Key West and Castaway Cay Questions

[nunzia]

My DH would like to snorkel on Castaway Cay..is he allowed to bring his own gear or does he need to rent those from Disney? ( I am guessing he does since he has to also wear a vest which is in the package?) Do you have to pre choose your Castaway Cay rental items or can you choose once you get there?
In Key West, has anyone taken the Presidents, Pirates and Pioneers tour? I'd like to try that Key Lime pie on a stick that was on Food Network..I saw it mentioned here but can't remember where to get it..Any advice on these two ports?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My DH would like to snorkel on Castaway Cay..is he allowed to bring his own gear or does he need to rent those from Disney? ( I am guessing he does since he has to also wear a vest which is in the package?) Do you have to pre choose your Castaway Cay rental items or can you choose once you get there?
In Key West, has anyone taken the Presidents, Pirates and Pioneers tour? I'd like to try that Key Lime pie on a stick that was on Food Network..I saw it mentioned here but can't remember where to get it..Any advice on these two ports?

He certainly may bring his own gear, if he wishes. Yes, he will have to wear the DCL supplied vest (no charge), just pick one up at the snorkle hut.

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking about choosing your CC rental items. What items?

 

[TXDCLfan]

He certainly may bring his own gear, if he wishes. Yes, he will have to wear the DCL supplied vest (no charge), just pick one up at the snorkle hut.

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking about choosing your CC rental items. What items?

or at the life guard stands

 

[PrincessShmoo]

or at the life guard stands

I think the ones at the lifeguard stands are the ones with the floatation foam in them, right?

The vests for the snorkle area are small inflatable ones (that don't even really need to be inflated). At least they used to be.

Not a great picture, but you can kind of see the one DH had on at CC when we were there

 

[msd1776]

You can get key lime on a stick at Kermit's Key Lime shoppe. As I recall, it is down the street several blocks from Sloppy Joes. This place had some great key lime salsa too.

 

[TXDCLfan]

I think the ones at the lifeguard stands are the ones with the floatation foam in them, right?

The vests for the snorkle area are small inflatable ones (that don't even really need to be inflated). At least they used to be.

Not a great picture, but you can kind of see the one DH had on at CC when we were there

No they are the ones that you have to inflate...I bring my own mask and fins and always get the vest from the life guard stand so that I do not have to wait in the line at the rental shop.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No they are the ones that you have to inflate...I bring my own mask and fins and always get the vest from the life guard stand so that I do not have to wait in the line at the rental shop.

Cool, thanks!

 

[TXDCLfan]

I think the ones at the lifeguard stands are the ones with the floatation foam in them, right?

The vests for the snorkle area are small inflatable ones (that don't even really need to be inflated). At least they used to be.

Not a great picture, but you can kind of see the one DH had on at CC when we were there

This is really BAD advice If some one is of "limited" "poor" or a "BAD" swimmer/has difficulty treading water they really need to inflate the vest for their own safety/protection.

 

[nunzia]

He certainly may bring his own gear, if he wishes. Yes, he will have to wear the DCL supplied vest (no charge), just pick one up at the snorkle hut.

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking about choosing your CC rental items. What items?

On the excursions page on the website it gives you opeions for bike rentals, tube rentals, etc...I was wondering if we had to choose what we wanted now or if there was a option to just walk up and rent these things while on the island. C

 

[com_op_2000]

On the excursions page on the website it gives you opeions for bike rentals, tube rentals, etc...I was wondering if we had to choose what we wanted now or if there was a option to just walk up and rent these things while on the island. C

You can choose to reserve the items ahead of time or you can walk up and get what you want for the day. If you think you are going to "package" several items (IE: bikes and snorkle) then it maybe better and faster to reserve them ahead of time.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is really BAD advice If some one is of "limited" "poor" or a "BAD" swimmer/has difficulty treading water they really need to inflate the vest for their own safety/protection.

Agreed. I was only mentioning it for the OP. I felt that anyone who has their own snorkle equipment probably is a fairly decent swimmer. Maybe a bad expectation, but still valid.

The vest is for boyancy as well as visibility in the water, so those who don't require the boyancy won't necessarily need to inflate it.

 

[Ichiban]

We were just in both places. On Castaway Cay, we rented snorkel gear that day and it was no problem. You can bring your own snorkel gear and borrow lifejackets for free as well. In Key West they gave us a shopping map that had the place you are talking about on it- Kermit's. We never made it there, though. If your stop is a half day like ours was, the time really goes by quickly! We just did the City View trolley tour on our own and found it a good way to see the island with limited time.

 

[iHeartDisneyXo]

On the excursions page on the website it gives you opeions for bike rentals, tube rentals, etc...I was wondering if we had to choose what we wanted now or if there was a option to just walk up and rent these things while on the island. C

We brought and used our own snorkel gear both cruises I've been on. Like others have noted, we just walked up to a life guard stand near the front and grabbed an inflatable vest. (They're free to use - and I think they might make you wear them in the family snorkel area anyways)

We waited to rent the bikes until we were at CC. That way we knew for sure we still wanted to use them, just in case were too tired from snorkeling, or just wanted to keep enjoying the beach. I've never rented a tube, but I do recall that near the end of the day there were quite a few abandoned tubes floating out in the water.

 

[nannylori]

I'm not familiar with that particular tour,but most KW tours are pretty good.
If you have young children,say under 14, I would look into taking a Conch Train Tour. The kiddos would enjoy the ride more than on a trolley.
One difference-trolleys let you do on/off stops,but the train is one hour straight. But on the train,you feel "closer to the action". Children find it fun to ride. You'll get a great overview of the culture,architecture and island history. You'll also get to see other places where you might want to go(like the Butterfly Conservatory). You'll also get info on the frozen chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick, as well as regular pie. Kermits is the most famous,but by no means,the only one available. I believe you saw on TV the Key West Key Lime Pie Co. I think Bobby Flay won on TV,but when the cameras went off,HE said he liked the Pie Company better than his.

There's also a beautiful beach and civil war fort just minutes from the dock-Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Beautiful blue green caribbean water,with tons of Pelicans diving for fish.

Americas first outdoor aquarium is in Mallory Square-it's small & doesn't consume too much time.
Hope I helped a little

 

[nunzia]

I'm not familiar with that particular tour,but most KW tours are pretty good.
If you have young children,say under 14, I would look into taking a Conch Train Tour. The kiddos would enjoy the ride more than on a trolley.
One difference-trolleys let you do on/off stops,but the train is one hour straight. But on the train,you feel "closer to the action". Children find it fun to ride. You'll get a great overview of the culture,architecture and island history. You'll also get to see other places where you might want to go(like the Butterfly Conservatory). You'll also get info on the frozen chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick, as well as regular pie. Kermits is the most famous,but by no means,the only one available. I believe you saw on TV the Key West Key Lime Pie Co. I think Bobby Flay won on TV,but when the cameras went off,HE said he liked the Pie Company better than his.

There's also a beautiful beach and civil war fort just minutes from the dock-Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Beautiful blue green caribbean water,with tons of Pelicans diving for fish.

Americas first outdoor aquarium is in Mallory Square-it's small & doesn't consume too much time.
Hope I helped a little

This one sounds interesting..and not as long as the other? Since we are there such a short time I want looking aound on my own time also.. I'll look into this one thanks!

 

[islandtimect]

Can you bring your own small tubes or pool noodles to CC? We rented their tubes last time, and they were so huge and sat up so high, they were hard to use and hold onto.