Spring Break Disney-venture: Day 3

Hello! I'm still here! I just haven't done a good job of blogging lately. Hopefully I'll get caught back up before school gets out next week. Wish me luck.

Our first full day on the cruise was spent at sea, but the second day, we were officially in the Bahamas. There were lots of excursions available for this day, or people could choose to just explore Nassau on their own, or just stay on the boat. (If we do a similar cruise in the future, I might opt to sleep in, then enjoy the boat with smaller crowds for a couple of hours, then just walk around Nassau in the afternoon.)

We decided to go on an excursion to Blue Lagoon Island, which was really beautiful. We got off the ship early, queued up in a staging area, then waited in line to board small boats that took us to the island. The boat ride was really nice but the process took quite a while. We thought it was worth it when we arrived at the island because we were the first ones there and it looked so idyllic. But soon, other cruise ships dropped people off, and the lines to get lunch and to get back on the boats back to our ship were very long. Ahh, well.

On our way to the island! (The famous Atlantis hotel is visible behind Luke)

I think the late nights were starting to take a toll on Jack.

Other cruisers booked dolphin encounters and it was fun to just watch them.

Back on the ship in the evening, it was Pirate Night! This is a tradition on Caribbean Disney Cruises and it was really fun. We dressed up as Pirates for dinner, enjoyed a Caribbean-themed meal, then enjoyed TWO pirate deck parties - an earlier one geared toward younger children featuring Mickey and the gang, then a later one with a live band, fireworks, and an impressive surprise entrance by Captain Jack Sparrow.

When I asked Ben if he'd want to dress up as a pirate a week or two before the cruise,
he emphatically declined. I either asked at the wrong time or didn't explain very well, because
he definitely wanted to dress up when the time came. He donned an extra scarf I brought
and Liza hooked him up with some eyeliner.

While everyone else was enjoying other activities between the pirate parties, I hung out with Sydney. We just walked around the ship and found some kids to play with, then we saw a line forming and found out that people were waiting to see Mickey. She was so excited about seeing Mickey! But when it was finally her turn, she got super shy. I think the pictures are still pretty cute though.