Day One and Day Two of the "Boat Trip"--- The Days at Sea on the Carnival Magic

EMBARKATION DAY, September 14th

Getting up to go on our family cruise had to be one of the few times we got the kids up at 5:00 AM and no one complained. We left by six and caravan-ed in two cars down to Galveston. We stopped at IHOP for breakfast on the way. At one point in the four hour drive every kid passed out. Miles, when awake, made us listen to the Beach Boy's "Kokomo" at least fifty times. He sang along every time too; which was pretty irresistibly adorable. He claimed that this was the "boat trip" song.  Ian did the typical kid thing and asked every other minute if we were there yet.   Overall the kids did pretty well getting on. Boarding was greatly expedited because we were able to use the special needs line (thank you ADHD and autism). The only hiccup occurred while waiting for a shuttle bus to take us from the parking lot to the boat dock. Ian got a massive bloody nose that used up all of my travel Kleenex and Liam had a minor meltdown over how long it took for a shuttle bus to pick us up. (The shuttle really did take a long time). Once we got on the boat all our difficulties disappeared. We had a room with a window that had a big enough ledge for all three boys to climb into. Which, naturally, is exactly what they proceeded to do. There was actually a pod of dolphins right outside our window that the boys kept watching. They also enjoyed pulling the curtains shut and pretending that we couldn't see them.

Pa and Grandma Jamie had a cabin with a deck. This was a huge hit as well. Grandma Jamie had brought along three sets of binoculars and the boys loved looking out across the water. Miles kept claiming to have seen whales and sharks, but for some reason he was the only person who could see them. We did occasionally pass other boats, oil rigs and other cruise ships and the kids loved looking at these with the binoculars too. The ship pulled away at approximately 4:30 PM and our adventure was under way.  We wandered the ship and ate an indifferent lunch on the lido deck. We enjoyed exploring the ship. Every evening we ate in the ship restaurant. This experience was always delightful. Our three waiters were so attentive (finding a magician to entertain them, making them origami, napkin animals, extra french fries etc..) and the food was always amazing.  Our first restaurant dinning experience was a revelation of things to come. Miles ordered chicken nuggets and cookies (this is what he ate every single night from here on out), Ian had a peanut butter and jelly and then was upset he hadn't ordered chicken nuggets. He was only pacified once Grandma Jamie convinced him to eat some of her shrimp "nuggets" (Ian then proceeded to order chicken nuggets every other night), and Liam ordered salmon and french fries (he ordered this most nights). After dinner we took, what became a nightly tradition, of taking a walk around the ships deck with the boys in their pajamas.  We had a little trouble getting the boys to calm down and sleep in the evening. There were two twin beds. Miles and Ian shared the bottom one and Liam got the top bunk bed. The kids enjoyed having a "sleep over" every night.

FIRST DAY AT SEA September 15th

Our first full day at sea dawned already much warmer then it had been in Galveston. I had a rough night trying to sleep (pregnancy and boats are a delicate combination) and got up to walk laps on the track. It turns out that only really drunk people and staff are up at four in the morning. After walking a couple of miles, I was able to go back to sleep. On Sea Days the dinning room opposite our dinner restaurant, offered a brunch option. We ate breakfast there every morning except for the last. The kids loved having the option of boiled eggs (Liam and Ian), fruit loop encrusted french toast (Miles) and hot chocolate each morning. The boys were all eager to get going on adventuring as soon as possible. After breakfast we got in our swim suits and then went to the water slide area. We played on the water slides and salt water pool all morning. Sadly we didn't get any pictures of the water slide areas...we were too busy keeping track of little boys. Liam and Ian LOVED the water slides. Both of them would race up to them, go down, and immediately begin climbing back up. Miles was too short to go on the water slides. To avoid a "Miles feeling left out" tantrum, Matt told him that there were shrieking eels (Princess Bride reference) in the water slides. Miles was perfectly content after that to play in the splash pad and tot lot slide area. After lunch we dropped the boys off at Camp Carnival to play. I got a pedicure with my mom while Matt and Pa worked out in the gym.  Both the gym and the saloon faced the front of the boat and the view was amazing.  After that, Matt and I took a nap. 

In a moment of sheer brilliance Matt and I packed my laptop computer and around ten DVDs. This meant in the evening when it was too early for bed but too late to be out, the boys could unwind watching a favorite flick.

DAY TWO AT SEA September 16th

The second day at sea Matt woke up first thing in the morning and went to the gym to work out. He was running as the sun came up over the ocean and claims the experience was extremely cathartic. After he finished he came back and woke us up and we went down to the salt water pools before breakfast. There was no one out at all which was pleasant, since older childless people tend not to appreciate exuberant children. We pool hopped from one pool to another just to find out if they were all salt water...they all were.

After a swim we got the kids breakfast (which they ate really well after a swim) and then took them to Camp Carnival for a kids only magic show. The kids seemed to enjoy that. Matt and I really enjoyed getting a nap while they were there. We picked the he kids up for lunch and went to the Lido deck to eat lunch. The Lido deck consists of a bunch of buffets. The food is okay at best, but Liam was so enamored of it that we rarely got away from eating there, mostly, I think, because it reminded him of his favorite restaurant back home...The Golden Corral. Trust me, the Golden Corral is much better. 

After lunch we went out and got a few family pictures of us overlooking the ocean. 

The kids especially enjoyed getting their picture taken. I took one down on the promenade deck (5th floor) looking up at my parents deck on the ninth. Matt then took Miles down to our cabin to try and get him to take a nap (he was at that cry about everything stage). Grandma Jamie and I took Liam and Ian up to the sports area to try and give Miles time to pass out.

We played miniature golf. Liam changed his club and ball at each hole. Each time they were color coordinated )blue club with blue ball. red club with red ball, etc... Liam strongly objected to how hot and humid it had gotten. Since the sports deck is the very top of the ship; it was pretty hot. 

Ian loved playing everything with his buddy Grandma Jamie.

Liam liked billiards the best, but kept moving the balls around to make it easier for him to shoot them into the pockets.

Ian went on to play both ping pong and billiards with Grandma Jamie. While they did that, Liam and I sat in the shade. I'm not sure but I think that Pa just hung out in the library and refilled on his free sodas (he got the all you can drink soda plan).

When we went back to the room it was to find that Miles was wide awake, but Matt looked exhausted. We decided to take the boys to the Seuss-A-Palooza. We weren't quite sure what that entailed, but thought it sounded kid friendly. We met on one end of the ship where we were introduced to several Dr. Seuss characters and given a lot of obnoxious noise makers. We then marched in a long parade of noisy instruments and noise making children to the other side of the boat chanting "Dr. Seuss is on the loose". 

Miles broke his noise maker at one point and tried ineffectively to trade it with one of his brothers.

Once we got to the other side of the boat we went to a theater. All the kids sat on the stage as a far too enthusiastic Australian cruise director, Skip narrated the story of the Cat in the Hat while it was acted out. Ian and Liam loved it. Miles wiggled a lot.

Prior to dinner and after Dr. Seuss, we spent some time enjoying the view from Grandma Jamie and Pa's deck. The ship passed through a rain storm and it was pretty fun to be at sea during the storm. The rainbow we saw after was even cooler.

That evening was one of our fancy dress days. Matt had packed color coordinated newly dry cleaned evening wear for our boys. They looked extra dashing. All the boys had to memorize our room number "1402" in case they got lost. Matt and I kept a pretty iron grip on them so the chance of this happening was pretty infinitesimal. 

Miles got assigned to Matt pretty much every night at the Northern Lights Dinning Room. This is because Miles was pretty horrible about sitting still to eat. After a while we found a viable threat in the form of my parents. A threatened walk with Grandma Jamie or Pa was enough to scare him straight for at least two full minutes. 

Ian was Grandma Jamie's exclusive buddy. He went every where with her. He fretted if we left her behind and sat next to her at every bus and meal. Which left Liam for me. Generally speaking on this trip Liam was a surprisingly easy buddy with only small moments of silly breaking out. 

Each evening we found that a towel animal had been made and left on our bed. Liam's favorite was the elephant. We also discovered that five small chocolates had been left as well. This was a favorite of the kids. Every night they'd run back after dinner and want to know what the towel animal was and where the chocolate was. After our dress up dinner we took another nightly walk around and then headed back to call it an evening.