

We got out of there about the time mom, dad and Ab went to dinner at the Royal Palace so we went to find them. Full as we were, we had dessert there. I could not turn down Grand Marnier souffle!

Ab went to the Oceaneers Club again until about 10:30 while we ended up back in the District for a drink.

Tomorrow, Castaway Cay. Fun, Sun and Sadness

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Day 4 Wednesday February 4 Castaway Cay

Breakfast time!!! Asparagus anyone??? We ate our fill then headed down to the island. We snagged a couple chairs near Pelican Plunge (Or as I was calling it POLAR plunge) Now, it was 75 degrees but the water??? Oh no, it was like ice! Joe, Ab and I all braved it inch by inch then finally just all went under. I didn't think I was going to be able to breathe ever again. Dad finally came in the water and Joe and I went towards the slides. Ab didn't want to do them so she stayed with my parents. I did not know you had to SWIM to get to the slides... What??? Back in the cold water I went. We got onto the deck and the wind was howling, so much for being warm today. We did the fast covered slide first. I went before Joe, 2.5 seconds are it's over! HOLY COW it was a blast. We went back and rode the other one also. I'm glad I can say I did it however I will never do it again unless its summertime!!!!!

Onto the beach we went to find Blondie and my parents. They were no where to be found so we laid in the chairs soaking in the sun and a tropical drink! I had the Banana Caribe. Pina Coloda mixed with fresh banana oh so good. The 3 castaways made it back and we built a sand castle and played a little while before Joe and I headed to Serenity Bay. I will be honest. I HATE the beach. Sand irritates me and I don't like the sun. I could have stayed on this beach the rest of my life. It was so beautiful. We hung out there for about an hour sitting with our toes in the cold water and walking on the beach. We headed back to the tram and stopped for BBQ lunch. We had mahi, ribs, chicken, slaw and potato salad. It was all very good also.

We made it back to the rest of the family and decided to call it a day. We made our long slow trip back stopping for ice cream, fruit and shopping!!!! I got a couple great pins which I did not realize I left on the island oops! But we got a call the day of departure and they had them at Guest Services for me! YAY!

Back on board we went and rode the AquaDuck. I won't lie, I was terrified. But, it was so much fun. I would have done it again but it was so cold standing up there and the line was getting long. We were tired and the Pirate Party and Fireworks are tonight so off to the room to nap. As we were headed that way, we heard an announcement that we would be delayed leaving as there was a medical emergency with a CM on the island. Come to find out later the CM was in a jet ski accident but was ok I think it was a broken arm... Then it gets worse. There was a second alarm, and lots of CMs and Officers running thru the halls. We found out last night thru the cruise facebook page, that a gentleman had a heart attack and passed away on the ship. A couple of people who were on the same floor (one who was next to his room) said someone was at his room in less than 60 seconds of when his wife called for help. Everything was handled very professionally. We had to wait for the Coast Guard to come pick him up. We didn't leave Castaway until 11:45 that night. Fireworks were canceled but everything else went on as planned.

All in all it was a wonderful day. I am glad we didn't know everything that happened that evening until returning home. Makes me hug my family a little tighter and longer today!

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Serenity was wonderful! I would go back for sure!

Thanks, we all worked hard on the outfits, I will have to see if mom has one of all of us. Her and dad got dressed up too!

I agree, it's an awful thing but I too hope his last few days were full of magic!!

The Gran Ma Souffle was good... I was expecting more of an orange flavor and more of the alcohol flavor UNTIL I got to the bottom and found the entire bottle had been poured in LOL Ok , not really but the bottom was strong and was my favorite part. Kinda gooey, sticky, flavorful yumminess!

Day 5 Thursday February 5 Day at Sea

I will start this day with the worst part then tell you all the good...

It started out as a cloudy day and went down from there. We went thru a few rain storms, then a cold front. Cold fronts on the ocean are not my friend. Starting right before the early show the rocking started. I've never gotten sea sick on a cruise (or any boat) but the movement drives me out of my mind. I can't sit still and just be swaying. It did get worse before it got better but as you will see, I finally got some sleep.

We woke up to a very gray and cloudy day Joe planned on some tanning time and Ab and I were gonna AquaDuck it . Well, it was really cool with the clouds so we passed on the pool. We spent the day shopping (even with the rain, it was one of the least crowded shopping days), eating, packing and attending different things around the ship. Joe and I played trivia while Ab was at the Oceaneers club. We picked up some very expensive pics at Shutters (I should have pre-purchased the package for the better price. $150 for 10 pics... ugguh. Thank goodness mom and dad got us some!

After last night's incidents they did reschedule the fireworks for tonight. This is where it gets tricky. There were several things we wanted to do this night... We made it to the show Believe which I LOVED!!! The CM that played the part of Genie was amazing and so funny. The show included Mary Poppins (My favorite part of the show) Pocahontas, Baloo, Merlin, Belle, and many more that I can't remember right now. It was the hilight of the evening.

As we came out of the show, we headed to the Office Pin Trading where we scored some great pins! We had a lot of fun doing this. Then straight up to the deck for fireworks. It was so windy when you would take a step, your foot would get blown to the side. It was quite comical watching people try to walk. We moved to the pool deck to get out of all the wind. The fireworks show went on but with all the wind they were all off to the side more and not so spectacular. I was really looking forward to it and I understand with the circumstances it was better than nothing.

Straight down to our final dinner and our final night with Lloyd. I can not say enough about him. He made our dinners magical! We picked this night to celebrate Blondie's birthday, she loved the attention. Joe is a cheesecake lover, but it needs to be plain. Every night there was something in or on the cheesecake he didn't like. So I found Lloyd during lunch and asked him if there was any way possible to get Joe some plain cheesecake. TA DA Disney Magic, he got his cheesecake and was very happy!!!!

(during the show and dinner we could really feel the boat rocking, I was hoping it would be over by bed time)

Ab was too tired for the kid's club so we all went to the room. It was about 10:00. It's been a long cruise and we were pooped, Ab and Joe went right to sleep but being in the cabin but feeling the sway was not working for me. When I finally turned the light off every time the boat would move I felt like I was falling So, I laced up my shoes and started walking. I did get to catch the See You Real Soon show which made me cry. I didn't go back to the room until about 1 am, yes, it was that bad. When I finally came back, I laid on the couch so I would be rocking head to toe and not side to side. Sleep FINALLY found me.

Tomorrow the meltdown and getting pushed off the ship...

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Day 6 Friday Feb 6 The day of meltdowns...

I woke up about 4:30 to catch us pulling into port. I stayed quiet playing on the phone and catching up for about 2 hours. Emails, Facebook, news, Trivia Crack lol. Everyone started moving around and when Ab got up, the tears started, she did not want to leave. This is the first vacation breakdown the child has had and it broke my heart. It was a full on shoulder shuddering cry she had going on. She loved all the Cast Members and how talented they were, the ice cream, the buffets, the shows, the club and her new friends. She just could not stand to leave. I just sat on the bed holding her with tears streaming down my face and my heart breaking into a million pieces. We have promised her we will go on another cruise in the future. She wants a 7 day, go figure lol. We had breakfast in Animator's this morning then made the slow forced walk to the exit. As I walked thru the atrium all I could think of was all the amazing things we did and saw. How this is where it all began and now ending. Holding Ab's hand we got to that last step before you get off the boat and I stopped. We looked at each other and the tears started again. Joe had to push us on as we were holding everyone up......

Picking up our bags and customs was a breeze, off to the car and on the way home.

A few parting thoughts or things I forgot....

When we went to the fort in St Augustine, I made a purchase in the gift shop and received a coupon good for a free photobook from Shutterfly to chronicle our trip to a National Monument! Hope we get these in DC next month too!!

I didn't have a single ice cream cone on the ship. Ab probably had 5 at the least each day.... Joe had about 10 total.

We brought our own Tervis cups because of recommendations from other sites. I might do this again. I was always leaving it in the room and only drank a full cup a couple of times. It did come in handy for our liquor we brought on board but other than that, useless in my opinion.

Get in line FIRST thing if you are going with kiddos and want the meet and greet tickets!

Fish Extenders " Honesty here. It was fun. We loved getting the gifts everyday. Would I do it again? NO. We put a lot of work, time and effort into it, having to haul everything onto the ship and deliver them. Our group was pretty spread out and it took almost an hour to deliver them all. I had one suitcase dedicated to just FE gifts coming and going.

I didn't mention Ab much because honestly we didn't see her much. She loved the shows we went to see... she was on the edge of her seat and smiling the whole time. I've never seen her clap and yell so much. She had a blast in the club and lab. She made lots of new friends. She didn't try much on the boat as far as food goes which was our deal but she did try a couple things.... Maybe one day she will eat more than mac and cheese. SHe spent a ton of time in the pools and on the slide.

There was a lovely young lady playing the piano in the atrium and lounge area, I believe her name was McKinna... I will have to dig out the Navigators and let you all know for sure. If she is on a ship you are on, go see her, she is so sweet and is a beautiful pianist!

Greta Salome AMAZING!!! She was on board playing the violin. I can't say enough about her performances. Let it Go and When You Wish Upon a Star brought tears to my eyes. Check her out on Youtube if you get a chance. She did mention she will be on the Magic next but not sure when.

Pre-trip words "I don't see why everyone makes a fuss out of the shampoo." Post-cruise words "Can we get some more samples please?" Yea, it's that good.

Dinner attire " there was SO MUCH talk about this on the cruise boards. It's dinner... It sure ain't fancy fancy and you can wear whatever you want! I went in shorts, a nice top and fancy flipflops one night. I saw people in jeans, khakis, dresses, pretty much anything. Some families dressed to the nines on certain nights. I say go with what you are comfortable in. Who cares what everyone else is wearing.

Palo I wore a pair of white pants, a silk top and heels. Joe was in dress pants, a button down and a sports coat, no tie.

I really want to know how many sanitary wipe they go thru, they were handing them to every single person who walked into any restaurant.

I also want to see the room where they keep the towels. No, seriously.

Adult only Disney Cruise? YES, I would. I felt like there was enough "adult only" space and activities that I would consider taking a Disney cruise with out Blondie. Would she allow it? Probably not...

We purchased 2 of the $20.00 150mb packages for hopping on to check emails and facebook, it lasted the 4 days. Joe checked his email on Thursday during the cruise. Our DVC closing docs were there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any questions, please feel free to ask. If you want to see more pics, just click on my facebook link. There are tons! I know there are still things that I forgot so I will add as I think of them. Thanks for reading!

If they did a true adult only cruise I would totally be playing in the Oceaneers club! It was awesome the day we went in to look around. All kinds of fun stuff to do. And the hand washers??? I want one in my house. You stick your hands in these holes and the water comes on and starts spinning around, bubbles come out then it rinses them SO COOL! Then after all that, you had to get a paper towel... where are the awesome Dyson Blade dryers???? I will have to check out the TMC cruise!

I've never seen her act this way Kristen. It was torture. I was just on the cruise site looking at prices before I read this. We are thinking Summer of 2016. Prices aren't listed yet but I will be stalking it as I hear it's cheaper when they first go live!

somewhat LOL. I still like to plan plan plan and it's hard to do when you get the itinerary the night before. I felt rushed to make decisions. Oh well, life went on and we had fun and I would go again!

Allie, we really enjoyed it. I really do want to go on another one. Now that I have it in my head I can't plan months, weeks even days ahead, I think I will be ok lol. Not gonna lie, letting go of the planning is a hard one for me. But I guess a cruise is more of a relaxing vacation and I just gotta go with the flow! It's quite a more personal experience than the world. You get to know your servers and room attendants and some of the other CMs (one of my favorites worked in the stores) in a very short time. I can't wait to take another one.