Day 5: Costa Maya
Costa Maya was a new port for us. Initially, we didn't really have a plan for the day other than going to the beach. Sadly, by this point in time I was so sick I could barely walk. Ugh. Instead I slept late while Bobby took G to breakfast. I was eventually able to drag myself out of bed and shower. I really wanted to at least visit the port so we ventured into town. It really wasn't worth it. It was one of those cruiseline manufactured port areas and we had to walk really far to get there. Nuff said.

When we got back we did G's favorite thing... visited characters! Seriously, the girl never tires of them. She dances and hugs and jumps and giggles and hugs some more. Fun, fun!

Day 4: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGIE!!!
Its official! Georgiana is 5 yrs old! I can’t believe it. Even though Bobby suggested to her that perhaps she should just spend another year being 4, she decided that she’d go ahead and be five. Darn it all. My baby is getting older. So wonderful and yet so sad. Sigh.

Even though today’s port was Grand Cayman we decided to spend the day on the ship instead. We’ve been to GC twice before. Plus, I’d heard that port days can be awesome days to stay on the ship; everyone is off doing excursions and tours leaving the ship pretty empty. We had a late breakfast, visited with a few characters then hit the pool. It was great! Whereas the day before there was not a single open deck chair, we now had our choice! G was able to enjoy the Mickey pool and other water activities without a crowd. It was a very nice change.

We returned to the room to get ready for the evening and G watched part of a Disney movie. Its nice that there’s an On Demand station that shows Disney films. For the 45 mins or so before dinner they have quite a few characters available. Bobby and I are becoming experts at timing the lines to ensure we obtain maximum character coverage  Then it was off to dinner at the third and final restaurant in our dining rotation, Animator’s Palette. Wow! Super fun place. The animation artist theming is great! From the pencil shaped columns to the paintbrush-shaped butter knives its just cute, cute, cute. We had a great table right next to one of the video screens allowing G to have a great view of the show. Our food, especially my salmon tartare starter, was super tasty as well. With few exceptions I’ve been very impressed with the food in the dining rooms and the quick service places.

Dinner included a round of “Happy Birthday” which thrilled G to death. By this point, G was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open but we really wanted to see the evening’s show “Buckets and Boards”. We decided to make our way to the front of the ship where the theater is located and let Georgie take a daddy nap… you know, sleep on daddy’s shoulder. It worked out pretty well. By the time the show began, G had slept a bit and was able to enjoy the show. Actually enjoy is putting it mildly, she absolutely howled with laughter. The show is a musical comedy duo that’s a bit hard to describe but suffice to say, they’re funny!

Once the show was over, G was completely done and started asking if we were going to go back to the room to sleep. Poor baby. I think we wore her out.

This was the craziest and most energetic Peter Pan I've ever come across. He ran around, screamed and jumped up onto stairway banisters. At a few points I was actually concerned for him and the safety of some of the passengers. G and all the kids adored him and thought he was the greatest thing ever. Truthfully, he was quite entertaining but wow!

Happy Birthday to Georgiana!  

I'd always wanted to see Belle in her Christmas dress. Usually you have to be at WDW at Christmas time but, I guess since the ship was still decorated for Christmas, they brought her out. G and I saw her and ran!!! Yes, we're crazy. 

With the Buckets and Boards guys. They were so fun! 

Day 3: Day at Sea
Got up early and hit the buffet for some breakfast. I do love lox eggs benedict…yum! After that we went straight to the pool. We wanted to try the water slide ride Aqua Duck before it got too crowded. It’s this giant tube that you ride through on a raft. Visually it’s a must. When you walk out on the pool deck its impossible to miss. After riding it, I’d classify it as fun but not enough so that I’d be willing to wait more than the about 10 mins that we did. G really liked it though and says she wants to do it again. We spent the next couple hours watching G swim in the Mickey pool and go down the water slide about a kagillion times, sorta watching a Tinker Bell movie on Funnel Vison --the giant poolside movie screen which is awesome!—and catching some rays.

After a quick shower we were off to Georgie’s Bibbity Bobbity Boutique appointment! We brought a Cinderella’s Wedding Dress with us that I’d purchased from the Disney website. It was gorgeous and pretty uncommon. G was definitely the only kid on the ship with that dress today and that’s saying something because you see a LOT of princess dresses :-) G looked awesome and very royal just in time for the Princess Gathering in the lobby. It’s a pretty great meet and greet because you get 6 princesses but there is a time investment of about an hour. That’s longer than I’m usually willing to wait but for 6 princesses I guess it’s ok.

While we were in line G was being uncommonly grouchy and moody. Normally she’s super happy go lucky and I was pretty surprised. After a bit it occurred to me… we had forgotten to feed her YIKES!!! Slacker mom (and dad but I’ll take the blame here). I felt so bad. Bobby rushed and grabbed her a granola bar to hold her over from the princess thing to lunch and she happied up considerably. G is just not a kid who can miss a meal. After the princess palooza we headed straight to a very late lunch and her mood improved dramatically. Whoo!

Next stop was a matinee performance of the Aladdin stage show which was wonderful. We then hit a couple more characters before realizing that Bobby and I needed to get ready for formal night. We gussied ourselves up, G switched into yet another princess dress we brought along with us, and away we went. Per my request, our dining rotation placed us in the Royal Court restaurant which is the most formal of the dining options. The room itself is very nice but not nearly as pretty as the Enchanted Garden where we ate the night before. Again, the food was very good. All three of us chose beef medallions and shrimp as a main course and finished it off with dessert: Mickey bars for G and me and Bobby had a strawberry shortcake sundae :-)

By that time, G was chomping at the bit to hit the kids club again so after dropping her off we wandered the ship awhile… alone time! It always feels so strange.

Our FGIT (Fairy Godmother in Training) was very sweet. She loved G's dress and said she'd never seen one on the ship. G naturally pulls her dress out for pix. Its so funny!

What is she thinking??

This is pretty much how happy G looks during the entire makeover process. She really likes it!

Ahhhh!

Aladdin in his Prince Ali costume. The line for the princesses was kind of long so he interacted with the kids during the wait. Disney is very prepared.

This is G's "I'm hungry and not enjoying myself face". I know right? she means business

Is this not one of the most beautiful bathrooms you've ever seen? The ceiling is mirrored. Pretty to look at but I'm afraid I might get stage fright in there ;-)

Formal photo with Capt Mickey. I just loved G's Tiana dress... gorgeous but she complained about it itching so she ditched it right after dinner. Bummer because it was a custom. They're usually better but not this one apparantly.

The first of Minnie's two absolutely gorgeous formal dresses



The second later in the evening. I don't think you can tell from the pic but the dress is fully beaded. Gorgeous!

Day 2: All Aboard
G woke up around 8am after getting about 12 hrs sleep! Poor little thing was exhausted. We grabbed a quick and light continental breakfast in the lobby then shuttled it to the port. We ended up being second in line to check in :-)  The Disney experience is obvious right away. The terminal is immaculately clean and well appointed with little couches parked in front of TVs playing a non-stop stream of Dumbo. Mickey and Minnie took turns doing meet and greets while we waited to board the ship. The boarding process was very smooth and quick and before we knew it we were stepping onto the boat and being announced “Introducing the Crowell Family!!!” to a round of applause.

Our room wasn’t going to be ready for a few hours so we hit Cabanas--the ship's buffet-- for lunch. There were some pretty decent offerings. G was excited to see a HUGE pile of peel and eat shrimp :-) After that we walked the ship some to get acquainted with the layout. The Disney touches continued. The ship is only about 7 mos old and beautifully decorated. I was surprised and excited to see that the Christmas decorations were still up! With each turn of the corner G found something she wanted to do immediately. She didn’t seem to really understand the concept of touring the ship. Eventually we headed toward the pool deck for the sail away party which G really enjoyed. We had just enough time to go back to the room and chill out on the veranda for bit before dinner.

Disney does things a bit differently than most other cruise lines. Instead of having a single main dining room, they have three and you rotate among them. Your servers follow you which is nice. I’d made two requests in advance: to have a private table (I really hate sharing with others… I go on vacation to spend time with my own family not to pretend I’m friends with someone for 7 days) and to be in whatever rotation would put us in the Royal Courtyard restaurant on formal night. When we arrived for dinner I was pleased to see that both my requests had been honored. Nice.

First night dining was in The Enchanted Garden. It’s a very pretty place filled with soft colors and beautiful floral themed lighting. The servers wore mint green and pink. Super cute! I’d read that Disney had good food and so far I’d have to say I agree! Bobby and I each had a lobster ravioli starter (it was ok) and I had a second starter: ahi tuna and avocado tower. I’m just going to go ahead and say it… YUM!! I could have easily just eaten a couple of those for dinner. For the entrée, Bobby went with a pork tenderloin which he really enjoyed and I had carmelized scallops and pearl couscous. Fantastic! I was doubly impressed because scallops are not always that easy to pull off. They have to be cooked just right or they’re tough. It would seem even more difficult to achieve in a mass production situation. They were perfect… mmmmm. G went with kid food and a finished it off with a Mickey shaped ice cream bar. Bobby got a chocolate torte he didn’t care for and I got a banana sundae which was delish.

I talked G into taking a few minutes to visit with the characters before dropping her off at the kids club while Bobby snagged us some seats for the show. The show was ok, kind of corny. By that time it was pretty late and we headed back to spring G from kids club. She begged to stay for one more activity –G does love her some kids club—then it was back to the room. It was a huge and completely exhausting day. So much so that I’m having trouble staying awake to type this :-)

Minnie ears? check! Disney shirt?? check!

There she is, the beautiful Disney Fantasy

I found the Fantasy cabins to be very nice and roomy for a regular balcony room.

G spent a lot of time laying around in these porthole windows... everyone on the ship did... even adults sometimes :-)

G loved the hand washing machine in the kids club... she said it tickled and would giggle and giggle. So funny lol

In front of the stack on embarkation day. That's the only time I ever saw the Mickey pool empty

At the sail away party... G really cut loose

our traditional sail away photo

The entry of the Enchanted Garden restaurant

Characters are everywhere on the ship... visiting with them and admiring their different costumes was a daily activity

Next day would be a Sea Day...

Vacation Log
Day 1: Travel
We were up at 4:20 and in the car by 5am. Casey was home so he was able to drop us off at the airport, yay! Check in was quick and easy. The first leg of our Southwest flight (Ontario to Phoenix) the plane was only half full. For the second leg there was not an empty seat. Overall, travel day was long but pleasantly uneventful.

The only unfortunate thing about doing a Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral is that you have to get from the Orlando Airport to PC which is about 45 min drive. This requires taking a shuttle, hiring a private car or renting a car. Each option has its pros and cons but we eventually decided that arranging for a town car to pick us up was the right choice for us. It wasn’t the least expensive option but it was convenient. We ended up booking a hotel for the night pre-cruise but made a bit of a mistake with location. We ended up being about 10 mins from the port in Cocoa Beach. Overall not a huge deal but if we ever do another cruise out of PC I’ll be better informed.

The weather is in the low 60s but there’s kind of a chilly wind. That could be because we’re close to the coast (though from our cheapie motel I can’t tell how close). I’m hoping things are a bit balmier at WDW when we’re there next week.

Dinner was at a Thai/sushi place next door to motel. The food was pretty tasty! Pad See Ew and Tom Kha soup… oh yeah! The motel is a La Quinta. It’s what I’d call “serviceable”: no frills but gets the job done. The good news is it only ended up costing us about $30 because we had a credit from Expedia! By 6pm Florida time which is only 3pm CA time, G was toast so it was shower, jammies, story and sleep.

We have a reserved boarding time of 1pm which was the earliest available by the time I looked into doing it. But, other than what is probably a pretty dismal included “continental breakfast” in the lobby there’s really nothing much to do around here. So, we decided to take our chances and get to the Port as early as possible to see if we can board early. It couldn’t be any more boring than hanging out here –plus, check out time is 10am --and I have a feeling we’ll get lucky. Wishing us luck!

Bags checked, fast food breakfast purchased, now we just need to get on the plane!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Georgie is a great traveler... much better than me. I sometimes feel like I'm going to go cuckoo crazy on the plane but G always seems happy and excited to be going somewhere!

Scooting
G had been wanting a scooter for awhile... some of the kids in the neighborhood have the razors and I guess that looked interesting to her. I found this beginner one that has three wheels--kind of trike scooter--G loves it! It doesn't hurt that its purple and has princesses on it :-)

Christmas 2012
I know this is super late. We went on vacation and we've been super sick. Yuck! I have so many things to post about though... I'm working on trying to catch up.

Ok, Christmas... it ended up being a very quiet day. Just Bobby, Casey, Georgie, my mom and me; Brett spent the day with his girlfriend. Even though there weren't tons of gifts under the tree--we try hard not to go overboard on the gift thing-- Georgie was thrilled! She was especially excited about her Pottery Barn doll and her globe. My mom surprised me with a beautiful custom blanket with images of Georgie on it... it's so beautiful, I almost cried :-)

G with her much beloved "Spring" doll

"I'm queen of the Christmas tree!!!"

I think G was most excited about giving Bobby and I the gift she made for us at school... adorable!!

This is a nice pic of G and my mom

Ahhhhh!!!

Isn't it beautiful???