Day 7 - Castaway Cay

Per Thursday’s drop in temps (low-mid 60s), we suspected Castaway Cay would be a wash. Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. Our favorite part is Serenity Bay, the adult-only beach with its own lunch location. Our plan was probably going to be to get off the ship, head to the shop on the island to purchase our souvenirs, and then get right back on the ship. As we left Grand Cayman early, we arrived early to Castaway Cay. Luckily we awoke to sun and much warmer temps. We threw on our swimwear, packed our day bags, and headed off the ship.

Kara found both a new Castaway Cay t-shirt and visor in her favorite color (orange), so she was a happy camper. I grabbed only a single t-shirt and we headed to Serenity Bay. The island is undergoing many changes and expansions in preparation for the third Disney ship (Dream), which will be larger than the Magic and Wonder. As such, the shores had much more “muck”, but most everything else was the same. This cruise is during a light season, so we were about 300+ short of capacity. Additionally, most kids are in school, so Serenity Bay was much fuller than either Kara or I had ever seen it. Luckily, we got there early and grabbed loungers near the entrance.

Although sunny, it was quite windy, so we stayed covered in our cover-ups and towels. There was no way we were going near the water, so we each read. After lunch, it didn’t seem significantly warmer and the wind was increasing, so we headed back to the ship.

I showered and decided based on our evening schedule, I needed to go ahead and pack. Kara hates packing so I tried to make it a game, even offering to pack for her, which is NO small feat, as she is often over the weight limit! (I am NEVER even near the weight limit!) We ended up having a speed contest, so it only took about a half hour. While Kara was in the shower, a sudden loud noise overcame the ship. I dashed to the balcony to see a chopper from Miami Childrens’ Hospital landing next to the ship. (On our last cruise, there was an ambulance pulled up to the Norwegian ship next to us. Hopefully, we aren’t bad luck!) We can only wish our best to the impacted family.

As we were leaving the room, Kara was on the balcony waiting for us to leave Castaway Cay. Except we weren’t leaving. From what we understand, we were pulling out and possibly hit something, so we were trying to stay to check it out. In the mean time, the aft was untied, while forward was still tethered to the dock. By this time we’d already started moving away from the dock and the wind was making it VERY difficult to again get close enough to re-tie the aft. A somewhat scary situation.
The wind continued, so we guessed our ride back to FL would be quite rough. (Usually the first or last night of these cruises is the most turbulent.) I also thought I was out of “sea sick” pills, so we picked up extra at the ship’s Health Center. We made a last stop to the shops and then headed to the final night show.

Our final dinner was in Animator’s Palette to celebrate our international crew from over 50 countries. Kara had some chicken skewers and we both had lobster bisque for appetizers. Entrees were beef tenderloin for Kara and seafood pasta for me (yum! More shrimp, scallops, & lobster!). Dessert was Apple-Cranberry cobbler for Kara and chocolate decadence for me – yes, only one for me tonight. With server photos taken and tip envelopes handed over, our night was nearly complete.

At the end of dinner, both the Captain & Cruise Director made announcements that the weather continued to deteriorate, the wind having increased from 30 to 40 and now 55-60 knots. It was simply too dangerous to leave, so we would be staying tied to Castaway Cay for the foreseeable future, which would impact our return to Port Canaveral. Questions were flying, but of course, everything was speculation.

We returned to our rooms to finalize our luggage and have it outside our door by 11pm. Around this same time our stateroom attendant stopped by to confirm the voicemail telling us that luggage check-in was canceled. (This is probably our FAVORITE benefit. It’s where Disney takes our luggage straight from our room to the airport and we don’t see it again until we arrive at IND! ) This was very sad. And my back, which is still having spells of soreness, is ready to protest. Before 11:30pm, a new “Welcome Home” letter was under our door telling of a new, much later, breakfast schedule, as well as other ship services that would be available in the morning, which are typically closed on port disembarkation morning.

So it’s now 11:34pm and we’re just sitting next to Castaway Cay trying to ride out this storm. Even so, the ship is still moving a small bit with its typical “creaking” sounds. We’re packed & the bags have been taken down to the hold. Verizon messed up our service change and didn’t add our international data package, so no internet for us. The ship report shows the wind at a “Strong Gale” (no jokes please), rough seas (8-13ft.), and 224 nautical miles to the port. Luckily, we have our latest flight ever post-cruise with 2:10pm departure. At this point, we’re not really counting on making that. This may be one of those times that purchasing the trip insurance is going to pay off. We are to have a direct flight to IND, but between a possible delay getting to MCO and the various land-based storms (East Coast snow and something in Atlanta?), we’re starting to go through possible scenarios. Let it be known, we have NO PROBLEM with the possibility of staying in FL another night, although we’d prefer a Disney hotel over one of the airport hotels – lol! See, we’ve still got our senses of humor!

As we’ve done most nights, I reminded Kara to order the chocolate chip cookies from room service. Upon completing the task, she stated she should always be able to press a button on her phone for someone to bring her fresh chocolate chip cookies!

So stay tuned, for the unexpected conclusion to our adventure!