SchultzFamily
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2004
- Messages
- 560
Cast: Me 47, DH 47, DS 15, DD 10.
When we wake up we're already docked at Castaway Cay. We head out to the veranda and it's sunny and hot and we have a wonderful view of a pile of dirt! Guess we're on the wrong side of the ship! Oh well, soon we'll be out there enjoying the beauty! We have breakfast at Parrot Cay and then head off the ship.
Castaway Cay is as beautiful as everyone says! We have the banana boats and the eco-tour scheduled! First we head down the beach to find a spot to put our stuff. We find a nice group of chairs half under an umbrella and half under a palm tree and decide this spot is perfect! We lay out our beach towels and bags and head out to the water. We saw some fish swimming around us and the water was clear and beautiful! After a little while in the water we head back up to the chairs. We've got 2 lounge chairs and 2 little beach chairs and the spot is just perfect! DD starts talking about having her hair braided so I wander off to inquire about having it done. I find the hair braiding place and there is no one having their hair braided right now! Too bad we don't have enough time before the banana boats! I find out you don't need an appointment and it's $1 each for braides and $2 each for cornrows. I tell DD we will come back later, it's time to head to the banana boats. We head back and get the boys and head over to the banana boats. After getting into ski vests they take us out to the water and we all climb up on the banana boat, I think there were 16 or 18 people on ours. They give us instructions (lean towards the center if you feel like you're falling) then hook it up to the boat. They start out slowly they yell out to us to hold on tight because they're going to speed up. Almost immediately I feel myself falling off! I try desperately to lean towards the center but I can't and decide to just let go! All I can think is I hope I'm not the only person who fell off! After a big mouthful and noseful of saltwater I wipe my eyes and open them only to see the banana boat with only one person sitting on it! I look around in the water and everyone is coughing and wiping their eyes and saying "I was trying to lean to the center!" We all climb back up on the Banana boat (thank-you very much to the guy that pulled my big-old body back up on the banana!!!) and they discover the rope was messed up and that's why we were all flung off! Of course one lady had bragging rights about being the only person to stay on! They were unable to fix the rope so they decide they need to hook it up to the other end. So we all have to stand up and turn around so the back can become the front! It was a pretty wild ride and we had to stop at one point because a young girl was too scared and wanted to get in the boat. Of course they teased us that they were going to let her drive! I was so tense after the initial big splash that I held on so tight my arm muscles were sore for 3 days! When we got back to the beach we find someone has taken our 2 beach chairs and we just kind of laugh about it because just beyond our spot there are several spots that are untouched and the chairs are still stacked. We head up and grab 2 more and put our stuff on them.
After the relaxing on the beach for a few minutes we were off to the Eco-Tour. DS is disappointed that he can't drive the wet-bike, but you have to be 16 and you have to be 18 to have a passenger. So we head off with DS with me and DD with DH. They give you all the rules and off goes the Tour Guide, they motion for me to follow (I've never driven one of these things and they go pretty fast) I was having a hard time keeping up and DS keeps telling me to go faster. He insists they are so far ahead he can't even see them. Soon we stop and they tell us about the islands and the coral and then we're off again. Soon we see the most beautiful turquoise water and next thing you know our guide beaches his wet-bike on a sand bar. He motions for us to do the same. Soon we're all standing on a sandbar in the middle of the ocean! It was just beautiful out there and I would recommend this tour to everyone. Our guide Chris was very informative and interesting and told us about the area (that sand bar is always there, even in high tide!) then we jetted back to the beach! The only disappointment about those 2 excursions is not having any pictures of us on them. DD brought a disposable underwater camera but I don't know what kind of pictures she took, she didn't even finish it so we haven't had it developed yet.
Went to Cookies for lunch, everything was great! Loved the Lobster Burgers!
Then off to have DD's hair braded. She just wanted the headband braid and she started to tear up with the first one. I told her to do it a little looser and she was ok until she got to those little hairs infront of her ears and then she got a little teary again. Once she was done she was very happy she had done it. We then went back to the beach and got the kids a couple of innertubes. DH decides about now he really wants to parasail and tries to talk me into it. I really don't want to so he heads off to see if he can get a spot. He comes back and says he got a ressie on the 3pm boat. We just kick back on the beach while the kids play in the water. At about 2:45 DH heads off to parasail. About 10 minutes later the wind starts to kick up and I think they may cancel his parasail but it stops just as fast as it started! Before you know it they are announcing that the beach is closing so we pack up our stuff. No sign of DH yet and DD starts worrying that the boat will leave without him. We head back to the ship and stop at the parasail check in to see if the boat is still out. The lady tells us that there is still a boat out so we head back to the ship and figure he will just do the same. DD is really worried that he will get left there but I keep reassuring her that they won't leave him! We go back to our room and he eventually shows up, said he was the last person back on the ship. We shower and head to The Golden Mickeys. Loved the show!
Off to Studio Sea and Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer. Didn't get chosen to play. Grand prize was a crystal paper weight, so my family didn't believe me that I had read about people winning cruises!
Then dinner at Animator's Palate. Had a wonderful dinner but don't remember what we had, loved the restaurant! Servers were as entertaining as always. When we tell them tomorrow we have ressies at Palo tomorrow they tell us to make sure the kids come to dinner without us! After dinner DS is off to Common Grounds and DD is off to the lab. I have a slight headache from so much sun so DH and I head back to the room and relax on the veranda. DD pages at midnight that she's on her way to the room and DS of course we don't see until 2!
What a beautiful day! Staff tells it was the best weather at Castaway in the last couple of weeks! Really enjoyed it!
Tomorrow: Day at sea, massage and Palo!
Pictures added http://community.webshots.com/user/vickie4157
When we wake up we're already docked at Castaway Cay. We head out to the veranda and it's sunny and hot and we have a wonderful view of a pile of dirt! Guess we're on the wrong side of the ship! Oh well, soon we'll be out there enjoying the beauty! We have breakfast at Parrot Cay and then head off the ship.
Castaway Cay is as beautiful as everyone says! We have the banana boats and the eco-tour scheduled! First we head down the beach to find a spot to put our stuff. We find a nice group of chairs half under an umbrella and half under a palm tree and decide this spot is perfect! We lay out our beach towels and bags and head out to the water. We saw some fish swimming around us and the water was clear and beautiful! After a little while in the water we head back up to the chairs. We've got 2 lounge chairs and 2 little beach chairs and the spot is just perfect! DD starts talking about having her hair braided so I wander off to inquire about having it done. I find the hair braiding place and there is no one having their hair braided right now! Too bad we don't have enough time before the banana boats! I find out you don't need an appointment and it's $1 each for braides and $2 each for cornrows. I tell DD we will come back later, it's time to head to the banana boats. We head back and get the boys and head over to the banana boats. After getting into ski vests they take us out to the water and we all climb up on the banana boat, I think there were 16 or 18 people on ours. They give us instructions (lean towards the center if you feel like you're falling) then hook it up to the boat. They start out slowly they yell out to us to hold on tight because they're going to speed up. Almost immediately I feel myself falling off! I try desperately to lean towards the center but I can't and decide to just let go! All I can think is I hope I'm not the only person who fell off! After a big mouthful and noseful of saltwater I wipe my eyes and open them only to see the banana boat with only one person sitting on it! I look around in the water and everyone is coughing and wiping their eyes and saying "I was trying to lean to the center!" We all climb back up on the Banana boat (thank-you very much to the guy that pulled my big-old body back up on the banana!!!) and they discover the rope was messed up and that's why we were all flung off! Of course one lady had bragging rights about being the only person to stay on! They were unable to fix the rope so they decide they need to hook it up to the other end. So we all have to stand up and turn around so the back can become the front! It was a pretty wild ride and we had to stop at one point because a young girl was too scared and wanted to get in the boat. Of course they teased us that they were going to let her drive! I was so tense after the initial big splash that I held on so tight my arm muscles were sore for 3 days! When we got back to the beach we find someone has taken our 2 beach chairs and we just kind of laugh about it because just beyond our spot there are several spots that are untouched and the chairs are still stacked. We head up and grab 2 more and put our stuff on them.
After the relaxing on the beach for a few minutes we were off to the Eco-Tour. DS is disappointed that he can't drive the wet-bike, but you have to be 16 and you have to be 18 to have a passenger. So we head off with DS with me and DD with DH. They give you all the rules and off goes the Tour Guide, they motion for me to follow (I've never driven one of these things and they go pretty fast) I was having a hard time keeping up and DS keeps telling me to go faster. He insists they are so far ahead he can't even see them. Soon we stop and they tell us about the islands and the coral and then we're off again. Soon we see the most beautiful turquoise water and next thing you know our guide beaches his wet-bike on a sand bar. He motions for us to do the same. Soon we're all standing on a sandbar in the middle of the ocean! It was just beautiful out there and I would recommend this tour to everyone. Our guide Chris was very informative and interesting and told us about the area (that sand bar is always there, even in high tide!) then we jetted back to the beach! The only disappointment about those 2 excursions is not having any pictures of us on them. DD brought a disposable underwater camera but I don't know what kind of pictures she took, she didn't even finish it so we haven't had it developed yet.
Went to Cookies for lunch, everything was great! Loved the Lobster Burgers!
Then off to have DD's hair braded. She just wanted the headband braid and she started to tear up with the first one. I told her to do it a little looser and she was ok until she got to those little hairs infront of her ears and then she got a little teary again. Once she was done she was very happy she had done it. We then went back to the beach and got the kids a couple of innertubes. DH decides about now he really wants to parasail and tries to talk me into it. I really don't want to so he heads off to see if he can get a spot. He comes back and says he got a ressie on the 3pm boat. We just kick back on the beach while the kids play in the water. At about 2:45 DH heads off to parasail. About 10 minutes later the wind starts to kick up and I think they may cancel his parasail but it stops just as fast as it started! Before you know it they are announcing that the beach is closing so we pack up our stuff. No sign of DH yet and DD starts worrying that the boat will leave without him. We head back to the ship and stop at the parasail check in to see if the boat is still out. The lady tells us that there is still a boat out so we head back to the ship and figure he will just do the same. DD is really worried that he will get left there but I keep reassuring her that they won't leave him! We go back to our room and he eventually shows up, said he was the last person back on the ship. We shower and head to The Golden Mickeys. Loved the show!
Off to Studio Sea and Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer. Didn't get chosen to play. Grand prize was a crystal paper weight, so my family didn't believe me that I had read about people winning cruises!
Then dinner at Animator's Palate. Had a wonderful dinner but don't remember what we had, loved the restaurant! Servers were as entertaining as always. When we tell them tomorrow we have ressies at Palo tomorrow they tell us to make sure the kids come to dinner without us! After dinner DS is off to Common Grounds and DD is off to the lab. I have a slight headache from so much sun so DH and I head back to the room and relax on the veranda. DD pages at midnight that she's on her way to the room and DS of course we don't see until 2!
What a beautiful day! Staff tells it was the best weather at Castaway in the last couple of weeks! Really enjoyed it!
Tomorrow: Day at sea, massage and Palo!
Pictures added http://community.webshots.com/user/vickie4157
