Mayhem Marauders Meet-up Part Deux!

[Mousekedude]

I'm so jealous of these trip reports! One day I hope to join up with the Marauders whenever I return to Disney World. I'm aiming for 2015 since I'm working around my school schedules. Here's hoping at least!

We would really like to meet you, too. We've even talked about coming out to California and going to Disneyland at some point so we can meet you and some of the other Subbers from that area. Someday maybe we'll get a chance to do that.

[Mousekedude]

Mayhem on the High Seas!!! The Mousekecouple take a cruise, Part 3: At sea, and Ports of Call.

We had a great night’s sleep our first night at sea. As rough as the seas were in the evening (see previous post), we had been a little nervous about whether we would be tossed out of our bunks in the middle of the night or something, but it had calmed down considerably overnight and we slept straight through with no interruptions. In fact, when we awoke, everything was so calm and still that we wondered if we were even still moving. So we got up, opened the curtains, and were greeted by a totally gorgeous sunrise over calm waters:



We were still at sea, but off in the distance we could see the taller buildings of Nassau on the horizon, so we were getting close to our first port of call! First item on the agenda this morning, though, was breakfast. We were scheduled to eat at Royal Palace, so we got dressed and headed down there. We got a good table with a view out the Port side, so we were hoping to see the ship dock while we were eating. Well, we got a little surprise! As we were eating, we happened to glance out the window and suddenly saw trees going by, so close it seemed we could have reached out and touched them! After the first few seconds of initial shock, we then realized that we were in a very narrow channel that led into the harbor, and it just happened to have a lot of trees on it. So we had a good laugh and went back to eating. A couple minutes later we looked up again and saw the same thing… only this time the trees were going backwards! What the heck..?!! We figured out that the ship had to enter the harbor, turn, and then back up to get into its mooring. Good thing this ship had awesome bow and stern thrusters that let it maneuver like that! It was pretty cool to be able to do all that without the assistance of tug boats.
After breakfast we decided to go ahead and make our rounds with the fish extender gifts (see previous posts for explanation). We had originally planned to do it early Wednesday morning, but decided to do it now instead because everyone else was getting off the ship at Nassau and we were planning to stay on board and have a relaxation and spa day. So now was a good time. We went back to the stateroom to get all the gifts and set off on our mission. At this point the ship was fully docked, and the view off our stateroom veranda was a little less pleasant… we were crammed liked sardines right next to a Carnival ship:


After the first 30 minutes or so of distributing gifts, we realized that it was going to take longer than we thought, so we decided to do a “divide and conquer” approach to finish up. I grabbed all the stuff for two of the remaining decks, and Mouseoholic did the other two. Mission accomplished! Now it was time to “chillax”.

We had a couple hours to kill before our scheduled “couples choice” special spa package. It’s an awesome treatment package, and it’s too much to describe here, so here’s a link that explains it all:
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships ... reatments/

Anyway, since we had plenty of time, we decided to put on our swimsuits and check out the adults-only pool area. It was great timing because most people had disembarked to tour Nassau, and we practically had the whole area to ourselves. It was pretty hot, so we made good use of the pool. After a little swimming time I made a stop at the swim-up bar for a bottle of water to rehydrate…


…and then we headed up to the top decks to check out the view of Nassau. We were amazed that so many ships could be crammed into one little port:


But other than that, the view was beautiful:








We were really enjoying ourselves now, and I was feeling good (hint: that’s not iced tea… )


We had lunch at the Cabanas restaurant, which was a pretty good buffet. After that we rested up a little in our room, and then it was time to go in for our spa treatment. The whole thing lasted almost three hours, and included a full hour of full body massages for both of us. Let me tell you, I’ve had professional massages before, but they were nothing compared to this! This was the absolute best massage I have ever had! They were not only highly skilled in finding and working the areas that needed it most, but they did so with a combination of power, grace, and gentleness that was amazing to experience. For lack of a better way to describe it, it was almost like a “massage ballet” or something. I know that sounds stupid, but I can’t think of any other way to describe it. I was just completely amazed. If you ever have a chance to be on the Dream and get a massage, ask for Nadia and Michael. I wish we could have brought them home with us and kept them on a retainer. We tipped them very well, of course.

Feeling fully relaxed and refreshed, we headed back to the room for a little chill time. After a while we then headed back up top to prepare for push-off. It was almost time to head back out to sea. We enjoyed the beautiful Bahama sunset:





Finally we pushed off, and as we headed out to sea Mouseoholic decided we needed to ride the Aquaduck:


There was almost no line, so we rode it twice. Mouseoholic wanted to shoot a video of the entire ride, and the floats were large enough for two adults, so the first time we rode with her in the front holding the camera and me in back holding her. The video came out pretty good. I haven’t tried uploading video to Photobucket yet, but maybe later I’ll give it a shot. The second time we rode separately. She went through first so she could catch a pic of me coming out at the end:


Now it was time to go back to our stateroom and get ready for our dinner ADR at Palo. There was a really nice laundry facility right around the corner from our room where we could iron our clothes. I was really impressed with the facility and the attention to detail, especially the tile floor with the nautical signal flag motif:


The restaurant itself was very elegant, our server was highly professional and skilled, yet friendly with a good sense of humor, and the food and wine were excellent. We didn’t take very many pictures here, but here’s a couple of the more “artsy” ones to capture the essence of the whole experience:



With dinner now over, I was getting a little sleepy. But Mouseoholic was still rarin’ to go, so she talked me into getting changed back into our swimwear and going back to the Aquaduck one more time before it closed for the night. She wanted to see if she could shoot an even better ride video than the first one, but this time the C.M. on duty wouldn’t let us take the camera through with us. We were pretty upset, but she explained that it was the rule, and she couldn’t help it if others don’t follow the rules, etc. so we thought we were out of luck since there was nowhere safe to leave the camera. But I asked her to hold it for us until we got back, and she agreed, so we got to go on. By now the cold front that had been chasing us all the way from Florida was catching up, and we were freezing our buns off, so we only rode once and then went back to our room for the night. Mouseoholic was now dead tired and went straight to bed, but I was no longer sleepy so I sat out on the veranda for a little while sipping Scotch and watching the waves go by in the night. It was beautiful because they had lights below the waterline, and it was mesmerizing to watch. Finally I got tired and went to bed. A perfect ending to a perfect day. Little did I know that there would be mayhem tomorrow….

[MmeLeota]

Oh those sunrise and sunset pictures!!! WOW!
Out of curiosity, was there any particular reason why you guys decided to stay on board while in Nassau? Had you been there before?
Nice to see you guys rode on the Aquaduck...it looks like tons of fun!
Lovely picture of Mouseoholic at dinner...

[yodiwan1]

I know that unless I am going to Atlantis, or had a sea lion or dolphin swim, I would stay on the boat also. Nassau I feel is kinda trashy. Just my opinion. The straw market is very hot and full of people trying to sell you anything and everything, cheap quality, and just...well, doesn't even feel to safe at times. There is so much to do on the boat(and that is also when you get teh ebst deals for the spa). Smart choise by staying on!

[Mousekedude]

Oh those sunrise and sunset pictures!!! WOW!

Thank you. Can you tell I'm a sucker for those...?

Out of curiosity, was there any particular reason why you guys decided to stay on board while in Nassau?

Yes. To answer your question, let me just place this quote that says it all....

I would stay on the boat also. Nassau I feel is kinda trashy. Just my opinion. The straw market is very hot and full of people trying to sell you anything and everything, cheap quality, and just...well, doesn't even feel to safe at times. There is so much to do on the boat(and that is also when you get teh ebst deals for the spa). Smart choise by staying on!

Nice to see you guys rode on the Aquaduck...it looks like tons of fun!

Yeah, it was actually the first thing she wanted to do when we got on board, but it just didn't come together for us until that point...

Lovely picture of Mouseoholic at dinner...

Thanks, I thought so too... but she disagreed. I say we outvoted her though...

[cy1229]

Oh those sunrise and sunset pictures!!! WOW!

Thank you. Can you tell I'm a sucker for those...?

I agree, very nice. Sunrises and sunsets never get old. Today's is different from yesterday's, and tomorrow's will be different still.

Out of curiosity, was there any particular reason why you guys decided to stay on board while in Nassau?

Yes. To answer your question, let me just place this quote that says it all....

I would stay on the boat also. Nassau I feel is kinda trashy. Just my opinion. The straw market is very hot and full of people trying to sell you anything and everything, cheap quality, and just...well, doesn't even feel to safe at times. There is so much to do on the boat(and that is also when you get teh ebst deals for the spa). Smart choise by staying on!

So, would you not recommend Nassau at all to someone who's never been there?

Lovely picture of Mouseoholic at dinner...

Thanks, I thought so too... but she disagreed. I say we outvoted her though...

I think there is a rule somewhere about not being allowed to vote on photos of oneself. It is truly a lovely portrait of a lovely lady.

[Amy]

I second all the praise of your sunset/sunrise photos and the lovely Mouseoholic!
I really want to go on the Aquaduck I've never even really been on a waterslide, but that looks like fun ~ especially at night Is there any sort of a fastpass or reservation system for the slide, or is it simply a queue and wait sort of thing?
Your description of the massage almost makes me want to have one of those too...

[cy1229]

I second all the praise of your sunset/sunrise photos and the lovely Mouseoholic!
I really want to go on the Aquaduck I've never even really been on a waterslide, but that looks like fun ~ especially at night Is there any sort of a fastpass or reservation system for the slide, or is it simply a queue and wait sort of thing?
Your description of the massage almost makes me want to have one of those too...

A good professional massage is good like nothing else is. I keep telling myself that I want to schedule regular massage appointments with one particular massage therapist but of course I never do, something else always comes up.

By the same token, a bad professional massage is a severe disappointment. MANY years ago, like 2001, I got a massage at Saratoga Springs when it was still a resort and spa and not a DVC property. Once the therapist found out that I was a teacher, she kept telling me about her sister's teaching experience. VERY distracting.

[MmeLeota]

I didn't know that about Nassau...it's kind of how we felt about a certain part of Ensenada.

[Mousekedude]

So, would you not recommend Nassau at all to someone who's never been there?

Well, I guess it's not really fair to say that. We were more interested in having the whole ship to ourselves and having the spa day, and there was just no allure for us to go into town because of the local conditions, as described by yodiwan. But that's not to say that others might not have a lot of fun with it. Really, it's a lot like being in Cancun, and we've been there so many times that we're now like "yeah, been there done that" so we just weren't interested. But if you've never been, then go for it. And pick up a bottle of Nassau Royale while you're at it.

[Mousekedude]

I second all the praise of your sunset/sunrise photos and the lovely Mouseoholic!

Thank you very much.

I really want to go on the Aquaduck I've never even really been on a waterslide, but that looks like fun ~ especially at night Is there any sort of a fastpass or reservation system for the slide, or is it simply a queue and wait sort of thing?

Just a queue and wait. The wait isn't bad at all if you go in the off peak times like we did. Five minutes max.

Your description of the massage almost makes me want to have one of those too...

"Almost...?!" Well then I didn't do a good enough job describing it! Let me put it this way: if God himself had sent an angel to give me that massage, I doubt it would have been better.

[Mousekedude]

Just so y'all know, it may be a few more days before my next full post is ready, but I don't want you to lose interest, so....
teaser....

It's going to include the full report on these events:


keep checking back.

[Amy]

That is a pretty authentic looking Captain Jack Sparrow there...

[cy1229]

That is a pretty authentic looking Captain Jack Sparrow there...

Agreed. It's either at Castaway Cay or some kid's parents did a killer job on a Halloween costume.

[Amy]

That is a pretty authentic looking Captain Jack Sparrow there...

Agreed. It's either at Castaway Cay or some kid's parents did a killer job on a Halloween costume.

Or it's the Cap't himself Although, he looks like he is doing a good job of walking down the beach straight, so I doubt it