I didn't forget about finishing up our Florida vacation posts. You know how I am. Sometimes you just get the scoop a while later. I made myself sit down tonight and at least start the post because if I wait too much longer, I am going to start to forget details that I do not want to forget.
We left my grandparents when Ruby laid down for her nap. It worked out to be perfect timing for her, us and my grandparents. I admit, I was fighing back the tears as I laid her down. She is my baby. And as much as I needed the break, I knew that I would miss her like crazy. I think that the hardest part was, we weren't going to be talking with my grandparents unless it was an absolute emergency. We never had our cell phones switched so they would work while we were in International waters. (Ruby did fabulous anyway and barely missed me while we were gone, but more on that later!!!)
Oh, did I mention that it was pouring from the moment we woke up that morning, too? It was an awful downpour all day. It seriously never let up. We drove all the way to Port Canavaral in the pouring down rain. It just wasn't the nice, pretty weather we wanted to be boarding a cruise, you know? It was awful and I will be honest, it kind of put me in a bad mood. I kept thinking, "what if rains the entire cruise???" My Aunt kept reassuring me that it never rained on cruises.
So, we arrived at Port Canavaral, checked our bags and hung out until it was time to board the big boat. I just could not believe how massive this thing really is/was. I have pictures to share of the ship, but you will see those on day #3. As soon as we boarded the ship, we found our room , but didn't have much time before we had to be in the theatre for a safety demo that is required to listen to. After this part, we headed back to the room to freshen up before dinner. They did have a cast off party, but it ended up being indoors since it was still raining buckets at this point, which was still a big bummer. The rest of the cruise made up for it though.
Reyna was kind of hitting a wall before dinner, but livened up a little when she realized it was time to put on one of her princess gowns. My aunt surprised Reyna with three (Ariel,Belle,Tiana) new princess dresses from the Disney Store complete with new shoes & head pieces. They are GORGEOUS! Reyna loves them. She chose Tiana that night, which was a good thing because guess who she ran into? Princess Tiana herself. She was not stopping to do any kind of autographs or pictures either, but turned around when she saw that Reyna was dressed like her. It brought tears to my eyes to see the joy and excitement in Reyna's face. Reyna was the only one she stopped and talked with.
Anyway....the first night we ate dinner in the
Royal Palace. Not only was it gorgeous, but the food was divine!
After dinner, we didn't do too much else. Reyna was suuper tired and we wanted her to get in a good night sleep so she would be well rested for the rest of our cruise.
Daddy & Reyna while we were checking in.
This was in our room on our balcony.
This was the building that we checked into. Even that was nice.
The main area of the cruise ship. They had two sets of stairs leading down to the main area of the middle of the ship.
It was breath taking!
In one of the few stores they had on the ship.
Reyna thought daddy looked better in her tiara.
Meeting Princess Tiana.
Telling her how old she is.
She was in Heaven.
Reyna's cupcake desserts.
+her Mickey ice cream bar. (She had one every night brought to her..Our waiters didn't even have to ask. They just knew she wanted one after dinner was finished.)
The light fixtures were beautiful!
My creme brulee was to-die-for!
The molten cake. Oh.so.yum.
Jade & I couldn't decide, so I also ordered this...cannot remember what it is called.
And, our bed was turned down when we came back from dinner. It had this pillow each night before bed with a towel folded into a different sea creature. The eyes of the sea creatures were Sleepy from the 7 dwarfs. I tell you, Disney and their personal touch!
And for memories sake:
Jade & I could not believe how beautiful the ship was when we saw it the first time. It was truly gorgeous.
Reyna was in Heaven, especially when she found out she could have soft serve anytime her little heart desired.
Our room was so nice. It exceeded my expectations.
It rained and rained and rained some more. I prayed the entire time we were on the cruise it was not going to be this crummy. ((It was not, thank God.))
It was so nice unplugging...no cell, laptop etc...
I had the filet at dinner that night & Jade had lamb chops. I ordered Escargot for an app. and I cannot remember what Jade had. We ate so much delicious food and I want to try and remember it.
More to come!!!!
