My Disney Cruise Experience to the Bahamas
This trip crossed off a lot of firsts for me.... my first cruise, ever, first time in the Bahamas, and first time in the Caribbean! And just the fact that it was Disney alone had me so excited for this trip! The cruise took place on the Disney Dream, spending 1 day in Nassau, Bahamas and another at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island in the Bahamas.) Here are my thoughts on what cruising, Disney-style, is really like!
If you have extra time, I would recommend staying at a hotel on Disney property in Orlando the night before! We were able to get there via Magical Express for free (which, sadly, will be discontinued in 2022,) and was able to purchase a ticket on the Disney Cruise Line bus for the next day. They picked us up from the hotel and straight to the ship in Port Canaveral, so the transportation was really easy and efficient! They can also pick you up straight from the airport as well. If you would prefer to drive, you can also park at the port and leave your car.
Setting Sail on the Disney Dream
Once you get inside the port, you'll go through a line where you'll get checked in. It's a fairly long line to get through, but can vary depending on what time you get there (Hence, I recommend arriving as soon as you can!) Once all set, we were boarding the ships with cast members clapping and cheering all around us. For my first time being on a cruise ship, I was just amazed with how beautiful everything and everywhere was!! There are multiple floors that hold bars, restaurants, a theater, night clubs, a spa..... walk outside and you'll find pools, hot tubs, and so, so much more! I couldn't believe how much there was to do on a single ship. Therefore, we were not bored for a second while cruising!
There were always different events every day that were fun to keep up with. We really loved the stage productions put on every night, as well as hanging out in the adults-only lounges in the evenings. There were 3 restaurants that were part of a rotating schedule, all of which were fantastic and included with your stay. If you wanted to splurge a bit more, they had a couple more upscale restaurants you could reserve (However, in my opinion, they all felt upscale!)
The room was lovely! We decided to spend a bit more for a room with a verandah, and absolutely loved getting to sit outside every morning and gaze out at the endless sea. We also really loved how the TV is loaded with so many Disney movies!!
Here's one thing that I'll talk about that I was not a fan of. Some things felt gimmicky. I feel like this is a consistent thing across the board with cruise lines, but I was a little surprised to feel this way on a Disney cruise. For instance, every night we had dinner, staff members with giant, flashy cameras would come up and take photos of every person at the table. And of course these photos were not free.... but why would I want a photo of me trying to eat my dinner in peace? We also wanted to take a look at the spa out of curiosity.... we ended up getting sucked into an hour-long pitch of trying to be sold services, it was kinda insane! The cheesy stuff didn't ruin our experience by any means, but it did feel a little annoying at some time
Our first day off ship took place in Nassau, Bahamas, which is the country's biggest city. We arrived with many locals waiting outside in an attempt to sell us excursions. So, you could definitely say we were located in one of the most tourist-y areas of the city. But wow, was it beautiful there! We were given from 9 to 5 to enjoy the island, which felt like plenty of time for us. The city is also very walkable, so it was fun to explore and easy to get back when we needed to. I will say that if you're looking for the most authentic Bahamas experience, this isn't it, but the area we stayed in was still really cool, and had beautiful beaches!
The next day we anchored down at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, and boy was that a cool experience!! First off, everyone on the ship had the ENTIRE island to themselves.. it was amazing. What was even better going as a child-free couple was having an adults-only portion of the beach! We were free to roam, walk around and enjoy ourselves for the day. There were many different excursions you could add on, too!
Overall Thoughts
With this being my first cruise, I probably wouldn't have the best opinion to follow, but we did have a really fun time on the Disney Dream! We are a bit biased being big Disney lovers, of course. If you can get past the super cheesy parts of the cruise life, you're in for a treat. I would love to do another cruise one day for a smaller island/country, but would prefer to travel on my own for bigger countries, or ones I would like to spend more time exploring. However, I do love with cruises that you have PLENTY of things to do while on your way to your destination! It also is a cool experience to wake up and see nothing but the ocean from your room. I think a trip like this would totally be a personal preference, but I would recommend trying it at least once... especially if you're a big Disnerd!
