The heaven that is called Castaway Cay and another attack of the
Pirates IN the Caribbean
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We were up real early again this morning, as Castaway Cay was
calling us again. And I wanted to see the ship approaching the
island. So by 6am I walked out onto the balcony and you could
already see the island in the distance. We went back and forth
between the balcony and the stateroom for a while until we could see
the Pirate ship in the distance and we watched the ship turn around
and docking at Castaway Cay. |
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Then it was time to hop into the shower and dress for a day in
paradise. We had ordered room service breakfast again and it arrived
spot on at the time we had ordered it. We had ordered Tea and
Coffee, a Fruit bowl, Tom
had Chocolate milk,
and we had some Toast, a
Bagel, a Croissant and a
Chocolate Croissant. There were some little containers of cream
cheese and jelly as well. We sat in our stateroom, enjoyed our
breakfast, but were already eager to leave. |
And then finally the announcement that we were able to disembark. So
we picked up our gear and headed towards the exit. After picking up
a towel we headed for the post office to post the few postcards we
had brought and which NEVER made it to their destination. Don’t know
what they do to them, but this is the second time we posted some
cards and none of them made it to their destination. |
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Then we finally headed to the tram. The first one took us over to
the family beach and the shops. We walked towards the family beach,
which was still empty and quiet and took a few photos before we
strolled through the shops, met some Cast Members who we had already
met earlier in the trip, had a little chat and finally hopped on the
tram out to Serenity Bay. |
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There were very little people out there at that time and we chose
some deck chairs, placed our towels onto them, our bags under the
chairs and started applying sunscreen. We sat and enjoyed the sun
for a while until we could not hold back any longer, we needed to
play in the lagoon. So we put on the water shoes and off we went.
The water was crystal clear and not cold all. |
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I don’t know HOW long we stayed in the water, but I guess it was
quite some time as there were a lot more people on the beach when we
came back to our deck chairs. While we were still trying to dry off,
one of the friendly Cast Members, serving drinks came by to ask if
we wanted something to drink. Yes, sure, we had not had a decent
drink since the last evening. |
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So we both ordered a Konk
Kooler, Myers's Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Rum, and pina colada
mix mixed with our orange passion guava blend. Who ever came up with
that drink deserves an extra bonus. Sweet, but not overly sweet and
addictive! For a while we sat on our deck chairs sipping our drink,
relaxing and enjoying this little piece of heaven. |
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After some time the ocean was calling our names again and we went to
swim and play for a little while, well, actually quite a while. When
we finally got back to the beach again we dried off and then decided
to head over to the barbecue station and have some lunch. Since
their salads are really good, I filled my plate with several of them
and then chose the grilled
Mahi Mahi. Tom got some salads as well, but he went for the
Grilled Beef. |
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We found a table, sat down and enjoyed our lunch and when we went
back for dessert we saw Monika and her husband having lunch there as
well. We invited them over to our table and after we had picked up
dessert, consisting of a
Chocolate Chip cookie and some vanilla and chocolate ice-cream,
they came over to chat for a while. They left before we were
finished, but since Teresa and her husband Mick were there as well,
we still had some nice company. |
We had spent more time than usual at the barbecue and when we
returned to our chairs, plopped down and just relaxed. It did not
take long until another one of those nice Cast Members came by to
offer to bring us another drink. I could not help myself and ordered
the same “boring, old” drink I always have, a
Konk Kooler! Myers's
Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Rum, and pina colada mix mixed with our
orange passion guava blend. Tom wanted to try something new and
ordered a Rum Rudder,
Dark rum, Blackberry and Banana Liquor, Sweet lemon mix and
Grenadine. |
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We sat and enjoyed and people watched, even though there weren’t too
many people to watch. Once we had finished our drinks we went for
another swim and this is when we came up with another fantastic
idea. While floating around I told Tom about an idea I had had
during the night. Why not add a THIRD cruise for next summer? It
would give us ONE more day at Castaway Cay in the end? We talked a
while back and forth and could we wing it financially and then we
decided to just go for it, book it now with the discount and we
could always let go of it if we found out we could not go! So, after
some time we went back to the beach, and again relaxed on our deck
chairs, still talking about my faboulous idea of another Castaway
Cay day! Then we had the wonderful idea of taking some chairs and
pulling them down to the water’s edge and just sitting in the ocean!
Time flies when you have so much fun and we did not realize HOW long
we had been sitting there, grilling in the sun. Luckily we both had
hats that day or we might have been sunstroke as well, as we both
were a bit sunburned in the end, even though we did apply lots of
sunscreen. |
One last dip in the ocean for a while and it was time to pack up
things and head back to the ship. We just put on our T-shirts as our
swim suits were still a bit wet when we headed towards the tram.
When we had to change trams we decided to walk through the shops on
the island one more time, but didn’t buy anything. We had the choice
of walking back to the tram or walking right back to the ship. |
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We decided on walking along the path which goes along the beach, so
we could take a few more photos and enjoy the view of the ship
docked at Castaway Cay. After a short, relaxing stroll we were back
at the ship and joined the long lines to get back on the ship. But
even though the lines looked long it actually only took about 5
minutes and we were back in the airconditioned cool of the Disney
Wonder. |
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This is when you can feel that your swimsuit is still damp! We
hurried back to our stateroom, lots of gifts in the Fish extender,
which we emptied out before entering. Once we were back in our
stateroom we changed into something dry, then took turns taking hot
and relaxing showers, before we went to sit out on the balcony for a
while. But not too long as we were hungry and so we decided to head
up to the restaurants. Our first stop was Goofy’s Galley to pick up
some wraps. We were hungry so we took two
Tuna salad wraps, two
Vegetable wraps and two
Shrimp salad wraps, but
that was not enough, we also wanted to try the pizza, so we headed
over to Pinocchio’s Pizzeria and picked up two pieces of the
Vegetarian Pizza and two
pieces of the Pepperoni Pizza. We took all back to our
stateroom, took some drinks out of the fridge and had a leisurely
picknick out on our balcony. |
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Before it was time to leave the island we headed up to the open deck
to see the ship pull out and see the island disappear in the
distance. Our next task was to head back to the stateroom, pick up
our next round of Fish extender gifts and start our round all over
the ship, handing out our goodies. Since there was no show to catch
that night we were in no hurry and explored the ship. |
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When we got back to our stateroom, we found another fun towel
creation, this time it was a monkey, hanging from a clothes hanger!
We spent a little time in the room and then we got changed and it
was time to walk down to the assigned restaurant for the night,
Parrot Cay. They were not open when we arrived, but they opened soon
after and we were the first at our table. We were handed our menus
and while we were still reading it, Teresa and her husband Mick
arrived to join us. We had not seen the forth couple yet and the
other couple, who had been battling their sea sickness on the first
night were no where to be seen either. We were soon served the
Pigeon Pea Relish and a
basket full of nice Bread.
Needless to say that after a day like the one we had just
experienced, we needed a drink too. |
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So after studying the drinks menu I ordered the
Captain’s Treasure,
Absolute Mandarin, Peach Schnapps and Orange Juice, while Tom tried
the Rusty Anchor, Midori,
Captain Morgan Rum, Passion Fruit and Cranberry Juice, which were
both very nice. It was time for starters and since it was Pirate
Night I chose Blackbeard’s
Jumbo Crab Cake with a fruit Salsa and Honey-Lime Tropical
Coleslaw, which was really good. |
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Tom ordered the Pirates
Golden "Pot Stickers", Oriental Pork "Dumplings" deep fried and
served with a Tamarind-Ginger soy sauce and Pickled Vegetables.
Again they did not disappoint and we really enjoyed the start of the
evening, especially since we had such nice company. Teresa and I
talked a lot and I think I might have talked them into watching the
next day’s show, Disney Dreams. |
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All the time our servers took good care of us and refilled our soft
drinks. Then it was time for the main course. Alex, the server,
recommended the
Treasure-of-the-Seas Grilled Shrimp and Seared Scallops served
on strings of pasta and fresh creamy tomato sauce. And he was right,
the spaghetti with the well spiced tomato sauce were the perfect
side dish for the scallops and shrimp! Tom really enjoyed it. I
ordered Jack Sparrow’s
Barbecue Marinated Beef Short Ribs, Rubbed beef short ribs with
tamarind-barbecue sauce served with onion red bliss mashed potatoes
and plantain chip. The short ribs fell off the bone and the mash was
tasty and creamy, but it turned out I did not care for the plantain
at all. We laughed a lot, and talked a lot and were still working on
our main course, when most of the other diners were already done and
put in their dessert orders. |
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There was no time for us to do so before the little show the servers
put on, on Pirate Night. The Head Server led the parade, which
included quite a few kids and even a few adult diners. Once the show
was over we were able to put in our dessert order. Tom and I decided
on the same dessert, The
Calypso Ice Cream Sundae, Rum and Raisin Ice Cream, Caribbean
Cake and a Rum Caramel Sauce, which was really wonderful. |
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When we had finally finished our desserts we had to hurry on deck to
enjoy the Pirate Party. Teresa and Mick came with us and we all
enjoyed the show and had a laugh when we saw another cruise ship
close by. |
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I am sure they just wanted to watch our fireworks, as they stayed at
the exact same location throughout the show. Then it was time for
the fireworks which were amazing, considering we were out on the
ocean, enjoying them. Then we were off to our next misson. On all
our previous cruises we had never made it to the Pirate buffet, but
all four of us were determined to make it there this time. |
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We headed down to the buffet, Tom went to take photos of the buffet,
and then we picked up our plates and got in line. There were so many
different things, but unfortunately most of the decorated round
cakes were not cut, so everyone just kept on destroying the
creations and the individual pieces on your plate did not look all
that appetizing. |
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But we all filled our plates, found a table and enjoyed some more
sweets. Neither Tom, nor I were able to finish our plates, so we
took them back to our stateroom to nibble on them lateron that
night. We sat for a little longer until all of us said our goodbyes
and went back to our staterooms. But we all filled our plates, found
a table and enjoyed some more sweets. Neither Tom, nor I were able
to finish our plates, so we took them back to our stateroom to
nibble on them lateron that night. |
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We
sat for a little longer until all of us said our goodbyes and went
back to our staterooms. Around midnight we finally called it a night
and went to bed. |
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