Our WDW adventures and Magical Happy Halloween Cruise: DAY 14 completed 01/10: pg 10

[TotallyAngelic]

I thought it was about time I finished this trip report, as with a future cruise on the Disney Magic slowly approaching, I might be feeling the need to be starting a new and exciting pre-trip report before too long, and starting a pre-trippie before finishing a trippie, well that has just got to be bad luck or something ….. so without further ado, I have resurrected this poor forgotten old trippie from the depths of Davy Jones’ Locker or wherever else it has been hiding since its last update on 09/0709, and will give you our last full day on the Disney Magic.

Day 14 - Cruise Day 7: Double Dipping in Castaway Cay

Obviously, given the time lapse since this cruise I will largely be basing this day on photographic memories than written ones, as the actual events of the day are more than a little hazy. It as officially Halloween today, and more importantly it was DH Tony’s birthday, and I gave him a few little gifts and a birthday badge which I insisted he wore all day. He was really pleased with that (not). Tony and I got up early as we wanted to make the most of every second, and wandered around the upper decks, with a lovely coffee from Deck 9.

As soon as the kids surfaced we headed for our usual Topsiders breakfast, for the last time, as tomorrow we would be in Parrot Cay for our very last breakfast. Soon after breakfast we returned to the cabin and grabbed our stuff for a day on the paradise island of Castaway Cay. We headed down to our favourite spot on the family beach, at the furthest end near the Heads Up Bar. It was still a bit chilly in the water

And not many people were going in the sea at this point

But we hardy Brits weren’t going to let that stop us enjoying the tubes we had rented

Tony and Dan did a bit of snorkelling;

And the rest of us relaxed and chatted on the beach. The sun still hadn’t made an appearance.

The girls decided to bury Taryn in the sand …..but it appears they missed the most important bit ….

This local resident was rather cute:

Before long it was time for lunch and we popped over to sample the wonderful food on offer at Cookie’s BBQ.

Tony enjoyed his birthday lunch:

And this is what I had:

I am pleased to see that I showed considerable restraint on the chocolate chip cookie front.

After lunch Tony and I decided to hire bikes and have a look around the island. This was easier said that done for me who hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a teenager, and certainly never in a swimming costume and sarong, but since I was not willing to walk back to the ship to change into more suitable cycling attire, it was that or nothing, and nothing would not have been allowed by the Castaway Cay authorities. So bikes were rented and off we went, and to my amazement it all came flooding back, a bit like riding a bike really!

We cycled along to the runway and took a few photos along the way, although I stopped the bike for attempting any photography, I wasn’t pushing my luck.

We cycled to Serenity Bay, which I didn’t like as much as the Family Beach to be honest, but that’s just me being picky.

We encountered this little chap trying to cross the runway:

We then headed off to explore the cycling trails and found ourselves at the lookout tower … time for some more photographs then:

Tony spotted something really magical in the distance ….

Sorry …. couldn’t resist that one.

It was truly amazing how natural and unspoiled the landscape was when you got away from the developed areas. It was breath-taking.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

By now it was time to head back to the beach and think about taking refreshment at the Heads Up Bar, something we missed out on when we visited earlier in the cruise.
I was still blown away by how beautiful this place is:

Unfortunately our plans were to be dashed yet again when we arrived at the Heads Up Bar it was already closing

We began to realise that these were our last moments on Castaway Cay and soon the cruise would be over. Danny was very subdued:

And I had to take the traditional hammock and feet photo:

It was very sad to leave Castaway Cay but we had a lovely evening ahead of us on the ship and we didn’t want to dwell on the fact that it was our last evening. When we got on the ship “E” our cabin steward had decorated our stateroom with some birthday decorations for Tony, which was a nice surprise.

This is our cabin steward “E” who was a real star:

Before we could embrace the dreaded task of bag packing, we went up on deck to watch us sail away fro Castaway Cay, and it was round about now that the fight against floods of tears started. I tried to keep my spirits up with a frozen strawberry dacquiri, which abated the floodgates somewhat temporarily. In the end we gave in to the inevitable, we would need to pack our bags and organise the kids packing theirs before the show if we were to enjoy the evening ahead.

Before we started packing our bags we took photos of our door and fish extenders before taking them all down : (

Soon it was time for the farewell show “Remember the Magic“, which was really sad but really good, and it was so difficult not to keep bursting into tears. I can’t hear that song now without crying, even though I love it, I just associate it so much with leaving the Disney Magic.

After the show we headed into our final dinner with Dennis and Laura in my favourite restaurant Parrot Cay. The meal was lovely though I can’t remember what I had, apart from this delicious apple dessert:

The waiters did the traditional cruise Baked Alaska parade, still going from my days with Princess cruises in the late 1980s, and Tony decided it would be rude not to choose the baked Alaska for his dessert.

Now unknown to Tony we had had a sneaky word with Dennis earlier in the cruise and we had arranged for a birthday cake for Tony. We were not however prepared for the size of it, and the big group of waiters who gathered around to sing happy birthday with us! Tony then had to eat a piece of the cake, which even he struggles with after a 4 course dinner and a baked Alaska dessert !

Day

 

[TotallyAngelic]

After bidding a reluctant farewell to Dennis and Laura and giving them our tip envelopes with more than a bit extra because of the fantastic service, there were hugs all around and more tears from me. We then headed off for the atrium as the girls were desperate to have photos with the princesses and characters. We managed to get some lovely photos, including this which is one of my favourites …. All four with Captain Mickey.

The girls has photos with Snow White:

And Belle

And the cast from Twice Charmed:

And Tony managed to get a photo with his favourite characters … Chip and Dale:

You can see how pleased he is by the look on his little face …..

And then the girls wanted in on the action:

As we were saying our goodbyes we headed up to the art gallery as Taryn wanted to say goodbye to Trevor Carlton:

This is the amazing picture we had watched him speed painting earlier in the cruise.

It was an added bonus to the cruise experience being able to chat with these incredibly talented artists and watch them at work.

After wandering around the ship for the final time, Tony and I found ourselves in Rocking Bar D, where we caught the end of a funny routine by the cruise staff ….
“ If I were not upon the sea!” Definitely worth seeing, and I am sure there are many videos of this on Youtube for anyone who has never seen it. It certainly made me laugh, which made a welcome change from crying that evening. All too soon it was time to head back to the cabin and to bed. I was not looking forward to tomorrow….

 

[disney_princess_85]

Wow, amazing report! I've just read through it all now. Your photos are really good, I particularly liked your pirate outfits and you all looked great in your formal cruise clothes. I hope you decide to do another report for your next trip!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Wow, amazing report! I've just read through it all now. Your photos are really good, I particularly liked your pirate outfits and you all looked great in your formal cruise clothes. I hope you decide to do another report for your next trip!

Thanks Lauren I have really enjoyed writing it and reliving it in a way. I will hope to write a report for my next trip as it is a great way of keeping the memories for posterity. It might not be very interesting though as it will only be me and him.

 

[Ware Bears]

I've really enjoyed reading this, Sarah. Fantastic photos of you all and thanks for putting so much detail in your report. We've just come off a 3 night on the Wonder and now I desperately want more and for longer too!!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

I've really enjoyed reading this, Sarah. Fantastic photos of you all and thanks for putting so much detail in your report. We've just come off a 3 night on the Wonder and now I desperately want more and for longer too!!

Thank you Elaine I know what you mean ... once you have done a Disney Cruise nothing else will do It's definitely addictive. I can't wait for my next one !!

 

[jns]

Thanks for finishing this report

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Thanks for finishing this report

Just one more installment to come Jackie .... you haven't escaped me yet .... and then on to the pre-trippie for my forthcoming cruise ..

 

[Jordanblackpool]

Looks like you had a great trip, well worth the 45 mins its taken me to read it!!!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Looks like you had a great trip, well worth the 45 mins its taken me to read it!!!

Thank you ..... did it really take that long obviously far too much waffle