Castaway Cay Days on Double Dip

[astronautmom]

Next month we will be on our second Disney cruise. It's the same ship and almost the same itinerary and with one notable exception: two days at Castaway Cay! I found the Dis invaluable planning for our last cruise and on this trip, our only unknown is the double dip situation. So does anyone have any links to navigators or good trip reports that were double dips?

I know the link with all the uploaded navigators, but short of clicking on each link, I don't know which (if any) were double dips.

I'm specifically interested in how the activities vary on the two CC days- is there something that's only offered one of the days? (Besides the 5K, which i know is typically on the second day.) And is there more to do on the ship during the day than what they keep open on a typical Castaway Cay day? My kids would prefer their kid-time to be in the Club/Lab over scuttles cove and we definitely want some Serenity Bay time.

I'm trying to plan ideal times for mixology and princess gathering and wondering if there will be more than one opportunity to meet the Disney Jr. characters. Last cruise we had no time to watch a movie and this time we'd like to catch Alexander..Day, but not at the expense of something we can't do anywhere else.

TIA

 

[sennister]

We can let you know. We are on the Oct 23rd Double Dip on the Dream.

From my understanding the 5K is on the first day not the second. We did the two day rental of snorkel gear, floats and bikes. Not sure what else there is for other special activities on CC other than the 5K that they would only do one day but not the other.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

The Wonder is on a double dip right now. You may want to post something on the cruise meet thread asking for navigators. It the 10/6/14 sailing. We were supposed to be on it but had to cxl

 

[lbgraves]

There wasn't anything special planned on the second day of our DD. The only difference we found from other cruises we have been on that stopped at CC was that very few people were ready to get off the ship when it cleared. We are used to crowds filling the stairwells and lobbies. The kids had the family beach to themselves both mornings. There really weren't many people on the beach until after 11.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We just did 2 DDs b2b but I don't pay attention to activities. I didn't see or hear much happening on any of the 4 days but I wasn't looking either. I wish I could be more help.

 

[Mousemom]

We just got back for the Wonder DD. It was great to have 2 days at Castaway but there was not a lot of difference in the activities offered. The first day we were not able to get off the ship until, it seems, around 11:45. The second we were docked and cleared by around 8:45. The one thing that we did was reserve the snorkel, bikes, and tubes for two days. It was a special they had if you booked on line. It cost $50.00 per person for the two days. We used the bikes and tubes both days and snorkeled on the second day too. The weather was sunny and warm both days. We have been on the Dream before and noticed the difference in the amount of people on the beach. We went to Serenity Bay and had no problems getting chairs with umbrella. I also have to say that we loved the stop in Key West. We used the day at Nassau as a day at sea and never even got off the ship. We also loved the Halloween on the High Seas. There is many extra things going on around this. Make sure you go to the pumpkin tree the night they tell stories. The tree does something very special. Enjoy! I loved this curise.

 

[tweis]

We did not notice any real differences between the CC days on our DD. I do not recall there being any special activities on the ship or on CC.

 

[fairfax]

We just did a Wonder double dip. Both days had similar activities. We docked early both times and were off the ship before 9 am. However the first day there was a thunderstorm and they cleared the beach. They wouldn't let us go back to the ship and wouldn't let people off the ship until the storm cleared, which may be why PP thought we docked late the first day. I love having 2 days on the beach!

 

[margaretbauer]

We are also going to be on the 10/23 Dream sailing. This will be our 5th Disney cruise but 1st time doing Castaway Cay 2x. I've seen posts from people who did 2 days at CC but haven't heard anyone mention being at CC 2 consecutive days. Is the schedule the same? Do we have to be back on board at 4:45 and set sail, only to return the next morning or do we stay docked at CC overnight? I'd love it if we were able to spend the afternoon/evening on the beach! Also, any chance of getting on a waiting list for a cabana? The darn things are sold out on every cruise we book.

 

[tink2007]

Next month we will be on our second Disney cruise. It's the same ship and almost the same itinerary and with one notable exception: two days at Castaway Cay! I found the Dis invaluable planning for our last cruise and on this trip, our only unknown is the double dip situation. So does anyone have any links to navigators or good trip reports that were double dips?

I know the link with all the uploaded navigators, but short of clicking on each link, I don't know which (if any) were double dips.

I'm specifically interested in how the activities vary on the two CC days- is there something that's only offered one of the days? (Besides the 5K, which i know is typically on the second day.) And is there more to do on the ship during the day than what they keep open on a typical Castaway Cay day? My kids would prefer their kid-time to be in the Club/Lab over scuttles cove and we definitely want some Serenity Bay time.

I'm trying to plan ideal times for mixology and princess gathering and wondering if there will be more than one opportunity to meet the Disney Jr. characters. Last cruise we had no time to watch a movie and this time we'd like to catch Alexander..Day, but not at the expense of something we can't do anywhere else.

TIA

We just got off a double dip on the dream. The 5k was on our first stop.

 

[andrencau]

We can let you know. We are on the Oct 23rd Double Dip on the Dream. From my understanding the 5K is on the first day not the second. We did the two day rental of snorkel gear, floats and bikes. Not sure what else there is for other special activities on CC other than the 5K that they would only do one day but not the other.

Wonder Double Dip 9/26, 5k was second day. First CC Day was 12:30-5:30.

 

[sennister]

We are also going to be on the 10/23 Dream sailing. This will be our 5th Disney cruise but 1st time doing Castaway Cay 2x. I've seen posts from people who did 2 days at CC but haven't heard anyone mention being at CC 2 consecutive days. Is the schedule the same? Do we have to be back on board at 4:45 and set sail, only to return the next morning or do we stay docked at CC overnight? I'd love it if we were able to spend the afternoon/evening on the beach! Also, any chance of getting on a waiting list for a cabana? The darn things are sold out on every cruise we book.

My understanding is the schedule is the same. Back on board at 4:45 then the ship leaves the port. Not sure why other than it appears that the evening of that first day at CC will be Pirate night so we will be at sea for the fireworks and such. However it will suck if come the next morning if weather should be such that we can't dock.

Not sure on the cabana. They are sold out as you mentioned, I guess check when you are on the ship and see if someone canceled.

 

[tink2007]

We just got off a double dip on the dream. The 5k was on our first stop.

Sorry. We were on the Wonder not the Dream October 1 - 6th.
Duh. I'm having Mickey withdraws.

 

[TBMommy]

We just got back from double dip on the Wonder. I will have to look more at my Navigators if I still have them, my hubby likes to throw that stuff out. But there were pretty much the same activities both days. I think they did the 5k both days but cannot be sure. On the Wonder, Oceaneer's Lab and Oceaneer's Club are separate. The days at CC, they had one or the other closed completely and the other was only open house and at some point only open to preschoolers ages 3-5, which was not clearly marked on the Navigator. I am sure this is due to a lot of the staff being at Scuttler's Cove.

B2B CC days, the ship is required to leave the island overnight and re-dock in the morning.

 

[marciemouse]

We were on the 9/26 Double Dip, and the only really noticeable difference to us was that the family beach was PACKED on that first half day. I think everyone got off the ship as soon as they could! The next day was much less crowded.

 

[SillyInventor]

Back on board at 4:45 then the ship leaves the port. Not sure why other than it appears that the evening of that first day at CC will be Pirate night so we will be at sea for the fireworks and such. However it will suck if come the next morning if weather should be such that we can't dock.

When in Port (even at CC) the shops must stay closed. Therefore the Ship must leave port for the onboard shops to open.

 

[sennister]

When in Port (even at CC) the shops must stay closed. Therefore the Ship must leave port for the onboard shops to open.

I guess that makes sense. Disney doesn't own Castaway Cay. They have something like a 99 year lease from The Bahamas which is why there is a post office. Even if they did "Own" the island it probably wouldn't change anything. So technically it is not different than being in port at any other island that makes up the Bahamas except there isn't a customs gate to pass through. When you say the shops have to stay closed, which shops are those? Just gift shops I would imagine. I mean the bars and coffee shop remains open right? If it is just the gift shops I wonder how much money they make in sales vs what it costs to have the ship pull away from the dock to drive in circles. I know when docked they will normally shut down one engine as they can power everything on the ship off that single engine however when they are out doing doughnuts in the water they will most likely have both running (I think there are only 2) for safety and propulsion reasons. So in theory it will be twice as expensive to sin around in the ocean compared to sitting. I can't imagine gift shop sales are that high to compensate the cost. Basically we are a captive audience and if we wanted something from the gift shop, we will have plenty of time to buy it before or after the night we were sitting at the pier. It is possible that there is some other reason. Maybe something like taxes or fees charged based on how long the ship is sitting in one place.