New Castaway Club bag

[perdidobay]

I agree with a previous poster -bring back the towels, I have 4 and after 10 years of constant use they are still in great shape.

 

[natmom]

We are going on our second disney cruise, does that mean we will get something when we board ? Sorry, I haven't cruised enough to know all this stuff!

 

[cruisecrasher]

We are going on our second disney cruise, does that mean we will get something when we board ? Sorry, I haven't cruised enough to know all this stuff!

You get a lanyard at checkin and a gift (backpack or tote) in your stateroom.

 

[BethA]

You know what would be nice is if they gave Castaway Club members a catalog to choose from several gift options. It would be left on your bed when you arrive (just like the gift) and you would check off what you would like and give it to your stateroom host to fill your order.

I thought that would be great but let you choose online at checkin

 

[Ccann]

We got it on the Dream on Sunday. Mine broke on Monday. The ring came out and the rope handle wouldn't stay in place. I was bummed as I really liked the bag

Mine broke on Friday before we left the ship. I was sad. I think I can reinforce around the metal holes but not sure it's worth the time. It was great while it lasted though. It carried the navigator while we laid by the pool...

 

[MDennis28]

I just got off the Fantasy from the Dec 7-14 Western Caribbean.

Me too! We were on that cruise. No whiteboard or marker for us :-( Did get a bag though.

 

[2disneycruzrs]

On the 12/4 Magic, Platinum and Gold had the harder fabric lanyard but silver had the slick material.

Would love the towel to return but love the flash drive idea. Haven't used our hanging memory book yet (gold gift).

Not a fan of totes. As a meeting planner who gives out premiums, we only do backpack style convertible totes because we primarily have male attendees. Totes like these do not fly with the guys. Someone at DCL failed to do research. The blue backpacks are good quality - it could even hold a heavy laptop!

 

[tinkerone]

Me too! We were on that cruise. No whiteboard or marker for us :-( Did get a bag though.

i'm wondering if they are confusing this with the items in their DU gift basket, assuming they received one. thats where we got our white board with marker. I'd be surprised if disney had the same item but who knows.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I've seen a pic of the gold bag. Um, no. That'll definitely be a leave-behind. The magnetic white board is a fabulous thing to have....on cruise lines/ships that don't have Wave phones. LOL! Also seen pics of the photo book thing. Again, not something I would use but a good idea in theory. I imagine figuring out what to gift repeat cruisers isn't an easy job to have. It's nice they do the gifts at all. I don't recall my brother-in-law or mother-in-law who are repeat cruisers on Royal Caribbean saying anything about gifts. I wonder if other cruise lines do this sort of thing at all. Hmmmm...

 

[natmom]

You get a lanyard at checkin and a gift (backpack or tote) in your stateroom.

Ohhhhhh now I'm even more excited!!

 

[mab2012]

Surprised by all the posts indicating how "girly" the bag is. It just looks like a bag to me. I don't think my husband would have a problem with it, and I know my son wouldn't (though he's only 5, so maybe he doesn't count).

Not taking issue with anyone's individual opinion here, but I really think it's a shame how our society puts such silly restrictions on what's acceptable for men to do/wear/carry. Seems like girls have much more freedom of expression these days. "I don't like that bag" is fine, but "I don't want to carry that bag because it will make me look like a girl" is unfortunate, IMO.

 

[iloverags2]

It's nice they do the gifts at all. I don't recall my brother-in-law or mother-in-law who are repeat cruisers on Royal Caribbean saying anything about gifts. I wonder if other cruise lines do this sort of thing at all. Hmmmm...

RCI does not do gifts for repeat cruisers. They do offer coupons for things such as 2-for-1 glass of wine, free specialty coffee, and $$ off Internet packages. There loyalty program is the worst to me (others may disagree).

In my opinion, Princess has the best repeat cruiser "gifts" (they list it all on their website).

Oh, and Carnival previously gave out Tervis tumblers to repeat cruisers, which was fantastic! I have heard recent reports though they no longer do this. What a shame!

 

[edith76]

I'm sure it is difficult to come up with new gift ideas and whatever they are there will be some who are unhappy with it. Loved the backpack and the red drawstring bag - they were useful and sturdy. Hate to comment on the new gift from only pics but doesn't look like a keeper. I was hoping they would continue with the DCL picture frame some people reported getting. For those of us who have cruised many times that is something that I wouldn't mind multiples of. But bottom line, I don't cruise for the gift - but it is nice to get some little thing. Serendipity even though somewhere along the line I am paying for it.

Yes other cruiselines do the repeat gift thing too. I like NCL's - we are platinum on there too so some of what we get is for that level. In our stateroom there is a bottle of bubbly(exchangeable for red or white if you prefer) and chocolate covered strawberries. They used to leave a fruit plate too but that got changed to a box of godivas or 2 - can't remember. Then each person gets a pack of certificates depending on their level. For Plat. its a specialty dinner with a bottle of wine for 2, a free laundry bag done and some other stuff I've never used. They also send stuff when you reach a level. But that changes so since my husband and I didn't reach levels at the same time we haven't gotten the same things. Then they have a regular repeat cruiser party and a second one for the higher levels. I think they do priority tendering and boarding and stuff but we don't usually take advantage of any of it. Actually never used the free laundry either and we normally do a 12 day cruise with them. What is nice is that each person gets the certificates according to their level - except for the bubbly on the first day.

Some other cruiselines have really good programs that give uber cruisers extras like internet minutes, and paid gratuities. There was one that even gave a complementary cruise after so many.

 

[MDennis28]

My husband liked the bright yellow bag. Sad it was empty :-( Still glad he had brought our old backpack to use on park days prior to our cruise,
so that is what we brought to Castaway Cay.

 

[pluto1979]

Sailing on the Magic the 1st week of January and looking very much forward to it! Can anyone tell me what you get in addition to the bag if you are a Platinum member? I remember you get an additional gift with the bag plus some type of experience and a food gift as well as a dinner for 1 person in Palos, concierge check-in, discounts, etc...

Anything else? What is the "experience"? What is the food gift? Any info would be great!
Thanks!!!
Adam

 

[TinkRose]

I was looking forward to the backpack, the bag not so much. Thanks for the warning though. We will have to pack a backpack for Castaway Cay. Maybe they will go back to the backpack by the time we cruise.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Sailing on the Magic the 1st week of January and looking very much forward to it! Can anyone tell me what you get in addition to the bag if you are a Platinum member? I remember you get an additional gift with the bag plus some type of experience and a food gift as well as a dinner for 1 person in Palos, concierge check-in, discounts, etc...

Anything else? What is the "experience"? What is the food gift? Any info would be great!
Thanks!!!
Adam

I had heard they didn't do the "experiences" any more. Next week is my fist cruise as a Platinum so I will report back what perks there are, if any beyond a free Palo.

 

[gomagic]

I had heard they didn't do the "experiences" any more. Next week is my fist cruise as a Platinum so I will report back what perks there are, if any beyond a free Palo.

They have not offered any "experiences" for quite awhile. This was still the case as of the end of November. Still get free Palo, 10% off most purchases in onboard shops, and choice of in room gift of either: fruit bowl, bottle of wine or box of 5 truffles.

 

[edith76]

A word about the Platinum choice. We always ask for the sparkling wine and they usually bring a Prosecco or sparkling wine. Last time it was asti spumate - yuck - but we had opened and poured without looking.

 

[Saamh]

I don't like it. I know we should just be happy they give us anything, but I'm going to cross my fingers that since the Wonder is in Galveston, she has some huge supply of the backpacks she needs to pass on through my cruise on the 27th. I have a backpack but was hoping to give one to my daughter and son-in-law for their first cruise with us in March.

We are just off the Wonder today and got the backpack.