Thurs.- @ sea- We planned on not getting any sun today because we had gotten plenty on the 2 previous days at the beach and we still had Castaway Cay on Fri...so we spent the day inside. Went to the Art of Entertaining 10:00 session...it was entree day. After that...went and looked at our pictures in Shudders. Had a great Seafood Buffet @ Parrot Cay...offered in Topsiders too, but we found PC to have a larger variety. Buffet was great...big shrimp, crab claws, shrimp salad, crayfish, clams, etc, plus a normal buffet with lots of nonseafood items-beef, pork, potatoes, rice, on and on. Great dessert bar too.
Saw 2 movies...Snowdogs and The Rookie...both great, but cold in theater. Went to the 3pm Galley tour, neat, but we liked the one on Royal Caribbean much better...still worth seeing though...only took 10-15 minutes, plus they give you one of the DCL famous chocolate chip cookies!! They are so good.
Thurs. is Disney Dreams...just as good as everyone says...don't miss it!
Thurs. night is the semiformal/Capt. Gala menu...we were in PC that night. Apps-grilled shrimp-great, mushroom soup, and garden salad. We both had lobster which was great, but they also had a nice looking steak and halibut which others said were also good. Dessert was Warm chocolate lava cake- this was so good-don't miss it--warm chocalate sauce on the inside.
Fri.-Castaway Cay-this place is just as wonderful as everyone says; although, I must admit that Dawn and Coki Beach really spoiled us and Castaway Cay was not as great as we had been expecting. We were one of the 1st ones off the boat...I think around 8:30 or 9...we went straight to the family beach as recommended by these boards and were one of the 1st ones in the water to snorkel. The snorkeling is just barely fair...nothing compared to what we saw the previous 2 days. The water is VERY shallow and you have to go really far out to see anything...they do have some sites marked with bouies(?SP)-submarine, plane, even mickey mouse and there are some fish around the marked areas, but nothing great...it is worth doing though-just don't expect it to be great. Once the beach starts getting crowded, the snorkeling gets really murky/sandy and it was hard to see anything at all. We got out...did some shopping(tshirts), ate lunch at Cookies BBQ-Lobster burgers (from Thurs. nite dinner)-good, hamburgers, BBQ chicken and ribs -good, fruit, cookies, chips, tea, water, juice. Then, took the tram over to Serenity Bay/adult-only beach. Wish we would have known to wait and eat here...much nicer...everything they have at the family beach, plus they were grilling fish, lobster, etc...wait and eat there if you can..or save room and do both. The beach area is beautiful, but if you like to stay in the water or snorkel you will be disappointed. The water is VERY shallow -1-2 feet deep. We went out as far as the ropes and it was only 4 ft. here. The snorkeling was better on the family side. There is one area across from the 2nd massage cabana that has a sunken boat where we saw a lot of fish, but really it is too shallow to snorkel, plus it is sandy, not rocky...so there just wasn't much to see. We did see several starfish, sand-dollars, one small ray. Had we known it was soooo shallow, we probably would have stayed on the family side...serenity bay is much less crowded and quieter though. Don't know if the water is always that shallw or not.
We were back on the ship around 4:15.
Show was "Farewell Variety Show"...very good...a little mix of the week, had some Disney stuff and 2 acts- juggler & ventriliquist- we had seen that week.
Dinner was"It's a Small World," we were in Lumieres...this was our least favorite menu. The waiters do a cute parade around the restaurant. Apps-soft shell crab-fair, Lobster Bisque-ok, Greek salad-good, DH had India Chicken dish...said it was fair, but he'd had better, not very authenically spiced...bland. I had Italy Fettucini Alfredo and didn't think it was good..bland...have had better @ Olive Garden. Dessert-Bread and Butter Pudding (England)- very good.
Luggage had to be packed and outside the cabin door between 9-11pm...wish they were like other lines we've been on and extend it til 2am...we were rushed getting back to the ship after Castaway Cay, showering, seeing the farewell show, and packing everything up before our dinner...did not like the timing.
Final thoughts and debarkation to follow........
Saw 2 movies...Snowdogs and The Rookie...both great, but cold in theater. Went to the 3pm Galley tour, neat, but we liked the one on Royal Caribbean much better...still worth seeing though...only took 10-15 minutes, plus they give you one of the DCL famous chocolate chip cookies!! They are so good.
Thurs. is Disney Dreams...just as good as everyone says...don't miss it!
Thurs. night is the semiformal/Capt. Gala menu...we were in PC that night. Apps-grilled shrimp-great, mushroom soup, and garden salad. We both had lobster which was great, but they also had a nice looking steak and halibut which others said were also good. Dessert was Warm chocolate lava cake- this was so good-don't miss it--warm chocalate sauce on the inside.
Fri.-Castaway Cay-this place is just as wonderful as everyone says; although, I must admit that Dawn and Coki Beach really spoiled us and Castaway Cay was not as great as we had been expecting. We were one of the 1st ones off the boat...I think around 8:30 or 9...we went straight to the family beach as recommended by these boards and were one of the 1st ones in the water to snorkel. The snorkeling is just barely fair...nothing compared to what we saw the previous 2 days. The water is VERY shallow and you have to go really far out to see anything...they do have some sites marked with bouies(?SP)-submarine, plane, even mickey mouse and there are some fish around the marked areas, but nothing great...it is worth doing though-just don't expect it to be great. Once the beach starts getting crowded, the snorkeling gets really murky/sandy and it was hard to see anything at all. We got out...did some shopping(tshirts), ate lunch at Cookies BBQ-Lobster burgers (from Thurs. nite dinner)-good, hamburgers, BBQ chicken and ribs -good, fruit, cookies, chips, tea, water, juice. Then, took the tram over to Serenity Bay/adult-only beach. Wish we would have known to wait and eat here...much nicer...everything they have at the family beach, plus they were grilling fish, lobster, etc...wait and eat there if you can..or save room and do both. The beach area is beautiful, but if you like to stay in the water or snorkel you will be disappointed. The water is VERY shallow -1-2 feet deep. We went out as far as the ropes and it was only 4 ft. here. The snorkeling was better on the family side. There is one area across from the 2nd massage cabana that has a sunken boat where we saw a lot of fish, but really it is too shallow to snorkel, plus it is sandy, not rocky...so there just wasn't much to see. We did see several starfish, sand-dollars, one small ray. Had we known it was soooo shallow, we probably would have stayed on the family side...serenity bay is much less crowded and quieter though. Don't know if the water is always that shallw or not.
We were back on the ship around 4:15.
Show was "Farewell Variety Show"...very good...a little mix of the week, had some Disney stuff and 2 acts- juggler & ventriliquist- we had seen that week.
Dinner was"It's a Small World," we were in Lumieres...this was our least favorite menu. The waiters do a cute parade around the restaurant. Apps-soft shell crab-fair, Lobster Bisque-ok, Greek salad-good, DH had India Chicken dish...said it was fair, but he'd had better, not very authenically spiced...bland. I had Italy Fettucini Alfredo and didn't think it was good..bland...have had better @ Olive Garden. Dessert-Bread and Butter Pudding (England)- very good.
Luggage had to be packed and outside the cabin door between 9-11pm...wish they were like other lines we've been on and extend it til 2am...we were rushed getting back to the ship after Castaway Cay, showering, seeing the farewell show, and packing everything up before our dinner...did not like the timing.
Final thoughts and debarkation to follow........
