Castaway Cay Help

[MandNCC]

Hello!
This is our second cruise but our first with kids. Our 3 year old is not supposed to get freshwater in his ears (tubes) and doesn’t tolerate ear plugs. Can someone let me know what “dry” activities there are to do? I’ll admit last time we went to Castaway we just did the adult beach.
Thanks!

 

[DietCokeMommy]

My son had tubes last spring and the doctor said not to worry about water. I’d just play at the beach and not let him put his head under.

 

[Mommb]

The kids’ club area is not in the ocean, so it will be safe. There is a sandy area with a “whale” skeleton that kids can dig. There may be times that families can play together in that area — we did that many years ago, before the island was expanded for the new ships.

There are characters to meet and musical performances.
there is water play area away from the ocean. It has sprinklers and such, so you may want to check with your son’s doctor whether it would be OK for him.

 

[lklgoodman]

My son had tubes last spring and the doctor said not to worry about water. I’d just play at the beach and not let him put his head under.

Same when we went with my dd and she had tubes in her ears.

 

[Weedy]

Bike riding is fun. There is a tower in the far side of the island. It has great views. They have bikes with kid seats on the back and small bikes with training wheels. Although it would be a long ride on one of the small bikes.

 

[pezgirlroy]

There is a splash pad area. There is always just the sand. My daughter had tubes. The biggest issue is just not going underwater. So probably water from the splash pad would be fine. They also make these things that are basically like a headband that goes over the ears instead of plugs.

 

[Quellman]

The kids’ club area is not in the ocean, so it will be safe. There is a sandy area with a “whale” skeleton that kids can dig. There may be times that families can play together in that area — we did that many years ago, before the island was expanded for the new ships.

There are characters to meet and musical performances.
there is water play area away from the ocean. It has sprinklers and such, so you may want to check with your son’s doctor whether it would be OK for him.

But there is water there, just not like pools and such. But they make castles, i turns very slimy in the sand, and they have a water zone there as well. Just saying so OP knows that it is not 100% a dry space.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

Just spent two days at CC last week. And to clarify, your post says freshwater. Do you mean ANY water? Sorry, I have a little one but have thus far been fortunate to not have to deal with ear infections yet so I'm not knowledgeable.

The splash pad is freshwater, the ocean is salt water, of course.

Bike riding is fun and dry. The kids club seemed dry, though I only looked in from the outside (mine is under 3 years old). Playing in the sand can be relatively dry. Lunch is dry. There are character dance parties and character meets on the island as well.

 

[Chemist]

My kid had 3 sets of tubes for SEVEN years total. Two different ENTs.
First ENT said no beach water in ears. (We also ended up switching after 9 months, completely unrelated to recommendations.)
Second ENTs only thing was no diving and no going more than 5 feet under water.
We spent enormous amounts of time at the beach with his ears full of cruddy water.

(He had tubes from 4-11.)

We ended up ignoring the no diving thing, also.
Not saying I recommend ignoring the ENT. Just that life interferes.

Have you tried custom ear plugs?
We tried them with first set of tubes. Honestly, they were a fail for us, but the people who recommended them were fans.
We got the plugs at the audiologist, he got to pick the colors and everything.
And "ear bandit" (see Amazon) helped keep them in.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Neither of my kids had these, so I don't know much about them, but I feel your pain. No one wants to see their little ones miss out on stuff, not to mention having to go through the procedures with them. How do you wash his hair? Will he be able to get water in at some point? He doesn't have to live like that forever, does he? That would be so hard.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Neither of my kids had these, so I don't know much about them, but I feel your pain. No one wants to see their little ones miss out on stuff, not to mention having to go through the procedures with them. How do you wash his hair? Will he be able to get water in at some point? He doesn't have to live like that forever, does he? That would be so hard.

If tubes do not fall out on their own they have to be removed after a certain amount of time (I think 3 years).

 

[MandNCC]

Thanks everyone! He can be in chlorinated water and have showers (but isn’t supposed to have baths for fear of dirty water getting in). We are from the Midwest and don’t do the lake thing so we haven’t had to worry about it before now. I’ll probably just let him splash around a bit, he isn’t a huge fan of getting his face wet in swim lessons yet anyway and the ear bandit did not go well . I’m glad to hear there are other things to see and do to keep him entertained.