4 day Wonder - 9/2 - 9/6/2007: Day 3

[GreenBeetle]

Day 3: Castaway Cay

Another early day for me so I could watch the ship pull in to Castaway Cay. The day we’ve all been looking forward to the most. When I arrived up on Deck 10 with camera in hand and looked toward the island I was in awe! I was clicking non-stop for several minutes before I realized the humidity had completely fogged up my lens. So after wiping it off a few times and waiting for it to adjust to the temperature change outside, I was off again like a crazy woman on a mission. The water is so beautiful and the beach looked amazing in its undisturbed state with umbrellas and chairs all lined up and colorful sailboats ready to be rented for the day. Absolutely gorgeous! And then I saw it . . . the thing I couldn’t wait to take pictures of . . . The Flying Dutchman! I ran back to our stateroom to wake up the troops – no way are they allowed to sleep in today. There’s just too much to see and do! Bathing suits on, all lotioned up and ready to roll, I rushed them through breakfast at Beach Blanket (I know, I’m a horrible mother ). After disembarking, my kids were annoyed almost immediately at my stopping to take pictures of everything, so they ran ahead to get chairs on the Family Beach. They obviously didn’t pay attention to my advice about taking the tram, so their old parents passed them along the way to the beach (and I even stopped to mail postcards at the post office). Boy was it hot already! That sun was blazin’! We found a lovely spot under an umbrella with a palm tree nearby. It doesn’t get much better than this! I just kept thinking “I’m never leaving here. Just have someone mail the dog to us, because I’m never leaving this place!” (Incidentally, his name is Disney so he would fit right in.) My daughter and I decided to float the day away in tubes, while my husband and son hit the water with their snorkeling gear from home. I told them both to wear t-shirts under the life vests, but since no one ever listens to Mom, they suffered the consequences of the sun pounding on their backs for several hours. About an hour in to his snorkeling expedition, my son was waving me over to the ropes. I could tell by the look on his face he had found something interesting down there. Do I really want to know what’s lurking below? Don’t tell me, I’m really enjoying my float. He had come face to face with a barracuda! I know, I know, the sign says: swim at your own risk blah, blah, blah . . . but I didn’t think they meant it literally. As they day wore on, more and more snorkelers were discussing their run in with this creature, so it was real alright! OK, it's time to relax on a lounge chair for a while. I was surprised my daughter wasn’t interested in any of the group activities for children since she absolutely loved the Oceaneer Lab. But she was perfectly happy swimming and floating – and of course, posing for the many photographers wading through the water looking for willing models. We were all pretty hungry by early afternoon, so off to Cookie’s BBQ we went. Again, lots of choices and everyone was very happy (and full) afterward. Uh oh, looks like some nasty black clouds heading our way . . . and then the thunder came. Although we never ventured to other areas of the island, we agreed at that point that we had enough of the sun and sand. A lot of other people had the same idea – get to the ship before the storm! We collected our things and ran to the tram stop. The storm didn’t last long, but we were hot, tired and sandy so we really didn’t mind cutting the day a little short. It was a fantastic day at a fabulous place. We were looking forward to Pirates IN the Caribbean later. Our dinner would be at Triton’s again tonight. The pirate menu was scrumptious! Everyone loved their meals. The kids didn’t want to see the show tonight, so they went their way and my husband and I enjoyed The Golden Mickeys by ourselves. Another wonderful show. We all met up to go up to Deck 10 for the Pirate party. And what a party it was! Again, I’m amazed at how Disney can pull off these things on a cruise ship! The buffet after the show looked unbelievable, but no one could fit a bite. It had been a long, wonderful day that I never wanted to end, but we were all exhausted. Off to bed to find a friendly aardvark towel animal waiting for us. Tomorrow rest and relaxation (and lots more photos) at sea all day.

[Tavel]

I'm enjoying your reports! Thanks for posting! I understand the NEED to take pictures of everything (I wonder if there's a support group for us somewhere -- or better yet, one for our families!).

[ElenitaB]

Thanks for your report. We adored Castaway Cay as well (and were at Triton's for pirate night too). Isn't it crazy how we all have a gazillion pictures of the Flying Dutchman? I think I have more pictures of that ship from every imaginable angle than I do of DS when he was 8!

Did you wave to your kiddies as you went past them? (Sometimes Mom really does know best )

Looking forward to hearing about your day at sea.

[GreenBeetle]

Isn't it crazy how we all have a gazillion pictures of the Flying Dutchman? I think I have more pictures of that ship from every imaginable angle than I do of DS when he was 8!

You are exactly right! Do you think it's a love for Jack Sparrow thing? Because I have loved that guy since his days on 21 Jump Street ages ago (now I'm showing my age ). And the Jack Sparrow on the ship was a darn good likeness too. Of course I HAD to buy the professional photo of DD and I with him.

[Always Goofy]

So when do we get to see these wonderful pictures???!!!

[disneydrmr]

Another fun day! wow! A run in with a barracuda.. THAT is why you won't get me to venture too far into the ocean.. you just never know what's lurking out there...

[GreenBeetle]

So when do we get to see these wonderful pictures???!!!

Well there are a few "clunkers" in the bunch. Not all 572 could be perfect. Anyway, I'll have to weed through them so my Intercot friends don't get bored looking at too many. Then I'll have to figure out how to upload a bunch - I've never done that before. Any ideas where is the best place to do that??

[Here we go again...]

I use Webshots and have it linked to Intercot as my home page.
If you click on my name, then go to my home page, you will arrive at Webshots! Very easy to use.

[GreenBeetle]

Great - I'll give that a try. Still looking through all of them to pick the best for viewing.

Thanks for the tip.

[GreenBeetle]

I use Webshots and have it linked to Intercot as my home page.
If you click on my name, then go to my home page, you will arrive at Webshots! Very easy to use.

I tried using Webshots last night and had some difficulty loading a large amount of photos. It was taking forever! Then I tried Photobucket and they loaded much faster. Don't know if I was doing something wrong at Webshots. Anyway, I'll post the links for photos soon.