Graycliffe Chocolate Tour in Nassau
Rebecca JonesMarch 9, 2017
When you visit Nassau, Bahamas, with Disney Cruise Line, you are given several choices of excursions to take advantage of. My family decided to visit the Graycliff Chocolate Factory on a recent sailing, and learn about how chocolate goes from a cacao bean to the decadence we enjoy today.Once we got off the ship, our escort met us and led our group of 20 or so to an air-conditioned passenger van for our 10-minute ride to the chocolate factory. We were greeted by our tour guide, and she handed out gowns and hair caps for each person in our group, which we were required to wear for the duration of our time in the factory.After she explained how chocolate comes from the cacao bean, we went upstairs to the area of the factory where they process and pour the chocolates into their molds. She told us how what we know as “white chocolate” isn’t really chocolate at all, since it contains no cacao at all. It’s basically sugar and oil, but I can tell you my kids couldn’t get enough of the samples that were passed around for us to taste.Next was milk chocolate, which is about 50% cacao. This was by far the favorite of the group. Lastly, we sampled dark chocolate. This version was about 90% cacao, so very rich and almost bitter. I wanted a long drink of milk after tasting that one!We then went into a small room where plastic trays were set out next to plates with various goodies – strawberry-flavored bead, coconut flakes, granola, chocolate chips - on them. After donning plastic gloves, we were given cups of dark chocolate to pour into the trays, and used the goodies to flavor it to make our very own candy bars.
While those were going through the cooling and forming process, we were encouraged to use our leftover chocolate and goodies to freeform different shapes, words, anything we wanted. This was by far the most fun portion of the experience. My family was laughing so hard at each other, about how bad we were at forming truffles, and how our hands were covered in chocolate by the end!
When you visit Nassau, Bahamas, with Disney Cruise Line, you are given several choices of excursions to take advantage of. My family decided to visit the Graycliff Chocolate Factory on a recent sailing, and learn about how chocolate goes from a cacao bean to the decadence we enjoy today.Once we got off the ship, our escort met us and led our group of 20 or so to an air-conditioned passenger van for our 10-minute ride to the chocolate factory. We were greeted by our tour guide, and she handed out gowns and hair caps for each person in our group, which we were required to wear for the duration of our time in the factory.After she explained how chocolate comes from the cacao bean, we went upstairs to the area of the factory where they process and pour the chocolates into their molds. She told us how what we know as “white chocolate” isn’t really chocolate at all, since it contains no cacao at all. It’s basically sugar and oil, but I can tell you my kids couldn’t get enough of the samples that were passed around for us to taste.Next was milk chocolate, which is about 50% cacao. This was by far the favorite of the group. Lastly, we sampled dark chocolate. This version was about 90% cacao, so very rich and almost bitter. I wanted a long drink of milk after tasting that one!We then went into a small room where plastic trays were set out next to plates with various goodies – strawberry-flavored bead, coconut flakes, granola, chocolate chips - on them. After donning plastic gloves, we were given cups of dark chocolate to pour into the trays, and used the goodies to flavor it to make our very own candy bars.While those were going through the cooling and forming process, we were encouraged to use our leftover chocolate and goodies to freeform different shapes, words, anything we wanted. This was by far the most fun portion of the experience. My family was laughing so hard at each other, about how bad we were at forming truffles, and how our hands were covered in chocolate by the end!
Our guide then told us about the different regions where cacao comes from, and we received boxes to take home our candy bars and any other creations that would fit. We then took off our gowns and caps, and walked across the street for a complimentary scoop of sorbet.This was a fun activity for our day in Nassau. It was less than two hours long, so it left us plenty of time to shop and explore the city on our own. Kids of all ages are welcome, so this is a great option for those families with younger children.If you are interested in a sailing with Disney Cruise Line, please contact Rebecca Jones at Rebecca@wishesfamilytravel.com or (325) 733-8399.