All Aboard!

 

Before discussing our first day on board, I wanted to take a moment to look back. This is our third family cruise, and possibly the last one we will be able to take with all four of our beautiful children. With Ian working on his mission papers, it will be all too soon before our birds start leaving the nest. The first family cruise we took was in 2014. I was pregnant with Ellie (so yes, technically she was on that cruise), Miles was 3, Ian was 6, and Liam had just turned 10. We could all fit in a single room with some bunk beds. 

Fast forward to 2018, and we took our second family cruise. Ellie was 3, Miles was 7, Ian was 10, and Liam was 14. At this point, two rooms had become a necessity. However, you'll notice we still only have rooms with windows, because of a very real and valid fear that one or more of the kids would jump off of a balcony. 

And now in 2025, we have Ellie, who is 10 (the age of our oldest child on our first cruise), Miles is 14, Ian is 17, and Liam is 21. There were ZERO toddlers on this cruise. Although cruises with little kids are pretty great, there is something really magical about having all older kids. 

Boarding went much smoothly and quickly than I thought possible. Having passports (vs. birth certificates) certainly helped. Once we got on the boat, we went up to the Lido deck and introduced the children to the wonders of cruise dining. Ian decided to go exploring on his own. Liam decided to hang out on deck with Matt and our pillows and backpack that we didn't check, and Ellie, Miles, and I went up to the deck to check out the mini golf course. 

We quickly discovered that the golf balls on the cruise boat were extremely lightweight and made of dense foam, which meant the slightest tap sent them shooting across the course. 

At about 1:30, our room opened up, and we were able to check out our awesome rooms. We had two rooms with connecting doors that had balconies. Those balconies were pure joy! At any point in time, you could relax on the balcony and enjoy the beautiful breezes and water. 

After fixing the mistakes the cruise line made regarding our dining time, we settled in. Miles, Ian, and Ellie checked out their respective cruise camps/clubs, and we got to meet our wait staff in the Silver Olympian dining room. Also, Ellie randomly started collecting the cards of our room stewards, Jerry and Lala (she had several in her purse by the time we went home).