Good Morning, Castaway Cay
I woke up early before we had docked in Castaway Cay (around 7am) but decided to stay lounging in the quiet of a comfortable bed, keeping one ear listening for the room service order to come & favoriting activities on the Navigator for the day.
When room service arrived (around 8am), I woke everyone up to start getting up and moving.
By then we were fully docked.
L & I again did eat on the verandah, but it was much less dreamy. We were being hit by direct sun, and it was very warm, so we didn’t stay out too long.
Today’s plan was for a slower start with Royal Gathering as our first activity at 8:45am, followed by sit-down breakfast at 1923 and then get beach-ready to head off for a couple of hours at the beach.
Royal Gathering
We’re a fan of princesses, even the boys, so I still book us all for Royal Gathering (everyone is given a choice and so far, all but one cruise all of them have wanted to join me, I don’t think I’m sick of it yet).
We met…
Rapunzel
Tiana
Belle
and,
Moana
Now, there’s a story about these specific photos with S getting on the floor.
And I’d love to tell you.
But to this day, my kids just giggle and say we’re not exactly sure what happened.
I asked day of on the ship and just again last night at dinner when I had spent some time typing it up earlier in the afternoon, and several times between when I first found it in the photos and again when downloading the photos.
What I have been able to piece together between their giggles is that Moana said something shocking and S just went down to the floor & something about how exhausted he was??
I really don’t know. DH & I weren’t in earshot because by the time we set down the bags down, Moana was super engaged in talking to the kids and the photographer was already going and getting (these priceless memory) shots of them, so we didn’t cross in & join.
S did stand up & happily take these especially posed shots. So he may have been half playing (but really feeling the exhaustion).
1923 Breakfast
We like the buffet for the great selection and being able to fully enjoy as much food without feeling like we’re asking so much extra of a server to bring over plates & plates, but it is also so very enjoyable to sit down and have a meal served to us, so we try to it once a cruise.
DH, X & I really enjoy the eggs Benedict fresh at the sit-down meal instead of sitting under the heat lamp from the buffet.
S & E order the DCL breakfast that comes with a bit of everything and then donate their grilled tomatoes to me because I love them and they don’t. And it’s one less thing that I have to ask the server to bring me
L was completely happy with alllll the fruit that came in Jack’s melon boat.
I also usually get a berry muesli.
DH will sometimes get a plate of grapefruit and both him & X will get salmon.
And most all of us will get a side of hashbrowns (we love the triangle hashbrown on the ship).
They also tend to bring out a pastry plate to pick danishes or donuts or other carb-loaded treats.
Very easy to be a happy bunch with a delicious & more relaxed breakfast.
The Ease of Castaway Cay
Having Castaway Cay follow Lookout Cay is so nice because you really get to appreciate just how easy of a beach Castaway is for a family.
However, X was still not excited to go to any beach yet (his blisters were bothering him, plus he wanted to explore more ship things instead of sit on the beach).
I may have used the photo ops (especially of the ship aft & grand beach Christmas tree) to persuade him into coming, so I could have pictures of all of us at both of those. Plus DH promised him we would keep the beach time to an hour if he did come, for the photos and a bit of sunshine and ocean therapy. And he took us up on that offer! Huzzah!
Everyone was happy for photos on the way to the tram & on it.
And then here’s a little secret about S: he actually LOVES solo photos and takes every opportunity to take them with backdrops that are of interest to him. Like this one of him with his most favorite super-hero of all time, Spidey, on the back of the Disney Destiny.
After photos & one quick tram ride over, we got off at the first stop. Here I decided to get a photo of Mount Rustmore, which was first for us! (We tend to favor heading to the 2nd tram stop to be closer to the floats/snorkels & bikes but since we weren’t doing any of that today, we chose proximity).
Also, another first for our family, S really wanted to try out the kid’s club on the island, which was right there at the first stop, and he opted to go straight in without setting food on the beach first. It ended up being timed perfectly so he was able to do the Monstro whale dig they have in there (another first), and he was happy about that when we picked him up later on.
The rest of us meandered leisurely to find a spot on family beach. It was so chill. I’ve never seen the beach like that when the larger ships have docked at Castaway Cay, but it was like all the people were gone (I did see chatter from the cruise WhatsApp page that it had been very busy at the usually serene adult Serenity beach). At 11:40am, we found chairs right away in the first section with umbrellas and a tree overhead for shade. That’s all we can ever ask for.
And this view of the umbrellas. They always make me so happy, I don’t quite understand or can every fully explain why. They just do.
We kept our word to X and after just over an hour of beach time, I went to fetch S from the kids club to see if he wanted 10 minutes of beach time or wanted to stay in for 10 more minutes of kids club. They had just finished up the whale dig so he came out to join us for a minute at the beach.
DH & X decided that they would start heading back to get X back on the ship sooner, but they wanted some DIY ice cream sandwiches from Cookie’s first so they made a detour there.
It was nice to split up so that X could feel like he was actually getting back on the ship sooner while the other kids who did want a bit more time, got that time.
The kids with me did also want ice cream so once we rinsed off & packed up the beach toys, we also went for ice cream, which was banana flavor. I’ve heard so many people in vlogs say they don’t normally like banana flavoring but loved the banana soft serve so DCL. I hate banana flavoring but the number of testimonials I heard finally convinced me to give it a try. It was good and is now among my favorite flavors. It was the flavor on the ship too and we made sure to swing by later for more of it because I liked it that much.
L also noticed the full display of fresh fruit and loves all fruit, so she got a plate of it to go with her ice cream.
@Jeff_AZ the birds in the background of this photo reminded me of your story of the bird on Castaway going for the tray. I noticed them immediately and kept eyes on them & told the kids we needed to make sure we didn’t leave anything even looking like it was a hint of unattended.
And just as the kids started goofing off, not sitting right at their food…
A couple tables over, birds DID go after a tray that someone sitting down with (but they turned their back to it). So the kids listened better after that, paying more attention to where the birds all were.
And we left with no bird drama (this photo showing the closest a bird got to us).
Also, L took forever (and two bathroom breaks, yay for hydrating!) to eat her fruit & ice cream, so I even more glad that X & DH had gone ahead & not waited for everyone. And as a bonus they were able to get their showers done before we were even back on the ship. So it was efficient all over.
The kids & I eventually got ourselves back to the tram. With a couple more snaps at Mount Rustmore.
And then we arrive at point of the trip, where I take a million photos of the ship as we approach on the tram (but I’ll just give you the best one I got of the bunch since most of the rest have obstruction from something or another). The view in person just doesn’t compare to any photos I take. But I still take a million of them each time because I just want to try to bring some of that happy view home.
I also always take a bunch of the family walking up to the ship.
And finally another photo I’ve noticed I take most every time: a selfie of me just so happy and fulfilled that we’ve had the time at Castaway, with just a bit of it behind me as I say goodbye.
I really cannot explain why Castaway is so good, because objectively it’s not anything more than a good easy beach, but I also know I’ve never ever documented a beach selfie at the END of the beach time, on any other beach, much less with a contented smile. I’m actually usually quite a grump about the beach (because sand), and every other beach as I walk away I’m already thinking about how much of it is getting tracked home no matter what I do, but for some reason, the sand at Castaway is magic and even when it does follow me home, I don’t curse it. So yea, it’s my favorite, but I can’t just explain why other than to show you what I look like after even just two hours there.
when HEA came back after the pandemic I got to be Athena’s guest for a special CM event of the first viewing. He was there in person and sang a few songs before the show. Core memory for us 
What a special memory! Especially in the wake of the weird times of not gathering during the pandemic.
