The TCD Gang Sails Again!: A Four Night Disney Dream Trip Report

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Finally getting caught up.  Excellent TR and love all the great pics of your lovely ladies, but this is my favorite so far...

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Time to crank this report back up!

 

We still have a ways to go!

 

 

Very dapper looking there!

 

Thanks.  As everyone always says: It is good to be TCD.

 

Great Nassau day!  Love the pic of you and Mrs. TCD.

 

Thanks, Gwen.

 

It was a great day.

 

The pics of you all with chip and dale were nicely done.

Platform shoes dude was downright scary.

I am patiently waiting for a giant platter of Mickey bars to show up in one of these pics.

 

Sorry to break it to you, but there is no platter of Mickey bars photo.  The closest we came was a couple of Mickey bars on a room service plate, and I don't think anyone took the time to snap a photo before grabbing them.

 

I'm sure all the servers learn the same crayon tricks....but those are the exact ones our servers used last year.  Your server's name wasn't Tomas, from the Czech Republic, was it? 

 

Nope, I am not sure of our server's exact name, but it definitely was not Tomas.  Our servers' name began with the letters ATM and ended with JA.  There were a bunch of random letters in between.  He pronounced his name for us several times the first night, but I couldn't see how he got the pronunciation from the letters on his name tag.  He was from Indonesia.  There will be more about him in a later update.

 

The crayon tricks look like a fun way to wait for your food to arrive.

I love the family dressed up.  Great photos.

 

It's amazing how fun crayon tricks can be.  There is some kind of magic on the DCL ships.  On land, we would have thought those crayon tricks were boring, but on the ship, they were fun.

 

 

I don't know if I could stay on the ship at Nassua, just because I love to have my hair braided in corn rows.  When I went for my pre-Y2K cruise, I left the braids in for 5 weeks.  I would have kept them longer, but my church choir director begged me to take them out before our Christmas Cantata concert.  This was before I wore a headcovering and she thought it would look to odd.  It did take me about an hour to undo all those braids.

 

If you really need your hair braded, they have genuine Bahamas ladies available to braid hair on the ship.  Poolside.  Near a bar.  They also offer this service on Castaway Cay.  Much better than the open air pavilion where they braid hair in Nassau.

 

I love the lighthouse photos! Family looks great dressed up!

Chipmunks in their Sunday best is adorable!

What is up with the white shoes?!? All he needs is a rolled up cowboy hat and he would be hot!

 

I really don't know what was up with those white shoes.

 

A couple of times this summer, we saw young men, like late teens/early 20's, with bright neon tennis shoes with what looked like a Beanie Baby on them.  What the Fort is that?  The first time we saw it, we thought it was a random weirdo, but then we saw it again.  Is it a thing?

 

I agree pictures(memories) like that do make it all worthwhile.

 

True.  We always print a bunch of the best photos and make an old fashioned photo album for each cruise.  We have one for each cruise.  It is really fun to go back and look at them.

 

I am so late to the party here.  It has taken me 3 days to reach this point and I am loving every post.  Chickened out of a cruise for our anniversary trip this year and reading this makes me second guess that decision.  Maybe I won't chicken out for our 25th. Again your girls are lovely, always so happy!  Beautiful family!

 

I have to agree, it has been many years since I was in Nassau.  I wouldn't compare it to Camden but it certainly is a place one wouldn't miss.

Looking forward to more!

 

Glad that you're caught up.

 

But I don't think we're even at the half-way point yet.  So keep reading.

 

Thanks for the update! I've been to Nassau once and that day I decided if we ever cruised there again we would NOT get off the ship. We pulled the boys out of school for that trip because we had a very small window when we could travel with my dad so we took the "Historical" tour to do something educational. We spent the next 4 hours riding around in a hot bus waving at the drivers friends and hearing him say "This is how we do the ghetto on Nassau". There were 2 interesting stops, but I have never been so glad to get back on a ship!

I totally understand why you are willing to spend the money.....smiles like that are priceless.

 

See, that's the thing about Nassau.  Cruise lines offer all kinds of great-sounding excursions, but they are not run by the cruise lines.  They are run by the people who live on the islands.  The people of Nassau are friendly and nice.  But they're not Disney castmembers, and Disney has very little control over what happens when you leave the ship.  It doesn't take long to see some very un-nice things in any cruise port.  If I was on some crappy cruise ship, I would enjoy taking it the atmosphere of the island.  But I wasn't on some crappy cruise ship.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Brand new around here, but loving this TR!!  Disney cruise is definitely on the bucket list!  Maybe 2014!! 

 

I get the Nassua-dislike but I have to tell you, we did a 5 nt Carnival Fantasy out of Charleston in March.  Nassau & Freeport are the only ports.  In Nassau, we caught a jitney to the Sandals and paid for a daypass. We had full access to restaurants/bars/pools, free food, drinks, etc.  We had a fantastic day.  They have a private island that is quite nice w/ its own pool/hot tub/restaurant/beach.  You take a small boat to get there.  Back on the mainland there are two other pools.  One is heated/music playing, the other is not, and it's the quiet pool.  Swim up bars, etc.  Seriously, Freeport was a downer compared to our day in Nassau at Sandals!  It's for couples only, but it was a great way to spend the day! 

 

Welcome!  Glad to have you aboard!  (pun intended).

 

Don't get me wrong about Nassau- there are some great places to visit there.  Like Atlantis.  We've been several times.  But, I am not going to schlep my family there when we're on a Disney ship.  The last time we visited Atlantis, Mrs. TCD and I were on an adult only cruise with some friends who love to gamble, so we went to Atlantis to visit the casino.  The vehicles that pass as taxis on Nassau are a thing to behold.  They can cram a dozen people into a mini-van, where you're sitting on a jump seat.  To make it quaint, they call it a jitney.  But, once you get to Atlantis, it's nice.  On that last trip, we stopped and had a burger and a few drinks in one of the restaurants.  I think the burgers were $30.  The service was horrible. Meanwhile, back on our ship, there were buffets of food that we had left.  Never again.  In fairness, the burger was good.  For thirty bucks it had better be.

 

When you eat at the fancy dining places and get the "chef" inspired plates like the steak or dessert trio, can you get seconds, thirds or tenths?

 

Yes.  On our first night, I ordered two entrees- the steak and the scallops.  The scallops were to share.  But, nobody else ate them, so I had to.  After that, I stuck to one entrée.  After eating all day, and knowing that there is room service for later, one is plenty.

 

I think if you want more than one of something, you need to order it from your server when the orders are taken.  The way things are set up, I don't think it would be very easy for them to get you seconds after that course has been served.

 

I almost overlooked this TR thinking it was an older one.

 

A couple of comments.

 

The moms changing kids outfits between princesses is not just a DCL thing. They do it at WDW all the time too. Its awkward to look over and tell the little girl it her turn to meet Cinderella only to find they are half dressed and the mom frantically trying to find the proper dress in the duffel bag they schlepped through the park like a Sherpa.

 

Two of our 4 cruises we disembarked at Nassau. The first was just to see the sights and experience it. The second was the first time my girls cruised with us. We were off the ship for an hour before they asked to return to the ship. They felt really uncomfortable.

 

Sometime in the future, Photopass will be available on the ships and the DW and I have discussed doing a contract or two when it does. It would be fun to work.    

 

Thanks for joining in, Dave.

 

That's interesting about the outfit changing.  Amazing.  I am glad that this wasn't a thing when my girls were young.  I would be broke from buying princess dresses.

 

That would be great if they offer photopass on the ships.  And smart.  I detest the current system.  So much so, that for the last two cruises, I have refused to look at even a single photo taken by the "professional" photographers they have on the ships.  I don't think they are Disney castmembers.  I think Disney contracts with a third party for this.  Easy money for Disney I guess, but they aren't getting another penny from me as long as the current system is in place.

 

It would be a blast to be a photopass photographer on a Disney ship.  I hope it happens for you.

 

 

Finally getting caught up.  Excellent TR and love all the great pics of your lovely ladies, but this is my favorite so far...

 

Thanks, Mo.

 

I almost didn't post that photo, since I look so dumb.  But, since I'm not fooling anyone, I figured, why not?

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's see, where were we?

 

Oh yes, about to begin our second morning on the ship.

 

Yes, we are on page 11, and only just beginning the second morning.

 

Buckle your seatbelts, because it's the best day of the cruise for us, and we squeezed every drop of fun that we could from it.

 

On the typical 4 night cruises, Castaway Cay comes after Nassau, and is followed by a day at sea.  I love that.  On almost all other DCL cruises, they save Castaway Cay for last.  Which means when you leave the island, your next stop is Port Canaveral.  That kind of puts a damper on things.  This is what I love about the 4 day itinerary.  No reason to be sad at the end of the Castaway Cay day, because there is a full day at sea next.

 

This will be our 8th visit to Castaway Cay.  Even though it's only our 6th Disney Cruise.  That's because two of our cruises were what they call Double Dips, which means they had two stops at Castaway Cay.  There were no Double Dip cruises offered this summer.  So, we just got this one visit on this trip.

 

I don't know why, but I love to be up early and watch as we approach land.  I especially love that when the land is Castaway Cay.

 

So, I popped out of bed, grabbed a quick shower and a cup of Nescafe from the drink station, and took a look from the bow of the ship.  Here's where things stood at 6:51 am:

 

 

That dark sliver of land barely breaking the ocean surface is our destination.  Doesn't look like much from here, but it is paradise.  Those clouds worried me a bit.  So far, we have never had a total rain out on Castaway Cay.  This being our 8th visit, I knew that the odds would eventually catch up with us.  But, I was hoping that it wouldn't be today.

 

The skies were blue behind me:

 

 

Off the starboard side of the ship, things didn't look too bad. The sun was just catching the clouds with early rays:

 

 

At 7:03, the island is already noticeably bigger.  If you look carefully just right of center, you can see the big ridiculous fake palm tree cell tower:

 

 

Those clouds blocked a nice sunrise shot:

 

 

We were approaching at a pretty good pace.  At 7:09, it was easy to recognize some of the landmarks on the island:

 

 

With just a bit of a zoom on the camera, we can see the Pelican Point area of the island- where they have the Head's Up bar and the Pelican Plunge water slide-that is in the center of this photo:

 

 

This is where we are heading to dock. The sun is trying to break free from the clouds:

 

 

Here we are looking the other way, out over the island. There are a lot of clouds, but there is also plenty of blue sky,  We are going to be alright:

 

 

If you look carefully along the beach area to the center and left in this photo, you can see a rainbow of colors of beach umbrellas dotting the beach:

 

 

We are getting close to the dock now.  This is where something amazing happens.  The captain turns the ship completely around so that we can back into the berth:

 

 

As the ship turns, I walked from the bow to the stern.  As the ship turns, you can see over the entire island:

 

 

Hey-look who's back here at the back of the ship.  iPad guy.  And he has on camo shorts.  And he has a backpack.  I wonder what's in the backpack?:

 

 

The island awaits:

 

 

iPad guy and I were soon joined by a guy in running shoes eating a bowl of cereal:

 

 

That guy in the running shoes was probably planning to run the Castaway Cay 5K.  I planned to do that too. When I booked this cruise, the twins and I had just run the Royal Princess 5K at Disney World, and it seemed like it would be fun to run a 5K on Castaway Cay.  But, as spring turned into summer, and we had the typical hot humid Florida weather to go along with it, I stopped running.  And, I didn't run all summer. I knew that our cruise was coming, but I just said no.  I did not do it.  And, I was in no shape to run a 5K.  Still, I brought my running shoes and clothes.  I figured that if I ran slow, or even walked, I could do it.  When I boarded the ship on Sunday, I had every intention of running the 5K on Tuesday.  But, something happened, and I changed my mind.  I didn't fell like rushing off the ship at 8:30 and running in 90 degree heat.  So, I scrubbed those plans.  Next time.

 

Here we are getting ready for the final back-in:

 

 

It is interesting to watch how this is all choreographed.  As we backed in, you can see workers walking out on the bridge-like structure you see there on the bottom right of this photo.  Those guys will catch the ropes and tie up the ship:

 

 

Here's a zoom on the bottom right corner of that photo-look how small the men look walking out there:

 

 

Another shot of the men on the bridge getting in position to catch the ropes from the ship:

 

 

I was hoping the whole time that I was up top that the sun would break through the clouds, but it never did while I was there, so this is the best I can do for our second sunrise photo:

 

 

Castaway Cay at the dawn of another day:

 

 

We slowly backed in.  A seagull photobombed this shot there at the bottom left:

 

 

It is amazing to see how everything is lined up there on the dock waiting for the ship to arrive. As soon as the ship docks, they will unload all of the food and drinks for the day along with towels and other supplies.  Everything is ready to go there on the dock as we pull up.  They will load up and be out of there in less than an hour, and then passengers will be allowed to disembark:

 

 

This is the last photo I took from up top.  We were just about docked, and the girls had asked me to get them up by 7:30 so we could eat breakfast and get ready for a Castaway Cay "rope drop." :

 

 

After snapping that photo, I headed back to our cabins to get everyone up and ready to go.

 

Next up, we will be on the island and begin our day of fun.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here's a short update to keep things moving.

 

I had no trouble getting everyone up and going this morning.  We headed up to Cabanas and had a great breakfast, and then got all of the stuff we needed for Castaway Cay together.  We didn't want to have to return to the ship for anything, so we made sure that we had it all.  Beer, snorkel equipment, sun-screen.  We were ready.

 

I believe they started letting passengers off at 8:30.  We headed out just a bit after that.

 

This photo was snapped just before 9 am from aboard the tram, looking back at the Dream:

 

 

To get here, you must walk a short path from the ship.  It used to seem much longer when our kids were younger.  You can see a bunch of guests on the path in this photo:

 

 

We waited for those guests, but not for this guy:

 

 

Mrs. TCD and Twin #1 were loving life as the tram pulled out:

 

 

 

This is the boat beach as we drove by.  Look at that blue water!:

 

 

We rode the tram to the second stop, and found our place on the beach near the Pelican Plunge.  Since the Pelican Plunge was on the List of Fun, and there was no line when we arrived, we headed there first:

 

 

You won't find better pelican theming anywhere!

 

A view of the ship as we ascended the Pelican Plunge stairs:

 

 

If you look in front of the ship in that last photo- you can see a guest parasailing.  That is a popular activity on the island.

 

This is one of the swimming areas- you can see how big it is.  They have lifeguards stationed out in the water:

 

 

This is the first part of the family beach.  That's where we always used to go.  After they expanded the family beach, we go to the new part, which seems to be less crowded:

 

 

Twin #1 on the top of Pelican Plunge:

 

 

I went first, and thought the girls would be right behind me, but some random person came down next.  Look at that Intentional Deliberate Not so Hidden Mickey up there at the top made out of life rings:

 

 

After Pelican Plunge, I wanted to go snorkeling.  On our last visit, my underwater camera died on the Pelican Plunge, and I got no snorkeling photos.  I was ready this time, and wanted to go early before too many people were in the snorkel area stirring up the sand and making the water cloudy.

 

Only one of the girls wanted to snorkel so early in the day.  Twin #1, who is up for anything.  So that's where we headed next.  I'm going to start a new update for the snorkeling, as I have a lot of photos, and will need the full limit for that update.  I'll have that up later today.

 

TCD

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

I'm rather disappointed that Lou has not come out of the woodwork to raise holy-heck about the deliberate/hidden Mickey issue. Oh well.

 

The crayon tricks are neat! I think I'm gonna try them on my kids and take credit for being brilliant.  :rofl2:

[Lou... 3,118]

I'm rather disappointed that Lou has not come out of the woodwork to raise holy-heck about the deliberate/hidden Mickey issue. Oh well.

 

 

 

Nice try Misty, but haven't you heard that I don't read TRs. 

[alexwyattmommy 181]

The Plunge looks like fun, but I really want to see the snorkel photos.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

It is a good day when i can get some schoolwork done in the morning, then read a TCD update while eating the lunch my dd made (turkey and swiss cheese sandwich, grilled on teh waffle maker).  The second mini- update was like the cherry on top of the sundae.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I love a good beach day, and this one has started out great!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm rather disappointed that Lou has not come out of the woodwork to raise holy-heck about the deliberate/hidden Mickey issue. Oh well.

 

The crayon tricks are neat! I think I'm gonna try them on my kids and take credit for being brilliant.  :rofl2:

 

Tricking Lou into posting on a TR is tough.  He hasn't taken the bait.

 

Let me know how the crayon tricks turn out.  They're kind of lame when you think about it.  After the first couple, you start to think outside the box, and they become easier to solve.

 

Nice try Misty, but haven't you heard that I don't read TRs. 

 

See, Misty?

 

He's not taking the bait.

 

 

The Plunge looks like fun, but I really want to see the snorkel photos.

 

Well, you're in luck then.  Because the snorkel photos are coming next.

 

It is a good day when i can get some schoolwork done in the morning, then read a TCD update while eating the lunch my dd made (turkey and swiss cheese sandwich, grilled on teh waffle maker).  The second mini- update was like the cherry on top of the sundae.

 

So what is the third update going to be?

 

Midnight snack, maybe?

 

I love a good beach day, and this one has started out great!

 

Indeed it did, and it turned out to be one of our best visits ever.  Read on.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Great update! I can't wait for the snorkel pictures!

 

How is the LOF going at this point? Is there a prize for the person who gets the most done?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update! I can't wait for the snorkel pictures!

 

How is the LOF going at this point? Is there a prize for the person who gets the most done?

 

Your wait for the snorkel photos is over.  I will post them in the next few minutes.

 

I'll give you a LOF update after we get back on the ship from Castaway Cay.  There were several items we knocked off the list there.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On to the snorkel lagoon!

 

The Castaway Cay snorkel lagoon is huge!

 

I'm not sure how big it is exactly, but a lot of places say that it's 22 acres.  That's big.  And most of it is water that you can't stand in.  So, there is a lot of swimming involved.  A lot.

 

Here we are! :

 

 

Snorkel lagoon selfie:

 

 

Note the yellow vests.  Those are required.  They are hanging on the life guard stands.  If you want to snorkel, you have to wear one.  No charge.  We bring out own snorkel gear, but you can rent it from Disney.  I forget how much it is, but after I rented it on our first cruise, I decided to bring my own from then on.  And I have.

 

This photo gives you some idea of the size of the snorkel lagoon.  That life guard stand you see in the background is part of it.  That white buoy you see is one of many that are anchored in the lagoon.  They mark things of interest to see under the water:

 

 

Near this buoy is a submerged Minnie Mouse statue.  Here's a photo of a white whale with Minnie:

 

 

Photo credit for that shot goes to Twin #1.  She did a good job.

 

Here's a bad job by me taking a shot of Twin #1:

 

 

With the glare from the sun, and the camera being underwater, I had a hard time seeing the display screen on the camera.  So, that is how a lot of my photos came out.

 

After our visit with Minnie, we swam out deeper, and came across this shipwreck:

 

 

They have nets over the openings of the wrecks they have out here.  Which is a good thing:

 

 

The Dream as seen from the snorkeling lagoon- you can see more parasailers there off of the bow:

 

 

The next buoy we came to was the furthest one from shore.  It was the big cheese himself:

 

 

Twin #1 was not happy with the poor photo I had taken of her and Minnie, and she warned me to do a better job on this one.  So I did:

 

 

One more Mickey shot.  This time it's Mickey with a fish:

 

 

The next buoy was near this one, but a bit to the side and slightly closer to shore:

 

 

This is what lay beneath that one:

 

 

Look at that huge thing!

 

I couldn't get all of it in one photo.

 

Do you know what it is?

 

Whatever it is, it's starting to deteriorate and collapse in the water:

 

 

There is a big open area on top covered with a net.  Something used to sit on top of what remains:

 

 

 

 

Here's a huge clue as to what this is.  There is a large fin at the back which resembles a fish tail:

 

 

 

Another look at the distinctive tail, from the other side:

 

 

Looking down on this thing from the back, near the tail, we can see that it is tilted on its side a bit:

 

 

There are some distinctive details that are visible along the top, like these two metal columns:

 

 

A look down the length of the top.  There are rivets visible.  Also, note the unique tooth-like jagged lines along the top, near the opening:

 

 

Another look at some of the details:

 

 

So what is it?

 

That is what may be the last remaining ride vehicle from the old Disney World Magic Kingdom 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction.

 

Here is what one of those looks like out of the water:

 

 

And here's a photo of one of the subs in the water.  The purple arrows point to the tooth-like row near the missing top, and I circled those two metal columns:

 

 

I wanted my photo taken with the last Nautilus sub on earth, and Twin #1 snapped the photo:

 

 

And took a selfie for good measure:

 

 

A look back to the beach from where we were in the lagoon.  We have a long way to swim to get back:

 

 

That big fake palm tree doesn't fool anyone when viewed from this perspective:

 

 

I hate to leave you hanging this far from shore, but we are at 30 photos, and we are not done snorkeling.

 

We will be heading back now, though, and we will see a few things of interest on the way back.  Nothing as cool as the last 20K sub on earth, but I'll share those photos anyway.

 

TCD

[devores 382]

Thanks for joining in, Dave.

 

That's interesting about the outfit changing.  Amazing.  I am glad that this wasn't a thing when my girls were young.  I would be broke from buying princess dresses.

 

That would be great if they offer photopass on the ships.  And smart.  I detest the current system.  So much so, that for the last two cruises, I have refused to look at even a single photo taken by the "professional" photographers they have on the ships.  I don't think they are Disney castmembers.  I think Disney contracts with a third party for this.  Easy money for Disney I guess, but they aren't getting another penny from me as long as the current system is in place.

 

It would be a blast to be a photopass photographer on a Disney ship.  I hope it happens for you.

 

The current photo system onboard is Shutters. It is a contracted company and the employees are not Disney CMs, they partners. We also were not impressed with the photography service on board.

 

Disney is looking into Photopass on the ships as they want the system to be a seamless all in one service. They just rolled it out in Tokyo and Paris and have plans for China now. The other Disney resorts (Alauni, Hilton Head, etc) already have photopass in place.

 

So, when you go on a Disney vacation, you can get ALL of your photos in one convenient package and it will be seamless.  

 

I could do one contract if DW and I can get on the same ship or Castaway Cay. If we cant I wouldn't do it.

 

Ive been stationed on ships before so it wouldn't be bad. Of course a carrier may be slightly bigger than a DCL ship.

[dvccamper 32]

Very cool Nautilus photos. Isn't it hard to swim down there with a life jacket on? Just wondering.

[Lou... 3,118]

Of course a carrier may be slightly bigger than a DCL ship.

 

Nope, at least not the Dream or the Fantasy.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Great photos so far.  I sure does look like fun.  I miss SCUBA diving now.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

Since Lou doesn't read Trip Reports and only looks at the pictures, it might be worth getting your purple crayon out and labeling the hidden intentional Mickeys. I am sure he would just love that.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

The Nautilus pics are awesome.

 

The beach area looks like absolute paradise.

 

The Pelican Plunge looks like it would be good times too.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

The Nautilus pics are awesome.

 

The beach area looks like absolute paradise.

 

The Pelican Plunge looks like it would be good times too.

 

The Pelican Plunge is fun, but I refer to it as Nature's Neti Pot. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The current photo system onboard is Shutters. It is a contracted company and the employees are not Disney CMs, they partners. We also were not impressed with the photography service on board.

 

Disney is looking into Photopass on the ships as they want the system to be a seamless all in one service. They just rolled it out in Tokyo and Paris and have plans for China now. The other Disney resorts (Alauni, Hilton Head, etc) already have photopass in place.

 

So, when you go on a Disney vacation, you can get ALL of your photos in one convenient package and it will be seamless.  

 

I could do one contract if DW and I can get on the same ship or Castaway Cay. If we cant I wouldn't do it.

 

Ive been stationed on ships before so it wouldn't be bad. Of course a carrier may be slightly bigger than a DCL ship.

 

I am very much in favor of Photopass taking over the photography for DCL. 

 

I hope you and the Mrs. get to work on the ship, and maybe at other parks around the world.  That would be cool.

 

Very cool Nautilus photos. Isn't it hard to swim down there with a life jacket on? Just wondering.

 

No, not hard.  You can inflate the vest with air, or leave it deflated.  Mine had just a little bit of air in it, and it was not difficult to swim down at all.

 

BTW- there was no way I was going to blow air into my vest.  Those vests get passed around all day, and no one sanitizes the mouth pieces between uses.  At least at Typhoon Lagoon's Shark Reef, they did the germy snorkels in bleach between customers.  Gross.

 

Nope, at least not the Dream or the Fantasy.

 

Are you saying the Dream and Fantasy are larger than aircraft carriers?  That surprises me if it's true.

 

Great photos so far.  I sure does look like fun.  I miss SCUBA diving now.

 

It is fun.  No need to scuba.  Everyone can snorkel.

 

Since Lou doesn't read Trip Reports and only looks at the pictures, it might be worth getting your purple crayon out and labeling the hidden intentional Mickeys. I am sure he would just love that.

 

Now, why would I want to antagonize poor Lou like that?

 

By the way, I'm not done with the Hidden Mickeys.  I have a photo of another cool one we found on Castaway Cay coming up.

 

The Nautilus pics are awesome.

 

The beach area looks like absolute paradise.

 

The Pelican Plunge looks like it would be good times too.

 

Thanks.  You are correct on each count of your observations.

 

The Pelican Plunge is fun, but I refer to it as Nature's Neti Pot. 

 

Yeah, you do call it that.  I remember that now, because I didn't know what a Neti Pot was.

 

You are right, though, you get some water up the nose on this slide.  Especially the enclosed one, which is faster.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

In case you didn't believe me when I told you I had a lot of snorkeling photos, this update should convince you.

 

After seeing the sub, we were way out in the lagoon.  The Head's Up bar is over there, and our base camp is right on the other side of it:

 

 

I call this photo A Man and A Fake Palm Tree:

 

 

Another bad selfie (actually not so bad considering who took it) :

 

 

A Girl and a Ship:

 

 

A Girl and a Ship II :

 

 

A beautiful beach with lots of colorful umbrellas and one fake palm tree:

 

 

Enough with the sight-seeing.  I had to put my head down and kick kick kick my way to shore.

 

On the way, I saw a lot of these fish habitats, but not a lot of fish:

 

 

A lost anchor:

 

 

An actual fish:

 

 

And another:

 

 

Some other fake submarine wreck:

 

 

 

 

 

Some other miscellaneous pseudo nautical wreckage:

 

 

Two fish.  At the same time!  This is the best fish shot I got while snorkeling.  Where were all the fish?:

 

 

I finally got to a place where I could stand and took a break.  Twin #1 is somewhere out there, but I'm not sure exactly where.  All those little yellow dots you see in the water are snorkelers.  The umbrella and life guard stand you see on the left is near where the sub was, but you have to look for the white buoys beyond the lifeguard stand.  It's a long, long way.  I would guess it is at least four lengths of the ship from the shore to out there in the lagoon.  The Dream is over 1100 feet long.  So, we are talking a swim of about 500 yards.  Let me put it this way- Discovery Island is way closer to Clementine's Beach than that sunken sub is to the shore.  You need to be able to swim to get out there:

 

 

Another look out in the lagoon.  Where the heck is Twin #1? :

 

 

One of the family beach swimming areas is next to the snorkel lagoon.  It really filled up with guests while we were out snorkeling:

 

 

As you may have noticed, the sun came out, and we were enjoying a beautiful day.  Look at all the blue! :

 

 

I walked a little closer to shore, and looked out again over the lagoon.  I was getting a bit worried that I had lost Twin #1.  That could put a real damper on our trip.  Think of all the paperwork and reports:

 

 

Finally, I spotted Twin #1.  She had taken her sweet time swimming back.  There is a lot to see, after all:

 

 

Castaway Cay has some pretty water:

 

 

Finally, we dragged ourselves back on shore.  That was some fun snorkeling.  But now, it was beach time!

 

On the way back, we made a pit stop.  Check out the restroom theming:

 

 

You want to know something?  The restrooms here are spotless, just like on the ship.  And by spotless I mean spotless.  The cleanest you'll ever see.  I've been to other cruise lines' private islands, and I can't say the same about theirs.

 

We got back to our base camp, and I checked my watch.  I am relatively certain that it was 5 o'clock somewhere, so I fixed a couple of Coronas for Mrs. TCD and me.  The twins borrowed the waterproof camera and went to swim.

 

Here are a few of their shots.

 

Twin #1 with Pelican Plunge in the background:

 

 

The Dream hiding behind some rocks:

 

 

Tablet guy.  Note this looser doesn't even have an iPad, just some giant tablet:

 

 

Just another day in paradise:

 

 

 

After a while, I joined the twins, and snapped a couple of sister shots:

 

 

 

Bam.

 

That's 30 more photos.

 

And, we still haven't had lunch.

 

Next up, more beach, and we head to the crab races.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I want to go back.  Curses, TCD!  :argh:

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Your pics make CC look like it is a place that does not SMB at all.

 

I hope to go someday.

 

I could go for some beers and mickey bars there right now.