 It was now Day 3 of our 3-Night Bahamian sailing and the day everyone had been waiting for...Castaway Cay! My husband runs, so he was excited about participating in the Castaway Cay 5k on the island, which was free and came with a cute medal. He headed off early to meet with the other runners, while the rest of us went up to Cabana's on the top deck to enjoy a quick buffet breakfast before heading out. The timing was great and the 5k was over as we were getting off the ship. During our day at Castaway Cay, we enjoyed just hanging on the beach. The kids liked digging in the sand and splashing in the ocean. Even though it was early December, while a bit chilly at first, the water was pleasant. At times, there was a DCL photographer in the water taking photos of guests, which was pretty great. Strollers and wagons were free of charge and available for guest use. BBQ lunch was served on the island. Our day at Castaway Cay ended up with spending time at In-Da-Shade-Games. We enjoyed being able to partake in some games, like basketball, shuffleboard, and foosball, among others, in the shaded area. Once back onboard and sand-free, we headed to our final show and our final dinner at Enchanted Garden. After dinner, we returned to our rooms to pack for our departure and see one last towel animal! 🙂 We then headed to the See Ya' Real Soon party in the lobby atrium that gave one last time to see Mickey and friends before heading back to Florida. On Monday Morning, we woke up bright and early to disembark in time to meet our 8 AM limo ride to the Walt Disney World Resort. We could have stayed on until about 9:15 AM and dined at either the last restaurant where we ate dinner or at the casual buffet, but we wanted to head to our resort so we could get to Epcot at a decent time. Thus ended our 3-Night Disney Cruise Line Sailing aboard the Dream. 
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Day 2 of our cruise was our Nassau day. Had we gotten off the ship, we would have headed to Blue Lagoon, although we were also near Atlantis. Instead, we opted to stay on the ship since this particular itinerary didn't have an "At Sea" day. We wanted to be able to spend time really enjoying the ship. We first headed to Enchanted Garden, which was the dining room open for breakfast to enjoy the buffet. After breakfast, we stopped off to meet Doc McStuffins and then headed to the top deck to play some miniature golf and foosball. Later, we took part in some cookie decorating and craft time that were part of the Merrytime Cruise activities, met Anna and Elsa in a Frozened-up Animators Palate, and finally headed to the Buena Vista Theater to take in a showing of Ralph Breaks the Internet. Traditionally, Disney Cruise Line holds its Pirate Night on your Nassau Day for Bahamian sailings. Some guests will dress up, whether it be in full costume or custom tees, while others just don the pirate-themed bandanas that they'll find in their stateroom that day. After the movie, we stopped back in our stateroom to relax for a bit and snack on some room service while getting ready. Room service (24-7!) is included in your Disney Cruise and I was a huge fan of the All Hands on Deck Cheese Plate.  We got changed into our pirate-themed tees and headed to that evening's show, the AMAZING Beauty and the Beast based off of the 2017 live-action film, then a Mickey and Friends pirate party up on deck, followed by dinner at Animator's Palate. After dinner, we headed to another pirate party. This time, Captain Jack Sparrow made an appearance, and we enjoyed fireworks at sea, which Disney is famous for. Other cruise ships are known to try and shimmy up near Disney's ship to get a good view ;) Many people ask me about 3-night Bahamian Disney Cruise Line sailings, which perfectly pair with a few nights at Walt Disney World for a land and sea experience. If you've ever thought about these short sailings, here's a look at our recent experience on the Disney Dream. We arrived at Port Canaveral on Friday morning to check in for our sailing at 11:15 AM. We wanted an early port arrival time in order to get on the ship and enjoy it while less guests were present.  Once it was time for our boarding group to, well, board, we took our photo with one of the DCL photographers, and headed onto the gorgeous ship, where each family is announced like celebrities arriving to applause.  Our first stop was to the Oceaneer Club, where the kids could play and, since it was Open House, parents were also welcome. After we hung out at the kids' club, we were all hungry, so we opted to have lunch in the dining room that was open. We could have chosen to go to the buffet or a quick service option, but we wanted more of a relaxing meal. All meals in the three rotational dining rooms, buffet, and quick service counters are included in the cost of the cruise! On this day, Animator's Palette was open for lunch. We headed there to enjoy our meal. After that, we went to the deck to enjoy the AquaDuck, with little to no wait. Once our stateroom was ready, we headed to our connecting rooms to freshen up and get the kids settled into their new home for the next few days. Each stateroom had two huge portholes with seating, which was perfect for our kids, as each one had a window to camp out in. Our staterooms each had a bunk bed that would pull down from the ceiling to accommodate a child, while the couch below would flip into a bottom bunk. We purchased room decorations to make the staterooms festive for the kids and they loved the light-up decor that greeted us. On this first night of our sailing, we had a safety drill, a Sail-Away Deck Party as we pushed off at 3:45 PM, our first Broadway-quality show, The Golden Mickey's, and finally Dinner at Royal Palace, a princess-themed (but non-character) restaurant. It was a busy, but super fun evening.  I often get asked why someone would book their Walt Disney World vacation with my travel agency. It takes everything in me to not counter with, "Why wouldn't you book with me?" When you book your vacation packages with me, you are not paying a penny more than if you were to book directly with Disney on your own...but you receive so much more.
You can receive all of this as a perk of booking through me or go out on your own, navigating through blogs and fansites, Facebook groups filled with "experts" basing their advice on their trip from 3 years ago, and dealing with frustrating call center reps who see you as a sales quota and a confirmation number. So I ask again, "Why wouldn't you book with me?" |
Aileen Mullee-DiTuriOwner of Just Add Magic Travel ArchivesCategories |
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