Castaway Cay floats and tube rental

[kpd6901]

Hi all, first timer. Embark on the Dream on Friday next week. We have booked the Float and tube rentals. Where/when/how do we pick them up and return them when finished?
Thanks!

 

[lklgoodman]

Your cabin host will give you a map of CC the night before you go there. It will show you where to get them. You can pick them up whenever you want. You will have a ticket in your cabin that shows you are renting them. Take this with you to CC. If you forget it, they may be able to look it up on their computer, but I'm not sure if they can or not. We usually get a tube when we first get to CC. You can swap them out anytime, so if you get tired of one just take it back and get a different one. My dd likes the tube, so we just keep it. We take it back to the rental hut on our way back to the ship. A lot of people will leave them on the beach though and then other people will use them. But the cms then have to gather the ones that people leave behind. When we go to lunch we leave it on our beach chair. No one has ever taken it from our chair.

 

[kpd6901]

Your cabin host will give you a map of CC the night before you go there. It will show you where to get them. You can pick them up whenever you want. You will have a ticket in your cabin that shows you are renting them. Take this with you to CC. If you forget it, they may be able to look it up on their computer, but I'm not sure if they can or not. We usually get a tube when we first get to CC. You can swap them out anytime, so if you get tired of one just take it back and get a different one. My dd likes the tube, so we just keep it. We take it back to the rental hut on our way back to the ship. A lot of people will leave them on the beach though and then other people will use them. But the cms then have to gather the ones that people leave behind. When we go to lunch we leave it on our beach chair. No one has ever taken it from our chair.

Thank you. Just for clarification, is it just one item at a time? 3 kids. Or can we take out 2 or 3 at a time and then swap out as we go?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you. Just for clarification, is it just one item at a time? 3 kids. Or can we take out 2 or 3 at a time and then swap out as we go?

If you rented 3 packages, you can pick up 3 things at a time.

 

[lklgoodman]

If you just made a reservation for one person, then you only get one item. If you want to take 2 or 3 then you would need to reserve 2 or 3. At least that's how I think it works. You don't have to reserve them ahead of time. So keep your reservation and when you go to get it, ask if you can get more than one. If they only let you get one, you can see how it works with 3 kids and if you decide later to get another you just go to the hut and pay for another one. If you have little kids,(4 yrs or younger) you might be able to get 2 at a time on them.

 

[MAmama78]

I rented two floats for 2 kids and they wanted to fight over one and ignored the other!

 

[leannak]

Do they ever/often run out of floats? I'm wondering if we need to reserve ahead of time. I'd love to make sure we're able to get them, and avoid a line if there is one.. .but what if it rains or is too windy to dock, etc. (that happens, right?) so then you are out the money?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do they ever/often run out of floats? I'm wondering if we need to reserve ahead of time. I'd love to make sure we're able to get them, and avoid a line if there is one.. .but what if it rains or is too windy to dock, etc. (that happens, right?) so then you are out the money?

The port call is cancelled (for whatever reason), you won't be charged for the float rental. If it rains, depending if DCL still docks, but the float rentals doesn't open, you won't be charged. If DCL still docks, and the float rentals are open, you'll be charged.

 

[onesam319]

if it rains or is too windy to dock, etc. (that happens, right?) so then you are out the money?

We had a glass bottom reef viewing excursion at Grand Cayman cancelled because of bad conditions. We even had to take tenders to the island. We weren't charged for that excursion. I would assume rentals at CC are like excursions. If you don't dock, everything you had reserved there won't be charged.

I was wondering about where you can use the floats. I have snorkeled twice before, but it is very challenging for me, as I can't swim and have a mild heart condition. I just had to learn to trust my floatation vest and rest more often. My wife, however hasn't been able to join me, because she just can't seem to relax enough. Are there any places you can use the floats that have things underwater to see like are in the snorkeling bay?

 

[Starwind]

We had a glass bottom reef viewing excursion at Grand Cayman cancelled because of bad conditions. We even had to take tenders to the island. We weren't charged for that excursion. I would assume rentals at CC are like excursions. If you don't dock, everything you had reserved there won't be charged.

I was wondering about where you can use the floats. I have snorkeled twice before, but it is very challenging for me, as I can't swim and have a mild heart condition. I just had to learn to trust my floatation vest and rest more often. My wife, however hasn't been able to join me, because she just can't seem to relax enough. Are there any places you can use the floats that have things underwater to see like are in the snorkeling bay?

I will often lay sideways across the float off the adult beach with my mask and snorkel on (I bring my own) and face in the water and watch the underwater life go by. I wear one of the DCL snorkeling vests just in case and to keep the CMs happy since I have the mask/snorkel on. There is a surprising amount of underwater life to see -- fish, starfish, sometimes a ray, various plants, shells. Nothing "planted" though like the statues and objects of the family beach snorkeling area. But I find it relaxing and fun, and when I have done it the water is pretty much shallow enough that I can almost always stand up in it if needed, so easy to take a total pause. Sometimes I would go out to the sandbar and then back, other times just putter around fairly near the shore. The nice thing with laying across the float is you can lift you head up and look around in a way you can't when actually snorkeling and it is much more restful... you can totally rely on the float and just float... or you can kick a bit or use your arms to move yourself around. Just be mindful of your position relative to shore and the marked boundaries and others. Another way is to use it kind of like a flutter board and have your arms holding/resting on it while you have your face in the water with snorkel gear and kick to move - that takes more work but is easier to get you moving a distance -- again, wearing the snorkel vest!!

SW

 

[mmouse37]

They won't run out of floats, especially with reduced capacity. The colors may have changed (some are now purple) but there are always plenty of tubes and floats. I personally find the mats much easier to manuever than the tubes.



This is the rental area near the snorkel area but there is another one further down the beach closer to the other tram stop.

MJ

 

[PrincessShmoo]

They won't run out of floats, especially with reduced capacity. The colors may have changed (some are now purple) but there are always plenty of tubes and floats. I personally find the mats much easier to manuever than the tubes.

View attachment 623170

This is the rental area near the snorkel area but there is another one further down the beach closer to the other tram stop.

MJ

And here's another angle:

 

[lanejudy]

Do they ever/often run out of floats? I'm wondering if we need to reserve ahead of time.

Nope, as PPs said, they won’t run out. Absolutely no need to reserve in advance.

 

[mmouse37]

I will often lay sideways across the float off the adult beach with my mask and snorkel on (I bring my own) and face in the water and watch the underwater life go by. I wear one of the DCL snorkeling vests just in case and to keep the CMs happy since I have the mask/snorkel on. There is a surprising amount of underwater life to see -- fish, starfish, sometimes a ray, various plants, shells. Nothing "planted" though like the statues and objects of the family beach snorkeling area. But I find it relaxing and fun, and when I have done it the water is pretty much shallow enough that I can almost always stand up in it if needed, so easy to take a total pause. Sometimes I would go out to the sandbar and then back, other times just putter around fairly near the shore. The nice thing with laying across the float is you can lift you head up and look around in a way you can't when actually snorkeling and it is much more restful... you can totally rely on the float and just float... or you can kick a bit or use your arms to move yourself around. Just be mindful of your position relative to shore and the marked boundaries and others. Another way is to use it kind of like a flutter board and have your arms holding/resting on it while you have your face in the water with snorkel gear and kick to move - that takes more work but is easier to get you moving a distance -- again, wearing the snorkel vest!!

SW

There were quite a lot of fish on our September cruise at CC. They blended very well with the sand so a bit hard to see but we saw them all day in the shallow water of the family beach darting around. There was a big patch of seaweed pretty far out in the water and I did not want to swim over it but I should have laid over the mat and looked down....I bet there was more sea life there.







MJ