Disney Cruise Day 3 - Nassau

Today we are in Nassau, Bahamas. It is the largest city, capital, and commercial center for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It was originally inhabited by pirates. It was Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492, although Spain never colonized the Bahamas. It became a Crown Colony when the British clamped down on piracy in 1718, but gained it's independence and became a Commonwealth in 1973.

This was an amazing early morning site to see. As we entered the narrow channel into Nassau we saw 3 other ships already in port. I figured we would pull into the empty spot directly in front of us. Oh, how wrong I was. Suddenly we could hear the engines working overtime and the ship slowly began to turn in a circle as we went around and around and finally backed into our spot. I should have watched the whole process to see just how close we came to the shore, but we needed to get to breakfast as we had an early morning tour to meet.

We did not sign up for the harbor tour, but we got a mini version as we were being taken out to our tour boat. This is the mail boat that takes the mail to the islands. There is more water than land around here and no bridges for the mail trucks.

Some famous people have homes in Nassau. They actually live on Paradise Island, which is right next to Nassau. Our guide said you have to be a millionaire to live there. Well here we go...

 

Of course I was not taking notes, but as I recall this house belongs to Tom Cruise.

 Not sure who this one belongs to, but look at the landscaping!

 And here is Oprahs's house...

 

and one for her guests right next door.

This is ATLANTIS, defiantly looking like it is rising from the sea. It is also located on Paradise Island. The archway you see between the 2 buildings was Michael Jackson's suite and now rents for thousands of dollars a night with a 4 night minimum. Notice the dark clouds gathering in the sky.

We boarded a boat for our underwater adventure. It was kind of like being on the submarine ride at Disneyland, but everything was real here. We did see a shark and a sea turtle, but they were to quick to get a picture of.

 And when we came up on the deck of the boat the rain came down and it just poured!!! Luckily we were under cover or we would have been soaked. I don't think the rain lasts long here as the sun was shining again by the time we got back to the dock.

 The Disney Dream is the 3rd from the left. Remember, the captain backed her in, so you are seeing the back of the ship and...

  here is the front.

We have now left our water tour and are on a bus tour of the city. Fun little short buses that even have seats that flop down so you can sit in the aisle. What an experience. Our first stop was Fort Fincastle which was built by Lord Dinsmore in 1793. It was built to protect the island from invaders, but no shot was ever fired in anger.

 Here is the water tower and there is a set of stairs at the base called the Queen's Stairs. Our guide told us we were going to stop there so we could walk the stairs, but he drove right on past. I think he had his talk memorized and lost his place a few times and just started over as we heard some facts several times. The stop at the stairs must have been a time when he lost his place.

 This is a small "Straw Market". The larger one is right downtown. It is made up of small booths where people sell their goods.

 Notice the small area and the cars. Walking is OK, but I would never want to drive through here, yet we came here on the bus.

 Columbus - yup this was his first stop in the New World.

 Traffic again. The cars just seem to drive wherever they want. This is not a one way street.

Nassau is a place to buy diamonds. They even have a seminar on the ship giving you some pointers on where to shop and what to look for. You can't see it, but all the signs down this street were jewelry shops. Did I buy diamonds, no, I was more interested in seeing a Burger King here.

 The ice cream machine is available until 11 at night. This made a fun afternoon snack after a busy day in Nassau. I would like to have explored a little more, but the ship won't wait for me.

 Dinner appetizer was lobster something. I have had lobster every night. I better try something different tomorrow.

 Prime rib and it was HUGE and delicious. Sorry I messed the plate up before I took the picture. Mickey sundae for desert. Mmmmmm they feed us well on this cruise.

 

Night Night from our towel dog.

 

Disney Cruise Day 2 - Castaway Cay

What a beautiful morning!!! As I looked out our window I saw that some people were already para sailing. Today we will spend the day on Castaway Cay (pronounced key), which is Disney's privately owned cay in the Bahamas.

 As we left our room this morning we say Nyoman (Indonesia). He is our room host and at this time we really didn't realize all he would do for us. He was amazing. When he greeted us in the hall he knew our names, what room we were in, and apologized for not meeting us on the first day.

 Some of the little shops on the cay.

 Just relaxing with a Pina Colada in the clear warm water.

 This is the adult beach. Though this is a Disney Cruise, with lots of children, there are several areas for quite adult only time.

 Looking at the Disney Dream from the Family Beach. This gives you an idea of the number of families that are on board. The ship holds 4,000 passengers and 1400 crew members. This was not a full cruise and had about 3100 passengers. We actually saw few children as they were mostly gathered in the children's areas on the ship and the cay. The ship has an exceptional children's program for all ages and can keep the kids busy all day.

 Family Beach

 We are on the tram which will take us back to the ship from the Adult Beach. It's further out than the family beach and would be quite a walk.

 Tonight it is dinner at Palo, which is one of the 2 restaurants on board that you need reservations to attend and also must pay $20.00 extra for. We made our reservations when we were booking our cruise. This is another adult only area. The dinner was delicious and our waiter Felice (Italy) treated us like royalty. We had seen him earlier on Castaway and he said he would be looking for us at Palo that evening. Little did we know he would be our waiter.

Chocolate Souffle for desert and a surprise after dinner drink that contained some of the wine we had for dinner and something else. Oh, here's another unbelievable thing. Cindy and I ordered a bottle of wine. Since we are not big drinkers we did not finish it. I know some of you wine people will find that hard to believe, but then again you do know Cindy and me. So, Felice told us not to worry about the rest of the bottle. They would save it for us and ANYTIME we wanted it all we had to do was ask and they would bring it for us - to dinner another night, to our room, by the pool, etc.

After dinner we went to a show in the theater. I'd love to show you some of the highlights, but pictures were not allowed. Just imagine a great show done up in over the top Disney style.

And the end to another great day as we see our towel elephant.

Disney Cruise Day 1

I told you I was going on an AMAZING adventure and here it is - A DISNEY CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS!!! Our friend Laura graduated from PLU and had worked at Disney World for one semester as part of her studies. Since she loves Disney she thought it would be fun to work on one of the cruise ships before her upcoming wedding and looking for a teaching job. Cindy, her mom wanted to go on a cruise while Laura was working, so off we went. I was a little hesitant about going as I am used to having all wheels on the ground and a motorhome full of stuff that I might need. Also, I wasn't sure about the motion as I don't handle that very well. I worried for nothing as I did fine with just a suitcase and the ship is so big that I felt little or no motion. Besides, we cruise mostly at night when we are all sleeping. This adventure was a "DREAM" and I would highly recommend it to anyone

 

Boarding the Disney Dream

First of all as you probably already know Disney is very good at moving large groups of people from place to place in a  very orderly manor. We had a time of day to arrive at the ship and also a number for the group we would be boarding with. As I recall we were in Group 2. How could we be so lucky.

I know I should have taken pictures at this point, but I was so amazed at what was happening, and it was happening so quickly, that I didn't even think about it. As we entered the ship they asked us our names and then announced our arrival on the ship. We walked through a group of clapping staff members all dressed in their white dress uniforms. Then Kevin (Indonesia) escorted us to the elevator and told us to go to The Cabana Buffet and enjoy lunch until our rooms were ready. Absolutely amazing and the cruise hadn't even started.

This is the hallway by our room and this isn't even half of the length of the ship.

Our room! How did get so lucky to get a room like this. We could hold a party in here.

This is the view out our window. Oh yes, once again an ah inspiring moment. We are on the bow of the ship and as close as we can figure the Captain is right above us on the bridge directing the crew. I like being in front where I can see where we are going.



We had some time today to look around the ship. Oh, what an amazing place this is!! Check out the Mickey Mouse mirrors in the bathroom. Not all bathrooms are the same, but they are all beautifully decorated, not to mention spotlessly clean. We met Violet (Jamaica) on several occasions as she was cleaning. It seemed like the first sheet of toilet paper and paper towels had always just been freshly folded in a point. Violet told us it was her job to keep the bathroom looking like that.

This is the Atrium or the main lobby where you enter the ship. It's a beautiful 3 story area.

The chandelier in The Atrium

Looks like lots of people couldn't wait to get in the pool. This is the kids area with the Mickey and Donald pools. Certain ages play in each pool.

Sail away! Leaving Cape Canaveral for Castaway Cay and Nassau in the Bahamas.

Another unbelievable event. The Dream has 3 dining rooms that the guests rotate through. The fun thing is that our waiters moved right along with us. On our first night we dined in The Royal Palace, which has a Princess theme. As we were being escorted to our table, and heading towards the windows, Cindy kept hoping we would get a window seat. We did! Notice the cute princess bread basket.

Appetizer and dinner

This is a penguin, our first night time towel animal.

During the day this red pillow is turned around and has a Disney Cruise logo on it. At night it is turned around and says, "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep...
Good Night and come back again to see our next days adventures.