Tuesday, January 11 – Castaway Cay
After our first night on the Disney Dream, we woke up to find we were docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. The last time I visited Castaway Cay, my family and I did two excursions, parasailing and riding a banana boat. We had booked parasailing for this trip, but it was unfortunately cancelled. I do not believe any excursions were taking place that day, but I am not entirely sure.
We ate breakfast at Cabanas Restaurant and then went to disembark. Disney Cruise Line had created a virtual boarding group system to reserve a time to get off the ship, but because we were not trying to disembark at a popular time, or because the capacity was so low, we were able to just walk off. Like the new way to check into your muster station, I wonder if this is something that will stick around.
Once off the ship, we walked towards the tram. We passed by some signs that referenced some of the Walt Disney Company executives including Bob Chapek, Josh D’Amaro, and Bob Iger. We also had a great view of the aft of the ship with Sorcerer Mickey. On our way to the trams we saw a Hidden Mickey as well as a map of the island.
While on the tram, we saw some characters on the side of the road welcoming us to the island. We walked back to get some physically distanced photos with them. We continued on to take photos of Mount Rustmore, repurposed buoys decorated as Mickey and friends. I love the shadow of the Mickey ears in the sand that is created by the buoy!
The friends that I travelled with have been fortunate enough to go on several Disney cruises. It was interesting to ask them, what would this space normally look like as the ship was only at about 30% capacity. While it was very easy for us to find beach chairs for our belongings, apparently that would not normally be the case.
I was really looking forward to snorkeling as there are hidden statues and on old ride vehicle, from the closed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage attraction at Walt Disney World, that can be found in the lagoon. We walked along the beach to rent our gear and get our life vest, and then we were off on our adventure! I have not been a fan of snorkeling in the past, but this time because I had the goal to find the Nautilus submarine, I really enjoyed it! I took so many pictures of this sunken ride vehicle it was difficult to choose which photos I wanted to include in this post. It was interesting to see how the sea life have created a habitat around this submarine. We also saw other unique sunken treasures as well as a statue of Mickey, Prince Eric, and Daisy. I could not resist taking a selfie with the Mickey statue! Unfortunately, I realized I only took videos of the Prince Eric and Daisy statues underwater so I do not have any pictures of them. A trick that we learned is that hidden objects could be found where there were red and white buoys. This experience also provided an interesting view of the ship.
After snorkeling, we walked towards the tram stop that would take us to the adult beach. We walked past the Conched Out Bar, some directional signage, and an Olaf statue welcoming us to Castaway Cay.
On our way to the adults only beach, Serenity Bay, the tram drove along a very straight road which was initially used as a landing strip. Before Disney owned the island we now know as Castaway Cay, the island was Gorda Cay and was used for drug smuggling. Disney purchased the island in the 1990s and Walt Disney Imagineering got to work on reimagining the island.
Along the pathway to Serenity Bay, we saw a biking path to the Observation Tower. While we did not go there on this trip, I am sure the Tower offers fantastic views of the entire island. When we arrived we ate lunch at Serenity Bay BBQ. After lunch, we picked up our float rentals to go and relax on the beach. Sadly, it was a bit of a blustery day so we did not spend that much time in the water. Evidently, I was so relaxed and enjoying the moment I completely forgot to take any pictures at Serenity Bay.
When we were ready to head back to the ship, we hopped onto the tram. It was interesting to see all of the food and beverage cast members walking or riding the tram back to the ship. Once lunch on the island has been served they all head back to get ready for the dinner service. We took some last photos of the Disney Dream from Castaway Cay before heading back on board the ship.
Back on the ship, I was able to ride the Aqua Duck for the first time! This water slide was absolutely amazing. First you enter through one of the funnels to get onto the raft, then part of the “track” or tube goes over the edge of the ship so when you look down all you see is the ocean. Being this high up provided awesome views of Castaway Cay and the ship. Again, I was so distracted by the beauty I completely forgot to take pictures.
After the ride, we went back to the room and changed for our Mixology course. This class was taking place in the Meridian Lounge, located between Palo and Remy. Over the one hour course we learned about the difference between cocktails and mixed drinks. We also learned about the different base options for a cocktail as well as the modifiers or mixers that can be added. We tried five drinks during our class. My friend is a bartender so took this opportunity for professional development as well as getting to try some new drinks. I would guess that each class would have different drinks depending on the bartender/instructor. Below are some of the drinks we tried during out course.
When the course was finished we took the opportunity to speak with the bartender about their experience on the ship. Apparently they rotate between different bars on the ship about every two weeks.
Next, we went back to the Walt Disney Theatre for that evening’s performance of Beauty and the Beast. Now this version of the show was based on the new live action movie so included songs like Days in the Sun, but did not include my favorite, Evermore.
After the show, it was time for dinner at Animator’s Palate. I remembered this restaurant experience from my first Disney cruise. The dining room and the server’s costumes would start off as black and white, but then as dinner went on everything would become more colorful. On the Dream, they do not have this version. Instead, they have an interactive experience that is basically a version of Turtle Talk with Crush in Epcot. Our table was selected for interacting with Crush as well as the table next to us. Crush asked our tables where we were traveling from. A member of our party was visiting from Wyoming and Crush was curious about how to say hello in Wyoming. The table next to us was visiting from Brazil. During dinner, it was also fun to spot all of the Hidden Mickeys throughout the restaurant including in the carpet design and on the chairs. The chairs looked like Mickey’s shorts like the ones that can be found at the Mickey Shorts Theater in Hollywood Studios.
I normally do not experience sea sickness on a cruise, but I started to feel it that evening. We wondered if the ship not being at full capacity had anything to do with it. I was able to get a ginger ale at dinner that evening as well as for the rest of the cruise. I mentioned the rotational dining on the Disney ships in my last post, and one of the benefits to this is the relationship you develop with your wait staff. Each evening our server, Jane, had our usual drink orders ready for us at the table.
After dinner, we headed to the District, the adult only bar area, and we watched the Matchmaker Game. This game took three couples: a newlywed couple (they were getting married on the ship the next day), a couple that had been together for three to five years, and a couple that had been together over 20 years and pitted them against each other to see which couple knew each other the best. This was a very entertaining game and a fantastic way to end our day!
Travels with Tink & Toni 