MeLaNie9
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2006
Welcome to our first ever cruise trip report! You can see from my signature that we have taken many trips to WDW and more recently, have been on a number of cruises. The boys (12 and 10) and I have completed the DCL Grand Slam. DH has yet to be on the Magic.
Other than the fact that we really enjoy all things Disney (especially STAR WARS), we do have some real reasons for our Disney fanaticism…
Meet our family… We live on the west side of Cleveland and we are all Cleveland born and bred.
Randy (DH) - Stay-at-home dad, has occasionally picked golf trips over Disney cruises. Star Wars and Cleveland sports fanatic.
Mary (Me) - I'm a Neonatologist. I work A LOT. I love vacation time! Star Wars and Cleveland sports fanatic. Last year I saw The Force Awakens 15 times between the release date and when the DVD came out, including as many times as possible on 2 cruises last spring!
Nathan (DS, 12) - In 7th grade; is a foodie, an actor, a singer, and plays basketball and baseball. Star Wars fanatic. He probably knows more about Disney and especially DCL than the rest of us. He LOVES Disney cruises, esp since he has been able to go to Edge. He is the one who really wanted to do this trip report, mostly to report on the food, and is going to be adding his thoughts to the posts in red font. Hi!
Brett (DS, 10) - In 4th grade; plays football, baseball, basketball and runs track. Star Wars and overall sports fanatic. He has a serious dairy allergy which brings us to why so much Disney…we have found WDW and DCL to be just fantastic for him (Disneyland not so much). If we vacation elsewhere, we need a kitchen and I have to cook
We became DVC owners last year on our Spring Break cruise (probably should have done it much sooner). We took advantage and bought an AP this year, first used in Aug 2016 and have stayed at OKW and BWV since with plans to stay at the Poly this Aug. We have yet to figure out DVC and cruises.
How this cruise came about…
I have a tendency to do this every other year: I think, "We don't need to go away for spring break this year. We're good." Then somewhat last minute, I realize that I really do need to get away! 2 years ago I did this and we ended up on the Wonder for Spring Break but then I realize I'd better plan something for the next year and we did a great 7-day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy last year. So this year I was due to think, "We don't need to go way this Spring Break." And I did. And then things played out exactly the same way and last minute we booked this trip and one for next year. I actually booked the cruise and the flights all at once because the flight prices were so cheap for flying out on Easter Sunday morning (embarkation day) and coming back on that Thursday (disembarkation day). This plan was not without concern, flying out on the same day as embarkation day is something we have only done once before and believe me, I was nervous and constantly checking the weather forecast for Easter as we have had snow on Easter in April before.
The itinerary:
Sunday April 16th - Port Canaveral
Monday April 17th - Nassau
Tuesday April 18th - Castaway Cay
Wednesday April 19th - Day at Sea
Thursday April 20th - Port Canaveral
I was super excited for this cruise especially because we would be able to see all the new changes done during dry dock! My parents had tried to keep this trip a surprise. They did not do a good job, as they did for our Magic cruise in 2014. Near the end of March, I broke my fifth metatarsal in my right foot. We were worried because we did not know for sure whether or not I would be out of the boot, and if I was, if I would be able to do things such as swim and run the 5K. I ended up cleared the week before we left to be out of the boot and to swim, but no running.
Other than the fact that we really enjoy all things Disney (especially STAR WARS), we do have some real reasons for our Disney fanaticism…
Meet our family… We live on the west side of Cleveland and we are all Cleveland born and bred.
Randy (DH) - Stay-at-home dad, has occasionally picked golf trips over Disney cruises. Star Wars and Cleveland sports fanatic.
Mary (Me) - I'm a Neonatologist. I work A LOT. I love vacation time! Star Wars and Cleveland sports fanatic. Last year I saw The Force Awakens 15 times between the release date and when the DVD came out, including as many times as possible on 2 cruises last spring!
Nathan (DS, 12) - In 7th grade; is a foodie, an actor, a singer, and plays basketball and baseball. Star Wars fanatic. He probably knows more about Disney and especially DCL than the rest of us. He LOVES Disney cruises, esp since he has been able to go to Edge. He is the one who really wanted to do this trip report, mostly to report on the food, and is going to be adding his thoughts to the posts in red font. Hi!
Brett (DS, 10) - In 4th grade; plays football, baseball, basketball and runs track. Star Wars and overall sports fanatic. He has a serious dairy allergy which brings us to why so much Disney…we have found WDW and DCL to be just fantastic for him (Disneyland not so much). If we vacation elsewhere, we need a kitchen and I have to cook
We became DVC owners last year on our Spring Break cruise (probably should have done it much sooner). We took advantage and bought an AP this year, first used in Aug 2016 and have stayed at OKW and BWV since with plans to stay at the Poly this Aug. We have yet to figure out DVC and cruises.
How this cruise came about…
I have a tendency to do this every other year: I think, "We don't need to go away for spring break this year. We're good." Then somewhat last minute, I realize that I really do need to get away! 2 years ago I did this and we ended up on the Wonder for Spring Break but then I realize I'd better plan something for the next year and we did a great 7-day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy last year. So this year I was due to think, "We don't need to go way this Spring Break." And I did. And then things played out exactly the same way and last minute we booked this trip and one for next year. I actually booked the cruise and the flights all at once because the flight prices were so cheap for flying out on Easter Sunday morning (embarkation day) and coming back on that Thursday (disembarkation day). This plan was not without concern, flying out on the same day as embarkation day is something we have only done once before and believe me, I was nervous and constantly checking the weather forecast for Easter as we have had snow on Easter in April before.
The itinerary:
Sunday April 16th - Port Canaveral
Monday April 17th - Nassau
Tuesday April 18th - Castaway Cay
Wednesday April 19th - Day at Sea
Thursday April 20th - Port Canaveral
I was super excited for this cruise especially because we would be able to see all the new changes done during dry dock! My parents had tried to keep this trip a surprise. They did not do a good job, as they did for our Magic cruise in 2014. Near the end of March, I broke my fifth metatarsal in my right foot. We were worried because we did not know for sure whether or not I would be out of the boot, and if I was, if I would be able to do things such as swim and run the 5K. I ended up cleared the week before we left to be out of the boot and to swim, but no running.