One of the most popular cruise vacations for families combines a three or four night Bahamas cruise with three or four nights at Disney World.
Disney undoubtedly delivers the premier experience for the three/four night combos, if for no other reason than they have one of the best large cruise ships in the world, the Disney Wonder, doing these short itineraries, whereas Royal Caribbean and Carnival have nice ships, but certainly not their best ones, on three and four day itineraries. Disney themed resort hotels never let you forget you’re on a fantasy vacation, and they include transportation to their amusement parks as well as Disney World Park Hopper passes. Disney Cruise Lines offers seamless vacations that include all baggage handling from the point you check into your home airport until you arrive at your Disney World hotel or Disney cruise ship, and then again when you fly back to your home airport.
During a Disney cruise, a unique method where diners and their respective wait staffs rotate through three themed restaurants as well as famed Disney entertainment througout the cruise keeps smiles fresh. Geared for children like no other cruise line, there are science, art and other children’s programs for which there are simply no comparable programs. I have never heard anything but rave reviews for the Disney three/four night land/cruise packages.
The best usually demands a higher price, and Disney is no exception. For our four-night Bahamas cruise in 2001, we went on Carnival Fantasy, flying in three days before the trip to stay at a Quality Inn. While it definitely was not up to the caliber of a Disney vacation package, we nonetheless enjoyed a fun time. There are the wonderful Disney parks like Epcot Center, MGM, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, plus many other brands, including Universal Orlando and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, to choose from in the Orlando area.
The first day we went to Disney’s Magic Kingdom, which felt somewhat familiar, since we’ve been to Disneyland many times. In retrospect, we probably should have gone with Epcot Center, which was part of our original plan.
A Park Hopper pass would also have been a solid choice, as it allows guests to visit multiple parks rather than just one on any given day. Instead, we opted for a special deal with Universal for a combination of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for out next two days. While I still want to see more Disney parks in Orlando, I can’t complain about Universal. We had a blast.
The “Men in Black” ride at Universal Orlando was our favorite. It essentially puts guests into a video game with laser weapons to defeat alien invaders. With my video-game-loving son, who was 14 years old at the time, leading the way, we soon discovered that we could go in the singles line and be seated on the ride again within a couple of minutes after completing a previous game, and we ended up taking this ride about thirty times in a row. My youngest daughter, Amy, recently informed me that a new Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland now has a similar format, although it seems geared to a younger age.
When we went to Universal’s Islands of Adventure, intermittent showers greeted us, but Orlando is still warm during the rain in July. Since it is a water park, we were all dressed to get wet anyway. There are some great roller coasters like Double Dragon and the Incredible Hulk, as well as a terrific interior Spider Man ride, but the highlights for us were the water rides, including Popeye, which is the wettest ride you are likely to ever take. Do not go on that ride unless you want to get wet. We went on this ride while it was raining, and we were totally drenched by the ride.
No matter how many days you stay, your kids will want to stay longer, but let’s face it: cruising, with all your meals and entertainment included, costs a lot less than spending time in theme parks. After three days of non-stop fun, we took a shuttle to Port Canaveral to embark on Carnival Fantasy.
After we took our trip, Fantasy was moved to New Orleans, where her name makes just as much sense as it did when she operated near Disney World, but the ship doing the three and four night cruises from Port Canaveral for Carnival is still a Fantasy-class ship. Fantasy-class happens to be one of the most popular cruise ship designs of all time. I particularly like what I call their “Las Vegas Strip” approach of having a full deck of nightclubs including the casino.Carnival tends to go with the philosophy that more is always better, so their ships frequently tend to be over-decorated, but you certainly never have trouble finding entertainment, getting a drink or locating some good food. They always live up to their “Fun Ships” handle.
The swimming pool areas are always overflowing with fun-loving people, many of whom are young, attractive and belong in the skimpy bathing suits they wear.
Rocking music regularly blasts away, as children and the young-at-heart slide down the waterslide into the refreshing pool. Waitstaff hoisting trays of tropical drinks seem to always be at your elbow. This party atmosphere is a big plus for many passengers but tends to turn off some stodgier folks, who find it all a bit unsavory. Only you know into which group you fit. For many people it all depends on their mood at the moment.
The big shows at night always dazzle audiences, encouraging guests to get up out of their chairs to cheer. In nightclubs and other venues, more great performances await. Guest participation in onboard game shows, trivia games and dance lessons always brings laughs. Carnival regularly wins awards for Best Entertainment in different polls.
As far as the Bahamas itinerary on this particular cruise, I give two thumbs up for Nassau but not so much for Freeport. Perhaps we went to the wrong place in Freeport, having caught a taxi to what we heard would be a good snorkeling spot, but the overall appearance of the parts of Freeport we saw failed to impress.
Nassau, on the other hand, is a bustling town that’s a short water taxi ride from Paradise Island, a glorious stretch of beach on which the world famous Atlantis Hotel sits. We enjoyed spending time on the beach and taking dips in the turquoise water. Late in the afternoon, we ignored approaching dark clouds and walked FAR down the beach to a jetty where we heard the snorkeling would be excellent. We definitely saw a lot of colorful fish, but when the storm hit, it seemed to bring out all of the jellyfish too, so we cleared out of the water.
When the ship docked, we stayed at a beach hotel in Coco Beach, a city we remembered as the home of astronaut Tony (played by the guy who later played JR Ewing) on “I Dream of Jeannie.” Using that as a base, we headed over to the NASA Space Center at Cape Kennedy, which proved to be a fascinating place, too.
