Castaway Cay day. It's so bittersweet since we LOVE the day on the island but we know it's the last time we'll be getting back ON the ship - it's sad. The day always goes by so quickly as well. Woke up at about 8:30am, grabbed our day bag and headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. Got everyone fed and first layer of sunscreen on while the ship docked and they called all ashore. We grabbed our day bag (always bring an extra empty bag for towels, we pack them on the pool deck but they'll have them when you get off the ship as well, you can't get them by the beach) and got off the ship. We always wait for a bit after all ashore is called, we never have to wait like cattle! Hopped on the tram and went to the 2nd beach by pelican plunge, found a section where we could grab chairs for those in our party and set up shop.
I may, or may not have filled my water bottle with the rest of my sparkling champagne and OJ, mimosa's on the beach - yes please!
Some of the kids went to line up for the slide, others grabbed our floats we reserved. We spent the day swimming, snorkeling, grabbing drinks from the bar, eating and just soaking up the sun. Around 4pm we started gathering our stuff and hopped on the tram for our ride back to the ship. There was a small line up to get back on board, but wasn't a big deal at all, it took longer to get in the elevator. We got back to the room and I started to wash sand out of our stuff, while the kids went up for a quick swim (as if they didn't swim enough on the island....) I finished up packing our bags so they were ready to be put out that evening except for what we'd need before the next day. We made sure to drop off our info for booking a future cruise, loved that we didn't need to set a date, just do a placeholder.
Last sunset
Our last dinner was in Enchanted Garden, I had a salad, beef wellington and apple pie - so good. After dinner, we said our goodbyes to our amazing dining team Erhan and Yoga, the three older kids went to their clubs, Daddy went to his "club Meridian", I took Lauren to go see Wishes. After the show we got the two younger kids showered, into PJ's and ordered our last round of warm cookies and milk. Put out our luggage, kids had a treat and then we went to the lobby to watch the see ya real soon party. While we love to see all the characters one more time, it sucks because tears are always stinging my eyes - we don't want to be kicked off the ship! I put the kids to bed and then headed to the Tube for a little bit, danced a little then back up to meridian until it was way too late, saying goodbye to all our friends.
Getting off the ship was super easy. We planned to sleep in a bit since we were eating in the buffet and driving home, no rush for a flight but that didn't quite work out. They started announcements about 5:45am - may as well start getting ready to go home. We showered, watched TV for a bit, grabbed our day bags, tossed on hoodies, met our group up in Cabanas for breakfast. We got to the atrium about 8:30am, there was a bit of a wait to get our alcohol that we bought at various ports. No line for customs and we were off the ship just after 9. In the car and driving away by 9:30am. The drive home wasn't too exciting, we drove for 11 hours before stopping in Beckley WV for the night. Arrived home Sunday evening, took a few days to unpack, thankfully we re-booked on board or I'd be *really* sad! Thanks for reading!!