Castaway Cay Challenge NOT being held for Princess 2016

[princessluna14]

I just got this email back from runDisney regarding my inquiry about whether the Castaway Cay Challenge would be held after the Princess half weekend next year and thought I would pass it on. Super bummed.

"Good afternoon Chelsea!

Unfortunately the Castaway Cay Challenge will only be held following the
events of the 2016 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. We do apologize
for any inconvenience and disappointment this may cause. Any further
questions or requests please call us at 407-939-4786, or visit the
runDisney website! Thank you and, have a Magical day!

runDisney"

 

[bumbershoot]

Isn't that interesting?

Though...I wouldn't necessarily believe it. I wonder how the same info request for the January events would have been answered before it become official?

If it IS true, though, it confuses me, since what I read of the Princess Challenge was FAR better than what I experienced in January.

 

[Ariel484]

That's interesting. It didn't seem to sell as well for Princess this year, so maybe that's why.

 

[princessluna14]

Isn't that interesting?

Though...I wouldn't necessarily believe it. I wonder how the same info request for the January events would have been answered before it become official?

If it IS true, though, it confuses me, since what I read of the Princess Challenge was FAR better than what I experienced in January.

Do you happen to remember when they officially announced it for Marathon weekend?

 

[bumbershoot]

Do you happen to remember when they officially announced it for Marathon weekend?

According to the huge CC5K thread on the DCL forum, the info about the 2016 January Castaway Challenge went up on the website April 25. Normal registration for January started April 28th, so that wasn't very long before!

 

[princessluna14]

According to the huge CC5K thread on the DCL forum, the info about the 2016 January Castaway Challenge went up on the website April 25. Normal registration for January started April 28th, so that wasn't very long before!

Hmmm. Well, maybe there is still hope. I better keep saving my pennies.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you have extra pennies that could be taken up with a deposit, it might be a good idea to estimate which cruise would be involved and get a room. The stateroom *now* would be MUCH cheaper than once they announce, IF they announce. And if the info given is correct and there is no Challenge cruise, it's easily cancelled. (do NOT book concierge! that's NOT refundable!)

I would be hard pressed to make a bet either way...I'm probabyl 50/50 on whether they will have it or not (though I went on the record saying that I doubted they would have another in January and we see how that panned out)...but if you plan for it there's no harm done either way (and you've likely saved a few bucks if there IS a Challenge). In case you didn't see it, there was a day or two of normal prices after they announced the Star Wars cruises, and then rooms started getting booked and the available rooms shot up in price. You don't want to accidentally miss that sweet spot.

Anyway, just an idea.

 

[princessluna14]

If you have extra pennies that could be taken up with a deposit, it might be a good idea to estimate which cruise would be involved and get a room. The stateroom *now* would be MUCH cheaper than once they announce, IF they announce. And if the info given is correct and there is no Challenge cruise, it's easily cancelled. (do NOT book concierge! that's NOT refundable!)

I would be hard pressed to make a bet either way...I'm probabyl 50/50 on whether they will have it or not (though I went on the record saying that I doubted they would have another in January and we see how that panned out)...but if you plan for it there's no harm done either way (and you've likely saved a few bucks if there IS a Challenge). In case you didn't see it, there was a day or two of normal prices after they announced the Star Wars cruises, and then rooms started getting booked and the available rooms shot up in price. You don't want to accidentally miss that sweet spot.

Anyway, just an idea.

That's what I was thinking of doing when I thought to email runDisney and see if the challenge would be held, but now I don't know what to do. Do you know what the policy is regarding cancelling reservations or know where I could find that info? I looked all over the DCL website but couldn't find anything. Do you get your full amount back if you cancel?

 

[bumbershoot]

As long as you don't book concierge, and you cancel before full payment is due, you get the deposit back. Since you would, I assume, cancel shortly after process registration if they didn't announce the challenge, you would be nowhere near that date. The trick of course is guessing the cruise.

Of course you should call dcl and make sure of the policies directly from them.

Now, just in case you end up liking the idea of a cruise, I'll state that it was very nice to relax on the sea after the marathon weekend this year. And they hold the free island (not quite a full) 5K whenever a ship docks, and you get the CUTE new-since-the-January-challenge rubber medals for that casual 5K. (Just not the big Challenge metal medal)

They got the Challenge idea from people taking post-race cruises and doing the island 5K anyway, so it's a nice idea even if you aren't paying extra and getting another shirt and medal.


Cancellation policies are on this page: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/terms-and-conditions/?country=us

They don't spell it out like we'd like, but if you cancel before all of those other time periods come into play, you get the deposit back (except, like I've mentioned, for concierge).


And I also wanted to add that the reason I don't really believe them is because they keep things quiet until THEY announce them. They had said nothing about January 2016 until it popped up on the rundisney page. They will tell people, in writing, that there is no DVC early signup period for a given race, and then suddenly the info will pop up on DVC (actually, nowadays DVC has a page that they keep up, and update with links to register, so hopefully rundisney and DVC aren't answering like that anymore LOL). Unless they leak it or announce officially, they'll deny deny deny. Sometimes their denials are real; sometimes not.

 

[princessluna14]

As long as you don't book concierge, and you cancel before full payment is due, you get the deposit back. Since you would, I assume, cancel shortly after process registration if they didn't announce the challenge, you would be nowhere near that date. The trick of course is guessing the cruise.

Of course you should call dcl and make sure of the policies directly from them.

Now, just in case you end up liking the idea of a cruise, I'll state that it was very nice to relax on the sea after the marathon weekend this year. And they hold the free island (not quite a full) 5K whenever a ship docks, and you get the CUTE new-since-the-January-challenge rubber medals for that casual 5K. (Just not the big Challenge metal medal)

They got the Challenge idea from people taking post-race cruises and doing the island 5K anyway, so it's a nice idea even if you aren't paying extra and getting another shirt and medal.


Cancellation policies are on this page: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/terms-and-conditions/?country=us

They don't spell it out like we'd like, but if you cancel before all of those other time periods come into play, you get the deposit back (except, like I've mentioned, for concierge).


And I also wanted to add that the reason I don't really believe them is because they keep things quiet until THEY announce them. They had said nothing about January 2016 until it popped up on the rundisney page. They will tell people, in writing, that there is no DVC early signup period for a given race, and then suddenly the info will pop up on DVC (actually, nowadays DVC has a page that they keep up, and update with links to register, so hopefully rundisney and DVC aren't answering like that anymore LOL). Unless they leak it or announce officially, they'll deny deny deny. Sometimes their denials are real; sometimes not.

Thank you so much for all of your help! I have an email in to DCL to confirm that we would get a full refund if we canceled prior to 75 before the cruise, so I'm going to talk to hubby tonight about putting a deposit down. He says it's making him nervous but if they confirm full refund, we might as well do it!

 

[princessluna14]

Deposit has been made!! Even if they don't do the Castaway Challenge, I think we will still stick with this sailing... I'm so excited!

 

[poohs4me]

Just saw this AFTER I sent an email to RunDisney. I hope it isn't true. I already have the cruise booked and really wanted that medal If I get a response I will let you know

 

[princessluna14]

Just saw this AFTER I sent an email to RunDisney. I hope it isn't true. I already have the cruise booked and really wanted that medal If I get a response I will let you know

They'll probably tell you the same thing too, but I'm interested to see what they say!

 

[poohs4me]

If they really do that I wish they would have told us when they announced the January one. I assumed it would be like last year and now its too late to register for any of the January races. My fault but I can still be disappointed.

 

[poohs4me]

Do you remember how long it took for them to get back to you? I know it says like 4-6 days

 

[princessluna14]

Do you remember how long it took for them to get back to you? I know it says like 4-6 days

I think it was maybe two days. It wasn't very long. I wouldn't be shocked if they announced it right before regular registration opens up on July 14th.

 

[Ariel484]

I think it was maybe two days. It wasn't very long. I wouldn't be shocked if they announced it right before regular registration opens up on July 14th.

Same here. Did they even announce it for Marathon Weekend in January? I feel like they didn't - it just showed up on the registration page.

 

[poohs4me]

So you both still seem hopeful!!! Maybe if enough of us ask they will decide to offer it.

 

[Ariel484]

Just my opinion, but I really think it could go either way. From what I heard, it seemed like sort of a pain for them to put it on last year (having a second 5K in addition to the free one and getting to Castaway Cay earlier than normal), and it didn't sell out for Princess. It sold out the first day for this year's CC5K Challenge that tied in to the January races, but the Challenge that ties into next year's January races is still sitting at 50% full. I just wonder if they'll get to a point where they'll decide it's not worth it to have the challenge any more because it's not selling out.

 

[princessluna14]

Just my opinion, but I really think it could go either way. From what I heard, it seemed like sort of a pain for them to put it on last year (having a second 5K in addition to the free one and getting to Castaway Cay earlier than normal), and it didn't sell out for Princess. It sold out the first day for this year's CC5K Challenge that tied in to the January races, but the Challenge that ties into next year's January races is still sitting at 50% full. I just wonder if they'll get to a point where they'll decide it's not worth it to have the challenge any more because it's not selling out.

I just hope they get to that point AFTER next year's Princess weekend.