fireworks – Bless Your Heart

Today is Castaway Cay day!!! Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. It’s a beautiful wonderland! Unfortunately, shortly after waking up, we learned that we could not dock at Castaway Cay today because of the weather and the wind speed (from Hurricane Ian).

It rained off and on all day. We were super impressed with the giant screen – Funnel Vision. SO clear!!!

So we went up to Marceline’s Market (the buffet) for breakfast. While I was walking around gathering my breakfast I saw a man who was crouched down with his hands on his son’s shoulders. The son looked to be about 6. The man was SCREAMING in his face- “You listen to me! You calm down! CALM DOWN!!!” Yeah, that’s going to make him calm down- you all red faced screaming inches from his face!!! UGH.

Random thing I noticed today- the ship smells amazing! Disney must be pumping in scent because it smells good all the time!!!

We went back to the room to buy internet for the day and make some phone calls to update people at home about our cruise being extended. We had a hotel reservation in Florida for Friday night that I had to cancel since we’ll still be on the ship. I took lots of pictures of our room. I posted a video the other day but here’s pictures. Then we got ready for our day.

Lots of storage! And there’s a great (very powerful) hair dryer in your room.

Plenty of room under the bed for your suitcases!

The walls are metal so we bring magnetic hooks for extra storage!

The other bathroom (the one with the toilet). Lots of shelves here too.

Lots of people decorate their doors with magnets! Helps to find your room!

For lunch today we went casual and grabbed something to eat on Deck 11. I went to Donald’s Cantina and got a burrito bowl. CSP got brisket from the BBQ station. Pro Tip: the Disney ships have beverage stations (most of the time on the pool deck or deck 11). You have to use a disposable cup that they offer but the cups are TINY. So we bring reusable cups with us and fill them up at the drink station (using the paper cups to fill for sanitation’s sake). That way we can tote our drinks all around the ship and not run out so quickly! CSP uses a Swig cup and I used my new Stanley cup on this cruise. LOVE the handle!

After lunch we went up to Deck 12 & Wheezy’s Freezies for a Dole Whip. SO good! We took my Dole Whip back to our room and read our books and relaxed on the verandah. We got some snacky snacks from room service (room service on Disney ships is free and fast! Tip your servers!). Then we showered and got ready for dinner. We found out that we aren’t docking back in Port Canaveral until Sunday!!! Wooot!!! The ship is really rocking due to the hurricane.

On the way to dinner we passed by the Grand Atrium and CSP took a quick video.

Dinner tonight is back in Arendelle and it’s Pirate Night!!! We joked that the hallway going to the Arendelle dining room is the longest one on the ship!

Tonight we have the pirate menu and no show from the Arendelle singers. After dinner we went up to Deck 13 to get a good spot for the fireworks!

You can see some people dressed up in their pirate gear!

I love that the Disney fireworks are made from fish food so they are good for the environment!

On our way back down in the elevator to get to our room to retire for the night, a man told us that DCL was gifting everyone with free internet for the rest of the cruise because of the delays. Yay!

Good night! Tomorrow is a sea day!!!

We were very excited for our Palo dinner! But before we get to that, CSP wants you to see some of the pictures he took around the ship today. There was a pirate ship parked next to our ship in Cozumel! SO cool! He also ducked back into the men’s locker room in the spa so you could see what they look like. The women’s locker room is identical. Here’s one of the big fabulous showers.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on our verandah before getting ready for dinner. On the way to dinner we saw Pirate Stitch! Stitch is my favorite Disney character. Probably because he sort of looks like a blue pug!

Dinner at Palo starts with an antipasti plate. The marinated artichoke hearts were TDF! (to die for). Then the cool bread basket comes. But DON’T fill up on bread. The garlic aroma will entice you but stay strong! The best is yet to come! CSP and I decided to get martinis- CSP’s first martini ever! CSP chose a limoncello martini and mine was a strawberry balsamic martini. Both were just delicious! For our appetizers CSP chose the white bean soup. Now, I’m not a fan of beans in general (except my Mama’s baked beans) but I tried his soup and it was amazing! I couldn’t get enough of it! I had the grilled shrimp appetizer.

Then CSP had the cioppino – a seafood stew with shrimp, scallops, clams, haddock, mussels, and calamari. He LOVES cioppino. Our server for brunch on Sunday as well as tonight was Jelena from Serbia. She was cute as could be and did an amazing job.

Next comes a lemon sorbet to cleanse your palate. No more than just a wee bite.

Our entrees: CSP had Osso Buco. He hadn’t had this dish since the last time we ate at Palo a year ago on the Magic so he was really excited. I had the beef tenderloin with gorgonzola sauce. Our shared sides were lobster ravioli (homemade pasta-melt in your mouth) and a mushroom risotto.

Dessert was next. CSP chose the tiramisu (his favorite dessert) and I chose the Amaretto Indulgence. I’m not sure why they call it the Amaretto anything because I can’t taste Amaretto in it. But it’s still really good. There’s a chocolate mousse in that chocolate wrap and on top is a tiny wee cannoli. I enjoyed some hot Jasmine tea with my dessert. Then at the very end they bring you a Limoncello frozen slushy shot. So yummy! It wakes you up a little too which is a good thing because otherwise we would have passed out right there in that velvet booth!

On the way out of the restaurant I had to take a picture of the wine storage. Each bottle is resting in its own little leather hammock! There’s no clinking as the ship rocks to and fro.

CSP had to use the restroom so I waited for him in Meridian– the bar/lounge between Palo and Remy. The booths look like luggage. It’s really a cool little bar.

We decided to go change clothes before the fireworks started so we headed back to the cabin. Palo is in the very back of the ship and our stateroom was at the very front of the ship so it’s a good long walk between the two. CSP wanted to get a picture of this one hallway so you could see how long it is. He said it reminds him of The Shining! Can you spot me sitting in one of the port holes?

On the way I spied this map on the wall and took a little video of it. Most of the artwork on the ship is interactive. It can sense when you’re standing in front of it and it comes to life!

Our towel animal was already in our room- a monkey! After changing clothes we went up to deck 12 to scope out seats for the fireworks show. Disney is the only cruise line that is allowed to shoot off fireworks so this is always a real treat! We picked a spot near the Currents bar. My toes were glowing in the blue light from the bar! The fireworks were spectacular and I took a million pictures but these are a couple of the best ones.