Double Dip!!!

Double Dip is a big deal in the cruising world. This is when a port is repeated twice in a cruise. 95% of the time when there is a repeat it is because it is the cruise line's private island. So as you can guess we stopped at Castaway Cay for a second visit.

When we got off the ship a short way up the path we stumbled into Captain Jack Sparrow. He trades some sarcastic barbs with Katherine.

On the tram we saw Donald Duck along the walking path. He was busy playing tic tac toe with a guest who stopped for a picture. This was a better picture than some of the others I snapped with his bum up in the air. Poor Donald

The next two pictures are Mount Rushmore without us in front of them

Today's excursion at the Cay was swimming with Sting Rays. This is the staging area where we learn about the rays and how to properly feed and touch them. As you can see there are a few fun facts around to read while you wait also. Yes, I am getting that look are you really taking our picture again from Daniel.

So below you can see how we feed the Ray. They have a floating platform in a semi-circle. The trainer is in the middle and the people feeding are on the outside. We hold our hand over the food and once the Ray glides onto the platform and by us, we release our hand and they take the food and we can touch them. My two were very squimish about this so I ended up on my own. Katherine does not like fish and there were many in the water with the Rays. After about 15 minutes the platforms get put away and you are allowed to put on your snorkel gear and swim out with the Ray's I ended up staying close to shore letting them swim by me and petting them. I even sat in the sand at the edge of the water with Katherine.

We both bought hats before we ventured out with the Ray and I managed to get away and enjoy the sun and did not get burned for a change. My blood pressure meds make me more sensitive in the sun so I tend to burn quicker and bad as you have seen on previous occasions.

So some interesting information about the Ray's you will see that they are in a penned-in area. Those fences can be dropped quite easily and when a hurricane or strong storm comes in they are dropped so the Rays can go and find shelter.  There are 42 Ray's in the cove and they are all tagged. After these storms, they do come back freely. So they do treat their animals quite well. This excursion is so cool having the ship so close.

Besides sting ray cove you can rent kayaks, paddleboard and boats to enjoy the way. They also have sand trikes that have the big wheels and go in the water as well. And of course they have paddle boats. Daniel would have much preferred those activities to feeding the Rays so we will have to do that for him the next time.

Below is a quick view of the shopping area. It is by the water park. We just saw it on from the tram on the way back to the ship. Once again we missed lunch on the Island as we went back to the ship to enjoy the emptiness to oursleves.

So in tomorrow's blog I will discuss the character meetings and then I will move on to the most important part of this particular cruise which was Marvel Days at Sea

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