This guest trip report was written by Cynthia, who sailed the Disney Fantasy on July 27, 2019, on the 11 night Southern Caribbean itinerary. You may remember her as the guest blogger who shared her previous experience with the medical center on the Disney Fantasy, which you can read about here. She has now graciously offered to share her adventures with us! This is a unique itinerary not often offered on the Fantasy so I am very excited to get to share this with you!
Day 11: Castaway Cay
You can start this trip report from the beginning by clicking here.
You can see the daily navigators for this sailing here.
The Captain warned us yesterday that the weather forecast for Castaway Cay was not favorable. Boy was he right! What an adventurous day we had.
We arrived at Castaway Cay on time to dark and ominous weather.
All ashore time was 9:30 a.m. All aboard time was 4:45 p.m. We love Castaway Cay, so we were up and moving early in the morning ready to spend every possible minute on the island. We decided to have a quick breakfast at Cabanas and then head off the ship for our early parasailing and jet ski reservations. We have tried on previous trips to Castaway Cay to experience parasailing only to be disappointed because bad weather forced the cancellation of the activity. After scanning the sky and observing the choppy waters, I had little faith that this trip would be any different. Sure enough, before we even got off the ship, both excursions were cancelled because of high winds and rough seas. Bummer. Not to worry, we told ourselves, we had a whole day of Serenity Bay, great food, and exploration ahead.
My youngest daughter had plans to spend the day with her friends on the island, so she left the ship a bit after us. My oldest daughter and I decided to head over to Serenity Bay – with a stop beforehand to say hello to Daisy Duck.
As we began our journey to Serenity Bay, we stopped to check out the island map and admire the Fantasy. Although the weather remained windy, the sun was starting to shine. Maybe today would turn out to be a beautiful day on Castaway Cay.
We took the tram to Serenity Bay and claimed our hammock and chairs.
Any thoughts of a beach day had flown out the window by the time we reached Serenity Bay. Big, black storm clouds came rolling in. There was going to be no swimming today, but we did explore the beach.
We also spent time relaxing and watching the storm clouds roll in. Watching the storm clouds rolls in quickly changed to wondering what was in store for us.
As it darkened and became clear that the rain was going to start at any point, we decided to scoop up our belongings and head for cover at Cookies Too – the Serenity Bay BBQ. Just as we finished lunch, the first storm hit with a crack and a bang. Lightning cracked across the sky, thundered rolled (and kept rolling), and the heavens opened. An announcement was made throughout the island that all guests and staff were to leave the beach and find shelter immediately.
My daughter and I made our way to Windsock – the rental stand by the entrance of Serenity Bay and across the path from Cookies Too (many others headed for cover under the umbrellas at the bar on Serenity Bay only to find out the lifeguard closed the bar because there was not adequate protection from the lightning.)
Others decided to make a run for the tram and head back to the ship – also not a good idea because the trams stopped running due to the severe lightning. We got lucky. The lifeguards ushered about 20 of into their hut so we were out of the elements. We all took it in stride and the staff was great. We were also able to get updates because the lifeguards were in constant communication with security.
After about 30 minutes, the all clear was given and the trams began to run again. By this time it was about 2:00 p.m. Many people headed back to the ship, but my daughter and I decided to take the tram and head back to the family beach area to do some exploring and shopping (daughter number 2 was already back on board the Fantasy.) The tram ride gave us a good view of the flooding on the island after the first storm.
We got off the tram at the stop for the family beach and shopping area. We walked around a bit only to have a second, bigger storm roll in.
This time we were caught in the area around Flippers.
We made a run for the back door of Flippers where a lifeguard by the name of Gaston (no joke) waived us inside.
Two other families joined us. Again, announcements were going off telling everyone to leave the beach and find shelter. The lifeguards and cruise staff (Katie) made sure we had dry towels and chairs.
One of the families had two small kids, so Katie started a game of Disney’s 20 Questions to keep the little ones occupied. Before long everyone was playing. During our entire time in the hut, the lifeguards continuously used their megaphones to yell to people on the beach to leave the beach immediately and find shelter. It’s amazing to watch people ignore instructions. At one point, a gentleman sent his son back to their beach chairs to look for flip flops. Gaston yelled through his megaphone that “flip flops were not important right now.” After about 45 minutes, the all clear signal was given and we ventured out of Flippers. By this time it was 3:00 p.m and there were very few people remaining on the island. Most had made it back to the ship before the second storm hit.
This was my 4th visit to Castaway Cay, and it was by far the worst (and scariest) weather I had ever experienced on the island. Several of the cast members commented to us as we were hunkering down that they had never experienced the “take cover” order ever on the island. When we did get the all clear signal, I walked around and took a few pictures of an absolutely empty Castaway Cay. The beaches were littered with abandoned towels, tubes, and other beach paraphernalia. It was pretty bizarre to see.
Some die hards did have time for a quick stop at the Heads’ Up Bar.
I did have time to take a picture of my favorite sign in the island. My husband Joe always appreciates seeing this.
As we approached the Fantasy, we checked out the post office. For the first time, I noticed the “Air Mail” sign above the post office.
We also got a good view of Dumbo.
By the time we got back on board, it was time to clean up and finish packing. We had a full night planned, so we wanted to get our bags out as soon as possible.
Dinner tonight was cruise casual and we were set for dinner at Animator’s Palate. I started with the Chicken Satay (good) and then had the Wedge salad (just ok.) For my main course I had the Chicken Schnitzel – very good. I finished with the chocolate cake – excellent. Our final dinner of the cruise was excellent and we hated saying goodbye to our servers. They were wonderful. We also said goodbye to our friends at Table 43!
After dinner, we headed to the Tube for the final adult show and then called it a night. As we had a 12 noon flight, we had to get up and moving and off the ship by 9:00.
Today was filled with new experiences, some exciting and some not so exciting. All in all, it was a day to remember and an interesting way to finish our 11 day adventure.
Tomorrow – homeward bound!
Up Next: Day 12
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