Earlier in the week I was looking through my papers, however, and I noticed that I scheduled our flight home on the wrong day. Paul and I both through we were returning on Saturday but we returned on Friday! So we took our shuttle to the airport to see if they could change our flight. Alas, it would be $500 per person to get on a different flight on a different day and so we spent another day in Miami! We toyed with renting a car and looking around but we were all so tired that we found an airport Hilton with a great pool and a shuttle and we just sat by the pool all day Friday and Saturday until our flight left Saturday evening. We ordered pizza, watched Peabody and Sherman and took naps. It's not so bad to be stranded by a huge pool with palm trees and 85 degree weather! It allowed us to all catch up on lack of regular sleep on the cruise and prepare ourselves for Seattle again.
Overall I would say it was a fantastic experience. It was perfect for families and as usual, Disney thinks of everything. The kids club was a godsend. We didn't use it nearly as much as many other families but the thought that on vacation we could get a break from each other was worth its weight in gold. We could do great things together, seperate for a few hours and come back together again. And there was no babysitting fee, no guilt, just fun for them and time for us. That part alone was what really made it great.
The boat was clean and well cared for. Our room was cleaned well every day and the ship was immaculate. The pools were very small and it was rare to find a chair near a pool. It is kind of a pain to walk back to your room all the time, but not that bad. It was really nice to have the movies and the shows and all of the millions of activities going on all the time for anything you could possibly want to do. The shows were really well done and we all enjoyed them. As most people say about cruises there was really too much food. Three solid meals and then anytime you want you can go to any spot and get fruit, salad, pizza, chicken fingers, wraps, fries, wings, soda, tea, really anything without paying more. Noah kept asking -- is this free? and we laughed and said, no but it has already been paid for!
It also seemed to be great for all ages. There were special clubs and even whole decks geared toward tweens and teens and 18-21 and singles. There was no casino but there was $10,000 bingo and history walking tours and all sorts of interesting things going on.
As we finished up on the cruise we were sure we would do another but as I sit back and think about it I'm not 100% convinced. Of course, we live far from Florida now and so it's not an easy trip to the Carribbean anymore. Seattle is a port and many cruise ships sail from there to Hawaii, Alaska and the California coast. The process of getting on and off the boat at each port is kind of a pain and takes quite a bit of time. The ports were confusing and crowded with people begging you to go on their cruises or tour or taxi. It was all fairly disconcerting, even for someone who has traveled a lot. I thought maybe a Sandals resort with kids club would offer the same relaxation with kids club for about the same price. You wouldn't see all of the different islands but we didn't really see them anyway. You wouldn't have Mickey and Co but we aren't wild Mickey people anyway. So it remains to be seen. The kids are already begging to go back but they love every place we go. It was a great week and I am grateful and happy and that is enough.
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