Disney Cruise of a Lifetime-Part 2: The Ship

So we made it to Florida and spent a night with Spencer's whole family in a hotel.  As you can imagine, everyone was full of excitement as we had been anticipating this trip for nearly a year.  The anticipation was heightened by the fact that we didn't board the ship until 1 pm.  Fortunately, everyone was so excited to be together that the kids had fun playing together, with Grandma and Aunt Lauren.  It's always amazing to me how kids know when it's family and even though it's been a long time, they pick up right where they left off.

Our cruise was 7 days and stopped in Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Mexico, and Disney's Castaway Cay.  With 2 small children, much of our time on the ship was spent trying-unsuccessfully most days-to get kids (mostly Liam) to nap.  I will cover our "at sea" days generally below.

Much to Liam's delight, they had a basketball court ON the ship.  It was, of course, his very favorite part of the cruise.  Although he also discovered "ping ping" ball and "woose ball" (Foosball), both of which he wanted to play almost as much as basketball. 

What more beautiful location to play basketball than overlooking the beautiful Caribbean?

Amelie was pretty happy to hang out, as long as one of us was holding her

Spencer and I enjoyed a little alone time when we dropped the kids off at babysitting or when Grandma was kind enough to take over for a little while.  We swam, enjoyed a movie or two, and ate lots and lots of ice cream. 

But mostly, on board, it was all about the food (ok, so for us, it's always all about the food).  Meal times were a big deal.  Liam and Amelie, however were not so enthusiastic about 2 hour dinners.  For some reason, Amelie always wanted to be asleep during that time and Liam had mostly just woken up from a too late, too short nap and was very irritable.

What is the only thing that can make a 2 hour dinner enjoyable for a 2 year old?

The promise of a chocolate Mickey ice cream bar!  Does Disney know kids or what?

Spencer and I survived with the many hands (read: aunts, uncles, and Grandma) who held Amelie, a "dinner surprise" activity for Liam each night, and 2 awesome servers who not only held Amelie, but even CUT UP OUR FOOD for us if we were busy with one of the kids.  This is a perk we really wish would continue in regular life.

Having a day at sea in between a few stops really helped our sanity because it gave us a day to relax between crazy days at port.  Even though we didn't get to fully enjoy everything the ship had to offer, we loved what we did experience.