Bahamas 2007, Day 2

Our first morning in Florida found us fully encompassed by the Disney gravitational pull. After a great buffet breakfast in the hotel, we packed our bags and set them outside our hotel rooms, festooned with custom Disney Cruise tags. The inscrutable workings of the Disney machine would, we were assured, swoop in to collect our suitcases and deliver them to our cabin on board the ship some four hours hence.

In the meantime, we gathered with sixty other gaily dressed families in the expansive hotel lobby, where we were met by Disney Cruise representatives who checked our papers, nodded sagely and guided us en masse to the busses. Like a bunch of overgrown kindergartners, we traipsed though the Orlando airport traffic to an unused part of the baggage claim, where we were left in one line of several to await boarding of the bus that would take us to the ship (Orlando is about 40 miles inland, after all).

In the course of our 45 minute wait, we saw an astonishing number of Disney busses, some painted as resort-bound, others Cruise-bound with painted faux portholes, endlessly stopping outside the makeshift depot to pick up another shipment of revelers. Predictably enough, the bus came complete with a DVD system that played a film that introduced the entire embarkation procedure in a smile-it’s-Disney sort of way. The film, of course, lasted precisely the amount of time it took to get from the airport to the ship.

We waited an agreeably brief time in the terminal prior to boarding the ship:


Following a personalized welcome on board that was met with many huzzahs by the ever-cheerful crew, our first task was to get lunch at the 9th deck aft buffet. Here we first encountered the occasional frustration of the elevators, which could be easily overwhelmed by moderate use. Following lunch, we got to know our cabin (or “stateroom,” in the grand language of cruise ships). Regardless of the perceived frivolity that may attend the Disney-fication of a cruise experience, I found myself impressed by the boat itself. Admittedly, I had no basis for comparison, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the convenience and efficiency of our stateroom.


[Michael took that last one]

The front part of the room was the closet and split bathroom (tub/shower with sink in one, toilet and sink in adjacent), which led to the queen size bed. The rest of the cabin, which had a couch, desk with TV, large trunk and chair, could be divided from the front portion by a curtain. The sofa converted to a bed, with a bunk dropping from the ceiling above it, with yet another bed pulling out, Murphy-bed style, beyond those. On top of it all, we had a veranda, as did about half of the cabins on the ship. This is the way to go.



We pulled away from Port Canaveral around 5 pm after a raucous party at the Goofy Pool (amidships).


That evening we had our first go at the dining experience that is the heart of the cruise. We met the three servers who would be with us throughout the cruise, and learned what really great food was all about. I’m pretty middle-class in my tastes when it comes to cuisine, so it was a distinct pleasure to learn that, yes indeed, some food really is better than others. (Rumor has it that the adults-only restaurant on board, for which an extra charge is required, has even more superior food. Something to keep in mind for next time.) As our dinner was scheduled for 8 pm every night and lasted nearly two hours, we found ourselves without sufficient energy to take advantage of all the activities for both kids and adults that carry on deep into the night. Instead, as the ship rushed toward Nassau across light seas at up to 19 knots, we settled in for a pleasant night’s sleep, the TV tuned to the station that plays nothing but classic Disney animated movies to help us on our way.