6/5/08 3 Night Wonder Trip Report- with Navigators, 20 tips, and 100+ photos!!!

[Tri-circle-D]

Back on the Ship

In our last installment, we were just getting back to the ship from our short foray into the city of Nassau. We got back on the ship at just about noon. Mrs. TCD and my other DD left a note in the cabin saying that they had gone up to deck 9 to hang out at the Goofy pool.

We changed into our suits, and headed up to deck 9 to join the others.

Hanging out on the ship when it is in port is great. A lot of folks are off on excursions, and things are usually very uncrowded. We had our choice of lounge chairs, and all of the quick serve places were open for us to choose from. One of the girls and I played a little ping pong, and we grabbed snacks when we were hungry. I tried a taco from Pluto's Dog House. Not so good. I tried one of the Paninis from Goofy's Galley. That was good.

The girls did a little hot-tubbing;

Somewhere in this time frame, the ship's DJ's came out, and played some music. They also did an eco-trivia contest, and a crewmember came out and did an ice carving demonstration.

At 2, one of my DD's and I headed down to the atrium for Mr. Toad's Wild Race. I had never seen this before, but the DD's had participated on our last cruise, and knew that there was a trophy up for grabs!

This is an event where there are small wooden toads connected to ropes, and you must try to get them to move across a finish line. It looks like this:

The trick to this is to be very patient. What you want to do is stand your toad up on its hind legs, hold the rope taught, and let it fall forward. My DD mastered that technique, and she one the first heat by a landslide! (it was either my coaching or the bird poop!)

There were about four more heats . . . and then the final. Unfortunately, DD's toad got tangled up, and she came in second. The trophy went to someone else.

But, because she won her heat, DD got a gold medal. We covet these in our family. I have personally won one on each of my DCL cruises (and on a couple RCCL cruises too). I believe that DD won two on the the last cruise.
She was happy to have brought in the first gold medal for the TCD family on this cruise!

The next item on our busy agenda was the Adult Pool Games, scheduled for 2:30 pm at the Quiet Cove pool. My fellow Turkey Day Gang members know how much fun the adult pool games can be. I have earned the gold medal in the Disney Legs contest on each of our previous DCL cruises, and I am back to defend my title!

Alas, the adult pool games on this cruise were lame! All that they had was a golf chipping contest . A target was floated out in the pool, and you were given three chances to hit it. The prize was a drink of the day. Of course I played:

I hit the target, but the wet Velcro did not stick . No medal, or even a drink of the day for TCD.

We spent a little more time back at the Goofy pool, and then headed down to the cabins to get ready for the Castaway Club reception. Returning cruisers are invited to a little get together on each cruise. According to our invitation, refreshments would be served, and prizes awarded. What else could we ask for?

We have not attended one of these events before, so we have nothing to compare it to, but I would describe it as subdued. As we entered the Wavebands lounge, we were handed a little booklet and a pen. This is what the booklet looks like:

On the bottom of the last page, there is a tear off card. You write your name on that and put it in a box that they have up on the stage. Everyone present in your party can enter. So, bringing the kids helps your chances of winning. If you read the questions in the booklet above, you will see that most of them appear to be geared toward folks sailing on the seven day cruises. There was no one at this event who had sailed on an inaugural cruise, or more than 10 times. But, not to worry, you don't have to answer the questions to enter the drawing. The event was hosted by our cruise director, Clayton, and it was fun, just not something that I would go out of my way to attend again.

So, it is time for the drawing. All of the prizes are the same: little Castaway Club clocks. The first few names are called- nothing. And then- Bingo! Our name is called. We are winners! Here is Clayton awarding the clock to me:

Nice, but I still don't have my medal. I am starting to worry. This is only a three night cruise. Am I going to go home empty handed? If only that pigeon had bombed me.

Well, it is time for us to go to tonight's show. We go to see DCL's newest show, Toy Story the Musical. It is wonderful. They have such talented actors on this ship. The set and costumes are also great. I was a little concerned about this show, based upon reviews that I read here on the Disboards. I remember that many were critical of the actress who played Sid, so I paid particular attention to her. Maybe she has toned down her performance, or maybe some people are too critical, because I thought she turned in a very good performance.

After the show, it was on to Studio Sea for "A Pirate's Life for Me." It is pirate night, you know. This is an audience participation game show where captains and first mates are chosen, and the teams compete. Guess who got chosen as the captain of the Powder Monkeys team?

Yes, TCD. That is my first mate there. He carried the team, thank goodness.

So, we go through a bunch of challenges, and Goofy even shows up:

The Powder Monkeys pretty much dominate in all of the competitions, and then the awards are handed out.

GOLD!

The castmember in these photos is Neville. We had a lot of interaction with him. A real fun guy!

So, TCD remains perfect in the medal count.

Three for Three baby!

Next, it is on to Dinner, and then Pirate Night!

TCD

 

[ears4all!]

Awesome trip report! Love all the pictures, as well as the detail. Got to love the detail. Continue On!

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I loved the updated. Your poor DD! I beat she needed to cleanse after that experience.

I have to ask about the landyards for your KTTW, are those given to each guest. Just guests that are Castway Club members? They seem pretty handy to have them right around your neck. As you can imagine, we are new to cruising. We have our first cruise scheduled for April '09.

 

[kvaday]

I just have to say that the bird poo made my night! This always happens to me in public! but to see the picture really made me laugh. My DH says its because it wasnt me this time. Tell your DD there is nothing wrong with this happening. It just makes her special. She has now officialy joined the bird poo club. Poor girl.

By the way. Your TR is the best so far! I cant wait to read more.

 

[ICEMANPAD]

You know Andrew, you should do Appellate law being this thorough.....Seriously, we agree with most of what you said except we think onboard movies are a colossal waste of time - you can see them at home - and we prefer Deck 9 for lunch on Day 1, but that is personal preference.

Chuck

 

[AndymanGA]

Love the TR. We are going on our first cruise in December.

I was curious if they sell the pirate mickey mouse ear hats onboard the ship or do I need to find them before the cruise? Thanks.


Oh and thanks for the TR.

 

[Joy2theWorld]

Thanks for the great trip report! I'm looking forward to reading the rest. I'm surprising my mom with her first cruise ever in early October and it is a 3 night, so, this is really helpful. We've only done a 7 day, so, I wasn't sure what to expect or try to squeeze in!!

 

[ICEMANPAD]

I believe they sell the pirate hats onboard, but they are also easy to obtain in advance either in Disney/Character premiere stores or probably even online.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I loved the updated. Your poor DD! I beat she needed to cleanse after that experience.

I have to ask about the landyards for your KTTW, are those given to each guest. Just guests that are Castway Club members? They seem pretty handy to have them right around your neck. As you can imagine, we are new to cruising. We have our first cruise scheduled for April '09.

The Castaway Club lanyards are a gift to returning cruisers. They hand them to you at check in. There are regular DCL lanyards for sale in the gift shops. I did not look on this cruise, but on our last cruise, they had the DCL lanyards for sale in the gift shop right in the terminal. So, you could buy yours even before you board. The lanyards are useful, but you can do fine without one. Since the KTTW card is so essential (it is your room key, and the only way to buy anything on board), the lanyards are good for the kids. I find it easier to keep track of them that way, rather than having the kids carry them around in their pockets.

I just have to say that the bird poo made my night! This always happens to me in public! but to see the picture really made me laugh. My DH says its because it wasnt me this time. Tell your DD there is nothing wrong with this happening. It just makes her special. She has now officialy joined the bird poo club. Poor girl.

By the way. Your TR is the best so far! I cant wait to read more.

Thanks. More is on the way!

You know Andrew, you should do Appellate law being this thorough.....Seriously, we agree with most of what you said except we think onboard movies are a colossal waste of time - you can see them at home - and we prefer Deck 9 for lunch on Day 1, but that is personal preference.

Chuck

You see, this is what makes a DCL cruise so great. We prefer to eat our first lunch in Parrot Cay, and we try to make at least one movie on each cruise. Different strokes for different folks! In general, I do agree with your comment that it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend a chunk of your time on a cruise doing something that you can do at home. This is why I never understood the attraction of a rock climbing wall, or ice skating rink, or Johnny Rockets restaurant on a ship. Same thing with a lot of the excursions. Do you want to swim with dolphins? Go to Discovery Cove in Orlando! I am sure it is much nicer than anything that you are going to find in Nassau, Cozumel, or wherever.

Thanks for the great trip report! I'm looking forward to reading the rest. I'm surprising my mom with her first cruise ever in early October and it is a 3 night, so, this is really helpful. We've only done a 7 day, so, I wasn't sure what to expect or try to squeeze in!!

It does take some change in attitude to enjoy a three day cruise after having experienced a seven night cruise. It is not as relaxing, but it can be a lot of condensed fun!


TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Love the TR. We are going on our first cruise in December.

I was curious if they sell the pirate mickey mouse ear hats onboard the ship or do I need to find them before the cruise? Thanks.


Oh and thanks for the TR.

I believe they sell the pirate hats onboard, but they are also easy to obtain in advance either in Disney/Character premiere stores or probably even online.

Yes, Chuck is correct. There are pirate mickey mouse ears on board. I did not look too closely, but I think they were only the red and white fabric ones. If you happen to visit WDW on your way to the cruise, you will find a lot more of an assortment. They are still holding the Pirate and Princess parties at the Magic Kingdom this year, and there are more variations of the pirate hats, and all kinds of other pirate gear, available at the theme park gift shops, and in Downtown Disney.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Friday Night Dinner and Pirate Night!

Sporting our new gold medals, we head off to tonight's dinner at Triton's.

On our previous cruises, DCL has used what it calls staggered seating at the two dining seatings. So, if you had late seating, you may have been assigned a time like 8:00 or 8:15, or 8:30 to report to the dining room. That way, not everybody is showing up at the same time. I thought that worked pretty well. For some reason, some genius in DCL management has decided to do away with staggered seating. Now, everybody in each seating is told to report to his or her dining room at the same time.

So, when we go to Triton's for dinner, we find another line. A long one. How long? Well, it snaked through the atrium, then down the hallway (I guess it is called Route 66?), all the way past the entrance to Wavebands. Since we encountered a line going into Parrot Cay the night before, we intentionally waited until about 8:17 before going to Triton's. Unfortunately, the doors were still not open, and there was a long line. What can you do? We waited on line, and as soon as the doors were opened, the line moved very quickly, and we got in to the restaurant. Not a big deal, but who wants to stand on a long line? Go back to staggered seating, you dummies!

The dinner theme in Triton's is French food. Not a big favorite in the TCD household, but we all find something to order. This is also pirate night. There is a big difference in pirate night on a three night cruise versus a seven night cruise. Hardly any of the passengers get into the theme by dressing up. In fact, I would say almost none of them do. There are red pirate bandannas at each place setting, and a few folks put these on their heads, or tie them around their necks or arms. We brought some pirate gear with us, but did not use it, as people just were not getting into it.

Triton's is where you can order escargot. Everyone needs to try this. The fact that French people intentionally eat snails is amazing, and the DD's want to see what the attraction is. Here is DD with her escargot appetizer:

I thought that this was the "after" picture, but it looks like the snail is still on her fork. Let's pretend it is the "after" picture, as she really didn't make too much of a face.

One other DD was brave enough to give it a try:

Here is her reaction:

What does escargot taste like? I would say it tastes like bread crumbs with a lot of garlic and butter, and some really chewy, unidentifiable, small piece of meat mixed in to the equation. Not too bad, really. Would I order escargot at a restaurant back on land? I can't imagine that I would. But, a cruise is the perfect place to try new things!

One of the ubiquitous photographers is roaming the dining room, taking photos. He interrupts our dinner to request us to pose for various shots. It is here that I a seed is planted that will grow into a dislike for the photography staff on this cruise, but we dutifully pose for the photos, and he moves on.

We couldn't resist buying this one. Here, we were instructed to make a pirate hook and say "ARgggggh!" The photographer cracked up at our pose:

Here is a photo of DD with her red bandanna fashion creation:

Oh, time for a few more tips:

Tip#16-Don't by shy in trying new things on the dining menus. A cruise is a perfect time to experience new dishes. If you don't like what you ordered, your server will be happy to bring you something else.

Tip#17- Use a lanyard for your KTTW card. It makes it easy to carry with you, and to keep track of.

We finish our dinner at just before 9:45. It always amazes me how long we take to eat dinner on a cruise. At home, we are done in 45 minutes. But, this is quality time like no other. I should mention that we were assigned to our own table on this cruise. On previous cruises, we have had table mates, and dining with new people has always been fun. But, on a short cruise like this, I would have to say that I liked having a table to ourselves. It gave us a chance to talk about lots of things that we probably would not have discussed with others present. We did not request this, it just happened. If we cruise on a three night cruise again, I don't think that I would bother with making a special request about our seating arrangements, and I don't think you should either. Go with the flow!

I think Mrs. TCD and one of the DD's wanted to stop by the cabin before heading up to the pirate night party on deck 9, but the other DD's and I headed straight from the dining room up to the party!

When we got to deck 9, the show had already begun, and there was a lot of high energy dancing going on. Our new friend, Neville, was leading the dancing, and did an amazing job. I won't spoil the show for you, but I will say that it is high energy, and lots of fun.

There are little dance platforms set up on either side of the Goofy pool, and different characters rotate around so that the audience can dance with them:

This event is fun for the kids . . . . and the adults! Look at that lady living it up in the background of the photo above! A picture is worth a thousand words!

At one point, pirates invade the ship:

I'm not sure if you can make it out in this photo, but there is actually a pirate rappelling down to the stage from the top of the smoke stack. The pirates then take over the dancing, and pretend like they have taken over the ship.

Then Mickey himself zips down from one smokestack to the one closest to the stage, to save the day!

Then, fireworks blast off!

This is one of those moments on the cruise that you have to just stop and take it all in in amazement. No other cruise shoots off fireworks, and it is just breathtaking to stand on the deck of a ship, out to sea, and see this display. This is just a magical moment.

After the fireworks, the show wraps up, and the buffet lines open!

Cast members quickly put chairs out onto the dance floor covering the Goofy pool, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie starts on the big screen!

The movie starts at 11, and they play the whole thing. It won't finish until 1:33 a.m.! The seats are all full as the movie begins. How many will stay until the end?

Our youngest DD loves the turkey legs from WDW. On our last cruise, she saw that they served these at the Pirate Night buffet, but she was so full from dinner that she could not eat one. On this cruise, she intentionally ate light at dinner, in hopes that there would be turkey legs on the buffet. Her plan worked to perfection! Here are two of the DD's gnawing on their turkey legs on Deck 10, looking down on the crowd watching the movie:

We hung around on Deck 10 for a while, and then headed down to the cabins at around 11:30 or so. Mrs. TCD and two DD's were tired. The other DD and I wanted to go explore the ship a little bit, so that is what we did. We stopped by various places on the ship. We checked out the conference rooms on deck 2, stopped by the theatre on deck 5, went by some of the bars, walked around all of deck 4. outside, and played a little shuffleboard. This all took about an hour or so. At a little after 1, we headed up to deck 9 to see who was still watching the movie. I would say that there were only about a dozen people there, and some of them were asleep!

We headed back to the cabins at about 1:15. But, it still wasn't time to sleep. You know that there is 24 hour room service on the ship, right? So, we go into the DD's cabin, and order some cookies and Mickey Mouse bars. And a steak sandwich for me! Room service was pretty prompt considering the hour.

Tip#18-Don't forget that the 24 hour room service. And, order a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar. They are not on the menu, but they will bring you as many as you like!

After we enjoy our treat, it is finally time to call it a night. I think we got our money's worth out of today.

Next-Castaway Cay!

TCD

 

[wilma-bride]

I am really loving your trippy. I'm all caught up now and there are far too many funny moments to quote them all but, suffice to say, you're a very entertaining writer and I'm hoping it's not going to end too soon as I still need something to while away the long, boring hours at work

Great tips as well - DH and I are taking our second DCL cruise next fall and will definitely make the most of some time on the ship while others are enjoying excursions at Nassau.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Great tips as well - DH and I are taking our second DCL cruise next fall and will definitely make the most of some time on the ship while others are enjoying excursions at Nassau.

I agree with this completely! It is really fun to just stay aboard and enjoy everything while it is much less crowded!

TCD

 

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Time to post day two's Navigators!:

There you go!

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

And, while I am at it, here are day three's Navigators.

This two sided page is an insert to the Navigator- it is a handy thing to bring with you onto Castaway Cay:

This is the rest of the actual Navigator:

Trip report will resume momentarily.

TCD

 

[DznyRulz]

TCD,
Once again another fantastic TR. Your thoroughness and detail are very much appreciated. It really makes me feel like I'm right there with you and your family. I do have a question though, evening attire. What is considered cruise casual? I usually dress like the construction dude in your YMCA routine except I'm wearing a Mickey Tee. To me that's casual. I do own a few Mickey polo shirts that I wear to work. Would these be satisfactory along with the type of shorts you wore at check-in or are long pants (Dockers) required? Should I just wear some loud, Hawaiian-type shirts?

 

[Tri-circle-D]

TCD,
Once again another fantastic TR. Your thoroughness and detail are very much appreciated. It really makes me feel like I'm right there with you and your family. I do have a question though, evening attire. What is considered cruise casual? I usually dress like the construction dude in your YMCA routine except I'm wearing a Mickey Tee. To me that's casual. I do own a few Mickey polo shirts that I wear to work. Would these be satisfactory along with the type of shorts you wore at check-in or are long pants (Dockers) required? Should I just wear some loud, Hawaiian-type shirts?

Chris- I would say that the whole dress code thing seems to confuse everyone. I am pretty sure that there used to be a policy that said no shorts or jeans in the dining rooms- but I did not see that written anywhere for this cruise. In fact, the sheet that they had you at check in just says no jeans or shorts in Palo. It used to be that men had to wear a coat and tie in Palo. The last night of our cruise the dress code was "Optional Dress Up." I wore a suit and tie, and there were a few others who did, but there were men in the dining room with shorts on, too. So, truthfully, I would say that it seems like you can wear whatever the heck you want to in the dining rooms!
I brought a couple of pairs of Dockers, and some Hawaiian shirts, but it looks like shorts would by OK, too.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Arriving at Castaway Cay

Despite having been up to about 1:30 am the previous evening, I am up and at the coffee station before 7 am Saturday morning. We are approaching Castaway Cay, and this is a site that I do not want to miss.

As I stated earlier, I have been fortunate to have cruised many times. I can state without qualification that Castaway Cay is the most beautiful private island visited by any cruise ship, anywhere. As the ship approaches the island, you can see things from a vantage point that you cannot once you are docked, so I really recommend arising early on the day of your Castaway Cay visit.

Here we are approaching the island:

On rare occasions, the captain will steer the ship straight up to the dock, but on most cruises, including each of our DCL cruises, the captain will turn the ship when close to the island, and back the ship up to the dock. It is a pretty amazing thing to see how quickly and smoothly a big ship can turn.

Here we are backing up to the dock:

This is the Castaway Cay post office. A lot of people mail postcards from here. I have never stepped foot in the place. We have a post office right here in my town. From what I have seen, the service in this place might even be a little slower:

Another photo from the stern:

The folks who operate the boat excursions on Castaway Cay are subcontractors who live on a nearby island. They commute to work each morning. Here they are arriving for the day:

How would you like that commute?

As I stand on deck 10, I take a look over at the boat beach. You know what I don't see. Banana boats! . I had already heard on the Disboards that the Banana boat rides have been cancelled, and I can confirm that this is true, at least for the time being. Sad. We have always enjoyed a Banana boat ride on our previous visits to Castaway Cay. I hope that they bring them back.

The night before, we had all agreed that we would get up by 8 am to go to breakfast. I go back to the cabins to get everyone up. There are no complaints. Everyone is looking forward to Castaway Cay.

We eat breakfast again at Beach Blanket Buffet, and go back to the cabins to get ready. We apply our sunscreen carefully in the cabin. I recommend that you do the same. It is more pleasant to put on the sunscreen before you get hot and sweaty.

I also pack up the snorkel equipment that I brought from home. A packed this all in a separate duffel bag, along with a case of bottled water. The water was unloaded into the beverage coolers in the cabins back on the first day of the cruise, and the duffel bag with the snorkel gear has sat under our bed. I have a separate mesh bag that I got from Old Navy some time back, and I load all the snorkel gear into it. It is really easy to bring your own equipment, and I would suggest that you do the same. It costs $25 a head to rent snorkel equipment on the island. You can buy your own for not much more than that. We have used this equipment on three cruises, and lots of times around home. If you have younger ones, you could do the same thing with sand toys, or whatever.

Tip # 19- Bring your own snorkel equipment and/or beach toys. Pack them in a separate duffel bag, and keep them under your bed until Castaway Cay day.

The other thing that I planned to bring off the ship with us was my rolling cooler. Our cabin steward has kept everything nicely iced down for us, and I have a bunch of beer and water bottles in there. I haven't tried this before, but why not just roll that whole thing off the ship with us, and enjoy the drinks on the island. That is what I did, and we had no problem with that. Since this was the last day of our cruise (as it is with most DCL cruises), we finished up all the drinks on the island, and dumped out the remaining ice. It is a good thing, too, because when we went back on the ship later in the day, the cooler had to go through the x-ray machine, and the castmember made sure to ask if there was ice in the cooler. So, if you bring your cooler, be prepared to dump all the ice out before you return to the ship.

But, I digress.

It doesn't take us too long to get ready to head off the ship, and I think we are heading down the gangway by just after 10. We walk toward the tram station, and stop for an official photo:

We continue on, and stop for our traditional photo at Fresh Catch:

Then, it is on to the tram. Surprisingly, the tram is not full. It seems like folks are getting a slow start today. Much different from our previous cruises where folks were chomping at the bit to get to the island.

We get off at the tram stop, and stop at Mt. Rustmore for another traditional photo.

First one from the official ship photographer:

And then one on our own:

Which leads to my next tip. Take your own photos! When there is a photo opportunity, the ship's photographers will always allow you to snap your own shot after they take theirs. I suggest that you do. Buying photos on the ship is expensive, and a bit of a pain in the neck. Just take your own. As you can see, we did buy a small package of photos from the official photographers, but I am going to try not to do that anymore. An 8 x10 photo costs $19.95 from the photo shop. You might say, well I won't buy that size, but it seems like they intentionally print most of the photos in that size. I guess that you could ask them to print a smaller one, but who needs the hassle. There has to be a better way. Like I said, I intend to avoid the whole thing on my next cruise.

Tip #20- Take your own photos! In most cases, your photos will be as good as the ship's photographers, and in every case, they will be a lot less expensive!

After stopping at Mt. Rustmore, we continue on to the beach. We take a moment to check out the gift shop. This is a good time to do that. The gift shop gets crazy busy in the afternoon. So, now is a good time to take a look around and see if there is anything you like. Later in the day, you will have to fight crowds to even look at the merchandise.

We walk on. Here is another important tip. Just past the shopping area, you will come to a gazebo, and the first of the beach chairs and umbrellas. Keep on walking! Most people stop here, and this area of the beach is always uncomfortably busy. The beach is big, just walk on a little ways, and it will get less busy. People don't get this. The snorkeling beach is right here, and when we snorkeled a little later in the morning, people were actually standing at the beach waiting for people to vacate their chairs so they would have a place to sit. Meanwhile, about 100 yards down the beach, there were plenty of empty chairs.

Tip #21- Keep walking when you get to the beach at Castaway Cay, the further you walk from the boat, the less crowded you will be.

We walk down to the spot where we always stop. We usually walk down to the restrooms by past the dining area, and head out to the beach there. There is a play structure out in the water here, and the girls always enjoy that. This is probably the last cruise that we will stop here, as the age limit for the play structure is 14. The girls seemed to be less interested in this on this cruise, and it is still a little crowded here. Next time, we will go about another 100 or 200 yards, and we will have a lot less congestion.

Here is the play structure I am talking about:

Here are the girls in the water:

We hang out here for a while. The plan was to chill here for a while, then do some snorkeling, and then go enter the crab races!

More Castaway Cay to come!

TCD

 

[ears4all!]

I love all of these photos, as well as all the detail. Wonderful report!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great so far - I slept in on our last cruise and didn't see the ship dock at all - I plan to change that next year. What an amazing sight Castaway Cay is as you approach - just beautiful