You Have to Have CHARACTER!

Well, you knew it was coming didn't you?!? Come on, what is a Disney Cruise without Disney Character photos, right? So, here they are!!

Now, the one up above is my favorite. The professional photographer posed Amelia, then they digitally added Tinkerbell, her favorite!








Here is the family, well, not Tyler, with Mickey! I think Mickey is so cute in his shorts and tennies!!!

1,2,3, AWE!!! Look at Daisy, she is precious!






ARGH! Everyone's favorite pirate, Captain Jack! And look in the background, and see what you spy!

This is a picture that Mickey MADE the photographer take! While on the USS Alabama AJ found this Capt. hat and asked if he may have it. Well, what was $2.99? He brought it on the ship and it was an instant hit! When captain Mickey saw it he loved it, and he wanted a picture ALONE with just the Captains! I love this picture!



Surprise! We have camera shy Tyler in a picture! ONLY because Captain Jack threatened to make him walk the plank!

Here is Pluto! Just ignore this picture! I was in mid sentence! Oh, and I must add that on this entire trip my naturally curly hair was wild, no taming was coming to it!

Now, look at the effort that went into this picture! I love this. The photographer got this in 3, count em 3 attempts! I'm impressed. (wish I had removed his socks!)
But to get AJ in mid air with the hat in perfect placement is amazing to me! So I have a special shot of the 2 youngest from this cruise. I love Disney!!

Or could you tell that??

Cozyflier

Seeing Stripes!

I've always wanted to go to a drive through animal safari. I don't count Disney World because I'm not in control of the vehicle! Well, I told Kevin when we were leaving home for the trip and he researched it on the net on his phone. He found one in TX!!! Coming home we detoured, slightly, to get to Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru Safari. This one is outside Tyler, TX and was a lot of fun.



I hand fed this young man!

These guys tried to climb in the car!

Wasn't it sweet of them to pose?

The 2 elan tried to climb into the car too!

This was so much fun. I highly recommend it to families. The kids were oohing and ah-hing at the animals. I have hundreds of pictures, but I won't try to upload all of them!

Lets just say that the animal lover in me and the photographer in me had a terrific time doing this. Oh, I do recommend following the signs and NOT putting in the address into your phone GPS. You end up in the middle of the countryside!

I hand fed deer, llama, bison, elan, zebra, turkeys, and antelopes! I did not hand feed the emu, their beaks looked too sharp!

Have a great weekend!

Cozyflier

Snorkeling at Castaway Cay

Tyler in the water...
While at Castaway Cay, Kevin and Tyler did a little snorkeling. Once again, my water camera did a great job, well, Kev did a good job using it!!



Sunken treasure?



lots of fishies!




When you go to Castaway Cay, you should try this.

Cozyflier

Castaway Cay Playtime!

Disney's private island, Castaway Cay is a lot of fun. Wish we had had 2 days there. Well, like I have stated, this cruise was a learning experience.

So, did you spy the hidden Mickey? We made one out of the floats! It was AJ's idea! What can I say, it runs in the family!

Cozyflier

Splish Splash

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE dolphins. I grew up with Flipper. I still have a stuffed flipper, my bedspread is dolphins, my bedroom/bathroom is dolphins ~ dolphin border wallpaper, when we had the clinic I had an entire wall scape that was dolphins. Do you understand how much I love dolphins?!!!



The family with Missy, the dolphin. The kids enjoyed this.



Kissy kissy! One of the great things about swimming with dolphins, you get lots of love! This was my third time to get to swim with these magnificent creatures and I'd do it a hundred more times! It just keeps getting better!



What an anniversary treat!!



Dancing with the stars of the show!






Missy brought me an anniversary gift!



such a cutie!



Amelia and AJ dancing! The trainers said Amelia was the best dancer!



Tyler had a great time. He actually said the experience was 'awesome'! That is a lot for a an almost 20yr old to say!!



The best for last. This is what the water camera is for! This shot right here! My all time favorite shot, this one, the dolphin giving Tyler a wet kiss!! I LOVE this!
So at this point in time I don't care what that water camera cost, it was worth it's weight in gold!

I would like to thank Dolphin Encounter in Nassau, Bahamas. They did a great job and also allowed me to use my camera in the water. In the past other places have not allowed me to use a disposable water camera. We bought the video and love watching it.

If you are going to the Bahamas, you can contact Dolphin Encounter at 242/363-1003
Fax 242/363-4437

This was my favorite excursion :-)

Cozyflier

Around the Ship!

Everything on the ship is themed, imagine that! The forward section of one deck is Route 66, oh the memories. Yes, I'm that old! Anyway, as most of you know, I was born and raised in Chi-Town. Sorry, Tim, I've called it that since I was 18, don't care if natives aren't suppose to, so, when we saw the carpet, Tyler insisted on taking this picture! Look Down






If you go hungry on a cruise it is YOUR fault! With places like Goofy's Galley, Pinocchio's Pizza, Pluto's Dogs, Beach Blanket Cafe, for quick service and then Parrot Cay, Triton's, and Animator's Palate for sit down dining food was plenty! Oh, and did I mention how good it was? Oh, it was sinful, especially the dessert, (slober) chocolate souffle (drool....!), amaretto mousse, the list goes on and on! Sorry! Excuse me, I think I need to go find something to eat!



Exploring the ship, stoping by one of the 3 pools.



The slide!



The kids main pool.



The sports deck where AJ lived. Soccer and B-ball were AJ's thing.



AJ and Kev try out ping pong! AJ wore Kevin out!



Walt's suite!

Next up? Swimming with dolphins :-)))

Cozyflier

Palo Anniversary Dinner!

The first day of the cruise was our anniversary! We took the kids down to the dining room where we were suppose to eat, and introduced them to the waiter and assistant waiter. I had made reservations at Palo, the adult only dining room, Kev and I would have dinner later. The food was wonderful, everywhere on the ship,



With Goofy before dinner!









When the server found out it was our anniversary, this is what he brought to us with our dessert!


The service was great! The food was wonderful!

Cozyflier

SNUBA-ing

So, (I love starting the blog like we are in the middle of a conversation!) we did a lot or research for this cruise! I did learn that you should book excursions through Disney, safer that way. Disney sends you a book of info and a date when everyone can start booking the excursions. Boy, do they sell out quickly!

Anyway, for Key West, they offered SNUBA, a cross between snorkel and SCUBA. This sold out quickly and I couldn't get all 5 of us. Tyler has a bad ear and probably couldn't have enjoyed this event. I didn't want to leave him on the ship alone. Kev really wanted to go SCUBA diving, but we never got certified, and I wasn't that 'in' to it. I booked Kev and the kids for this! I sent them with the water camera. Kev told the truth about his past medical history and wasn't allowed to do, so he only snorkeled :-(

Here are the pictures he took of the kids having fun!


Ready to go into the water. This is the raft they will be tethered to. They wear oxygen but have a cable instead of a tank! But, when you get 4 or 5 people on the same raft, when 3 of them go 1 direction, the rest of them go too!



Amelia and the hoses!



AJ in bubbles!



One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish!!
Gotta love this underwater Camera....




Time to get out and head back to the ship! That was fun!!

Cozyflier