Trip log, day two. Nassau – Pirate Night.
3-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral
June 17, 2005
Guests Ashore: 9:45 am Guests Onboard: 7:00 pm
Personal Navigator – Day 2
The first full day aboard a Disney Cruise ship started with our arrival in Nassau. We took the morning to eat breakfast and walk around the ship ahead of our port adventure meeting time. Long before HDTVs were added to the atriums to show cycle through Officer bios, there was a very simple and elegant solution to see who was in charge of various departments without needing to stand around 10 minutes for the full cycle.
Additionally, there was a charted itinerary map with some points of interest highlighted.
Thankfully, things will get a bit more interesting. I found a number of photos in our honeymoon photo album that I was able to scan. It appears, I left the video camera and the digital camera in the stateroom when we went ashore while Emily brought her 35mm camera! Those photos will have the dates in the bottom right.
We booked a glass bottom boat excursion with stops at a reef and a shipwreck. The boat picked us up just off the pier where you will not find various huts. The weather started out great, but the forecast called for storms. Our guide mentioned we may not get to the shipwreck and visibility at the reef was diminishing.
As we traveled out we had great views of the harbor.
One of the guides onboard pointed out the homes of Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan on Paradise Island.
Oprah Winfrey’s Paradise Island Home 
Michael Jordan’s Paradise Island Home
As for the sights of Nassau, we sailed under the Paradise Island Bridge and near the entrance to the marina at the nearby Atlantis resort.
As for the glass bottom boat experience, it was underwhelming at best. To be fair, we were warned with the storm moving in we should expect limited visibility and while that wasn’t the case, the trip was cut short so we really didn’t visit the prime spots nor the sunken ship or airplane or something manmade that was underwater.
Aside from this, a glass bottom boat tour is a great way to expense marine life without getting into the water which can be an appealing option for families with young children or those with mobility issues. It isn’t always easy transition from boat to water and water to boat on snorkeling excursions. Additionally, it is a great option during colder months when you may not want to get in the water.
Although the tour was cut short, we were given a wonderful photo opportunity as we returned back to the port.
Since we went to Palo on our first night, and being this was our first Disney Cruise, we didn’t know what to expect when we arrived at Triton’s, our assigned rotational restaurant for the night. We were seated with at a table with at least one other family who didn’t seem all to happy they had to share a table. The distain of table mates has been going on for a long time. Who knows what things are going to be like post-COVID, but please be nice to your table mates because guess what, they probably don’t want to be sitting with you either. Might as well make the most of it. Besides, it is a great opportunity to find out other fun things to do onboard or compare days ashore which may lead to booking a specific port adventure in the future.
For dessert, our head server, Kapoor, presented us with an appropriate size serving of cake with a white chocolate congratulatory cruise ship on top.
Tonight was Pirate Night so the characters were out and about meeting guests in pirate attire. Minnie, Mickey, and Stitch met outside Triton’s.
Although most characters we spotted were donning pirate attire, Aladdin was running around hence this blurry photo – just ignore the fact he is leaning on the railing.
The Pirates in the Caribbean deck party was so different back in 2005 featuring a simple banner above the stage.
Our evening towel animal was a monkey keeping the chocolate safe.
While we were out for the evening our stateroom host left us a nice little surprise.
In a flash, day 2 was in the books with 1 day to go. Up next, our first visit to Castaway Cay!
It’s a bummer that your first (and maybe only?) experience was negative sharing a table with another couple. We’ve been on 7 cruises as a couple and never had a bad experience, though we consider ourselves pretty lucky for that. Some have been more social than others, but since we usually have 2 or 3 other couples at our table, it’s never been an issue to find someone to chat with. And certainly never anyone outwardly unpleasant.
Just a disclaimer for anyone reading this who is worried about this aspect of the cruise 🙂 I wouldn’t call us exceptionally social or outgoing and we’ve never had a problem.