Part 2… Disney Bahama Cruise Part 1…

The next morning came and both mom and I were so tired. Mom was glad that she decided the day before to change our wheelchair accessible cab to an hour later. It was a chilly and windy morning and our taxi arrived, but the driver was sick and there was no way Mom would risk exposing me to him at the beginning of our trip. We still had over a week left before we flew home, so mom explained to him how we couldn’t go with him. He was so nice and understanding about it and called another w/c accessible taxi for us, which was there in ten minutes. Wow. We were on our way to Port Canaveral to catch our cruise.

It was really windy and cold at the port too. They took our checked luggage and we headed to the terminal to go through security. Luckily, the part of the line that was outdoors wasn’t too bad for wind and cold as it was shielded for the most part. We got through security and I had to get thoroughly checked again along with all my bags. A lady then came and took us to the concierge desk, bypassing where passengers check in (like mom and me) and get to take photos with a character. Mom was disappointed we had to bypass that as she would have liked to have gotten a few photos, but the lady was in such a hurry to get us to the concierge desk to check in. Afterward, we had to continue on to the ship and mom was able to stop and quickly snap a photo of the entrance (Mickey head ears you walk through – bottom middle pic).

They announced Michele and Kayla arriving on the ship.

Since we arrived later, we missed seeing Mickey at the entrance on to the Dream (name of our ship). We had our Bon Voyage shirts on, so it would have been nice to get a pic with Mickey in them, but that’s ok. As we entered the lobby, mom said my eyes got really big and I was looking everywhere, especially upward at all the lights and what not. It was really cool to see. And let me tell you, it was HUGE!

We then went to Cabanas for lunch while we waited for our cabin to be ready. The food was okay, not as good as mom had hoped and thought it would be (and she is NOT picky either) – it was a buffet which mom really likes especially for breakfast. 

We got to our room and guess what, there was already a couple of gifts at / on our door. Man, people are fast!

We used our Key to the World card to open our door, and once it was unlocked, the door automatically opened and then automatically closed. Sometimes it didn’t close soon enough so we had to wait, but after a while, we got used to it. We also had to use our Key to the World card to turn the lights on and off (pic below). That was weird.

Our room was huge along with the balcony. We were in the aft on the corner of the ship, so our balcony wrapped around and had a larger room due to the layout and it being accessible.

I got to go out on the balcony for a few minutes – it was so windy and cold. 

Mom ordered me a blanket and pillow set which was laid out on the bed. Honestly, it was from Captain Mickey 🙂 if you see the card (in photo but string hides some of it – opps). 

I was so ready to get out of my chair, so mom laid me on the bed with my new blanket over me and I fell right to sleep with Cubby. I was so cozy. I loved it!

We had about two hours before we had to meet an officer for our private muster drill. We stayed in our room during the mandatory muster drill since I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Before we left the room after the main drill was over with, I got to check out the balcony and enjoyed it for just a few minutes despite the wind and cold (see photos above). 

After all that we went to the Sail Away Party (not realizing it was outdoors) on one of the top decks (where the pools are).

It was so cold and windy that mom made me wear my mask. It’s been years since I last wore one, but mom just couldn’t chance it with this still being the beginning of our trip. Mom felt bad as I went into ‘blah’ mode from being excited, but I still watched the show/party. They had a nice area for wheelchairs roped off on the sides of the show with decent viewing. It wasn’t crowded in that section so getting there a few minutes before it started was perfect. I didn’t have to wait long. We walked around a little bit on that deck while waiting for the show to almost start. I loved the show watching all of it. And I loved it being outdoors.  

We had about an hour before dinner. Mom chose the earlier dining option, so it wasn’t like we would eat and go straight to bed, and mom figured I would tolerate the earlier time too. Sometimes eating out for dinner just isn’t my cup of tea. So, we were going to just stroll around or go back to our cabin – definitely stroll around as there is so much to see and check out. 

As we were strolling our way to who knows where we saw the line to see Captain Mickey Mouse. A cast member said it was about a 30-minute wait, so mom decided to stay so I could see him. 

Well, it turned into almost an hour. As I was waiting though, Captain Mickey Mouse took a quick break…

I got to see Captain Mickey but wasn’t too thrilled by the time I reached him as I had had it with lines, people, and noise.

I saw him and then we went on our merry way to the restaurant; Enchanted Garden. That was our assigned restaurant for our first evening. We got there, and it was loud, crowded and mom just thought there is no way I was going to tolerate dinner here when I just waited in that long line with loud noise and surrounded by people, so we left. Mom wasn’t too keen on the layout of the restaurant and it just didn’t feel too welcoming for us anyway. A quiet room sounded so much better. We went back to our room which I loved and mom ordered room service which was mostly all carbs, fried stuff – ugh… She was hoping for something healthier but that is okay.

Mom got us unpacked while I was watching some of my programs on my laptop laying on the bed. Such fun. 

A little while later mom put me in my chair so we could go to the Broadway-like show of The Golden Mickey’s in one of the theaters. Getting there was quite interesting. We met a cast character at the main doors to the theater where there were hundreds of people in lines. The cast member took mom and me this other route. Entered an elevator and went down, got off and strolled through these narrow corridors where employees rooms are. We had to go into this really old elevator that seems to barely work and took it up. It opened and we walked down a few more corridors making a turn here and there until we got to the theater doors. The doors opened and we were at the front row in front of the stage. Pretty cool. 

We both enjoyed the show and the actors were really good. I did sleep off and on (or tuned out off and on) which was expected.

Afterward, we headed back to our room so I could get my lounge pants on and then we finally decorated our door with our magnets, hung up our Fish Extenders which for us was our stockings. Every time we came to our room, even the first time, we already had stuff up on our door from others in our exchange groups. They were so fast, so we needed to get our door at least decorated and our stockings up.

That was a lot of fun – I really enjoyed doing that as did mom. When we were done, we decided to deliver some of our gifts and did two decks. I loved strolling the two decks looking for the rooms that we were gifting and then we strolled outside on the upper deck (pool deck). It was still windy and chilly, but I loved it. We didn’t stay outside for too long though.  The ship was pretty quiet at that hour. Being on EST allowed us to stay up later and we enjoyed the quietness of the ship which I really needed – mom too!  We did these walks nightly and divided up our gifts to hand out each night. 

Mom kept me on PST schedule for my sleep routine and medications. However, by the third morning of the cruise, I decided to stay on PST for bedtime but EST for getting up time. Mom was like ugh, silly girl. There went moms plan for having an early flight home out the door. Lol. 

Sleeping at night on the ship was difficult on the first and last night, but especially the first night. Besides feeling the ship move, which you did throughout the entire cruise every now and then – no big deal, the vibration from being in aft felt like there were earthquakes continuously occurring. Minor, but still. It also made a few things rattle in the cabin too. The noise and “earthquakes” happening just made it impossible to sleep, even for me. My body reacted to it as well, which was not good, so we were both tired the next morning and mom was more concerned about me. Thursday (last night) wasn’t as bad, but we still had “earthquake” occurrences. The other two nights were so much better – thank goodness.  

We woke up to a windy but beautiful morning in Nassau, Bahamas.

Mom decided that we would still get off the ship – we had to at least touch ground on Nassau to say we were there and walk around for as long as we could. We got dressed, went to Cabanas for breakfast (buffet – food quality not so great again – bummer)

and on our way off the ship, I got to see Doc McStuffins. The line was really short and I was kind of in my blah mode or maybe just bored. I paid attention to Doc McStuffins and such but no pics. 

Then we got off the ship and it was so windy. We walked over to the visitors’ center and around the outdoor market. People were so friendly and nothing like you hear about. We saw so many neat things that were handmade from people on the island. Most people selling them don’t actually make them, they just sell them for the creators. I got some chimes, two magnets, and a postcard. There were a lot of other things mom and I would like to have had but didn’t need them. We went back to the ship in the strong warm wind. Ya know, the wind was so crazy!

 

Back onboard we stopped at Vanellope’s Ice Cream Parlor,

so I could have some Candy Explosion Gelato. It was so good, I loved it. Vanellope’s Ice Cream Parlor became my favorite daily place to go to and I ended up really liking the Cupcake Gelato. Mom thought it tasted pretty good too. I tried a few other flavors but didn’t really care for them. I liked the Candy Explosion but ended up liking the Cupcake flavor more. Vanellope’s Ice Cream Parlor was a really cool place. It was a special place for me and I wish I could have something like that where we live. I ate so much gelato and really enjoyed eating it while hanging out in the shop. They need some theme tables and chairs. It’s more like a store, but we still hung out while I ate my gelato.

We went back to our room to chill out for a while before mom got me dressed in my formal Christmas dress. It was optional dress-up evening on the ship so I thought I should get all dressed up :). But first, when we arrived we had stuff in our stockings and hanging on our door. So cool. 

After chilling out and getting my dress on, Mom decided for me to try and see Santa, so we headed out to get in line to see Santa Claus. 

While standing in the long line that moved really slow, I was so excited – happy and smiling. I thought it was cool for a little while. 

We were in a narrower area off the atrium, but once we reached the open area of the atrium (the last fifteen minutes or so) I was pretty much done with all this line stuff and the idea of seeing Santa.  It got louder too in that area.  Mom was really hoping I would have stayed in my good cheerful mood when seeing Santa, but that is okay. Mom did add my name to Santa’s long list just before I saw him. Santa was really nice but ya know, I am just too old for Santa and I just wasn’t into seeing him anymore but I did. I was very attentive, surprisingly, just not thrilled. 

After Santa, we went to dinner, early seating in the Royal Palace. We had two nights in the Royal Palace assigned to us, but we only went on one night, tonight. It was more a grown-up theme (more grown-up than me), more elegant and after a while very loud and crowded – chaotic to the point it was difficult for me to handle, which is why we only went for one of the two nights. It was difficult for mom to enjoy her meal since she wasn’t sure how long I would put up with it. It was a really nice restaurant and seem to have maybe a French theme to it. We met our servers that night who was really nice. Mom only ordered the main dish, no appetizer or dessert to make dinner quick. Mom said her dinner was really good, and it was nice to have something a little healthier.

After dinner, we went back to our room to relax for a while and so I could have some downtime. When I arrived back to our room I had a few things in my stocking. 🙂  I love this time – gifts and downtime.

Later that evening we headed back out as mom thought I could see Christmas Mickey and Minnie Mouse that evening with my Christmas dress on but we first delivered some more of our gifts. Mom hoped the lines would be down by the time we got to Mickey & Minnie. 🙂 It wasn’t too bad, but I still wasn’t all that keen on the idea. However, I was very attentive and alert and even looked at Minnie Mouse.

Afterward, mom and I went to check out the really cool gingerbread house, again.

A side note: Before we left on this trip we were part of our cruise FB group and met a family from our area. The morning we were at the airport to fly out to Orlando we ran into this family as they were on the exact same flight as mom and I. Go figure. Maybe I mentioned it already in my previous post. Anyway, we ran into them at the Gingerbread House and they offered to take a photo of mom and me.

Mom then took one of me…

Finally, it was time to go to Vanelope’s Ice Cream Parlor – Yay. I only had a few bites of some Gelato, but I just love going here.

We went back to our room and found some more goodies on our door..

We chilled out for a little while before we went for our late evening stroll…

I can’t wait to share what is coming up next… 🙂