We've been home for a week now and I couldn't wait to get these pics posted and memories from our trip written....we literally had the BEST time EVER and I want to remember every little detail from our trip because it really was the trip of a lifetime!!
It seem like we had been waiting for this vacation forever! We started planning in August....Jer & I had to keep it a secret from the kids until Christmas because we wanted to surprise them with the trip for Christmas! They were so excited and then our countdown REALLY began! Thank goodness the 2 months after Christmas went so fast....and it was time!!!
With the exception of our little mini vacations to Big Bear, La Quinta & Utah....this was our first REAL family vacation! I don't even think we've ever flown on a plane all 5 of us together! Or stayed in a hotel all 5 of us together! And we definitely have not been on a cruise ship all 5 of us together! In fact, this was also mine & Jer's first cruise experience as well!! All I gotta say to that is....spoiled rotten kids get to go on their 1st cruise at 3, 6 & 8 and their poor parents are going on their 1st cruise at 37!! HA!
We got up when it was still dark on Saturday morning....and our journey began! And a trip to the Disney Cruise would NOT be complete without our favorite pals....Mickey, Minnie & Pluto joining us on our journey! :)
Our social butterfly, Ayden, made friends with our pilot at McDonalds! We were all sitting at our gate eating breakfast and Ayden ran back to McDonalds to grab some napkins and when he returned, he said he met our pilot and the pilot invited him to come into the cockpit when we boarded!! Leave it to Ayden to talk to strangers!! :-/ But sure enough....it WAS our pilot and he DID invite them in!
It was an awesome experience for the kids....the pilot was so nice and let them explore, ask questions, sit in the captain's seat and wear their special hats!! :) The kids will remember this forever!! :)
Captain Ayden....
Zoey was too nervous to go in with Ayden & Maddix on our 1st airplane....so at our layover in Chicago, Zoey met that pilot and told him that her brothers got to check out the cockpit in our last plane and asked if she could in this plane! Her wish was granted! :)
Thank goodness we were traveling with Grandma Brenda & Grandpa Gary....it's always nice to have an extra set of eyes on the kids and some extra hands to help entertain them! :) All that being said....it was still the longest travel day ever! We had a 4 hour flight from Orange County to Chicago. We had a 2 hour layover in Chicago. We boarded the plane...and sat....and sat...and sat....and sat! The pilot said they found some mechanical problem on the plane, but "not to worry" (yeah, like that's really possible) and that we would be leaving shortly! The only thing worse than traveling with kids....is traveling with kids on an airplane that isn't moving!! So we sat for over an hour and they announced that this plane is broken....not safe to fly in and that we would all need to get off. So we begrudgingly exited the plane.....and our 2 hour layover turned into a 5 hour layover before another plane could be found to get us to our next stop! Thank goodness we were traveling the day before our cruise left! I can't imagine what would've happened if this delay caused us to miss the boat!!! We finally left and our 3 hour flight got us to Miami at midnight!
The next morning, we got up and looked out the window of our hotel and in the distance, we could see our ship....waiting for our arrival!! :) So off we went....with smiles on our faces!! I am not sure who was more excited.....us adults or the kids! HA!
We boarded the ship at 12:30 pm on Sunday!
And we immediately started grubbing on the awesome food that we were about to enjoy for the week! And within minutes, the kids were in the pools!!! We couldn't get into our rooms for a little bit, so we killed time by the pool! Noone was complaining!
And the kids (Zoey especially) were super excited to meet up with cousins!! :)
When it was time to see our room....we were giddy with excitement! Room 8070....Smith Family Casa for the next week!! :)
And it was gorgeous! We were beyond impressed with how big the room was, how much storage there was, how clean everything was....and the view was absolutely incredible!! We had a walk out balcony! I stressed about this for months wondering how on earth we were going to keep kids (specifically Maddix) IN the ship at all times....luckily there were some good locking devices on that door that immediately set my mind at ease!! HA!
The view from the door....
The view from the balcony....those blue and white striped curtains closed at night to separate the room into 2 rooms....us on one side, the kids on the other! That blue couch opened up to a bottom bunk. Above the bottom bunk, a top bunk came out of the wall. And a 3rd bed came out of the wall between the couch and the balcony! Amazing use of space!! :)
We had 2 bathrooms (which was genius)....one with a shower & sink....
...and the other with a toilet and sink....
A cute little desk....like I said, lots of storage space for us!
When I saw pics of the rooms before we came, I was very nervous about the openings that I thought Maddix might be able to squeeze through. Luckily there was a covering on them! And we scared the heck out of the kids to convince them NOT to stand on these chairs or tables to look over the railing!
Our view out of our balcony....overlooking Miami!
We boarded the boat at 12:30 pm and it wasn't supposed to leave til 4:00 pm or so, so we had a while to just sit and hang out in Miami! We explored the boat and checked everything out!
Right as we were departing, we got to experience our 1st deck party!
Here come Minnie, Mickey and the rest of the gang!!!! :)
Maddix was so excited to see all the characters....
....and his face was priceless when he first spotted Mickey!!!! :)
The Smith boys.....talking about and checking out all the technical details on the boat!!
Cousin hang out time....
Our 1st dinner at Animator's Palate! Jeremiah and Branden with their boys....
The dining experience on the cruise was amazing! We rotated between 3 restaurants and each one had a different theme and a different menu, but we had the same servers at all 3 restaurants and on every night! The service was perfect.....there were 2 servers assigned to our table....and no other table! Yep, we had 2 servers all to ourselves!! As the days went on, they started learning what we liked....our drinks would be brought to us right away when we arrived....kids drinks were already waiting! It was great!
This is Mehmet....he was not one of our servers at our table, but he was one of the managers over our table and he visited us every night to make sure that everything was perfect....and he always had some magic tricks up his sleeve to impress the kids with! They loved him!! :)
It was really great to wake up on our 1st morning and be out in the middle of the sea....with this view!!!!
In these pics, you can see what it looks like when all the kids beds are down! It was so nice to have each of them have their own beds!!!
Interesting factoid about our 1st night on the ship! In the middle of the night, at about 1:30 am, there was an alarm that sounded in our room and an announcement with some code about MOS or something. The next morning, we discovered that as we were sailing, we came upon a man, in an intertube with flippers on, holding a torch. Apparently, he was in pretty bad shape when we got him. But I guess this is a common thing and people in Cuba know that the cruise ships are coming, so they go out to sea and hope to get picked up! We were about 9 miles off the Cuba coast when this guy got picked up! Super crazy...and I kept being so interested in what they did with him!! I kept thinking...is he enjoying breakfast and the pools with us this morning!! HA! But I guess he got medical attention and then the coast guard took him back to Cuba!! HAHA.....wonder if he would say that was worth it or not!!
Every morning, we woke up and rolled out of bed, put our swimsuits on and headed to the breakfast buffet! The breakfast buffet was DELISH every morning!!! They had the most amazing fruit!! I had fruit and oatmeal every morning! The kids loved the donuts! Jer loved that there were eggs and sausage and bacon at every breakfast!!
Zoey and Natalia eating breakfast....
After breakfast on the 1st day, I went to check out the gym....and I fell in love with working out on the cruise ship!! Seriously.....how could you NOT fall in love with this view!?!?! It was great to work out and burn off all the food we had been consuming! I worked out every single day we were there....ha...more than I get to even work out at home!!
The kids spent a good amount of time at kids club each day. They really loved it and begged us to go each day! We had to try to space it out because I didn't want them to get sick of it....and even though kids club was amazing, I didn't want them to miss out on all of the awesome things the boat had to offer on the outside such as the pools!! But at the same time, Jer & I really enjoyed the break when we got to drop the kids off at kids club! One day when we dropped them off, we were walking out of kids club and Jer said, "FREEDOM"!!! He got a laugh out of some of the parents.....because we all just had that same feeling!! HA! But we would try to space it out....breakfast together in the morning.....then kids club for a little bit....then lunch and swimming at the pools....then kids club for a little bit....then dinner....then kids club....then a show! HA! It really was a perfect balance of the entire Smith family time, our little Smith family of 5 time, Jer & I time and alone time!!
On Monday night, it was Pirate Night!! The kids got these pirate costumes to wear for Pirate Night from Uncle Branden and Aunt Laurel for Christmas!
HAHA....love their faces in this pic!
Pirate Night was the night that Jer & I decided to do a special dinner at one of the fancy restaurants on the ship, Palo. It was something that we had to pay a little extra for (even though everything else on the ship was all inclusive), but it was DELICIOUS and SO WORTH IT!!!! This was the kind of restaurant where they bring you lemon sorbet in between courses to cleanse your pallet! HA....this is not the type of restaurants that Jer & I usually frequent!! It was a special treat! :) Gary & Brenda ended up going the same night, so we ate with them. We were a little bummed that we had to rush through dinner because we wanted to make it to Pirate Night, but it was still good! We put the kids in kids club before we went to dinner and asked everyone else to get the kids out & take them to Pirate Night and we would meet them there! It was hard to find everyone....it was loud and dark and everyone looked like pirates!! HA! But it was an awesome show!!
HAHA....Ayden looks scared....like he just saw some scary looking pirates!!!
Oh Ayden, don't worry....that's just Grandpa Gary & Grandma Brenda! HA....they quickly changed into their costumes after our Palo dinner!! They looked great! :)
Awesome show....great music....
...and then a fireworks show in the sky....over the open sea....with fireworks shooting off the boat!! Can you say AMAZING!!!!!
Haha....great pic of Maddix on Jer's back and Ayden on Grandpa Gary's shoulders!!
So much fun!!
Mickey made an awesome entrance into the party!!
Each night after dinner, we loved coming back to our room to find our beds pulled down, our towel designs, our personal navigator with details of the next day and a chocolate treat! HAHA....this turkey hanging out on a hanger! We loved our guy that cleaned our room....he was such a hard worker and did such a great job! We loved talking to the workers on the ship....it was so interesting to see where they were from and learn more about life on the cruise ship as an employee!! So crazy!!
After dinner most nights, we went to a show. Maddix wasn't very interested in the ventriloquist! HAHA.....actually, he was, but it was a long long day and he was wiped out!!
Night night time in a Pirate Costume....hugging Mickey Mouse!!! If this doesn't scream "Disney Cruise", then I don't know what does!! HAHA!
On Tuesday morning, we woke up bright and early at our 1st stop....Cozumel! I couldn't believe how crystal clear the waters were!! It was beautiful!!
We got off the ship after breakfast to go explore the streets of Cozumel....the sun was too bright for these little monkeys!
I loved getting pics of our ship in the distance!
It had just rained in Cozumel when we arrived, but the sun was shining and the weather was perfect! I usually love Mexico, but I wasn't really a fan of Cozumel! I am not sure if it's because we were on a cruise ship and we all got off at the same time....the locals were all just waiting to sell us crap! Or maybe it was the fact that we were walking the streets with our kids and that made me nervous?!? Or maybe it's because we were just on this gorgeous ship being spoiled rotten with amazing amenities....and then we got dropped in the middle of Mexico?!? HAHA.....not sure which it was or maybe a combo of all 3, but I was anxious to get back on the boat.
Downtown Cozumel....
Maddix loved seeing the horsies!!
We went back and forth a million times trying to decide what excursions we wanted to do! It was hard to choose because they all had age restrictions and although Zoey and Ayden could do most things, Maddix could only do a few of the excursions! All we knew was Jer wanted to snorkel! We thought about splitting up and Jer & Ayden going snorkeling and me taking Zoey & Maddix to swim with dolphins, but I was a little nervous to be on my own in Cozumel with the 2 little kids......so we just decided that Ayden and Jer would go snorkeling (Kirt & Steph were on their excursion as well) and I would stay on the boat with Zoey and Maddix! Zoey was actually signed up to do the snorkeling with them, but she decided at the last minute that she would rather go to kids club! HA! Works for me!!
Here are some pics of their snorkel adventures
As soon as they left for their snorkeling excursion at 12:30 pm, I put Maddix & Zoey in the kids club and I went to the gym for my workout....and then I went to the adult pool for some quiet time!! My favorite day on the ship was the port days because the ship was mostly empty and so quiet! I kept waiting for the kids asking to come out of kids club, but they never did.....so I finally just went and got them because I was getting bored all by myself! HA!
I had been waiting for an amazing sunset on our side of the boat and I saw it right before dinner on the evening we left Cozumel!! So pretty!!
On Wednesday, we had another day at sea before we landed at our next stop! Leave it to the Smith boys to analyze the sun screen bottles....seriously, if there's something scientific or technical to talk about at any given time, these guys will talk about it!!
Someone pooped in the Mickey pool (no, it was not Maddix thank goodness)....so the pool had to be drained and treated. Apparently, each time that happens, they have to wait 3 hours before opening the pool again. Well, after 3 hours, when it opened, someone pooped again....so it had to be drained and closed for another 3 hours! So they packed in like sardines in the other kiddie pool!! Our kids were in the bottom right and no way was I getting in that pool!!!
Cutie sun bathing cousins....
Maddix enjoying one of his daily ice cream treats!! Did I already mention the food was amazing?!?! Cuz it was absolutely amazing!! We had drink and ice cream available 24 hours a day!! All day and night, there was yummy pizzas being served by the pools....and burgers and hot dogs and chicken and brawts and french fries.....and sandwiches and salads and fruits!! It was seriously so yummy...all of it!! And we would eat most of our lunches by the pool at one of these places! We would have ice cream a couple times a day....and every time, Maddix was made a dripping hot mess of his! HA!
Mickey pool....
Kids had a blast on this slide! Maddix would go up and down all by himself! It was so hard keeping track of that kid at the pool!!! :-/
Ayden loved the sports deck and wanted to be there all the time!!!
There were always Disney movies playing on the big screen above the pool! There were seriously days where the kids would just sit in the pool and watch a movie! Talk about heaven!!!
Jer enjoyed the Disney movies too!!
I think the highlight of the trip for Maddix was when he got to meet Mickey!! The characters weren't out all the time and we were running into them left and right! They definitely did a good job of letting them out sparingly so that when they did come out, it was a fun treat!!
While we were waiting in line to see Mickey at the pool one day, Maddix met this cute black girl that was working on the ship. She fell in love with Maddix and they were dancing together and high fiving! So when it was Maddix's turn to meet Mickey, she came up with him to introduce Mickey to her new friend! :) Mickey and Maddix dancing....
High fives for Mickey....
The smile says it all.....
All 4 kiddos playing together at the Kiddie splash pad with Baby Ethan!! :)
Here's our friend Mehmet again....bringing delicious ice cream sundaes to the kids for dessert after they finished dinner!! And that is our server behind him....she was great! :)
Cutie!! :)
Another fun creation....this time a froggie!! :)
We signed up to "Meet the Princesses" and Maddix was just as excited as Zoey! Ayden was funny and so embarrassed! He was hiding behind us the whole time because he wanted to make sure he didn't get forced to meet any pretty princesses!!! LOL!!
Princess Tiana....
Cinderella....
Rapunzel....
Ana & Elsa....
Most of the days, we ate lunch by the pool, but one day we decided to have lunch at one of the main restaurants, Triton's! Our server made us all napkin hats....not sure what we are supposed to be!! HA!
This was Zoey's dessert after lunch.....a Neopolitan (MY FAVE ICE CREAM) banana split! YUMMY!! My mouth is watering just writing about it!!! :)
Dinner with Natalia....
Crazy girls!!
Proper Maddix with his napkin on his lap....
A day or two into it, we quickly discovered that the best way to handle dinner was to order the kids food literally the second we sat down!! They would bring kids food out so fast....the kids would eat and then one of us would leave and drop them off at kids club....and be back before the adults even got appetizers and salads!! That way we could enjoy our own dinner with just the adults and the kids would be enjoying themselves too!! It was a WIN WIN!!!
At the end of the night, when we picked kids up at kids club, we would always make a stop to the ice cream station for one more snack!! :)
Oh and sometimes we would hang out by the pool to watch a late night movie and eat pizza!!
Then back to our room for the night to see what our room friend left us.....
Our 2nd stop was at the Disney private island, Castaway Cay!!! Just when our expectations had been exceeded to the max and we thought it couldn't get ANY better, they dropped us off on this amazing island with the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen!!! Seriously.....look at that amazing water!!!
Every nook and cranny was full of Disney treasures!! So impressive!!!
Our first stop was the beaches and we just camped out and let the kids play! I was a little surprised that the water wasn't warmer! But it didn't seem to bother the kids at all!! We got out pretty early so the beaches weren't crowded for a while, which was so nice!
Awesome sea shells can be found on Castaway Cay!!!
Building sandcastles....
The boy in the black shirt is Demetrias....a boy that Ayden made friends with literally the first 30 minutes of the cruise on day 1!! They ran into each other a bunch throughout the week! :)
And then the beaches got crazy crowded....it looked like Newport Beach on a hot summer day!!! :-/ That was when I was over it!! So we went exploring for some lunch and ice cream!
Jer was excited to see this "Smith Marine" picture and wanted his picture in front of it! :)
We rented bikes to ride around the island!!
Maddix discovered someone from the Planes movie!! :)
Can you believe that there was a kids club on the island too!!! It was the same thing as on the ship....check your kids in and out as you please, but on the island it was amazing!! There were little beaches and splash areas and sand areas!! They had SO MUCH FUN!!!! The kids club spots were so amazing that I wish I could've taken pics in there, but they didn't allow pics in kids club cuz they didn't want you accidentally taking pics of other kids I guess!! :(
So after lunch, we checked the kids in kids club and all of us adults rented Hobie Cats!! We had 2 of them.....Kirt was handling one with Steph, Branden & Laurel on it....and Jer was handling ours with me, Gary & Brenda! I was a little nervous about it flipping, but we were pretty confident that Kirt & Jer knew what they were doing since they have sailed before!
I guess we shouldn't have been too confident....cuz somehow Jer flipped our Hobie Cat!! YIKES!!! Yep, that's us in the background....Stephanie just happened to get a pic of us right when we went down!! :-/
Luckily noone got hurt, Jer got the hang of how to manuever the Hobie Cat and we had a blast after that....and landed on shore with all our limbs!! :)
Our last dinner was depressing!! I was seriously so sad that the week had come to an end and that we were going back to reality!! It went way too fast!! :( So I indulged myself in some sugar therapy!!! :) My favorite kind of ice cream and it didn't disappoint!! :)
No naps.....early wake up calls.....late nights out....and lots of activities throughout the day caught up to this little guy!! Kids club called us one night and said Maddix was really tired and falling asleep! By the time we got there, this is what we found!! HAHA!! Looks pretty comfy to me!! :)
Our very last towel creation....with no personal navigator telling us about the next days activities!!! :(
I was so sad and disappointed the next morning to wake up and step out to our balcony and see the sun rising in.....MIAMI!!!!! :( Instead of the open sea!! It was all over and I almost could cry!!! It was so hard to be catered to and waited on and spoiled for an entire week and then be thrown back into reality....where I do all the catering and waiting on and spoiling!!!
Our walk off the ship......saddest moment ever!!!
Riding to the airport....
We got to the airport at 9 am, but our flight didn't leave til 12:30 pm so we had a long long and boring and depressing wait!! :(
Ayden was so good about getting all his homework done while we were gone!!
All tuckered out on the airplane!! The germaphobe in me was cringing at this!!
It was a long flight.....between reading and watching shows and movies and playing games, we survived it!! Thank goodness!!!
What an amazing trip we had with the Smith family!!! We already can't wait til our next cruise cuz we have decided between the food and all the activities.....and the KIDS CLUB, it is the WORLD'S BEST FAMILY VACATION EVER!!!!!
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