Disney’s Castaway Cay Island Morning
Day three of the three day Bahamas cruise always pulls you in two directions. On one hand it is amazing because you get to enjoy the day on one of the most beautiful islands on earth. On the other hand, it is your last day of the cruise which means tomorrow you are back to reality. Lucky for us, we were all taking Monday off because if was Sawyer’s actual fifth birthday. Day two at the Nassau port was a fun one on the ship but we were excited for a day off the ship as well! Our first stop on our last cruise day was to enjoy a Cabanas breakfast to fuel us for our morning on the beach. We took our plates full of food out on the back deck to enjoy the view of the island. I had originally planned to head up to deck 12 to capture the ship pulling into the dock, but when I looked out the veranda door at 7 am we were already tied up. We enjoyed our windy breakfast and were excited for the day ahead.
After securing our items from our stateroom, we took the elevator down to deck 1 aft to disembark the ship to explore Castaway Cay. The temperatures were absolutely ideal registering in the mid 70’s; however, the winds were blowing fairly aggressively. It made for a really enjoyable temperature as we sat on the beach, not making the experience too hot. It also kept some of the Guests on the ship, meaning the beach wasn’t nearly as crowded as it can be. The boys were on cloud nine, splashing around in the water and digging in the sand. They might have stayed there all day if we hadn’t wrangled them in for lunch. It was probably our most chill day ever on Castaway.
We had originally planned to rent bikes and explore the island, but with Sawyer just getting used to pedaling, we didn’t feel like he would have the stamina to fight the breezes to get to the other side of the island where the lookout tower is. It ended up working out well that we just got to sit and relax, something that we don’t let ourselves do nearly enough.
Our hunger ended up getting the better of us so we packed up our beachly belongings, threw them into the island wagon we borrowed, and made our way over to Cookies, the barbecue restaurant on the island. This location is not Emily’s favorite dining experience, but the boys really like it. It might be the eating outside or the bottomless chocolate chip cookies, but there is something about that place that we love. Emily created an ice cream cookie sandwich for Hunter that was a mighty fine end to his dining experience.
On our way back to the ship we decided to walk over near the watercraft rental area, which happened to be closed due to the high winds. This beach area near the boat was an awesome place to capture some fun photos and selfies before making our way back on the ship. We didn’t want to leave the island but wanted to head back because the Packers were playing in the NFC Championship game that was kicking off at 3 pm, and they were showing the game on the Funnelvision on deck 11.
Afternoon on the Disney Dream
Back on the ship we showered to get the sand off and then got back in our suits for more afternoon fun. We started our final game of Midship Detective Agency, this time going after the missing paintings. After we completed that round, the football game had just started so we made our way up to deck 11 to see if we could get a seat. Needless to say we weren’t the only people on the ship with that idea. The deck was absolutely packed with people in their team gear. When we got up to the deck, the game went from 7 – 0 to 10-0 and the Packers never came within sniffing distance of a chance to win for the rest of the game. We called it quits at half time, not wanting to throw away another two hours on the Packers’ pitiful display.
The ship was about to pull away from the dock, so we headed up to deck 12 for a round of mini-golf as I set up the GoPro to capture a time lapse of the ship pulling away from Castaway Cay. It was extremely windy causing me to need to hang onto my camera that was attached to the ship’s railing. Looking out across the ocean I knew that it was going to be a long night for those that didn’t love the rocking of the ship. The Captain came over the ship speakers to echo the thoughts that were going through my brain.
We had intended to do the Aquaduck one more time before we were finished swimming, but as soon as the ship set sail, they closed down the slide due to high winds. The boys decided to do a few final slides down the Mickey slide before calling it a day on the pool deck. We grabbed a few slices of pizza and ice cream before heading back to the room.
Back at the room we chilled a bit before the boys got changed, and Emily took them to the Oceaneer Club one last time. I, of course, wasn’t feeling my best due to the rocking of the ship so I stayed back to chill, hoping that I would be able to attend our last dinner with the family. Unfortunately, I was not able to leave the bed for the remainder of the night.
The amazing Emily picked up the boys and took them to dinner at Royal Palace, where they served Sawyer his birthday dessert. I was bummed to have missed it, but I wasn’t about to risk the consequences of being on my feet with the rough seas. Emily brought the boys back after dinner, and they were greeted with their last stateroom Santa surprise. We also ordered our last round of room service before retiring for the evening. It was the last night of Sawyer being four years old and I can’t think of anywhere else we would have rather spent it!
