All ashore at castaway cay

[2DisPrincesses]

We were off the Dream last week very quickly around 8:30/8:40 as we parasailed at 9:00.

 

[bafleyanne]

We always get off the ship around 11 on CC and it's never crowded. This year we finally realized if you get off the Scuttles Cove tram stop and walk to the family beach from there it's much less crowded at that end!

 

[Mr. Green]

Our trip on the Fantasy was full I believe and we did not have any issues getting off. It was pretty easy going and our family was one of the first off.

 

[YayDisney]

Itchy sand? Elbow to elbow?

Huh. That's not the Cc I've experienced.

If it's crowded where you are, move further down the beach. People tend to plunk down quickly so if you're willing to keep going you'll find more room.

I have enjoyed our normal cc visits FAR more than I enjoyed our one time in a cabana. And I've used my kindle just fine on the normal beach.

Cc is the place that made me realize that maybe I am, after all, a beach person.


Op while I've never had a ship take that long for disembarkation there, as a free 5k participant I'll mention that I've never been the first to disembark. (I've also done the paid challenge and with that one we docked at midnight and runners were off before dawn)

Hi - What is this "paid challenge"? Sounds very cool. We are going in August and I was going to do the 5k again with my son this time, but if there is something better than that, I am all ears - !!

 

[itsodisney]

Just be thankful you got off , we couldn't dock in Jan!!!!!!
A year and a half of waiting & reading everything about it and all I have is a photo off in the distance.

Hi May I know why you didn't got off this January? We'll be sailing on January 2017 first day of Star Wars at sea but I'm thinking January might not be the best month to sail... We did December last year and no problem. For me weather is perfect at CC and Mexico... Wondering what the usual weather on a western carribean itinerary during January. Thanks

 

[Trera]

Wonder what happens if you have paid all that money for a cabana and lose an hour because of a situation like this! That would stink.

Not sure but we were delayed docking one time when we had a caban and didnt get off the boat until lunch time and they called and gave us the option to forgo our cabana or only charge half price to use it.

 

[RedSox68]

Not sure but we were delayed docking one time when we had a caban and didnt get off the boat until lunch time and they called and gave us the option to forgo our cabana or only charge half price to use it.

That was reasonable. What did you decide to do?

We booked a cabana on our last cruise and were disappointed that we didn't arrive to CC until 9:30 a.m.! Didn't get to the cabana until 10 a.m. Felt like we lost 90 minutes because of their schedule. I might not have booked it had I known that.

 

[Trera]

We used it anyway. We always stay until the end of the day so it was worth it to us.

 

[Quellman]

My husband did the 5k. The meet time was 9:15 but he said they were still getting off at 9:45. He said they waited a long time before getting off because they were still waiting for people who were late (which I don't think is fair to the people that were on time). He sent me a message through the app to not try getting off yet, but by then it was already too late. We were already down on deck 1 just stuck trying to get off. It was probably about 20 minutes before people actually started moving. We took the elevator down and as soon as the doors opened it was just a sea of people. There was a lady that was supposed to be doing the 5k that got on the elevator we just got off. She decided to just skip the 5k and was heading up. Had some of the kids not jumped out of the elevator and made their way ahead of us we would've done the same.

It sucked, because people were just being so rude and pushing each other. I could hear other people fighting and getting mad at each other. We wanted to just go back up and wait, but it would've been too hard.

Generally this is how the 5k works. There is a period for check-in usually 9-915 and then an excruciatingly long time to go over the course, where the water is, and then they have one of the 10 year old kids again explain the course. Then they talk about scuttles cove check in. After that those with children are the first to leave the lounge so give them time to do the check in. So yes. 30 minutes from check in to working your way off the boat is about normal for the CC5K, which is unfortunate for repeat runners.

 

[CamColt]

Hi - What is this "paid challenge"? Sounds very cool. We are going in August and I was going to do the 5k again with my son this time, but if there is something better than that, I am all ears - !!

Run Disney offers the Castaway Cay Challenge in conjunction with Marathon weekend in January. Runners who do any race on land that weekend and then take the specified cruise (usually the Dream that goes out the next day) and do the 5K on the island receive a special medal. Runners must register for this in advance and there is a fee. Registered runners for this get off the ship earlier than everyone else(it was still dark) and run first. There is also the regular CC 5K on that cruise too, for guests who sign up on board free of charge and that is run after the challenge 5K. Those runners just get the regular CC 5K medal.

The medal on the left is the regular 5K medal while the one in the middle is for the challenge.