jollytammy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
- Messages
- 441
Magic Western
Jan 5, 2004
Castaway Cay
Got up bright and early and made my usual run on deck 4. Unfortunately, locked myself out, forgot my KTWC and had to wake up everyone to let me back in the room. The kids were stirring, so I showered, then went with them to breakfast at topsiders.
Very early on, people were lining up to get off at Castaway Cay. If you would like your pick of hammock or lounge chair under an umbrella, make sure youre off the ship as soon as possible. And dont wait for the tram. (There are plenty of chairs, but if you want to pick your location, get off early.) About 9:15 we headed to deck one and out onto Castaway Cay. We stopped to have our pictures taken. There were a couple places set up by Shutterswe had our picture taken with the Magic in the background. Then we joined the crowd for the mad dash. The distance from the ship to the beach was not very much, and everyone seemed to be walking. So we went along with the crowd. We did not take the first entrance to the beach, but moved further down and ended up close to the bathrooms and Cookies, which suited me fine. After we were settled, we saw several harried looking families working their way down the beach to find a spot. The hammocks went VERY fast.
The water was fairly chilly, but it wasnt long before the kids were swimming. I had read a post about not renting the tubes, and it wasnt long before lots of tubes were up for grabs. The beach was very beautiful, and having the lifeguards there made it very comfortable. The lifeguards were very strict about the children wearing a life preserver (which were provided free) if they were snorkeling, even close to shore.
We stayed on the beach until about 11:30, and then headed up to eat lunch. It was the prefect time to eat since shortly after we had sat down, everyone else got in line and the lines got a little long. After we ate, we went exploring a little bit. Just beyond Cookies we found the bikes. It was $6 for an hour, which I thought was a little high. I did notice that when we rented the bikes that no one seemed to be writing down the time we rented the bikes, or checked us in after the bikes were returned. (I think they figured that there was only so much you could do with the bike, and eventually you would bring it back.)
The bike trail was about 3 miles total, there and back. It was a nice easy, shaded ride and the kids loved it! I was glad we did it, but still think the price was high. It made a nice break in the day and helped to work off lunch (HA). Afterwards, we returned our bikes and headed back to the beach. While the kids were swimming, I checked out the stores and got a couple of pins that I hadnt seen on the ship, and bought a Castaway Cay shirt.
About 3:00 or 3:30 we rounded the kids up and headed back toward the ship. Along the way the kids stopped to shop and bought a couple pins and a couple shirts. Once on the ship, I headed to the room to shower. I had read that you didnt need to go to the disembarkation presentation since they would show it on the room TV later, but decided to go. Im not sure Ill ever go again, having sat through it once, but I did think it was worthwhile to go since this was our first cruise.
While I was at the presentation, the rest of the crew got showered and dressed for dinner. The presentation was short, and I headed back to the room. Thinking about how long the lines were going to be to charge the tips, my DH went ahead to get that done. (And trust me, that is a good idea, the lines at Guest Services got really hectic the closer to dinner time it got.) When DH got back from Guest Services, I headed up to Shutters to make my final selections, check out the pictures from Castaway Cay and purchase the photos. There were lots of others doing the same thing I was, and the lines were a little long. It didnt take too long though, and I was back in plenty of time to join up with the family for dinner. (There were some really nice photos that had been taken, but there were not to buy a package. Having read posts from others that they didnt purchase enough for a package, I waited until the end of the week. I would go everyday and check out the pictures, and put together the ones I wanted, throw away the others. By the end of the week I only purchased one 8x10 formal shot and 6 smaller photos. Now, my kids were not into the characters, so there were not a lot of character photos. And the formal shots with the kids were horrible, and I ended up only get one of DH and myself.)
This was the last dinner of the cruise, and we gave our tip envelopes to our servers. The servers also did a special parade and I wish I had known to bring my camera. Everyone cheered for their servers as they came by, and it was almost a contest to see who cheered the loudest for their servers. It was sorta sad to say goodbye, luckily we did get to see our servers the next morning at breakfast.
After dinner, DS13 went to the arcade, DS9 and DH went to see Freaky Friday again, and I was left alone to pack. Packing was a breeze by myself and within about an hour I had everything packed and ready to put out in the hall. I made sure we had clothes for the next day, and our toothbrushes, and everything else I put out in the hall. The night before (if Im remembering correctly) we had received our luggage tags, and there were plenty out by Guest Services if you needed more. We had turned in the pager from the kids club the day before since our DS9 never went back after the first day.
Shortly after I had finished packing and checking and double-checking everything, the rest of the gang joined me and we ordered room service and settled down for the night.
Jan 5, 2004
Castaway Cay
Got up bright and early and made my usual run on deck 4. Unfortunately, locked myself out, forgot my KTWC and had to wake up everyone to let me back in the room. The kids were stirring, so I showered, then went with them to breakfast at topsiders.
Very early on, people were lining up to get off at Castaway Cay. If you would like your pick of hammock or lounge chair under an umbrella, make sure youre off the ship as soon as possible. And dont wait for the tram. (There are plenty of chairs, but if you want to pick your location, get off early.) About 9:15 we headed to deck one and out onto Castaway Cay. We stopped to have our pictures taken. There were a couple places set up by Shutterswe had our picture taken with the Magic in the background. Then we joined the crowd for the mad dash. The distance from the ship to the beach was not very much, and everyone seemed to be walking. So we went along with the crowd. We did not take the first entrance to the beach, but moved further down and ended up close to the bathrooms and Cookies, which suited me fine. After we were settled, we saw several harried looking families working their way down the beach to find a spot. The hammocks went VERY fast.
The water was fairly chilly, but it wasnt long before the kids were swimming. I had read a post about not renting the tubes, and it wasnt long before lots of tubes were up for grabs. The beach was very beautiful, and having the lifeguards there made it very comfortable. The lifeguards were very strict about the children wearing a life preserver (which were provided free) if they were snorkeling, even close to shore.
We stayed on the beach until about 11:30, and then headed up to eat lunch. It was the prefect time to eat since shortly after we had sat down, everyone else got in line and the lines got a little long. After we ate, we went exploring a little bit. Just beyond Cookies we found the bikes. It was $6 for an hour, which I thought was a little high. I did notice that when we rented the bikes that no one seemed to be writing down the time we rented the bikes, or checked us in after the bikes were returned. (I think they figured that there was only so much you could do with the bike, and eventually you would bring it back.)
The bike trail was about 3 miles total, there and back. It was a nice easy, shaded ride and the kids loved it! I was glad we did it, but still think the price was high. It made a nice break in the day and helped to work off lunch (HA). Afterwards, we returned our bikes and headed back to the beach. While the kids were swimming, I checked out the stores and got a couple of pins that I hadnt seen on the ship, and bought a Castaway Cay shirt.
About 3:00 or 3:30 we rounded the kids up and headed back toward the ship. Along the way the kids stopped to shop and bought a couple pins and a couple shirts. Once on the ship, I headed to the room to shower. I had read that you didnt need to go to the disembarkation presentation since they would show it on the room TV later, but decided to go. Im not sure Ill ever go again, having sat through it once, but I did think it was worthwhile to go since this was our first cruise.
While I was at the presentation, the rest of the crew got showered and dressed for dinner. The presentation was short, and I headed back to the room. Thinking about how long the lines were going to be to charge the tips, my DH went ahead to get that done. (And trust me, that is a good idea, the lines at Guest Services got really hectic the closer to dinner time it got.) When DH got back from Guest Services, I headed up to Shutters to make my final selections, check out the pictures from Castaway Cay and purchase the photos. There were lots of others doing the same thing I was, and the lines were a little long. It didnt take too long though, and I was back in plenty of time to join up with the family for dinner. (There were some really nice photos that had been taken, but there were not to buy a package. Having read posts from others that they didnt purchase enough for a package, I waited until the end of the week. I would go everyday and check out the pictures, and put together the ones I wanted, throw away the others. By the end of the week I only purchased one 8x10 formal shot and 6 smaller photos. Now, my kids were not into the characters, so there were not a lot of character photos. And the formal shots with the kids were horrible, and I ended up only get one of DH and myself.)
This was the last dinner of the cruise, and we gave our tip envelopes to our servers. The servers also did a special parade and I wish I had known to bring my camera. Everyone cheered for their servers as they came by, and it was almost a contest to see who cheered the loudest for their servers. It was sorta sad to say goodbye, luckily we did get to see our servers the next morning at breakfast.
After dinner, DS13 went to the arcade, DS9 and DH went to see Freaky Friday again, and I was left alone to pack. Packing was a breeze by myself and within about an hour I had everything packed and ready to put out in the hall. I made sure we had clothes for the next day, and our toothbrushes, and everything else I put out in the hall. The night before (if Im remembering correctly) we had received our luggage tags, and there were plenty out by Guest Services if you needed more. We had turned in the pager from the kids club the day before since our DS9 never went back after the first day.
Shortly after I had finished packing and checking and double-checking everything, the rest of the gang joined me and we ordered room service and settled down for the night.
