Castaway Cay – Bless Your Heart

Today is Castaway Cay day!!!

Today’s forecast was beautiful and we were on Disney’s private island so what could be better?!?

We had a surprise excursion booked for 9 am on the island so we woke up early and ate breakfast at Cabanas buffet. Then we debarked and took the tram to the stingray hut. Today we’re feeding and swimming with stingrays! This was another birthday surprise for MIL as she’s never interacted with stingrays before!

First we had a short briefing about stingrays (Disney stingrays have their barbs trimmed). Then we all split up into groups of about 10 each and went into the water. There were these floating platforms with a trainer in the middle of each one. We stood on the other side of the platform and the trainer gave us food (shrimp or a gelatinous vitamin blob). We were instructed to then place our hands (with the food) on the Mickey ears on the platform and the stingrays would come and take the food from us. This is the stingray named Kelly.

We were able to feed 3 times (Kelly came for seconds), then we had about 45 minutes to swim & snorkel with the rays in the lagoon. CSP had never snorkeled before but he got the hang of it quickly!

I had my phone in a waterproof case around my neck but I couldn’t get it to take pictures underwater. My snorkel mask kept fogging up etc. Whomp whomp.

After our snorkel time was up we grabbed our stuff and made our way toward the Family Beach area. On the way we saw Mickey!

Mickey and Pluto rode off in their spiffy beach cruiser!

Toward the entrance of the family beach is a gift shop and some drink kiosks.

MIL met someone else from Minnesota (CSP & his parents are originally from MN) in the gift shop so she was in there a while! We stopped and bought a 6 pack of water then went to find some chairs and umbrella shade.

LOOK at what a beautiful day it was!!!

As you can see we’re in the 3rd or 4th row from the water. That’s what happens when you have an excursion first thing in the morning instead of joining the throng of people racing to snag chairs on the beach. But it was perfect for us! We relaxed and read until we got hungry for lunch. Lunch was served at Cookies 2 BBQ on the island. There’s a giant pavilion that was just steps away from our beach chairs.

After lunch we relaxed a bit more then CSP and I decided to go back to the ship to nap. The sun and water can really wipe you out!

We took the tram back and got some good shots of the ship and island.

One of the magic pictures on the Fantasy. When you stand in front of it, it comes to life and there’s animation.

When we got back to our room we had our luggage tags. You attach them to your luggage and then when you disembark you go to the Minnie section to find your luggage. V organized. I filled the tags out for all of us then CSP & I took a nap. We woke up and by now MIL was back with us so we packed up all of our stuff. SO SAD!!! It’s the saddest activity!!! Then we showered and got ready for our last dinner of the cruise.

Tonight’s dinner was back in Animator’s Palate.

We were given the opportunity to draw characters that they animated and displayed on the nearby screens.

I drew the 2nd guy from the left and the last guy on the right. CSP always gets me to draw his.

Sher-Ann (our server) with our new friends Gabby & baby Jamie

How did I not notice the lights in the floor until tonight?!?

After dinner we went back to our room and got ready for bed. Our last towel animal was v fitting for the day!

Note the paper on the stingray. That’s a guest survey that they ask you to fill out and drop off in the designated boxes on your way off the ship. DCL takes these surveys seriously so please fill them out and recognize the cast members and crew who made your trip magical!

The next morning we took our final picture on the Fantasy (for this trip)!

We dropped our borrowed extension cord off at the Guest Services desk, dropped off our survey, and grabbed a quick breakfast in Cabanas. We listened for them to call for all the people with Minnie tags and we went and gathered our luggage. CSP found a v nice porter who helped us get all of our stuff out to the parking garage. Customs was a breeze and then we were out! We were off the ship v quickly. MIL & I waited on the ground level while CSP retrieved the car.

And that’s the end of a wonderful, family cruise!!! Next up for me & CSP- we’ll be back on the Fantasy in January 2024 for a Western Caribbean Pixar Day at Sea cruise!!!

fun, travel

Disney Wish Bahamas – Day 7

October 1, 2022October 12, 2022 Shanny

Today is our last full day on the ship! Sad face!!! This morning we got up for an early breakfast at the buffet in Marceline Market.

They have a hand washing station as you walk in.

Today we ate in the cafe looking section up front. It’s v cute!

After breakfast I wasn’t feeling too well so I went back to the room for a lie down and CSP popped over to Castaway Cay to try and find some Stitch pins. He was successful and he also got some great shots of the ship while there!

He also saw another Lizard Man! Except this one had Jiminy Cricket instead!

I love all the free spirits you meet on a Disney cruise!

It was H-O-T HOT on Castaway Cay so when CSP got back we decided to just stay on the ship, explore, and enjoy the basically empty pools. I know- it’s a controversial decision but we’ll be back to CC soon!!!

These are the Neverland and Wonderland Cinemas. The last picture is the entrance to the Walt Disney Theatre. They show films in the cinemas and mostly live shows (but occasionally films) in the Walt Disney theatre. We knew we had limited time this cruise and with it being our first on the wish we didn’t want to commit 2 hours to a movie. But we do love being able to see the new releases at sea!

We went to Goofy’s pool for a while and found a shady spot to read. There are a bunch of smaller pools on the Wish instead of only a few larger ones and it’s really nice. We got hungry and went up to Deck 11 for some BBQ for lunch and sat by the helipad on Castaway Cay. The water is just beautiful here!

Back to Goofy’s pool for the remainder of the afternoon where we swam and read our books. CSP is reading a Daniel Silva book, The Kill Artist, or The English Assassin, I can’t remember which one. I read Natalie Barelli’s The Accident, which kept me glued to the pages! Finally it was time to go back to the cabin to pack and shower for our last dinner on the Wish (for now!).

Sunset from our verandah. While packing we decided to order room service one last time. I chose the cheese & fruit plate and CSP got some buffalo wings. The room service lady on the phone said it would be 30 – 40 minutes. So I decided to put off getting in the shower until after they left. But we were still in our wet swimsuits. I had just peeled mine off when (not 4 minutes after I’d hung up with room service) there was a knock at our door!!! I grabbed my suit and towel and CSP shoved me into the bathroom so he could answer the door!!! We were laughing so hard! FASTEST room service ever!!!

On the way to dinner we saw Rapunzel and Flynn Rider on the balcony in the Grand Hall!!!

Tonight’s last dinner was back in Arendelle.

CSP was v impressed with his Chilean Sea Bass!

Even though there wasn’t a show tonight, Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff came around to bid everyone a nice sleigh ride home!

We were able to snag a picture of our hard working server Pedro!

While I was filling out the guest survey, CSP ran around the ship for some last minute night shots.

The last pic above is the Goofy pool, where we spent a good portion of the day.

Our towel animal tonight was a stingray!!!

Goodnight! Tomorrow we disembark the Wish and battle the aftermath of Hurricane Ian to get home!!!

fun

Disney Fantasy Western Caribbean Day 8- Beer from around the world and our final dinner

February 26, 2013 Shanny

After CSP’s wild ride on the AquaDuck we changed clothes back in our stateroom. Snapped a quick pic of our view of Castaway Cay from our verandah. Such gorgeous water!

We went to O’Gills pub on deck 4. CSP had a ticket for a beer tasting. I do not enjoy beer so tasting 5 of them does not sound like fun for me. So I was just there as the photographer. I was surprised at how many people were there considering we were still docked at Castaway Cay. O’Gills is a very cool Irish pub. I loved the little area where we sat for the tasting. The bartender told us all about the history of beer as well as interesting facts about each beer they tasted. Their beers went from light to dark. Five 10 ounce beers for $15 is a great deal! Plus you learn stuff. Well, if you can remember it after drinking 5 beers in an hour! He had Stella Artois, Sam Adams, Boddington’s Cream, Newcastle Brown, and Guiness. We really liked the peanut dispenser dishes they had in the pub. No grubby fingers digging around for nuts. It’s a French company who makes it though- Revol. I’m on a mission to find these in the States. So far I’ve only found a UK site that sells them for a reasonable price.

After the beer tasting we went back to the room and….sob…packed.

Then it was time for our last dinner of the cruise. Back in the Enchanted Garden. By now our sunburns had really set in! Check out CSP’s red face! And my pitiful farmer’s burn! Thank goodness I use good makeup so I could tone down my red lobstah forehead!

For his appetizers CSP chose the Trio of Salmon, and the sesame encrusted tuna. I had a potato and goat cheese Napoleon. We both chose Potato Leek soup but CSP also had the lobster bisque. I think he was taking advantage of being able to order a million things for dinner one last time! I had a cranberry salad. Yum!

For our entrees CSP chose the Beef Wellington. I chose the seafood linguini. I can’t shells in my food so CSP had Beef Wellington and clams plus asparagus! lol

CSP picked the dessert trio- Celebration Cake, chocolate decadence, and a cappuccino mousse tartlet and I had the Celebration cake.

After dinner we went back to our room and found our last (sob) towel animal of the cruise. A stingray! CSP surprised me by bringing out the towel monkey! He had been saving him in the closet.

If you’re wondering how I remember the names of all our dishes and all the details of our trip (especially after the Mixology class and wine in my cabin) I take notes. I went to the Dollar Store and bought a multi pack of these tiny notebooks. I slipped one in my wristlet (one just like this one) with a pen and at every meal I would just jot down what we ordered. I would take a few minuted throughout the day to write down things we did and saw. My friend Lisa has a mind like a steel trap and can write up a trip blog 6 months later without missing a detail! Me- I need help! Hence the notebook.

But wait! There’s more!

Next up…Pictures of the ship and Debarkation Day

fun

Disney Fantasy Western Caribbean Day 8- Castaway Cay!

February 25, 2013 Shanny

One of the highlights of the cruise- Disney‘s private island Castaway Cay! But before we get to that, I forgot to show you our towel animal from last night!

So, on Friday we woke up early and had breakfast at Cabanas buffet again. We had already changed into our swim shirts and swim suits so after breakfast we went straight to the gangway to go ashore. We should have put our sunscreen on in the room, but I thought- there’s always time for sunscreen. That was a mistake! By the way, I HIGHLY recommend swim shirts/rash guards for every member of the family. I’m very fair and my swim shirt really protects me from the sun, but because it’s sort of like a swim suit it doesn’t get weighed down by the water like a regular tshirt would.

Big Bear is ready to go! Waiting for the tram is a great opportunity to take a nice picture of the ship. She’s a beauty! We took the tram to Serenity Bay, the adult beach. Tip- go early or you’ll be hoofing it to the far end of the beach to find your chairs. There are plenty of chairs and umbrellas. We found a great, shaded spot under the 4th yellow umbrella. The view from my chair. We were reading our books when we spotted the dashing Captain Jack Sparrow wandering down the beach. Who knows where he came from! He has the swagger of a pirate down pat!

After a few hours of lounging it was time for lunch. Even though the map of Castaway Cay shows Cookie’s BBQ & Cookie’s Too, they also provide lunch just off the adult beach next to the bar. It’s a buffet with burgers, hot dogs, mahi mahi, ribs, lots of sides, lots of wonderful fresh cut fruit, and even a couple of ice cream machines!

After lunch was another good time to put on sunscreen. But by now I was ready to get in the water and that was the only thing on my mind. We were being entertained by some pelicans down the beach. They were so fun to watch as they swooped through the air then slammed into the water to get their fish. Not the most graceful of divers- they look like they are about to break their necks when they hit the water! I couldn’t get the best picture of them because the only cameras I brought with me were my iPhone and the underwater camera. But see that splash? That’s a pelican.

As you can tell from the pictures, it was a fairly overcast day. It was still nice and warm and the water was very cool, but once you got used to it it was just fine. My view of the beach from the water: See the building there between the umbrellas? That’s where the restrooms, bar, and buffet are located. Just steps away from paradise!

CSP came out in the water with me. The water is quite shallow for a looooong way out at Serenity Bay. That’s the only thing I’d change about it if I could. I wish it were more of a traditional beach where you can walk out like 50 yards and get to chest high water. Plus it’s very rough on your feet. Rocks? Coral? Something. But I suppose it’s good that Disney didn’t go in there and just tear stuff up too. Regardless we still enjoy it very much. And there’s the start of a VERY red forehead. Here are some of the little tiny fish that were all around us in the water. You can see how shallow the water was right there. Only a couple feet deep.

After we dried off we went back to the ship. We had to get back in time for CSP’s 4:30 beer tasting. I snapped a couple more pictures of the ship on the way back. Here you can see Dumbo on the back of the ship painting the logo, just under the flag. Click to enlarge. And look who we ran into just outside the ship! Stitch! CSP jumped right in the short line to get a picture with him. You can see how far out the AquaDuck juts out over the side of the ship. Speaking of….

When we boarded the ship we had just enough time for CSP to ride the AquaDuck. The line wasn’t all that long because people were still on Castaway Cay. He was so excited!

The part you see in the video is when he passed Donald’s pool and Mickey’s Pool. He especially loved going through the tunnels where the lights were all on. Fun!

Next up….Beers from around the world and our final dinner!

travel

Double digits baby!

October 30, 2012 Shanny

We’re in the double digits now! Less that 100 days til we cruise the new Disney ship the Fantasy! We are SO excited! I’ve actually talked CSP into doing an excursion on Grand Cayman. This is a huge deal. Instead of saying “Where are we visiting?” he says “How many times do I have to get off the ship”!! So getting him to sign up for an organized excursion almost took an act of Congress! We’re going to go see the Stingrays! Maybe I shouldn’t have shown him this photo! The only other place I can talk CSP into getting off the ship is Castaway Cay. We’re also stopping in Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico but he’s convinced we’ll get kidnapped by a drug cartel if we step foot anywhere in Mexico. He comes by the name Cap’n Safety Pants honestly!

csp, food, fun, travel

Disney Magic- Day 8

February 15, 2012February 15, 2012 Shanny

Friday, February 3, 2o12 Castaway Cay

Today is the day we’ve been looking forward to all week! Castaway Cay! Castaway Cay is Disney‘s private island. They have 3 separate beaches– the family beach, the sports beach, and the adults only beach called Serenity Bay. Paradise I tell you!

We woke up early and had breakfast in our room. Look at that view! Just as we were about to put on our swim suits and SPF, a message came over the loud speaker. It was the captain telling us they were having technical difficulties. Boo! So there was a 2 hour delay getting to the island. One of the ships’ side thrusters (used instead of tug boats) was malfunctioning. They got it running again and the next thing you know we were docked at Castaway Cay!

We got off the boat and went to wait for the tram. On the way to the gangplank we ran into Donald. Then CSP got stopped by Minnesota people who recognized the TC (Twin Cities) on his shirt and had to talk baseball!

We walked over to the tram station. On the way we passed the post office. Chip and Dale were there! We took the tram (even the tram route is pretty) to Serenity Bay and got lunch(since it was so late now) before we picked out our chairs on the beach. Lunch was a buffet and I didn’t take pictures. But it was great! Mahi mahi, ribs, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, lots of different salads, fruit, ice cream even!

CSP and I picked out our chairs (there are hammocks too!). I didn’t bring my good camera on the island so these are all iPhone pics, but not too shabby eh? This was the view from my chair. We went out into the cool water and swam and swam. Or bobbed and floated! There were some snorkelers nearby who warned us of giant starfish and stingrays. We saw lots of fish and I was calling for a dolphin baby to come see me but no real wildlife. UNTIL…we decided to go chill out on the beach. We were really far out in the water and were doing the stingray shuffle as to not step on one. I noticed some holes in the sand under our feet and pointed them out to CSP. I reached down to see what it was just as CSP saw the tail. It was a stingray! CSP started yelling “Crocodile Hunter!” and tackled me to get out of the way of the tiny baby stingray who just wanted to hang out with me! CSP is not a fan of wild animals. We made our way back to our chairs. CSP went and got us some cocktails. We relaxed on our chairs for a while. Reading books and I may have nodded off a bit. We eventually noticed people making their way back to the ship so we packed up and hopped back on the tram. Back on the ship we went up on deck to get some shots of the island.

We went back to the room and packed up our luggage since this was our last night on the cruise. 😦 Then we got ready for dinner. Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate. We haven’t been to Animator’s Palate since the first night of the cruise. CSP’s appetizer was a sesame seared tuna tartare. So pretty! He also had some sort of seafood mixture. I can tell that’s shrimp and scallops and maybe salmon. Not sure why I didn’t write this down.I had the chicken sate . If you’re wondering how I remembered all the things we ate, I brought a tiny notebook and put it in my purse. Then after we ordered I’d write down everything we ordered. Just before bed I’d write down everything we did that day. There’s no way I’d remember everything on my own!

We both had soup- CSP had lobster and crawfish bisque while I had potato leek soup. Our entrees included orange roughy stuffed with crab for CSP and seafood pasta for me. Lobster, scallops, shrimp and clams. I put those clams on CSP’s plate immediately. I can’t stand the idea of their shells touching my food! Dessert was a yummy strawberry and creme cake called Celebration Cake for me and the trio for CSP. It included chocolate mousse,a chocolate tart and a little celebration cake. During dinner service there was a little show. The man waving is Val, our waiter. We love Val. He’s from Romania and his wife works on the ship too. There are over 55 countries represented in the dining staff alone!

After dinner we went back to our room and went right to bed because tomorrow we have to get up early for breakfast and debarkation!

adoption, birthday, csp, events, family, fun, Ling Ling, travel

2011, I think you’re gonna rock

January 4, 2011January 5, 2011 Shanny

2011 is going to be a big year for us. On March 3 CSP & I will celebrate 10 years married. On December 12 CSP will turn 40. Between March & December we’ll have lots of other things going on as well I’m sure. We’ve decided to celebrate those two milestones with a Disney Cruise in January 2012! We’re so excited! We booked the cruise in November with Lisa. She’s a Disney travel agent (she’s also one of my favorite people) and she totally took care of us. Got us the perfect room. Then on CSP’s birthday his parents booked the cabin next to ours. We haven’t taken a vacation with them before so it’s high time. We are cruising on the Disney Magic. When Lisa & Pete got married we cruised on the Disney Wonder. It was so wonderful! I can’t wait to experience another ship. Cruising is my absolute favorite way to vacation. If we could cruise to Vegas I’d totally do it. I love the Disney ships most of all. They are so beautiful! This will be my 10th cruise and CSP’s 3rd. It will be his parents’ first commercial cruise. His dad did some cruising as a Vietnam vet but that’s not quite the same! We booked rooms with balconies again. We had a balcony room for Lisa & Pete’s wedding cruise in 2008 and it was wonderful. Well worth the extra cost. I went on a cruise in November 2009 on a Royal Caribbean ship and it just made me miss the Disney ship even more!

Our itinerary is exciting! We are stopping at Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island), Key West (CSP’s never been), Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We may stay on board in Cozumel if Mexico is still as dangerous then as it has been lately! We don’t mind staying on board though- you get the pool to yourself! Plus we have 2 full days at sea. It’s a 7 night cruise- a real treat!

One of the most exciting aspects of this trip is who might be going with us… Continue reading “2011, I think you’re gonna rock” →