Sailing Back to Italy

We set our clocks back one hour before going to bed last night to get back to Italian time and the kids have been going non-stop so they needed some extra sleep. Odin took full advantage of the extra hour and then some sleeping until well past 9! Keely took everyone else up to Cabanas for breakfast since it’s also churro flavored Mickey waffle day. Wahoo!

Today was an at sea day as we sail from Greece back to Italy. Since the pool was likely to get very busy, we wanted to get some AquaDuck time in early. Keely went with Liam and Ainsley before Odin and I even had breakfast! Eventually the rest of the family joined us on the pool deck and the kids alternated between the pools and AquaDuck and eating ice cream cones while watching Little Mermaid and Frozen on the Funnel Vision (the ginormous screen behind the ship’s funnel facing the pool).

Keely and I had a reservation for Palo Brunch at 12:30 so we got everyone out of the pool and changed around noon. Liam stayed with Lillian and Sydney while everyone else went with Grandma and Grandpa. Palo is one of the two specialty adult only dining rooms. The brunch was outstanding. We started with the meat and cheese antipasto platter. I had the smoked salmon and caviar eggs Benedict while Keely had the traditional ham. We skipped the waffle course and opted for a half goat cheese and tomato and half Gorgonzola and grape pizza to share. For our entrees, I had the lasagna which was outstanding and Keely had their famous chicken Parmesan - both choices we typically wouldn’t make at a restaurant but were highly recommended. For dessert, I had the limoncello torte and Keely, of course, chose the warm amaretto chocolate fondant. Everything from the views to the service to the food to the company was exquisite and a perfect way to celebrate all of Keely’s hard work planning this trip.

While we were stuffing ourselves at brunch, the kids met up in the atrium for a dance party with Mickey and friends. Then the littles and Grandpa headed upstairs for ice cream cones while Grandma and the big 4 went to the back lounge for a towel animal class. Grandma struggled a bit but the kids all did great. Keely and I met up with them there to learn the last animal. Odin enjoyed it so much that he snuck upstairs and made a towel animal surprise on Ainsley’s bed after dinner.

We quickly went back to the room to have everyone shower because all the cousins had Bippity Boppity Boutique reservations this afternoon. The boys chose a Royal Knight costume that came with a sword, shield, and cape. Ainsley wore her Repunzel costume. At the BBB, the fairy godmothers do their hair (the boys had glitter, slick, combed hair and some Mickey shaped dragon scales glued on while Ainsley chose a large bow and bun) as well as Ainsley’s makeup and nails. The kids all loved it and looked stunning! While we waited for the rest of the cousins to finish, we grabbed a few pictures. It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up so fancy! Mackenzie wore her Anna dress, Griffin was also a knight and Lillian and Sydney had fancy hair but opted to wear their regular dresses.

Before dinner we grabbed a few more group photos and then it was off to Royal Court for the last time. We had another wonderful meal and ate way more than we needed to eat. After dinner we played more shuffleboard, went for a brief walk, and listened to the band in the atrium.

Tonight’s show was Believe, a Disney Cruise Line show that pulled songs from a variety of movies. The Genie from Aladdin was a big hit once again. We had great seats and the kids really enjoyed it. After the show, Liam and Odin wanted to do a few more pictures while they looked fancy while Keely got the others in bed. Everyone was finally in bed by 10:30.

Tomorrow takes us to our last port stop which is Naples. We’ll be visiting Pompeii in the morning and then spending the rest of the day on the ship. It’s hard to believe this magical cruise is almost over!