Oh the places We Go, The People We see

[ktb2002]

I have that same little hidden part of me that would love to parasail, but I'm so chicken it will probably never happen lol!

 

[jenseib]

Is Claire going with you ?

yep. We are going with my Mom and my sister Amanda.

 

[jenseib]

I have that same little hidden part of me that would love to parasail, but I'm so chicken it will probably never happen lol!

I totally know the feeling.

 

[Floridagram]

I am only up to Sunday but I have just have to say my Dad has the same temperment as yours.

 

[dizneeat]

The update lady strikes again!

I love all the updates, nothing better to start your Friday with then LOADS of DREAM and CC pics.
I really enjoy seeing your photos, Jen. And I admire you so much that you get up so early to be able to get up on deck.
We NEVER find out of bed THAT early.

 

[MEK]

Jen - I think I have that same crazy part. As cool as parasailing is, I am a bit too scared to try it. But I want to. I'm so torn. It's like being bipolar. Given the expense, its easy for me to disregard something I am terrified of.

Beautiful pictures. Let's see - exactly how many memory cards am I going to need for my cruise trip?????? A lot!!!!!!!!!!!!

I especially love the parasailing pics. You did a great job with them - very memorable.

OK - bring on that island. I am ready.

 

[ktb2002]

I went zip lining once in Wisconsin Dells with a big group of my family, I honestly thought they were going to have to push me off of that platform (when I got to to top of the stairs I was seriously questioning my sanity, plus watching my 9 year old child do it added to my anxiety). My child loved the zip line, however he says no way to parasailing! Lol!!!,

 

[dolphingirl47]

Loved all the photos. Graham and I are both terrified of heights, but in a moment of madness, we signed up for the parasailing and absolutely loved it. It was so calm and peaceful up there. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Jetskis on the other hand I would never ever go near to again. I ended up falling off just in front of the Flying Dutchman and as I have very little upper body strength, I could not get on again. Fortunately I was doing doubles with Graham and he went on and the parasailing boat came to pick me up. I had a fun hour talking to the staff from the tour operator. That is how I knew they are an outside company and where they come from.

It nearly broke my heart that the girls passed up Stitch. He is definitely the second biggest love of my life. I can't wait to see him again.

Corinna

 

[DisneyFreak06]

All caught up. Wow. I love looking at all your pictures. Really makes me want to go on a cruise. When I win the lottery. Paying double for just me does not interest me at all!

 

[jenseib]

I am only up to Sunday but I have just have to say my Dad has the same temperment as yours.

Thats funny and poor you!

The update lady strikes again!

I love all the updates, nothing better to start your Friday with then LOADS of DREAM and CC pics.
I really enjoy seeing your photos, Jen. And I admire you so much that you get up so early to be able to get up on deck.
We NEVER find out of bed THAT early.

I wish I was really starting my Friday there.

Well don't get used to all the updates, because i don't have anything else written up at all to do more.

I love getting up early on vacation. So much to do and too little time.

Jen - I think I have that same crazy part. As cool as parasailing is, I am a bit too scared to try it. But I want to. I'm so torn. It's like being bipolar. Given the expense, its easy for me to disregard something I am terrified of.

Beautiful pictures. Let's see - exactly how many memory cards am I going to need for my cruise trip?????? A lot!!!!!!!!!!!!

I especially love the parasailing pics. You did a great job with them - very memorable.

OK - bring on that island. I am ready.

Exactly! bipolar is a good way to way to describe my feelings on parasailing. And cost is a good excuse for me too.
I can't take credit for those pictures those. Geoff and Pete took all the parasailing ones with Geoff's camera.
I took a lot of memory with me this time. i didn't use it all, but I used A LOT!

I went zip lining once in Wisconsin Dells with a big group of my family, I honestly thought they were going to have to push me off of that platform (when I got to to top of the stairs I was seriously questioning my sanity, plus watching my 9 year old child do it added to my anxiety). My child loved the zip line, however he says no way to parasailing! Lol!!!,

EEK! Another thing that looks neat and completely scarey too. I think I would need a push as well.

Loved all the photos. Graham and I are both terrified of heights, but in a moment of madness, we signed up for the parasailing and absolutely loved it. It was so calm and peaceful up there. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Jetskis on the other hand I would never ever go near to again. I ended up falling off just in front of the Flying Dutchman and as I have very little upper body strength, I could not get on again. Fortunately I was doing doubles with Graham and he went on and the parasailing boat came to pick me up. I had a fun hour talking to the staff from the tour operator. That is how I knew they are an outside company and where they come from.

It nearly broke my heart that the girls passed up Stitch. He is definitely the second biggest love of my life. I can't wait to see him again.

Corinna

I do love jet skiing. And ex boyfriend used to own some and we used to go ride them all the time. But that was many years ago.

All caught up. Wow. I love looking at all your pictures. Really makes me want to go on a cruise. When I win the lottery. Paying double for just me does not interest me at all!

Thanks. Cruising with Disney is really great. I know you would love it.

 

[ronnmel]

I would loooooooooooooooooooooove to try parasailing! It looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie though, and I can understand how it might not be for everyone.

 

[luvslikepi]

I would loooooooooooooooooooooove to try parasailing! It looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie though, and I can understand how it might not be for everyone.

Oh goodness all this talk of parasailing has me kind of wanting to try when we reach Castaway Cay. I love coasters but I tried a Sky Coaster at our local amusement park on a dare from my husband and it was the most terrifying thing I've ever done. Being stuck way up in the air just makes me nervous now. Kudos to the para sailors.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mom2rtk]

Your parasailing photos were very timely. Drew and Timmy say they are going to do it in Sanibel. I think I'll stay down and take the photos. The toe dip looks pretty cool though!

 

[AquaDame]

Parasailing is easy and wonderful - I recommend anyone not terrified of heights do it! It was so quiet and peaceful, and the views are lovely. Very slow ascent and decent as well, and once you are off the boat the jarring of the waves ceases. I felt very safe and happy (and I am scared of heights mind you so it isnt a deal breaker!). It was reassuring that the way they get you down is by slowing the boat down. For some reason I was worried the line would break and away I would go, but all that would happen is you gently glide to the water (and are wearing life jackets). What else could there be to be afraid of?

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I would be to scared to go parasailing. I'm afraid of heights and I would be to scared that I would just go down in the water and the sail would be on top of me and drown me

That's to bad the island was so brown but at least it wasn't your first time there. I can't believe you passed up that cutie Jack. He looked GOOD!

 

[jenseib]

I would loooooooooooooooooooooove to try parasailing! It looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie though, and I can understand how it might not be for everyone.

I am torn. It looks neat and absolutely horrifying at the same time.

Oh goodness all this talk of parasailing has me kind of wanting to try when we reach Castaway Cay. I love coasters but I tried a Sky Coaster at our local amusement park on a dare from my husband and it was the most terrifying thing I've ever done. Being stuck way up in the air just makes me nervous now. Kudos to the para sailors.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I am not fond of heights either and that is the main thing that keeps me from doing it.

Your parasailing photos were very timely. Drew and Timmy say they are going to do it in Sanibel. I think I'll stay down and take the photos. The toe dip looks pretty cool though!

Oh wow. Yes, I want to see your pictures of that. I am not a big fan of heights. Now a days, one of the reasons I don't do big coasters is because of the going up part. LOL

Parasailing is easy and wonderful - I recommend anyone not terrified of heights do it! It was so quiet and peaceful, and the views are lovely. Very slow ascent and decent as well, and once you are off the boat the jarring of the waves ceases. I felt very safe and happy (and I am scared of heights mind you so it isnt a deal breaker!). It was reassuring that the way they get you down is by slowing the boat down. For some reason I was worried the line would break and away I would go, but all that would happen is you gently glide to the water (and are wearing life jackets). What else could there be to be afraid of?

Good to know. I am afraid of heights. Some days I can get past it, but what if that day isn't one of them?

I would be to scared to go parasailing. I'm afraid of heights and I would be to scared that I would just go down in the water and the sail would be on top of me and drown me

That's to bad the island was so brown but at least it wasn't your first time there. I can't believe you passed up that cutie Jack. He looked GOOD!

it does look scary, but I am still intrigued.
I am more worry about the height factor than anything else. Now you just gave me something else to thing about. LOL

 

[jenseib]

We now are heading to our excursion. This was something Claire had REALLY been looking for. Over a year ago I got a Castaway Cay Poster that showed snorkeling. Claire asked about it and I told her that they had a few options of snorkeling on the island. She was sold and said she must try it. After doing some research, we decided that it needed to be something easy for Claire since this was her first time. We also thought the stingray feeding looked neat and that offered snorkeling after it. We went with this. I had read mixed reviews on it. Most said it was neat, but not something they would do more than once. I will tell you now, I agree with that review.
When it came time to make our excursions online, I picked ours out right away. Gail was undecided, but I let her know the things we were planning on doing. She ended up going with the same things. She figured that Alexis would enjoy this as well.

So we were heading to do the Castaway Ray Stingray Adventure. Now you know me. I took pictures along the way, of course.









Let’s just say there wasn’t much time for slacking. Gail got my mother’s genes. If you need to be somewhere at a certain time, you are not going to waste time getting there. Gail was doing a major power walk and it took all I had to keep up with her and take pictures at the same time.



Notice Gail’s bag? She got that gene from my Mom too. She can pack a bag! I swear you can say, “I need a razor blade, an onion and some rope” and Gail would have all of those things in her bag. If she didn’t, my Mother would. LOL!



A look back at the ship and the jet skis.





We arrived!



We were given our gear and told to take a seat on a bench.
Alexis modeled the look for us.



I think we made a quick dash to the bathrooms before it started as well.
We settled in then and waited for the class to start.

The class was informative and since I knew next to nothing about stingrays, I found it interesting.

Soon it was time to head out to feed the rays. We picked a table to feed them and watched them swim around. I believe we had the 2nd feeding of the day, so they were still pretty hungry and they were swarming the area.









We were instructed how to hold the food and were to place our hand. The girls were a little iffy about this. We also were told they might slightly bite, but they don’t have teeth, so it wouldn’t hurt.

We got comfortable by petting them first. They felt so weird. Very soft and velvety. I think Rob and I took the plunge first and fed them.





What a weird feeling that was. It was like a suction or vacuum. Very strange. And then I was the first ….yep to get bitten! I had my knuckle slightly bent and when the ray came to take the food he got my knuckle as well. I screeched out of surprise and yelled “I got bitten!” Not a smart thing to do around kid’s who all had a look of horror on their faces. I quickly said, “It didn’t hurt, just surprised me and felt weird.” Luckily it didn’t scare anyone off.





Over the course of the feed, Rob also got bitten. He said he had his knuckle bent as well and agreed it was more shocking than anything.

 

[jenseib]

After we filled the bellies of the rays, we then were allowed to go and snorkel with them. We instructed the girls on what to do and how to breathe. Both were instant pros. I was really impressed, amazed and proud at how fast they caught on to this.
Now for the down side …pretty much all you will see here are stingrays and a few random fish. It’s not an exciting snorkeling spot at all. The girls enjoyed it as they knew no difference, but we all have snorkeled before and got bored with it fast.



My little fish.







A few adjustments.



And then we have to have a picture of us looking our best.

There’s Rob!





Rob had found a few fish, so we headed over his way.





Swamp Monster Claire.



A shell!





Claire once again.



We were instructed that when you walk around you had to shuffle your feet so you didn’t directly step on a ray as they like to bury themselves in the sand.







This fence is around the area to keep the rays inside from what I was told. I heard it broke during the hurricane, which is why the cruise before us didn’t offer this excursion. They had to round up the rays again and get the fence repaired.





Gail’s’ family.



Alexis found a shell.



I had applied rainex to my camera lens before the Sept. cruise, and it worked really well, but I notice it must’ve been wearing off now as I had more spots on my camera today. I need to remember to reapply some more for a future trip.







We started to get cold and had seen all we wanted to see, so we did get out a little earlier than we had too, but not too much earlier.

We enjoyed this excursion, but it won’t be something I’ll be doing again. The feeding was fun, but the snorkeling was not. Claire did learn how to do it and that was a plus. But what we actually saw was pretty much nothing and for the price of this, there should be more. We will however be snorkeling again in the future and I now know Claire can handle it and we can do one that is more exciting.

 

[dizneeat]

And ....... I again love the update, Jen. We have never done the stingray thing, it's enough for me to see them at Serenity Bay.
But I do agree, there is not really much to see at your snorkelling adventure than the stingrays.

Thanks for the rainex tip! We always have water spots on the lens - so that is a great idea!

 

[dolphingirl47]

The stingray feeding does look neat, but I can understand that you were disappointed in the snorkelling.

Corinna