The Taylor Family: January 2012

Sunday, January 29

Out with the Old in with New

It's been just over a year now since we have used our dishwasher as a dishwasher. Though it still cycles through the whole washing process it actually makes the dishes dirtier than they were when they went in the machine. We have always had to clean all the food off of the dishes before putting them in to run but more and more we found we were practically washing the dishes just to fill up the dishwasher and run

it. As time progressed we noticed they all came out with white spots and we then we would have to wash them again by hand to get them clean. Finally we decided to stop running the dishwasher altogether and started using it as a glorified drying rack. This went on for a year or so until I finally was really fed up of washing the dishes 2 or 3 times a day just so we had silverware and plates for each meal. Before we went on the cruise we talked about it and decided when we returned we would look into buying a new one. Peter and I both did some research on different brands and read a million reviews and then we went shopping. At Home Depot no one could help us more than to point in the general direction of where the dishwashers were and at Sear's I don't think they could even manage that. We found ourselves at John's Appliance City which is a local dealer and we had friends who recommended the place. The salesman was a nice guy but as always he underestimated

our finances and tried to sell us the cheapest model he had. Problem was, we already had a cheap dishwasher, now we wanted a good dishwasher. We looked at everything they had and went home to do some more research. I really didn't want to wait any longer or wash one more dish (and the sink was full) by hand so we headed back out and picked up the one we thought was best. When we got home our neighbor helped us unload it and then Peter uninstalled our old one and drug it out to the curb (where someone promptly picked it up) and worked to install our new one in it's new home. After everything seemed to be in place I loaded it up and set it to run. Only time will tell how well we like it but for now just not having to wash everything and scrub the dishes down is a blessing to me.

Thursday, January 26

Day 5 - Disembark

This morning was a bit hectic as we had to be out of our rooms by 8am and off the ship by 9am. It helped that we were all packed the night before and didn't

have to worry about that luggage though. I made sure we grabbed every last thing in our room and didn't leave anything behind and then we headed up for a light breakfast. We ate our last meal at Cabana's and I think Christina pointed out that we started in the same place as we were ending, almost the same table too. We could look out at the port and see Oscar waiting for us in the parking garage just like we could when had lunch the first day. I think this time though we were all a lot more tired and ready to see our own beds again. After we ate we headed down to the atrium and took a couple more photos before we

stepped off the ship for the last time. We found our luggage and went through customs with no problems and very little wait and then we found Oscar right where we had left him. We drove Christina and Noah home and then headed to our own home. Mom was there with Javan and I so happy to see him. I really missed him a lot. I think because I had my girls with me I missed him even more than I would have if it were just Peter and I there. The days on the ship seemed

really long so it felt like we had been gone for over a week but I know to Javan it only felt like a couple days. Our house was still just as clean as we had left it and I was very grateful that I am so anal about scrubbing everything top to bottom before we go anywhere. I unpacked everything quickly and washed our dirty laundry and then ran to the store for a couple staples before I can do a real grocery shopping.

I don't have to work tomorrow but I think I am going to so I don't have to use any more of my PTO hours. We have another trip planned in April and it is going to be a pretty long one so I need all the hours I can get.

Wednesday, January 25

Day 4- At Sea

This morning we slept in a bit later than we had planned but after we were dressed in our suits we went up to get breakfast at Cabana's. Even though we went to Cabana's everyday for breakfast and/or lunch the buffet always had different

food so we didn't have to eat the same thing everyday. We followed up breakfast with some fun in the pools. Bresa enjoyed going down the slide a hundred times and Abbi went with Daddy through the Aquaduck since he hadn't been yet. After some splashing around in the pool Christina and Noah went to the Anyone can Cook event while us

Taylor's finished up our detective game and then did the next one (missing puppies) too. By the time we had finished the whole thing up it was about lunch time so we went to our room to drop some things off. Today we decided to try

something different and go to Flo's Cafe which serves pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, paninis, and wraps. We sat down to eat and Christina and Noah joined us shortly after. After lunch we headed up to level 14 where the Observation Deck was. We hung out in there for while but there wasn't too much going on so we decided to do some shopping on the ship.

Peter isn't really into shopping so he went to get his book and read on one of the deck chairs that overlooked the ocean. The rest of us went down to the shops and the girls looked at every single thing before deciding on how to spend their gift cards that Aunt Janell and Uncle Wyatt had gotten them for their birthdays last year. Finally Abbi decided on a Tinker Bell doll and a Pirates of the Caribbean key and Bresa chose a Jasmine doll and a Tinker Bell coloring book. I picked up a couple Castaway 2012 trading pins for

the girls collections and as we waited for Christina and Noah we saw several princesses walk by and each one of them waved and said hello to the girls. On our way to the room to drop off our goods we left the girls at the Oceaneer's Lab so they could have some fun. When we got to the rooms Peter had just returned from his reading trip.

We really didn't have any plans until after dinner so we just stayed in our rooms and relaxed some. Peter turned on Captain America on the television and we watched it until it was time to get the girls and head to dinner. Tonight we dined at Animator's Palate. Of all the restaurants that we ate at this was my least favorite as far as the food went, that's not

to say it wasn't good, but the room itself was really cool. They had large LCD screens that looked like regular photos but after we got seated we soon learned that this was an interactive restaurant. Crush from Finding Nemo came out and talked to us a bunch of times and sometimes so did Nemo, Marlin, Dori, and Bruce. At one point Crush singled out Noah and made him stand up and talk "whale" to Christina which was extremely funny. Noah did a great job and we all had a good laugh.

After dinner we went to the atrium for Officer Pin Trading time. I had brought the girls lanyards with some pins that they could swap with others if we had the opportunity. There were about 8 officers there trading pins and the girls got a couple cool ones by trading. I had already bought the girls two pins from the trip, one that has the cruise ship on it with

"2012" and the one I bought them today that said "Castaway Cay 2012". Those are keepers of course so I didn't even put them on their lanyards, they are for their bulletin boards back home.

We left the atrium and went right over to the Walt Disney Theatre where we were going to watch "Disney Believe". We got there early and waited for the doors to open. The other night when we went to "Villain's Tonight" we got really bad seats and couldn't see everything on the stage so we wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. This time we got great seats right in the center about 8 rows back. The show had a rocky start I thought but it quickly redeemed

itself and proved to be very entertaining and fun. I definitely like the Villain's show better but I would recommend Believe as well. After the show we had to rush up to our rooms because we had to pack everything up. We had to leave all our bags (except our day bag) outside of our rooms by 10:30pm so they could collect them and get them down to the customs area where we would pick them up tomorrow on our way out. It was a bit stressful having to pack everything up the night before we had to go and try and figure out if I would be able to carry everything we were wearing that moment, would wear this evening, and all our toiletries that we needed for the morning but I managed. After it was all done so was I. We had told our Room Host that tonight the girls would be sleeping in Christina and Noah's room so he had made up the bunk beds in their room instead of ours. Christina and Noah wanted to see another show that was on tonight but it wasn't one that Peter and I were interested in. They took the girls to the Oceaneer's Club to play while they went to their show so Peter and I could have the evening alone. After their show they picked up the girls and took them back to their room to sleep. It was nice to have some alone time with Peter. I was so exhausted so we just hung out and relaxed in our room. It was really nice.

Tuesday, January 24

Day 3- Castaway Cay

This morning we all awoke to reverse engines backing into Castaway Cay.

We didn't realize it was morning already until we figured out the light coming from the other side of the room was the sun and not a light that the girls had turned on. After we got dressed in our swimsuits we met up with Christina and Noah who had gotten up before us and went to breakfast.

When we got to breakfast we were surprised when we saw Carlos who showed the girls a cool straw trick. After we were all filled up we headed off the ship to explore Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Just from our balcony the island was already impressive but when we got off and

started walking around it was even more so. The first thing we came upon was the kids Oceaneer's Club and they were excited to go play without parents so we dropped them off and found a wonderful shady spot with hammocks overlooking the ocean.

The area was not one that many others had discovered so it was very quiet and calm. There was a wonderful breeze coming through and when we laid on the hammocks we did not want to get up. Eventually though Christina and I really wanted to see more and since the boys wanted some relaxing time we left them behind to explore on our own. Christina and I explored the rest of Castaway all

the way to the adult's only beach which was pretty quiet too. As we went from place to place we walked through each of the shops to try and find some good deals and some gifts. When we decided to head back we called the guys to tell them to meet us for lunch at Cookie's BBQ. After a great meal and we decided to rent a 4 passenger paddle boat.

Only two people paddle at a time so Peter and I took the first shift. We rode out quite a ways which wasn't too bad but when it was time to go back in so we could switch with Christina and Noah it was a lot more work. While we were paddling Noah took lots of photos of the ship as we had a great view of it from the ocean. Christina and Noah

took their turns paddling and Peter and I enjoyed the ride and the breeze as we let our feet soak in the cool water while we moved along. We turned in the boat and then went to get the children. I wanted to get some good pictures of us all together as well as some of them just being kids and playing around on the shore

with the ship behind them. I did a little shopping after I finally decided what to buy and then we went off to find some hidden treasure that Mickey told us he put out for the girls. We followed the directions he had given us

and then behind a sign the girls found a message

in a bottle that was written just for them. We were all surprised that there was a personalized message with Mickey's signature on it. Bresa thought that he placed one for all the kids on the ship but when she looked behind other signs she didn't find anything. We started to head back to board but on the way we stopped and took a bunch of photos.

When we got back in the ship we cleaned the girls up dressed them in the dresses we bought them in the Bahamas and then dropped them off at the Oceaneer's Lab so they could play and eat dinner there. Us adults still had our suits on so we went to the Adult's only pool and

hung out in the hot tub until we were too warm and then we got a bit refreshed in the pool. It was about an hour or so until our dinner so we went to our rooms to clean up and get dressed up for our dinner tonight. Tonight we were treating ourselves to the Palo dinner which is an adult exclusive dinner that had a small additional charge per person. There was a dress code so we had to dress a little nicer than we had been but it was good to get all cleaned up to go out. I was a bit skeptical about the meal. The food so far had been so good and it was hard for me to imagine how it could be better. Since we were paying for this meal I wanted it to be really really great and... I wasn't let down. The atmosphere was amazing and very elegant. Our waiter was great and really took care of us. We started off with

different types of bread and then our waiter prepared an anitpasta with an assortment of meats, cheeses, and vegetables. As an appetizer I had grilled shrimp and Peter had a huge portibello mushroom over some cheese that was absolutely delicious. For dinner I

had scallops and Peter had two (yes he asked for seconds and the waiter said, "of course") plates of beef tenderloin. Dessert was a very delicious chocolate souffle that was the best thing we have had on the ship so far. We were all absolutely stuffed and very happy

with our meal. We took a couple pictures and then left to change and pick up the girls. Tonight there was a Pirates Party and though we had missed most of it we still had time to watch the fireworks that were to happen at 10:30. Carlos had told us the good spot to stand to see the fireworks so we found a good and empty spot and watched the show. Apparently, Disney has the only Cruise Line in the world that is allowed to shoot fireworks at sea. The girls enjoyed the show as did us adults. Once they were through we went back down to our room to get ready for bed. Peter started the movie Puss and Boots on our tv and I ordered some cookies

via room service for dessert for the kids. Abbi really wanted to do the room service thing so I had to find a good reason and dessert sounded better than missing out on one of the restaurants.

Monday, January 23

Day 2- Nassau, Bahamas

I woke up a few times during the night but the sleep that I did get was very good sleep and I felt ready for the day this morning. The girls had been up for a while so they were excited when I started moving around. When we went out on our balcony we could see just little bit of land

so we knew we would be at Nassau before too long. We all got up and dressed in our swimsuits and then headed out to get some breakfast. It was about 8 when we got to Cabana's and there weren't too many other people there yet. We filled up our plates and then our tummies and then headed to the pools. The kids went straight to Donald's Pool but when they realized they couldn't touch the ground at all they opted for the Mickey Pool instead. When Christina and I got situated we decided to try the Aquaduck with the girls. They were excited to give it a go so we headed up the stairs for our ride. There wasn't much

of a line when we went up because most people were still at breakfast. Abbi and I rode together first and Christina and Bresa followed. The Aquaduck was really cool and you could see the whole top deck as you rode through the clear tubes. We even got to see and wave at Daddy and Noah on our way to the end. Once wasn't enough though so we headed up again but switched riding partners this time. The girls jumped back into the pool when we finished and Christina and I headed to one of the hot tubs. The hot tub was really awesome as it was straight against the very side of the ship so you are sitting there overlooking the edge the ship. The floor of the hot tub has a large portion that is clear glass so you can see straight below you to the

life rafts that are hanging off the side of the ship. It kind of freaked me out when I first realized it but it was still really cool. Once we were warmed up we headed back to the guys. The girls were still playing in the pool and I told them to go try the big water slide with Mickey's hand holding it up. Christina and Noah went off to go on the Aquaduck and Peter and I watched from below. When we had had enough pool time we went down to

our rooms to clean ourselves up and get dressed to go to Nassau. We ate lunch again at Cabana's and then headed to land. Peter and I knew we wouldn't want to stay too long because I remembered what it was like from when I came with Christina when we were about 7. Peter and the girls had never been so I figured it would be fun for them to experience it. The first thing we did when we got off the ship and took some pictures was get a single braid in each of the girl's hair.

Of course we had to haggle with them but when we decided on a fair price the braids were done in no time. We walked up the block and around the corner stopping in a store every now and then. I found a couple of really cute dresses for the girls so I let them pick out the colors they wanted and we purchased them. I was trying to find something for Javan and my mom but didn't have much luck. After another store or two Christina and Noah left us to go take a look at the Atlantis Hotel. Peter and I weren't too interested in it so we stayed behind and went around the block. We came across some cool markets which is what I really wanted to see. I remember going through them when I was younger and I wanted the girls to see how it was. We saw some cool wood figures and lots of straw hats and purses but nothing that we really

wanted. As we were headed back to the ship we saw one more of the market shops and stopped to talk to the lady running it. She was very nice and gave each of the girls a little turtle as we were walking away. When I turned back I saw an album that was the same style as the album I bought in Italy to put all our pictures of the trip in. I picked it up and decided it would be perfect for our Cruise pictures so we bought it and then returned to the ship.

When we got back on the ship we decided to work on the detective game that we had started earlier in the day. It is a game where you go around to different levels and areas of the ship and find paintings that are interactive. You hold up a card and the painting changes, then you have to do something to reveal either a

clue or a stolen painting. The point is to eliminate suspects to solve the mystery of who stole all the paintings around the ship. The girls are really into it and could probably play the game straight through but there are about 10

different paintings you have to find and they are spread all over the ship over 13 levels. After we found a few of the paintings we decided to get back to our room to put some things down before dinner. Christina and Noah had just returned when we got to our rooms so we all headed to dinner together. Tonight we were eating at Royal Palace which has a french menu. Once again we loaded our tummies up with wonderful food.

I had iced shrimp and lobster for an appetizer and Peter had piping hot french onion soup followed by lamb. The girls ate all their dinner and got to have a Banana split dessert with mickey mouse shaped sprinkles. Carlos was our server again (they follow their guests through the whole cruise) and he impressed us with more magic tricks this time with foam balls. When we went back to our rooms we found some cool towel animals waiting for us. Christina and Noah had a stingray and we got a horseshoe crab (we think). The girls took a

little nap as the rest of us went over tomorrows itenirary. We woke the girls up so that we could make the show for the evening which was "Villian's Tonight". The show was great and the girls really enjoyed it too. There was a lot of singing and effects. Once we cleared out of there we took the girls to the Oceaneer's Club while us adults went to get some night photo shots. After Noah had gotten a few good pictures Christina and Noah retired for the evening but Peter and I went to the hot tub and talked to a couple other guests for

a while. When we got tired we went to get the girls so we could get ready for bed for the night.

Sunday, January 22

Day one- Bon Voyage

This morning we woke up at Christina and Noah's house to the sound of two excited little girls. We got up and got dressed and then had some eggs, bacon, and blueberry creamcheese rolls. After some quick

cleaning up and packing we were ready for the real adventure to begin. We loaded up the van and headed to Port Canaveral to see our ship. When we crossed over the Banana River the girls got so excited when they could see the Disney Dream Cruise Ship in port. They started giggling and talking really quickly. At this point I got pretty excited too. All week the girls asked me if I was excited but because I had all the things that needed to get done before we left on my mind it was hard for me to get excited about leaving.

Now, however, all those things were done and it was almost time to get this vacation started. We pulled into the parking area and left our bags with a porter before parking our car. We walked over

through the walkway, staring at the ship the whole time and telling the girls all the millions of things we could do on it. We had already checked in online so we just waited for a minute or two and had our photos taken to get our room keys then we went over to get the girls their wristbands so they could go into the kids clubs

without us. I had registered them online too so it only took a minute for that also. Once that was complete we were free to board the ship. As we crossed over the water and took our first steps on the ship they announced "Disney Dream welcomes the Rusnock and Taylor Families." That was pretty cool. The first thing we wanted to do was find our rooms and drop some stuff off. Our luggage, of course, was not there yet but we had our day bags with us so we were good. We found our rooms which were adjoined like a hotel suite so we opened the connecting doors and then checked out our verandah. We were right next to the very rear balcony on the ship so the view was pretty cool when you looked forward. The girls were very excited about the room and the balcony but also wanted to see the rest of the ship, as did us adults. We hadn't eaten since breakfast so we really wanted to get some food. The Cabana restaurant is a buffet that is open pretty much all the time so we headed there. The girls were very excited that they could eat whatever they wanted and come back for more if

they wanted to. We ate some of everything and then ate some more. When we were all filled up we decided to check out the kids area where we could go drop

them off and enjoy some adult time. There were a bunch of rooms and we really had to encourage the

girls to move from one room to the next because they enjoyed each room so much. Andy's Room was really cool and the girls really enjoyed Pixie Hollow. We stayed in Oceaneer's Club and Lab until it was time to head up for our drill.
That part was pretty boring but that's to be expected. We stood for a long time but eventually it was over and we headed up to the top deck to check out the pools and be outside when the ship left port. The pools are all really cool but we didn't have our suits on so we continued to explore. We found the basketball courts and a little putt putt golf area where the girls played a round or two. We were on the aft of the ship and thought that would be a good spot to watch us leave but Christina and I decided to explore a little

more and found that the forward was very vacant and had a much better view. We ran back to gather everyone else and then ran back with just a few minutes to spare before we set sail. We stayed up top until we past the last strip of land and then headed back to our rooms before dinner. Tonight we dined at the Enchanted Garden where the food was delicious and equally beautiful. None of us were really that hungry because we had eaten lunch just a few hours earlier. Abbi ate her dinner in no time and her dessert too but the rest of us took a bit longer. We each had an appetizer, salad or soup, and a main course. I had Prime Rib and the meat was so tender it just about melted my mouth. I also tried some of Noah's scallops and some of Christina's lobster ravioli. Everything was absolutely delicious and after dinner we had some really good dessert. I had chocolate mousse and Peter had strawberry cheesecake. Our waiter, Carlos, was great with the kids and did a cool rubberband trick that none of us could figure out. When we left the restaurant we dropped the kids off at the Oceaneers Club so they could have some fun and we headed back to our rooms again.

We all unpacked and cleaned up again and had originally planned to do some more exploring but we were all pretty tired and figured if we got some good sleep tonight we would be up and energized earlier in the morning. Our Room Host had already come by and left us a cool towel animal and some chocolates as well as set up the girls bunkbeds. They were really neat, the bottom one was the couch and the top one actually came out of the ceiling. It swung out from the ceiling and then the bed swung out again to be parallel to the floor and where it

came out of on the ceiling it was painted dark blue and had stars there with consulations of the characters from Peter Pan. Christina and I went to pick up the girls and Peter went up to the pool deck to get a drink. While he was there he found a guitarist and so he stayed and talked to him a while. During the evening I felt a little dizzy at times from the ship moving but I never felt nauseous or too bad to walk or stand. Tomorrow we are going to Nassau so the ship will be docked all day once we arrive. I think I will be relieved to have firm ground again.