Cruisin' With "Ickey Mouse" (Part 1)

Cline had a long stretch off of work at the end of June, so we splurged and took the family on a Disney Cruise.  We'd heard great things about it, and wanted to use this window of opportunity to do something a little different before the new baby is born in the Fall.  This is the first time since we've had kids that our family can sleep fairly comfortably in one hotel room, if need be.  Disney wouldn't let us cram into one room, however, so we were extra comfortable in 2 adjoining rooms!  We opted for a 4 day cruise that took us to Nassau, Bahamas, Castaway Cay, and included a full day and a half at sea to enjoy the sea.  It was seriously the most relaxing vacation we've been on with kids!!  It was every bit as much fun as going to Disney World, but much less work!  The lines for the characters were much shorter.  The surroundings were not nearly as crowded, and there were plenty of places to cool off comfortably when needed.  The food was spectacular, with plenty of delicious options, already paid for without having to calculate how many "meals" and "snacks" you had left, as is the case with the Disney Dining Plan.  They had child care on the boat, which I didn't plan to use, but once I laid eyes on it, and saw the security they had in place, I was completely comfortable allowing them to give Cline and I a short break from the kids for 2 dinners.  I was against the idea of leaving my kids with "strangers," but the set up was much more like a day camp or vacation bible school setting.  Plus, the older kids were begging to go, so how could I refuse??  Enjoy the pictures!

 Ready to board the ship!

 Donald Duck greeted us in the lobby of the ship as soon as we arrived!  No wait at all!

 Then we spotted Princess Tiana one floor up as we were finding our way around.  Again, no wait!

 Home for 4 days!

 We ran into Minnie after dinner on our first night.  Cline got a little sea sick as the ship picked up speed in the evening, but was much better the next morning.

 They had a princess gathering with all of the major princesses.  The kids got much more time with each princess than they normally do at the parks, and the lines were minimal!

 We woke up on our first morning pulling into Nassau.  We could see Atlantis across the water, and it looked impressive.  We walked around the downtown area a little, searching for a local canvas painting or other meaningful keepsake.  It was hot, the kids were fussy and not happy, and so many people kept trying to sell us things or services.  We made it about an hour or so before we decided to just go back to the boat.  I did find my canvas painting on our way out of the market that housed the passport-check area, though, so I'd call our stop a success!

 The beaches looked beautiful!!  But you had to pay to go to any of them, so we decided to just enjoy the ship.

Hanging out with Donald on the way to dinner!

 Dinner at Animator's Palate.  This place was really neat - the shark in the back ground swam across the screen every once in a while.  Crush from Finding Nemo came to the screen and personally talked to our section of the restaurant.

 Loving the port hole benches outside the restaurants!

The waiters at the restaurants consistently offered the kids "Mickey Mouse Ketchup."  They loved it!  They just used the bottled ketchup to make the blob into a circle with 2 ears.  Elizabeth especially loved the "ickey mouse ketchup," and we still have to decorate our plates with it at home, now!