Are you kidding? For the price point of family vacations, my kids had better pose as often and as long as I want. I’m not kidding. I have zero patience for denying me photos. I will deny you DINNER if you deny me my photos. No hyperbole!
And - your kids did great. I love the outfits, Mama!
As happy as I know I will be when I get to DLR with DD21 next month, I am still very sad she didn’t pick a DCL instead. It would have been easier to get to, and warmer.
Same.
Dinner at 1923
As a total bonus, we have nice dinner photos in our captain’s attire! 
Thank you Disney Destiny dining team for putting us on this rotation to make it possible.
And then, of course have to report what we ate.
Appetizer
Tortelloni Pasta, Burrata & Prosciutto
I’m certain someone had an Ahi Tuna app as well because I remember getting a bite from someone’s plate, but it went unpictured. X & DH ordered multiple apps and shared some bites with the rest of us. I had just the tortelloni.
Main Course
Steak, Steak & More Steak.
Those of us ordering off the adult menu each got their signature peppered filet mignon. It’s no prime steakhouse steak, but they do a great job with it and it’s always cooked to our preferred medium rare. DH requested 2 steaks but plated on one plate to reduce waste from a 2nd set of sides he knew he would not want. Our server, Antonia, was very gracious and this night managed requests like this very well. Our server assistant, was great too but did need more support from Antonia to keep our drinks filled so we saw a lot less of him.
In addition to my steak, I ordered a salmon filet on our server’s recommendation and I did not regret straying from my usual 2nd entree (the creamy & mushroom-y tortiglioni pasta). Sadly I forgot to photograph it, but the sauce was great with it and it was very tender and flaky as salmon should be.
Kids Mains
S had a shepherd’s pie with mashed potatoes on the side and I’m sure he licked the plate clean of every bit of potato on that dish.
L had pizza and mashed potatoes and ate some pizza, some veggies and a good deal of the mashed potatoes (she is not a big eater and by far my pickiest kid, unless it’s sugary, so it’s always a win when she takes more than a nibble of each thing on her plate).
Kids Dessert
They each opted for a Mickey shaped-brownie a la mode that looked quite tasty (L had no problem eating hers). And on par with our DCL experiences, the kids dessert was brought out quick (while the rest of us were enjoying finishing up our mains). As soon as he’d had what bites he wanted, S was off to kids club (his ability to check himself in is a huge plus here because he just excuses himself and goes off as soon as he’s ready).
Adult Dessert
Me, X & E all got the Hollywood Hills Hot Fudge Sundaes (vanilla ice cream with brownie bites). DH got a sundae as well as the Fuji apple cheesecake. Usually we go for the Bluberry-Lemon Bavarian cream cake so it was a departure again for us, but we did not regret it. All of us were happy with dessert.
And it wouldn’t be a cruise with L if she didn’t fall asleep at dinner once (which she only did this night - one day she will stay awake and run of like her siblings do, but here is me enjoying a snuggle since that time might just be our next cruise because she’s getting big fast!)
Late Evening Fun
After dinner, the kids all split off to their separate activities while DH & I went to some adult entertainment, starting with DeVil’s for cocktails & live music.
DH got The Darling as a recommended sweet drink (Grey Goose Le Citron, Cointreau, Rose Cherry, Lime, Cranberry) and I went for I Live for Furs ( Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin, Lemon, Raspberry, Vanilla). It was my first time trying gin, but I figured the other flavors all sounded pleasant enough that I would finish it even if gin wasn’t a favorite. I loved it and DH loved his as well.
While there we got to see the piano player, Christina. She had been with us on the Treasure and is a fantastic player, great singer, a fellow mega Disney fan and just a delightful person, so we went to as many sets of hers over the week on the Treasure as we could. She mentioned one of our last nights on the Treasure that she would be on the Destiny maiden voyage, so we knew we wanted to enjoy her playing again.
Here is the end of her set with her and the other paino player, Matt (who was about to switch on to his set), joining in for a spontaneous duet of Piano Man (which she has the very strong opinion that if you’re a lounge piano player you need to embrace its always requested nature and have fun with it!). It was so great and fun and the bar (at least those of us near the piano) were all singing along.
We also sometime this night (unpictured again) caught the only other Zayah & Gamble show we would watch that trip, With Great Power: A Marvel Comedy Show. It was so well done, hilarious and there was even a Deadpool (on-screen) apperance. Well worth trying to cram into the crowded venue to see.
And we returned for a later set of Christina’s to end the night (and a second round of drinks that I didn’t get photos of because it was way too crowded that time). But we had fun listening.
And then left a few minutes to midnight to gather all the kids and go to the atrium to watch & wait for something we were super excited for that I’d avoided spoilers of through all the preview cruises.
The midnight “good night kiss” lighting of the atrium/chandelier. On the Wish it’s Cinderella themed and runs at 10pm/11am and midnight. On the Treasure they do an Aladdin one and I don’t hear as much about it as I did on the Wish and it’s at weird times, at 5:30pm and 10pm.
The Destiny had done it at midnight on the preview sailings as I saw about 100 reels with a preview of “what happens at midnight on the Disney Destiny”. I scrolled quickly through all of them to leave myself unspoiled for this moment.
A whole huge crew of people were gathered in the atrium with us (and everyone under the chandelier directly laying down on the floor to be flush with the chandelier). Midnight came & went and no show. We waited around 15 minutes in case they had a glitch that they resolved and decided to run the show late. They didn’t. So we headed to our room to end the night.
We would later find out (on Day 4), that they don’t plan to run it at midnight on the Destiny, but instead at 7:30pm and 11pm. So mark that down in your planning notes for a Destiny sailing. I really like the 7:30pm time as that’s a time when everyone is already milling about the atrium between shows & dinners & photos, but 11pm is a tricky time as we use that to get in some entertainment/activities done and midnight was so perfect because just about everything else is done by then.
Tucked in & Room Service
But all’s well that ends well as we got happily situated in our room.
L watched a movie from our bed while we finished situating the room & ordering room service.
And we ended the night as we almost always do, with our Mickey Bars “at midnight” (actual time this night was well past it).
I do love it when my family is happy to take photos but also, I have one child (who I will not name) that will meltdown when they’ve hit their endpoint. And then getting all of them to look and smile and no one blinks is also a feat (has gotten better as they’ve gotten older). But by the end of that it’s less of a fun thing and more of a chore. So I choose to be judicious and balance what I ask of them.
Otherwise, it’s another thing I’m herding them to & lots less fun. So I’ve decided to also just get photos of those that want them with a few select mandatory ones.
Also, DCL specific, the photographers can be very bossy & posey & more than a couple of us get tired of that at every shot, so another reason to keep it to the ones we absolutely want. But I do always start out with some minimum required photos (and for some of them a dress code). Oh and that reminds me, I have another couple of kids (that shall also remain nameless) that anytime I mention dress-up get moany about dress-up on vacation. So there’s that too. 
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Thank you! I was happy obliged!
I get that! It’s a tough choice! Have you seen Paint the Night or Wonderous Journeys before? And will you plan to when there next month?? They are my top 2 favorite nighttime shows and that is what is drawing us to plan a DLR trip for some time 2026 (but as I procrastinate planning that and stead shop for cruises with the newest placeholder I have to burn).
Hilarious how your younger son’s expression morphed form a smile to a scowl! 
I was wondering if anyone would catch that! He & L get suddenly serious in photos. One of the reasons it gets to be such a task to keep going until everyone is looking and smiling.
I wonder which one? 
But yes, there are clues. And if you’ve read past trip reports you may also remember one specific meltdown (that wasn’t even a Mom-Mandatory photo).
Breakfast #1 With a View
On the Wish in 2024, L formed a core memory eating room service breakfast from the verandah while we docked in Nassau and has been eager for us to have a verandah again to repeat the experience (seriously she asked every trip this year if it was time for us to get a verandah again to do specifically this).
On Day 2 of our cruise, we were docking at Lookout Cay on Lighthouse Pt with views of the pier and pristine water around it.
And once the room service order I’d put down on the door hanger card the night before arrived, all L’s verandah breakfast dreams of eating a donut and fresh fruit and juice came true!
Breakfast #2
After our room service snack, the agenda was: get beach ready, swing by Marceline for a full, but quick hot breakfast, then be beach-bound. Easier said than done. I say if often, and DH says it with me. We are not fast.
Realistically, we were leaving the room right around 9am (I had put 8-8:30am for the room service hoping it would come right close to 8am and we could be out and ready closer to 8:30am). For the eating, we did go as fast as we could (which meant skipping out on made to order eggs and omelets that we usually love), but it was still awhile to get everyone food and drinks and have everyone eat their fill.
DH was the only one that photographed anything, because he was quite proud of this tasty breakfast bowl he assembled.
Lookout for that Pier
We were off the ship and starting our pier walk at just about 10:30am.
Let’s talk about the pier.
The walk itself on the pier isn’t bad. On its own is about 10-12 min walk at a steady, leisurely pace. What we learned our first trip to Lookout in February is that while the pier itself isn’t bad, it is just one part of the trek as a whole. And it is a trek.
For L in Feb, it ended up doing her in, between the trek there, a day of sun on the beach, and then the trek back, including that pier walk. And we completely lucked out of having a wagon on either end we were at when we started our pier walks. We didn’t think it would be a big deal. But she was wiped out for the evening and barely made it some dinner before being just completely miserable (probably a little dehydrated and heat exhausted too) and missed all of the deck parties for Pirate night on that sailing.
We were determined to have her well enough to fully enjoy the evening this time around, so we were on a hunt to get & keep a wagon to help reduce her walking. Also, we reminded her that the more hydrated she stayed, the better she would feel at the end of the day. Fortunately, we were able to get a wagon for the pier walk (and she listened about hydrating).
There is a photo opp to stop at partway along with the ship in the background. We opted to skip it on account of the long line.
But did stop for water.
The pier was decorated with wonderful Island Christmas decor and all over the island, the speakers were playing Island Christmas music. There were also Island Christmas trees, one to match each of the Fab 5’s Junkanoo patterns.
And if you don’t know, Junkanoo is a Bahamian festive parade. It runs on Christmas Day (and maybe other key festive days on the island). But it is full of color & music & so lively & joyful. You can learn from locals about it at scheduled times at the Goombary Cultural Center on the island and then also there, demonstrate a mini parade several different times. We had done both of those in February so they were low priority for today’s agenda, but I do recommend them to catch the spirit and learn about the culture of the Bahamian islands.
After the pier, we arrived at the tram stop. Here they made us surrender the wagon & wouldn’t let us take it over to the family beach side (they have a compartment at the front that is wheel friendly, and it can fit 2 wagons total, but for whatever reason weren’t allowing wagons to go on our specific tram). We were bummed but still hopeful we could figure out a wagon for the walk back.
On the other end of the tram ride (about 7-8 min), there are some shops and photo ops, and we did stop to take pictures with some of the Junkanoo patterns representing the Fab 5.
Donald
Minnie
Mickey
Passing the stores and photo ops you can, almost, make your way to the beach. Through a maze of wooden walkways with little to no signage of which direction to go. This is one thing I definitely do not love about Lookout Cay and am still getting used to figuring out my bearings when there. They really need more labels and signs. Or I need more trips that stop there.
But we navigated our way towards the direction of water, past the secondary level of chairs behind the berm, over the berm to the final walkway, where we arrived at our endpoint, the beach!!
There weren’t any chairs with an umbrella unclaimed directly on this stretch of beach and we were not game to trek down more beach in search of them, especially since all the secondary chairs behind the berm were completely empty so we went back up the stairs and dropped the stuff at the first row of chairs here.
I was in need of Ibuprofen and to be vertical on the chair (it was day 2 of something else for me and at home, I wouldn’t have entertained a walk up or down any stairs, but for a beach like this, I made exceptions). DH took over as beach recreation manager, herding the kids directly to the beach, making sure they had toys and sunscreen & anyone who wanted had their water shoes on. And making sure I had water and Ibuprofen (I did) before leaving me vertical on a chair to lounge.
I was able to take a beach nap and woke up restored (with Ibuprofen fully in effect) to Junkanoo music in the distance behind me. Shortly after, the kids were ready to take a break from the ocean for ice cream and continued hydration. I was glad of the time to lounge and not worry about anyone else for a minute as it helped me be able to manage the 67 bathroom breaks that L required after that since she was doing an excellent job of hydrating for her sunny beach day.
True True BBQ - Lunch on Lighthouse Pt
What started out as grabbing ice cream turned into, full lunch which was great since we needed to eat lunch here or bail on the beach entirely and head back to the ship for it.
There were almost no flies (Lookout Cay had issues with many of them, particularly the first 1-2 sailings here) but this day, bees were swarming, at the soda fountains and ice cream dispensers, sometimes making their way out to tables. We had to encouragingly nudge a few away from our sodas and ice creams and take care in getting them.
We ended our lunch with DIY cookie ice cream sandwiches!
The novelty of the ice cream sandwich is fun, but it is a total mess, and also massive if you do it as two cookies with ice cream between. Learn from us, break one cookie in half & get the tiniest swirl. Not as presentable, but trust me, you’ll be over it long before the sandwich is done if you try for the whole cookie sandwich. You see DH & I with our picturesque whole ones here, but we were foolish & forgot from earlier experimentation that it’s a waste!
After lunch, DH & L returned to the water to play. While I was set to take S & the older kids to walk the Nature Trail, something S had wanted to do since before our first trip to the island in February (but had run out of time/energy to attempt it then). The older kids were also very much interested in it.
Except it was X’s turn to need Beach Loungey Time. He had fallen victim to the pier walk, getting blisters from his slip-on Adidas sandals (that he had packed to be more space conscious than his crocs and still have a water friendly beach shoe). His feet were really bothering him, so he was encouraged to stay and relax at the chairs.
Which he did and also ended up taking a beach nap. And later told us was also woken by Junkanoo music. He even ventured over to watch it, which he recounted that he very much enjoyed.
So it was a good little break for him, even though he had been wanting to go on the walk. And we did keep one part of the walk a mystery (the very end of the beach with a limestone arch) so we could all see it together next time.
Lighthouse Pt Nature Trail
The week before we left on our February sailing, Nat Geo & Disney released a brand-new documentary about the island and we eagerly recorded on our DVR and watched excitedly ahead of our first trip to it.
A good deal of it was about the natural life on the island. S became enamored with and loved learning about the Cuckoo bird native to the island. It’s an elusive bird and in the documentary, they talked about how they were luckily able to tag one as they made preparations to make a Disney destination on the island. With a tag, scientists can better track a member of the species and learn about it. Apparently, this species isn’t as well-documented because of its elusiveness.
Oh, and the documentary was made available to watch on Disney+ (right at the end of our February trip to the island), so if you’re heading to Lighthouse on a cruise of your own, check it out!
Ever since then, S has looked forward to walking the trail to at least see the placard with info about his favorite Bahamian bird, and maybe even hear it in the brush somewhere.
Our main aim, aside from the placard with info on the Cuckoo, was to make it to the lighthouse & then head back to the family to get back on the ship. The trail is over by the tram stop. As you exit the trams, you get to it by going right instead of left towards the family beach and shops.
It starts as a paved sidewalk path passing along the edge of Sebastian’s Cove (the island Oceaneer kids club) with beautiful foliage on either side. They mark the accessible (paved) parts and also the non-accessible (unpaved and in places extremely rocky) parts very well on the signage. They also had stopping points with water stations that we took full advantage of each time we saw. The first 1/3-1/2 of it isn’t too distinct or varying in the view or foilage.
Along this part of the path you do pass the placards describing the natural plant and animal species of the island.
The last of the placards was the Giant Lizard Cuckoo and S was thrilled to have made it to see it in person!
Then as you get closer to the lighthouse you start to see more limestone rock. And although it was quite rocky, it was never a steep incline anywhere, always very gradual.
And then you start to see water over the foilage.
Soon after spotting water, you reach the lighthouse.
The lighthouse itself was somewhat anticlimactic and underwhelming (S’s exact words were “That’s it?!?! THAT is the lighthouse?”), but the views were spectacular.
What is impressive about the lighthouse is it’s the oldest operating lighthouse in the Bahamas (since 1901) but has also been fully automated since 1931 (so doesn’t require much infrastructure at all making it very anticlimactic). Lighthouse aside, the views are well worth the walk to it.
Then you can head back down towards the start of the trail at the tram stop or make use of the many access paths that branch to the Family Beach (and you could use them on the way up too, we were just aiming for the lighthouse first). There’s also another section that takes you towards the direction of a beach closest to the ship (that is dedicated to the Family Cabanas that are on that side facing where the ship is docked and directly at the end of the pier). So you can do quite the hike if you really want to here.
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We decided that instead of walking the trail back to the tram stop, we would instead make our way down to the family (non-Cabana) beach. And by doing so get some more sights of the limestone cliffs.
And it put us on a far, far-reaching end of the same strip of beach as the family beach, so we could backtrack along the shoreline until we got to where DH & L were positioned & get the views of the ocean and natural part of the island along the way.
It was stunning. If we had gone all the way to where the cliffs poked out into the ocean (the opposite direction to get to where DH & L were) we would have been able to go explore some limestone formations including the previously mentioned arch.
We still did want to try to get back to the ship sooner (and wanted to leave something for us to see with X and maybe even L & DH next time), so we didn’t head out to the cliffs. But I am excited to get there next time!
This time it was still a pretty perfect beach walk with perfect island breeze and just enough waves to really feel like a beach without being anything worrisome.
You can swim on this end but there are no lifeguards so you do need to be more cautious. And the surf is a little stronger on this part, I felt, than the monitored beach. But nothing crazy (at least on the day we were there). And also there are more patches of rocks underwater just off the shore that you don’t really see at the dedicated family beach.
Someone else a little ahead of us also walking the beach let us know they had seen a giant stingray (they were out a bit deeper than we were walking and I didn’t want to stop since I wanted to keep making progress to get back to the family, to get back to the ship sooner so I didn’t let the kids wander off much in search of a sighting).
All in all, I highly recommend this beautiful stroll of the island, and it is here with its natural beauty that this island stop shines. Castaway will always be my favorite because it’s pure & simple ease in doing a fun-filled beach day with the family (and nothing about getting to the beach at Lighthouse is easy). But Lighthouse Pt has this gorgeous natural beauty that nothing at Castaway quite matches.
The Trek Back, We Meet Again Old Pier
We met back up with DH & L on the beach, and then up to the chairs with X. Here we started the trek back, with first a stop to rinse off our feet and legs. Then towards the tram, passing the shops (and ducking in to check on availability for one thing for a family back home).
And then to the tram stop. Here we saw a fleet of abandoned wagons that had been allowed to come over with other guests to the beach but not back to the pier. DH grabbed one like it was our ticket back on the ship & didn’t relent until the crew confirmed he could stow it on the tram to ensure we had a wagon for the last stretch of walk back. Also, for the walk back, DH had X take his crocs (since they are both about the same size in shoes) and DH wore his water shoes that he hadn’t used at all on the beach.
And finally, we met the pier again for our last stretch back.
This time we did stop for a picture in front of the ship. It is far better to do this photo on the way in as there are photographers and also, much better lighting, but the other guests taking pictures that we exchanged taking photos of each other’s parties, did as great of job as could be done with the lighting that we had. (We also already had photos from February from the morning going in factoring in my decision to skip it this trip).
As we approached the forward gangway, I heard a white uniformed officer mention “closing the gangway” so I attempted to hurry & herd the family up it so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way to the opposite (aft) side of the ship and then a very long walk back (forward) to our room.
It turned out that the family half listened and me & the kids in my stateroom, got up & through security quickly & were able to get into the ship. The other half were allowed to walk up the gangway, but as they reached security, screening was paused. Those of us on the ship waited close to the stairs, but then I directed the kids out of the sight of the gangway and moved closer to the elevators when I heard it was to allow for a stretcher to come through & off via the gangway for a medical evacuation as I didn’t want security to have any reason to tell me to mind my business.
But it was very quick (and quiet) and DH & the kids in his stateroom were let through shortly after and all headed up to the room to clean up to get going to ship activities we had abbreviated the beach day for.
I’m LOVING all the details in your trip report, especially the photos of the beach walk!
That beach really is stunning. I walked down to one of the deserted ends with my mom when we were there in July and we just kept marveling at the color of the water.
And now I’m dreaming of booking another cruise
I now share this dream. Can you make this happen for me, too? 
Wait – is that the salsa you were mentioning in @ryan1’s thread? I’m pretty sure that’s ketchup. Was the exotic salsa bar you mentioned ketchup/mustard/bbq sauce? 
Yes! I could stare at the water around Lighthouse Pt all day! And that walk was so worth it in the end.
Do it!!! I mean, review your budget and decide if it fits, and then decide what else you can re-arrange to get another one in! 
Well L is the baby of the family. And based on my experience being married to the baby of his family & now raising our own, they are just generally spoiled and get all sorts of wonderful experiences things (even if they didn’t ask for it). And any older siblings, particularly the oldest notice every little difference and point it out with loud proclamations. (I am an oldest child and also did this with my parents, so I get it).
Most definitely not! That is absolutely the ketchup. Breakfast in the buffet (and probably in the main dining too) is void of all salsa. Which is a shame because I absolutely love a good salsa on a scramble or omelet. The salsa shows up when the cantina bar opens up which isn’t until after breakfast is over with and out near the pool deck/soda fountains.
I also love salsa on eggs. I think I would need to bring a flask of it.
Ooh I’ve got it! Take an empty flask, go to the salsa bar as part of your lunch the first day and fill it with your favorite for breakfast the next morning, storing it in your room fridge overnight.
Foiled by Facilier
Back on board we went straight to the room and cleaned up. I don’t think I mentioned it yet, but the forward part of the ship was themed to villains and our rooms were right next to the forward elevator bank and this was the artwork we had next to us in stairway right next to our room.
Once cleaned up, decided we would go line up for Dr. Facilier’s experience unique to the Destiny. It’s a small group of people brought into “his parlor” for a more personalized experience. And I worked to avoid any further spoilers than that but had heard from a handful of no-spoiler reports that it was intimate and unlike any other kind of interaction. So, I was very interested in it.
However, the family after 45 minutes in line with little movement, was no longer interested, so we bailed. We also realized that we would likely NOT make it into the experience before the doors to the theater opened for the show that night and it was a very high priority, must-do show (more on that soon). And X was having a hard time because he’d gotten a spot of bad news about school things when we got back on the ship, so sitting in line was just making him dwell on it (he didn’t make the final cut for the winter school play and some of his friends did, and the rest of his friends were in another production that he’d not had time to prepare an audition for so he was the only one in his group of close friends to be not in either show).
The Sanctum + Coffee
Because of X’s news, we let him choose what to do with the 45 minutes we had before we wanted to be at the theater to get seats. He picked drinks & waffle treats at the Sanctum.
There were both custard-filled waffles served with hazelnut spread and jelly-filled waffles served with maple syrup. The kids also each picked a specialty drink. There were 2 kid-friendly ones: Eye of Agamotto (Granny Smith Apple, Lemonade drink) and The Multiverse (dragonfruit & coconut water drink).
DH & I didn’t get drinks because we wanted coffees since we had yet to grab any.
DH and the kids grabbed popcorn for the show while I grabbed the coffees from Megara’s.
We all met back at the line for getting into the theater assembling just as they opened the doors.
Villain’s & Hero’s - One Night Only
The show for tonight was Susan Egan with her cast of Broadway (mostly Disney) stars that she brought along.
I recognized Liza DeGuzman, the original Jasmine on Broadway (I knew her mostly because she had come to a concert series close to home in Park City, Utah that I saw a ton of online ads with her doing a promo video for it).
DH & I also recognized Jordan Fisher but we didn’t know quite how to explain him to the kids other than, he’s been on a lot of the Disney Christmas specials. X looked up his Broadway credits and he’s done a lot of (non-Disney) shows that we knew of, but nothing they would have known him as.
We didn’t recognize the rest of the cast, but looked them up to know who was who: James Monroe Iglehart, the original Genie in Aladdin on Broadway; Olivia Donalson, another cast member from Aladdin on Broadway; & Adam Levy whose only Disney credit we could find was performing at Disney Princess concerts at D23, but we also saw (& heard Susan Egan mention) that he was business partners with Susan Egan. Also, a DCL entertainment crew member, Benjamin Rauhala, joined them proving live piano playing and was the musical director of the show.
The show was special to this maiden voyage sailing, and performed this one night only. But it was evident from every part of it, the time and effort they put into the production. They knocked it out of the park with their amazing voices and showmanship. Also, most people were actively documenting the show and they didn’t announce that you couldn’t film on this night, so DH & X did get some shots (and short videos) of the show.
They started out with a bunch of great hero numbers, pivoted to a villains segment and ended with some heart-warming hero numbers.
Some of the standouts throughtout the show : Just Around the Riverbend (from the 3 gals), Friend Like Me from the OG Genie, A Whole New World from the OG Jasmine with Adam Levy, full cast numbers of Make a Man Out of You & Be Our Guest and absolutely everything Susan Egan did from Can’t Say I’m in Love, to killing it in Mother Knows Best, to her final solo number.
Her final number was truly a highlight and I got so many chills (and still do when I think about if). She came out to the opening notes of Belle and talked sentimentally about what it meant to her to get her first huge career moment as the original Belle on Broadway and getting to wear the dress and have the fairy tale experience it was to do that, and then launched into the first verse of Belle and ended it with the reprise.
You know the moment that Belle in the animated movie blows a dandelion and wants so much more than this provincial life, and twirls. That moment cemented Belle as my favorite princess as a kid because she was the first princess to look like me and be interested in books like me and want things I wanted (that so much more was definitely something I related to).
And to get to hear Susan Egan live on stage do that part, twirls included, was just about the best bit of professional live stage performing that I’ve ever witnessed.
And then, that wasn’t even the end of the show. Susan Egan segwayed to talking about how fairy tales need a happily every after, and had Jordan Fisher come out and as soon as the next song started, we all realized where we knew Jordan Fisher from the most, as the singer for Happily Ever After. He and Olivia sang the duet part with the whole cast joining in for the ending chorus. And a high-definition Cinderella castle with very high-quality fireworks projected along the backdrop of the stage with confetti raining down.
It was so cool. And remembering this moment would be the reason I would think about doing a maiden voyage again. I’ve since looked up if other maiden voyages have had similar concerts and it’s not always a concert like this, but they do some special performance unique to the maiden voyage but looking at what was done most recently for the Treasure we decided unanimously that ours was a better concert/show.
This maiden voyage show sounds awesome!!
Sorry about X’s bad news for school! Life is rough sometimes. Glad he had a fun place to be to take his kind off.
This was his very first time getting a theater-related rejection. But like you said, he was in a very fun place to take his mind off & had a lot of his spirits lifted especially enjoying every last second of the concert. Also him getting this news was the 1st time we’d ever regretted having (and sharing with the kids) an internet package on the ship. It was only because he was texting friends using the internet that he found out.
Diner at Worlds of Marvel
Tonight we got pictures again at dinner, but everyone was free to wear casually whatever they wanted. DH & the boys did have Marvel tees, but none of us girls did. My shirt though is one I wear to Marvel dinner because it looks a bit like Captain Marvel’s, so it’s like a light hint of a bound.
Also on the Destiny, the main “show” at Worlds of Marvel is less of a show and really an interactive trivia where your table can answer using the Pym Particle vessel on the table. The buttons are all backlit with different colors and the question and choice of answers are listed on the screen, & you pick the answer based on the color dot next to the answer you want. Then there are vignettes of Rocket & Groot on the screen and it’s much more mellow of a night in Marvel. We’d seen this same show on the Treasure, but we LOVE the trivia aspect of it (even if they don’t have any declared winner or prizes). And this time, our Pym Particle vessel worked the whole time (it got stuck and froze on the Treasure so we were out of commission for about 10 minutes until our server could reset it for us).
The menu at Worlds of Marvel is one we like but only because we know what we like on it. Also, the lighting because of the show is really terrible so sorry in advance for most of these food pics being completely blue-lit.
Appetizer
Main Course
DH or X usually also order the tuna and they like it, but I think it’s more on the dry side.
One of them also tried out the beef tenderloin. Which I don’t think I tried any bites of it, but it looks as appetizing as any beef we’ve had on a ship (they have never messed up a beef dish in all the times I’ve ordered one, so that’s usually a safe bet).
And then, I failed again to get a picture of the other main course I really like (but I know for sure E got some because I traded her bites of it) but the shittake & tofu udon is a really excellent dish on the menu.
Kids Mains
S got a steak and grilled shrimp with the standard steamed veggies & steak fries sides. His steak & shrimp came out cooked perfectly and sizzling, and I would have happily had that as a second dish (anyone can order off the kids menu, not just kids, so just keep that in mind if the main menu doesn’t strike your fancy). L got a cheeseburger also with the same sides. I’m pretty sure she took like 4 bites of cheeseburger (and maybe ate the tops of her broccoli).
Dessert
I don’t think either of the little kids ordered off the kids dessert menu because they were eying the Pym Doughnut Sundae (they put a fun mini doughnut with icing and sprinkles as a topping on the sundae). Most of us got the sundae.
I also got a Sticky Date Pudding which DH had gotten last time and I’d loved trying a bite of it.
After Dinner Fun
The kids had full energy tonight and they all went off to their various kids’ clubs while DH & I hit up the adult only Match Your Mate in Saga lounge. It was SO busy, but we lucked out hearing someone tell us to take their seats because they were leaving and pounced right on them. It was standing room only with no real place to stand except blocking doorways and aisles. (We had been standing in an aisle trying to figure out the least annoying place to stand when we heard someone tell us they were leaving).
The host running Match Your Mate was hilarious and if you ever get the chance of having “Dominique pronounced Beyonce” (she introduces herself exactly like that) on your cruise, go to every single adult thing, because she hosted a bunch of adult entertainment. Her quips were perfect for the antics of the Match Your Mate game. We also had some great couples, a newlywed couple who were there on their honeymoon, a couple who’d been together 51 years and one somewhere in the middle (who won) and had the most hilarious stories about each other. And Dominique took full advantage of all of that to be hilarious.
Atrium “Midnight” Lighting Show - Failed Attempt #2
The older kids did venture and explore around the ship somewhere in their night and caught this fun snap of the lighting touches while Maleficent was meeting on the stage below. The lighting is seriously so stunning in this atrium.
And because of that we were determined to get us all to the atrium to hope the midnight lighting show happened. We still didn’t know that it wasn’t actually scheduled to go off at midnight, so there was nothing to watch again at midnight except the regular old atrium.
Room Service - Post-Midnight
We didn’t wait around as long after midnight this time and headed back to the room for our traditional midnight room service order. Tonight, we got chicken tenders, a cheeseburger, a spinach & feta pide (not photographed), and of course the Mickey bars.
Another very successful day and in the morning, we had Castaway Cay to look forward to!
Leaving you here for now with our towel-blanket creature - which we think was a bunny.
