Our Spring Break was the best!
We will start with our countdown to our trip...
Each day up to our trip the kids got to tear one loop off of our countdown chain!
Our last night before the trip I made a Mickey dinner. I had a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter that I used to shape all the food into Mickey heads. The kids loved it!
I stenciled names onto pillow cases to have the characters sign. The first night on the cruise ship I dropped these off with Sharpie markers in a ziploc bag to guest services. The last night of our trip they were delivered to our stateroom. I also included some chocolates and mints in the bags for the people who sign them. They came back full of signatures!
Next....the traveling. This was the first time flying for all the littles.
Thank goodness we decided to take the stroller.
The first flight from Omaha to St. Louis I got to sit with these cuties!
Connor got to sit with Gogo and Papa and boy was he excited!
Jeff lucked out and sat across the aisle from us.
or I should say slept across the aisle (his anxiety meds had sure kicked in!) He hates flying.
Laney looked out the window the entire time and hardly played the ipad at all the first flight.
This little cutie kept peek-a-booing us between the seats.
The next flight from St. Louis to Orlando I got these two. Laney is very good with the twins 95% of the time.
This was waiting in St. Louis. That pile of luggage had our bags right where we could see them. The kids thought that was pretty cool.
This guy did not like his picture taken the entire trip. He made each and every picture difficult.
Somehow Gogo lucked out and Claire slept the entire flight from St. Louis to Orlando.
On our shuttle some poor elderly person left their glasses so Jeff decided to wear them. He apparently likes looking like an old man!
We stayed at the Radisson at the Port. It was a bit chilly but the kids were so excited to swim.
This was on the way to the ship with ALL our luggage. I learned I should have had fewer bags and that even though the kids say they want to pull their own suitcase I will end up doing it while attempting to push a stroller. Did I mention I threw my back out 3 days before we went and was in extreme pain!
After checking in and waiting in a VERY long line to board the ship we are finally there!
This is where you first get on the ship at Deck 3.
Deck 11...our first view at the pools!
We went straight to Deck 11 to the pool and lunch. This is the huge tv screen that played movies to watch while swimming. Laney floated in the pool the last day and watched the entire Lion King movie.
This was when we first got in our Stateroom. We had the HUGE porthole window.
The Mickey Pool. It was a perfect depth for the kids.
The first night we ate at what turned out to be our favorite restaurant. It was Animator's Palate and we loved the show.
There were these "bulletin boards" all over the walls. They were actually TV screens that later put on a show.
Claire checking out the kids menu. Each restaurant had a kids menu and crayons at the table each night.
Even the butter knife was a paint brush to fit with the theme.
Each child's name was written on a glass of water each night. Laney ordered something else and then wrote her name on it just as the servers had done. I thought it was so sweet.
Each place had their own plates. The Mickey plates were awesome for keeping food from GASP touching!
One of our waiters, Travis, always put the ketchup on the kids' plates in the shape of Mickey. Connor hated to mess his up! The first night the kids had Mickey shaped alfredo.
The decor was just perfect all over the ship.
Dessert the first night the kids picked Mickey ice cream bars.
Our stateroom was perfect size for us. Our room stewardess lowered this bed and would put a ladder on it each night. She folded down the sheets and had it ready for us to crawl into bed. (much later than we were used to!)
The first 2 nights the kids did not go to the show. The third night I thought it was one they would like. They LOVED it. After the first song Laney turned to me and said, "This is so awesome, Mom!" Claire loved Ariel and they sang a song from Little Mermaid. Claire was clapping so big. You could tell when she liked (or knew) a song. She got so excited.
Connor showing his muscles in our porthole window.
Each night after dinner when we came back to our stateroom (or after the show) our room stewardess had made either our towels or blankets into some animal. Here is our sea turtle. The next night was pirate night so their is also information for that and some chocolates.
A sloth in mom and dad's room.
A dog...
Pirate night we had a gator in our room, with some chocolate in the mouth.
The last night we had a lobster blanket.
A crab...I think!
There were so many chances to meet the characters. We had a Disney Cruise app on my phone that told all the character appearances each day. The longest line we had to wait in was to see Princess Anna from Frozen. They were so excited!
While we were waiting Jeff ran down the hall to the princess lineup. First we met Belle. Connor had practiced kissing a princesses hand the weeks before our trip and then was too scared to even go near them.
Princess Tiana posed Claire and Claire thought that was really neat!
Cinderella
Claire might have been most excited to see Ariel.
The Bahamas...
Some shots on Deck 11 and around the ship.
Here is Dad enjoying a beverage of the day...
There was ice cream machines available all day long. I'm sure these guys had at least 3 cones a day!
Here is Gogo taking them to get their first of many cones!
The view Connor had of the big screen from the Mickey pool.
Laney and Jeff's first (or maybe second) trip down the Aqua Duck.
In the little kids splash pad area there was this little slide that the twins loved. Then they discovered the yellow slide and never came back to the baby slide.
One day eating lunch Mickey was walking by. Claire ran up and hugged him and got her picture taken.
Deck 11 has a place called Cabanas that has a buffet of all kinds of food. We usually at breakfast and lunch there.
Papa and Laney
Pirate Night! Arg! The kids had so much fun!
Goofy kinda scared the kids because he is quite hyper! He read Laney's treasure map dress and she thought that was pretty funny!
Minnie became Claire's favorite. Minnie gave Claire a kiss the first time she met her. This was pirate night and Claire gave her a big hug.
This was the view on pirate night. We were up on Deck 12 looking over the pool area. The pools get covered up to make more room. Pirate of the Caribbean was showing on the big screen.
Once Claire and Connor discovered this slide it is ALL they did. They were so cute. They always walked up together and made sure to wait for the other one.
Mom and Dad's stateroom door. I'm not sure where the picture of ours went. We had Minnie on our door.
Claire had an EXTRA long nap this day so I took Connor and Laney to play putt putt golf.
This was the "formal" (more church clothes) night. The girls wanted to dress alike.
Chip and Dale might have become favorites. We were just getting off the ship at Cataway Cay when they high fived the kids. Then when we got back on the ship they rode the elevator with us.
The kids at Castaway Cay.
Laney was all about posing.
Claire LOVED LOVED the ocean. She just giggled and tried to go out as far as you can.
The kids loved digging and building in the sand.
Laney made Jeff go out as far as possible.
I buried Conman!
These two were cold after swimming in the cold ocean.
Breaking out of the sand.
Laney was pretty excited to find a coconut that fell out of this tree.
A Connor sized palm tree. When we landed in Florida he saw palm trees and asked everyone over and over if they saw them too.
They call this Mount Rushmore.
The last night we ate in the Royal Palace restaurant so the girls dressed in their princess dresses.
This was Laney's favorite.
Eating at the Royal Palace.
We went to turn in the Oceaner's Club bracelets and these two wanted their picture taken.
Connor finally gave a princess his much practiced kiss.
Before the last night's show Claire gave Connor a little back scratching.
This sums up how tired we were on the way home.....
I should write another post on my tips and tricks! We cannot wait to go again in 2 or 3 years!!
