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“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

These words, once uttered by the incomparable Walt Disney, send shivers of excitement down my spine.  They are not words I take lightly. I’m a phoenix, after all, and a core belief of a phoenix is that anyone can do anything.  (Why not you? Indeed, why not me?)

I have never seen a clearer manifestation of this principle than when I was aboard the Fantasy, a floating mass of opulence in Disney Cruise Line’s fleet. Walt Disney is absolute proof that anyone can do anything.  With a dream in his heart and a mouse on his mind, Walt created an empire. And because he had the courage to pursue that dream so long ago, I recently found myself lounging on a luxurious ship in the Caribbean for seven days, sipping Moet Chandon and soaking up the sweetness of simply being still.

Amidst the imbibing, open-mouthed face stuffing, reading for fun, floating around and, yeah, I’ll admit it—napping—I learned a few things.  I wrote them down, as I tend to do, and am publishing them here because I daresay you may want to learn them too. Plus, it gives me great joy to share my bestest nuggets with you.  

But before I get into what a Disney cruise will teach you, let’s get into some deets.  If you’ve never been on a Disney cruise before, there are a few things to know.  

• First,  it’s not “all-inclusive.”  Food in the various dining rooms is, of course, included and unlimited, along with water, soda, tea and coffee.  Alcoholic beverages, however, are additional and charged to your stateroom. Same goes for the two specialty restaurants, Palo and Remy.  Remy, a French restaurant aptly named after the star of Disney’s Ratatouille, is seriously one of the best restaurants I have ever been to in my life.  No joke. It’s so good and the service so impeccable that I would venture to say if it were on solid land, it would have a Michelin star.  

• Second, there’s no gambling aboard the Fantasy (or any ship in the DCL fleet).  At least, not in the traditional sense.  If you’re looking for slot machines or craps, roulette or poker tables, you will come up empty-handed.  There is, however, a very competitive game of Bingo at which you can win cash prizes! On our most recent trip, the pot got up to $6,000 by the time all was said and done.  Shawn and I aren’t gamblers so the lack of opportunity to lose money, albeit while having fun, isn’t a big deal to us. And besides, you may not even miss the casino. You could instead go to a wine, champagne, bourbon or beer tasting; get totally pampered in the spa; ride an inner tube down the Fantasy’s onboard water slide, the Aquaduck; or float in one of the ship’s three adult pools with a glass of Moet Ice in your hand.

• Finally, to truly enjoy the “couples” feel of the trip (which I’ll explain in a moment), your kiddos need to be potty-trained and old enough to want to go to the Oceaneer’s Club (also known in my house as “Kids’ Club!  Kids’ Club!”).

Now, having painted that backdrop for you, let’s dig into the three things a Disney cruise will teach you:

1. It is indeed possible to go on a family vacation and a couple’s vacation all rolled into one, and have real fun. Because there is something for everyone to do, and because you can trust that your kids are safe in the Kids’ Club, you can be a couple when you want to and come back together as a family when you want to. We achieved total harmony.  

My youngest couldn’t get into the Kids’ Club fast enough every morning.  The Youth Team staff is incredible—I swear they must not have kids themselves.  They have so much patience and energy. The footprint of the Club is enormous (ironically, it’s probably where the casino would be if they had one).  There is truly something for every kid to do. I’m not exaggerating. They have dance parties, face painting, Marvel hero work, Star Wars missions, arts and crafts and cookie-making, to name a few things I witnessed. They even have video games you can play with your feet on a ginormous screen built into the floor. And, because Disney just gets it, they make the kids wash their hands before they enter.  It’s a class act.  

There were days when my son chose to skip the pool all together in favor of the Kids’ Club. My daughter, little fish that she is, would spend the morning with Shawn and I at the pool.  She’d traipse around deck, alternating between watching whichever Disney film was playing on the big screen and traversing down the Mickey slide over and over and over again. By lunch time, she was ready to go to Kids’ Club too, so we’d drop her off and have the rest of the day to ourselves.  It. Was. Glorious. 

We are blessed to be very dear friends with another couple who also happen to have two kids, so the eight of us went together (in separate staterooms, of course).   Some nights we ate dinner with the kids in the main dining room and then went for drinks upstairs at Meridian when the kids had once again skipped off to Kids’ Club; other nights we sat with the kids while they ate and then parted ways to enjoy an exquisite adults-only dining experience at Remy.  

And that’s just the way we chose to do things.  There are any number of other possibilities. You could go on a mystery-solving expedition as a member of Mickey’s Midship Detective Agency.  Or take a class on animation. Perhaps you’d like to take a stroll through Tiffany and ogle some diamonds. And did I mention there’s a full-blown theater on board? Like, with a stage and a red curtain and stadium seating and live shows every night?  They even have a movie theater. With popcorn.  

Harmony, I tell you.  Total harmony.  

2. Incredible service is not a thing of the past.  It is alive and well on a Disney cruise. After all, it’s Disney.  And “Disney” is synonymous with “excellence.” From servers who will cut your kids’ food for them and make princess crowns and pirate hats out of napkins, to footstools in Remy just for your handbag, to chocolates on your pillow and immaculate public restrooms, it is a guest experience like none other.  These people take your satisfaction very seriously. 

Case in point: we had an excursion booked the day we were in Grand Cayman, and as we were heading off the ship, we noticed it had begun to rain. So what did Disney do? They had Cast Members already lined up on the gangway handing out ponchos—hundreds and hundreds of them—so we didn’t get wet. I mean, come on! Need I say more?

3. You, too, can do anything. And I do mean anything.  It’s highly unlikely that Walt Disney could have fathomed in the beginning what Mickey Mouse would become, and all that would eventually be born from his cartoon creation.  Do you think he was planning for cruise ships and restaurants and hotels in those first days? Doubtful. You don’t need to be either, even if your dream is huge.  You only have to begin. Each step will reveal itself as you continue to move forward, so long as you continue your pursuit.  

Take my dream, for instance.  It’s big, hairy and audacious.  I dream of becoming a best-selling author and changing the world through my light, my leadership and my love.  In my wildest dreams, my book becomes a major motion picture.  

Far fetched?  Maybe. Terrifying?  Mos’ def. But so freaking what!  I’m not thinking of anything but the first step which, of course, is to write the dang book already.  So I’m writing it. The next step will reveal itself when I get there. I don’t need to know what that step is right now.  I’m committed to the process and I’ve released the result. I am holding on to my courage as I continue in my pursuit.  

Just like Walt said.  

As I sat in the Cove Cafe aboard the Fantasy, sipping Chardonnay and listening to the music floating through the speakers, I stared in awe at the photos of him on the walls, each one a reflection of what he accomplished.  I tried to imagine what he was thinking in each of those moments that had been captured on film; what he was feeling; if he had any idea the impact he would make on the world for generations to come.  

Being on that cruise was a great reminder to me of the power we each hold.  It’s within all of us. We have only to harness it.  

Such life lessons from a Disney Cruise!  Who woulda thunk it?

Now, don’t be surprised if your kids experience DCW (Disney Cruise Withdrawal) when it’s time to pack it in. Our kids had so much fun that leaving the ship was #dramatic.  It went down something like this: 

“Bye, Disney Cruise,” I called to the towering vessel, waving at it through the windshield of our parked car.  I could hear Shawn intently performing a real-life game of Tetris as he stacked our bags into the trunk.  

“Bye, Liezel,” Emma said softly, as if her favorite Youth Team counselor could hear her from aboard the ship.  

“Bye, Vanessa,” Ryan whispered, joining Emma in her tribute. A solitary tear spilled from his eye, his lower lip trembling.  

“Awww, Buddy,” I said, my heart twisting.  

He pouted more dramatically under my gaze and glanced down at the floor, where he immediately spotted his backpack (or as Shawn and I affectionately call it, his Portable Distraction Kit).  “iPad!” he exclaimed, all trace of sadness at having to leave the ship suddenly gone.  

I rolled my eyes and stifled a smile.  “It seems you will survive until our next cruise,” I said wryly.  

Indeed, there will be a next cruise.  We booked it aboard the ship before this last one was even over.  (That move got us ten percent off, by the way. Holla!) Because of one man and one mouse, I know will willingly pay a small fortune every year to return to that cruise ship.  Thousands of other humans will do the same. All because Walt Disney had the courage to pursue a dream that became a reality and changed the world. 

Let that sink in.  Your dream could change the world.  What have you been dreaming of but not allowed yourself the courage to pursue? 

Get on it, girlfriend.  And if you need some inspiration, I’m tellin’ you, get on a Disney Cruise.  

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