Last Sunday we flew to Florida to board a Disney cruise ship on Monday. This is Diana playing in the airport before boarding the plane.
Dad, Penny, and Douglas on the plane.
Mom and Diana on the plane.
We improvised to keep the earphones inside Penny's ears.
The kids enjoyed watching movies and eating snacks on the plane.
The Disney bands we used on the ship to open our cabin door, charge things to the credit card, etc.
Penny and Diana in the hotel room the morning of our embarkation.
Douglas, Diana, and Penny about to board the ship.
We decorated our cabin door.
And then we explored the ship. Here we are in the main hall.
Penny in a porthole.
Mom and Dad in a porthole.
Penny and Diana trying out the handwashing stations in the Oceaneer Club.
Penny and Diana standing next to "Disgust" from the movie Inside Out.
Standing next to "Joy" from the movie Inside Out.
More exploring.
Douglas and Penny playing Shuffleboard in the wind. Most of our cruise was cloudy and windy. We spent almost no time in the water. But I didn't have to use sunblock! 😁
Douglas, Diana, and Penny inside our cabin.
We watched some of the NCAA Football National Championship game (Michigan beat Washington) our first night on the ship.
The kids liked having access to every Disney movie ever made.
One of the breakfasts I ate: Mickey waffles.
Playing inside the Hero Zone.
Penny beat me on this one.
Douglas playing air hockey with another boy.
Douglas and Sam playing table shuffleboard.
Sam, Penny, Diana, and Douglas playing foosball.
On the second day of the cruise, Diana visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where she was transformed into Princess Diana. Oh, how she loved the makeup, the nails, the costume, everything! She chose the Belle costume.
Two hours later, it was Penny's turn to be transformed into Princess Penny. She chose the Ariel costume.
With my two princesses in the main hall.
Diana and Penny with Rapunzel.
They also met Minnie.
As you can see, Penny didn't stay in her costume long. Diana spent the entire day in her costume.
Two of our dinners on the cruise were at the Worlds of Marvel Dining Experience.
Douglas and Penny eating Mickey ice cream bars.
Checking out the Top Secret dessert menu.
Each night we returned to our room to find that our room attendant had turned one of the blankets into a fun creature.
Douglas and I met Captain Hook before Pirate Night - the second night.
Diana wanted to meet Belle right after her visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, but the line was way too long. So, she dressed up again the next day and we made sure to arrive early to meet Belle. Diana was very happy!
Diana and Douglas watching a movie (Up) on the top deck of the cruise ship.
We got to watch Disney's newest movie (Wish) on Disney's newest cruise ship (Disney Wish). What a cute movie!
We also watched the live theater productions of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. They were excellent. All three kids laughed a lot during Aladdin.
I'm including this photo in order for you to see the care Diana took to make Baldy, her little stuffed bald eagle, comfortable while we were outside our cabin playing on the cruise ship.
The kids stopped at Minnie's Ice Cream many times throughout the cruise.
Getting ready for the Disney character dance party.
Penny dancing with Pluto.
Penny dancing with Donald Duck.
Sam and I went for a walk around the ship while Douglas was playing in the Hero Zone and the girls were at the Oceaneer Club.
This was one of two times Douglas donned a swimming suit during the cruise, and neither time lasted long. It was too cold to swim with the wind blowing. The temperature out of the water was nice, but not when you're wet.
Dinner at the Marvel room again. Douglas and Penny are about to devour their desserts in this photo.
This was waiting for us in our room when we returned from dinner.
Fireworks show during the pirate dance party.
Penny about to slide down into the Oceaneer Club. Twice Penny and Diana entered the Oceaneer Club with smiles and excitement on their faces, and twice they were picked up in tears. The idea is for parents to drop their children off to participate in various supervised activities while the parents do something else (parents aren't allowed in the club). Unfortunately, because Diana is not quite yet five years old, they would only let her stay with the 3-4 year old group. Penny could stay with Diana's group, but Diana couldn't do things with Penny's group.
This is one of the text messages we received while Penny and Diana were in the Oceaneer Club.
Diana hanging out on the balcony of our cabin.
Douglas, Penny, and Diana on the balcony.
We took the children to visit the front of the ship.
It was very windy that day.
On our way to our final dinner on the cruise, in Arendelle (the Frozen dining experience).
On our way back to our room after dinner.
Douglas and I shared Penny's chocolate milk at breakfast yesterday. We had to be up and off the ship early, because they clean and prep the ship for the weekend cruise.
Once off the ship, we drove 20 minutes north to visit the Kennedy Space Center.
We arrived in time for the playing of the National Anthem, which takes place before the center opens.
Douglas and Sam playing digital air hockey.
Penny and Diana playing in the toddler-only area before any toddlers showed up.
Here are three videos of us going down the rocket slide:
We had a great trip, but it's always nice to come home. Unless you are a child, in which case it's better to stay on vacation eating all the "free" ice cream you want.
Some observations (these are my [Daniel's] opinions):
If you do a Disney cruise, don't do anything after it. Come home and enjoy the memories of the cruise. The Kennedy Space Center was somewhat disappointing after being on a brand-new Disney cruise ship where everything is extremely clean and well-organized, and the staff is amazing.
Disney is very expensive, but you get what you pay for. It's a first-rate experience.
Our room was on Deck 11. Some of the activities and dinners were on Decks 3-5. I enjoyed getting some exercise by taking the stairs up and down throughout the cruise. Penny and Diana often joined me. We would race Douglas as he took the elevator.
I love how international a cruise is. We met people from all over the world. Matija "Mati" Vrbljanin, from Croatia, was the main server for our table at our dinners. Nilo Manzanillo, from the Philippines, was the assistant server. Ramsay Caeiro, from India, was the head server for the different dinner experiences. Nyoman Suryadhi took care of our room every day. I think he is from Indonesia. We met two guys (Fidel and Diego) from Colombia. Diego is from Barranquilla, where I served my church mission. Miranda, from Saint Lucia, transformed Diana into Princess Diana. We also met Precious, a happy lady from South Africa.
It's a small world!
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