The Disney Cruise Nursery Experience...the taking my kids on excursions and when I don't edition!

When planning the Disney Cruise and looking at the different experiences that were available, my first thought was selecting something we could all enjoy. We soon realized this was an all around bad idea. The first port was Cozumel, Mexico and we found an awesome inner-tube floating down the river experience that included an all you can eat traditional Mexican buffet (honestly, it was the best food of the trip and I would go as far to say that it was one of the best meals I have had EVER) and all you can drink which included; margarita's, tequila, beer, you name it. The entire time that we were floating along, the Hubs and I kept giggling that we couldn't believe that we even considered taking Baby D with us. Particularly when the "floating" stopped and we were not even moving at all. At this point, mama was getting hangry and we were soooo far from the end of the tubing where the food was located. In hindsight, we could have just pushed ourselves to one of the adventure spots and just walked the rest of the way, but the thought never crossed our minds at the time. Actually, it didn't cross my mind till this very minute. Luckily Hubs took one for the team, jumped out and saved us and my stomach by pushing us along the rest of the the way... #notallheroeswearcapes. Just imagine if you will Baby D being with us during this debacle?!

Since I did not take pictures of the nursery for personal and personnel reasons, I will instead include the rivertubing pictures...you're welcome! There are plenty of pictures online, and the nursery is super cute, bright, interactive and there is plenty for all the kids to do no matter their fancy.

Look at that water!! #nofilter

Every advantage of twinning with her, I will take.....

Once we booked the excursion we had the serious conversation of the nursery. I suggest booking the nursery early on as spots can fill up quickly and it is up to the discretion of the nursery if they want to take last minute stragglers ;)

Honestly, I was more anxiety-ridden then the Hubs. I had never left Baby D with anyone for a lengthy amount of time, let alone with people he didn't know. We would also be on an 8-hour excursion off the ship with no communication. We had intended to also take EV on the Saltwater Grand Cayman excursion, which was the day after Cozumel (which was not described accurately & boring as heck), but there was only two seats available. The excursion for the Grand Cayman was only 3.5 hours and at least I knew that EV would be with Baby D and all the Frozen and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that she could ever want.

How did we book excursions without being able to include/add the kids last minute you ask?!

As you are booking excursions you will find that you will be able to select the excursion of your choice, the people in the party that will be going and the time available, but then you will not be able to check out. The reason for this is that even though the excursion and the time are still available, the amount of people you are trying to book for are too many and there are not enough seats. You can always book the excursion for the amount that you can and keep checking back for availability and hope that the rest of your party can attend as well. The only problem with this is if the people you leave off are under the age to get off the boat themselves, you will not be able to add them after. Therefore, you will also have to leave off an adult in your party as well so that if spots open up, you can add them together. Hence why we were able to book the excursion, but then unable to add EV to it later on. Just be cognizant of the cancellation date. Also, if you are unable to acquire the needed seats and you haven't cancelled by the necessary date, you will be charged for it. Having a date day sounded fabulous, but as it got closer and closer to our boarding day, all I wanted to do was back out. In hindsight with the boringness (the most suitable non-word) of it all, I should have listened to my gut. Had I known that it was just going to be us, I would have planned something more interactive like swimming with the dolphins, scuba-ing, etc., especially since the weather was perfection. Knowing what I know now, I would have stayed on the ship (left the kids for a couple of hours), enjoyed the view and cocktails and played in the Aquaduck. Anyway, as per usual, I am getting into a whole tangent and not even discussing the nursery.

Back to our scheduled programming...

First things first, DO NOT read the reviews on the Disney Cruise Nurseries. I won't link it since everyone has their opinion and who am I to argue someone else's experience, but the one I read was LENGTHY and honestly, I was a little shocked how much they seemed to "drop off" their kids in the nursery. It seemed like every day and for LONG periods of time and all I could think of was "um, it is a Disney Cruise, isn't the fun of it spending time with your family?!" I was having anxiety over one day and a couple hours and this individual was using it like a kennel, but again, not my experience, not my cruise (cue shrugging emoji). Let's just say that the kids (theirs...not ours) were so upset about being there, they were making themselves sick and the nursery requested they get cleared from sick bay first before they were returned to them and the parent was upset. I couldn't really read much beyond that, but there was a lot more complaints about private adult date dinners being ruined and so forth. If you do read the reviews, take them with a grain of salt. You never know why someone is dropping off the kids, or if it has been a stressful day for them, or it may have been raining the whole time they were on the cruise. No matter how magical the cruise, you will end up seeing a lot of parents just looking more stressed than relaxed. With that being said, there could be a bevvy of reasons that are occurring that are keeping them from writing a more positive review, so just know that everyone's experience is different...including our own.

When you board the ship, check with the Disney Cruise app what time the nursery "open house" begins and plan accordingly. The open house will take place the day you board the ship, so I suggest making sure that you have nothing else planned during this time. On the Fantasy, it tends to be right after security check (for us it began at 4:30pm). Even if you are not sure you are going to use it, go! It will allow you to acclimate yourself and the kids as well as introduce yourself to everyone there. Holy heck, Monique greeted us and she was so beyond nice that I kind of wanted to stay behind and hang out with her. It was good to do this with EV as it gave her the opportunity to be comfortable with where we were going to be taking her and familiarize herself with the faces and different activity centers. It is also good to attend the open house as you can get the registration forms out of the way (you do fill out a daily one) and ask any questions to make the transition seamless, such as; what to bring, how many kids per adult and anything else you might ask a typical daycare center. With Baby D on a special formula and EV tending to make herself sick when in uncomfortable environments (totally Hub's kid) we wanted to be prepared for anything and didn't want anyone there to think we were "those" parents that just dropped off their kids without care and expecting others to pick up the slack. The only negative is that when you physically bring them the day of, the nursery gate is already up and you have to hand the kids over the gate. I would have preferred to get EV settled myself, but they are the experts and it seemed to work out just fine.

I was more nervous about EV since as mentioned, she has the weaker stomach when it comes to being separated from those in her direct family and I was nervous that when we went to go pick her up, she would be in her second outfit (meaning she would have gotten sick). You will never know my excitement not only seeing her in the same outfit, but when Addy came over and in all her cuteness told us that EV ate EVERYTHING, played, had a great time and cried for all of five seconds when we left. I was the one that actually ended up crying over this and for any parent that struggles with this, you know what a huge win it is (#daycaredebacleof2019). What we did learn from this experience, we are happy to pass on to others. Here are some things I would consider talking to the staff about when you are there;

• Find out exactly what needs to be included (plan for extra) in the bag that you bring for your kid(s). During open house they kind of get to know your kiddos and do not really tell you what to bring unless you ask. We brought our entire diaper bag for this reason (the big one, not the one we use for the parks). Was it excessive yes, but if you are getting off the ship for an excursion, you are going to want to make sure that they have everything they could want.

• Ask about activities and the food they normally serve. They ask about allergies, but do not really discuss what they plan on feeding your child for the day. If you are planning to leave your babe there for any extended amount of time, you are going to want to make sure its as enjoyable for them as possible. The reality being that this will be enjoyable for you when you go to pick them up ;)

• With that being said, pack extra snacks, if your kid has a picky moment at least you know they will be eating something and won't be a hangry mess when you scoop them up.

• Bring something of comfort whether it be a pacifier, blanket, etc. I was shocked EV went down for a nap, but felt that it was in most part due to having her "binky" and a lovie to relax her. Picking up a well-rested EV made for an awesome rest of the day!

• Ask all the questions about the daily form you are filling out. They never reviewed the form for clarification. Baby D has his formula warmed up at a certain temp (you can stop the eye roll here lol) and rice cereal is added to his formula. Apparently there was massive confusion about my instructions and the formula and he didn't end up eating as much as he normally does (due to preparation mostly) which kind of off-set the rest of the day. The way the form was worded based on the previous questions had me answering the form a certain way and not the way it was intended. No biggie, but had I known they were not going to review the form with me, I would have insisted myself or asked the appropriate questions.

All in all, I have no complaints. The staff was excellent, attentive and loving. They gave full well-informed reports at the end of the the kids stay and seemed to genuinely be on top of everything. I highly suggest that if you need a little alone time even if it is just to sit by the adult pool for an hour (there is a swim-up bar) and get a bloody-mary that your kids will be in good hands. Did I mention that I picked up well-rested happy kids that didn't vomit...#totalmomwin