May 16, 2014 - Disney's Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay is Disney's private island in the Bahamas, and all Caribbean itineraries visit the island at least once. It is rated the most popular port of call by Disney cruisers and is arguably the best cruise line-owned private island in the industry. When Disney first purchased (actually leased from the Bahamian government for 99 years) the island, the requirement was that they could build a pier so that the ship would be able to dock right on the island so that they would not have to tender passengers ashore. Disney was the first cruise line to be able to dock on their private island (Royal Caribbean has since built a dock for their private island, Labadee).
Castaway Cay 5K
Rachel and I had signed up to run the Castaway Cay 5K. The 5K is complimentary and is offered on all cruises to Castaway Cay, weather permitting. I had read that this started as a casual event when cast members invited guests to run with them in the morning, but has become so popular that it has been taken over by runDisney, the same branch of the Disney Company that coordinates the Walt Disney World Marathon, Princess Half Marathon, and so many more races in Walt Disney World and California Disney Parks. To register, visit the Port Adventures desk during operating hours up to the day before your stop in Castaway Cay.
I am not a big runner. In fact, I hardly run at all. But I take all of Rachel's indoor cycling classes, so I would say that I'm in fairly good physical shape. Rachel runs charity 5Ks all of the time, usually to get credit for her sorority. I actually ran my first 5K the month prior when The Color Run came to Clemson. And I'm not sure if that counts because I'm fairly certain that the route wasn't actually 3.1 miles, and they don't keep up with the runners' times.
We were scheduled to meet in The Tube at 8:00 AM. Rachel and I got up and ate a light breakfast in Cabana's before heading down. We arrived about 10-15 minutes early which was before the long line accumulated. To check in, you just need the Port Adventure ticket that they give you when you register, and they give you a bib. They also asked to make sure that we had our Photo IDs before exiting the ship. We did not, as we were just walking straight off the ship and going to Disney's private island, but we ran back to the room and got them, anyway.
Castaway Cay 5K by
vshingl, on Flickr
After everyone had checked in, the entertainment team discussed the route with us, showing us a map of it on a projector. We would run the bike loop once, then run down the airplane landing strip, then run back down the airplane landing, then do the bike loop a second time, then head back to the finish line. We were cleared to leave the ship around 8:30-8:45, and two members of the entertainment team guided our group to the gangway, asking that parents who were checking their children into Scuttle's Cove leave first. However, the entire group had to wait about ten minutes in the stairwells before we could actually leave the ship. Looking around, I noticed several Disney Marathon shirts, and even a guy wearing a Goofy's Race and a Half challenge shirt (that's 39.3 miles over two consecutive days!!!).
It was once we were off the ship that I was really kicking myself for not bringing Rachel's little camera. It was actually an idea that had crossed my mind that morning, but I decided against it because I thought we wouldn't want to keep up with it. I didn't realize that the walk to the start of the race would be long, overlooking the yet-to-be occupied beaches and the most exciting thing that we would see the entire run.
It was a *long* walk to the start of the run. It is considered a run and not a race because they do not actually keep times, but they do run a clock so that you can see for yourself. The serious runners started positioning themselves at the front of the pack, and we decided to fall back to the middle. And the middle of the pack (well, it was a really spread out pack) is where we stayed the entire time.
This photo was taken later in the day, but it is of a [portion] of the airplane landing strip that we had to run -
Airplane Landing Strip by
vshingl, on Flickr
At first I thought, "Oh, this isn't bad." But then I started to feel the humidity. It was awful, and for several portions of the bike loop, there was no wind - just the stagnant heat. Rachel compared it to running in Florida. The bike loop was far from interesting. We were surrounded by palm trees with nothing to look at. It really reminded me of the golf cart paths at our old home in Haines City, Florida. Every once in a while, we would pass a bit of theming, like an anchor or a barrel of rum. Or the distance marker. It was far from inspirational. After finishing the bike loop and running the airplane landing, it took a lot of motivation to go back through that dreadful bike loop, again. Rachel said that this had to be her worst 5K time ever. When we neared the finish line and could see the clock, we had just hit 30 minutes... sprint it out! We crossed the finish line at 30:30 which wasn't too terribly bad. We made sure to find the entertainment cast member to get our Mickey medals.
Castaway Cay 5K by
vshingl, on Flickr
It is not an event-specific medal, but the generic plastic Mickey-shaped medal that
Disney Cruise Line distributes to winners of a variety of different onboard games.
While not competitive and very laid back, I wouldn't describe this as a "fun run". Rachel and I, familiar with runDisney events, were expecting to run surrounded by gorgeous views or at least get to interact with Disney characters. So we were disappointed by the lack of theming and "Disney" that went into the Castaway Cay 5K. However, it is completely free of charge which is unusual of running events. The Castaway Cay 5K t-shirt was sold at the finish line for $21, and Rachel and I both bought one because we didn't run in that humidity for nothing. I suppose that because this is becoming a more popular runDisney event that there might eventually be a fee to run.... and then maybe they would include the t-shirt (not that I'm complaining about having to purchase my own t-shirt... I really didn't mind at all).
After the race, Rachel and I took a break on the beach before catching the tram (yes, the tram!) back to the ship. From the tram, we watched another 5Ker run all the way back to the ship. You go, guy!
Back to the room to wake up Max!
Thank you!!
I know everyone is dying to see the rest of your trip report so I will keep this short...
