Rachel and I had signed up at Guest Services to run the Castaway Cay 5K. We had done this before, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into, but they've since upgraded the medal from a generic Mickey cruise medal to a themed Castaway Cay 5K medal (rubber), so we decided it was worth it for the hardware. Also, if we knocked out the 5K first thing, we wouldn't feel so bad about eating a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar later....


The 5K met at 8:30 AM in Evolution - don't forget to bring your drivers license (like I did), or you'll have to run back up to the room to get it.  The 5K has turned into a popular event because supposedly, you get off the ship first (by the time we actually got off, they had already announced that the ship was cleared and all passengers could disembark).  So a lot of families may have one or two people running, but they'll all come and register for the 5K and then go and lay claim to some beach chairs while the 5K is happening.  Also, there you can check your kids into the club on the island before the race (children must be 8 or older to participate in the 5K).

May 16, 2014 - Disney's Castaway Cay

Castaway Cay is Disney's private island in the Bahamas, and all Caribbean itineraries visit the island at least once.  It is rated the most popular port of call by Disney cruisers and is arguably the best cruise line-owned private island in the industry.  When Disney first purchased (actually leased from the Bahamian government for 99 years) the island, the requirement was that they could build a pier so that the ship would be able to dock right on the island so that they would not have to tender passengers ashore.  Disney was the first cruise line to be able to dock on their private island (Royal Caribbean has since built a dock for their private island, Labadee).

Castaway Cay 5K

Rachel and I had signed up to run the Castaway Cay 5K.  The 5K is complimentary and is offered on all cruises to Castaway Cay, weather permitting.  I had read that this started as a casual event when cast members invited guests to run with them in the morning, but has become so popular that it has been taken over by runDisney, the same branch of the Disney Company that coordinates the Walt Disney World Marathon, Princess Half Marathon, and so many more races in Walt Disney World and California Disney Parks.  To register, visit the Port Adventures desk during operating hours up to the day before your stop in Castaway Cay.

I am not a big runner.  In fact, I hardly run at all.  But I take all of Rachel's indoor cycling classes, so I would say that I'm in fairly good physical shape.  Rachel runs charity 5Ks all of the time, usually to get credit for her sorority.  I actually ran my first 5K the month prior when The Color Run came to Clemson.  And I'm not sure if that counts because I'm fairly certain that the route wasn't actually 3.1 miles, and they don't keep up with the runners' times.

We were scheduled to meet in The Tube at 8:00 AM.  Rachel and I got up and ate a light breakfast in Cabana's before heading down.  We arrived about 10-15 minutes early which was before the long line accumulated.  To check in, you just need the Port Adventure ticket that they give you when you register, and they give you a bib.  They also asked to make sure that we had our Photo IDs before exiting the ship.  We did not, as we were just walking straight off the ship and going to Disney's private island, but we ran back to the room and got them, anyway.



After everyone had checked in, the entertainment team discussed the route with us, showing us a map of it on a projector.  We would run the bike loop once, then run down the airplane landing strip, then run back down the airplane landing, then do the bike loop a second time, then head back to the finish line.  We were cleared to leave the ship around 8:30-8:45, and two members of the entertainment team guided our group to the gangway, asking that parents who were checking their children into Scuttle's Cove leave first.  However, the entire group had to wait about ten minutes in the stairwells before we could actually leave the ship.  Looking around, I noticed several Disney Marathon shirts, and even a guy wearing a Goofy's Race and a Half challenge shirt (that's 39.3 miles over two consecutive days!!!).