Day Seven: Castaway Cay

Did we wake up early on Sunday morning to see the Wish parallel park at Castaway Cay? We did not. But we did have the foresight to order a continental breakfast to our room. Admittedly, it was less than lackluster as they forgot the milk for C's cereal and for me to drink with my croissant. But it was better than getting dressed to find food before getting off the ship. 

We were not about to miss a second of Disney's private island. 

Admittedly, there isn't a ton to say about the day. We were delighted to be in the Bahamas even though it was cool, in the mid-70s and cloudy. But we knew it was also -30 at home so... it's difficult to get too sad about that.

C's Christmas gift was the Stingray Excursion. He and Husband went to the Stingray hut at 10:00. They first heard a little lesson, then got to feed them in these little stingray drive-throughs. There were seaweed bars and shrimp treats on Mickey plates. C loved it!!! He did not scream but apparently, most of the other kids and their moms did. 

Afterwards, they went snorkeling with the stingrays. C did not love snorkeling as it turns out. I had initially booked all four of us for snorkels all day but canceled it because I had read there were plenty available so we didn't need the reservation. Anything prebooked you were automatically charged for. Since I barely got in the water it would have been a total waste of money for me. (Though let's be real, if we were charged for it I would have been snorkeling all day.) 

I read my book in a lounge chair. The kids swam and played in the sand. M went to the kid's club on the island. 

This was my kid's first real beach day and they were definitely fans. We want to do it again very soon! C had initially not wanted to cruise or ever go to a beach because "what would he do all day?" He did not have any trouble filling his time!

We had a delicious barbecue lunch and the seagulls scared the bejeezus out of me. (A low point to be sure.) 

And after we were content for the day we headed back aboard. Everyone took a shower and we all watched The Parent Trap (1998) in the room during the process. Hey, it starts on a boat! And it was a good downtime to relax and not nap exactly but just to have some chill. 

Our dinner for our last night was 1923 which is the fanciest establishment. We didn't dress in formal wear or in 1920s fashion like some did but we did dress up a little bit. First, we walked about the ship and took a lot of pictures. 

Then we had a DELICIOUS dinner. C lost his mind with excitement in 1923 because of all the original sketches and the Oswald and Steamboat Willie all over. He loves all that and even has the Oswald Magic Band. 

We took my favorite family picture of the trip in 1923. Admittedly, I still look like a lobster but I promise it wasn't painful at all. 

M and I had to cut dessert short however because she had her own Christmas present to get to: Bippidi Bobbidi Boutique. 

Yes, she did this on our last trip at WDW but this was again special because it was on the cruise ship and though girls can go until they turn 12, I can just tell she's aging out of the magic of it. So once more. This time I let her get the full Captain Minnie Outfit. I also told her she was going to be Captain Minnie for Halloween so there's that justification. 

M picked Captain Minnie almost immediately. She had been plotting it since we got on the ship. And I get it. It's cute and exclusive to the cruise. 

Our fairy godmother Miranda was so kind and sweet to M. We loved her.

And here we are at the end. M was trying so hard to be brave because she loved it. But the minute we left I asked her if she was disappointed in the backpack. See, we had been talking about the new BBB backpack, the sparkly Minnie backpack. And she got the cinch sack kind she got at WDW. 

So, I told her we could go ask. M looked so sad. The front desk person was different than the one we had just an hour before and she told us that it was the fault of the former person for not explaining the backpack wouldn't be the sparkly one. And that they aren't available separately because they're part of packages and brought on board in sets. 

But then she took pity on M who was genuinely so sad about this and said if we could come back in 20 minutes she would see what she could do after calling her manager. So we waited around in the lobby. I explained to M that it might not happen but to just keep looking sad. 

Well, we went back and the manager told us we could buy one! So... an upcharge yes, but at that point it was Disney Magic because she wanted one so badly. And this likely sounds lackluster and "obviously they were going to let you they just hoped you'd change your mind in 20 minutes" but for real, the Fairy Godmother had a heck of a time ringing it up because it actually wasn't marked and she had to go get a binder with barcodes from a closet. And M's fairy godmother came out to present it to her as well, which was also so sweet of them. M was just absolutely beaming! And so grateful. 

After we oohed and ahhed over it, I dropped her off at the kids' club and booked it to the Walt Disney Theatre to meet up with the boys to see Aladdin. 

After the show, which was C's favorite of the offerings, we picked M up and headed back to the room. I will tell you that M really enjoyed her time in the kid's club and would have spent more time there if we had let her. I am so grateful that she had a good time there!

We had to have our suitcases in the hallway for pickup by 10:30. It wasn't a problem. After we ordered some (included) room service desserts, Mickey bars for the kids, and Chocolate Cake for the grown-ups we snuggled in for our last sleep. 

M took these pictures of the ceiling above her bunk. Her bed comes out of the ceiling so it was difficult to capture the image. I let her do it. 

We had the tiniest cabin possible: an inside stateroom. We had NO problem with it. It is small, but here's the thing: so is our house. We packed light knowing we'd do laundry so storage wasn't an issue at all. Everyone slept great and we didn't spend a ton of time in our cabin during the day anyhow. When we did spend time in our room we didn't feel cramped. 

I would have no problem booking an inside stateroom again, especially since we all slept so well every night!