Disney Cruise: Wanting To Stowaway On Castaway Cay

After we dropped the kids off at the kids' club, we decided to catch the trolley to the adult only beach!

The water was really cold but I couldn't resist the chance to stick my feet in the Carribbean!

This is me and our friend, Jen, who cruised with us.

This was amazing enough without being warm. Can you imagine how incredible it would be with some heat and some sun?!?!?

Dave and I decided to indulge and get some drinks. I was cold but determined to fulfill my fantasy of sipping a drink while looking out over the ocean. Ha!

That night we had my favourite meal ever at Lumiere's. I had escargot, French onion soup, and a salad. I didn't even want the main course. Yummmmm!!! Sadly, Rachel fell asleep in my lap at 6 and didn't eat a thing.

However, she woke up briefly for souvenir shopping and to get one last autograph and picture with Pluto. The kids thought it was hilarious that he balanced their autograph books on his nose to sign! (By the way, Disney Cruise Line has a PDF of "My First Cruise Book." We printed it out, bound it, and gave it to the kids for Christmas, along with pirate outfits. That's how they found out we were going on a cruise! The back page of the book was perfect for all the autographs they wanted. You can find the printable here.)

The next day we had to end our cruise. It still makes me sad to think of it :( We had an extra day in Miami but we didn't find much to do. We walked around a whole bunch and wished we were back on the ship.

 

Eventually we found a park for the kids to play at. Then we headed back to our hotel and ate McDonald's while we watched the Eagles beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Whooo hooo!!! Sam, who was cheering for the Patriots, was not as excited.

The next morning we headed home. We were exhausted but we'd had so much fun.

I didn't know what I would think of cruising but honestly, I LOVED it. It was like all the adventures of a road trip without having to make all the decisions about where to eat and when to stop for night, and without all the driving. We enjoyed discovering a new place every day and Sam, especially, loved the freedom of the ship.

It was the perfect Disney experience for us because we got to meet all the characters without having to deal with insane crowds, without needing to ride the rides (because why else are you paying the park admission?), and we were able to take some downtime whenever we wanted.

I would LOVE to go again. Next time I'd like to do a longer cruise (this one felt a little short) and have some "at sea" days to enjoy the ship a little more. The kids want to spend some more time in the kids' clubs and I want some time to relax on a beach chair and read.

So if you're wondering what I'm doing in my free time over the next few months, I'm cruising (see what I did there?!?) the Disney website and dreaming about our next adventure. Ha! Dave wishes I was joking about that :)