3-Night Bahamian Disney Cruise Line Report — Part 2
As soon as we got back on the ship, Sarah had a mandate that we ordered room service so she could get a Premium Mickey Ice Cream Bar. Apparently, this is the only way for adults to get the Mickey bar on Disney Cruise Line. (Note: DCL Blog also indicates they’re on kid’s menus; not having kids, I have no idea whether this is still accurate. Can anyone confirm?)
This is going to be heresy to some (you might notice that this blog contains an inordinate amount of heresy…I’m not sure why), but I’m not a fan of the Premium Mickey Bar. I mean, I don’t hate it, but just like Mickey waffles, I don’t think it’s anything special. In a blind taste test, I couldn’t tell the difference between this and any generic ice cream bar from the grocery store.
Since she was ordering room service anyway, I got some chicken wings, which were fairly good. Then, I made the run up the stairs for some soft serve. (For what it’s worth, I don’t think Disney soft serve is anything special, either…soft serve is just a guilty pleasure of mine.)
After I got back, we decided to head out to play Midship Detective Agency. We still had over an hour until the ship left Nassau, so it seemed like a good way to kill some time…
We opted for The Muppets version of the game.
If you’ve never played, Midship Detective Agency is a self-guided whodunit mystery game using an interactive card, map and clues that are revealed in ‘hidden’ locations throughout the ship.
It’s somewhat akin to the various scavenger hunt type games Epcot has had in World Showcase.
We both loved Midship Detective Agency. The premise of the game itself was clearly aimed at kids, so it was in no way an actual challenge for us, but the Muppet humor gave the game just enough of an edge to make it really engaging and funny for us.
I’m not sure I’d feel the same way about the regular version of the game, but the Muppets version really worked for me.
I also appreciated how the game got us to slow down and look at some of the art scattered around the Disney Dream. One of the highlights of Disney Cruise Line is its exceptional art displays (something we saw repeatedly running up and down the stairs for ice cream).
It’s easy to miss these if you don’t make a concerted effort to explore random floors of guest rooms.
Hey bird, you’re not even funny in 3-D!
Sunset was another bust (I didn’t mention it on the first page, but I was up for sunrise and that was also a bust).
Then, it was time for Villains Tonight. We’ve seen this show in the past and neither of us liked it, but we figured that we’d give it another chance in case the script was tweaked or, perhaps, this version had a better Hades.
If anything, we liked it less this time around.
Villains Tonight is a brilliant concept, but it gets bogged down in dated pop culture references and really poor writing. It’s like if you took Aladdin the Musical and made Genie unfunny, and instead of following the film’s plot, followed it for part of the show, but also mixed in other movies as well as Jerry Springer. That’s Villains Tonight in a nutshell.
If you look around the internet, you will find plenty of Villains Tonight fans. It’s very well possible my panning of the show is too harsh. It’s also possible that Disney fans love villains (especially rare and underrepresented ones) and are so anxious for anything villains-related that they give this show’s many faults a pass.
The ‘debate’ about the quality (or lack thereof) about Villains Tonight will probably never be settled. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be, since the show will be retired later this year. (Please, Disney, do not resurrect this in any of the parks.)
After Villains Tonight, the awful-train rolled on with Mickey’s Pirates in the Caribbean show. Clearly, we are not the target audience for this show.
I get that, Disney being Disney, not everything is going to appeal to everyone. This is why I don’t attend the Disney Junior show in the parks.
However, I do expect flagship entertainment offerings to work on multiple levels, and be something that both kids and adults can enjoy. I do not see how anyone over the age of 12 could enjoy this show. It was aggressively idiotic.
The humor was juvenile, the premise was weak, and it was just…lame.
Aside from the ‘smile and wave’ shows in Tokyo, this is a problem I seldom have with Disney in-park entertainment. Even shows I don’t necessarily like I can find some redeeming quality in. I find it to be pretty rare for a Disney show to be talking down to its audience to such a degree.
While I think Disney Cruise Line needs to up its entertainment game on the Disney Dream, I do want to make clear that I didn’t dislike it all. The following night’s show in the Walt Disney Theater was exceptional.
So, I’m not a total curmudgeon…
After the show, we headed down to Enchanted Garden for dinner. This restaurant is supposedly inspired by the gardens of Versailles, and I can partly see that inspiration in the decor. It also reminds me a bit of Giverny. Either way, I like the garden style with flourishes of Art Nouveau.
Once again, we ordered most of the menu. And once again, our meal was exceptional. Here’s some of what we had:
After the meal, our servers challenged us to another puzzle, with the goal being to fill 10 stables with 9 horses. This time, I brought my A-game…
Our server disagreed, but I maintain that my solution (top) to this puzzle is technically correct. No one said that a cow couldn’t join the party! 😉
After dinner, we returned to our stateroom, where this towel/bedding monster literally startled us. We had a different towel creature every night of the cruise. As with our servers, our stateroom host was absolutely awesome.
He was like a ninja tidying up the room anytime we left for even like 10 minutes. (No joke–once we ran upstairs for ice cream and went immediately back down and our stateroom had been picked up while we were gone.)
After that, we headed back up to the deck for the second round of Pirates in the Caribbean, including the fireworks and deck party.
The buccaneer bash was significantly better than the character show. We’ve seen this before a couple of times, but it’s still a fun show. It’s nothing amazing, but as compared to the character show, it’s a masterpiece.
Then, it was time for the fireworks. Being out in the middle of the ocean under a dark night sky with nothing around for miles (aside from maybe another cruise ship trying to free-ride on the fireworks, ha!) is nice and serene. Having that serenity partially broken up by the first burst of fireworks is really cool. Fireworks on a cruise ship is another instance, I think, of the Disney magic. I don’t know how they manage to do it, but it’s really impressive and the perfect way to end Pirate Night on Disney Cruise Line.
Click here to continue reading Part 3 of this Disney Cruise Line Report.
Planning to set sail aboard one of the Disney Cruise Line ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your trip, plan entertainment and other activities, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve been, what do you think of Nassau (or other ports in the Bahamas? Do you think it’s worth getting off the ship there at least once? Any Port Adventures in Nassau that you recommend? Thoughts on Diamonds International having a presence aboard Disney Cruise Line? Opinions on Villains Tonight, the Pirate Night entertainment, or anything else we’ve covered in this cruise report? Any other tips to add or recommendations? If you have questions or thoughts, please share them below and we’ll try to respond!
Just wanted to interject something: The crime rates on the islands in the Caribbean should absolutely be more concerning to American tourists than the similar crime rates in major American Cities. Opportunistic criminals in the Caribbean prey almost exclusively on tourists, and your tourist status in a foreign country is much more apparent than it would be in Chicago, especially in a country where you are a race and language minority.
I do agree with the overall sentiment that you should absolutely not let it dissuade you from visiting these places, but to hold it to a light of equivalency with visiting a city in which a criminal wouldn’t necessarily be able to see that you’re a tourist on sight could be risky at best.
Also, much of the crime in major American cities is gang and drug related, which would not necessarily affect the average sightseeing tourist. Places like the Caribbean have very high rates of petty crime, which absolutely do affect tourists, almost exclusively so.
No disrespect to you meant whatsoever, Tom… just wanted to put that out there lest people think they can let down their guard when traveling.
I would also highly recommend the Heritage Museum of the Bahamas, which is just a short walking distance from the port. It’s not a fancy or showy museum, but it is packed with fascinating history and really interesting artifacts. It’s inside a historic home and they use of the space is also just wonderful (like bathroom that’s been repurposed to exhibit marine life- genius!) I may be a bit biased because history & culture are literally both my job and hobby… but we had a fantastic time.
We did something similar in Nassau. We did a self-guided walking tour, except I did hours of research to plan our path and learn about the buildings we would see. Little did I know it would be drizzling rain our entire Nassau day. Your photos capture much of what we saw in a much prettier light, literally.
What’s shaking T&S? Great review.
We fall into the “Stay on the Boat in Nassau Camp.” And here is why:
1) Less people
2) There is still so much going on – we were able to do the slides a half a dozen times with minimal wait.
3) We had the most incredible character interactions
4) We scheduled some fun spa time while the kids were at the club
5) People watching out in Nassau was amazing!
(on second thought don’t post this…tell EVERYONE TO STILL GET OFF)
Thanks for all of this great info! You mentioned using the free Wi-Fi at Dunkin’ Donuts. Did you ever use the internet onboard the ship? We are also looking at a working vacation and were wondering how reliable the internet connections were.
I have used the wifi on the Fantasy, I imagine it would be the same. It was reliable but a bit slow. We are early risers, and it did seem to work better when less people were awake. Also, I wasn’t doing anything too important, so if an upload was taking too long, or a site wouldn’t open; I would just turn it off and try later. Work needs might not have that luxury.
A serious precaution though. Put the phone in airplane mode when you first come aboard and then turn on the wifi. If your phone is on normally once you get out to sea, you will face some really outrageous phone bills. Most international plans do not include locations at sea. If your phone pings off an at-sea provider, you owe them whatever they feel like charging. We did not have a problem with that, but I read enough horror stories about it before our cruise that I was extremely careful.
I totally agree with you about the shows. They are horrible. Painful actually. They feel like something that would be at Six Flags. They should do some sort of Mickey Price is Right or game show that interacts with the audience. Make it where you can win a bunch of free Disney stuff or free cruise experiences.
Yes, Mickey ice cream bars are on the kids’ menus. We got off the Disney Wonder yesterday. My kids are 20, 12, and 9. My son got one for dessert the first night. I’m pretty sure you can ask for one at dinner if you want it. My daughter went back & forth between the kids menu and the adult menu every night, and the servers didn’t care. I’m with you on the Bahamas/Caribbean. I wish there were more Disney cruises to other locations besides Europe & Alaska when my kids are off school. Maybe when the two new ships come out?
On our 7-night cruise aboard the Fantasy this past November. I got Mickey bars at least 4-5 times, including several nights at dinner, and also at lunch at Cabana’s one day. They don’t keep them easily accessible in Cabana’s so it took them a few minutes to run down and get one to bring to me, but I got it. I like the Mickey bars better than the soft serve yogurt on the pool deck, actually.
I actually liked Villians Tonight! But agree with you about the Pirate show. I didn’t even care much for the later show/fireworks due to the crowding on the deck. I think every guest on the ship was on deck for the show and the claustrophobia was overwhelming.
I don’t remember the Diamonds International advertising – perhaps it was lesser on my cruise or I just blocked it out.
I agree with you about Nassau – it’s definitely worth getting off the boat and wandering around. It’s neat to experience foreign countries. We also did the pirate museum and found it worthwhile. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was informative and nicely done. It was also inside with air conditioning, whihc was important in mod-August!
Regard the Mickey Ice Cream bars, even adults can get them as dessert at dinner by just asking your server (I’ve done this on two cruises now!). I won’t say they’re actually better tasting than other ice cream bars, but since you can only get them at Disney… I do agree that the Pirates show isn’t the best. However, I think my grandchildren will love it. The fireworks are great, though!
Agree on Mickey bars being overpriced dove bars. Now magnum bars that you can find in Europe take this kind of bar to a whole new level
On a random note, the marshmallow cake pops at toon town bakery in magic kingdom are amazing and take the cake over any Disney ice cream bars