So after our 24 magical hours in Walt Disney World and boarding the gorgeous Disney Dream in Port Canaveral, it’s time to tell you about our shore adventures in the final part of our photo diary. From Port Canaveral, we cruised south east to Nassau and then back north towards Disney Cruise Line’s private island, Castaway Cay. Here’s what we got up to:
After our magical 24 hours in Walt Disney World, Florida, we woke early and grabbed a quick breakfast at the Cape May Café with Minnie Mouse (as you do), before waving her goodbye and jumping on a coach which took us to Port Canaveral. There we caught our very first glimpse of the Disney Dream. Here’s part two of our Disney stay and cruise photo diary: all about the Disney Dream.
Last week, I was in Orlando (and the Bahamas!) with my gorgeous niece, Amy, trying out the fabulous Disney stay and cruise package. We’ve recorded a fantastic video for you which is coming soon, but until then, here’s our week in pictures, and lots of reasons why we thought Disney stay and cruise was the perfect holiday!
I wonder if it’s really true that time passes faster as you get older? I’ve been looking back at some of the amazing adventures I’ve been lucky enough to experience this year, and they seem like only yesterday! Here are my highlights from 2015.
The gang at Disney have been really busy creating fantastic new experiences for us to try. They’ve just announced that Disney Cruise Line will be cruising out of New York, Miami and Galveston in 2016, plus there’ll be British Isles cruises for the first time! There’s also the return of the fantastic value Virgin Holidays Free Disney dining plan at Walt Disney World, Florida!
Port Canaveral, Disney Cruise Line’s home port in Florida, is based about an hour from Walt Disney World Resort (you can book transfers when you book your Disney cruise, and if you’re going straight from Orlando Airport to your Disney ship, your luggage will be whisked straight to the ship while you board one of Disney’s Magical Express coaches).
You know me, I adore Frozen. So the news that Anna and Elsa (and Sven and… yes, Olaf!) will be coming to the Disney Cruise Line ships has made me a happy girl.
As regular readers will know, I’m a huge fan of Disney Cruise Line. DCL’s fleet comprises four beautiful ships: the first, the recently reimagined Disney Magic, originally set sail in 1998, closely followed by Disney Wonder in 1999, both with the capacity to welcome 2700 guests on board. Then DCL launched two larger ships, Disney Dream in 2011 (my first, and favourite - with the incredible ‘AquaDuck’ - the world’s first ‘watercoaster’ at sea), and the Disney Fantasy in 2012, both longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, and with a maximum occupancy of 4000 passengers.
I’m a huge Disney Cruise Line fan, as you know. We were on the Disney Magic last year cruising around the Mediterranean and it was just absolutely magical. Of course, the Magic has now had an incredible revamp and is ready, all sparkly and new, to set sail along with the Fantasy and Wonder for new destinations in the summer of 2015.
With the boys on the deck of the Disney Magic
So we started January 2013 with a bit of excitement after my Dad’s Christmas Day proposal to his partner (by the way, the Dodgy Centre of Gravity reared its ugly head again after our cheese and wine tasting night when he’d had a few too many and fell over putting his shoes on at the end of the night).
In February, I travelled down to beautiful Blagdon to meet up with my Yeo Valley chums and have a nosey around their wonderful new HQ, and went on the adventure of a lifetime with my five bestest chums when we sailed the Caribbean on the frankly fantastic Liberty of the Seas (we’re Royal Mums, ambassadors for the Royal Caribbean brand and we take our job VERY seriously). As you know, I’m big on spending your time and money enjoying experiences that you can cherish, rather than stuff, and this was right up there, believe me. I came back with aching ribs from all the laughing (the horse riding through the surf in Jamaica might have added to that a bit, but oh, riding through an azure sea is one of my most treasured memories). I also felt incredibly lucky to have shared an incredible experience with such incredible friends. I love you guys.
Myself and my fellow cruise buddies with the Captain of the Liberty of the Seas (Laura, Erica, Liz, Karin, Me, Capt Per, Tara)
The ladies chillin’ on deck with a cocktail
The Liberty of the Seas at Labadee
April saw birthdays galore. Charlie turned 15:
Charlie’s 15th birthday
And Sam celebrated his 18th with karting, a party at home and a pretty epic double chocolate curly wurly cake…
Sam’s friends at Rogue Racing for his 18th birthday party
Sam painstakingly adding the Curly Wurlies to his birthday cake
Then there was my Disreputable Dad’s wedding…
De brevren hogging the dance floor at their Grandad’s wedding
The boys with their beautiful cousin, Turtle, at my Dad’s wedding
In May, I headed out to the Cote d’Azur to experience the gorgeous Chateau Saint Martin in Vence:
Cocktails on the terrace at Chateau Saint Martin, Vence
and then in June, we reviewed the Funky Fiat 500 and spent a wonderful family weekend at The Grove hotel with an exciting visit to the Warner Bros Studio Tour thrown in…
Gardens at The Grove
The boys on the Knight Bus at the Warner Bros Studio Tour
July was beautifully sunny and we spent a wonderful day aboard the Independence of the Seas. The boys adored the FlowRider and it was lovely to meet up with all my besties and their families:
On the deck of the Independence of the Seas
I also spent a lovely weekend with my friend Erica doing an amazing foodie tour of Edinburgh. Foodinburgh 2014 is already in the early planning stages!
Red velvet cake at Mimi’s Bakehouse
August was MENTAL with nearly three weeks of it spent abroad, in beautiful Brittany…
Catching a glace with the fam in Brittany
and then with the boys on the INCREDIBLE Disney Magic - a real trip of a lifetime:
With Minnie on the Disney Magic
‘Jazz hands!’ Charlie meets Stitch
We even managed to squeeze in a day in Barcelona with wonderful friends after desembarking:
At Hotel Miramar in Barcelona with the boys
In September, Mr English and I squeezed in a quick weekend at Nutfield Priory…
A sunny spot on the terrace at Nutfield Priory
and then in October, we headed off on an immersive wine cruise of Europe on the really quite gorgeous Celebrity Infinity…
Mr English on the deck of the Celebrity Infinity in Bilbao
and then all that travelling squealed to an abrupt halt. Because this little dude came along…
Our new little pupster
In November, Glam C and I went to Hogwarts Christmas at the Warner Bros Studio Tour:
With beautiful, snowy Hogwarts
and before we knew it, it was freezing, wet December then… bloody January again! (to quote Flanders and Swann). We had a wonderful Christmas lunch at the Chequers Inn at Weston Turville: a seven course Christmas extravaganza with some amazing wine that really was festive, fun and very relaxing. My favourite course was this stonking turbot with a huge crevette:
Turbot and crevette
So here’s to 2014. What’s on the agenda for this year, then? More travel, certainly, more time spent with family and friends, loads of exams for the boys, more eating, more cooking, more relaxing, walking in the woods with our gorgeous new pupster and… who knows? My wishlist still includes Las Vegas (Britney, b*tch!), Australia and Thailand.
Thank you to each and every person who has stopped by to have a read, followed me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, or just blundered here via Google. I’m immensely grateful. Wishing you a very happy and restful New Year. May 2014 bring you peace, happiness and new experiences galore xx
My 2014 mantra
So as you know, August was a busy one for me. First of all we whizzed around Brittany for two weeks in our lovely (borrowed) Honda CR-V, and then, with the most ridiculous timing known to man, we got home on the Friday night at 11pm and had to be at Heathrow at 5am the next morning to grab a flight to Barcelona to meet up with the Disney Magic, Disney’s wonderful cruise ship.
One of my favourite moments aboard the Disney Magic was when I had the amazing opportunity for a one to one masterclass with the Executive Chef of the fine dining restaurant, Palo. Here I am (below, with lovely Jamie the cameraman - he works on the X Factor you know) doing my piece to camera VERY BADLY.
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