Day 8 June 30th
Castaway Cay Today was our last day of the cruise (not counting debarkation day) and we were at Castaway Cay.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we couldnt wait to hit the beaches. Today was our Character breakfast so we headed to Parrot Cay. We had a great breakfast and all the characters stopped by. These were the most pictures we had with the characters as my DDs never wanted to wait in line to get their picture with the characters in the Atrium lobby. We finished breakfast and grabbed our gear and headed off the boat. We lucked out this time as we were heading onto the island the tram was waiting for us. We hopped on and headed to the family beach. I stopped at She Sells to pick up our Twice the Magic shirts. I had heard from the last group that they were sold out by 12 so I wanted to make sure we got ours (Note: they did not sell out this time so you dont need to rush). I picked up a shirt for each of us and a Twice the Magic bag (I will tell you right now that the Twice the Magic bag is not holding up well. The picture on the front of the bag is an iron-on and has already started to peel off). I had sent my DH on to find us chairs. We really liked the location we were at last time as it was close to Cookies and the bathrooms.
My DH grabbed a bunch of chairs near the water. My DD-8 then decided that she wanted to go snorkeling so we headed over to Gils and Fins to pick up the snorkel gear. My DD-12 decided she just wanted to hang out at the beach so my DD-8, DH, and I put on our gear and headed to the beautiful blue waters of Castaway Cay. There were only a few snorkelers out in the water at this time so the water was very clear and we could see everything. Also there were more fish closer to shore this time. My DD takes my DH to all the places we found last time: the sunken ship, the sunken sub, the treasure chest, and the Mickey Statue. As we were heading to the sunken ship I noticed a large fish hanging out on the bow of the ship. It was huge. I was concerned that my DD would flip out and head for shore. It took her a while to notice the fish but when she did it was so funny to hear her yell through her snorkel tube. She backed up a little but seemed not to be too scared. Here is a picture of the ship, it is hard to see the fish but it is there.
After that we headed over to the coral area to see more fish and then to the Mickey statue.
I guess the big fish moved because when we got to the Mickey status he was hanging out below the life guard stand. I didnt tell my DD that it had moved figuring she wouldnt want to know it was following her. After we hit all the things in the snorkeling area we headed back to the beach. My DD-8 decided it was time to try her hands at the ropes on the play station in the middle of the water. She fell off the first time but was determined to make it across. On her second attempt she made it half way before she let go. On the third try she realized she needed to get her legs swinging and that helped her get all the way across.
We headed back to the chairs and found that Carole88s family and BethAs family had arrived. The kids headed off together and we sat down and had some Bahama Mamas. Our favorite waitress (Brianna) was working the beach area and made sure we were well taken care of. At around 12 we decided it was time for lunch and gathered the crew up and headed to Cookies. We had cheeseburgers, ribs, and potato chips for lunch. It tasted great. Like last time at Castaway Cay the kids sat at one table and we sat at the other. After lunch we ran into bartjwb who had spent the morning at the adult beach. Their DD was in the kids club and they were able to enjoy the peace and quite of the adult beach. They wanted to eat lunch so their DD hooked up with the group and we headed for the beach. I figured it was time to get some rafts so I headed back over by Gils and Fins and picked up a raft. Of course when I got back the girls wanted the raft so I sent my DH over to pick up some more.
After a while we were all in the water cooling off.
It was a very sunny day and hot. Since it was our last day everyone was just relaxing and having a great time. At around 3 they started the 2 for 1 drink sales so of course Brianna brought over our first round. The kids were starting to get tired and wanted to head back to the ship. On the way back we stopped and bought them a frozen drink and we picked up another Bahama Mama 2 for 1. We started walking back to the ship and noticed that they had moved the Flying Dutchman into the cove by the ship. We took a bunch of pictures:
Once on board we did our usual, shower and get ready for dinner. This was our last dinner and we were in Parrot Cay again. The food was great and we gave our servers their tip envelopes. My DD-8 headed off to the kids clubs again and my DH and I headed for the stateroom to start packing. My DD-12 headed in to the theater to grab some seats for the show. She grabbed three in the middle of the theater. As luck had it the group next to us didnt need the chairs they were saving so bartjwb was able to join us for the show. The show was Remember the Magic and it was really neat. The best part was the pictures they put up from all the days we were at sea. As we were watching the pictures Carole88 and her DHs picture from pirates night was shown. It was great to see a Disboard group on the big screen. After the show I headed to Shutters to look for pictures from the day at Castaway Cay and my DH headed to the room to continue packing. I forgot to mention that throughout the cruise we would stop by Shutters to look for pictures they had taken of us. It was a good thing we did because they didnt keep them up for very long. After a days worth of pictures has been up they take them down and put them in boxes. It is very hard to locate your pictures once they put them away. I would highly recommend that you stop by Shutters every night and look for your family pictures, buy the picture package and take the ones you like. You can always exchange a picture from an early day for one later but at least you have them all. I picked up all our photos and headed to Deck 4 to look into rebooking the cruise. Of course there was a line and I needed to be in Diversion by 10 as the cast was putting on a show. The line was moving slowly and I didnt have enough time to rebook (I did run into cykojoe who was also rebooking). I asked the lady if she would be available tomorrow and she said to come down to guest services and ask for her. I then headed off to Diversions. Carole88 and her DH, my DH, BethAs DH and Father In-Law were already at the bar.
I grabbed a beer and joined the group. My DH had finished packing and put our suitcases in the hallway. The kids were in the kids clubs and we were in the bar, all was good in the world. It is difficult to explain the skit that they performed but let me tell you that it was very funny. They each were dressed as a different profession and the song was What I would be Doing if I wasnt on the Cruise Ship or something like that. Each one comes out separately and tells what they would be doing and then does these hand motions. As each member joins the group these hand motions would interact with the other people in the skit. Like I said it is hard to explain but very funny.
After the show we said goodbye to Casey, Pikey, and the bartenders.
Then the group said goodbye to each other and exchanged email addresses. It was very hard to say goodbye as we had all become really good friends and we knew it was time to go home. We headed up to deck 9 so we could say good bye to Brianna. She was working at Café Cove that night. We found her over by Pinocchios. We exchanged email addresses with her as she was heading to Chicago later in the year and my DH was from the area. We gave her a hug and headed back to our room. I had bought iTune cards for the kids club counselors since I knew they didnt except money. We headed to the kids clubs and gave the girls the cards to hand to their favorite counselors. We then headed back to our room and to bed.
End of Day 8