The Mickey Boat

The Disney Magic AKA The Mickey Boat as named by Elizabeth.

 

Easily the highlight of 2012 was our first ever family vacation.  Sean first mentioned taking a Disney cruise out of Galveston while I was in India the first time back in February.  When I came home, we was ready to show me the complimentary Disney Cruise DVD and absolutely ready to sell me on this cruise.  I have to say, I was intrigued from from the start, but was Elizabeth ready for it?  Not too long after I had returned home and the dust settled, we could not think of a better way to spend our first family vacation.  Elizabeth is into all things Disney--especially the Disney princesses.  I felt that she would remember the trip, have some fun, and Mommy and Daddy would have some fun watching her have fun. 

 

Sean commenced planning our vacation.  I give absolutely all credit to my fantastic husband for planning our vacation down to the last minute detail.  I can honestly say (with sadness) that I was just asked my opinion on a few things and packed bags for everyone.  Sean planned this trip all by himself and did a stellar job.  Maybe one day he will become a travel agent.  :)

 

We set sail at the beginning of October on the Disney Magic's second voyage out of Galveston.  The timing was perfect, the weather was a little ify in some places, but we made the best of it.  The food was really good--lot of seafood for the sea food lover, and if you are not like me, there are plenty of other options as well. The service was absolutely outstanding.  Upon boarding the boat, everywhere Elizabeth went, she was called princess.  Have you ever seen a 3 year old's head grow to the size of the ship?  I did.  I witnessed it first hand.  But it was all in good fun.

 

So what made this trip what it was?  Seeing my daughter's face light up like the 4th of July when she saw all of her Disney friends for the first time....and then there was meeting the princesses.  She met Aurora, Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella, and of course, Elizabeth's favorite, Belle.  She was constantly entertained and heaven forbid she actually have to hang out with mom and dad.  Elizabeth repeated asked us to go to the Kid's Club.  What is the Kid's Club?  It is is a no adults allowed play area in the middle of the ship for kids.  The really cool thing about:  It is Peter Pan's Neverland (there are other places for older kids too).  It has a huge slide, tree house, treasure chest area, story time, movie screen, arts and crafts, computer games, and the coolest counselors every in one place.  Talk about a blast.  Why would anyone want to leave that cool place?    Don't get me wrong, they have open house family time which we participated in , but honestly, I think Elizabeth liked being in the Kid's Club with other friends she met on board. Do you know what that means?  It means that we had some Mommy and Daddy time.  We watched movies, read some books, walked around, had a private brunch and dinner while on board at Palo (fantastic on board restaurant that you pay extra for--but worth every penny), and spent time together.  It was the best of both worlds for every single one of us.

 

Where did we go?  We went to the Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel.  Going to the Grand Cayman Islands for Elizabeth's first beach experience has probably ruined her on beaches forever as they were absolutely beautiful.  She had so much fun playing in the sand, but would only really venture out into the water with Daddy--and needed to be persuaded.  We had a blast!  Unfortunately, we we were in Cozumel, it rained almost the whole time. We ventured off the boat for about an hour and made it back to the ship just in time to miss the huge down pour.  Honestly, we didn't feel like we missed out on too much and had a great day on board playing in and around the pools, watching movies, and in general, just taking it easy.

 

Elizabeth talks about our vacation daily...even three months after the fact.  I can honestly say, I can't blame her either.  It was worth every single moment and penny we spent.  We loved our experience so much, we went ahead and booked our second cruise that will depart at the end of April.  This time, we will be going to Disney's private island, Key West, and a day at Disney World.  We can not wait.  I can not recommend Disney's cruise experience enough.  :)  If you are thinking about it and have questions, let me know.  We can answer them through our experiences.

 

Enjoy the pictures below.

 



I had to write in the sand in the Grand Caymans.

That's my girl, playing in the sand!

The Disney Magic is the original ship in the fleet and Mickey Mouse is the captain of this ship.

Elizabeth met her favorite princess, Belle.  I have never seen a child more happy.

Shortly after meeting all the princesses, she met Princess Minnie Mouse.  Check out the matching ears!

Formal night with my girl.  Isn't our menu pretty?

 

Elizabeth meeting Captain Mickey Mouse.

Oh, those mischievous chipmunks!

Laughing it up with Donald AKA Donnie (named by Elizabeth) Duck.  Right after this picture was taken, they played chase.

On one of the days at sea, there was an all character dance party.  Talk about chaos in the best way.  Elizabeth had a blast!

Our last night, all the characters come out for one last visit.  So do all the actors from the shows which were phenomenal as well.

 

Ms. Angelina and Mr. Vitor--our servers for all of our dinner meals while on board.  There were three restaurants that you rotate through while on board and these two travelled with you.  Talk about fantastic service and patience.  These two were absolutely amazing and fun.

You never know when a character will randomly appear. Here is Elizabeth with Belle one night after dinner.  It was an unexpected surprise.

 

At the character breakfast, Vitor made us napkin hats....this is Sean receiving my big bow.  He was such a good sport!

Our favorite picture--and also our Christmas card this year.