Some of you may remember that we were meant to do this cruise last summer, but as Winnie’s anxiety got the better of her a few days before we were scheduled to sail, we ended up moving it to this year instead. We’ve only ever done one cruise in the past which was one of the UK Disney cruises just after Covid, that just sailed in a big circle, so weren’t really sure what to expect, but we’re hoping for a bit of a rest after our busy start to the trips at the parks.We used Disney transport from the Grand Floridian as we decided that although the cost was a bit higher for 4 of us than getting a car, the convenience would be worth it. You also get an earlier boarding group with it, which meant more time on the ship. The journey took around an hour, check in was easy and we didn’t wait long at all to be called onto the ship.
Our first impression was that the ship is huge!! I’m talking 15,000 steps-a-day huge spoiler alert…we didn’t get much relaxation!!) The Grand Hall where you entered the ship was really impressive. It’s absolutely huge and has a beautiful ceiling that plays a light show numerous times a night (once just as we got to meet Daisy which made taking photos interesting!) We decided to spend a while just finding our way around before heading for a bite to eat and hitting the pools as the girls wanted to do the Aquamouse and we knew the queue could get long at other times. They waited about 25 minutes as it kept stopping, and although they enjoyed it, weren’t sure it was worth the wait.
By this time our cabin was ready so we headed inside to sort our luggage. We had a verandah stateroom for four people. The girls went outside and immediately saw dolphins leaping out of the water which was magical, and the thing Winnie had wished for when she spotted a sea fairy on her last cruise. The room set up is a small toilet, a separate small bathroom with bath/ shower combo and sink, a double bed and a sofa area which converts into a bunk bed area that can be separated from the main bedroom with a curtain.
It was now time to head to the muster drill which took longer than it should as lots of families were missing, before going to watch the sail away party. It was so hot by this point, with no real shade anywhere that gave a good viewing point. We were sat on two towels and the heat from the deck was still burning! Steve kept himself cool though as he bought the refillable beer mug which gets you refills which are much bigger and a lot cheaper than a regular beer, and more than paid for itself. We, on the other hand, resorted to towels over our heads while we waited, along with most other people, but the girls were so excited to see the characters.
After the show we went inside for a quick clean up before heading for tea. Our first meal was in the Marvel restaurant which was themed brilliantly and had a continuous fun show running on the screens throughout the meal. The dining rooms are pretty crammed in though. There are barely any gaps between tables, so you feel like you are sat with the people next to you and there is no privacy. Luckily, we had a lovely family next to us. The food was good, although it was our least favourite of the 3 nights (we were slightly worried as the food on the UK cruise was really nothing special but needn’t have been) and the servers were so lovely. I think the girls would have bought our lovely Turkish assistant sever home with us. They had as many hugs with her as with the characters! On our way out of the restaurant Spiderman was walking around and ran up to Winnie to say he liked her outfit, which she loved.
We then set off to meet Donald in his silver sailing outfit. I think all 4000 people on board had the same idea as it was crazy busy. Literally as busy as leaving Magic Kingdom after fireworks. It was hard to get anywhere and quite stressful, especially with a little anxious one, and we did start up question if this cruise was for us, but Winnie’s face meeting Donald made it worth while.
Daisy wasn’t meeting until 10pm, which is late for the girls, but they really wanted to meet her and we realised the excitement of the day would likely carry us through. Plus, we had our first show in the theatre (a mixture of Disney characters and songs) which took up a chunk of time. We also had a look in the shops, although we didn’t buy anything, and met Goofy, and before we knew it it was time to meet Daisy.
We are still definitely finding our way around and I found today quite stressful as, never having done a cruise here before everything was new, and it was definitely much busier than I expected, but we still really enjoyed our day and I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a lot more relaxed.
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 