[Pooh Fan]

Your trip sounds so wonderful. What a magical day. I can't wait to read about day 6 and the rest of your trip report.

[Amelia's Man]

Day 6:

Today we arrived in the early morning hours to Disney's private paradise called Castaway Cay (pronounced "key")!
They were NOT kidding about it being a paradise! All the brochures and travel guides I read about this wonderful place were so very true!

We walked off the ship around 8:00 A.M. and onto the island! There is no "dock" so to speak! The ship just sort of "parks at the curbside"! We walked past the little island post office, where you can purchase special Disney Cruise Line stamps for the Bahamas and post your letters and postcards right there to have them recieve a special Castaway Cay postmark! The only thing you have to remember, is that the post office closes at 4:00 P.M.!

Just past the post office, on your left, is a really cute photo op area with a large fish using a hot dog as bait, that you can stand in front of for pictures! "the one that didn't get away" kind of thing! There was an official photographer there in the morning, but you can go back later and take your own photos too! We hopped on the tram that they have to take you closer to the beach and rentals area! We got off and headed to stake our claim on some beach chairs! The beach was still pretty deserted at this time, so finding an optimum spot was easy!

After setting down our towels and stuff, we walked over to the bicycle rental area and got two adult bikes, and two boys bikes and started to ride! The island has an old disused airstrip (cleverly thought out by disney's imagineers!)
that you ride down to get to a pretty cool bike trail that takes you to the other side of the island, past the adults only beach, Serenity Bay! This was a nice, cool, and relaxing morning ride! Very enjoyable, and highly reccomended should anyone ever go!

After the bike ride, it was time to swim! The water was very comfortable and so clear, that you could see the fish swimming right past you! I swear, those fish were not fazed by us at all! Neat!
there is a structure set up in the middle of the water for the kids to climb up on and jump off of, and my sons absolutely enjoyed this! There were at least two lifeguards set up on this structure at all times! Kudos to Disney on this! After a few hours of swimming, I decided to go get a couple of postcards to mail out, and high-tail it over to the post office to get my stamps while I was still thinking about it! A word of caution here: If you decide to walk over to the post office during the mid-day sun, remember to wear your flip-flops or sandals! The tarmac and even the sandy areas along the road back to the post office are HOT! I know this, because I did not know the advice I just gave out! Ouch!

I took the tram back from the post office.

When my scorched feet and I got back to the beach, we all headed over to where the music was playing for a cookout lunch! Burgers, hotdogs, chicken, corn on the cob, salads, etc., delicious! After stuffing ourselves, we checked out the little gift shops and made some purchases, then went back to the beach! After laying around and resting ourselves, I took a walk over to where they had the tubes and floats and got a couple of floats for my wife and I to lounge on in the water while the kids went swimming again!
After about an hour, my boys and I went and got snorkeling equipment and had some fun in the area set up just for snorkeling! It was a blast! We'll most definitely do it again! We haeded back to our section of the beach and by this time it was time to start packing up! What a perfect day, scorched feet aside!

I had my family go onboard first, so they could get to the cabin and go out on our veranda! Since the ship was docked with our side to the pier, I wanted to take some pictures of my wife and kids on our veranda, to show where our cabin was! The shots came out great too! I then made my way on to the ship! Just an aside here: everytime you get on the ship, there is a station set up that dispenses that antibacterial hand sanitizer! A great idea, as it keeps the germs at bay! And I heard of absolutely nobody getting sick on our cruise!

We relaxed in the pools on the ship for awhile, and I went up to deck 10 to take some farewell shots of the island from up high! Then it was time to get ready for dinner at Triton's! There was a special "Pirates In The Caribbean" menu, and party to follow! More on that in my next report!

A quick question: Does anyone know how can I post some of my pictures? I would love to share them with other members! Thanks!

My next report will cover the special pirates fun, as well as our last day, a full day at sea! Until then, I humbly remain, Amelia's Man!

[PhilliesFan]

Great trip report. It's definitely putting me in the "I need to go to WDW" spirit. Like you I love the Polynesian, and would stay there every time.

[Amelia's Man]

Originally Posted by PhilliesFan

Like you I love the Polynesian, and would stay there every time.

I know! There is now only one place my family and I will stay when we go to WDW, The Polynesian! I miss those chocolate covered coconut Mickey Mouse heads already!

(Not to mention the Lapu-Lapus and the Tonga Toast! Oh...and the wonderful Kona coffee, the volcano pool with the excellent view of the castle, I could go on and on here!)

[dznygrl]

Amelia's Man, what a GREAT trip report!!

For some reason, I kept skipping this thread when I saw it because I thought I had already read your report. I was wrong! I especially loved reading about the cruise...it sounds fantastic, and really really made me want to go!!

I'm so glad you guys loved the Polynesian. It's my paradise on earth!!!

[Janice419]

Originally Posted by Amelia's Man

A quick question: Does anyone know how can I post some of my pictures? I would love to share them with other members! Thanks!

Somebody, anybody, please give him some help posting the pictures! I want to see!

[robinmouse]

Originally Posted by Janice419

Somebody, anybody, please give him some help posting the pictures! I want to see!

I know when you reply to a post, if you scroll all the way down and select "manage attachments", you can browse your computer to find your picture files and attach them that way. If there's another way I haven't learned it yet. Hope that works, now show us some pictures!!

[Amelia's Man]

Okay, I've re-sized some of my digital photos so they will fit.....hopefully!

Here's a couple of nice shots of the castle, taken on our first day in the parks! June 30th, my birthday!

I'll try and post them in order! I just have to do some work to re-size more of them!

[Amelia's Man]

Back to mey somewhat belated trip report!

Again, my most humble apologies for the lateness of my TR! It was not my intention to make you wait so long! Unfortunately, as they say, "Air Force needs come first"!

Anyway.....Day 6, night:

After our wonderfully scrumptious dinner, my wife and I signed our sons into the Oceaneer's Lab, as they were chomping at the bit to get back there! I'll tell you, anyone considering a Disney Cruise with children....have NO worries about them at all! They are so well taken care of, it's incredible!

My wife and I headed up to deck 9 to get a good spot for the pirate festivities! We'd heard it was a fun time, and we were not disappointed! The cruise line performers started the deck party off with Minnie Mouse and Goofy! then Captain Hook took over from deck 10, and declared the ship an official pirate vessel! All of a sudden there were skull and crossbones superimposed on the ship's smoke stacks, and Cook and Mister Sneed got the real party started! Then some "real" pirates slid down a rope that was strung between both smoke stacks, and then slid down to the deck to start the looting and pillaging! After some "pirate posturing" with Cook, Sneed, and..... Pirate Stitch!, someone else decided to show up! None other than the main mouse himself, Mickey!! He soon put the rascals in their place too! After a cute parade around the deck, it was time for some more fireworks! They were just as fantastic as those from the 4th of July celebration!

The festivities concluded with the most awesome buffet my wife and I have ever seen! There was everything there! They even had watermelons carved into pirates, and more cakes and pies that we've ever seen outside of a bakery!

My wife and I passed on the food, as we were still full from dinner, so we decided to head to the Cadillac Lounge for a martini (or two, as was the case!) Our bartender from Macedonia remembered us, and even remembered what type of martini we each liked! Brilliant!

It was getting late, so we went to pick up the boys, who didn't even realize that it was nearing 1:00 A.M.! We got back to our cabin to find another cute towel animal! I have pictures of all the towel animals we had, and as soon as I re-size them, I will post them! Now that I've figured out how to re-size and post pictures, with the help of the wonderfull members here!

My next report will be of our last day on the cruise , which was our full day at sea and dinner at the Animator's Palate!

I'm gonna' try and post a couple more pictures for you now!

[Amelia's Man]

This was my "drink" when we ate at the Rose & Crown!

I drank them in order...from left to right....like I was supposed to!

My wife has a "Welsh Dragon" in front of her..........strong stuff!

[Janice419]

Yaaaayyyy! I love the pictures! More please?

[Dopey]

This has been an awsome TR ! I haven't been keeping up in the last 3 weeks. Glad I came back to read more.

How about pictures of your twins? Any chance you'll post some? I'll show you mine if you show me yours

[lovemysons]

Great photos! More please!

[Amelia's Man]

Answering the request for more pictures, I've re-sized a few more!

So....here they are! I have to run some of them one at a time so that I can give the required commentary on them!

This picture is of our twin sons sitting at the photo op area just before the entrance to the "Living Seas" pavillion at Epcot!

[Amelia's Man]

Here's a nice shot of my beautiful wife and children on the dock at the wonderful Polynesian Resort!