Trip Report First Annual Family Cruise Fun

The Details

Who: Me (Ashley) and my husband (Wes), Kingdom Konsultant Agents and Fellow WDWMagicers

When: June 20-22 at Walt Disney World and June 22-26 on the Disney Dream

What: 1st Annual Family Cruise! We had two days of pre-cruise fun at Walt Disney World and then went on a 4 Night Bahamian Cruise with two stops at Castaway Cay!

This was our 4th Disney cruise and our second time on the Disney Dream. More importantly this was the 1st Annual WDWMAGIC/Kingdom Konsultants Family Cruise!! I was so excited when this cruise was announced and knew I just had to go on this cruise. Wes and I were just on the Disney Magic back in January for a 7 night cruise so doing another cruise in the same year was kinda nuts but we made it work. There was no way I was going to miss out on all the fun!

Saturday June 20th – Walt Disney World Here We Come! Woo hoo!

We had an early morning flight…at 5:40am to be exact, which meant that we had to wake up at 3am. We spent the night at my parents house since they live closer to the airport and so my dad could give us a ride. It was a very early morning and I was going on pretty much no sleep. Every night before a Disney trip, I’m like that kid in the commercial where I’m just too excited to sleep!

So, I was up and getting ready at 3am and successfully managed to burn my left index finger on my hair straightener. Ouch! Not the smartest thing to do but that’s what happens when you are up at 3am and didn’t get any sleep.

(Oh and on the plane is when I realized that I forgot to pack my sweaters to wear to dinner. Goodness it had been quite a morning.)

We had a lot of suitcases this trip because I decided I was going to do fish extender gifts! This would be our first time participating so I was really excited. We had a group for fish extenders with the Family Cruise group but then I decided to also join another FE group with a Facebook group. I’m crazy, I know. What was I thinking joining two FE groups on my first go round? I just couldn’t help myself. I was so excited to be crafty!

We ended up with two additional suitcases filled with gifts. I was worried that if we checked those bags they may get lost and I didn’t want to risk it. So we had some extra luggage to carry on.

Our flight to Orlando was uneventful and we landed on time at 7:20am. Thank you Southwest! We got to DME a little before 8am. I LOVE getting to Orlando so early!!

For this short trip, we would be staying at Port Orleans Riverside. This would be our first time staying at this resort so I was excited to check it out.

Don’t look so excited Westin!

After I took the above picture, our bus driver said “Give me the camera” He was very nice to offer to take our picture.

My father in law complained after our January cruise that we didn’t take enough pictures of ourselves. Hahaha We were off to a good start this trip with a photo of the two of us within 20 minutes of the start of the trip.

We were the first ones to board the bus so we got seats right up front. Woo hoo! While we waited for other guests to board, we chatted with the bus driver. He was really nice and we talked about all kinds of things but mostly about the TV show, The Blacklist.

I love this sight!

We arrived at POR around 9am and went to check in.

Our room wasn’t ready when we checked in but they were able to get us a room that was. We ended up being upgraded to a pool view room. Whoop whoop! I didn’t care so much about the view since we were only there for two nights but I was really excited that we could drop off all our bags in our room.

Our room was in Magnolia Terrace so we made our way there. Our room was on the first floor.

Wes knows the drill that when we get into our room, I have to take pictures. He decided to photo bomb some of them.

Thanks, Wes.

I love all of the new bedspreads in the rooms. It makes the rooms feel a lot sleeker.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

I've been mildly interested in going on a Disney Cruise, but now I am really yearning to go!

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Love the report so far!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Great report Ashley!! This will give those that are joining us on our 2nd Annual Family cruise next year and idea of what to expect!!

Pam

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Oh, the food...

Oh, how I wish I was back on the Dream enjoying that food right now @Monty!

You mentioned there was more to come WOW! Great additions! Can't wait for more! You pics are marvelous..... we're not that kinda cruise ppl but who knows someday

Getting ready to post even more. Thanks! I didn't think I would be a cruise person either and now I can't imagine not cruising! It really is so much fun.

anxiously awaiting more!

I'm sorry for the wait!! I went away for the holiday weekend but I've finally written more.

Love the details at POR. I'm sure that first Bahama Mama went down easy! Very impressed with your Fish Extender commitment and efforts!

Enjoying your photos; food pics are great!

We really enjoyed POR. I prefer POFQ but I would absolutely stay at Riverside again. I would probably want to spend more than 2 nights there the next time.

Oh man that first Bahama Mama was magnificent! Hahaha There were many more Bahama Mamas throughout the cruise.

Thanks!! I love pictures of food almost as much as the actual food...almost.

I love the trip report!! I can't wait to read more!!!

Thanks for reading!

I've been mildly interested in going on a Disney Cruise, but now I am really yearning to go!

I highly recommend the Disney cruises. We have really enjoyed each and every cruise we have done so far and we can't wait to do even more!

Love the report so far!

Thanks!!

Great report Ashley!! This will give those that are joining us on our 2nd Annual Family cruise next year and idea of what to expect!!

Thanks for reading Pam! This cruise was seriously one of the best cruises we have been on so far and I think it had a lot to do with who we were cruising with!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Tuesday, June 23rd – 5K Craziness, Cabanas and the Captain

Morning came way too quickly. We had to be up early since we were running the 5k. I say running but really, my plan was to walk/jog.

We didn’t wake up early enough to go eat breakfast. Wes ended up running up to Cabanas to grab some food and bring it back to the room. I had some Frosted Flakes and then we were off to Evolution by 8:30am to meet the rest of the runners.

We checked in and got our numbers.

I was surprised at how many people were running. Before we left the ship, a cast member went over the course with us. The CM was Rafael! He was a CM that we had on the Magic back in January. We noticed him during the Sail Away party dancing and then he led some of the trivias we went to. It is so cool to see CMs from past cruises again.

We left the ship around 8:45am and made the long walk to the starting line.

Long line of runners making their way to the starting line

We finally made it to the starting line, which was near the bike rentals. They had a box there that we could leave our stuff in. I was a little worried about leaving my stuff in the box since I had my camera but I didn’t really have any other choice. I like to think that Disney people are trusting. I am happy to report that all of our belongings were still in the box when we got back but I probably wouldn’t do that again.

The course was pretty tough. There was, what Rafael called, “The Loop of Doom” that we had to go around 2 times. It was just so hot and there isn’t a ton of things to see where you are running. As I mentioned, I didn’t train for this at all. Originally, I was supposed to be meeting some FB people right when we got off the ship so I could walk/jog with them and so Wes could run. Well I wasn’t able to find the people when we got off the ship so Wes said he would run with me. I felt bad for holding him back, yet again, but he didn’t mind.

You have to run part of the race on the airstrip where the tram takes people to Serenity Bay. While running, we saw people on the tram and they waved to us. I was so jealous that they were heading to Serenity Bay while we were voluntarily sweating ourselves silly running on vacation. Hahaha Throughout the run, we tried to keep pace with a couple of different people. We did an okay job and then fell way behind and then would catch up.

It was tough but we finished the race in 45 minutes. That was my goal. Wes’ goal was more like 20-30 minutes but whatcha gonna do. We finished and we got our medals.

I asked a guy to take our picture and immediately realized that I shouldn’t have asked him because he had just run the race too. He was so tired and out of breath. I regretted asking but oh well.

We went to catch the tram to Serenity Bay. While waiting for the tram, we saw a wedding party. It would be so cool to get married on Castaway Cay!

Today we were sharing a cabana with Pam and her family. I was so excited to use a cabana! I have always wanted to rent one but it’s too expensive just for two people. It was nice to be able to share one on this cruise.

We put on our cabana wristbands on the tram and when we got to Serenity Bay, our Cabana Boy (I should say Cabana Man), immediately saw our wristbands and picked us up in his golf cart. He asked us which number we were in and we were off!

I wish I could remember our Cabana Guy’s name because he was so wonderful! That’s what I get for writing this report so late.

There’s our Guy…wish I remembered his name

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

When we pushed this magical button, our Guy would appear. It was awesome!

That’s us!!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Cabana toes

The cabana was simply AMAZING! It was so nice because there was an outdoor shower where we could rinse off all the sweat from the 5k. I wore my bathing suit bottom for the race so I just took off my shorts and showered in my sports bra. It was pretty much a bathing suit. There was also an area where we could change inside the cabana with a curtain.

Wes took a nap in the hammock while I read my book in the shade on the outdoor lounge chair. It was such a beautiful day.

Around 11am, I was so hungry so we buzzed our Guy to take us to get food. We got there and realized that we were too early. Oops! We apologized to the Guy and he graciously took us back to the cabana and offered to pick us up in 30 minutes. Thank you! I was so hungry from the race that I had to have a bag of chips in the cabana to hold me over until I could eat some food.

View of the ship from our cabana

Pam and her family arrived at the cabana shortly before we were ready to go get food, for real this time!

On our way to get food, we spotted Jack Sparrow.

So neat!

I was super hungry so I got a hot dog and a hamburger. Hey! I just ran a 5k! I can eat what I want.

Great view from the picnic table area

We walked back to the cabana and then grabbed a tube to go out in the water. There was a sandbar a good ways out and I wanted to go to there. (Any 30 Rock fans? )

It was so relaxing out there on the inner tube. I did see some dark shadows in the water near by and I was a little freaked out about sharks or stingrays. I’m a pretty big wuss when it comes to the ocean.

Scott and Dani joined us out on the sand bar and we chatted for a bit. We made it back to shore after some time and then Pam and family went to get some food.

I was so hot and exhausted from running the 5k. I was probably dehydrated but I decided to order a drink. Not a great idea but I was on vacation so I figured why not.

A bird wanted to check out how cool our cabana was

Me being a nerd and reading in the cabana

I felt really dehydrated so I stayed inside the cabana for most of the day. Pam and fam got back from lunch and then decided to head back to the ship. Wes took another nap and I read my book some more. Then around 2:30pm, we decided to ride some bikes. Because the 5k just wasn’t enough exercise for us today Hahaha Bike rentals were actually included in the cabana and I wanted to get our money’s worth so we were renting bikes.

We rented our bikes and went for a ride around the Loop of Doom. It was much easier going around the loop on a bike.

We rode out to the Observation Deck which I had never been to before. You can climb up and get some great views of the island. They also had some pelican figures around in funny situations.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After the observation deck, we made our way back to the cabana area where there was a really beautiful viewing spot. While riding, I decided to try to take some pictures. Do not try this at home! It was quite dangerous.

We turned in our bikes and returned to our cabana. I really didn’t want to leave! It was so beautiful! I realized that we should have used the cabana on our second day at Castaway Cay because now we knew what we would be missing on Thursday.

Our cabana guy offered to give us a ride back to the ship on his golf cart, which was so thoughtful. He was leaving at 4pm so we told him we would meet him outside of our cabana. I took a few last pictures before we said our goodbyes to Cabana 23.

Our cabana guy picked us up and we made our way back to the ship. He had to drop off his pager at the tram stop and we ended up picking up another guest to take back to the ship. He was a really nice cabana guy!

We got back to our room around 4:30pm after a B-E-A-utiful day on Castaway Cay!

We wanted to go see Inside Out today so we got ready and then made our way to grab some ice cream and food from Flo’s to enjoy during the movie.

It was pretty packed in the theater by the time we got there. We grabbed some seats towards the back-middle but people kept walking by us to get to other seats so we decided to move. It was too hard to keep standing up with my plate of food and a drink. So we moved over to a row of three seats over to the right side of the theater. We had a slightly obstructed view from the railing but it was worth it to have a row all to ourselves.

We thought the movie was FANTASTIC! And the Lava Pixar short film was beyond cute! Pixar really knows how to pull on your heartstrings. I was in tears by the end of the movie. You have to figure a movie about feelings would make you feel something.

We skipped Villain’s Tonight in order to see the movie. I think it was a wise decision after seeing how good the movie was. After the movie, we took a quick trip back to our room and then went to the lobby to people watch and check out some of the shops. I went up to the pool decks to get some pictures of those beloved funnels.

I really like this artwork!

Have I mentioned that I love this chandelier?!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

She’s soooooo sad….but SO CUTE! I LOVE her!!

Tonight dinner was in Animator’s Palate and Amy’s mom made it to dinner. Woo hoo!!

Love these knives!

Before we got our food, the Captain came over to visit with our group. So cool! He was very friendly and it was great to meet him. I couldn’t help but turn to Wes though and ask “who’s driving the ship?!” Hahaha I crack myself up sometimes

Once we got our food, the whole table was in on me taking pictures of their food again.

Did anyone else watch the Food Network special on the food on the Disney Dream? Wes and I watched it right before the cruise to get excited for all of the food we would eat. Well, one of the chefs mentioned about how much truffle was in the black truffle pasta. They must have showed the clip 5 times during the show and Wes found it very annoying. So naturally when I ordered the appetizer, I kept saying how much truffle there was in the pasta! And what’s even funnier is that I went to take a bite of my appetizer before I took a picture! What was I thinking?!

Monty’s specialty drink…very pretty!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We had a wonderful dinner and then went back to the room real quick before meeting Amy and Stacy at Bon Voyage for some drinks. We hung out there for a little while and then went to Pink.

Towel animal!!!

We had a fun time and then called it a night around midnight.


Up next: Mixology and Palo!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

We had a wonderful dinner and then went back to the room real quick before meeting Amy and Stacy at Bon Voyage for some drinks. We hung out there for a little while and then went to Pink.

Towel animal!!!

We had a fun time and then called it a night around midnight.


Up next: Mixology and Palo!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Excellent so far Ash!! What no pic of me with Captain Henry at dinner??!! LOL

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Excellent so far Ash!! What no pic of me with Captain Henry at dinner??!! LOL

I know! I realized after he left that I should have gotten a picture. I'm good at remembering to take pictures of food but not of people apparently. Hahaha

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

I know! I realized after he left that I should have gotten a picture. I'm good at remembering to take pictures of food but not of people apparently. Hahaha

Stacy got one I do believe. LOL

Pam

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Wednesday, June 24th – A Fun Filled Day on the Dream!

Today we were in Nassau but we decided to stay on the ship. We slept in a little bit and then went up to Cabanas for some breakfast around 10am. We grabbed a table outside and I tasked Wes with the job of taking some pictures while I went to get food.

While I got food, Wes saw some kids bring back a full plate of food to their table outside and then they went to go back inside. Well… the seagulls got a full plate of food! The kids came back to see a bunch of seagulls eating all of their food. Oops!

After lunch we went to grab a spot by the Quiet Cove pool. I took some pictures and then I took a nap!

After my very long nap, it was time to wake up and get some food! We went to eat at Flo’s real quick before we went to Movie Quotes trivia in 678.

My usual lunch

If you have read my previous cruise reports, you know that Wes and I always pick the name “Team Voldemort” after an episode of The Office.

The Cast Member running the trivia was Brett and he was hilarious! He was walking around the tables while reading off the quotes, and then stopped at our table to see my answers. He went to give me a congratulatory fist bump and then when I went to bump it, he opened his hand and said “AWKWARD!” I had a good chuckle. He came back over later and went to give me another fist bump and this time we both opened our hands and said “DOUBLE AWKWARD!” Hahahaha

We ended up winning trivia!! Woooo hooo! I was so excited! We got 22 out of 25! Not too shabby. Brett thought it was hilarious because I really didn’t even let Wes answer any questions.

We took our Winner medals and made our way to Skyline for mixology at 2pm. Wes and I love mixology and we were even more excited today to go with a group of people.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Benita was our bartender/instructor and I was pretty sure we had seen her on a previous cruise. The first drink we made was a Bahama Mama. Mmmm…my favorite!

The next drink was a Caipirinha, which is the national cocktail of Brazil. It’s got a TON of brown sugar in it because of how strong the alcohol is that you use. Scott wasn’t drinking so he gave me his drink. I couldn’t finish it all so Wes and I shared it. It was just too sweet.

I don’t remember the third drink. It was some kind of martini. I didn’t love this drink either but it was fun to make! We got to shake our shakers in a conga line around the bar.

The last drink we made was a B52 shot.

We had a great time at mixology! It was so much fun to do it as a group. We made our way back to the room and ordered some room service. I was feeling a little (okay, very!) buzzed at this point. For some reason, I decided to put on every eye patch that we had gotten as FE gifts.

I ate some room service while watching a Disney movie and then promptly fell asleep. Dinner tonight was at Palo and I asked Wes to wake me up in time for me to get ready for dinner. Well, not surprising after mixology, I refused to wake up right away and then was rushing to get to dinner.

I looked at my phone and opened up the DCL app to see that I had 13 messages from the ladies. Yikes! They all were asking me if I was alive Hahaha That was the one bad thing about the app. It didn’t tell you if you had a message if you closed the app. I messaged them back that I was indeed alive and on my way to Palo.

We made it to Palo about 5 minutes late. I hate being late! I felt really bad because I used to be a hostess so I know how people being late can screw up other reservations. As soon as we walked up, the hostess said “Ashley”? Yes…that’s me. I apologized for our tardiness and we were seated.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We had a FANTASTIC meal! We had a very friendly server from France and our food was delicious as always.

After dinner, we went back to our room to change into our pirate attire.

Tip envelopes, already?!?! Noooooooooo! These short cruises go by way too fast!

I wanted to go see the pirate show on Deck so I grabbed my long lens and went. My lens was so foggy! I didn’t give myself enough time for it to adjust to the heat.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I found out later that Carissa was actually in my pictures. Hahaha She’s in the bottom left in the green shirt. Hey Carissa!

I wish I would have brought my other lens too but I wasn’t thinking. The sun was great today and I had to back up really far to try to get pictures of anything else besides the stage show.

I decided to leave the show early. I got enough pictures and didn’t feel the need to stay to enjoy the show. I made my way back to our room and as I was going in to one of the stairwells, I saw Captain Hook hiding. I said “Oh, hello!” and he just turned to me and put up his finger to his mouth to signal “Shhh” Hahaha I really wish I had had my other lens so I could have grabbed a picture of the moment!

I ran back to the room to get my usual lens and then went to the lobby to take some pictures.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I went back to the room to get Wes and then we went to the Future Cruise Sales desk to book a dummy cruise.

We got to the sales desk a little before it opened and just waited for the cast members to arrive. We grabbed a seat and I, naturally, took a bunch more pictures.

Pirate Night Selfiie!

We booked our future cruise and then made our way to Deck 12 to meet the rest of our group for the Pirate Night festivities. We saw one of our Family Cruise families and chatted it up with them before the rest of the group arrived.

Pirate Agents

The fireworks were awesome! We normally leave after the fireworks but we decided to stay for Club Pirate. It was actually so much fun!! A bunch of us stayed and had a blast dancing. We then noticed a gentleman down on the lower deck who was a crazy dancer! He had his shirt off, really long hair and a big ole mustache. He was super sweaty too! Hahaha Wes and Adam seriously watched the guy for at least 30 minutes. It turned in to all of us watching him and just being thoroughly impressed and embarrassed at his moves at the same time.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Dance party!!!

We left Club Pirate around 11pm and then we went with Amy, Dani and Ashley to the District Lounge.

I took a picture of my beer and everyone thought I was crazy. They asked me why and I said so I would remember what we did.

See! It worked! I remembered.

We hung out for a little bit and watched some people dance. Wes and I left around 1am and as I made my exit, I did one of the moves from the crazy dancer guy. It’s a spin move where you put your arms out as you spin. It’s pretty awesome and I think it’s going to be a new signature move for me at future dance parties.

We went through the lobby on our way back to our stateroom.

Wes was attacking me with his pirate scarf and I started doing the “I like to kick! Stretch and Kick!” line from the “I’m Sally O’Malley and I’m 50” SNL sketch. You know what I’m talking about?



Hahaha I get a kick out of that sketch. (Pun definitely intended!)

I was doing the SNL sketch as we exited the elevator and to my surprise, there were two girls sitting right outside the elevator. I was a little embarrassed but also wondering, what were two teenage girls doing at 1am sitting cross-legged on the floor outside the elevators? Strange.

We went to bed very soon after returning to our stateroom after a very fun filled day onboard.


Up next: We’re back Castaway Cay!!!