jellybungsters
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2004
- Messages
- 88
Everyone was worried on Thursday night about Hurricane Charley and how it would affect our Castaway Cay day.
Well, we got there at 9 am on Friday and Charley was still way east of us and south of the Floriday Keys. Except for some stronger winds, it was a beautiful day. Some excursions like the parasailing were cancelled because of the strong winds but the beaches were beautiful. We left the island at 4:30 PM wondering if we would hit Charley the next day.
Around 6 PM, the captain announced that Charley was heading for central Florida and that Port Canaveral will be closed until the following morning. We had to pick up some extra fuel in Freeport, Bahamas so that the ship can sail south of her normal course to avoid the hurricane. We were also warned that we may experience 15 foot waves around 1 am. Around 8:30 pm (our late seating dinner time), we docked at Freeport. It was the only day during our cruise where the ship wasn't moving during late dinner seating. After dinner, I took my seasick tablet and went to bed expecting the worst. Well, the night was no different from the previous six nights. Either a) The seasick tablets worked, b) The ship's stabilizers worked, or c) the ship did not encounter 15 foot waves.
On Saturday morning, Port Canaveral did not open until 6:30 am. This caused the late-seating breakfast to be moved from 8 am to 8:30 am. The customs people did not get on board until 9 am and debarkation did not start until 11 am. The terminal had no air conditioning because of the power outage caused by Charley. Because of this 3 hour delay, the arriving passengers and departing passengers on the next cruise all hit Port Canaveral at the same time. To make matters worse, the Carnival Glory arrived at the same time. We had to wait about an hour for our Budget rental car shuttle. They only had 2 shuttles dropping off and picking up passengers for the Magic and the Glory. After arriving at the Budget office, we had to wait in line another hour to pick up our car. On top of that, a huge downpour rolled in for about an hour. I hate to imagine what that did to the people waiting at the terminal parking lot.
But other than debarkation day, the cruise was really magical!
Well, we got there at 9 am on Friday and Charley was still way east of us and south of the Floriday Keys. Except for some stronger winds, it was a beautiful day. Some excursions like the parasailing were cancelled because of the strong winds but the beaches were beautiful. We left the island at 4:30 PM wondering if we would hit Charley the next day.
Around 6 PM, the captain announced that Charley was heading for central Florida and that Port Canaveral will be closed until the following morning. We had to pick up some extra fuel in Freeport, Bahamas so that the ship can sail south of her normal course to avoid the hurricane. We were also warned that we may experience 15 foot waves around 1 am. Around 8:30 pm (our late seating dinner time), we docked at Freeport. It was the only day during our cruise where the ship wasn't moving during late dinner seating. After dinner, I took my seasick tablet and went to bed expecting the worst. Well, the night was no different from the previous six nights. Either a) The seasick tablets worked, b) The ship's stabilizers worked, or c) the ship did not encounter 15 foot waves.
On Saturday morning, Port Canaveral did not open until 6:30 am. This caused the late-seating breakfast to be moved from 8 am to 8:30 am. The customs people did not get on board until 9 am and debarkation did not start until 11 am. The terminal had no air conditioning because of the power outage caused by Charley. Because of this 3 hour delay, the arriving passengers and departing passengers on the next cruise all hit Port Canaveral at the same time. To make matters worse, the Carnival Glory arrived at the same time. We had to wait about an hour for our Budget rental car shuttle. They only had 2 shuttles dropping off and picking up passengers for the Magic and the Glory. After arriving at the Budget office, we had to wait in line another hour to pick up our car. On top of that, a huge downpour rolled in for about an hour. I hate to imagine what that did to the people waiting at the terminal parking lot.
But other than debarkation day, the cruise was really magical!
