End of Summer. Days 3 and 4. I Ran a 5-Cay.
Tuesday morning I knew I wanted to get up early to do the Castaway Cay 5K. Disney has a 5K course on its private island, and if you complete it and tell them you did it, they give you a medal. I had heard about it before the trip and made it my mission to do it. Of course, because I knew I needed to wake up early, my body woke me up even earlier. I was up shortly after six, even though we couldn’t get off the ship until 8:30.
I got dressed, grabbed a little cereal and coffee from the buffet, and headed off the ship as soon as I could. It was already very sunny and pretty hot, so I was glad I hadn’t saved the 5K for later. I took the tram to the starting point and completed the course. I would describe it as a run with some walking involved, both because it was so hot and because I am not in particularly great running shape. But it was really fun, and I was glad I did it.
Afterward, I returned to the ship and met everyone for an actual breakfast. We then went to the lobby to meet Mirabel before getting ready to head back onto the island.
As soon as we got off the ship, the kids started complaining about the heat, and, to be fair, it was extremely hot. We spent some time at the beach, which was very nice, although Madeleine developed some sort of rash from the water. I’m not sure what caused it. We got drinks and ate lunch at the island’s barbecue. They had veggie burgers, but they weren’t very good. It was also just painfully hot, so we headed back to the ship that afternoon.
We spent some time hanging out on board and met Cruella, which was fun. Tzvi and I also spent some time in the adults-only area before getting ready for dinner.
Tuesday night was Hercules night, meaning Disney Hercules was being performed in the theater. In 2000 my family sailed the Disney Magic where they performed Hercules the Muuuuuuusical (yes, pronounced just like that), and then we had seen Hercules on the West End last year, so I was very excited for the show. I decided to dress as one of the Muses. By that, I mean I wore a white dress that I owned but had only ever worn on a cruise, along with some Amazon jewelry I bought to complete the costume. It was really fun, and I got a lot of compliments.
Dinner was at Worlds of Marvel, the ship’s completely Marvel-themed restaurant. Groot helped lead the show, and the whole experience was really immersive. Our food arrived a little faster than it had the night before, although our waiter still seemed overwhelmed. He just didn’t have the ease that Disney servers usually seem to have.
After dinner, we went to see Disney Hercules, which was fantastic. I would say it was better than the production we saw in the West End, although you can’t really compare them because the cruise-ship version is only half as long. The show was extremely well done. It had all the puppetry, including the Titans and the many-headed Hydra. We were very impressed.
We eventually put the girls to bed, and Tzvi and I went to the Haunted Mansion Parlor for drinks. Talk about immersive—it feels as though you’re actually on the Haunted Mansion ride, except you’re sitting in a bar. We ordered two drinks. I don’t remember what they were, but they were delicious, and simply being inside the bar was incredibly cool. I wanted to steal a napkin that said Haunted Mansion but Tzvi wouldn’t let me.
Wednesday morning, we woke up in sunny Nassau. Docked across from us was the Carnival Glory, and we watched tons of people getting off that ship. Then I looked down at our gangways, and they were completely empty. This is because nobody gets off the ship in Nassau. I don’t know if that’s actually a thing, but we never planned to get off in Nassau, and apparently nobody else wanted to either.
We got up and had breakfast. Even though we knew many people were staying on board, we decided it was still a good day to ride the AquaMouse, the ship’s water ride. We waited about 30 minutes, which wasn’t bad. The pool deck also has Funnel Vision, a huge screen that constantly plays Disney movies. If you’re swimming—or waiting in line for the AquaMouse—you can watch a movie, which helps the time pass much faster.
Afterward, the girls changed, and I think Tzvi took them to get something for lunch. We knew Maleficent would be appearing at 1:45, and I had seen how long her line became the night before. So I got there at 12:45. Yes, I waited an hour—but I was first in line, and it quickly filled up behind me. It was a good thing I had arrived so early. While I waited, the girls ran around, met Goofy and hung out. Then we finally met Maleficent, and she was fantastic. She only appears for meet-and-greets about twice during the entire cruise, and her whole look is incredible. The makeup, the costume—everything is outstanding. She was also completely in character. That is one of the best things about this ship: You can meet characters you rarely, if ever, see in the parks. The girls really enjoyed it.
Next, we checked out Hero Zone, a two-level activity area at the back of the ship. The lower level is a sports court with basketball and other activities, while the upper level has air hockey, foosball and similar games. It’s a really fun place to hang out, so we played some air hockey and foosball. I also noticed that although you have to pay for air hockey on some other ships, it’s free on the Destiny.
We sent the girls off with Shir while Tzvi and I spent some time in the adults-only area. It is located at the back of the ship and has an infinity-style pool overlooking the ocean. The problem is that I believe there is only one hot tub on the entire ship, which I’ve heard is a common complaint about this class of ships. Thankfully, it was so hot that nobody particularly wanted to sit in it, so we had no trouble getting in. On a cooler sailing, however—like when we sail in January—one hot tub is not going to cut it. It would be horrible.
After that, we got ready for Pirate Night. The entire ship becomes pirate-themed, with special activities, character appearances and shows.
The girls had dinner with Shir while Tzvi and I went to Enchanté, the ship’s fancy adults-only specialty restaurant. The menu was created by a Michelin-starred chef, and we thought it would be nice to have a special dinner by ourselves. The meal was spectacular. The entire area is inspired by Beauty and the Beast. You enter through The Rose, where there is a beautiful display resembling the Beast’s enchanted rose. From there, you continue into Enchanté, where the staff already knows your name and escorts you to your table. Then you begin a very long and intricate meal.
They started by offering us champagne. I had the non-alcoholic champagne, which I had assumed would be complimentary, but turned out not to be. Either way, nice way to start the meal. Then we had an amuse bouche of three little bites, one of which was super cheesy and I did not touch and another that basically tasted like gefilte fish with a ton of chrain on it. They were interesting. Tzvi actually liked them. Then there was the bread – a fantastic rustic sourdough and a huge block of French butter. After that we had a four course tasting menu. It began with a tomato course, which was tomato ten different ways, including a stewed tomato, a brioche-croissant with a tomato dipping sauce, and a tomato water to drink as a palette cleanser. Next we had a potato gnocchi, which was good, followed by a dover sole which I actually tried (not my favorite, but I could appreciate it was good). For the final course Tzvi had a second fish and I had vegetable ravioli which were really tasty.
Finally it was time for dessert, which was basically a meal in itself. First they brought the cheese trolly, and Tzvi selected six different cheeses, all of which he enjoyed. Then they brought out a giant gold egg that had a little chocolate cake inside that said Happy Birthday (because I had said it was Tzvi’s birthday). After that they brought a selection of six different delicious petit fours. And then finally it was time for the desserts we had actually ordered. Tzvi had the pineapple dessert, which had a bunch of different elements – a bruleed pineapple with pineapple foam, a pineapple cake and a pineapple sorbet. I had the chocolate dessert. I can’t even describe it except to say it had layers of chocolate, a massive chocolate tuille thing on top and a chocolate ice cream. What a meal.
After dinner, we met back up with the girls and took pictures with Pirate Mickey. Then, at 10:15, we headed up to the pool deck for Pirate’s Rockin’ Parlay Party. It’s a pirate-themed rock concert featuring a live band and lots of classic rock music. Captain Jack Sparrow eventually makes an appearance, and the party ends with Disney’s famous fireworks at sea. It was a great party, and we all had a lot of fun.
Afterward, we brought the girls back to the room and put them to bed. At around midnight, Tzvi and I were sitting on the balcony when I suddenly heard the pirate music again—loud rock music coming from the pool deck. We went up to the pool deck and discovered that they were rehearsing the show. It wasn’t the same cast we had watched earlier; it was a completely different group of performers singing the songs and practicing the production. It was fascinating because you almost never get to see anything behind the scenes at Disney, unless you specifically pay for it, which I have, by the way. I assume the performers in the theater productions can rehearse during the day inside the theater. But because this show takes place on the pool deck, the only time they can rehearse is around midnight, after everything else has ended. It was pretty impressive to watch them rehearsing in real time. We stayed for a while, enjoyed our unexpected behind-the-scenes look and then headed to bed.
It was a good day.