September 2013 Super Vacation Part 4: Disney Cruise - Castaway Cay

You know those pictures you see in travel brochures that show an unbelievably gorgeous tropical scene?  

This is Castaway Cay, Bahamas.

Here was our first look on the Friday morning we arrived.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT THE SUN IS SHINING!  

We owe the bar tender we met the previous night a big thanks because he told us he was taking care of the weather situation and would guarantee nothing but sun on Castaway Cay.

In the immortal words of Liz Lemon, "I want to go to there."
We don't get to see this kind of scene often, so we were raring to step off the ship and onto paradise. 

The kids' first dip into the Caribbean.

We purchased the excursion package that included bikes, tubes, snorkel gear and the stingray feeding. We never even had time to get to the bikes and barely used the tubes because we much preferred to be snorkeling.

After a quick dip in the sea, we headed to the stingray hut for the feeding. I loved this and would do it again in a heartbeat. Here's some of the fun:

Then it was on to another part of the beach for lunch, a water slide and a snorkel hunt for the elusive sunken Mickey.

Views of the massive Fantasy from the Cay.

Hi Dumbo!  He's my favorite Disney character.

Big 'ol water slide.

Here's Will shooting out the bottom...

Eliza Grace's turn.

We were very much looking forward to the search for a sunken Mickey statue in the bay. Eliza Grace, Will and I headed off to do just that while Scott kept an eye on our stuff (read drank beer in the shade).

Anyhoo, we donned our gear and began our search for Capt. Mickey.  

We dove into the water and swam and swam and swam and swam. I asked a lifeguard how much further and he pointed to a buoy off in the distance. 

We'd been in the water swimming around for at least 30 minutes at this point and it seemed that we were only about halfway there.  Will was now riding on my shoulders half the time because the water was a little too deep for him to stand and he was getting tired.

But we persevered because, by golly, we were going to find that Mickey!

Here's a peak at our trek: 
(Disclaimer - it's harder than you'd think to snorkel, tread water, keep an eye on your two tired kids and take really great underwater video, even with a GoPro strapped to your wrist. Just so you know.)

By the time we finally made it to dry land we were ready to head back to the ship for a shower and some cold refreshments, plus the kids were jonesing for ice cream, which they had not had in 7 whole hours!

Here are some shots of Castaway Cay from Deck 14 as we prepared to castoff. No filter people.

About 100 people live and work here year round. I think I just found our retirement gig.

We had an amazing day on Castaway Cay and if Disney offered cruises that only stopped here, I would absolutely be the first in line to buy a ticket.

Up next, Disney Cruise part 5 - Ridiculous photo glut!