Castaway Cay - Pull In or Back In?

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Does anyone have any reasoning for when the ships pull in vs back in at Castaway Cay? I've seen lots of pictures of the ship pulled in (the DCL material), and on the Castaway Cay map it shows it pulled in, but when I was on the Wonder it was backed in (which agrees with many DIS'ers photos).

Does anyone know why they choose one way over the other?

Thanks!

[elemusing]

I wonder if it has to do with the maintenance schedule. When we went in 2000 they cleaned and painted on the side of the ship closest to the dock (we were backed in). We were on the Wonder (btw). This is merely a guess. The only other option is that perhaps due to weather or sea conditions one may be easier over the other due to these influences.

Like I said, merely speculation. No concrete proof either way.

Good question though!

[atigeg]

Every since Hurricane Floyd, we have never had the ship pull in...back in seems to be the way they go now. I don't know why, but pulling in seems to be very rare now.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[john59]

:bounce:

Last April I got some great pics of the Magic docking at St. Martins, St. Thomas & Castaway.

I was one deck above the Bridge and if you look closely, the Bridge extends out over the water or the dock. This portion of the Bridge has a glass floor, so the Captain and Navigator can look down. Since the Bridge extends out, they can look forward and aft, along the side of the Ship.

When docking they open ; the best way I can describe it----a very big covered barbecue grille. There are gauges and dials that show the position of the rudders, thrusters along with controls that over ride the computers, that dock the ship.

No more Tugs.

Try to get up there and watch the crew in action, anyplace that you dock. It's worth the price of admisssion---FREE.

john59

[kajohn]

If we are on the starboard side of the ship and it backs in, will we have a view of the island, beaches etc, or just the dock? I've never been to castaway cay, so I don't really understand teh layout.

[Dave_from_Marietta]

The slip is adjacent to a pretty deep channel, and the channel can have some tricky currents. Getting in and out of the slip can be tricky. In fact, when the ship <b><i>isn't</i></b> able to dock at all, it's usually because the currents are too fast. And it's trickier to back up than to go forward, so if they back into the slip, they've done the trickiest maneuvering first. Pulling out at the end of the day is much easier.

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by kajohn

If we are on the starboard side of the ship and it backs in, will we have a view of the island, beaches etc, or just the dock?Yes, the island and the beaches.