On Day 3 of our cruise, the ship was due to port in Nassau.  We usually don’t get off the ship, but thought it might be fun just to go into Nassau and walk around.  We had previously been on a Dream three night cruise with some friends that went into the port and they enjoyed it.  

We woke up really late, so it was about 9:30 by the time we left the stateroom.  It seems like the crew had to get some training, because we saw them practicing fire fighting techniques in our hallway.

 

We decided to head to Cabanas to get some breakfast before heading ashore.  Since it was a little bit later in the morning, Cabanas was pretty much empty.  We filled up with our favorites because we weren’t quite sure how long we would stay ashore.  Our goal was to get back on board before lunch time.

After breakfast, we headed off the ship.  We were docked right next to a Royal Caribbean ship, Empress of the Seas.  While we are excited to try out a Royal Caribbean cruise soon, the Empress of the Seas needs some attention.  She was sporting more than her fair share of rust.

We stopped for some quick pictures at the dock and then headed into the town.  To enter Nassau, you have to head through an entry building and then go through a corral where there are vendors.  Some of the vendors are selling goods (food and souvenirs) and others are offering tours (jet skis, bus tours, etc).  Some of them are pretty verbally aggressive but it didn’t really bother us since we were prepared for it. 

After we left the corral area, we found ourselves in a main square.  There were a couple of hotels here along with a fair amount of taxi cabs offering rides.  I found this part of Nassau to be nice.  It reminded me of the main square in Cozumel. 

We headed down the road towards the Straw Market.  The Straw Market is a famous market in Nassau.  We did go inside the Straw Market for a bit, but didn’t find anything we were interested in.  Some of the vendors on the side of the market were actually hand making various carvings, which were interesting.  Most of them were selling the same merchandise. 

We headed out of the Straw Market and towards Señor Frog’s.  We weren’t going to go in, the kids just wanted some pictures.  We headed through Pompey Square and over to Señor Frog’s.

After taking some pictures with the Frog, we headed back towards the shops.  We stopped in a few, then headed back to the ship.  We didn’t end up buying anything, but did see some interesting items in My Ocean.  We could see Atlantis off in the distance.  I actually had  friend who had just spent a week at Atlantis on vacation.  He said it was fun, but expensive. 

After walking back through the entry building, we headed back on the pier to this awesome sight.  The Disney ships definitely look great in port.

The kids headed off to the clubs while Nancy and I headed to Cove Cafe for a coffee.  We also made sure to grab some snacks from the display case.  These snacks were all tasty.  We didn’t want to eat too much since tonight was our chance to dine at Rapunzel’s Royal Table!

As the ship left Nassau, Nancy and I watched the sunset from Deck 4.

As dinner time approached, we headed towards Rapunzel’s Royal Table.  This was going to be our first time enjoying the re-imagined dining room on the Magic.  When we went on the Magic at Christmas, this was still Cariocas.  We headed towards Deck 3 Aft, where the dining room is located.

We were welcomed to the dining room by the master of ceremonies for the evening.  We ended up with a great table for the evening, right along the main walkway.

 There were a few things we loved about the new dining room.  The first was the attention to details in the place settings.

There was also an acoustic band that provided the musical entertainment.  We really loved them.  We ended up seeing them playing in various other locations during the rest of the cruise. 

We also really enjoyed the entertainment.  There was singing and dancing, mainly by the Tugs. 

  We were then joined by Rapunzel!  She led the dining room in some singing and dancing.  It turned out it was her birthday!

Rapunzel went around the dining room, briefly stopping at each table.  You could get a photo with her if you asked, but she wouldn’t sign autographs.  In the middle of Rapunzel’s route around the tables, Flynn Rider came out and sang a song with Rapunzel.  The two of them then continued to go around the dining room.

With their final song, the dining room staff brought out lanterns to “float” among the tables.

Overall, we LOVED the changes to the dining room.  We heard people complain about the noise level.  The staff told us it can be a tough venue because they needed to get the order and then deliver the food so they weren’t in the way of the entertainment.  I can understand both issues, but for us, this was a great change in entertainment value as well as in food quality.

The dining room staff also had great outfits.  Here is our OUTSTANDING dining staff of Viand and Jesus.

Once again, the kids disappeared to their clubs and we headed for bed. 

Tomorrow would be a stop at Castaway Cay!

Planning | Travel | Boarding | Key West | Nassau | Castaway Cay | Sea Day | Disembarkation

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