We Can’t Make This a Habit

Well we did it again. After nothing short of a spectacular experience on-board the Disney Fantasy last year (see here) we boarded the amazing ship again for another set of tropical islands and another 7 nights of what we hoped would be a fun, relaxing, excessive, and memorable trip (hint: it was). This time it would be Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and of course Castaway Cay. And this time we would be on the boat for Halloween (on Disney’s Island) and this time the anticipation was even greater among mommy and daddy (we hear the kids were also fairly excited). We hoped that since we are now Castaway Club members (an exclusive membership for those who have cruised with Disney more than once), we would be less overwhelmed and manage our time better on and off the ship (another hint: mostly).

So without (much) further preamble, here is the Chapman trip report (and I promise more brevity than the last one…I am on a 3 hour flight right now on business and promised myself it will be done before I land…on the return trip....on the return trip from our thanksgiving vacation, 3 weeks later).

First important note of the trip, I lost (me: daddy) the camera half-way through the trip. It just floated right out of my pocket while snorkeling in Grand Cayman. Waterproof it was, lost it is. So few to no pictures of Days 1-4 (boo; but a big yeah for my new iPhone for covering the rest of the trip with much higher quality photos and videos).

Day 1 October 24, 2014 (Start: 3:30am in Colorado, End: Late Orlando):

Note: Day 1 really started the night before as all of us stayed up late to watch the Broncos dominate the Chargers. This was a welcome start to the trip and the first night of us telling the kids, “Bedtime? What bedtime?!”

The kids had another countdown calendar going (this time started 25 days out and not 200 like last time). They ripped off day 1 and we rolled out in the dark of morning with our 5 bags (I swore we would keep it to two this time).

As always, the kids looked forward to the airport and were totally helpful through the process. Unfortunately, this time mommy held up the show by failing a hand wipe test (checking for explosives…dear?) with TSA and had to go through a 20 minute shake down as the kids and I watched on (and pointed and laughed).

Nothing else spectacular to report other than enjoying the company of our kids on the plane as they napped, watched shows, talked with us and played (note to our teenage and beyond children: I hope we continue to have the opportunity to travel with you guys, it makes any trip 100x better).

We arrived in beautiful Orlando (which we will never, ever live in) and settled into our in-terminal hotel for an afternoon and evening of airport touring, plane spotting, eating and yes, even swimming. We enjoyed a nice dinner ahead of what was sure to be several more very nice dinners and watched in awe as Molly devoured over $60 of sushi all by her lonesome. A movie before bed and all of us closed our eyes on what felt like the Christmas Eve…but better.

Day 2 October 25, 2014 (Start: 8am Orlando International Airport, End: October 26th very am, somewhere in the Atlantic)

Get on the boat day (that’s embarkation day to those nautically inclined)! No less excitement this time with seeing our bags off and getting in line for the Disney Cruise Line Buses. We got on-board and were literally squirming in our seats with occasional squeals of excitement (Caden and Molly were so embarrassed). They played us all things Disney on the TVs and we kept our eyes on the horizon for the tell-tale funnels of the Disney Fantasy.

As we pulled into port and starred lovingly at the ship as if it was our home after a very long a stressful trip (called life), we saw our room for the first time. This is important because we got SUCH A COOL ROOM! Through no brilliant planning of our own, we ended up with a room in the exact center of the stern (the back to those not nautically inclined…I had to look it up) on deck 7. This is cool because not only do we have well over 180 degrees of unobstructed views, we had a massive veranda with chase loungers, a table and a couple of chairs…a far cry from the nearly standing room only deck of our last room. More on that later with even more pictures to follow.

We got into the terminal, got in line for check-in and immediately met our first friends. A family with a young lady a little older than Caden named Katie who immediately took to our kids. We would see her several more times (almost every day) on this trip with the kids spending hours with her in kids club). We got our Castaway Club lanyards, got the kids their hi-tech bracelets and got on-board a Fantasy (not at all a stretch).

This time, now that we are pros and all, we got on-board with our swimsuits and sunblock applied and hit deck 11 for some swimming and immediate decompressing. It was as if we never left. Everything was familiar, everyone was welcoming and we were once again hatching a plan to stow-away on the boat the following week. Swam, sun-bathed, flagged down a couple of Drinks of the Day (rum), aqua-ducked and enjoyed lunch on the deck (I am deciding right now if I should take this opportunity to discuss the eating experience on the boat or just let it unfold with the story….not yet).

1:30 rolled around and we sprinted off to our room to see how great it really was. This would be the last time we sprinted to the room…being on the aft end of the boat meant it was VERY far away from most things and was an exhausting trek (this was a plus in that because of its remoteness, we are not plus sizes after this trip). The room was all that and more. Laid out inside like we remember and as welcoming as ever with that deck that made us fill like billionaires. Katy expressed some initial disappointment that the room was not as clean as she remembered (Katy is VERY particular about these things, if isn’t to Class V Cleanroom standards she is upset). We met our room host Kavin, a very friendly man from India who was beside himself after Katy mentioned some concern about cleanliness. Fairly certain someone walked the plank (kicked off the boat for those not nautically inclined) after that report as the room was immediately removed from the ship and replaced with a much cleaner one.

Note: Disney Cruise Lines does not tolerate anything less than perfection and go above and beyond to correct anything that falls short of that. We pay a pretty penny for these trips and they spare no expense on this ship from the finishes to the food and even more important, to its people.

Okay so look at that, haven’t even left port yet and this blog is already giving War and Peace a run for its money. Don’t worry, the camera is gone and my memories are fading a bit on details until Day 5.

We tooled around a bit more on the boat, unpacked our entire worldly possessions and made our way up to the Sail Away Party on the upper decks. We danced and sang as the boat pulled out of Port Canaveral with is horns blaring famous Disney tunes and watched the land full of work, school, stress and exhaustion fall into the distance. Some stuff happened after this and before dinner. I think chilling on our deck for the first of many hours and enjoying a view that does not have an equal took up most of it.

Dinner time came and we met our wait staff for the trip. We were disappointed that we did not have the same crew as last time (Cabello, Yuni and Ivo) and disappointed that we had a table to ourselves. Last time we were plunked with another family which at first seemed awkward but turned out to be totally lovely.

Note: I (dad) am not by nature a terribly social person and am happy to stick with my little family on our trips. But something about the cruise atmosphere really makes one (me too) want to meet new people and enjoy time with them. Whether it is dancing, eating or other entertainment, the cruise proves the axiom that there is fun in numbers.

Anyway, back to dinner. This time Yadi from the Dominican Republic, Nolan from the Phillipeans and Barak from Turkey would be taking care of us. Dinner is of course always amazing with multiple courses of the finest food and attention to detail, for everyone. The kids enjoyed it as much as us. The first night they learned about us, our dietary needs (Molly), drink preferences and timing. They would not forget any of this going forward. Molly enjoyed custom, rich and amazing dairy free desserts, the kids were served promptly so they could enjoy late night kids club, and mommy and daddy just enjoyed.

Kids Club! Last time on this boat the kids learned about kids club and enjoyed it in measured amounts with not an over-desire to spend much time there. This time, on the first night, they were gone. Wanted to go on their own and for us to leave them be. There were of course some instances where we had to push for them to go for a bit, but for the most part it was a total win for all involved. Mommy and daddy were left with hours on our hands to find a whole lot of new nothings to do. Again, and you can look back at the previous blog, kids club is an amazing Disney creation for the kids to have a place of their own. Open 18 hours a day with endless activities and interactions, the kids can lose themselves there.

Dinner is over, the kids are playing happily in their club, mommy and daddy are walking the decks and letting go (yes that was a Frozen reference…it came up on occasion). We would turn in near midnight looking forward to the next day of nothing to do but enjoy being way out at sea.

Day 3 October 26, 2014 (Start: am in the Gulf of Mexico, End: am in the Gulf of Mexico)

Without a camera and finally getting to this section a month late, I honestly can’t tell you what happen this day (and really, is it any of your business?!). But it was a day at sea, so rest assured, it was a marvelous day of doing almost nothing and everything, eating too much, swimming, napping all over the place and just general awesome vacation stuff.

I can say (cause I just remembered), Katy and I enjoyed a lovely brunch (at noon) at Palo. Palo is one of two fancy restaurants on the boat outside of the normal eating areas that is for adults only. It was of course spectacular. It was buffet style, with every bit of morning food goodness as you can hope (and pizza and caviar and steaks and whatever else not usually included for breakfast). As an added luxury, we had our own servers FOR the buffet...cause, hey, why should I get my own food?

Oh yeah! One more awesome thing to note: Karaoke. Sucks again I lost the camera cause I video’d this. But we were at the D Lounge (that is the family club for those of you not Disney inclined) watching a bunch of people do karaoke, and who should suddenly decide that they must do this?! In front of a large group of strangers no less? Molly and Caden of course. They stood right up, requested a little Call me Maybe, and sang their hearts out without so much as push from us. Big applause for them...not sure who’s kids they really are...?

Anyway, lucky for you that is all I can remember and that concludes day 3.

Day 4 October 27, 2014 (Start: am pulling into Cozumel, End: am in the Gulf of Mexico)

Okay, first port adventure. I got to say this is a struggle for us. We are stopping at several tropical islands and have every inclination to get off the boat to explore the new places. But at the same time, being on the boat is so relaxing and fun. How do we balance this? We don’t really, we do everything. So we got off at Cozumel for our first adventure: Dolphins! After a long walk through many vendors we took a shuttle to the Dolphenarius resort where they specialize in interactions with dolphins (duh). Better still, it is an all-inclusive resort where we can eat and drink (and drink) all we want.

So we paid for just our kids to have this experience, but oops, our kids are too little so we had to go with them (too bad!). Us along with a few other families walked into a large pool area where we met our dolphin for the day (name escapes me…something Spanish and fishy probably). For the next half-hour the kids gave instructions to, touched, danced with, fed, and even kissed our new friend. Even better (and I thought this was crappy before), our cameras were not allowed during this interaction so we had to buy pictures for $60. Total scam of course, but hey, I at least got pictures!

Another big score was after our marine mammal experience, we got to play some more at the resort (and drink). This included their preserve; sort of a controlled snorkeling area. It was a caged off section of the ocean full of life for us to enjoy. All of us, Molly too, got to swim out and look at all the great sea-life. Molly didn’t take to snorkeling exactly, but she swam way out into the deep with her goggles and loved seeing everything. Caden of course was practically free-diving…he might be a scuba-diver one of these days.

This lasted another hour or so then we made our way back to the boat. So let’s talk about this for a second (or I talk and you listen…or read). There is nothing like the experience of getting back to the boat. We are all sandy and tired and have been out in the sun forever haven’t eaten since breakfast (yeah I know, torture right!?). And there it is, a beautiful vessel (looking WAY nicer than that other cruise line next to us) with its gangways out (ramps for those not nautically inclined), welcome banners ready, flavored water, towel drop off (apparently they lose 600 towels every cruise) and of course sanitizing stations. We stumble in and walk our 2-dots to the room (for you Fit Bitters out there) and feel like we are home again. The room is spotless just before we annihilate it and we can shower off, throw something on and sit on our deck while the kids watch anything their Disney Hearts ™* desire. There is nothing like that experience, our little piece of total comfort and luxury.

*The hearts of Caden and Molly are the official property of Disney and its affiliates. No other use of their hearts is authorized without the expressed permission of DCL (Disney Cruise Lines).

Note: So we were of course admonished by some for taking our family on a cruise during an Ebola “crisis”. Well let’s talk a bit about the handling of germs and cleanliness on the cruise. First, in response to the media frenzy that was the US Ebola outbreak (I say US, I recognize the true epidemic it is in West Africa), Disney sent letters to all interested about the preventative measures they were taking. But no matter, this boat is spotless and nearly antiseptic. Everyone must wipe their hands with disinfecting wipes before entering any meal area or returning to the boat. Every surface is wiped down numerous times a day and the pools are emptied if someone sneezes in them (not really, but there were emptied a number of times this trip for some reason). You can lick soup off the communal bathroom floors and feel comforted knowing that was more sanitary than your silverware at home.

Struggling to remember what happen the rest of the day after we got back on the boat. We rested for several hours in our room and watched as we pulled out of port. We went swimming and ate a late lunch. And, oh yes, Caden got sea-sick again. Poor kid, the boat was moving a lot more on this trip due to lots of storms in South America, but nothing too bad. Caden just takes some time getting his sea legs on. This was after dinner and more playing and after we returned to our room for the evening. He had been complaining of a headache and starting to feel it, so we gave him some medicine, but it was too late. He was in bed and got sick all over his upper bunk (Molly slept through all this…it was midnight I guess). But not a big deal all things considered. His bed was completely cleaned and re-made in less than 5 minutes and he was back in bed. Started to get sick again, caught this one and realized being that high-up wasn’t helping. Short story, daddy slept in the top bunk this night as Caden snuggled in with mommy in the big bed (I was paranoid all night the bed would collapse and crush Molly).

Day 5 October 28, 2014 (Start: am off the shore of Grand Cayman, End: late pm Gulf of Mexico)

A first for us here, Grand Cayman can’t support these big boats so we had to set anchor off the shore and tender in. We had hoped tender meant to take those cool orange capsule boats hanging off the ship, but instead it was unloading at the same place on deck 1 onto waiting local tender boats. Still cool, but does beg the question about when do they use those?

Big adventure planned today well captured on the camera I would lose before we returning to the boat. We took the tender boat to shore, then took a bus ride through Grand Cayman (lots of banks here, strange) to another dock where we loaded a catamaran for a 45 ride out to Rum Point, a nice private beach area. This was a great ride that included a chunk of sailing through the crystal clear waters. We all sat out front on the big nets over the water as it we shot across the bay (atoll? Anyone nautically inclined here that can describe this land formation?). This is the moment I am most frustrated about losing the camera, I had some great pictures here of Caden standing on the edge of the boat with the wind in his hair and the tropics all around him.

We got to Rum Point and found our piece of paradise and enjoyed the water…sort of. Unfortunately for our timing the pre-mentioned storms that caused many stomachs to be unsettled also caused for less than idyllic beaches. Tons of sea-weed and sand was being pushed into the islands which meant snorkeling was a no go and the clear waters were rather murky (but oh so warm). We went out anyway for a bit which led up to the much anticipated loss of the camera (looked, had help, waited, looked…gone). Also enjoyed some lunch on the beach then headed home. It was another pleasant ride back…probably need to come here again when conditions are a bit better. After the boat, bus, boat ride back, we once again hit the room and cleaned up, a lot. Caden and Molly were not at all put off by the seaweed. They swam, played, rolled and dressed-up in it.

After clean-up, we split the genders and did some things separately. The girls headed off to see a live play, Disney Wishes, while the boys hit the movie theater to see Captain America. Totally awesome; we got popcorn, a beer and juice, 3D glasses and watched a cool movie in an epic theater as the boat pulled out of harbor. We would meet up again for another dance party at the Tube ahead of dinner at Animators Palate (truly the best place for families).

Day 6 October 29, 2014 (Start: am backing into Falmouth Jamaica, End: late back in the Gulf)

So we may have missed the boat here (HA!). We didn’t plan anything for Jamaica and we should have. It was so pretty but we just didn’t see anything that we could all do together. So we got up (earlier than we wanted, the boat shakes a LOT when backing-up on the aft end) and took our time around the ship before heading out into the immediate port area. We would buy all our presents and duty free goods here (even though we didn’t see it at all). It was of course pretty, but it was almost like going to the airport in a new place. We tried venturing out past the gates to the real part of town, but that was very uncomfortable for all of us with everyone pushing us to buy their wares and touching our kids. So that ended our stay in Jamaica. We spent the rest of the time on the boat (not an altogether bad thing). The kids did a few hours in the club and mom and dad did a few hours of deck time. Awesome.

The important part of this day however would come later: Pirate Night! A tradition on-board the Disney boats whilst in the Caribbean, where everyone dresses in their pirate worst and dances and celebrates all night long. The night starts with a deck party up top where characters and crew members lead the way for dancing and singing along with an incredible light show (I swear, anywhere, anytime on that boat disco lights can bust out of the walls and confetti can be shot!). This would go on for about an hour before heading to dinner (where all is in the theme of Davy Jones, scallawags, and swash-bucklers). Shortly after, back-up to the deck for the rest of the pirate party (it is about 10pm now). This, is the really cool part. A big show takes place where the ship is boarded by “bad” pirates and our only hope is with none other than Jack Sparrow. The epic fight concludes with the only ship-board fireworks display in all the seven seas. Lasted almost 20 minutes and was quite impressive. It was a great day and a great party.

Day 7 October 30, 2014 (Start: am Gulf of Mexico, End: late Gulf of Mexico)

It’s Halloween! Okay not really. Disney celebrates Halloween the entire month of October and even though the actual Halloween falls on our cruise date, they still celebrated it on this day to prevent any interference with Castaway Cay tomorrow (much appreciated). And as it turns out, still not a big deal. We sort of expected a big to do for the holiday, but instead there was your standard fun and games with a little extra candy to be had (and not much at that--also much appreciated). There would be a performance by the strange tree that was growing Jack-o-Lanterns in the atrium since we left Florida, and some costume contests later for the adults (which we would take a pass on). But all-in-all, it was just another great day on the ship...with Iron Man, Princess Anna, Cruella Deville and her Dalmatian

Oh yes, one more thing. Tonight was mommy and daddy’s special night at Remy. The second and most freakin spectacular of exclusive restaurants on the boat. I spoke of this place last time, so I will be quick. 5 star joint based of the movie Ratatouille (complete with rats hidden everywhere), Michelin star chefs, the finest of setting with everything made in France, food that makes you cry and a wait staff that is so good you might not come home with the date you went there with. Katy and I once again enjoyed a 5 course meal (each different from each other) and added a wine paring to go with it this round (we got to enjoy tastes of wine and champagne from very expensive bottles). It lasted over 3 hours and we would have been happy if it lasted 3 more and costed 3x as much. The kids rocked it at the club the whole time and we settled in for the night and looked and back and saw that it was good.

Day 8 October 31, 2014 (Start: not am enough on Castaway Cay, End: pm too soon heading home)

The big plus of most Disney Caribbean Cruises is the day at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private Island. I spoke of this island last time as well so I will keep it simple. A tropical island with no one but the passengers of the boat and the crew to serve us. Food available to our hearts content (and buckets o’beer for daddy’s content), miles of beaches and snorkeling. Nothing to do but to play for 8 hours in the sun without any hassle or pressure to buy. It is lovely...Katy continues to threaten to stay behind...not without us my dear.

The rest of the evening would be spent catching-up with some Disney characters, seeing a show or two (missing out on night swimming cause of high winds) and a final dinner at animators pallet. Towards the end of the night we went to the main lobby for the Sea ya Real soon party. The characters and staff were all singing and dancing and we look over and Caden is bawling. We ask why and he says “I’m just so sad, I don’t want the cruise to be over it was just soooooo fun.” So what did Mommy do? Rushed upstairs and booked another one...

Day 8 November 1, 2014 (Start: am Cape Canaveral, End: pm Louisville Colorado)

Woke up, ate breakfast, got off the boat, went to the airport, went home...there you happy?! Here are the pictures (click)

Our home away from home...I think it works out to a $25K/month mortgage payment