Jarek decided on his Make-A-Wish this last year. His first choice was to do a Disney Star Wars Cruise. Disney had started these last year and they got great reviews. They set apart one day at sea to celebrate all that is Star Wars.
For the "reveal" as Make-A-Wish calls it they set it up so that a lot of our family and some of his friends showed up at his favorite restaurant (Carolina's) to surprise him. The cool part was that three Star Wars characters showed up from the 501st Legion to present him with his wish. They had a Stormtrooper, Kylo Ren and Boba Fett show up. It was amazing. Many of us were almost in tears as it was so fun. Some of the younger kids (cousins) were so amazed. I remember hearing one of Quentin and Yesenia's kids saying "I didn't know Jarek knew Kylo Ren!" Make-A-Wish bought everyone lunch and Carolina's was great to host it.
The cruise was set to take place at the end of January. He had chosen the one that goes out of Orlando and goes to the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), the British Virgin Islands (Tortola) and Disney's private Castaway Cay.
We left on Friday January 27 from Phoenix on a plane to Orlando. To start out Make-A-Wish had set up a car to drive us to the airport. When it arrived, lo and behold it was a limo! What a surprise. That was fun and Jarek's first time in a limo. At the airport we also got royal treatment as they let us on the plane first and they announced Jarek's trip while people around us clapped and cheered. It was touching. This actually got Jarek nervous for the rest of the trip as he doesn't like a lot of attention and didn't want to be singled out all the time. Fortunately we wouldn't have to worry about that after the flight. Our cruise wasn't until Saturday afternoon, so we had some time that evening. I had a free rental car so we used it to go to the Downtown Disney in Orlando to have some dinner and some fun. We bought some Star Wars stuff and enjoyed eating at the same sandwich place we had eaten at while at Disneyland in California earlier that month. The hotel was inside the airport, but surprisingly it was very nice and even very quiet. We had a fun Friday night and headed back to get some sleep and adapt to the east coast time.
Saturday we slept in a little, grabbed some lunch at the airport and then went to where the buses take you to the cruise ship. Disney, as expected, is very organized and this all went with no issues. None of us had ever been on a cruise before. We arrived and checked in and got on board. The ship took off that afternoon and we were on our way. There were a lot of people dressed up in Star Wars gear as well as Disney stuff. We were a little worried we might get seasick so we had brought some dramamine and some bracelets just in case. Fortunately none of us got seasick at all. That night we had dinner at one of the three restaurants you cycle through on the cruise. The first night was called Animator's Palate or something like that. It was fun, though the food wasn't as great as we had expected. But certainly it wasn't bad.
Having never been on a cruise before I'm not sure how other cruises work. On this boat they had a lot of areas for kids of certain ages. They had an area for Enok's age, for Jarek's age (up to 18) and one for those from 11-14. Malik had the choice to go to the younger area or older (with Jarek) though in the end he didn't spend much time at either. Jarek did, though. He ended up making some good friends and spent a good portion of his time in that area (called Vibe). We were happy for him. There is food everywhere and almost always available (for free). The biggest source of happiness for the kids, especially Malik, was the free ice cream machines. You could grab a cone at anytime. And even order room service anytime. They had a couple of pools, a big waterslide (called the Aqua Duck) as well as an area with a basketball court, miniature golf, ping pong tables, foosball, etc.
Saturday we got to know the ship and went to the first night's show which was pretty fun. At night we all slept in our little room and were grateful for a great first day.
The first couple of days we were just at sea on our route to the British Virgin Islands. So these days we did various activities and ate a lot of food. Jarek spent a lot of time at Vibe and would get back quite late. Our first stop (port) was to be on Tuesday at Tortola. Monday morning I woke up as it felt like the boat had stopped and sure enough we had stopped at some island. We didn't stay long and later found out it was an emergency stop for a passenger that needed to get off the boat.
Tuesday we arrived at Tortola (one of the British Virgin Islands). We had scheduled a sort of tour bus drive up in the mountains with a final stop at a beach for a bit before heading back. The drive up on our little bus/taxi was fun. Steep, winding roads with a great view of the islands all around. One of the islands at the time that was nearby had the Obamas staying on it at the time. Our driver was super nice and there was another Mormon family in our bus from the cruise that we talked to for a bit. The beach was beautiful, though a little chilly for some. Malik chose not to get in - and I don't think Tevia did more than wet her feet. In the bay there was one of those inflatable trampolines and so I swam out with Enok to let him play on that. He played on it almost the entire time we were there. On my part I rented a paddle board which was a lot of fun. At one point I picked up Enok to give him a ride. At about the time to ride back to the cruise ship it started raining. This was kinda fun and refreshing - though certainly it wasn't 'hot' by an means. By the time we got back to the cruise, it was sunny again.
We still had some time before we had to be back on board so Jarek chose to look for a 'local' restaurant to eat. We asked some locals and were told about a place in town. To get there we got a taxi. This meal ended up being one of our favorites. The local guy had suggested what to order as well. I got the 'boiled fish' which was amazing. Tevia got a curry roti (lobster) which was the win. But everyone's food was just awesome. We also ordered passionfruit juice and limeade which made it even better. After lunch we walked back (wasn't too far). The boys got back on the boat but we had a couple of hours left so Tevia and I walked through town, got some ice cream, some local pastries, sat and ate, and relaxed.
Back on the boat we had dinner and I think this was the night we attended the magic show. It was so much fun and the kids were laughing so hard. We had also watched him to a smaller, more intimate show earlier in the week. Both were great shows and he was a lot of fun to watch. His name was Shawn Farquhar.
After that it was pirate night. They do a pirate show and fireworks. We had read about this (or told by Tevia's brother) so we were prepared. Tevia had been awesome and made us all pirate costumes to wear. Enok bought a sword and we all headed up to watch the show and fireworks. It was a lot of fun.
Wednesday we arrived at St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. We had scheduled an early morning outing to take a pirate ship out to another island and do some snorkeling in the bay, which we were told had turtles. The boat had about 30 of us and we were the first to take off from port. The crew was fun and Enok and I sat upfront. It was actually pretty choppy water with big waves, so we got wet quite a bit sitting up there. But it was fun. Upon arrival we got our snorkel gear on and sure enough there were turtles and a small reef with fish. Having been snorkeling a lot the fish and reef were a bit of a disappointment, but the turtles were fun and it was fun to snorkel with the family. When we arrived we were the only boat there. By the time we left there were several boats, so it was nice to have a little time to ourselves. I had fun and Jarek also seemed to have a great time.
Jarek once again wanted a local lunch so we asked the crew where to go. Their advice was also spot on as the cafe we ate at was amazing. More passionfruit juice. My sandwich wasn't awesome, but the guacamole was fun and tasty and the juice was great. Afterwards we found an ice cream spot and then eventually made our way back to the boat. The boys were a little tired after the snorkeling, so I think at least Jarek and Malik took naps that afternoon. I think this was the day Tevia and I attended a cartoon drawing class. We had to draw Jessica Rabbit. Let's just say Tevia's Jessica was much better than mine.
Most of these nights we would attend a movie - usually a Star Wars film. While on ship we watched Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and Dr. Strange in 3D. I really enjoyed going to the movies on the ship.
I think Wednesday night was our 2nd dinner at Animator's Palate. Upon arrival they had some papers to draw on to create characters. They would then collect them and use them later on for a movie you could watch. This was very fun. I was very impressed with myself as I drew a Boba Fett character. It was fun to see everyone's characters show up in the movie and dance and march, etc.
Thursday was the day we were all waiting for. Thursday was Star Wars Day at Sea. This ended up being the highlight of the trip for me - and I think for most of the boys. This was the day we took the most care to plan our entire day. I even put the schedule on sticky notes on the mirror in the room so we would all be clear on what we wanted to do. Each guest was able to select 2 of a few selections on special events. Jarek chose for our family and got his two choices. The first ended up being a visit with Kylo Ren, which was awesome. The second was a visit with Darth Vader. We were able to get pictures with both and they interact with you. Kylo was great and at one point when Enok went to ignite his lightsaber for the photo, Kylo just looked at him and said "NO!". It was awesome. On this day they also played Star Wars on the ships horn, which was very cool. The coolest part was throughout the day they would have characters around the ship. Throughout the day we got to see everyone from Boba Fett to Stormtroopers to Jawas, Tusken Raiders, even Zam Wessel. This made me feel like a kid again as I literally would get so excited to see these characters. I know it seems so dumb, but it truly brought the kid out of me. Being able to interact with characters was so fun.
For dinner they had a Star Wars meal. Our servers actually were all dressed in Imperial uniforms and the menu was a 3D menu with meals from the Star Wars universe (select meals from different planets, etc.). It was very fun. Late at night was the Star Wars celebration. We had all purchased lightsabers and were in a hurry from finishing watching Rogue One in the theatre. They did a character show which was fun and then fireworks again. They were amazing. This day was the day we spent the most time together as a family (even Jarek spent most of the day with us). It was truly a great day.
Friday was the day at Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas. It is much further north than the other islands we visited and so was a little cooler (both air and water). Our scheduled outing we did on this day was to feed and swim with stingrays. This ended up being very cool as we were able to feed the stingrays (they would come up onto a ramp and suck the food from your hands) and then snorkel with them. Enok absolutely loved this. Tevia, Enok and I also got to ride bikes on the island which was also very fun. We didn't spend much time on the beach or in the water as it was a little cooler than we like. This actually was the only day we had an 'issue' with other people. Our family arrived at the beach early and found a good spot close to the tram so our boys wouldn't have to walk so far. We put down our stuff, including snorkel gear and towels) and left Malik there while Jarek went off with his friends and we went biking. When I got back an hour or so later, there was a big guy chugging a beer who had taken over our chairs. Malik was still there, but had apparently fallen asleep and this guy took the other 4 chairs for his family. I approached and told him that these were our chairs. He said nobody was here so he took them. I told him my son was sitting right next to him (asleep) and that we had left our towels and snorkel gear on these chairs. He had moved the snorkel gear off (he said he didn't see it) and said all the chairs had towels on them (not true, you get your towel upon leaving the boat) and he refused to make his family move. I was a little taken aback. In the interim his wife also came up (they also had two kids with them) and she totally sided with her husband and said we'd have to find other chairs. Not wanting to get upset I figured at this point I'd play my trump card and told them our kid was there on his Make-A-Wish and can't walk far and thus we had secured these chairs. So it would be nice if they would let us keep them so my boys wouldn't have to walk far. They were unfazed and said my son could keep his one chair he was sleeping on. I decided not to argue and we just decided not to spend time on the beach. But how lame is that? The good news is we didn't let that ruin our day.
This night we were also invited to a special meeting which ended up being for the 3 Make-A-Wich families on board. It was fun to meet them and then Mickey Mouse came in to spend a good 20 minutes or so with the families. This was a highlight for Malik because the room we were in had a piano and he got to play. Mickey even asked him to play something for him; so Mickey sat at the piano with Malik while Malik played one of his songs he composed. It was very cool. That night was the last show on the boat called Disney's Believe. I enjoyed it, but don't think everyone else like it as much as I did. This was our last night and we were a little sad that our trip was just about to end.
Saturday we arrived in Florida. Getting off the boat was not that bad but we ended up having quite a few hours before our flight. I had suggested possibly renting a car and going out, but we decided not to. So we sat around for a few hours, then got on the plane back to Phoenix.
It was truly a magical week and every single one of us had a great time. It was relaxing (I didn't think of work at all as there was no cell coverage) and fun. It was such a great thing Make-A-Wish was able to do for Jarek and us. It truly created lifelong memories.
No comments:
Post a Comment