3-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral

By Michael

We got off our last cruise early that morning, and before boarding the Wonder we spent the day at Kennedy Space Center. Lisa, Thomas, Kathy and I wore matching Space Center shirts and had our photo taken by the big NASA globe sign at the entrance.

Inside we tried the photo booths, floating with a space shuttle backdrop and posing in astronaut suit cutouts. I sat down at a recreation of Mercury Mission Control. The bus tour took us out past the launch pads and the Vehicle Assembly Building to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where a real Saturn V rocket is laid out end to end and you can walk underneath its five huge engines. Thomas tried on a kid-sized astronaut helmet, and we looked at capsule replicas from the early space program.

The family boarded the Disney Wonder in Port Canaveral that afternoon, and the ship sailed at 4:00 pm. Once we were settled in, a towel animal was waiting for us in the stateroom.

By Michael

The Wonder called at Nassau at 9:30 in the morning. I was up early and walked the ship at sunrise while we came in, then we got off and went straight to Atlantis Paradise Island for the day.

At Dolphin Cay we all got in the water for the dolphin encounter we had booked. I got towed along holding onto the dolphin's fin, Lisa and Thomas each got their own ride and a hug from one, and Kathy took her turn too. Afterward the four of us posed together with the dolphin for a family photo before we toweled off.

We spent the rest of the day at the Aquaventure water park at Atlantis: hot dogs and fries for lunch on the patio, then walking the grounds past the waterfall grotto and under the arch at the Royal Towers, where we stopped for family photos. We were back aboard by 5:15 pm and watched the resort go by from the ship.

By Michael

The Disney Wonder called at Castaway Cay, from 8:30 am to 4:45 pm. Breakfast came to the stateroom first, eggs and bacon and strawberries, eaten looking out at the water as the island came into view.

Once ashore we posed at the gate under the "No Guests Beyond This Point" sign, then found the "Captain Bob Iger Shrimp Distributors" sign for another family photo. A walk along the nature trail boardwalk gave us a view back across the mangroves to the ship anchored offshore.

We had a private cabana at the family beach, all day. The kids waded in the shallow water on the rented floats while the rest of us stayed on the sand.

By Michael

The Disney Wonder was back in Port Canaveral early, and we had Mickey waffles for one last breakfast on board before heading out. The family drove from Port Canaveral to Orlando and flew to Chicago O'Hare by way of Atlanta. The kids did some schoolwork on the plane. Coming in over Lake Michigan the ice below was cracked into long dark lines.