2016 Disney Very Merrytime Cruise

We made a fairly last minute decision this year to jump on the Disney Wonder again for a 7 day cruise out of Galveston. Its just so easy to drive 45 min to start an amazing vacation and after closely tracking prices we were able to snag what we thought was a very good deal. The past 2 cruises we took left from Galveston and headed to Key West, Bahamas and Castaway Key. While those trips were amazing we wanted to take this opportunity to try something different so we picked the Western Caribbean route which included stops in Falmouth Jamacia, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Since we were pulling the kids out of school, we didn't want the excitement to get to them so we kept it a secret  and did not tell them until the day we left. It was a hard secret to keep but totally worth the reaction! We picked both kids up from school early and had Mickey and Minnie call them on the bluetooth in the car. It was so much fun!

All of our previous cruises were on the Disney Wonder but we knew it had recently spent some months in dry dock getting renovated so we were so excited to see all the changes. I love the cruises this time of year because they are what Disney calls the Very MerryTime Cruises so there is a Christmas theme throughout the entire trip. Its a super fun way to get into the Christmas spirit and makes it so much fun for the kids. 

Since we booked our cruise so last minute we were not able to secure a prime dining reservation. Disney has 2 dinner times, prime dining which starts at 5:30 PM and secondary dining which starts at 8:30 PM. With the young kids the late dinner is really hard. Luckily Justin was able to get us switched by bribing the Marte D. The first night we were lucky enough to get to eat in the new restaurant on the boat.. Tiana's place. The restaurant is so cool and is designed just like New Orleans. Tiana sang and walked around and the Alligator Louis even showed up! 

The first day on the boat was a sea day and it was a lot of fun. The kids loved the wake up with Disney junior dance parties. The first day Pluto came and joined the kids for some dancing fun. 

The first day at sea they did the Christmas tree lighting and had a great show with dancers to kick off the holiday season. Santa and Miss Clause came and so did all the classical Disney characters in their holiday attire. Elsa and Ana from Fozen came and made the entire atrium snow! The kids absolutely love interacting with the characters.

The first night is formal night so I took advantage of the opportunity to get lots of cute pictures of the kiddos in Christmas attire. 

After dinner we went as a family to play Family Feud. The kids were not familiar with the game but Riley wanted to play so bad! She did get selected and in the picture below she is being asked her name and where she is from... Riley's answer... "My name is Riley Harrison and I am from Louisiana... they call it the boot!" Justin and I were dying laughing... this kid... 

We were able to get tickets to the Disney Junior Character breakfast. This is a fun breakfast at the Animators Palate restaurant where the characters come by the table and interact with the kids and take pictures. 

Next up another Disney Junior Dance party... this time Pluto came to join in the fun! Carter found his way on stage with Pluto somehow... and Riley was front and center in the Congo line. The kids have so much fun during these dance parties.. the smiles on their faces says it all! 

The kids got a chance to meet Santa and to sign his list. Its quite appropriate  that Carter crossed both the naughty and nice side!

Our first dinner at Animators Palate Fantasia Mickey came and put on a great show for us to enjoy. 

Justin was selected as a contestant in the Disney version of who wants to be a Millionaire which they call who wants to be a Mouseketeer. Justin did great and won the game! 

 The fist stop was Falmouth Jamaica. At this stop we decided to swim with the dolphins and climb Dunn River falls. The kids had an absolute blast on this excursion! We have the video of our climb of Dunn River falls and it is amazing. When I first saw the falls I was a little nervous of the kids ability to climb but they did awesome. They said this was their favorite part of the entire trip. At the Dolphin Cove we were able to see and interact with a bunch of animals. My kids are afraid of nothing and could not wait to touch any and everything they could get their hands on.

Whenever there is a stage, there is Riley

One of our favorite dinner nights is Pirate night. We are able to get dressed in our Pirate gear and enjoy the pirate show they do on the top deck. In typical Disney fashion there is even a firework show on the top deck!

The next stop was Grand Cayman. For this stop we decided to go to a private beach area and spend the day playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean. The water here was so warm and absolutely beautiful. We rented a shaded cabana and just hung out all day on the beach. The kids had so much fun playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean. They did not stop all day! 

The kids ready for the pajama party at the kids club

We were able to get tickets to the princess gathering where the kids were able to meet and take pictures with the princesses on board. Belle is in her holiday attire which confused Riley so much. I think she spent 10 minutes asking her where is your yellow dress? I have never seen this one before! 

Our last stop was Cozumel where we decided to do a beach break excursion. We were taken to a beach side resort that had a pool, splash pad, some fun things to play with in the ocean, and free drinks the entire day! We had so much fun here playing, riding water boats and enjoying the free cocktails! I didn't get many pictures as I was too busy playing in the water but did get a few of the resort. 

One of the improvements they made on the boat was in Animators Palate. This night we each were given a paper to draw our own character. At the end of the dinner they did a large production on all the TV screens throughout the restaurant and animated all our drawings... it was so neat! 

I did not get any pictures in the kids club because we are not allowed to go in during closed programming. They totally redid the kids club and it was amazing. The kids had so much fun going and participating in all types of activities. They now have a superhero academy that Carter loved. During our trip he met Spider man, Black Widow and Captain America. They added a Frozen room and Riley loved all the Frozen activities they had. This was the first trip both kids were old enough to be dropped off and they loved it! 

While the kids were off in the kids club Justin and I were able to enjoy lots of quality time together. We played a ton of trivia, enjoyed animation classes and spent lots of time developing our game plan for 2017

The last day on the ship was an at sea day that was jam packed full of activities. We watched a magic show, went to see Moana, participated in family crafts, and the kids spent a ton of time enjoying activities in the kids club. 

For Riley's birthday our gift to her was a trip to the Bippity Boppity boutique. This is also an addition to the boat since the recent renovations. Basically its a kids salon run by the fairy godmothers in training and they transform you into a princess. I brought her favorite Frozen dress up dress and she had a blast getting a makeover. They painted her nails, put makeup on her and did her hair. She chose the hairstyle that had extensions and her extension color of choice was pink. She had so much fun during this makeover and thought she was a real princess!

The last night we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Tiana's Place which included a Mardi Gras show at the end. After dinner we went to the Walt Disney Theater and saw an amazing Frozen show that we all loved. The final event was the farewell party where the kids got to say goodbye to all the characters. 

This was a very rough sea night and right before this picture Carter hit his head so Daisy is comforting him. 

We always have amazing service on the boat and this trip was no exception. These were our two servers this trip, Ratree and Nebojsa. They did a great job and took excellent care of us and the kids.