A day on the island

this guy was gone...just the Fresh Catch part was still there...good place to pose with ship in background

we didn't get a picture this time...but here's one from 1999...these girls are 25-26 now!

The best part of the Disney cruises is the trip to Castaway Cay; the privately owned island in the Bahamas. All the ships have similar stops...but Disney is the only ship that pulls right in to a dock on the island and you can walk off the ship. No tender to take you over to the island...in other words...no waiting in line for a boat, riding over and waiting in line to get back...you can walk on and off the ship as many times as you want. It's great.

There are naturally photo opportunities when you get off the ship...currently they have the Christmas tree and some sand people

They time the arrival of the ship to be morning on the last day of the cruise. We were docked and cleared to get off the ship by 8:30...(I think)
. Here's the view from our stateroom. It was a little cloudy at first...but the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day. We were happy for all the people from Washington (St), Canada, Chicago, Ohio, etc...some of whom had never been to the beach before! It was perfect. A staff member told us it was the nicest weather they had had for the day at Castaway Cay in the last 3-4 weeks. When the boat arrives...crew member get off and set up the beach chairs, get the food going, etc. Once everything is set up...people are allowed off the ship. We watched as the jet skis, ski boats, etc arrived. (They came around our side of the ship.)

and the zoomed in picture

The first time we went on the Disney cruise back in 1998...there wasn't much on the island. There were deck chairs of course, hammocks in the trees, snorkeling and bikes to rent...but not too many activities. They did have the teen beach area and the adult only part of the beach...so everyone could relax and enjoy the day. I remember our friend Gayle T. trying to sneak over to get a picture of our then teen aged kids...and getting "caught". Crew member told her she was too old to be in that area...hahaha.
There is a paved "runway" maybe leftover from days gone by...probably when people used the island to bring in illegal substances.... That has been there all along...fun to walk down the road and see the plane at the end...along with a bar or two...here's what it looks like now...15 years later...

                        tucked in nicely among the trees and plants...used to be standing on it's own...

This has also been there since the beginning....

play area

John and I decided we would take a walk around the island...versus walking around the deck of the ship like we did the day before. We did not participate in the 5K...but that might've been fun. Saw people coming back
 after they finished. They were the first group on the island.
We walked around for 2 hours! I snapped pictures along the way...

there are various old rusty anchors along the path...probably found when dredging around the island...my guess anyway

And the the extra Disney touches of course...

Pelicans are kind of the "theme"...these decorations and the Pelican Beach play area

bike rentals or wheelchairs for beach; also had wagons for toting kids around

I liked the signs :)

There are play areas for various age groups, a splash park area, covered pavilions where they serve lunch

There are also little shops (but of course!) and places where you can get your hair braided...in case you haven't done that yet!
At the end of the island...there are cabanas that groups can rent...for their own private place to relax for the day. Kind of nice.

Each one looks a little different...with a little chalkboard out front with name of family/group

The teen beach area was also back there somewhere. They offered a 4-hour package...kayaking, snorkeling,sailing,  etc ....I'm sure the kids had a blast!
They now have para-sailing, jets skies, Hobie Cats,  fishing...all sorts of fun things to do on the island for all ages......all you need is the $$$$$$
They have an Observation Tower out at the end too...we went up and saw the view...nice!

we met up with a few bike riders while were were there...everyone took turns taking pictures...hahah
After we got to the tower...we made our way back.

I'm guessing this BIG rat?......( definitely bigger than a mouse trap) was not part of the island decor...hahah
John thought I was crazy...taking pictures of everything...hahah
 As I said...the best thing is you could take a walk around the island...then walk back (or ride the tram) back to the ship...freshen up...or hit the pool and the AquaDuck (no lines...everyone's at the beach!) and then head back out in time for lunch!
Lunch on Castaway Cay...hamburgers, barbecue, some chicken and fish, fresh corn on the cob, cole slaw, chips,etc. Cookies and ice cream for dessert...fruit...plenty to keep everyone happy.

Trip on the Disney Dream

Just got back from a 3 day cruise to The Bahamas on the Disney Dream. Last time we took a Disney cruise was in 1999 on the Magic. We found a good deal and decided to take a few days and check out the new ship. It was nice.

I worked until 12:15; then a friend drove us up to the port.

It was just a quick trip to Nassau and Castaway Cay...but that was enough for a nice long weekend trip.

view from the room while still in port

lobby already decorated for Christmas

we had a GREAT room...close to the elevator...one floor down from closest coffee station and restaurant! Port side out... on the way to Nassau...Starboard home (reference from  "A View from Saturday")...where the acronym posh comes from

One of the main reasons I wanted to go on the Dream was to check out the new water slide....It's a flume ride that goes around the deck, looping out over the water.  Two people (or just one) ride together on a raft. It's fun...and especially when you don't have to wait in line for too long. During the peak hours...you might have to wait 45 minutes for a (kind of) short ride...but if you are on the ship when  almost everyone else is off the boat on Castaway Cay...well...it's a short wait and that's exactly what we did!
Another fun feature on the ship is in the hot tub on the adult deck...the bottom has a plexi-glass window that lets you see to the bottom of the ship...to the dock or the water below when out at sea. The hot tub was nice after we got off the slide...since the wind was blowing a bit making it a little chilly.

we got a room with a balcony. Lots of space...

As we were leaving from the port, the sun was setting. The seas were a little rough...gale force winds...and a big swell...maybe 5-7 ft? But the ship is so big...I never really felt it. People were walking in weaving lines from time to time...other than that...no one appeared to be sick or anything

It also had a nice sliding glass door out to the balcony. *Nice place for morning coffee that was conveniently delivered as requested for room service. Ah...what a life!

After we checked out our room we headed up to the casual restaurant for a late lunch. I like the decorated sign. Had a little bit of several different foods...everything was tasty.
Tomorrow more pictures and stories  from on board

Air Show at the beach

we were lucky to have an Air Show going on right down the road from us this past weekend. Got to watch the practice runs on Friday and the show Saturday.

It was amazing how close they flew together...

there were 5-6 of these jets...they were the highlight of the show. They would fly down with  so close to the water and the beach...it seemed like people in the water could use a fishing pole and touch them.

which actually made me wonder why anyone in their right mind would be IN the water right under where the jets were...because anything can happen...thankfully nothing did

Right about the time the air show was set to start these dark clouds were moving in from the north and west

a cold front was moving through...believe it or not we never got one drop of rain...just some wind. The wind gusts were not enough to stop the show...so that all worked out

within about 1/2-1 hour the front went through. The sun came back out and the temperature (according to Heather's phone) had gone down from 83 to 74!

meanwhile the shoe went on. I had a hard time taking pictures...trying to time it right...haha Took one video...but the planes flew in and out rather quickly...then you can hear them but all I got was blue skies...haha

back plane looping in and out and around the front one

two of the five...they all went up , then split off - pretty cool

Near the end after the front passed....can you see the jets way back there?   It was fun how they fly out of sight then all of the sudden you'd here them and they would come back in from behind, above, whatever

Meanwhile we had a cosy little set up on the beach watching it all. It was a fun day. As air shows go...I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought the fact that it was all private citizens performing and putting on the show they did a good job. The traffic on A1A was handled well by the local police  (Melbourne) and County Sheriff's dept. For as many cars and people that were around...things moved well. I didn't have to worry about parking...just rode my bike up to our friend's house and walked down to the beach with them.
Some people said it wasn't the best one they've ever seen...but it was great to see that many people out at the beach enjoying the afternoon. The whole length of the beach was full of people. Riding the bike home I passed groups of people at the local bars/restaurants, etc...all seeing to be enjoying the activities. There was a fun party-like atmosphere every where you went around town. I thought it was great.