We are back from our Disney Magic Mediterranean cruise! We had a great time, and I was happy to be in some warm sun, water, with American outlets and food. (It's true.) But I love that the more vacations we go on, the more excited I am to return to Aberdeen, our home. The boys were very excited to be home too.
Our cruise was 7 days, with 2 sea days, and 4 port days. We stopped in port cities near Nice, France, Florence, Rome and Naples, Italy. There were planned port day excursions we could sign up for, but we didn't sign up for any except for Naples. With two little ones, we weren't sure how they would be on long day trips where things were planned. I'll do another post on our port days soon. The cruise. THE CRUISE! I never thought I would go on a cruise, but I have to say we really enjoyed it. Disney had impeccable guest service and hospitality. I was really impressed. There were plenty of toddler activities, although Noah chose not to do most, because he wanted to be with us. There was 3 pools on the ship, one for kids. Noah loved to swim!! In Aberdeen, we don't do many activities, so swimming was kinda foreign to him. You should have seen Jason trying to put Noah in the pool for the first time. It was like a cat that didn't want to take a bath. He didn't want to get in! But of course he (and Asher) loved it. Asher actually wasn't allowed in the pool with a swim diaper. That was annoying, they did have a (dinky) splash pad for the swim diaper folks, which of course was overrun with older kids. I would say that was my only negative thought about the cruise. But we waited until dinner time (guests have designated dinner times) and we went to the pool then, and had it all to ourselves. Nobody was around so we put Asher in it too. :)
We saw the movie Planes, 2 times in the cruises movie theater, met a handful of Disney characters, watched mini broadway type shows, ate plenty of ice cream and chicken and french fries, (Noah had them every night for dinner!) chased the boys on the top deck (the best spot), Jason surprised me with a pedicure appointment in the cruise's spa, watched my favorite (and Noah's too) classic Mickey Mouse short cartoons, and spoiled the boys in the Disney store.
Both our boys loved to see all the characters from afar. Asher would squirm in our arm and shake with excitement and have wide eyes as he just stared at them. He could have done that all day. Once we got close to take a photo, Asher would cry, and Noah would shy away... eventually Noah didn't want to take any photos with them, and Asher got used to them and wouldn't cry! One afternoon while Jason and Noah were watching Planes, Asher and I went on a hunt for some characters, and we found Mickey! Yay! You snooze, you loose, Noah! Jason and I got a kick out of watching adults get so excited about taking pictures with the characters, without kids. :) Too funny.
Everything on the cruise was planned out, on a schedule, so you could always find something to do. Everyone had a set dinner time, where we always sat at the same table. We were put with another little family, so we got to know them a bit throughout the week. Every night you rotated throughout one of the three dining rooms. I liked the animation room the best. All black and white, with framed pictures of Disney movie scenes in the early stages of being drawn. Each night there was a theme, where you could dress up if you like. The food also went with the theme. Pirate night, princess night, etc. We always had the same two waiters, so they got to know us, and our routine. We kinda ate fast, because the boys wouldn't be patient enough, but the staff was very helpful and we could get in and out in 45 minutes! One night both boys were crazy, and we had to tag team eating and walking around with Asher. We didn't get dessert. The next night we come to our room, and there were two trays of treats and fruit, with an apology note from the cruise, for our rough dinner night. Very thoughtful!
Overall, the cruise was really nice. We think Asher was a little too young to really enjoy it, or really let us fully enjoy it. (Not many activities he could really enjoy, and a bad nap schedule!) If our boys would have been a bit more independent, and wanted to go into the nursery/toddler day care room, that would have been nice, and the whole trip was a few days too long for them. Now we know. But we had a great time, and Jason and I want to plan a cruise with just us one day!
No comments:
Post a Comment