Waking up at 7:00am on the final full day of the first of our back to back cruises onboard the beautiful Disney Wish and seeing the incredible view of Castaway Cay from our verandah was an amazing sight and one that will always make you smile. The weather that morning was absolutely perfect (the complete opposite to our last cruise where we missed one of our days at Castaway Cay due to a hurricane) and you already knew that you were going to have as Rapunzel says, the best day ever!

One thing that is very noticeable on the shorter three and four night cruises is that it feels like you have constant early starts as you are either in port or embarking or disembarking the ship and it really does make you appreciate the longer cruises with days at sea especially when there are more opportunities to have an occasional lay in as well as more downtime during the cruise.

We slowly backed into Castaway Cay and as our stateroom was on the starboard (right) side of the Disney Wish, we had a perfect view of the island. The sea that morning was so blue and calm and it was so wonderful to be back once again. At 7:50am the Star Wars horn was blasted to announce our arrival.

After getting dressed ready for the first part of our day, we left our stateroom just after 8:30am just as Jimmy our Cruise Director let everyone onboard know that the ship had been cleared to disembark with a “Good Morning Disney Wish and Welcome to Paradise”.

We walked down the stairs to Deck 1 Aft where there was a small line to disembark which moved very quickly and at 8:40am we stepped foot onto Castaway Cay and it was a great feeling to be back once again. There was already a long line of people waiting to meet Donald Duck at the Post Office but we continued walking past them and along the Island Pathway which was empty as the majority of people were using the tram to get to the different beaches. It was so quiet everywhere as we walked from Scuttle’s Cove to Pelican Point and it was really interesting to see the island as empty as it was which we have never experienced before as we had never disembarked as early.

The reason for disembarking the Disney Wish as early as we did is that we were going to do the Castaway Cay 5K and the best time of the day to do it is as early as possible in the morning before it gets too hot. January was also a great month to do the Castaway Cay 5K as it was a perfect temperature with little to no humidity unlike the summer months.

Once upon a time I would have never been even remotely interested in completing the Castaway Cay 5K as it was something that I said I would never do and never even thought that I could do but it’s amazing how we all change (both as people as well as our own opinions) over the years. We all wasted so much time in the last few years not being able to travel anywhere that now I want to do absolutely everything, go everywhere and try to find something new to do as often as I can no matter where I travel to. It’s a great way to think when you visit somewhere – make the most of every minute that you get to travel, do not take anything for granted and you might even love all of the new experiences that you get to have.

The Castaway Cay 5K used to be an organised event which you had to sign up for whilst onboard but now you can do it whenever and however you want – you can run or walk it at any time of the day as it does not matter one bit. It is also completely free of charge to do and all ages can participate.

The starting line for the Castaway Cay 5K is located next to the Bike Rental stand and the route takes you out onto the runway, around the entire loop past the Observation Tower, back onto the runway and down to Serenity Bay and back before one final loop past the Observation Tower again and then all the way back to the Bike Rental stand – and there are signs along the whole route pointing you in the right direction.

As I cannot run to save my life, I decided on a brisk walk that morning instead as I can happily walk anywhere for miles. I even stopped at the Observation Tower (which I had visited for the first time last year on the Disney Dream when I rented a bike) for a few minutes to look at the view of both Castaway Cay as well as the Disney Wish in the distance – but I had to make do with a photo of the ship taken with my phone as there was no way I was carrying a big camera and zoom lens around with me for the duration of the 5K!

I found the Castaway Cay 5K a lot easier than cycling around the island and as it was not too humid, it really was the perfect morning to do it – just remember to use plenty of SPF when at Castaway Cay but especially when taking part in the 5K as there is very little shade along the entire route. There are water stations located around the entire course as well as the drinks station located at the Serenity Bay BBQ area – there are paper cups available but we simply filled our water bottles that we had with us instead. There are also several benches along the route where you can take a few minutes out to rest if needed.

Before we even knew it, we were back at the Bike Rental stand collecting our Castaway Cay 5K medals. It had taken both of us just under an hour (including the stop at the Observation Tower) to complete the route and our next stop was Cookies Too BBQ for a sit down in the shade with a cold drink to celebrate as it had started to get very hot and sunny so I am glad that we had disembarked as early as we did to do it.

We saw a tram waiting at Pelican Point so we jumped on there to get back to the ship and we were the only ones heading back to the Disney Wish at that time as everyone was still disembarking and heading out onto the island for the day. We both also got a high five from Daisy Duck when she saw our medals as we passed her on the gangway.

The perfect motivation to do the the Castaway Cay 5K is to not have breakfast beforehand and instead head straight to Marceline Market once you are back onboard as you will be hungry – the other advantage to doing this is that it will be very quiet at this time as everyone else will already have eaten and be off the ship at this time. One side of Marceline Market was still open and we sat outside and enjoyed a great breakfast with plenty of tea and POG juice and a perfect view of Castaway Cay.

After finishing our much needed breakfast, we disembarked the Disney Wish again as we had booked one of the two seat Paddle Boats at 11:15am (something else that was new for us) but when we reached the Boat Beach, we sadly found out that they had to cancel the majority of Port Adventures that morning as the current was too strong for them to operate. They said we could come back later in the day and try again as there was lots of availability that afternoon or cancel and receive a full refund (it had cost $18 altogether for both of us for thirty minutes) so we decided to cancel and maybe try again a few days later when we returned to Castaway Cay. It was the smallest of issues which did not affect us in the slightest as we were just happy to be in the Bahamas in the first place – there is nothing to stress about at all on Castaway Cay!

Something else that we had immediately spotted first thing that morning when we arrived at Castaway Cay was that the Bob Chapek “Master Ship Builder” sign had been removed from the side of the Pump House located next to the dock – however you can still find the Captain Bob Iger sign nearby at Marge’s Barges.

As we now had some time to waste before lunch we decided to have a look around both Buy the Seashore and She Sells Sea Shells and Everything Else where I purchased a new lens cloth for my camera as well as a Castaway Cay 5K pin. Something that is useful to know is that there is no discount for Gold or Platinum (and now Pearl) Castaway Club members in the shops on Castaway Cay (unlike onboard the ship) however there is a Bahamian sales tax that is added to all purchases. You can also have any shopping delivered back to the ship if you are planning on spending the rest of the day on the island.

On our last cruise on the Disney Dream I had attempted to pre-order an Impossible Burger for lunch at Castaway Cay which had gone missing however I wanted to try again so I had spoken to our Head Server the previous day onboard to ask if I could order one again for lunch on this day and it was not an issue.

Any special food orders can be collected from the left hand side of Cookies BBQ and I was over the moon and so happy that I finally got something that I liked and could eat on Castaway Cay as if you do not eat meat, the options are very limited. The regular veggie burger that is available is not good at all (avoid it at all costs) so I will always recommend pre-ordering something in advance if possible. Even though we had only recently had breakfast onboard, we were both already hungry again so an early lunch was perfect.

After our lunch we took the tram back to the Disney Wish again to have a shower and get changed (as we were still wearing the same clothes that we had done the 5K in) ready for the rest of the day on Castaway Cay. We both felt so much better after a shower and before disembarking back onto the island again, we both took a walk around Decks 4, 5 and 6 to find the Captain Minnie and Captain Mickey portholes (they’re on the starboard side of the ship) which looked beautiful with the reflection of the bright blue sea on them.

We had never gone back and forth between the ship and Castaway Cay as much as we had on this day but it truly worked for us as there were lots of things that we wanted to fit in and it really does not take long at all – especially if you take the tram from either Pelican Point or Scuttle’s Cove to and from the ship each time.

The weather at Castaway Cay in January was so perfect that we had no rain or thunderstorms at all whilst we were there that day which is the opposite to some of our other visits – during the summer months, there is often a passing thunderstorm most afternoons.

One of our favourite things to do at Castaway Cay is to get a cocktail at the Head’s Up Bar and just sit in the sunshine (or under an umbrella in the shade) and enjoy the amazing view overlooking the snorkelling lagoon towards the ship in the distance.

We ordered a Mai Tai as well as a Strawberry Daiquiri to drink and we also made sure to take our traditional Castaway Cay photo at the Head’s Up Bar with the Disney Wish in the background – the only ship that we are missing is the Disney Wonder (my favourite ship) as despite sailing on her three times to Alaska, Hawaii and the Western Caribbean, we have never sailed onboard her to Castaway Cay.

After finishing our cocktail at 3:30pm, we once again took the tram from Pelican Point back to the Disney Wish to save our feet where we met Captain Hook who was meeting by the gangway and guarding the entrance to his ship.

Captain Andy made his announcement at 4:40pm to let us know that we would be departing Castaway Cay about ten minutes later and that we had 230 nautical miles left of our cruise and we would be sailing at 20 knots overnight before arriving at Port Canaveral at 6:00am the following morning. He also let us know that it was going to be 10 degrees cooler in Florida the next day which was going to be a shock to the system after the incredible weather in the Bahamas that week.

We sat on our verandah for a while with a glass of Rosa Regale each listening to everything that was going on around us – our neighbouring cabin was bitching about having to pay gratuities, another family were making a lot of noise as they dragged their suitcases onto their balcony to pack whilst another was simply blasting the Coco soundtrack and singing along!

After having another shower and getting ready for the final evening of our first cruise, we walked up to The Rose on Deck 12 Aft as we had dinner booked at Enchanté the following evening and as they offer a tasting menu, I wanted to let them know in advance that I do not eat meat – we had done the same thing when we dined at Remy on the Disney Fantasy as we know that they appreciate knowing about any special dietary requirements in advance instead of last minute as it gives them more time to prepare.

Our next stop of the evening was at the Keg and Compass pub on Deck 5 to finally look at all of the details (some hidden and some not) that we had been told about during our Walking the Wish tour at the start of our cruise a few days earlier. The design of the Keg and Compass is inspired by an 1800’s Norwegian sailor’s map room and on the wall is a wooden plaque that reads “You are not the first to pass this way, nor shall you be the last” which is from the old Maelstrom ride (now Frozen Ever After) which was located in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot.

There are also another two plaques on the walls displaying different map coordinates which are actually the exact locations of Port Canaveral as well as Papenburg in Germany where the Disney Wish was built.

Each porthole window at the Keg and Compass is surrounded by a giant wood carved octopus and if you look carefully each one is holding something different including a Mickey Waffle, a Mickey Ice Cream Bar, a Dole Whip as well as the Disney Wish herself!

There is also a giant “Seafarer’s Map of the World” covering the ceiling which features characters such as Jasmine, Aladdin, Moana, Maui, Te Ka, Jack Sparrow, Crush, Nemo, Monstro, Ariel and Ursula amongst others as well as important Disney locations including Anaheim, Glendale, Celebration, Lake Buena Vista, Port Canaveral, Ko Olina, Paris, Papenburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

As the ship was very quiet due to the majority of people onboard either being at dinner or watching Aladdin in The Walt Disney Theatre, it was the perfect time to visit Nightingale’s on Deck 3 which was completely empty at this time. Nightingale’s is a piano bar inspired by the scene from the film where Cinderella sings “Sing Sweet Nightingale” as she works.

Hanging on the wall outside the bar by the staircase that leads from Deck 3 to Deck 4 is a tapestry showing that exact scene from the film and inside the bar, the chandelier represents the soap bubbles that float into the air as Cinderella washes the floors and the notes that wrap around the outside of the chandelier are the actual sheet music for the song.

I ordered the Sweet Nightingale (what else?) cocktail which is made from Hendricks Amazonia, Passion Fruit, Rosemary and Mint and served in a bird glass and it tasted heavenly. Though I will say that the glass made me very nervous as it was so delicate and fragile – we joked with the crew when I handed the glass back once I had finished and they said they currently only had four bird glasses left onboard due to breakages or people taking them home.

Nightingale’s was a lot busier when we left so we walked into the Grand Hall to meet Chip and Dale who were due out on Deck 4 at 8:00pm and there was a long line to meet them as this was only the second time that we had seen them out during this cruise. We also watched the Fairytale Players for a few minutes and another thing that I noticed which I absolutely loved was one of the songs that was played in the background throughout the Grand Hall was an instrumental version of “Together We Set Sail” which was featured in the Christening ceremony of the Disney Wish and which I had been singing ever since and made me smile every time that I heard it whilst we were onboard!

Our final dinner onboard this cruise was at Worlds of Marvel which I had been looking forward to all cruise especially as the menu looked so good. Another brilliant thing was that no matter where you were sat in the restaurant, you had a good view of the show as the dining room was separated into several smaller areas and there were television screens everywhere you looked. I also thought that this was the least crowded of the three main restaurants onboard as we had plenty of space where our table was located on both of our cruises.

There was so many things that I wanted to try and I was really hungry so to start I ordered the Dill and Meyer Lemon Marinated Shrimp, the Hearts of Palm with Cilantro and Lime (though the Infinity Stone Popcorn it came with was a little strange) and the Sautéed Crimini and Oyster Mushrooms which was so good and is one of the best appetisers that I have ever had in one of the main dining rooms onboard. For my main course I ordered the Ricotta Gnocchi which was delicious.

During the Avengers: Quantum Encounter dinner, Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne aka Ant Man and the Wasp host a presentation called Miracles from Molecules showcasing Pym Tech and the latest Quantum Core technology that can shrink and grow different items at the push of a button. I also noticed that they were hosting their presentation from the Marvel Super Hero Academy which is located in the Oceaneer Club on Deck 2 which I was looking forward to exploring during Open House the following day as I knew there were a lot of details to be found there.

The presentation started with Ant Man trying to explain why he did not try to kill Thanos in a “really creative way” (first of all it’s gross and secondly it’s much more complicated than that!) which made my boyfriend and I laugh like crazy but seemed to go completely over the heads of everyone else at dinner that night!

To demonstrate the Quantum Cores that were on each of the tables that can target Pym Particles to shrink or grow just about anything, Ant Man wanted to shrink his suitcase as he could not fit it under his bed onboard the ship as well as shrink his towel swan that he made to make it easier to take home. All we had to do was push the buttons on the Quantum Cores on our tables to activate them but as usual things did not go to plan!

As we were eating our meals and whilst Ant Man was trying to fix the Quantum Core Regulator whilst also accidentally shrinking the Disney Wish in the process, all of the screens around the restaurant show clips from the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, different character profiles as well as a showcase of various Avengers technology.

Not long afterwards Sam Wilson aka Captain America arrived onboard Deck 11 of the Disney Wish to ask Ant Man how the “cushy cruise gig” was going as a spike in high energy levels had been detected at our location. However it turned out that Ultron and his army of robots were back and wanted to steal the Quantum Cores. An epic battle began on the top decks of the Disney Wish and backup quickly arrived in the shape of Ms Marvel and Captain Marvel whilst Ant Man needed our help to defeat Ultron (who he was fighting in the long corridor at the entrance of Worlds of Marvel) using our Quantum Cores.

Once the battle was over, we could enjoy dessert and I ordered the Cheesecake Byte which was so good that I could have eaten another straight away. As we were eating Ant Man and the Wasp arrived in the restaurant to thank us all for our help in defeating Ultron and we were all given some miniature chocolate brownies which despite their size were incredibly rich.

We left Worlds of Marvel just before 10:00pm and made our way to the Grand Hall to watch the Kiss Goodnight before grabbing a good spot on Deck 4 to watch WISHing Ever After at 10:15pm which is the brand new farewell show onboard the Disney Wish and it is the perfect way to end your final night onboard the ship.

Cinderella and Prince Charming, Rapunzel and Flynn, Belle, Moana, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Captain Mickey and Captain Minnie arrived in the Grand Hall for the final time on this cruise so that you can get any last minute photos with them as there are no character appearances on the morning that you disembark.

Goofy was stood near us on Deck 4 with hardly anyone waiting so I had to go and see him as I love him so much and I had not met him at all during the cruise. After about twenty minutes, there was a small light show and the Fairy Godmother arrived in the Grand Hall to help us all make one final wish using the Wishing Star. It was a really nice little show and once again I loved that they used the Together We Set Sail music as the characters waved their final goodbyes.

As the Grand Hall quickly emptied, it really felt like it was a case of “Now what?” for both of us as we are so used to packing late on the final night but as we were staying onboard we did not need to do anything or rush anywhere. We walked down to Deck 3 and sat on the steps of the Grand Hall stage and watched the Kiss Goodnight again at 11:00pm – it really is so beautiful not matter how many times you watch it whilst onboard.

I did not even have to do my normal last night cruise routine of rushing around and trying to take as many last minute photos as I could as we still had another cruise where we could take as many pictures as we wanted.

Back in our stateroom we had a blanket penguin and our cruise survey waiting for us along with some Goofy luggage tags if we needed them which we did not as we were staying in the same stateroom for the second cruise – if you are on back to back sailings and changing staterooms you will need to pack all of your bags, write your new stateroom number on the tags, leave the bags in your room on disembarkation morning and your luggage will be moved for you.

It had been such a brilliant albeit long day both at Castaway Cay as well as onboard and we both wanted to get a good night’s sleep as we knew we would have another long day the next day back at Port Canaveral. Would embarkation day still be as tiring as normal even though we were staying onboard the ship? Only time would tell!

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