This was our most anticipated day, and we were not disappointed. This was our favorite day of the entire cruise.
Bryan and I decided to sleep in this morning, and while we were sleeping, we docked at Castaway Cay (pronounced Key), Disney's private island. On our way to breakfast, we got our first look at the island paradise.
It was a gorgeous day, with nice mild temperatures and a light breeze. As soon as we could, we headed off the ship to explore the island and experience some of God's wonderful creation!
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| Mickey was there to greet the guests. |
Before we left for the cruise, we had reserved a 1 hour bike rental and all-day snorkeling gear. We decided to go for the bike ride first. We went to the overlook tower, where you can see the entire island. We then rode down the small air strip to the adults only beach. We looked around a little bit, Bryan went for a quick dip in the ocean, and I rested for a couple of minutes in a hammock before we returned our bikes.
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| Observation Tower |
After biking, we took the plunge at Pelican's Plunge before heading in to eat a quick lunch.
Then, we headed out to snorkel. Snorkeling was a lot more work than we had anticipated. We were swimming against the wind going out, and while we were out the wind shifted to push us sideways coming back in. At first we didn't see much, and we were about to give up. I insisted we go to just one more buoy, and I'm sure glad I did. That is where we found Mickey's boat.
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| All ready to go |
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| The first shipwreck |
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| Filled with a school of fish |
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| More Fish |
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| Mickey's Boat |
We were pretty tired after snorkling, so we decided to take one more trip down Pelican Plunge, followed by a little playing in the water and resting on the beach.
On our way back, I took several pictures of the island and our ship. It was all just so beautiful! We also got to see Chip and Dale riding in wagons back to the ship.
We went to our room to rest a bit. Unfortunately, this was when the only negative of the entire trip happened. Bryan had severe hamstring cramps, probably due to the combination of all the exercise and slight dehydration from not drinking enough water while on the island. His legs finally relaxed after a bit, and he took a nap while I started packing. (We had to have our suitcases outside our room by 10:30 that evening.)
We got ready for our final dinner on the cruise, this time in the Enchanted Garden. This restaurant is set in the gardens of Versailles. As you enjoy your dinner, the lighting changes to simulate the setting sun. It was another delicious meal in a beautiful restaurant.
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Our servers: Romaine from Great Britain (but he is actually French)
and Donovan from Jamaica |
After dinner was our third, final, and best Broadway style show: Disney's Believe. The synopsis in our Personal Navigator describes the show like this: "Genie from Aladdin and many of Disney's most beloved magic makers take a father on a magical journey to show him that anything is possible if you just believe." This show emphasizes the magic of children and how special they are. It also reminded us that they are only small for such a short period of time; we need to cherish each and every magical moment. Needless to say, it made me cry. I was ready to go home and see our girls after this show.
I am truly amazed at the talent the actors on this ship had. They performed in all 3 shows, and did a magnificent job at each and every one.
After the show, we took one last stroll around the deck before letting the ocean rock us to sleep one last time.
We had a very early breakfast the next morning, followed by our disembarkation. We went through customs and boarded a bus to the airport. We had plenty of extra time at the airport, and all our flights were on time and smooth. We were very excited to get to see our girls when we got home.
It has been a MARVELOUS trip, and I'm so very glad we went. It was a magical journey, but we were still glad to be home.
