Postcards From The Edge …. Of The World

We just got back from a Disney cruise. It was our second and it won’t be our last. As someone who always loved to travel I used to look at people who went on cruises with a befuddled lack of understanding. In fact I even recall saying (rather pompously I’m sure) that being on a cruise ship must be kind of like getting stuck in a crowded cheap hotel. Then I had Liam. Travelling with the pre-school set is just a whole other experience and in my book cruising stacks up very favorably against all the other options. No trying to keep a 5 year old quiet and still for hours in a plane or a car. No having to deal with luggage with only one hand because you need the other one in contact with the child at all times. Just 24/7 kid-friendly food and entertainment and the knowledge that no matter what your child does some kid has been sure to have done it there before so you don’t have to die a thousand deaths of guilt and embarrassment. Everyone on this trip “gets it” when it comes to kids which just lowers the stress factor enormously. The fact that Disney Cruise Line actually also does a great job of making sure there is a good range of adult food and entertainment is just a bonus as far as I’m concerned.

Liam and Goofy - Not quite captain material

We sailed to the Bahamas and a hot topic of conversation on the journey to Port Canaveral to board the Dream was who would be “driving” the ship. Liam considered all the Disney characters finding reasons why or why not they would make a good captain. When he came to Goofy he got rejected because he was too… well….goofy. Liam was convinced he would drive us over the waterfall. This concern was repeated numerous times and it wasn’t until the third day of our trip that I worked out what he meant. We were looking out at the horizon as the ship left the dock and we could see another cruise ship that had been docked next to us and had left about half an hour earlier. It was sailing toward the horizon. “Look  Mom” Liam cried. “They’re going to go over the waterfall.”
Sometimes we forget that the world looks different through the eyes of a child…..