A few months ago, we realized that we didn't get a family vacation this summer since we thought Nick would be working at the Grease Monkey and wouldn't be able to take a lot of time off. But since that didn't work out, we thought it would be fun to take a vacation over Fall Break with the kids to make up for it. We were thinking about doing Disneyland again since they loved it so much last April. But when we took our Cruise last November, Nick and I thought it would be just as fun to take them on a cruise. So I started doing some research trying to decide what exactly we should do and what cruise line to use. I originally thought just a Carnival cruise would be the best price and they had a few leaving out of California so we could just drive to the port in LA. When I called the travel agent to get some information, she asked me if I thought about doing a Disney Cruise. I told her no, since I didn't think we could afford that. But she told me they were doing a promotion of Kids Cruise Free....so we only had to pay for the adults. So I let her give me a quote for the price of a 7 night cruise. It wasn't actually too much more than what I was going to pay for a 4 night cruise on Carnival, so after talking it over with Nick, we decided to go ahead and do the Disneyland Cruise. We were so excited! Never in a million years did I think we would be able to do a Disney Cruise, but it was really going to happen! It was a 7 night Mexican Riviera Cruise, with stops at Puerta Villarta and Cabo San Lucas, leaving out of LA on October 23rd. Our fall break started on Thursday the 20th, and so it didn't quite land during that week, but it worked out great. Carson did have to miss a week of school (red ribbon week to....so sad, but I think he had enough fun to make up for it!). We wanted to take Alivia with us, but since it would have made it a 5th person in our room, we would have had to get a bigger stateroom with a balcony, and would have doubled the cost so we opted to leave her home with Grandma Karen for the week, rather than bring her. And we also thought it would be easier and more fun for all of us if we didn't have to worry about a baby while on the cruise. She did great and it all worked out perfectly! We drove to Holden Friday evening after Nick got home from work. We stayed the night and then left by 10 AM Saturday morning, after dropping Livy off to Karen at the cabin. It was the opening weekend of the deer hunt, so there was quite a party going on. I felt bad that Nick was going to miss it, but again, that is just how it worked out. We were able to make some good time driving, stopping in Cedar City for lunch at Panda Express, then fuel in Barstow, CA before making it to Hesperia CA where Nick's cousin Jamie lives. They were kind enough to let us stay at their house Saturday night. The kids loved playing with their little girl Kylee, who is 4. They also have a little baby girl who is just a few months old, named Maddie. They even made us a yummy grilled chicken dinner and pasta salad. Later on, before heading to bed I was able to do an "Insanity" workout with Jamie. I love them!! I think I know what I want for Christmas now! Here are some pictures from the fun the kids had at Jamie's.
We got up early on Sunday morning and left Jamie's around 9:30 and made it to the Port of LA around 11:30. It gave us plenty of time to park the van, get our luggage and figure out where we needed to go. They make it so easy and have so many people there to help us. It was really really easy to get through security and get in line to board the boat. I was impressed! Luckily we found a pretty close parking spot and didn't have to take our luggage super far....especially since we had a ton of it!
We checked the big bags so all we had left to take was a back pack for each of us that had our swimsuits and other essentials we would need until our luggage was delivered to our state room later that day.
The port is almost like an airport setting. The only difference....boats instead of planes!
Boarding the ship was really fun. They ask for our last name and then over the PA system they welcome our family and they have a handful of cast members lined up cheering as we enter. It was really fun! We felt like celebrities. Our room wouldn't be available until 2 PM, so we headed up to the 9th deck were all the food was and found us some lunch. The fries were SO good (maybe because it has been so long since I have had some!). After eating, we walked around the ship a bit to make ourselves familiar with the layout and to take some pictures. Then we let the kids change into their suits and do some swimming while we enjoyed the sun.
Around 2, we finally went down to the 2nd floor, and found our room. #2104. They kids were so excited to see it, and so was I to be honest!! We had an outside stateroom, so we had a big round window we could see out of. It was great! I was impressed with how big it was and the best part was the 2 bathrooms. One was just a toilet and sink, and the other was a tub/shower and sink. Yes a tub! That is unheard of on other ships, but with kids it is a lifesaver. Even though my kids will totally take showers too! I was still happy that it had a tub! We unpacked some of the suitcases, put shoes away (in a really cool hanging shoe organizer I bought after reading it as a tip from an online blog), and arranged the bags to either store under the bed or in the closet. It was great having lots of room without tripping over the bags all week. We even had one drawer designated for flip flops! (Mostly mine and Kaylees since we couldn't find Carson's before we left....more on that later!). We also had a snack drawer full of m&m's, mini cookie bags, and gummy bears. Another tip from an online blog....I brought a box of sandwich bags so we could pack our own treats for the evening shows, since theater candy is not included in the price of the cruise, and you can imagine what they would charge for it on the ship, so planning ahead, I saved us from spending money on something I could just bring for a fraction of the cost! At 4:15 they started a sail away party on pool decks. It was SO fun...tons of music, dancing, and they handed out fun streamers for the kids to play with. It was a rockin' party and it really made it super exciting to be going on the cruise. I will give Disney credit, they know how to throw a party and give you a fantasy to live in for a week!
After the party, we got ready for the evening and first went to a show. Since we book so close to the cruise date, we ended up with late dinner seating. Which wasn't a bit deal, since we figured we would just eat a light dinner at 5, go to the show at 6:30, then do dinner again at 8:15. It worked okay the first night, but the kids were tired halfway through dinner and so I was glad that earlier that day we had gone to Guest Services and requested early dining instead. (I think we were the first ones since we were the first name on the paper they used). It worked, because by Monday afternoon we got a call saying that we had been switched to early dining starting that night, so we only had ONE night of late dining, helping make the rest of our week perfect! One more thing, while at Guest Services we dropped of 3 pillow cases (one for each kid, even Livy) and some fabric markers for the characters to sign as a souvenir. Another tip I found online. It beats the heck out of buying a $25 tshirt for each kid or an autograph book that will just end up in the recycling bin or the bottom of the toy box. They told us they would be delivered to our stateroom on the last day of the cruise. Awesome! The show that night was great...it was basically a musical about a young boy who wants to be a sailor....and actually a captain of a ship. Of course, him and his family are on a disney cruise and he sings along with Mickey and other characters about how fun sailing is. It was awesome! The singing and dancing was amazing....very professional and very entertaining. They also previewed an act of Alfred and Seymor...they are a comedy duo of two black guys....and they were hilarious! It made us excited to get to see them later in the week. We found some great seats in the Disney Theater and sat around that same spot the whole week.
After the show, we had a chance to see Minnie. Kaylee LOVED her!!!!
Then after that, we headed into Studio Sea for a fun trivia game, where Carson and I were actually picked out of the audience to play as one of the 4 teams. We were the Green Goofy's. It was fun, even though we totally lost. I think our buzzer was broken!
On our way to dinner at Triton's (one of the three dining rooms), we had time and we passed through the lounge area where they had a great girl boy duo singing and playing guitar and tons of kids were dancing. It didn't take Kaylee long to realize she wanted to join them. And we did this almost every night of the cruise, because Kaylee loved dancing to the music and the fun lights on the floor.
It was really cute to see her dance and keep good rhythm! Dinner was super fun! The kids had their own menu to color on with crayons, and of course the food was amazing! We ordered an appetizer, salad or soup, an entree, and of course dessert. This is by far the best thing about a cruise. You can eat whatever you want because it is included. You don't let price determine what you want to eat....if it sounds good try it! Only one night I ordered something I didn't care for and I was able to order something else instead. Totally awesome!
This was my appetizer, a mushroom tart. It was amazing. I have never had anything like it, but it was SO good, and pretty!
The kids enjoyed ordering an appetizer as well, for them Sunday night it was a fruit cup. And they serve Coke products on board, and unlike other cruise lines, soda is included in the price of the cruise, so you can have as much as you like. And I was happy to see they had not only Sprite, but Sprite Zero. So I enjoyed that quite a bit the whole week! Even Carson ordered Sprite Zero several times. That night though he ordered a lemonade, and our waiter made it a cherry lemonade it and was super good and yummy. Carson ended up having that every night with his dinner!
Every detail of the cruise is thought out by Dinsey. Including how they put ketchup on a plate.
And the shape of the ice cream bars for dessert.
I brought a cute little sign to hang on our door with magnets that said "Happy Halloween" so it would be really easy for the kids to find. (Another fun online blog tip). We saw several fun doors decorated as well!
The kids loved that when we got back to our room our beds were ready for us, including the fun bunk bed, (The kids rotated who slept on the top every other night!) and the awesome towel origami. And the chocolates....mmmmmmm. 
It was an amazing first day. I knew right away this was going to be an amazing week!!!
