A "DREAM" Come True

[Love2Cruz2015]

Let's try this again...:o Trying a different host site.

 

 

This is my first Trip Report so please bear with me...:cool:

 

A little intro...

 

I am an avid cruiser and a single mother (by choice) to my 5 year old DD, Elizabeth. This is our first "solo" cruise in that we are traveling without my family. We normally either cruise with my parents and/or my brother and his wife. I decided a shorter Disney cruise would be an excellent way to "test" this "solo mom and daughter" adventure to see how we fare. It was AMAZING! We had such a special bonding time together and we both had lots of fun. I lost count as to how many times my DD's eyes lit up throughout the cruise.

 

I will let the pics speak for themselves, for the most part, and hopefully allow you all to experience the cruise as we did but especially from a kid's point of view as she will be featured in the pics more than I will be.

 

 

So it's time!

 

 

Not sure why this came out sideways, but this is our FE!:D

 

[Emperor Norton]

Glad to see you kept with it (working w/the hosting sites).:D

[Love2Cruz2015]

We were greeted by this beautiful enormous Christmas tree in the Lobby.

 

 

 

And here is the Disney Dream mascot.

 

And a beautifully decorated Gingerbread house, also in the lobby

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

Now for some food pics....The food at the Cabana Bay buffet was delicious. This is my first dish after check in...and that stone crab was amazing!! The work is done for you, so easy to crack open and indulge in that beautiful white flesh....I'm salivating just thinking about it...:)

 

 

 

 

Look at all that white "meat" :cool:

 

 

 

The dessert was okay, but come to think of it, the chocolate mouse with white chocolate shavings was REALLY good, but I was full from sampling the lunch items to truly enjoy it. BTW, the fruit throughout the cruise was also very good, always ripe and sweet.

[Love2Cruz2015]

After our tummy's were fed, we went to check out the Children's clubs since we had time before our room would be ready. First let me say, the club is HUGE!, it's divided into compartments built around the different themes. At the start of the cruise, they let the adults in to tour so we spent quite some time in the different rooms and I let Liz explore. She spent a few hours there on Day 2 while I did my own thing.

 

Here are a few pics of "Andy's Room" from Toy Story.

 

 

PIXIE HOLLOW

 

 

 

I had to take a picture of the children's bathroom because I thought it was too cute.

[sgrho96]

Great start! Like you, my DH and I chose a short cruise to test the cruising waters with our DS. My sisters and their families are coming along too. Many of them our first time cruisers as well. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

[Love2Cruz2015]

I booked a 5E VGT category stateroom and got our assignment of Stateroom 10158 about 30 days before sail date. I was very happy with it and I was excited to see that wrap-around balcony. I saw YouTube videos of our room so knew what to expect. It was a great location. It was just one deck down from the pool deck and easy access to the beverage station and food..no need to wait for an elevator so I highly recommend Deck 10! There were some noise complaints from reviews I read, but honestly, both my DD and I slept like babies all 3 nights and did not have any noise from up above.

 

The aft view was amazing, I loved just watching the wake and spent quite a bit of time out on the balcony. Great sunrise/sunset views too. This room is a bit odd shaped because of the large balcony as it does cut into cabin space. It might be tight for a family of 4, but for the two of us, it was perfect.

 

Also, we participated in a FE group, since we were in the back of the boat, there was very little traffic, so no sticky fingers, I think we got all the gifts that were meant for us. Being part of an FE group was also a highlight, especially for my DD. I highly recommend.

 

So, getting back to some pics, since we spent a fair amount of time exploring the kid's club, we returned to our room after 2:00 pm and were pleased to find our luggage waiting for us. We also did some door decorating and unpacking before leaving our room...WE LOVED OUR STATE ROOM and started to feel the vacation vibe and began to unwind and detach from everyday life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Door

[Love2Cruz2015]

Great start! Like you, my DH and I chose a short cruise to test the cruising waters with our DS. My sisters and their families are coming along too. Many of them our first time cruisers as well. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

 

Thanks! I will be back later on and try to finish Day 1. MY DD has been on

2 or 3 cruises since she was 2, but I've always had help, this was our first Mother/Daughter cruise and she did great! So great, that I'm booked on 2 more this year with just us.

[Love2Cruz2015]

After checking out our room, unpacking, and going to Muster, we made the mad dash back to our room to put on our swimsuits and head to the pool deck. Afterall, the cruise doesn't officially start until I am indulging in the "Drink of the Day"

 

Liz checked out Nemo's as well as the Mickey Pool

 

 

I though the Jumbotron was of very good quality btw.

 

 

 

After some relaxation in the pool, we moved up a deck to try to get a good viewing spot for Sail Away. We got a spot directly above them, not a great spot, but good enough to see the characters up close. I was a good show, my DD loved it and it finally sunk in, that I was on a DISNEY ship!

 

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

After Sail Away, we wandered around the ship for a while before returning to our room to take in a little of our outdoor surroundings before showering and getting ready for dinner.

 

Look at that wake...

 

 

Liz reading a book..

 

 

 

 

Sunset...this is one of my favorite photo's

 

 

 

Liz brought a couple of princess dresses with her to wear at dinner time. This night she was Princess Aurora..

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

Our first night's dinner was at the Royal Palace. Liz ate the same thing every night so I will just post her dinner once. She always got the Mac n Cheese. I thought the Mickey ketchup was a nice touch.

 

I usually got two appetizers instead of a salad.

 

On this night, I ordered the escargots, which was okay, I've had better, french onion soup, again okay, nothing special and lobster mac n cheese. The cheese was well flavored but the lobster was pretty scant. I was a bit disappointed, but I did eat most of everything. Their bread basket was just okay, nothing special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liz got the strawberry shortcake sundae for dessert...I took a taste and it was very good, the ice cream was very creamy.

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

I ordered the Grand Marnier souffle which was very good.

 

 

We then saw our first show, which was the Golden Mickeys.....we really enjoyed it. My DD enjoyed it especially, as the princess Aurora came and shook her hand during the show when the entertainers went out into the audience. We explored the ship some more and then went back to the room to get some rest. We found our FE full and DD was excited about that...a great way to end Day 1.

 

 

 

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

Day 2

 

I got up early to watch a beautiful sunrise...this is why I try to get a balcony when I cruise...it's truly the little things that make me happy, like rolling out of bed and watching the sun come up in perfect solitude and nothing but the sea breeze and the ocean keeping me company.

 

I usually order room service as I need coffee to get me going. Afterwards I went up to the food deck and got breakfast, which I enjoyed on the balcony. Liz had some fruit juice and fruit and we went up to the Lido deck shortly after so she could get some cereal and milk for her breakfast. Afterwards, we distributed FE gifts, she stayed in her PJ's for this as it was still fairly early and not many people were up and about yet. It was good exercise since the cabins seemed to be on opposite sides of the ship...

 

This was our Nassau port of call. I've been there many times, so I decided to stay on the ship. I scheduled a Princess Meet n Greet for DD in the afternoon and also let her enjoy the Kid's club in the morning, while I had some much needed ME time.

 

 

 

 

My favorite breakfast items were the Eggs Benedict, the hashbrowns and the MICKEY Waffles...omg, they were divine! I smothered them in what I thought was butter, but it was actually whipped cream, and that combo with maple syrup was the bomb...highly recommend!

 

 

We had some visitors from the Bahamas...I suppose they smelled my breakfast....

 

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

When we returned to our room, we showered and Liz spent some time in the Kid's club while I wandered around the ship. I got an espresso which was quite good.

 

Liz then got dressed as Princess Elsa to meet the princesses, she was super excited as any 5 year old little girl would be. They were all very gracious and engaging.

 

 

 

 

 

Awww...

 

 

 

 

 

We then went back to change into our swimsuits and headed up to the pool deck to try out the Aqua Duck (which was better than I expected!). Liz enjoyed the pool, and met some new friends, while I grabbed a chair and tried out their soft serve....strawberry was very good!...it was truly relaxing and a beautiful day with a half empty ship...it doesn't get much better than that.

 

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

I'll be back to post some more tomorrow.....:)

[davidmbfonz]

Really nice trip report so far... room service for breakfast sounds like a great idea. And I love the pictures off your balcony!

[trevette1981]

Glad to see y'all were having a good time! I've never cruised with just my daughter(single mom as well). How was it with safety? As in both of y'all while in port?

 

Sent from my EM63 using Forums mobile app

[Love2Cruz2015]

Glad to see y'all were having a good time! I've never cruised with just my daughter(single mom as well). How was it with safety? As in both of y'all while in port?

 

Sent from my EM63 using Forums mobile app

 

This was just a 3 day so we didn't do any excursions unless you count our day at CC which seemed to be very safe.

 

I would have done Atlantis but both of us have already been there. I might do it again on a longer cruise. I would just do ship sponsored excursions for safety reasons.

 

On the ship itself, I felt very safe, it's a very family friendly atmosphere, good ol' wholesome disney fun (maybe too wholesome..lol)

I didn't do any of the night clubs as I wanted this trip to be about her and I (I stopped doing night clubs years ago so it's not like I was giving anything up.)

 

We're booked on 3 cruises this year, two of which will just be here and I and they are longer cruises...so this trial cruise was a success.

[Love2Cruz2015]

While Liz was on the pool deck, she noticed there was a CM that does braids, so naturally, she wanted them. I've had my hair braided before in Jamaica and I don't think she realized that it can hurt as they pull the hair really tight. She was forewarned, but decided to move forward and get it done. I suggested a "half crown" as I know what a pain it is to get them out. I also liked the idea that it would get her hair out of her eyes and make her comfortable for the rest of the trip. The CM did a fantastic job, lasted 4 weeks and Liz was excited about showing her classmates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After hair braiding, we ventured into Cabana's and took a look around before deciding what we would have for lunch.

 

 

 

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

I decided on an appetizer of what else? Stone crabs with spicy mayo and shrimp cocktail! I also went back and got some other varied lunch items. The fried shrimp were huge and really tasty. The pesto orzo was also REALLY good...I didn't care for the meatloaf and I thought the rib eye was sliced too thing, therefore it was a bit dry...

 

Liz got her usual of mac n cheese and chicken fingers. She also got a tomato salad but I didn't get a pic of her meal.

 

 

 

 

For dessert, I tried the banana soft serve which I thought was even better than the strawberry and Liz got a fruit salad..though she got ice cream too, I think she tried the strawberry and liked it.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we headed back to our balcony and did some coloring and reading and just enjoyed the beautiful weather we had in Nassau.

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

I basically spent most of the afternoon reading in my private outdoor space while Liz was in and out watching a Disney movie, checking out her FE gifts, coloring and the usual things 5 year olds do. I also enjoyed a glass of wine, which I received as an FE gift.

 

 

Soon it was time to get ready for dinner and Day 2's would be at Animator's Palate. Very nice ambiance.

 

 

I had the truffle pursettes for appetizer and some kind of fish for entree, but it was so bad it was inedible...and I didn't even take a pic of it. Liz had her usual mac n cheese and skipped on the dessert but I had a Mickey bar.

 

The lighting was already changing in the room so that's why this pic is blue...

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight was Pirate night, but Liz could barely keep her eyes open at dinner and all the excitement of the day made her really tired, so I knew we weren't going to last until 10:00pm to enjoy Pirate Night....

 

We turned in pretty early. Here is what happened on Pirate Night.

 

 

 

 

I watched a movie on TV and enjoyed another glass of wine out on the balcony....(Sutter's Home red wine, also FE gift) I'm not going to complain. We'll catch Pirate Night on the next cruise...Flexibility is key when traveling with youngsters and things don't always go as planned.

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

Day 3 was Castaway Cay!

 

Since we had an early night and a very light dinner, I was starving the next morning. We got up pretty early so we could have breakfast and head off to the island to snag a good spot on the family beach, but also wanted to be close to Cookies for the bar b q. My plan was to spend the morning on Castaway, have lunch at Cookies and then head back to the ship in early afternoon and do the Aqua Duck again and allow Liz some time on the pool deck.

 

Liz had her usual breakfast of Fruit Loops, half a bagel with CC, a hashbrown, chocolate milk ...lemonade.

 

 

 

I had a pretty full plate, and ate most of it.....but of course, I had to have the Mickey waffles too. I didn't have enough room for the pancake..I hate wasting food, but I just couldn't do it.

 

 

 

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

Here we are on the island! A tall Christmas tree greeted you at the entrance, (along with some other cute Christmas photo ops....)

 

 

 

 

The tram was still uncrowded when we got there and we found a great spot on the beach close to Pelican Plunge, (which was awesome btw). We walked around a bit but then Liz wanted to try to find the underwater Mickey, however the water was just too cold and he is pretty far out so I decided against it and compromised with her and said we would try to find him for sure when we come back in the summer time when the water is warm. She was a bit bummed, but I quickly took her to Pelican Plunge and got the excitement she was looking for. I loved it, getting on those slides and dropping you into the Caribbean water is something special. I think that was the highlight for me on CC. Liz is a good swimmer so I was okay with her getting plunged into the ocean. It's pretty deep but a lifeguard is right there to wave you in...

 

Water was cold in December (of course we are Floridians, so it was cold for us.)

 

 

 

Here is the view of CC atop Pelican Plunge

 

 

The cold water didn't bother Liz as much as it did me...she still managed to put on her goggles and explore underwater life.

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

Here is what we had for lunch at Cookies. Of course I got too much food and didn't eat much of it. The burger was inedible (I like my burgers medium rare, this was too well done and dried out) The chicken was REALLY good, as was the tomato salad and coleslaw. I also ate most of the cookie, everything else was okay and I just took a bite. I didn't even open the bag of chips, so hopefully it was not wasted. DD ate the hot dog and tomato salad and some of the cookie too. They also had soft serve and we both had a chocolate cone. BTW, drink stations are plentiful both on and off the boat, unfortunately DD and I don't drink much soda...We had lemonade and iced tea with most of our meals.

 

 

 

After lunch, we stopped at the CC gift shop and bought some souvenirs and headed back to the ship. The pool deck was uncrowded and there was no line for Aquaduck...so we did that. (Aquaduck is a MUST try...it's really fast and fun). DD hung out on the pool deck and met some new friends. They did the Mickey slide, Nemo's and the hot tub.

 

 

 

 

I got a frozen libation and just chilled out on the pool deck. I think this afternoon was the most relaxing part of the cruise for me.....It was bittersweet though as just as I started to feel REALLY relaxed, it was time to go home the next day.

 

[Love2Cruz2015]

The pools are well guarded. 3 lifeguards were always watching. The pools were also freshwater, so my DD didn't complain about burning eyes. It's these little, BIG things that Disney does that makes the cruise so much more enjoyable. Also no signing out towels, you just grab one when you need it and return it to the used bins when you're done. The bartenders do walk around the pool deck which makes it easy to order a drink without walking around on a wet floor and possibly injuring yourself. Disney isn't the only line that does it, but I'm glad they do.

 

 

So after spending the afternoon on the pool deck, we returned to our room when it was time to shower and get ready for dinner.

 

 

Tonight was the Enchanted Garden.

 

 

 

Since it was the last night, I treated myself to a coke and a chocolate cocktail for dinner...it was okay, I don't recall the name of it.

 

 

 

I ordered the lobster ravioli (it was okay) along with the Salmon Avocado tartar tower (which was Delicious! probably the best appetizer of the cruise.) For the entree I got the scallops with pearl pasta, it was very good. Dessert was the trio...it was okay. DD had her usual plus a Mickey bar for dessert.

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we saw the show Believe. I thought it good, but we both liked the Golden Mickey's more. We then did another tour of the ship before heading back to our cabin to pack and put our luggage outside the door and get mentally prepared to leave.

 

After packing, went to the lobby and saw the "See you real soon" goodbye from the cast..... BUT we did have ONE more breakfast at the Enchanted Garden...only thing was we had to be at 0630! Grrrrrrr.