As we awoke to our human alarm clock, the cruise ship was making it’s final crawl to Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. We were all very excited about this stop because everyone I had talked to, including Emily, said it is one of the most beautiful places around. They all could not have been more correct. As we approached the dock you could see the Flying Dutchman, the ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, parked in the water for all to see. As Hunter and I took in the views of the ship he asked “Is it scary?” To which I responded, “Of course not!” but I couldn’t blame him for thinking it!

After we completed the getting ready regimen we headed to the Parrot Cay restaurant and had another good buffet breakfast. Hunter managed to get some food in his system as well which is always a crap shoot. The Stevensons joined us for the final stretch of our breakfast as we made our plans to enjoy the island.

Our tummies were well fed so we headed back to the room to change into our suits, gather up the beach gear, and head out to the island. Hunter was styling in his Nemo surf suit which gathered quite a few comments from other guests and staff throughout the day. Emily, Hunter, and I decided our first stop would be the bike rentals so we could explore as much of the island as we could. It was also a good getaway from the crowds that were on the ship. It ended up being a great bike ride as the scenery was beautiful and the lookout tower at the end provided for some great views. As we were leaving the lookout tower, I glanced back at Hunter in the child seat of Emily’s bike, and he was playing the head bob game. With all there was to do he of course was off his schedule so he thought what better place to sleep than on the back of the bike. We decided to do a couple laps to see if he could get a little sleep before we hit the beach.

As we were running out of undiscovered trails Hunter sprang to action once again so we headed back, turned in our bikes, and headed to the beach. When we arrived Hunter was ready to get out his new dump truck and shovel and start digging. We headed down to the water and spent a good hour enjoying the sights, sounds and the refreshing water. Hunter tested out some of his new swimming lesson moves as he ventured out into the water with more comfort than he has ever had. While we were playing in the water, none other than Captain Jack Sparrow came staggering down the beach taunting all the little sunbathers as he went. He took a liking to Hunter but the same could not be said in reverse. Hunter crawled up the front of Emily while emphatically repeating, “NO! NO!” I guess he is not that into the whole pirate scene yet. As the other kids got their pictures with the Captain, Hunter got a little braver and enjoyed watching him from a distance.

After we were sure Cpt. Jack had gone back to his ghost ship, we splashed around some more and built up quite a hunger. We thought it would be a great time to break and head over to the barbecue that was set up on the island. The food and scenery (not the fat people, the island) were awesome. After we finished our lunch it was back to the beach for a bit more play.

As the afternoon went on we explored a bit more and ended up at this awesome bar called the Head’s Up Bar and enjoyed a drink with the Stevensons as we took in the breathtaking views. The afternoon could not have been nicer. After we were well hydrated we grabbed our stuff and headed back to the ship.

We got back aboard the ship around 3:00 which was the perfect time for Hunter to take a snooze. This he did and did not move until around 5:45 which happened to be our dinner time. During the nap, I went to get us drinks and when I returned, I noticed there was a letter stuck in the light outside our room. I opened this letter and it was an invitation from the Entertainment Manager on the ship to meet at Studio Sea at 9:45 for a special character meeting before their finale parade. We believed this was the result of Goofy requesting our room number the day before. We were all very excited to see what was in store.

We met up with the Stevensons for our final dinner together at Triton’s restaurant. The food was very good as we reminisced about all of the great things that we did during the course of the previous days. Lily was once again enjoying the Flounder’s Nursery so Jen and Danny could enjoy a semi quiet dinner with the Hayes family (Hunter partially cooperated).

After we finished our meals and desserts it was time to hit the decks for one last photo shoot in our nice clothes. We explored what had become my favorite deck, deck 4, as it allowed you to walk around the entire ship. It was also cool because all of the brightly colored yellow life boats hung above your head as you traveled. We captured some great photos as the sun was setting.

Of course, it would not be a vacation if Emily didn’t get a chance to shop. What is interesting about the ship is that the stores are only open when the ship is at sea. On the three day cruise there was not a great deal of time when we were awake and sailing. Lucky for Emily this final night provided her that opportunity. We got a few Cruise Line merchandise items and headed back to the room. It was getting to be close to 9:45 so we gathered up the cameras and headed to Studio Sea.

As we arrived about 5 minutes early we were not quite sure what to make of it because the room was completely empty. A nice lady greeted us and took our invitation and brought us in. We sat for a few minutes and were joined by another group of about six people. A few minutes later, Mickey Mouse magically appeared in his sailor attire. Hunter and this other little girl were the ONLY children in the room. Hunter was loving every minute of it. He was having a brief dialogue and autograph session with Mickey, telling him, “I like your new shoes, Mickey. I like your new hat!” when Goofy arrived. It wasn’t three minutes later and ALL of the Characters from the around the ship and from the Disney Dreams show poured into Studio Sea. There must have been 20 or so characters in there by the end. Hunter didn’t even know where to look! Hunter was beside himself as all of his friends and heroes from the movies joined him for the awesome semi-private meet-n-greet. It was truly awesome the attention that he was given but all the Characters. We have to thank Goofy for making all of this happen for us. There were a few adults, but Hunter and the other little girl were the ONLY kids in there the entire time! How awesome!

After this awesome experience we made our way back to the room with huge smiles. You could feel the boat begin to sway more than it had during the previous days so we thought it best to head back to the room. We got back to the room, put our pajamas on talked about our awesome day. As we looked out our window you could see lightning far in the distance. I took this opportunity to grab the camera and see if I could get some cool lightning shots.

The night would not have been complete without one more cheese plate. Oh… and throw in two more desserts while you are at it. We enjoyed the room service and conversation as we wrapped up our fun filled vacation. What a great day it was!

As with most of our vacations with Hunter, we found ourselves awakened by our personal rooster before the sun had a chance to rear its head. But this time around, Emily and I had already resigned ourselves to the schedule that is Hunter-driven! We all got showered and dressed, then made our way to the Beach Blanket Buffet, grabbed some breakfast, and headed out to the back deck to watch the ship approach Nassau. The food was OK, but my lack of taste buds I believe was a side effect of the motion sickness patch that I had on for the past 30 hours. The scenery could not be beat, however, as we took in the comfortable ocean breeze.

Emily and I had agreed prior to the trip that we would take this day to explore the ship and take Hunter swimming on the boat. There were some excursions on the island but, being that I don’t have any hair to braid, we thought it would be much more enjoyable to relax on the amazing ship. 

We got our suits on and headed down to the Mickey pool area where there was a small pool for children as well as a little splash area for the really young ones. Hunter loved every minute of the experience. He had fun showing off his new “swimming” skills from the class Emily took him to the last two weeks at the YMCA. The water was 83 degrees and felt like you could have cooked pasta in it. Not as refreshing as I had hoped, but the fact that Hunter loved it made it OK. After finding out we maybe were not supposed to be in the one pool (no swim diapers, even in the kiddie pool? WTF?), we went back to the splash zone, where the nursery staff had a bunch of water toys out for the kids to play with. There definitely were plenty of activities for all age groups well thought out by the staff.

After swimming we grabbed some mediocre pizza from Pinocchio’s Pizzeria. We ate a few slices and saved room for snacks later in the afternoon. We timed our events so Hunter could meet Goofy poolside. We patiently waited with our cameras and autograph books for Goofy to arrive. When he hit the scene in his beach attire Hunter’s face just lit up. We waited our turn and Hunter approached Goofy and began his meet-n-greet routine of hug, kiss the nose, autograph, hug and good bye with a few extras for his favorite. Goofy seemed to really be enjoying Hunter as he motioned to the Character Attendant as if to tell her to write something down. The Attendant came over to us and asked our room number. We weren’t exactly sure what was happening but Goofy seemed pretty harmless so we obliged.

After our full afternoon of activities we headed back to the room so Hunter could lie down and take a nap. He slept like a rock and Emily and I relaxed as well and read our books. After a solid two hour nap we got Hunter up and ready for the 3:15 showing of Disney/Pixar’s Up which we had not seen previously. This was Hunter’s first movie in a movie theater, so we were excited (especially since it was free and we could leave if there was a meltdown). The movie was good and Hunter was great through all but about 5 minutes of the movie when he decided he was done sitting still. We’re still Toy Story loyalists, though, if we’re being honest about how this movie compares.

After the movie finished it was almost time for our Palo dinner reservation with the Stevensons. Because Palo is a no-kids, fine-dining establishment, we had set up time at Flounder’s Nursery for both Lily and Hunter to play in this really cool toy room. After we dropped them off they seemed to be very excited to explore all of they new toy options.

We got dressed up and arrived at Palo at around 6:00 p.m. As we were escorted to our table we walked past a pretty elaborate camera crew set up to tape the Extreme Makeover Home Edition family having their dinner. Although their vacation looks relaxing on film I believe the actual vacations for these families are anything but relaxing.

We enjoyed the delicious food and amazing service at Palo as we also enjoyed the quiet of no kids. Our server’s name was Oliver from Australia who really made the experience what it was. He barely batted an eye when Emily and Jen peppered him with questions about just how many things they could get away with ordering.

Periodically throughout the evening, we speculated which of us would receive the dreaded nursery staff page, as we knew the odds were stacked against us. Hunter has only been in the care of a non relative maybe two other times in his life! Sure enough, as we were awaiting our entrees, I heard a foreign noise coming from what could only have been my pocket. What was the sound you might ask? It was the ever so convenient pager that we were supplied with in the event that Hunter did not enjoy his experience at the Nursery. Since we were already expecting it, we were actually kind of relieved when he lasted longer than we both thought he might! The message cracked both of us up as it read “Hunter Hayes is very upset but we are working on making him happy. Thank you”. Maybe it was funnier after a couple beers, but we all chuckled. My sensitive wife Emily’s first reaction was not one of concern, as you might expect, but, “Ooh, hold still, we have to take a picture of that pager!” Five minutes after the first page we were met with a second informing us to come and pick him up, which we did.

Thanks to Oliver, he had the three desserts that we ordered sent back to the room, so Hunter, Emily and I went back to devour the delicious treats that awaited us. After we couldn’t eat anymore it was time for the Toy Story the Musical show at the Walt Disney Theater. We watched the show and Hunter again impressed us with his ability to sit still and take in the show. After it was over you could tell Hunter would have been willing to sleep in a garbage truck he was so tired (actually with his love of garbage trucks he might prefer it to his bed!) We headed back to the room, got our pajamas on and put Hunter to bed. Emily and her love of cheese plates after 10 p.m. decided we could not go to bed without eating more food, which we did. (Emily here… I cannot turn down “free” room service! Genius!) The cheese plate was good and was a perfect ending to a really fun day. As we were enjoying our food the ship was making its way to the private Disney island, Castaway Cay. More adventures would surely await us on Day Three!

Today, we excitedly departed our house in Orlando and made the 40 minute drive to Cape Canaveral to board Hunter’s and my first cruise. As we made our way to the Cape we commented on how lucky we were to live so close to the port to take advantage of vacation deals when they arise.

Hunter had been prepped over the previous two weeks and was well aware that we were headed to “Mickey’s Cruise Ship Boat.” I was prepared with the motion sickness patch firmly implanted behind my ear because I am such a wuss. Emily, as always, had the entire house prepared, as our bags were packed and ready to go about 15 minutes after we completed our payment two weeks prior. We were all excited because Emily, having traveled on two previous Disney cruises, informed us that we were both in for a real treat.

We completed the 40 minute drive and upon approaching the Cape we could see the giant Disney Cruise Line smoke stacks across the water. We pulled up, dropped our bags, parked the car and headed to check in. The entire check in process could not have gone smoother. Hunter got to meet Captain Mickey pre-boarding and life was good.

We boarded the ship just before noon and decided we should grab a bite to eat before we explored the ship. After all, isn’t that the reason people come on these things? We headed over to Parrot Cay which was just steps from the entrance and didn’t appear to be too busy. We sat down and stuffed our faces with buffet food and realized that we had indeed arrived!

After we ate lunch we began our expedition around the ship. As we walked back past the entrance, we saw a film crew that was taping a Extreme Makeover Home Edition family as they boarded the ship. The had to do a second take because they didn’t look excited enough. Gotta love television. We were informed prior to leaving lunch that our stateroom was ready so we made our way up to the room to put our day bag away. Our room was absolutely amazing! We had a navigator veranda which was perfect for Hunter because he could explore the balcony with no real worry of jumping in after a fish. There was a table with a chair and one whole side bench with all these little cool navigational instruments to look at. Supposedly these are the less desirable balconies but we were easily amused! We were also greeted with a giant cheese and fruit plate from Emily’s Mom and Dad, who clearly know their daughter and her love of a good cheese plate. Hunter must be taking after his mommy because he commandeered the entire platter and started calling it “MY FOOD” after eating three scarce bites of his buffet lunch. Hooray for Grandma and PopPop to the rescue!

Jen, Danny and Lily, our friends from Orlando were also on the ship with us so we met up with them and ventured into the ship. I was absolutely amazed at the amount of cool things that existed on the ship. We walked past a full size movie theater as well as a full size Broadway theater. We walked by Flounders Reef which was a nursery for children under 3 to hang out while mom and dad get a break. There was so much more on board but is was just amazing how well thought out this vessel was and the sheer volume of things that existed on board.

After our brief exploration we headed back to the room, unpacked our clothes, and got ready for dinner. Our first dinner was at the Animator’s Palate. We were lucky and were paired with the Stevenson family (Jen, Danny and Lily). The restaurant was really cool in that you sit down to a dining room that is in black and white and watch it transform to color throughout your meal. Even the servers’ outfits change to reflect the transition. Emily and Jen decided to start slow and only ordered four appetizers between the two of them. They got a bit of a strange look from the waiter but since they were pros at this cruising thing I went with it. The food was good, not great but not bad.

After dinner Emily, Hunter and I made our way down the red carpet to the Golden Mickeys show. We all loved it, including Hunter who got a kick out of it. The show wrapped up at about 9:30ish and we made our way back to the room. Hunter was beat and the boat was swaying a bit more than I preferred, even with my patch. We got into our pajamas and said our good nights. It was a great first day on the ship. I was still a bit amazed that waking up we would be just outside of Nassau, Bahamas!