After I posted Part 1, of our Disney Cruise story, my blog got a little makeover then Black Friday/Cyber Monday happened!  Now that things are back to normal, I am excited to share the rest of our Disney Fantasy cruise experience with you all!  Also, make sure to join my Travel with Pink Rose Mama group on Facebook for lots of vacation tips, sales and product recs!

I started writing this post and realized that I get kind of bored reading the details of other people’s vacations so instead, I am going to give you lots of pictures and my top tips for the cruise!  Hopefully this format will be user friendly and fun to read.

Embarkation Day

• We arrived at the port around 12:30pm, which was our assigned time.  The lines were not bad at all and moved rather quickly.  I know sometimes people like to get the earliest time possible but my experience with other cruise lines is it is a madhouse early on.   I would do this time again no  questions asked!
• One little hiccup was that a huge tropical storm was headed right in our path.  What did Disney do? They reversed our itinerary-  rather than doing Mexico first, we went there last.  I thought that was SO cool that we were able to basically avoid a week of bad weather!
• As your family boards the ship, the staff will announce your family name so have your camera ready!   The whole staff cheers and even though they do it for every group, it makes you feel excited!
• Download the cruise ship app as soon as you board!  Wifi is available for the app only (unless you pay for internet browsing) and this app will be your lifeline!  It will give you the heads up on character meet ups, remind you about dinner, tell you about shows, etc!  LOVED it!
• The Kids club will have an open house the first day.  I HIGHLY recommend going there with your kids if they are on the younger side.  The kids were able to explore the space with us there, which I found very helpful in getting them comfortable with it before we ditched them (I kid, I kid).

Ports of Call 

Grand Cayman

• We decided to go to Seven Mile Beach with no real plans – cabs are very easy to find when you walk off the ship.  They dropped us off at the beach and were waiting for us to return whenever we wanted.  I liked the flexibility this.
• While in Cape Canaveral, I picked up some inexpensive beach toys at CVS.  The kids loved them and they were much more affordable than what was for sale on the beach.
• Grab extra towels before leaving the ship! We did not do this and wish we had.

Cozumel, Mexico

• We booked Mr Sanchos all inclusive beach ahead of time.  When we exited the ship we found a cab to take us there.  They had food, drinks, a nice beach and shallow pool that our kids LOVED.  Plus, mama got to sit in a lounge chair and relax while the kids played!

Castaway Cay

• Ahhh….I cannot say enough about this place! It was the highlight of our trip which is funny because it was such a simple beach day!
• We took our time getting ready and off the ship but next time, we would definitely hurry up a bit and get a beach spot. We ended up getting one single chair at the end of the beach but I had to walk around searching for a life vest for my daughter to swim.  You know what they say about the early bird.
• I am a less is more kind of person and we were totally content having a beach day, walking around and grabbing lunch.
• There is a kid club on the island if you want some adult time as well as an adult only beach!

Onboard

• Bring your own empty water bottles! We filled them up throughout the day and before we went to bed.  Way  more cost effective than purchasing a case of water onboard.  Here is a cute Disney  water bottle!
• My husband and I had dinner at both Palo and Remy (the adult only restaurants) and highly recommend one or both!  We loved Remy but Palo was very nice, too!  Tip: Book your reservation before you sail!  On nights we did adult dining, we ordered room service for the kids so they could eat while we (well…I) got ready.

• There is a formal night. Some people go all out, we went somewhere in between.
• Also we had a Pirate Night on board- again, some people went all out in costume. We elected to wear the little bandannas that were left in our stateroom.  Next time, we will go a little more all out-shop lots of matching pirate shirts HERE?

• You have the option to pre-purchase a picture package. We did not because we did not know what to expect but I wish we had. We ended up buying an overpriced package! :) They take your pictures at everything- meeting characters, dinner, etc- so how could we say no!
• Reserve the Princess Gathering and Frozen Gathering in advance! 

• If you have younger kids,  the Disney Jr Character Breakfast was fun!  You see Doc Mcstuffins, Jake, Sophia the First and Mickey Mouse.  Reserve through the Disney cruise portal before you sail.

• A lot of people decorate their doors with magnets. I brought a couple of small magnets not realizing when Disney people decorate a door they DECORATE the door…the entire door.  My kids didn’t seem to mind and liked our little decorations.  If you do want to go all out, Etsy has a bunch of door decorations.  See some here.

• If you have littles or your kids aren’t big swimmers, there are also splash pads and kiddie pools onboard!  BONUS- there is an awesome (and very quiet) adult only area on the ship if you put your kids in the kids club for awhile!

• If you are feeling burnt out at the end of the day, don’t push it!  One of our favorite memories of the cruise was watching Toy Story after a long day all snuggled in our bed.  It was so simple but there were no distractions and we all just got to hang as a family.  I will always remember that moment!
• ENJOY IT!  The week goes by so fast but it truly is magical!

Some picture spam from the week!

Some must have items for your trip (if you click on the picture it will take you to the product):