SB 2011: Day 2: Disney Cruise Sets Sail!

This morning we headed to the Disney Terminal early to get all of the registration chaos taken care of as soon as possible.  I had done all of the registering online that I could, but we still had to wait in lines.  Overall, it was run very smoothly and we got through several of the lines - security and registration - fairly quickly.  We had a Boarding number of 4, out of 36, so we took that as a good sign.  By the time we had been through all but one line, we had over an hour to kill before getting on the boat, so the kids and I waited in line to get them registered for the kids area - Oceaneers Club.  For some reason this line moved very slow.  The kids were hyped up on adrenaline, and driving me crazy, but I didn't want to give up and then have to spend precious cruise time in a similar line, so we waited.  And after an hour, finally made it through.  The younger kids - Sam and Ryan - had to wear an electronic ID bracelet which they would use to sign in and out of the Oceaneer Club (along with an adult from our group with identification).  Maria, being a tween (ages 11-13), was allowed to roam the boat freely and check herself into and out of the tween club Edge.  The girls - Maria and Madelyn - were also allowed to go to the Oceaneers Club as long as they were with their younger brothers.  That was nice because the Oceaneer club was much bigger and cooler that Edge.

Anyway, when they started to board the boat we only had to wait 15 minutes until it was our turn.  When you board, they ask you our family name, and then announce you through a microphone and a bunch of Disney workers applaud you as you walk on board.  The person who announced our name was British, and so what he said sounded like "Please welcome the Killer family."

Once on board, we couldn't get into our stateroom for over an hour, so we had lunch at "Cabanas," which would be our usual lunch and breakfast place.  It was a "free flowing Food Court," which is really a lot of small buffets with short lines.  They had a lot of different food, and it was all pretty good.

After lunch we roamed around the ship for a little while until we could get into our room.  Then we dropped off our stuff, changed into swimsuits, and headed to the pools.  We learned very quickly that the pools were pretty small, and so got crowded very easily.  Luckily, the pools weren't really the attraction - the "Aqua Duck" was the main attraction.  It's a water coaster, and the first of its kind on a cruise ship.  And it was really awesome.  But the line was always at least 20-30 minutes long - once Sam and I waited 40 minutes to ride.  But that first day all four of us rode without too long of a wait.

After some pool time, we got dressed and walked around the ship some more, checked out the Oceaneer club, attended the mandatory emergency drill, and then went to the deck for the big "Sail Away" party. This was the usual Disney characters dancing around deal, but we enjoyed it, although I was slightly disappointed that the ship doesn't actually leave port when we counted down - it was a good hour later before we actually set sail.  So we spent some time having ice cream - the self serve whenever you want ice cream stand was a favorite of the kids - and played mini-golf with the Holthouse kids while the adults stood around and talked.  Then it was back to the room to dress for the show and dinner.

Dinner attire was "cruise casual," so Sam only had to wear a polo shirt, khaki pants, and Crocs, and yet he still complained. I also think we didn't give him sufficient snacks needed since our dinner time wasn't until 8:30, and that also may have contributed to his grumpiness.

The show was called "Golden Mickeys," and as all of their stage shows would go, it was a loosely put together story giving the cast excuses to sing and dance numbers from favorite Disney movies, but they were funny too, and the kids loved them (so did I).  And they lasted almost exactly an hour, so they weren't too long either.  During the show, we did notice the boat moving, but none of us were really bothered by it.  Sam said it was giving him a headache, but once he ate dinner he was fine.

 Dinner tonight was at the Royal Palace, which was beautiful, although we felt slightly disappointed at our servers, who were challenged by the English language.  One was from the Ukraine, and one from Peru, and both struggled to understand the kids when they ordered their food.  The kids got their food first, and then the boys headed to the Oceaneer club, and the girls to their club Edge, allowing the adults to have dessert, coffee, and head to a night club for a drink after dinner.  The girls had "Wave Phones" with them, which were like cell phone that worked on the ship, and each adult had the other phone from the room.  This set-up became a dinner habit, and made everything better for the kids and adults.  This first night, Ross and I picked up the boys about 11:15 - they were tired and ready to go - while Kathy and Ben waited for the girls who participated in a special "Tweens vs. Teens" trivia game that didn't even start until 12:15.  A very busy, yet very fun first day of the cruise.