The Murray Family: A Disney Dream

Thanks to the enormous generosity of Michael's grandma Murray (Mums), we had the amazing experience of taking a Bahamian cruise with the Disney Cruise line this past week. Our ship was very aptly named, The Disney Dream.

We left on Saturday evening for Florida, meeting up with Michael's Utah siblings, and began the adventure. The flight (3:52) seemed to take forever, but we finally arrived and were immediately assaulted by the humidity. This was my first trip to Florida, and I was not disappointed in my expectations of heat and humidity. We arrived around 11:30PM local time and it had to still have been 85 degrees and about the same percentage of humidity.

Anyway, we made our way to the hotel and proceeded to not fall asleep due to the time change. We woke up Sunday morning, had a great devotional and then waited for our shuttle to take us to Port Canaveral. And that's where we got our first view of the Disney Dream. It was enormous! We were all so excited, snapping pictures and extremely antsy to get out of the shuttle and board.

After going through the typical lines and paperwork, we were finally able to board and I was reminded (in a good way) of the first interior shots from the movie Titanic, where Rose first boards the ship. It was so luxurious and beautiful. We eventually made it to our room, dropped off our carry-ons and headed to the first of several large lunch buffets. When we finally left port, we stood on our veranda and waved to the Disney cruise employees that saw us off. It was already so magical.

Disney is unique in it's cruises for three important reasons: 1. The Disney quality shows 2. The servers follow you the duration of the cruise, and 3. Castaway Cay.

The entertainment on the cruise was amazing. The theatrical shows all had disney characters and movie songs, and made me feel like I was sitting in a theater in Disneyland. My favorite shows were the Golden Mickey's (an awards show for the Disney characters) and Believe (a cute show that was basically an excuse to showcase some of the most beloved Disney songs and characters). We also were able to see Cars 2 and Pirates 4 in the on board movie theater. Amazing!

Our servers, Mircea from Romania and Emmanuel from Mexico, followed us around to the different restaurants we were able to visit while aboard. (Side note, all the amazing stories of food you hear about on a cruise ship is true. I was never so consistently full in my entire life.) And they were so fun! They showed us tricks with napkins and crayons, taught us their languages, joked, laughed and made the cruise experience even more amazing.

Castaway Cay. I don't even really know what to say about this magical little island. Seriously, I don't. We went snorkeling (amazing), played volleyball (and won), ate island fruit (yum), got sunburnt (ouch--I even reapplied sunscreen!) and relaxed. The first trip there, Michael, Kacy and I even ran a 5K--which actually turned out to be pretty horrible. I ran a half marathon two weeks previously, so expected this to be cake: not so. 90 degree weather paired with 92 percent humidity does not make for an easy run. I thought I was going to die. My overall experience on Castaway Cay was definitely positive though.

We also stop at Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. We didn't go to any beaches, we simply took a tour around the city. The Grahams, Herds and Michael and I went to the old fort and castle that was probably about a half mile walk from the port. My favorit spot by far was the Queen's Staircase. It was cool and shady, as well as apparently being the best place for street vendors to set up shop. I bought a cute neckless and then made a quick/hurried trip back later to buy a wooden bowl and a hat for Michael. It was fun haggling and feeling like a tourist.

And that, basically and very briefly (although it may not seem like it) was our cruise. I'm already planning a 10th anniversary Alaskan cruise--it was that amazing.
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

Orlando airport