{"id":1345,"date":"2016-10-07T09:56:25","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T13:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/?p=1345"},"modified":"2019-01-08T18:25:03","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T23:25:03","slug":"spring-break-2016-cruise-part-7-castaway-cay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/spring-break-2016-cruise-part-7-castaway-cay\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Break 2016 Cruise – Part 7 – Castaway Cay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Castaway<\/a>
Castaway Cay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Day 5 of our cruise was Castaway Cay, which is one of our favorite stops.  Imagine if Disney had taken an entire Caribbean Island and turned it into a water park.  That’s basically how I describe Castaway Cay to people.  We aren’t beach people, but we love this port stop more than any others.  As usual, Nancy had signed up for the Castaway Cay 5K, so she got off the ship before the girls and I did.  She had her cabana wrist band, so she could meet us there once she was done.<\/p>\n

We took our bag for the day (complete with Nancy’s change of clothes for after the race) and headed off the ship.  Normally, we would have grabbed towels at the end of the gangway, but we knew there would be plenty of towels in the cabana.<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

\"Bahamian<\/a>
Bahamian Inspection Station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking Back at The Wonder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Port<\/a>
Port Excursion Shack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our first stop was 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.  We got on the first available tram and headed to the last family beach stop, known as Pelican Point Tram Stop.<\/p>\n

\"Tram<\/a>
Tram Stop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cabana check-in shack is located right next to the last tram stop.  We let them know we had Cabana 19 for the day.  They checked our names and loaded us into a golf cart.  The driver took us onto another road and drove us down to our cabana.  Cabana 19 is at the very end of the family beach, with only the large Family Cabana #20 past it on the end.<\/p>\n

We had rented Cabana 6 on a prior cruise<\/a>.  It was interesting to compare the locations of the two different cabanas we’d experienced.  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 was 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 Cabana 19 than we had 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 is narrow and the lagoon is not as wide or deep as other parts of the beach.<\/p>\n

\"Back<\/a>
Back of Cabana 19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Entrance<\/a>
Entrance Way<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Outside<\/a>
Outside of Cabana 19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can see from the pictures below, the Cabana rental comes with a few things.  The first is a cabana host.  They will take you via the 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.  There are snacks (chips and granola bars), fresh fruits, sodas and water.  I’ve heard you can request certain sodas beforehand, but we’ve never done that.  There is also sunscreen (spray and lotion) included with the cabana.  You have a large number of chairs, a hammock, and beach chairs\/loungers.  The cabanas also have sand toys you can use, as well as a huge number of rafts and floats.  Cabana guests also have use of snorkel equipment for the day.<\/p>\n

We decided this 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.<\/p>\n

I’ve included a video of the cabana as well.  I’m really sorry I took the video in portrait mode.  Big fail on my part.<\/p>\n