Our Disney Cruise on the Disney Wonder was five days long, with two of them in port at Grand Cayman and then Cozumel. We knew we wanted to get some beach time in, so we booked excursions months ahead of time in order to make sure we got what we wanted. Grand Cayman we took a boat off the ship and then a little bus ride to Tiki Beach. The bus was filled with mostly people from the Northern states and Candada, so you should have seen the stampede it was to get us off the boat and onto the warm sand. (A grown man actually fell running down the stairs!) We were worried about the three hour excursion time on the beach being too short of a day, but with kids, it really was perfect. Anymore and we would have over done it. It was seriously surreal to be at the beach after the winter we’ve been immersed in. We were so thankful to get to take the time to disconnect from the real world and step into a dream world for a little bit. (Even if it was just for a few hours.)

Photos taken with my GoPro waterproof camera. (Videos to come soon!)

The next day we were in Mexico and that excursion was a bit more “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” to get to our port. We took a Ferry from Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen, which I lovingly called, The Barf Boat, as it made everybody queasy and for the first time I literally saw my child turn green in the face. Luckily, we kept our breakfasts with us. After the ferry, we walked about ten minutes through the shopping district of Playa Del Carmen and THEN on a 15 bus ride to Xcaret, an archaeological park. (Yes, it was a lot to do with two kids, but we hung in there.)

Xcaret is so beautiful and HUGE! You’ll have to check it out here. We started out our time there getting life jackets on and hopping in an underground river. Joss was SO brave! She loved it! Miles wasn’t so thrilled. The water was pretty chilly and he didn’t understand the concept of keeping moving to stay warm. We all had lots of laughs though as we floated through the river, which sometimes was pitch dark. Sounds scary, but it was really fun. We were happy to stay out of the sun for a little bit too as we all had over did it a bit the previous two days.

After that, we headed off to have an awesome Mexican lunch and the kids hunted for iguanas, who were happy to pose for photos.

Then we got to spend the rest of the day exploring the park and playing on the beach. There were even dolphins near by hopping out of the water in a nearby cove.

We were all sleepy on the way home, but the blue water was so beautiful to look at.

Back on the boat by 5 PM to make it to dinner.

I would highly recommend booking an excursion ahead of time through the Disney Website. They don’t charge you until you actually get on the boat and if there’s any problem with the excursion getting back on time to the boat, Disney will cover the transportation and lodging needed to get you to the next port. If that happens with an excursion you book on your own in the port, you are on your own. Of course, I can’t imagine that happens very often, but good to know. Plus, Disney provided all the towels we needed and were great about getting us where we needed. Even if we did feel a bit like cattle getting from one place to the other, we eventually got to the beach, which was exactly what we came for!

Next up: My tips and thoughts on a Disney Cruise to wrap up our vacation. We absolutely LOVED this vacation, but like anything, you make rookie mistakes when traveling, so I’ll be highlighting a couple of those. Otherwise, I can’t wait to share some of my tips on how anybody who is interested in booking one can make it a reality for them. (I had been dreaming of one for two years before we went!) We are still on a high from all this sun!