Cruisin' with Mickey

After two days of crazy travel from Denver to Charlotte to Miami, we finally boarded our destination...the Disney Wonder bound for the Western Caribbean!  Farewell mass of land, we will see you again in a week.  Hello wide open blue sea!

Disney celebrations spare no expense.  True to their style, they had a great cast off deck party to get the vacation started.  There was dancing, there were Disney characters, and of course pompoms and horns, all leading up to the ships departure.  Only catch was...the ship didn't actually leave for an hour after the party ended.  They might want to work on that timing a bit.



We celebrated Mom's 70th birthday with much singing and yummy desserts at one of their three restaurants, the Parrot Kay.  While mom relished in the attention, Megan tried to hide.

We also celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary with more singing and dessert!

Everything about the ship was amazing.  It is gorgeous from head to toe. Impeccably clean.  The food is a sight to see and equally delicious to eat.  There were ample activities to keep everyone happy and entertained.

If only the weather had cooperated.  Who knew it can get stormy and cool in the Caribbean!  Above you can see the overcast skies at Grand Cayman.  Not only was the sun hiding, the wind was out to play which made the seas rough.  We anchored south of the island to be better protected and tendered to shore.  Our snorkeling excursion was cancelled due to the weather.  So, not knowing what else to do, we made our way over to Seven Mile Beach hoping to use one of the resort pools.  We ended swimming at one of them before heading back to the ship.





Cozumel was a different story entirely.  The sun was out and water was calm-ish and we had more time off the ship.  We also had the best excursion planned of all...swimming with the dolphins!

I mean really, just look at how God made that water so beautiful!  Paradise!

This experience was AMAZING!  Really, it's one of the coolest things I've ever done.  We got to be pushed on a boogie board, pulled by their fins and a bunch of other things that allowed us to interact with them up close.  I was surprised how the girls seemed to be fearless out there.  In the ocean.  With two huge dolphins swimming around below them.



After our time with the dolphins, we ate authentic Mexican food at a restaurant on the sand.  Delicious!  Then Woody and Megan relaxed on the beach while Mom, Zoe and I took an afternoon snorkel to see the fish.  This was another highlight for me.  The fish swarmed around us and we excitedly found many treasures to show each other beneath the sea.  I was sad to leave the mariachis and Mexico's festive atmosphere, but the ship would leave without us if we didn't get back.



Ahoy Matey's!  It's Pirate night.  Always ready for a fun time, Mom came in costume!



Last but not least, one our families favorite amenities on the cruise was being greeted by towel animals and chocolate at bedtime each night.  Zoe was so enamored by them, that she got lessons from the ships staff and now creates these little creatures at home.