Disney Thanksgiving Cruise

It is time for a trip to Disney!  I mean it has been a couple of years, and Colleen has never been to Disney (except in my tummy)!  This year we decided to give the Disney Cruise a try.  We started planning this little vacation in the summer.  You have to book these cruises early!  We signed away enough money to buy a nice car to take a family of 7 on a Disney cruise, and then we still had to get passports for a few of the girls, hotel rooms for the night before we boarded, and fuel to get to Florida!  It was all worth every penny (I think)!  Well, let's not add up every penny because the frugal accountant in me might have a heart attack!!!

The first day was just a fun exploration day!  We went to all the decks to see what we were going to be doing for the next 7 days!  The ship had a big theatre that was playing all the current in-theatre shows for free (haha!).  We went to see Wreck-It Ralph and the Lincoln movie to name a few.

The top deck pool/splash pad was a hit with everyone!  The girls loved swimming in the Mickey Ears pool and sliding down the huge slide that circled the ship above the top deck.

The ship really did have something for everyone!  Corynne went to the pre-teen club during the day to hang out.  Lauren and Lyndsey enjoyed a few hours everyday at the KidsClub.  They loved taking Colleen and us for a KidsClub tour during the open house time one afternoon!

Colleen even had a few visits to the Disney nursery because Mom and Dad needed a break!  Tyler spent most of his time in the teen room.  JM went the first day to the teen room open house to check it out.  We really did not see Tyler too much on the cruise.  He stayed at the Club until it closed (way past my bedtime), and he did not get up as early as the girls did!  He did meet us for dinner each evening.  Of course, the evening dinners were always fun family time!  The only problem was our assigned dinner time was 9 PM!  I am not kidding you!  Holding off the kids hunger until 9 PM was hard, and after dinner it was 10:30 and the younger kids were about to pass out from exhaustion!

If we ever do a cruise again, I WILL read all the information closely and not rely on JM to inform me!  He never read that there was a theme night dinner.  A very COSTLY mistake on his part because the girls made him shop at the Disney store to make sure they were dressed right!  Pirate night was so much fun--complete with Pirates of the Carribean playing on the BIG screen on the top of the boat.  The pools were closed for the dance floor.  Oh, and the next day we saw a "real" pirate ship at the port we stopped at!

Colleen dancing on the pool!  She was quite a ham or quite a disaster by 11 PM!!!

JM did tell me about the formal night which kinda scared me because we are NOT formal people!  The kids dressed up some for the night and we had great Christmas card pictures by the time the night was over!  

By the way, those are virgin drinks of the night that the girls are sipping on!  Like I said before, our dinner time was 9 PM so we did a lot of things to distract them from the hunger pains!!!

The girls loved to look through the port holes.  I even liked to look out of them by the 5th or 6th day!  The first few days I was so dizzy all day long that I could not handle looking out at the motion!

Seeing the towel art each night was always a treat!  Literally! The chocolates were a favorite. 

I caught a candy thief in action one night.  She tried to snatch them ALL from both rooms.  She ran and hid them from everyone--in the refrigerator in her room behind her juice!

The boat was full of characters to visit at all times!  It was so easy to read the morning paper and know exactly where to go to meet the different characters. 

The princesses made a big grand appearance at least one time a day.  Yes, we went everyday!  It was our little princess' FAVORITE part of the cruise!

Colleen even made a special friend.  She met her in the hall one evening on the way to the nursery (a place Colleen did not ever what to go).  Not that the nursery was bad, she just had to leave mom and dad to go there.  Cinderella took her to the nursery and stayed and played with her tonight!  Then, Cinderella left her a sweet handwritten letter about their time together.  Awwwwww.....

Yes, we waited in the same line everyday to see these 6 princesses!  Colleen insisted that a picture be taken everyday with each one!  She loved to hug, kiss, and pose with the lovely princesses!

Excursion Day #1 was to St. Thomas in the US Virgin islands.  The word on the street was to book the excursions heavy and early.  JM booked a Coral Sea adventure that claimed to be a sub like the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Turns out, it was a 1970s glass bottom boat. We did see a starfish (like the hundreds at the aquarium in Atlanta) and some blurry fish, Colleen ran head first into a kid and escaped without a major concussion, and we got to watch somebody feed a bird (hold your excitement please).  JM had also booked a Skyride to Paradise but we couldn't take another disappointment, so we went back to the ship.  We did get a nice pic of Corynne in the tropics.

Excursion Day # 2, Puerto Rico -- I stayed on the boat with the younger kids and skipped the Castillo San Cristobal historical walking tour we had booked (some common sense was taking shape).  JM took Tyler and Corynne to a Rainforest and Canopy Eco Tour (advanced only).  So apparently advanced means that you can hike a mile flat trail through trees listening to a rude guide mumbling about something JM forgot before he got to the ship and then ride 6 very short zip lines all at least 15 feet above the ground.  The best part was after the formal tour was complete and we ate authentic cuisine that tasted like Allsups burritos (JM's favorite), jumped off a 20 foot tall rock into a river (and just next to an active water snake nest that Tyler still doesn't know about), and surfed free internet on our phones because Puerto Rico is part of AT&T calling area.  On the way back to the ship, JM found out that there really was an advanced zip line course that was available apart from the cruise....Seriously?!?

Excursion tip from the Vermillions - just because it's Disney affiliated doesn't mean it is Disney quality. Save your money and just get off the boat and explore the local area without any formal tours... some families took beach stuff and hung out on the local beaches.  This may be one of the more memorable times but not because of the quality of excursions.

Thanksgiving Day - We spent Thanksgiving Day at sea.  It was kinda strange because it was not a real Thanksgiving.  No football on TV.  No turkey and dressing in the oven.  No family fun and chaos.  We have taken Thanksgiving break trips before, but we have always been back to Alabama or Texas by Thursday to spend Thanksgiving with family.  It was a small let down in a BIG week of FUN!  Anyways, look at these beautiful girls in their Pinterest inspired, Judy Harris made turkey shirts.  I just love them (and the girls too)!!!  Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!!

Excursion Day #3 was to Castaway Cay Disney's private island.  We chose (at least a few of us) to swim with the stingrays.  It was a a cool experience.  Corynne and JM snorkeled around looking for other sealife.  Corynne found a few perfect sand dollars! Now that was a great excursion and a priceless time together.

The rest of the day was spent playing in the ocean at the island!

It was an absolutely, fabulous Disney vacation.  We had the time of our life, and everyone was asking to go again next year!  I will leave you with one more picture because it is one of favorites from the trip...

I think it is worthy of a Hallmark card!  Those are 3 beautiful little girls!  Look at their smiles and eyes--oh my!  Just wish Dad would not have let them get those strange braids!!!