The Day Before the Cruise

We went on our first cruise last month over Spring Break week. It was an awesome, unforgettable experience! I'll be doing a number of posts about it over the next few weeks. I'm a big fan of Disney Cruise Line now and I'm looking forward to sharing all of the reasons why! But first I'm going to start with the day before the cruise, which was Friday, March 15th. We flew to Orlando, Florida that morning even though the cruise didn't start until the next day. We wanted to play it safe in case of flight problems or lost luggage or anything like that. The less stress, the better!

Here are the boys at the airport in Milwaukee just before we got on the plane.

Sam did pretty well during the flight. Thank goodness for the iPad!

And this is at the airport in Orlando. We made it!

We had the perfect place to stay that day and night, at a Marriott resort that we stayed at three years ago when we went to the Disney parks. It's part of our timeshare network. (In the future when we return to Orlando to go to the Disney parks I don't think we'll stay there because we missed out on the benefits of staying at one of the Disney hotels, like early access to the parks. But this is a good place to stay for all of the other things in the Orlando area.) It was neat to be back there after three years. John was a 5-year-old preschooler and Sam was a 7-month-old baby when we were last there.

Here we were in April 2010 

Look at us now! 

The resort has great pools and waterpark-like features. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon!

The hot tub is always a popular place for us to hang out.

John got to hold a baby alligator!

The kids liked the little arcade, especially riding on the motorcycles. 

My favorite thing? Sam took a late-afternoon nap so Peter stayed with the boys in the room and ordered take-out for their dinner while I dined alfresco and had Hawaiian Chicken, one of my favorite meals. Then I went down to the dock area and read my book for a little while. So peaceful and nice to have some alone time! 

On Saturday morning we had some time before we had to leave for Port Canaveral to get on the ship, so we took a nice little walk around the resort for old times' sake. 

And my personal favorite...Sam the mischievous little leprechaun!

It was the perfect place to stay before we embarked on the real adventure. We were able to leave for the cruise relaxed and well-rested. The next time we go on a cruise I hope we'll start it this way again!

Next up: Setting sail aboard the Disney Fantasy!