Chocolatiers in Bahamas from Disney Dream
- Amaris Scipione
- Feb 12, 2022
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 21, 2024
Day 4: Walt Disney World Resort & Disney Cruise Line | Disney Dream with Bahamas
We started the morning at Royal Palace on the Disney Dream where our servers were expecting us. Last night, I ordered my meals for the day so that the necessary precautions could be taken to make sure my meal avoided my allergens. The first course was a colorful plate with mango, strawberry, raspberry, cantaloupe, and blueberries. For my main course, I had a Mickey Waffle served with strawberry whipped butter, bacon, and a small cup of fruit. It was heavenly.
Our port adventure was next on the agenda. We met at the Walt Disney Theatre where the cast members checked our SeaCards and government issued IDs. We were issued a Rapunzel Sticker to distinguish our port adventure. Our adventure was to Graycliff Chocolatier and a total of 10 passengers chose this activity. Once our group was all present, a cast member held up a sign with Rapunzel and we followed him Brazilian-style. We walked off the ship and over to the dock next to ours. There is construction in Nassau right not as they build a new terminal. For that reason, our transportation couldn’t meet us directly outside of the ship. It was a short walk and gave us the opportunity to see the front of our ship. We are on the Disney Dream and Mickey Mouse is sleeping on the front of the ship with his dreams of broomsticks surrounding him.
We made it to our shuttle and the driver introduced himself. He was proud as he showed us his identification. The first card was his health card that showed proof of vaccination and a QR code. The code contained his medical history and I thought wow the Bahamas are organized when it comes to healthcare. The next ID was for being able to drive a commercial vehicle. He mentioned how his driving record and police record had to be pristine to receive this card. The last card was his driver’s license.
It was a short drive to Greycliff Chocolatier. We passed pink and white government buildings and drove through a small town. Greycliff Chocolatier is a small chocolate shop that barely fit our group in the main area. We were taken to a second room where we were given a history lesson on chocolate. The cocoa plant isn’t grown in the Bahamas so the beans are imported from Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Trinidad. The history lesson was informative but also a little boring. After the lesson, we were given hairnets and hospital-like gowns to enter the chocolate production area. It is an active chocolate production shop so there were workers there making chocolate as we wove between them to learn. We were shown the chocolate temper machines and give three spoons: one to try each variety. We tried milk, dark, and white chocolate. We then moved into another room where we sat in front of a plate of rice krispies, crushed Oreos, coconut flakes, a strawberry, a stick, and a chocolate mold. We were then asked which type of chocolate we wanted and shortly later we were given a cup of chocolate for our creations. We started with the strawberry by poking it with the stick and dunking it into the cup of chocolate. We were then advised to sprinkle toppings on it and lay it on the parchment-paper covered table. Next, we filled our mold. We tapped the mold on the table to release the air bubbles. We then poured the remaining chocolate into the cups with toppings and mixed the toppings into the chocolate to make chocolate clusters. All our creations were taken somewhere to harden. They were returned to us to remove from the molds and we were given a box to place our confectionaries. The company that owns the chocolate company also owns a cigar shop and winery. We were asked is we wanted to see either. We chose to see the winery for a sample then back onto the bus. It was a short and sweet day in the Bahamas.
We arrived back on board and headed to Flo’s Cafe for lunch. I had a hamburger and French fries and Hilary had chicken tenders and French fries. The food was good, but pretty typical American fare. There were three counters here: one with pizza, one with burgers and chicken tenders, and the third with wraps and salads. I loved having a food option near the pool and also near the sunshine!
The weather was really nice today so after eating we headed to the pool. We relaxed in the sun and looked out to the Bahamas. We then headed to the Aquaduck which is the water coaster. We waited about 10 minutes to ride it. There is a two-person raft and the coaster takes you all around the top deck. There is an elevator for the raft too so no lugging it up the stairs either! It was a lot of fun! The first part of the coaster was drops and shoots and then it ended with a smooth and scenic finale. To one side we had views of the ocean and to the other side views of the pool deck. We then headed to the adult-only section and relaxed in the pool.
Sometime in January we logged into the Disney Cruise Line website to book port adventures and activities. We booked our chocolate port adventure at this time. There were also numerous alcohol tasting seminars such as Rum & Mojitos, Tequila & Margaritas, Mixology, etc. The only available alcoholic seminars were from liquors that provoked a less than pleasant memory from my past. No thank you Whiskey. No thank you Bourbon. Yesterday, when we arrived to the terminal, I was able to connect to the ship’s wi-fi and check availability. Many sold-out seminars were now available! I’m not sure if they open more up or it’s from people cancelling, but either way, we had options. We booked the Champagne Tasting for $38 each. “Savor some of the best bubbly from Europe and beyond, with a crash course in creating amazing Champagne cocktails.”
We headed to Pink: Wine & Champagne Bar for our seminar. We were escorted to a table that had eight glasses of champagne already poured (4 for each of us) and we waited for the seminar to begin. We then spent the next hour learning about the history and production of champagne. We learned that only sparkling wines from the Champagne area of France can be called Champagne. We learned that there are three variety of grapes used to make champagne and that two out of three of them were red grapes. We learned that the placement of the labels on champagne bottles are strategically placed on the neck of the bottle. Champagne goes through a second round of fermentation once it’s in the bottle and that can cause varying amounts of champagne left. Since people will buy the bottle with the most, they hide this unevenness with a label on the neck. You can turn the bottle upside down to compare instead though! Most champagne is served by itself but there are champagnes that are “acceptable” to include in mixed drinks. I didn’t ask this question, but mixing champagne with orange juice is always acceptable in my book. Anyway, the “acceptable” champagne for adding ice and other things to is Monet Ice. This has the highest sugar content of the ones we tried and was my favorite. It was a really nice seminar and we fully “tasted” five decent-sized glasses of wine. By the end, the ship was unexpectedly rocking way more than before but no one else seemed to notice but me. Weird.
What pairs well with champagne? Fireworks. Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line to offer a firework display on every voyage (weather permitting.) We headed to the top deck and noticed that the AFT of the ship was roped off in quite a few areas. I thought we were going to an area at sea where we could see fireworks being set off from land. This was not the case. The fireworks are set off from the ship! They are displayed on one side of the ship so I recommend asking the crew which side of the ship is best for viewing. There were plenty of guests watching the show, but it was by no means crowded. It felt like our own private firework show and was amazing. It was timed to a Disney soundtrack and all. Pretty cool to watch fireworks in pretty much pitch-black with a full view of the stars too.
It was time for some good clean fun at the D-Lounge where Pixar Trivia was taking place. I’m terrible at trivia, but Hilary is a ringer. There were 25 questions and we got 19 of them correct which I thought was pretty decent. We were no where near the winners of that game. The winner had a perfect score and several teams had 23/25 or higher. How would you do? (These aren’t the official wording of the questions…just as I remember them now. )
1. What hand does Carl from Up use his cane with?
2. What does EAC stand for referring to the movie Finding Nemo?
3. Which princess was voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
4. Which of Nemo’s fins is his lucky fin?
5. Which Toy Story movie is Bo Peep NOT in?
6. What is the name of the talking dog in Up?
7. What is the name of the scout in Up?
8. What insect species are the villains in A Bug’s Life?
9. What kind of dinosaur is Rex?
10. What powers the city in Monsters Inc? (The 1st thing.)
11. Does Monsters University take place before or after Monsters Inc?
12. What is Merida’s dad’s name?
13. What country does Brave take place in?
14. What language does Dory speak?
15. How does Remy control the boy?
16. What is the name of the girl in Inside Out?
17. What is Lightning McQueen’s Catch-phrase?
18. What is the main character’s name in Coco?
19. What is the name of the costume designer in the Incredibles?
20. How is Jessie from Toy Story marketed? (What would be the descriptor on her box if she was in a toy store?)
21. What is Boo’s nickname for Sully?
22. What movie can you find Guestau and Collete?
Hilary helped me remember most of the questions but there were still three questions we couldn’t remember. Not too bad though!
We finished the evening back at the champagne bar where we ordered the specialty cocktails. They were served with a macaron which was extra magical. The passionfruit one is the best in my opinion.
#Disney #flo039scafe #disneyfood #champagne #travel #champagnetasting #graycliff #cruisefood #travelblogger #aquaduck #Bahamas
About the Author
Amaris is the owner of the Ohio-based travel agency, Adventures by Amaris. Her love for travel began at a young age when she traveled to her parents' home countries of England and Mexico. She continued traveling in High School by participating in a People to People program to Italy, France and Monaco. In college, she spent six weeks in Europe studying abroad and traveling. She visited Spain, Portugal, England, Wales, Ireland, Vatican City, and Italy in a whirlwind summer. Through her adult life she continues to make traveling a priority with her family. Her young son is autistic so navigating the world of traveling with an autistic child brings on new adventures. Her travel resume includes Mexico, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Colombia, and Cayman Islands. She is an expert in planning family vacations across the world from Disney World to Europe to worldwide cruises.
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