May the fourth
be with you!
Figured today
would be a good day to post this blog that I had written a while ago after we
came back from our Star Wars Cruise.
I wanted to list
all the reasons why we loved our Disney Cruise Star Wars at Sea experience… but
really it came down to the simple fact that we are Star Wars fans.
in case you can't tell, that's a view of the death star from our porthole virtual window
Highlights from
our Star Wars Day at Sea…
·
Watched
all the Episodes from I-VIII of course…
·
Darth
Vader and Storm Troopers paroling the boat…. throughout the day instead of the
captain announcing usual cruise information, we may hear an Imperial guard
letting us know that they have taken over command of our ship
·
Our
kids received jedi training as padawans and then lightsaber dueled with Kylo
Ren and Darth Vader…
·
Joe
acted out his dream of wearing a mask and role playing Vader with a bunch of
kids in the ship’s atrium as cruise employees directed scenes from Episodes IV
V and VI…
·
Interactions
with all the classic characters… C3PO, R2D2, Chewbaca…
·
Entertained
by all the other crazy fans on board the ship and marveling at how fanatic some
are… my favorite costume was seeing someone dress up like Jabba the Hut…
·
Star
Wars themed stage shows and fireworks at the end of the night…
Now, I’ve been
blaming my husband for getting our four kids so into Star Wars. My husband is a
fan. I mean, there are those who like Star Wars… I like Star Wars… but then
there are true fans. I will not bore you with the details and the list of Star
Wars toys from models to legos to whatever 3D puzzles that he has from way back
when… but I will highlight that he has made
an actual light saber. I believe it is Luke’s saber from Episode IV. All the materials used to make this saber were
the materials used for the prop in the movie.
I thought this was “most impressive” since this was made back in the days
before google was widely popular. Somehow he got all the parts through ebay or
something to put it together. It always makes me smile when visiting friends
would admire it and ask him to turn it on. It doesn’t turn on. It’s a prop. But
if you want one that turns on we got like 20!
In fact, the groomsmen and bridesmaids in our wedding party each pulled
out a lightsaber during our wedding reception as a surprise to us and had a
little duel in front of our guests. We were introduced as husband and
wife for the first time walking out to the Star Wars theme music... of course. Our bridesmaids each slayed our groomsmen
after a grueling fight… and then we had our first dance.
So our kids
like Star Wars. They quote quotes and know all these random facts from the
movies. Sometimes I hear my youngest
walking around humming the Kylo Ren theme song as if it is his entrance
background music… (he was Kylo Ren for Halloween this year... but still… little
weird)
When my third
child is having a melt down, we now start asking him Star Wars trivia questions
as a tactic to distract him and reset him. He and I are working on using the
force to move garbage cans and using the mind trick on folks to make them do
what we want… (this skill is not yet mastered)
Our girls are
not as into Star Wars as the boys… but they know more trivia facts than I do
about all the movies. We have watched
all 8 episodes (multiple times) as well as the spin off movie, Rogue One… and
now we are eagerly waiting for Solo to come out later this month…
But confession…
I actually didn’t realize just HOW huge a fan I am until it dawned on me that I
was getting just as excited as the kids. I actually get goosebumps during that
beginning Star Wars intro... you know… when the awesome John Williams music
blasts on and you see the writing scroll down on the big screen? Total
goosebumps… and I giggled in glee when Han Solo and Chewbacca stepped onto the
Millenium Falcon for the first time after years… I think what it is for me is
nostalgia! I’m a very nostalgic person
and I need to give credit and applause to John Williams because his brilliant
music score compliments the story like no other. His music remarkably elicits those
feelings of nostalgia and adds so much depth and emotion to each character. I am so glad that he will be composing for
Episode IX.
So the rest of
the cruise was great as any cruise experience goes… Disney does take it to a
slightly different level when it comes to service and making your kids feel
like royalty. The shows at night stand out in quality and
entertainment. The food was delicious as expected but even more extraordinary
were the intricately detailed themed restaurants. The water slide was fun
though pools were a bit small and crowded… hard to expect more when on a boat…
Overall… it was fun and my youngest keeps asking to go back on the “Star Wars Boat”. We’ll see… May the Fourth be with you all and tomorrow is Revenge of the Fifth!
