Castaway Cay Questions

[Imgoingplaces]

After a great WDW vacation, I decdied we have to go on a cruise!

I have poured over brochures and other information and I am down to the questions, so please be patient LOL.

1)What shoe excursions and activites are worth doing I have kids over 9 and under nine but we dont' all have to be together all the time. I'm just interested in doing some great activities.

2)When we go to Castaway Cay, I think I read that the kids can stay with their kids club group- what if my DH and I want to spend some of the time alone, and then we want to go get the kids out of the kids club-is that possilbe?

3) What type of food is available on Castaway Cay-I think I read about a beach picnic or something? What time does that take place?

4) Can we reserve things like the Castaway Cay Getaway package in advance like you can with other excursions.

5) and the most important-What are your best suggestions for getting the most out of your day at Castaway Cay?

Thanks so much!!!

 

[christinou]

1. We did not do any excursions on Castaway Cay, so I can't really help you with that, we just had fun exploring the island.

2. You can have the kids go to their club for a while and then get them back out, I believe, that the club on the island is opened between 9:30 and 3:00 p.m.

3. The food was very good, they had a stand with just fresh fruit, then a buffet that had cheeseburgers, lobster burger, ribs, potato salad, cookies, and soft serve ice cream.

4. You can reserve a package in advance for snorkeling gear, floats and bike rental, we brought our own snorkeling gear, and my husband just rented a bike for an hour to explore, he did not reserve in advance, just payed there.

5. To get the most out of the island just go there early, so that you have as much time as possible it is truly beautiful, our kids stayed with us, so we never went to the adult beach, but just walked everywhere else and relaxed, it truly is paradise......

 

[jwann]

1. Shore excursion options depend on which cruise you take. Since you didn't specify - I'm not sure how to answer this one. If you are talking about CC - be sure to snorkel on the snorkel trail!

2. Yes - kids can be checked in and out of the club at CC.

3. No beach picnic - they have 2 open-air, cafeteria style "restaurants". One at the family beach and one at the adult beach. They are open lunch hours and serve ribs, chicken, lobster burgers, etc.

4. yes

5. Be the first ones off the ship!! Early is they key here. You can get a hammock if you want, the beach is vacant, the snorkel trail is crystal clear!

Hope this helps!

 

[webray]

My best suggestion for castaway cay...don't plan one single thing...just relax on the beach and enjoy the day.

 

[Imgoingplaces]

So I guess the key is to get there early! That shouldn't be a problem.

I'm really looking forward to the snorkeling, and the floating and the relaxing!!

Is the snorkleing good there? Does it get crowded later in the day?

 

[buzz2400]

Snorkeling was alright. Not too many brightly colored fish. We got off as soon as they let us so that we could get a hammock. Never used it. We were in the water the whole time except to eat. Food was alright. One thing you might want to do, they have a little post office when you get off ship. You can send a post card to yourself as a keepsake. There are, I believe three different areas of beaches. We only went to the first one which was for everyone. They say there is a statue of mickey in the water but I could not find him because I couldn't wear my glasses when snorkeling. And don't plan anything for that day (except if you want to rent a flotation device) We rented one tube and we used it. They are clear so I was able to float around and look under water (wearing my glasses). You will love the place.

 

[SeaSpray]

Does anyone know what time the ship docks at Castaway Cay, and what is the earliest time you can go ashore?? Thanks

 

[goingbacksoon]

Small Tip: It can get windy for snorkling!

goingbacksoon

 

[pats89]

My suggestion is try not to plan so much. Enjoy the beach and explore the island. I did the nature walk and Kayak tour in the morning. I enjoyed it, though we did more walking than kayaking.
My problem was that by the time I met up with my family (3 young kids and my husband) it was almost 1:00. After lunch it started to rain, so I missed out on a beach day with my kids. It was our last day of the cruise, so I was a little bummed out.

Get off the ship early and enjoy Castaway - it's a beautiful island!
The water is a bit chilly in December and January months. So I wasn't up for snorkeling.

Good luck!

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

and don't forget, you need picture ID to get off the ship! My family was not happy to have to wait for me while I ran back to the room to my driver's license!

 

[disneyholic family]

i also had to run back to the room for the picture id.....a long run to deck 8....
we took it easy......went to sit down breakfast at tritons first before getting off the ship....
there were still chairs available...
since we live 10 minutes from the beach at home, lying on the beach and swimming in the ocean aren't exactly big deals for us..so we never used the chairs...
we went to pick up our pre-rented snorkel gear, snorkeled (really lousy snorkeling in my opinion) , got out of the water and washed off really well in the showers......had lunch.....then got our bicycles to explore the island.....we enjoyed that much more than the snorkeling...
my son went off to the teen beach and we headed for the adult beach with my daughter......she had her massage and then we all went back to the ship....

it was a nice few hours but i wouldn't say it was the highlight of our trip.....the ship was the highlight of our trip.....

 

[professorandmom]

Snorkeling quality is definately a personal oppinion and probably related to a person's other ocean opportunities:
my daughter (13) hated it
my sons (9) LOVED it and spent more than an hour on the course - the reason my daughter hated it - the fish were "too big" - you see, we are from Indiana and our beach experience is limited...

Just a reminder, if you book with AAA you get a discount on rentals only if you reserve on board- but other than the discount, you definately didn't need to reserve since there is a ton of equipment (floats too)

IMHO you don't need to be the first off the boat as long as you don't want a hammock - it was 9;30 and we got a great spot right by the wooden structure in the water (the "official board recommended location")

Barbara

Barbara

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

Another thing we would definitely do differently is spend time witht the kids on the beach first thing and bring them to the clubs later.

We, like a lot of people with children wanted to spend some time with our kids on the beach and we also wanted some quiet time to relax.

We dropped them off at the clubs right away in the morning and picked them up after lunch. None of us had a real great time after that!

By that time of day they were kind of crabby and they never wanted to leave the clubs during the entire cruise. We wished that we had spent time with them while they were fresh and then turned them over to the wonderful CMs later.

 

[disneyholic family]

one thing we did on CC that we didn't do on the ship: got our pictures taken with some of the characters....
we totally avoided the characters on the ship, mainly because we have a basic aversion to crowds.....(and me, to little kids)....
but when we got off on CC, it just happened...
the first few characters we passed had mile long lines (mickey and some others)...
but by the time we got to pluto there was NO ONE in sight...not a soul....so naturally we stepped right up to keep old pluto company.....the photographer took spectacular pictures with him..
and we also took the shots set up to get good views of the ship...those came out great too....