Grand Cayman

Our Port day at Grand Cayman was so much fun. We decided to just get off the ship and find someone to take us to Sting Ray City. It is a huge Sand Bar out in the ocean near Grand Cayman. There are Sting Rays EVERYWHERE! They are tame because of all the visitors that go there. We had to shuffle our feet while walking through the water on the sandbar so we wouldn't step on one. 

It is much more expensive to book through the cruise line. Finding what we wanted once we got there worked well for us and I would do it that way again. We just researched what we wanted to do before hand and there were plenty of options right off the ship. It's crazy how many vendors there are trying to sale things and trying to get your business. It seems to me that the people work you pretty good. 

Grand Cayman (the sign shows what the island looks like)

A view of our Disney Magic ship from the dock 

While we were waiting for the bus to take us to our boat out to Sting Ray City I went into a candy shop. This was a piggy bank made just for me.....too bad it was $35!

When I looked into the bus I said, "I think it is full". Then the driver told me to pull down a chair from the seat next to me. I also had to hold Brinley on my lap. Pretty crazy! 

The "Captain" of our boat to Sting Ray City

I could not get over the TURQUOISE water of the Caribbean. I would LOVE to go there again instead of Hawaii for that one reason.

Hunter getting a drink for the Captain.

Savannah and Brin after swimming with the Sting Rays 

Snorkeling Man!

This is the area of Sting Ray City. They put a Sting Ray up on my back for a "massage".

This is what I didn't like about being on a cruise and visiting the ports.....too many ships and too many people being herded to the same area.

We had the bus drop us off at a nice beach after Sting Ray City

We weren't going to eat until dinner on the ship but I had a bad headache so I told Powell to go get us some hamburgers. This is what he came back with. He got 2 meals just like this one and it cost $33! The Grand Cayman is very expensive mostly because of the exchange rate.

It was really good!

They couldn't get enough of the beach. It was really Brins first time in the ocean. She was shocked at the salty taste of the ocean.

Fresh Coconut

Walking back to our Disney Magic! 

The Grand Cayman day was also Pirate Night on the ship.  

We all dressed up but our tween....she was too cool.

Handsome Pirate

Beautiful Captain Hook

Our menu was even a pirate menu

Even Powell dressed up!

After dinner we went back to our room and our room steward had arranged all of Brins "friends" on the bed.  Hunter had been winning some of them in the arcade and Brinley also brought a few from home.

A monkey for pirate night! We also got gold coins for our chocolates

We went to the big pirate party at 9pm. They had singing and dancing on the top of the ship. The kids were a little ornery because it was such a long day. Part of the show was Mickey swinging down dressed as a pirate. The fireworks were incredible at the end.

 

Powell watching the fireworks

Powell showing the camera that its 10:45 and we are going to yet another buffet!!!  They had a special late night pirate buffet!

Savannah entering the buffet

Cool ice sculpture

Nothing like a turkey leg to end the pirate festivities

Day at Sea

There was a lot on the schedule for our day at sea. The personal navigator was the pamphlet that came each night to tell us what was happening the following day. The kids had fun looking at the various activities and choosing what they wanted to do. Hunter was the one who was all over the ship all day long and Savannah was content to just chill in the room, by the pool or with us. The weather was much warmer as we traveled south so we decided to spend some of our day at the pool. Powell and I didn't take a picture of Bingo but we decided to go play for an hour while the kids were in the Oceanner Lab. Powell won a facial, which he gave to me so that was exciting! We also saw a great musical called "Twice Charmed" which was a twist on the original Cinderella story. After dinner Powell took the kids to a Hypnotist and Brinley and I watched a movie in the room.

Watching a little Disney Channel on the Disney Cruise. They had Disney movies going all day.

Ready for the day

Our room steward always left us an amazing animal with chocolates

Looking at the ocean

The breakfast buffet was right up the stairs from our room. They had Krispy Kreme donuts every day. Brinley loved the chocolate covered ones. Personally I was addicted to the greasy little hash browns you see on her tray. 

Chillin by the pool

Nothing like a Coke and some rays in January!

Savannah told Putra that she loved Creme Brulee and he brought her two!

Every night there was a puzzle that Jonathon challenged us to solve while waiting for our food.

A port hole big enough for all three!

The first day of our Cruise

After we got on the ship we were told we could find our way to several buffets. We were ready for lunch so we let the eating begin!!!!

My salad girl! She loves salad and this was the first thing she spotted on the buffet. Along with mac and cheese and  mini corn dogs.

One excited boy!

I will admit many of the desserts looked better than they tasted....ha ha. Didn't stop me from eating them tho.

It was fun to experience the first day of the cruise together as a family. I loved that it was new for Powell and I as well as the kids. The rooms were a little bigger to allow for 5 people. They had two separate vanities. One with a toilet and one with a shower which made getting ready a lot easier. We were happy with the 8th floor and found that it actually made us eat more because a buffet was right up the stairs from our room and also the ongoing pizza and ice cream machine was on the 9th floor. It was super windy the first day and I was surprised that kids were in the pools because I thought it was too chilly.

Vanity with small tub and shower

Room Number

Posing in our room

Vanity with toilet and lots of storage space

Sailing away!

I just love all the fun things that Disney does. This was the big sailing away party with singing and dancing.

Watching the ship move away from the dock in Galveston

Bon Voyage...who invited the kids anyway?

This is Brinley posing in the Oceaneer Club. This was a club for kids ages 3-12. They had activities and games that changed every hour or so. She is wearing a wrist band that allows her to go in and has all of her information. Once she goes in she can only be checked out by us. Hunter also had a wrist band but he was free to come and go as he pleased. There was also an Oceanner Lab for 3-12 and Savannah could go in "Edge" which was for 11-14 year olds. She was a little shy about spending much time there. I think it would have been better for her if she had a cousin or friend to go with that she already knew.

 After we went to the sailing away party, ate lunch, explored our room, did the emergency drill and went to all the clubs to get our wrist bands for the kids it was time to eat again. We had the early seating for dinner. We could choose 5:45 or 8:15. We had the 5:45 time for the entire trip. We rotated dinner every night between 3 restaurants. I really liked the variety. The first night was "Animators Palate". This was a restaurant that was all black and white when we first entered. As the dinner seating went on, colors started to appear in the pictures around the room. By the end of our seating it was all lit up with colors and even the servers vests they were wearing went from black and white into color.

A nice touch by the servers. The kids names written on their cups right when we walked in.

Here is an example of one of the many pictures on the walls around us. It is in black and white which just a hint of color.

More color

All of the color in the picture

One of my favorite meals was this chicken with potatoes and root vegetables. 

We always do Disneyland on a budget so we rarely let the kids buy anything from the stands. On the ship there was an unlimited supply of "Mickey Bars" just like the ones at Disneyland!

 The kids got a kick out of the many port holes around the ship. These were the port holes just outside of Animator's Palate.

Ready for our first show

 Every night there was a show after dinner. We weren't allowed to take pictures of any of them after this first night. The music and acting was great. The shows lasted about an hour which was perfect for the kids.

 There were all kinds of things going on at any time of the day. We were tired but noticed a game show and decided to check it out the first night. Not very many people were there and Hunter and Savannah were chosen to go up and prove how good they were at Disney trivia. They were the goofy team. LOL. They didn't win but got ear phones as a prize