Booking the Trip:
We booked the trip a few months ago, after many, many hours of trying to figure out where our next vacation would be. Eric and I loved to cruise before having kids, and I had read that the kids club on Disney was awesome, so I figured this would be perfect--allow us to travel and have some down time while the kids were occupied with all things Disney.
I booked with the help of one of my best friends (Laura) who is a Disney travel agent. She made everything so, so easy. I also did a fair amount of research too, just b/c I love knowing everything about where I'm going ahead of time.
Friday:
The boat wasn't scheduled to leave until Saturday, but we flew in on Friday, to be sure we got there in time. It was a great decision. Our flight out of National was at 3pm, so the kids went to school for the morning, which gave Eric and me some time to finish packing and tie up loose ends at work before departing.
On the plane, I sat with Piper and Fletch, while Eric sat with Deacon, who flew using a CARES harness to keep him safe. Big thanks to my friend Joy for lending it to us.
We arrived safe and sound in Orlando, and the kids remembered the airport from our trip last September.
After getting to the airport, we checked into our hotel for the night, which was the Hyatt Orlando Airport. This hotel is literally right in the airport, so no need to take any other transportation or catch a ride anywhere. We just picked up our luggage and walked right in and got our room. It was a junior suite, a big room just for us. The Hyatt is perfect for a before a cruise, and they even have a partnership with Disney for those of you who take the Magical Express to Port Canaveral (we didn't).
After checking in, we got dinner from the food court in the airport, which has a huge fish tank that occupied the kids for quite a while. Then it was time to attempt putting the kids to bed in the room. Deke went to sleep fine. P&F, on the other hand, took a long time to settle, which didn't bode well for the rest of our trip when we would all be locked in a ship cabin, but it turned out just fine.
Saturday:
On Saturday, we were up early and had breakfast in the airport. Around 10am, we met the van that I had hired through Spaceport Transport. It worked out great. Much cheaper than the Magical Express, they provide free carseats for the kids, and they will stop at Target or Publix for you to pick up any last minute items. The only downside is that you have to install the carseats yourself, which isn't fun in the Florida heat with 3 kids excited to get going. But, we survived.
We arrived at Port Canveral around 10:45. There were a LOT of people arriving at the same time, but we didn't have to wait too long. It probably took about 20 minutes to check-in and board the boat. Not bad. Once on board, they shuffle you to lunch at Cabanas.
We actually ate our food out on the pool deck (shown in the pic above) b/c Cabanas itself was really crowded, and made me nervous that every meal would be packed. But, I think this was just so crowded because it was the only place open for lunch, and everyone was going at the same time. It also didn't help that we had 3 restless kids with us, while trying to get food from a buffet. It really wasn't until the last few days of the trip that we started to manage that feat well.
After lunch, we went to the open house at the kids club. In the days leading up to the trip, I had been talking up the kids club quite a bit, getting P&F psyched to go there, so they'd let us have a little alone time. When we got there though, there really wasn't any need for my prior prep talks because it is an amazing, huge space.
Monsters University room
Andy's Room (from Toy Story, which was really cool)
Kid dance floor
After checking out the kids club and getting the Magic Bands for the kids, our room was ready. (As a side note, on the cruise, Magic Bands are only used for the kids club, unlike Disney World where they are used for everyone on everything. On the boat, you still have to carry around a Key to the World card for things. It would be nice if they changed over to Magic Bands. I bet that's just a few years off.)
Our room was beautiful. Tons of storage, nice tall beds to put our luggage under, a split bathroom with ample space, a cute little balcony, bunk beds, a comfy queen bed, and room for a pack-n-play. I loved it. This is a shot from the balcony, looking at a Carnival boat docked next to us.
By that time, Deacon was getting tired, so Eric stayed with him in the room to nap, while I took P&F for a swim. Our luggage still hadn't been delivered to the room, but I had read ahead of time to take your bathing suits with you on board to swim in the afternoon. This came in really handy so we could check out the pools and splash pad.
After swimming, it was time for the emergency drill. This took quite a while and included a lot of whining and crying from all 3 kids. They acted like they were going to perish in the heat. It may just have been a drill, but by the end, I felt lucky we all survived.
Once we recovered from the drill, it was time to to get dressed for dinner. We had the first dinner seating at 5:45, and the first night we ate at the Royal Court. The food was delicious and the other family that we sat with was very sweet, although we may have scared them with our crazy crew. And, I can't say enough about our servers Malwyn and Mimi who took care of us every night at dinner--ensuring the kids were happy, knowing what we liked and didn't like, having drinks ready for us when we arrived, etc. While getting 3 kids to eat dinner peacefully after long, hot days in the sun is no small feat, Mimi and Malwyn took good care of us and made life easier.
Following dinner, we checked out a family dance party, which was so fun. Deacon loved being in the middle of the dance floor, and P&F cut a rug, dancing to all the songs. After a while though, P&F were begging to go back to the kids club, so we took them, and went back to the room to put Deke to bed. A while later, we picked up P&F from the club (who I had to drag out of there), and everyone went to sleep easily and quickly, with Deacon in a pack-n-play, Piper on the top bunk, and Fletch on the bottom bunk.
It was a great first day of our trip.
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