Likewise, Day Three of the cruise was the best day, by far.
After another morning buffet at Cabanas (just a bowl of oatmeal for me, thanks), we headed off the ship and onto Castaway Cay, the Bahaman island Disney leases for its exclusive use.
Gorgeous weather. Gorgeous views. Gorgeous beaches. Wow.
It was a decent walk from the ship to the beach, with Lauren and Parker stopping to take a pic with a picture of Frozen’s Olaf. Aside from that, there was no messing around: we found a set of beach chairs in the shade, tossed down our stuff, and headed out to sample the Atlantic Ocean.
This was a BIG thing for me. I was 32 years old before I swam in the ocean, and here my oldest two were doing it for the second time. We all waded in, although Lauren took some convincing on account of a media inspired fear of sharks. We all swam and horsed around for quite a few minutes, and it was a blast.
Then, while Lisa chilled on the lounge chair, Grace swam, and Lauren
occupied herself with making sand castles, I took the Centerpieces to claim the activity packages we bought . First up were some intertubes, then four sets of snorkeling equipment. (why the odd number? I don’t recall the reason, but there was one). The package also included bike rentals, but those would wait until later.
We dropped the intertubes off by the lounge chairs and headed to the snorkeling lagoon to try out the equipment. It was the first time I’d ever done it – the first time for OJ and PD too, I believe – and it took some getting used to. To my regret I’m not the strongest swimmer, so we stayed only within in the lagoon itself, but I got a chance to see underwater vegetation and some fish :)
OJ acted a bit like the fool by freaking out whenever she saw or heard of a fish coming near. At one point Parker and I were a good fifty feet past her when I told him “Don’t tell Lu about the fish we just saw.”
“What did you say?” she yelled at us.
“I said, I hope they serve a good dish for lunch,” I said.
“Oh, okay,” she said.
Parker and I looked at each other and laughed. “I can’t believe she bought that,” I told him.
After their curiosity exceeded my swimming ability we retreated from the lagoon and Lisa joined them on the intertubes – one of which wound up drifting away to sea! – while I chilled for a bit. We had a few, very brief rain bursts (I’m talking 20 seconds each, tops), and it was my dire responsibility to make sure . . .well, to make sure I was there to watch it rain for twenty seconds. Mainly, I just lounged.
We took a break for lunch at the island buffet, dining outdoors on a picnic table. Ala 2006, the buffet featured mahi mahi and I tore it up. Olivia took an interest in it and tried a bite, then devoured one of her own. “This is delightful,” she said. Until we mentioned it, she had no idea she was eating fish. I’m glad I have another seafood fan in the making!
Note the picture of the “perfect ice cream cone”. Olivia demanded the picture, citing her “awesome” ability. Take no note of it; her next cone looked like poop LOL
After lunch the little ones wanted to go to The Club – temporarily moved to the island – and that’s where they spent the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile Lisa took the two older girls out snorkeling. While they were in the water I walked across the island, checked out the bike rentals, then walked back and waited for them.
And waited.
And waited.
Lisa is 1000x the swimmer I am, and she took the girls out as far as was allowed by Disney – I think it’s more than half a mile, past the rocks; they looked like little wine corks in the distance– then around the perimeter of the beaches and back again.
Meanwhile I read. I lounged. I took selfies. I read some more. I napped. I took more selfies.
They finally came out of the water a little shy of three o’clock, having seen a bunch of underwater wildlife, including a stingray that scared the heck out of them, and many items Disney had placed on the ocean floor for their viewing. The disposable underwater camera worked like a charm, and they took some great shots.
Lisa, for her part, said it was the most thrilling experience of her life.
You had to be back aboard the ship by five, so there wasn’t a whole lot of time to cross the island, get the bikes, enjoy them and get back on time, but Olivia and I were up for it. Lisa and Grace returned to the ship to get ready for dinner.
Lu and I rented the bikes and headed out for a nice ride. I hadn’t been on a bike since mine was stolen in 2012, and boy oh boy did it remind me of how much I miss it! We biked down the marked trail, and then down a mile or so along a big loop, at the top of which was a large observation tower. I joked with Lu that I found it horrible that the reward for biking a mile uphill was then climbing four flights of stairs to the top of a tower! But the view was great, and it was a nice moment for Olivia and I. The tower was the end of the route the booth had marked out for me (I hadn’t expected to be up for any more than that) but I was feeling fine so Lu and I continued down the road for another twenty minutes before turning back.
I would DEFINITELY purchase that activity package again (snorkel/tube/bike). What a great day!
Now, by the time Lu and I got to The Club to retrieve PD and LK the club had closed, and they were huddled outside with a Disney castmember. After some apologies for being tardy we hiked over to the tram station and rode it back to the ship.
We still had a long evening ahead of us, for it was Pirates Night aboard the Disney Dream!
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