The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Hi Rinky, really enjoyed reading about your Dolphin Encounter at Nassau - we did the same excursion during our cruise and loved it so much! Definitely something we'll always remember - we're hoping for our next cruise to do a dolphin swim in Gran Cayman.

How exciting too that that was the first time you set foot outside the USA during a Disney cruise!


Emma x

Oooh, that sounds nice! I hear they have awesome snorkeling there too. We got hooked on that during this trip.

Yeah, we don't get out much. I actually never thought I would travel outside of the U.S. b/c I am so afraid of flying, but the cruise was the perfect solution to that. I want to see England (and all of Europe) so bad though that I need to just get over it.

Sarah said she wants to be a dolphin trainer after we did that too! She has a list of potential careers and 75% of them involve animals. I told her to study up on the sciences!!

I was just like that at her age. I've always loved animals. I think a lot of young girls are interested in that field of study. I hope she follows through and pursues her dream! Maybe one day she'll work for Seaworld or The Seas at Epcot!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The dolphin encounter looked so awesome .. but my guys wouldn't do it. But I would love to !!
Love the pics you got (even the ones with the blurred out "lady".

Aw that's too bad. My DH wasn't really overly excited about it at first either, but then a guy that he works with told him that he had done it and it was awesome. After that, he had an open mind about it. Once he got there, he was totally into it.

Thanks! I hate I had to blur up all my pictures though.

 

[MeMom]

So colorful like CBR! We took Jarvis over to see that resort on NYE. He liked it, and he definitely liked the food court.

This is absolutely beautiful! I am under two blankets right now, and it is snowing outside. I'd like to be sitting on that dock soaking in the warmth.

 

[marDgreen88]

Wow, beautiful pictures! That dolphin is the cutest thing! I absolutely LOVE that he did a shark impression! Looks like yall had a blast!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

So colorful like CBR! We took Jarvis over to see that resort on NYE. He liked it, and he definitely liked the food court.

This is absolutely beautiful! I am under two blankets right now, and it is snowing outside. I'd like to be sitting on that dock soaking in the warmth.

As much as you like the tropical theme, I can't believe you haven't stayed at CBR yet! You have tried so many different resorts now and it just doesn't seem right that you haven't stayed there. I want to see a Memom report from there complete with lots of early morning walking pictures.

I know! It is so hard to look at all these pictures and remember how wonderful it felt to be in that water while it is cold and rainy here. And to top it off I can feel the winter blues/cabin fever setting in for me. It always happens this time of year and towards the end of summer after I've been trapped inside for so long b/c of the extreme heat. DH told me that we should do a spur of the moment cruise or WDW trip over DDs winter break in February. I sure wish I wasn't so financially responsible b/c I'd book it in a heartbeat! I think it would totally turn my mood around just knowing I had a trip around the corner. I've priced out a short cruise and a short WDW trip and neither one is too bad, but for such a short trip, we would have to fly and that is where the cost goes through the roof. Why does it have to be so expensive just to get there? If it wasn't for that, I'd be on my way a lot more often! I know you would too.

Enjoy your snow. At least it is pretty to look at.

Wow, beautiful pictures! That dolphin is the cutest thing! I absolutely LOVE that he did a shark impression! Looks like yall had a blast!

He was a real cutie! And his shark gig was too cute! He even swam in a side to side motion like a shark does in stead of an up and down motion like a dolphin. It was really impressive! If I had not known, I would have sworn there was a shark in the water!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Why does it have to be so expensive just to get there? If it wasn't for that, I'd be on my way a lot more often! I know you would too.

Those words have passed my lips many a time...

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Those words have passed my lips many a time...

I know. It really stinks. I guess we all just need to live closer to the mouse. Maybe we need to set up a DIS housing community in Jacksonville. That's far enough away to still be affordable, but close enough to drive even just for a weekend!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

After our dolphin encounter ended, we got our things out of the locker and headed to the gift shop to see our photos.

They had only one lady in charge of showing and explaining the photo packages and she was swamped at the moment so we decided to just come back later. We did take a moment to look around in the gift shop though, and I saw this display of magnets and just had to take a picture since this was the title of my PTR!

That turned out to be the PERFECT motto for our day!

We had the option to either take the next boat back to the ship or stay and enjoy the beach. They had boats leaving at 1:00, 2:00 and 4:00. The consensus was that we wanted to stay. It was so incredibly beautiful there and I wanted to see the whole island. I knew the pool on the ship would be insanely crowded in the afternoon anyway, so we thought it best to catch a later boat ride. It turned out to be a very good decision!

We decided to go on down and check out the beach for a while since we were already wet anyway.

We had our pick of the lounge chairs as the whole beach area was practically empty. I loved these straw covered tiki huts. It looked just like I had always imagined it would.

Two big thumbs up for this gorgeous beach!

This video gives you a feel for the beach area. You can hear the dolphins in the background. (26 sec.)

Click on the picture.



The water was so clear that we felt like we were in an enormous swimming pool, and I loved that there were NO waves on Blue Lagoon Island (or Castaway Cay)!

DD was watching a tiny school of fish that were darting around near the bottom.

This is a terrible picture, but I was trying to take it without going under. DH was having a really good time looking at fish and searching for cool stuff on the bottom.

A lady walking by told us that if we dug down a little we could find whole conch shells. That was all DD needed to hear. The search was on!

‘I think I’ve got something!’

Hmmm, maybe not!

Trying again….

‘I found one! I found one!’

Somehow I don’t think this was what she meant by ‘whole conch shells!’

Oh well, we still had fun!

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

While we were shell searching, DH was getting in some heavy duty relaxing time! He absolutely LOVED the beach area. He just went on and on about what a paradise it was and how it was so secluded and peaceful there.

She was a very happy girl!

DH has always been one of those people that just can’t float in a pool. For some reason he always sinks, so he was excited that the salt water made him more buoyant! We could never do this at our NC beaches b/c the surf is so rough.

DD decided to move her conch shell search up on shore. She still only found some little ones though.

Panning for shells!

Letting sand run through your fingers really is one of life’s simple pleasures.

DH decided it was time for some liquid refreshment so off to the bar he went. He came back with my very favorite drink, a strawberry daiquiri (no alcohol). He just got one for all of us to share since it was so close to lunchtime.

DD quickly snatched her favorite part, the cherry!

It was really good!

DH and I took a break from the water for a while and soaked in some sun. This was the view from our chairs.

There was a beach volleyball court right behind us.

I think you have to rent these floats, but a little boy who was leaving was nice enough to give his to DD.

DD wanted to head further down the beach to the water play area, but DH and I were getting hungry, so we told her we would come back later.

DH led the way back to the bar because you have to place your food orders there as well.

They had a gorgeous picnic area.

And tons of hammocks…

We passed by a merchant selling coconuts and conch shells.

Now THAT is what I call a conch shell!

I really regret no buying one of those.

He also had a cooler full of coconuts for sale.

He actually climbed a palm tree right there in front of us to show us how he collects them! DD wanted to try one so we asked how much they were. He said that ‘if we dropped $3 in his can, that should cover it!’ Ok, it was worth $3 just to know what a fresh coconut tasted like! We had never eaten a ‘real’ coconut before, so he cracked one open for us.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

DH took the first sip of the coconut water inside.

Then DD gave it a try although she wasn’t so sure about it.

We were all really surprised by how it tasted. We had expected it to be sweet, but it actually tasted like saltwater! We definitely are not purist, b/c we like the taste of over processed, grocery store coconut much better! It was still fun to try it though.

That coconut actually ended up making us international criminals! What happened was I put it in our beach bag when we were done with it and I just forgot about it. Well, you have to fill out a customs form before disembarking the ship, declaring that you have not brought any plant materials back into the U.S. from a foreign country. I guess I told a little fib when I checked that box b/c I discovered it when we unpacked our bags at CBR! Hmmm, I wonder if they have Interpol after us?

We were definitely on island time because we were still making our way to the bar at this point. We passed by the rental booth and stopped to check out what was available.

Lots of floats and boats…

Limbo anyone?

The guy working the rental booth was super nice and offered to take a family picture for us. We chatted with him for a while before moving on.

Finally, we made it to the bar.

I looked over the menu and nearly had a heart attack! The prices were OUTRAGEOUS!! Way worse than Disney prices! DH and I went back and forth trying to figure out what to order that wouldn’t be a second mortgage. We finally decided that DD and I would share a combo meal and DH would get an appetizer. It would at least hold us until we got back on the ship.

All of the employees that worked in the bar and kitchen area were very weird acting too. Honestly they looked and acted like they were ‘smoked up.’ We told the guy what we wanted to order like 3 or 4 times and he just kept repeating it back to us with this blank stare. And he wouldn’t make eye contact when we were talking. It was just very odd. He finally got it though and we moved on to the covered picnic area to pick up our food.

They had a steel drum player but he was on break the whole time we were eating! What a bummer!

And this my friends is what $15 worth of food looks like in the Bahamas! Seriously! One burger and a side of fries…. $15!

And this was $10 (I think).

Again, the employees here were rude and weird acting. When I went to the drink station to get our lemonade, the lady working the fountain made sure she let me know that we were not allowed to have any refills. Sheesh! It was already a fairly small cup and now no refills!

We tried not to grumble too much about it though. It just wasn’t worth ruining the mood. And it did taste decent so we made the best of it.

You can see in the background of that picture that there was a big sand dune in front of us. It had a little boardwalk down the middle and that had my curiosity up. When we were finished eating, I just had to go see what was on the other side.

I am so glad I was nosy!

It was totally natural and deserted over there. Just gorgeous!

We could see Atlantis way off in the distance.

I wanted to hide away and stay there forever. DD was ready to get back in the water though so we went back to the lagoon side for more fun in the sun!

Up Next: The third day of Swinter: Part 4 (This was a LONG day!)

 

[Happy Elf]

Beautiful beach pictures! I enjoyed the dolphin encounter pictures as did my DD. She asked when she would meet a dolphin. I told her to ask daddy when we could go on a cruise.

How I wish I could be enjoying that sunshine and warm weather right now!

Can't wait to see more!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Beautiful beach pictures! I enjoyed the dolphin encounter pictures as did my DD. She asked when she would meet a dolphin. I told her to ask daddy when we could go on a cruise.

How I wish I could be enjoying that sunshine and warm weather right now!

Can't wait to see more!

I like your strategy! Send in the kids to do the dirty work! I might just use that same technique on my hubby.

I know! It is so cold here today and I would give a million bucks to be on that beach. DH is really pushing me to book another short cruise for February so we can get out of this cold weather, but December took all my money and last time I checked, they don't let you on the boat for free.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wow, you guys really took advantage of Blue Lagoon! Beautiful pictures - it really does look like paradise! I'm glad you all got some real relaxation time! That's what it's all about! What fun at the beach! I can't remember why we didn't stick around for the beach. I wonder if we had some plans for later that we left fairly quickly after looking around and getting our pictures.

Bummer that the food was so expensive - especially knowing what's waiting for you on the ship is all paid for already!

I can't help it but every time I look at your DD - I keep thinking how big she's getting and grown-up looking she is now - especially with the shorter hair. Is that weird? I only see her through these TRs but it's really apparent from one to the next how much she's changed.

OOH, wouldn't it be great to do a quick warm getaway? As excited and grateful as I am about our trip, this new cold streak we're having has me wishing I was going somewhere tropical! Oh well!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Wow, you guys really took advantage of Blue Lagoon! Beautiful pictures - it really does look like paradise! I'm glad you all got some real relaxation time! That's what it's all about! What fun at the beach! I can't remember why we didn't stick around for the beach. I wonder if we had some plans for later that we left fairly quickly after looking around and getting our pictures.

Bummer that the food was so expensive - especially knowing what's waiting for you on the ship is all paid for already!

I can't help it but every time I look at your DD - I keep thinking how big she's getting and grown-up looking she is now - especially with the shorter hair. Is that weird? I only see her through these TRs but it's really apparent from one to the next how much she's changed.

OOH, wouldn't it be great to do a quick warm getaway? As excited and grateful as I am about our trip, this new cold streak we're having has me wishing I was going somewhere tropical! Oh well!

We really did suck the life out of that beach trip! Our main reason for staying was b/c we knew the ship pools would be crazy and it was too hot to do much else. It turned out to be a very good thing though. Believe it or not, we still didn't get to do everything we wanted to even staying until 4:00. I wanted to go see the sea lions too but we ran out of time.

I know! Paying for that food killed me knowing how overpriced it was and that we had free food on the ship. I guess in the end it was worth it though to get to stay on the beach and relax.

No, you are right about DD. She hit a major growth spurt in kindergarten and has been going full speed ever since. She got a bunch of her permanent teeth in all at once and from there she seemed to turn into a teenager. Everyone thinks she is older than what she is. I don't like that.

So what is the weather like in Europe in March? I think it would be a great spring break trip if the weather is good then. Heck it would be a great trip ANY time of year!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I can totally relate to having your DD look older. Now that Sarah has braces, and is , um, developing a little, she seems way too old now!!! She's not even 11 yet! At least she's not tall too! Although with her parents, that's not likely to ever happen!


London and Paris in March are pretty much supposed to have highs in the 50s. Not as warm as I would like, but it's doable to walk around in. We'll plan for layers and rain gear and hope for the best! It will still be warmer than here for the most part!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Another great update. The beach pictures are fantastic- it was so beautiful there!
Don't beat yourself up about the conch shells. I don't think you could bring it back into the U.S. anyway. I seem to remember from when we went to Aruba in 2008 that we weren't allowed to bring any shells home. Of course, since you smuggled in a coconut, you may as well have smuggled in a conch too!

 

[lovegrumpy]

Loving the pictures. We really are thinking of booking again for Dec 2013. Your pictures are making me want it more. My youngest would love the doing the dolphin excurisne. Did you book that thru disney?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Great pictures of Blue Lagoon! We certainly didn't spend the amount of time there that you did, we walked around a bit after the dolphins, picked up our photos and caught the ferry back. If we go back next summer I think we will stay and spend more time at their beach! Although we might take our own snacks....
Knowing that you have that lunch waiting for you on the Wonder would make it really hard to pay those prices for a burger and fries!

 

[MeMom]

As much as you like the tropical theme, I can't believe you haven't stayed at CBR yet! You have tried so many different resorts now and it just doesn't seem right that you haven't stayed there. I want to see a Memom report from there complete with lots of early morning walking pictures.

Believe me, I have wanted to, but we pretty much have to stay value to be able to go. I actually thought about getting a room for one night at CBR in the middle of the summer trip just to stay there for the one night and let the girls have use of the pool for two days. We love the food court there, too, for getting chicken and vegetables. The downside is not being close to the food court to just run down and get things, which is so easy to do at Pop.

I could still easily do an early morning walk there by just getting a cab, since it is right beside Pop.

 

[jenseib]

Oh I know what I wanted to comment on....the fish extenders. Is that something that most of the cruisers do? If so, how does that work?

Right here is where you can find the link to your cruise dates.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2583392

I'm loving all the updates. Beautiful Blue Lagoon, that many of my pictures were lost from.....
I wondered how much the food was...now I know I won't be eating there ever.
Seeing your pictures does make me rethink about doing that excursion again. It was fun.
I am so sad we didn't get to see a full view of the "woman".
I know there was more I wantred to say...and I can't remember now.