Disney Dream

After our four days at Walt Disney World, we took a three-night cruise on the Disney Dream sailing from Port Canaveral to Nassau and Castaway Cay,  Disney's private island in the Bahamas.  It was a fun way to relax after the hustle and bustle of the parks. 

We booked an oceanview, but not a balcony room.  Our porthole had a window seat and was tall enough for Will to stand in!  Will slept next to the window in a Murphy bed that the cabin steward made up each night.

Thursday was the Sail Away party.   Will enjoyed his first stop at the Mickey water slide.  As we learned from our first Disney vacation, Will is a huge waterslide fan.  We very briefly got into the Mickey pool, but the two family pools on board were tiny and cramped, and frankly, I was grossed out in a pool with so many people.  

Dinner the first night was at the Royal Palace restaurant.  It was a pretty room and the food was good, but we started dinner with a tantrum outside the restaurant, and it didn't get much better once we realized we were seated with another family of three at a six top.  We've never shared a table on a cruise and it wasn't a good trip to start.  The match probably looked good on paper, as the other family had a 3-year old boy, as well, but it was a mother and grandmother instead of another couple.  Only the mother spoke English, and the boy was even crankier than Will.  His mom gave him a baby bottle of juice mid-way through dinner so he would lay down and sleep. 

Friday was at port in Nassau, but we didn't get off the ship.   Will went to the Oceaneers Club and played in Andy's Room and other Disney themed areas for several hours while Jason exercised and I went on the AquaDuck water roller coaster.  We picked up Will in time for the afternoon showing of Iron Man 3 at the movie theater.  He didn't wear his 3-D glasses and acted a bit disinterested, but at the end said it was really good.   Before dinner we donned our Pirates In The Caribbean head scarfs and newly purchased swords for a Captain Hook and Mickey party on the pool deck.

Dinner that evening was in the Animator's Palette, and Crush from Finding Nemo was interactive with the guests.   He talked to Will and asked him his name and where he was from.  After dinner was the conclusion of the pirate party complete with Captain Jack Sparrow and fireworks!

Saturday was at port at Castaway Cay, so after a hearty breakfast of Mickey waffles, we dug out the beach toys we brought along and went ashore.  We played in the sand, splashed in the sea, and took the plunge down each of the water slides.   Will was tall enough (barely) for both slides, but we were worried how he'd do at the end since the drop was so big off the end that he was guaranteed to go completely underwater.   He came up smiling and laughing (and spitting out salt water) both times!

We were all exhausted (but luckily not very sunburned) after the day at the beach.   Will and Jason played a few games of mini golf while I napped, and then Will napped through most of dinner.  We changed tables the last night at the Enchanted Garden, so we enjoyed chatting among ourselves while Will slept on my lap.  Here Jason is thrilled that our new waiter brought him both desserts he was debating between even though he only ordered the one.

After dinner was the See Ya Real Soon Party in the lobby atrium where Mickey and his pals and the princesses were available for meet-and-greets.  Will briefly wanted to hug Pluto at Hollywood Studios but backed out once we started waiting in line.   On the ship he said he definitely wanted to hug him, and so he was our first stop!

Then once he realized that wasn't horrible, he said we should meet Mickey, too.  Since it was close to the end, the handlers were doing the pictures to get the families through faster which meant the entire family could be in the shot. 

After one last stop with Goofy (yes, this is my new computer background) we retired to our room to sleep.  The ship was very rocky the entire trip and the motors to dock were loud versus what I remembered on earlier cruises, but Will never mentioned it.