Day seven started later than any of our other Disney days… I woke up at 9:30am! I was the first one awake across our 2 staterooms and couldn’t believe it! It was a sea day, so no need to rush. The gentle movement of the ocean lulled us to sleep and kept us there. Combined with the lack of sleep the week prior, we all must have really needed it.
Mikey was the next one to wake up and we sat in out stateroom’s window and watched the water as we sailed chatting away. Our chatter woke up Mike, who was also surprised how late it was.
Tip One: Deluxe Family Ocean view staterooms give you a tad bit more space than a standard oceanview stateroom and the have huge porthole shaped windows that are cushioned for you to relax in and enjoy the view from inside your stateroom.
We woke our connecting room up at 10am and once everyone was washed up we were ready for the day about an hour later. We decided to head up to Cabanas (buffet style menu all day long) for “brunch” (which is appropriate, since it was Sunday Brunch Day ;)) and we split up from there.
Tip Two: Cruising with a large group is no different than touring the parks- better to split up and enjoy your day as you seem fit and then meet again at dinner.
The kids wanted to hit the pools and slides and my Mom wanted to relax with her book by the coffee bar in the adult area (which has always been her spot on all of our Disney cruises together). And this is what we did this afternoon. The girls took spins on the Aquaduck water coaster and Mikey was up and down the Mickey slide too many times to count. They all enjoyed watching a movie on the ship’s funnel vision while in the pool as well. Tricia and I took some time to deliver gift buckets to our Castle Dreams Travel staterooms and we did some fish extender gift giving as well (a fish extender exchange is a gift exchange set up on line for those cruising with you). We lunched at the quick service restaurants by the pool area- Mike and the kids loved Luigi’s pizza and fries, I wasn’t a huge fan of the chicken Caesar salad wrap I had, but I finished it.
Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner at Royal Court. Tonight is formal night and we all needed to shower and get ready before dinner. We also wanted to be able to take pictures at the staircase with our group as well and family pictures with the ship’s captain. Our family LOVES to get dressed up but…
Tip Three: The suggested dress code for dinner is just that, suggested. Men shouldn’t feel like they need to wear a tuxedo to dinner and the women do not need to wear ball gowns. No one will be turned away at their dining location for the night who isn’t dressed in formal attire.
We were very excited to be able to have formal night in Royal Court. Of all of the 3 dining rotation restaurants, this seemed the most formal and a great place to have your formal dinner. It also was the closest to the areas where we wanted to have our pictures taken, so it worked out quite nicely. Problem was- we are 4 ladies, and we take a bit getting ready- so pictures would have to wait until after dinner.
Our servers had our drink orders already waiting for us at the table as we were presented with the evening’s menu. Mike and I opened our second bottle of our 7 night/bottle wine package and Mom ordered a specialty drink. I ordered a Double Baked Spinach and Cheese Souffle to start, then Belle’s French Onion Soup with gruyere cheese croutons, Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin, and Peanut Butter Mousse for dessert.
After dinner, we took pictures with Commodore Tom in the Lobby Atrium. Once those were done, the line for pictures at the staircase was quite long and we wanted to see tonight’s show, Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. So, we headed to the Walt Disney Theatre.
Tip Four: There is handicap seating on deck 3 in the back of the Walt Disney Theatre. This was our spot every night there was a show. Our group knew it as well, in case we got separated after dinner.
The shows on Disney Cruise Line are AMAZING, try not to miss them. Any one of them can be expanded into a full Broadway show and any of the performers can easily be a future or former Broadway star.
After the show we bolted back to the Grand Staircase and Minnie Statue for more formal night pictures. Again, the line was long- but we got there before the photographers so we were better positioned than we were just after dinner.
After pictures, everyone went back to their staterooms. The girls wanted to meet back at the pool deck for more Aquaduck and Mikey wanted to change and head to the kids’ club for a bit (he wasn’t “tired enough” for bed). Tonight, Mike and I headed to Meridian on deck 12 for a drink before rounding up the kids around 11:00pm for bed.
