Disney Magic — Part 2

FEATURE ARTICLE

This article appeared in the May 30, 2000, Issue #31 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

DAY TWO…..

Began with a beautiful sunrise outside our veranda. WOW! We sat on the bed, sliding glass doors open to feel the breeze and we stared out at the sun reflecting on the ocean blue. It was worth rising early for!

Today the boat was to dock around 8:00am at Nassau.

We were up and out early and on the deck for coffee. It was wonderful being out there so early in the morning. Hardly anyone was up and we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We had our first buffet breakfast at Topsiders.

Other than the decent bacon and good melon, I was disappointed. The Mickey waffles were cold, the syrup not hot and the scrambled eggs very runny. Not my idea of a good breakfast. There was cereal and lots of Danish and pastries if you wished. I don't recall what else there was. It was disappointing to me because everyone had talked so highly of the food. I was expecting something like the Cape May Breakfast buffet….but it wasn't.

Today was going to be Spa and Wine Tasting Day for us. We decided not to disembark to visit Nassau. First, the spa…..

We had discussed what kind of spa treatment we would indulge in. For a while I was tempted by the Castaway Cay massage, but decided on a facial instead. It lasted 50 minutes and put me right to sleep! I couldn't imagine a facial doing that, but it was heaven! SOOO relaxing! The prices were high, but the facial felt incredible! It was definitely a splurge. The facilities were immaculate and offered what seemed to be the latest in spa treatments. We had obtained small discount coupons from the Spa Tour the previous day….the facial was $89 less a $10 discount.

We did a self tour of the ship and wandered around all the places we hadn't been to yet, included the kids rooms. They looked wonderful! We walked in on a group of youngsters who were having a blast!

Overall, the ship was crystal clean immaculate! The Crew was as friendly and helpful as you could want!

Our Wine Tasting class was called "Stem to Stern" and took place in Palo's. I have been to numerous wine tastings and continue to go because I find I always learn something new. This class was no exception. One of the wine masters showed us a VERY unique way to open a Champagne bottle! You had to see it to believe it!

We experienced 6 different wines: Two whites (Riesling and Chardonnay), 3 reds (Beaujolais, Australian Shiraz and a California Cabernet that we both LOVED (Marcelina Vineyards 1996) and a sparkling wine from Iron Horse vineyards in California.

The wine tasting cost $12. We each got a Wine Tasting pin as a memento. What was especially nice is that the tasting featured wines that you could order (and pay for) with dinner. It was a good way to see what was available on the wine list!

Dinner at Animator's Palate! Animator's is truly a Disney restaurant! You walk in and everything is in black and white from the walls, to the pictures on the walls, to the server's attire. As your meal progresses, colors start to come alive until just before dessert when the entire dining room is in celebration. The experience at Animators was definitely fun and one I'd like to do again.

Both Linda and I found the food here good — nothing special. You can read about it in my full trip report.

DAY THREE

We awoke once again to the beautiful sunrise and could see Castaway Cay in the distance. I was very excited about seeing the island! We wrote out postcards out while we had coffee and breakfast. We planned to mail them from the island where they can have a special postmark.

We disembarked the ship about 9am. We went straight to ]the post office to mail all our cards. Each one took 3 Bahamas stamps! I'm not sure how long they are going to take to get home, however. We mailed them May 7 and it's now May 23 as I write this and still no post card has arrived (they arrived on May 26th). I should also tell you the ones I mailed to Japan and France got there a few days ago!

As we walked out of the post office, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were there for photos so we jumped right in!

The island is absolutely beautiful. I was thrilled. I love the ocean and had never been to the Caribbean before. It really is gorgeous. There are no words to really describe it.

There are 2 trams. One takes you from the entrance area to the main area of Castaway Cay. Another takes you from the main area to the Adult Only Beach. We browsed the shops and walked to a lookout point which was awesome. Then got on a tram to the adult beach.

If you want a spot close to the restrooms, beverage stand and tram, get there early. There are MANY chairs and umbrellas, but most are further away from the tram area. We secured a spot with lounge and beach chairs plus an umbrella and were ready to enjoy.

Time to relax in the warm sunshine!

Stay tuned for the conclusion of my Disney Magic Trip Report in a future WDWIG_Ezine issue! The full report will be on WDWIG as soon as the photos arrive!

Get a free Disney Cruise Line Video by visiting: http://disney.go.com/DisneyCruise/video/intro.html

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Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.