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A few pictures from a trip I took to Chicago for Christmas back in 2004. This was when I discovered how much I dislike the cold. I can’t even start to tell you how much awesome stuff there is to do and see (a lot of it got free) in Chicago. Even in winter, there’s so much to do that you’ll have to make some tough choices.

Choices

The museums, the food, the holiday decorations, the food, the parks, everything was great. You have to see the fountain at Millennium Park. You have to get a pizza, the list goes on and on.

The largest, most complete T-rex ever found

Outside the Hancock observatory

The rest of the pictures can be found here; http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/divaentree/Vacations/Chicago2004/

I purchased a red eye flight for our group so we could relax in the airport before our transfer to port Canaveral. The flight was comfortable, and Delta offers a lot of on the plane entertainment, including direct tv, and in service trivia (which you play with other passengers on the flight) I slept the flight to Orlando but took advantage of the Trivia and the direct tv on the way back, they offer movies but it is an additional charge and so are other games.(lame) If television is not your thing they also have the latest CDs available to listen to in their entirety for free. You can create a custom play list and get information on the artist and song (from the same screen as the direct tv, just another option). When we arrived to Orlando airport we took the monorail to the Disney wing- a hidden transportation hub within the airport for all Disney guests, we had some downtime so I was very elated when I had free internet. The transportation to Port Canaveral was typical Disney fashion, comfortable coaches educating you on the happenings of your cruise.  The wait time to get on the ship was minimal, we checked in at the airport and that made boarding super convenient and gave us time to unwind in our room before our luggage arrived and of course EAT.

Watch Movies at the pool!

I would suggest taking a carry on bag with a quick change of clothes or necessary toiletries our luggage arrived at our stateroom at about 4:30pm, not bad but I was definitely glad I had my yoga pants and a spare pare of skivvies. The cruise staterooms were great, we have done other cruise lines in the past and I was so happy to have a bathroom I could comfortably stand up in.The only downside of the restrooms on the ship as a whole was I felt there were not enough when you left your cabin. There were maybe 2 on each deck and not always close to the dining areas, not a large problem unless you have an overactive bladder. The themeing on the ship was spectacular, be sure to pay attention and have your cameras ready when dining in the Artistâs Palate, a $400,000 restaurant on the Disney Wonder. Being an avid Little Mermaid fan I was elated that 2 of our dining evenings were at Tritanâs. Tritansâ™ is also beautifully decorated with a huge mosaic of Ariel on the wall.

under the sea . . .

Before dinner on the formal night we asked a photographer if he could come back after dinner when everyone was gone and take a picture of us in front of the mosaic, explaining my ariel obsession with him he also took us to another ariel mural on the 6^th deck and took numerous shots even going up 1 deck to take a new perspective photo. What impressed me the most about the Disney cruiseline (besides the food of course) was the crew, every person went above and beyond for us, now most cruise crews are very hospitable but the Disney ones are different. You can tell they love what they are doing and that Disney treats them well, from the photographers, servers, entertainment, cruise director and the stateroom hosts everyone was soo accommodating and willing and excited to go the extra mile. Our first stop was in Nassau, we stayed in the Bahamas last year so Nassau was not somewhere I had to see again, but there was a brand new excursion for an encounter with sea lions, now I heart me some sea lions so I just had to do it and it was a ridiculously low price $35 as opposed to the dolphin encounter, a pricey $100. the sea lion encounter was awesome and all transportation was included, Disney has an awesome way of making everything idiot proof. the next day I wanted to schedule an encounter with sting rays, exclusive to castaway cay (Disney™ private island) but when I requested a copy of my excursion charges I was charged 95 dollars for the sea lions and not 35, I was told it was a misprint in flyer and the excursion is actually $95, the guest relations staff said they would call the manager and have it corrected and she would call me back when it was. Well less then an hour later I received a message on the phone saying the credit was on the account and apologized for the mistake. The following day the manager called to ensure everything was alright and apologized again. Once again, very satisfied with the service. All and all I would have to say DisneyCruise was the highlight of my trip, I was sad to leave.

Here are pictures from the whole trip- the cruise, Castaway Cay, the Osbourne’s festival of lights, Cinderella Castle and more!

All the pictures are here; http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/divaentree/Vacations/WDW-12-208/