Castaway Cay

[Brent B]

I have read on some post (can not find them) that the Magic sometimes can not dock at CC do to winds. Does this happen often? and if so what happens?

 

[BeanoC]

Occasionaly, weather conditions make it impossible for the ships to dock at CC. I can't give you a number or percentage, but I do know many people who missed CC on their cruise, so it does happen.

When that is the case, you get another day at sea and usually some consession from Disney, such as free wine at dinner...


'Beano'

 

[luv2tvl]

2 of the 3 cruises I've been on so far have not been able to dock at Castaway Cay. The first was in Sept. 2001 and there was a tropical depression going through the area so it was just plain ugly out, and the 2nd time was in Feb of this year and it was REALLY windy.
I also cruised in December of 2001 and we had no problems at all with docking that day. It's just a gamble what the weather will be like.
We never got anything from DCL (like free wine) the times we didn't dock.

 

[Barb]

Knowing how great Castaway Cay is, I would be crushed if we didn't get there. NO amount of wine would be enough compensation for me. I had no idea that the possiblity of not getting there excisted!

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Disney publically states that their iteniary is subject to change, so if there is a freebie such as free wine, it is done out of the goodness of their heart.

It is rare that a ship can't make it in to Castaway Cay, but it DOES happen. Such is the nature of cruising.

Kathy

 

[disneyholic family]

either i read it here, or someone told me on the ship, but supposedly 5% of the cruises don't make it into CC (always due to weather).....
in other words 95% of the time, the ships are able to make it in to CC....

as for being crushed......i wouldn't be....CC was NOT the highlight of our cruise....it was definitely nice to be sure...
but the highlight of our cruise was the ship itself....
i would have been happy to just be on it for 3 days straight....no ports...no excursions.....just the ship and the water and the wonderful CMs....

 

[bethsg]

On our last NOV cruise, we were unable to DOck at CC. We tried two times, and the wind just blew us back out of the position to back through the markers. My children were very disappointed. We ended up with 3 days at sea. I have written 2 letters to Disney, only one of which was answered. The answer which was given to me, really didn't make sense. But basically they said, if the option is available, they will try to reschedule the CC day in the cruise itinerary, if they are unable to dock. Now this didn't make sense to me, as on 3 of their 4 cruise itineraries, the Castaway Cay day, is the last full day on the ship, making it impossible to reschedule. I suggested they make the Castaway Cay day the 1st stop on the cruise, so, if there were poor weather conditions, it could be rescheduled. I know the days in port aren't able to be changed, but I think they could work around it. The bottom line is, they don't expect to be unable to dock. There didn't seem to be an inplace alternate schedule for the activites of the ship. We waited for 2 different Navigators to be released to figure out what was going on. The pools were packed and people were very disappointed. The thing is.. when you sign that cruise contract, they could literally take the boat a couple of miles away from Port Cananveral and drive in circles for the duration of the cruise, and meet their contractual obligation to you. You need to understand that fact, as you will sign and agree to it, whether you undertstand it or not. For our family, CC was the highlight, as we had done the 4 day cruise previously. Not getting there, really changed the entire vacation. I am going on Disney Cruise again in May, but just dh and I. Our children aren't interested in it anymore, without CC. You really do have to mentally prepare yourself, as albiet a slim chance DCL also quoted me 5% chance, there will definitely be cruises which don't dock at CC.

 

[disneyholic family]

ok...i should have said, take my comments with a grain of salt...
we live near a beach and all of our short vacations throughout the year are at the beach (snorkeling and scuba diving in a coral reef reserve)...
so CC wasn't a big deal for us.....the ship was....
(although we did very much enjoy the CC bike ride)...

as for knowing that the ship can go anywhere....yes....i can't remember when it was, but there was one disney cruise that had to sail north because of impending storms.....the ship docked somewhere in north carolina i think....and then sailed back to port canaveral.....that was their cruise....so yes, you have to be prepared for that...hopefully it won't happen to you, but the point is, it can....

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by bethsg

I have written... letters to Disney... The answer which was given to me, really didn't make sense. But basically they said, if the option is available, they will try to reschedule the CC day in the cruise itinerary, if they are unable to dock. Now this didn't make sense to me, as on 3 of their 4 cruise itineraries, the Castaway Cay day, is the last full day on the ship, making it impossible to reschedule.

Actually, they have 5 itineraries if you consider the 4-day cruise alternates between an itinerary with a day at sea and an itinerary with a stop at Freeport. But I agree... that answer only makes sense with 1 of the 5 itineraries... the 4-day cruise with the day at sea. If they miss Castaway Cay on the first try, they can try again the next day.

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

Hey, that idea of changing the itinerary is great. They could do CC first (hence building time to reschedule if missed) then St. Thomas and St. Mart's LAST, so you're reentering the U.S. when coming back to Port Canaveral after the 2 days at sea, and just do the immigration check on the way off, then be done! Ha, I'm sure I'm missing some major details as to why this couldn't work ... but wouldn't it be nice to lose that early-morning-after-a-party immigration gig?

 

[DisneyKids]

Thinking about it from a DCL perspective, I wonder if they would want Castaway Cay to be early in the trip. They probably schedule it the way they do so you <b>end</b> on what they believe will be the highlight of everyone's trip. For those of us that have cruised and already know how wonderful it is, maybe it's not as big of an issue. Personally, I like the idea!