Castaway Cay

I awoke with nervous anticipation. On our last cruise, we never ended up docking at Castaway Cay because of strong winds. A cautious peek outside the balcony showed calm waters which was a good sign! We got dressed and ate quickly. As soon as we were allowed off the ship, we were off! 

We loved Castaway Cay! Once again we were blessed with good weather. The sun shone, and the breeze kept us cool. The rain didn’t come until we boarded the ship at the end of the day!

We hopped on the tram and alighted at Pelican Plunge. After grabbing some deck chairs under the shade, we lost the children. There was no holding them back from the slide. It was fortunate that we sun-screened everyone whilst on still on the ship! We relaxed, we swam, we cycled, we snorkeled, we ate and we shopped! Jonah worked hard at cycling for 5km all by himself. His effort must have been evident as many around him offered words of encouragemet "You can do it!". Malcolm and Elliot snorkeled for many hours looking for the hidden Mickey which apparently wasn't so hidden. It was the size of Lara! We loved how convenient it was to get food and ice-cream! It was a very satisfied family who went back onboard.

Unfortunately, it was our last evening on the ship. With much sadness, we had to pack and tidy up loose ends. This took up much of our evening and with a very early breakfast the next morning, we retired early.

Our first glimpse of Disney's private island, Castaway Cay

After waiting for what seems like forever to unload the food first, we're off

We hopped on the tram

Admiring the ship

We've found spot!

Pelican Plunge

The nice calm waters of the lagoon

He's picked out his bike

Pedaling hard!

Can't believe the day went by so quickly

Christmas decorations on the island

Jan 7 - Castaway Cay

We apparently had rough seas overnight which, fortunately for me, translated to comforting rocking and made for good slumber! I was super excited because today was Castaway Cay day. We got up super early for our buffet breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet (BBB), packed and ready for our day on Disney's private island. Unfortunately, the strong winds from overnight continued. To my dismay, I was able to see with my very own eyes the multiple failed attempts to dock the ship at Castaway Cay. This went on for over one hour. Then suddenly the noise and shuddering stopped. I knew that the captain had stopped trying and I waited for the inevitable announcement...Castaway Cay was not going to be.

A beautiful morning...or so I thought until

we saw the huge waves crashing on Castaway Cay...

...the island I'm still trying to get to! Perhaps third time lucky?!? This means I have to go another Disney cruise :)

We had neglected our plans to hit the pool yesterday and the children REALLY wanted to swim so it was first on the to-do list. The children couldn't understand my disappointment. "Mum...but we can swim on the ship. No one is in the pool. LET'S GO! We can go to a beach later". Ah...the wonderful ability of children to look on the bright side! I had to shelve my self-pity and get on with it. For a while, we were the only ones in the pool, the only ones crazy enough to go in the water with temperatures in the teens. The water was beautifully heated and it was nice and warm in the Mickey Ears but the water kept receding!!! Finally, I could it take it no longer and got out. I reported it to the nearby cast member who acknowledged that the water should not be receding. And there I was grinning and bearing it, trying hard not to complain! We showered and deposited the older two children to the wonderful kids club. The ship usually sails with around 1000 children. On this cruise, they are just shy of 300!

Thumbs up!

Enjoying the slide

Trying to drink the water!

Sharon and I started on our hidden Mickey Hunt courtesy of Kwan. That sweet man had organised a competition for the group. We received our little individualised instruction pack on the first night. It was simple. Go around the ship and take as many photos of hidden Mickeys as possible. The team with the most points wins! Our little hunt though, had to take a backseat to our rumbling stomachs. We opted for a sit down lunch at Triton's.

Our plan was to watch Toy Story 3 3D at 1pm but this didn't eventuate as we overshot it during lunch. So more hidden Mickey (HM) hunting it was for us. We had a quick interlude at Wavebands with Christian, our cruise director. He was very friendly and offered to show us the SM inside Wavebands. It was nice of him to take the time out to chat to 2 women with babies in strollers, who were looking so intently for HM that they looked like health inspectors. Sharon and I were surprised to discover that we had been on the hunt for over one and a half hours!

We wandered into Shutters for a break. This is the area where the Disney photographers display the photos that they take of the guests. We found the embarkation of our group, and seeing as we all looked so good in it...cough cough splutter splutter...Sharon and I both decided to buy a copy. But why stop there?!?! We were sure that somewhere along the line, Disney would somehow get us to buy more photos...so we made an executive decision and bought a photo package for the whole group!

In the meantime, Malcolm, who had gone off to play basketball, managed to get himself sun burnt in the process. You would think that being a sun savvy Australian, he would know better! So he received the loving lecture from his dear wife AGAIN.

It was time for afternoon tea. We collected the children and settled ourselves poolside with some fruit and soft serve floats. Who should we bump into but the Kohs and the Parsons! The children shrieked like they have not seen each other for months. I was given some precious quiet R&R time in the stateroom whilst Malcolm bathed all three children. Bless that man!

Poor Sam, however, had a big vomit just before dinner. He seemed alright straight after, and so we headed for our dining rotation at Triton's as planned. Once again, the service was good but slow. We were one of the last to leave and make it out until close to 8pm. We had just enough time to change the kids into their PJ's before running for the Buena Vista Theatre. We got the last few remaining seats for Tangled 3D. What a great movie! I LOVED it. I loved the music, the characters, and the story. I was simply too tired to make the Bronkar Lee (the juggling beat boxer in case you had forgotten) adult show 1030pm.

Some of my favourite hidden Mickeys

I returned to the room to discover that my FE had gone berserk! It was filled with so many cool, thoughtful and cute gifts. Some of the DISboarders had also kindly dropped gifts into the FE of our friends. What a wonderful gesture. If this is what I get in one day, where will store all my gifts from the whole cruise...

I hadn’t mentioned it earlier but it was private character interaction day! We watched Goofy try to sunbathe, shared a lift with Pluto, and had an interlude with Donald. Unfortunately, Jonah was asleep at this point. Sam had hugs with Daisy and nearly followed her through the CM's door at Shutters! All in all, it was a great day despite not docking at Castaway Cay. Only 14 more days of this to go...can I cope?!?!

Goofy by the pool

My bursting Fish Extender!

Panama Canal & Beyond on The Wonder

This cruise from Port Canaveral bound for Los Angeles a much anticipated cruise .

The whole tribe will be congregating at Port Canaveral on January 4. A pre-cruise bonding session to remind ourselves of why we really want to be around each other for 15 days on end has been arranged for the 5th. We are heading for the Kennedy Space Centre for the day. The bus has been booked and discount coupons acquired. We are devising a strategy for boarding the Disney Wonder on Jan 6. The same bus company from the previous day's excursion has been re-deployed for morning transfer duties. We have a target time to be at the port. We have decided to maximise the power of numbers after embarkation. We shall divide and conquer. One has been allocated the duty of acquiring PALO reservations, another has been set the task of registering the children for kids club. The rest will have to battle with the feeding the children. A rendezvous point has been set by the pool. The research to finetune our approach continues.

Shore excursions have taken up a big portion of our meeting schedule. The ports of call include Castaway Cay, Aruba, Puntarenas, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. We seem to be bucking the general trend by choosing to do excursions either ourselves or with our own private guide. That is, we are only doing 2 excursions with DCL. Many other cruisers who are not doing DCL run excursions appear to not be doing excursions at all and staying on the ship.

Our first stop will be at Disney's private island hideaway, Castaway Cay. I can't wait! I have heard so much it and it has all been good. Next up is Aruba in the West Indies. We have arranged our own MarioKarting adventure for the boys and the girls will be touring the island in our air-conditioned private van with our friendly private guide, Sunny. The plan is to meet up for lunch and then explore the town before heading back onto the ship.

We will then travel through the historic Panama Canal emerging at the Pacific Ocean. Malcolm and I watched a documentary about the building of the Panama Canal and have been fascinated ever since. We jumped at the chance to sail through it. I am in the process of acquiring a book about the Panama Canal. I have been told to try to be less obsessive...

Puntarenas in Costa Rica is one of the ports where we have elected to do a shore excursions with Disney, one of the reasons being is that it is one of the few ports which:
1) offer excursions suitable for all ages
2) offer excursions suitable for all ages of interest
We will be heading into the rainforest for a ride on an aerial tram.

Our first port in sunny Mexico will be Manzanillo where we have lined up another private tour, this time with Paco. For a bargain price of US$300 total, he will drive us around and be our private guide, as well as providing cold water and refreshments.

Puerto Vallarta is slated for our other Disney run excursion. We are embarking on a Tequila making journey! Still not quite sure why I am doing this as I don't drink alcohol...

Last but not least, we have Cabo San Lucas. Our plan is to DIY. We will bargain for our own boats to the famous rock formation at Land's End and then explore the town at leisure.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to and end. That, for us, will happen at Los Angeles, where 14 of us have to figure out how to spend the day and transport ourselves around before boarding a 14 hour flight at 1045pm, with 6 children and our luggage in tow. Plans at the end of the cruise still undetermined! Wish us luck.

P.S. We have been allocated stateroom 7088, the same stateroom number as on the Disney Magic back in April! How cool is that?