Day 8 – Disembarkation in Port Canaveral & Visiting the Kennedy Space Center: Seven-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Fantasy

If there were ever a bad thing about a Disney cruise, itโ€™s having to get off the ship. Itโ€™ even worse if you have to fly home on the same day. This time around we thought weโ€™d soften the blow by staying an extra night in Orlando, which was a good decision on our part. For our previous Disney cruise on the Magic, we flew out on disembarkation day, and it was sooooooo depressing.

Waldorf Astoria Orlando: A Night of Luxury in the Presidential Suite

When you disembark from a Disney cruise, life is sad โ€“ very, very sad. But, when you extend your vacation by one night, you can gently help ease yourself back into the real worldโ€ฆ I booked the Waldorf Astoria for a one-night stay after our seven-night Eastern Caribbean Disney cruise because our flight back home was the day after disembarkation. Rather than stay at an Orlando airport hotel, we wanted to check this place out. We were in for a treat!

Day 7 – Castaway Cay: Seven-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Fantasy

Best. Day. Ever. When you visit Castaway Cay, Disneyโ€™s private island in the Bahamas, be sure to set your expectations high! It really will be (one) of your best days ever. We had visited Castaway Cay two times previously (via the Disney Dream and the Disney Magic), so we were pretty pumped for a day in paradise, relaxing on the beach and in our cabana. As noted in my previous post, we had to stop off for a medical emergency during our day at sea on the way to Castaway Cay. So, we were significantly delayed in our arrival. We originally were scheduled to be there from 9:00am to 4:00pm. We ended up not arriving until 12:30pm and were scheduled to leave at 6:00pm.

Day 6 – Day at Sea: Seven-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Fantasy

Finally โ€“ another day at sea! Days at sea are the epitome of what Disney Cruise Line is all about. You can do as much or as little as you want, with no set schedule, if you desire. After two straight days in ports, I was ready for a relatively lazy dayโ€ฆ I started my lazy day by gathering various breakfast items from both Cabanas and the Concierge lounge and bringing the food back to our stateroom to eat. Then, I went to the gym, and, afterwards grabbed some lunch to eat in the stateroom (snacks from the Concierge lounge and a sandwich from Floโ€™s Cafรฉ). (Yes, if you havenโ€™t figured it out by now, Disney cruises are all about EATING!)

Jordanโ€™s Wadi Rum Desert: Our Earthโ€™s Valley of the Moon

Wadi Rum: Valley of the Moon in English. Thereโ€™s no place like it in the world โ€“ at least, in this world. Youโ€™ve probably visited Wadi Rum in the movies. Itโ€™s often the site of Mars on the big screen (The Martian, for example). Itโ€™s played Jedha in Star Wars: Rogue One, a desert in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and, of course, itself in the epic Lawrence of Arabia. Even Disney has taken advantage of this epic landscape by filming Aladdin there.