Trip Report We're Sailing on the Fan-ta-sy!

The title sounds a lot cooler if you sing it to the tune of the Festival of Fantasy parade: a song that plays very frequently on our car rides. So it was only fitting that I altered the lyrics slightly to hype up the kids for their first Disney Cruise... on the Disney Fantasy! I booked this cruise the first day I could back in November 2023 after I got the serious itch to go Disney Cruising at the beginning of the year. I held out all 2024 in favor of the perfect itinerary and in hopes that we would be 42 inches tall to ride the AquaDuck. Then the waiting began. The kids knew about it from the moment I booked because I can't keep my mouth shut. They were excited, but the excitement really ramped up a few months out, asking every day to see the countdown and trying out everything from formal to pirate outfits. Also ramping up for me was the anxiety. I tracked the weather obsessively, worried that it would be too cold for us to enjoy the water or walking around the deck. I became an even bigger germaphobe than I already was, and hounded everyone to stay healthy. I just wanted it to be everything we dreamed it would be, but it was out of my hands. I would just have to take a deep breath and hope for smooth sailing.

Who: Our family of 4 - myself, husband J, son Nemo (6), daughter Boo (4)
What: 5-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral
When: January 19 - January 24, 2025
Where: Nassau, Disney Castaway Cay, Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point
Why: J and I have been on two Disney Cruises. A 4-Night Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Dream in 2012 and a 4-Night Bahamian-turned-Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Magic in 2015. It's been a whole decade since we've been on a Disney Cruise, and it would be a great way to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. But mostly, our Walt Disney World-loving kids were so ready to experience some Disney magic at sea!

We flew into MCO the day before the cruise. We were staying at the Hyatt and taking Disney transportation to Port Canaveral. Was it the most cost-efficient option? No. Was it the easiest and most advantageous? It sure was. Nemo woke up in the morning and said “I think my wish is coming true today. I get to go on my very first cruise.” We were on the first bus to the port and were in the terminal before 11am. The kids were thrilled to see the boat from the window.

Boo: It’s the cruise boat!
Nemo: Yup, that's our boat!

The display provided lots of entertainment while we waited for embark. There were also lots of cute photo opportunities. Nemo saw the pressed penny machine and really wanted them, so I had to oblige. Although they aren't as cool anymore if you don't get to crank them.

We walked up the gangway and entered the Atrium to the announcement of our party. "Party?!" When I told Nemo that they were welcoming our family, he made an aw shucks face. Look who was there to greet us right away. Captain Mickey!

The Atrium was beautiful. Everything was gleaming gold and the chandelier was gorgeous. I loved the Dream's chandelier and could see the Art Deco vs Art Nouveau distinction.

We took the fancy elevator up to Deck 11 and the kids were taking all the newness in. Lilo and Stitch on Funnel Vision? AquaDuck? Pools? There was too much to process! The weather was very pleasant for the moment. The forecast had called for 100% chance of rain this afternoon, so we would have to see what that would mean for the Sail Away Party.

We went straight to Cabanas. There is no other way. I loaded the kids up on beef, fish, broccoli, and of course, mac and cheese. They ate it all before I came back with my own plate of food. We dined next to the window with a view of a Carnival ship which Nemo kept saying was "SO COOL" and I was like... c'mon man. We ate happily, vacation was finally here.

Nemo: There's a bird in here.
Me: *stuffing my face* Oh, really? How did it get in here?"
Nemo: No, look behind you.

Next up on the agenda was to visit the Oceaneer Club for the Open House. We were not planning on dropping the kids off there by themselves this trip, so Open Houses would be the only way we could all visit. They had the coolest hand washing station there. They loved it and so did I. DCL was taking cleanliness very seriously and it was appreciated.

J and I popped into the Open Houses on our other cruises just to see the space, and we dreamed of taking our own children someday. That day was here, and they were running across the floor and we couldn't stop smiling. They ran straight for the Star Wars: Command Post and Boo piloted a spacecraft. Nemo got an AT-AT for Christmas and screamed "AT-AT!" when he saw it.

Andy's Room was the other highlight. They sat in RC Car and turned the wheel furiously. "The eyes move!" of course they do. That's Disney magic! That's something Nemo has been telling me a lot recently. "Disney magic is real!" Since we were early, people were still boarding and/or eating, we had the whole room to ourselves for a bit.

Connected to the Oceaneer Club was the Oceaneer Lab. The kids went to The Wheelhouse to steer their own ship. I literally had a picture of J doing the same thing all those years ago. Just one of those surreal moments. There was also Animator's Studio where they could choose a character drawing and trace it on the lighted table. Boo made Nemo a Pooh Bear drawing that said "Hero Hunny" which he laughed at, and then kept saying for the rest of the day. When we left the Lab, we saw a tiny stateroom door for the Muppets. The kids tried to open it with the MagicBands that were lent to us for the kids club, but no success.

Deck 5 is lined with hilarious artwork. Nemo would explain what was happening in each one to us, and this one was his favorite. Coincidentally, it was my favorite on the Dream as well. Looking at all the artwork around the ship is truly one of my favorite things.

 

[belledream]

We've been to Serenity Bay before, but it still took my breath away.

It was so quiet. Just the sounds of the water ebbing and flowing on the shore. Crystal clear water.

We dove in and started looking for life. Nemo has been asking about a sand dollar (again, from our photo album) so I felt pressure to find one. I did not, but I did find a sponge. Terrible picture below. I also spent a lot of time following a long, translucent fish who evaded me.

We swam around more. The floor here is not the smoothest. In fact, we were tiptoeing around saying "ouch" and a few other words quite a bit. Then we heard someone call to us, "There's a stringray near you." I was like "Oh!" in equal parts excitement and fear.

But he was just doing his own thing. So cool though, and you bet the kids were impressed when I showed them later.

It was an enjoyable half an hour or so. This brought me straight back to January 2012 when we were just two college kids who were enjoying time together on this very beach.

We still wanted to pick up the kids soon because we were not nearly done with Castaway this afternoon, so we went back to the tram stop. But Serenity BBQ smelled pretty good and even though we weren't particularly hungry, we decided to check out the offerings. They had a few items that weren't at Cookie's. For me, it was a plate of beans. They were pretty spicy, which I loved. J said he thinks it was supposed to be a topping for a burger or hot dog, because we got a weird look when we asked for just the beans. He himself ate a hot dog.

And we're back.

Nemo had been eyeing this Disney Cruise ship sand toy and I decided to buy it and surprise them when we picked them up. I really do love it myself. The fun souvenir to play with for the rest of the day, and to remember the good times by later on.

The Mount Rushmore of Castaway Cay.

At the entrance to Scuttle's Cove, the first thing we saw was Nemo and Boo running to the water cooler with a youth counselor and drink some water. Why was that just so cute?! The little black wetsuits and their blue and purple hats. Then they ran off again and I could see Nemo's hat behind the bushes and hear his yelling at the splash pad. Boo was squatting and digging something in the sand. When they came out, I asked them what they did and Boo said she "played with Nemo." Nemo said he "made a racetrack in the splash area and showed it to a friend who had never seen one." It sounds like they really enjoyed it.

We did have a bit of drama though. They could not find Boo's water shoes in the cubby, which we saw her put them in there. They looked around the area to see if she had left them somewhere, but I knew she didn't remove them from the cubby. They said that it was possible that someone else took them by mistake and that it would be returned. I was skeptical, but I appreciated that they offered to take me to a shop and get a replacement for her. Unfortunately, they only had flip flops available. While we would make do with it for today, I knew that it would not be sustainable tomorrow. But I took them because we needed something, and just hoped that by some miracle, we would get her shoes back. But it goes to show that Disney will take care of you. I didn't doubt it for a minute, and we were able to go on and enjoy the rest of our day.

 

[belledream]

It was about 2:30, so we had about two hours left on the island. We went back to the Family Beach and the kids' imaginations ran wild with their new ship. Nemo said, "And now I'm going to dock the ship" and used the rake as the anchor. Boo created a little 2D world with the castle, Mickey, and starfish. After a while, I suddenly had the thought that all the rental things would probably close earlier than 4, so I ran over to the rental area to inquire. I almost choked at the $34 but got over it quickly. I don't want to hear about not doing the water trike for the next however many months. Plus, I know he will enjoy it.

The CM said the last rental was at 3:15, but he would save one for me. So I ran all the way back and told Nemo and J to get ready. I would have liked to take him, but I figured that J would be better equipped to handle the solo effort and pedal since Nemo would not be able to reach. Boo wanted to just continue frolicking in the water, so I stayed with her and she liked when I twirled her in the water. She also wrote her name in the sand and told me I could use it if I needed help spelling. Eventually I convinced her that we should go see the boys on the trike for a bit.

It was so cute seeing them out there, with a perfect view of the ship. They were bobbing up and down a bit in the waves, and I could see Nemo trying to propel the wheel with his hands. I did lots of crazy waving.

Boo and I drew pics in the sand and she chased after seagulls. She wanted to sit on the stand up paddleboards that were on the beach and the CM said sure. When J and Nemo returned, J told me that they never even charged him for the rental. He said that "My wife told me to get here before 3:15 for the water trike." The CM asked, "What time is it now?" J said, "3:09..." Guess we were pixie dusted, hooray!

We went back to the family beach and played for a little longer. The chairs were being packed up and the crowd had thinned out. I was actually hot and wanted to go in the water again. Not a single drop of rain today. The weather had been divine.

We had been at Castaway Cay from 8:30 to 4:00 and it was one for the books. It was better than how I dreamed it would be. My heart was full because the things we enjoyed to the max 10+ years ago are somehow even more enjoyable now with our children.

We found another wagon and pulled them all the way back to the ship, beating the tram, and right up to the gangway. A Crew Member even offered to take it from us. When we got back to our room, we hosed the sandy kids off in the shower and then let them relax in a bath tub while I went to get them slices of pizza and fruit to hold them over until dinner. When I got back, I received a message from Oceaneers saying to give them a call. They said that Boo's shoes had been returned and that they would drop it off at our stateroom, right now. I opened the door to a kind youth counselor who handed me the shoes inside a DCL drawstring backpack. These humans really are the magic.

 

[belledream]

We went to Deck 4. It was the perfect time to watch the sun set. I kept my eyes on it and within a span of thirty seconds, the sun disappeared over the horizon.

We were up to our usual antics, and then we saw Thor walking down the deck towards us. The kids stopped in their tracks and just gaped. So did J. He was like, "That guy is f***ing huge. Have you seen any cast members that big around here, cause I haven't. Is that his only job?!"

Dinner #3 would be at Animator's Palate. We knew this would be a hit, so we didn't give the kids any inkling of what to expect. Discoveries, incoming!

The kids ogled at the gigantic pencils and paintbrushes, and very quickly realized the action that was going on. They loved playing Impressions and guessing what the moonfish were making. And of course, they were thoroughly entertained by the visits from Nemo and his silly friends. When the restaurant changed colors, Nemo shouted, "Now we're underwater!"

I loved our table location here. It was in the corner, tucked away from everyone else, and had good views of all the screens, and the restaurant as a whole.

This was the display behind us. It was like a little museum. There was so much to look at, and we had conversations with the kids about different types of animation.

 

[belledream]

A rare photo of the kids' meals. I got one salmon and one steak and split it up between them. Boo enjoyed getting her Mickey ketchup made to order.

And for our appetizers...
Smoked Salmon Tartar: yes please.
Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes: J thought these were delicious, I thought they were okay.
Sliced Serrano Ham: I can't say no to any type of cured meat.
Tomato Tarte: not bad at all, but filling for what it was.

J got the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. I got the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup. We were both pleased with our choices.

J got the Ginger-Teriyaki Dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin. He had no complaints. Surprisingly, this meat eater liked the bok choy a lot.

Herb-Crusted Pork Chop for me. It came on top of sun-dried tomato risotto which tasted so good at first bite, and then became almost too rich for me. As for the pork chop, I must say I think J does a better job at home. That was a first.

For dessert, J said he was going to get the Warm Sticky Date Pudding. I was like, hold up - what? There was a Cookies ‘n Cream Sundae on the menu. He quickly changed his mind.

My Crunchy Walnut Cake was SO good. Anything dark chocolate and raspberry is always my #1, but the walnuts really made this. I don't eat a lot of dessert at home, and I have been trying to wean myself off of needing that taste of something sweet after meals, but thinking about this does not help.

The kids got Mickey Ice Cream bars of course. But they were mostly in it for the Mickey sprinkles. After she finishes eating every meal, Boo announces, "I want to sit on your lap." And she'll make her way over and sit on either of our laps and changes her mind every so often. Today, she favored J's lap and wanted to give him messy kisses on the cheek.

At the end of dinner, Sashelle told J that she had something for him. She came over with a sweet treat and a few other servers and they sang Happy Birthday to him. This is like J's worst nightmare, but he played along. I had kind of forgotten I marked a Birthday celebration for us. It was indeed not his birthday, but his was the closest to our sail date... At least the kids got to witness the fun.

 

[belledream]

We had made an important decision during dinner. We decided it was prime AquaDuck time. The kids chanted "AquaDuck!" as they ran down the hallway to our room. We changed into bathing suits and went all the way up to Deck 12. We walked straight up the stairs, almost to the top, and Nemo read us the story of the AquaDuck. He thought it was hilarious that Huey, Dewey, and Louie built this slide and Uncle Donald ended up being the test dummy.

I rode with Nemo. When sailed across the deck with all the lights on, he said, "WOW!!!" He said going up and down was fun, and that water shot back at him. It was definitely as fun as I remembered. We waited for Boo and J. I thought the next one was them and started oohing and ahhing like an idiot, then I heard Boo right behind me say, "I want to do it again!"

Nemo said no thanks, so Boo and I went up to ride again. She's so little and doing such big things. She was down for a third time, so I told her and J that we'd wave to them from the Mickey Pool. Nemo and I hopped in and it felt nice and warm. We could only spare about fifteen minutes before we had to get ready for the show, so we made the most of it, swimming and splashing around in the night. Mission accomplished and memories made. Hard work pays off.

We hurried back to our room to change into warm clothes and headed to Walt Disney Theater. It was going to be a big one...

It was spectacular. The beautiful set, the lovely costumes, the humor, the Olaf puppeteer. And of course, the songs. That Elsa was AMAZING. I got emotional when she transformed herself during Let It Go. Boo sat up straight and alert the whole time and smiled at me when they talked about true love. Nemo was asking J questions like, "How did they do that?" At one point, Boo was hugging my arm and Nemo J's.

Of course, it was almost 10pm and they wanted to play more shuffleboard, so here we were again, stretching every moment. When we said to finish up, Nemo did one more and then went over and put his stick and puck away, and I was pleasantly stunned.

These were some of my favorite artwork on the ship. Nemo kept telling Boo, "Snowflakes are actually fairies."

I seriously want this for her room.

As we walked back to ours, Nemo asked, "What’s our next cruise going to be?" I think he saw someone's door magnets (First Cruise, Favorite Cruise, Next Cruise). That is a good question, sir. They did their bunk bed playtime ritual with pets and pulleys. Boo tucked both pets in bed. Lights out and she said, "I have to tell Nemo one more thing: are we going to have a good day tomorrow?" Nemo said, "Yes." Then he said, "Boo I have to tell you one more thing. I love you."