Behind the Scenes: the Disney Christmas Cruise aboard the Fantasy with Buckets 'N Boards part VI

well well well... where did i leave off?  let me see if i can remember.  i was going to tell you all about Castaway Cay!  Disney's very own private island.  if you have been on a cruise, you will know that most of the places you visit off the ship are very touristy.  you are trying to navigate through a town to see the sights while locals are trying to get you to buy stuff.  i live in a tourist town and i get it.  but, sometimes it gets annoying as the actual tourist.  the best part of this private island is that no one is trying to get you to come inside for  a"free" sample or something.  it is all Disney and it is basically an extension of the ship.  you get to go to the beach and go to a barbeque.  kids can stay with you or go to the kids clubs that are on the island.

but first, let me tell you how i started my day.  Cabanas for breakfast. 

please note the pun-style sign. 

 

the best part of docking is that you have the most beautiful scenery to look at.  it really is breathtaking.  

after breakfast we were eager to get the girls off the ship.  G went and got the girls for breakfast while i finished my first breakfast.  i ate a second breakfast with the girls so they wouldn't feel left out...

next, we headed off the ship and onto Castaway Cay.  i would say that there is a lot to do.  i have been there twice now, and still never really did anything but sit on the beach.  a savvy cruiser would have her day planned on the island and take full advantage of it.  (maybe i will next week, we will be at Castaway Cay on Christmas Day.)  there's bike rides and boat rides and snorkeling and ....everything.  there is even a 5K you can run if you are some type of badass.  

 it is snowing when you get off the ship! we brought shovels and stuff for sand castles.  we were ready to hang out and get sun burned. 

after playing in the sand somehow we were hungry.  again.  we also decided to go shop at the little store on the island.  that shop is my favorite one.  so many cute gifts that mainly feature finding nemo characters.  while at the beach, we accumulated another daughter.  this gal was an absolute doll. she was from nyc and goes on about 11 cruises a year.  that is the best bonus of a Disney cruise.  you can make new friends and feel completely safe to add them to your pack and whatnot.  and our kids are equally able to be added to another family for a few hours.  everything feels very safe. 

we took a picture in front of the sign that warns you of everything that could go wrong on the island.

after a few hours the ship looked very enticing.  even though we had many more hours available to stay at the island, the heart wants what the heart wants. 

if you stood here for 10 minutes you could easily take family pictures for at least 20 different groups...like G did.

 the girls were pooped.

 then we had fancy dinner again. 

it looks like clearly Noii ate all of my dessert and then passed out? sure!

the next day was our last day.  we explored the ship some more all while fighting off the feeling of impending doom.

we had run out of chairs to try out so we took pictures while standing.  it was odd.  the rest of the day i wandered around on the ship trying to picture my life as it was before the cruise.  would i remember how to use my iphone? how could i cook a full cabanas breakfast every morning? would it be...cold when we returned to Missouri? these thoughts were downright scary to me.  and i was already trying to figure out how we could get on more cruises.  the last night of the cruise there is a farewell show.  Buckets N Boards said good bye on stage with a beautiful holiday song.

it was a perfect adios to our magical experience.  looking back, everything really was perfect.  the crew!  the new friends we made! (which i am happy to report that we are still in touch.  we occasionally check in on each other after devastating Bronco games...if you read my previous entry i was super sad after our play off loss...multiply that by 1000 and you'll get a feeling of how bummed i was after the Super Bowl loss...)

i still get sentimental looking at the piles of buckets and tap shoes and guitar chords that take up our storage room and some of our basement and a corner of our living room. oh and garage.  all that stuff means that Gareth and Matt get to live the dream life of traveling the world and performing for thousands of people every week that leave their shows extremely happy.  they are away a lot, but when we get to join them, it is all worth it! i love reading the comments on their facebook page.  they are doing something right.  on a related note, i have some great friends that take the burden off of single parenting weeks at a time.  they are more than anyone could ever wish for and i shudder to think of what it would all be like if my older daughter never took that summer dance class at age 2. 

if you ever get a chance to go on a Disney Cruise.  take it.  take it!! take it!!! i can tell you that as my girls have gotten older, the experience has gotten even better.  i see the teenagers on these cruises and hope that we are still able to do this when mine are teens.  there is a reason why most of the cruisers are return cruisers, it really is DREAMy. or MAGICal. or WONDERful.  (too much..i know) if you are a fan of DCL then you get that lame sentence.  if not, please start loving DCL so we have more things in common!

so go book that cruise, but first check BNB's website for their cruising schedule of course!  thanks for reading!