April 2023 – Bless Your Heart

Today is Castaway Cay day!!!

Today’s forecast was beautiful and we were on Disney’s private island so what could be better?!?

We had a surprise excursion booked for 9 am on the island so we woke up early and ate breakfast at Cabanas buffet. Then we debarked and took the tram to the stingray hut. Today we’re feeding and swimming with stingrays! This was another birthday surprise for MIL as she’s never interacted with stingrays before!

First we had a short briefing about stingrays (Disney stingrays have their barbs trimmed). Then we all split up into groups of about 10 each and went into the water. There were these floating platforms with a trainer in the middle of each one. We stood on the other side of the platform and the trainer gave us food (shrimp or a gelatinous vitamin blob). We were instructed to then place our hands (with the food) on the Mickey ears on the platform and the stingrays would come and take the food from us. This is the stingray named Kelly.

We were able to feed 3 times (Kelly came for seconds), then we had about 45 minutes to swim & snorkel with the rays in the lagoon. CSP had never snorkeled before but he got the hang of it quickly!

I had my phone in a waterproof case around my neck but I couldn’t get it to take pictures underwater. My snorkel mask kept fogging up etc. Whomp whomp.

After our snorkel time was up we grabbed our stuff and made our way toward the Family Beach area. On the way we saw Mickey!

Mickey and Pluto rode off in their spiffy beach cruiser!

Toward the entrance of the family beach is a gift shop and some drink kiosks.

MIL met someone else from Minnesota (CSP & his parents are originally from MN) in the gift shop so she was in there a while! We stopped and bought a 6 pack of water then went to find some chairs and umbrella shade.

LOOK at what a beautiful day it was!!!

As you can see we’re in the 3rd or 4th row from the water. That’s what happens when you have an excursion first thing in the morning instead of joining the throng of people racing to snag chairs on the beach. But it was perfect for us! We relaxed and read until we got hungry for lunch. Lunch was served at Cookies 2 BBQ on the island. There’s a giant pavilion that was just steps away from our beach chairs.

After lunch we relaxed a bit more then CSP and I decided to go back to the ship to nap. The sun and water can really wipe you out!

We took the tram back and got some good shots of the ship and island.

One of the magic pictures on the Fantasy. When you stand in front of it, it comes to life and there’s animation.

When we got back to our room we had our luggage tags. You attach them to your luggage and then when you disembark you go to the Minnie section to find your luggage. V organized. I filled the tags out for all of us then CSP & I took a nap. We woke up and by now MIL was back with us so we packed up all of our stuff. SO SAD!!! It’s the saddest activity!!! Then we showered and got ready for our last dinner of the cruise.

Tonight’s dinner was back in Animator’s Palate.

We were given the opportunity to draw characters that they animated and displayed on the nearby screens.

I drew the 2nd guy from the left and the last guy on the right. CSP always gets me to draw his.

Sher-Ann (our server) with our new friends Gabby & baby Jamie

How did I not notice the lights in the floor until tonight?!?

After dinner we went back to our room and got ready for bed. Our last towel animal was v fitting for the day!

Note the paper on the stingray. That’s a guest survey that they ask you to fill out and drop off in the designated boxes on your way off the ship. DCL takes these surveys seriously so please fill them out and recognize the cast members and crew who made your trip magical!

The next morning we took our final picture on the Fantasy (for this trip)!

We dropped our borrowed extension cord off at the Guest Services desk, dropped off our survey, and grabbed a quick breakfast in Cabanas. We listened for them to call for all the people with Minnie tags and we went and gathered our luggage. CSP found a v nice porter who helped us get all of our stuff out to the parking garage. Customs was a breeze and then we were out! We were off the ship v quickly. MIL & I waited on the ground level while CSP retrieved the car.

And that’s the end of a wonderful, family cruise!!! Next up for me & CSP- we’ll be back on the Fantasy in January 2024 for a Western Caribbean Pixar Day at Sea cruise!!!

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Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 8 Part 2

April 21, 2023May 7, 2023 Shanny

When we got back to the ship we went to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. On our way to dinner we passed Pepe the King Prawn’s stateroom #5148 1/2. It’s so cute! It’s on deck 5 and is only about 2 feet tall.

We also passed the GIANT screen by the pool. Movies are shown here throughout the day and night!

Tonight’s dinner is in Palo! Palo is the adults only Italian restaurant. There is an additional charge to eat here, but it’s worth every penny!

Close up of the beautiful blown glass light fixture. It twinkles!

We all started our dinner with an amuse bouche.

Then I had the burrata caprese salad.

The burrata was SO creamy and fresh!

My next course was an arugula and parmesan salad.

Next it was time for my main course- roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes.

The sauce was amazing!

For dessert CSP & I both ordered the chocolate souffle. It comes with both chocolate and vanilla sauces. That’s too much chocolate for me and CSP isn’t a fan of the vanilla sauce so we always trade sauces. This souffle is so incredible!!!

You also get a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it. At this point we were all stuffed with a fabulous dinner! BUT- tonight was pirate night! So we rushed down to the pool deck so we could see the fireworks!

Our dinner ran a bit long so we had to stand in the poolside outdoor shower to see the show! Ha!

Once the fireworks were over we went back to our room and found Davy Jones’ head on our bed!

Putra, our cabin steward, used chocolate coins for Davy’s eyes and earrings! So clever!

That’s a wrap for today! Tomorrow we are at Castaway Cay- Disney’s private island!!!

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Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 8 Part 1

April 21, 2023May 7, 2023 Shanny

Today we are in Nassau, Bahamas!

We woke up early since we are getting off the ship and went to Cabanas buffet for breakfast.

On the way to breakfast we hid a few ducks.

Hiding (and finding) ducks on cruise ships is fun! You never know where you’ll see one! We re-hide the ones we find so kids can find them. You can get cruise ducks on Amazon and tons of places online. Each time we’d leave our room we’d grab a few ducks to hide.

After breakfast we went back to the room to gather our stuff and change for Atlantis. Atlantis is a GIANT resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Usually when we stop at Nassau, CSP & I stay on the ship because we’ve been to Nassau a few times, unless there’s a particular excursion we’ve signed up for. But this trip we had MIL along and she’s never been so we decided to go to Atlantis for the day. You can buy a day pass to many resorts to enjoy their amenities even if you’re not staying there.

We debarked then grabbed a taxi to Atlantis. We weren’t the only cruise ship in Nassau today.

We got to Atlantis and once we figured out where to go to get our wristbands we made our way out to the water area and walked under this waterfall to our assigned pool cabana. It was kinda stinky in the grotto tbh.

Saw this sign on the way. Cracked me up!

Our cabana was at the Coral Pool. Luckily Atlantis has its own app with turn by turn directions, because this resort is HUMONGOUS!!!

I went to the towel hut and checked in. Brickell, our cabana host (cool name), walked us to our cabana- number 45.

CSP COULD NOT WAIT to get in the water. Views of the and from the cabana:

Menacing clouds!!! Luckily it only rained on us for like 5 minutes.

Our cabana came with towels for us, bottled water (in sustainable packaging! yay!), a small fridge & safe (in this cabinet).

CSP & I jumped in the pool as soon as we got covered in SPF. We swam and chilled in whatever shade we could find. It was a beautiful day today! It was about 82* and partly cloudy. Around noon we got hungry for lunch so we walked over a small bridge to the Lagoon Bar & Grill. It’s an all fresco restaurant with an open kitchen. V cool.

Sharks in the water surrounding the restaurant

Lunch was really good! I had shrimp with rice pilaf and salad (although the lettuce got hot being smushed up against the hot food and y’all know I HATE hot lettuce). We got a tropical salad for the table and MIL had cobia fish tacos.

CSP had a delicious seafood pasta.

This guy ^^^ kept an eye on our lunches, hoping for a taste!

After lunch we took a little tour of the property.

We spotted a wee kitty! This lady was feeding it (not pictured) and we got to talking. Apparently there are 3 kitties that live on the property and are feed regularly.

We passed the stingray exhibit. A worker was about to feed them so they were all crowding around her! I wanted to jump in the water with her!!!

We went underground to the predator’s tunnel.

We went back to the cabana where I read and CSP decided to go check out the water slides. MIL went with CSP to document the journey. I was really looking forward to riding the lazy river but Brickell the cabana host said Atlantis sold it a year or so ago!!! Boooo!!! Anyway, CSP found the raging rapids river and gave it a go.

45 minutes after this photo ^^^ was taken, MIL appeared back at the cabana sans CSP, BUT with CSP’s slides (his Crocs sandals). Apparently MIL had waited for a while where CSP had gotten into the raging river (at the calm spot of the river, before the rapids). But CSP didn’t return so she came back to the cabana in a panic looking for him. At this point it’s 3pm. We had to leave by 3:45 pm to make it back to the ship on time (taxi ride plus a long walk to the pier). I said he’d show up at the cabana at some point, but she was worried because since CSP was in the water he didn’t have his phone, a watch, or any way to tell time. I went to the restroom on the other side of the Coral Pool. By the time I got back to the cabana MIL was pacing with a worried look on her face and she had corralled 2 Atlantis employees (one of which was Brickell our cabana host). Brickell told me they don’t have a PA system so there was no way of calling for CSP. At this point MIL was worried we were going to have to leave CSP at Atlantis to make it back to the ship on time. No sense in all of us being stranded in Nassau! Ha! But then he appeared (like I knew he would). He walked up and said to MIL- why did you take my shoes?? It was a HOT walk back on that pavement! LOL

Note- maybe we were just spoiled by Disney, but none of us thought the Atlantis day passes or cabana were worth the cost. Basically we just paid them to let us sit in their shade, swim in their pool, and then we paid more money for lunch! We could have done all that on the ship! And we wouldn’t have had to pay extra for lunch!

We gathered our things and went out to the front of the hotel to catch a taxi back to the ship. If you ride with strangers it’s just $5 per person each way! Not bad. We were the last to load in to this particular mini bus and the driver told me to get in the front seat with him. This vehicle had a very short front end and it was apparent that this taxi driver had NO REGARD for my life or nerves!!! I’ve ridden in taxis in NYC and other cities but let me tell you, this was the most frightening taxi ride of my life! He wouldn’t hit the brakes until I could basically reach the cars in front of us with my short arms!

We finally made it back to the port and I’ve never been so happy to see Dumbo!!!

Next up- dinner at Palo, Pirate night, and fireworks at sea!!!

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Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 7

April 20, 2023May 4, 2023 Shanny

Today is our last sea day of this cruise. I LOVE a sea day!

CSP & I awoke to find ourselves alone in our room. MIL had gone out to have breakfast at Cabanas. We decided to go to Royal Court for breakfast since we’d had breakfast in Cabanas the previous two days. We had a great server who was from Portugal. I’m afraid I forgot to get his name!

I had the Captain Jack Sparrow’s melon boat from the kids’ menu. It came on a cute kids’ plate!

On a cruise you can order anything you’d like!

After breakfast we went to the Walt Disney Theatre for the Castaway Club Gold & Platinum members’ reception. Castaway Club is Disney Cruise Line’s loyalty program that you are a member of from your very first DCL cruise. This cruise is cruise #10 for us with Disney (my 23rd overall) so on our next Disney cruise we will be Platinum!!! Woot!!! Anyway, the other day we received this invitation in our stateroom.

We joined the line at Preludes and received our free cocktails then filed into the Walt Disney Theatre. We were amazed at the turnout- Disney cruisers are a loyal bunch!!!

I took the above picture about 30 minutes before the program even started! So many people!

The program went behind the scenes of their live stage show Aladdin. It was v interesting to see a time lapse video of the Genie getting into his makeup and all that goes into the scenes!

After the program we went up to the Cove Cafe so CSP could get coffee and we ran into MIL. We had our coffee drinks and people watched and chatted for a while then went to Sweet on You.

CSP had been craving a cupcake. Sweet on You is an adorable gelato and sweets shop on the Fantasy. These items do cost extra.

Look at all the adorable goodies!!! CSP chose the Cars chocolate cupcake and I chose a few macarons. CSP then ran our treats down to our room really quickly.

We had lunch at Cabanas. It was our first lunch there on this cruise and CSP was really wanting to eat his weight in peel and eat shrimp!!! Ha!!!

Just look at all those shells in his shell bowl!!! That man can put away some shrimp! After lunch I filled up my cup then we went to the Quiet Cove adult pool just to put our feet in the water and read and relax.

Later I got a Dole Whip with rum and CSP got himself a beer.

If you’ve never had a Dole Whip- ooooh boy! You are missing out! It is soooo good! It’s vegan and refreshing and tropical (it’s basically frozen pineapple). You can add rum like I did here or not.

Then it was time to go back to the room for a nap. That rum made me drowsy! Ha!

Our room was on deck 5 Forward. There are loads of signs and maps all over so it’s easy to get around!

After our nap we got ready for dinner. Tonight was semi formal night, so it was time to get sparkly! But first it was time for our show. Tonight’s live show was Frozen.

The show was spectacular! So fun to sing along!

After the show we stopped back by our room so CSP could change clothes (note the skull tshirt he was wearing at Frozen). Then we popped into the gift shop to pick up a gift for our vet.

Dinner tonight was at Royal Court.

Dinner tonight was Lobster night. CSP & I aren’t big lobster fans but MIL loves it and Sher-Ann our server brought MIL TWO lobster tails!!!

I had one of my favorite desserts- creme brulee!

We spotted some characters on our way to dinner!

On the way back to our room after dinner we spied Snow White:

CSP skipped dessert at dinner so he could have his cupcake back in the room.

Tonight’s towel animal- a penguin!!!

That’s a wrap on our final sea day! Tomorrow we are in Nassau, Bahamas and we are going to Atlantis!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 6

April 19, 2023May 3, 2023 Shanny

Today we woke up and went to breakfast at the Cabana’s buffet again. It’s the fastest option vs a sit down served breakfast at Royal Court. We couldn’t help but notice the gray skies and rain.

The forecast for today was rain ALL DAY, and not just sprinkles, but full on RAIN rain!

This put a damper on our plans, but MIL & CSP decided to go out walking in the downpour anyway!!! I said BYE to those maniacs and went back to our room to read and relax in my dry clothes! CSP & MIL were hell bent on finding one of Bermuda’s famous fried fish on raisin bread (!!!) sandwiches! So they set out to locate one. That sandwich would have to be fed to me by Harry Styles himself for me to brave that rain! Ha! But! They found one!!! And they reported back that it was delightful!

LOOK how soaking wet CSP is!!! While out and about in Kings Wharf, MIL & CSP also tracked down a rum cake for FIL back home.

Look at CSP holding a closed umbrella! It won’t work if you don’t open it!

They still managed to have a good time, even though it was wet and rainy!

Not many people braved the elements today, so there wasn’t much of a line to get back on the ship. When they returned to our room, MIL & CSP were soaked to the bone! They changed into dry clothes while I ate my FREE room service lunch. Disney Cruise Line is one of the last cruise lines to still offer free room service. They have a great menu (I had a caprese sandwich with fruit). Just don’t forget to tip! Because we have late dinner we often order the All Hands on Deck cheese platter to snack on in the afternoon.

One of the fun things cruisers do on DCL ships is decorate our doors with magnets.

In fact, all of the walls in your room are magnetic too so (PRO TIP) we bring magnetic hooks to hang things around the room! I had these magnets made by Cruise Designs BB on Etsy. They did a fabulous job and got the magnets to me v quickly! My MIL was so excited to see her name on the magnets. Plus, a decorated door is easier to find in a long hallway of identical white doors!

Another little fun tip is on the tv in your room there’s a channel that shows the view from the bridge!

CSP loves this channel plus the one under it called Bridge Report which gives the latitude and longitude and shows the path your ship has cruised on that voyage, plus the locations of the other Disney ships. These channels also play Disney music.

One of the other things I love about a Disney cruise is that you can run into characters all over the ship!

We left Bermuda at approx 3 pm after some commotion- there were 4 passengers who they called over the PA to report to Guest Services right at 3pm. I thought oh wow- they aren’t back on the ship yet! Sure enough we heard some noise coming from outside so we all went out on the balcony to see what was up. Everyone was yelling and cheering and those 4 people were running towards the ship down the dock. It was so funny! Not too funny if you get left behind though! And they WILL leave you! Look on YouTube and see all the pier runners!!!

By now it was time to get ready for dinner. Dinner tonight was in Enchanted Garden.

It’s such a pretty restaurant! We were seated next to Gabby & Rob from Virginia (at their own table) and their baby boy Jamie. Gabby is a travel agent and we hit it off right away! They are so nice!

After dinner tonight was one of my favorite cruise shows- Match Your Mate. It’s like the Newlywed game. We rushed to the Tube (one of the adult bars/clubs onboard) but it was PACKED!!! The guy at the door said they would be broadcasting next door in O’Gill’s pub. We raced next door and managed to snag a table. Success!!!

Things were looking promising until they changed the channel to a hockey game!!! Nooooo!!! So CSP & I went out to the Carousel bar.

They were showing Match Your Mate on one screen but it was far away with no empty chairs in front of it (this pic is zoomed in) and we couldn’t really hear it. WHOMP WHOMP. Also, I ordered the drink of the day- the Yellow Bird- and it was a STRONG pour so CSP just escorted me back to the room then he went back to O’Gill’s to finish watching the hockey game with sports loving MIL.

Tonight’s towel animal. No idea what this is! A bunny?

Here is where MIL slept. The sofa converts to a bed and she said it was quite comfy!

Goodnight! Tomorrow is our last sea day!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 5- Part 2

April 18, 2023May 2, 2023 Shanny

After our fabulous island taxi tour we were famished so we went to Flanagan’s Irish Pub in Hamilton for lunch. Well, a late lunch as it was approaching 3pm.

It was pretty warm by now so we opted to sit inside and enjoy the AC but we did have a table by the window with a nice view of the water.

CSP had the mussels, MIL had the wahoo fish sliders, and I had fish and chips.

After our wonderful lunch, we stopped in a local coffee shop then walked around Hamilton for a bit. I noticed lots of guys in the same type of outfit. Businessmen were all mostly sporting a suit jacket, button down shirt, tie, shorts, knee socks, and dress shoes. Pictured here. It is v cute! By now we were ready to head back to King’s Wharf (where our ship was docked) so we took a ferry.

Our ferry is pictured here in the foreground. The white boat.

There was another cruise ship in port (a Norwegian ship) so there were lots of tourists about. We stopped in to the Frog and Onion for snacks and drinks. CSP & MIL wanted to try some local beers. It is a v cool place.

The pub is located in an old cooperage- where they used to make barrels and casks long ago. It has the original stone walls.

You can definitely see the British influence in Bermuda. They still have the old red phone booths- just with no phones now.

After procuring souvenir beer glasses for MIL & CSP we walked back to the ship to get ready for dinner.

Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate. This is such a fun, albeit loud, restaurant.

The menu illustration moves when you tilt the menu

Tonight in Animator’s Palate the stars of Finding Nemo came out to play on the media screens all around the dining room! It was v cute!

Dinner was delicious again tonight! I had roasted chicken:

CSP had the tuna steak:

Back at table 18! The lighting is funky in this dining room!!!

One of my FAVORITE desserts of the cruise!!! It was vanilla ice cream with apple crisp rice pudding! And odd combo that really worked!!!

CSP’s dessert. I love the themed dishware!

MIL’s dessert.

I LOVE the sparkly floor filled with Mickeys!!!

On our walk back to our room (almost all the way forward) from Animator’s (all the way aft) we spotted Daisy Duck!

And Mickeym too!

Since we are docked in Bermuda for a day and a half CSP & MIL decided to go out on the dock and take pics of the ship! We never get to see the ship all lit up at night because usually we’re sailing at night. The Fantasy looks amazing all lit up!

That’s it for today! Tomorrow is day 2 in Bermuda!!!

fun, travel

Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 5- Part 1

April 18, 2023May 1, 2023 Shanny

It’s Bermuda day!!!

This morning we woke up early and had breakfast in Cabanas- the buffet on deck 11. We were able to watch our ship dock in Bermuda.

We then went back to the room to get ready for the day.

We debarked early at 9:30 am and found a taxi driver named Rene Bean to take us on a taxi tour today. Rene’s minivan was parked right near the ship so we took off on a 4 hour tour of the island! Rene is a tour guide descended from many generations of Bermudian tour guides and he knows his stuff!!! If you ever are in Bermuda and want to take a taxi tour- be sure to ask if they are Blue Flag taxis- if so then they are regulated by the government in regards to price etc.

First up on our tour was this random looking bush on the side of the road. Rene picked off 3 leaves for us and cracked them then passed them out to us.

It smelled like Christmas! Turns out Allspice grows wild on Bermuda!

Almost immediately after the allspice tree, we were about to round a corner on this narrow street. A big bus was coming the other direction. When I tell you we came SO CLOSE to this bus — we could hear the bus passengers gasp and curse while Rene and the bus driver were trying to figure out the logistics!!!

Once we escaped (barely) with our lives, we made our way to this sweet little chapel that used to be a slave home. Apparently in Bermuda, everything is made of limestone- hence all the white.

So I found this interesting- there’s no city water system in Bermuda. See the grooves on the roof? They filter the rain water that goes down the tube and collects in the tank. Then a pump pumps the water out for you. The limestone helps to filter the water and clean it! If you run out of water you can buy it from the government, but most people just rely on the rain!

Next we went to Fort Scaur. There used to be over 90 forts in Bermuda (which is made up of many connected islands)! I’m not the biggest fort fan, but the views made it worth it!

The water is just insanely blue! I did not use any filters on any of my photos.

Plus it was a spectacular day! Barely any clouds in the sky and the temps hovered around 72*with a constant breeze. Just perfect!

Next up on our tour was Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. There was a small (and reasonably priced!) gift shop where we picked up some water and our Bermuda magnet.

Zoom in and you can see our ship from here!

You can climb the 182 stairs to the top if you’d like to (we were paying for this tour by the hour so we skipped that) for $2.50. There are gorgeous views from the grounds.

Back in the minivan. Just look at that water!!!

The gray blobs in the above picture are ash mixed with cement that the Bermudian government puts out to protect the reefs. The ashes come from when they burn all their garbage that can’t be recycled. Love that!

They drive on the opposite side of the road from us in Bermuda (which is a little disconcerting at intersections and roundabouts!).

We drove past the Unfinished Church in St. George. They were building this church but then decided to move the capital to Hamilton so they just left this church unfinished. Wild!

Saw this gorgeous swimming hole that’s only there at high tide.

Very cool rock formations all around the coast!

MIL had fun sitting up front with Rene! He tells some wild stories!!!

Check out this WILD huge compound we passed! Apparently it used to belong to John J. Astor!

We drove down by the airport- this is the welcome sign there.

Beautiful golf course with celebrity homes up top. Apparently Michael Douglas has a home here.

We passed this wild cemetery. All the graves are above ground because of the water table and they are all made of limestone.

We then made a stop at one of Bermuda’s famous pink sand beaches! Rene found us this amazing and practically deserted beach to visit.

Just LOOK at this water!!!

A close up of the pink sand in CSP’s hand. You can see the pink granules.

After the beach we headed toward Hamilton. On the way Rene drove us by his house. We wrapped up our tour in Hamilton, the capital. We thanked and payed Rene and I snapped a picture to remember an unforgettable tour!

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Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 4

April 17, 2023April 28, 2023 Shanny

This morning we threw on some clothes and had breakfast at Royal Court. Then we went back to our room to change into our swim suits. We filled up our reusable cups and went up to deck 13 to Satellite Falls– our favorite spot on the Disney Fantasy!!! We found 3 chairs under the shade and hopped into Satellite Falls. Satellite Falls has a rain feature that you step through then you sit on the tiled lounger middle part while the water rains down on your feet. It’s so relaxing. Plus you get great views of the water.

The water is only a couple feet deep. You can also sit on the edge with your feet in the water if you don’t want to get wet all over. I was able to take pictures in the water with my iPhone because I bought this waterproof case. Works great!!!

At around 2 we went down to deck 11 to the quick counter service restaurants, Flo’s Cafe and had a nice lite lunch.

After lunch CSP & I went back to the room for a little nap. The sun and water drains me!

After our nap we went back up to the pool decks so CSP & MIL could ride the AquaDuck! They loved it so much they rode 3 times!!!

It was then time to get my soaked MIL & CSP dried off and all of us changed for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was at Royal Court.

I forgot to take pics of the food but tonight we had a wonderful dinner. CSP had the escargot app. I had the baked brie. For dessert I had the Grand Marnier souffle- soooo good!!!

I love the bread baskets in the Royal Court.

After dinner when we were walking back to our room we came upon Tiana all alone! My favorite princess! So of course I had to get my photo with her!

Tonight’s towel/blanket animal:

Tonight we went to bed early because we have an early day tomorrow- our first day in Bermuda!!!

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Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 3

April 16, 2023April 27, 2023 Shanny

Today was our first sea day as we travel to Bermuda! We woke up and had breakfast at Royal Court.

I’m really impressed with DCL’s vegan and vegetarian options! My sister Sara is vegan and Morgan is vegetarian so I always look for options for them when I eat out. After breakfast we went back to the room to get ready for the day.

Then we lined up to meet Stitch! He’s my favorite Disney character ever!

Just look at this gorgeous chandelier! I love the grand atrium on the Fantasy! So beautiful and elegant and so many hidden Mickeys!

Cute wee coffee bar on deck 4 near where you meet the characters!

After meeting Stitch we went to the Quiet Cove Cafe (adults only coffee bar on deck 11) for a while- great people watching! Then we had a light lunch from Fillmore’s Favorites on deck 11 and refilled our cups at the beverage station. I don’t drink sodas but DCL offers Vitamin Water in a blueberry acai pomegranate variety. It’s so good!

Next we went to meet Donald Duck- one of my MIL’s faves.

Minnie in all her glam is the statue in the grand atrium of the Disney Fantasy

Then it was time for MIL to meet Goofy- her other favorite!

Goofy was all dressed up in his tuxedo for Formal Night and danced with MIL! It was so cute!!!

It was then time to go get dressed for Formal Night and our show!

Tonight’s show was Aladdin! It’s so amazing to me how they can produce these amazing live Broadway style shows ON A SHIP!!! The talent is awe inspiring. Truly.

After Aladdin we got in line to meet Chip and Dale. While in line on deck 4, we heard a commotion down at the grand staircase on deck 3 so we looked over the railing and witnessed a marriage proposal!!! How magical!!! And wooo! How will he ever top that??? The entire atrium erupted in applause and wooots! It was beautiful- I teared up!

Chip and Dale are too cute!!! Especially in their wee tuxedos!

We then had about a half hour until dinner so we went for drinks at the Ooh La La Parisian style bar. It’s so pretty in there!

Ooh La La serves macarons (NOT MACAROONS) with their drinks. Can you spot the hidden Mickeys on the menu?

I had a pineapple julep, which was interesting and tasty!

Dinner tonight was at the Enchanted Garden- a beautiful restaurant on deck 2.

CSP had a beautiful tuna carpaccio for his appetizer

My entree (missing one scallop because they WERE SO GOOD!!!)- perfectly cooked.

After dinner we went back to the room to go to bed. Such a fun day! Tomorrow is our 2nd sea day!

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Disney Fantasy Bermuda Day 2

April 15, 2023April 26, 2023 Shanny

Today we woke up early and got ready for embarkation!

We were lucky we’d stopped at Buc-ee’s yesterday because the breakfast at the hotel was pitiful so we ate our Buc-ee’s goodies instead. We re-packed the car and hit the road for Port Canaveral! Luckily it was only about 40 minutes south of our hotel. Our first view of the Disney Fantasy-

Our Port arrival time was scheduled for 12 noon. By 12:45 pm we had parked, handed off our luggage to porters, gone through security, and were on the ship! I love how Disney announces each family and claps for you as you board! First we went to Guest Services to borrow an extension cord for our CPAP machines. Then down to deck 2 to secure a reservation at Palo (the adults only Italian restaurant on board). I was able to snag us a reservation for Friday night! Perfect! Next we went up to Animator’s Palate for lunch (we prefer the sit down lunch vs the buffet on embarkation day).

By the time lunch was over our room was ready so off to deck 5 we went! Our Key to the World cards were waiting for us outside of our room. They are your room key and your charge card on the ship.

We stayed in stateroom 5544, just off the Forward elevators.

As a surprise for my MIL, we had the room decorated for her birthday! She was so surprised and loved it!

MIL received a fun beach towel for her birthday!

Our Castaway Club gifts! A sling bag, 2 lanyards, and a luggage tag.

Our luggage began arriving so we pulled that inside and then it was time to go to the Walt Disney Theatre for the muster drill. After the drill we stopped by O’Gill’s pub for drinks- I got the Paradise Punch, the drink of the day. Then we went back to our room to unpack our luggage.

Once we were finished unpacking we went up to the drink station to fill up our reusable cups (pro tip! bring a reusable cup like mine and fill it up at the beverage station to bring back to your room!). We stopped in the gift shop to pick up our 2023 cruise magnet then went back to the room to get ready for dinner. We met our room steward Putra from the Philippines.

Tonight’s dinner was at Animator’s Palate. We were sat at table 18.

On the Disney ships you sit at the same table number in each of the dining rooms each night and your service team follows you from dining room to dining room. Our team is Sher-Ann from the Philippines and Rafael from the Dominican Republic.