Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Disney Dream Caribbean Cruise - Nassau and Castaway Cay



This past weekend we took a 3-night Disney cruise over the weekend. We set sail on the Disney Dream on Friday, and the cruise took us to Nassau Bahamas and to Disney's Castaway Cay.






When we got aboard the boat we walked around for a bit and then we decided to solve the mystery of the missing puppies.


Connor did a great job working independently on where we needed to go, and what all the clues meant. He's gotten pretty good at solving all the puzzles.



We got dressed for dinner, and Paige was excited to wear her Princess Jasmine dress.


Paige loved the kids' pasta, but the rest of us were not too crazy about the food choices. For dessert, the kids had Mickey Ice Cream bars. Connor is a pretty neat eater.



Paige made a big mess of hers, but wiped her face just before I snapped the pic.


After dinner we wandered around and took some pics.



We did a little shopping and Connor got a new Goofy Pillow Pet. Then, we all went to the club area to check out the family dance party.


Connor was a little timid at first, but Mommy pulled him out on the dance floor and we all danced for a bit.







After the dance party, Connor wanted to go to the Oceaneer's Lab. On the Disney Dream, it's almost the entire 5th level of the boat. Connor made a bunch of friends and every time we came to get him, he didn't want to leave. For Friday night, Paige decided to stay with us so we could do some Karaoke.



When we arrived, there was nobody else around and we weren't sure we were in the right place. It turned out we were the first to arrive, and it was perfect timing since there was no wait. Paige chose to sing "Let it Go". It was pretty hard because it was just the music with no words and Paige can't read. She got lost a couple times, but Mommy helped her find her way through.



After Paige finished, a crowd arrived and we watched everyone else sing. Paige eventually fell asleep and we decided we'd get to bed.


In the morning, we all got up and had breakfast, then went to the Princess Gathering. We decided not to bother getting off the boat at Nassau since it's probably one of our least favorite stops. This cruise, Disney's updated their process so you have an assigned time to arrive. We were skeptical on how this would work, but it was actually a great system. Instead of struggling to get there early so the line wasn't too long, you'd show up at your time and there was hardly any wait. We got through the entire Princess Gathering in about 15 minutes and didn't have to stress about getting there early.






Princess Tiana was fun with Paige and showed her how to hold her hand out like a princess is trained to do. Paige occasionally would do this throughout the cruise during pictures if she'd remember.




Connor didn't want to go to the Princess Gathering, so we let him go to the kids club. After we got done, we picked him up and had lunch.





We had a little time to kill, so we decided to solve the mystery of the missing paintings. Paige took the lead this time during the interactive activities and Connor helped her along by navigating and writing down the clues.





In the afternoon we had tickets to see Elsa and Anna. It was another event we had to get tickets for, and it was a pretty neat setup in the "Animator's Palate" restaurant. They had Frozen landscapes on all the screens and a Frozen backdrop for the pictures.



After meeting with the princess and queen, we played for a bit and then changed for pirate night!





After dinner, the kids went to the kids club and Andrea and I relaxed until bed time.

In the morning on Sunday we arrived at Castaway Cay. We got dressed in our swimsuits and walked to the beach. On the way in, we stopped for pics with Minnie and Goofy.




As we sat down in our chairs, we happened to notice we were right next to the Froehlich family. Andrea's good friends with Mandy Froehlich and her sister-in-law Sarah and brother-in-law Steve coincidentally were on the same cruise. Andrea had met them before when they were in town, and had been communicating with her off and on via Facebook for a couple years. We'd met Steve on the boat and had known they were on the boat but hadn't talked to them much. It was good luck that we happened to sit down near them, it gave our kids some other kids to play with and it gave us some other adults to hang out with as well.



Connor and Cooper had fun doing a lot of football, although it got a little too competitive eventually and we just decided to play in the water.



The water was a bit cool, but the day was sunny and warm. It was pretty much a perfect day at the beach.




Paige didn't want to do a sandcastle, instead we did a mermaid tail.





After lunch, the kids worked on a pretty neat sand sculpture and castle system that a nice man had started. It was pretty well put together with two big alligators in it and a lot of sandcastles. Some rude kids would come by occasionally to knock parts down, however Connor and Cooper were cute about working on it even after the man that started it had left.




When we were done with the beach we washed up and got dressed for our evening activities.

Paige wore her Mulan dress and wanted to do a fancy pose on the couch for me.


Connor decided to do some cute posing too.


We hung out in the lobby for the "See You Real Soon" farewell show, and it turned out to be a meet-and-greet as well as a short musical. We had a great spot in line and got to see Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie all within about 10 minutes.











After the meet-and-greet, the characters did a farewell song and then it was time for the Superbowl! Connor was excited for the game, but gets too nervous to watch and was more interested in going to the kids club. Paige went too, and Andrea and I found a place to watch the game. It was a pretty laid back night, and when the game was over we got the kids and went to bed. We had to get up early at 6am on Monday morning and were in line to get off the boat by 7am. We got departed, got through customs, and got in our car by 7:18am and then we drove the two hours home. I was at my desk and working a little after 9. It was difficult to jump right back in to work, but it was a great use of our time and we really can't complain since it is all so convenient and we did have such a fun time on the cruise.


During the cruise we already booked our next one and are looking forwards to it!

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