Disney Cruise Line
Day 5 - December 30, 1999
Annie got up early to do the pin trading and the walk around the ship. She traded her exclusive Disney Cruise Line 2000 pin for the even more exclusive Steamboat Willie pin (we suspect that travelers on the Disney Magic had the opportunity to trade for an equally exclusive Sorceror's Apprentice pin), and then went for the walk around the ship (4 laps, equaling one mile), after which she was awarded a "Mickey 200" pin. "Mickey 200" is the name of the ship-board competition to build a race car out of vegetables. Annie was not very fond of the pin and she decided she would use it for pin trading. It was during the walk around the ship that Annie first met Andrea, a ship activity organizer from Scotland whom we'd meet many more times during our cruise.
Tip: The pins carried by cast members on their lanyards (sashes around their necks) are meant to be traded. They are not the personal pins of the cast members. They are pins given to the cast members by Disney to encourage trading amoung guests. The cast member will accept any Disney pin in trade any pin they are currently wearing.
Although there are special pin-trading sessions, you can trade any time with a cast member who is wearing his lanyard.
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I got up only as Annie was returned from her walk. We had a late breakfast at Parrot Cay, spent some time playing the board games available at the Cadillac Lounge, and then joined our shore excursion party at the Promenade Lounge to go on the tour of the Atlantis Resort and Casino. Our tour guide started off being Becky, from Great Britain, but once off the ship, she handed us over to a team from the Atlantis resort who gave us a brief harbor tour aboard the ferry boat before reaching Paradise Island where we disembarked and did the ten minute walk to the Atlantis resort. Once at the resort, we were broken up into 4 groups and assigned one of 4 tour guides. Our tour guide was Valencia, and she did a great job. She was very knowledgeable and had answers to all the questions. The tour, itself, was lengthy and in depth. We saw everything there was to see at Atlantis, including the high-end shops, the casino, the aquarium and the main attraction, called "the Dig", an imaginary excavation of the lost city of Atlantis. At the Dig, we saw that admission was $25 per person, so we knew that we'd gotten a good deal, since for $5 more, we got ferry transportation to and from Paradise Island (ferry transportation is usually $3 per person, one way), as well as a harbor tour, and an extended tour of the resort. The tour, although long, was just about right in length. Just when you think it's going to go on for too long, it ends. It was perfect.
Annie and I had just enough time to blow some money at the casino before returning to the terminal to catch the ferry back to the ship, and catch the bridge tour.
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Tip: For those unable to take the American Express White Glove bridge tour, you can look down on the bridge from the exercise machines in the Buena Vista Spa. But do this during daytime, because at nighttime they draw blinds over the windows in the spa that look down onto the bridge to block out the glare. There is also a briefer "overlook tour" where you get to view the bridge from the balcony around the second floor of the bridge.
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Andrea, from Scotland, gave the bridge tour. It was an excellent tour, and very informative. The layout of the bridge was spectacular, and very modern.
After the bridge tour, we visited Studio Sea to play "So You Think You Know Your Music", a family game run by Robin, from Australia. Robin would play the first few notes from a song and then we'd have to write down the title of the song and whom the artist was who sang it (or, in some cases, what movie it was from). We thought we knew our music, but I guess we didn't. We didn't do poorly, though, performing above average.
After the game, it was time to dress up for dinner at Animator's Palate. At dinner Ben and Debby informed us that the prices in Nassau, although tax-free, were no real bargain. Most everything has to be imported into the Bahamas, and the Bahamas government levis high duties on everything imported, so although everything is tax free, the duties more than make up for that.
While in Nassau, they'd also run into a celebrity being escorted by a Disney Special Services cast member. It was none other than Jodi Benson, made famous as the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. It seems she was traveling on the Disney Wonder and she would be part of the New Year's Eve festivities.
That evening we had a deck party on deck 9. It was a sort of dry run for the following evening's festivities. During the dancing and music we ran into Ben and Debby who directed us to Chandra, who ran the merchandise shop at the ESPN Skybox. Chandra was also from Montreal and we were happy to meet her.
We returned to deck 9 in time to catch the fireworks (fired from the ship's smokestacks) and streamers (launched by crew members on deck using hand launchers). If this was any hint of what was to come, we knew we were in for a great show the following night.
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