Cast - me, hubby Vince, daughters Wendy (15), Michaela (6) and Sierra (5) and Wendy's friend Brittany (14), my mom Donna and my step dad Len.
2nd stop at Castaway Cay!!!!
When we were told that 75 people had worked around the clock since we left on Sunday to turn the island into a winter wonderland, our response was "Why the heck did you do that?" but it was wonderful and it did not feel like we had been to CC twice, 2 very different experiences which was very cool.
Today, mom & Len were taking the teens on the Seahorse Snorkel excursion and Vince & I were taking the kids to the beach. They loved the Seahorse Snorkel and once the teens got the hang of it, they loved it as well. Len had to come find us to see if we had cash so he could go back and tip the staff more because they made his rum punches with extra rum! Mom said she found a huge starfish that was pretty deep and one of the crew went down and got it and gave it to her and took her picture.
When my half of the cruisers got to CC, we got some chairs and then I went and borrowed sand equipment from Scuttles Cove for the girls and rented snorkeling equipment for me. I wanted to see the submarine and then mom was going to try for it when they got back. I set Vince and the girls up at the beach and I went snorkeling. It was very far for me to the submarine and I had a hard trouble finding it. I did see a very huge stingray at the very beginning. I asked a few people but they didn't know where it was. Finally I took a break holding on to a rope and asked a guy about 20 feet away. He said "Um, mam, I think it is right underneath you", I looked down and sure enough. Duh! On my way back, some little kids were getting a ride in on a surf board with the lifeguards, I wanted that ride! We stayed at the beach for awhile and then figured it was time for mom to get back so we headed up to the shop and then we were going to eat. Mom was shopping! Mom was in a bit of withdrawal without the sales the day after Thanksgiving but guess what! Disney had 50% off sales in both the island shop and the ship shop. Most were old WDW merchandise but she was very happy. I ended up doing alot of xmas shopping on the island and they sent it up to the ship for me, very nice!
They had bbq pork chops today and lobster. Len had 2! The drink Sunday was the Konk Cooler but today was the Snowflakes. This drink was the best! It has rum, coconut, vanilla, and creme de cacao. They put whipped cream and coconut on the top of it on the island, but not when we got more at dinner. I had never had a konk cooler, so I ordered one for me, a snowflakes for mom and a tropical depression for Vince. All were very good but the snowflakes was our fav by far. We had them at dinner and I let the teens get the nonalcoholic which tasted different because they didn't have the creme de coacao(I think) but still very good. I don't know if these will be on the reg cruises for the holiday's but if they do, you have to try one.
They had the big snowman statues and Christmas tree on the island when you got off the ship and did portraits with them. They had bubble snow which we loved. The tram was decorated as a reindeer and all the cm's had either red/white scarves or stocking hats on. They made sand angels and sand men in the kids club and they had a gingerbread sandcastle making on the beach. I assume it is still there as they sprayed glue on it, it was very cool. They normally have all the "miles to" signs but now they posted a miles to the north pole sign. The absolute best was the Carribean Christmas music. Everyone was asking shipmates if they carried it but they didn't. They had Carribean "12 days of Christmas" that was awesome but I don't remember the presents. It was a totally different experience from Sunday but both were perfect.
At 5:30 pm(after we were all ashore), they had advertised a Castaway Cay Christmas Tree Lighting. It said it was viewable from port side decks 4, 9, and 10 and from port side stateroom verandahs(I told mom we should have gotten port side!). It was really cool, the captain, Mickey and what we were told was a Make a Wish child were on the island and lit the tree.
We had the Best of Menu tonight and we were back in Parrot Cay. I had the Honey Mustard Chicken tenderloins(good but not as good as room service or Pluto's) and KY Bourbon & Maple glazed pork tenderloin . This was excellent and the baked acorn squash was very good. Mom says she doesn't like squash and was pretending that it was twice baked potatoes liked it as well.
I had the Chocolate Decadence(way too chocolatety) and the Deep Dish apple pie with cranberries(this was incredible, I was moaning). I am not a big apple pie eater but this was very very good.
Wendy had the Celebration cake which I think is cheesecake mixed with strawberries and she is a huge cheesecake fan and thought this was just ok.
Then we went to do some last minute shopping then I was in charge of overseeing the luggage packing and getting it ready to go in the hall.
Mom and I went to the 10:45 pm Haunted Mansion(just ok) My kids have never made it to the "Till we meet again" with the characters but mom and I passed it on the way to the movie and there were a ton of characters, many who you never see and some we didn't know who they were. I never thought it was worth waking them up for but now I know how to get a boost to their autograph books.
2nd stop at Castaway Cay!!!!
When we were told that 75 people had worked around the clock since we left on Sunday to turn the island into a winter wonderland, our response was "Why the heck did you do that?" but it was wonderful and it did not feel like we had been to CC twice, 2 very different experiences which was very cool.
Today, mom & Len were taking the teens on the Seahorse Snorkel excursion and Vince & I were taking the kids to the beach. They loved the Seahorse Snorkel and once the teens got the hang of it, they loved it as well. Len had to come find us to see if we had cash so he could go back and tip the staff more because they made his rum punches with extra rum! Mom said she found a huge starfish that was pretty deep and one of the crew went down and got it and gave it to her and took her picture.
When my half of the cruisers got to CC, we got some chairs and then I went and borrowed sand equipment from Scuttles Cove for the girls and rented snorkeling equipment for me. I wanted to see the submarine and then mom was going to try for it when they got back. I set Vince and the girls up at the beach and I went snorkeling. It was very far for me to the submarine and I had a hard trouble finding it. I did see a very huge stingray at the very beginning. I asked a few people but they didn't know where it was. Finally I took a break holding on to a rope and asked a guy about 20 feet away. He said "Um, mam, I think it is right underneath you", I looked down and sure enough. Duh! On my way back, some little kids were getting a ride in on a surf board with the lifeguards, I wanted that ride! We stayed at the beach for awhile and then figured it was time for mom to get back so we headed up to the shop and then we were going to eat. Mom was shopping! Mom was in a bit of withdrawal without the sales the day after Thanksgiving but guess what! Disney had 50% off sales in both the island shop and the ship shop. Most were old WDW merchandise but she was very happy. I ended up doing alot of xmas shopping on the island and they sent it up to the ship for me, very nice!
They had bbq pork chops today and lobster. Len had 2! The drink Sunday was the Konk Cooler but today was the Snowflakes. This drink was the best! It has rum, coconut, vanilla, and creme de cacao. They put whipped cream and coconut on the top of it on the island, but not when we got more at dinner. I had never had a konk cooler, so I ordered one for me, a snowflakes for mom and a tropical depression for Vince. All were very good but the snowflakes was our fav by far. We had them at dinner and I let the teens get the nonalcoholic which tasted different because they didn't have the creme de coacao(I think) but still very good. I don't know if these will be on the reg cruises for the holiday's but if they do, you have to try one.
They had the big snowman statues and Christmas tree on the island when you got off the ship and did portraits with them. They had bubble snow which we loved. The tram was decorated as a reindeer and all the cm's had either red/white scarves or stocking hats on. They made sand angels and sand men in the kids club and they had a gingerbread sandcastle making on the beach. I assume it is still there as they sprayed glue on it, it was very cool. They normally have all the "miles to" signs but now they posted a miles to the north pole sign. The absolute best was the Carribean Christmas music. Everyone was asking shipmates if they carried it but they didn't. They had Carribean "12 days of Christmas" that was awesome but I don't remember the presents. It was a totally different experience from Sunday but both were perfect.
At 5:30 pm(after we were all ashore), they had advertised a Castaway Cay Christmas Tree Lighting. It said it was viewable from port side decks 4, 9, and 10 and from port side stateroom verandahs(I told mom we should have gotten port side!). It was really cool, the captain, Mickey and what we were told was a Make a Wish child were on the island and lit the tree.
We had the Best of Menu tonight and we were back in Parrot Cay. I had the Honey Mustard Chicken tenderloins(good but not as good as room service or Pluto's) and KY Bourbon & Maple glazed pork tenderloin . This was excellent and the baked acorn squash was very good. Mom says she doesn't like squash and was pretending that it was twice baked potatoes liked it as well.
I had the Chocolate Decadence(way too chocolatety) and the Deep Dish apple pie with cranberries(this was incredible, I was moaning). I am not a big apple pie eater but this was very very good.
Wendy had the Celebration cake which I think is cheesecake mixed with strawberries and she is a huge cheesecake fan and thought this was just ok.
Then we went to do some last minute shopping then I was in charge of overseeing the luggage packing and getting it ready to go in the hall.
Mom and I went to the 10:45 pm Haunted Mansion(just ok) My kids have never made it to the "Till we meet again" with the characters but mom and I passed it on the way to the movie and there were a ton of characters, many who you never see and some we didn't know who they were. I never thought it was worth waking them up for but now I know how to get a boost to their autograph books.
