Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising THIS SECTION COMPLETED 5/7 - Page 23 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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Finally caught up!
Dinner looks good.
I am drooling over the donuts. One of my favorite breakfast items on DCL! LOL!
I love the Castaway Cay pictures. I could spend a day there right about now...especially since we had snow flurries yesterday!
No way! There should be some sort of law against having snow that late in the year... I feel bad now, as we were all moaning how cold it was in London this morning and that was probably high 40s, it's just that as all of us (we were coming from all over the country) left in temperatures of at least the low 50s (that's what it was here), it wasn't what we expected, as London's usually always warmer than the rest of the country. At least this afternoon, we had high 50s.
The island looks lovely as always...our last cruise and this one we didn't get to go there. So I will just have to book another cruise...there is nothing else I can do!
Finally caught up again. Your cruise sounds absolutely heavenly. I love all the photos you post, it makes me feel like I'm right there with you (if only! ).
Well, we're hopefully going to do another cruise in November 2016 for our anniversary, if everything works out. You'd be more than welcome to join us on that - of course, once Disney open up the dates that far ahead.
Every time I see pictures of Castaway Cay as "behind the scene" I keep thinking what is must be like when no ship is in the port. I would TOTALLY love to have that be a reality show.
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Every time I see pictures of Castaway Cay as "behind the scene" I keep thinking what is must be like when no ship is in the port. I would TOTALLY love to have that be a reality show.
In which case, you'll love the shots I got when we were leaving later that day - that gave us a glimpse of the life of those Cast Members who are lucky to stay behind when the ships leave...
Wednesday 25 February – part two: well, it wasn’t too bad last time…
We headed back to the room, and stepped out on to the veranda. Now it was before 9:00am, and the heat was really intense. We lasted literally only a few minutes out there, and decided there was no way we’d be getting off the boat today. Much as I love Castaway Cay, I have a limit, and this heat is way over my limit!
Instead, we headed up to the adult pool area, and we were literally the only ones up there when we arrived. We saw the wonderful Shawn from Jamaica again, although today it was a bit harder to recognise him, as he was cleaning the tables by the loungers, and rather worryingly had gloves on and a face mask. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to see someone dressed like that…
We went in the hot tub for a bit…
… before I went and sat on the seats in the adult pool. I didn’t necessarily know if I wanted to get my hair wet, so I decided not to swim. Remember this for later…
Just after 10:00am, when the AquaDuck opened, we headed up that way. At first, it didn’t look like we were going to get to ride it, as another kid had either got stuck or didn’t reach the second sensor in time, so the ride had to be stopped, and drained. Just as I was heading out, the water started to flow again. In hindsight (and goodness, what a great thing that is), I should’ve just carried on going…
About 10 minutes later, we were almost there. I went to put my goggles on, as I didn’t want to lose my contact lenses, and the darned things snapped. I have no more with me, so I had no option but to go without them, but then again, I’d done this before, and didn’t remember it being too bad, so I was sure I’d be Ok…
We were loaded into our rubber ring, and off we went. Oh my goodness (and trust me, that really is the polite version! ), what the heck have they done to this thing? I’ve been on the AquaDuck before with absolutely no issues, and loved the experience, but this was absolutely terrifying. It felt a heck of a lot faster, and without my goggles, I had to have my eyes screwed totally closed the whole way down, which was not fun. We got absolutely drenched, which having seen people in front of us who’d already done it, and their hair wasn’t wet at all, came as a nasty shock to me. Remember what I said about not being sure I wanted to get my hair wet? Well, I guess now I have no choice!
When I finally got to the end, which frankly took far too long to come I tried to open my eyes, and I couldn’t, as my face was covered with water, which was going straight into eyes, and it was stinging. I had to ask the lifeguard for something to dry my face, as I just could not open my eyes at all. Thankfully he had some cotton wool, which helped.
However, as we walked back along deck 12, I felt decidedly disorientated, and my sinuses were really starting to hurt. I also thought that I’d hurt the base of my spine. Mark on the other hand was absolutely buzzing, and was talking about doing it again. I told him in no uncertain terms “I am never doing that again ever in my life”. So there! I honestly don’t know what the heck Disney managed to do to this, but whatever they did, they’ve plussed up the experience, and made it something that I can’t ever safely ride again, which is a huge shame, as I loved it before.
We headed back to our loungers, and I lay there for a while, trying to come to, as I felt as if I’d been smacked in both cheeks, so bad was the sinus pain, and I still felt off balance. In the end, I figured I’d stagger over to the spa, and trust me, I really did stagger over there. This is how bad I felt – I actually left my trainers under my seat, and didn’t realise. It was only when Mark came over to the spa to join me that he noticed something, and realised what I’d done.
I headed into the Rainforest, and I was the only person in there. I grabbed a heated stone chair at the end furthest away from the fitness center, having learnt that lesson yesterday. As I was alone, I then headed into the hot tub. The right one was far too hot for me, and the jets just did not seem to work. They’d come on, then go straight off again, no matter what I tried, so I headed into the other hot tub, which was cooler, and the jets worked fine.
I sat in there for ages, just watching the view outside across Castaway Cay, and enjoying the breeze that was coming in through the open windows in this section. It was perfect, and the jets were aimed in just the right places, helping the base of my spine to feel a lot better, and also on my legs. There was even a little spray on the top of the water, which helped to revitalise my sinuses, and after maybe 20 minutes in there, I was feeling so much better than I had earlier, which was a huge relief, as I did honestly think that my AquaDuck disaster would affect the rest of the day.
Mark turned up just as I was getting out of the hot tub, and by that point, I’d remembered about the scrubs we’d paid for. I hadn’t clocked it until yesterday, but we’d actually been charged more to have the scrubs with our Rainforest package. I had assumed, from the way the question was worded, that it was all included, as in the past, they have added extras into the package, but I noticed the sign at reception and realised that we were paying for something we hadn’t used.
I grabbed a towel, and we both headed up to reception to decide on which scrub we wanted. I think there was a chocolate one, and another, but I opted for the lavender, as I know that’s supposed to be relaxing, and Mark went for the tangerine and ginger I think she said. We headed back into the Rainforest, and applied the scrub, after asking a woman how it worked. She told us that, in all honesty, she wasn’t sure, as she’d seen people apply it then go straight in the shower, but personally she preferred to apply it, then go in the hamam and caldarium, and to me, that seemed more sensible, as you wanted to have it on, sweat a bit, and then remove it, so that’s what we did.
Once we were all showered off, I headed into the laconium for a while, before making my way back to join Mark on the heated stone chairs. While we were in there, a guy walked in, and said that he’d apologise now, just in case he started to snore, as he has a habit of falling asleep in here. He didn’t get the chance though, as his wife arrived shortly afterwards, and they chatted. We gathered from their conversation that they’d run the 5k, and apparently one runner have to have fluids via IV they’d got so dehydrated!
After a while, they left, and that left us alone, so I suggested Mark go and get the camera, as I couldn’t see any issue taking photos here, if there was no-one else around. There was one person in the laconium, so in the first few shots, I was careful to go nowhere near there…
It’s not often you’ll see this sight!
When I got to the hot tub area…
…. of course I had to get some photos of the beautiful view outside:
Mark enjoys the hot tub in the back of this shot…
I liked Mark’s camera, but then again, as I said to him later, I would, as I picked it!
I then did another recee, and discovered we were the only ones in the Rainforest now, so I could go where I wanted, and take whatever shots I liked, so I did!
I'm sorry you had a terrifying experience on the Aqua Duck! it sounds like the Rainforest was the perfect cure though! I can't wait to hear about the next part of your day and as always, beautiful photos!!
I'd never try the slide in any case, but it does sound like this "plussed" experience, while it may not have been a good change for you, is probably to the liking of many. Mark seems to have really enjoyed it, at any rate. Castaway Cay when it's super-hot is just too much for me as well. Much better choice to relax in the spa!
Wow, that was some experience on the Aqua Duck! I wonder if they sped it up so kids don't have a chance to hop off?? Good thing you had the Rainforest to recover. I can't believe they are now charging for the scrubs. My trip on the Fantasy just one week prior, they were completely free! I tried a new one every visit.
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There should be some sort of law against having snow that late in the year... I feel bad now, as we were all moaning how cold it was in London this morning and that was probably high 40s, it's just that as all of us (we were coming from all over the country) left in temperatures of at least the low 50s (that's what it was here), it wasn't what we expected, as London's usually always warmer than the rest of the country. At least this afternoon, we had high 50s. 
So I will just have to book another cruise...there is nothing else I can do! 
I love all the photos you post, it makes me feel like I'm right there with you (if only! 
You'd be more than welcome to join us on that - of course, once Disney open up the dates that far ahead. 
Holly: 
Much as I love Castaway Cay, I have a limit, and this heat is way over my limit! 
It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to see someone dressed like that… 
I have no more with me, so I had no option but to go without them, but then again, I’d done this before, and didn’t remember it being too bad, so I was sure I’d be Ok…
I’ve been on the AquaDuck before with absolutely no issues, and loved the experience, but this was absolutely terrifying. It felt a heck of a lot faster, and without my goggles, I had to have my eyes screwed totally closed the whole way down, which was not fun. We got absolutely drenched, which having seen people in front of us who’d already done it, and their hair wasn’t wet at all, came as a nasty shock to me. Remember what I said about not being sure I wanted to get my hair wet? Well, I guess now I have no choice! 
I tried to open my eyes, and I couldn’t, as my face was covered with water, which was going straight into eyes, and it was stinging. I had to ask the lifeguard for something to dry my face, as I just could not open my eyes at all. Thankfully he had some cotton wool, which helped. 
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