Disney Cruise - Pirate Night Tips

One of our favorite nights on our Disney cruise sailings has been pirate night. These occur on select cruises, mainly in Caribbean and Bahamian sailings. The evening has a host of pirate activities, including themed pictures with characters, pirate trivia, a pirate themed dinner menu, and a deck party including fireworks! Up until recently, Disney cruise line was the only company to be able to offer fireworks at sea. Now you can also see them on on Norwegian Cruise Line, but for our money.....we are still sticking to Disney. :)

Are you going on a Disney Cruise and want to make the best of it? Here are some of the tips we have picked up over our sailings.

1.Dress up! Many people are concerned about how much to dress up for pirate night. On every cruise, we hear someone comment with regret that they wished they had brought pirate costumes. However, no one who has dressed up has ever seemed to regret it. At home, it may be seem like a hassle to pack pirate costumes, but once you are on the ship and seeing other people dressed up, you will be glad that you did. For our family, pirate costumes take up an entire large suitcase, but I still would not leave them home! There are always people who chose to just wear a pirate T-shirt (I was one of those on a cruise when I was pregnant with Squirt), but fully enjoying the theme of the night and wearing your pirate best is really fun. Pirate costumes are available for purchase on the ship if you would rather buy them there, but don't plan on them being cheap.  Disney does provide each passenger with a pirate bandana, so if nothing else, you can sport that.

2. Put your costumes on before First Seating/First Show. Don't wait until it's dark to get into the pirate spirit! We aim for around 4 o'clock to gather everyone back to the stateroom to get ready. We usually have second seating for dinner, and we like to get our costumes on before the show that night. That way, if you want to get some pictures taken between the show and dinner (or vice versa if you have first seating), you are all ready.

3. On the larger ships, the Dream and the Fantasy, there are two pirate deck parties. On the classic ships, both shows are combined into one which is shown after second seating. The first is aimed towards younger children and includes Mickey and friends. The second one, after second dinner seating, is more for older kids and adults and includes Jack Sparrow and fireworks. You are welcome to go to both if you like. The times will be listed on your Personal Navigator. Our family really likes the second show.

4. Wear comfortable dancing pirate shoes. After the second show, the upper deck turns into "Club Pirate" complete with a DJ. Fun family dance party under the stars!

5. If possible, take a nap. Pirate night tends to be a night we are all up very late. Of any day on the cruise, this would be the one to plan for a nap for little cruisers if possible.

6. Save a little room. A pirate buffet is served in Cabanas after all the deck party fun has happened, complete with yummy deserts and turkey legs! Especially if you have late seating, keep this in mind while you are eating dinner.

7. Be aware that there is a possibility that the fireworks and deck parties may not happen. Sometimes bad weather happens, and it is just not possible. However, Disney will do their best. On our most recent voyage, I realized we were turning shortly before the party began, and found out afterward that the captain steered off of our original course to go around a rain storm so that there could still be fireworks and fun up on deck.

Shutters Photography on the Disney Fantasy

Our family just arrived home from our wonderful voyage on the Disney Fantasy. This was our fourth Disney cruise, and the second time aboard the Fantasy. Our family now feels a little like the Fantasy is our "home" ship, and we love it! Unlike the rest of my crew that takes to the seas a little better than me, I am continuing to walk a little like Captain Jack Sparrow while my sea legs wear off. It was definitely worth it though.

On-board the ships, there are photographers taking pictures at different times and locations throughout the ship. While we have purchased some of the photos on our past trips, we decided to go with the entire package of digital images this time. At the time of our sailing, to purchase a CD with all of your photos, the cost is $349 on the ship, or $295 if you purchase beforehand. There are other packages available. The smallest package is 10 images on a disc for $149. If you visit www.mycruisephotos.com you can see what is available and place a pre-order if you wish.

We made more of an effort to get our pictures taken this trip. Formal night fell on Mother's Day, and one thing I really wanted was family pictures. We do have some, and while they turned out nicely, they were missing a certain....something. Brady, for one, does not understand why we are getting our picture taken by the train tracks or an old side of a barn. Esthetically, these backgrounds look wonderful, but I do get his point. I was willing to spend the money on the photo CD because I know that the family pictures I would get on the ship mean something to my family. These are pictures of us having a wonderful, memory-filled time, and not just Mom making them dress nicely and smile.

These are some of the pictures we had taken on formal night when we were all dressed up.

 

Where else but a Disney cruise can you get formal pictures with Minnie dressed up as well? An opportunity we could not pass up.

My Tips: 

Especially if you pre-order all of your digital images, make time to get those pictures taken. After all, you have already paid for them. It is easy to get caught up in doing everything on the ship, but you will truly love the photos when you are back home. 

Take advantage of short lines when you see them. On a few occasions we saw a photographer set up and just waiting for guests to photograph. Even if the background is not exactly what you want, it will only take a few minutes, and it doesn't cost anything to get the picture taken. You never know, you may really like the results.

Don't worry about everything being perfect. Chances are, it is not going to be, so there is no sense in worrying about it. al

Go to Shutters periodically throughout the cruise to check on your photos and make sure they are all there. Our first Aquaduck pictures did not make there way to our account automatically, so we had to do a little searching to find them. Sometimes the facial recognition system needs a little help.

If you have more than one stateroom for your family, go to Shutters on the first day to ask for those rooms to be combined on the CD. This only applies to immediate family members (i.e. parents and kids), so if you have a giant family reunion on board, you cannot combine all those rooms.

Especially on formal night, get there early if there is a background you want. The people at Shutters can give you more information about times and backgrounds. The line for having your pictures done on the staircase gets very long. We arrived a few minutes before the photographer (by accident) and we were about to get a few different locations, and pictures with Minnie in the time that those who arrived later had to wait in the single line.

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We had many more portraits taken throughout the cruise, actually 97 in all. I would like to share some other topics and tips about cruising over the next month or two, so I will be sure to share more of them.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter! Our family had a great morning. Molly and Beatrix must have helped the Easter bunny know what our kids would like, since there were Disney trading pins in the Easter eggs hidden outside. Those will soon be put to good use on our upcoming Disney cruise! Now...with sounds of Minecraft playing in the background...I think I am ready for a nap.

The Birds and The Bees

Don't worry....this is not going to be an awkward blog post in which I sit you down and explain the facts of life.

The weather has been wonderful lately, and our backyard pets have been loving it. The bees are beginning to leave their hive and explore during the warmest parts of the day, eagerly awaiting blossoms. The chickens have been given the entire yard to wander. They spend their days looking for bugs and enjoying the sunshine. They do tend to make a mess of our mulch, but they are just happy I suppose it is alright.

Such a lovely day just called for introducing you to some of our pets.

This is Spirit, a Delaware hen. Gizmo named her because she definitely had spunk, even as a little chick. She was three days old when we got her, and was kept in a playpen along with a few fellow chicks in the master bathroom until it was warm enough to go outside. She was known for escaping, and even now she sometimes tries to come into the house.

The pretty black hen in the front is Starlight. She is the only hen we have that has been hatched by a momma chicken. We don't have roosters, so I suppose you could say she was adopted. She is incredibly soft, but extremely hard to catch. In the background is Nickel, one of our Americanas. She lays gorgeous green eggs!

Since the bees are not fully active at this point, I was only able to take a few pictures through the hive window. All winter I have been peeking in their and seeing very little signs of life. With the worry of hive collapse, it is always a relief to see all bees doing so well.

This is an area of the comb that is attached to the window. You can see a bit of their honey stores, and if you look closely, you can see the bee hanging out between the two combs.

The First Hint of Spring

Winter often brings with it some terrible air conditions here. We have weather inversions that occur during those cold months, which basically means a whole lot of pollution gets trapped here. If a storm doesn't occur for a week or two, the air quality is visibly worsened.

Wonderfully, this past weekend the clouds sent down lots of rainy goodness that cleaned the air up beautifully. It is so amazing to be outside and realize how clear and wonderful it is after a good storm. I sometimes go for a jog while Spike is at his Boy Scout meetings, but I wanted to celebrate the clean air with something more than that. Princess and Squirt have been itching to ride their bikes, so they were thrilled as I loaded their bikes in the back of my car with the promise that I had a great place in mind to ride all they wanted.

 

 

 

I had a wonderful stroll, and both the kiddos had a great bike ride. Princess was very proud that she was able to pedal while standing up to make it up some of the hills. Squirt made it up the hills himself, with some power boost help from me. We saw a fancy bird house, horses, birds, and lots of very interesting sticks and rocks (a few which made their way home). I know it is not spring yet, but on days like these I can feel it coming. The air is still quite chilly, but it is clean, and I am happy with that.

Recent Spinning

I have not been doing very much spinning lately. Not because I do not enjoy it, but simply because I am trying to finish up a few crochet things I have been working on that I will share when they are finished.

My poor spinning wheel, which I have named Eve, has been sitting next to the television in our family room looking ever so lonely, while my stash of angora fiber from our bunnies, Molly and Beatrix, has been adding up.

The first yarn I spun was some undyed roving I had purchased for the purpose of learning how to use the spinning wheel. It still remains on the bobbin. I do have more of the roving left, so I will probably finish it up and ply it in the future, although I have no plans for it at this time.

So what am I currently working on? I am actually finishing up on some wool roving that I purchased before I received my spinning wheel for Christmas. I dyed the roving with Kool-Aid (grape and mountain berry flavors if you are wondering) and happily spun much of it on my drop spindle.  I had two balls of approximately the same size when I got the wheel, and decided to use it ply them together.

This is the result:

 I am now finishing spinning up all the purple and blue fiber into singles, and will afterwards ply it. The plan for this wool has always been to make a shawl. It is mostly fingering weight, although I will admit I do now spin as evenly as I aspire to. I do really enjoy the process though, so I am not really upset about the rustic-ness of the finished yarn. In this above skein, I have approximately 280 yards. I am anticipating another 350 or so when I am finally done. I am really excited to make something with this!

Cake for My Litttle Sister

 This past weekend, we happily celebrated my little sister's 21st birthday. She is on a gluten free diet, and her fiance was having a rough time finding a bakery that could make her a gluten free cake. We have a variety of places that make some great gluten free cupcakes, but sometimes a big cake just is better.

I did my best with trying to step up and make her a fun cake for her birthday. The bottom of the cake is an 8" cake with two layers, making it 4 inches tall. The middle, green part is a single 6 inch cake. The top was made by baking two cakes in thoroughly cleaned out tuna fish cans. I have used the tuna fish cans to make my kids little cakes that they could decorate and have all to themselves. They only require a small amount of baking time; I baked them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Of course, having such a small top layer gives the recipient their own personal cake, which is kind of fun.

I added a few personal touches, so it wasn't just a generic cake. The book is because my sister loves to read, the rock in the middle is a hearthstone from the game World of Warcraft that she plays, and the syringe on the bottom is because she does all sorts of labwork with blood at school. I realize a syringe is not used to draw blood....but it was the closest I could make and still have a recognizable object.

I also used a new technique on this cake by slightly steaming it before piping the frosting and adding the final decorations. I usually have a problem with cornstarch showing on the fondant, especially with brighter colors, and the steam really helped clear it up. Since I do not have a professional steamer, I was able to use my iron on a steam setting, holding it a few inches from the cake.