For the Disney Lovers- 09/2009

This Disney Cruise was actually planned quite differently. It was our one year Anniversary and we decided to take a Disney cruise. Upon hearing such wonderful things about the cruise line we booked our trip. What we didn’t do, and I recommend this to everyone, is read the fine print. We will never make that mistake again. Once we booked the trip we then read the terms and conditions and it stated that they would not allow any woman that is 24 weeks pregnant and over to board. Unfortunately, I would have been 28 weeks pregnant with our first when the trip was to be taken. There is light at the end of the rainbow. Disney let us postpone our trip for no more than one year without losing our money. When our Anniversary rolled around again the next year, we re-booked the trip and added my daughter, who was then 9 months, and my mother-in-law. Not quite the romantic cruise we had originally planned, but nonetheless perfect in every way. My mother-in-law was the addition we needed to at least sneak in some alone time.

We opted to take the 5 day, 4 night, cruise. Our itinerary was Nassau, Bahamas on the second day, Castaway Cay on the third, and at sea on the fourth. The first and fifth days were just boarding, at sea, or heading back to port. This time was good for exploring the boat and going to shows or other activities the boat offered. There were several pools, one with an adult section for those not traveling with kids or like us just wanted to get away from the ones we had. Ha! The dining was superb. Definitely got at least a 4 1/2 stars out of 5 in my book. The joy of it all was that most of it was included with the exception of the more eloquent dining which was not. We pigged out. There are multiple choices of dining and dinners are arranged so that you experience each dining room. For breakfast and lunch there are more casual dining options so that you can just pop in at any time.

While in Nassau,  our first adventure was to jump on board a carriage ride around downtown. We got to see some historical sites like the courthouse, the Christ Church Cathedral, and the Vendue House. Along Bay Street are the British Colonial Hotel, Pirates of Nassau Museum, and little boutiques to get some shopping in. We learned of Nassau’s history from our wonderful carriage guide who also informed us of the Bahamas Independence from the United Kingdom on July 10, 1973. Before that Nassau was occupied by different Countries including the Spanish, Dutch, French, and Americans. It was also a pirate haven and attracted big named pirates like the infamous Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard.

Our next stop was Atlantis. The resort is a tribute to the Legendary island of Atlantis that sank into the ocean after years of being a naval power. It is still to be said whether or not this island really existed, but it’s fun to imagine that it was. The resort offers hotel accommodations, gambling, water recreations, and tours. Since we already had the ship, we’re not really gamblers, and most of the water recreations weren’t 9 month old baby appropriate, we decided on the tour. The tour took us through the resort to see some of the amenities it offers such as the pools, the casino, and then we went to the Aquarium. The Aquarium was beautiful. It’s one of the largest in the World and has 14 lagoons, eight million gallons of salt water, and over 50,000 aquatic animals representing more than 250 marine species. We got to see dolphins, sting rays, sea lions, eels, barracudas, and even the endangered alligator gar. I recommend this to anyone visiting Atlantis.

Our third day on the cruise was spent at the Disney island Castaway Cay. Like Nassau, they offered different excursions while docked. We chose the glass bottom boat tour. So we go out on this, yep you guessed it, glass bottom boat. I can’t say that I was really impressed. Most of the tour was just riding in the boat along the shore line until we got to the feeding spot. At this point the tour guide threw some fish food in the water and we were all of a sudden surrounded by fish. That was the whole excitement and then it was over in minutes. Certainly not worth the money spent, but hey, we were able to get out of the sun for a while and cool off. The rest of the day we spent relaxing on the beach and swimming in the shark free water. I say shark free because the family beach swimming area is screened off so only smaller fish can get through. There are a few beaches for different social types like the family beach, the teen beach, and the adults only beach. We stuck mainly to the family beach, but we did sneak away to the adult beach for a little while.

Day four was spent out to sea. At this time my family and I really took advantage of what the ship had to offer. We ate a whole bunch of food, saw some shows, went swimming, and basically just browsed. There was plenty of shopping opportunity of which we only bought a few souvenirs. We were not Disney’s best customers. The show was exciting. Even to the point that I saw my daughter so full of laughter and cheer. She was really digging it.

All of the service people on board were so cordial and helpful in every way. The trip seemed to just fly by. I totally recommend taking a Disney cruise at some point. Unlike Disney World or Disneyland it is very laid back. If your looking for laid back with some excitement, then Disney cruise is for you.