Are now you more or less excited for Lookout Cay?

[lklgoodman]

Besides the pier, I am a bit sad that they no longer have a space for teens on the Island. Hideout was used by both Vibe and then taken over by Edge at CC and there is really nothing on this island for older kids. That splash area is amazing for little ones but is a big downgrade compared to Pelican Plunge at CC.

I am also sure guests on the larger ships are not going to love beach chairs behind the dunes. I was really surprised they only had two rows deep for ocean front seating.

I feel the same as you. We'll be there next month. My teen isn't happy that there's no teen area. Also don't like that there's no tubes or floats. The fly issue is my biggest turn off. I'm glad our 2025 cruise goes to CC.

 

[Mango7100]

I am less excited and not at all sad that we cancelled a 2024 cruise that was scheduled to stop here and our 2025 is not going here. My issues…

No shade. I know that will change in years when vegetation grows. But for now there is hardly any shade on the walkways, there are no palm trees on the beach to give more shade, and that pier is crazy.

The pier. We can walk it fine but it’s not the way I want to end my day on the beach. I get the environmental aspect, but the environment is not an excuse for Disney to not put up colorful overhead shade screens or benches with umbrellas along the walk. If they can have umbrellas on a beach then they can have shade on the pier—excuse of an hurricane doesn’t fly. And the golf cart thing looks like an afterthought. They have 10 carts that hold maybe 6 people each (not counting their stuff). The pier is narrow enough that it looks like enough space for only one cart at a time. So what’s the wait going to be for people going back to the ship who need transport? Are they going to have to wait 30 plus minutes with no seating area and no shade? That will work well. And how is that going to go during the first thunderstorm?

A lot of the chairs on the beach are behind dunes.

Kids 10-17 have nothing. DD11 can’t go to the kids club anymore. There’s no teen hideout with ping pong tables or a volleyball net. No float rentals. There’s no Pelican plunge in the ocean. The water playground looks great for younger kids, but it doesn’t cut it for older kids.

The flies. Hopefully they can figure it out, but I would have expected Disney to have figured something out more than just serving fly infested food. Wrap the food, take walk up orders and plate it from the kitchen, do something. it’s only the first days, but a restaurant on land would not get a grace period of several days—they would be shut down.

This does make me appreciate CC even more now!

 

[bbn1122]

I have already posted, but have been reading everyone comments here and elsewhere.

Flies are my main problem. Yuck....

A little curious, Family Cabanas are so seperate from everything else and they do not have the beautiful calm waters. Water are choppy there from what I saw posted.

I did see on a video, that they have two restroom areas, plus there own food and bar. I guess that is because it is so far from the rest of the action. At least you do not have take a tram ride.

And glad to hear from another thread. Mobility issues, just go to Guest Service when you get on the ship to get a ride down the long pier. Golf carts will take anyone back. I guess just flag them down or ask to get a ride.

 

[Love4Eeyore]

Posted in another thread too.

We went yesterday. No desire to go back. Canceled excursions for our second stop. All the flies are truly nasty! Most of the chairs and umbrellas are behind the dunes and you can't see the water at all (or your children) Huge fail! DS8 and DM really struggled with the walk on the pier at the end of the day. If it wasn't for DS, we wouldn't get off the ship on our second stop. We will be actively avioding any futute cruises that stop there.

 

[kathi]

Posted in another thread too.

We went yesterday. No desire to go back. Canceled excursions for our second stop. All the flies are truly nasty! Most of the chairs and umbrellas are behind the dunes and you can't see the water at all (or your children) Huge fail! DS8 and DM really struggled with the walk on the pier at the end of the day. If it wasn't for DS, we wouldn't get off the ship on our second stop. We will be actively avioding any futute cruises that stop there.

I don't blame you. We have a double dip Saturday and Monday, and the flies are such a hard no for me. Please report back if they seem to have resolved the issue by your second stop. I'm taking power bars to eat on the island - which is absolutely ridiculous but there is no way we are eating that food.

 

[Mags2002]

I am less excited and not at all sad that we cancelled a 2024 cruise that was scheduled to stop here and our 2025 is not going here. My issues…

No shade. I know that will change in years when vegetation grows. But for now there is hardly any shade on the walkways, there are no palm trees on the beach to give more shade, and that pier is crazy.

The pier. We can walk it fine but it’s not the way I want to end my day on the beach. I get the environmental aspect, but the environment is not an excuse for Disney to not put up colorful overhead shade screens or benches with umbrellas along the walk. If they can have umbrellas on a beach then they can have shade on the pier—excuse of an hurricane doesn’t fly. And the golf cart thing looks like an afterthought. They have 10 carts that hold maybe 6 people each (not counting their stuff). The pier is narrow enough that it looks like enough space for only one cart at a time. So what’s the wait going to be for people going back to the ship who need transport? Are they going to have to wait 30 plus minutes with no seating area and no shade? That will work well. And how is that going to go during the first thunderstorm?

A lot of the chairs on the beach are behind dunes.

Kids 10-17 have nothing. DD11 can’t go to the kids club anymore. There’s no teen hideout with ping pong tables or a volleyball net. No float rentals. There’s no Pelican plunge in the ocean. The water playground looks great for younger kids, but it doesn’t cut it for older kids.

The flies. Hopefully they can figure it out, but I would have expected Disney to have figured something out more than just serving fly infested food. Wrap the food, take walk up orders and plate it from the kitchen, do something. it’s only the first days, but a restaurant on land would not get a grace period of several days—they would be shut down.

This does make me appreciate CC even more now!

The pier is wide enough for golf carts to go each way plus walkers. It takes around 5 minutes even a bit less to get from the ship to island.
While there is not a dedicated space for tweens and teens there will be activities for them.
I’ve said before they are working on how to deal with flies as this was not quite expected.
Also looking at the chairs and the easiest way to deal with this

 

[wonderland.kimmi]

I am more excited just because of that water alone! I cannot wait to get into that beautiful water. But I am not going until Aug 2025 so I am holding out hope they figure out the flies. If I was going sooner I would be more concerned. The flies need to be taken care of for this to be a good destination for sure.

 

[Mango7100]

The pier is wide enough for golf carts to go each way plus walkers. It takes around 5 minutes even a bit less to get from the ship to island.
While there is not a dedicated space for tweens and teens there will be activities for them.
I’ve said before they are working on how to deal with flies as this was not quite expected.
Also looking at the chairs and the easiest way to deal with this

I am getting a sense of “Don’t worry they will fix it all, what did people expect for the first trips, people just complain too much”

They didn’t do a trial run of serving food before paying customers went to the island? If they had, they would have seen the fly issue. To serve food in that condition is unacceptable.

How long of a wait is it going to be for the golf carts if they have about 10 that take a 5 minute round trip? Is the pier wide enough for two golf carts to pass each other plus walkers not in a single file line? Where will people be waiting for golf carts? Will they have shade or a place to sit for people waiting? Why did they not think about shade or benches if the pier is a half mile, knowing that they are targeting families with kids and multi-generational groups? This is something that should have been proactively thought about, not after.

Did Disney not look at the chairs before and think maybe more families would like to see the water and therefore see their kids in the water from their chair instead of from behind a sand dune? This isn’t rocket science…,

What kind of activities will there be for tweens and teens if there are no sports courts (ping pong, basketball, volleyball, etc) and the only slide area is for younger kids?

This whole thing just seems poorly thought out. Disney should know better and they should have done better. Nothing will be 100% smooth at first, but there are enough significant issues that Disney should give themselves a hard look at how this was executed. I’m not giving Disney a pass just because they are Disney.

 

[Love4Eeyore]

A 5 minite walk if you're a very fit, young 20 something. Quite longer for the younger and older crowds, especially at the end of a long, hot beach day.

Just spoke with an officer and the golf carts are NOT available for everyone. Only those with mobility issues.

The wait for the tram to the beach was a crowded, long 10-15 minute wait in the direct sun too. Same for coming back to the ship.

 

[Mags2002]

A 5 minite walk if you're a very fit, young 20 something. Quite longer for the younger and older crowds, especially at the end of a long, hot beach day.

Just spoke with an officer and the golf carts are NOT available for everyone. Only those with mobility issues.

The wait for the tram to the beach was a crowded, long 10-15 minute wait in the direct sun too. Same for coming back to the ship.

This is not what the crew have been told, at least on my ship

 

[brentm77]

I have tried to stay positive, because I have a bad inclination of being overly critical of newer Disney stuff, which I am not proud of. In fact, at first, it looked like an island we would really like. I think it is very pretty, and I like the more minimalist approach. But it's hard to stay positive about it the more I see. It's also easy for me to say let's see how "bugs" get worked out over the next few months, but I know I would be pretty unhappy if we were sailing there soon. Telling people to just stay on the ship is silly - they paid a very high premium for a first-class experience on a secluded beach, not another sea day on a hot ship that's not moving or fully staffed.

The flies are unacceptable, gross, and far below what I would expect from DCL. I agree with others that there is almost no chance they were unaware of them until the first cruise. I hold out hope they will come up with a solution. But they shouldn't be serving food under the current conditions.

The chairs behind the dunes are 100% ridiculous. Who goes to the beach to sit in a hot sand pit away from the water? Whatever environmental restrictions they are facing, this was not an acceptable solution. I don't know for sure what the better solution is, but Disney has the resources to treat its customers to something better than a hot sand pit, where you can't even see the water!

I would personally be ok with the pier and longish tram ride, if the other stuff is worked out, but do think some major improvements could be made there too. I am really not looking for much from DCL, since I like the natural beach experience with just a few modern conveniences, like Castaway has. But DCL doesn't seem to be meeting the bare minimum expectations at opening. I hope things improve quickly for all of you who thought the new island would at least offer sanitary lunch, and a lounge chair and umbrella by the ocean.

I also hope people finally start speaking with their wallets so that Disney doesn't continue to get the message that they can charge a premium without offering a premium product.

 

[Ronneeaght]

This is not what the crew have been told, at least on my ship

Mags are you on a Magic class? I could see them allowing anyone on the smaller Magic class crowd and restricting it more for the larger ships, but it does make it confusing for what the rules will be for those of us yet to go.

 

[DMMarla07860]

The pier is wide enough for golf carts to go each way plus walkers. It takes around 5 minutes even a bit less to get from the ship to island.
While there is not a dedicated space for tweens and teens there will be activities for them.
I’ve said before they are working on how to deal with flies as this was not quite expected.
Also looking at the chairs and the easiest way to deal with this

Thanksfor taking time to answer or respond to all this I personally talked to Drew and Matt and both said good things though he both work for DCL in some form so would be awkward if they said it sucked lol

 

[Mags2002]

Thanksfor taking time to answer or respond to all this I personally talked to Drew and Matt and both said good things though he both work for DCL in some form so would be awkward if they said it sucked lol

It is not perfect. Crew and Guests all agree on that, but it doesn’t suck!!!

 

[WB1971]

The apparent small size and small amount of beach chairs at serenity bay seems like a major miss. Downsizing of adult areas is in line with 2020s DCL though. Serious question, do they not want adults (without kids) anymore? Decisions make no sense otherwise. Island looks nice and will look even better when the plants grow in though, aside from the apparent major downgrade of serenity.

 

[lilmc]

I don’t see that anyone has mentioned the WiFi. That’s always been a negative for me with CC in that I can’t ever text my family when we get separated. Is there better WiFi on LC?

 

[auntlynne]

I am at about the same level of excitement, but I was never very excited by the initial plans anyway. We are doing the double dip at Castaway along with Nassau and Lookout in Nov. I am most excited about being on the Fantasy and stopping at Castaway twice. Everything else is just a bonus. We plan on staying on the ship at Nassau since we have been there twice. We have been to Atlantis and Blue Lagoon. Enjoy both of them but HATE having to return to the ship through the market or whatever it is.

Lookout looks like a nice beach that we will enjoy. We are all in decent shape so the pier is fine. DD7 will most likely be a bit whiny on the way back after a long day so we will make sure we have water for her. My main concern is the flies on the food. It would be one thing if they were just around but to see them all on the food is just gross. I do hope Disney will solve this problem soon. I doubt they are happy about people posting their brand new island pictures covered in flies.

Have you been through the new port area at Nassau? It looks modern, but does it still have aggressive sellers? I would be willing to give it a try. The large video screen with sea life looks fun.

 

[kdonnel]

You're required to take that tram?

For now.

The signs along the tram way road show bikes and people and illustrate where people and bikes should be on the road in relation to the tram.

Unless they have changed their mind they expect to allow walking at some point.

 

[kdonnel]

A 5 minite walk if you're a very fit, young 20 something. Quite longer for the younger and older crowds, especially at the end of a long, hot beach day.

Just spoke with an officer and the golf carts are NOT available for everyone. Only those with mobility issues.

The wait for the tram to the beach was a crowded, long 10-15 minute wait in the direct sun too. Same for coming back to the ship.

Sounds like the experience between the Magic and Fantasy is very different.

With the preview cruise there was never a wait for the trams that I saw. And that was with a good portion of the ship all getting off at the same time.

They loaded two trams at a time and as soon as they pulled away two more trams pulled up. It was very efficient.

The capacity difference is one factor. I wonder if another was the lack of kids on the preview cruise? There were only a hundred or so kids on the preview cruise. It might take longer to get them loaded and situated?

 

[Malestrom Troll]

I think people are making a mistake of comparing Lookout Cay to Castaway Cay. The better comparison would be the movie Cast Away.