Day Two,
Castaway Cay! Also known as Sunday. But who keeps track of things like that?
Before I start on Sunday, let me tell you that I am an old lady. I know, I know, 33 is not exactly pension age, but I aint no spring chicken either. In fact, I cant tell you the last time I made it through a New Years Eve party without falling asleep at 10:30. And yet? I stayed up late almost every night of this cruise. I just wasnt tired. Did I sleep in to make up for it?
Of course not. Unless you count 7:30 as sleeping in.
I had almost forgotten how dark the rooms onboard get when the curtains are closed, especially because we have a habit of closing both sets. When I woke up, wide awake, I was worried because I thought for sure it was still the middle of the night. Somehow in the pitch black cabin (I forgot my night light. DOH!) I found my digital watch and hit the bright button.
It was 6 am.
Crap.
Not the middle of the night, but close enough. I was beyond going back to bed, so I stumbled around the cabin a little bit. Mickey was scheduled to wake us up at 7:45, because we had a breakfast date with Mat and Sarah at 8 am up on deck.
I dont know if it was my loud clumsy steps or my equally noisy struggle with the verandah door, but Lionel was awake shortly after and we both stomped around like zombies until I got the bright idea to call room service and order up some life-bringing elixir, otherwise known as a carafe of coffee. We enjoyed this on the verandah, and watched as the sun lit up the horizon.
What is that island off in the distance, it looks familiar.....
Mickey called at 7:40, and then again at 7:45. Did he think we hit snooze? This would happen EVERY SINGLE TIME we set a wake up call. By now we were pulling in to the island, and the sun was almost completely out.
Hey look, it's that ship from the movie! Oh, wait, that was two TR's ago.....
We called Mat and Sarah to re-affirm our breakfast date, and were assured that everyone was up and moving, and mostly human. We had one last peek out the verandah window before heading up, and we saw rain.
RAIN.
Hasn't Disney figured out how to control the weather yet? Seriously.
Lionel looks out at the weather. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?
Yes, seriously.
Every single time we come to Castaway Cay, it rains. When Mat and Sarah cruised
DCL by themselves in March, it did not rain.
I hate them.
Ok, I don't hate them. But, I can only conclude that the weather is all our fault. Yes, everyone, I apologize in advance if you ever come on a cruise with us, because it will undoubtedly rain at Castaway Cay that day.
If it keeps up, we can always stay right here.....it's almost as good.
Fortunately, it didnt last long. It was enough, however, to get every chair in the outdoor dining area up at Topsiders a bit wet. No matter, we were all in our bathing suits anyhow. But we were void of Mickey waffles. There were NO MICKEY WAFFLES on the buffet.
It was a travesty.
Sarah and I consoled ourselves by eating enough fruit to kill a small child, remeniscing about the Mickey waffles of previous sailings. They would make an appearance later in the cruise, but it just wasn't the same.
As we ate, we noticed the island seemed
..a bit empty? We werent sure if we were blind, or if people were just not streaming out like usual because we had another day lined up at the end of the week. In either case, we were a bit surprised, considering this was the day they had shortened on us. Instead of the usual 4:30 all-aboard, we were given a deadline of 3:00.
Cruel, cruel DCL.
All the same, we felt no rush to hurry off the boat. We had no excursions planned, only some lazy time at Serenity Bay. We headed off to respective cabins to pack our day bags, and headed out to paradise at about 9:30.
Sunblock? Check! Book? Check! Smiles? CHECK!
The Magic, looking regal.....is that a hidden Stitch or an anchor?
Lionel and I had booked the extreme getaway package, which seemed like a great idea at the time, but really
..we could have gotten by with a two-day snorkel package and one day of bike and float rentals. I dont know if youve ever tried to do all three in one day, but we were hard pressed to fit it all in AND have time for cocktails. And as you know, we have our priorities. We stopped to grab our snorkel gear, and hopped the tram to paradise.
Really, now.....this is like the "this coffee is hot!" warning at McDonald's!
By now, the day was gorgeous. Not too hot, not chilly at all, just the perfect temperature. We hosed our pale Canadian friend down with sunscreen and headed for the surf.
A word to the wise: dont be tempted by the first chairs you see, walk all the way to the end. Do it!
This is the first year that we have walked all the way to the end of the beach before settling in chairs, probably because this is the latest we had ever arrived at the beach and nothing else was left. But it couldnt have worked out better! The shore is much rockier toward the beginning of the beach, and our area was mostly sand, which meant I did not have to wear my sandals in the water. THAT was nice. Also, it seemed deeper where we were. Not enough to be over my head, but enough to feel like I could float without perpetually dragging my rear end over the bottom.
Lionel even floated:
After 37 years of sinking, finally success!
There is a story here. You see, Lionel has never been an excellent swimmer, mostly because his Mother struck the fear of God into him if he ever went near the water as a child. Sometime in his youth, someone threw him into a pool and he sank, never having learned to swim. He did finally get a lesson in the army, but has never been comfortable floating in the water.....until now. I was VERY proud of him. He was happy too, and would have floated all day if the lure of lunch had not dragged him from the crystal blue waters.
Snorkeling at Serenity Bay was nice and relaxing, though we didnt see much beyond the occasional lost-looking fish, and a few sand dollars. Oh, and the BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. Cant forget about that.
How I spent my day at Serenity Bay.
What? It counts as a foot picture.
All in all? We had a blast. And this was before the Konk Kooler!
Another day for you and me in Paradise. Phil Collins never spoke truer words.
Next up: Sarah finds the ultimate sun block, and we start the drinking process.