“Screw it, I’m going on a cruise”: Day 3

Friday was our last full day on the cruise. It was also Castaway Cay: Disney’s Private Island! Day. I’ll admit, I wasn’t very excited about this one. I pictured extreme lameness and way too much cheer. But seriously, Disney rocks at making sure the adults are accommodated for (and kept far from children if that’s what they prefer).

We had breakfast in one of the ship’s nicest restaurants. I couldn’t decide what to get, so I ordered oatmeal with brown sugar, an English muffin, yogurt with fruit and granola, orange juice and hot chocolate. It was all delicious. The best part is that we were told the fruit in the fruit and yogurt was “mostly melon” which didn’t sound good to us. We asked if maybe they could find us some berries instead. A few minutes later our server came back with two bowls of the most delicious fresh berries in the world.

We got ready for the day and headed off the ship. There were stands of food and free ice cream machines everywhere, but we weren’t at all hungry yet. So instead we took the trolley to the private adult beach. No kids allowed, which was great for me. We got lucky and found two empty hammocks right on the beach, so we plopped down and fell into total relaxation mode again. One of my favorite things to do is chill in a hammock on a nice day with a good book. I don’t own a hammock so I rarely get to do this, which made this day even more wonderful.

After some reading and a little nap, we got up and waded in the water. Erica got the brilliant idea to go for a long walk to explore the beach and rocky peninsula. I told her to have fun and laid back down in my hammock. She was gone for a long time while I read and relaxed some more. I was just starting to get restless when she showed up and suggested we go find some lunch. We ran into some bad timing though because all the food places shut down at 2 for some reason, and we got there just in time for Erica to snatch some chicken before they shut the gates. I went to the pizza place, hoping to grab a slice before they shut down, and instead was told they didn’t even open until 2:30. That is poor planning in my opinion. What if someone is hungry between 2:00 and 2:30? There’s nothing to eat! So I watched Erica eat until I could get my pizza. We wanted ice cream too, but guess what. They shut down all the ice cream stations too! I hated Disney a little bit in that moment. In lieu of ice cream, we walked around for awhile, then decided to head back to the ship. On the way we took some pictures of the Flying Dutchman, the prop ship used in the second Pirates of the Caribbean film.

Back on board we decided to hit the pool for awhile since we hadn’t spent much time there yet. The pool was nice, but unfortunately the hot tubs were broken and barely lukewarm. We didn’t linger long and soon went back to the stateroom to get ready for dinner. It was a “dress-up optional” night, so we put on dresses and heals and got to eat in one of the fancy restaurants. I couldn’t decide between the beef and the halibut, so I asked our server for advice. He lead me to the beef, which sounded fine to me. But then when our meals came, he surprised me by bringing me both! Unfortunately it was way too much food so I couldn’t enjoy it all.

Dinner was followed by another broadway-style show, which was so impressive. They’re short—only an hour—but they’re very entertaining. We thought about staying in our fancy get-ups for awhile longer, but if you want the cruise line to take your bags off the ship, you have to put them out the night before de-boarding. So we went casual and spent the rest of the night wandering the ship, taking more pictures, eating free (and completely unnecessary) pizza. We went to bed late, satisfied with our three-day adventure. Saturday morning we grabbed a quick breakfast on board, then got off to head to the airport. Our plane didn’t leave for hours, so we just hung out in the airport forever. We started our day at 7am, and I didn’t get back to my apartment until 11pm. It was a long day of travel, but so worth it.

I’m really glad I decided to go on this trip.