What I Left With

We woke up to the announcement that we were in port and we were welcome to leave the ship. It came a full 5min before the alarm we set the night before so we had our taste of the real world early in the day. We hustled to our last meal on the ship. It was the first time we had to wait more than two elevator lods to get up the whole trip, by the way. I was very grateful for breakfast because the last cruise we took they booted me out the door before I even had time to grab a banana. It was sad to say goodbye to our waiter friends, but we were ready to go home. I wanted to hug the kids.

Look, Mickey was sad to see us go. Getting off the boat was even smoother than getting on. We picked up our one suitcase in the orange Goofy section, waited in the customs line less than 5min and then made the 30 second walk to the car. I guess I'm always struck by how unceremoniously things end. We hit the road happy from a great vacation and ready to get back to the real world.

We bought an internet package on the ship before we even left port so we could check for wedding pictures. I think everyone heard I had a photographer and a videographer and left their cameras at home because there was very little photographic evidence of the big day. We wasted most of the internet package because we were so busy enjoying our vacation. That's how I know it was a real vacation, the rest of the world Facebook included vanished for 5 days.

Unlike the typical honeymooners we were rarely in the room. Time alone together to "date" and converse without watching the clock was what we needed to get while we had the chance. The ship was called the Disney Dream and I suppose I've always wished I could go back in time somehow and really date Mike, wish granted. What a wonderful insight into who we are and how we feell about each other when the unrelenting stresses and responsibilities are lifted. Now I know what it's like to really date Mike and our marriage will be better for it.

I remember seeing this sign on the drive home and thinking "Oh, Yeah, honeymoon's over." There will be no more double dinners and deserts and not nearly as much quality time where we're going. Goodbye honeymoon of a thousand dates, hello day to day responsibilities...

The Last Day of Honeymooning

We're back at Castaway Cay one more time before we head home. Intermittently, my brain starts to unravel at all the things waiting for me at home, but for the most part I'm still soaking up the vacation-y thing. The only things I knew for sure was A) I was not going to break my ice cream cone (or two) a day habit today and B) We were not going to miss our last chance to see the dirty puppets. They were both good calls. And yes that is Mike inspecting a shrimp creature made from a towel.

We bummed around most of the day. Souvenir shopping had become kind of a problem because we assumed on a Disney cruise that featured a pirate night we'd be able to get something with the kraken on it. Wrong. Not one piece of merchandise on the ship or island featured the mythical squid monster from the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel. Grrr. Don't worry we found Isaac some cool stuff anyway, a real jellyfish encased in glass that glows in the dark and a puffer fish skeleton. Other than limited merchandise options I'm hard pressed to find anything to complain about.

So, we had a lovely last dinner and then scoped out a balcony overlooking Mickey's farewell show. We tried to get some descent pictures, but they didn't turn out so great. None the less we finally made it to the dirty puppets! Her name is Lynn Trefzger and her first puppet was a drunk camel. So funny. After that she brought out her old man who was celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary on the cruise. She found a couple in the audience married 45yrs and then asked if there were newly weds in the crowd. Both of us raised our hands with glee.

I laughed so hard I cried. We gave her a run for her money though no predictable responses from us. The elderly dummy started with "You're married since Wednesday? What the F*** you doing at a puppet show?". It was one of the most fun evenings I ever had. Mike wants to look up her touring schedule and try to see her again. It was worth the wait. I'm glad we saw it on the last night. When Lynn asked the married 45yrs couple to give us some advice the wife yelled "Katie, say yes to whatever Mike wants and then do whatever you want anyway!". It was an enlightening evening.

It'll be breakfast and then off the ship to drive home in the morning. I'm glad I packed throughout the day and no “evil Katie” appearances during the process. I will miss the cloud bed and the entire channel of classic Disney cartoons the most during my day to day routine.

Princess Day

This morning I had important business to attend to. Meeting some Disney princesses. I remeber sitting by myself on a little wooden bench in my wedding dress for the photographer to take pictures and thinking "oh, my gosh! I'm totally a Disney princess!" I set my alarm (generally a no-no on vacation), put on make-up and went down to get in line 30min prior to when they'd arrive. I was fourth in line behind three girls in Disney sanctioned princess dresses. After 10 more minutes went by the line was snaking it's way through half the length of the ship. The little girl behind me was 3yrs old. She had beautiful curly red hair and a pretty Tiana dress on. She and I chatted, her mom seemed more my speed the the snooty mommies in front of me. We were both hoping for Cinderella's appearance.

When the time came five photographers and their assistants lined the rug at the bottom of the grand staircase. Up until now I'd bumped into Goofy's son Max in the elevator and Donald Duck on the sun deck. They were very nice. Donald even kissed me. I'd seen Goofy, Mickey and Minnie from a distance, but I had not bothered to brave a line for a picture. A crew member came by and told me I could sit and he'd hold my place in line (I was on the crutches), but I was too excited.

It was the right call because with a flourish of trumpets they announced "A special royal gathering" and suddenly there were princesses waving from the top of the staircase and opposing balcony. It was Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, Tiana and Ariel. From the moment her feet bounded down the steps jumping the last two steps to land in her spot with a giggle I knew Snow White was going to be my favorite meeting of the day.

She was thrilled to see the "Just Married" button. She was just as sweet and sincere she is in the movie. I really enjoyed her.

Belle felt a little forced and awkward, but Riley is way into that movie so I bought that picture too.

Tiana was great, but our pictures together were only so-so. Cinderella seemed to be having an off day. I was so hoping for a good Cinderella picture so I could put a picture of me in my wedding dress next to a picture of Cinderella in her ball gown. Ariel however was lovely in every sense of the word.

The rest of the day was a blur compared to our princess encounter in the morning. However, we were first in line for breakfast for once on our trip. We decided to skip dinner in the dining room since it was formal night. We ate early and went to the Broadway style production in the the theater that night, Villains Tonight. We both really enjoyed it. We planned on finally catching the dirty puppets that night at 10:30, but ended up passing on it in favor of the hot tub and bed.

Priate Day, ARRRR!

Honeymoon day three! We awoke to Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. It was super exciting. We actually got so excited to get off the boat we had to get right back on for Mike to change shirts and me to apply sunscreen, oops. What's nice is that the private island days are set up for getting on and off all day. Just like the first stop, no tender boats required I just wheeled right off. Anyway, we skipped the tram and just walked to the beach on the second try which was much nicer. They even had complimentary beach wheelchairs available.

For my observant readers, yes that's the same dress from the first day in a different color. I love them (Yay, Old Navy!). I digress, we went down to the beach to rent snorkel gear. I hate the beach. I love to look at it from my balcony and maybe sit on it, but getting around in sand or the ocean blows. I just had my last surgery in November and I'm not entirely in a trusting relationship with my body as of yet. So, I was a bit nervous, but it was my honeymoon. Besides how hard can snorkeling be?

Another tip for couples doing the cruise honeymoon, ask how much things cost. It's so easy to hand over your room key without a second thought. We each got a mask, snorkel, bright yellow vest and flippers (which we ended up not using because I could not walk in them). It was $50 to borrow those for about 20min. Those 20min were not the proudest of my life either. The water was much colder than I expected so I was stiff as a board trying to get in deep enough to see stuff. Plus I had no idea how to cope with a fogged up mask or seawater in the snorkel.

I'm usually a tough cookie, but I'll admit whining and complaining for a good 5minutes. I gave it a shot, but I only saw sand, seaweed and rocks. I kept blowing air through my nose and breaking the seal on the mask and panicking when water started coming in. I really should have bought a reasonably priced mask at the store and practiced in the pool first (which is heated by the way). After awhile I told Mike I was sorry, but I wanted to go back to the beach. I was perfectly happy to sunbathe while he snorkeled, but he was done too. So, we went back to the boat. I felt bad. I told Mike I was sorry he hadn't married someone who could snorkel with him.

It didn't last long though you just can not be sad on Pirate night. When we got back to the room there was a letter and 2 Pirates of the Caribbean bandanas on the bed. The letter informed us there be a Pirate Mickey Party, Fireworks and Club pirate tonight. Dinner would also feature pirate menus. Neat. The bandanas was as far as our pirate-ness went, but there were tiny Caption Hooks all over the boat!

We also went to see John Carter in 3D. It was fun, but slow to get started. It ended abruptly because Disney had plans for sequels, but know what I do about how this on tanked at the box office I'm wondering if they will. After the movie we got a behind the scenes tour of the ship. We went out a crew members only door with an escort into some kind of frieght elevator and through the crew members quarters section. We got to go through two water tight doors that he had to get the captain’s permission to open too. It was almost cooler than the movie. This was also my turn to do the giant water slide, the Aqua Duck. It's a clear tube that winds around two decks and over the side of the ship. Mike tried it Friday and I just watched to make sure I wouldn't injury myself attempting it. There was no line today so we went on it together. It was really fun! We both smiled for the camera think that would be the quintessential honeymoon photo, but when we inquired she said the camera was broken and only the flash worked. Bummer.

Halfway through the honeymoon...

Yesterday's Bride, Today's Tourist

This morning we parked in the Bahamas. Nassau to be exact. It was strange to wake up a)After 10am b)After Mike c)Docked in the Bahamas and d) In the fluffy cloud they call a bed. Strange, but good. Except that by the time I was up and dressed breakfast was over on the boat. Wahhh! It worked out though we ate an awesome early lunch instead. It was just being set up so we got first pick at the carving station, score. My lunch also included a piece of pumpkin pie. If day of marriage includes sleeping in AND pie I'm all set. I ambitiously decided I wanted to take a walk in the Bahamas, do Disney Trivia at 2pm, the 6:15 ventriloquism show and some after dinner karaoke.

We did take a walk in the Bahamas. It was brief. It was overwhelming how many people were trying to get through the same tight spaces. It didn't leave a lot of maneuvering room for the wheelchair. Once we'd gone through the entrance we were besieged on all sides by people trying to sell us stuff. Again, overwhelming. We purchased a bottle of rum and headed back to the ship. Another tip to my future brides, don't forget to tell your debit/credit card institutions you will be out of the country or your cards will not work. Back on the boat an elderly woman noticed our "just married" buttons and nudged her husband. "Look, honey they're just married." He gave us a long silent look and then smiled and said in a voice I will never forget "behave yourselves." Awesome.

I did not end up at Disney Trivia, which is lucky for those kids because I would have kicked their butts. We did go to the show, but it was not the "adult version" we had been so excited for. It was the family version. It was very entertaining, but a bit like expecting Sprite and getting a sip of water. Apparently, dirty puppets happen on nights 4 & 5 late night. After the show we mixed some rum and Cokes and went to watch the sunset. Bahama rum is potent stuff! Whew. It was ok though because I wasn't responsible for children or driving home or getting up for work. Don't we look relaxed? That chair is basically like a tiny couch facing a view of the ocean (right next to the adults only hot tub). Because of the state of tension my muscles exist in constantly and my life long need for independence (any degree of relaxation and I have to use the wheelchair or not move) I'm a total amateur at relaxed. I'm using this trip to try and acquire that skill.

Dinner was overwhelming good yet again. Last night we dined in the Animator's Palatte which was all funny and cartoon. They even had an interactive experience with Crush that night. Today we dined in the Enchanted Garden. It's exactly what it sounds like. I enjoyed the mirror on the wall facing us for picture taking purposes. We were the only ones at our table again, sweet! Our waiters are awesome, for the second night in a row Mike doubled up on appetizers and entrees (they were that good).

It occurred to me tonight that yesterday (or the day before that) I was a bride and today I was just another married lady on a boat. Weird. It helped that we found this in our room after dinner.

The card said "Have a magical honeymoon". You got it Mickey!

Marriage: Day One

It was a laaaaaaaaate night last night. Even though it was a Wednesday and most folks left between 9-10pm to get to bed for work in the morning. Mike and I stayed until the end. In fact we were the clean-up crew. After all my talk about not cleaning up my own wedding that is exactly what happened. Thank God, my maid of honor (who'd been with me for 48hrs) took pity on me and not only stayed, but made her husband come back so they could take a car load for us. It should have occurred to me that it took two carloads to get it there it may always require two carloads to get it home.

Future brides, plan your clean up. I was on top of set up (who would be there, what needed to get done), but somehow I dropped the ball on clean up. I had some people volunteer, but I never reminded them or sent out emails asking for help like I should have. We all made it home after midnight. We all got to work/school/our honeymoon in the morning we just didn't didn't look refreshed.

We didn't go right to bed either. We ate some more cake and opened presents first. Adrenaline. In the morning we dropped Isaac at school and made a Target run (to replace the overnight stuff that got left in my maid of honor's car). I used the electric cart at Target since we were in a hurry and I left my crutches in the basket, oops! Mike had to rush back for them while I said goodbye to Riley. After that bumpy start we hit the road. Thank goodness some people gave us cash because we didn't make it to the bank and there was somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 in tolls to get to the port. Make another note future honeymooners: leave earlier and set the GPS to no tolls.

We got there, took a $90 (cringe) close parking space and checked in. This was my second cruise, but my first time on Disney Cruise Lines. I kept telling Mike everything will be a little more efficient this time and I was right. We checked the big bag. Mike pushed my wheelchair and carried the laptop bag. I had my purse, the vase with my bouquet and the to go carton with wedding cake in it. We were in our room by 2pm (we were scheduled to leave port at 3:45pm). It was a beautiful day and we were so glad we got the balcony.

It was strange, leaving the kids behind and we were very tired, but as soon as we were in our room that all melted away. We were just newly weds on their honeymoon, phew. We have never not been responsible for at least one kid as long as we've been together. It really melted all the stress off. I'll never forget as long as I live, about 10min after arriving Mike started unpacking and putting his clothes away in the drawers! I was stunned. I sat on the bed slack jawed, watching this spectacle. "What are you doing?", I asked. "Unpacking, we're going to be here a while", he answered matter-of-fact as ever. I've never seen him unpack a bag before. I'm lucky if he takes the groceries out the bags. That was just the beginning.

The "I love you"s, affection and attention were easy and uninterrupted by kids or the daily routine. I always imagined getting on the boat and laying by the pool with a book while Mike did his own thing and we'd meet up for meals. It turned out we wanted to be together, imagine that! It was partly because Mike was usually open to whatever social, entertainment or vacation related thing I suggested (for the most part). I knew in the first hour this would be an amazing trip for us.

We watched the the port disappear from the balcony and then grabbed some late lunch. We were all the way forward on the boat directly across from the elevators which is a sweet spot. It also meant the adults only pool was directly down from us. Awe-Some! Even the life boat drill was kind of fun. Disney music playing all over the boat didn't hurt either. There was no "happy honeymoon" sign on our door so I called guest services to see what kind of fuss to expect. They told us to stop by for some just married buttons. We did some exploring and then it was dinner time.

On a Disney cruise you keep your wait staff and table number and rotate dining rooms. It's a neat system. We were nervous about having to sit with a table full of strangers, but they didn't show. They must have known we were on our honeymoon. After a delicious dinner we stopped by the room to change. There was a note tucked under our room number that said rose petals around a towel animal had been "delivered". Only, there weren't any. The bed looked like this

I was a little bummed. Conspicuously lacking petals of any kind and a cobra's not exactly a romantic animal. It was the first night of our honeymoon and how could Disney make a mistake? We assumed they'd straighten it out and we left. We took a dip in the hot tub and then went to see The Help. It was a great day.

We're Having A Honeymoon!!!

One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to the wife he has married.” Wikipedia. It's an ancient tradition and not without merit in modern times. Typically it was simply the first month of marriage when things are the sweetest. It became a vacation after marriage in the late 19th century.

That's honeymoon history, now for a brief Katie and Mike history. Right before I moved in we drove from California to Florida with a 5yr old Isaac. A few years later we took a cruise to Mexico as a family (the kids were 1yr and turning 8yrs). That's it as far as vacations go. We have never been without the kids longer than overnight a few times. So, the prospect of a vacation just the two of us is amazing.

We originally, waaaay back in 2008, discussed a honeymoon in a cabin in the mountains. When we got started planning again I was concerned about my physical limitations bumming me out. I really wanted to go white water rafting when that trip came up and I'm fairly certain my recently fused spine makes that impossible. Mike's not good with crowds so things like a Disney World which I'm always up for would be stressful.

I didn't want either us to be stressed on this trip because who knows how many years it'll be before we travel alone together again. We decided tropical was the way to go. Either an all inclusive resort or a cruise was the way to go budget-wise. We knew we wanted some privacy, meals provided, and activities for each of us. I had seen a special on the travel channel about Disney Cruises. I thought "someday...".

Well, it turns out cruising on a Thursday is cheaper than a Saturday and they had a boat, the Disney Dream, leaving the day after our wedding. The stars aligned and my someday came. Mike gets his amazing water slide, I get the Disney experience (& and some honeymoon fuss) and we both get a nice room with a balcony. We're both thrilled for lots of yummy food and two days on their private island. I can not wait. I'm so excited for this trip.

Some of my friends and family have been confused about why I would choose a Disney cruise without the kids. First of all most of my Disney trips were as a single girl in my 20's and second Disney has a quality level you don't get elsewhere. It's going to be fabulous.

Honeymoon?

Years ago when we discussed a honeymoon we found these cabins in the mountains in Georgia. They all have balconies, hot tubs and great views. You can pay for a personal chef to come make you a gourmet dinner and clean up (we were all in for one night of that!). It's romantic and secluded. I was particularly siked about the white water rafting option. There's one item I'll never cross off the the bucket list now.

That whole trip was completely out of the question post spinal fusion. Aside from physical limitations there's the budget. Honestly, I just can't see planning a party for 100ish people AND a vacation financially. I know I need some time with Michael without the kids. At first I thought it would be fine to stay home as long as someone else kept the kids for 3-7days. After some more thought I realized being home wouldn't be quality couple time. I started considering driving distance destinations. Unfortunately, theme parks aren't what they used to be with my back still healing.

So, a trip. A real trip, just the two of us. Hmmm...We did a cruise last year for a family wedding (it was my first one). We're considering a 3day cruise or some kind of all inclusive couples resort. We looked into some wonderful options like going to Scotland/Ireland it was too expensive (like more than the wedding). I brought up Alaska, but March is the wrong time of year for that. Then I brought up Australia, but that was more than going to Europe. Mike brought up New England which is lovely (and full of friends) and easier on the budget, but again March is a dodgy time of year weather-wise. My beloved California is temperate and full of friends as well, but it's a loooong flight. Who knows what I'll be up to by then? It's so complicated.

No cabins in the mountains, no Disney, no leaving the country, no room in the budget... I'm up to suggestions. I need a break. Mike and I have never been alone together and if we don't make a point to do this now I have no idea when or if it will happen. Let's hear it: honeymoon on a budget that doesn't put too much strain on the bones.