A couple of things I forgot to mention in the first part. Security was very tight. The lines weren't really bad and I had no concerns about my family's safety. An Orlando tv reporter interviewed me as we were leaving the ship-don't know if it ever aired-and was asking if we felt safe and also about the Hurricane and if our cruise was ruined. She didn't get the upset customer I think she was hoping for.
Also, we were in a family suite-room 8514. It was tight for 5 people. We didn't spend alot of time in the room, but we were so happy to get to our 2 bedroom unit a Old Key West! Our master bedroom was bigger than the whole cabin.
Okay onto Tuesday! Since we weren't getting the hotel in Nassau, I decided to splurge and get a facial in the spa during our day at sea. I waited until Sun evening to book,and had no problem getting a 10:30 appt. When I woke up Tues am the boat was really rocking. The waves were hitting the side of the boat and we were swaying quite a bit. I get motion sickness very easily. I cruised 8 years ago and took Bonine and had no problem. I was taking it this cruise also and when they said we would be hitting rough seas I took two. My 2 younger kids got up, threw up and did pretty well the rest of the day. Hubby had no problem either. My 10 yr old daughter and I were sick pretty much the whole day. I made it to my facial and as I was laying there all I could think was that this must be how it feels to be rocked in a cradle!! Laying down helped so I made it through the facial, but it was downhill from there. I was hungry but couldn't eat anything so dd and I watched tv and every so often got up on deck and walked around it the fresh air. The deck was crowded and the pools were closed, except for the Mickey Ears and the jacuzzis.
The cruise director and captain updated us several times through the day, saying the waves would calm down as soon as we got behind Grand Bahama Island around 8 pm. We had dinner at Tritons that night and we were going to dress up and have our pictures taken. Around 3 the rocking got worse-apparently the captain sped up the boat to get there quicker. DH and the 2 younger kids went down to dinner and DD and I were going to spend the night in bed when all of a sudden I started feeling better! Once the waves calmed our relief was very fast. We felt so got we quickly got dressed and suprised everyone at dinner. Lots of people showed up late that evening which I'm sure drove the servers crazy!! But they never said a word! We saw the Hercules show that night and I went to bed soon after. I was exhausted from laying in bed all day! The best news of all that day was that we would be going to Castaway Cay!
Wednesday made up for anything else that was dissappointing during the cruise. Now I know why people just wast to stay there the entire time! The weather was perfect-there was no damage to the island from Michelle. The food was great. There was lots of activities going on for all ages. I wanted to do the island power walk, but I had taken dd to get her hair wrapped and by the time I got back it was time to go and I wanted to soak up some sun. My parents went and said they got a good tour of the whole island. DD and I did the bananna boat which was great-I felt very safe. The man who drove was very nice but very strict about the rules and stopped twice to check on us. The younger kids went to Scuttles for a while, but we were all having so much fun there wasn't alot of time for that. DH took the kids back early because the older 2 wanted to do the show and I got to spend a half hour alone on the beach in the Bahamas. The kids show was great, dinner was great and Disney Dreams was awesome! The biggest bummer was packing the last night-we barely got the bags out by 11 and getting up so early on Thurs!
All in all, I'm glad we stayed on the cruise. If we decide to go again, I will book a 4 day with no days at sea, just like I did this time. While it was dissappointing that we didn't get to Nassau and Freeport I understood that I booked a trip during hurricanne season and that this could happen or we could have just had a rainy day ruin one or more of our Bahama days. I can also understand why some people chose to leave the ship. Hopefully, when they get to cruise again there won't be any hurricanes roaming the Atlantic.
Thanks for reading. I've always enjoyed reading others' reports on this board and I hope I've given someone else some info. If you have any other questions, just ask.
Also, we were in a family suite-room 8514. It was tight for 5 people. We didn't spend alot of time in the room, but we were so happy to get to our 2 bedroom unit a Old Key West! Our master bedroom was bigger than the whole cabin.
Okay onto Tuesday! Since we weren't getting the hotel in Nassau, I decided to splurge and get a facial in the spa during our day at sea. I waited until Sun evening to book,and had no problem getting a 10:30 appt. When I woke up Tues am the boat was really rocking. The waves were hitting the side of the boat and we were swaying quite a bit. I get motion sickness very easily. I cruised 8 years ago and took Bonine and had no problem. I was taking it this cruise also and when they said we would be hitting rough seas I took two. My 2 younger kids got up, threw up and did pretty well the rest of the day. Hubby had no problem either. My 10 yr old daughter and I were sick pretty much the whole day. I made it to my facial and as I was laying there all I could think was that this must be how it feels to be rocked in a cradle!! Laying down helped so I made it through the facial, but it was downhill from there. I was hungry but couldn't eat anything so dd and I watched tv and every so often got up on deck and walked around it the fresh air. The deck was crowded and the pools were closed, except for the Mickey Ears and the jacuzzis.
The cruise director and captain updated us several times through the day, saying the waves would calm down as soon as we got behind Grand Bahama Island around 8 pm. We had dinner at Tritons that night and we were going to dress up and have our pictures taken. Around 3 the rocking got worse-apparently the captain sped up the boat to get there quicker. DH and the 2 younger kids went down to dinner and DD and I were going to spend the night in bed when all of a sudden I started feeling better! Once the waves calmed our relief was very fast. We felt so got we quickly got dressed and suprised everyone at dinner. Lots of people showed up late that evening which I'm sure drove the servers crazy!! But they never said a word! We saw the Hercules show that night and I went to bed soon after. I was exhausted from laying in bed all day! The best news of all that day was that we would be going to Castaway Cay!
Wednesday made up for anything else that was dissappointing during the cruise. Now I know why people just wast to stay there the entire time! The weather was perfect-there was no damage to the island from Michelle. The food was great. There was lots of activities going on for all ages. I wanted to do the island power walk, but I had taken dd to get her hair wrapped and by the time I got back it was time to go and I wanted to soak up some sun. My parents went and said they got a good tour of the whole island. DD and I did the bananna boat which was great-I felt very safe. The man who drove was very nice but very strict about the rules and stopped twice to check on us. The younger kids went to Scuttles for a while, but we were all having so much fun there wasn't alot of time for that. DH took the kids back early because the older 2 wanted to do the show and I got to spend a half hour alone on the beach in the Bahamas. The kids show was great, dinner was great and Disney Dreams was awesome! The biggest bummer was packing the last night-we barely got the bags out by 11 and getting up so early on Thurs!
All in all, I'm glad we stayed on the cruise. If we decide to go again, I will book a 4 day with no days at sea, just like I did this time. While it was dissappointing that we didn't get to Nassau and Freeport I understood that I booked a trip during hurricanne season and that this could happen or we could have just had a rainy day ruin one or more of our Bahama days. I can also understand why some people chose to leave the ship. Hopefully, when they get to cruise again there won't be any hurricanes roaming the Atlantic.
Thanks for reading. I've always enjoyed reading others' reports on this board and I hope I've given someone else some info. If you have any other questions, just ask.