Our final full cruise day was a day on Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. The girls had really been looking forward to this day, so were up early for buffet breakfast before we were allowed to disembark at 8.30am. We had no idea where to go so just followed the crowd and were soon off the ship and on the island.
We immediately met Daisy before walking to the closest family beach to set up in the shade as I react terribly to salt water (it literally causes my skin to fall off so only my feet get to enter the sea!) so needed to attempt to stay cool-ish in the crazy temperatures.
We then walked all the way back up the post office to meet Donald before returning to the beach once again, as you do. They are definitely dedicated to their duck-loving mission!!
The girls were straight in the sea, and had a lovely time playing.
After a while they decided they wanted to snorkel out to see the underwater statues so went off to hire the equipment, and while they were gone I spent an hour reading with my tiptoes in the beautiful, clear ocean. It really is a gorgeous place, and I felt so lucky to be able to be there.
After their swim, the girls were so excited about what they’d seen. They planned to play Indiana Jones on the beach and went into the sea to work out the details, but after a short while Winnie said her skin was really stinging, and even after rinsing her off she was still hurting and getting into a real state. We got some cream from first aid, which helped a little, but made the decision that it was best to head back to the boat.
I know we’d only been on the island a relatively short time, but we always try to do what’s best for everyone on trips, and we didn’t want Winnie uncomfortable.
Steve was keen to run the Castaway Cay 5k so he went and put his running clothes on while the girls and I headed in to shower Winnie off before hitting the pool deck.
It was really quiet so they got to ride the Aquamouse non-stop until Steve got back, at which point we all rode together.
We had some lunch on the deck before watching a bit of The Princess and the Frog on Funnel Vision. However, it was too hot for us so we decided to head inside, pack our things up as we needed to put our cases out that evening, and get ready for tea. We were ready a bit early so the girls attempted the onboard interactive game, but as for their previous tries there was a glitch that stopped them playing. It’s a lovely idea but really didn’t work for us. Instead, we headed for a quick drink in Hyperspace Lounge, which we all wanted to see. The drinks were pretty cool but there were none that we loved. The smoke filled bubbles were pretty impressive though. The other lounges seemed lovely, and often had singers or musicians, although we never got round to visiting them properly. There were also continual games and quizzes going on, so plenty to do.
Our meal in the 1923 restaurant was our favourite. It wasn’t quite as crammed in as the others, and because there was no show, seemed more relaxed, even though we actually ate much quicker.
Following the meal there was a silver sailing soirée in the Great Hall, and free drinks were handed out to toast the crew before a short show featuring the characters. Afterwards they spread out in the lobby for meets, and we got to say an final goodbye to both Donald and Daisy.
It was nearly time for our final theatre show, which was Aladdin, so we headed there. Polly was desperate to do the trivia quiz at 9.30 so we sat on the end of a row to make a quick escape. The show was really good, and the set/ effects were incredible, but the Friend Like Me dance which featured multiple plastic-faced genies was the stuff of nightmares!!
After the show we just made it to the trivia quiz where I came in second (the same group won pretty much every quiz we did). The girls then asked to stay for the next game show type event, which they went head-to-head in, and wanted to stay for another session, but as we had to be up really early we called it a night. We’ve all really enjoyed our time onboard. It is always doing something new when you have anxiety, and in hindsight a longer cruise would have given us longer to settle into a routine and feel at ease, but there was never a dull moment, and if you have a cruise coming up you have so much in store for you.
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 