Castaway Cay By Kerrick James W
When you were 9 years old, the world was a simpler place, each day a blessed interlude of play and camp and friends and … trips, if you were lucky.
Imagine that your Dad sought you out at the beginning of summer break and asked, “Would you like to fl y to board a Disney cruise and sail to their private island, and bone up on your pirate skills?” Now imagine you’re the lucky Dad who gets to say those
words to your 9-year-old son. You feel like the proverbial king of the world when he jumps and shouts, “I’m going to Disney Island!” And that’s how the cruise to Castaway Cay began for Keanu James. I, the Dad in this tale, always take my three young sons
camping in pine forests or at Monument Valley, white water rafting in Utah or exploring Lake Powell by boat and sleep- ing on beaches. And we’ve taken many cruises, but always on small vessels with fewer than 100 passengers. Still, when the chance arose to take my youngest son on
Disney’s newest and grandest cruise champion, the Dream, a vessel larger than Titanic, how could I refuse?
Boarding the Dream
We jetted into Orlando for an overnight at Disney World, and buses swooped in the next morning for our bags and our cruise mates. After a quick and friendly check in at the terminal, we board and fi nd our suite—the most luxurious, beautifully appointed, and largest cabin on any of the 20-plus cruises I’ve enjoyed, with a super comfy premium hotel quality queen bed for me, and cool bunk bed for Keanu. During the mandatory lifeboat drill, I can see that Keanu
is eager to explore. He joins the Midship Detective Agency by taking a ship map, the Detective Casebook and his handy dandy game card, and becomes Agent 066. He spends the next 30 minutes on a criss-cross journey to collect clues at
Young guests aboard Disney Cruise Line meet Captain Hook on deck.
various interactive screens, ornately framed, up and down staircases and 10 of the 12 decks, fore and aft on a thousand-foot ship. Suddenly we, he I mean, solves the crime of the miss- ing Dalmatian puppies, and in the bargain exercises enough to be very hungry for the fi rst dinner seating, in the Enchanted Garden.
EnCompass January/February 2012 21
Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line.
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