Going on a Disney Cruise (Part 2)
/Greetings, SuperCaptainBraveFAM!
Before we get into the nitty gritty, I want to say that even though we’re talking about going out with family and friends in this blog series, these are all fond memories of past times that we hope to recreate soon. But not just yet. Remember to mask up, socially distance, and wash your hands faithfully to stay safe. Stopping COVID-19 means slowing it’s spread. It starts with you.
Also, please be aware that the information below is based on our own experience and, to our knowledge, correct as of January 2020. Procedures and amenities may change when cruise lines relaunch.
Last week, I talked about what steps we took to make sure we could safely navigate a cruise experience with Kyle. Today I’m shifting away from sharing information to sharing our story.
So…
A long time ago, in the year 2019…
‘Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems…
Once upon a Mother’s Day Sunday…
We all converged at Kyle’s house to start our vacation. And by “we all” I mean 11 of the members of Team Kyle.
With Kyle’s personal travel list checked twice by his parents and perhaps a few more times by yours truly, we went over our own individual preparations one last time.
“Everyone have their passports, I.D.s, and credit cards?”
“Yup!”
“Did you all remember to fill out the online embarkation forms?”
“Yes!”
“Did everyone pack sunscreen?”
“You betcha!”
Kyle & his self decorated autograph book
We were packed and ready to convoy to port and the cruise ship, the Disney Wonder. With one final addition, the vans were loaded and we were on the road. What is that addition you ask?
Autograph books for Kyle, Jax, and Remy, of course!
We arrived at the port in no time at all and we were through with check in & customs very quickly. The Disney Cruise Line sent out luggage tags for each of us and we gave them to the cast members before boarding the ship. The only things we didn’t check in were our personal belongings and the more fragile of Kyle’s equipment.
The kids were awed at the size of the ship and, honestly, a few of the adults were as well. The joy and magic of a Disney experience began the moment we set eyes on the Mickey silhouette painted on the bow. And so, Team Kyle made its grand entrance and embarked on the Disney Wonder.
“Believe it or not, my favorite memory of the cruise was when we were boarding and ‘Team Kyle’ was announced over the speakers in the ship lobby. It was so exciting!” ~ Superb Sis Honour
Looking out of the porthole
As mentioned in the last blog, we needed to get an extension cord for Kyle’s stateroom. Paul went in line at Guest Services to request one while the rest of us wandered around the main lobby and waited for our staterooms to be ready. The kids looked outside the giant portholes and towards the ocean. While the adults smiled indulgently and snacked in one of the ship’s many lounges.
Once we got the ok from the ship crew that our staterooms were ready, we headed there and settled down. Inside, all of the moms in our group--Samantha, Jenn, and I—were surprised with small bouquets for Mother’s Day. All signed with love from Team Kyle. Though my sneaking suspicion still believes it had more to do with a certain man named Paul.
Remy claimed the top bunk in our stateroom and hurried over with Jax to see Kyle. I had one more thing to do though. With the decorations I made in hand, I went to everyone’s room and began slapping magnets on each stateroom door. Everyone had a Mickey head decorated with their favorite Disney/Pixar character and a special vacation mode version of themselves drawn by Victor.
And every door had a special magnet with Kyle’s name on it.
I saved Kyle’s stateroom for last and as I did, I passed a nice couple on the way. One was in a wheelchair and was accompanied by a ship crewmember with a portable oxygen concentrator. Much like the one we have for Kyle. We all headed towards the handicap accessible staterooms and I waved a quick bye before heading into Kyle’s room.
Inside, Victor and Brigette already beat me to helping put some of Kyle’s things in drawers, shelves, and in the fridge. Honour was entertaining Jax and Remy out on the small veranda attached to the stateroom. And Kyle was relaxing on a very spacious bed.
As I looked around at the familiar controlled chaos, I noticed that something was missing.
When we booked the cruise, we were told that we could only bring one of our own tanks of oxygen with us. Going for three days, we brought our own portable oxygen concentrator. But that alone wouldn’t be enough for Kyle’s needs. So, we filled out the proper forms and arranged for a third-party company to deliver extra oxygen tanks to the ship and have new tanks brought to the stateroom every day of the trip.
We got on the stateroom phone with Guest Services and asked them when the tanks would be coming. After much back and forth, we learned that the company received two requests for supplemental oxygen on our floor (or deck as it’s called on a ship).
Remember that nice couple I mentioned a few paragraphs ago? Through a clerical error, one of the requests was assumed to be a double booking and subsequently cancelled.
The ship hadn’t left port yet and the Disney Cruise Line did everything in their power to fix the error. And fix it they did. A new oxygen tank was delivered just in time for everyone to join the mandatory ship safety meeting. We were promised a new tank every day of the cruise and the cost of the tanks would be taken care of by the cruise line.
One hour on board and we were already blown away with how the Disney staff went above and beyond for their guests.
“I felt like whenever I asked, they were able to deliver.” ~ The Victor Soldier
Mandatory safety meeting done; the ship began its journey out of port. And Team Kyle headed up to join the Sail-A-Wave Party.
Now, I’ve only ever been on Disney cruises, but I imagine that other ships have nightly entertainment, too. But being a Disney cruise, the expectations of our first-time cruise goers were high. And they were not disappointed.
Every night on board there was a show at the Walt Disney Theatre. Seating was great and there isn’t a bad view in the house. The first night was a show called The Golden Mickeys. Then on Pirate Night was a short stage version of Frozen. And on the third night, we saw the show Disney Dreams—An Enchanted Classic.
“The entertainment quality was truly outstanding. Loved every moment!” ~ SuperCaptainBraveMama Jenn
There aren’t themed nights every night of the cruise. But we all decided to try and dress up for at least two of them. Those two turned out to be Pirate Night and the last night of the cruise became our informal Formal Night.
Every day we’d spend time together & apart, dress up, meet up at the theatre, take in a show, and then head down to dinner.
Ah…dinner. How can I describe the wonder of the meals aboard the Disney Wonder? I think I’ll have to start with how the meals at the different restaurants are set up.
When you book a trip, your party is assigned a dining group. Each group eats at a certain time and at a certain on-board restaurant each night. This allows guests to experience every restaurant. There is a more upscale restaurant geared toward adults, but it requires advance reservations and we all wanted to eat as a family.
On Night One, we ate at Triton’s which is a fancy Little Mermaid themed place. Very seafood heavy in terms of the menu. Our waitstaff introduced themselves and explained that they would be with us each night. You see, as you rotate through the restaurants, the staff rotates with you. So that they know your drink preferences, your seating needs, and any allergy considerations.
In our case, we needed a chair removed from our table to accommodate Kyle’s wheelchair. And we were given advance menu options for the next night’s dinner for the people in our group with allergies.
“The ship never stopped feeding us. It was so great. I wanted to eat more, but I was always full!” ~ Captain Corey
“I really really liked the food. Seriously. I ordered everything on the menu.” ~ The Marvelous Miss Brigette
Our servers also quickly learned that we could, would, and did order everything on the menu and eat our way happily through the meal. Some of us ordered more than one entrée and perhaps more than one dessert each. But we were on vacation. Calories don’t count on vacations, right?
But that’s just our early evening and dinner experiences. The days were just as exciting.
While at sea, there are plenty of activities for guests to enjoy. There’s the pool and lounges, of course. At the main pool, there is a large screen that plays Disney movies and cartoon shorts throughout the day. As well as a below decks movie theater that played movies nonstop.
“Kyle and I watched ‘Cinderella’ on deck.” ~The Victor Soldier
“We checked out the movie theater and saw that they were showing ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ but decided to go join the animator’s class instead,” ~ Leah the Wordsmith
Winning 2nd place in Movie Music Trivia got us some nifty hats!
The kids enjoyed the on-board kid’s only club and activities. And we all tried our hand at drawing at one of the many art classes hosted throughout the ship. The different lounge areas and club rooms had all kinds of trivia, family games, and dancing activities. Sometimes there was so much to choose from that we had trouble deciding where to go!
There was even a scavenger hunt for the kids. One night, after we came back from dinner, there were papers in our staterooms with the Scavenger Hunt rules and clues.
“Jax and I helped Kyle with the Scavenger Hunt! We had to go all over the ship!” ~Rambunctious Remy
Going all over the ship with Kyle was an experience.
He has a very sturdy wheelchair in order to accommodate him and all of his equipment. I learned very early on to not fight the wheelchair. For 9 times out of 10, you will lose and the wheelchair will win.
By virtue of being a cruise ship, the hallways in the stateroom decks are narrow to begin with. Add in a 13-year-old in a wheelchair and at least 2 other adults with him at all times, and a narrow hallway becomes difficult to navigate.
We prefer not to dwell on the negative aspects of living an adaptive life. But it would be a disservice to our readers to not point out that a pet peeve of ours is the indifference or obliviousness of the general public to the difficulties of those with limited mobility.
The Disney Wonder cruise ship has 3 sets of elevator banks with 4 elevators each situated across or near a staircase for guests to use. Each elevator on the ship is large enough for about 8 adults to stand comfortably.
We’re used to waiting for elevators and the occasionally tricky process of maneuvering him into the relatively small space. But sometimes, the wait for the elevators on the ship strained the fortitude of even the seasoned members of Team Kyle.
And while we appreciate the patience of the Disney crewmembers and cruise line guests who vacated the elevators to allow Kyle into the car and then re-entered after he was settled, there were instances where excited guests chose to take the elevator instead of the stairs despite the long wait time.
“I think there should be a dedicated elevator for those with mobility difficulties. One you can access with your room key or something.” ~Sensational Sam
A possible solution is having a crewmember stationed at one elevator during high traffic periods and areas to conduct guests into the elevators. We experienced the longer wait times after the shows at the Walt Disney Theatre and during the dinner rush.
Waiting for Kyle’s first moments in another country, however, took almost no time at all.
Ensenada, Mexico is an amazing location filled with many activities & excursions for those who book them early enough and are willing to spend some extra money on the third-party companies running them.
Kyle, Jax, and Remy showing off their new bracelets.
Taking Kyle’s mobility and equipment needs in mind, Team Kyle chose to discover the streets of Ensenada on foot, instead. We were assured that a wheelchair accessible bus would be available and once everyone ate breakfast, we were off. Thanks to years of considerable practice, Kyle was secured on the bus quickly.
The kids were amazed at the musicians and artisans we saw as we strolled by. We took the time to learn about some of the history of Mexico. Brigette, Jax, and Remy especially took in the sights in honor of their half-Mexican heritage.
As we finished a leisurely lunch, the cloudy skies gave way to sunshine. We made our way back to the ship and scattered to our own devices until the dinner show.
And to prepare for Pirate Night.
Now, I haven’t gone into much detail about the handicap accessible staterooms because, although I visited Kyle’s room, I didn’t spend enough time there to comment on what it was like to care for him in the space.
But I can share what Paul and Victor had to say about it.
While there was space for the wheelchair, the amount of equipment added to the fact that three of our group was staying there made the spacious room a bit cramped at times. ~ SuperCaptainBraveDAD Paul
Kyle had a bath every day we were on the ship and it was definitely a two-person job. Paul and Victor would—in their bathing suits and with swim shoes on for traction—take turns holding Kyle steady while the other bathed him.
The bathroom was large. If we wanted to, we could have brought the wheelchair in there and still have room to move around. But it was more like a locker room shower area—tiled with a drain in the center, a pull-down bath seat, and a detachable shower head on the wall. I wish there was a small tub in the corner. It wasn’t ideal, but we managed. ~ The Victor Soldier
Oh, a quick PSA. Sunscreen doesn’t work if it stays in the bottle. Please remember to apply liberally. Even during overcast days. Sunburns can happen anywhere. As we all remembered when we saw Kyle’s face in the pictures. He was ok, just flushed for the next few days.
Team Kyle likes to dress up. And we like to surprise each other. So, when given the chance, we went all out. From drawing scars on cheeks to wearing fake tattoo sleeves, eye patches to stuffed parrots on Kyle’s shoulder…to Paul sauntering to our table with a head full of Captain Jack worthy hair.
We ate at Animator’s Palate, which in itself is a spectacle of color and movement. Our party of particularly playful pirates took tremendous delight in devouring each and every mouthwatering morsel on our plates.
After dinner, there was the Party Like a Pirate event up on deck. It included watching Pirate Mickey zip line over our heads and the entire gang dance to some great tunes. The night came to a wonderous close with fireworks over the water.
It’s was especially great for Kyle. Because although we’ve visited the Disneyland Resort, we always leave before the fireworks. Being on board the ship meant that we didn’t have to worry about travel time home. His room and bed were a short elevator ride away. He could enjoy the fireworks and music for as long as he wanted.
Our last full day at sea started with some morning yoga at sea for the girls and some cartoon watching on deck for the guys. We all ate at the buffet, named Cabanas, for lunch. Then watched Remy good naturedly sass me at the How Well Do You Know Your Family game show over at Azure.
The ladies of Team Kyle with the man himself.
As the last night, it was our Formal Night. And we all dressed up. Hair done, make up on, and flashy clothes pressed for impressing the masses. The show of the night was Disney Dreams—An Enchanted Classic, which is Victor’s favorite show on the cruise.
Afterwards, we had some time before dinner. Some of us stayed in the lounge near Tiana’s Place to play some music trivia. And others headed back to Azure and the Silent Dance Party taking place there.
If you’ve never heard of a silent dance party—I didn’t know what it was until the cruise—it’s a party where each person is given headphones that are connected to a few wireless music stations. All the music is played through the headphones and the dancing and shuffling and singing happens in a mostly music-less room.
Kyle with big sis Honour and dad Paul
Kyle loves music and enjoyed every moment of dancing with his sister and dad.
Dance party done and trivia medals won, Team Kyle sat down for our last dinner aboard the Disney Wonder at the liveliest restaurant on board: Tiana’s Place.
Tiana’s Place is exactly what I imagined eating at her restaurant at the end of The Princess and the Frog would be like. But on a boat. There was a live jazz trio playing covers of classic Disney songs. Tiana stood on stage and welcomed us all. She even came to our table and signed a few autographs.
The waitstaff—who’ve been with us the whole trip—led a quick promenade through the tables, complete with purple, green, and yellow Mardi Gras beads for everyone.
But my absolute favorite moment was when we got to sing “Happy Birthday” to Kyle.
We were that loud family over by the windows. Cheering and hollering. Holding up phones and getting in each other’s shots.
Kyle Celebrates his 13th birthday
“It was all great. Knowing that we could all be together to celebrate Kyle’s birthday and to provide a memorable experience to all of my kids, and their kids!” ~SuperCaptainBraveDAD Paul
Paul calls all of the adults in Team Kyle “his kids” and we’ve become family to each other over the years.
Although we were there to celebrate, there is always a key part of us that is always in “Nurse Mode.” Whether it’s unconsciously checking the numbers on Kyle’s pulse oximeter to reaching for the suction machine before his parents can when he needs it. On this vacation, more than any other day trip, we were able to relax.
“The Disney Wonder put a lot of my worries to bed. So much so, that I was genuinely able to enjoy the cruise without worrying too heavily about the concerns I typically have when traveling with Kyle.” ~The Victor Soldier
We were able to focus on everything a typical family focuses on when on vacation. Thanks to the work of the crewmembers aboard the ship who went above and beyond to see that our needs were met, we relaxed. We had fun.
We could joke about who ate the most at lunchtime; who sang the loudest along with the band at dinner; laugh at the sight of the stylish pedicure Paul sported when he sauntered on deck.
We could and we did. And it was a blast!
For a more colorful retelling of our days at sea (videos included), check out the SuperCaptainBraveMan YouTube channel here!
Stay safe and stay brave, SuperCaptainBraveFAM!
Sea you later! 😉
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