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I didn’t expect a 4-night cruise to feel too short but there we were, on our last full day, and I felt as if we hadn’t explored the Magic and the many activities on board. Stopping at Lookout Cay and Nassau the previous two days meant that the final day was our only one at sea. I was looking forward to having more time on board even if the port days were highlights of the trip. What I didn’t consider was how crowded the ship would feel during the day at sea.

Not to get ahead of myself. Crowded ships are no match for baby races, I’d watch these with thousands of people if necessary. As I mentioned in previous installments, if entertainment isn’t going to be extremely high quality then I’d like for it to be weird. Heck, even if it is high quality then I’d still like for it to be weird. Baby races scratch that itch. This is an event on par with the Super Bowl and Grammy’s. Did I get a little too into it and start booing babies that didn’t perform up to a certain standard? I’ll never tell but if you’re a parent of a small one who’s looking for crawling glory, make sure they’re up to the task if I’m on board.

After sleeping in and viewing the event of the century, I went up to Rainforest Room to relax and shower. Following that, we tried to catch an earlier lunch at Cabanas. We were hoping to beat the crowds but I’m not sure there’s such a thing as beating the crowd at this buffet. Every time I went in there it was packed.

The food itself was solid for being a buffet. I liked the rotating specials. On this day that included some Indian dishes that were pretty good. The focaccia bread was another standout. While I limited my time at Cabanas because of the crowded, and usually hot, atmosphere, there were some merits to eating here.

Outside seating was definitely the way to go there, if weather cooperates. I found it far more inviting than inside of the buffet restaurant.

After lunch was filled with trips to the pool, more time in the Rainforest Room, some trivia and rest. Outside of the excellent water slides (on this final day, I did the smaller one with my nephew and the bigger one with my brother), I didn’t find the pool alluring. They were just filled to the brim with people and navigating through the small space wasn’t worth it to me. The adults only section was a little better but still not worth the hassle, in my opinion.

As for the trivia, Melissa and I were drawn to Disney Parks ones throughout our time on the ship. We participated in two – one just generally about the parks and the other about food inside of the theme parks. We did better on the latter so take from that what you will. With no first place prizes, I was ready to boo myself like I was a slow baby in a crawling race.

The day passed quickly. Before long it was time for our early evening show, Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic. From a parks perspective, the setup for this show was very familiar to me. There’s a general premise (something about a child dreaming in this case) that gives way to some very famous Disney songs from different films. Aladdin, Peter Pan and more were featured in this show. It’s a crowd pleaser and worth seeing, especially for those with kids. I liked the other two stage shows more but it was fun to hear all of the different songs in this.

Our final dinner was at Lumiere’s. This was my favorite meal of the cruise, with a good strip steak, more adventurous appetizers and French desserts. I don’t know enough about a ship’s inner workings to know how the food is prepared for different restaurants. But after our dinners the first three nights, which were all decent but forgettable, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Here are a few photos.

Following the meal, we grabbed our sweatshirts and headed up to the pool area to watch Empire Strikes Back on Funnel Vision. I thoroughly enjoyed the ship having later movies on and wished there was a little more of the family programming that leaned slightly adult at night. We watched all of the movie up there with our family group dwindling as it got later, some opting for bed.

Once the movie was over, most people were in bed so I took the time to take some photos of the empty ship. It’s not surprising that most areas were largely empty after 10 or 11, due to the family environment of Disney Cruises. And the After Hours section still had some adults mulling around. But I wouldn’t go in expecting much of a festive atmosphere once 10 PM hits.

There were plenty of spots to take photos without people and that was fun! Here are a few more from my late night walk.

After a busy day on the boat, I did enjoy the lack of people. I found these moments where spots were empty to be more intoxicating and the reason why I’d do another Disney Cruise. Walking around, hearing the ocean and feeling the breeze was a perfect way to end the night.

We were up early the next morning, grabbing breakfast before departing the boat. There’s not much to comment on for that day, the process was smooth and easy. After we ate, we were off the boat quickly and wandered around Fort Lauderdale for a bit before moving on to the next portion of the trip.

Quite a bit of time has passed since this cruise has taken place and my thoughts on it have evolved a little bit since leaving the boat. Melissa and I both enjoyed our time but weren’t sure that we’d be back anytime soon. Now that we’re months removed, we will likely try another cruise in the next few years. It’s not our preferred style of traveling but with an adventurous itinerary (Norway or Alaska) I think it could scratch a travel itch while being an enjoyable way to get around. This was a perfect vacation for our family group of 8 and I’m glad we went that route. I don’t think we’ll be avid cruise fans at this stage in life but things change quickly and I’m eager to see more ships and itineraries in the coming years!

The cruise portion of the trip report will wrap up here and I’ll do a little recap of our time in Belize (which followed the cruise) in the coming weeks. Do you have any questions or thoughts about our trip report? Leave them in the comments below! Planning a Disney trip? Check out our Travel Guides to help get you there! Here’s a link to discount tickets at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney please subscribe to the blog via email or WordPress and like our social media pages. You can find all of those things on the right side of this page. Thank you very much for reading, we appreciate it!