Our Disney Sea & Land Trip 2018 – Day 4
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On the 4th day of our trip we woke up a little extra early (6:30am) to get ready for our big day at Castaway Cay!
We schlepped up two floors to Cabanas for a light continental breakfast (fruit and bagel). As we sat there we enjoyed the port side view of what our Cruise Director called, “the most amazing parallel parking job you’ll ever see.”
With the ship fully docked, we trekked down to Deck 4 – Evolution to meet for the Castaway Cay 5K. There was a bit of orientation consisting of familiarizing us with the course map
like 3 or 4 times and then telling us about water stations and waiting until we reach the trash can at the end to throw away our cups. The cast member said, to grasp them firmly as we ran and form a bond with them…name them even!Later as we left the ship we took some photos and as you can see, Castaway Cay is every bit as picturesque as they make it out to be…and look at our smiling faces too!
We regathered at a rally point about halfway down the beach and then they cut us loose! The path took us to the airstrip, down it a bit and then to the trail to the observation tower where we made a complete loop back to the air strip (got my first cup of water…I named it Jolly because I was having a Jolly good time!), all the way down to Serenity Bay, back up the airstrip (got my second cup of water…I named it Roger because while I wasn’t feeling so jolly anymore, if anyone had asked if I thought I was going to make it, I’d have said, “Roger”), back around the observation tower loop, back to the airstrip and back to the beach where we finished and I sunk the Jolly Roger cups
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So we made a photo finish (count the smiles!) after a time of 0:35:35.
Donning our rubber medals we schlepped our way back to the ship and our stateroom to get cleaned up and changed for a day at the beach! While there we soaked in the lovely view! (photo)
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Once we got back on the island we turned in our tickets for snorkel gear rental, I grabbed my waterproof camera, and out to the lagoon we went!
I loved how crystal clear the water was…like pool water, but it’s salty! We got a lot of good pictures, but here are some of the highlights. Well, me of course, a sunken boat, me touching the tail of a Nautilus from the long gone 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction at Magic Kingdom. It was cool to see it again and think of the possibility that I may have taken a ride in it when I was 6
It was too huge to photograph, so I took video of it. Perhaps I’ll upload and share it at some point.We also found Dory!!!
…but she wasn’t all we found…
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We also found Mickey
Minnie Crush and a barracuda Yes, I was quite beside myself for a bit when I saw how close I came to that fish!We were in the lagoon for at least an hour and then we got out, dropped off our equipment, and headed for the tram to take us to Serenity Bay.
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As you can see, there are perks to being a couple with no kids on a Disney Cruise…NO ONE else on on the tram with us to Serenity Bay. There were some folks that got there before us of course, but not many.
Another perk about the adult beach is the BBQ has a few higher end items, like Mahi Mahi and Ribeye steaks! We got those, chicken, ribs, lots of fresh fruit (the cantaloupe was better here), and soft-serve ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, banana, and strawberry)! The wood grilled meats were absolutely delicious!
On our way to the beach we saw a conch shell…and then it stunned us when it moved!
We didn’t expect to see a live one so far in land!…
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We got to Serenity Bay and swam a bit. We found another live Conch in the water…actually a couple other ones. The beach was not at all crowded. Christy gathered a bunch of bleached white shells off the shore while I lounged in the shade a while…until some rain came through.
Then we decided it was a good time to head back to the ship. On the way, we found out that it only rained at Serenity Bay. No one else saw even saw it.
We did some shopping. I got a 5K T-shirt and we got a tree ornament and a coffee mug. We stopped at the Post Office and mailed some post cards and went back to our stateroom to clean up, rest, and get ready for our final dinner on the ship
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Before we headed to dinner, we watched as we left Castaway Cay
Our final dinner was at Animator’s Palate! From what I understand, this restaurant is different on every ship. On the Dream it’s like dinner and Turtle Talk with Crush.
We loved the menus, decor, and even the dinner ware. Notice how the butter knife is a “brush”.
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Once again, we had to get a spread of things before the main course.
1) Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup (with Bacon Bits and Chives) – WOW this was soooo good! But I’m a sucker for bacon and cheese!
2) Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (Garnished with Chives and drizzled with Sour Cream) – Christy ordered this one and said it was very good. I had no reason to doubt her having never had bad butternut squash soup at any Disney venue.
3) Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes (Pasta Purses filled with Truffle-scented Cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce) – Again, this was one soooo good and rich. I almost ordered another one.
4) Tomato Tarte (with glazed goat cheese and shaved radish) – Christy had this one, and I didn’t try it. She didn’t say it was good or bad…just interesting.
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For the main course, we stuck with 2 plates
1) Grilled Tuna Steak (with fingerling confit, caponata, sun-dried tomato pesto, and aioli) – By chef’s standard it was cooked to medium and it had excellent flavor all the way through. It was delicious to the last bite!
2) Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin (served on wasabi mashed potatoes with bok choy and a Tamarind Barbecue Reduction) – Of course we had to get beef again! The last two experiences were so good and this one didn’t disappoint either. The wasabi potatoes were very tasty and not too spicy.
After that we ordered dessert. Now I knew a chocolate cake was coming, but I figured it would be nice to have some ice cream with it, so I got a Cookies ‘n’ Cream Sundae which was very good but also a mistake…the cake was a Chocolate Mousse cake and it was huge! It was very very good, but even after we shared with the other couple at our table, we still had 2/3 of it left
Unfortunately we just weren’t able to finish it and due to customs, it couldn’t leave the ship with us
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After a wonderful last dinner, we returned to our stateroom to be greeted by a penguin! And it was wearing my sunglasses!
Turn-down service is such a fun part of the trip! We also handed out our tips this evening. Our head server and stateroom hostess each got an extra night’s tip for their truly exceptional service.
We went to the Walt Disney Theatre to see Disney’s Believe on stage. This one was not as impressive as Beauty and the Beast, but the story was a lot of Disney-style fun. The primary supporting role was the Genie from Aladdin and the writing and acting for that role were impressively on-point. You know how the Genie is all over the place with his impressions and flare in Aladdin? Well he was like that in Disney’s Believe too. Very funny! At one point he appeared on a balcony with a bucket of popcorn which he “accidentally” dropped over the side…it scared the crowd below, but the popcorn remained suspended to the bucket in strands dangling over them. He said, “Made ya look!” and then put it upside down on his head and said, “Look! I’m Christina Aguilera!
I’m a genie in a bottle baby! ” After the show we did some shopping. We bought a tree ornament and a coffee mug. Then we went back to the stateroom, enjoyed the view of the sea at night one last time and went to bed.
Great job on your 5k! You set a nice pace too! Loved that you did name your cups and held on to them until the finish! The snorkeling looks really cool! Great finds under water. Another great food tip on the adult side of the island, better food options! A fantastic last dinner! It all looks absolutely amazing! And that cake that Chelle ordered you looked AMAZING!!!! Too bad you couldn’t have taken it home with you! I likely would have snacked on it all night in my room! I wouldn’t want to waste it!
Thank you for sharing! Ryan and I loved reading through your report and seeing all of the pictures! Now we really want to book a cruise!!!
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