Our MAGICal Disney Cruise Day 2 Part 1: Sea Day

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Our MAGICal Disney Cruise

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Trip Report:
Day 1 Part 1:  Intro and getting there 
Day1 Part 2: First afternoon on the ship 
Day 1 Part 3: First evening

The kids were all up well before 7 a.m.  I showered and got the kids ready and we went to the Topsiders buffet for breakfast.  (For breakfast we had a few options--the buffet on the top deck at Topsiders, a sit-down breakfast in Lumiere's restaurant, a buffet in Parrot Cay restaurant, fast food breakfast items by the pool at Goofy's Galley, breakfast snacks in the adult-only Cove Cafe, or a continental breakfast through room service.)

Breakfast at Topsiders buffet

Nathan at breakfast

Joshua at breakfast

We were looking forward to the two sea days on our cruise because our sea day on our last cruise was our favorite day.  When we have no place to go, things seems a little less stressful and more laid back with our kids. The great thing about sea days is that our kids can choose what they want to do, and we all don't have to do the same thing.

There were two things happening at 9 a.m. that I thought my younger two kids would like:  Wake Up with Disney JR and the Princess Gathering in the atrium. I had read about both but couldn't decide if Alyssa would want to wait in the long line for the princesses.  In the end, I decided to take them to Wake Up with Disney JR. in the promenade lounge.  My 8-year-old decided to go with us, so all 6 o us went. We got there a few minutes early and Toddler Time was still going on.  Toddler time was basically some toys on the stage that the younger kids could play with while their families were by their side.

The end of Toddler Time in the Promenade Lounge

At 9 a.m., Wake Up with Disney JR started.  A Disney cast member played some Disney songs and got the kids up and dancing.  My 5-year-old is usually really into dancing, but for some reason he was a little grouchy this morning and decided to sit it out.  My oldest was a good sport and participated.  My daughter was a little shy and would only dance if I was carrying her or holding her hand.

Dancing at Wake Up with Disney JR

After a while, Daisy Duck came out to dance. (I heard the character varies--sometimes it's Pluto or Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates).

Daisy Duck dancing at Wake Up with Disney Jr.

Wake Up with Disney Jr. and the Princess Gathering happened on both sea day mornings at the same time.  Here is a tip if you want to do both:  The line for the Princess Gathering becomes very long and winds up right next to the promenade lounge where Wake Up with Disney Jr. happens.  You can have one person from your party wait in that line while you take your child(ren) to Wake Up with Disney Jr., and then go join your party in the princess line.  I saw some people do that and thought it was a smart way to entertain your kids during the wait for the princesses.  People started lining up for the Princess Gathering about 45 minutes before it started, but if you wanted to have a placeholder in line you could certainly line up closer to 9 a.m.

After that, I dropped the boys off at the Oceaneer Club and Alyssa off at the nursery.  The 3 adults were going on the adults-only "Art of the Theme Show Tour", which was a ship tour that highlighted various artwork around the ship and some interesting facts about the ship's construction.

Venetian masks in Palo

The atrium chandelier looking up--a hidden Mickey!

I recommend this tour for the adults in your group!  They offered it twice on each sea day.

After the tour, we had a little bit before it was time to pick up Alyssa from the nursery.  So we went to the adults-only section and had a drink by the pool.  We also checked out the fitness center and spa, which is at the front of the ship.  Pretty cool view on the treadmill!

I wanted to book a spa appointment for our next sea day, but the line was pretty long.  We left to pick up the kids and headed for a sit-down lunch at Lumiere's.

Nana and Alyssa outside of Lumiere's

When we picked up our boys from the club, we noticed that they had green paint on their faces, carried little toy soldiers, and had Mickey batons.  We asked them about it, and they said that while in the club they did the Toy Story Boot Camp and the Mouseketeer in Training organized activities. The Toy Story Boot Camp is run by the green army men from Toy Story.  The Mouseketeer in Training is an activity that I actually did later in the cruise with Alyssa during an open house, where the kids train to be Mouseketeers and they get to march around with Mickey Mouse.  I was glad to see they did some of the organized activities, because when they were on the Dream they were always in the club during those activities but never participated because they were off in another room.  I had the impression it was easier to round up the kids at the club on the Magic due to the layout.

On our last cruise, we did one sit-down lunch and it was one of my favorite meals. This was, too.  I ordered the strawberry soup as an appetizer.  Yum.

Strawberry soup

We got a table right by the porthole window. Our napkins were folded like tuxedos, so Nathan asked our server how it was done.  He got a lesson in napkin-folding.

Napkin folding

The kids ate mozzarella sticks.  Nana and I had hamburgers. I don't remember what Brian ate.

After lunch, which ended around 1:30 p.m., I decided that Alyssa really needed a nap.  So I took her back to the room.  She would only nap if she slept ON me. I dozed off a little, too.  It was during this time that I realized I missed having a window porthole in our room.  It's nice to at least look outside and see the ocean passing by.

While we were napping, I think Nana went shopping.  Brian took the boys to the Mickey pool.  It wasn't too crowded, surprisingly.

On both of the sea days, the evening musical show was offered as a matinee at 2 p.m.  We gave the boys a choice of seeing the show or going to the pool, and they chose the pool.

They came back sometime after 3 p.m. At 4:00, the Oceaneer Lab was having an open house and would be doing a Ratatouille Cooking School class, making chocolate chip cookies.  Since I hadn't seen the Oceaneer Lab yet, I decided this would be a good activity.  We walked in right at 4:00 and it was super crowded!  They had to set up extra tables to accommodate everyone.  And they ran out of bowls.  The kids got to color their own chef hats.

Alyssa grew weary, so Nana took her in a different part of the Lab to play.  Joshua continued to start making cookies, but it was so crowded and loud that he quickly tuckered out.  I convinced him that instead of staying for the duration of the cookie-making, we should go back to our room and order chocolate chip cookies from room service.

On our way back, we stopped in some portholes.

And then we noticed Daisy Duck in the atrium without much of a line.  Alyssa was so tickled to meet Daisy Duck, you can see her reaction in our music video.

And here are the giant chocolate chip cookies from room service.

A note about room service:  Most things are free, except for canned soda and candy bars. They do expect tips upon arrival, which you can do by charging to your room or giving cash.  There are some things you can order that are not on the menu, like the Mickey head ice cream bars and Uncrustables peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. On both of our cruises, though, I thought room service was really pretty slow.  It usually took 45 minutes for stuff to arrive.  And when you have hungry kids, 45 minutes is  LONG, LONG time.

Up next:  Palo dinner