Oh Castaway Cay!! Disney's private island. And easily my favorite port of call. This day was perfect and the only bummer was knowing it was our last day of the cruise. The weather was a little cloudy in the morning, but bright and sunny after that.
A view off our verandah. Props to Matt because he somehow booked a room that faced 3 of the 4 ports of call.
We got off the ship pretty quickly and ended up snagging some chairs near the first beach. The kids took off immediately and I was grateful I sunblocked them before we left the ship.
The first couple of hours we snorkeled, swam and played in the sand. It was nice to be able to drag a beach chair right up to the water and lounge while the kids played. Definitely my kind of vacation :)
They had slides that we were pretty close to, but we actually didn't end up going on them. I kept asking the kids, but I could not pull them away from the sand digging.
Reagan even snorkeled. I think she was trying to redeem herself from her snorkeling fail back in Cozumel :). She was pretty awesome! I went out with her and while out there, I always knew shen she would spot a fish because she would let out this shriek of excitement I would hear even underwater.
Matt went out and snorkeled as well. He took the camera and snapped pics of the items hidden underwater. If you snorkel out far enough, you can find a Mickey, Minnie, hidden treasure and bits of a shipwreck. It is really cool.
We were pretty famished after this, so we headed over to Cookies for a BBQ lunch. And soft serve ice cream. I think I failed to mention that on board they have an ice cream machine that I indulged in everyday. Strawberry, mango, vanilla, blueberry. And then they had the ice cream machine on Castaway Cay as well. It definitely hit the spot that day.
After lunch, the kids went back to digging, we snorkeled a bit more and swam. Then Matt took the kids on board to the kids club so we could enjoy our last port adventure...parasailing! We went with another family and we had to parasail tandem, so Matt and I got to go up together. We also got to go twice since there was plenty of time. When they reeled us back in after the first time, he dropped us in the water on purpose!! Apparently Matt knew about it, but I didn't and it came as such a shock!
But the view up high was incredible. You can see right to the bottom of the ocean floor, the water is so clear.
Here are some videos we shot of the parasailing.
After parasailing, we had to high-tail it back and get ready for dinner because it was at Animators Palate. This night was special because we got to design out own character and watch them come to life on the big screen. I wish I got the video of our characters and them dancing, but our camera stopped working not long before. And Nolan broke down and had a fit because he kept messing up and needing a new sheet to draw on.
We also bid a farewell to our dining crew, Gabriel and Widi. We sure loved these guys.
Our desserts were totally fun that night. The kids ordered a decorate your own cupcake kit.
I ordered the Baked Alaska. I had never heard of this, but they strongly suggested I try it. So I did and I have to say, it was a close second to my key lime pie. This dessert was amazing!
We didn't attend the show that night, but watched it again from our stateroom. I also took the kids down to do one last character meet and greet-Mickey! I knew we needed to see him because this is Disney and Mickey is totally the star of the show. Goofy was also hanging around, so we got his pic as well.
After that it was a goodbye to our final night on the ship. The kids were sad and a little teary, but we were easily cheered by the thought of seeing Miles. We all missed him by this point.
Our last towel art of the trip
Tomorrow-debarkation and Downtown Disney!
