Disney 3 Night Cruise Trip & Disney Magic Kingdom

CRUISE TRIP PLANNER:
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3-Night Disney Bahamian Cruise
Day 1 - Port Canaveral, Florida 4:00 p.m.
Day 2 - Nassau 9:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Day 3 - Castaway Cay 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.
Day 4 - Port Canaveral, Florida 7:30 a.m. 

SHOWS ON THE CRUISE
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- Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic - It plays at approximately 6:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m @ Walt Disney Theatre.
- The Golden Mickeys - It plays at approximately 6:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
- Toy Story – The Musical - 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on the Disney Wonder in the Walt Disney Theatre, located at Deck 4
- Till We Meet Again Party - Till We Meet Again is a 30-minute deck party located on Decks 3 and 4 in the Lobby Atrium, Midship, that begins at
approximately 10:00 p.m. the night before Debarkation Day. Available on all Disney cruises, this final farewell event invites

Restaurants onboard: (Each one has a theme of its own and a feast to eyes)
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Animator's Palate
Parrot Cay
Triton's
Beach Blanket Buffet
Palo

TIPS expected:
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Per Guest per cruise 3-Night
Dining Room Server - $12.00
Dining Room Asst Server - $9.00
Dining Room Head Server - $3.00
Stateroom Host/Hostess - $12.00
Dining Manager - Your Discretion
Room Service - Your Discretion
Palo - Gratuity included
Babysitting - Gratuity not expected
For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your room charge.

Tips from me:
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- Take cash to pay for tips and for use in Bahamas if required
- Check-In luggage has to placed outside staterooms the night before debarkation day. So, pack your luggage in such a way that you keep last night and debarkation day's clothes in a different bag.
- Formal dining restaurants such as Palo in Disney cost a lot and it's really not that great and can be skipped, to avoid spending a lot for gratuity and for buying very formal dress/jackets etc.
- There are 3 other dining restaurants and many other informal fast-food corners. You will be assigned to one restaurant every day for dinner, so you get to taste the different food and ambience.
- There will be pirates of Caribbean party at night on second day after dinner and there will be so many desserts and food again on the deck. So, keep some room for these when having dinner on 2'nd day or have early dinner if possible. It will be very chilly at that time on the deck. so don't forget jackets and pirate costumes if you like.
- There will be common laundry and ironing room, if you want to wash your clothes.
- There are nurseries for kids till age 3 and kids club for older kids and parents can leave the kids there and have fun in adult pool or adult pubs. They give us a pager and will page us if the kids need us.
- Take 2 pairs of swimming clothes if you are going on a 3-day cruise

- Bahamas beaches are so beautiful and very windy. You get tanned very much. so don't forget sunglasses and sunscreen lotion.

- You can rent tubes there if you don't know swimming.
- Disney provides lunch in castaway cay island but in Nassau, we hv to pay and eat outside and it is pretty expensive in Atlantis hotel
- If the sea is rough, the ship moves sideways, and you may feel dizzy and nauseous. so don't forget to take over the counter motion sickness medicine
- Approximate expense for 2 adults + 1 kids would be around 2000$ for a 3-day cruise (as of the date this post was published on).

We also went to Disney magic kingdom and here are my tips -
- First go for a round of the entire park and take fast passes wherever fast pass is open and you can come back to that ride at that time to avoid standing in long lines.
- You can use the Disney railroad service which stops at almost all locations in magic kingdom when you want to come back to some place faster without having to walk again
- The castle has beautiful lighting at night and fireworks. take tripod if you want to capture those spectacular fireworks in your camera
Take the schedule & map as soon as you enter the park and follow the schedule.
- Don't miss the parade where all Disney characters dance thru the roads with beautiful costumes
- If you want just chicken and fries' kind of lunch, go to cosmos restaurant in Tomorrowland
- Don't miss Philarmagic 3d show. It's so cool and kids & adults will hv fun.

Los Angeles, Las Vegas & Grand Canyon Trip

We've been to Los Angeles (LA), Las Vegas (LV) & Grand Canyon (GC) recently for a long weekend and wanted to share some tips with everyone which would have made our planning much better had we known these before.

1. If you go late night to a LA hotel and booked it thru priceline, u may end up getting a smoking room which is really pathetic. So make sure to call them ahead and check with them of the availability and notify them that you will be late.
2. Take jackets without fail for open top tours in the evenings in LA as it is cold and the tour driver goes so fast. kodak theatre shows will close by 2.30 pm. so be there early. take LA tours for movie actors houses and city sight seeing if u hv less time. you can bargain rates here.
3. Always book costly hotel in LV, it is really worth the price and u can avoid some walking. (if booking thru priceline, give 150$ per day for weekends to get a good hotel)
4. LV is not a good place for kids..one parent has to stay away from the casinos as kids r not allowed
5. We need atleast 3 nights to visit all the hotels in LV strip. Morning is too hot in summer and so we can go out only in the evenings. In winter 2 full days shud be enough and ideal season for visiting LV
6. There are lot of restaurants in big hotels but they r very expensive. If you like Indian or chinese food, you can try Tamba Indian restaurant, pf changs, chipotle & pandas kitchen in the strip.
7. Bellagio fountains were not that gr8 in LV but dont miss Mirage volcano. It is beautiful. Also dont miss to see Venetian, Cesars palace, Bellagio, Stratoshpere hotels inside. Each one has something spl and different.
8. In summer, it is very hot in LV and will result in very dry & bloody nose and mouth. Take nasal spray and lip balms everywhere.
9. LV to Grand Canyon (west) - No food or gas stations or rest rooms on the way. Rarely we see one or two. so make use of it without fail and dont think there will be something else ahead. After a long drive on the highway, we get into a local road which is so bad with lot of dust. Be prepared for the jumps & bumps.
The admission ticket price for GC is very high and there is nothing worth seeing there other than the sky walk. I heard that south side will be much better but it is very far from LV.
10. Wear shoes to grand canyon as there is lot of dust covering ur feet due to the wind and u'll be all muddy if you wear sandals. shoes make it easier to walk on the rocks there.
11. Don't miss Hoover Dam on the way to GC from LV. It is very scenic with moutains and water and there is one more very scenic getaway called Lake Mead. This is a man made lake and it is so awesome with blue water and mountains all around. very good picture spot but the beach is kind of muddy and not very suitable to play.
12. LV to LA drive takes abt 6 hrs due to traffic. Plan accordingly and always start early in the morning to avoid some traffic.

Hope you find this useful. Catch you later. Bye

Jan 6, 2022 (Las Vegas Trip 2)

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After 11 years, we have been to Las Vegas again, this time with my daughter as she has never been there before. We went during Christmas Vacation for a 3-day trip. It was an unexpected trip. My best friend from college, whom I haven't met for several years planned this trip with family and we joined them. 

We stayed at Palazzo resort by Venetian and the room was very spacious and comfortable.

One day 1, I was just excited to meet my friend and we roamed around Venetian, Bellagio, Mirage hotels and saw the Christmas decorations, Mirage Volcano Show and Bellagio Water Fountain Show.

Everything seemed the same between our last trip 11 years ago and now. Christmas decorations in Bellagio were awesome. My friends did some daring rides in Stratosphere that day and seemed to love it. So go for it if you are adventurous kind. We had dinner in Venetian food court which has some good options including Indian food & Panda Express.

The following day, we again walked around some of the big hotels such as Flamingo, Caeser's Palace, Aria, Cosmopolitan etc. We saw The Atlantis show in Caeser's palace and enjoyed the Christmas decorations and architecture in all the hotels. At nights, my husband spent some time playing with the slot machines in Palazzo's Casinos and has some success.

The next day, we walked through Wynn Hotel which had beautiful Christmas decorations, shopped around Fashion Mall opposite to Wynn, Kids enjoyed Marvel show in Treasure Island and the High Roller ride in LINQ hotel, while we went to the Eiffel Tower in Paris Hotel, went to 45'th floor and got some nice city views.

I wanted to cover few more things in Vegas like Fremont Street, MGM Hotel, New York Hotel etc. but we just didn't have enough time to cover all of it. There's always next time.

Our return was on Christmas day when our flight got delayed as the Capitan did not show up for some reason and also due to some winter storms in some locations. One learning from this trip is that we should never book any flight on Christmas or New Year Day. Weather was not as bad as I expected in December. Evenings were chilly but overall, it was so much better than Ohio, where we live. Our legs would hurt so much due to lot of walking, so I would put my legs in hot water tub every night and that used to help. Recommend good comfortable walking shoes and light jackets for the trip.

April 1'st 2022 (Las Vegas Trip 3)

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I went on a ladies trip with my school friends this time and tried some new things this time.

-> Mystère show by cirque du soleil in Treasure Island - Very nice show with lot of stunts

-> Omnia Nightclub in Caesars Palace - Awesome experience but the dance floor was so crowded. Buy Pre-Sale tickets ahead of time so you don't end up paying double the price when you walk in directly.

-> Wicked Spoon Buffet in Cosmopolitan - Awesome desserts and best for folks who eat all kinds of meat like Crab, Pork, Sea food, Beef etc.

Dec 2023 (Las Vegas Trip 4)

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I went again to Vegas with my undergrad friends and did some new stuff again. It was pretty cold at this time of the year. Please dress accordingly.

- Went to Marquee night club in Cosmopolitan. We registered in guest list and so it was a free entry. But it was a bit of painful experience climbing the stairs. Please check if there is a way to go through elevator. We didn't realize until we got inside that we had to climb about 3 to 4 floors of stairs.

Also please find out where to do the coat check. We had our jackets on, and we were not allowed to keep them anywhere on the dance floor or pub area. We had to hold them and dance unfortunately. Music and DJ were good, but I liked Omnia nightclub more.

Note that most of the clubs are closed on Sunday nights. Plan accordingly.

- Watched "Postcard from Earth" experience show in Sphere. We just loved it. There were several robots to interact with during the first hour followed by a show in a big theatre. It was just mind-blowing.

- Went to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada sign and took pictures. Be prepared for very long lines and the pictures came out dark. It's better to visit this during daytime.

- Went to Freemont Street and loved the overhead visuals and music there. Awesome experience and a must visit after 6pm.

- If you are going around this time of the year, there are beautiful Christmas decorations in every hotel and it's great for pictures. Don't miss the decorations in Bellagio, Venetian, Wynn & Aria

- As usual, you have to walk a lot in Vegas. So make sure you have comfortable shoes that you used before.