The Bahamas! (part 2)

Carrying on from where I left off....

That night we had dinner at Animator's Palate, which is another amazing themed restaurant. There's detail in everything, from the bread knifes which look like paintbrushes, to the artist sketches everywhere. Again we were with the same group as the night before, but missing two of the guys as they had dinner booked at either Palo or Remy. This is the most fun restaurant to eat, at one of the other tables the server was encouraging them all to draw on the table cloths with crayons! I was completely stuffed after dinner again, so we tried to walk it off a bit before catching up with everyone else who were watching an illusionist show at one of the adult only bars. We only really caught the end of it and then we went for another walk around before calling it a night and heading back to our room to watch more Disney movies on tv while falling asleep.

The next morning we woke up at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. We went for breakfast and then came back to the room to get ready. It looked pretty cloudy at first but it turned out to be a really hot and sunny day. We got our stuff ready and then got off the ship and walked over to get the shuttle to the far side of the island first, which is the adult only area. I was far too excited to get my feet in the water at the beach! We walked along until we found some sun loungers and then ordered a couple of cocktails from one of the attendants walking up and down the beach. We started off trying to sunbathe on loungers but there was a lot of sand mites so instead we grabbed some chairs and took them down to the water where we sat in the water while sunbathing. The water was amazing! It was a bit chilly but you quickly adjusted to it and you could see tiny fishes in places. After sitting there long enough to get a decent amount of tanning done, we went to get lunch at one of the BBQ buffet spots that were set up. Charlotte really wanted to rent bikes, so that was the next thing that we did. That was a lot of fun! There's bike trails set up and you can just leisurely cycle around, the island is flat so it's a nice journey. We stopped off at various points for photos and then headed to the front to drop the bikes back off and have a wander in the shops. It started to get really cloudy and was getting later in the afternoon so we headed back to the ship. Just as we were lined up to get back on the ship, the heavens opened and it properly rained hard! By the time we had got back to our room though, it had died off and then stopped completely.

This night was the pirate party and our room attendant had left pirate scarfs in our room when servicing our room that day. We got ready and went down to watch the show that night which was amazing, but I still preferred the show from the first night. Then we went back to the room to get ready for dinner. There was a lot of families that take the dressing up thing really seriously and there was lots of pirate families walking around! We had dinner again at the Animator's Palate, however instead of the same images from Finding Nemo being on the screens as the night before, there was more of a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When we finished dinner we headed up to find spots to watch the Pirates show. There was a Pirates of the Caribbean show, featuring Jack Sparrow which was finished off with fireworks set off of the boat which was pretty cool to see. Afterwards they make the pool deck into a family friendly dance floor. We were exhausted and I was a bit burnt so we headed back to the room for a bit... we kept saying we would go to one of the bars but we were just too tired and full from dinner to move.

The next day was our full day at sea. Sadly it wasn't hot enough for sunbathing which I would have gladly done all day! We went for breakfast and then had a chilled out day. We walked around more of the ship taking photos and then went to the cinema to watch Saving Mr Banks which I hadn't seen yet. This was definitely a lazy day but I was really tired and would have to go straight back to work the next morning. Dinner that night was at the Enchanted Garden which is beautiful and some people said it was their favourite but I preferred the other two. At the end of the meal we took group photos and then went to the lobby area to watch the little show with different characters. It was basically a quick meet and greet set up in different spots and was pretty cute. Our large luggage was getting picked up and had to be packed and outside our room before we went to dinner so anything else had to go into hand luggage. Again, we were just exhausted from doing not a whole lot that day lol. We had to get up really early the next morning so we went and paid for everything we had used our keys for and then went to bed.

The next morning we packed up everything and went back to the Enchanted Garden for breakfast. I was getting really anxious as I had to be at work for 11:30am and still had to go back to my apartment first. Myself and Charlotte got off the ship but then had a bit of a wait for the others we were travelling back in the taxi with. Eventually we set off but I was still worried! It was a complete rush, I stopped by Chatham to get my form signed off so that I could go back to work (later found out that wasn't a big a deal as they make out!), then practically threw myself out the taxi at the Commons and ran to my apartment with my luggage. As I got in my apartment I phoned for another taxi to get me to work, threw my costume on and ran back out the door. I ended up only being a tiny bit late for the pre shift briefing but at least I made it!

Disney cruise to the Bahamas! (part1)

Moving day was an interesting one....

Rather than pack and get ready to move, instead I went to House of Blues even though I was really tired as there was 21st birthday celebrations going on. And then afterwards there was a bit of an afterparty. I had until 4pm to move apartments and I woke up on my friends couch at the very far side of the Commons around 3:10pm. Woops. Not a single thing packed. So I had a nice walk of shame through the complex, got to the apartment to change clothes and then went to get my new key. My German roommate was freaking out about where I was so I messaged her and then she came to the old apartment to help with getting the first load over. I literally ran back and forth for the next hour, throwing things from everywhere into bags and cases, running across the street, up to the third floor of my new building, to dump everything and run back to start again. At least I did it! Then we went to Walmart to get some bits and pieces and then did a lot of unpacking/putting stuff away. I love my new apartment! It's soooo much bigger and brighter, everything works and I've been a lot happier since moving in. We now only have a two bed/4 roommate situation going on and it suits me. No more crazy screaming for no reason, no thumping from above, no crazy roommate skyping while I'm trying to sleep. And I sleep a lot better!

I had nearly a week in my new apartment and then it was time to go to the Bahamas! There was 10 of us going on the same cruise and more people leaving on another cruise the next day... basically over a two week period there was a lot of people on various trips and cruises and a lot of shift swaps which meant we all got a bit of trouble which was pretty stressful at the time. But finally it all got sorted :)

On Sunday morning myself and five others got a taxi to Cape Canaveral which is about an hour away. Too much excitement going on lol. When we got to the dock we showed our booking info at the entrance gate then went into the main building and went through what is very similar to airport security where they scan your hand luggage. Then we went upstairs to get checked in, there was a huge line of people but they have a lot of checking in people so it didn't take too long. We handed over our forms and passports and then we got our "Key to the World" card... which is very similar to the ones at WDW before they swapped to Magic Bands. This card gives access to your room, makes the electricity in the room work and is the only way of paying for anything on the ship or at Castaway Cay. You can link it to your debit or credit card but me and Charlotte decided to do the cash option. Which means that you have a $300 limit that you can't go over until you go to guest relations and pay your bill. And you can't get back off the ship without paying it, you need to scan your card on the way off and if you have an unpaid bill then you will be sent back to pay it.

So with all that out of the way we headed onboard! I was so excited!! We were on the Disney Dream and it was just beautiful inside and out. It's the newest of the Disney fleet and it made any other cruise ship beside it look drab lol! We split up to go find our rooms and then go get lunch. The rooms were better than I thought they would be. There's a separate toilet and bathroom and neither were tiny, then a big comfy bed and then a couch (which can all be pulled out and made into bunkbeds), and we had a balcony with a couple of chairs and table. Comfy for 2 but would start getting crowded with more than that lol.

We pretty much dumped our stuff and then headed up to where there was a buffet lunch and had a good munch, then went for a wander around. They had a Sailing Away party on the pool deck with lots of characters which was cute and then me and Charlotte went up to the adult only area and had a cocktail while watching the sun set. Then we headed down to see the first show which was called the Golden Mickeys. The shows are amazing! They are so well done and I loved that first one. When that was over we had a quick look around the shops and then went to get changed for dinner.

For dinner, you are rotated around the ships three different dinner restaurants and you have the same server each night. We ate at the same restaurant twice because we were there for four nights, but you can use that night to book at one of the adult only restaurants, Remy and Palo. You do need to book ahead for these though as they fill up and its $25 extra for Palo and $75 extra for Remy. The others booked them but we didn't and we still enjoyed everything. There's food everywhere... everywhere!!! You can pretty much eat whatever you want, all the time! I was painfully full after every night and I didn't even go crazy. Our server was really lovely as well, I told him that I was wheat/gluten free and he took care of me. In fact he spent the whole time calling me "my Jenny" lol. Me and Charlotte were at a table with 6 other people and by the end of that evening we were fast friends with two other women, one of whom works at Epcot. By the end of our stay we were friends with the two guys, but two girls were a bit standoffish with us all so we had just left them to it.

The next morning we woke up in Nassau! We had slept longer than we had intended to, so we skipped going to breakfast and just got quickly ready to go exploring instead. We wandered about through the shops, visited Starbucks and took lots of photos. The massive Atlantis resort is close by but they charge you for everything there, you need to pay a ridiculous amount of money to use their pool or see the Aquarium. The only thing you can go to is the Casino. There's water taxi's that will take you over to Paradise Island (where Atlantis is) for $8 return so we went over on one of those and had a wander around the Marina Village, checked out all the millionaires yachts and then went into the casino. Charlotte had never been in one before so we played a few slot machines with me helping her about. Had to eventually tell her to stop feeding money in, she was never going to become a millionaire from a dollar! We left there and got a frozen margarita and headed back to the water taxi. Then we went to Senor Frogs for some more drinks and the biggest portion of fries I've ever seen before going back onto the ship.

The next morning we woke up in Nassau! We had slept longer than we had intended to, so we skipped going to breakfast and just got quickly ready to go exploring instead. We wandered about through the shops, visited Starbucks and took lots of photos. The massive Atlantis resort is close by but they charge you for everything there, you need to pay a ridiculous amount of money to use their pool or see the Aquarium. The only thing you can go to is the Casino. There's water taxi's that will take you over to Paradise Island (where Atlantis is) for $8 return so we went over on one of those and had a wander around the Marina Village, checked out all the millionaires yachts and then went into the casino. Charlotte had never been in one before so we played a few slot machines with me helping her about. Had to eventually tell her to stop feeding money in, she was never going to become a millionaire from a dollar! We left there and got a frozen margarita and headed back to the water taxi. Then we went to Senor Frogs for some more drinks and the biggest portion of fries I've ever seen before going back onto the ship.

I am a bad blogger! I have tried to write this post about a million times and given up.... it's not all my fault, for a brief period of time my laptop didn't want to type "h" or "c". Not easy! So for now lets call this part one!