Living Off Of Suitcases

The highlight of my cruise, besides the ice cream service and the characters, was definitely visiting Castaway Cay.

Nassau was gorgeous, mind you, but Castaway Cay took my breath away. Castaway Cay is Disney's private island, and is an exclusive port of call for the Disney Cruise line. It features 3 beautiful beaches and lots of fun activities for all ages.


. The central theme for this island was a shipwreck, and Disney did a fantastic job of decking out the place with lost treasures and old pirate ships. The details were very keen and precise. It was like walking into a pirate storybook. I was in awe with their work.

Not to mention, there were a lot of characters available for photo-ops!

When we arrived at the island, my mom and I decided to go snorkeling. I was expecting them to take us to this high-sea, coral reef area with loads of fish but they just took us to this enclosed area, just a couple steps away from the family beach. In my head, I thought this wouldn't be a fun experience. Boy, was I was wrong.

Because underwater selfies are cool.

Disney filled the entire area with statues and shipwreck things. You had to swim around the place in order to find those artifacts. They had even had a statue of Mickey and Minnie Mouse buried with the "ship." There are were also a lot of  schools of fish swimming around the area and it was such a neat experience to see them.

It's Mickey!!

I honestly felt like a mermaid in this photo

Besides snorkeling, Castaway Cay also has this huge water slide in the middle of the sea. The drop is over 10 feet long, and the water is over 6 feet deep. It was very thrilling and the plunge made me scream like a girl at a Bieber concert. It was scary at first, but it was so much fun.




After a long day of pure relaxation, we had to go back to our ship. If only time stood still. I'd love to go back to that paradise and stay there for as long as I could.

How I miss this picturesque view!

My friend Vince and I went back for a second round of snorkeling.

Stick around. There's more adventure to come!

Our first port of call on the cruise was at Nassau, Bahamas. Nassau is actually the largest city in The Bahamas. It is located in the island of New Providence and it is the capital of the country. It is surrounded by gorgeous white beaches and clear water. 

We took a hop-on hop-off tour around Nassau. Our tour guide took us around the island and gave us informative historical background about the city. He showed us the different residential areas; from the ghetto to the richer areas. Nassau is no different than the United States or any other country, in general. Many people think Nassau and its inhabitants are isolated from the world. It is, in fact, highly urbanized and industrialized. There are many good businesses around and it was very cool to go  see them. 

 One of the living staples of Bahamians are conch shells. Yes, conch shells; the Magic Conch Shells Spongebob and Patrick refer to when they got lost in the woods with Squidward. Not only are conch shells edible and good with almost all delicacies, it is used in construction, structuring of roads and they use it as a male enhancer. (If you know what I mean. haahaha) 

Conch shells are herbivores and feed mainly on algae. They act like snails and tend to run away when seen by fish. Bahamians tie rocks on their shell to prevent them from getting away. Conch is the Bahamas's main dish and it is served like fritters or in salads.We were lucky enough to have a great tour guide who treated us to his favorite Conch fritters. Honestly, the conch didn't look appetizing at first, but it is absolutely delicious. It's spicy, but salty at the same time. It's very tasty.

(Oh, if only mom knew how to cook it!)

As part of our island tour, our tour guide took us to many of Nassau's historical places. Nassau is very rich in history, having been colonized by England for a long time. We weren't able to go down for most of them, but one place we saw was The Queen's Staircase. This staircase features 65 steps hand-carved by slaves in the 18th century, and is 102 feet down. They built this so that the King may escape in case Napoleon tries to invade Nassau. When Napoleon never came, they named this in honor of Queen Victoria of England for abolishing slavery in the Bahamas and for her 65 years in reign.

Ever since taking AP European History, I've grown fond of seeing places that have been influenced by events in Europe. I was thrilled to hear stories about England and the Bahamas. It was like an out-of-classroom experience.

Queen Victoria's Staircase

Sitting atop of Bennett's Hill was Fort Fincastle. It's really close by from The Queen's Staircase. It features old cannons that Lord Dunmore, Bahamas' governor in 1793, built to protect the island from foreign invaders. We didn't have time to go in, but they had a lot of historic weapons, and hiding areas for the army.





After our historical tour, we quickly stopped by hotel Atlantis. It was a really large hotel, with several water parks and yacht clubs for people to enjoy.

Atlantis from a distance

Stick around. There's more adventure to come.

In a continuation to the last blog post, I'm here to talk about my Florida trip. 

We took a Disney cruise from Orlando, FL to the Bahamas, and it was by-far the BEST trip I have ever experienced. I immensely enjoyed it; the unlimited food, the ice cream service, the entertainment, EVERYTHING. 

Not surprising to most, I took loads of pictures. The cruise was filled with little details here and there, and it was amazing to see.

My mom ran and left me behind to fall in line to sign up for some activities	.

Our group shot with Mickey!

Disney has done an amazing job at creating a happy, magical atmosphere; from the entrance of the port, to the state rooms, it was absolutely breathtaking. It brought back memories from my early childhood. It was magical.

The outside of the Cruise Ship!

 The stateroom we stayed in was a tad-bit small to fit our huge luggage, but it was really cool. I loved how they would put chocolates on the pillows at night and make the towels into an animal.

Only good photo; There were waaaay to much people blocking the view. ahaha!

They had rose chandeliers!

Their Escargot was super delicious because it was smothered in some buttery concoction.

Feta-cheese ravioli. It was aaamaaaziiiing.

Chef Edgar!

We also celebrated Brighton's (my mom's friend's son) 5th birthday! They gave us all cake and sang to us!

That same night, we saw Twice Charmed at the Walt Disney Theatre. It was a classic spin on Cinderella's story with the evil queen preventing Cinderella from marrying Prince Charming. The lights and sound were amazing!

Breakfast at Disney is truly exquisite. They have a vast array of breakfast food; whether you opt for the healthy choice, or the not-so-healthy choice, there's a TON of food. As usual, I went for my classic English muffin with cream cheese, eggs and bacon. I also got some of their ever-famous Mickey Waffles, which are to-die for. If I could eat anything for a lifetime, it would be those waffles. It was just a regular waffle, but there's something that makes a Mickey Waffle taste so good.

Yes, my plate wasn't full of food. I was scared I'd come out 300 pounds heavier if I ate too much!

The Mickey Waffle, before I devoured it.

After touring our first port of call at Nassau, the kids and I decided to go try out their water play area. The sun was warm. It was a sunny afternoon and it was good time to go try their water slides. They have a roller coaster type slide called the AquaDunk. You literally step in a tube, and they press a button to drop you 80 ft. down. It was the best thing ever.

The AquaDunk: BEST. SLIDE. EVER.

 Our second night, dinner was at Animator's Palate. This was probably my favorite restaurant that we ate at. The design was gorgeous. It was like walking in an animation studio. The details were really precise. The dining room starts off as a black and white sketch of cartoon characters. Halfway through dinner, there was a show where they colored all the drawings and showed clips of their best animated movies. In the end, Sorcerer Mickey came out along with our servers. It was like magic before my eyes.

Can we just take a moment to admire Eugene Fitzgerald?!

Even their butter knife is paintbrush-themed!

 As promised, Miss Emily brought us our much-awaited Sinigang na Sugpo at Salmon with Kanin. (Sour soup with shrimp and salmon, and rice on the side) She also gave us three of everything on the menu including dessert! After dinner, Chef Edgar, the head chef, came out again to meet us. He cooked all our delicious food. Him and his team are just amazing.

Sinigang na Sugpo at Salmon! The food was PERFECT!

Kanin (rice), a Filipino staple

Group shot with Chef Edgar, Miss Emily, and Louis.

 There's more to come on this adventure. Stick around!