Disney Cruise- Iceland and Norway - disembark in Copenhagen and travel home

and now the day I like the least - disembarkation day. We had to wake up quite early for our goodbye breakfast and then it was time for Express Walk Off. We were off the ship earlier than expected so had to wait for our driver before heading to the airport.

Check in and luggage drop off was easy but they warned me our gate was far away and to start heading there - I think we had two lines - first security which was pretty easy and then customs which took awhile. Then we walked, and walked, and walked to our gate. It was time to board fairly quickly after we arrived + C still gets us priority boarding since she is under 6 - only a few more trips to take advantage of this.

The flight to Toronto was easy - the girls got meatballs, yummy bread, and some treats for lunch while J and I both got the pasta. The girls behaved well and everything in Toronto was pretty easy. We went through the US Customs and then enjoyed some food and relaxed a bit because we had a long layover.

Our flight to Cleveland was delayed a bit and C fell asleep on the flight for the evening. My dad picked us up at the airport for 2 nights in Niles for the girls. J had to head to Denver for a work trip on Friday morning so had a quick stop in Niles for a run and bed before going back to the airport.

Our time in Niles was nice including pool time at my sister's and a stop at the McKinley Memorial to finish up S's summer page for school.

We arrived home Saturday afternoon and unpacked and got everything ready for the week ahead - what an amazing trip it was!! It lived up to all of my expectations and I am so glad we did this trip!

Now back to school and regular routines for all of us!

Disney Cruise - Iceland and Norway- Gothenburg, Sweden

And alas the last port city of our trip - Gothenburg, Sweden - we had all been to Sweden before during our Baltic Cruise and loved Stockholm so were excited for this day. I wasn't really sure what to do in Gothenburg and we saw that the Volvo Museum was there so decided to spend the day there. We loved BMW World in Munich and thought this would be fun too.

Back to the day - I started the day with another run as we approached Gothenburg and enjoyed this again. When we docked I looked outside and we were not in town but were right in front of the Volvo museum SO the girls and I ended up not actually seeing the city.

We had Cabanas in the room for breakfast and then went on the character carousel and Edge Open House. This is when we had a little melt down on C's part with a second visit to Max but all was OK - just a reminder that traveling with little ones isn't always easy!

J took the shuttle into town and got his run in before our excursion. He really enjoyed seeing the town itself.

We found C's dress at Guest Services (That I mentioned a few days back) and then went to play Who Am I - we were one of about four families playing and S rocked it so she won a coveted Mickey Medal that is proudly hanging in her room now.


We grabbed lunch at the buffet before it was finally time for our fun excursion. The Volvo museum was quite interesting - we did a tour before it was snack time for some yummy cinnamon rolls. S and C skipped the rolls to play in the kids area before S went with J for some additional museum activities. C insisted that she stay in the kids area so missed that part and then asked for some ice cream treats which I of course bought for her.


once everyone was done playing and looking around, we headed back to the ship for more character visits and some time at the Kids Club. We received an invitation to a very special event this evening so that increased the excitement level.

While the girls were gone, we finished packing up and then had our final dinner at Animator's Palate. The girls went back to the kids club before coming back to the room for baths before the special event. We decided to keep our luggage due to what Disney considered an early flight the next morning but still wanted to be super organized.

And then we went to our super special event - it's a private character gathering that the girls simply loved - we were one of about 5 families there and characters just kept coming out. C loved playing with Smee and S loved dancing with Minnie the most. I believe we got invited because S and C loved the characters and kept looking for them and meeting with them. I believe her character count caught the attention of the Disney employees too.

What a wonderful last activity before bed time!

Disney Iceland and Norway - Stavanger Norway

Our next stop in Norway was Stavanger, Norway - the lovely weather left us this day for some overcast clouds and fog.

I ran on the deck as we approached port and really enjoyed this run. I got back to the cabin as C was waking up and it was time to see Hook and Smee so I took her down - we came back and S was awake and wanted to go so we ran back to the atrium for a visit. They thought it was funny that C was back and brought her 'side-kick'!


Today's excursion was actually one we planned with the Facebook Cruise group - we went on a fjord cruise with a number of families, including one of S's pen pals. The cruise was nice - we saw the fjords - it's amazing how large they are in person, a nice waterfall, some mountain goats, and stopped for some yummy waffles.

Back on board, the girls were ready for lunch while J went running. We happened to see J coming back from his run and waved at him all together.

Next up was character visits, Heroes Trivia (which I think we did pretty poorly at) and dinner at Lumiere's - C fell asleep during dinner for the evening.

With C asleep, this evening was pretty quiet. S went to visit more characters and ended up with visiting Minnie for her 100th character interaction of the cruise! She was tracking her visits on her watch and every time she met or interacted with a character in the hallway or kids club, she noted it on her watch. She had told Minnie earlier in the day that she would be back for #100 and when we came back, Minnie remembered - S was thrilled and this led to a pretty a cool last night activity!

J went to the gym. I did laundry and S went to the Kids Club. All in all, it was a fun day and glad we had some down time too!

Disney Cruise - Iceland and Norway - Alesund Norway

Today was the day we arrived in Norway and I reached a personal goal of mine - Norway is my 37th country and I am still 37! I met someone who had this goal about 13 years ago, which inspired me to set the same goal, and wasn't sure I would reach it but I did!!! I have plans for country 38 while being 38 next year too.

For our excursion, I chose a visit to an open air Viking Museum and then the scenic overlook.

The day was gorgeous- they told us they only get about 4 days a year like the one we had in Alesund so we felt lucky! The different houses and stories were interesting - the girls especially liked seeing the size of the furniture and the schoolhouse.  They had more Viking information inside where we had free time and enjoyed ice cream treats.


We then went to the beautiful overlook where we could see the fjords in all their glory - beautiful views every direction you looked. C was definitely ready to have some down time on the ship but we did enjoy our time in Alesund.

We got back to the ship and headed to buffet lunch where we found our server Suttipong and his friend Tiger working - they entertained us during lunch for sure!

J went running off the ship while I took the girls swimming. C rode the yellow kids slide a few times and S rode AquaDunk a bunch of times! We enjoyed some ice cream and I think today was the day I accidentally put C's dress in with the towels (don't worry- we did get it back!).

We relaxed as we left Alesund and then visited characters before dinner at Rapunzel's.

The girls went to the kids club, J went for a second run, and I walked around deck 4.  S stayed at the Kids Club while J, C, and I went to Once Upon a Song - a new show for Disney. It was OK, I liked it and the end was amazing but it still has some kinks to work out for sure. C fell asleep during the show. I brought her to bed and J picked up S and some ice cream before bed.

We were also treated to an amazing sunset tonight - this was the first time we had seen the sunset in awhile since we were so far North and it did not disappoint. The seas were so incredibly calm too!

Note - at some point today, we visited characters!

Disney Cruise Iceland and Norway - Sea Day #3

Time for another Sea Day!! I love Sea Days.

J got up and ran 5 miles while the girls and I had light breakfast before C's turn at Bibbiti Boppiti Boutique - this year we agreed she would just do the makeover because her BBB dress from last year still fit her and she was fine with that.

First though, C was seated next to one of S's pen pals for her makeover so that was fun for everyone involved. They started C with a unicorn horn of her hair! Then they made it into a bun, did her make up, and painted her nails. She loved it and looked so beautiful! J joined us for the end of the makeover which made everyone happy.

Next up was a snack and visit to Stitch, Pluto, then to Max!! I love when we get to see new characters and Max was a new one for me! We had our Frozen Gathering and finally found

I checked Shutters for our photos and loved everything that had been taken (but missed that we were missing Doc and Sofia photos, oops!).

After that I took S to the Kids Pin Trading event and she traded 3 pins. S doesn't usually like to trade her pins but she had a few she didn't love and found ones she was willing to trade for. Her small pin book is filling up so we might need a larger one for the next cruise.

I took a break for a run and then met J and the girls for pizza.

The afternoon was spent how sea days should be spent in my opinion - character visits, dropping off Pixie Dust gifts, Kids Club time, and finally getting some great family photos in the lobby!

We had dinner at Animator's Palate tonight before the girls went back to the Kids Club and J & I spent time with Tiago (I think that was his name) booking next year's cruise. He was a very popular guy not his cruise.

We picked up the girls from Kids Club and headed to bed, ready for Norway and losing an hour on the way!

Disney Cruise - Iceland and Norway - Akureyri Iceland

Up next was another amazing day in Iceland! It started with a 14 mile run for J at the gym while the girls and I got breakfast.

Our tour today was one I was looking forward to called Jewels of the North - my two brothers (T & T) said we had to see Godafoss waterfall and this was on the list + many people who did this cruise before said this excursion was no miss.

So first stop was....Godafoss waterfall - it's quite large and the scale is something to see. We all enjoyed views from the top before J and S walked the stairs down to see better views up close. C and I didnt brave the slightly slippery looking stairs. After our fill of waterfall views, we had time for a yummy snack before boarding the bus.

Next up was the sulfur hot springs - they were gorgeous but when we got in the area of the hot spring air, the girls didnt like the smell at all! A nice guy from Quebec took this great family photo of us.


Next stop was some amazing rock formations and a walking tour around them. S enjoyed this part more than C but all and all a good stop.

Last stop was at the craters and time for a snack - J was the only one to enjoy his sandwich but the girls and I all loved the desserts. C was getting a bit antsy at this point and I was glad to have brought the iPads for the bus ride back to the ship.



Once onboard, it was a pseudo Marvel day with Captain Marvel, Spiderman and Thor visits. Spiderman taught C to do Spidey hands.

And we also found Captain Minnie!!



Then it was date night!!! We brought the girls to dinner and then dropped them at the Kids Club so we could enjoy Palo, the adults only restaurant. The views were fabulous and the food was just as good. The pasta is always cooked perfectly and the service is exceptional. I really felt like we were in a high end restaurant. This was our 3rd time here so I know what to expect but it's always enjoyable!

We picked the girls up from the Kids Club but C did NOT want to leave - what a change of events from last year when she didnt want to go! It was time for bed though and a fun day ahead!