NYDisneyMom
I need to have a vacation planned at all times...
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2003
- Messages
- 1,122
We were up early and sitting up on Deck 9/Topsiders having breakfast as we pulled up to Castaway Cay. What a gorgeous island. Disney did this one right. We walked up to the forward part of the ship to get another view (we went in head first on this trip, I heard they usually back in). Then it was back to the cabin to get ready. My DH had the bottom fishing excursion booked. He was supposed to meet at Marge's Barges on CC at 9:15 but they weren't letting passengers off yet at that time. I think he finally got off the ship around 9:30.
Getting off the ship at Castaway was a bit of a pain. My advice, go to the forward areas and head on down. We went down midship and stood in a loooooong line for about 20 minutes trying to get off. He was hot and I was getting claustrophobic with all those people standing around.
Finally...off the ship. The post office is right there on the right, there was a bit of a line -- no line later in the day. Several nice spots to take pics right there too. We hopped on the tram and headed straight for the snorkel area. I found a nice lounge chair under a palm tree at then end of a row so it was easy to find later on.
I rented snorkel fins only for the boys, the rest of the equipment we had brought with us. Vests are given to everyone for free.
The water was much cooler than I expected, but after a while you get used to it. It was such a beautiful day. Not too hot, not humid, nice breeze. Perfect. We got our gear on and started out swim out to find Mickey. About half way out is a lifeguard and I asked him where Mickey was...but even after being told where he was it still took us a long time to find him! We wound up swimming as far out as possible and then turned back and eventually found him.
We did see lots of fish, star fish, sea urchins, etc. Swimming out to Mickey was nice, swimming back to shore was not so nice! LOL! My 9 yr old didn't have a problem, but my 7 yr old got tired and scared that he couldn't make it back. So, he held onto my back and I brought him in. Fins are a must!! Don't think I would have made it back if I didn't have the fins!!
The family beach area was just way too crowded for us (we live by the beach, so it wasn't a must do for us to just sit there in the crowds). The boys wanted to do the water trikes, but since it was three of us we had to settle for a paddle boat. We paddled around in the beautiful calm water for a half hour or so and then starvation hit us!
Cookie's Barbecue was very nice. Hamburgers, chicken, ribs, lobster burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, etc. There was a separate little cart where you could get a Cesear salad and even better were the fresh fruit stands!! yummm!!!
My DH met up with us at Cookie's and he said he had a great time bottom fishing! There were only four people total fishing, so it made it very nice. Everyone caught fish and he said they encountered two schools of dolphin swimming alongside their boat!!
After lunch we sat on the beach for a while, then I was itching to shop! We got some CC souvenirs and by this time it was 3:00. The kids wanted to do the farewell show, so they had to be in the club by 4:00 for rehearsal. So, back to the ship we went.
Now, you're told that one person in your party must go to the disembarkation talk at 4:30 in the Walt Disney theater, but all of us DIS'ers know that they show the talk on your cabin TV all night Friday.
5:00, the kids show. They do a nice job with this, considering they only have an hour to get the kids ready. They show slides of the kids in the clubs during the week and sing songs, all of them wearing their new t-shirts. Really a nice way for the kids to end the week!!
Dinner the last night is very sad. The boys got hugs from Maria and Sasha. Sasha told them he hoped to see them again very soon. We got a little bit of the "excellent" speech from Sasha, but we assured him that he'd get raves from us. Those comment cards are really stressed on that last night.
We skipped the last night deck party. We just walked all around the ship, mostly on Deck 4, looking out at the water (hey..does anyone know if that's the Wonder we saw out in the water Friday night??) It was a nice, mellow night. We know Saturday will be a bit hectic. We had our big luggage packed and put out in the hall by 11:00.
Getting off the ship at Castaway was a bit of a pain. My advice, go to the forward areas and head on down. We went down midship and stood in a loooooong line for about 20 minutes trying to get off. He was hot and I was getting claustrophobic with all those people standing around.
Finally...off the ship. The post office is right there on the right, there was a bit of a line -- no line later in the day. Several nice spots to take pics right there too. We hopped on the tram and headed straight for the snorkel area. I found a nice lounge chair under a palm tree at then end of a row so it was easy to find later on.
I rented snorkel fins only for the boys, the rest of the equipment we had brought with us. Vests are given to everyone for free. The water was much cooler than I expected, but after a while you get used to it. It was such a beautiful day. Not too hot, not humid, nice breeze. Perfect. We got our gear on and started out swim out to find Mickey. About half way out is a lifeguard and I asked him where Mickey was...but even after being told where he was it still took us a long time to find him! We wound up swimming as far out as possible and then turned back and eventually found him.
We did see lots of fish, star fish, sea urchins, etc. Swimming out to Mickey was nice, swimming back to shore was not so nice! LOL! My 9 yr old didn't have a problem, but my 7 yr old got tired and scared that he couldn't make it back. So, he held onto my back and I brought him in. Fins are a must!! Don't think I would have made it back if I didn't have the fins!!
The family beach area was just way too crowded for us (we live by the beach, so it wasn't a must do for us to just sit there in the crowds). The boys wanted to do the water trikes, but since it was three of us we had to settle for a paddle boat.
We paddled around in the beautiful calm water for a half hour or so and then starvation hit us! Cookie's Barbecue was very nice. Hamburgers, chicken, ribs, lobster burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, etc. There was a separate little cart where you could get a Cesear salad and even better were the fresh fruit stands!! yummm!!!
My DH met up with us at Cookie's and he said he had a great time bottom fishing! There were only four people total fishing, so it made it very nice. Everyone caught fish and he said they encountered two schools of dolphin swimming alongside their boat!!
After lunch we sat on the beach for a while, then I was itching to shop!
We got some CC souvenirs and by this time it was 3:00. The kids wanted to do the farewell show, so they had to be in the club by 4:00 for rehearsal. So, back to the ship we went. Now, you're told that one person in your party must go to the disembarkation talk at 4:30 in the Walt Disney theater, but all of us DIS'ers know that they show the talk on your cabin TV all night Friday.
5:00, the kids show. They do a nice job with this, considering they only have an hour to get the kids ready. They show slides of the kids in the clubs during the week and sing songs, all of them wearing their new t-shirts. Really a nice way for the kids to end the week!!
Dinner the last night is very sad. The boys got hugs from Maria and Sasha. Sasha told them he hoped to see them again very soon. We got a little bit of the "excellent" speech from Sasha, but we assured him that he'd get raves from us. Those comment cards are really stressed on that last night.
We skipped the last night deck party. We just walked all around the ship, mostly on Deck 4, looking out at the water (hey..does anyone know if that's the Wonder we saw out in the water Friday night??) It was a nice, mellow night. We know Saturday will be a bit hectic. We had our big luggage packed and put out in the hall by 11:00.
