Today was a very early morning (but what is new? :) because we planned on getting to Disneyland by about 6:45 for early morning entry (a perk of longer ticket holders or if you are staying at a Disney hotel). Fantasyland gets pretty busy quickly so early entry gets you in an hour before the park opens (and only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open during that hour).
We got a quick bite to eat on our way out the door and coffee, then were in line with time to spare. At 7:00 the gates opened and in we went! We got Dumbo, Peter Pan, Teacups, Snow White, Alice, the Carousel, Buzz Lightyear and also the new Star Tours (Star Wars) ride (3D). I love all the Fantasyland rides so that made my morning:) I was NOT a fan of the new Star Tours ride though (and really wanted to be)- it made me really nauseas and dizzy, even though I looked away for a bit of it. After Star Tours we realized there was no line for Astro Orbiters (there always is a line) so we went on that. Big mistake. It made me even more queasy!
At 8:40 we walked over to check in to the Bibbidi Bobbodi Boutique at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle for Piper’s princess makeover. We did this in Disney World in 2010 and had so much fun:) Matt took Aidan back to Star Tours to ride again and buy a new toy at the Star Trader store. While waiting for Piper’s apt to be called, she chose her dress (a Minnie Mouse one to our surprise) along with matching gloves and a purse (and ears for later). She was so cute when it was her turn! They took her back to get changed, then let her pick out her hairstyle, crown, nail color and makeup colors. Then the “Fairy Godmothers” went to work. In all it was a VERY expensive hour, but worth it- plus we have her Halloween costume now!
Afterwards we met up with the boys and Matt and Sarah went to ride Space Mountain. I reliazed it was abut 10:15 and we had to be out of our villa by 11, so I took the kids and walked back to the hotel. We all met up right when Bell Services came to get our luggage (they would store it for an hour or so before we actually left), and we all went to get some lunch at Whitewater snack in the hotel.
At 11:45 we piled into a big taxi van and headed to the cruise port in San Pedro. Our cabbie got VERY lost- first taking us to the wrong port (even though I kept telling him that this wasn’t the right port)- then I had to get out my phone and use my GPS to get us there. Even with clear instructions and all of us eventually yelling at him he still kept trying to go a different way. Really annoying, but we got there!
We got to the port around 12:40, filled out our medical form (no one throwing up in the last 24 hours form) and then got all checked it with pretty much no lines at all. We got boarding number 22 and they were calling all numbers up to 21 as we walked in, so we pretty much just got in line (which was moving slowly) – waited about 10 minutes then walked on board (right at 1:00).
Rooms weren’t supposed to be ready until 2:00 and we chose to skip the long lined buffet lunch that was open, so we decided to take care of some other business. Sarah took Piper to get tickets to the Princess and friends tea party at the end of the cruise (free, but still needs tickets) while Matt and I took Aidan to go get some dining issues handled. We walked into Wavebands (where they were handling dining requests) and we were the only ones in there! We went to the first computer station to make sure our private dining (with no other family) request had been met. Nope :( Apparently at this point it was such a full ship that they were having a hard time with those requests. We did get put on a top priority for the wait list though to get moved (with Aidan’s Aspergers and Piper’s anxiety eating with strangers is difficult all around). Next we went to the next computer station which was Palo. Judy was there (our server from our last cruise) handling all the requests. Matt and I wanted to get another Brunch reservation (we currently had one with Sarah but wanted alone for just us). We had no intention of booking dinner but Judy eventually talked us into it:) So we were booked for 2 brunches (one as a group), Sarah and I had tea and Matt and I had dinner. I would be at Palo 4 times!
It was about 1:30 by this point so we went up to deck 6 where our rooms were and just hung out midship on the floor until the rooms opened up (we had a cpl bulky carry ones we were tired of lugging). Aidan camped out on the ground playing his DS and Matt stayed with him while Piper, Sarah and I ran downstairs to find a bathroom. All of the sudden, Piper goes running off- she saw Belle walking and chased her down:)Too bad I didn’t have a camera because Piper was still in her cute Minnie dress. We did see her again about a half an hour later (after P changed) so we got one then.
At 2:00 our rooms were opened, we semi unpacked and then took Sarah on a ship tour from bottom deck to top. By then it was close to 3:00 so we got a sail away drink from the pool deck then headed downstairs to deck 3 where we were meeting other cruisers from a message board online. It was nice to meet so many people who had been planning the same vacation as us, and nice for the kids to meet other kids they could play with!
After that I went up to unpack the kids for Sarah and get them all organized in her room and then it was the Safety Drill at the life boat stations. Luckily they are short drills because it was pretty warm out today. After the drill I went back to unpacking (myself) then Matt and I headed up to the spa to book things for the week. We decided on a week pass to the rainforest room (bad investment- we didn’t use it as much as we thought but mostly because Matt was sick the whole cruise – more on that later)- and then we booked the very expensive but coveted Couple Choice villa treatment (well worth the money!). While we were in the spa we missed the sail away (along with the cruise horn that plays to "when you wish upon a star" ) so when we left we were already moving. Sarah got picks of the kids waving goodbye though.
By then it was dinner time so we all got changed out of our day clothes and headed to Tritons (Little Mermaid themed elegant restaurant) for our first cruise dinner. Our table mates very annoyingly showed up about 40 minutes into dinner service (luckily we got switched later- but more on that tomorrow). None of us had a huge appetite unfortunately because we were all a little sea sick- they mentioned on the PA system that this was the worst seas they have seen this year and we were going through a storm. Fun! Not. We did still manage to eat some yummy food though! Sarah and Matt even had escargot for the first time! I was too scared.
Matt and I both had the shrimp to start, and Sarah had the avacado citrus salad. Both were good:) Then came the escargot! For entrees Sarah had the chicken breast, Matt had beef tenderloin with bacon wrapped green beans and I had the sea bass over mushroom risotto. We all had the same dessert which was very good- a grand marnier souffle with vanilla cream sauce.
When we got back after dinner we had our turndown service already and found a cute surprise! It was a towel animal (ok not an animal today but normally animals) that was a wedding cake, with rose petals and cute card from the staff congratulating us on our marriage. Super cute:) Oh and we had gotten cute Just Married pins at dinner that were cuter than the ones we got in Disneyland:)
Piper really wanted to go to the hot tub so Matt and I took her up while Sarah and Aidan hung out in their cabin. After I dropped her off I was feeling a little woozy still (sea conditions getting worse) so I laid down (closing my eyes helped) and eventually fell asleep.
Up next- Our first day at sea and the beginning of a crappy week:(
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