We got on the boat as early as we possibly could, and despite a long line in security and check in, we were among the first people on the boat. I think Heather and I actually exhaled at that point- we finally, officially made it!
We didn't buy the photo package but did grab a shot or two. I think this is the only picture we took of all 12 of us.
We couldn't access our staterooms for the first few hours, so we wandered up to Cabanas- the main buffet on the ship- and enjoyed the least crowded meal we ate on the boat. Everything was delicious and beautiful, and delightfully familiar. That had it's good and bad points- there weren't as many surprises as last time, but everything was just as amazing as we remembered.
It was hard to believe we were actually there! After years of planning and talking and dreaming, we were back! It was almost surreal, and we were thrown right into enjoying it all. Of course, the whole trip went by way too fast, and we tried really hard to enjoy it all.
We went to check out all of the kids clubs, where the kids were happy to spend most of their time. Leah and Savanna were old enough to enjoy the tween club, but they were kind enough to split their time between it and the Oceaneers Club, where Emma and the boys were. There was always a party going on in there, and plenty of crafts, science experiments and screen time options too.
We caught about a hundred different views from these portholes over the next five days.
And finally went to check out our rooms.
We had three rooms- Jason, Adam, Noah and I were in one; Leah, Emma, Savanna and Sarah were in the middle, and Heather, Jarad, Ethan and Emmerson were in the third. Once we had the veranda partitions removed we had our own private walkway between the three rooms, which was perfect for visiting each other without leaving the rooms.
And the verandas had the best views of all.
Once we were all settled in we changed into swimsuits and headed up to the main deck for the sailing away party. That was our first glimpse of Mickey and his friends!
And we said goodbye to Florida as the boat took off. We were finally on our way!
It all felt so surreal- the deck, the Aquaduck, the music- we were dropped right into the heart of so much fun!
There we are! Along with some blue skies!
After the party we hit the pools- and the AquaDuck!
The water was warm, but the air was not. It took some serious mustering up of our will to strip down to our swimsuits and brave the water each day.
The food was amazing and our servers were fabulous (more about them later). The adults sat at one end of the table and the kids at the other, and the Mickey bars were found in abundance! We talked to Crush the Turtle on the screen and watched him swim around the whole busy and full restaurant.
Unfortunately this restaurant was at the back of the boat, which was rocking like crazy by this point. That was not a good start to the trip, but I was prepared! From previous seasick adventures I knew that I was going to want medicine as soon as the boat started rocking, and it really helped. On the downside, it made me super drowsy, so after the wonderful show- The Golden Mickeys- I was exhausted. Thankfully no one else in our family was too affected by the rocking boat.
So no night life party for Mom, and the kids were all looking sleepy and ready for bed too.
Every time we came back into our room it had been transformed- the beds were made during the day then turned down at night with a surprise on the bed every night.
Adam and Noah took turns on the top bunk of the magically appearing bunkbeds, and for the whole trip Noah asked, "Where did my bed go? How did they make it disappear?" We were all enchanted by the rarely seen fairy godmother that kept changing our rooms.
The beds were amazingly comfortable, but there wasn't much time to enjoy them- we had an early start to our island adventure with dolphins waiting for us in the morning!
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