Ireland's Wish Trip on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship

Saturday, April 9^th:    Excited about our big trip, we woke Ireland up at 6 AM and quickly got ready. A limo arrived shortly after 7 AM. Ireland was so thrilled when she saw it! The driver put a Make-A-Wish star on the limo door for us.  Irelands grandparents, Gina & Bob, met us at our house  and then after a few pictures we were on our way. There was a light show on the ceiling of the limo and beverages to choose from.

We arrived at the Chicago Midway airport and made our way to the departure gate. Boarding was quick and we were on our way. Ireland watched the movie Tangled while we flew and the rest of us read books. We had decided to protect Ireland from airborn viruses on the plane and we had her wear a ventilator.  But to make it less embarrassing for her we all wore one.  Actually this may have made it more embarrassing, I don't know.  Ireland discovered that it worked perfectly as a feedbag and placed all of her pretzels in it.  We landed at Orlando International Airport and found our hotel which was located inside the terminal.

After dropping our bags off in the room we decided to eat and check out the Disney Stores in the terminal. We then hit the pool. The pool was nice and watching the airplanes take off and land was exciting. Ireland immediately met some girls who were also going on the Dream Cruise. She enjoyed swimming with her Daddy and the rest of us read books and watched lizards climb the walls by the pool. We went back to the room and sent Eric out to get us all an evening snack of Chick-Fil-A. Ireland then enjoyed some cartoons with Daddy in the room while Grandma and I watched departing travelers getting harassed by security in the terminal! It was very entertaining! We went to bed looking forward to the next day - the first day of our cruise!

Sunday April 10^th:    Cruise Day!! At 9 AM our bags were ready by the door and we were heading to the boarding area at the airport for Disney Transportation to the cruise ship. We were nervous that there would be long lines but there were none at all. We were able to quickly check-in and were given boarding #2. We waited for the bus in a nice sitting area and ate some breakfast. The terminal suddenly filled up with people and we were thankful that we had avoided the mad rush. An announcement was made indicating our bus was ready to board and before we could move out of our chairs a line had formed leading to the door.  Disney is absolutely amazing though because immediately a cast member came up to us and asked Ireland if she would like to be first in line. We had very nice seats on the bus and enjoyed watching old Disney cartoons. When we were a little ways out from Cape Canaveral we drove over the top of a hill and saw the Dream Ship in the distance. It was beautiful and very exciting!

We arrived at the Disney Cruise Terminal and were lucky to find seating. The crowds were already starting to take over the terminal. Mickey and Minnie made appearances for photos and the lines to see them were huge, but again a cast member from Disney approached Ireland and asked if she would like to go first. We then found out that because Ireland was with Make-A-Wish she would board first. When they did start boarding we eventually made our way through a sea of people and entered the large doorway that looks like a big Mickey head. We had our photos taken and then entered the ship through its magnificent foyer. Like royalty, they announced our family names as we

 entered and all the cast members clapped. It was really an awesome experience! We had already decided that we would eat and then hit the pools. We ate at Cabanas, a buffet style restaurant, and sat at a lovely table that was right next to a huge window. The food was very good (as it was good everywhere on the ship) but we finished quickly because Ireland wanted to see the pools. Soon we were enjoying the Florida sun and swimming in the Donald pool.

Again, Ireland was already making friends and was really enjoying herself. Realizing that the Sail Away Party was scheduled soon, we decided to find our room and get ready. Our room was on the 9^th deck, room #9640. Ireland’s grandparents were in an adjoining room, #9642. When we walked in we were so pleased with what we saw. The room was a nice size, and had a beautiful verandah and an amazing view.

The Disney Cruise Ships have a Make-A-Wish representative on each ship and on the table was a delicious cheese and fruit tray left by them. Throughout the cruise they left many food trays for us in our room, some with cookies and cakes. They also left other gifts for her and on the last day they left a large stuffed Captain Mickey, signed by Mickey himself. Ireland loved coming into our room and finding these gifts and cards everyday! After enjoying the room for a bit, we dressed and then headed back out to the pool deck for the Sail Away Party. In true Disney style, the pool decks were turned into a dance party and Ireland had a great spot up close. When the ship finally set sail it blew its horn in the melody from the song “A dream is a wish your heart makes”. It was loud and beautiful and something we will never forget. Afterwards, we had dinner at Animators Palette and watched as characters from Finding Nemo interacted with the guests. We then proceeded to the theatre and saw Disney’s Golden Mickeys stage show.

By this time we were pretty tired and we went back to our room , but before we went to sleep we spent some time watching the ocean speed by from the chairs on our verandah. We were moving fast and, although it was very dark, the lights on our ship made the ocean below us glow like emeralds. In the far distance we could see the twinkling lights of other cruise ships. We went to bed exhausted, but happy.


Monday, April 11^th:    Day at Nassau, Bahamas. We had booked a special shore excursion in advance for this day so we woke up early to get ready to disembark. It was very hot when we got off the ship and we needed to walk about 10 minutes to get to the boat that would take us to our excursion. Ireland can only walk short distances, especially in heat, so her Daddy had to carry her a little ways but we made it to the boat and they were kind enough to let us board first so that Ireland could have a seat in the shade. We traveled by boat about a half an hour to a small island called Blue Lagoon. We were split into groups of 10 people and then brought to small docks that were on the lagoon. We sat down and dangled our feet in the seawater. The dock was covered with awnings so we were not in direct sunlight which was perfect for Ireland. Brilliant colored fish swam up and circled around our feet, but then we saw what we had come for….a dolphin! It was huge and would glide inches below our feet and then pop up in front of us.
The guides had us each stand on an underwater platform so that we could touch, hug, and dance with the dolphins. It was an amazing, thrilling experience. Our dolphin was so intelligent and gentle and we enjoyed every minute. We were sad to leave this beautiful island. Ireland purchased a stuffed plush dolphin at the gift shop and we took the boat back to the main island. After returning to our room on the ship, we cleaned up and went to the pool deck for lunch and ice-cream. Ireland loved the banana strawberry ice-cream! We explored the ship and saw a live family game show in one of the clubs. Ireland also spent a little time in the kids cub. She was amazed by the hand washing machine inside the club. She would stick her arms into the holes and it would soap her up and rinse her off. She must have washed her hands a dozen times.

Dinner was in the Enchanted Garden and was delicious as usual. Our servers were with us each night and they did a wonderful job. The show after dinner was Disney’s Villains and we really enjoyed it. Afterwards we took Ireland to the family dance club called the D-Lounge. Ireland loved dancing and we spent the rest of the night enjoying the music and watching her dance.  In the lounge, Ireland’s Daddy ordered her a special ice-cream drink from the bar and after seeing it Ireland declared that it was the best day ever! Eventually, we made our way back to the rooms, and after enjoying the view from our verandahs for a bit, we finally went to bed. Ireland stayed in Grandma and Grandpa’s room because they had a special pull down bed with glow in the dark constellations on the ceiling.

Tuesday, April 12^th:    Day at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. We slept in and relaxed in the morning and then watched from our verandahs as the boat prepared to disembark at Castaway Cay. It was a gorgeous day and the ocean was the most beautiful color of blue-green. We enjoyed breakfast on the ship and then disembarked and hit the beach. We floated on inner-tubes and then pulled some chairs down to the water and sipped on fruity drinks.

We looked for shells in the sand and Ireland tried to build a sand castle. We ate lunch on the island (barbecue style, and delicious!) and then brought Ireland over to the ocean waterslides. She is a bit of a dare-devil so she really enjoyed the fast one! After working on another sand castle, we walked over to the snorkel supply hut and got ready to do our next excursion…swimming with sting rays. All of the rays have had their stinger trimmed down so it was safe, but still a little scary! Ireland fed the rays and then did some snorkeling. We had no idea that Ireland would pick it up so quickly, but she loved snorkeling and did not want to leave! She took photos with an underwater camera and spent an hour floating around watching the rays. We were the very last ones to leave the sting ray area for the day and probably one of the last to make it back to the boat. After cleaning up, we ate dinner at the Royal Palace. We had an amazing table next to a large porthole and we had a gorgeous view of the sun going down. Later we went over to the Disney Theatre for the nightly show. That evening it was a juggler and we thought it might be a little lame but we were wrong…it was hilarious and we enjoyed every minute of it. Afterwards we hit the D-Lounge again (Ireland’s favorite night time spot ) for more dancing and then eventually made it back to our room to turn in for the evening.

Wednesday, April 13:    Day at Sea. We woke up and after getting ready we went over to the Royal Palace for breakfast. Afterwards, we decided to play the Interactive Disney Detective Agency game. Ireland was given a card that activated wall hangings that were scattered throughout the ship. Her goal was to figure out who stole the missing Dalmation puppies. We enjoyed exploring the ship and solving the mystery.

Ireland then went with her Daddy and Grandpa to the cruise ship movie theatre and saw the movie “Gnomeo and Juliet”. Ireland’s Grandma and I enjoyed coffees on the deck and looked at the gift shops. After the movie, Ireland went to the Kids Club and spent time playing with the other children on the interactive floor (the technology is pretty amazing on the ship!). We also decided to try the AquaDuck, the huge water coaster on the boat. Ireland rode it 3 times. It was Pirate Night and we had packed a pirate costume for Ireland to wear to dinner. We went back to our rooms and changed and then went to dinner at Royal Palace. We got to sit at the amazing table with the view again….we felt very lucky! We all had pirate scarves and eye patches and Eric made us laugh by wearing the eye patches on both of his eyes!

We watched some of the pirate show on the pool deck. After dinner we went to the theatre and saw Disney’s Believe. It was very good and was supposed to be a tear-jerker, but if we cried it was probably because we knew it was our last night on the ship. After the show we went back to our rooms and packed. Our bags needed to be outside our doors before we went to bed that night. After packing, we ordered room service (cookies and milk!) and enjoyed the verandah one last time.

Thursday, April 14 Departure Day.    We were up by 7AM and heading out the door by 8AM, not because we wanted to, but because that’s how early they want you out! The lines to disembark were very long by the time we got there, so instead of waiting in line we went to the coffee bar above the lobby and relaxed and waited until the line was manageable. We then disembarked and boarded the Disney Cruise Line Bus back to Orlando.

We really enjoyed our trip so much! Ireland had the time of her life and we are so grateful to Make-A-Wish for such an amazing adventure!

When we got back to Orlando we extended our trip by visiting Disney World and Universal Studios. Eric’s mother, Kathy, met us in Orlando for this part of the trip and so did my brothers Ryan and Shane with their families. The highlights: On the day that we went to Disney we had 13 people in our group, but somehow we all managed to stay together!

We went on all the rides that were on Ireland’s list and even did Space Mountain twice (Ireland’s favorite at Magic Kingdom). We had a great time and made some awesome memories. On the day we went to Universal Studios we went on a ride called “Disaster!” where they pulled people from the crowd to be in the film they were creating. Ireland’s Grandma Kathy was chosen and she was a real good sport about it. They filmed a shot of her digging in a garden and smiling at the camera. Later on we went on the ride where we experienced a disaster in a subway with earthquakes and flooding and they filmed us screaming in fear. After the ride was over they showed the film that they had made and we were all in it! But the best part was when they showed Grandma Kathy digging in her garden with a big smile on her face and suddenly she gets zapped by lightning and explodes. We didn’t expect that and it was so funny and we couldn’t stop laughing! We had such a great time and “fearless Ireland” rode the Rip Ride Rockit three times. We were so glad that so many of our family members could join us in Orlando!

At the end of our trip we went to Fort Myers where my brother Ryan and his family lives and stayed with him. We really enjoyed renting a boat and exploring the beach. Horse shoe crabs were everywhere and it was fascinating to watch them.  We also were able to see a manatee swim by our boat. We had a wonderful time thanks to our gracious hosts Ryan and Jodi and really enjoyed Fort Myers.