Gypsy: The Disney Cruise Recap, Part I – What I Did

These days when someone asks me where I live, I haven’t been too sure what to tell them. Until last week. My best friend Lynnae decided I’m a gypsy. I like it. I don’t live in Texas anymore, or Orange County. I certainly would not like to say I live with my parents…an almost 28 year old with her Masters degree. And I haven’t yet moved to Oregon. I’m just traveling and soaking in the moments before I start my big girl job. So gypsy it is!

The month started with a trip back to Texas to graduate. The days were filled with celebrations, reconnections, and lots of good BBQ.

From Texas, my sweet family of 4 headed to Joplin, Missouri to visit my Grandma and my Aunt. Those days were filled with Wii bowling (my almost 90 year Grandma rocks it, strikes and all…from her wheelchair), naps, and more good BBQ. After a grueling 24 hour trip, we arrived home to San Diego on fire. It was a scary time, but we were blessed to be of those that were not required to evacuate. It sure does remind you what is important though.

Just a few days later I sailed away on this magical ship…

I know what you are thinking. Disney Cruises are full of families. And you’re right. Lynnae and I still had a fabulous time. I can’t say enough great things about the amazing service, food, dining, and overall experience we had.

I’ve never been so relaxed on a vacation. Truly, everything is planned for you. I’ll have a few parts to my Disney Cruise recap…so stay tuned this week: What I Did, What I Ate, and What I Read. Let’s start with what I did!

What I Did

1. Saw 4 amazing shows and the first run movie, Million Dollar Arm. The cast of the musicals was incredibly talented and I enjoyed every show so much. The Golden Mickeys were my favorite, but Toy Story was pretty amazing, too. It was also awesome to get to see a few movies for free that had just come out in theaters. Million Dollar Arm was charming and entertaining. A must see for sure.

2. “Adult” activities. Don’t freak out. That’s not as dirty as it sounds. The cruise team was great at providing game shows, trivia events, tours, cooking demonstrations, and other events for adults only. Though it was fun to see the magic of Disney through the kids eyes, it was nice to be away from them at times, too.

3. Read. A lot. Our cruise went from San Diego to Vancouver, a repositioning cruise. That basically means that the ship needs to get from one port to another and so it’s typically cheaper and shorter than a round trip cruise. Anyway…the trip up the West Coast was only warm for about a day. Yes, I’d love a warm Caribbean cruise…but after the craziness of grad school, it was so lovely to curl up in the adults only coffee shop for hours at a time and read whatever I pleased. I finished 4 books on our trip – I plan on reviewing them all for you!

4. Ate. A lot. That will come later too.

5. Explored. San Francisco. Vancouver. The ship. Anytime I got the chance to explore, I did. It was such an adventure!

6. Ran. Deck 4 had a running track around the perimeter of the ship. It was 3 laps to one mile (not so many laps that you start to go crazy). It was pretty windy most of the time, but always a pretty run. There are benches lined up along the wall, so I usually stopped to do some dips, push-ups and core work. And I usually hopped inside about once per mile to run the stairs. You know, for fun. Or to make sure I didn’t gain 10 pounds…

7. Napped. Almost every day. It was wonderful. I loved the rocking of the ship and since I was probably the most relaxed I’ve been in years, I could sleep at anytime and anywhere. But I wasn’t fatigued or overly tired and I still had energy to do the things I wanted to do. It was a strange feeling.

8. Got pampered. As a gift for my birthday/graduation, Lynnae helped me pay for a spa treatment. If you are considering a Disney cruise, wait until you get on board to book a spa treatment. They had daily deals and I jumped on one of those that was a facial, shoulder and neck massage, and scalp massage. It was so lovely!