Castaway Cay, Feb. 9th

[Finally08]

Wish I was still there! We were first off the ship and the kids got goodies and some special treatment. :thumbsup2

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wr1184.jpg

[PizzieDuster]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! I wish I was there too!

So do tell, don't tease us, tell us all about the goodies and special treats! :thumbsup2 :cool1:

[Finally08]

I'll add some photos as I pull them up. But basically they took us into the little room where you go through security and scan your cards to exit the ship alone. My son got to wear the security chief's hat and scan our items and cards, he got to use the wand on the security chief as well. They showed them some training techniques (like putting a little fake gun in our bag and scanning it for ds to find) and such. DS got to call up to the bridge for permission to leave ship - it was very neat! We got about a 10 minute lead on the island as well.
They took some photos and we got to choose one for free from Shutters. Then that evening after we got back on, the security chief personally came to our room and delivered certificates that stated ds was the asst security chief of the day, dd was the security princess (haha!) and one for the family that stated we were first on land at CC. He also gave them stuffed toys, a sailor goofy & minnie as tinkerbell (oh and they got button/pins that morning as well).

Very neat thing, and we weren't trying to be first! We just slept in the morning before and missed so much action in the atrium that the next morning I insisted we get up and get a move on early since our dining was extremely early and that meant getting back on ship early as well.

[Finally08]

Here's a few more photos!

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr_1169.jpg

A very empty CC....

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr_1185.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/r1248.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr1167.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr1187.jpg

And Goofy running away with my dd. He kept pointing to her Minnie hat and then over towards the direction where Minnie was meeting guests (dd had actually seen her before going to Goofy!). Then he decided to run off with her towards Minnie. He kept poking her in the tummy too, she loved that.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wrgoofy.jpg


I have a zillion photos to go through, but these are from CC so I figured I'd post them here too. :)

[busybethie]

Hi. We were there that day also. It was beautiful. Neat that you were able to get off first!! We were in room 2104 so were able to watch most folks get off. We stayed in the room until the crowd cleared. We had a wonderful time. A few hours at the adult beach and then with the kids at the family beach. We are sooo sad to be back in the freezing cold Ohio. Until next time!! :banana:

Beth

[Luckymommyx2]

Beautiful pics--thanks for sharing! Welcome back!

[mommasita]

Sounds like fun!! The kids must have been very excited. I love to hear of these Magical Moments :love:

Great photos.:thumbsup2

[gardengirlco]

How exciting and what great photos!! TFS!

LOL at Goofy running off with your DD. Piglet did the same thing with my 2 yo DS at DL last summer when he was wearing a Tigger baseball cap. I was trying to take photos of him at the character meeting spot and all of a sudden Piglet started walking away with him and I was just thinking "hey, stop moving, I'm trying to take photos here!" ;) Then I realized what he was doing and was able to get the photos when he walked back to the photo spot.

[sjlupin]

What a great experience!!!! Your photos are wonderful too. We loved CC so much; definately the highlight of our cruise!

[nikkistevej]

Great pictures, wish I was there. I just bought my DD that same pirate bathing suit, it is so cute!!

[VAgal76]

WOW - How awesome! :thumbsup2 ITA, you have some beautiful shots.

Doesn't that just give you the warm/fuzzy feeling? :cloud9:

[Jusacuz]

That is so cool. :) Great pictures.

[grumpymakesmehappy]

Oh, I wish I was there too! That's so exciting for you and your children. Loved the photos!:)

[Buckeye Gal]

Oh thank you for sharing your family's unique experience! As already stated, that's very cool! This is the first I've heard of this special treatement. What a joy for your kids and a special memory for all of you! :goodvibes

[stulaurie]

What time did you get in line?

[Finally08]

What time did you get in line?


There was no line! We headed toward the gangway about 8:15ish, and it took about 5 minutes for us to walk down there. When we got to the last set of steps needed to get to the hall where the door is to the gangway, there was a rope across it, but right at that moment the security chief walked by and said it would be just a few more minutes. Pretty much at that moment another lady and her kids walked up behind us (they were maybe 2 minutes behind), and the SC stuck his head back out and asked how many were in our party, then walked us all (by us I mean my family, the poor other mom seemed a little annoyed that they weren't going through too but I guess she wondered what was going on, as we did as well!) in the room and closed the door behind him while he did the whole little security thing with the kids.
He said when we got off that it would be about 10 minutes before they started letting anyone else through, so I don't know how much of a line might have even formed by then. I do know we walked all the way to the beach (didn't use the tram), and within 10 minutes other people did start trickling in, but it was slow. So I don't know that there was any mad rush of people trying to get right off at 8:30 - they must have been sleeping in!! :lmao:

[tink,too]

What a cool experience for your family - especially your children! :cool2: Thanks for sharing the details and all your wonderful pics! :goodvibes

Can hardly wait until we finally get to visit CC in May! :yay:

[DisneyBride'03]

Yay for you guys!!!!

It WAS a beautiful day...we couldnt of asked for a better day! We enjoyed the family beach, never saw my DS14 as he was on the Teen Beach..DD10 had a blast snorkeling......

So happy for you guys:) And great photos as well!!!

[RLccweems]

What great pics...I love the ones with your dd and Goofy!

[woody73]

How nice!

Woody

[engle]

Do tell...is CC less crowded in the morning? It will be DH and I only so I am sure Serenity Bay never gets as crowded as the family beach.

[Finally08]

Do tell...is CC less crowded in the morning? It will be DH and I only so I am sure Serenity Bay never gets as crowded as the family beach.

Honestly, I never felt crowded there at all. There is so much room I think people spread out nicely. We were on the beach at 8:30 and saw only a trickle of people for about an hour, and then it picked up. About that time though the kids wanted to do the dig site so we went there, then had lunch as soon as they started serving.

But we wandered back to the beach around 2 and it still wasn't crowded. I mean, there were people, but it felt no worse than any beach vacation I've ever taken in Destin or Gulf Shores. It really was just perfect!

[stulaurie]

The newest navigators for Jan. 08 says that you get to Castaway Cay at 9:30. I wonder why you were off the ship so early? Does it always list 9:30, but most times you get there earlier?

[Finally08]

The newest navigators for Jan. 08 says that you get to Castaway Cay at 9:30. I wonder why you were off the ship so early? Does it always list 9:30, but most times you get there earlier?

I don't know, maybe they changed it? The Navigator we had for that day says "Ashore: Approx. 8:30 am."
They also said that on the announcements through the ship the night before, which was what I really paid attention to. I don't remember exactly what time we could get off at Nassau (since we didn't want to get off anyway) but I think it may have been more around 9am.

Here is a pic of the goodies the kids got. They got two of the pins with goofy on them that say "Disney Cruise Line, Magical Memories", the toys, the photo, and little certificates for everyone.


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr_0005.jpg

[Mom2PrincessK]

How cool! I bet the kids really enjoyed it.

We went down to breakfast around 8, and were off the ship about 8:45. There wasn't any kind of line or problems getting off at that time. We did an excursion so we had to have DD checked into Scuttles Cove and back to check-in spot by 9.

Sorry we did not get to catch up on the cruise!

[Finally08]

I just realized this got moved to trip reports - guess I'll post more photos then! ;)

A full fish extender

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr1093.jpg

Riding the big slide

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wrslide.jpg


shows (we never had good seats and I had no zoom lens)

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr7140.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr7132.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr7199.jpg


pirate night
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr1142.jpg

[Finally08]

The pool completely empty...this was about 6:30 am the morning we got to Castaway Cay

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr1164.jpg

The first night on the ship. It was deserted as the wind was so strong it could have blown you off the decks!

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f191/kmeng/wdw/wr1087.jpg

[DisneyBride'03]

great photos!

[fairfax]

Wow, what fantastic photos! That must have been such a wonderful experience for your kids!

[Stinasmom]

I have to concur about the great photos!!:goodvibes

Leave it to a good DISser to line up all the swag you got for being the first off (or lucky family of the day!!) and take a picture of it all! WE love that stuff!

I wonder how many people will line up at 8am, then 7:45am, or earlier now to get off at CC knowing that there might be something special in it for them?!?
In a way, I hope that this was a one time or very rare event and that they do something else equally special but surprising on future sailings.
By now, they (DCL) must know we all talk!:hyper2:

thanks for taking the time to share!

[Sheribo]

Jack and Jill (my daughter). Priceless!

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/154/88/678515583/n678515583_2145140_3771.jpg

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have to concur about the great photos!!:goodvibes

Leave it to a good DISser to line up all the swag you got for being the first off (or lucky family of the day!!) and take a picture of it all! WE love that stuff!

I wonder how many people will line up at 8am, then 7:45am, or earlier now to get off at CC knowing that there might be something special in it for them?!?
In a way, I hope that this was a one time or very rare event and that they do something else equally special but surprising on future sailings.
By now, they (DCL) must know we all talk!:hyper2:

thanks for taking the time to share!

woo-hoo! and we'll have 2 chances too with a double dip!
:cool1: :banana: :woohoo: :cool2: