Disney Magic Cruise-Day 1

It has been almost a year since I last blogged!  And to be honest, I don't know how good I will ever be at blogging again, but I needed a medium to record all my pictures and thoughts on our most recent vacation.  We had the opportunity to sail aboard the Disney Magic the first week of November.  We did a 7 night cruise through the Western Caribbean.  Our ports of call included Key West, Grand Cayman Island, Cozumel Mexico, and Castaway Cay (Disney's private island).  We flew to Orlando the day before embarkation day.  Our layover in Salt Lake City included dropping off Miles to play with family for the week.  Initially I had mixed feelings about leaving him.  I couldn't picture having a family vacation without all of our family present!  But after about 5 minutes--no, really-I knew that dropping him off would be for the best.  And that decision was a game changer for us and all week long Matt and I would remark to each other how nice it was not to have to worry about him!  And in hind sight, that kid had a BLAST with grandparents and cousins!  A huge thank you to them!

We stayed overnight in Orlando at the airport the night before.  It was funny too--we really stayed in the airport!!  The hotel rooms are located right above the baggage claim :)  We woke up bright and early on Day 1 and had breakfast in the hotel.  Then Disney Cruise Line shuttle came and picked us up for the 45 minute drive to Port Canaveral.  We were sitting in the front rows and the driver was so hilarious.  He talked back and forth with the kids and us.  As we pulled into Port Canaveral and everyone oooohed and aahhhhhed at the 4 ships that were in port there, Reagan exclaimed "I can't believe it--is this really happening??"  The driver said, "No, its all just a joke.  We're really dropping you off at school!"  Everyone got a good laugh at that one.

Here are the kids and I as we waited in the Port Canaveral Terminal to board.

The boarding process is really exciting!  When we walk onto the ship, several cast members are clapping and greeting you and someone announces your family name.  The atrium is really impressive and I wish I had taken photos of it specifically.  We headed up to the lunch buffet at Cabanas and began our week of horrifically high caloric feasting.  I am serious!  I probably averaged about a pound of extra weight a day.  And I regret none of it!! :)

After lunch, we explored the ship while we waited for our stateroom to be ready.   I took this time to take lots of photos since I knew I wouldn't always have my camera handy throughout the week.  First up was Deck 9, which is where all the pools and slides and water fun is located. 

This deck is separated into 3 areas.  This area below is the middle of the ship, which is the family pool and the AquaDunk, the drop slide.  There is a huge screen which runs Disney movies throughout the day.

Then we headed to Deck 5, which was almost entirely the kids club area, The Oceaneer Lab and The Oceaneer Club.  Since it was open house, we could go in and explore and I took lots of pics.  This was such a fun area, Reagan and Nolan loved it!  They had electronic wristbands that checked them in and out.  Counselors are in their all the time with them and they have organized activities constantly.  Or they could just roam and choose various things to do.

This was a play area designed to look like Andy's Toy Room.

A "secret passage" connects the Lab and Club so the kids, once checked inside, can roam freely back and forth between the two.

 Tons of computers with all sorts of games

 The craft area--Reagan loved this area.  She came home everyday with all sorts of projects :) 

One thing I was paranoid about before heading on this cruise was getting sick.  I mean, thousands of people on board a ship for a week?  I literally had a hand sanitizer for each member of my family and sanitizing wipes to carry with them everywhere.

Well, within about an hour of boarding, ALL my fears were put to rest.  I did not worry for a second the rest of the week about getting ill or spreading germs.  This ship is cleaner than my house AFTER I have cleaned it, haha!  Hand wipes are given to everyone before dining, wipes are used when you use tongs and everywhere you turn, someone is cleaning and sanitizing the ship.  My favorite was these automatic hand washers, pictured below, in the entrance to the kids area.

The animation studio was also really cool.  Reagan would come back with print outs of all the characters she created through animation!

After the kids area, we decided to try out the pool and slides before it got too crowded.  Matt and I took turns on the Aqua Dunk.  Nolan was too short and Reagan was too scared :)  It was a fun ride, you wait inside and it counts backward until the floor drops beneath you and you shoot out.  The slide goes over the side of the boat, like pictured below.

Here is Matt going down the Aqua Dunk.

Since we were still in Port Canaveral, the weather was a bit windy and chilly, so the hot tub felt pretty good!  For a bit there, I was nervous because I didn't pack any warm clothing.  Once we left Florida, though and headed south, the weather warmed up quite a bit!!

 In one of the other pool areas, there is a twisty slide that both of my kids loved! 

 That afternoon was a deck party called "Adventures Away" with music and dancing. 

And we were off!  It was sunset as the ship left Port Canaveral and we enjoyed the view off the verandah.  There were a couple other cruise ships leaving about the same time and we also saw some dolphins swimming not too far away! 

Our dinner for the first night was at Carioca's, a Brazilian themed restaurant that is new (since 2013) to the ship.  We met our dining team, which consisted of Gabriel, from India and Widi from Indonesia.  These guys were great and since they stay with us the entire week, we got to know them and they us.  The kids were exhausted that first night and both had melt downs during dinner.  Nolan was mad because his red crayon kept breaking (5 year old problems) and Widi kept bringing him more.

Our stateroom host (which cleaned our room twice a day--um YEAAH!!) left towel art animals for the kids each night.  And chocolates.  They looked forward to this every single night.

The layout of the room was pretty cool.  The bottom bunk folded into a sofa during the day and at night, the top bunk dropped down from the ceiling.

The kids went back to the kids club after dinner for a couple of hours so Matt and I attended the theater show that night, "Let The Adventures Begin" which was fun and cheesy in a way only Disney can pull off :)  Our favorite part was a musical comedian named John Charles that was hilarious.  We went to a couple of his shows throughout the week.  He had a guitar and would make up funny songs about the ship and crew and also did covers of popular songs.  He was always asking for requests from the audience.  We heard way too many requests for "Let It Go" and Journey.  After the show we were tired and while the kids were too pumped to fall asleep for a while, I was out right away.  Day 1 was a success!!  Next up--Key West, Florida!