Disney Fantasy Day 3: Playa Mia Cozumel!

Day 3 was our first day in a port, and my first time ever out of the country! The last time I took a cruise we docked in Nassau, but my family and I didn't get off, so I guess technically I had been in international waters, but that's not the same.

We met our excursion group and disembarked the ship. Disney is very organized with how they group people and get them off for their excursions, the whole process went through without a hitch.

When we got off we walked to an area where tour busses were parked and got on one headed to Playa Mia Water Park. Here's some pictures of the journey from ship to park:

The fee we played for our excursion included access to the water park (which was more toward little kids, but had a big water slide that I went down!), an open bar, an international buffet, access to watercraft such as paddleboats and catamarans, pool access, use of the beach, and use of a giant inflatable obstacle course thing that was floating in the ocean. The resort itself is beautiful!

The water was really clear, calm, and warm! I have a lifeproof case on my phone so Zach and I took turns filming things underwater (which gave us better pictures).

The videos are long and awkward because we spent half the time at the end trying to get the camera to turn off because it wouldn't recognize that our fingers were touching it since they were wet! But here are some of the shots we got:

We actually found a stingray!

All too soon it was time to go back to the ship. Cozumel was beautiful and the people were very friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend Playa Mia to anyone visiting.

When we got back to the ship I had my daily shower and nap, and I went alone to the show. Zach wanted to stay in the room and watch a movie. The show was okay, but I don't even remember what it was called so it obviously wasn't that spectacular.

Dinner was at Animator's Palate, my favorite of the restaurants. 

It's themed around Disney animation, and actually features a dinner show. Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo comes around on the screens and talks to the humans in the "human tank". The show is completely interactive and adorable. There were a ton of kids celebrating birthdays so Crush had them all form a birthday club. Our table was in the middle and full of adults so we didn't get talked to, but it was fun to watch.

Now, for the food! 

Appetizer: Sliced Serrano Ham. I didn't really like this. It was super thin and dry and taste more like weird bacon than ham. Also I don't like olives so those stayed on the plate.

Soup/salad: Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. Again, it was good but it didn't have any potato chunks in it. It was one of my favorite soups, though.

Main course: Pan Seared Red Snapper. It wasn't all that exciting, but it was a decently good piece of fish. The scallop on top was also really good.

Dessert: White Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake. Delicious! Also, beautiful. 

When we got back to the stateroom we had a wonderful surprise waiting for us! Props to our housekeeper, Gilbert for the surprise!

Next installment: Grand Cayman and Our Lack of Adventure

Disney Fantasy Day 2: A Day at Sea

I loved our itinerary for the cruise because we had the first full day at sea. This gave us a chance to relax and just enjoy the ship and everything it had to enjoy (such as unlimited soft serve ice cream!)

Breakfast had bananas bigger than my hand!

For the most part, though, the day was pretty uneventful (which means this will be a short post! :)

After breakfast, we took some time to lay in the sun until after lunch. While we were laying out we got an announcement from the cruise directors saying they were about to play the Mickey horns, and to please turn on any cell phones if we wanted to record. They sound like this: (Blogger won't let me embed my video for some reason).

 They play 8 different tunes, and I'm pretty sure Disney is the only line with musical horns.

After lunch I made Zach wait in line with me to meet Stitch. He wasn't super excited about that, but at least he waited.

After lunch I accidentally took a 2 hour nap (I guess all the wedding excitement had caught up with me!)

The show that night was Aladdin: The Musical. It was probably my favorite show from the whole week. The magic carpet was played by a gymnast/acrobat in a carpet costume and was absolutely amazing!

Dinner was at Royal Court, my least favorite of the 3 restaurants on the ship. It's my least favorite because the food is primarily French cuisine and the atmosphere isn't all that welcoming. Don't get me wrong, the decor is beautiful, it's it's just not my style.

Appetizer: Iced Lobster & Shrimp. This wasn't the best dish but it also wasn't the worst. It was plated beautifully, though!

Soup/Salad: Potato and lentil soup. This was delicious, but the soup was really thin. There wasn't a single potato chunk in the soup. 

Main Course: Lobster macaroni. I did not like this at all, and I think that it was the truffle oil that was in the sauce. The noodles were also barely covered in liquid and were weird to eat. Another girl at the table also ordered it, and 

Dessert: This was probably one of my top dessert nights. I got the Sweet Temptations, which was a sampler of the three most popular desserts from the menu. Left to right are mango cheesecake, creme brulee, and peanut butter mousse. The creme brulee was amazing, and those of us who got it wished we had just gotten the big one! The cheesecake was also amazing.

Since we were in fancy clothes for formal night we had friends snap this picture as we left: 

Zach doesn't really do formal. Oh well, we are still cute.

Next installment: Cozumel!

Disney Fantasy Day 1: Embarkation Day

The day after the wedding, Friday, Zach and I flew down to Orlando and stayed in the Hyatt that is actually IN the airport. We made the decision to fly down a day early so that we wouldn't be so pressured for time the day we set sail. It was a very smart decision, and if you ever want to sail Disney, I recommend you do the same.

After a 45 minute bus ride, we arrived at the terminal. I have sailed once before and remembered the terminal as being one of the worst parts because we had to wait for so long. We had caught an early enough bus that it wasn't very crowded. Since I was a Castway Club member (meaning I had sailed before) Zach and I got to go through an express check-in line and board almost immediately. We tried to go to our stateroom to ditch the backpack I had been carrying around, but they weren't available until 1. (The best part about staying at the hotel the day before was that Disney picked up all our luggage and would deliver it to our room later in the day!)

I remembered reading in an article that you need to sign up for the Castaway Cay 5K as soon as possible, so we headed to Port Adventures and registered ourselves. When we turned around, Jasmine was behind us!

We then decided to eat lunch in Cabanas, the ship's buffet restaurant, which is Finding Nemo themed and adorable.

We were a little overwhelmed with all the food choices, but we found a pile of shrimp and other seafood, so that made the decision easy.

After lunch we went on a tour of the ship so that we would know where everything was. It was then time to go visit our stateroom. My parents had called ahead and ordered us bath robes, a rose, and a week's supply of water bottles that were waiting for us!

After parting with our things, picking up our Just Married buttons, and attending a life jacket drill, it was time to set sail!

There was a sail away party on the deck, but Zach isn't crazy about the Disney character scene, so we went to the adults only area at the front of the ship to watch as the ship sailed away. The port itself really isn't that pretty, but we saw dolphins, sea turtles, and stingrays playing in the wakes as we pulled out!

The rest of the day until dinner was rather uneventful. We did discover that our stateroom had free on-demand movies and Zach watched The Legend of Hercules. We went to our scheduled show viewing at 6:15 and saw the embarkation show. It was a musical but I found it more informative than entertaining. Then we went to our first dinner on the ship.

Disney does something different with their dinner experience, something called rotational dining. They assign you a table, a server, and an assistant server, and all of you rotate through the ship's 3 restaurants each night. This gives guests the chance to get to know their dinner mates, and the servers to get to know what you like. Each dinner is also a four course meal with appetizer, soup/salad, main course, and a dessert.

Our first night was at Enchanted Garden. The decor is inspired by the Garden of Versailles, and starts out as a daytime garden when you first sit down. By the dessert course, it's nighttime and the flower lamps have opened up. It's a really cool experience and my second favorite of the 3 restaurants.

For some reason I had thought we would be sitting alone but forgot that Disney doesn't offer 2 person tables to save on space. We were seated at a 6 person table where another couple our age was already seated. Zach and I looked at each other and quietly said "I hope the last couple isn't old." (Because that would have made dinner awkward). The last couple sat down and they were also our age, which was a big relief. The first course or two we made awkward conversation, but then something clicked and the 6 of us really hit it off and had a lot of great conversations!

Now, on to the food. I tried to take a picture of everything I ate each night but there were one or two I forgot. Since the food is so impressive, I'm going to share them all with you each day.

Appetizer: Lobster ravioli. Absolutely amazing. I remember saying after I finished, "If I could just have one of these for the rest of the courses, I'd be okay."

Soup/Salad: Romaine wedge. I forgot to take a picture but it was beautifully presented with sliced tomatoes on top, fresh Parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of what tasted like a tomato Caesar dressing. It was really good, and the only time the whole week I ate salad instead of soup.

Main Course: Caramelized scallops. By this point in the meal I was really full, but these were so delicious I made myself eat all but one of them. The asparagus were gross because they were barely cooked (I like them mushy, not crunchy), and I didn't even try the couscous because I was so full. This was still one of my favorite meals of the week.

Dessert: Cinnamon Apple Crunch Sundae. The chocolate Mickey on it was gross, but the rest of it was delicious. It was kind of like apple cobbler mixed with ice cream.

Overall it was a perfect first day that set the stage for a wonderfully magical cruise.

Next installment: Day at Sea #1

I Got Married!

I've been missing in action for the last two weeks because of a little thing that kept me super busy... MY WEDDING!

On May 22, I became Mrs. Leah Jones and it was perfect! I'll write up a full blog post later once I get my pictures back, and look out for a honeymoon recap series (we went on a Disney Cruise so there's a ton to write about).

In the mean time have some pictures of the wedding: