Newlyweds in the Caribbean: Curse of the DLXDDP - Day 9
Index
Friday 7th September
Castaway Cay
Today was one of the days of our trip I had most been looking forward to - a day in paradise on Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.
We woke up at 7.45am to get ready and applied copious amounts of sun cream. Last time on Castaway Cay 3 years previously, we accidentally fell asleep in the afternoon sun and got quite red. I was determined that we wouldn’t be making this mistake again!
Breakfast was in Cabanas, and outside the window it was looking really grey and drizzly
We weren’t too disheartened at this point, as we know how quickly the weather can change. I just hoped it would hurry up!
Ollie’s plate –
Again, I think he started before I took a photo
My plate –
Look, there’s even a tiny bit of fruit on there! I enjoyed the breakfast burger this morning and Mickey waffles are always the best. I really didn’t mean to put that much cream on my plate!
This sticky bun was served warm -
Whilst this wasn’t as good as Palo’s sticky buns, this was still a real winner!
We took the rear gangway, picking up towels en route, and headed out to the island, where the rain had turned to a very light drizzle.
Pretty much all of the excursions were cancelled today…
As it was still a tad rainy, we thought we would start with some snorkelling.
We took the tram to the first stop and found Mount Rustmore, which we missed last time. (Although it doesn’t look that rusty!)
The sky had suddenly brightened up, so we timed this well!
Great views of the ship from the island!
We enquired at the snorkel rental hut how much hiring just flippers would be (which we had used on our snorkelling excursions and found to be really helpful). They wanted something extortionate like $17 just for the flippers, so we declined and decided we’d just have to swim harder!
The snorkelling at Castaway Cay proved to be a lot better than I was expecting.
We found the nautilus –
This fish turned out to be quite friendly –
We were getting close to where the Mickey statue was, when my absolute favourite snorkelling moment happened.
Out of nowhere, came a sea turtle. It was moving so gracefully and calmly that we just followed it, a bit in awe.
Me trying to be friends with a turtle!
Then, a friend came to join it! We spent a fair few moments just watching and following. Their movements felt very majestic.
Eventually they drew quite a crowd and swam off, but I loved watching them for a few minutes.
We then swam back to see our friend –
I love how there are these hidden treasures to find!
We did ask a lifeguard where to find Minnie, and he directed us over to the buoy where Mickey was.
I’d had enough of snorkelling now and after 90 minutes in the water I looked like a complete prune! We never found Minnie, but I was happy with all our exploring.
With the active portion of the day over, it was time for total relaxation!
We took the tram over to serenity bay, the adult only beach.
Most of the hammocks on the beach were taken, but there was a free hammock near the entrance to the beach. If you’re spending the day on an island in the Bahamas, a hammock is mandatory!
The hammock turned out to be a good spot, as we weren’t too far from drinks/food/toilets. The hammock was also partly in shade from a palm tree, which was ideal.
The adult only beach was a little busier than last time we were here (probably a function of there being more families on board in August than September), but the beach was still lovely and relaxing.
Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the hammock to get some lunch.
I love the BBQ food on Castaway Cay. We got two plates of food with all of the options, so we could cut most things in half and try a bit of everything (although the gherkins were all for me!). I can confirm it was all delicious!
The lady who had accosted Ollie’s phone at breakfast the other day came up to talk to us, but fortunately she soon got distracted by another newlywed couple who were far more interesting!
After lunch, Ollie made us up two diy ice cream cookie sundaes using the soft serve ice cream machines. Mine was the chocolate one.
We took these back to our hammock to eat. We also may have had a bit of a nap. I remember feeling so relaxed this afternoon!
We saw one pair of our tablemates, who were heading over to the snorkelling lagoon for a bit. Our hammock was a good spot for people spotting.
We decided we fancied a dip in the sea, so went for a paddle in the water, which was a lovely warm temperature. We did see a starfish in the water, but we saw someone lift it out of the water to show people
(Obviously we swam a bit further down the beach, in the swimming bit!)
It was then time for some more lounging, so back to the hammock it was! We saw our tablemates again, who said it looked like we hadn’t moved!
Can you believe it was the afternoon and we still hadn’t had a cocktail yet? This had to be rectified and we got a pina colava to share ($9.53). This became a favourite across the trip and we had a few when we were at Disney World (got to make use of the cocktails on the dining plan!)
The sky started to look a bit ominous in the afternoon and there were tannoy announcements saying the water was closed. A few people ignored these announcements, but cast members eventually came along to encourage people out the water.
We headed over to the tram, where it started absolutely pouring! This was how we ended our visit last time at Castaway Cay!
After the first tram, we took shelter (with everyone else it seemed) in the shop.
We picked up this Olaf ornament ($22.39 including tax) which I love! I have no idea when we’ll be back at Castaway Cay, so I wanted something to remember the island by.
The rain was dying down a bit now, so we had a chance to grab a few snaps of the ship!
Although the rain looked like it was about to stop, we decided to head back on board as we were all packed up and had plenty of time on the island.
