Disney Cruise Line Caribbean Cruise - Part 6
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Take Only Photographs: Leave Only Footprints

This expression encapsulates my feelings about Castaway Cay. It is a simple, breath-taking paradise island in the heart of the Bahamas. When planning the vacation, I had paid little attention to the final full day onboard the Disney Magic, concentrating on the other port of calls instead. However, in the space of just seven hours, this magical island captured my heart. We were the last guests to board the ship, just minutes before setting sail for Port Canaveral and Lindsay had to drag my reluctant body onto the ship.

My original perception of the island was little more than a life-size version of Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, complete with sandy beaches and a choice of watersports and aquatic adventures. That morning, we took breakfast at Topsiders and observed that the ship was in reverse. A quick peak over the balustrade revealed that the Disney Magic was being reversed into the dock on the island. The slow and arduous process was interesting to watch. Just minutes after completing the manoeuvre, the exit on Deck 1 opened and like a floodgate, dozens of cast members poured onto the island to prepare the island for guest arrivals. The cast members work long shifts and I am not convinced that guests are fully aware of the sheer effort required to ensure guests have a vacation to remember.

The first view of the island
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Just one hour later, we were allowed onshore. At 9:30am the temperature was already in the high eighties Fahrenheit with the sun blisteringly hot in the cloudless sky. On arrival onto the island, guests first encounter the rustic and ram shackled post office, where guests can post their postcards which will arrive back home with a special "Castaway Cay, Bahamas" frank. A bridge over a secluded inlet transports guests to their first views of the family beach, a gigantic white sandy beach that stretches virtually as far as the eye can see. Most of the island facilities can be found here. The retail store offers a cornucopia of Castaway Cay exclusive merchandise (including at least a dozen unique trading pins). Staffed by the retail crew from onboard, the cast members were inundated with guests all day. One cannot help but feel a great deal of sympathy for them, as they were in for a ten hour-plus day on the island, in searing temperatures with little air conditioning. Life as a crew member onboard a cruise ship is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

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Mount Rustmore - part one
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Mount Rustmore - part two
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