We embarked on our 6th annual Disney cruise girl’s trip this year ( see our 2018 recap here) ! It’s such a treat to sneak away with Nana and the girls for the week. Disney cruising is our absolute favorite way to cruise. It just never disappoints. The food is amazing, the staff is beyond fun and friendly, and the whole ship exudes pure Disney magic. Our itinerary consisted of 4 day cruise visiting Atlantis and Castaway Cay leaving from Florida on the Disney Dream. On our 2018 trip we met the sweetest family from Ohio and the girls became inseparable. They talked all year on the phone and FaceTime and sent letters back and forth. Us moms plotted and they jumped on our same trip for 2019 and gave the kids the biggest surprise! They were beside themselves! Talk about the tightest hugs and endless squealing! Pure magic! We feel like we have made lifelong friends with them and it all started with this trip!
We get ourselves all decked out in our cute Disney gear to embark the ship. They have a super cool model of the ship right at check in which is our favorite spot to get a quick snap of the four of us before the cruise starts.
As you enter the ship, they really roll out the red carpet for each family and announce your arrival like royalty! We always get such a kick out of that. At this point the girls know their besties are the ship and are in a mad dash to find them! The Bonvoyage party is one of our favorite events on the ship. It’s a super fun dance party complete with Mickey and Minnie and confetti cannons as the horn blasts. We are off!
Since we are regulars on this trip we have our favorite activities pretty dialed in. Each year, we decide on a special event that the girls will do that year. We have done Royal Tea Party, swimming with Dolphins at Atlantis and this year we decided to revisit Bippity Boppity Boutique.
Bippity on the ships is the most precious! The “fairy god mothers” are in full character and it really is everything little girl special. Even 10 year old Capri was super into the whole thing. They picked out special dresses, shoes and accessories and then plopped down for beautifying. They get the works! Nails, hair styles of choice and makeup. It’s the cutest thing ever! They leave feeling so fancy and ready for dinner. Nana and I were having a field day with Capri’s red hair!
Our first dinner of the trip was at Animator’s Palette which is so fun! The walls are full of sketches and screens that come to life with Crush and the gang from Finding Nemo. Crush interacts with the tables and cracks us all up as we eat. After dinner we grabbed our popcorn and snuggled in for the first show of the trip. These shows are so incredible! Broadway worthy hands down!
We woke up in Nassau on day two. We have explored Nassau in the past and visited Atlantis for the dolphins but this year stuck around the ship and took full advantage of the short water slide lines. The girls partied with their friends all morning!
Mom and I snuck away for a martini tasting! Yes please!!! I’m a fruity martini sort of gal but actually found out I like a dirty martini. We learned so much about the different types of martinis and ingredients that make each one unique. I wish I had taken more detailed notes because the class was fantastic!
That night after a full day of pool and sun, the girls got back in their princess costumes ( obviously) and we met our friends at the Silent Disco. This party was hilarious! You get your synced up headphones and hit the dance floor. You can change to the same channel as your friends or groove to your own music. We danced our booties off! When you take your headphones off it’s literally silent and everyone is still dancing! So funny!
Our favorite day has arrived! We are off to adventure on Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. We absolutely love our Cataway days. We snorkeled to find the hidden treasure and golden Mickey, Nana and Capri rode bikes around the whole island, we gobbled down at the beach bbq, rode the shipwreck waterslide and played on the sunken ropes course.
There are just a million things to do and we have the best time! I’m putting together a video recap of our super fun day! Stay tuned for that and my discovery of the golden Mickey!
After we were full of sand and sun we made our way back to the ship for another amazing dinner, show and Mickey’s Pirate party! You guys!!! Pirate party is the best! The kids danced with Mickey while we waited for the fireworks. Yep! Fireworks off the ship! We have seen the show many times but it never ever disappoints! It’s set to music and is incredible!
Our first official day at sea and the ship is jam packed full of activities! Because the Dream is a pretty good size ship this day can feel a little bit busy. With that said, we found lounge chairs easily and had no issues. Just more swimmers and people out an about.
The kids decided that they were hard core into a ship wide scavenger hunt which they learned from the adorable “You Tube Family”. Some of the finds were things like Cast members from 5 different countries ( my fave- again Disney cast members are the cutest and always up for this fun stuff) smash an ice cream cone on your forehead, and take a pic on a stage, etc. The kids broke up into teams and scoured the ship for their finds. So fun!
Mom and I snuck away fro a liquor and chocolate tasting which was hosted in Pop Champagne bar and was the absolute cutest pink confection ever! With bubbles everywhere we were giddy! We again learned so much about the pairings of different liquors and chocolates. My most favorite was learning that champagne is actually a pallet cleanser. Into it!
Our last day was just the saddest! We had to say goodbye to our bestie! A few tears shed as the girls squeezed eachother! We had the BEST time! We couldn’t believe how fast it went this year so we booked a 7 day for next year! We can’t wait! Til next year Mickey!
