Sunday Morning Coming Down

by Pa Rock
Deflating Traveler

Sunday morning finds me at the airport in Orlando waiting on my flight - a mere five hours from now! I have said my good-byes to Nick and Boone, and they are someplace else in the airport waiting on their flight - which is earlier than mine. It will be almost 10 p.m. in Arizona before I set foot in my hovel tonight, and I will be at my office before 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. The real world is rushing in!

I have parked myself in a large food court at the airport. I know that it is Sunday because the Chick-fil-A is closed. No holy roller chicken sandwiches today!

Correction from yesterday: I said that no one actually lives on Castaway Cay. Wrong! Apparently fifty or so Disney employees call that little island home. They maintain the Cay and ensure that it is always clean, in good repair, and tourist-ready.

Nick and Boone had a close encounter of the fish kind yesterday at Castaway Cay. They were riding in a paddle boat when Nick's hat flew off and landed in the water next to their boat. A large fish, 6 feet in length, swam up under the hat and began nudging it with its nose - probably checking for edibility. Nick snatched the hat up and they resumed their boat ride. Back on shore he described the fish to one of the Disney workers who told him that it was probably a barracuda!

Last night we attended Disney Dreams, a very impressive musical that was staged in the ship's theatre. The show was reputed to have won the "Emerald Award" for best cruise ship musical. It featured characters from many of the Disney movies, Peter Pan flying on wires, and even snow falling over the audience!

After the show, Boone and I went to the top deck where we walked a couple of laps and had a good visit. Boone is writing about the trip. I told him that if he would email his account to me I would post it on The Ramble. Don't let me down, Boone!

When we got back to our room, Nick called us out to the veranda to see what he had discovered. We were passing through a large population of some large creatures that were jumping out of the water. It was dark, so we couldn't tell for certain what we were looking at. This morning I asked my good bud, Captain Henry, and he said that it was probably a school of dolphins. He said that we had encountered a school of them in approximately that location as we were heading to Nassau.

Boone said that the best part of our week-long adventure was the cruise. The best part for me was getting to spend time with my son and grandson. I know that I am repeating myself, but Nick is such a wonderful parent to Boone! And Boone is growing up so fast! I feel very fortunate that I was able to spend this time with him and his Dad!

The Flying Dutchman and Castaway Cay

by Pa Rock
Buccaneer Wannabe

We attended the Pirates of the Caribbean Party on the upper two decks of the ship last night. Our seats were along the railing of deck ten looking down on a pit of people who were gathered in front of a stage dancing. Although the event was designed to cater to the kids, most of the ship’s passengers were on hand and watching or participating. The dancing was led by several young Disney crew members who were ably assisted by Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Stitch, Captain Hook, and others. Mickey Mouse slid in on a wire high above the crowd at the end of the event to get everyone focused on the fireworks display. It was really quite a production!

After the party Nick and Boone went down to the main theatre where they viewed the 3-D version of the new Disney flick, Up. I stayed on the top deck and watched Pirates of the Caribbean on the enormous television monitor that had been used for the basketball game the night before.

We learned yesterday that there are around 700 islands in the Bahamas, but most are sparsely inhabited and have few services. Only 21 are capable of supporting people in the style that Americans demand. Land is very cheap if one goes to the more remote islands, but it costs more to bring in materials and build there. Some of the islands have as few as one family living on them - which sounds like heaven to this old recluse!

Castaway Cay is one of the 700 Bahamian Islands. Although no one lives on Castaway Cay, it is owned by Disney as serves as a port of call for their cruise ships. Castaway is quite a busy place. It is also home to the Flying Dutchman, the ghost ship from Pirates of the Caribbean, which is anchored just off shore. We were on Castaway all day. Nick and Boone swam and rode a paddle boat, while I sat under a palm tree and did some relaxing reading. The ship’s crew served a huge buffet on the island for lunch, and this afternoon Nick went para-sailing – that from a guy who used to be afraid of heights! Boone and I watched him fly by from the top of our ship.

We will be heading down to the dining room shortly. Tonight we are talking about taking in a live musical on the ship. Tomorrow we head home.