29/11/12
After being ill for the last few days our cruise day finally came round. Six of us booked to go on the Disney Dream for three nights, just $260 each, a bargain! We had a day at the Bahamas and a day at Disneys own Castaway Cay and then came back on the 2nd December. I still had my cold which sucked but I wasn't gonna miss out on the cruise! Some other Ukers were going on it too so we all shared a taxi to Port Canaveral. I've never been on a cruise before and had no idea what to expect. It was incredible. The ship is so big and there's so much to do. We checked in and found our rooms. Me, Kate and Amy had a really nice room that was on the back corner of the boat so it was bigger than I was expecting. Chloe and the two Nathans had the same room but one deck higher. Kate and Amy booked excursions whilst me, Chloe and the boys checked out the pool deck and started on the free food. The best thing about the cruise was it was all inclusive. So at lunchtime there were various quick service places and the restuarants had buffet service and you could have as much as you wanted. Room service as also free so we had endless cookies! Dinner was in a different restaurant each night and your servers were the same as they rotated restaurants with you. Before dinner was a boardway style show and the first night it was called Golden Mickeys. I had never been on a ship before but people had told me you don't really feel the boat move. They lie. After it left the port you could feel it a bit but when we were getting ready for dinner it felt like I was drunk and the room was rocking! We had dinner at Artists Pallette and it was lovely. I had butternut squash soup which was really tasty but with the boat moving I wasn't feeling too good and went to bed early!
The next day we docked at Nassau in the Bahamas. We headed for breakfasr which was amazing as there was soo much food. I wanted to take it home. Amy and Kate had booked an excursion around the Atlantis hotel so me Chloe and the Nathans explored Nassau. When you walk through the market there was soo many people trying to sell you excursions and things. We took a look at the beach and had a little paddle but it was very windy. The sea was gorgeous though and clear blue. About 3 other ships had docked so the place was quite busy. We took a look the the shops and Chloe and I were in heaven as we found Starbucks! They really are everywhere. And we both bought a Starbucks Bahamas mug. Then we found a really cute Christmas store and got a decoration each. We headed back to the ship for lunch which was a buffet and we had soo much. There was all kinds of meat, pizza and pasta and so many deserts including apple crumble and ice cream. We headed to the pool to sunbathe and there is a water slide that goes around the top deck and out over the side of the boat. The boys went on it but then it started raining so we headed to the adult only hottubs that had a see through floor. Later when the girls were back we got ready for dinner and watched the show which was Villains themed and I thought it was the best one. We ate at the Enchanted Garden and me and Chloe reaslied we should order as many appetisers and mains as we want as its free! So we each had two appetisers and she had two mains. Cruise life is the best! There was a pirate party and fireworks on the top deck and then me, Kate and Amy headed to the front of the boat where there were sofas that noone ever seemed to go on and it was nice and quite. I could barely feel the boat moving that night it was so much better. We went to one of the bars that had kareoke and then chilled in the skyline bar where the skyline on the wall changes.
On Saturday we docked at Castaway Cay and the view when we looked out the window was incredible. The weather was so much better than at Nassau and after having breakfast outside overlooking the island we headed out to sunbathe. It wasn;t that busy and we got a good spot on the beach. Food was buffet style again and there was all sorts of burgers, chicken, flatbread and cookies. The boys hired jet skis which sounded amazing and us girls sunbathed and floated in the sea with the assortment of tubes and lilos we hired. It was only about 25 degrees but not bad for the 1st of December! The boat was due to leave at 5pm so we headed back at about 4.30 and were pretty much the last people on the beach, we wanted to make the most of it. Got chatting to the life guards on the way back and they live on the island which must be incredible. We went to the top deck to watch the sun set as we left the island. That night some of us skipped the show as we didn't think it was that good. Dinner was at the Royal Palace and this time I had two starters and three desserts, including escargot! Couldn't work out if I liked them or not but I had about 4 or 5. We were absolutly stuffed after dinner and characters came out to say goodbye as it was our last night so we got some pictures with them. Then we all looked around the stores and spent the rest of the night on the top deck with blankets. By about midnight when we headed back inside I got really seasick and felt awful as it felt like the boat was moving so much. It's the weirdest feeling to describe!
On Sunday we docked at about 7am and had to be at breakfast at 8am and ready to leave the ship. None of us wanted to leave as we had such a good time. We all had post holiday blues even though we were going home to Disney World. I really want to do another cruise but for longer. The free food was definitely one of the best bits! Me and Amy chilled at Downtown Disney as everyone that didn't have to go to work went to Mickeys Christmas Party. Then we spent the evening with Mars watching The Notebook and of course were in tears at the end of it wanting our own Noah!
