Bon Voyage! Day 1

On to the good stuff - the cruise itself! First off I want to say that since this cruise was chartered for DVC members it had very low occupancy (70%) and an unusually small number of children. This was all great news! It never really felt crowded to me, and since there were so few kids, it was never a problem to check the girls into childcare and the lines to meet the characters were always short.

When you walk onto the ship, they announce your family over the loudspeaker and there are a bunch of employees lining the entrance applauding you, kind of cheesy but fun. Joe had to go to a work event after boarding, so I took the girls up to get some ice cream where we ran into some "friends!"

We then changed into our swimming suits and headed over to the children's splash area called Nemo's Reef. Unfortunately you have to be potty trained in order to swim in the regular pools so Lizzy had to stick to the splash pad. It's a nice, safe option for babies, and the water was really warm. The girls loved it!

After we were all splashed out we grabbed lunch from one of the Cars themed quick serve windows. These take out places are open almost all day/night long and offer a variety of options. They serve pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, french fries, sandwiches, wraps, salads and fresh fruit. While unlimited food anytime you want it may sound amazing, I hate to say that the food was not great. I might even go as far to say that the pizza was bad. 

Tastes pretty good to me, mom!

By that point the rooms were ready and the luggage had been delivered, so we went to our state room on the 10th deck to check things out and get unpacked. We were super lucky to have been put in a Deluxe Family Room that had some extra space and a balcony. It was HUGE by cruise standards and I never once felt claustrophobic. We had a queen size bed and a couch that converted into a bed, plus a pack n play in the corner for Lizzy. My favorite feature of the room was the curtain that you could pull to separate the bedroom area from the living room area, so we could keep the girls somewhat separate if they didn't sleep at the same time. 

View from the entry way. Bathroom to my left. Separate areas for shower and toilet

After unpacking we had to convene for a mandatory emergency drill in an auditorium. After confirming everyone was present by scanning key cards, they gave a short presentation about emergency protocol, life boats, life vests, etc. We then went back the room for much needed naps. I guess at some point during naptime the boat started to move, but we didn't even realize it! 

Joe had a business dinner that evening at one of the nicer restaurants, Palo, so SUPER MOM took both girls to our 8:15 dinner at The Royal Palace. The people sitting at the table next to us looked at me like I was crazy when I showed up alone and wrestled Annie and Lizzy into high chairs. I was thrilled when Joe finally showed up halfway through the dinner. At the sit down dinners all the food and soft drinks are included, and you order off a regular menu. But again, the food is less than spectacular and I would say we left most of the dinners still hungry. They also have a children's menu offering all the standard kids fare.

After dinner we met some characters (becoming a very regular occurrence, to Annie's delight) and then called it a night. Not bad for our first day!