Are We There Yet?

Before I start the next section of this trip report, let's address the elephant in the room.  I bet you said to yourself, 'really, another cruise? Didn't they just go on a cruise?' As I said in my pre-trip blog we had an altogether different trip planned but we decided to move and that trip was cancelled.  The nice thing about a cruise is its a vacation with very little planning needed, just get on the boat and enjoy! So for a last minute trip, if you can find a good deal, they are awesome.

This cruise offered us a few firsts, which also made it appealing.  
1- Cruising out of Miami, previous cruises were both out of Port Canaveral 
2- Cruising on the Disney Magic, previous cruises were both on the Disney Dream
3- Visiting Grand Cayman, a place none of us had been
4- Horrendous bouts of seasickness for two of the family, stay tuned to find out who!

Without further ado...

The boys were still sleeping, but we were up and ready to get rolling!

Step One- Pack up the hotel room, check out, load the car. Easy peasy!

Step Two- Drive to Miami.  The drive was easier than the drive to the Keys in some respects.  There was zero traffic at 10am on a Sunday, which was nice.  But then once we got to Miami the signage to the port was really bad and we got lost.  Then there was a tunnel.  It was all very confusing and at some point I took this picture.  I love the look of the Disney ships.  And when you see 11 ships lined up in port to sail out at the same time, the Disney ship looks so much prettier than the others!

Step Three- Get into terminal.  This part would prove pretty stressful.  The port was very crowded, the passengers disembarking were still trying to leave and the passengers embarking were all arriving.  I remember one lane of traffic and two lanes for people to drop off/pick up, but people were trying to merge in and out every five feet.  It was insanity.

Our plan was for Rob to drop off the three of us with the bags, then take back the rental car and meet us to board the ship.  Once we found the Disney terminal and fought for our space at the curb, I flagged down a porter and we were able to hand off our bags.  Rob zoomed off in the rental car and the kids and I got in line for security.  

Can you believe I made these shirts for all 4 of us and didn't get one family photo??

Step Three and a Half- Will they let us in?  While in line, a nice cast member (cast member is what Disney calls it's employees) told us to have our passports and boarding documents ready at the door. No problem.  I checked for our passports and there they were, right where I put them.  All four of them.  Crap.  I had Rob's passport but no Rob.  

If you remember, we are only about a week after the shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport.  And something about the hustle and bustle of the cruise terminal made me really anxious.  I wanted to get through security and out of the crowd, relatively speaking.  I got the cast member's attention and presented my situation.  She assured me I could go through with the kids and Rob could get onboard with just a government issued id.  They would just need to manually look him up on the ship manifest.  

Once we got to the head of the line, another cast member looked at our passports and documents and directed us to an escalator.  Up the escalator and into the line for security.  Whew.  Then I realized another problem.  I had 4 bottles of wine in my carry on.  You see, Disney is an awesome cruise line and allows you to bring two bottles of wine onboard for each passenger over the age of 21.  My problem was having one adult and four bottles.  

My plan was to explain the situation and if need be, get out of the security line and wait just inside the doors for Rob.   When it was our turn, I had the kids send their backpacks through the x-ray machine.  The guard asked if I had any alcohol and I said "yes, wine, at the bottom of this bag."  I put my carry on onto the table, took out the contents and there was the wine.  He counted them and looked at me.  I flashed him my best, yes I have four bottles but I also have two kids and mama needs a drink smile. He said, "enjoy your cruise" and waved me on.  I'm such a rebel.

I texted Rob that we were inside waiting and he joined us inside the terminal about 20 minutes later.  Here is what happened to him, as told by me who wasn't really there.  

Rob drove the rental car to the return location, waited in a fairly long line and then started waiting for the shuttle to the cruise terminal.  Looking around, he noticed a huge amount of people, all of whom were carrying one or more suitcase.  Apparently we were the only ones who thought to drop off half our party and the luggage first.  After some quick math he realized he wasn't going to make it on the next shuttle so he pulled out his phone and ordered an Uber for $8.  10 minutes later he was at the terminal.

Once the driver dropped him off, he made it past the first checkpoint with his driver's license and a quick check of the passenger manifest.  Then he was up the escalator and through security in about two minutes, since all he had with him was a Publix bag containing tissues and some cheddar bunnies.   He found us and we were finally, officially in the terminal. 

Sorry, again, for the lack of pictures.  Part of that is due to security.  Part of that is due to having two kids and one anxious parent.  And part of it is because there was nothing worth photographing!