The Royal Treatment ~ R is for Royal Suite

We trekked up the stairs to deck five, then headed down the hall to midship. The noise of guests being announced filled the atrium. Kylee wondered why people boarded so late (you must be aboard by four pm, for most cruises) when we boarded hours ago.
To each their own, I suppose!
Climbing the last three flights of stairs, we waited with several other families in the elevator lobby on deck 8 for the staterooms to open up.



This is the only picture of all five of us from the entire cruise.
Can you spot Kylee???
It's terribly blurry, but it's the only one I got. I guess we'll try again next time!

We sat on the steps heading up to nine and waited eagerly for the hall to open. Ben ran off to the restroom and returned right as they opened our deck.

8030...8030...Is that it?

Chris and Kylee led the short way down the hall (our suite was first room on the hallway, directly under the port side of the Quiet Cove).

There it is!

The first thing Kylee pointed out about our room were the two peepholes in the door, one at an adult height, and one at waist high height that Kylee could try to peek into the room. So we opened the door to the Walt Disney Suite and went in to explore our home for the next couple of days.



Wow! This room is HUGE!

The kids made themselves right at home exploring the bedrooms, bathrooms, bunks and walk in closets.

Chris is a big "Do Not Disturb" sign lover. He wanted us to put it out right away once we were in the room.

The front hall is noticeably wider than the other staterooms, with a nice entry table and a half bath right in the front of the space.

We passed by the front entry pantry (which we mostly used for the kids shoes and jackets.)

Mimi's favorite part of the suite? A toss up between the endless cans of Coke and the huge verandah.

We gawked at the lovely furnishings, a combination of historical Disney photos, nautical décor and classic cameras.

Classic Novels and a whimsical whale.

I am really inspired by this space. It was relaxing, interesting and frankly, many of my favorite books are featured. (Anne of Green Gables, anyone?)



Classic Camera, Venetian Murano glass piece and a beautiful leafy green vase.

So pretty.



Telescope and Turtle

I'll admit I had passing thoughts of telling the kids not to break anything. Who loved their bunk beds, their walk in closet and a particular favorite of Kylee's, the kid sized super fluffy bath robes.

"This one is for me and this one is for Chris. I guess that one is Grammy's"

We broke into the fruit basket.

Pears! I love pears!

And headed onto our verandah. Where we discovered two really interesting thing about the suite.

Yes, this is all one verandah.

With the wind and water, you cannot hear people on one end of the verandah from the other end.



The master bathroom

Second, I popped into the stateroom to use the restroom and came back out into the master bed room to Ben calling my name in the front hall.

It is physically large enough to misplace someone in the room.

With such a nice stately room, we wouldn't want to muck up the door with décor would we?

When else would we get the opportunity to put magnets on this door?

So long as you use magnets instead of adhesives, magnets welcome here! Which is good, because I want to keep my birthday girl happy! (Kylee is a big fan of stateroom magnets.)

My favorite magnet. Ironic given that the ship ran out of Mickey Bars.

For those of you who wondered where grandpa stayed, he held down the fort while Mimi came with us.

Flat PawPaw hanging out with Walt.

We look forward to the big family reunion where all of us can hang out together!

Outlook Cove. Day 1.

Ben popped by the Outlook Café and Kylee snuck in a quick basket of fries from Pluto's before we headed down to our assembly station for muster.

She got the last basket before service shut down to prepare for muster.

We lined up at our station, squished together (covered the kids ears when the initial alarm sounded) and listened to the safety instructions (while trying to keep the kids quiet.) That duty done, we dismissed to the Adventure Away! deck party!

Port side, front row!

Right after all of the Entertainment cast members introduced themselves and the dancing began in earnest, I realized that I still wore Kylee's Minnie ears from the muster drill. (They kept falling off when she snuggled up on my leg, so I put them on my head and promptly forgot about them.) So I returned them to their rightful owner just in time for all our Disney favorites to dance out and start off our vacation with some magic.

Our favorite dog, Pluto and Chip and Dale come out to get this party cranked up!

Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale all helped us countdown!

After some introductions a little goofy dancing and some high fives from our faves, it was time for the countdown!

Adventures Away!

After the countdown and subsequent dance party (the kids boogied for quite a while until Chris got tired out by Gangnam Style) we headed down to the room to chill a bit. Grammy and me and Ben quickly unpacked (there is enough storage in this suite to really just move in) our luggage. Then we gathered on the verandah to enjoy the breeze for a bit and watch the ship round the end of Galveston Island and head south into the Gulf of Mexico.
We had a little while until our dining time started, so we went for a meander about on deck four.

A little rest after all that dancing.

 I got prettied up in our room and then we all headed down to Triton's for main dining. Our kids both originally were seated on the opposite side of the table from Ben and I with Kylee next to Grammy.

Mom. I am nearing meltdown. I totally skipped that whole nap thing.

Caving into tiredness, Kylee ended up wanting to curl up on the chair next to me until dinner arrived. Chris was thrilled because he could sit next to grandma. If there is one thing that is consistent on my cruises, the first night I always seem to end up ordering a variation on the grilled marinated tofu, with roasted zucchini, eggplant and red pepper stack on a bed of Israeli couscous with lime and cliantro.

Quite a bit different that the same meal on the Magic

Having ordered this on the Disney Magic once or twice, I knew that it would be plenty to share with Kylee. What I didn't know was that the flavors, though similar would be better executed on the Magic. More brightness from the lime cilantro and tofu that cooked through. Kylee's favorite part was the tofu and red peppers.
Immediately on completing dinner, Chris wanted to hit the club, the Oceaneer Club to be precise.
So I went to drop him off. When I returned, Kylee, Diana and Ben were waiting for dessert. I was very happy to sit down with my peppermint tea and the same allergy free chocolate cake Chris had at lunch.



Off to deck 8.

We headed back to the suite and met Jay from the Philippines who would be our stateroom host for the duration. Diana decided she would be in for the night and curled up with her new favorite DCL robe and a blanket in the living room to watch the Golden Mickeys from the suite.



Ready for the Golden Mickeys!

Back in jeans and a shirt, I headed off toward deck four with Kylee and Ben. We looked around for a bit, only to discover that people had begun queuing (!) for the Golden Mickeys already. In all my experience, I've never seen people queue for the shows at the Walt Disney Theatre an hour beforehand. I'm hoping it was a one off.

Ready for the Golden Mickeys!

Anyway, Kylee made herself at home sitting on the carpet.

After a while she bored of that so we made a quick circuit of the shops to discover that the pin trading book was out in the hallway with a cast member. Kylee enthusiastically made her first pin trade after thorough examination for a pin of Fawn, the animal fairy from the Tinker Bell movies. We purchased some Jelly Beans in Mickey's Mates and wandered off to look in Treasure Ketch. (I still held out hope for anything Galveston itineraries related.)

Ben came to find us and pointed out one of our favorite hidden Mickeys from the Magic had disappeared on the Wonder.

Well that was sad, but now I needed to find a new favorite hidden Mickey for this ship. Challenge accepted! The theatre was about to open so we went right in and all the way down to the front row.

Jelly Beans!

On the night showing the Golden Mickeys most of the front portside row is reserved, leaving three seats together toward the middle of the row. Kylee happily ate her Jelly Beans until she accidentally dropped half the bag. Oops! We decided to race and see who could find the most beans on the ground (Ben won!) I was going to go give them to the trash can, but Ben believes in the five second rule more than I do. He benefited from Kylee's near tragic spill. Around about when we settled back into our chairs, a cast member walked over (he had been watching us during the jelly bean incident) and struck up a conversation with Kylee. She was telling him all about how her birthday was tomorrow and how it was her first time on this ship.
He asked if she would like an early birthday present. She said yes!
He said she could be in the show and go on stage. She said no!
I told Kylee it was a very little thing like Friendship Rocks! She said no again to the cast member. He seemed amused by her absolute refusal. I was too, as this is usually right up her alley.
After watching the other children selected get to march on stage with Dopey and Snow White, Kylee still didn't regret her decision. "Mom they're dressed like boys. No."
To each their own.
The show sparkled and shone with Disney princesses, villains and heroes. I loved the Mulan and Pocahontas sections! This is one stage show not to be missed with a touching through line about a stage manager who is thrust into the spotlight.
We collected Chris from the club. After a long day of fun and excitement, Kylee collapsed into her pajamas and climbed up into her bunk, Tinker Baby in hand. Only to realize, horrified that she made it her entire first day without so much as setting a toe into the clubs after the open house. With reassurances that she could go when it opened in the morning, she drifted off to sleep.



Look, a swan!

We went to bed after a short while hanging out in the living room, tired and happy.

This is Part 5 of an Ongoing Trip Report "The Royal Treatment" additional sections of this report can be found on the Adventures page.
Sorry, this part ran really long, for whatever reason.