Lookout Cay — exquisite!

January 28, 2026 / Amber Benson / Leave a comment

This January has been a hot mess as far as temperatures and weather here in Virginia! We’re still digging out from a crazy snow/sleet storm that has wreaked havoc on our roads for days. I’d say I wish that I was in Florida right now but they’re not much warmer so they don’t have it a whole lot better than we do!

Two weeks ago, I was in Florida though, sailing on the Disney Dream in the Bahamas. We embarked from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on a 4-night Bahamian cruise with stops at both of Disney’s private island paradises: Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Castaway Cay is one we’ve been to many times but Lookout was new to us. Lookout is located on the southern tip of the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas and while it isn’t a ‘private island’ it still has a lot of those same qualities. The area is available to residents of Eleuthera to visit for a small fee for non-commercial purposes.This article has some interesting info about the history of Disney and Lookout Cay. I honestly couldn’t tell you if I saw any locals while there as the entire area is so big that everyone has plenty of room. More on Lookout later… Here’s the towel animal we got on the first night — love the love birds!

The Disney Dream is a lovely ship, first setting sail in 2011. It is the third ship in the Disney fleet, sister to the Disney Fantasy that embarked on its first cruise in 2012. The Dream is in Florida right now for Bahamian sailings but will go to Europe in May to pickup those sailings (European/Mediterranean) for guests until it returns to Florida in September. The Dream has had some renovations over the years, such as the recent addition of Ramone’s Cantina on the pool deck last year for an additional quick service food option. Much has remained the same though and its that classic Disney Cruise vibe that we returned ‘home’ to on our trip. When we were getting ready to set sail, there were a lot of ships going out before us and one was the brand new Disney Destiny (pictured below). The ships had a horn battle and she showed off her new tunes for all to hear. This was a great bonus for us!

The crew this time was the hubs, the daughter, my mom, and one of my nieces. We flew down to Fort Lauderdale and hopped onboard the Dream to enjoy our two connecting verandah staterooms on deck 6 aft. It’s always nice to have connecting verandah (aka balcony) staterooms when you’re traveling with family so you can go back and forth inside the rooms, if needed, but also so the stateroom host can remove the divider out on the balcony to open both up to a larger space. Having a long balcony was a treat for sure. This particular spot on the ship was nice as it didn’t have much hallway noise, was just a floor up from the laundry room, and provided for some interesting views as the ship docked and left each port. There was some docking noise from the staterooms (6182 and 6184) but we weren’t really bothered by it. Being able to watch the ropes shot out and reeled back in when in port was cool though!

Our first day was supposed to have been a day at sea but the Captain moved our Castaway Cay day up as a swap since the weather for its original day later in the week was to be nasty. That ended up being a great move because the weather on our original Castaway Cay was no good: rainy, windy, and cold. The day we got for Castaway was amazing though! Beautiful blue skies, warm breezes, and cold (then cool) water. I didn’t think I’d be able to get into the water at first but sucked it up and got in a float after lunch. We had a cabana reserved for us, Mickey and Minnie Cove Cabana #21. I’ve had cabanas at Serenity Bay (the adult beach) and what used to be the Family Beach (now called the Sandcastle Cabanas) but the Mickey and Minnie Cove ones just opened up in December. We saw them being built when we were on the island from the Disney Treasure back in September. These cabanas are super cute and so fresh! They’re in a little village type of area, right near Serenity Bay, so you take a tram to the first tram stop, then a tram to the second tram stop, get off and get on a Serenity Bay tram and boom, you’re there. Sounds like a lot of tram time but it really isn’t. Plus for families that have never been over to Serenity Bay because they are traveling with kids, you can see some of that area if you have a M&M Cove Cabana. So at Serenity Bay, you leave the tram and are taken via golf cart to your cabana. There about 30 units, 29 which hold up to 10 guests and one grand cabana that holds up to 16. These are super hard to get and run about $1,000/day for up to 6 guests (additional charges for over 6, up to the unit maximum). I’ve talked about cabanas before and these have similar amenities: private unit just for your family with a door, towels, plush furniture, a safe, floats and tubes, a hammock, lounge chairs for the beach plus an umbrella, a freshwater shower (so great!!), sand toys, access to a cabana attendant for anything you need (drink orders, take you to the quick service food location or back to the tram, bring more towels, etc.), a ceiling fan, music to play through the unit, sunscreen, plus snacks and drinks throughout the day like sodas/canned waters plus chips, a fresh fruit bowl, and granola bars. These cabanas have their own quick service barbecue location that is either a short walk or golf cart ride from your cabana plus restrooms are nearby in the cabana village. With sidewalks to each unit and the golf cart transport, getting around was a breeze! Plus, Castaway Minnie came by for meets and pictures too! Our cabana was pretty close to the restroom and cabana bar, which made it a super spot for us! We were right in the cove area of the cabana section so we had a beautiful area to hang out in all day. Quiet and just perfect! The literal only thing wrong with the cabanas is that you eventually have to leave! While the price seems high, these are a hot commodity and I will get one any time I can! This one took a lot of luck and searching since I booked the cruise fairly late and was well under my booking window to add this type of thing on. Success!

Lookout Cay, as I said, was a first for us. I knew that this destination had a very long pier to walk down from the ship to the island. I would say it is a 15 to 20 minute walk depending on your pace. There is no shade but there is a water station about halfway (plus at the tram stop at Mabrika Cove and at the ship on your return — along with cool cloths, which was very welcome after the walk back). I would strongly suggest that you bring a water bottle for use on the walk to/from the ship. For those with mobility issues, like my mom, you meet at a designated place/time in the morning and you can take a cart directly to the island. This information was provided to guests via a push notification on the Navigator app the day before our Lookout day. This was super handy! For those with littles, there are tons of plastic wagons you can use when you leave the ship to transport the kids to the island. Once you’re there though, you leave the wagon behind. Look at that line of wagons!

At the island’s entrance, you board a tram over to the opposite of the island to where most of the activity takes place. You’re arriving at Mabrika Cove and the bulk of the things to do are at the Goombay Cultural Center tram stop. Mabrika is on the west side of the island’s southern tip and Goombay is on the east side. Mabrika Cove has a small retail area and coffee shop plus this is where you’d stop if you have a cabana or are doing certain water excursions. We opted for no cabana here because I wanted to explore! These cabanas are on the west side of the island, away from everything else, and have great views of the ship. There is a separate food area for cabana guests and you are also able to go over to Goombay for anything you need there.

The tram ride is quite pleasant with narration providing information about the island and some of the unique environmental attributes. The ride takes like 10 minutes or less and is too far to walk, in fact I don’t think you can walk at this point, and a nice way to start off your day. You’re provided with towels for your use on the island once you arrive at the Goombay tram stop, which is great so you don’t have to carry those down the pier too. At the Goombay tram stop, you’ll find the other port adventures desk (called Rocky Point) for excursion check-in, one bathroom (literally a single unit but it has an adult changing table available), two stores (Disney T’ings and Treasures of Eleuthera) and several large photo ops. The photo ops are inspired by the characters in Junkanoo headdress style. The hair braiding station is in this area as well. From here, you split off into a variety of directions and can head toward the family beach, Serenity Bay, or toward the Nature Walk. The walkways here are raised boardwalk type of paths and they take you to the various beach accesses, to the food locations and bathrooms, etc. I thought this was lovely and a lot better than a bunch of sidewalks. There are three main food areas, one at the family beach to the right, one between the family beach and Serenity Bay to the left, and then another smaller one at Serenity Bay. There are also bars throughout and Sebastian’s Cove for youth activities is located on the far right side of the family beach area. This area is also where the Junkanoo parades come through and you can watch the performers (see the pictures below).

For the food, expect similar food to Castaway Cay. The big difference here is that there is a lot more covered seating and they have big fans inside the seating areas. If you look at the map of Lookout, these are the four oval pod/bean looking things across from #15 and #16 and the single pod across from #17. I have a picture of one of the areas below. There were also some picnic tables out in the sun too in each area. Ice cream and drink fountains were free flowing in each area. We chose our spot for the day right past #19, the Bow & Ribbon bar, at a beach access in that area. I will say that the early bird gets the best spots here. Our chairs were right at the access and we were able to get an umbrella, four loungers, and a couple of the regular chairs you can sit in the water in. Same type of chairs as at Castaway Cay but newer. Most of our crew did an excursion straight away so we had my mom go and grab this spot while we went out to do that. When we came back to her around noon, the beach was a lot fuller so this was definitely a great strategy. There is a ton of seating on the beach as well as back up in the dunes area so I think the idea that you wouldn’t find a chair is probably a stretch. You just might not find your first choice area if you wait around too long. This spot wasn’t far from the restrooms either or the food, so that was great. By the way, the restrooms had fresh water showers and foot washes outside too, super handy at the end of the day.

The excursion we chose was the one called “Culture, Conservation, and Coral Nursery Walk”, number LPT22. We originally had a midday time reserved but were moved to a 9:15am start the day before. While that wasn’t what I originally wanted, I was so glad we went earlier as it got a lot hotter as the day went on and we would have been miserable. This tour was advertised as 1.5 hours but we were gone a full two hours, so plan accordingly. We had the best time though! This walk was very informative and just as advertised. Our tour guide was Andy and the tour was run by Tour Eleuthera LTD. He did a fantastic job telling us all about the island’s history, its flora and fauna, Disney’s impact from a local’s perspective, and taking us to the various scenic points on the nature trail. The trail is basically sand and cement and wouldn’t be accessible, unfortunately. It is a lot of walking but there are water stations along the trail and you’re encouraged to get a drink at the family beach food area before the tour really gets started. We walked to the limestone cliffs and down to the beach where you can see such great views of the ship plus up to the small lighthouse on the island (thus the name, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point). I highly recommend this tour for teens and adults, not sure how I feel about it for young kids with the walking and educational nature. At $59/person age 10 and up, this was a steal for us. I took a lot of great pictures and saw places that I would have never just ventured to on my own, even walking on the trail (which is available to all guests without a fee). It was really interesting to hear a local’s perspective on Disney coming in and how much Disney has done for Eleuthera and its people, improving schools, providing educational opportunities post K-12, building infrastructure, and providing jobs. Plus his prospective from growing up on Nassau and moving to Eleuthera was, for lack of a better way to put it, really cool. One neat thing we learned was about Eleuthera’s pink sand. Now, this is really weird until you see it in person, but that sand has all kinds of pink flecks in it which come from tiny microscopic coral insects called Foraminifera. They get eaten and their pale red and pink shells wash up and mix with white sand and coral fragments. When you have it in your hands, it is so strange to look at and when the tide hits the beach and then washes back out, it creates a weird cloud like effect in the water. So hard to get on camera but incredible in person. I’ve been to a lot of beaches and this ranks right up there with the neatest one because of that. In addition to the pink sand, you also have the clearest blue water that will just knock your socks off. An incredibly beautiful day.

After Lookout, we had a day at sea — rainy and windy — so we played a lot of trivia (and didn’t win anything, bummer!) and the daughter and I did some work (college senior, remember?) We watched the Beauty and the Beast stage show that night and quite enjoyed it, as we did the others (The Golden Mickeys and Believe). The food on this cruise was typical cruise food and our favorite menu ended up being the Pirate night menu (which has basically been the same for as long as I can remember). The hit quick service was Ramone’s Cantina, as expected, for its Chipotle style food. So much ice cream was consumed too, which is also very typical of this group, lol.

Debarkation back at Port Everglades the next day was easy peasy, they also have the new face recognition for those traveling with passports, so customs and immigration was a breeze. Going out to get a rideshare was a bit of a mess and I wish I would have just grabbed a taxi van instead. We came off at probably 8:30am and waited for what seemed like forever but but probably was less than 30 minutes. However, we needed an XXL Lyft (or Uber) and after we finally got one from Lyft, it cancelled on us after a couple of minutes. Starting over again with Uber, I got one and it showed up at 9:07am. Once we got picked up, it was about 15 minutes to our dayuse hotel nearby. We used ResortPass to get a dayuse room at the Holiday Inn Fort Lauderdale Airport for the group since our flight home didn’t depart until almost 6pm. None of us felt like hanging out at the airport basically all day. When we arrived at the hotel, we had about a 30 minute wait until the room was ready (official check-in/use period was from 10am-5pm) but we just relaxed in the lobby and walked over to a nearby gas station for some drinks to have for the day. Once the room was ready, we went up. The room was fine, had a bit of a smell like a weird perfume or something from a prior guest, but otherwise was just what we needed. The daughter and I worked again there for awhile and the rest of the crew went down to relax by the pool. It was a cool day but the sun came out and we all ended up putting our feet in the water. The pool there was really pretty and calm and this was a great way to chill before the flight. Another perk of the dayuse room was that this hotel had a shuttle to the airport included, so we just signed up for a time and popped back over to the airport again to catch our flight. I’d absolutely do this again with a late flight out after a cruise coming into Port Everglades.

So the cruise was a blast, loved Lookout, and our cabana day at Castaway Cay was the best. Can’t wait for the next one!

xoxo,

Amber

Some horror and island hopping…

November 3, 2025November 3, 2025 / Amber Benson / Leave a comment

About a month ago, the fam and I were finishing up our most recent vacation — a trip to Universal Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights and Epic Universe and a cruise on Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Disney Treasure. We were away for about a week and a half and it was absolutely splendid to be able to spend that time together. Here’s the recap!

We flew in on a Thursday afternoon and checked in at Universal’s Terra Luna resort. This is one of the three new hotels built right near the Epic Universe theme park that opened earlier this year. We’ve stayed at Stella Nova and Helios Grande, so Terra Luna was the last of the three that we needed to try out. It is basically a carbon copy of Stella Nova, but a little farther away from Epic and a flip-flopped lobby layout. We enjoyed our time there but likely will choose Stella Nova when staying in that area again just because it is a little closer to Epic. Otherwise, great experience.

While at Universal, we spent Thursday evening at Universal Studios enjoying Halloween Horror Nights. I went to this event last year for the first time but my husband has been going for years. This time, we brought the Daughter and, of course, went with the RIP Tour option again. This tour is the hands-down best way to enjoy HHN and provides a small group of people (we had 11 in total, I think) a personal guide who takes you straight to the entrance of all of the HHN houses with no wait, provides the backstory info on those houses and the scarezones, gets you up-close seating at the nightly show (“Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay” was this year’s show), makes sure you go through all of the scarezones, allows for rest breaks including one in a private lounge overlooking the park near the Jimmy Fallon show, and the tour offers a buffet prior to the tour to kick off the fun! On that buffet, you can find a lot of the special snack items that are available for purchase out in the park during the event but you get them for free (and however many you want!) You can also load up on sodas and waters so you stay hydrated during the evening. Oh! You also get Express Pass to use at the attractions after your tour is over, but we never end up riding anything. Truly, once you take an RIP Tour, you’ll never go back. The only way to do it ‘better’ would be to do a private VIP tour versus a non-private one but the cost difference is significant on that and I think non-private works great for us!

A 'deviled' egg from Halloween Horror Nights

From the buffet, I present to you a ‘deviled’ egg. In fact, I hate deviled eggs (I don’t eat eggs and I don’t like mayonnaise) but this one is special. It’s actually a dessert! These are called’ Yum Yum Deviled eggs’ and are from the Fallout food stand. Coconut panna cotta filled with Chamoy pineapple bits and topped with mango topping and Tajin make up this dish and it was so good! 10 out of 10!

The show, “Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay”, was a sequel to last year’s show (Nightmare Fuel: Nocturnal Circus”) and it did not disappoint. You can expect the show to be something like a cross between Cirque du Soleil and a burlesque show. Definitely not for the prudes or little kids but there really shouldn’t be any little kids at this event as a whole. Very much for older teenagers, at minimum, or adults. Acrobatics, fire, contortion, dancing, and full of high energy, this show is incredible. Not to be missed. There was a lagoon show this year too but we missed that because of timing (boo!) but there’s only so much you can do in one night!

There were four scarezones: The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane, Masquerade: Dance with Death, Mutations: Toxic Twenties, and The Origins of Horror. If I were to rank them, Masquerade would definitely be first because it was so well done. I would share pictures but… don’t want to scare any unsuspecting readers! Cat Lady would be my next favorite, then Toxic Twenties a close second, and Origins fourth. All were really fun to see and go through, a few times in fact. There were some other enhancements like the zombies at Mel’s Dine-In, chainsaw clowns in Springfield USA, and Club Horror in San Francisco. I’m a sucker for some zombies and quite enjoyed that area.

For the houses this year, ten as usual, with five that were based on licensed properties: Fallout, Terrifier, Jason Universe, Five Nights at Freddy’s and WWE Presents: The Horrors of Wyatt Sicks. Then we had five original concepts: El Artista: A Spanish Haunting, Grave of Flesh, Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters, Dolls Play Dead, and Galkn: Monsters of the North. Everybody had their faves but I’m a big Fallout Fan so that won me over just for the concept. All five IP houses were really well done. We did Jason last and, I swear, I’ve never seen so many Jasons jumping out at you at one time! Terrifier didn’t do much for me but neither did the movies. The originals were all great, as usual, and I loved the Dolls Play Dead house (reminded me of what my sister did to my Barbies when I went on a sleepover) and El Artista the most. Grave of Flesh was right up there though. All-in-all, this was a great year for the houses and the scarezones and I can’t wait until 2026!

After a very long night at HHN, we dragged ourselves out of bed the next morning to go to Epic Universe. And no, there was no way we were making it at Early Park Admission or even near the regular park opening time! Since we’ve been to Epic a few times now, our focus was mainly on the Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. We had lunch at The Atlantic again (so good!) and snacked around the park for dinner. Luckily we caught one of the How to Train Your Dragon Night Lights, Pouncer, while they were visiting with guests. I’d love to see them all at once, super cute and fun to watch!

The next morning, we were up early and ready to head back to the airport, where we were meeting the Disney Cruise Line transfers to Port Canaveral for our cruise. Normally, we either drive ourselves to the Port or take the Disney transfers from our Disney resort. However, since we were staying at Universal, that wouldn’t work. Using the airport transfers was crazy easy and something I’ll consider doing again for sure. We got there early, they took our luggage so we didn’t have to fool with it again until it showed up in the stateroom, and got us checked in. That meant — nothing else to do when we got to the Port! Whoop whoop! And since we were sailing Concierge level, we got to the Port, went through security, to the Concierge waiting area for like two minutes, and onto the ship! Couldn’t have been any easier!

Being able to board early is so nice and extra sweet since Concierge staterooms are ready for guests to enter earlier too! We hopped on the ship, took some photos in the Grand Hall, and then had a quick lunch at 1923 (Concierge guests only) before heading to our stateroom. We were on deck 13, forward, port side and it was a lovely location for us. Not far from the elevators, short walk to the Concierge pool deck and down a short flight of steps into the Concierge lounge, two decks up from the quick service food (Festival of Foods) and ice cream, and a short ride down to the laundry room (well used by all during this sailing!)

Sailing with Disney is one of my most favorite things to do for a vacation and we definitely had the best time on the Treasure. It is just under a year old and very similar to the Disney Wish (2022) and the newly added Disney Destiny (which just arrived in Port Canaveral today actually!) Our itinerary was a 7-night Eastern Caribbean sailing which had three sea days, a day at Castaway Cay in the Bahamas (Disney’s private island), a day on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and a day on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. This was our first time on the Eastern itinerary and I would absolutely love to do it again. St Thomas was stunning as was Tortola and having three sea days gave us time to relax and enjoy the ship. We chose to upgrade to a Concierge stateroom since we were sailing to celebrate the Daughter’s 21st birthday. Nothing like celebrating #21 with free alcohol in the evenings at the Concierge lounge! Seriously though, Concierge is such an upgrade, to which nothing compares. You get so many upgrades like:

book excursions and activities first (which means that’s about the only way you can book a cabana on Disney’s private islands)
getting to board first
Welcome lunch after boarding
upgraded in-room toiletries
upgraded bedding including a king bed
stocked in-room mini-fridge with sodas and waters
access to the keyed Concierge lounge for sodas, juices, waters, coffee drinks, tea, snacks, desserts, appetizers, alcohol (free during happy hour!), and so much more
access to the keyed Concierge sun deck which has upgraded furniture, upgraded towels, sodas/waters, smoothies, cool washcloths, sunscreen products, hot tubs, and a super fun splash type pool
early entry to the nightly shows in the Walt Disney Theatre (best seating!)
complimentary popcorn for the shows (movies and theatre shows or just whenever)
upgraded table locations in the three main dining rooms, putting you closer to the shows
Concierge team members to help with anything you might need during your sailing
Private character meets in the lounge
Etc!

And talk about spoiled… when you get off the ship, going back to reality definitely stinks! But being onboard with Disney and having that access is truly worth every penny. We spent so much time out on the Concierge sun deck and I can’t tell you how much popcorn and waters we went through. The ships are very large and being able to come back to that little slice of paradise (which was never even remotely crowded, sometimes we were all alone!) was heavenly. The Concierge folks always know your name too and that extra touch is just magical.

Concierge splash pool, the seat has water that runs down your back into the pool

We did actually pull ourselves off of decks 12 and 13 every once in a while for breakfast and lunches in Marceline Market (the buffet), a lovely brunch at the adult only restaurant called Palo, watching the shows at night, doing some shopping, enjoying the Haunted Mansion Parlor (no words to describe how perfect this place is!), and so.much.trivia! Oh yeah, and the laundry. So.much.laundry, lol. We love playing trivia on Disney cruises and there was some stiff competition this time around. Every trivia we played was packed and you usually had to know all the answers to even have a chance. Craziness! We played everything from 80s music trivia to general trivia to Disney movie trivia and came so close to winning but alas, never took home a medal. We did win a new game called ‘Go Fetch’ though and got medals for that (woo-hoo!). This game was kind of like Let’s Make a Deal (for those of you old enough to know what that is) where Monty would go out into the audience and ask for anyone who had a particular item. This game gave you points for everything you brought/did to the host, like being the first one to bring him three shoes, or a wedding ring, or to sing him a song, etc. I have never hustled so fast in my life! And next time I’ll know, bring a pocketbook with more random stuff in it!

The main dining rooms on this ship are 1923, Worlds of Marvel, and Coco. This is where you go each evening for dinner and some are open for a sit-down breakfast and/or lunch as well. We had each location twice plus a third night at Worlds of Marvel that was Pirate Night. My favorite theme was the Coco restaurant (visually stunning) but I probably like the food in the Marvel restaurant the best. Each night had a different menu with all types of food to choose from. I will say, do not ever order Linguini Nero if that is an option. Guess what that is? Squid ink pasta. And yes, it is disgusting. I took one for the team, by accident, and can confidently say it needs to be removed from the options. The picture below is the ofrenda at the Coco restaurant.

The nightly shows were Moana, Beauty and the Beast, and Disney Seas the Adventure. Of course, all were superb. It was extremely rocky on the Moana show night so they had to switch the ending a bit (and I’ve heard the other ending was better) but our show was phenomenal. Zero complaints. The actors in these productions are amazing and do incredible work despite the rest of us feeling like we’re rolling out of our seats! There was also a magician onboard, Jessica Jane, and she was quite fun to watch as well. We saw her twice, once in the main theatre and a second time at an adults-only show.

We were on a Halloween on the High Seas sailing which means Halloween activities happen during the cruise, most of which we didn’t participate in (darn lounge, lol). We did, however, do the trick-or-treating on the pool deck and got so much candy! It was like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom but at sea… a great time. The characters were out in their Halloween costumes for pictures and such as well, looked like a lot of fun for everyone.

For our Castaway Cay day, we did have one of the coveted cabanas so the day was spent there. Ours was at Serenity Bay, the adult beach, so we spent a good deal of time floating out in the water with the included raft/tube rentals and then the rest of the time lounging in the cabana with the included drinks and snacks. Breaking for lunch was nice too and we were golf-carted over to the restaurant to enjoy that when hunger hit. One of the things I also really like about the cabanas is the freshwater shower at the cabana itself. I hate being sticky with ocean water so having that right at my fingertips is very welcome. Endless towels, cool washcloths, drinks, and comfy furniture with shad doesn’t hurt either! We also saw the new cabanas that Disney is building on Castaway Cay between the existing family beach ones and the adult beach. These look super cute and should definitely help availability since it is near impossible to get one now!

Our two port days were Tortola and St Thomas. We had never been to either so we were quite excited to be able to see those islands. Tortola was beautiful and we had an excursion to Jost Van Dyke for a beach day on that island. We went there via a catamaran ride of about 30 minutes, then an open-air truck for maybe 10 more minutes. The road to get from the marina to the beach was no joke! Straight up and down the mountainside. When we got to the beach spot on White Bay Beach, we were dropped off near the famed Soggy Dollar Bar (currently closed for renovations). The beach was really pretty and so was the water, except for the seaweed. This has been a rough year for seaweed in Mexico and the Caribbean and we unfortunately got that on this beach day too. The folks there did a great job trying to keep it cleaned up though compared to a lot that I’ve seen, so kudos to them for that. It didn’t put too big of a damper on the day. We took the catamaran back to the ship, avoiding the rum punch and therefore major seasickness, and grabbed a few souvenirs at the port before re-boarding.

At St. Thomas, we had a three-part excursion booked. The first stop was Drake’s Seat, high atop the island with excellent views of Magens Bay, where we were headed for stop number two. When we got to Magens Bay, we were blown away by how pretty the entire area was and how clear the water was. We stayed in the water for our entire time there, only hopping out for a quick rinse to throw our regular clothes back on. While out in the water, the Daughter and I even saw sea turtles swimming (in the wild!) right near us. That couldn’t be beat. The last stop was back down near the ship with a ride up the mountain again in the Skyride. This was a little nerve-wracking (let’s just say the Skyride is an old system) but we made it up, experienced some incredible views, and then headed back down to the ship.

After a week on the Treasure, it was time to debark and head home. JetBlue had a little bit of a flight issue (lost a knob, go figure) so we returned home about four hours later than planned. Not a huge problem though as we got some flight credits that I used to book our next flights down to Orlando in December!

Next stop, Hilton Head then back to Disney in December! Stay tuned! I’ll leave you with my favorite towel animal from the cruise!

xoxo, Amber

Sailing the Disney Magic to the Bahamas

April 7, 2019 / Amber Benson / Leave a comment

My suitcases have been sitting idle since my last visit to Walt Disney World in December. Three months was way too long for this travel fanatic! Spring Break arrived for my family at the end of March so we packed up and hopped on a plane to Florida. A sailing on the Disney Magic from Miami to the Bahamas was a perfect way to kick off the warmer weather season!

A party of seven, sailing the Magic, what a motley crew! The hubs, the kid, my mom and the old man, and two nieces rounded out the gang. We flew into Fort Lauderdale for an overnight, enjoyed the town for the day and then shuttled down to Miami to board the beautiful Disney Magic. While in Fort Lauderdale, we visited the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts to see the Chihuly exhibit. It was amazing! So many beautiful glass pieces to view!

Chihuly art glass sculpture at the WMODA

One of the original two Disney Cruise ships, the Magic is a smaller ship with a more compact layout, making navigating the decks super easy. Characters and Disney magic were found throughout the ship at scheduled times and impromptu meetings…

Pluto stopped by for a pic while we were hanging out on the pool deck

The Cove Cafe provided us with some delicious beverages onboard and the staff goes out of their way to make the experience extra special. Check out the latte art and complimentary Madeline cookie!

Mickey makes this latte even more fancy!

Key West was our first and most anticipated port. We are huge cat fans and the Hemingway Home in Key West is home to over 50 cats, many polydactyls. At home, we have a polydactyl kitty and couldn’t wait to see more of those funky felines. It didn’t disappoint! The tour of the home and grounds was also super informative and definitely worth a listen.

Look at those extra toes!

The required ‘Mile Marker 0’ and ‘Southernmost Point’ stops were also checked off the to-do list. It was such a beautiful day, hot but not oppressive, and so sunny.

Mile Marker 0! I should’ve taken a picture of the lonely flip flop on the road right beside the sign. Trying to figure out if that was a Jimmy Buffett fan’s memento left behind…

90 miles to Cuba! Let’s go!

The next stop was Nassau in the Bahamas. That’s always a ‘day at sea’ for us and we stay onboard to enjoy the ship instead of exploring the port. Once was good for this bunch. Brunch at the adult-only restaurant, Palo, was a delicious way to start the day for me and the hubs. So much great food but only one stomach, LOL.

Champagne Jell-O and fresh berries at Palo capped a delicious brunch experience

After we left Nassau, we sailed to Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. Truly a tropical paradise, we could’ve handled the water being a bit warmer but, by midday, we had adjusted quite nicely. Floating around the family beach, followed by lunch on the island, and then snorkeling in the (huge) snorkeling lagoon filled much of the day. Our first time snorkeling on the island, we were super happy to find many of the underwater treasures that Disney has placed for the enjoyment of its guests. So many colorful fish and fun things to explore but man, a lot of work for all those goodies!

The Magic looking magical while docked at Castaway Cay

Castaway Cay was our last day of the cruise and we had our final dinner at Animator’s Palate that evening. One of the best things about the Disney Cruise Line is that you have a dedicated waitstaff in the three main dining rooms. Their system is called ‘rotational dining’ and you rotate each night between the three dining rooms. For the Magic, the dining rooms are Animator’s Palate, Lumiere’s, and Rapunzel’s Royal Table. When you board the ship, you are assigned the order in which you rotate between the restaurants and a table number. That table number remains the same in each restaurant and is associated with a specific main and assistant server. Our main server was Yhokey from the Philippines and his assistant, Harish from India. The kids (and adults) loved them and truly regretted having to say goodbye on the last evening. (So much so that they went back the next morning just to tell them goodbye one last time.)

The girls with Yhokey and Harish in Animator’s Palate

As always, leaving a Disney Cruise is such a sad moment. It definitely helps when you’ve booked a placeholder for a future cruise — basically a small deposit that can then be put toward a sailing within the next two years, comes with a 10% cruise discount and onboard credit — so you know you’ll likely be back soon. I’m sure it won’t be two years before I’m back on a cruise though. Mickey knows how to sink his hooks into me every time.

The sunset on our last evening was so beautiful. Watching the sun go down from our verandah was breathtaking.

Until next time!

Amber

A WONDERful cruise to the Southern Caribbean

January 26, 2018 / Amber Benson / Leave a comment

Disney Cruises are one of my favorite things and my recent Southern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Wonder certainly didn’t disappoint! Seven nights sailing the Caribbean from San Juan, Puerto Rico with stops at the islands of Antigua, Saint Lucia, Curacao, and Aruba resulted in my best cruise experience yet and will be hard to beat. White sand beaches, seashells galore, crystal blue waters, a lush rain forest, even cacti! I’ll hit the highlights as I fondly look back on the new memories I made during this trip.

The cruise began in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Puerto Rico? Wasn’t the country demolished by Hurricane Maria? Yes, they definitely have had an unfair share of destruction and hardship as a result of Maria last fall. Yes, there is a large portion of the country that is still reeling from the affects of the storm. San Juan itself is recovering and open for business. We had zero power, water, communications, comfort issues, etc. during our stay. Taxis were running, restaurants and hotels open, airport operational, you name it. The countries that were devastated by the hurricanes last fall need tourism to return to sustain their livelihoods so it is important for all of us to get down there and help the residents rebuild their lives.

Back to San Juan. Lovely place. Lots of beautiful architecture, sunshine, and smiling people. I would gladly return to explore more of the city and outlying areas in the future. But alas, the Disney Wonder was calling. The ship set sail late into the evening and we were on our way to Antigua. My oh my, Antigua. That’s somewhere else I’d happily return. My activity for the day was an excursion to the western coast of the island to Castaway’s Beach Restaurant. The restaurant fronted an amazing beach where we were able to relax and play, only breaking for lunch, until time to return to the ship. So, this beach. Wow. Crystal blue water, white sand, more seashells than you could ever dream of collecting… pure beach fantasy. I thought the beaches in the Turks and Caicos were pretty but man, they have a definite contender in Antigua.

It was almost painful to pack up and leave that beach but we had to keep moving. The next port was Saint Lucia. Saint Lucia is shockingly green. We’re talking lush, green rain forest as far as the eye could see. I was set to venture into a rain forest to enjoy an aerial tram tour up to the top of the forest. Not sure what to expect, I was overwhelmed by the peacefulness of the forest ride. The cool air with a light breeze, soft sounds of the trees, and occasional squeal of a zip-liner, made for a delightful journey. The height we achieved on the tram was astounding and being able to look out across the forest to the gigantic ferns and strangler ficus trees, waterfalls, and streams blew my mind. It felt like we were at the top of the world, and what a beautiful world that was.

After leaving Saint Lucia, we had a day of rest as the ship traveled on to our next port. Days at sea on a cruise can be filled to the brim with activities or turn into days where you lazily hang out at the pool and watch movies on the funnel’s screen. Of course, we had to catch a few movies on the big screen in the Buena Vista Theater (Thor: Ragnarok and Star Wars: The Last Jedi) plus Coco on the bigger screen in the Walt Disney Theater. There were many movies viewed on the pool deck’s funnel screen though, that’s for sure. While my family snacked on ice cream (ice cream is endless and so, so good on the Disney ships), I setup GototheMouse’s portable office on the pool deck and worked away into the evenings. It is super handy to be able to pack up and work from wherever I need to, although admittedly a little more movie time would have been fun.

The following day, we awoke in Curacao. Curacao is a Dutch Caribbean island and that was easy to detect based on the distinct building coloring and architecture. What a beautiful island! This was the first time Disney had ever sailed, on any ship, to Curacao and the local tourism officials were treated to a celebration onboard to commemorate the milestone. We spent the day at the Sunscape Curacao resort and, while I likely wouldn’t return there for a future stay, it was nice to enjoy their infinity pool and visit a new (to me) resort. The port in Curacao was very modern and many vendors selling non-“Made In China” wares, so that was refreshing. A short proximity from the pier was a Starbucks, so another ‘You are Here’ mug was added to my collection. (I love those things!)

Next up was Aruba. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are known as the ‘ABC Islands‘ and although we didn’t stop at Bonaire, I would love to visit that one too to see how different it is from Curacao and Aruba. Aruba is very ecologically interesting. It has natural bridges formed from pounding surf, cacti, Divi Divi trees, clear blue water, and white sand. The island group is very close to Venezuela in South America, for a point of geographic reference. Aruba is also a Dutch island and very modern. We spent the day at a private island on the West Coast of Aruba called De Palm Island. This island is comprised of an all-inclusive day experience (no lodging) with water slides, snorkeling, beaches, banana boats, zip-lining, and so much more. I enjoyed snorkeling with huge schools of the most beautiful tropical fish, picking up even more seashells, watching a giant iguana and several smaller iguanas sun themselves, and had a tasty lunch. This was my favorite excursion with the beach in Antigua being a very close second. With a view like the one below, who would complain?

After a late departure from Aruba, we enjoyed another day at sea before returning to San Juan to fly home. Yes, more movies and ice cream plus some shopping and pin trading with the ship’s officers. Pin trading is huge on the Disney ships, just as it is in the theme parks — maybe even more so.

I can’t wait to be back onboard the Wonder and booked my next cruise for 2019. Where will I sail to next? Stay tuned and you’ll find out! In the meantime, there are plenty of other trips in the works for 2018 that I’ll be sharing throughout the year. Looking back at my blog, I missed posting about a wonderful getaway to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina over Thanksgiving and a quick trip to Washington DC to enjoy “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theatre. It looks like I’ve been slacking but I’ll do better in 2018. I keep my bags packed… do you?

Type A Travel Mom

Plan. Discover. Memories.

Cruise

Lookout Cay — exquisite!

Some horror and island hopping…

Sailing the Disney Magic to the Bahamas

A WONDERful cruise to the Southern Caribbean