Reaping the benefits.

Years ago my husband and I decided that when our children turned twelve that mom and dad would take them on a vacation of their choosing. Sooner than we would have like our oldest daughter was reaching the magic age.  We discussed where she would like to visit and she always kept the Bahamas at the top of her list.  One day I was checking availability for Princess Graduation Cruises I found one that I thought would be perfect for her. Although both my husband and I qualified for a free cruise plus a companion we chose to only use my graduation cruise and pay for our daughter's separately.  What we didn't realize at the time however, was that since my husband was also a Princess graduate, even though he wasn't using his cruise, he still reaped all of the same benefits as me.  Including, complimentary Internet, laundry services, gourmet appetizers in our room on formal nights, discounts at the on board shops, and on board credit of $100 each.

 Our first stop on the cruise was Princess Cays.  Princesses privately owned beach.  It was really too bad that our beds in our room were as comfortable as they were.  We overslept our first morning at Princess Cays until noon! We were still able to make it to the island for lunch and to rent a water bike, snorkel and soak up rays of sunshine.

 Our next stop was St. Maarten. We hadn't traveled to the Caribbean before and LOVED the clear waters and white beaches. Unfortunately the beach our excursion was booked on was experiencing high winds that day so we were able to walk around the beach shops and relax instead. Luckily our excursion in St. Thomas the following day went perfectly. We kayaked through the protected mangroves, hiked and snorkeled.  This was our daughter's favorite part of the trip.

 We sailed on the Ruby Princess which is the newest ship in the Princess fleet and were impressed not only by its size, but it's shows, food, and service were incredible. We took advantage of our discounts in the shops and sent our clothes to be laundered most nights. At one point I hadn't realized I had left my room key on the counter of the restroom and someone caught up with me to return it.  Not without realizing it was an "elite" key however.  I knew that elite status had many benefits since you gain it by sailing on a minimum of 16 Princess cruises (unless you're a Princess graduate of course) but I admit I felt a little awesome as the lady commented how she wished SHE had a "black card".

 Our final (and my favorite) stop was Grand Turk in the Caios islands.  This small island had by far the friendliest people, clearest beaches, and with it only being 7 miles long, had the easiest access to places we wanted to go.

After 7 days on board the Ruby Princess and spoiling ourselves with all of the amenities our elite status had to offer we had a little bit of trepidation when our bill arrived.  Sometimes things just sound to good to be true.  This WASN'T one of those times.  We had accrued over $800 in charges on board. After all of our tipping was done and receiving our on board credit we were $100 out of pocket! Just one of those days we were happy to be be travel agents.

The magic of Disney at a very magical price!

Vacationing with a family of six I imagine would normally restrict our affordability to packing up the tent and cooler and trucking up to the mountains.  Admittedly we are spoiled. We've been able to visit many places at rates that keep us coming back for more.

 Last week we returned home from an amazing 7 day cruise on board the Disney Wonder. The first few times we looked into booking this particular cruise we could see that the price was clearly out of reach for us and our four children.  Every time we looked up rates that tent in the mountains became more and more appealing.  Last August however, Disney released travel agent availability for 7 days on the Disney Wonder. The original price we thought was $300 per person plus gratuities and port charges. We were ready to book then. Looking into more closely we found that the $300 price INCLUDED the gratuities and port charges! Needless to say we booked that day.

 We did have some concerns that the ship was only at port three days.  Our kids can get restless easily and we weren't sure how they would do with 4 days at sea.  Frankly, we worried needlessly. While our kids had a blast going ziplining through the trees, scuba diving, snorkeling, and parasailing in Cabo San Luca and Puerto Vallarta they LOVED being on board the ship! With current release movies in the full size Disney theater, sports courts, swimming pools, kid's clubs, and more, our kids were anything but board.  The only time they slowed was when their heads would hit the pillow at night until early in the morning when they woke. Not once did they sleep in.  They were far too worried about missing out on the experience.

 We also had concerns about needing to keep track of four kids at all times on board. Disney provided cell phones in each stateroom that worked on board in which our kids or staff from the kid's clubs could reach us at anytime. Every time our youngest daughter (3 years old) was in the kid's club I was constantly checking my phone to see if I just didn't hear the call or message come through saying my daughter needed me. After too long I would even feel the parental need to check in myself on her. Every time she told me she wanted to stay in the club. She had the time of her life!

The staff of the Disney Wonder was fantastic! We could relax at dinner while our servers entertained our kids with magic tricks and even cut their food up for them. Our staterooms were always in perfect order and the kids adored the towel animals along with the mints each night. One night they asked the room steward for extra chocolates and were spoiled with dozens the following night.

This was truly a magical vacation for all of our family.  The kids unanimously said it was one of their favorites and preferred it over going to Disneyland.  That's not to say that we won't be taking advantage of the current travel agent rate to Disneyland of $99 a night including two adult three day park hopper passes and up to three more for $99 each, in February!

Happy vacationing!