Heaven, your name is Castaway Cay!

We didn’t see the sun come up that day, but we were up bright and early. This was the day we had been looking forward to for such a long time, the visit to Castaway Cay. When we walked out onto our verandah we could see Castaway Cay in the distance and we got closer rather quickly. We watched for quite some time but then we needed to get ready.

We had ordered room service breakfast the day before and if we had learned one thing on our first cruise, then it was that when they say 7.30, they MEAN 7.30. So we both were showered and ready by 7.30am and at about 7.35 there was a knock at the door and our breakfast arrived. We had coffee and tea and some toast, a bagel, some cream cheese and butter and jelly. There was also some orange juice and a fresh fruit bowl.

We sat down and had a nice continental breakfast before we changed into our swimwear, put on shorts and a T-shirt, got our bags and off we went to deck 1 where everyone disembarked. We were back in paradise! The sun was shining, the sky was picture-perfect blue and we were within the first people who left the ship. We both picked up a towel and made our way over to the tram stop. Right when we walked up to the stop a tram pulled in and we all got on.

But after about 10 minutes we headed for the sea. It’s very flat and we walked out pretty far until the water was high enough to swim. And even though we were in deeper water you can still see the ground. That’s the way I like to swim. We spent about an hour swimming and playing and enjoying the warm water. Once we were back on dry land and all dried off one of the CMs who serve drinks on the beach came by to ask if we needed something.

Yes, please, we ARE thirsty and so we ordered two Konk Koolers, Myers's Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Rum, and pina colada mix mixed with our orange passion guava blend. Sooooo good! We sat on our lounge chair people watching and enjoying this quiet little piece of heaven. We sat and sipped and sipped and sat and watched the ocean. After we had finished our drinks, we still sat for a while before we walked back into the ocean again. We enjoyed the warm water for quite some time before we decided it was time for some lunch.

There is a barbeque station right behind Serenity Bay and we walked over there, got in line and picked up trays. They have lots of really good salads, so we both filled our plates with those, then went on to get some meats. Tom had some Grilled Steak and I chose the grilled Mahi Mahi. We walked over to the picnic tables and I set the table while Tom went back to get some Diet Cokes. It was real good fun sitting there and enjoying our lunch.

Since they have really yummy desserts too, we both went back for plates of cookies, upside down cake and fruit. While we sat and enjoyed our sweet treats we noticed Mr. Know it All walking down to Serenity Bay. We hoped he would just have a look and leave again, since his wife wasn’t with him. So, once we had finished our lunch we slowly made our way back to the beach and tried to rest on our beach chairs.

Soon enough one of Disney’s fantastic Cast Members came by to ask if we were ready for more drinks! Sure we were ready. I ordered a Mai Tai and Tom decided on having a Tropical Depression, Light rum, vodka, gin and blue curacao mixed with grenadine, sprite, and a splash of sweet-and-sour, hoping this would be the ONLY tropical depression this summer. While we were sipping our drinks we saw Mr. Know it All trying to swim in knee-deep water. He gave up soon after and noticed and waved at us on his way back to the tram. Tom and I enjoyed some more leisurely time swimming and floating around before we dragged some chairs down to the water’s edge and sat there to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Around 3pm we packed up our gear and walked back to the tram. We weren’t too sad this time, as we knew we would return in just 3 more days. We stopped at the shops and picked up a few bits and pieces, talking to one of the Cast Members who we had met on our first cruise a year ago. He even remembered talking to us, guess he doesn’t meet many Austrians during his cruises. We took a lot more photos walking back to the ship and finally made it back on board at around 3.45.

There were lots of little bits and bobs in the Fish Extender, so we emptied it and went inside our stateroom. And after looking at them closely we both took showers and washed our hair and had some chill time and some adult drinks out on the veranda. We watched Cast Members getting things back on board and by 5pm we walked back onto the top deck to see the Wonder pull away from Castaway Cay. 

We stayed out on the deck for some more time, enjoying the sea breeze, before we walked down to the on board booking desk. We had to wait a little, but after some time the Cruise Line representative had time for us. There were a few questions we wanted to ask him and when we had made our mind up we booked the first of our next year’s cruises, a three night cruise from August 25 – 28.

As always the show was truly magical and we enjoyed it very much. We walked back to our stateroom and found some more fun towel animals Arturo had left for us. We decided to chill on the veranda for a while, have some drinks and finally got changed for dinner. Dinner was at Parrot Cay this evening. We were there early, so we had to wait until the opened the doors. After that we were seated quickly and our tablemates joined us a little later. Mr. Know it All was summing up the day for all of us in his unbelievable way and once we had ordered and received our starters we were happy to just keep munching, so we did not have to answer too much. Tom had the Baked Crab Dip Martinique, Jumbo Lump Crab Baked in Creamy Cheese Sauce served with colourful Tortilla and Plantain Chips as his appetizer. I had ordered the Jamaican Marinated Chicken Tenderloins in a Sizzling Spicy Jerk Sauce with a Chunky Bleu Cheese Dressing.

Kept us occupied while Mr. Know it All kept on blabbing. My main course was the Pan – Seared Grouper with Baby Shrimp Lemon Butter and served with a Saffron- Herb Basmati Rice and Snow Peas, while Tom ordered the Mixed Grill, Grilled Sirloin Steak, Lamb Chop, Bacon Wrapped Sausage and Jumbo Shrimp on Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus and Grilled Tomato with a Cabernet Mushroom Sauce. Both dishes were really good. For his dessert Tom chose the No Sugar Added Pina Colada Bread Pudding and I ordered one of my favourites, Lemon Meringue Pie with Kumquat Sauce. I LOVE everything and anything lemon and that lemon Meringue Pie was right up my street. Mr. Know It All deemed it the worst dessert ever! Thank God we all have a different palate!

Once we had finished our meals and said our goodbyes we went to the Atrium to find a spot to watch the Farewell Party. All the characters and Cast Members who perform in the shows came out to say goodbye. It was really fun to watch and there were LOTS of characters playing around. Once the Party had ended, we walked over to the shops to do a little browsing and picked up a few more goodies.

By that time we were already tired and finally walked up to our stateroom. Lots of suitcases were out in the hallways and we were so happy we were able to stay for another cruise and didn’t have to pack up. In our stateroom we got some drinks out of the fridge and went outside onto the veranda to sit, sip and enjoy before we called it a day and went to bed.