With two hurricanes looming, we weren’t sure what today would bring, but we made it in to Castaway Cay this morning around 7:30 am. We backed in to the dock and had a beautiful view of the island as it was waking up. We got a bite to eat and in no time Christaan was telling us it was all ashore!! Unfortunately, we were doing an excursion, so we just stayed onboard.
Since we have the possibility of coming to Castaway Cay three times in the next week, we opted to do one of the excursions this trip. We choose the Seahorse Catamaran Snorkel tour. This took us on a catamaran to a location within view of the adult beach, Serenity Bay. I have seen pictures before of this reef and wanted to see it for myself.
We checked in at the Promenade Lounge at 9:30 am and then went to the catamaran, got our snorkel gear and got ready to go. It started to sprinkle, then the rain got harder. It was pretty clear that rain would be shortlived so we left for the reef. When we got there the rain actually got harder before it let up. But once we got in the water it was perfect. I didn’t see very many types of fish, but there were many types and colors of coral and plant life in this location. The seas were a bit rough, so my pictures didn’t turn out really good, but I got a few nice ones.
We were offered rum punch after the snorkeling, but it was much too sweet so we couldn’t drink very much. We had about an hour to snorkel, but most came in early because of the rough seas. The nice thing was there were a few people that had a hard time battling the current and the crew members did assist them either by coming out and pulling them in or throwing out a life buoy.
When we got back to the dock, we immediately headed to the tram followed by a trip to the other tram to get to Serenity Bay and some lunch! I love the food over there because it is a BBQ and you are on the island with no children nearby. After lunch we swam and did some snorkeling at the beach. The tide was out so it was quite shallow. There is a small “ship” wreck not too far out from the beach. It looks like it was an engine block and a few other parts to motors or boats. Usually it is too deep for me to touch, but I was able to stand out there and the water was only about chest deep. The last couple times we’ve been there, there was a lion fish and he was again there today. This was the first place I saw purple coral. Today someone said they also saw a little octopus, though I didn’t see this myself.
One word of advice for Castaway Cay – wear sunscreen and reapply! We had sunscreen on, but didn’t reapply and are paying the price now. Feeling a little crispy! After enough time in the sun, we came back to the ship and start packing, though it was a lot different this time! We packed things that we will not need for the next cruise in one suitcase and then just put everything else in the rest, figuring out what we would carry off with us (computer & camera equipment). Everyone else will have to put their luggage out by 11 pm tonight, but we can keep our luggage until tomorrow morning.
Cruising back to back is a bit different. We do need to get off the ship and go through customs. We need to leave by 9:30 am and we can check back in at 10:00 am and go right back onboard. We are not going to do this though because my sister will be joining us on the next cruise. She has not been on a Disney cruise before and there are things that happen that are different from other cruise lines so I want her to experience that first. There’s a bit less magic when you get back onboard early.
So with this, I’m signing off for the first 15 nights. My next blog will be from the Roy O. Disney Suite!!
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