Fluent Brittish: Orlando, Ho! (Part III)

As previously mentioned, our main objective in going to Florida recently was to go on a cruise with my mom, my step-dad, my brothers, and their families. Prior to the cruise, we went to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Busch Gardens, and SeaWorld. After those fun adventures, we checked out of our Vrbo and headed to the port to board Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas. But first we stopped to fill up the gas tank of our rental van, and Nicky took advantage of being 18 and bought a scratch off lottery ticket with which he won $15!

Baby’s first scratch off

Utopia of the Seas

Scotty and I have been on a few cruises, but not since before Nicky was born. Therefore, our kids have never been on one, and a lot of things have changed since our last cruise (for one thing, cell phones weren’t commonplace back then). We were excited for them to get to experience this form of travel.

The kids loved getting drinks from the bar

We cruised from Monday to Friday. Our stops included a day at Coco Cay (an island owned by Royal Caribbean) and a day in Nassau, Bahamas.

At Coco Cay Scotty and Nicky got passes to the water park. The rest of us just hung out on the beach, and Scotty and Nicky went back and forth to the water park.

The sand was primo for castles

Showing a hermit crab to the littles

In Nassau we got off the ship for just long enough to walk to the Queen’s Staircase (a two-mile round trip).

Nicky bought us all fake Pit Vipers for

Christmas, and then he was embarrassed when we all wore them in the Bahamas

Here’s what everyone thought of the cruise:

Nicky thought it was fun, but he was disappointed that there wasn’t anyone his age. He was hoping to meet some people. He wanted to just go, go, go! and was always upset any time one of us wanted to rest. I’ve said it before, but Nicky is like a breed of dog that constantly needs to be walked. He would get mad if we so much as sat down to eat ice cream. He wanted to be entertained and on the move at all times, so he spent a lot of time on his own walking around the ship trying to find things to do. He stayed out late every night when the rest of us were exhausted (and he was mad at us for being exhausted). He loved the shows. Nicky’s favorite thing to eat on the cruise was cheesecake, and there was not enough of it. He loved our assistant waiter, Herold, and asked Herold to surprise him with a drink each night.

Daisy was also disappointed that there weren’t people her age (boys, really. We were surprised at the lack of teenagers on the cruise). We never really know what to do with Daisy because she’s so moody. She’ll be happy one minute then crying and yelling at everyone the next. We are constantly telling Nicky, “Don’t poke the bear” because the bear will make us all miserable! Suffice it to say, Daisy had moments of pure joy where she was pleasant and fun, and then five minutes later she’d “crash out,” as the kids are saying these days. Daisy’s favorite things to eat on the cruise were Boston cream pie, cream puffs, pizza, pineapple, and chicken cordon bleu.

Zoe shocked us on the cruise. She has always been very clingy on vacations - always holding one of our hands. On the cruise ship, she wanted nothing more than to wander on her own. She begged and begged, and I wouldn’t let her go anywhere alone until she could tell me our room number and how to find our room from anywhere on the ship. I let her try it out on the second day, and she became Miss Independent (this was so unlike her - I am still in shock from it). She found her way all over that ship on her own, and we just had her use her iPad on WiFi to text us. Zoe also surprised us by going on the zip line without hesitation (prior zip lining opportunities were not down with such ease) and by doing to Flow Rider. She did not like Nassau and begged to get back on the ship the entire time we were there. Zoe’s favorite things to eat on the cruise were bacon, chocolate croissants, and soft serve ice cream.

Balloon animals at breakfast

Zoe loved seeing what the room steward would make out of the towels each day

Zoe rocked the flowrider (another way she surprised us)

We accidentally got caught in a parade that ended in a confetti release (we were just trying to get to the pizza, dang it!)

Eva just wanted to go shopping and spend Grandma’s money the entire time. On vacation all she wants to do is shop, play on an iPad, or go “back to the hotel to swim.” We will be five minutes into a theme park, and she’ll say, “I just want to go back to the hotel to swim.” At the ports, all she could focus on was the crap she wanted to buy. Can I buy sand toys? Can I buy a bucket hat? Can I go look at the gift shops? She was obsessed with finding the ducks that people hide around the ship, so every night at dinner she would say she needed to go to the bathroom, but she really just wanted to look for ducks (because the first one she found was in the bathroom). We let her go to the bathroom 3-4 times each night just to keep her busy. Eva’s favorite things to eat were Caesar salad, taquitos, and a single piece of cheese from the cheese plate on the dessert menu.