Up and to breakfast. Thankfully breakfast at Cabanas closes at 10:45 so it was a leisurely get up. The sit down breakfast at Tritons closed at 9:30 and as Martin and I only got up at 9:15am this was never an option for us. However, we will be there tomorrow as this is where we will have our 7am breakfast on our last day.

Music

Leaving our room and entering the corridor you instantly hear music from the films playing. At night the music stops in the corridors directly outside the rooms, but once you hit the areas where the lifts are the music wafts over you like one of Olaf’s warm hugs. With 1000s of hours of Disney music I haven’t heard the same tune twice and on pirate night the music was of course themed. As you wander up and down stairs and down corridors you hear adults whistling or singing along. It has made for lots of smiles. The ship’s horn is a horn to behold. Leaving New Caledonia, it was announced to people on deck 9 and 10 to cover their ears as the horn was loud. We had previously heard the horn departing from Sydney, but we weren’t on deck at the time. The video doesn’t do the volume of the horn justice.

Whenever there are ship announcements, the tannoy is also the same tune.

Outfits

There have been people dressed in Disney paraphernalia all cruise, and there are some people who haven’t had anything Disney related on at all. Disney ears have been worn by adults and children though not by us, despite having a growing collection at home! This morning, we saw one Mum and daughter wearing black and red. Mum was “Disneybounding”. This is when you wear normal clothes but you colour match them to your character. The daughter’s dress was a Mickey Mouse dress complete with yellow bow tie.

On our last day, we hit the shop – I have hit it numerous times, but today Martin and Eleanor also shopped. Martin is now sporting this on the cruise.

Ducks

At the start of this blog, 6 days ago! I talked about pixie dusting and fish extenders. But there are also Cruising Ducks…

Apparently cruising ducks are not just a Disney thing but some of the ducks that are being hidden on this cruise have been Disneyfied. The aim is a big scavenger hunt. On the night of the Frozen show, we were going through the area of the ship that sells the photos and also the diamonds – this is an area of the ship that we have gone through and not stopped in! The man in front of me, stopped by a porthole and picked up a duck, there was then another duck in the next porthole. I was a step behind him, and thought I would get there first but he picked it up. I said – oh I thought I would get that. Anyway, he kindly gave the duck up and we are now home to Boo.

Eleanor was also given a bag of glass ducks.

I have really had my eyes opened on this cruise as to the whole other level of cruise culture and Disney culture. Despite this being the first Disney cruise out of Australia, many of the people we have met have Disney cruised out of America and so have brought the Disney cruise magic with them and passed it on.

Characters

Just like the parks there are the character meet and greets. We haven’t brought our aging autograph book from Eurodisney 1993 with us as it is nearly full, nor have we lined up to meet them. But I have been lucky to come across them as I have been on my way to somewhere. Minnie Mouse yesterday was special because she just was standing beside my Sun longer.

While I was queuing for Goofy, Martin was getting Hooked.

Carpets

A whole section on carpets. The attention to detail is incredible. If you don’t know in what direction the ship is travelling- the top point of the star tells you the direction.

Kids Clubs

For those who know me, know that I have a strong aversion to the song It’s a Small World. I don’t have an issue with its sugary sentiment but it is an ear-worm. Delightfully though, the nursery is called “It’s A Small World”. Also delightfully- we haven’t had a need to use it! We have lost Eleanor every single day to the Vibe Club which is located in the front funnel on deck 11! The funnel is also home to the Concierge Lounge – again a whole other level of Disney class.

For 14-17 year olds it closes most nights at midnight but then a handful of teens have gone to Deck 9 to just hang out. Staff are always around swabbing the decks and Eleanor has probably seen more of the life of the ship after everyone has gone to bed than most people.

The other clubs we have passed have been Disney’s Oceaneer Club and Lab for kids aged 3-10 and also Edge which is for 11-14 year olds. Just like the nursery we haven’t had much cause to do research in these areas. It is probably fair to say that these areas are much busier than Eleanor’s Vibe area.

Decorations

Going over a festive period has made the ship feel very special.

Miscellaneous

On our first day of the cruise we found the laundry. Martin worked out the washing machines and dryers since we had accumulated dirty washing since leaving Perth. He has also done the washing once more since our first day mainly because his running kit needs washed but he has also taken to handwashing his kit too.

I have also been impressed by the free sanitary products in the female bathrooms. One passenger said to Martin tonight as he waited for me, that the bathrooms are some of the cleanest that she has come across while cruising.

Animator’s Palate

Our dinner tonight had all 6 of us round the table again. Before choosing our meal, each of us became an artist and following a standard template created our own character which came alive after the show.

During dinner we also found out that French female children borne to the aristocracy out of wedlock went sent to New Caledonia with the sole purpose of procreating with the convicts. Our dinner companions had been told that on their tour.

Tipping

The end of the cruise is nigh. We came back today to find luggage tags (if we want to leave our luggage out at 10:15pm tonight and have it carried off the ship for us), feedback form and tipping envelopes. Gratuities have been added automatically because Martin chose an option at some point before boarding the ship. On talking with our food servers over the course of the week, we understood that they and our stateroom hostess don’t get paid from the company. Obviously they get bed and board for the duration of their contract 5-8 month contract but their salary comes from the tips left by guests. Of course just like in China, the Australians don’t really tip either, but we are on an American owned ship and whatever we think about about American employment law, these people have worked incredibly hard to give us Disney magic every single day of the cruise. Our servers, Joe and Ricky looked after 4 tables and Marcelle our stateroom hostess looked after about 10 rooms.

The finale

After dinner we went straight to The Walt Disney Theatre for Disney Dreams: An Enchanted Classic. We joined the queue early but actually the theatre doesn’t feel as full as it did for Frozen.

The show has won an Emerald Award, the highest award in the industry and it is easy to see why. A girl on the eve of her going to middle school is visited by Peter Pan to show her that she has it within her heart to believe in dreams. The staging, singing, dancing, special effects combined with a story about dreams coming true is all good feel Disney stuff.

The show ended and I packed within half an hour ready for our luggage to be collected by 10:15pm. We will next see the luggage on shore tomorrow morning.

Disney has done entertainment, service and food exceptionally well. With 1000 crew on board and just over 2000 passengers we have been well looked after. Will we go on another cruise? Undoubtedly yes… having done one I can’t say that we will never do one again.