The End of an Era

Hello All,

For the past four years I have been blogging here on blogger on this blog. But that is going to change as I am moving over to WordPress. This was a tough decision and I didn't make it lightly. But there were a few reasons for the change. 

The first reason is that blog followed by college life. I talked about everything from the events I particpated, the trips I took, my view points during this time of my life, college graduation and the cruise we took to celebrate my college graduations. As much as these memories are things I treasure I felt that it is time to move on a share the grown memories, the trips I take as an adult, the events I go to as an adult and how my views have changed. It just felt like it was time for a change.

The second reason goes hand and hand with the reason above. I was ready for a fresh start but I wanted to keep the branding I had created. I love the name "The World According to Emma", especially with the fact that I want to travel to world. I figured if I switch servers I can take the name along with me. 

The final major factor that when along with making this decision was that I discovered that WordPress seemed easier and more customizable. I was helping my mom set up a Stampin' Up blog which will go live on WordPress and discover how easy it was to use. 

With that being said I hope that you decide to follow me over to my next blog. Check it out here! Whether you decide to follow me or not I want to thank you for all support over the past four years. I truly appreciate it! Hope you see you soon. xoxo

GRADUATION CRUISE 2017 || GOING HOME {Last Day}

Hello All,

It's hard to believe that this travel series is coming to an end. If you've missed any of the post feel free to check out the links on the master post. 

So, like the end of every Disney Cruise we had to get up early, luckily because we had the later seating we got to sleep an extra hour! We would be having breakfast at the Royal Court, which was also the place we had dinner the night before. We thought we'd be saying good-bye to our two table mates from Texas but unfortunately one was sick so we only said good-bye to the one who was feeling well. We hope that if for whatever reason they are reading this they had a safe trip home.

After breakfast we looked around the atrium one last time and then did our least favorite part of the trip and get off the beautiful Disney Fantasy. Our time during customs was pretty easy, which has been my experience with all of my Disney Cruises. We took the Disney Cruise Airport Transportation back to Orlando International Airport.

When we got to the airport we had to kill some time so we found some chairs and sat down. I made lists of videos I wanted to make as well as edited some pictures. I talked to some guys about why California is the best state. I want to visit there so badly! 

When it was time to go through security we got through easily. We also grabbed some dinner and found our gate. We had a layover but our flights were smooth. And soon we were home.

I'll be honest this cruise was not my favorite cruise I have ever been on. Mainly because the weather just wasn't good. It was cold most days and the boat was extremely rocky. But the parts that were controllable were amazing. I'm looking forwards to my next cruise and hoping to have the countdown on my phone sooner rather then later. 

If you want to know more about my cruise you can check out my Disney Cruise YouTube Playlist. I have videos that talk about the excursions that I went on, favorite moments, and things that were new to me. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this series. Keep an eye out on the blog because there is announcement coming early next week regarding the next travel series. Thanks for reading. xoxo

*This post was not sponsored by any of the linked sites. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own 

and I was in no way compensated for mentioning them ***

GRADUATION CRUISE 2017 || A CHILLY BEACH DAY {Day 9}

Hello All,

I can't believe how close I am to being done with this trip's series. I have so many more travel plans for the next twelve months plus a whole other trip to report coming soon so there are still plenty of posts to come. With that being said if you missed the first 8 days of this trip you can check out the links on the master post.

This day was the last full day of our trip. As with every other trip this day is always bitter sweet. You want to stay positive because your still on vacation but you sad because it's almost over. On this day I woke Mama Judy up early then she wanted to be woken up because I had characters I needed to meet.

We got ready in a hurry and found our way onto Disney's beautiful private island, Castaway Cay. If you ever go on a Disney Cruise getting off at Castaway Cay is a must!

Once we got off we were in search of the characters I wanted to meet. We had to walk around a little to try and figure out where the meet location were, I will say that I wish Disney did a better job telling the meet and greet locations on the island. Ultimately we learned it was right outside the ship.

The first meet and greet we were going to was to meet Chip and Dale. If you look closely to at the picture above you can see one of the chipmunks attempting to help clean the ship. It was pretty funny to watch. Once they were done cleaning they began their meet and greets and we hopped in line to meet them. It was a pretty good meet and greet except the cast member who was their character attendant tried to translate for them too much. I think he probably assumed that I was a "too cool" teenager who was just their for the photo op. I know his heart was in the right place but it was just a little annoying.

I was wearing a Monster University hat and asked them who would be the better scarer. They couldn't agree.

After the meet and greet we had a little bit of time to kill before the next one. We had left something on the ship so I ran back up and Mama Judy took some pictures around the dock area.

Can you tell how windy it was?

When I got back we got in line for the second meet and greet. This time we were a little further back so we had to wait a little while longer.

The pin I got on our Magic Kingdom Day but kept on me the rest of the trip.

Soon it was time to meet Donald. It was another great meet and greet. We talked about his experience at Monsters University and he looked at the map behind us to show me and the character attendant where we were. Once again the cast member was super involved in the meet and greet but followed my lead more then Chip and Dale's character attendant.

After the meet and greets Mama Judy and I made our way over to Serenity Bay which is the adult only beach on the island. On our way we picked up the inner tubes we were renting. For about an hour we hung out in the ocean and then went to get lunch. TIP: There is a BBQ location at both the family sections as well as the adult only section.

After lunch we returned to the beach but didn't stay as long this time. It was pretty chilly that day and there were a lot of flies out. Eventually we walked back to the ship. When we got back on board we debated going up to ride the Aqua Duck but we were still too cold. I ultimately decided to watch the boat leave while Mama Judy went up to the Spa.

Soon the boat was on the move again. I got ready for dinner and went to see the show they were showing in the Walt Disney Theatre. Mama Judy opted not to see the show because she had seen it so many times in the past.

After the show we met back up and did our shopping. The shops are closed whenever the ship is in port so you can only shop when you are at sea. When we were done shopping we packed our bags and put them out in the hallway to be picked up by crew members. We wouldn't see them again until we got to our home airport as Disney does all the checking in for you.

And then it was time for our last dinner. That night we were eating Royal Court. The food was good but definitely wasn't our favorite meal of the trip. At dinner we said good-bye to our table mates from Scotland as they were disembarking as soon as they could because they had an early flight.

After dinner we went to see the See Ya Real Soon show. I also decided to put down a deposit so that I could have a place on another Disney Cruise anytime before January 2019. FUN FACT: Disney allows you to put down two types of deposits on cruise ~ 1 is about $250 dollars that holds your place on another Disney Cruise within 2 calendar years. The other one is a deposit on an exact cruise where you have to be able to put down at least 20% of the cost. But both come with perks if you do it such as on onboard credit!

I don't know official details on my next cruise yet but stay tune because my cruise will come up sometime in the next 18-months! Plus I will try (no promises) to do some planning post to help people who are planning their Disney Cruise.

And that is the end of our last full day of our Disney Cruise! I'll write a quick post about going home and then move onto the next trip series!

*This post was not sponsored by any of the linked sites. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own 

and I was in no way compensated for mentioning them ***

MOVIE REVIEW: Everything Everything

Hello All,

I feel like it's been a while since the last time I wrote a movie review but here I am writing a new one for your lovely eyes. About a week ago I published my book review for the book, Everything Everything. And after reading the book I had to see the movie. For those of you who haven't see the movie trailer I'll posted right now.

The movie follows the main character Madeline (Amandla Stenberg) who at about six month old was diagonised with SCIDs (Basically everything will make her sick) and never leaves her house. When a boy name Olly (Nick Robinson) moves in next door Madeline starts to fall in love with the real world but falling in love also makes her want to see the world outside of her house. Which ultimately causes Madeline and Olly to run away to Hawaii.

LtoR: Olly (Robinson) & Madeline (Stenberger)
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I loved that the movie followed the storyline of the books so closely. But at times the movie followed it to closely. The novel uses a lot of symbolism and the movie worked really hard to get the symbolism across. I feel that is great for award winning film but for film that is mainly going to draw a young adult audience it is too much. I feel like the average sixteen year old just doesn't care about the symbolism of the ocean. And this symbolism made the movie drag on forever. 

LtoR: Madeline (Stenberger) & Olly (Robinson)
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I think the casting was spectacular. I loved the chemistry between Amandla Stenberger and Nick Robinson. It was sweet and romantic. It was the kind of chemistry that makes you believe that against all odds in a world where these characters are real they're going to make it. They also were exactly how I pictured these characters to be as I read the novel. 

LtoR: Pauline (Anika Noni Rose) & Madeline (Stenberger)
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I did go and see the movie with Mama Judy who hadn't read the book said that certain parts were confusing to her. And she was able to find more plot holes then I did. But I feel that in some ways the plot holes were more noticeable in the movie.

LtoR: Madeline (Stenberger) & Nick (Robinson)
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I feel like this movie feeds into the old fact that books is always better then the movie. I feel like I would not have liked this movie as a stand alone but I did like it having read the book. I don't think I would be as quick to recommend this movie to people who haven't read the book. But if you have seen I do suggest seeing it and see those words come to life.

Madeline (Stenberger)
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Have you seen Everything Everything? Did you read the book before seeing the movie? What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments below.

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*This post was not sponsored by any of the linked sites. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own 

and I was in no way compensated for mentioning them ***

GRADUATION CRUISE 2017 || ON A CRUISE SHIP FAR FAR AWAY {Day 8}

Hello All,

Happy Travel Thursday! Before I start this post I want to give you a heads up that this post will have a boat ton (pun intended) of pictures. Hopefully it will make up for the last two which were lacking as well as give you a good idea of what the Disney Fantasy really looks like. Also if you've missed the first seven days of this trip you can find links to them here.

So, this day of the trip was our last day at sea. Days at sea are some of my favorite days on cruises. Especially on a Disney Cruise, there is always so much to do, all you have to do is check you're daily navigator. Or you can chose to be more relaxed and hang out at the different pools, go to the spa or enjoy the view from deck four. And you can do all that without feeling guilty for not getting off the boat. 

On this particular day I started out by sleeping in because I had been so busy from all the activities I had been doing. When I woke up it was closer to lunch time so I decided to head up to Cabana's for early lunch. Because this day was Star Wars Day at Sea I watched what was going on. I had never seen a Star Wars movie but from what I could see it all seem pretty cool. I feel like if I knew more about the franchise I would have been super into it.

After lunch I went to one of the adult only pools, the one I went to is the more secluded of the two which I really liked.  During that time I laid on one of the pool chairs and finished reading As Old of Time. Although it was super relaxing it was also very cold and windy which made it that I didn't really want to sit in the pool. Although I tried and the pool got pretty wavy.

After finishing my book I went down to meet Mama Judy. We discussed what we wanted to do that afternoon but had a hard time because every activity was Star Wars based and we know next to nothing about that franchise. I think if you are a Star Wars fan this cruise is perfect but if you aren't I would highly recommend looking for a Disney Cruise without the Star Wars theme. We ultimately decided to go back to our stateroom and watch a movie because we were too cold to sit by the pool.

That night Mama Judy had a spa appointment during our scheduled dinner time. There was nothing on the menu that night that really appealed to me so I decided to skip it. We decided to order room service together before she went up to the spa. I forget what Mama Judy order but I'm pretty sure that she enjoyed. I got buffalo wings and baked mac and cheese. The chicken wings were really good but the baked mac&cheese wasn't as good as what I heard. The best way I can describe it is that it tasted like a frozen dinner mac and cheese that someone threw bread crumbs on and then sent up to my room.

While Mama Judy was at the spa I went and explore the ship. While doing so I took a bunch of pictures so enjoy!

Our door

The beginning of the adult only section

Outside Animator's Palate

Some fan art of something from Star Wars.

Love that Disney detail

Getting ready for the Star Wars Party

Hong Kong Castle

Tokyo Castle

Magic Kingdom Castle

After walking all over the ship (I definitely got my steps in that day) I went to one of the bars on board. I loved the theming because the bar itself was shaped kind of like a Merry Go Round.

While I was sitting there I listen to a couple talk about how they met and how they were planning their wedding. As well listening to some live music. The piano-ist played some songs that were popular including his own version of Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.

By the time I had finished my drink Mama Judy was done with the spa. We met back up at our stateroom, while there I grabbed a pair of headphones. For those of you who don't know fireworks give pretty bad anxiety because I can't control how loud the sound is. I figured that if I played my own music through headphones I would help and it did. I only wanted to see the Star Wars fireworks to take picture so enjoy the pictures.

We didn't have the best viewing spot and my camera kept focusing on the pole instead of the show but oh well. When the fireworks were over we headed back to our room to get some sleep because the next day was Castaway Cay day!

That night's towel animal friend

*This post was not sponsored by any of the linked sites. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own 

and I was in no way compensated for mentioning them ***