AUGUST 27, 2009 - 3 night Cruise
August 25, 2009 - Departure Day
I don't think I slept the whole night, I tossed and turned but the excitement was getting the best of me. I knew we had a long travel day ahead but I just could not fall asleep. I finally caved in and got out of bed at 4:30 AM, walked passed the boys room where they were sleeping so quietly, and thought to myself I can't believe we have the opportunity to head back so soon, I lay in the bed those five months, I dreamed of taking my babies to meet Mickey and the Gang, I just never dreamed in a hundred years that it would be happening so soon.
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I was so energized that morning that I put on a nice big pot of coffee, had a shower, and finished getting ready and started packing the car. I was glad that we decided to drive instead of fly; it would have been insance with all of this plus the boys and the car seats. It was nice knowing that we could keep the boys on schedule, and being able to stop and go when we needed it.
Aaron woke an hour later to see me attempt to lift our huge suitcase into the back of our SUV, he just laughed and said "excited", "excited I said, that is just one word to describe what I am feeling". I really was a pile of emotions hoping for the best, I was excited, nervous , anxious, any word to describe traveling with babies was what I felt. Aaron finally stopped laughing and decided to help finish loading the car. Then he got ready. We were basically ready to leave.
Everything could not be more perfect. Ryder woke up at about 6:30 AM (pretty much on schedule) and Kyran about an half an hour later. We try to put them on a half an hour difference schedule. This was mainly because I was breast-feeding up until Sunday, and only our second day on the bottle, and they had not broken that routine yet.
We were making great time, we pulled out of the drive way at 7:37 AM on the nose, and we were ready to start our adventure. The Boys are excellent in the car, they love it actually and usually just sleep, but they didn't, everytime I turned around I could see them babbling and trying to play with their car seat toys. Were they excited, did I have Disney freaks on my hand. I was talking to them the whole week before about our trip, maybe they did understand, mayed they were excited as much as their mommy and daddy on this adventure. They did finally fall asleep about an hour into the trip, but they did not sleep very long.
We therfore, stopped in Kimball, TN and had breakfast and a feeding at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.
I won't give you the whole run down of our car trip to Ocala, FL but we did stop frequently, as the boys feed about every 3 hrs. or so. The only snap we ran into was around the 2:00 PM, when the boys had enough of being in their car seats and woke up really cranky. We pulled into Perry, Georgia and spend a whole hour and half at a restaurant called A Leta's on the Square, until we knew the boys were content and it was nice that they did not wake again until we were in Ocala.
From there, we checked into our hotel room, sponged bath the boys, let them play on the floor a little bit, fed them and put them to sleep in their pack n' plays.
I was exhausted by 9:00 when Kyran finally fell asleep. I showered and laid down, fell right to sleep, and have no idea what time DH followed but I think it was soon after.
AUGUST 26, 2009 - OCALA, FL
The morning started off with us waking up to two screaming boys, not just one BUT TWO! They are usually very good in the morning (they share a room), they quetly wake-up that you have yo put the monitor to your ear to hear them, but who needs a monitor on this trip when they can scream bloody murder (who knew they had lungs like that). I jumped literally out of bed, I mean literally to see what was happening, but they were both still in the middle on their backs, basically had not moved since we laid them down. As soon, as we picked them up they started quieting down. We were finally able to change and fed them, and soon realized that they probably realized we were not home anymore.
Well we let tem hang out on our bed until they fell asleep again. We did not put them back in their pack n' plays, which meant that we were off to a slower start then yeterday, since someone had to be with the boys while they slept. Aaron ran down to the breakfast and brought it back to the room, which included bacon, eggs, fruit and juice, absolutely delicious.
The boys woke up again around 9:30 AM, and were fed again. At this point, we decided to go ask the front desk if we could spend an extra hour in the room, to let the boys nap again, before we set out on our adventure.
We finally departed the hotel around 1:00 PM, and thought we would check out some of the parks in the area. Well, we did not end up at a park; we ended up at a drag racing museum. I guess, Aaron's breakfast venture he ended up talking to some tourists about this museum, talking about cars with my hubby can have him hooked for hours, I am actually surprised I got breakfast now. While, we some how past it on the highway, and thought we should check it our. It is called Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, the two large buildings hous mny drag race cars, tons of racing items and several old vehicles. It is really is for the car fanatic at heart. I even did some shopping at the gift store, and bought the boys a memorabilia t-shirt.
We were off to Mickey's House (Well sort, of). . . more like his Animal Kingdom Lodge, but first we headed to Wal-Mart, too pick-up some essentials, we had all the stuff we needed for the boys but I wanted to pick up some snacks for us. I also picked up the movie Cars for the boys, I thought it was perfect since the boys loved the Drag Racing Museum (they stayed a wake for the whole thing, and were very intentive listensers while daddy explained every car). I thought it was perfect.
By 3:00 PM, with I just Can't Wait to be King playing in the Car and Aaron singing very loudly (the boys were definately awake), we drove through the gates of WDW, and onward to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were hoping that our hotel room was ready, and that we could order some room service.
I could not have asked for a better day, the boys were happy, just a little whiny, and we were ready for a little glimpse of Disney. So after, we hauled most of our luggage in (just three bags and their stroller), fed the boys, we ordered our late lunch.
The boys were napping nicely on our bed. I was terrified to put them in their pack n' plays, from the wailing I heard this morning. We enjoyed our room service. We were hungry because we ordered a lot: Chilled Shrimp Cocktail, Angus Chuck Cheeseburger and Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich. We also got Kaiser Buns and Fruit Cups to go along with it.
When the boys woke up around 6 PM, we thought we talke a walk around the resort. It was such a lovely evening; we got lots of pictures of the animals, resort and of course the boys. We stopped at Mara on the way back to our room, and got some cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies. Yummy, Yummy, in my tummy. Then it was time for the oys bath, bottle and bed. I really prolonged the bed thing, I was hoping for a good morning / night. That for th firt hour I literally hovered over them to make sure they were at peace. That Aaron literally picked me up and carried me to the balcony to enjoy our cheesecake with the door open of course and baby monitor in hand. We finally caved in for the evening, which was really hard with all the beautiful scenery, but it was the first day of our cruise tomorrow, so I hoped I could sleep.
AUGUST 27, 2009 - PORT CANAVERAL
Woke up around 6:00 AM, I couldn't sleep since I was so excited. When I woke up those someone was missing. . . it was Aaron. I thought where could he be at this time in the morning, so I got up and there on the dresser was a note that said gone to get Mickey Waffles, I will be back soon, love ya. I decided that I would pack some things, and wake up Ryder for his morning bottle, by the time it was Kyran turn for his bottle DH had returned with a Mickey Waffle and bacon for me. He fed Kyran and I joked that he was more excited about getting on the ship then I was. He would never admit it but he really was.
I went for a shower while Aaron finished dressing the boys. When I was done I was surprised to see two giggling Mickey’s waiting for me to go. They looked so adorable, the Mickey ears did not last long but at least I got a few pictures. We wanted to leave before the boys fell back to sleep, so for me that meant it was a ponytail day, because of the rush. Our goal was to make it to the port before their next bottle, so it would be after their morning nap. wish us luck.
We did manage to get the boys, car and ourselves ready by 8:15 AM, and we were off to the port. While, the boys fell asleep about 15 minutes after we left the resort, we did not make it to the terminal before their next feeding. We were about an hour on the road, when Ryder started crying (it sounds more like a holler). Now, we are not the type to make the boys cry and wait for their food, changing, comforting etc., they are just still too young. That we pulled over to the next gas stop (lucky it was not too far away), I comforted my poor child, while Aaron got the bottles warmed-up and I fed Ryder, and DH woke Kyran up and fed him. When everyone was content again, we were off. We did not make bad time; at all we got to the terminal around 10:30 AM. (I think DH was speeding a little).
Aaron dropped us off, while he went to park the car. We decided to leave the stroller behind, and just bring their carriers (just in case we decided to go into Nassau), and car seats (I need to build arm muscle). He arrived about 15 minutes later, and we were ready to check-in the terminal was about half full, and we could see that Goofy and Mickey had already made appearance, and that we were going to miss them before boarding (awwww), but I was ok with it as long as my boys were happy.
I should mention that are boys were asleep through this whole process, even with the noise that was starting to build. It must have been from all that crying (my poor little one). Anyways, after checking in we just sat back a relaxed (that’s what this trip is about right), and waited for them to start boarding. We did not have to wait too long; they started boarding around 11:35 AM. We had a little bit of a wait but we were on the boat by about 12:15 PM. The boys were finally starting wake-up. I should mention that the picture at beginning is probably the worst family photo to date. The boys were a little fussy, I look like I had not slept in ages, and DH looked like his quirky self (I should note that we did not buy it).
We headed straight to Parrot Cay, in hopes that they would heat up a couple of bottles for us, which they did (I knew they would why was I hoping). We fed the boys (their first lunch on the boat). Had a lovely meal ourselves, and headed to Deck 9 to check-out the pools. We knew we would not be spending a lot of time there (and no time actually in the pool), but we wanted to check out how busy it was and take the boys for tour.
We decided to just relax poolside and listen to some poolside Jams. The boys were quite content. That DH said he wanted to go check something out. He returned fifteen minutes later, with a Bahama Mama for me. It was actually my first drink in over a year, since I was pregnant and breastfed the boys. He said it was a perfect way to start off this trip, and the drink had the perfect name for me. He is such a sweetie!!!!
It was about 3:00 PM, when we decided that it would be best if we went to check to see if our room was ready, and sure it was, and on a happier note our luggage had arrived also. Well DH fed the boys, I started unpacking our luggage. Then it was time to prep the boys for the Mandatory Boat Drill at 4:00 PM.
Well, this ended up being a chore and a half. The boys get these jacket type vests (sleeves and all to wear). Well they did not like the jacket one little bit. We got Kyran’s on him, starts crying bloody murder, and he is the easier to please child out of the two. Then it was Ryder’s turn. Oh my god…. I feel sorry who ever was in the room next to us. They must have thought we were strangling our children. Well DH, who is the better calm one in these situations, decided that it would be better to take them off the boys, then to carry two screaming children down the hall. We did not want to ruin the magic for everyone now. We brought their life jackets with us.
Our cast member that greeted us was fantastic. She understood our frustrations, and just asked us if we knew how to put their life jackets on. She was sooooo amazing. She really helped calm the mommy’s nerves, of perfection, and also, a thank you, to my wonderful husband who puts up with my needs of perfection.
We decided to skip the Adventures Away Party, and test the boys with a nap in their Pack n’ Play. We had seen the Adventures Away Party so many times; it was not a big deal. Sleep was more important and we could watch us sail away from our verandah. The boys fell asleep by 4:45 PM, which was nice. DH ran and got us some drinks (soda), and I opened a bag of gummy worms that I bought a Wal-Mart, and we watched us sail away from Port Canaveral at 5:00 PM. I secretly hoped for smooth sailing from here on in, without these random outburst, that I was soooo not familiar with.
Well the boys woke up around 5:30 PM. I was a little concerned that they did not sleep for more than a hour, like they are custom too, during this Nap time, but they seemed happy and content. We decided to do some risky business from here. We had late dinner seating, so we thought we would take them to their first Disney Show. The Golden Mickey’s.
Now let me say this, we have not been on a 3 day cruise in probably 7 years, it was weird not getting all dressed up to see the show. It was great none the less, and amazingly enough the boys stayed up for the whole show. I think Kyran was even trying to applaud when Tarzan came on; they were such a delight to watch. I think I watched them more then I watch the show. They even laughed (or it was gas) when Terk came on.
The show finished around 7 PM, which was perfect timing. We headed back to our room to get the boys ready for bed. We had late dining, and we debated a lot whether we would be attending. We knew that we could use Flounder’s all three days that we were there (on the 3 day cruise you can make reservations after 6 PM on embarkation day). We came to the decision that since we had late dining we would reserve Flounder’s from 7:45 PM to 9:45 PM, each night. Therefore, we could bathe the boys in our room, and then head over to Flounder’s for their bottle and put them to sleep in one of the cribs, and then pick them up when dinner was done. It was our compromise, since other then us, grandparents, aunts and uncles have never put them to sleep, this way it calmed the mommy anxiety, but we would still have a little bit of alone time.
We got back to the room, bathed the boys, got their bottles ready, and headed over to the Nursery. Just to let everyone know that if you have bottles that you like to warm up, you either have to get a cast member to warm it up or you can take it over Flounder’s and use the bottle heaters. We got to Flounder’s around 7:30 PM, met the wonderful staff there and introduced the boys. DH dealt with getting the pager set up, while we laid the boys down on a blanket to look around and heat up the bottles. They have a quiet area in the back of the Nursery with cribs and rocking chairs . While DH explained that the boys usually go to sleep around 8:30 PM, we were hoping they would fall asleep before we leave, and that if they did wake up for any reason, to call us. If you could tell we were trying to put them asleep a little bit earlier.
Ryder fell asleep after 2 ounces of his bottle; it was all the excitement I guess. Kyran after 5 ounces, he was still restless. DH walked around with him for a little bit, until he almost passed out, then we laid him down and he would wake up. We left him in the crib, he was not really fussy. Went to look around a little bit of the Nursery, and when we came back he was sleeping. Whoooooo!!! Off we went to Animator’s Palate, and the whole while I debated again with DH about leaving them there.
So we had Animator’s Palate tonight, with the Golden Mickey Show. It felt odd, really odd. I’m one of the girls that love to get dressed up, do my hair, etc. I have not had a lot time for the extra girlie stuff lately with the boys. I’m not complaining, but when you have done a cruise every year, and you get to have Golden Mickey Formal Night, with the award show to follow (we usually have early seating), this just felt really off, and that was our topic of conversation for the evening at our table.
Second of all, we are not used to having tablemates; there are usually at least six of us, sometimes even more traveling with us, so we usually fill a table. We met our tablemates that evening, they were a young couple with four year old twin daughters (I wonder if Disney did that on purpose). We actually found out that we have a lot in common, this was their third Disney cruise, and were using it as quick getaway, since the husband had been busy working all summer, and they had not had a chance to go anywhere. They were a delight, and their girls were so polite. While dinner was absolutely perfect.
Aaron and I never order our own meals, we pick what we like on the menu and share, and therefore we always ask our server for two extra plates, to enjoy. Our dinner looked a little like this:
My Drink: True Colors: Captain Morgan, Crème de Banana, and Orange Juice topped with Strawberry puree – absolutely delicious.
DH Drink: Renissance: Absolut Vodka, Triple Sec, Rasperry Puree, Lime Juice and Sparkling Wine – it was a little bitter for my taste, but DH loved it.
Our Dinner:
Appetizer:
Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist (served with Parmigiano-Raggiano and Black truffle oil) – anything with Mushrooms I love.
Soup:
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (garnished with Chives and drizzled with Sour Cream) – not a big soup person, but it was good none the less.
Feature Selection:
Spicy Potato and Pea Samoses (with Mango-Mint Chickpeas and a Tamarinal Sauce) - it was ok, DH loves spicy food, me not so much, but I loved the Mango-Mint Chickpeas with it.
Fragnant Five-Spiced Fish (Sauteed White Fish Fillets with a classic Chinese Five Spice sauce over Baby Bok Choy) – absolutely delicious cooked to perfection.
Dessert:
Animator’s Sweet Temptations: (a trio of strawberry sable, cranberry and orange cheesecake, and double-fudge Chocolate cake). – nice idea to offer a trio, when there are so many things to choose from.
Ice-Cream Sundae (Chocolate and Strawberry Ice Cream, with Date and Walnut Cake) – I am an ice cream oholic, I ate it non stop throughout my pregnancy, could not resist.
We also asked our lovely server, if we could have a Strawberry Sable (with Passion Fruit Cream) and Buckled Warm Apple Crumble to take back to our room, he was happy to obliged.
It was about 9:30 PM, when we finished our meals; our pager did not go off, meaning the boys did not wake up. We said good night to our table mates, and headed back to Flounder’s to pick up our precious cargo.
We found them sleeping right where we left them, and a wonderful cast member (her name escapes me at this moment), was sitting nearby in a chair. You don’t know have her so close really calmed my nerves, for the next two nights while they were there. The staff there was wonderful. Words can not describe how special they made this trip for me.
We slowly carried the boys back to our room, they did not make a peep, placed them in their cribs, I watched them for about 15 minutes, then decided I should shower and get ready for bed.
When I got out of the shower I noticed DH eating the Apple Crumble in the living room, I was so jealous, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a fork, ran back, jumped beside him and dug in quickly before he ate it all. The Jungle Book was playing on the TV, we finished the Crumble. I made him promise to save the Sable for tomorrow. We relaxed on the couch until the Jungle Book was over at 11:30 PM, and made our way to bed, because 5:30 was going to come soon enough, and we did not want to miss a single adventure in Nassau.
AUGUST 28, 2009 - Nassau
The morning started at 6:00 AM, like it does most mornings, except that I am on a moving ship, and not in the comfort of my bed. The first thing I do every morning, is I check on the boys, even those I have a baby monitor next to me, they were sleeping like little angels. Then the next step, is to make the morning bottles, off to the kitchen I go, made their bottles. Then I quietly change into my sweat pants and t-shirt throw my hair up, and quietly go wake-up Aaron.
NOT, I jumped on the bed right next to him, and shut as loudly as I am, guess where we are. I kiss and him and he eventually gets up. I decided that I would walk to Flounder’s Warm-Up the bottles, since I had all this energy so early in the morning (I am usually not a morning person, before the boys we used to sleep till 10:00 every morning). The walk did not last very long, five steps out our door I saw our Room Service guy and he nicely heated the bottles for me.
Back in the room, the boys were stirring, and up they were. The bottles were back in the room by 6:30 AM, Aaron fed Ryder, while I took a shower and got ready for the day, and he did it vice versa while I fed Kyran.
The boys were done their feedings, and we were ready to start our day when Room Service arrived at 7:30 AM. Perfect timing, so while the boys had some tummy time in the living room, we ate our delicious room service (including fruit, croissants, toast, and to top it off chocolate milk.) I decided to have a caffeine free pregnancy, so this was a first in a long time, ohhh how I missed you.
After breakfast and tummy time, it was nap time again, and since they were doing so well in these pack n’ plays, they slept in there. We enjoyed some time out on the balcony. It was a nice day out, just a few a clouds in the sky. This is never a long nap for the boys, but when Aaron is at work in the morning, it allows me to get ready for the day. The ship was not schedule to arrive in Nassau until 10:00 AM, but it did not concern us too much, because this was a leisurely trip, and the boys were the ones to lead our schedule (at least, they have been pretty much on their home schedule).
They woke again, at 9:15 AM, in time for another bottle which Aaron nicely got prepared for them, and he even brought back some Mickey Waffles and Bacon. Can you see the pattern yet? I love my Mickey Waffles. The boys lay down again at 10:30 AM, and we just hung out in the room, played some cards, watched Sleeping Beauty (DH least favorite Disney Movie), and ate that delicious Sable.
By the time the boys woke up for their third bottle of the day, had decided what we were going to do today. We had decided we would get off the ship and tour Nassau for a little while. It would be the first time the boys would be out of the country, and there was not much we could do with them on the ship, so I pulled out their carriers loaded Ryder into Aaron and Kyran into mine, and we were off, to explore Nassau on our own.
Our Nassau Adventure started right off the pier, or Prince George Wharf (that is where the ship ports), now when departing to Nassau make sure to bring Photo-ID security is tight on these wharf’s these days. Now Nassau is reasonably safe, if you have never been to Nassau before the busy streets can be really intimidating, with many locals hustling aggressively, if you walk a few streets in the streets do empty, and as long as you have a companion you will be safe. I recommend that you do bring a few extra dollars cash with you just in case you do have to ask someone for directions. There are a lot of panhandlers that may offer services as “tour guides” just be firm with them and don’t get sucked in.
The first thing we did was pick-up a free tourist map which our distributed on the Wharf. From there we left the Wharf and turned right onto Bay St. We spent some time looking at the shops up the streets; we found them to be a little overpriced and nothing that we could not buy at home. They did of course have the usual touristy souvenirs such as ash trays, glasses, t-shirts, towels and sun-wear. We did not buy anything and did not spend a lot of time in the shops (Aaron is not a shopper; therefore he was quite pleased to keep moving along).
At the corner of Bay St and George St. (keeping going straight on Bay St) is the famous (or infamous) Straw Market. Now if you are going to spend some time shopping this is the place to do it. The Straw Market has some lovely items including lots of t-shirts, knock off purses, kitschy tourist items and many other things a tourist would buy in the heat of the moment. There were a lot of purses there that day; I mean a lot of purses, that I was actually sucked in a bought one. There are also a lot of copy cat straw items (hence the name) but it appeared to be locally made, there were some vendors adding little cut out decorations to the front of some of the items, if that counts.
The reality of this place those, is that these vendors are trying to make a living off of the cruise ship, so therefore they are very, very pushy. You either love it or hate it. If you are not used to aggressively bargaining or dealing with outdoor type vendors, the atmosphere of the straw market, where the vendors are extremely aggressive, will make you feel very uncomfortable. You are expected to bargain, and if you don’t like doing that, you won’t enjoy the experience.
With Aaron being the youngest of 5, he is so into the bargaining stuff that we actually walked away with a purse, two t-shirts for the boys, and a set of straw coasters for about $40.00. Without him I would have probably spent about $150.00 on this stuff. (I am an only child). I enjoyed watching Kyran look at all the stuff that was going on that was my excitement.
Side Note for Beach lovers: If you keep following Bay St. west to the beaches of Western Esplanade and the seafood vendors of Arawak Cay.
We turned left up George St. to our next stop which was Christ Church. This beautiful Cathedral in simple Gothic style and square tower was started in 1837 and consecrated in 1845. The interior has a fine set of stained glass windows, an impressive organ (which Aaron was amazed by, he loves to play the piano), and a mahogany ceiling. If you check out the memorial plaques from the 1800s documenting the life histories of local residents and their death in shipwreck, of yellow fever, etc. Amazing.
Right across from the church is Pirates Museum, which if you have young kids (not as young as ours), will love it, but you will have to explain these are real pirates not disney pirates. It is a interactive museum that actually gives you factual information on Pirates of the Indies their backgrounds and lifestyles. Also if you need a break like we did by now there is good food in the cool courtyard and this is one gift shop you do not want to miss out on, we bought these boys these cute onesies… too bad they will be sleeping through the party, I actually bought like all the sizes they had available for them, they will come in handy with all our pirate adventures. The staff at the museum is outstanding, they were helpful, friendly and knowledgeable and did their best to promote the hospitality of Nassau and the Bahamas, and I am talking about all staff from the greeters to the sale assistants and especially the Managers.
After the pirate museum, we kept following George St to the end, and peer through the gates of the Government House (you can’t actually go in). Then turned left again, cross Market St., and made our way uphill on winding Peck Slope to Hill St. for a commanding view of the port. Follow Hill St to its end, turn right on East St. to Prison Lane, and follow the lane up to the Water Tower and Fort Fincastle. You will get some wonderful pictures and views from up there. We actually took the boys out of their carriers and got some nice family pictures. The View is gorgeous. Now you exit via, the remarkable Queen Staircase which is a large staircase carved from stone, built from slave labor. I would recommend if you do want to visit the Fort and Stair case that you do it during the day and with someone, even with Aaron who is one of the most extraverted person I know, we felt a little skeptical and the place appears a little bit dodgy.
At the bottom of the Queen’s Staircase there is a small “straw market” where the vendors seemed a lot friendlier then the ones at the famous Straw Market. There was a man with a truck full of fresh coconuts and he would make you a very refreshing drink either with or without alcohol. I had without alcohol and DH had his with alcohol, I actually preferred it with alcohol I can’t explain it but it just tasted better.
From there is was getting time for the boys next bottle, so we decided it would be wise to head back to the ship, After the staircase, we followed Elizabeth St. down the hill. Turn left onto Shirley St., then right onto Parliament St. to view the Library (Old Jail) and the statue of Queen Victoria in Parliament Square (we walked by it, we were crunched for time). From there, it’s a short walk back to the wharf.
I could not believe the boys stayed up for the whole journey of Nassau, and that we actually made it. They were laughing and giggling, blowing bubbles, it was actually a nice experience for us. Even those, they will never remember it, we will, and I filled a whole memory card (1000 pictures) just in this day alone that I will have the memories to cherish for a life time.
On our walk back to the ship, we decided that we would give the boys their next bottle on Deck 10, the view from Deck 10 is outstanding. We stopped in to our room quickly grabbed their bottles, went to the Nursery let the boys play a little on the floor while the bottles heated up, and then headed to Deck 10. We found a spot with a nice view, of the Water Tower at the top of the hill. You can also see the towering Atlantis resort on Paradise Island and the arching bridge to Paradise Point.
I was relieved and exhausted that our day was going so well, there was no real whining, the boys were content, happy and smiling (or gas). That I was starting to wish the trip was longer. I think it was at that precise moment that I knew we were going to be perfectly fine with a 7-day trip and even longer. That I actually started discussing future trips with Aaron, and he agreed. After Ryder and Kyran were done their bottles, I think we sat there for another fifteen minutes taking in the panorama view, I think I actually fell asleep on Aaron shoulder, until he mentioned that Stitch was doing a meet & greet, and we should take advantage of it to get the boys with some of the characters, since they were in such a good mood and we had bought the $269.00 dollar Photo CD (which gives us all the proofs of the pictures that Disney takes). Our first meet & greet was with Stitch, up on Deck 5. The boys loved his blue fur, Kyran kept doing a reaching thing with his arm, for stitch hold him. Stitch was amazing with the boys, interacting with them and touching them, the photos our funny, but sweet none the less. We also, went and got pictures with Pluto, now out of all the Disney characters Pluto is my favorite. I have a picture of Pluto with every Disney trip I have been on since I was 5 yrs. Old. I could create a timeline of 20 yrs. With Pluto and I. Pluto was hilarious with the boys, trying to make them giggle. He quickly stopped those when Ryder accidentally spit on his Nose. We actually got a really good family picture with Pluto, I was pleased. I was actually quite surprised also, how well the characters actually interacted with babies, they were amazing, and I was impressed.
After Pluto, the boys started fussy which meant it was nap time. Mommy was getting a little cranky too, so she thought it was best if they all lie down too. Aaron on the other hand is not a napper, in all the years I have known him I never remember him taking a nap. I remember him arguing with his mom when he was younger to lie down during the day, but he use to win those battles. Therefore, while the boys and I slept, he decided to tour some of the boat and see what was happening. I tell you what he did during that hour a little later, it will make more sense.
I woke up about an hour later, a little more refreshed. Aaron was in the living room watching the Lion King (his favorite Disney movie). The boys woke soon after, and we decided since the boys did so well in the Golden Mickeys that we would adventure to go see Toy Story the Musical, since we were obviously going to miss the Pirate Party.
Well, they did okay, not as great as the Golden Mickey. They were a little squirmy, and decided to practice their talking and gurgling skills (aka it was a little more of a whine), if we did not hold them a certain way. Just for example, Kiyan decided he wanted to be held to look over DH shoulders, so he basically watched the people behind him more then the show. I think the people behind us watched him more then they watched the show also, so maybe it was a win, win, situation. We actually had not seen Toy Story the Musical in a long time, since we usually cruise on the Magic, so it was refreshing to see a show we had not seen in a while. It was good none the less.
After the show, it was time for the boys to get ready for bed and head to the nursery so we could go for Dinner at Parrot Cay. It was Pirate Night, but with the traditional rotation menus. I would say about 25% people were dressed up for pirate night if that. Again it really did not hit me that it was pirate night, except that I did put the boys in their pirate onesies that I bought at the pirate museum today (the cast members at the nursery could not stop laughing about them). I almost feel that Disney tries to cram too much activities into the 3 day cruise, that everything becomes miss mashed, and nothing flows properly. If that makes senses, coming from someone who usually travels on 7 & up day cruises.
Well, our tablemates were not there tonight, so it was just Aaron and I tonight, which was long over due. We usually have a date night once a week, but Aaron is in transition right now with work, so things have been a little hectic at home, so they have been cut back, to family times more then date nights, another reason why it was good for us to get away.
Here is what we had for supper:
My Drink:
Banana Caribe – Myers Rum, Fresh Banana, Pineapple juice, and Coconut Cream (Nice and sweet)
DH Drink:
Blue Margarita – Tequila, Blue Curacao, Lime Juice, and Sugar Syrup (Delicious if you like Tequila (I don’t)
Our supper:
Appetizer: St. Marteen Stack – Grilled Calabaza and Mozzarella with Tomato and Basil Vinaigrette (It was okay, nothing special).
Soup & Salad: Cold Cream of Mango and Papaya – Flovored with Passion Fruit. (I highly recommend it).
Feature Selection:
Island Spiced Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef – Topped with handmade spiced Butter, Corn on the Cob and Double – baked potato (this was nothing special, just to us it was a regular beef dish. The beef was while cooked).
Pan – Seared Grouper – with Baby Shrimp Lemon Butter served with a Saffron-Herb Basmati Rice and Snow Peas (I almost order another one of these because DH ate most of the Shrimp on me. I highly recommend this if you like Shrimp).
Dessert:
Parrot Cay’s Sweet Temptations – A Trio of Crème Brulee Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate S’More Vanilla Cake (gotta love the trio)
Ice Cream Sundae – Double Fudge Bar and Cookies, topped with Whipped Cream and Chocolate sauce
Tonight we only took one Dessert back to the room and it was the French Toast Banana Bread and DH promised he would not eat it on me. We actually promised each other, we would have it with breakfast tomorrow.
While the food was okay, Parrot Cay is not my favorite menu, but it has some good qualities none the less. DH actually had a surprise for me, as I was scarfing down my delicious sundae that I refused to share with anyone. On his little adventure alone this afternoon, he headed over to Guest Services, to see if it was possible to get the room, we always stay in when we cruise (it actually does not matter which family member cruises, this is the room we always use, no matter what). He did not think that it was possible so late in the game, but he thought we would check it out. He was amazed and I am amazed as I write this that it was, so he did not hesitate for a moment it must have been a sign as he would explain it, that we were meant to go on the cruise that we took for our honeymoon. I was ecstatic to be heading back to Europe, it was one our favorite all time cruise, and I am so glad that we are doing it again. I was absolutely speechless, when he handed me the conformation paper. I could not believe it, how could it be possible, that cruise was a little over a year a way, I thought it would be full or our room would be gone, but it is confirmed I get to travel with Mickey again to Europe. Yippeeee! I have the best DH in the World! I say that 500 times a day, I really do. I was so excited I wanted to run back to the nursery and tell the boys all about it (of course I didn’t, like they would understand), but I was literally on cloud nine that night. It still really won’t hit me until I start the hard core planning that we are going (and we have so many trips before it). I can’t believe it. Okay I will shut up now (that’s what my mom was thinking when we got home).
Well, I was on cloud nine, if you did not already know. We finished dinner around 9:30 PM, and headed to pick-up the boys, who were sleeping ever so nicely. The CMs in Flounder’s said they have had know problems with them, I was glad.
We headed back to the room, I was so excited that I could not sleep; we decided to have some champagne, and celebrate another adventure that waits for us. We had it on the verandah as we could hear the fireworks from the Pirate Party going off. We could not really see them, but it was such a peaceful night, that I could not believe that tomorrow was Castaway Cay, then we were headed back home. I went to check on my little ones, who looked so peaceful, not knowing the exciting adventures that wait them in the near future. I was glad we did not miss this trip, and glad they were enjoying it as much as us. Off to bed we went around 11:00 PM, because our favorite island would be appearing soon.
AUGUST 29, 2009 - CASTAWAY CAY
This morning started like any other morning, I was the first one up, while all my boys continued to sleep, and I quickly stepped in the shower, and got the boys bottles ready and heated. Aaron soon woke (surprisingly) around 6:15 AM, and the boys followed suit around 6:30 AM. Bottles were already back by the time they woke, and I happily fed Ryder, while DH fed Kyran in the living room. Today was Castaway Cay Day, my favorite day in the whole world, and it would be the boys first experience at a beach (could it not be better that it is with a Disney Cruise).
You dock at Castaway Cay, around 8:30 AM, and you can shortly depart the boat soon after. Unfortunately with the boys sleep schedule we would not be able to visit the island until about noon, also when the sun is the hottest, so it would be short visit, but hoping for a great experience.
We lounged out in the room all morning, while the boys slept and fed. We enjoyed our room service breakfast, and of course Aaron snuck out and brought me back some Mickey Waffles and Bacon (yummy). We got ourselves ready for the day, and decided to take this lazy morning and begin the tedious task of packing. When the boys got up around 12:15 PM, we got them all decked out in their swim wear, and we were off to the island.
Our first stop was to the Post Office, to send Auntie Leslie a big THANK YOU, post card, for a wonderful trip, and to tell her we can’t wait to cruise with her in December (She lives in another state then us, so we won’t see her until then, it is our Christmas visit together).
Before we ventured, the sand or the water we decided to take a nice stroll up the path. We took our time enjoying the weather and scenery. We passed the gazebo and noticed that Lilo and Stitch were there teaching people (mostly kids), how to do the hula. The boys just loved it, they were flapping their arms, and smiling. I think they remembered Stitch from before, because they kept leaning forward. I don’t know who was more entertaining the boys, or the actually hula dancers.
From there we headed to the Family Beach, it actually was not overly crowded I was surprised. I guess that being around 1:30 PM, some of the kids and their parents were doing other activities or were back on the ship already. Well our first experience with sand was not a success. They did not do badly with the sitting in it, but they are in a drooling / putting fingers in mouth stage, so every time, they put their hand in the sand, the sand got wet, which was fine, but they also then try to stick their hand in their mouth, which was not good. Maybe they were trying to tell me that it is time to start them on some real food, I don’t know. The water was much better, they liked having the wave splash up on to them. We sat with them right on the edge and let the water come up to them. It was so much fun to watch their faces. Well we sat there, I dreamt of the sand castles we will make, and all the fun we will have on the beach.
I was starving, at this point, so we headed to grab some hotdogs and French fries, and sat in a covered seating area to get out of the sun. During lunch, we looked at our Castaways Cay Navigator to see if there were any special activities we would all enjoy. I saw that they were having a Free Throw Competition at Grouper Pavilion. I begged and pleaded for Aaron to join (he finely caved). Aaron is a big basketball fan, which some might find out since he is only 5’10” tall, but growing up he had a big fascination with Shaq, and we together spent many parts of our teenage years at basketball courts in our neighborhood. It was at that moment I realized I had not seen him shoot in years (we even have a hoop in our backyard that him and his brother or friends use to play around to get a workout). Anyways, I thought it would be a nice way to conclude our visit to Castaway Cay. To let the boys cheer on their daddy, and I get to remember the good old days. He still impresses me to this day, with his basketball skills.
The boys were getting fussy after the game, which makes sense because it was time for another feeding. We slowly made our way back to the ship. There was one thing I did want to do to conclude this adventure at Castaway Cay. I wanted to start a tradition, since we cruise every year with Disney (and always make sure we have a Castaway Cay day), I wanted to get a picture of the boys with the painted rocks of Mickey, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. I thought it would be a great memorabilia to have as the boys grow up. Since we are here with them at 3mths, Dec. will be 6mths, and the Transatlantic will be 15mths. While, it was a battle but we got one good picture. They were really cranky by the time we got back on the boat, it was really hard to settle them down, and Aarpm had to go searching for someone to heat up the bottles. That would have been the first time, that I really felt that not having a microwave in the room, was a big inconvenience that something so little became such a big deal. The boys did not get their bottles till about 4:00 PM, which was about an hour after the time they usually have one. Kyran did not even have half his bottle; he fell asleep well drinking it. Which would throw off his schedule completely, I knew it as soon as he woke up.
Ryder had finished his bottle, so he slept till about 5:45 PM. Kyran on the other hand, slept till about 5:15 PM, then he woke up hungry. I fed him but he did not fall asleep again. I was really worried about tonight. I should have known.
We did adventure to go see tonight’s production of Disney Dreams, I ended up seeing the whole thing with Ryder, but DH left about 2 minutes into the show. I only stayed because Aaron insisted and Ryder was being so well behaved. If you listen to the first part of the Disney Dream that I have linked, hear that baby well Kyran was about 10 times louder then that baby (Sorry to all that were there). I hoped DH would return, but he never did. We returned to our room after to show, to find Kieran playing with DH on the floor. He actually looked a lot happier and content.
Disney Dreams is by far the best Production out of the three. It would be on my do not miss list, if we ever get the opportunity to see it again.
Tonight, dinner was at Triton’s, a place we have not eaten at in years. I was very excited to go, but also quite concerned because of Kyran. He seemed happy now, but he was creating his own schedule, and he would be getting tired again soon too, because of his short nap. While, DH got Ryder bathed and ready for bed, he left me to ponder of what to do. It did not bother him either way if we went or not. He said it might be fun to actually have room service, and eat at the dining room table, that we hardly ever use. I thought about that, I thought about the Flounder’s Nursery and how we would not give them enough notice to cancel, and our servers and how I would miss saying goodbye. Anyways, all this pondering at the end lead up to Just Go, if there is a problem you know they will just page you. We are planning to have a dinner at the table on the next trip.
Dinner was dress up optional, I just had a nice olive green dress on and DH just wore khaki pants and a nice top. Most people were still in Cruise Casual. It was actually nice to get a little dressed up. We headed to the nursery around 7:30 PM. Can you guess it Kyran was cranky, my poor child, routines are so important at this age. (Well, note to self on next cruise do annual picture first). The CM’s were amazing with him, while we got their bottles ready and Ryder played (Kyran crying did not bother him surprisingly), the CMs walked around with him, talked with him, showed him toys, tried playing a little. That even those he was grinning, instead of smiling I was okay to leave him (remember I said okay, I am still a mommy with fears). The bottles were ready the boys were semi happy, and we were off to the quiet area. I think I thanked her so many times, it was unbelievable. Kyran finished his bottle and went out like a light. I kissed his little forehead, and wait patiently for Ryder to fall asleep.
We left for Triton’s it was when we were walking through the restaurant I realized that I had forgot my camera up in the room, I was sorry I was going to miss pictures of this restaurant, but I was too lazy to go back. Aarpm said he would, but I insisted it was okay.
Triton’s is similar to Lumiere’s except it has a little mermaid theme, the food was good, and the surrounding were nice. We were without tablemates again, which was fine by us.
We had:
My Drink: The Imagination: Baileys Irish Cream, Tia Maria, Vanilla Ice Cream, dash Grenadine – loved the ice cream in this drink
DH Drink: The Royal – Sparking wine, Crème de Cassis and Peach Schnapps – disgusting (DH thought it was okay).
Appetizer: “Gaston’s” Escargots Gratines – Herb-marinated Snails with Finely Chopped Mushrooms, topped with Garlic Butter (If you like escargot, this is delicious)
Soup: “Mrs. Potts” French Onion Soup – with Gruyere Cheese Crouton (very traditional tasting)
Main Course: Slowly Braised Lamb Shank – with a Creamy Polenta and Portobello Mushroom in a Red Wine Sauce (It was not bad)
Three-Cheese Lobster Macaroni – Lobster Meat, Gruyere, and Cheddar Cheese Sauce tossed with Tubular Pasta and topped with a Parmesan Wafer (I heard a lot about this dish on the boards and had to try it out, surprisingly it is quite good, everything goes together quite nicely, if you are adventurous I think you should try.
Desserts: Lumiere’s Sweet Temptations – A Trio of Crème Brulee, Chocolate Mousse and Praline Petite Choux (how can you go wrong)
Ice Cream Sundae – Served with Vanilla Ice-Cream, Praline Petite Choux, Chocolate sauce and Hazelnut Croquant (how can you go wrong with a sundae)
Grand Marnier Souffle – with Vanilla Sauce (can’t comment DH ate the whole thing)
We brought back the Brioched and Pannetone Pudding to our room, because we decided we would stay up and watch Pinocchio.
We actually finished our meal quite quickly, we were finished by 9:15 PM. We made sure to say Thank-you to all our servers and tip them. We don’t like to use the automatic tipping service, because it is automatically like $12.00 a day, but we feel we should tip on the quality we receive so we still use cash and the envelope policy. We headed back to Flounder’s to say thank you, to CMs there, return the pagers and give them there Phone Cards (as a thank you).
We walked slowly back to our room, sad that we were leaving tomorrow morning. We settled the boys in to their cribs. I stayed a little longer then DH, who I found later on the verandah taking some pictures of the evening sky, sad that we would be leaving tomorrow. We settled in for the evening, Pinocchio started at 10, we curled up on the couch with our pudding, a watched a classic Disney movie. The perfect way to end a trip.
I don't think I slept the whole night, I tossed and turned but the excitement was getting the best of me. I knew we had a long travel day ahead but I just could not fall asleep. I finally caved in and got out of bed at 4:30 AM, walked passed the boys room where they were sleeping so quietly, and thought to myself I can't believe we have the opportunity to head back so soon, I lay in the bed those five months, I dreamed of taking my babies to meet Mickey and the Gang, I just never dreamed in a hundred years that it would be happening so soon.
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I was so energized that morning that I put on a nice big pot of coffee, had a shower, and finished getting ready and started packing the car. I was glad that we decided to drive instead of fly; it would have been insance with all of this plus the boys and the car seats. It was nice knowing that we could keep the boys on schedule, and being able to stop and go when we needed it.
Aaron woke an hour later to see me attempt to lift our huge suitcase into the back of our SUV, he just laughed and said "excited", "excited I said, that is just one word to describe what I am feeling". I really was a pile of emotions hoping for the best, I was excited, nervous , anxious, any word to describe traveling with babies was what I felt. Aaron finally stopped laughing and decided to help finish loading the car. Then he got ready. We were basically ready to leave.
Everything could not be more perfect. Ryder woke up at about 6:30 AM (pretty much on schedule) and Kyran about an half an hour later. We try to put them on a half an hour difference schedule. This was mainly because I was breast-feeding up until Sunday, and only our second day on the bottle, and they had not broken that routine yet.
We were making great time, we pulled out of the drive way at 7:37 AM on the nose, and we were ready to start our adventure. The Boys are excellent in the car, they love it actually and usually just sleep, but they didn't, everytime I turned around I could see them babbling and trying to play with their car seat toys. Were they excited, did I have Disney freaks on my hand. I was talking to them the whole week before about our trip, maybe they did understand, mayed they were excited as much as their mommy and daddy on this adventure. They did finally fall asleep about an hour into the trip, but they did not sleep very long.
We therfore, stopped in Kimball, TN and had breakfast and a feeding at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.
I won't give you the whole run down of our car trip to Ocala, FL but we did stop frequently, as the boys feed about every 3 hrs. or so. The only snap we ran into was around the 2:00 PM, when the boys had enough of being in their car seats and woke up really cranky. We pulled into Perry, Georgia and spend a whole hour and half at a restaurant called A Leta's on the Square, until we knew the boys were content and it was nice that they did not wake again until we were in Ocala.
From there, we checked into our hotel room, sponged bath the boys, let them play on the floor a little bit, fed them and put them to sleep in their pack n' plays.
I was exhausted by 9:00 when Kyran finally fell asleep. I showered and laid down, fell right to sleep, and have no idea what time DH followed but I think it was soon after.
AUGUST 26, 2009 - OCALA, FL
The morning started off with us waking up to two screaming boys, not just one BUT TWO! They are usually very good in the morning (they share a room), they quetly wake-up that you have yo put the monitor to your ear to hear them, but who needs a monitor on this trip when they can scream bloody murder (who knew they had lungs like that). I jumped literally out of bed, I mean literally to see what was happening, but they were both still in the middle on their backs, basically had not moved since we laid them down. As soon, as we picked them up they started quieting down. We were finally able to change and fed them, and soon realized that they probably realized we were not home anymore.
Well we let tem hang out on our bed until they fell asleep again. We did not put them back in their pack n' plays, which meant that we were off to a slower start then yeterday, since someone had to be with the boys while they slept. Aaron ran down to the breakfast and brought it back to the room, which included bacon, eggs, fruit and juice, absolutely delicious.
The boys woke up again around 9:30 AM, and were fed again. At this point, we decided to go ask the front desk if we could spend an extra hour in the room, to let the boys nap again, before we set out on our adventure.
We finally departed the hotel around 1:00 PM, and thought we would check out some of the parks in the area. Well, we did not end up at a park; we ended up at a drag racing museum. I guess, Aaron's breakfast venture he ended up talking to some tourists about this museum, talking about cars with my hubby can have him hooked for hours, I am actually surprised I got breakfast now. While, we some how past it on the highway, and thought we should check it our. It is called Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, the two large buildings hous mny drag race cars, tons of racing items and several old vehicles. It is really is for the car fanatic at heart. I even did some shopping at the gift store, and bought the boys a memorabilia t-shirt.
We were off to Mickey's House (Well sort, of). . . more like his Animal Kingdom Lodge, but first we headed to Wal-Mart, too pick-up some essentials, we had all the stuff we needed for the boys but I wanted to pick up some snacks for us. I also picked up the movie Cars for the boys, I thought it was perfect since the boys loved the Drag Racing Museum (they stayed a wake for the whole thing, and were very intentive listensers while daddy explained every car). I thought it was perfect.
By 3:00 PM, with I just Can't Wait to be King playing in the Car and Aaron singing very loudly (the boys were definately awake), we drove through the gates of WDW, and onward to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were hoping that our hotel room was ready, and that we could order some room service.
I could not have asked for a better day, the boys were happy, just a little whiny, and we were ready for a little glimpse of Disney. So after, we hauled most of our luggage in (just three bags and their stroller), fed the boys, we ordered our late lunch.
The boys were napping nicely on our bed. I was terrified to put them in their pack n' plays, from the wailing I heard this morning. We enjoyed our room service. We were hungry because we ordered a lot: Chilled Shrimp Cocktail, Angus Chuck Cheeseburger and Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich. We also got Kaiser Buns and Fruit Cups to go along with it.
When the boys woke up around 6 PM, we thought we talke a walk around the resort. It was such a lovely evening; we got lots of pictures of the animals, resort and of course the boys. We stopped at Mara on the way back to our room, and got some cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies. Yummy, Yummy, in my tummy. Then it was time for the oys bath, bottle and bed. I really prolonged the bed thing, I was hoping for a good morning / night. That for th firt hour I literally hovered over them to make sure they were at peace. That Aaron literally picked me up and carried me to the balcony to enjoy our cheesecake with the door open of course and baby monitor in hand. We finally caved in for the evening, which was really hard with all the beautiful scenery, but it was the first day of our cruise tomorrow, so I hoped I could sleep.
AUGUST 27, 2009 - PORT CANAVERAL
Woke up around 6:00 AM, I couldn't sleep since I was so excited. When I woke up those someone was missing. . . it was Aaron. I thought where could he be at this time in the morning, so I got up and there on the dresser was a note that said gone to get Mickey Waffles, I will be back soon, love ya. I decided that I would pack some things, and wake up Ryder for his morning bottle, by the time it was Kyran turn for his bottle DH had returned with a Mickey Waffle and bacon for me. He fed Kyran and I joked that he was more excited about getting on the ship then I was. He would never admit it but he really was.
I went for a shower while Aaron finished dressing the boys. When I was done I was surprised to see two giggling Mickey’s waiting for me to go. They looked so adorable, the Mickey ears did not last long but at least I got a few pictures. We wanted to leave before the boys fell back to sleep, so for me that meant it was a ponytail day, because of the rush. Our goal was to make it to the port before their next bottle, so it would be after their morning nap. wish us luck.
We did manage to get the boys, car and ourselves ready by 8:15 AM, and we were off to the port. While, the boys fell asleep about 15 minutes after we left the resort, we did not make it to the terminal before their next feeding. We were about an hour on the road, when Ryder started crying (it sounds more like a holler). Now, we are not the type to make the boys cry and wait for their food, changing, comforting etc., they are just still too young. That we pulled over to the next gas stop (lucky it was not too far away), I comforted my poor child, while Aaron got the bottles warmed-up and I fed Ryder, and DH woke Kyran up and fed him. When everyone was content again, we were off. We did not make bad time; at all we got to the terminal around 10:30 AM. (I think DH was speeding a little).
Aaron dropped us off, while he went to park the car. We decided to leave the stroller behind, and just bring their carriers (just in case we decided to go into Nassau), and car seats (I need to build arm muscle). He arrived about 15 minutes later, and we were ready to check-in the terminal was about half full, and we could see that Goofy and Mickey had already made appearance, and that we were going to miss them before boarding (awwww), but I was ok with it as long as my boys were happy.
I should mention that are boys were asleep through this whole process, even with the noise that was starting to build. It must have been from all that crying (my poor little one). Anyways, after checking in we just sat back a relaxed (that’s what this trip is about right), and waited for them to start boarding. We did not have to wait too long; they started boarding around 11:35 AM. We had a little bit of a wait but we were on the boat by about 12:15 PM. The boys were finally starting wake-up. I should mention that the picture at beginning is probably the worst family photo to date. The boys were a little fussy, I look like I had not slept in ages, and DH looked like his quirky self (I should note that we did not buy it).
We headed straight to Parrot Cay, in hopes that they would heat up a couple of bottles for us, which they did (I knew they would why was I hoping). We fed the boys (their first lunch on the boat). Had a lovely meal ourselves, and headed to Deck 9 to check-out the pools. We knew we would not be spending a lot of time there (and no time actually in the pool), but we wanted to check out how busy it was and take the boys for tour.
We decided to just relax poolside and listen to some poolside Jams. The boys were quite content. That DH said he wanted to go check something out. He returned fifteen minutes later, with a Bahama Mama for me. It was actually my first drink in over a year, since I was pregnant and breastfed the boys. He said it was a perfect way to start off this trip, and the drink had the perfect name for me. He is such a sweetie!!!!
It was about 3:00 PM, when we decided that it would be best if we went to check to see if our room was ready, and sure it was, and on a happier note our luggage had arrived also. Well DH fed the boys, I started unpacking our luggage. Then it was time to prep the boys for the Mandatory Boat Drill at 4:00 PM.
Well, this ended up being a chore and a half. The boys get these jacket type vests (sleeves and all to wear). Well they did not like the jacket one little bit. We got Kyran’s on him, starts crying bloody murder, and he is the easier to please child out of the two. Then it was Ryder’s turn. Oh my god…. I feel sorry who ever was in the room next to us. They must have thought we were strangling our children. Well DH, who is the better calm one in these situations, decided that it would be better to take them off the boys, then to carry two screaming children down the hall. We did not want to ruin the magic for everyone now. We brought their life jackets with us.
Our cast member that greeted us was fantastic. She understood our frustrations, and just asked us if we knew how to put their life jackets on. She was sooooo amazing. She really helped calm the mommy’s nerves, of perfection, and also, a thank you, to my wonderful husband who puts up with my needs of perfection.
We decided to skip the Adventures Away Party, and test the boys with a nap in their Pack n’ Play. We had seen the Adventures Away Party so many times; it was not a big deal. Sleep was more important and we could watch us sail away from our verandah. The boys fell asleep by 4:45 PM, which was nice. DH ran and got us some drinks (soda), and I opened a bag of gummy worms that I bought a Wal-Mart, and we watched us sail away from Port Canaveral at 5:00 PM. I secretly hoped for smooth sailing from here on in, without these random outburst, that I was soooo not familiar with.
Well the boys woke up around 5:30 PM. I was a little concerned that they did not sleep for more than a hour, like they are custom too, during this Nap time, but they seemed happy and content. We decided to do some risky business from here. We had late dinner seating, so we thought we would take them to their first Disney Show. The Golden Mickey’s.
Now let me say this, we have not been on a 3 day cruise in probably 7 years, it was weird not getting all dressed up to see the show. It was great none the less, and amazingly enough the boys stayed up for the whole show. I think Kyran was even trying to applaud when Tarzan came on; they were such a delight to watch. I think I watched them more then I watch the show. They even laughed (or it was gas) when Terk came on.
The show finished around 7 PM, which was perfect timing. We headed back to our room to get the boys ready for bed. We had late dining, and we debated a lot whether we would be attending. We knew that we could use Flounder’s all three days that we were there (on the 3 day cruise you can make reservations after 6 PM on embarkation day). We came to the decision that since we had late dining we would reserve Flounder’s from 7:45 PM to 9:45 PM, each night. Therefore, we could bathe the boys in our room, and then head over to Flounder’s for their bottle and put them to sleep in one of the cribs, and then pick them up when dinner was done. It was our compromise, since other then us, grandparents, aunts and uncles have never put them to sleep, this way it calmed the mommy anxiety, but we would still have a little bit of alone time.
We got back to the room, bathed the boys, got their bottles ready, and headed over to the Nursery. Just to let everyone know that if you have bottles that you like to warm up, you either have to get a cast member to warm it up or you can take it over Flounder’s and use the bottle heaters. We got to Flounder’s around 7:30 PM, met the wonderful staff there and introduced the boys. DH dealt with getting the pager set up, while we laid the boys down on a blanket to look around and heat up the bottles. They have a quiet area in the back of the Nursery with cribs and rocking chairs . While DH explained that the boys usually go to sleep around 8:30 PM, we were hoping they would fall asleep before we leave, and that if they did wake up for any reason, to call us. If you could tell we were trying to put them asleep a little bit earlier.
Ryder fell asleep after 2 ounces of his bottle; it was all the excitement I guess. Kyran after 5 ounces, he was still restless. DH walked around with him for a little bit, until he almost passed out, then we laid him down and he would wake up. We left him in the crib, he was not really fussy. Went to look around a little bit of the Nursery, and when we came back he was sleeping. Whoooooo!!! Off we went to Animator’s Palate, and the whole while I debated again with DH about leaving them there.
So we had Animator’s Palate tonight, with the Golden Mickey Show. It felt odd, really odd. I’m one of the girls that love to get dressed up, do my hair, etc. I have not had a lot time for the extra girlie stuff lately with the boys. I’m not complaining, but when you have done a cruise every year, and you get to have Golden Mickey Formal Night, with the award show to follow (we usually have early seating), this just felt really off, and that was our topic of conversation for the evening at our table.
Second of all, we are not used to having tablemates; there are usually at least six of us, sometimes even more traveling with us, so we usually fill a table. We met our tablemates that evening, they were a young couple with four year old twin daughters (I wonder if Disney did that on purpose). We actually found out that we have a lot in common, this was their third Disney cruise, and were using it as quick getaway, since the husband had been busy working all summer, and they had not had a chance to go anywhere. They were a delight, and their girls were so polite. While dinner was absolutely perfect.
Aaron and I never order our own meals, we pick what we like on the menu and share, and therefore we always ask our server for two extra plates, to enjoy. Our dinner looked a little like this:
My Drink: True Colors: Captain Morgan, Crème de Banana, and Orange Juice topped with Strawberry puree – absolutely delicious.
DH Drink: Renissance: Absolut Vodka, Triple Sec, Rasperry Puree, Lime Juice and Sparkling Wine – it was a little bitter for my taste, but DH loved it.
Our Dinner:
Appetizer:
Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist (served with Parmigiano-Raggiano and Black truffle oil) – anything with Mushrooms I love.
Soup:
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (garnished with Chives and drizzled with Sour Cream) – not a big soup person, but it was good none the less.
Feature Selection:
Spicy Potato and Pea Samoses (with Mango-Mint Chickpeas and a Tamarinal Sauce) - it was ok, DH loves spicy food, me not so much, but I loved the Mango-Mint Chickpeas with it.
Fragnant Five-Spiced Fish (Sauteed White Fish Fillets with a classic Chinese Five Spice sauce over Baby Bok Choy) – absolutely delicious cooked to perfection.
Dessert:
Animator’s Sweet Temptations: (a trio of strawberry sable, cranberry and orange cheesecake, and double-fudge Chocolate cake). – nice idea to offer a trio, when there are so many things to choose from.
Ice-Cream Sundae (Chocolate and Strawberry Ice Cream, with Date and Walnut Cake) – I am an ice cream oholic, I ate it non stop throughout my pregnancy, could not resist.
We also asked our lovely server, if we could have a Strawberry Sable (with Passion Fruit Cream) and Buckled Warm Apple Crumble to take back to our room, he was happy to obliged.
It was about 9:30 PM, when we finished our meals; our pager did not go off, meaning the boys did not wake up. We said good night to our table mates, and headed back to Flounder’s to pick up our precious cargo.
We found them sleeping right where we left them, and a wonderful cast member (her name escapes me at this moment), was sitting nearby in a chair. You don’t know have her so close really calmed my nerves, for the next two nights while they were there. The staff there was wonderful. Words can not describe how special they made this trip for me.
We slowly carried the boys back to our room, they did not make a peep, placed them in their cribs, I watched them for about 15 minutes, then decided I should shower and get ready for bed.
When I got out of the shower I noticed DH eating the Apple Crumble in the living room, I was so jealous, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a fork, ran back, jumped beside him and dug in quickly before he ate it all. The Jungle Book was playing on the TV, we finished the Crumble. I made him promise to save the Sable for tomorrow. We relaxed on the couch until the Jungle Book was over at 11:30 PM, and made our way to bed, because 5:30 was going to come soon enough, and we did not want to miss a single adventure in Nassau.
AUGUST 28, 2009 - Nassau
The morning started at 6:00 AM, like it does most mornings, except that I am on a moving ship, and not in the comfort of my bed. The first thing I do every morning, is I check on the boys, even those I have a baby monitor next to me, they were sleeping like little angels. Then the next step, is to make the morning bottles, off to the kitchen I go, made their bottles. Then I quietly change into my sweat pants and t-shirt throw my hair up, and quietly go wake-up Aaron.
NOT, I jumped on the bed right next to him, and shut as loudly as I am, guess where we are. I kiss and him and he eventually gets up. I decided that I would walk to Flounder’s Warm-Up the bottles, since I had all this energy so early in the morning (I am usually not a morning person, before the boys we used to sleep till 10:00 every morning). The walk did not last very long, five steps out our door I saw our Room Service guy and he nicely heated the bottles for me.
Back in the room, the boys were stirring, and up they were. The bottles were back in the room by 6:30 AM, Aaron fed Ryder, while I took a shower and got ready for the day, and he did it vice versa while I fed Kyran.
The boys were done their feedings, and we were ready to start our day when Room Service arrived at 7:30 AM. Perfect timing, so while the boys had some tummy time in the living room, we ate our delicious room service (including fruit, croissants, toast, and to top it off chocolate milk.) I decided to have a caffeine free pregnancy, so this was a first in a long time, ohhh how I missed you.
After breakfast and tummy time, it was nap time again, and since they were doing so well in these pack n’ plays, they slept in there. We enjoyed some time out on the balcony. It was a nice day out, just a few a clouds in the sky. This is never a long nap for the boys, but when Aaron is at work in the morning, it allows me to get ready for the day. The ship was not schedule to arrive in Nassau until 10:00 AM, but it did not concern us too much, because this was a leisurely trip, and the boys were the ones to lead our schedule (at least, they have been pretty much on their home schedule).
They woke again, at 9:15 AM, in time for another bottle which Aaron nicely got prepared for them, and he even brought back some Mickey Waffles and Bacon. Can you see the pattern yet? I love my Mickey Waffles. The boys lay down again at 10:30 AM, and we just hung out in the room, played some cards, watched Sleeping Beauty (DH least favorite Disney Movie), and ate that delicious Sable.
By the time the boys woke up for their third bottle of the day, had decided what we were going to do today. We had decided we would get off the ship and tour Nassau for a little while. It would be the first time the boys would be out of the country, and there was not much we could do with them on the ship, so I pulled out their carriers loaded Ryder into Aaron and Kyran into mine, and we were off, to explore Nassau on our own.
Our Nassau Adventure started right off the pier, or Prince George Wharf (that is where the ship ports), now when departing to Nassau make sure to bring Photo-ID security is tight on these wharf’s these days. Now Nassau is reasonably safe, if you have never been to Nassau before the busy streets can be really intimidating, with many locals hustling aggressively, if you walk a few streets in the streets do empty, and as long as you have a companion you will be safe. I recommend that you do bring a few extra dollars cash with you just in case you do have to ask someone for directions. There are a lot of panhandlers that may offer services as “tour guides” just be firm with them and don’t get sucked in.
The first thing we did was pick-up a free tourist map which our distributed on the Wharf. From there we left the Wharf and turned right onto Bay St. We spent some time looking at the shops up the streets; we found them to be a little overpriced and nothing that we could not buy at home. They did of course have the usual touristy souvenirs such as ash trays, glasses, t-shirts, towels and sun-wear. We did not buy anything and did not spend a lot of time in the shops (Aaron is not a shopper; therefore he was quite pleased to keep moving along).
At the corner of Bay St and George St. (keeping going straight on Bay St) is the famous (or infamous) Straw Market. Now if you are going to spend some time shopping this is the place to do it. The Straw Market has some lovely items including lots of t-shirts, knock off purses, kitschy tourist items and many other things a tourist would buy in the heat of the moment. There were a lot of purses there that day; I mean a lot of purses, that I was actually sucked in a bought one. There are also a lot of copy cat straw items (hence the name) but it appeared to be locally made, there were some vendors adding little cut out decorations to the front of some of the items, if that counts.
The reality of this place those, is that these vendors are trying to make a living off of the cruise ship, so therefore they are very, very pushy. You either love it or hate it. If you are not used to aggressively bargaining or dealing with outdoor type vendors, the atmosphere of the straw market, where the vendors are extremely aggressive, will make you feel very uncomfortable. You are expected to bargain, and if you don’t like doing that, you won’t enjoy the experience.
With Aaron being the youngest of 5, he is so into the bargaining stuff that we actually walked away with a purse, two t-shirts for the boys, and a set of straw coasters for about $40.00. Without him I would have probably spent about $150.00 on this stuff. (I am an only child). I enjoyed watching Kyran look at all the stuff that was going on that was my excitement.
Side Note for Beach lovers: If you keep following Bay St. west to the beaches of Western Esplanade and the seafood vendors of Arawak Cay.
We turned left up George St. to our next stop which was Christ Church. This beautiful Cathedral in simple Gothic style and square tower was started in 1837 and consecrated in 1845. The interior has a fine set of stained glass windows, an impressive organ (which Aaron was amazed by, he loves to play the piano), and a mahogany ceiling. If you check out the memorial plaques from the 1800s documenting the life histories of local residents and their death in shipwreck, of yellow fever, etc. Amazing.
Right across from the church is Pirates Museum, which if you have young kids (not as young as ours), will love it, but you will have to explain these are real pirates not disney pirates. It is a interactive museum that actually gives you factual information on Pirates of the Indies their backgrounds and lifestyles. Also if you need a break like we did by now there is good food in the cool courtyard and this is one gift shop you do not want to miss out on, we bought these boys these cute onesies… too bad they will be sleeping through the party, I actually bought like all the sizes they had available for them, they will come in handy with all our pirate adventures. The staff at the museum is outstanding, they were helpful, friendly and knowledgeable and did their best to promote the hospitality of Nassau and the Bahamas, and I am talking about all staff from the greeters to the sale assistants and especially the Managers.
After the pirate museum, we kept following George St to the end, and peer through the gates of the Government House (you can’t actually go in). Then turned left again, cross Market St., and made our way uphill on winding Peck Slope to Hill St. for a commanding view of the port. Follow Hill St to its end, turn right on East St. to Prison Lane, and follow the lane up to the Water Tower and Fort Fincastle. You will get some wonderful pictures and views from up there. We actually took the boys out of their carriers and got some nice family pictures. The View is gorgeous. Now you exit via, the remarkable Queen Staircase which is a large staircase carved from stone, built from slave labor. I would recommend if you do want to visit the Fort and Stair case that you do it during the day and with someone, even with Aaron who is one of the most extraverted person I know, we felt a little skeptical and the place appears a little bit dodgy.
At the bottom of the Queen’s Staircase there is a small “straw market” where the vendors seemed a lot friendlier then the ones at the famous Straw Market. There was a man with a truck full of fresh coconuts and he would make you a very refreshing drink either with or without alcohol. I had without alcohol and DH had his with alcohol, I actually preferred it with alcohol I can’t explain it but it just tasted better.
From there is was getting time for the boys next bottle, so we decided it would be wise to head back to the ship, After the staircase, we followed Elizabeth St. down the hill. Turn left onto Shirley St., then right onto Parliament St. to view the Library (Old Jail) and the statue of Queen Victoria in Parliament Square (we walked by it, we were crunched for time). From there, it’s a short walk back to the wharf.
I could not believe the boys stayed up for the whole journey of Nassau, and that we actually made it. They were laughing and giggling, blowing bubbles, it was actually a nice experience for us. Even those, they will never remember it, we will, and I filled a whole memory card (1000 pictures) just in this day alone that I will have the memories to cherish for a life time.
On our walk back to the ship, we decided that we would give the boys their next bottle on Deck 10, the view from Deck 10 is outstanding. We stopped in to our room quickly grabbed their bottles, went to the Nursery let the boys play a little on the floor while the bottles heated up, and then headed to Deck 10. We found a spot with a nice view, of the Water Tower at the top of the hill. You can also see the towering Atlantis resort on Paradise Island and the arching bridge to Paradise Point.
I was relieved and exhausted that our day was going so well, there was no real whining, the boys were content, happy and smiling (or gas). That I was starting to wish the trip was longer. I think it was at that precise moment that I knew we were going to be perfectly fine with a 7-day trip and even longer. That I actually started discussing future trips with Aaron, and he agreed. After Ryder and Kyran were done their bottles, I think we sat there for another fifteen minutes taking in the panorama view, I think I actually fell asleep on Aaron shoulder, until he mentioned that Stitch was doing a meet & greet, and we should take advantage of it to get the boys with some of the characters, since they were in such a good mood and we had bought the $269.00 dollar Photo CD (which gives us all the proofs of the pictures that Disney takes). Our first meet & greet was with Stitch, up on Deck 5. The boys loved his blue fur, Kyran kept doing a reaching thing with his arm, for stitch hold him. Stitch was amazing with the boys, interacting with them and touching them, the photos our funny, but sweet none the less. We also, went and got pictures with Pluto, now out of all the Disney characters Pluto is my favorite. I have a picture of Pluto with every Disney trip I have been on since I was 5 yrs. Old. I could create a timeline of 20 yrs. With Pluto and I. Pluto was hilarious with the boys, trying to make them giggle. He quickly stopped those when Ryder accidentally spit on his Nose. We actually got a really good family picture with Pluto, I was pleased. I was actually quite surprised also, how well the characters actually interacted with babies, they were amazing, and I was impressed.
After Pluto, the boys started fussy which meant it was nap time. Mommy was getting a little cranky too, so she thought it was best if they all lie down too. Aaron on the other hand is not a napper, in all the years I have known him I never remember him taking a nap. I remember him arguing with his mom when he was younger to lie down during the day, but he use to win those battles. Therefore, while the boys and I slept, he decided to tour some of the boat and see what was happening. I tell you what he did during that hour a little later, it will make more sense.
I woke up about an hour later, a little more refreshed. Aaron was in the living room watching the Lion King (his favorite Disney movie). The boys woke soon after, and we decided since the boys did so well in the Golden Mickeys that we would adventure to go see Toy Story the Musical, since we were obviously going to miss the Pirate Party.
Well, they did okay, not as great as the Golden Mickey. They were a little squirmy, and decided to practice their talking and gurgling skills (aka it was a little more of a whine), if we did not hold them a certain way. Just for example, Kiyan decided he wanted to be held to look over DH shoulders, so he basically watched the people behind him more then the show. I think the people behind us watched him more then they watched the show also, so maybe it was a win, win, situation. We actually had not seen Toy Story the Musical in a long time, since we usually cruise on the Magic, so it was refreshing to see a show we had not seen in a while. It was good none the less.
After the show, it was time for the boys to get ready for bed and head to the nursery so we could go for Dinner at Parrot Cay. It was Pirate Night, but with the traditional rotation menus. I would say about 25% people were dressed up for pirate night if that. Again it really did not hit me that it was pirate night, except that I did put the boys in their pirate onesies that I bought at the pirate museum today (the cast members at the nursery could not stop laughing about them). I almost feel that Disney tries to cram too much activities into the 3 day cruise, that everything becomes miss mashed, and nothing flows properly. If that makes senses, coming from someone who usually travels on 7 & up day cruises.
Well, our tablemates were not there tonight, so it was just Aaron and I tonight, which was long over due. We usually have a date night once a week, but Aaron is in transition right now with work, so things have been a little hectic at home, so they have been cut back, to family times more then date nights, another reason why it was good for us to get away.
Here is what we had for supper:
My Drink:
Banana Caribe – Myers Rum, Fresh Banana, Pineapple juice, and Coconut Cream (Nice and sweet)
DH Drink:
Blue Margarita – Tequila, Blue Curacao, Lime Juice, and Sugar Syrup (Delicious if you like Tequila (I don’t)
Our supper:
Appetizer: St. Marteen Stack – Grilled Calabaza and Mozzarella with Tomato and Basil Vinaigrette (It was okay, nothing special).
Soup & Salad: Cold Cream of Mango and Papaya – Flovored with Passion Fruit. (I highly recommend it).
Feature Selection:
Island Spiced Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef – Topped with handmade spiced Butter, Corn on the Cob and Double – baked potato (this was nothing special, just to us it was a regular beef dish. The beef was while cooked).
Pan – Seared Grouper – with Baby Shrimp Lemon Butter served with a Saffron-Herb Basmati Rice and Snow Peas (I almost order another one of these because DH ate most of the Shrimp on me. I highly recommend this if you like Shrimp).
Dessert:
Parrot Cay’s Sweet Temptations – A Trio of Crème Brulee Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate S’More Vanilla Cake (gotta love the trio)
Ice Cream Sundae – Double Fudge Bar and Cookies, topped with Whipped Cream and Chocolate sauce
Tonight we only took one Dessert back to the room and it was the French Toast Banana Bread and DH promised he would not eat it on me. We actually promised each other, we would have it with breakfast tomorrow.
While the food was okay, Parrot Cay is not my favorite menu, but it has some good qualities none the less. DH actually had a surprise for me, as I was scarfing down my delicious sundae that I refused to share with anyone. On his little adventure alone this afternoon, he headed over to Guest Services, to see if it was possible to get the room, we always stay in when we cruise (it actually does not matter which family member cruises, this is the room we always use, no matter what). He did not think that it was possible so late in the game, but he thought we would check it out. He was amazed and I am amazed as I write this that it was, so he did not hesitate for a moment it must have been a sign as he would explain it, that we were meant to go on the cruise that we took for our honeymoon. I was ecstatic to be heading back to Europe, it was one our favorite all time cruise, and I am so glad that we are doing it again. I was absolutely speechless, when he handed me the conformation paper. I could not believe it, how could it be possible, that cruise was a little over a year a way, I thought it would be full or our room would be gone, but it is confirmed I get to travel with Mickey again to Europe. Yippeeee! I have the best DH in the World! I say that 500 times a day, I really do. I was so excited I wanted to run back to the nursery and tell the boys all about it (of course I didn’t, like they would understand), but I was literally on cloud nine that night. It still really won’t hit me until I start the hard core planning that we are going (and we have so many trips before it). I can’t believe it. Okay I will shut up now (that’s what my mom was thinking when we got home).
Well, I was on cloud nine, if you did not already know. We finished dinner around 9:30 PM, and headed to pick-up the boys, who were sleeping ever so nicely. The CMs in Flounder’s said they have had know problems with them, I was glad.
We headed back to the room, I was so excited that I could not sleep; we decided to have some champagne, and celebrate another adventure that waits for us. We had it on the verandah as we could hear the fireworks from the Pirate Party going off. We could not really see them, but it was such a peaceful night, that I could not believe that tomorrow was Castaway Cay, then we were headed back home. I went to check on my little ones, who looked so peaceful, not knowing the exciting adventures that wait them in the near future. I was glad we did not miss this trip, and glad they were enjoying it as much as us. Off to bed we went around 11:00 PM, because our favorite island would be appearing soon.
AUGUST 29, 2009 - CASTAWAY CAY
This morning started like any other morning, I was the first one up, while all my boys continued to sleep, and I quickly stepped in the shower, and got the boys bottles ready and heated. Aaron soon woke (surprisingly) around 6:15 AM, and the boys followed suit around 6:30 AM. Bottles were already back by the time they woke, and I happily fed Ryder, while DH fed Kyran in the living room. Today was Castaway Cay Day, my favorite day in the whole world, and it would be the boys first experience at a beach (could it not be better that it is with a Disney Cruise).
You dock at Castaway Cay, around 8:30 AM, and you can shortly depart the boat soon after. Unfortunately with the boys sleep schedule we would not be able to visit the island until about noon, also when the sun is the hottest, so it would be short visit, but hoping for a great experience.
We lounged out in the room all morning, while the boys slept and fed. We enjoyed our room service breakfast, and of course Aaron snuck out and brought me back some Mickey Waffles and Bacon (yummy). We got ourselves ready for the day, and decided to take this lazy morning and begin the tedious task of packing. When the boys got up around 12:15 PM, we got them all decked out in their swim wear, and we were off to the island.
Our first stop was to the Post Office, to send Auntie Leslie a big THANK YOU, post card, for a wonderful trip, and to tell her we can’t wait to cruise with her in December (She lives in another state then us, so we won’t see her until then, it is our Christmas visit together).
Before we ventured, the sand or the water we decided to take a nice stroll up the path. We took our time enjoying the weather and scenery. We passed the gazebo and noticed that Lilo and Stitch were there teaching people (mostly kids), how to do the hula. The boys just loved it, they were flapping their arms, and smiling. I think they remembered Stitch from before, because they kept leaning forward. I don’t know who was more entertaining the boys, or the actually hula dancers.
From there we headed to the Family Beach, it actually was not overly crowded I was surprised. I guess that being around 1:30 PM, some of the kids and their parents were doing other activities or were back on the ship already. Well our first experience with sand was not a success. They did not do badly with the sitting in it, but they are in a drooling / putting fingers in mouth stage, so every time, they put their hand in the sand, the sand got wet, which was fine, but they also then try to stick their hand in their mouth, which was not good. Maybe they were trying to tell me that it is time to start them on some real food, I don’t know. The water was much better, they liked having the wave splash up on to them. We sat with them right on the edge and let the water come up to them. It was so much fun to watch their faces. Well we sat there, I dreamt of the sand castles we will make, and all the fun we will have on the beach.
I was starving, at this point, so we headed to grab some hotdogs and French fries, and sat in a covered seating area to get out of the sun. During lunch, we looked at our Castaways Cay Navigator to see if there were any special activities we would all enjoy. I saw that they were having a Free Throw Competition at Grouper Pavilion. I begged and pleaded for Aaron to join (he finely caved). Aaron is a big basketball fan, which some might find out since he is only 5’10” tall, but growing up he had a big fascination with Shaq, and we together spent many parts of our teenage years at basketball courts in our neighborhood. It was at that moment I realized I had not seen him shoot in years (we even have a hoop in our backyard that him and his brother or friends use to play around to get a workout). Anyways, I thought it would be a nice way to conclude our visit to Castaway Cay. To let the boys cheer on their daddy, and I get to remember the good old days. He still impresses me to this day, with his basketball skills.
The boys were getting fussy after the game, which makes sense because it was time for another feeding. We slowly made our way back to the ship. There was one thing I did want to do to conclude this adventure at Castaway Cay. I wanted to start a tradition, since we cruise every year with Disney (and always make sure we have a Castaway Cay day), I wanted to get a picture of the boys with the painted rocks of Mickey, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. I thought it would be a great memorabilia to have as the boys grow up. Since we are here with them at 3mths, Dec. will be 6mths, and the Transatlantic will be 15mths. While, it was a battle but we got one good picture. They were really cranky by the time we got back on the boat, it was really hard to settle them down, and Aarpm had to go searching for someone to heat up the bottles. That would have been the first time, that I really felt that not having a microwave in the room, was a big inconvenience that something so little became such a big deal. The boys did not get their bottles till about 4:00 PM, which was about an hour after the time they usually have one. Kyran did not even have half his bottle; he fell asleep well drinking it. Which would throw off his schedule completely, I knew it as soon as he woke up.
Ryder had finished his bottle, so he slept till about 5:45 PM. Kyran on the other hand, slept till about 5:15 PM, then he woke up hungry. I fed him but he did not fall asleep again. I was really worried about tonight. I should have known.
We did adventure to go see tonight’s production of Disney Dreams, I ended up seeing the whole thing with Ryder, but DH left about 2 minutes into the show. I only stayed because Aaron insisted and Ryder was being so well behaved. If you listen to the first part of the Disney Dream that I have linked, hear that baby well Kyran was about 10 times louder then that baby (Sorry to all that were there). I hoped DH would return, but he never did. We returned to our room after to show, to find Kieran playing with DH on the floor. He actually looked a lot happier and content.
Disney Dreams is by far the best Production out of the three. It would be on my do not miss list, if we ever get the opportunity to see it again.
Tonight, dinner was at Triton’s, a place we have not eaten at in years. I was very excited to go, but also quite concerned because of Kyran. He seemed happy now, but he was creating his own schedule, and he would be getting tired again soon too, because of his short nap. While, DH got Ryder bathed and ready for bed, he left me to ponder of what to do. It did not bother him either way if we went or not. He said it might be fun to actually have room service, and eat at the dining room table, that we hardly ever use. I thought about that, I thought about the Flounder’s Nursery and how we would not give them enough notice to cancel, and our servers and how I would miss saying goodbye. Anyways, all this pondering at the end lead up to Just Go, if there is a problem you know they will just page you. We are planning to have a dinner at the table on the next trip.
Dinner was dress up optional, I just had a nice olive green dress on and DH just wore khaki pants and a nice top. Most people were still in Cruise Casual. It was actually nice to get a little dressed up. We headed to the nursery around 7:30 PM. Can you guess it Kyran was cranky, my poor child, routines are so important at this age. (Well, note to self on next cruise do annual picture first). The CM’s were amazing with him, while we got their bottles ready and Ryder played (Kyran crying did not bother him surprisingly), the CMs walked around with him, talked with him, showed him toys, tried playing a little. That even those he was grinning, instead of smiling I was okay to leave him (remember I said okay, I am still a mommy with fears). The bottles were ready the boys were semi happy, and we were off to the quiet area. I think I thanked her so many times, it was unbelievable. Kyran finished his bottle and went out like a light. I kissed his little forehead, and wait patiently for Ryder to fall asleep.
We left for Triton’s it was when we were walking through the restaurant I realized that I had forgot my camera up in the room, I was sorry I was going to miss pictures of this restaurant, but I was too lazy to go back. Aarpm said he would, but I insisted it was okay.
Triton’s is similar to Lumiere’s except it has a little mermaid theme, the food was good, and the surrounding were nice. We were without tablemates again, which was fine by us.
We had:
My Drink: The Imagination: Baileys Irish Cream, Tia Maria, Vanilla Ice Cream, dash Grenadine – loved the ice cream in this drink
DH Drink: The Royal – Sparking wine, Crème de Cassis and Peach Schnapps – disgusting (DH thought it was okay).
Appetizer: “Gaston’s” Escargots Gratines – Herb-marinated Snails with Finely Chopped Mushrooms, topped with Garlic Butter (If you like escargot, this is delicious)
Soup: “Mrs. Potts” French Onion Soup – with Gruyere Cheese Crouton (very traditional tasting)
Main Course: Slowly Braised Lamb Shank – with a Creamy Polenta and Portobello Mushroom in a Red Wine Sauce (It was not bad)
Three-Cheese Lobster Macaroni – Lobster Meat, Gruyere, and Cheddar Cheese Sauce tossed with Tubular Pasta and topped with a Parmesan Wafer (I heard a lot about this dish on the boards and had to try it out, surprisingly it is quite good, everything goes together quite nicely, if you are adventurous I think you should try.
Desserts: Lumiere’s Sweet Temptations – A Trio of Crème Brulee, Chocolate Mousse and Praline Petite Choux (how can you go wrong)
Ice Cream Sundae – Served with Vanilla Ice-Cream, Praline Petite Choux, Chocolate sauce and Hazelnut Croquant (how can you go wrong with a sundae)
Grand Marnier Souffle – with Vanilla Sauce (can’t comment DH ate the whole thing)
We brought back the Brioched and Pannetone Pudding to our room, because we decided we would stay up and watch Pinocchio.
We actually finished our meal quite quickly, we were finished by 9:15 PM. We made sure to say Thank-you to all our servers and tip them. We don’t like to use the automatic tipping service, because it is automatically like $12.00 a day, but we feel we should tip on the quality we receive so we still use cash and the envelope policy. We headed back to Flounder’s to say thank you, to CMs there, return the pagers and give them there Phone Cards (as a thank you).
We walked slowly back to our room, sad that we were leaving tomorrow morning. We settled the boys in to their cribs. I stayed a little longer then DH, who I found later on the verandah taking some pictures of the evening sky, sad that we would be leaving tomorrow. We settled in for the evening, Pinocchio started at 10, we curled up on the couch with our pudding, a watched a classic Disney movie. The perfect way to end a trip.
