Any non-fans of Castaway Cay?

[2XPCV]

Just to add - my wife is not a Castaway fan either; but she loves Castaway Cay day. On the bigger ships she loves going up to Satellite Falls that day and is almost always the ONLY person up there for most of the day. Smaller ships pretty much the same at the adult pool, though not usually literally the only person.

 

[TestingH2O]

I don't dislike it, but we aren't beach people, so it's not a huge draw either. I like it because it's easy to have a few hours at the beach and leave whenever we feel like it because it's so easy. The fresh fruit is also usually great at Cookies. We've benefitted from fewer people on the ship before and enjoyed slides etc.

 

[kiford]

We usually get off the ship about 11 am, head to Serenity Bay for a drink, then lunch, then back to the ship. Once or twice we might walk out into the water for a bit. We've done some excursions like parasailing which was fun, the kayaking (which DH wants to do again in our January cruise), snorkeling and the stingrays. But once the excursion is done, we head back to the ship. Neither of us are beach people (I hate sand) and I'd prefer to swim in a pool than in ocean water. We spend most of the afternoon on the ship. It's a great time to hit the Aquaduck. We managed to do it 7 times in a row with minimal to no waits on one trip. I don't recall what else we've done aboard ship the other times but I do know that we've managed to fill most of the morning and afternoon with some kind of activities since we spend very little time actually on the island.

 

[lwilliam]

OMG, I hate beaches, hate water, except sailing on it, after 19 cruises, I LOVE CASTAWAY CAY...we get off early to grab chairs in shade, watch all the families, absolutely LOVE the food on CC, shop, go back on ship by 1 to sit on an empty deck...hate the itineraries if they DONT sail to CC

 

[bakerworld]

I do not think the ship has much down time as far as activities. If by any chance you are DVC I believe the spa has a discount on port days. We usually do not get off the ship at Nassau - however, seems like many stay on the ship at that port. LOL

 

[alltwelve]

Like OP, I'm also prone to sunburn. We haven't got off the ship at Castaway Cay the past 2 cruises. Don't get me wrong- we love CC and Serenity Bay, but feel like after seeing it a few times before, its not worth the hike to get out there. We stay on the ship and you'll be happy to know there's plenty to do! We usually sleep in that day, then go to the pool bar and sit in the shade. There's activities later in the day (I think we participated in a mixology class at 4pm on the CC day), and you can also do the Midship Detective Agency onboard without having to go around people.

 

[Numtini]

I would suggest giving it a go. I live 15 minutes from the beach. Never go there. Sand is gross. Sun-blindness. ugh. But I do enjoy our day at Castaway. I would not want a second. I would not want a double dip. But the beach is so different from the rocky Northern beaches of Cape Schrod that it seems exotic. So I wouldn't ignore the possibility of enjoying the beach even if beaches aren't your thing.

On the negative side, I have gotten serious burns and sun poisoning. You cannot underestimate the need for sunscreen and a good hat. The food is meh. The BBQ is too damned sweet. And the potato salad is beyond flavorless other than the sweet. OTOH, the BBW is pork ribs. No matter how not my flavor profile, roast pig > almost anything else. And the lemon chicken I thought was really good.

There is more though. There's the bike trails. There's some non-beachy water sports. And yeah, stay on the ship, and no line for the Aquaduck, I'm all about that.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

I'm not a beach person - I burn.

What happens on the ship that day? Is there stuff to do, if you don't want to venture out on the beach?

Go to the spa.

 

[jtntx34]

I was just at Castaway Cay December 11th on the Magic. I had not felt well the night before, so I decided to wait onboard for a bit before seeing the beach.

Also, I am not a beach person. Very fair, burn easily, hate being hot.

It was our last day onboard, so I washed a load of clothes. No crowds. Went around the ship snapping pictures. No crowds. I almost decided not to get off the ship; it was so great just roaming around, but I wanted to say hi to my friends and eat lunch at serenity bay as well as look at the shops.

I left the ship around 11:30 or 12pm and went to Serenity Bay. Said hi to friends, ate lunch, went by shops and back onboard before 2pm. Headed to the pool and got in the whirlpool for a bit by myself. Got out and went to spa to book massage.

If I ever go back, I will not get off the ship. The activities are very slim for adults until after 3pm. It’s mostly just movies. I would be at the pool and the spa or taking pictures without people in them. I LOVED the mostly empty ship. I was told there were 98 people onboard. Woo-hoo! It was almost like having a private yacht.

 

[disneyholic family]

on our most recent visit to CC, we stayed on board in the morning to ride the aquaduck (we rode it 8 times)...
then we got off the ship to rent bikes..
rode them over to serenity bay to eat lunch (i enjoy picnics).
then rode the bikes back to drop them off...
then headed back to the ship...

i'm not a non-beach person, but given that we live 10 minutes from a gorgeous Mediterranean beach, we never spend time on a beach when we're on a cruise...we'd rather spend our time on the ship - when it's a disney ship, that's our destination..

.

 

[mkb3]

Good thread as my family doesn't like the beach for more than an hour or two max as we burn easily. Our plan is to get off the ship do some snorkeling, eat some lunch and head back to the ship.

Somewhat related question I see everyone talking about the AquaDuck line being shorter on Castaway Cay Days, what is the normal wait time like?

 

[disneyholic family]

Good thread as my family doesn't like the beach for more than an hour or two max as we burn easily. Our plan is to get off the ship do some snorkeling, eat some lunch and head back to the ship.

Somewhat related question I see everyone talking about the AquaDuck line being shorter on Castaway Cay Days, what is the normal wait time like?

we thought the best time to hit the aquaduck was at opening on CC day. There was no line at all. Zero. We had no wait. Just the time it took to get up the stairs.
after about 30 minutes, there were probably about 10 other people running around with us.
After an hour, we went to wash up and headed off the ship for our traditional bike ride, lunch, shopping, then back to the ship...

the other times we rode the aquaduck (not on CC day), it was about a 20 to 30 minute wait.

.

 

[MrsDuck]

We love staying on ship during CC days... there's not a ton to do on board but it's nice to enjoy an empty pool and movie theater!

I should add: we are FL natives so a beach day is fairly common for us; I'll never forget a family from Minnesota during one of our January sailings basically hooping and hollering to see the sun. It was very funny and sweet!

 

[lklgoodman]

We love staying on ship during CC days... there's not a ton to do on board but it's nice to enjoy an empty pool and movie theater!

I should add: we are FL natives so a beach day is fairly common for us; I'll never forget a family from Minnesota during one of our January sailings basically hooping and hollering to see the sun. It was very funny and sweet!

I can relate to the MN family. I live in Ohio, from Nov-March is the most dreary, never have a sunny day. If we didn't cruise every Jan, I would never make it to April. We flew into Orlando one Jan, it was mid/high 50s. We put on shorts/tshirts, my dd even went swimming at the hotel.

 

[NancyIL]

I usually stay on the island until after the BBQ lunch, then return to the ship. There are always movies showing in the theater. On my last Disney cruise in 2018, I went back to my cabin to shower after walking the 5K - and never returned to the island!

 

[RachelST]

We've been on 2 Dream cruises. The 1st we got off and I thought about going in the water if snorkeling was open but they closed it due to high winds so we went to Serenity....hubby went in the water while I had a drink on the beach in a baseball cap, sunglasses, long skirt and midlength sleeves b/c I burn easily too so tried to cover up...well 2 hrs later even covered up in the sun I felt unwell and couldn't even go to Cookies to eat. We just beelined back to the ship and I immediately felt better the moment I walked on. The 2nd time we watched a movie and got rained out. This time our plan is to go check out some of the places we wanted to see or get pics of but stay under shade or inside as much as possible. So will see how it goes...definitely great movie day and wandering

 

[Sorcerer's Dad]

My wife has physical limitations and we use a battery operated folding wheelchair. She cannot walk on the sand and after living in Hawaii for many years the beach isn't a big deal to me, nor is the lunch they serve on shore. We did sign up for and come ashore for Mojito tasting, though!

 

[MonaMN]

I can relate to the MN family. I live in Ohio, from Nov-March is the most dreary, never have a sunny day. If we didn't cruise every Jan, I would never make it to April. We flew into Orlando one Jan, it was mid/high 50s. We put on shorts/tshirts, my dd even went swimming at the hotel.

Another Minnesotan here... we have beaches on lakes - not quite the same! So even though I don’t have the patience to just sit around on the beach, the lovely water, trees and sun are amazing! Especially in mid-winter!!

 

[KashasMom]

Not a fan either. It's just a beach and not a particularly great one. It's also crowded. I think the BBQ is gross - the worst food on the cruise. We avoid the Eastern/Bahamas itineraries so we can easily avoid CC.