Castaway Cay

Disney Cruise

Disney Cruise Line’s private island, Castaway Cay, is a small slice of paradise in the Caribbean!  On this slice of paradise, Disney added a private getaway where you can escape the crowds of people that you’ve been traveling with on your cruise ship.  These private getaways are called Cabanas and they are small cabins placed on a private sections of the family beach and the adult beach.  There are twenty regular and one large sized Cabanas on the family beach.  These are also six cabanas on the adult beach. read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!
Disney Cruise

Our friend, Sarah Coggins, recently went on the Disney Wish in January for a 4-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral.  She sent us a picture of her stateroom.  Stateroom 8616 is a category 5B – Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah that sleep 4.  It is located on Deck 8, immediately in front of the rear elevators on the Starboard (right)  side of the ship. Follow Sarah Coggins on twitter or check out her awesome blog.  read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!
Disney Cruise

Entrance Sign
Entrance Sign

Our friends Doug (from Rope Drop Radio) and Michelle McKnight (our favorite travel agent) went on the Disney Dream in August 20 2021, for a 3-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral.  They managed to grab Cabana 21 on Castaway Cay and were kind enough to send us pictures!  You can read our write up of making cabana reservation, amenities, and pictures of some other cabanas!

More about Doug and Michelle…

You can subscribe to Rope Drop Radio via iTunes.  Derek and Doug are two dads who love Disney.  Their goal is help you navigate all things Disney from the parks to the cruise. They want to share tips and tricks, travel plans, and must see’s to help you have an amazing Disney trip!  Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter as well!

We have really enjoyed having Michelle (affiliated with Touring Plans Travel Agency) as our travel agent.  It costs nothing to use her services because Disney pays her after we cruise.  She was the one that got up at the crack of dawn to book reservations on our booking dates, to make requested updates to our room and dining preferences.  We have booked a total of eight cruises with her, as well as recommending her to our friends!  Contact her to see if she can help you with your vacation plans. (Note: Michelle does not sponsor Back To The Mouse, we are just satisfied customers).

If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!
 
read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!

Disney Cruise

 
Wes Sauer of the DCL Dude Podcast, recently went on a 3-Night Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Dream.  He originally posted this on his Facebook page, but was kind enough to let us repost it here!   Wes and his wife are also Disney travel agents who specialize in Disney cruises. If you’d like a free, no obligation quote, send Wes an email at wes@mickeyworldtravel.com.
 

You can listen to his trip report here:
 

It’s no secret to those who have been listening to my show for a long time that Castaway Cay is one of my favorite places in the whole world. It is perfect and I cherish every minute I get to spend on the island. And that includes taking in the sites as we approach and dock at the pier. I was up early (once again to my wife’s dismay) and was out on the verandah waiting for Captain Andy to flip the ship around so I could have a view of the island. Even though we were in a cabin at the very aft of the ship, we were still technically on the starboard side, so we didn’t have a good look at the island until the ship was docking. There’s no better view of the island than from these 5E verandahs.
 
In keeping with the theme of first time experiences, I had signed up for the Castaway Cay 5K at the Port Adventures desk the day before. They gave me a waiver form and instructed me to meet at the bike rental shack on the island at 8:50. On a side note, you can now sign up for the Castaway Cay 5K online or through the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app prior to your cruise, which I learned not too long before we set sail.

 

We packed our day bags and headed up to Cabanas for a quick breakfast and were ready to debark the ship at the all ashore time, which was about 8:30. It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect.
 

 

 

We elected to walk over to the 5K registration spot so that we could visit one of our favorite merchandise shops along the way, She Sells Sea Shells and Everything Else. I should mention that, for some time now, I have been in relentless pursuit of “the perfect DCL souvenir”. There is something that I need and can’t live without. The problem is, I don’t know exactly what it is, and I won’t know what it is until I see it. It has been an exhaustive search thus far, and sadly, I still have not found it. The search continues!
 
I did, however, find that the Merrytime merchandise had extended onto the island.

 
After glancing around the shop, I proceeded to the 5K registration while my wife continued to browse. The registration is very quick and the crowd was smaller than I had expected.
 

After registration was complete, a cast member walked us out to the starting line and went over the rules and the race route. Side note: I found out after we had returned that the route we ran was a new route for the Castaway Cay 5K. As I had not run before, I had no idea it was different and never thought to take a picture of the map with the new route. Sorry, Scott.

 

The run now starts at the beginning of the air strip, turns right and does the Observation Tower loop, then right again on the air strip toward Serenity Bay, all the way down the path past the Serenity Bay cabanas, then straight back down the air strip and ending back at the bike rentals.
 

The run was HOT. Very different than my training runs in the frozen tundra of the Northeast. Once again, working out on vacation is not high on my priority list, so this may have been my only experience with the 5K. I did it for the medal (and because I needed to do a training run). By this time, I was ready to relax.
 

 
The plan for the day was Serenity Bay. When you first walk on the beach, you first notice how beautiful it is, but then you notice how quiet it is. We found a spot down the beach beyond the lifeguard chair and set up for the day. It was sooooo relaxing and we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

 

It was approaching lunchtime and I was starving. We planned to eat at the Serenity Bay BBQ until we got to the front of the line and both realized we were craving the spicy chicken sandwich, which was not on the menu at Serenity Bay.
 

So we took the tram back over to the other side of the island, visited the Buy the Seashore merchandise shop, and made our way over to Cookie’s BBQ. We were both very happy with our decision. Afterward, we grabbed two chocolate chip cookies for some ice cream cookie sandwiches. YUM!

 

 

On the way back to Serenity Bay, we stopped at Summertime Freeze for what we have always described as our favorite smoothie – the Ice Palace. HOWEVER, this is the second time since our original purchase that we did not enjoy our smoothies. They were made fresh the first time we bought one, and ever since then they’ve been pre-made and poured out of those slushy machines. We probably won’t visit again unless they start making them fresh again. We were left very disappointed.
 
We spent another hour or two on Serenity Bay. We met a nice couple from the Orlando area who both worked at Walt Disney World. It was fun talking with them and asking them questions about their jobs. I have to admit, I was a little bit jealous.
 
It was about 3:00 and we decided to make our way back to the ship, but not before stopping for a couple photo ops along the way.

 

 

Once back onboard, we spent the remainder of the time we were docked at the island out on our verandah enjoying the view. We stayed out there until you could barely see the island on the horizon. Until next time, Castaway Cay.

 

Our final dinner was in Enchanted Garden with my absolute favorite menu across the fleet. I ordered the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower, the Heirloom Tomato Soup, and the Caramelized Sea Scallops. I asked our waiter, Sebastian, if he would put a couple extra scallops on the plate for me, and he happily obliged. Alyssa, who is not a very adventurous eater, had the Spinach and Raspberry Salad, the Heirloom Tomato Soup, and the Marjoram Scented Roast Chicken. Every one of the courses was excellent and I would say the kitchen knocked it out of the park on this cruise. Every meal we had was fantastic!
 
I have heard people say before that the quality and cleanliness that you experience on the Dream is consistently the best of the four ships in the fleet, and after two great experiences in the last two years, I might have to agree.
 
We opted to skip Disney’s Believe so we could finish packing. When we returned to the stateroom, our character luggage tags were on the bed and I was happy to see that it was Mickey. Even though we weren’t planning to use the service, for some silly reason I have always wanted to be in the Red Mickey group. We also had a voicemail on our phone saying we had not yet requested our Platinum Castaway Club gift. The remaining options were a bottle of wine or a set of chocolate truffles (the fruit plate was not available anymore). We said we did not want either and they offered chocolate covered strawberries instead, to which we said YES PLEASE!!

 
 

We put Believe on the stateroom tv, but were disappointed that it was a recording from a performance on the Disney Fantasy and not a live feed of the ongoing performance. We finished packing and spent the rest of the evening out on the verandah enjoying the starry sky and the sound of the ocean – a great way to wrap up a great cruise.
 
In the morning we would be heading to Walt Disney World.
 

Full Trip Report – Boarding | Nassau | Castaway Cay

The DCL Dude Podcast is a show dedicated to all things Disney Cruise Line! They talk recent DCL news, share travel tips, interview guests, go over the best and worst (ok, mostly best) that DCL has to offer, share trip reports, and hopefully interact with their listeners!

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.   Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter (@theDCLdude) as well!

If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!
 
read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!

Disney Cruise

Castaway Cay Day
Castaway Cay Day

Today was Castaway Cay day, one of our favorite stops!  We had a lot of plans for the day and were eager to get started.  Nancy and our friends were going to run the Castaway Cay 5K and then head to one of the cabanas on Serenity Bay Beach, the adults only beach.  My older daughter was planning to spend the day with her new friends from Vibe.  My younger daughter and I were going to head to the family beach and then meet our friends for a jet ski excursion late in the day.

Nancy was up and out of the room early to get some food at Cabanas.  We were a bit slower to get out, but eventually ended up in Cabanas as well for breakfast.   It seemed to me that the ship was a bit late getting to Castaway Cay.  Before the ship docked, I received this unfortunate message on the DCL App.  We didn’t notice anything bad about the wind or ocean conditions, so we were pretty bummed to miss the jet ski excursion.

Meanwhile, Nancy and our friend met up in the Walt Disney Theater for the Castaway Cay 5K.  They were given their race bibs and eventually led off the ship to the race starting line.

The participants are led from the ship, on foot, all the way to the start line.  The start line is located down near Cookies Too. 

Once the race started, Nancy and our friends decided to just walk over to the adult beach and not finish the race.  It was pretty hot.  The path to the other beach took them down the runway on the island.

Here is what the water looked like at the adult beach.  I would have stopped running and just flopped into the ocean.

There are tons of chairs and umbrellas at the adult beach.

After checking out the beach, they headed back to find the cabanas they had rented for the day.  Unlike the family cabanas, there is no separate section of the beach for cabanas guests.  The cabanas are set back off the beach.

They were located in Cabana 23.

The cabana was very similar to the cabanas on the family beach.  We have discussed the cabanas in a previous post.

It has all the amenities of the family cabana, including sun screen and fruit tray.

The fridge was stocked with sodas and waters.

There is a safe and the cabanas has plenty of towels.

There is a lot of seating (more than three adults could actually use at one time).

There is a hammock as well.  Near the hammock is the fresh water shower and a stack of floats for use by the cabanas guests.

Here is the view of the beach from the adult cabana.

Meanwhile, back at the family beach, my younger daughter and I rented a float and grabbed some chairs at the far end of the family beach.  We usually setup down here because of its proximity to the bathrooms and Cookies Too.  The beach also doesn’t tend to be too crowded down here because it isn’t as wide.  There are only two or three rows of chairs in this section.

My younger daughter and I spent most of the day down here until about 2 pm or so.  We alternated between resting in the chairs and using the float in the water.  The water temperature was fantastic.  We took a break for a bit to grab some lunch as well.  Around 2 pm, we decided to head over to the rental area to grab an Aqua Trike since we didn’t get to do jet skis.

We got our Aqua Trike and headed out towards the Fantasy.

We had a GoPro with us, so we were determined to get as close to the Fantasy as we could for some good pictures.  Despite both of us paddling away, it was taking a long time.  I had forgotten how much work the Aqua Trike actually was.

We eventually did get pretty close, although go pro makes it seem like we were farther away though.

As we turned around, we noticed that we were racing a storm back to the beach.

Nancy happened to be headed back to the ship as that time, so she managed to catch a picture of us while we were headed back in.  It took us a while to get back to the shore though, that Aqua Trike is quite the workout.

We dropped off our life vests and started walking back towards the ship.  We got in touch with our older daughter to make sure she was headed back to the ship.  She was almost there as well, so we waited around until she was there. 

Before we got back on the ship, I made sure to get a picture of the outside of our room.  Our room is the one circled in red below.  I actually really liked my friends’ room (8165) that was one deck above us.  It was also an obstructed view verandah, but the obstruction was much smaller.

We got on board to begin cleaning up.  As always, Nancy watched the sail away from Castaway Cay to see the “wave goodbye” that the crew members on the island give the ship as it leaves.

The kids went off to find their friends while Nancy finished up the packing.  While we didn’t plan on putting our suitcases out by 10 pm, she still wanted to get everything done before dinner.  We planned to take advantage of Express Walk-Off to leave the ship with our suitcases in the morning as soon as the ship cleared so we could start driving back home.  We had found the debarkation procedure letter on our bed when we got back on the ship after our day on Castaway Cay. 

Dinner tonight was the Til We Meet Again Menu in Animator’s Palate.

After dinner, the kids went off for one last night in the clubs.  We headed back to the room exhausted after being in the sun all day at Castaway Cay. 

Tomorrow we would disembark the ship and start the long drive home!

Boarding | Exploring | Sea Day 1 | Sea Day 2 | St. Maarten | St. Thomas | Sea Day 3 | Castaway Cay | Disembarkation

If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints as well as our cruise trip reports! read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!

Disney Cruise

Disney Cruise Line’s private island, Castaway Cay, is a small slice of paradise in the Caribbean!  On this slice of paradise, Disney added a private getaway where you can escape the crowds of people that you’ve been traveling with on your cruise ship.  These private getaways are called Cabanas and they are small cabins placed on a private sections of the family beach and the adult beach.  There are twenty regular and one large sized Cabanas on the family beach.  We will only be talking about the Cabanas on the family beach as we have never experienced the ones on the adult beach.

Reservation

The Cabanas are available via Disney Cruise Line’s reservation system.  That means Concierge guests get the first opportunity to book them at 125 days from sailing.  The next group will be the Platinum level Castaway Club cruisers at 120 days, followed by Gold members at 105, then Silver members at 90.  If there are any left at that point, first time passengers can reserve them at 75 days from sailing. 

We have heard many tales about all the Cabanas being rented by Concierge members and it being a miracle for Platinum members to get them, with little to no hope for Gold or Silver castaway club members to receive them.  I’m here to tell you that isn’t true.  We have sailed a total of eleven times and have reserved four Cabanas, once as a Silver Castaway Club member, twice as Gold members and once as Platinum.  One of the eleven cruises was to Alaska, so reserving a Cabana wasn’t a possibility.  So, we’ve had an almost 50% success rate of reserving a Cabana.  Our secret is to stay up until midnight of our booking date and attempt to grab one right away.  The other technique is to keep checking back multiple times if you aren’t able to get one.

Amenities

The Cabanas at Castaway Cay are open air cabins that are available to rent during the hours of 9 AM to 5 PM.  The Cabanas have a private beach that only Cabana guests can access.  They also come with unlimited drinks and snacks;  the use of snorkel equipment, floats, bike rentals, and beach toys; and a supply of sunscreen.  All this, including the first six guests, can be yours for the low price of $599 (or higher during certain parts of the year).  Yes, I know that is expensive, if not outrageous.  However, it tends to be the only excursion we do on some of our cruises.   The adult cabanas include the first four guests and are less expensive at $399.

In addition to the amenities described above, the Cabana rental provides you with other services.  The first is a Cabana host.  They will transport you via a golf cart around the island (mainly to get lunch or to a tram stop).  There are a ton of towels in the Cabana for your party to use that day, including cold washcloths in the mini-fridge for you to use when you want to cool off.  The snacks include chips and granola bars, fresh fruits, sodas, and water.  I’ve heard you can request certain sodas beforehand, but we’ve never done that.  The supply of sunscreen includes spray and lotion, and you can take it with you when you leave for the day.  The Cabanas also have sand toys you can use, as well as a huge number of rafts and floats.  Cabana guests can take advantage of one hour bicycle rental and also have use of snorkel equipment for the day.

We decided one time to use the snorkel equipment (the girls and I), since we figured it would be a safe learning environment for us.  Well, I don’t have any pictures of the experience.  My youngest daughter and I didn’t like snorkeling at all.  We either weren’t doing it correctly, or just don’t like it.  She couldn’t get her mask on quite right and I spent a lot of time helping her with it, while sucking in way too much water.  We tried it, but probably won’t repeat it.

The Cabanas are enclosed on three sides and open to the beach and water on the fourth side.  Each Cabana includes a loveseat and cushioned chairs which are inside in the shade; a ceiling fan keeps the area cool even in the heat of the summer.  There are also cushioned lounge chairs on the Cabana deck overlooking the beach, and each Cabana has its own hammock, sun umbrella, and several beach/lounge chairs on the beach.  The Cabana is outfitted with tissues, a safe for valuables ,and power outlets.  There are travel magazines in protective covers if you forgot your own reading material.  Finally, each Cabana includes a curtained changing area and outdoor showers (which include a foot washing faucet).  These feature made it very convenient when running the Castaway Cay 5K so we could change from running clothes into our bathing suits!

Usage

For two of our four Cabana rentals, we have had a Cabana setup waiting in our stateroom the night before before Castaway Cay day.  This included a letter telling us all the benefits of the Cabana rental as well as a paper model of the Cabana.  The wristbands we would use that indicated we were Cabana guests were included in an envelope.  The last Cabana we rented while on a Dream cruise just included the wrist bands.
 

Getting to the Cabana

The first thing you will encounter when leaving the ship is the Bahamian Inspection Station (I think that’s what its called).  I believe they want to make sure you aren’t bringing alcohol onto the island and they check your ID when you get back onto the ship.  I don’t quite understand it, since the 99% of the people on the island are the people that just got off the boat (there are only a handful of people that stay on the island overnight).

Once you clear the inspection station, you will see a post office (yes you can mail items back to the US) and the excursion shack (known as Marge’s Barges and Sea Charters Dock).  You can check in here if you have boat related excursions.

The first stop is the tram stop.  Yes, Disney runs a tram just like at the theme parks.  There are three tram stops for the family beaches.  You can also get a tram to the adult beach, but you have to transfer at the last family beach stop.  To get to the cabanas, you will want to head to the last family beach stop, known as Pelican Point Tram Stop.

Checking In

The Cabana check-in shack is located right next to the last tram stop, Pelican Point.  Simply tell the staff which Cabana you have, and show them your wrist bands.  They will check your names against the list.  They have always offered to drive us in a golf cart down to whichever Cabana we had for the day. 

Locations

We have had Cabanas 6, 19, 20 and 23.  Cabana 6 is close to the regular family beach, near the rope barrier that separates the family beach from the reserved beach that is limited to Cabana guests.  Cabana 19 and 20 are farther from the family beach.  However, the lower number Cabanas (which I believe are the original Cabanas) are spaced farther apart than the higher number Cabanas.  We felt like we were much more on top of our neighbors in Cabanas 19 and 20 than we were in Cabana 6, especially when we were sitting in the hammock or beach chairs.   The other big difference between these Cabanas is the beach experience; the beach near Cabana 19 and 20 is narrow and the lagoon is not as wide or deep as other parts of the beach.  Cabana 23 is located on the adult beach.

Pictures of all the cabanas we’ve rented are included below.  We have also included pictures of Cabana 21, which is the grand family Cabana.  While the regular Cabanas can accommodate up to 10 people (6 are included with the rental price), Cabana 21 can hold up to 16 guests.

Cabana 6

 

Cabana 19

 

read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!

Disney Cruise

Day 4 - Castaway Cay
Day 4 – Castaway Cay

Today was Day 4 of the cruise, which meant it was time for a stop at Disney’s private island of Castaway Cay.

 

We had not planned any excursions for the island.  Other than Nancy doing the Castaway Cay 5K race, we just planned on enjoying the beach for the day.  Nancy got up early to get some breakfast, then headed to the meet up for the race. 

 

The race participants are led off the ship in a large group.  They had to walk to the starting point, which is down by Flipper and Floats at Pelican Point.
 

Along the way, Nancy passed by the equipment rental area.
 

Nancy took a few photos during the race.  The 5K starting point is near the bike rental location, and takes runners/walkers the length of the old airplay runway and bike path loop (2x) before heading back toward the starting point. 

 

While Nancy was busy exercising, the girls and I got ready.  We always have to put on a lot of sunscreen for Castaway Cay because the sun is quite strong in the Bahamas and it’s easy to get burned if you’re not careful — we’ve gotten sun burns before when we visited.  Once we were ready, we stopped by Cabanas to grab a quick bite while we waited for guests to be allowed ashore.  Once we heard the announcement, we made our way downstairs and out onto the island.  We grabbed some towels at the end of the gangway.  We decided to get some water and a cooler as well since it was a bit hot. 

We walked down to the Pelican Point area (the second tram stop) and headed to the far end of the family beach.  Nancy was going to meet us there so we grabbed some chairs to wait for her to finish the race.  Our oldest daughter headed off to hang out with her friends from the Vibe as she usually does.  Our younger daughter went over to Pelican Plunge for a while.

 

We rented a float and spent the morning enjoying the sun and water.  I went to the restroom and walked by Cookie’s Too BBQ, one of the two dining locations on the family beach.  There are four different serving lines that can be used when lunch is served.

There is a large beverage station with four different soda dispensers.  On the other side of the soda dispensers are the soft serve ice cream machines.

 

After we had lunch, Nancy wanted to head over to the Heads’ Up bar, which is located at Pelican Point.  Scott Sanders of Disney Cruise Line Blog had talked about a drink that is served there that she wanted to try, the Pelican Mule.  Nancy thought it was pretty tasty.

Around 3 pm, we were pretty much done with the beach, so we decided to start making our way to the ship.  Our trip back takes some time because it involves looking at EVERYTHING on the way to the ship, including all the shops and other attractions.  It also involves stopping for ice cream as well.  Our first stop was the Spring A Leak splash pad for little ones.  We had never actually looked inside since our kids were older by the time we started cruising.
 
 

Our next stop was the combination of Monstro Point and Scuttle’s Cove Activity Center.

 

Monstro Point is a giant dig site that has a giant buried whale skeleton.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get a picture of it.  It was a giant sand pit.  I don’t imagine I would be very happy to sit here for an extended period of time while my kids dug in the sand, since there is not a lot of shade.  Luckily, we are past those years.

 Scuttle’s Cove is the kids club on the island that takes the the place of the Oceaneer’s Lab and Club.  There are lots of activities that take place in this space, all under the supervision of the counselor staff.  Plenty of shaded areas are provided as well.  Parents can check their kids into Scuttle’s Cove and go on to enjoy the adult beach if they would like.  I don’t have a lot more details because our kids have never been in this area.  When they were young enough to go here, they wanted to stay with us for the day.

After checking out the kids area, we continued back to the ship.  We always take a long time to get back to the ship because we spend so much time stopping and taking pictures.
 

As we approached the ship, we coordinated with our older daughter to make sure she was headed back to the ship as well.  We don’t get back onto the ship (both adults) until everyone is ready to get back on board.  Just a safety thing for our family even if we aren’t all together during the day.

Since everyone got back on at the same time, there was some congestion for the shower.  I decided to head up to get some soda from Deck 9.  While up there, I went up to Deck 10 to take a few pictures.

 On the way back to the room, I was greeted with this sight.  I’m not sure exactly what was going on, but it looked like a take over of the elevator.

I also meant to mention earlier that I activated TravelPass while I was on the island.  TravelPass is an option you can get on your Verizon Wireless account with no sign up fee.  When you are in another country, you can connect your phone to the local carrier and you will get charged $10 a day (per device).  You will get 1/2 GB of high speed data.  I wanted to test this functionality before we tried it on a future trip to Europe.  When we arrived at Castaway Cay, I turned off airplane mode and it connected right to the local cell carrier.  I received a text letting me know I just spent $10.

 

For the rest of the day, I was able to use my cell phone without any issues.  Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off podcast downloads as well as app updates, so my data got used up before the end of the day.  I received this text to let me know that my high speed data allowance was done.  I did get a little data after that, but it was REALLY slow.  If I had been more careful, I could have easily have spent the entire day using data, including for navigation. 
 

After cleaning up, Nancy and I headed to Deck four to watch the Wave Goodbye as we left Castaway Cay.  It is one of Nancy’s favorite things about cruising to Castaway Cay.
 

One of the things that excited us about this cruise was that Castaway Cay wasn’t the last night of the cruise.  Usually we have to return to the ship and start packing up, which kind of puts a damper on the Castaway Cay fun.  Since we had another night, Nancy and I decided to check out some of the entertainment on the ship.  The first one was the Latin music band.  We had watched them in another venue earlier in the week.
 

After the Latin band finished, we headed up to the adult area to catch the acoustic band from Rapunzel’s Royal Table, this time without their costumes.  They were really good.  Tonight was the Pirates in the Caribbean show at the main pool area, but we missed it.  We did get to see the fireworks from the adult area though.

 

Tonight’s dinner for us was in Lumiere’s with the traditional Pirate’s Night menu.  While the dinner was good, everyone was pretty tired after a long day in the sun.  The kids did manage to head off to their clubs, but Nancy and I barely made it back to the room.
 

Tomorrow would be a sea day as well as the last full day of the cruise.
Planning | Travel | Boarding | Key West | Nassau | Castaway Cay | Sea Day | Disembarkation
 

If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!

read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!

Disney Cruise

 

Today was our last full day on the cruise and we were going to spend it at Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s private island in the Bahamas.  Nancy had signed up for the Castaway Cay 5K, so she was up early and off to the buffet to get some breakfast before the race.  She got some pictures of the island as the Magic was pulling in and watched them unload some supplies onto the island as well.

Since she was doing the 5K, she was one of the first passengers off the ship.  She was the first in our group to see all the Christmas decorations on Castaway Cay.

The runners for the 5K met in the D Lounge, then made their way to the starting line, which is near the end of the Family Beach.  On the way to the starting line, Nancy got a picture of Mount Rustmore.

The route for the 5K takes you onto the runway that is on the island, over to the bike loop, down to the adult beach and back, through the bike loop once more, and then back to the starting line.

While Nancy was off doing the hard work, the girls and I headed over to Marge’s Barges for our Parasailing excursion.  My older daughter and I went parasailing last year during our Star Wars Day At Sea Cruise.  My younger daughter had decided she wanted to do it as well, so the three of us checked in to get ready.  Our group was called and we headed to the small speedboat.  There were a total of eight of us on our boat.  The boat headed out past the Magic and into the open water.

The first group to go up was a brother and sister.  They went up in tandem with one behind the other. 

Once it was our turn, the three of us headed to the back of the boat to hook up.  We were hooked up side by side, with me in the center.  Once we were all ready, we were told to sit down.  They released the chute and we rose into the sky.

 The girls settled in and really enjoyed the flight.  You could see the other parasailing boat as well.

We were up high enough to be able to see completely over Castaway Cay.  Not very much of the island is actually developed.

We were also able to get some great pictures of the Magic.

Soon, our flight was coming to an end and we started descending back down towards the water. 

Someone else on the boat got a great picture of us as we were headed down towards the boat.

Once we landed on the boat, we got unhooked and back into our seats while the last family took their turn.  The boat was soon headed back to the pier and our excursion was over.  Parasailing at Castaway Cay is really fun and easy to do.  My younger daughter was glad she was able to do it. 

Once we got off the parasailing boat, our younger daughter and I headed over to the family beach to meet up with Nancy.  Our older daughter spent the rest of the day hanging out with her new friends from the Vibe.  Meanwhile, we relocated next to Gil’s Fins and Boats.  This is on a small point that separates the Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure from the snorkeling lagoon.  The point doesn’t have an entrance to the water on it, but it does have lounger chairs and hammocks.  We camped out there and just relaxed in the sun.

The weather wasn’t super warm, so we didn’t miss not getting in the water.  We each had a hammock and spent the time napping, looking at the water, and talking.

We had a great view of the stingrays as well.

The snorkeling lagoon was right next door as was the family beach.

We took turns going to get lunch.  We went to Cookies since it was closer to us this time.   Eventually, it was time to head back towards the ship.  The family beach had started to empty out at this point.

We decided to take our time getting back to the boat, so we went through the equipment rental area.   Here are the current rates for all the equipment rentals.

Here are the Sea Kayaks and Paddle boats:

The aqua trikes are pretty cool looking.  We rented them on a previous trip to Castaway Cay.  I remember having a great time on them, but they are a bit tiring to pedal.  I think its mainly because I was the only one doing the work while my passenger just got a free ride.

 There are a couple of Hobie Cat sailboats you can rent as well.

We continued our walk back towards the ship, stopping occasionally to snap a few photos.

We saw an old friend as we arrived back at the ship, so we had to get a picture with him.

We cleaned up and the girls went off to the clubs.  Nancy and I headed to deck 4 to watch the ship pull away from Castaway Cay.  Castaway Cay is always a great day, but it also usually means its the last night on the ship.  Nancy went back to the room to start to pack a bit before dinner. 

Dinner tonight was back at Cariocas!  It was the “Till We Meet Again” menu.  I like the appetizers on this menu, but don’t care too much for the entrees.   This was the first time we ordered the Porcini Sacchetti.  I don’t usually care for mushrooms, but this was similar to the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes.  I also made sure to get an order of the chicken satay, which is always delicious. 

For soups and salad, we ordered the White Cheddar and Broccolini Soup and the Crisp Romaine Wedge Salad.  The soup wasn’t very exciting but the salad was good.

For entrees, we selected the Roasted Filet of Beef Wellington, the Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb, and the Grilled Garlic-Marinated Shrimp.  I had ordered the Wellington, but not caring for mushrooms results in me stripping off the outside.  The meal itself was fine.  The Lamb, which I tried some of, was actually really good.  My younger daughter reported the Shrimp was good, but she didn’t really eat the pasta that came with it.

For dessert, we selected the Chocolate Decadence, the sugar free Cappuccino Mousse, and the Creme Brulee Cheesecake.  The Chocolate Decadence and the Cheesecake were great.  The Mousse was bland.  I took a small bite and left the rest.  I should have gone for the cheesecake!

The kids went off to their clubs.  They both stayed out super late because they were hanging out with their new friends.  Since this was the last night of the cruise, Nancy packed the room as much as she could.  We found our cabin steward and let him know that we wouldn’t be putting our suitcases out, we would instead carry them off the ship through express walk off.

Tomorrow was going to be the saddest day, disembarkation day.  We weren’t too down about it, because we had a few more days left at Walt Disney World, including New Years’ Eve!

Full Trip Report:  Planning | Travel  | Boarding | Day At Sea | Cozumel | Day At Sea | Castaway Cay | Disembarkation 

If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports! read more

* Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Email!