Castaway Cay Question

[mjejj]

I am thinking of buying a baby cabana (one of those pop up tent things) for my 13 month old DS to lounge in on the beach at Castaway Cay. My question is: Are these things allowed? It is small, only 34 inches high but I don't know how close everyone is on the beach. I don't want to interfere with others view of the ocean.

Would one of these even be necessary? Are there any sandy, beachy areas that have some shade? Do other people bring these types of things or is there not enough room? I don't want to make a faux pas on our first Disney cruise (yipee!!). Thanks in advance for your opinions.

 

[kcashner]

First, relax. It's Disney. There are relatively few rules. THere is suggested dress code, suggested tipping, etc. It truly is suggested, not required.

You would be welcome to bring any baby equipment you'd like. THere are some trees on CC, but you can't be sure that you'd be able to settle in near one. The only way you can be sure to have a piece of equipment is to bring it yourself. There are plenty of places that you can situate yourself a little back from the shoreline.

Since there is a family beach, a teen beach, and an adults only beach on CC, everyone in the family area would be a family type person....thus, they all understand the kid issues.

Biggest hint for your trip--remember to relax and enjoy yourself. I love cruising--Mom can really be "off duty" for a time.

 

[clten]

If you are just looking for a patch of shade, save yourself the trouble of bringing something else along. Disney has umbrellas all over the beach.

But if you want to bring the cabana, there would be space for it. Disney lines up lounge chairs all along the beach and under the umbrellas. Just pick your spot and pile the loungers out of your way and set up camp.

It is a relatively flat beach so if you set up, you would be blocking the people directly behind you from viewing the water. I would just keep that in mind when picking my spot. But once you are set up, if someone sits behind you I wouldn't worry about it. If you sat up in the lounger you would probably block their view too. It's a fairly big beach and people are coming and going all the time.

 

[virginiamama]

Wow - my 15 month old wouldn't think of lounging! When he was 7 months old we took him on our first Disney cruise. We took him out on the beach in our regular stroller (not the Cadillac type - it is a LiteRider - my favorite) anyway - it has a shade on the top of it and that was enough shade to get us from the ship to the beach and then there were plenty of shady spots on the beach. Just MHO but I'd hate to have to lug that thing all the way from home. You can always drag a lounge chair over near a shady spot. Like kcashner said, there are few rules. I'd try to get off the ship early so that you can stake out a spot. We went up and ate a quick breakfast and then went directly to the beach. Also - I packed my beach stuff up the night before so that was one less thing to do in the morning. Didn't want to miss a minute on CC! We were actually on the last tram back from the adult beach that evening (SIL and BIL watched the boys for a little while for us). OH - one other suggestion - if you can possibly book Flounder's Reef for CC morning you would have some time on CC without watching the baby. Then it's not that big of a deal to go back onboard and pick him up. They have different hours at FR each day but I'm pretty sure it's morning hours on CC day normally. If you can get some time to check out the adult beach - definitely take a look. The water was much clearer and it was so nice and quiet for the few minutes that we were there. Luckily I get a double-dip of CC on my next trip. Have fun with your family!!!

 

[mjejj]

Thanks for your help. I'm still thinking about it, but I had forgotten about having to lug it on the plane and then to the ship and then to the beach!! I will have other family members to help watch after the little one, so I might just take my chances finding an umbrella or shade. I definately plan to check out the adult beach for some quiet time. Thanks again for your help.

 

[westjones]

I have to have shade! And so far, I have never had trouble finding a lounge chair with an umbrella at CC (been on 6 cruises). I will say that we do usually go early (when they let you off). It may be harder later on, but we did go biking first once and still found shade, but at the far end of the beach where we returned the bikes.

Just plan to get off when they start letting people leave the ship and you won't have problems getting shade.

DJ