Day 15 - Castaway Cay

CASTAWAY CAY!!!

Pronounced Castaway KEY, Castaway Cay is Disneys own private island. It is for the exclusive use of Disney Cruise Line guests. It is truly paradise and in typical Disney fashion it is well thought out and practically perfect in every way.

View from the ship

We had breakfast at Cabana's  then we went back to our stateroom to get ready for ur beach day. We got our swimmers and beach gear (Sunscreen, buckets, spades etc) and headed off the ship. We got off and collected our towels then hopped on the tram. We got off at the main beach and found a nice shady spot. We spent the day swimming, snorkelling, digging, eating and relaxing.

Riding the tram

Not happy on the tram

Our shady spot

I hired a set of snorkel gear and snorkelled on and off during the day. I didn't realise until right at the end of the day that all the cool fish were to be seen at the far, far end of the snorkelling area. By the time I swam back it was to late to get my camera and go again. I will remember for next time!


Steve took Brandon to hire a pedal boat. The boys had a great time and Steve took a couple of photos. Brandon was too short to reach the pedals so Steve did all the work while B kicked back and enjoyed the ride!

Selfies!

The boys

The Disney Fantasy

Castaway Cay

More rentals

Peyton and I swam and enjoyed lunch. Lunch was BBQ and there was burgers, hotdogs, salads, cookies, fruit, soda, ice cream. Plus packets of chips. I took some down to the beach area. I remember waiting in line for lunch and listening to the music they played over the speakers and "Land Down Under  came on. It did make me feel a little homesick, especially the Vegemite sandwich part. LOL!

Burger and salads

Fruit Salad

I think she has banana bread, chicken, corn & ketchup, hotdog and a cookie

Definitely a cookie!

We spent a fabulous last day on the beach. It is one of our favourite places in the world.

Relaxing on a deck chair

Playing in the sand

Tiny, tiny hermit crab

See, tiny!!

Swimming/Floating

Funny seagulls

Making sandcastles

My view from my chair

Sadly it was time to pack up and board the ship. As the ship moved away from the dock the lucky maintenance crew who get to stay, bid us farewell with Mickey hands.

Goodbye!

And a bow!

Pulling away from the dock

I went and took some photos from the back of the ship of the sunset. I just made it. I also took a wander around and photographed some more of the ship. 

I thought these clouds were cool and looked like a cruise ship on the horizon

I wasn't the only one with that idea!

The funnel

Chandelier

Detail on the lift

The farewell party

Captain Mickey

I went back to the room and got ready for dinner. Our last night was at Royal Court. The dinner was delicious and it is my favourite restaurant out of the three. I'm glad we got to eat here three times.

Dinner setting

Looking a little tired and sunburnt

Another tired munchkin

Mmmm, cauliflower with tomato sauce

B's Chicken noodle soup

Mickey Bar

Our server

Towel Swan

Day 12 - St Maarten

Today was our first port day. We were stopping at the Caribbean island of St Maarten. It is an island that is half Dutch and half French. We got up and had our usual breakfast, then it was off the ship to meet for our tour. I booked Bernards Tours after some research on the DIS and Cruise Critic. It gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor so I took the plunge and booked. It was all arranged by email and was all very straightforward.

Historic building

Port

Disney Fantasy

Welcome to St Maarten!!

We met near the stairs and were separated into groups. We then boarded mini buses and headed off. Our first stop was an iguana farm. This was pretty cool. Peyton wasn't so sure though. We got to feed them lettuce and the tour guys picked them up for photo ops. There were chickens running around everywhere and Peyton got scared of the chickens and started to cry. Steve had to carry her back to the bus, it didn't matter though as it was a short 10 min stop anyway.

Iguanas!

Not too sure...

Our next stop was Orient beach. Orient is known for it's nudity but we didn't see anything (dang...haha). On the way to the beach we were given commentary about the island. We also passes St Barts but you could only faintly make it out in the distance. Before we hit the beach we made a quick stop at a guy that collects sea creatures. We stopped to check out sea urchins, sand dollars and shells. He took tips but it was worth seeing as I've never seen some of the creatures.

Sea urchin

Shells

Tips!!

Shell

Well Orient was a beautiful beach. The water in the Caribbean is really as amazing as the postcards make out. We stopped at a little restaurant and we rented chairs. We could purchase beverages or food but we didn't. The toilets were gross and you had to get the key from the restaurant. They were at the ack and were just eww. We spet awhile at the beach, the kids had a ball. There were people walking by selling massages, jetski hire, hair braiding and knick knacks. They weren't any problem once we said no they didn't bother us anymore. There was a little market behind the restaurant near the bus and I purchased two dresses and some sarongs.

Beach fun

Silly boy

Beach baby

Trying some dance moves

Picture perfect

Market area

Walkway to beach between restaurants

Waiting to board the bus

After the beach time we boarded the bus again for Marigot, the capital of the French side. We stopped to shop and lunch we only had 45 mins though. We ended up at Sarafinas for lunch. They had the most magnificent French pastries, I'm pretty sure I died and went to heaven.

Mmmm

So many treats

Too hard to choose

Macarons

Ham & Cheese

Macarons

Chicken/salad baguette

Choc filed eclair

Takeaway treats

After stuffing ourselves silly we jumped back on the bus to travel to our last stop for the day. Maho. Maho beach is famous for one thing. It's planes. The planes fly over the beach so, so low before landing just over the road at Princess Juliana airport. on the way Peyton and Brandon fell asleep. I drank some rum punch and boy does it pack a punch! When we stopped Brandon slept so the bus driver left the bus running with the a/c on. I took Peyton to spot some planes. We went and sat at the bar and waited. First a small plane came in. Then came a big one. It was really fun watching them land. I would definitely go back!

Rum punch (it was the size of a shot)

Drinking Capri Sun

Sleeping on the bus in her new dress

Coke cans in the Caribbean

Flight schedule

Gorgeous Maho beach

Here comes a little plane

So low..

Enjoying Coke @ Sunset Bar & Grill

Here comes the big one!

American Airlines

So big!!

We all boarded the bus to trek back to the port. It was a big day but so much fun. The tour was fantastic , the guides friendly and there were plenty of cold drinks on the bus. We got back to the port and I bought a few trinkets from the souvenir stalls before getting back on board.

Some local buildings

Crappy photo from the bus

Toilets @ Marigot

Oh so beautiful

Goodbye St Maatin, hope to visit again someday!

Dinner was pirate night we were so tired that I don't remember much from dinner. I did take a few photos though. We watched the fireworks then grabbed some goodies from the dessert party. By then it was sleep time for us. After such a big day we were buggered.

Soup

Kids corndog meal

More soup

Ribs

Fish

Towel animal

Pirate night fireworks!

Dessert party