Take a Ride on the Fantastic Voyage - Day 4

Sorry for the delay... But without further ado, her is day 4.

Day 4 - Costa Maya

We began the day, just like all the others, Chuck got up early to work out (clearly, I should do something about this working out thing... it's beginning to make me look bad).  The kids and I woke up leisurely.  When Chuck got back, we headed down to Enchanted Garden to eat breakfast. It is a buffet for breakfast.  I am normally not a big fan of a buffet, but this one is good and this particular morning they had a ham and cheese croissant on the buffet that was out of this world.

After breakfast, we head back to the room to pack the bag for the excursion to the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins.  I packed some snacks and water bottles and I am glad that I did.  It was hot and humid that day.  We head to the Walt Disney Theater to meet up with our tour group.  We were the first ones to disembark the ship.  As it turns out, Costa Maya is very sparsely inhabited.  The locals drive there to meet the cruise ships.  Who knew?  Apparently, a hurricane all but destroyed the town and while somethings have been built back, the people have not yet come back to make their homes there.  It's very beautiful there.  Heck, I could see myself going back there.

This excursion takes the entire day, so if you are looking to explore Costa Maya, this might not be the best choice for you.  We happen to love history and have always been fascinated by the ruins, so it was a no brainer for us.

We boarded the bus for the 45 min drive out to the ruins.  Our guide told us lots about the local history and the Mayan people.  One thing that was really interesting was that Chacchoben was the Mayan word for Red Corn.


When we got to the ruins, we were assigned a second local guide to assist our tour guide.  He was 100% Mayan.  The ruins consisted of temples and the residences of the upper echelon of the Mayan people.

  Remember the red corn?

The ruins look like steps now, but originally they were stuccoed and painted a vibrant red.  Some of that is still visible in places.

How cool is that????  It was hot, hot, hot that day and very humid.  I am very glad I brought the water bottles.  I almost wish I had brought some Gatorade too.  


I had to include pictures of the cutest kiddos ever:

They obviously had a great time exploring.  The kids really felt like they were Jr. Archaeologist. To be honest, I kinda felt like one too.  It was really amazing to be walking among the ruins of some of the most advanced people to have ever walked the planet.  Pretty humbling to be honest.


After the tour, we headed back to the ship where we barely had enough time to shower and make it to dinner.  But, we needed the showers,  It was hot and we were all sweaty (and by sweaty I mean drenched).  


Our dinner was in Enchanted Garden.  It was awesome as usual, but the real treat was the show.  The show was Disney Wishes.  It was a story of three friends who will be graduating high school soon and spend their time at Disneyland.  These new shows are really fantastic.  I cannot rave enough about them!


Highlights:
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin tour
Disney Wishes
Ham and Cheese Croissants at Enchanted Garden for breakfast :)

Take a Ride on the Fantastic Voyage - Day 1

I was channeling my inner Coolio when I came up with the title of this article...  Yep, there I go showing my age again.

The fam and I just got back from a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise on the new Disney Fantasy!  It was an amazing trip and, lucky you, get to hear all about it :)

The down and dirty:

Cast of Characters - Chuck, 45,  Me, in my 30's (Haha, I bet you thought I'd slip up and actually tell you), Caroline, 8 and Garrett, 5
The Itinerary - Port Canaveral, Day at Sea, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Day at Sea, Castaway Cay, Port Canaveral
The Ship - Disney Fantasy
Cabin - Category 4B Cabin # 8098
Dining - First Seating
Sail Date - June 23, 2012

Since we live in Charleston, SC, we drive to Port Canaveral since it's only 6 hours away.  So, on June 23, we wake up early enough to be on the road at 6am!  Yay!  That means we should arrive at the port around noon.  Well, best laid plans and all, we get on the road a couple of minutes late, but nothing to throw us off course too much.  We cross the Florida line about the time both kiddos start complaining of their ears hurting.  YIKES!  I quickly start googling Urgent Care Centers in the area and found one in Jacksonville.  Luckily for us, it was just swimmers ear.  The doctor prescribes an antibiotic and about an hr and a half later, we are back on the road.  Thank goodness I planned on getting there at noon.  We had plenty of wiggle room.  As soon as we got to the port, we checked in and were able to board.  We are way past excited by this time.  The ship is stunningly beautiful.  Disney definitely believes in making you feel as though you have just stepped onto the First Class atrium one of the great luxury liners of days gone by.

We get to our cabin to drop off our bags and to grab some lunch.  I booked a category 4B because we have stayed in a Veranda Cabin before, but I was really intrigued by the extra 50 square feet and round tub.  I will have to say, for us, both were well worth the additional cost.  I am completely enamored with the round tub and rain shower head.  The tub/shower seems small when you look at it, but the round shape makes it the roomiest shower I've ever had on a cruise ship.

After dropping our bags off and admiring our home for the next 7 days, we head to Cabanas for lunch.  Lunch was a good buffet.  I think Garrett might have eaten his weight in shrimp.  That kid loves three foods: steak, shrimp and bacon.  After lunch, we swing by the Oceaneers Club and Oceaneers Lab to check it out and get the kids equipped with their Mickey Bracelets (aka Oceaneers ID aka Lojack, as I affectionately call it since it has a GPS locator in it).  Yes, you can do this at the port, but when the lines are long, skip it and do it onboard.

That night we went to dinner at Animators Palate.  We met our Server Tiziana from Italy and her assistant, Camille from Trinidad and Tobago.  We loved, loved, loved them both.  Animators Palate the first night is much like Animators on the Disney Dream.  It features an interactive show featuring Crush from Finding Nemo.

After dinner, Garrett and I went on to sleep since we had had an early morning and long day, while Chuck and Caroline caught the show, A Fantasy Come True.  Chuck said it was a Glee-esque kinda show.  I don't care for Glee, so it wouldn't have been a show I would have cared for.  Caroline loved it.

Highlights:

Category 4 cabin with extra 50 sq feet and round tub/shower
Animators Palate
The ship itself