2-in-1 GT Honeymoon

Now that the mister has explained the planning of our 2-part honeymoon, it is time to show you the results. Despite our worries, the weather was great (no sign of hurricanes!) and labor day crowds were thin. I know honeymoon posts aren't super exciting to read unless you're interested in visiting the same places, so I'll just overload you with pictures and include some key tips for the 'moon planners out there who may benefit from it.

Ready? Go!

We started out cruising, on the Norwegian Sky:


First stop was the Grand Bahamas Island where we swam with, hugged, kissed (on the lips!) dolphins... and instructed them to do tricks!
The next day we went to Nassau where we visited the enormous Atlantis Resort:
We checked out the gorgeous grounds and aquariums...

and enjoyed a splashing good time at their waterpark, the Aquaventure, where there are awesome waterslides including ones that goes through a clear tunnel underwater so you can get upclose and personal with the sharks and other marine life:

(Image Source)

Final stop before heading back to Miami was the cruise line's private island where we enjoyed some sun and snorkel (pic below is of us on our balcony with the island as backdrop):

Cruise Notes:

• The excursions were great. Approximately $250 per person for the dolphin swim of probably less than an hour of actual swim time, and $150 per person for the waterpark, are marked up significantly by the cruiseline. You can save a lot of money buying tickets directly when you get there, but because the cruise business get priority and you cannot buy tickets in advance, we paid the extra anyway to make sure we won't miss out on the fun.
• It may have been better if we went on a bigger ship, but the bigger ships are all for longer trips and we didn't want to be stuck on a ship for any longer!
• There were tons and tons of not very good food. We even paid extra to try their top restaurant on the boat, and it was still rather unimpressive.
• Sadly, the mister was sick so we missed out on some of the parties. If the few shows that we were able to attend are indicators for the quality of entertainment, we didn't miss much.
• Paying extra for the balcony room was sooo worth it! Being able to relax and enjoy the ocean view in the privacy of our own room makes it feel like a real vacation, even though room service was gross.
• There was a lot of Bingo, and a lot of Elton John.
• Verdict: It was good to experience it and we thoroughly enjoyed the activities at the stops, but we can now say for certain that we are NOT cruise people :)

Then we were off to Disneyworld!

We stayed at one of the Disney deluxe resorts - The Wilderness Lodge, and got the best room in the whole place! Check out our view: We visited all four parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios)We couldn't rock the ears fo' realz, but we did fake it for a sec in the store. Actually we wouldn't even have thought about it if not for one of the mister's favorite post:

Below circled in red, we have the 'Dream Fastpass', which is part of Disney's Year of a Million Dream promo. We each got one just for being at the right place at the right time! It's a single use fastpass for each major ride at that park without time restriction (valid that day only).

In the blue is the 'Just Married Button' the resort gave us when we checked in. The staff are trained to look for these and people congratulated us everywhere we went. The attention took some getting used to (we were stopped one time by a couple staff members with big-o bells announcing our newlywed status for all to hear), but we kept the buttons on since we also got special treatment here and there like free cookies with our meals or special Mickey sprinkles with our dessert. Hee.

We dined at the California Grill one night. We made reservations months and months prior so that we could see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom over dinner: Finally, here's a pic we took just for you :)

Disney Notes:

• The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World was the best travel purchase ever! The mister used it to do a lot of planning, and we followed its suggestions to maximize our time usage, found best spots for show viewings, select dinning options, etc. We would have missed out on sooo much if not for the book!
• Allow yourselves at least a full day for each park!
• Disney provide bus, ferry, monorail transportation to and from each park and their resort.
• Go to the California Grill for dinner or drinks during fireworks time. They even stream the sound inside the restaurant!
• There were water fountains around but our hydration backpack saved us from wasting time looking for them, and from fountain-tasting water, without having to buy drinks all day.
• The fastpasses for the new Toy Story Mania ride at Hollywood Studios were ALL GONE before noon. Holy crap, we almost didn't make it in because we had to leave for our flight home! Thank goodness we did though because that turned out to be my favorite ride :)
• For those who have been to Disneyland, Disney World is still worth the visit! Magic Kingdom is the park most similar to Disneyland but there are still quite a few rides and sites that distinguish the two, plus it's much newer. The Electrical Parade at DLand was getting really old for me but the one at DWorld is much much better!

Whew! Ok, so anyone else combining vacations for the honeymoon?