Mornings became one of my favorite times during this cruise. On most days (and possibly every day), we woke up and the ship was moving very slowly, which creates a glass-like effect with the water. Combine that with the fact that most people are still in their rooms and there is nothing around except mountain landscapes as far as you can see and you have a very calming a peaceful effect. It feels a bit surreal.

I spent a few minutes out on the verandah taking it all in and found it difficult to leave, but I wanted to go out and get some coffee.

I think I made a little too much commotion getting out to the verandah because when I came back in, my kids were awake and wanted to “sneak out” with me.

After I got my coffee (the gross, free kind), we made our way down to deck 4 to play some shuffleboard where I took one of my favorite pictures from the whole cruise.

There were a couple other times I was on deck 4 around this time of day and I became obsessed with the way the light reflected off the water and created amazing contrast and shadows (I think that’s how you speak photographer?).

The kids also attempted some foosball and ping pong, but even at the speed we were traveling, the wind would cause the ball to move too much and they quickly moved on.

It was a relatively lazy morning in the stateroom and we spent a lot of time on the verandah before breakfast. We had a 9:30 appointment for the Princess Meet and Greet (formally known as the “Royal Gathering”), so we were trying to time it such that we could leave Cabanas and head straight to the lobby. Having just been outside, we decided that it was a little too chilly again to eat out on the back deck, so we found a table inside. It was nice to be able to serve ourselves again. I think this was a first for us since before the pandemic shutdown.

If you’re wondering, William created the “breakfast taco” on day one, which consisted of eggs and bacon wrapped in a pancake and topped with maple syrup. I think he had one or two every morning.

We did not get the timing right and had some time to kill before meeting the princesses, so we checked the Navigator app to see if anything was going on. It just so happened there was a family coloring activity about to start in the D Lounge, which was PERFECT and so simple. They just had a bunch of different coloring pages and crayons that you could grab and bring to your table. The kids colored two or three of their own and Lyss and I colored one, as well.

After coloring, it was time to meet the princesses. Emily was disappointed when she discovered that she’d “only” be meeting Cinderella, Ariel, Tiana, and Belle because all she really wanted to meet was Rapunzel. William wasn’t really into the event, but he was a good sport about it.

After we finished with the ticketed event, to our luck, Rapunzel was meeting with guests on deck 5, so we hustled up there and Emily’s day was made.

Later on, we made our way up on deck to get some pizza and ice cream and MOANA WAS PLAYING ON FUNNELVISION! When Moana is playing on Funnelvision, you don’t NOT stop to watch! I like how DCL provides blankets to wrap up in.

As much as I wanted to stay for the whole movie, I had signed up before the cruise to do the beer tasting in the Crown & Fin Pub, but it turned out I didn’t need to. They were letting anyone in who wanted to join and just collected Keys to the World once everyone was seated. So if there’s a drink tasting that you want to do, but it’s “sold out”, it will be listed in the Navigator app and you can likely still attend.

Anyway, it was not fun to do alone and not something I would do again. I was really hoping they would be sampling local Alaska beers, but that wasn’t the case.

We spent most of the afternoon at the pool and the kids did the Mickey Slide over and over and over again. Not long after that, we sailed into intense fog, seemingly out of nowhere, and we couldn’t see anything around us. We were sitting by the midship pool when the fog horns starting blaring. It is LOUD and sounded every two minutes for a long period of time.

With the fog came a cool breeze and misty rain and it quickly went from a warm(ish) and sunny to cold and dreary. But the kids didn’t care – they’re crazy.

We put on the nicest clothes we brought for formal night and took some pictures in front of some of the backdrops in the lobby atrium. I’m sure we’ll have to show these pictures to them someday to remind them that they once liked each other.

Dinner that evening was in Animator’s Palate. I can never remember the actual name of it, but I always call it “Fantasmic Mickey Night”. This is the closest version of Animator’s Palate that I remember as a kid growing up, so I always look forward to this night on the Magic class ships. I love how the images on the wall have black and white sketches throughout the evening and then gradually burst into color with a video tribute at the end. And then, of course, the grand finale:

The Golden Mickey’s are tonight! We settled into our seats in the Walt Disney Theater for one of the longest-running productions at Disney Cruise Line, the Golden Mickeys. I love this style of show and this one has a great storyline with Ensign Bensen moving from nervous stage manager to superstar show host with a little help from some inspirational stories along the way. The show could definitely use an update, but it’s fun and entertaining.

Still trying to adjust to the time change, it was off to bed.

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