Exactly 11 days from today we are enjoying a full day on a little piece of heaven on earth we call Castaway Cay!
As the captain docks the ship, we gaze longingly at the pristine white sand beach dotted with colorful umbrellas and lounge chairs that are beckoning us ashore. We eagerly don bathing suits, sunscreen and cover-ups and then head up Cabanas or Enchanted Garden to indulge in another wonderful breakfast onboard. We are getting used to having breakfast ready for us every morning! Beginning around 9:45am, well make our way down to Deck 1 to debark directly onto the island no tenders for us here!
As we stroll past the tiny little post office on the right, some of us will stop to purchase Bahamian stamps to adhere to postcards destined for family and friends who arent enjoying pure paradise with us today.
Wish you were here!
Sometimes, Donald Duck is standing outside for photos! Well also run into Mickey, Minnie, and even Captain Jack Sparrow throughout the day for fun photo ops! This is the third (and last) time we can get "up close and personal" photos of our beautiful ship!
Well make our way to the beach... families will settle on the first beach on the left, arriving by tram or by walking. Seasoned castaways who prefer fewer crowds will continue on down to the far end of the family beach. Adults sans children will continue on to Serenity Bay. Everyone will marvel at the crystal clear pale blue ocean water! Look closely, and youll see tiny little fish darting around in the water, reminding us that we really are on a teeny tiny natural tropical island in the middle of a vast ocean!
Now that we have staked out our little piece of paradise for the day, its time to relax! With any luck, the sun is shining brightly, theres a gentle tropical breeze, and the crystal clear Caribbean ocean is warm. We sit back in our beach chair (or hammock or lounge chair) and enjoy the gorgeous view! The ocean stretches out in front of us for as far as we can see! Those on the family beach have a fabulous view of The Fantasy docked to the left. Laughter and squeals fill the air as children of all ages begin to frolic in the water. We cant help but smile as our picture perfect vacation plays out before our very eyes.
What is your favorite thing to do on a beach?
Build sandcastles? Swim? Lay out in the sun?
Want to do more? There's beach volleyball, a basketball free-throw challenge, and Crab Races starting soon. A DJ is playing popular tropical beach music. Yes, the family beach area is alive with energy! Some have already ventured off on rented bicycles or are floating lazily in rented inner tubes. Getting hungry? Cookies and Cookies Too have been preparing barbecue feasts for us, buffet style! We gather the family and migrate toward the aroma of hamburgers and barbecued chicken. We also find a wide variety of salads, corn-on-the-cob, chips, and tiny little loaves of banana bread. After filling our plates full, we find a picnic table in the shade of the shelter and proceed to fill our bellies, being careful to save some room for ice cream!
After lunch, some will check the younger children into Scuttle's Cove so parents can have a little bit of couple time. The kids will enjoy fun activities while parents explore the island on their own and possibly even decide to see what the adults-only beach is all about. Serenity Bay can be found at the end of an abandoned air strip at what seems like worlds away from the family beach. Peaceful and serene, it is bliss for those wanting true rest and relaxation.
Some are reading, some are dozing, some are floating in the pale blue water, and some are sitting in beach chairs at the edge of the ocean with their feet in the water. The Air Bar is nearby, and a server passes by frequently to make sure we all stay properly hydrated.
Next to the Air Bar is Serenity Bays very own private barbecue lunch spot. And just like at Cookies and Cookies Too, they even have ice cream and cookies! We're on vacation, so calories don't count, right??? Those of you who have young children might wish they were older so you, too, could spend the entire day here at Serenity Bay, but those of us whos children are grown know that those days pass all too quickly and we secretly wish our children were still young and enjoying Castaway Cay with us.
A fun spot to walk off lunch (and get a little exercise) is the walking/bike path half-way down the runway between the family and adult beaches. Our reward for venturing inside this maze-like trail is coming across the little tower where you can look out over most of the island. Its a pretty long walk, so be sure to grab some cold water before heading in if the day is hot.
All too soon, we realize its getting closer and closer to the 4:30pm all-aboard time.
Wait! Have we checked out the little souvenir shops yet? Although there are a few Castaway Cay items in the onboard gift shops, a bigger variety of exclusive CC merchandise is for sale only on the island!
Dont worry about not having cash, though, because only our KTTW cards are accepted here.
Very convenient
too convenient according to my DH!
We hear the ships horn and that is our cue that all aboard time is approaching. Reluctantly, we start gathering our belongings. Did you know that a sprinkle of baby powder makes brushing off the fine white sand a very easy task? With a heavy heart, we begin heading back toward the ship. Do we REALLY have to leave the island? Say it isnt so. If we hadnt thought about rebooking onboard yet, we are certainly thinking about it now!
Back on the Fantasy, we find the sail away party underway on the pool deck.
The upbeat music puts us in a festive mood! Shortly, well head to our cabins to begin getting ready for tonights activities as our vessel slowly pulls away from the beautiful tiny island. Its mind boggling that 4,000 people are showering at practically the same time and we all still have plenty of hot water to wash the remnants of Castaway Cay off of us! Gosh, the water heater in my house barely makes it through three people showering!
Sadly, it is on our minds that this is also the last full day aboard the ship, which means we need to begin preparations for tomorrow's dreaded departure. First, on the list is stopping by guest services to charge tips to our cabin so we can put the little tip vouchers in the little tip envelopes that were left on our bed last night. Well be sure to leave our cabin hosts tip envelope on the bed before we head to dinner sort of a reversal of roles since he/she is the one who has been leaving us Navigators and little chocolates there each night.
(Well hand our other three tip envelopes out at the end of dinner.) We also need to pack a most unpleasant task since we have now decided that we
never want to leave the ship ever! Suitcases need to be outside our cabin door (ironically pretty much in the same spots we found them just six short afternoons ago!) by 10:30pm so they can be whisked away and waiting for us in customs in the port terminal. Dont forget to set out a full set of clothes for the trip home though, including shoes!
DCL crew have lots and lots of stories about people disembarking in their pjs!
A gorgeous orange sunset comes all too soon, but there is still plenty to do as we try to fit in every last moment of this magical vacation! There are plenty of activities listed in the Navigator - a dance party, another game show, and karaoke just to name a few. It will be difficult to narrow down which photographs to purchase from Shutters theyre all great memories that have been captured forever! Its time for one last souvenir shopping spree in the gift shops! Oh - and don't forget the Captain will be signing autographs tonight in Whitecaps!
Main diners are headed to dinner with their table number ingrained in their brain. Well greet our servers and tablemates by name tonight
having become very familiar with them over the last six nights. Well also realize that many of the servers who we saw working hard at Cookies BBQ today are now busy making sure our dinner is as perfect as possible for us tonight!
Do they ever get a day off? (The answer is: rarely all DCL crew work 70+ hours each week!
) As we look around the restaurant, we observe that a few guests failed to apply enough sunscreen during the day
ouch! By the time dessert arrives, some will exchange email addresses with tablemates, planning to keep in touch. Well save our goodbyes to our new friends and servers until the morning during our quick sit-down breakfast before having to leave the ship. Tonights stage show, An Unforgettable Journey will ring true for all of us as we know this cruise has been truly unforgettable. If its
half as good as Disney Dreams, then there will be at least one cruiser all choked up at the end
ahem
sent over the edge by another well-performed and sentimental Disney story!
Eventually, those with young children will
have to retrieve them from the Kids Clubs one final time. Wouldn't it be great to have those wonderful Counselors at home with us!? Then, we all head to the atrium for a final farewell from all the characters at 10:15pm. They have gathered together for a little show called
See Ya Real Soon. And we
really do hope to see them again
real soon!!!!
We head back to our cabins and peek in our FEs one last time before unhooking them from our fish/starfish/seahorse. We greet our last towel animal and set up an all-too-early wake-up call. And then we snuggle into bed, a little bit sad that our cruise is coming to an end (okay, a LOT sad). And finally, after a
very full day, the gentle rocking motion lulls us to sleep one... last..... time.......... and we dream about our next
Disney cruise......
If you want a list of all Cabins, I will be happy to send one to you. All you have to do is ask 
. The room # is 6180
