We’ve been immersed in everything Disney for the past two weeks on our Disney transatlantic cruise. Our first stop on the second day of our cruise was the Disney island of Castaway
Cay in the Bahamas . We bypassed the children’s and family beaches and went straight to Serenity Cove for a peaceful and relaxing day.    The water was clear and beautifully blue, a bit cool when we first entered but we soon grew used to it. After our lazy day at the beach, we
spent six relaxing days at sea, reading and lying by the pool (adults only—of course). It was easy to sleep in later and later each day especially since we moved our clocks up an hour five of the six days at sea. The weather for our transatlantic crossing was excellent, and some said it was the best they had seen, so we felt lucky. We pampered ourselves with facials at the spa and even played bingo a few days in the afternoon. Every evening we dined elegantly on a three course meal followed the next morning by a turn on treadmills in the gym! We enjoyed lobster, crab legs, shrimp, escargot, lamb chops, and venison, followed by entertaining comedy, variety and magic shows every evening. We especially enjoyed a tribute to the Beatles by a band who played all of our favorite songs .

The seas were so calm we arrived at our first port several hours earlier than scheduled, Funchal, Madeira, an island off the coast of Portugal. We enjoyed beautiful weather
and spent the day exploring Funchal. We rode the cable cars two miles to the top of the island and visited the town of Monte where we peeked into the old and picturesque church. When we noticed a funeral in progress, we hastily paid our respects, glanced around the beautiful old church and quietly left. Then, we rode the wicker basket sleds down the hill, pushed and pulled by two men who guided us between high stone walls down the slippery, worn road. Apparently the men of Madeira have been putting people (mostly tourists, I’m sure) into these wicker baskets and sliding them down the town streets for over a hundred years now. We picked up some speed on the way down, but the sled runners seemed well in control of the
flimsy basket sleds. We made it down the hill in one piece and celebrated with a beer at the café. We spent the rest of the day wandering Funchal’s hills and peering into the shops. Cory’s pedometer clocked over 5 miles that day, and we were tired when we made our way back to the ship.

The last couple days of the cruise were relaxing, again. We dined at the specialty restaurant, Palo's for our anniversary. On the 31st of May we docked in Barcelona and took a very early taxi ride to the airport where we boarded a plane to Paris.