7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise from Port Canaveral

By Michael

At the terminal Lisa held onto her stuffed husky, Bob, while we checked in under the Disney Cruise Line balloons and had our photo taken together in front of the ship backdrop. Lisa met Captain Mickey, then Minnie in her sailor dress, then Goofy, before we walked through the Mickey ears entrance and boarded the Disney Magic in Port Canaveral.

By Michael

Once aboard we found the pool deck. Lisa stretched out in a lounge chair in her sunglasses, then leaned on the railing to watch the ship get underway. In the afternoon she wore her red, white and blue swimsuit for the pool, and Kathy and I ended up in the hot tub with her while she kept surfacing from the water in her pink diving mask.

Before dinner Lisa changed and was holding a new stuffed dog. Later that night we found a foosball table out on deck and played a round before heading in.

By Michael

Ashore, Kathy, Lisa and I went to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. We walked the paths past the koi pond and the flamingos, watching butterflies land on the yellow flowers and the leaves, and climbed up for a view out over the harbor with the ship at the dock. We walked back down to the pier for a while and watched the pigeons on the concrete, then went back into the conservatory in the afternoon, where we sat for a photo on the butterfly-wing bench and watched more butterflies at a fruit-feeding plate.

By Michael

Back on the ship the pool was packed with kids splashing in the late afternoon, and Lisa put on her Snow White dress before dinner. We watched Key West slide by from high on the ship as we sailed out past the lighthouse, and when we got back to the cabin that night, the towel animal from housekeeping was waiting on the bed.

By Michael

Our first full day at sea aboard the Disney Magic. Breakfast came from room service, a tray of eggs and fruit brought to the room. We spent the day around the ship, the pool deck with the twisting slide, the gift shop, and the big navigation screen in the atrium showing where we were in the Gulf. Lisa had chicken fingers at lunch out on deck in her Minnie shirt.

By Michael

Tonight was Formal Night. We got dressed up and had a portrait taken in front of a painted backdrop of the ship at night. The atrium was decorated with balloons and flowers for the occasion. Lisa, in her yellow dress, got pictures with Chip and Dale in their tuxedos, with Pluto, and with Donald. A towel animal was waiting on the bed when we got back to the room.

By Michael

The Disney Magic called at Grand Cayman this morning, anchoring off Georgetown as the sun came up over the water. Grand Cayman has no cruise dock, so the ship anchors offshore and tender boats ferry passengers to and from shore. We had breakfast on the balcony, Mickey waffles included, and watched the boats go back and forth.

By Michael

Once ashore we spent the first part of the day at Margaritaville, right on the Georgetown waterfront. Lisa went down the water slide at the Seven Fathoms Rum Bar pool, and Kathy swam with her there in a snorkel mask. Afterward we walked through Georgetown, past the shops and a pirate statue outside one of the stores, and stopped for a snack at an outdoor table.

By Michael

In the afternoon we boarded a boat for the Shipwreck and Reef Snorkel excursion. Lisa rode in the back in her life vest on the way out to the reef. The water was clear enough to see the wreck resting on the bottom, sea turtles swimming around its timbers, a small shark, and schools of striped fish over the coral.

By Michael

That night was Pirate Night. Lisa put on her pirate dress and posed with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, then with Stitch dressed as a pirate of his own. Dinner came with a little treasure chest of candy for dessert, and later Mickey and Minnie turned up in full pirate costume too. The deck party and fireworks that closed out the night ran on past midnight. Her stuffed husky, Bob, was waiting on the pillow with the rest of Lisa's stuffed animals when we finally got back to the room.

By Michael

Not long after we got there Lisa met a couple of the characters on the beach, Minnie in her beach attire and then Pluto, and she still had her stuffed husky, Bob, with her. Kathy and I took her out into the shallow water, and she carried her snorkel mask and fins down to try out.

Lisa spent part of the afternoon writing in the sand and playing at the water's edge. Later on I dug a hole with her, and by late afternoon she and Kathy had buried me in it up to my neck, with just my head still above the sand.

We stayed on the beach into the late afternoon before heading back to the ship.