Our 2nd day of the cruise was a day at sea as we were traveling to our first destination. We started the day at a huge breakfast buffet at the Cabanas Restaurant. It was full of every possible breakfast item you could want.
At one point that morning we realized the ship was turning around...very slowly. It took a long time for it to make a nice wide circle. We heard an announcement that the captain had seen a boat in distress and the ship was turning around to see if they needed help. It turns out they did. Pretty much everyone on the ship gathered around the railing on that side of the ship to watch what was going on...
You can see everyone watching over the railing on the right side...
Our ship sent out a boat to check out the other little boat and see what was going on (the Disney crew was very well armed...just in case).
They ended up bringing the crew of the distressed boat on board and dropping them off at our next port.
A view of all the Disney princesses gathered in the lobby to greet guests...These meet and greets happened all day long and were such a treat for Colton and Kyle! Not so much the princesses in their case, though.
Perfect day for hanging out in the various pools! This one is shaped like Mickey Mouse!
The Aquaduck was a favorite of our whole family! This waterslide was a clear tube that went around the whole upper deck of the ship. It even had a part that went out over the ocean! You could look down under you and see the water...waaaayyyyy down there! It was a blast, and they kept it running until 10pm at night!
Here you can see the huge movie screen that was constantly playing Disney movies out by the pools.
My kids got the biggest kick out of the amazing crew! One example...as we were walking by the pools as a family, Colton sang a little part of a song from a Disney movie. A crew member walking by him chimed in and belted out the rest of the song! We were laughing so hard. It was a riot from sun up to sun down - constant fun!
One thing we quickly discovered was the multiple flavor, soft serve, self serve ice cream machine on the pool deck. Mark estimated that we each ate about 80 ice cream cones through the course of our cruise!
Besides the big waterslide that went all the way around the ship, they had a smaller corkscrew one too! Here are Kyle and Colton having fun on that...
Waiting his turn to go down the slide...
Another fun thing on the ship was a kind of scavenger hunt using Disney paintings that were all over the ship. The kids would go to a kiosk to get a Detective Badge. The badge could be recognized if you stood in front of certain paintings. When you held the badge in front of the painting, the painting came to life! Oh my goodness this was fun. There were different mysteries you could solve...like finding who stole the Missing Dalmation Puppies. You had to use the process of elimination to cross off Disney bad guys and figure out "who done it". Every time you stood in front of a painting, it came to life and a video played giving you another clue to solving the mystery. My kids could do this over and over. It really was a great way to get to know the ship too, because the clues took you all over the place. Good exercise!
Here's one of the kiosk's where we each got a badge. You pick a badge, show it to the computer, and it links it to your chosen mystery.
Kyle has the paper given to him for keeping track of the different possible villains. When he would get a clue, it would help him figure out who he could cross off his list of possible suspects.
This is the badge he would hold up in front of the paintings...
It was inspired by the Disney classics Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty. Throughout the week, our two servers made it totally fun. They learned all of our names and would always have our favorite drinks waiting on the table when we arrived. We would order as many different things off the menu as we wanted to try...including multiple desserts at the end. It was so fun to try new things!
I took this first picture, then Bryan wanted me to be in it, so we traded places...
Escargot was one of the items on the menu tonight. Mark ordered it and the rest of us all tried a bite. I wasn't going to, until Bryan decided he wasn't going to try it. Then it became, "If mom does, then I will." I had to do it...
It was okay. The seasonings made it taste a little like pepperoni, but I couldn't get past the fact that I was eating a snail. At least now I can say I tried it!
Every night included a fabulous show put on by some amazing Disney performers. Every show was a treat to watch! They had really cool special effects, music, and characters that looked like they had jumped out of Disney movies! We looked forward to a new one each night.
Colton and Kyle spent a good portion of our days at sea in the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab. These hangouts were amazing! The kids didn't want to leave! Here are a few pictures of the Oceaneer Club...
There was Andy's Room...
Monster's Academy...
Pixie Hollow...
the Explorer Pod (it was filled with computer consoles the kids could play games on...
The central area of the Oceaneer Club featured twinkling constellations of Disney characters on the ceiling—as well as sparkling "pixie dust." The room's focal point was a stage area where kids could star in their own theatrical plays, join storytelling sessions and attend special visits by Disney characters, both in person and virtually.
The rotunda had a HUGE plasma screen for watching movies and for magical interactions with Crush (the turtle from Finding Nemo). The turtle personally chated with kids during his real-time animated appearances, asking them about themselves and the human world they inhabit.
The club had tons of computers for kids to play on, a reading area, a small stage for games, multiple televisions, and play structures.
The Oceaneer Club connected with the Oceaneer Lab. The kids could go back and forth between the two, but the Club was geared a little more to the younger crowd, and the Lab to the older ones.
The Oceaneer Lab had an endless supply of toys, games and Disney movies. There was an area for educational experiments. There were supervised activities throughout the day, individual computer stations...
There was a staging area and starting point for a ship-wide quest game, in which the kids could gather and decipher clues during an exciting adventure around the ship.
The Oceaneer Lab included a stage in the main hall, where kids could hear stories of great expeditions and star in their own swashbuckling plays. There was a HUGE plasma screen, which displayed Disney movies and interactive animated characters. 
There was a workshop and laboratory where kids concocted crazy experiments, did cooking activities, and participated in other hands-on activities.
There was a Media Room where the kids could kick back and relax in beanbag chairs and watch movies, play video games or even read a book...
There was an Animator's Studio where they could create art or learn how to sketch their favorite Disney characters. The counselors even helped them design and bring to life computer-animated characters!
There was a Craft Studio where kids could create arts and crafts...
Morgan, and sometimes Colton, hung out at the Edge (the pre-teen hangout). It had a dance floor, notebook computers for gaming, a huge video wall (18 feet long and 5 feet tall)!
Bryan hung out at Vibe (the teen hangout). It was an indoor/outdoor lounge featuring a smoothie bar
a dance area, multiscreen video wall, and a media room for gaming and movie watching.
They could be DJ's, compete in talent shows, have karaoke contests and dance competitions. There were individual nooks in built-in oval wall pods with personal video screens for movies of video games.
There were also activities kids could join in all day long. They had their own sundeck with splash pools, fountains, with pop jets and misters to cool off. Outdoors also included ping pong and foosball.
Pretty much everyone is completely pampered and catered to with Disney. We didn't want to leave!
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