With a wave of her magic wand, Jennifer Hudson cues the giant champagne bottle dangling from a helicopter to smash into the side of the ship.
In addition to her duties as an Oscar-and-Grammy-winning singer-actress Hudson is christening godmother to the spectacular new Disney Dream cruise ship.
After all, before becoming an overnight star on American Idol in 2004, Hudson apprenticed as a singer and dancer in Disney cruise ship shows.
Besides singing the song Dream (of course) and channelling the Disney character Fairy Godmother as she waved the magic wand, Hudson is backed up by a cast of other Disney characters, singers and dancers as the ship is launched at its home port of Cape Canaveral in Florida.
It’s a show that only Disney–the monolith entertainment company—can pull off, complete with giant video screens separating to reveal the docked Dream to deafening applause.
The only thing better than witnessing the christening with thousands of others, is getting to board the Dream with my wife and our daughter for the christening cruise to Disney’s private island in the Bahamas—Castaway Cay.
Aboard the ship we find what will be the highlight, the AquaDuck (named after Donald Duck)–the only watercoaster on a cruise ship.
Maybe it’s the initial watery corkscrew from deck 16 along the see-through tube that juts over the side of the ship 50 metres above the ocean.
Or it might be the ups and downs of the coaster as we rush by on the elevated flume over the pools and people on deck 11.
The straightaway rapids, the looping 255metre length, the lazy river and splash exit on deck 12 may also have something to do with it.
Whatever it was, my daughter and I had wet smiles plastered to our faces as we repeatedly rode AquaDuck on two-person Donald Duck rafts.
But there’s more to the Dream than the signature AquaDuck.
The $900 million, 116,000-tonne, 340 metre long ship is a marvel of modern design, engineering, entertainment and luxury.
Over 1,200 spacious cabins can sleep up to 4,000; there are pools, restaurants, bars and clubs (for both kids and adults) everywhere; Disney entertainment wanders the ship and spills forth in stage shows; and all this while going for a vibe of 1930s cruise glamour with modern touches.
Families are naturally Disney’s target, thus the exceptional babies, tots, kids, tweens and teens clubs; kids menus; Disney characters, décor and G-rated entertainment.
But there’s recognition that mom and dad want adult time on holiday.
So while the kids are at their clubs, parents can laze by the adults-only pool, go to the spa, shop or visit the adults-only bars, clubs and pubs in the District.
For years Castaway Cay as been Disney cruisers’ favourite port of call beating out not just other stops in the Caribbean, but Mexico and Europe.
“There’s cache in being a private island,” says Disney vice-president Ozer Balli.
“Plus it’s a tropical oasis.”
True that.
There are beaches galore, more waterslides, snorkelling, bars, restaurants and even swimming with stingrays.
Three and four night cruises leaving and returning to Cape Canaveral visiting Nassau and Castaway Cay start at $750 and $1,000 respectively.
Cape Canaveral is close to the mega Walt Disney World theme parks and resorts in Orlando for vacation tie ins.
Check out www.CruiseDisney.Disney.Go.com.