Day 5: Walt Disney World Resort & Disney Cruise Line | Disney Dream with Castaway Cay
Too many of our mornings started early so today we were on Bahamian time. Our only time constraint was that breakfast ended at 10:30am. Breakfast was at Cabanas, the buffet. I had a ham and cheese croissant, French toast, and bacon. Cabanas is fabulous.
Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island. The water surrounding the ship was that aqua-blue color found in the Caribbean. It was an easy walk to the tram station and we loaded shortly after arriving. We decided to go to Serenity Bay which is the adult-only section of the island. We rode the tram to the main area and then got off to hop on another tram that took us the rest of the way. This truly was an adult-only area. No children within sight and none that could be heard either. It was the furthest area from the ship and a parent’s retreat. There were plenty of loungers and umbrellas for everyone and lots of chairs as well that many took to the shoreline. The beach was shallow and remained shallow all the way to the buoy. We saw fish, pelicans, and even a very large starfish! I overheard someone say they saw a stingray as well. It was just enough wildlife to remind you that this is nature, but not enough you wanted to leave the water. I know the majority of people love snorkeling and seeing colorful fish but that is not my thing. I’ve come across too many fish that didn’t understand boundaries. The water was crystal clear and we could see our feet the whole time which was amazing. No surprise fish kisses!
We spent most of the time on the loungers. Hilary read while I wrote. There were servers on the beach and they were readily available for orders. Hilary had a Pina Colava and I had a Mango Mojito. The drinks were served in a paper cup, the same kind used at Disney World, and were strong.
Dark clouds began to roll in so we packed up. We made our way to the food area where Caribbean bbq was served. This area was here on Serenity Bay, but I assume there is a second location near the main beach too. I skipped the lunch because Caribbean food is also synonymous with allspice, my arch nemesis. Our waiter last night offered to put in an allergy-friendly option for me but I passed on the offer. Meals are huge on cruise ships with several courses so skipping lunch is not a big deal. We did grab a soft serve ice cream though. The cast member filled the cones and then placed them into a cone holder where we could grab it. It made me wonder why Disney World had yet to adopt the advanced technology of cone holders for their ice cream. (Disney World is not serving cones. Only cups or cups with a cone on top.)
The tram brought us back to the main area. We walked around admiring the Disney decor and shops. Here we found the spot where the 5k starts! We didn’t participate for a variety of reasons. 1) We wanted to sleep in. 2) It was hot. 3) No one was chasing me. We also found a bunch of cute play areas. There was an area with a mini water park and also an area with a pirate-like playground located in the water. When we first drove by this area earlier in the day, there were several characters out greeting guests to the island. This time around, they weren’t around. I’m not sure if it was because of the forecast or if they are only around in the morning. Either way, see the characters when you see them, they might now be around later.
There was a direct walking path from the main area to the ship. We opted to meander along this path which offered scenic views of the island and ship. As we neared the end of the path, the rain rolled in and we shortly found ourselves back inside the ship.
The coffee onboard is excellent and we used this opportunity to order a specialty coffee from my favorite area of the ship: Cove Cafe. This is in the adult-only section of the ship and is the coffee shop. The coffee shop with the most alcohol I’ve ever seen! I ordered the Salted Caramel Coconut Latte served hot and it was adorned with an image of Stitch in the foam. It’s the little things in life and characters in my coffee puts a giant smile on my face every time.
There were areas of the ship that were still unexplored so we made a point to find them. Deck 5 houses all the kid areas and we had yet to stumble upon them. This was no accident. Disney tucks the area away from everything else. We walked the corridor where we could see each welcoming entrance for the various kid’s clubs. The areas looked fun and they were actively entertaining kids. Since my son is at home, I couldn’t go inside to checkout these spaces closeup. We passed all the kids areas and then realized the corridor was a dead end so we walked by it all again. We also stumbled upon a character’s stateroom. If you call it, you get to hear some jokes and fun things. We forgot to call it, but it was cute.
At the beginning of the kids’ corridor is a kiosk for a scavenger hunt. We interacted with the screen and began our detective mission: Who stole the artwork from the ship? The kiosk provided us with detective training, a list of suspects, a map, and our detective badge. Off we went to find clues! The other day I noticed that some of the artwork randomly comes to life and I thought, “wow how magical!” It turns out that these magical artwork pieces are part of the scavenger hunt. When you hold your detective badge issued to you by Mickey Mouse to the artwork, it not only comes alive, but plays a short video. Most of the videos end with you interacting with the picture to uncover a clue. Your detective badge also doubles as various tools such as a screwdriver, brush, magnet, or magnifying glass. Most pictures uncovered clues allowing us to narrow down the suspect list. By the end, we had enough information to request a warrant to search the suspect’s cabin. The villain was then detained pending trial. This is designed for children, but we had a lot of fun doing this. My son will love this when he comes onboard!
Disney characters are plentiful on a Disney Cruise. We saw them on the island and we saw many of them on the ship too! Due to Covid-19 policies, they interact from a little further away, but they are still entertaining! Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Stitch, Belle, Jasmine, and Tiana are the characters we saw onboard.
Dinner tonight was at Animators Palette.
Tonight was Super Bowl Sunday so we had extra special entertainment onboard. Many of the bars were setup for the Super Bowl with extra snacks and things. We decided to enjoy the half-time show from the pool deck. At night, they cover the pool and the space is lined with lounge chairs and used as a giant outdoor theatre. Most nights you can find your favorite Disney movies on the screen, but tonight, it was Super Bowl LVI. We found two chairs and sat down and immediately a cast member came by with a blanket which was much appreciated. The weather has been nice on this trip, but it is a little chilly in the evenings. Not like home chilly, but brisk. We realized after sitting on our chairs that they were slightly wet from the rain from earlier. I walked over to a cast member and asked for towels and we used those to sit on. Super comfy. We enjoyed the half-time show and reminisced on songs from our high school years.
The end of a cruise is always a little bittersweet. We finished our the evening with a drink back at Pink and some shopping. Stores on cruise ships are only open while at sea so it’s important to get shopping done before you’re back in port. We headed back to our cabin to pack out bags. We had two options for our bags. We could pack everything up tonight and place them outside so that the crew would bring them back to the terminal for us. If we went this route, we were given character tags for our bags. We would then have to wait until our character was called to disembark. The benefit to doing this was that you didn’t have to bring your luggage to breakfast. The second option was to take your luggage off the ship. Doing this meant you can leave whenever. This was the option recommended if you had an early flight. We were torn on what to do, but ultimately decided to take our own bags. Once we packed, it was an early-ish night since we had an assigned breakfast time of 7:20am! This cruise is definitely not designed for night owls…there have been a decent amount of early mornings.
#Disney #MangoMojito #covecafe #mickeymouse #travel #superbowl #serenitybay #stitch #travelblogger #AnimatorsPalette #Bahamas #castawaycay
About the Author
Amaris is the owner of the Ohio-based travel agency, Adventures by Amaris. Her love for travel began at a young age when she traveled to her parents' home countries of England and Mexico. She continued traveling in High School by participating in a People to People program to Italy, France and Monaco. In college, she spent six weeks in Europe studying abroad and traveling. She visited Spain, Portugal, England, Wales, Ireland, Vatican City, and Italy in a whirlwind summer. Through her adult life she continues to make traveling a priority with her family. Her young son is autistic so navigating the world of traveling with an autistic child brings on new adventures. Her travel resume includes Mexico, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Colombia, and Cayman Islands. She is an expert in planning family vacations across the world from Disney World to Europe to worldwide cruises.
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