Vaca!

We did our 2nd Disney Cruise with a side of Sea World this year.  And every year I get a lot of questions about taking a Disney cruise, what its like, what to expect, etc.  So in this post I am going to share my honest thoughts.  We did actual Disney World 2 years ago and wound up with a 4 year old asking repeatedly to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool.  Oh yeah and when he would see a character freak out because he wanted to see whoever it was but didn't want to wait in the line.  My advice: if you do the parks with little ones, don't plan on doing parks all the time.  Schedule in some time to hang in the pool and relax.  And don't waste money on park hoppers.  We never hopped, 1 park a day was enough.  Our travel agent, Kathy F at AAA in OP, who is pretty awesome by the way, suggested a Disney Cruise.  Tell her I sent ya'!!

I have cruised before (Princess Cruise lines and Royal Carribbean) and Disney does it all better!  I found the food was really good on Princess Cruise lines but Royal Carribbean spanked them when it came to the actual ship.  With Disney you get great food and an amazingly clean and cool ship.  Good food for adults and kids.  Our entrees every night were so goood!  And their kids menu was great. Great for kids that eat well i.e. salad, steak or kiddos like mine: mac-n-cheese, pasta, chicken fingers etc.  And let me just tell you the people at Disney get it!  They get eating with kids can be fun or disastrous at times.  It was amazing how fast they whipped these kids food out every night.  And the servers come over and cut your childrens food so you get to actually eat hot food!  Oh hot food - how I have missed you over the years.  The service was amazing and it doesn't stop at meal times.  Our cabin maid was named Ruth and she was so good.  Poor thing had to vacuum up chips all day from my kids and all the sand they brought back from the beach.  She even vacuumed our balcony.  And the ship is SOOOOO clean.  I saw people dusting the ceiling in the pool area. Yeah I Know!!!  The ship is really good about handing out purell wipes too before all meals.  And Disney takes care of all the tips per person and just charges it to your room.  If you feel inclined to give more you can.  And we did because they were all just awesome!!  The service was even better than last year if that is even possible.

My kids loved to play on the balcony.  And mom and dad liked it at night all to ourselves!

Now let's get to the characters.  You get a list of who will be where every single day.  For my kids they wanted to see Mickey, Donald and Goofy.  But there was a lot to choose from: Capt. Hook, Tinkerbell, the Princesses, Chip n Dale, etc.  They only let people line up for 15 minutes.  So the lines don't get too long and everyone gets a chance.

I will be honest you pay a premium with Disney.  But honestly to be able to grab some alone time with your spouse and know your kids are safe and having a great time is priceless!!

I recommend the Bon Voyage drink.  Half pina colada and strawberry margarita-yum!

Brady loved the kids club and couldn't wait to go back.  And each cabin comes with 2 phones so you can be reached via text message or phone call if there is an issue or if your child wants to be picked up.  Now maybe it was the fact that all the nursery workers sound like Mary Poppins but Pierce was well taken care of to.  P called it school which cracked us up.  He has never been to a daycare but they asked me what he needed to do and I was stunned.  Like huh?  Oh yeah I get it!  Should he sleep, or eat or just play. Sorry I'm new at this :)  And they call the pull-ups or diapers - nappies.  I love it!!

Disney's private island Castaway Cay is beautiful!

You will always get those people that will tell you to wait to go on vacation as a family with young kids.  That they won't remember it, or enjoy it or it costs too much.  Blah, Blah, Blah.  Screw that! We had a blast.  I say - We remember it, hello that's what pictures are for and we can afford it!!  And I don't know about you gals but with a husband that works full-time I dress these kids everyday.  It was SO nice to have a husband to split the duties with.  We make a great team!  And eating 3 non-rushed sit-down meals a day as a family (usually I'm getting up 5,000 times) gave me time to really work on manners with the boys.  Although apparently they like to wipe their hands on their clothes not napkins like mom would prefer as Brady told me.  Hahaha

Isn't there something so cute about kids with suitcases?  P didn't want to check his!

Ok so here's my only gripe.  Little P is potty training and because he is so little, he can't reach the toilets to stand like a big boy.  I was worried he would totally regress if we just let him pee in a pull-up all day, everyday.  But Disney didn't have a potty.  They did supply us with a diaper genie and a toilet seat that fit in the bigger one so he didn't fall in.  But every time he had to go we would have to run in there (if it wasn't too late) and hold him up.  Even a stool would have worked but they didn't have it.

Another year, another amazing trip.  Next year - the plan is to taking everyone.  We need to stay stateside with our youngest because of seizures so I would love to do the parks again and stay for a week.  But I really want to relax so maybe alternating between 1 day at the park and then 1 day to relax and swim and repeat.  I am already checking out different Disney resorts.  Inner corrider is a must for me, slide at the pool and a some kind of a food court to just grab a bagel or pancakes in the morning.  Sometimes if it's too fancy you wind up spending all your time sitting down to eat.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!  Happy Travels!