Day Seven - Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay is different. It is all the good parts of the beach put together in a space where you can do 'lots of stuff' in a day. Of course you can not 'do it all', there are way too many trips and toys to choose from to get close to doing it all.
This trip we chose the packages with the snorkeling, rafts/tubes, and bikes. Me, I mainly relaxed, though I did swim with Sianna some and try out the tubes and rafts. Sianna and Mike started out snorkeling, since we had heard that the earlier the better. Of course the earlier the 'cooler' too. The water was 'crisp' but not unbearable. In fact at a certain point when the breeze started up, the water was warmer than the air when you were wet.
They snorkeled all the way out to find the sunken Mickey (there is also ships and Minnie down there too!). During this time I relaxed on the raft, sunned, got drinks and iced the beer and Long Island Ice Tea in the rolling cooler we brought on shore.
We missed each other a bit, since I was also going to the Island Post Office to mail some post cards from the Bahamas (only .65 cents each) and watched some of the crew with life boat practice. They had to turn a life boat right side up and haul in 'injured passengers'. It was interesting. I also got pictures of all the characters wandering around the island.
Anyway, they got back after exploring one of the kid's swim stands off the beach and when we all finally met up again we headed to lunch. BBQ! And it smelled great. Warning, do not leave your plates unattended. We watched a family near us leave full plates on the table unattended, I guess to get drinks. 1 minute later there were 10 little yellow finches having lunch. It was amazing to watch. They got new plates of food when they returned.
While eating we stopped to enter our family in a crab race. We did not win, but had fun cheering on hermit crab #6. Then Mickey, Pluto & Goofy came over to entertain the group, add in Minnie a few minutes later and they were all doing a Macarena with the crowd. It was fun.
After lunch, Mike relaxed and Sianna and I went to go down the new Pelican Plunge water slide. You have to swim out to it (not a big deal), but then you climb the stairs and wait your turn. Too cold! I went back in the water and tread water until Sianna came down. After that I dropped her off at the Caribbean Party at the Kid's Club Area, Scuttles Cove.
Mike took his pass and went to go do his 1 hour bike ride. The rental is only an hour for the bike, but unlimited on the rafts and tubes (which you can trade back and forth as you so desire through the day). According to him, it took an hour of steady riding to get to the lookout and back, and had Sianna been with him, they would have never made it!
During this time I drank, relaxed, picked up our lounger area, returned the snorkeling gear and the tubes and towels. I was a bit concerned about not getting back to Sianna before the kid's area closed. But I learned from a counselor that parents 'forget the kids' all the time on the Island, and that the counselors get them onboard and back into the kid's club on the ship. Nice of the Cast Members not to leave the kids alone on the Island for a few days. Can you imagine? However, if they wanted to leave me, I would be perfectly fine! I hear some of the food is stored there, the cabanas are nice, and I could get some real quiet time until the Wonder comes in a few days!
Back to reality. We picked up Sianna, who did not want to leave her friend Lauren. Lauren is from Vegas, so the chance of them getting together soon after the cruise considering we are in Virginia, is pretty slim. But they had a great time on the ship together and exchanged emails to stay in contact.
Got the kid, got the husband, back on the ship. Did I mention the snow? Yep, they had snow. Ok, it was 70 some degrees, so it wasn't real. But the kids loved the snow maker they had set up beside the big tree and sled that was on the dock next to the ship. In fact when you got off the ship, they had hot coffee and chocolate they were handing out to guests.
That night was our last night onboard. Very sad time. Lots of packing (bags have to be out the stateroom door between 8:30 and 10:30. Which means pack them before dinner and set them out as soon as you get back. Squish in that time period a LONG line in Shutters to get your pictures, return kid wrist bands and pagers to the Kid's Club, last supper, a good bye party in the atrium, and a Cast Member skit about what they would do if they weren't at sea (for adults only); and you have a full evening.
When we collapsed in bed at 11:30 we just wanted our last cookies and milk room service, so I called them when we got to the room. And we waited. And waited. And started falling asleep, so at 12:15 called to say "if it is not on the way, cancel it, we are going to bed". The lady checked, "on its way". She called back 10 minutes later. OOPS.. It was delivered to another room. "Did we still want it?" Of course "No" was the answer and we went to bed.
It was a disappointing way to end the cruise.
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