Anniversary DCL Trip – Day 4

Cruise Day #3- Early wakey-wakey, but no eggs and bakey… It was Castaway Day, and we had a 5k!
After a light continental breakfast, we made our way down to the District Lounge to check in for our 5k. Once the group was together, we collectively made our way to the start/finish line. The humidity on the island took me by surprise, especially with a pretty stiff wind blowing. Needless to say no PRs to be had this race. We lined up and were shortly on our way. The course was hot, and there was little reprieve from the sun. However, there was plenty of water on-course (and available across the island throughout the day). We ended up walking better than half of the event. DW just did not have it in her, from lack of training. But we enjoyed the course and getting out to work off some of the cruise food, and collected our medal at the finish.
After the race, we changed for our time on the beach… The only thing Castaway Cay could really use to improve it is actual changing rooms. We had to utilize bathroom stalls to put on our swimsuits… and DW was not happy with that (or me… well mostly me) as she struggled with her new (not-so-simple) bathing suit top I had bought her for the trip.
After changing, we made our way to Pelican Point to take a ride on the slide. A short 15-20 minute wait and it was our turn. The ride was fun, but I was not ready for the end and ate a huge mouthful of seawater :p ! Plunge complete, the line grew exponentially, and we headed toward toward the boat rentals for a water trike; unfortunately all rentals and excursions were cancelled for the day due to the wind.
We then decided to briefly shop before heading to Serenity Bay.
Once at SB, the BBQ was set up, so we chose to eat before heading to the beach. The food was AWESOME. 6 or so different kinds of salad, grilled chicken, cajun mahi mahi, steak, BBQ ribs cooked to fall-off-the-bone perfection… plus burgers and dogs (if you so chose). Soft drinks, 4 flavors of soft-serve, giant chocolate chip cookies, and two other baked treats I do not recall… I opted for the fish, steak, and ribs (oh the RIBS!), and finished with an ice cream sandwich of chocolate soft serve between cookies. One tip, beware the birds on the island. If you leave 2 feet between you and a plate, the birds swarm trying to steal food/scraps!
After lunch we made our way to the beach. It took a bit of a walk to find open lounge chairs with an umbrella, but we did not mind. Our bag plopped down, we decided to hit the water. We attempted to snorkel, but with low tide, the water across almost all of the area was under 2 feet deep, and we saw nothing but sand. The area was really like a giant kiddie-pool, and about 100yds offshore, we were sitting in 6″ of water. Another cruiser who had been snorkeling keyed us to a small area where there were fish to see, so we grabbed the gear and worked our way over. There was a sunken engine block in about 3 feet of water. As we approached big Sargent Majors circled our feet. We sunk down under the surface and saw adult and juvenile SM (and one guarding a nest), by the block were about 30-40 snapper, a few jacks, neon goby, some hogfish, and an angelfish. Having had a reef aquarium, I was excited to see the fish in the wild, and to be able to identify all of them. We spent a good 15-20 minutes circling the area and taking it all in. Then closet to shore, we saw a pair of starfish that were about 15″ across, which were really cool.
DW had enough of the water and wanted to dry off, so we made our way back to the beach. As she settled in the chair, I made my way to the beach bar for a pair of Konk Koolers… I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive drinks were on this trip. I opted for the souvenir ‘bamboo’ glasses with our drinks, which was a great purchase. We sipped our Koolers and watched the water for about an hour. The glasses were refilled with ice water and they did a great job keeping our water cold the remainder of the day.
Once dry, we made our way to the tram to head back to the main area for real shopping. I struck out most of this trip trying to purchase items. A Hawaiian-style CC shirt I had seen earlier in the day… the XXL was gone on my return, nothing in the back. Castaway Cay 5k tech shirt, nope not in the color I wanted :hmmph: It seemed everything I really wanted, they did not have my size… As an aside, I was very surprised at how much merchandise they lacked backstock on, and the CMs told us that once what they have is gone, it is gone. They are no longer re-stocking the ships with 2017-dated shirts…In May!
We managed to find a few items, and worked our way toward the ship. Along the way, we paused to play a couple games at In Da Shade. Before boarding we needed to mail some postcards from the island. Unfortunately we did not have cash :| … Once back on the ship, we rushed to GS to buy stamps and have them mail from the island before our departure.
Our island adventure over, we cleaned-off the remaining sand and prepared for pirate night. Properly costumed, we hurried to meet Jack Sparrow before the deck party. From our M&G, we made our way up to the pool deck and secured a good spot for the show. The deck party was cute, and fun, but probably would have been more enjoyable with the kids.
DW wanted to see the comedy show in the theater, so that is where we headed. She really enjoyed the show. I found the start to be less than entertaining, but the finish was better.
Dinner was scheduled at Animators Palate, and of course it was pirate-themed. AP on the dream is a little different from the other ships, and I was a little bummed about the imagery/decor. I really liked that all of the are was pirate-themed, and there were beautiful pictures displayed. However, I had hoped that I’d be able to see the progression of the images from rough-sketch to finished work. Our food was very good. I had forgotten to take photos My entrees were a pasta with shrimp and scallops, and a braised leg of lamb. DW had yet another steak (she is less adventurous than I food-wise, and struggled to find appealing dishes). I do not recall dessert, but I do know it was very enjoyable.
We finished our meal taking a photo with our serving crew. I cannot express how much we enjoyed our time with those guys.
Our dinner was a little slow coming out, so we had finished a bit late and had to scramble to the deck for fireworks. Unaware that there was a stage show accompanying, we were poorly positioned on the upper deck, behind the stage. From what we saw, the stage show was good, and we enjoyed the fireworks. Post-fireworks, the deck became ‘Club Pirate’ and we hung out and danced a bit before calling it a night.