So we got up and found ourselves in Port Canaveral, Florida.
We dressed, did a final look around the cabin for any items and then said goodbye to the cabin and headed to breakfast with our carry-on luggage.
Breakfast was a little different this last day, it was formally served by the waiters we had for the previous dinners, was really excellent and very quick.
We said goodbye to the waiters and the kids, who had become quite fond of them gave both Amanda and Marijan hugs. We also gave them their tips, which we had bumped up above the Disney suggested standard due to their really excellent service, friendliness and how they went out of their way to make the cruise that much more enjoyable.
Then we stood in line on the ship for quite awhile, and then finally disembarked and waited in another line to clear customs. No problems, just a very long wait and line due to everyone getting off the ship at once.
We then took the bus to the airport and were over three hours early for our 4 pm flight.
The Orlando airport is awesome.
Obviously the surroundings help:
But it's not just that it is in Florida. Instead of a worn-down, unwelcoming environment like Detroit Metro Airport, Orlando Airport is laid out more like a shopping mall. The place is well organized, staff are friendly, not surly, and there's lots of shopping and decent restaurants both in front of and beyond security in the terminals. We explored around, did a bit of shopping, had lunch at the Chili's in the terminal and then went through security.
Then we went to our gate and it was again an overbooked flight. While they offered a free return ticket if you gave up a seat, they only needed one spot so they wouldn't give us four if we all switched, so we didn't. We were seated apart, I was with Abby in row 14 and Leah and Tash were way back in row 34. Unfortunately, Tash had my book in her carry on. No big deal, i chatted with Abby and we talked with the very nice lady from Ohio who was seated beside us. She had just got off a double Carnival cruise with her husband, who was in the seat ahead of us and they had had a great time. A double cruise in that first they did a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise, got off the ship for 10 minutes in Port Canaveral and immediately re-boarded their ship for a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise. Very cool.
The flight was nice and smooth and we waved goodbye to Florida below.
We arrived back at Detroit, retrieved our luggage and took a shuttle to where our car was parked. I scraped the snow and ice off and packed it and we headed out. We knew we were back in Detroit when instead of even a hello, the surly lady at the gate just said the amount that we owed for parking, took our payment and without another word opened the gate. We were home.
The cruise was fantastic. If you've got kids, Disney is definitely the way to go for a cruise. They've got it down to an art and we were very impressed with how smooth everything went and how organized they were.
The level of cleanliness on the ship was fantastic, attention to detail superb, and everyone went out of their way to make sure we had a great experience. I can't say enough good things about Disney and recommend cruising with them very highly. Simply an awesome experience the kids will always remember and Disney had plenty on the ship for adults, including no-kid areas so you could get away for some private time. I'd do it again.
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