Sailing the Disney Fantasy: day 3, Lookout Cay

Breakfast & arriving at Lighthouse Point

Today was the day I was most looking forward to – when we were at Lookout Cay! I know the island has gotten some mixed reviews from Disney fans, but I was still very excited from everything I’d heard about Lighthouse Point.

The weather had not been the greatest during our cruise, and we experienced pretty high winds and a lot of rain. I was worried it would make our experience at Lookout Cay a bummer, but we were lucky that at least in the morning the sun was out (those winds were still there, though!).

I had ordered breakfast the night before to be dropped off in the morning. You can do this for select (cold food) items, like toast, bagels, cereal, and fruit. Oh, and coffee! It’s a nice option if you don’t want to battle the buffet crowds and just need something lighter.

After eating breakfast it was time to head out to the island. If you’ve heard the pier to get to the island is quite long, you are correct. This was done for conservation efforts to protect nearby coral reef, but it does mean you have a bit of a walk. They have golf carts available to take parties if needed, but most people walked.

And it is a bit of a walk. I think it feels longer than walking many other places because there’s really nothing to see or do along the way (and you’re eager to get to the beach!). But for me at least it was a pretty easy walk and took maybe about ten minutes. It was also one positive about the cooler temperatures and wind that we were having – we weren’t really affected by the heat.

Serenity Bay Beach

Once we arrived, we took the tram over to the main area and decided to just take some time exploring the island! I took lots of photos, and then we made our way to the adults-only beach, Serenity Bay Beach.

I don’t know if it was because the weather wasn’t great, or because everyone was at the main beach, but it felt almost empty. No worries about getting a lounge chair, we could choose out of hundreds of empty ones!

And at least at that point the weather was really nice. It was breezy but still warm. I’m not actually a huge beach person and I don’t usually even go in the water, but I dipped my toes in and I was surprised and how great the temperature of the ocean was. So I actually went for a swim! You couldn’t go out very far this day (they limited it because of the wind and the strong waves), but I still spent a little time swimming.

There are cabanas at Serenity Bay Beach as well. They looked nice, but I guess maybe it’s something you have to experience before you really see the value in them? They are quite expensive (and hard to get), and I haven’t really felt like I needed one.

And while we were at the beach we had to try a few of the drinks exclusive to the island! There are several bars where you can get a drink, but the Blue Hole Bar at Serenity Bay Beach has a few that are only available at that location and not at the other bars on the island.

They have some pretty unique sounding drinks on the menu, and I always like to try something different! I will say it was a bit hit-or-miss. Some of the more unique ones were actually a bit too weird for me, but there were some really tasty ones, too.

My favorite was the frozen Tropical Fashion (bourbon, cherry liqueur, mixed berries, and lavender). The Island Colada was nice too, but I did not love the Shipwrecker (tequila, lime, agave, coconut, ube condensed milk). The ube condensed milk certainly made it a pretty color, but the flavor was kind of gross for me.

Sights and Sounds of Junkanoo

When I learned there was an educational opportunity at Lookout Cay I was even more excited! Once or twice a day they host a workshop at the Goombay Cultural Center called the Sights and Sounds of Junkanoo.

If you’re not familiar, Junkanoo is a celebration that happens in the Bahamas (and other Caribbean Islands) on December 26th. A big component of it is a parade and festival, where people get dressed up in very colorful costumes, play music, and celebrate.

This workshop was a great balance of learning and interaction. A speaker gave us some background on the festival before introducing a Junkanoo performer in costume. She talked a bit about the outfit, and then moved on to the music. We learned about the different types of instruments and got to join in! People were able to play drums, cowbell, or maracas, and she taught the different rhythms to us.

After that we got to have a little craft time! We made our own Junkanoo headdresses using cardboard, crepe paper, and glitter foam pieces. As a children’s librarian this is the sort of thing I can definitely get into, but I think it was a fun activity for all ages.

The workshop was supposed to be followed by a show, the Junkanoo Rushout. However, it had started to rain, so we didn’t get the full show. I didn’t realize until after we were home and I watched some videos on YouTube how much of it we actually missed. I’d love to catch it for real someday, because we mostly just got Mickey and Minnie having a dance party. Which is cute and all, but not exactly what I was there for.

Lunch on Lookout Cay

After our Junkanoo fun we were hungry, so it was time for lunch! We went back to the adults only area to have lunch at the Serenity BBQ. From my research I understood that the food was the same at all of the eateries on the island.

Although the people did not seem to be on the beach much, they were all definitely getting lunch because it was quite crowded. We had to wait to actually grab a table, and then the buffet line was quite long. It was probably around a 15 minute wait, which is a lot more than I expected.

I’m not sure if they were having any issues with supply or something, but it seemed like a lot of things got held up because they were needing to make more. On the other hand, some of the food items I’d been looking forward to trying just weren’t there. For instance, I’d seen the Disney Parks Blog share about a shrimp rice bowl that was nowhere to be found. Same with the yuca fries. I don’t know if they were at the other food locations or what, but lunch was a bit of a letdown overall.

Most of it was pretty standard – burgers, hot dogs, french fries. There was a fish option with a mango salsa that was pretty good, and something different. I heard the ribs were good too (I’m not a fan of ribs so I didn’t try them).

If you’ve heard about the food at Lookout Cay you’ve probably heard about the flies as well… and they were definitely present. I didn’t find them to be as obnoxious as some reports I’d heard, but they were a nuisance. I’m not sure how Disney fixes this problem, but I can see on certain days it could get really bad.

Back to the ship

After lunch there was one more thing I really wanted to do, and that was walk the Nature Trail. Walking around and learning things? Sounds great!

We explored the other half of the island that we hadn’t seen as much of on our way there, and then found the trail. It was raining a bit again, and my friend asked me if I still wanted to do it. Yes, I did! We started the path and I learned all about land crabs.

Then we took maybe 100 more steps and the skies opened up and it started to pour. With infinite wisdom my companion kindly said, “Becky, this may be the sign that today is not the day to do this.” And alas, it was true. As much as I wanted to keep going, it was not going to be such a great experience in the pouring rain.

We ran back towards the main area and I ducked into the gift shop to pick up a few souvenirs. I also hoped the rain might stop, but after half an hour it was still pretty steady and so I gave up and we went back to the ship. I guess that means I will just have to return to Lighthouse Point someday!

The walk back on the pier felt longer, but I think that was probably because of the rain (and me going slowly so as not to do a slip and slide). Disney cast members were dutifully offering us cold towels and water, but we didn’t really need them given the circumstances!

More Muppets, Frozen, and gift shops

We spent some more time exploring the ship and finishing up our game of Midship Detective Agency with the Muppets. That is really a lot of fun – and not just for kids!

Then it was time for the show that night, Frozen. It was also pirate night so I changed into my pirate costume (I just used my Halloween costume that I had worn for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!). The Frozen musical was fun (I’d seen it before on Disney Cruise Line) and the cast is very talented.

Before dinner I decided to take some time to explore the gift shops. There was some cute stuff, but nothing in particular was really calling to me. I actually didn’t buy anything on board – can you believe it?