I was up at my normal 6:30 a.m. as the rest of the gang was still fast asleep. I plopped down at a table on deck nine with my portable keyboard and enjoyed some morning blogging as the ship approached the island of Nassau in the Bahamas. I was reflecting on the previous two days, appreciating the fact the the family was all relatively healthy after our embarkation day morning. I was also remembering the fun we had in Key West at our previous port of call. Today we were looking forward to a relaxing day on the Disney Magic overlooking the port of Nassau.
The seas were remarkably calm as I observed the sunrise over the approaching island of Nassau in the distance. I was enjoying my Diet Coke and general peacefulness of the ship while most of the travelers were tucked away in their staterooms sleeping. As the island approached I wrapped up my writing and headed back to the stateroom to check on Em and the boys, who were all awake upon my return.
Since the morning weather was shaping up to be beautiful in Nassau, we got dressed in our suits, which we wore to breakfast so we could enjoy the water activities on deck nine before it got too crowded. The previous day we enjoyed breakfast in Key West so this was our first official Cabanas breakfast of the cruise. We filled our plates with our favorites like Mickey Waffles & whipped cream, bacon, sausage, and enough pastries to feed an army. We wanted to eat out back of Cabanas but most of the tables were full so we took our plates up to deck ten where there were several tables and not many Guests. It provided a scenic view of the island which we enjoyed, along with the quiet. Watching these enormous ships pull into port will never lose its magic for me!
The swooping seagulls encouraged us to hurry along our breakfast activity as we covered our trays to thwart their efforts. Following breakfast we stayed on deck ten to explore the outdoor offerings. We walked by the Twist and Spout slide, which is located on the aft side of the back smokestack. The Twist and Spout is a long yellow slide, that originates from the top section of the smoke stack and winds its way down past deck ten and drops you off on deck nine. The larger ships (Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy) have similar slides, albeit smaller than the Twist and Spout, however they are only for kids because they are so small. We were excited that the Twist and Spout was open to kids and adults. We made a plan to return as soon as the slide was open for business.
We continued our tour of deck ten, working our way to the forward of the ship where the basketball court, ping pong, and foosball tables are. It still blows my mind that they have a basketball court on a cruise ship! It make you appreciate the sheer size of the vessel. Emily had to go back to the room to get something, so I played a game of foosball with the boys. Sawyer and I took on Hunter, who ended up beating us by one point it a competitive match. Emily was approaching just as we finished our match, and just in time to head over to the Twist and Spout slide.
We arrived at the slide just as it was opening, making us the first official riders of the day. The slide was super fun as it provided as much speed as you wanted based on how you positioned your body. If you wanted a chill ride you could just sit upright but if you wanted to go fast you could do that too. It was the perfect slide because we could all enjoy it together. We ended up doing about six or seven runs on the slide with very few other guests participating. Definitely a must do if you are on the Disney Magic!
I am not sure if it was the winding slide or the fact that you needed to climb three flights of stairs for each run, but either way we had had enough. The pool area was still relatively open as it was mid morning so we grabbed some chairs next to the pool as the boys swam and Emily and I read. Emperor’s New Grove was playing on the Funnelvision and was the perfect backdrop to our pool activities.
As we were enjoying our relaxing morning, Emily got a text on her Navigator app letting us know that our waitlist for the beach cabana at Castaway Cay came available! On our embarkation day, I went to Guest Services to put our name in for a beach cabana on the off chance that one came available. We have waitlisted one before but to no avail. As Emily and I have agreed this is a joint bucket list item, we were both pretty excited. I headed down to Guest Services to let them know that we were interested, and check the weather for the next day on the island. I didn’t especially want to book it if it was going to thunderstorm all day! They showed a near perfect forecast so I decided to go for it. We were all super excited because we had never done this before and were curious to see what the experience was like!
All the excitement of the beach cabana somehow worked up a late morning hunger for the Hayes clan. Since Emperors New Groove was still playing we grabbed some pizza and shawarma from the quick serve windows and secured a table where we could finish the movie. We left just enough room for a couple soft serve ice cream cones on the way back to the room.
After a quick shower and a change into our afternoon attire, we were back exploring the ship for some afternoon fun. We made our way down to deck four where we took a spin around the walking track. Hunter was chomping at the bit for a game of chess so O’Gill’s Pub was our next destination. I believe Hunter’s interest in the game is due to his new plunge into the Harry Potter books. He got a chess set for Christmas and has been excited to play ever since. O’Gill’s Pub is located at the forward of deck four and wasn’t as busy as I expected for the weekend NFL playoff games. Hunter and I grabbed a tall chess table and Emily secured a plate of wings and chips and guacamole for sharing. We each enjoyed a Captain’s Mai Tai as she played games with Sawyer and I took on Hunter. We got a couple of relatively quick games of chess in and we were ready to do some more exploring.
The daily Navigator pointed us to our next stop, deck four midship for a meet and greet and photo with Donald Duck. Donald has always been one of Hunter’s favorite characters and, with the newly released Duck Tales on Disney Channel, he continues his appreciation of the duck dynasty (no, not that one). After our meet and greet it was time for the afternoon’s main event, the 2:30 showing of Ralph Breaks the Internet 3D at the Buena Vista Theater. Emily had planned ahead and brought some candy so we secured some popcorn and settled in for the film. It was definitely time well spent as the movie was excellent. Following the film we stopped by for a meet and greet with Sawyer’s new favorite character, Stitch, before returning to our stateroom.
Thanks to Emily’s pre-planning, she locked in a reservation for the adults at Palo for the evening. Since we had just eaten at Lumiere’s the previous night, the boys were perfectly happy to get some quick service food and head to the Oceaneer Club for the early evening. While Emily was getting ready I brought some plates of pizza and a burger back for the boys to enjoy while they watched their Mickey cartoons in the stateroom. Emily and I sat our on our balcony and watched the ships leave the Nassau port until it was eventually time for the Disney Magic to depart. It is neat watching all of the ships leave in a well spaced out, single file line.
After the boys were properly nourished (if you can call another meal of pizza and burgers proper nourishment) I took them down to the Oceaneer Club so I could return to the room to get ready for dinner myself. Emily and I were very much looking forward to a quiet, relaxing dinner at Palo.
We arrived at the restaurant just prior to 6:30 dining time and were pleased to see that the restaurant wasn’t overly crowded. We snapped a few photos prior to being seated because we knew we wouldn’t feel like it afterward. We were immediately greeted by our server, Nenad, who is from Serbia. Although you could tell he was still new to Palo, he did an amazing job explaining the menu and the evening that would follow. Emily was super excited to find one of her favorite cruise drinks, the Limone Basilico, on the menu. After we ordered our drinks and our entrees, it was time for the food extravaganza!
At Palo they start out the meal by wheeling out an antipasto cart. They then explain the different items like the cheeses, olives, peppers, and oils as they build you a delicious plate of goodies to share. It is the perfect meal starter and was quickly followed by our appetizers. For our second course we ordered gnocchi and calamari to share between the two of us. We have always enjoyed the calamari, which comes with a jumbo fried shimp as well. The gnocchi were ok. After a pallet cleansing sorbet it was time for the main course. Emily ordered the Scallops and I went off script and ordered the Dover Sole fish which was filleted table-side. Nenad was also kind enough to bring us a plate of the Mushroom Risotto to share. I absolutely loved my fish but Emily felt that the time it took to fillet the fish table-side negatively impacted the temperature of her scallops. She was trying to be polite and wait for my food to be ready but scallops don’t stay hot long! As if all of that food wasn’t enough, Nenad brought us two Chocolate Soufflés for dessert to put us over the top. I don’t believe we were able to finish our desserts, although we certainly wanted to. One last finished touch for the meal, Nenad brought us each a shot of sorbet and champagne to cap off a delicious evening at Palo.
After rolling ourselves out of Palo, we picked up the boys from the Oceaneer club and took advantage of the shops being open to browse the ship merchandise. The boys were excited for our first real stop at the Marvel store to get a closer look at some of the items they were interested in. It was here that we met our favorite Cast Member of the cruise, Oksana. She immediately took to the boys and had so much fun with them. Sawyer was in love! We hung out there for a bit before checking out the other shops where the boys both picked up a Disney Magic ship replica to start and continue their collections.
With just about all the activity we could handle in a day, we returned to our stateroom where we snuggled into our pajamas and ordered some room service to cap off our fun day. With Castaway Cay just a sleep away we wanted to be sure to get a good night’s rest. Our plan was to take full advantage of that cabana from start to finish! Room service came quickly with a tray of milk and cookies, a grilled cheese sandwich for Hunter, and Chicken Noodle Soup and an All Hands on Deck Cheese Plate for Emily. Hard to believe that we could still be hungry but we managed to find room. We made the most of our day three at the Port of Nassau and are excited for our Beach Cabana at Castaway Cay tomorrow!
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