Disney Cruise Day 4 - FINALLY on Land - Castaway Cay, The Bahamas

YEY!  We finally get to set foot on land!  Whew!

The day started off a little rocky for Jake.  As, unfortunately all the adults planned on going Para sailing  and we had to drop him off at Flounder's Reef - the on board Daycare for kids under 3.  He was ok, until he realized what was going on.  He started crying and really not wanting to be left behind, but we were able to walk away knowing it would only be for a few hours.  We had him scheduled from 9 to 12 that morning.

So, our Para sailing adventure was scheduled at 10 am, so being like my dad, we were there about 45 minutes early!  We did get some great pictures of all the adults with the ship, and had plenty of time to get really excited about what we were going to do!  We did see the 9:00 para sailors over the ocean!  We could not wait!  We also were right next to where Captain Jack Sparrow was taking pictures and singing autographs!  If the line wasn't forever long and we were about to go sailing, I would have gotten in line!  I should have had Dean and Durwood do it.  Oh well.

Our time finally came, and we all took off our shoes and left them on the dock, got on the small boat and headed out on choppy seas!  The boat ride was fun, and we were getting sprayed often as the waves were a good size.  Then, My parents were up!  They hooked up and POOF!  They were OFF!  It's so very high!  I can't wait!  Then, the started hooking me and Linda up together, and once my CrAzY parents were dipped in the water, and unhooked, it was out turn!  We sat down on the deck, they hooked the parachute to us, then they took off and WOOSH!  We are in the air!  Higher and Higher and OMG look how high we are!  it was Amazing!  The views were Awesome!  I did bring along a water camera to take pictures as you will see.  It was definitely the High Light of the trip!  Coming down was easy, landing was a bit more difficult that I thought, but all in all , it was AMAZING!!!

 

My view of us Para Sailing!

Me and Linda coming in for a landing!

All was going well, the other two couples (fathers and daughters) LOVED it, then the boat drivers had to stop the boat to gather the parachute.  This is where my mother, who gets sea sick snorkeling, almost lost her breakfast.  She did manage to keep everything down and was better once we started moving.  We got back to the docks with no incidents.  YEY!  Then, it was only 11 so Dean and I hopped back on the boat to pick up Jake!  When we got off the elevator, I stopped to tie my shoe, and we heard him crying down the hall!  We run over there and Dean almost plowed through the door when he saw the scene of what he thought was several people holding Jake down.  It took him a second to realize they were trying to help him, distract him with food and drink.  Then, as SOON as Jake saw Dean, he ran to the door, Daddy!!!  Apparently he had been asking where's Mommy and Daddy, they kept saying "they will be back soon"  so he then asked them, is it soon yet?  Smart kid!  He was not too happy with us for a while, but he got over it when we saw Minnie and Pluto on the Island when we were going to meet with the grand parents and Michelle.

 

Next, we had lunch. They had a fruit stand next to the lunch area, it was covered in AWESOME fresh fruit!  We all enjoyed that as it was quite hot!  Lunch was BBQ, Hot dogs, Hamburgers, and all the trimmings from "Cookie's BBQ". After, Linda and I went to get our snorkeling gear.  My parents had their own, so they just went snorkeling while we found a good shady spot for Durwood, Dean and Michelle to enjoy.  On the way we ran into a show with Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, and Donald!  Just a quick song and dance, but we were so close!  Jake and all the kids loved it!  Was good to see him smile again.

Snorkeling Adventure Time!  Linda had a rough time with it, the flippers wouldn't stay on her feet too well, and the water was cold.  Even I had a hard time getting started as the cold water would take my breath away and I'd get a mouth full of sea water!  But, she tried it for a little bit, but had to stop.  I'm just proud she tried!  Next time, warmer water, we will try again!  I was able to go out with My Dad as my mother did in fact loose her lunch while snorkeling (um, ewwwwe).  We had fun, we went further out than they did and we got to see some fish.  They were practically running into us they were so tame!

Me and Linda snorkeling

After snorkeling, we had a bit of a snack, then we tried to take Jake into the water.  He would NOT get it!  I think it was too cold, not sure why he was scared, but oh well.  Next time!  We then had fun chasing a lizard around the picnic tables, there were several in fact!  Then, we took a walk around the island and did a bit of shopping.  Strange place to find toddler boy sized aqua socks, but you can't find them anywhere in the stores at home, you have to buy them online, so I got some!  YES!  Then, we road the tram back to the boat.  Jake called it the Bus and started singing "The wheels on the bus..."  Once we got to the boat, STITCH was there!  YEY!  We got our picture taken with him, then boarded the boat for a nap (as it was almost 3 already) and to get ready for the evening.

Para Sailing - CHECK!
Snorkeling - CHECK!
Beach Time - CHECK!
Character Greeting - CHECK!
Nap Time - CHECK!
Castaway Cay - what a fun day in the SUN!  Love this little island.  It's so small you can see across it from our Veranda!

Let the evening begin!  Dinner was French Inspired and Lumiere's.  That meant Duck was on the menu!  I think most of us got that, but I had something else, wish I could remember!  Jake just wanted to run and run and run and run, so we did.  :)  AND Supatcha always such a fun server, made Jake an Origami Frog that you could make bounce!  Love her!

We decided to skip the show that evening as it was a hypnotist and Jake probably wouldn't have sat still for that too long.  HUMMMM, Maybe if he was hypnotized..... ;)

Disney Cruise Day 3 - STILL at Sea!

AND, we are still at sea.  It is nice to be in one place for a couple of days, but I think starting off a cruise with 2 days at sea is a bit much for a young child.

We started off the day normally, nothing special.  we all slept in that day as we had a late night.  Jake didn't eat much for Breakfast, but that's not too odd when there's so much going on around us.  We walked around the ship for a little it, did some souvenir shopping, and enjoyed lunch with Nonnie and Papa.  It was really quite choppy and we could feel the boat move quite a bit.

We saw this cool sailor hat at the shop, thought he would NEVER wear it but Jake kept it on in the store and all day!  He even wore it to dinner!  AWESOME!

After a rough try but success at taking a nap, I tried to get him up to go enjoy "Pirate crafts" but he was just too groggy and didn't look like he felt well.  So, we found all the grandparents, and sat up on the deck for a bit.  Then, Jake started coughing and I asked for a towel, I knew what was coming.  We think the choppy waters were getting to him and he did throw up.

NOT a happy sailor!!

We went back to the room to rest and clean up, and get ready for the evening at Parrot Cay for dinner.  He seemed to be just fine, for a little bit...

But, then he wouldn't eat his spaghetti, so I started to get concerned.  Then, I saw the look again.  Grabbed him and ran for the nearest bathroom.  I think up to 4 mothers were helping me get to the bathroom, and one shouted to get him some sea sickness meds at the gift shop.  It is nice to get help, even if it's just a little bit!  So, needless to say, we went to the shop (did you know you can give Dramamine to a 2 yr old?) and took some "vitamins" :) and headed back to the room before my meal came.  Sad to see that happen, but it's best if I take care of my boy.  However, Dean had the wait staff bring my yummy pork chop dinner to me in the room!  AWESOME!!! After Dinner, my mother watched Jake while Dean, Daddy, Michelle and I went out on "the town" so to speak.  We got to enjoy Beat Street, and have some Yummy Chocolate Martini's!  That was fun!

We get to set foot on LAND the next day!  Whew!  Long 2 1/2 days at sea!

Disney Cruise Day 2 - At Sea

Now for our first day at sea...

April 27, 2013
We were invited to have our Character Breakfast early in the morning!  8:00 am is early to be anywhere especially staying out late the night before!  Jake had NO idea what was coming when we went to have breakfast in the nice Parrot Cay restaurant.  He was really happy to see Queenie and Alfredo!  Michelle and Durwood and Linda slept in and did not join us.  As we started eating (or playing with the food as Jake did) we started hearing cheers and saw all the Characters come in!  Jake was so excited!  We got to get autographs and pictures with some of the most famous characters ever!  

We saw Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale!  Also, part of the fun was the wait staff made funny silly hats out of napkins (and other things) for all the guests to wear!  I got a Minnie Mouse bow, Queenie got a "Queen Crown" (of course), Alfredo got dreads and a dew rag in the styling of Jack Sparrow, Dean got goofy ears, and Jake (which didn't last longer than 5 seconds) got a Peter Pan hat! It was really fun and silly!  Everybody in the restaurant was wearing colorful napkin hats on their heads.  It was really a fun way to start the day!

Then, we found Nonnie and Papa and Jake changed into his swim suit.  The pools on the ship did not allow any kids with swim diapers in any of the pools, so we had to go to the small little "baby toddler" splash pad area, which was just a couple of small fountains from the floor and Mickey's Sorcerer's hat that sort of spit water out the top.  This was pretty small and lacking in Disney grandeur, but Jake didn't seem to mind!  He and all the other unfortunate souls that had to play in the poopie diaper area all had a great time!  There were other disappointed parents all wishing they had taken the time to potty train before coming on the cruise there with me, but we all had fun!

 

After fun in the sun, we enjoyed yummy lunches from the buffet and Pluto's Doghouse and Goofy's Gally.  we found out that Ms. Michelle does NOT like Lamb!  She had a great big plate full of yummy food, and I noticed she got the lamb.  I said "OOOOOO you got the lamb!"  She was mortified, stopped eating, and went to Pluto's for chicken fingers!  HA!  Then, water + sun = sleepy boy, so Jake, Queenie, and I SUCCESSFULLY went back to our stateroom for a nap.

After a nice relaxing nap time, we went up to deck 9 to wait in line to see Donald Duck at the Gazebo near Goofy's pool!  Dean was holding our place, then more people got in line and then more people got in line only to discover the line we were in was NOT the line, and we had to get behind all the people who got lucky and got in the right place after we were there for 30 minutes.  This did not sit well with me, and we did mention to the people in charge but they couldn't do anything.  They said the people in the "right" line were there as long as we were (wrong line) which was silly because some of them rode the elevator with Donald which meant the were NOT there the whole time!  Oh well, we got some AWESOME pictures with the original angry bird!  Jake so loves meeting the characters!  So much fun since they are the really REAL characters!

 

After playing around with a cool duck, we decided to explore the ship a bit!  Michelle, Jake, Dean, and I went up to the 10th deck to check out the sports area and the awesome views.  It is really a great sight!  It was really windy at the front of the boat, but fun to go up there to see where we are going.

Then, it's time to get ready for formal night!  We got all dressed up to enjoy the Prince and Princess dinner!  We all enjoyed a lovely dinner and we got a group picture with our ship's Captain!

The show for the evening was Twice Charmed, a twist on the Cinderella story, so yeah, it was right up my alley!  I loved it and Jake actually enjoyed it too!

Day 3 coming soon!

Disney Cruise - let the Magic Begin! Day 1 Galveston, Tx

Well, let's get this story started!  The cruise was great!  Jake love it!  We all had fun with a bit of drama drizzled in, but it was good!  We made it all in one piece (almost) and are already thinking about our next Disney Vacation!

That is all!  Have a nice day!


Just kidding!

We had an excited prep time as well as cruise time!  I took the day off the day before we left to pack and of course get my nails done.  Yes, they looked AWESOME!  Wish I could always have nice nails like this!

Saw this idea on Pinterest!  So cute!

After getting my nails done, I packed, and packed AND packed!  I did manage to get all our clothes and extras all ready for the next day!

Everybody was ready for the big trip by around 9:30, so we loaded up and headed to Galveston at 10, only to be stopped on our street by a tow truck repossessing two cars from a neighbor and Blocking the whole road!  No, not kidding!  It took about 10 minutes, but they finally moved the tow truck with a car not completely secured so we could leave.

My mother talking with the guy who "owns" the cars.  

(Not to worry, the cars were back to him by the time we got back home)

Then, off to the Cruise Terminal!  It was really exciting to get there and see the awesome Disney Magic ready to take us away!  We had a bit of waiting to do while my Dad took his truck to Bob's house and parking the cars, etc.  That was fun since they were playing AWESOME Disney music while we waited.  Security was really easy to go thru, including the 3 bottles of wine we were carrying and the 4 my parents were carrying.  Then, the awesome happened!  MICKEY WAS IN THE TERMINAL!  First sighting! Jake was really excited!  And, gave him a big hug!  We checked in, got our keys, and heading up the long terminal  ramp to get on the big boat!

Hugging THE MICKEY MOUSE!!  Awesome!

All Aborad!

Let's get this party started!

After getting on board, we headed to Guest services to drop off Jake's frame to be signed by the characters and to get our rooms switched (we switched with Durwood and Linda as we needed a little more room).  This went really well, as we were all booked together and under my name, so Hakuna Matata! 

We found my parents and Ms Michelle on deck 9 by the pools and close to Topsiders Buffet, and it was almost 1!  The buffet had a pretty long line, full of other people all with carry on luggage, but the food was really great!  After lunch we went to check out our rooms to settle a bet we had with my dad.  He thought we didn't have a true veranda because we had an * by our room number.  It was for white wall veranda instead of the plexiglass one.  We won, first round of drinks on HIM!

The Cast off party was really great!  Jake got to see all the characters dance and sing for the first time, and got a cool toy to swing around for the party!  He really liked seeing the characters!  I did manage to get him close to the action just before it was over.  I pushed him to the front, parents are cool with little kids, they let them thru, and I'm short so I didn't block any views.  We tried to nap after that, but that was not going to happen.

Our first dinner service was at the best restaurant on the ship, Animator's Palette!  The entire restaurant and staff are all decked out in black and white, no color anywhere.  Thru out the evening, the colors start coming in and the staff's uniforms are colorful.  Then, just before the big show, Jake had HAD it with this sit down restaurant and my Mother took him to run around.   When they were coming back, they ran into Mickey Mouse dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice heading into the restaurant.  Jake was SO VERY SURPRISED to see him and he gave Jake a High Five!  So, luckily they didn't miss the big dance and show. 

Then, we thought we would try to go to the entertainment show for the evening, which we did and Jake liked it for the most part, but needed to run around for a while, so we did outside the theater.  He did remarkable well and stayed up after 10, and then slept quite well the first night on the boat.

More on the next day tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

So, since we got back from our cruise on Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!) we had little time (and money) to do a big Mother's day celebration.  However, my boy did good!

Cannot wait to get started on this!

Home made gifts ARE AWESOME!  Nice job Jake!

Happy Mother's Day!

Oh, and I've started blogging our Cruise Vacation, more later!