Saturday, June 27, 2015

Dressing for Disney: A Disney Cruise Honeymoon on the Disney Fantasy! (Overview)


Ahoy, mates! 

Let's see, it's been over a month since John and I took our wonderful Disney honeymoon cruise, and here I am just getting around to posting about it. 

Yup.

I figured I'll start with a brief overview, then go into detail about each day in subsequent posts. I've got lots to share, and this will also help to prolong the magic as I relive the trip. 

Thanks to Amanda at Dixie Delights and others who have kindly 'nudged' me to finally get around to starting these cruise posts by saying how much they're looking forward to it. Hope I don't disappoint!

So without any further ado, here's a CliffsNotes look at our Disney honeymoon cruise (along with what to see, do and what to wear on a Disney cruise, too ;))

Friday, May 22nd- Coolest Summer Ever 24 Hour Day and Bay Lake Tower Stay

We technically started our honeymoon the day before our cruise when our lovely friend Keith got us a room at the Contemporary's Bay Lake Tower as a wedding gift. Part of his reasoning for this was because John and I were partaking in some of the Coolest Summer Ever 24 Hour shenanigans, and boy was it convenient to have a room right out of the Magic Kingdom's back door. 




Saturday, May 23rd- Embarkation Day

Our first day on the boat was blissful. We enjoyed adult beverages by the adult pool, settled into our stateroom, finalized all our plans for the cruise, and had a peaceful dinner at Palo.




Sunday, May 24th- Sea Day #1 & Formal Night

I LOVED the sea days- in fact, of the two cruises I've done in my time, I think I enjoy sea days more than port days. There's just something about being on a floating resort and being able to do as much or as little as you wish that screams 'vacation.' 

Coffee on the veranda, adult pool time, a mixology class, naps, a pre-dinner show and dinner at Animator's Palate made for a very relaxing day. We were officially in honeymoon mode. 




Monday, May 25th- Sea Day #2 & Memorial Day

Hooray! Another sea day! This one was spent much like the first, with plenty of adult pool lounging, more napping, exploring the ship, and eating, including a luxurious dinner at Remy.




Tuesday, May 26th- St. Maarten & Pirate Night

Our first port day was full of sun and fun. We rented an ATV and explored the island on our own for the first half of the day, then returned to the boat to grab lunch before heading to our scuba diving excursion. This was a first for both of us and we are hooked! We'd like to get certified. After scuba, we took a quick walk into town in a futile mission for callaloo soup, then returned to get cleaned up for Pirate Night. After dinner in the Royal Court, John was exhausted, so he napped back in the room while I met characters in their pirate getup. I woke John up to see the fireworks (at his request, honest!) and hit up the dessert buffet before calling it a night. 




Wednesday, May 27th- St. Thomas/St. John

Our second port day was wonderful. We docked in St. Thomas and took a catamaran sail over to St. John where we spent a few hours snorkeling and sipping on rum punch. We ended the day with naps, a dip in the pool, a movie in the theater, and room service while watching the OnDemand stateroom TV. We also watched an after-dinner show in the theater. A very laid back, lovely day.




Thursday, May 28th- Sea Day #3

Yay, another sea day! We slept in and enjoyed brunch at Palo, watched Jack Jack's Diaper Dash, sat by the pool, took our chances at the Bingo jackpot, and had room service dinner again, this time while watching a Sherman Brother's documentary. We also played a group game in the adult lounge and watched an adult comedian in the theater. This was actually the latest we stayed up the entire trip! 




Friday, May 29th- Castaway Cay

AKA Heaven on Earth. Seriously, I would do another cruise solely for Castaway Cay. It was wonderful. We disembarked with the Castaway Cay 5K group, snagged chairs at Serenity Bay, snorkeled in the snorkel lagoon, ate lunch at the adults-only restaurant, lounged, ordered tropical drinks from the wandering bartenders, and sat out in the water for hours. Oh my, take me back. That night, we watched another movie in the theater and ordered dinner up from our rotational restaurant. We ate and watched another OnDemand movie while packing. Boo hoo! (You may have noticed two things: one, we didn't eat in the main rotational dining rooms that often, and two, we really enjoyed the OnDemand TV in the staterooms. More to come on both, later!)




Saturday, May 30th- Disembarkation Day (aka Saddest Day Ever)

Sigh, the hardest part of any Disney vacation- the last day. We packed up bright and early and were off the boat and in our car by 8:30, making the drive home to Orlando. As bummed as we were to be leaving our floating honeymoon palace, we were excited to get back to our house and start our new lives together as Mr. and Mrs.



Whelp, that's it in a nutshell. It took all I had not to go into more detail (as you might have noticed, I'm a tad wordy), but I'm excited to share more with you as I delve into each day specifically. And I'll be honest, I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would. I consciously made a decision to enjoy the moment, in the moment rather than from behind the lens of a camera. So, there will be plenty of photos here, but not as in depth as usual. On a similar note, John and I made it a point to turn off our cell phones and put them in the safe for the entire trip. What a blessing it was to be disconnected for an entire week! I think that was one of my favorite parts of the cruise. 




10 comments:

  1. Hi Ashley, great summary of your cruise; of course, I can't wait for the detailed days coming soon! I have been on one Disney cruise with my sister in 2004. That was the hurricane year in Florida....Hurricane Jeanne derailed us from the Bahamas and Castaway Cay; but we did enjoy Mexico and an extended day at sea! I would love to take another Disney cruise; hopefully one of these days. Kari

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    1. Aren't Disney cruises the best? That stinks that you guys missed Castaway Cay-- it was my favorite part of the entire trip. BUT, that's just an excuse to go again! Darn. Haha

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  2. This is just amazing!!!!! I am so glad y'all had such a wonderful time. I can't wait to read more!!!!! PS. Where is your formal dress from??? Love it!

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    1. Thanks friend! I'm gonna have to look up the dress info- I DO know that it was from Dillards, and sold out multiple times. Not sure if they're carrying it again, but the designer has lots of cute dresses. I'll find details...

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