Mitch's Corner: I can't believe I'm saying Mickey!

Sometime earlier this summer Jarom and Alixa heard that there might be an opening to go on a Disney cruise with Jarom’s parents and all of their APs from their recently completed mission. Since nobody likes to go more than 6 months between Caribbean cruises they responded with a resounding “we’d love to!” So much of the summer was spent getting the kids excited to go on a giant boat with Grandma and Grandpa, Elders Larson and Calderwood, and Mickey, Minnie, and every Disney princess and character that they can think of. It took a lot of effort, but eventually the kids warmed up to the idea.

Good little travelers

First stop on the tiny little boat - the ice cream machine!

The trip started by getting rid of one family member. Taking a 1-year-old who takes long afternoon naps on a cruise is not advisable, so instead Emmy got to have a long week as an only child with Mimi and Opa. Initially Alixa was a little concerned about how it would go, because they haven’t really cared for a little baby since Mikah moved out, but the experiment could not have gone better. Emmy was a little reserved for a day or two, but she ended up having a blast, and the grandparents reported that it was an amazing week and they loved having her around. She got to out on a date with Opa to Red Lobster, read lots of stories, got lots of attention, and suffered no major injuries. Their favorite thing was her bedtime routine. All they had to do was ask her if she wanted her binkie and she would run into her room, grab her binkie and blankie and flop into her bed. Lix and Jarom are glad to have them around to do things like this and it is awesome that they had so much fun. Emmy was even a little hesitant to leave them when her real parents got back.

The kids' favorite missionaries - Larson and Calderwood

For the rest of the clan the trip began with a flight to Orlando and a night at a hotel. To kill some time they decided to walk to a nearby Chipotle for a late lunch. On the way they tried unsuccessfully to find any alligators. The next 24 hours were filled with the gradual arrival of family members and former missionaries, some known and some new. We got on a Mickey bus and drove the 40 minutes from Orlando to Canaveral and got to see our giant floating home for the next week. The kids (and parents) could not have been more excited. After some food the first stop was the Fun Club, where the kids would spend a lot of time during the week. It took up about half a deck and had all sorts of computer games, movies, arts and crafts, games, and regular visits from Disney characters. All free, all week long, open from 7a-Midnight. Good work Disney. The kids got arm bands that track their location and almost every time a parent went to pick up Jenna the staff would look at the map and say “Jenna is in the submarine” where they kept her favorite computer games.

How to play defense: throw your teammate into the opposing player

Why sit on the beach when you can sit IN the beach?

At the end of a long day. Bo nearly faceplanted in that ketchup more than once.

3 generations above. And I can't even tell who this is below, but it's such a great angle I had to post it.

The boat is also equipped with interactive pictures that work as part of various detective searches. For each one you get a card with a scannable code on it and proceed around the boat looking for clues. Jenna and Bo had a blast with this and solved several mysteries, nabbing Captain Hook for stealing paintings and Jafar for trying to take all of Pongo’s puppies. Then of course there were the pools and waterslides up on the top deck, which occupied the kids for most of the time they didn’t spend in the Fun Club. And there were the evening shows and a movie theater where they got to watch Planes: Fire and Rescue.

Bo moves around in his sleep. And looks awesome in his goggles.

There was a pirate night. We have Izzy and Jake.

The boat had stops at Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Castaway Cay. The adults went snorkeling in Mexico, stingray city on Grand Cayman, the Blue Hole in Jamaica, and had a beach day on Disney’s Island. Jenna got to tag along for the stingrays. She was excited about it up until the first instant that she saw a stingray sharing the same water as her legs. She immediately tried to climb to the top of Jarom’s head to escape the danger. Her panic lasted for a few minutes until she was safely back on the boat. There she watched everyone else and decided she wanted to give it another shot. So she bravely reentered the water and even touched some of the stingrays.

Lix and Nancy bravely jumping from the boat. Jenna not so bravely hiding from stingrays.

On Jamaica Jarom and Lix were reunited with their old buddies Oneal and Cary and got to go back to one of their favorite places in the world. They visited on Jamaica’s Independence Day and shared the island with 3 other cruise boats, so the place was way more crowded than the last time they were there, but it was still amazing. Beautiful cold water, waterfalls and ledges to jump off of everywhere, a great rope swing, and a bunch of fearless little Jamaicans hurling themselves out of the sky for our amusement. Also got to have a great lunch of jerk chicken and a hilarious ride around the island with our favorite bus driver.

Two classic storefronts in Jamaica

The locals and their shenanigans

Jarom's best impression

Me - Tarzan, You - Jane.

Our buddies Oneal and Cary

During the evenings and days at sea the group had wonderful dinners together and a variety of activities. There was a minute to win it game, a scavenger hunt, group photos, and a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. Lix also managed to run a 5k in sweltering heat. And as always, the staff on the boat is part of the fun of the trip. We had one server, Igor, who did great magic tricks for the kids every evening. And of course there were towel animals every night with a bunch of chocolates that Bo usually ate. After a wonderful week it was time to come home, and everyone was happy to be back on dry land and excited to see little Emmy, even though they were sad to leave vacation behind.