A passport, as I'm sure you know, is a document that one shows to government officials whenever one reaches a border between countries, so the officials can learn who you are, where you were born, and how you look when photographed unflatteringly.
~Lemony Snicket
The first morning we woke up away from land and treading water in the wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, we had breakfast with some of the kids' favorite Disney pals.
Our server made each of us a napkin hat-- here Chloe is modeling her Minnie Mouse bow.
Blurry as we are, here Troy and I are with our napkin origami.
Troy was Aladdin, and I was Pocahontas.
Another trip favorite for our stowaways were the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars that they had every night after dinner. They were in a sticky, melty, chocolate/vanilla heaven!
Delicious faces!
"You have pretty eyelashes."
Speaking of origami, napkin hats weren't the only thing that got folded on the ship. Here, our towels were conjured into the shape of an anteater wearing my shades.
Our first official stop and location of our excursion was St. Maartin Island. It was smothered with diamond and jewelry shops, high end fashion wear, fragrances, liquor and cigar stores in a slummy, graffiti ridden, run-down French Quarter-ish looking area. Though we had fun deep sea helmet diving here, we weren't as impressed with the ambiance of this location. Our taxi driver told us that he was, "99% sure that we would be back again." Troy and I had a good laugh later about that one!
Troy and I enjoyed our little excursion under the sea together, though I must admit-- I was a little trepidacious going under the water at first!
How cute-- we have matching bubbles! :)
This prickly little sponge grabs on to your hand really well.
Troy gave it a good pet, too.
See, no hands!
The guides gave us some bread (bread?!) to feed the fish. Our instructions were to hold our hand low so that they could get our faces in the shot.
It's a little nerve racking feeding the fish-- they have teeth! I had a little nibble taken out of one finger and was pretty shocked. But, it was amazing to be under the sea. Well worth the battle-wound. ;)
'Little Dude, Big Attitude'. Yep, that's about right. Here's the interior of one of our cabins.
Excursion number two: Mountain Biking on Water Island across from the isle of St. Thomas.
The sun was extra brilliant when we posed for this picture. Hence, my watery eyed smile. :)
Troy wasn't so sure about this excursion at first but he was happy in the end that we did it. Once the group set off, he was gone!
Our guide stopped us in front of this sign to tell us that the hours posted here are pretty typical of island life. I took a picture because it was just too funny. On the right, it reads: Hours 11-7. Open most days around 11 or 12. Occasionally as early as 9 and sometimes as late as 1 or 2. We close about 6:30 or 7. Occasionally about 4 or 5, and sometimes as late as midnight, or later. On some days, we're not here at all, but lately we've been here alot, unless we're not.
A baby turtle! Our guide was really excited to see this little guy because turtles are pretty rare on the island and the sight of this slow mover meant that the island was teeming with new life.
Another view of paradise.
From the smiles in the next few pictures, you'd think that Chloe was a beach baby to the core.
Not so.
That girl screamed and fell apart the moment her feet touched sand. She had done the same thing about nine months prior in the dinosaur exhibit at the Dallas museum when I set her in the interactive fossil dig that had tons of sand and brushes. She wanted nothing to do with that sand! I thought maybe she would have gotten over it, but I guess the fear lives on! Here she is giving Donald some love.
They're both smiling at once? Amazing!
Once we left the beach (which was a very short-lived foray) the kids had great fun at the splash park.
That night, they had a 'Pirates IN the Caribbean' Party. They handed out free bandanas and temporary tattoos which the boys donned right away. There was lots of dancing on deck, Mickey zip-lined across the entire ship, and there were even fireworks!
More Mickey and Minnie action!
One more for the road.
Besides getting food poisoning (me), we had a really fun time on our excursions and on the cruise in general. We also enjoyed listening to a comedian, a ventriloquist, and several Disney mini-musicals. I can't forget to mention Troy's favorite-- the endless buffets!
I wonder where in the world we'll go next?! :)
4 comments:
Is that a dress or a top and skirt? Either way, I love it! Cute pics! Looks like you had a blast!
Yes, it's a dress! I love Shabby Apple!
That looks like so much fun! A Disney cruise is definitely on our vacation to do list. There is a Disney ship that leaves out of TX now, so I'm even more excited. I loved the suits you chose for the trip and the dress. My favorite part was your underwater adventure. I'm curious: where were your kids while you went diving and biking? DO they have a day care when you are OFF the ship? That would be sweet.
Stacy, YES! They have two childcare clubs-- one for infant up to 3 years of age and then another for 3 years of age and older (that are potty trained).
And actually, there were two clubs that were separated off for the older kids-- one was a science/discovery lab and the other a romp and play, craft and watch movies area.
When you get on the boat, they put a bracelet on each child that has a micro chip on it that they can use to scan and page you if there is a problem. The only downside is that you have to try and book in advance as much as you can if you have children of the younger clubs' age since those slots go fast.
You pay hourly for the little ones and a set fee for the older ones so you don't have to reserve a spot for them-- you can drop them off whenever.
It got a little tricky towards the end of our trip because we had booked as much as we could for Chloe but they had run out of slots for her so there were some things that we wanted to see/do and couldn't.
So, if you're thinking of going, I'd say to wait until Afton turns three and is potty trained because then she will be in the same club as the boys and you won't have to scramble to get things booked in advance. You can just go and have a good time!
Also, if you have the budget, I would totally suggest getting two connected rooms so that when it's bed time, you and Josh don't have to go to bed too so everyone settles down. Having a window would be super cool, but just keep in mind that you won't be in your room most of the time and they jack up the prices for those rooms with a view.
Good luck!
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