Trip Report What happens in the Cabana, Stays in the Cabana: A September 2013 Girls' Cruise Adventure

You read that correctly... we're taking you back, way back to last September! In honor of its one year anniversary, we feel the need to celebrate the best cruise ever!

Oh, you guys, this cruise was simply made of win. I mean, what could be better than a Bahamian getaway with 27 of your closest internet gal pals, a pirate party, private cabana, and endless buckets of corona?! Well, a cabana boy to deliver all those coronas, for one thing. But, as most of you already know, we had one of those, too. So, you see, it simply couldn’t get any better!

We’re going to try something I’m tempted to say has never been done before... one trip report authored by four individuals. Let’s hope it works! It only took us an entire year to write it. Here’s the thing, there’s really no reason for us to write separate reports considering we quickly found ourselves spending every waking moment of the cruise together. And besides, it took pooling our pictures to piece together the story. That’s what happens when you don’t take notes. Oh, who am I kidding?! That’s what happens when you consume a pirate’s worth of rum and spend your days bonding with new friends instead of documenting the exact minute you rode the Aqua Duck and the name of each dish served to you at dinner.

So, who’s taking you on this slightly hazy, mostly amazing, booze-infused adventure?! That’d be the four self-proclaimed awesome ladies pictured below. With cameo appearances by the rest of the awesome WDWMagic girls, of course.

Clockwise from top left, that’s me, Holly, @HollyBelle ; Courtney, @Howe ; Jess, @plaz10 ; and Shannon, @Ariel484. Don’t mind Jess’ camera. We only let her take a couple photos. Granted they turned out to be some of the most memorable of the cruise, so who are we to judge!?

Grab yourself an umbrella drink to sip on and join us for this telling of the unofficial WDWMagic Girls’ Cruise.

And if you find you need a little more sunshine in your life, be sure to check out these amazing reports by fellow girls’ cruisers!

Darolyn @derelicte19 : Anyone have change for $100? It’s all about the Benny’s baby!
Jess @PartOfYourWorld : The Real Housewives of Disney-A Sept 2013 Cruise/WDW Trip Report
Jess @jesemeca : What do you get when you mix 27 WDWMagic Ladies and the Disney Dream?
Joanna @joanna71985 : No guys, no kids, no worries!
Kelly @sweetpee_1993 : I ESCAPED!!! (part 1) - The Dream Girls
Sherry @Tiggerfanatic : 27 Ladies on a Disney ship - Yo, Ho, Ho and a bottle of Rum!
Siobhan @Tiggerish : And I am telling you, I AM going...on the Disney Dream WDWMagic Girls Cruise
Tammy @Disneyfalcon : Cruising With the 27 Ladies of Leisure!

 

[angieandtrevor]

Awesome review !! You ladies sure do know how to have a good time

 

[Kristia]

What more could I ask for? A bunch of my favorite trip reporters writing a report together = AWESOME!! Looks like you all had a fantastic time. Wish I could have joined you. I am trying to catch up and am only on page 3. Looking forward to the rest!! Hoping to meet up with you guys during the Wine and Dine Half this year!

 

[Tiggerish]

How #awesome that you ladies were posting your report as this year's cruise was getting underway!

As some of you may know, Holly's parents instilled in her the Stair Rule – while on a cruise one must only take the stairs to combat all of the food (and drink) consumption. This was especially important this week as Jess was just days away from her wedding and needed to fit into her dress when this thing was all said and done. (SPOILER ALERT: She did! #ThanksKimAndRick ) We started off on the wrong foot by not taking the stairs...but can you blame us?! We had bottles and big cameras to carry!

The Stair Rule is the most brilliant idea ever. Thanks to it, I offset all of the food & drink I consumed last week!! (and in true girls' cruise fashion, there was quite a bit of both!) Our stateroom was on Deck 9, and sometimes I had to use the banister to drag myself along after Deck 6 but it got the job done. Embarkation with luggage is the only reason for a bye on that rule.

And now that I’m off on this tangent, I’m going to spiral away for a quick minute. It was sort of surreal (especially at the beginning) how I would sometimes start to share a story from a past Disney trip or even just a thought and someone would say, “oh yeah, I remember that, you and Brett, so on and so forth...” And then I’d kinda face palm and realize, yep, I’m an oversharer. And you know what? I’m so glad for it. As absurd and laughable as this will sound to those of you who’ve read the words I’ve written about some of my most personal experiences, I consider myself a private person. It’s like the trip reports I’ve written over the years were providing an outlet for me to open up while the internet acted as a buffer, allowing me to really put it out there. Hopefully some of you know what I’m getting at. I guess what I’m trying to say is, getting to meet women who felt they already knew me and women who I felt I already knew was, truly, one of the coolest most unique experiences ever. I can honestly say that everyone I met was exactly who I thought they were going to be, as if they’d just stepped out of the pages of their trip reports.

This. So perfectly expressed.

Great start to the report. It is really fantastic that you can relive a vacation with such detail, almost like you just got off the ship. Following along.

When the vacation is as truly, totally, exceptionally wonderful as the 2013 Girls' Cruise, you remember it in great detail forever and ever.

After dinner we headed to Skyline for drinks.

I had a Stella Artois. Nothing fancy. Unlike Shannon and Siobhan who had the “New Yorker” (so fitting for Siobhan – who is in fact a New Yorker). We enjoyed ooing and awing over the changing scenery..Siobhan was able to correctly identify each one…and this was before we knew what cities were possible! Impressive.

After a few rounds and more getting to know one another…we decided to call it a night.
Holly, Shannon and I headed back to the 6th floor to find these adorable Cruise Girls magnets on our doors! FUN!

Up Next: Nassau Day. (Also known as the day we discovered POG machines)

Skyline: still my favorite spot on the Dream.

At some point...while none of us were really hungry...we decided we SHOULD eat something.
I am disappointed in myself and the lack of food pictures. I know I had the margherita pizza from Luigis Pizza and it was fantastic. I believe Tammy has a pic of us enjoying our lunch in her TR.

Suddenly we saw Ariel (with legs) walking out of some door through the adult deck. This launched a discussion of why it would be easier for Ariel and Eric’s relationship that she had legs instead of fins. I’ll let you all come to your own conclusions on why legs would certainly make things easier (possible?) in a marriage. Cue lots of laughter and lots of inappropriate comments and “that’s what she said” type moments.

With our bellies full and our tumblers dry we headed back to our rooms to get ready for tonight’s show “Villains Tonight.”

As we walk down the stairs (if you ever followed a Hollybelle cruise TR before you know that her parents introduced the Stair Rule on cruises to counteract all the eating/drinking – this rule was strictly enforced and helped me to fit in my wedding dress after this cruise) we see ARIEL. WITH LEGS. IN THE WILD. NO PHOTOGRAPHER. Thank GOD I have my trusty point and shoot! We knew immediately that we had to snag a stranger and have him take our photo.
I won’t lie…we were all a little murky/hazy/giggly (read between the lines) at this point. The conversation with Ariel went a little like this….

Ariel: “And what were you ladies doing today?”
The 4 of us…look at our empty tumblers…look at her…: “Talking!”
So lucky that the stranger we had to take our photo took numerous shots because you can see the rest of our conversation in photos.
Me: “So Ariel we were just discussing today the benefits of having legs vs. fins. What do you think?”
(Laughter ensues…Ariel keeps her cool)
Ariel: “Oh I love my legs! I just love dancing! It’s my favorite! What’s your favorite thing to do with your legs?”

Giggling…SO MUCH GIGGLING. Nothing appropriate is coming to mind (mainly what one does to butter) Then we all seemed on the same page as we all looked to Shannon and said “well Shannon likes to run…”

Have to give Ariel credit – she never broke character through our laughter. She suggested a “fish face” photo. (you can see we couldn’t stop laughing long enough to suck our cheeks in)

Then a regular smiling photo.

We thanked Ariel profusely for taking some photos with us. She moved on and we just broke into a fit of giggling. Tears running down our faces.

I know the story and photos just can’t convey the hilarity that ensued in meeting Ariel that day. It was truly the highlight of the day.

And the moral of this story is…Don’t hate on the point and shoot. It’s much easier to transport and you never know when you’ll need to snap a picture. Always carry a camera on Disney Cruises!

We realized at this point that while it was a goal of the day to ride Aqua Duck with low lines (since it was a port day) we had yet to ride it and it was almost time to get ready for the evenings festivities!
We dropped off our bags and tumblers in our rooms and headed back to conquer the DUCK! We decided to ride together – Shannon and I together, Holly and Courtney together. I can’t speak of HBells and Courtney’s ride but Shannon and I just giggled the entire time. Right before we go down the lifeguard says “if you get stuck just stay seated.” WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT TO US? Which just led to the giggling fit that lasted the whole ride.

The Aqua Duck is quite fun – although could be a little faster. The POG induced state helped to make the ride a little better.

We headed back to our rooms to get ready for tonight’s show and dinner.

Hilarity. Utter hilarity. Holly & Courtney did a good job at the fish faces, but you and Shannon are clearly barely holding it together. And the AquaDuck guy--truly, why would anyone say that???

And the moral of this story is…Don’t hate on the point and shoot. It’s much easier to transport and you never know when you’ll need to snap a picture. Always carry a camera on Disney Cruises!

Thank you, Legacy Mike!! "Always carry a camera" is the second most valuable piece of cruise advice (next to The Stair Rule).

We called our Cabana friend (not Komgrit – the Host…who’s name I do not remember. But he had the most adorable accent.) And he called the bar to ask if we could get Jager bombs. Nope. ☹ No Jager on the island. Boo. So we turned to one another asking what type of shot we should order – in the name of Shannon, Kelly and Siobhan – we decided to order Red Headed Sluts. Hearing the Host ask if the bar had “Red Headed Sluts” in his accent was a HIGHLIGHT of the day.

ANDY was our cabana host again this year!!! How did he get so lucky??

Before we can move on... let's look at take two of this incident and break it down...

Remarkably, Shannon manages to save the cards while looking fabulous doing it. Kelly appears on the scene to join Siobhan in laughing hysterically at Shannon. Courtney, of course, has looked at me to make sure I've captured this memory on film forever (luckily for all of us, I have). And Jess makes the happy realization that she is holding not one, but two, coronas! Not pictured to my right is Sherry, the only one to actually help Shannon up.

I may be laughing, but at least my hand is extended in an attempt to aid my fellow redhead, while Kelly is just laughing her redheaded @$$ off.

We were the last to leave Castaway Cay, which is surely something to put in the record books! How dare those cast members? They really did kick us off the island. Albeit, with a smile and wave. So long adorable cabana host who made our day all the more magical every time we asked him to repeat our shot order!

I'm proud to report that tradition was upheld. [WIN] Once again, the ladies of WDWMagic were the LAST to leave Castaway Cay!! [/WIN]



Fabulous reporting, #awesome crew--love the alternating voices style. It is still so much fun to re-live this trip!

See you all in November!!

 

[FlaggNL]

You can find us Dutch everywhere

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Oh my word, I can’t believe you guys wrote it together! That’s so hard to do (and often hard to read), but not yours! Excellent coordination.

Jess I laughed at dinner at 1900 Park Fare! Timid was the perfect word!

You changed in the parking garage? Hilarious!! I never like myself in T-shirts, but I thought everyone looked pretty cute!

I love all the pictures of the ship y’all took on embarkation day when we were all chowing down.

I totally agree, Holly! Once we lose cell coverage I feel like I can finally relax and enjoy! No social media pressure (which I do love but it takes me out of the moment).

Oh my word that Royal Palace picture is amazing.

I love that you caught the chandelier being lowered! So cool!

Love the toes of course!! I will steal the pics if you don’t mind!

Still cracking up at the Happy Birthday plate at Palo.

That is too funny that you two were alone at the table for 8.

Me a shot slammer. Who would have thunk?

Y’all are very sweet to keep thanking me for organizing and taking care of details, but I loved it and I know Kelly did too! Plus we got to go!!! That’s the best thank you gift!

Not surprisingly, all of your pictures are totally amazing. But the memories are even better!! Holly summed the trip up perfectly and I truly loved reading every word of this!

 

[Ariel484]

And really, what would it be without Kelly?!

A lot less fun!!

Awesome review !! You ladies sure do know how to have a good time

Thanks! We definitely did!

What more could I ask for? A bunch of my favorite trip reporters writing a report together = AWESOME!! Looks like you all had a fantastic time. Wish I could have joined you. I am trying to catch up and am only on page 3. Looking forward to the rest!! Hoping to meet up with you guys during the Wine and Dine Half this year!

Woohoo, thanks Kristy! We had a total blast. That would be awesome to meet up at Wine & Dine, we'll have to set something up!

How #awesome that you ladies were posting your report as this year's cruise was getting underway!

You threw the gauntlet down, Siobhan. We had to do it!

The Stair Rule is the most brilliant idea ever. Thanks to it, I offset all of the food & drink I consumed last week!! (and in true girls' cruise fashion, there was quite a bit of both!) Our stateroom was on Deck 9, and sometimes I had to use the banister to drag myself along after Deck 6 but it got the job done. Embarkation with luggage is the only reason for a bye on that rule.

Excellent job keeping up with The Stair Rule. It's just a way of cruise life now. It worked for me on the girls' cruise...worked not quite as well on the cruise I took with my husband in July.

This. So perfectly expressed.

@HollyBelle has a way with words, no?!

When the vacation is as truly, totally, exceptionally wonderful as the 2013 Girls' Cruise, you remember it in great detail forever and ever.

Exactly! No amount of tasty alcoholic beverages could change that!

Skyline: still my favorite spot on the Dream.

Agreed! Tied with Pink for me.

Hilarity. Utter hilarity. Holly & Courtney did a good job at the fish faces, but you and Shannon are clearly barely holding it together. And the AquaDuck guy--truly, why would anyone say that???

YEP. So freaking funny. I mean, of all the characters in the wild to run into...

Thank you, Legacy Mike!! "Always carry a camera" is the second most valuable piece of cruise advice (next to The Stair Rule).

Rules to live by, for sure.

ANDY was our cabana host again this year!!! How did he get so lucky??

AHHHH!!!! He was so cute!! I will never forget him radioing the bar trying to order the red-headed sluts...

I may be laughing, but at least my hand is extended in an attempt to aid my fellow redhead, while Kelly is just laughing her redheaded @$$ off.

*sigh*

I'm proud to report that tradition was upheld. [WIN] Once again, the ladies of WDWMagic were the LAST to leave Castaway Cay!! [/WIN]

I just could not be more proud of you ladies!!

Fabulous reporting, #awesome crew--love the alternating voices style. It is still so much fun to re-live this trip!

Thanks, friend! No way any of us could have done it along!

See you all in November!!

Sooo excited! Less than 40 days to go! I'm counting on your Food & Wine expertise to guide us through, Siobhan!

You can find us Dutch everywhere

That photo is a little misleading...the Heineken bucket is actually filled with Coronas!

Oh my word, I can’t believe you guys wrote it together! That’s so hard to do (and often hard to read), but not yours! Excellent coordination.

Holly was the main coordinator! *applause*

Jess I laughed at dinner at 1900 Park Fare! Timid was the perfect word!

Because I wasn't there, I have to say it's hard to imagine ANYONE from our group being timid!

You changed in the parking garage? Hilarious!! I never like myself in T-shirts, but I thought everyone looked pretty cute!

That we did. I do agree with you, for group shirts they were pretty adorable!

I love all the pictures of the ship y’all took on embarkation day when we were all chowing down.

If I've learned nothing else from you and Holly, it's that empty ship pictures on embarkation day are a must!

I totally agree, Holly! Once we lose cell coverage I feel like I can finally relax and enjoy! No social media pressure (which I do love but it takes me out of the moment).

I loved that sooooo much. Even though they have the free data packages now I could see myself just pretending they aren't there, just to force a break. It's so nice!

Oh my word that Royal Palace picture is amazing.

ISN'T IT THOUGH?! Dying.

I love that you caught the chandelier being lowered! So cool!

So cool!! Probably not something that many people see, because who in their right mind is going to skip Castaway Cay day??

Love the toes of course!! I will steal the pics if you don’t mind!

I'll speak for everyone else - go for it!

Still cracking up at the Happy Birthday plate at Palo.

Well there was a birthday being celebrated in that stateroom, sooooo...good effort, DCL!

That is too funny that you two were alone at the table for 8.

Just Holly, Jess and all of their friends! Oops!!

Me a shot slammer. Who would have thunk?

That's probably up there as one of my favorite memories from the cruise. Clearly I am not alone in that line of thinking as I know it's been mentioned in other girls' cruise reports!

Y’all are very sweet to keep thanking me for organizing and taking care of details, but I loved it and I know Kelly did too! Plus we got to go!!! That’s the best thank you gift!

Seriously though, it's just so impressive that you ladies were able to organize for such a big group - with smiles on your faces - and we all got to do everything that we wanted to do. So grateful for that!!

Not surprisingly, all of your pictures are totally amazing. But the memories are even better!! Holly summed the trip up perfectly and I truly loved reading every word of this!

Could not agree more! It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

What a fun report! You ladies really know how to vacation!! Loved your pictures, especially all those dranks!

 

[Ariel484]

What a fun report! You ladies really know how to vacation!! Loved your pictures, especially all those dranks!

Why thank you. We loved all the drinks, too...in case we didn't make that abundantly clear.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

And really, what would it be without Kelly?!

Oh my! Thank you! 2014 is history! Had a fab time! 2015, here we come!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

What a fun report! You ladies really know how to vacation!! Loved your pictures, especially all those dranks!

Hahaha! Tracey & I are on our way to the airport from Port Canaveral (would you believe I just did 14 nights over 3 cruises???) and your "dranks" just totally cracked me up! We took to using really obnoxious southern accents at key moments during our trip. So Palo was "Pay-Low" and when we had a good drinky-drink (hellooooo Millionaire martinis!) it was "That there was a dern good drank! Dontcha thank?!?!" Love it!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Hahaha! Tracey & I are on our way to the airport from Port Canaveral (would you believe I just did 14 nights over 3 cruises???) and your "dranks" just totally cracked me up! We took to using really obnoxious southern accents at key moments during our trip. So Palo was "Pay-Low" and when we had a good drinky-drink (hellooooo Millionaire martinis!) it was "That there was a dern good drank! Dontcha thank?!?!" Love it!

Hahaha I am currently saying draaaanks out loud lol

 

[ml123_9]

Loved the report! Sounds like everyone had an awesome time. Just have to add that I saw this the other day, at a home furnishing store, and immediately thought of @plaz10
.

 

[plaz10]

Loved the report! Sounds like everyone had an awesome time. Just have to add that I saw this the other day, at a home furnishing store, and immediately thought of @plaz10
.View attachment 68964

Must have!!! At least 2...one for inside and one for outside!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I absolutely loved the blended format, ladies! Y'all killed it! Thanks soooo much for providing the opportunity to relive the fun! 2014 was different in so many ways yet still entirely fun. Hope to see y'all hop on again! Cards in the cabana! I'm looking forward to it!

 

[LisaBelle]

Finally got all caught up. Loved this report. You ladies did a great job. I've read most of the Ladies Cruise TRs and it is awesome to see the cruise from so many different points of view. Well done!

 

[Ariel484]

Must have!!! At least 2...one for inside and one for outside!

Just 2?!

I absolutely loved the blended format, ladies! Y'all killed it! Thanks soooo much for providing the opportunity to relive the fun! 2014 was different in so many ways yet still entirely fun. Hope to see y'all hop on again! Cards in the cabana! I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks Kelly!

Hopefully we'll find a way to hear about all of the fun you ladies had this year soon. So bummed that the rest of us couldn't make it!! I saw the picture of all of you with @blackthidot - so awesome!

2015 is out for me, unfortunately. But I definitely plan on another girls' cruise again at some point! Cards in the cabana for sure!

Finally got all caught up. Loved this report. You ladies did a great job. I've read most of the Ladies Cruise TRs and it is awesome to see the cruise from so many different points of view. Well done!

Thank you! Thanks for reading.

Yeah, has there has ever been one trip with this many reports before?! I think not!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Really happy i was able to read this in one sitting! I love how all you wrote this together, it came together awesomely! (I have no idea if that's a word) I don't think anything could top that trip, it was seriously one of THE BEST trips I've ever been on. And so happy to consider all of you as friends

I totally forgot about your Ariel conversation..I remember one or all of you telling me one evening, but completely forgot about it until now!!!!!

Love the picture of all of us having that Skater on Acid shot in PINK, that was the yummiest shot I've ever had!!! And I may have to steal that picture by the way if that's okay.

All the shots that were taken while I was up there with you making the Sunken Treasure..I totally look like a creep!

You were all having some serious fun in that cabana!!!!! I'm not sure I would have made it through all those Corona's! I would have been on the floor! Gotta hand it to all of you!!!

They need to make a special medal for that Castaway Cay 5K won't catch me doing that again!!!

That picture of the chandelier being lowered is awesome!!!!!!! I had no idea that they did that!!!!!

Thanks ladies for sharing this report!!!!!

I'm sure I'll see ya real soon!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

Loved, loved, loved this report. It was so amazing to relive the most awesome cruise with the most awesome friends.

That picture of us all with my birthday Skater on Acid shots is hands down my favorite photo off all the pics from everybody's reports. It really sums up just how awesome this trip truly was.

And, I can't wait to meet up with the awesome crew of cabana #6 again in just 2 more weeks!

 

[Ariel484]

Really happy i was able to read this in one sitting! I love how all you wrote this together, it came together awesomely! (I have no idea if that's a word) I don't think anything could top that trip, it was seriously one of THE BEST trips I've ever been on. And so happy to consider all of you as friends

It really was the BEST!! So happy to consider you a friend as well

I totally forgot about your Ariel conversation..I remember one or all of you telling me one evening, but completely forgot about it until now!!!!!

Oh I'm sure one or all of us did tell you and every other girls cruiser about it One of my favorite memories from the trip for sure!!

Love the picture of all of us having that Skater on Acid shot in PINK, that was the yummiest shot I've ever had!!! And I may have to steal that picture by the way if that's okay.

Totally! I can send you the original if you want...or just steal away!

All the shots that were taken while I was up there with you making the Sunken Treasure..I totally look like a creep!

So I went back and looked. For the record, I do not think you looked like a creep. You were just really focused on the task at hand and did not notice the paparazzi. No worries!!

You were all having some serious fun in that cabana!!!!! I'm not sure I would have made it through all those Corona's! I would have been on the floor! Gotta hand it to all of you!!!

They need to make a special medal for that Castaway Cay 5K won't catch me doing that again!!!

Yeah, I am totally DONE with that race. Unless there's a major redesign of the course, twice was more than enough for me.

That picture of the chandelier being lowered is awesome!!!!!!! I had no idea that they did that!!!!!

I know!!! I was really shocked to see that!

Thanks ladies for sharing this report!!!!!

Thank YOU for reading!

I'm sure I'll see ya real soon!

Hope so, friend!!

Loved, loved, loved this report. It was so amazing to relive the most awesome cruise with the most awesome friends.

I love getting to relive it over and over...although are the trip reports done now?!

That picture of us all with my birthday Skater on Acid shots is hands down my favorite photo off all the pics from everybody's reports. It really sums up just how awesome this trip truly was.

I love love love that picture, so much!

And, I can't wait to meet up with the awesome crew of cabana #6 again in just 2 more weeks!

2 WEEKS AHHHHHHH. So excited!!!!! Can't wait to see everyone again!

 

[enchanted_belle]

After dinner we headed to World of Disney for a bit before saying a quick hi to Courtney @enchanted_belle at the stroller rental place. Shockingly enough, despite being seasoned trip reporting veterans, neither one of us took a single picture at Downtown Disney. Gasp!

That's me!!!!

I apparently don't get on here enough lol, but YAY THAT'S ME I'M IN A TR!