CC and clean up

[MarkRG]

Just to remind everyone, the hurricane passed directly over the island. Sofar there has been no news on the condition of the island, the next nearest, Abaco, was hit very hard.

The last hurricane that hit the island took it out of service for a few months. The big difference this time is when they replaced the ruined original dock, they built one that supposedly would withstande a cat 5. Until they get someone to fly in and have a look, noone will know.

If you're on the next few cruises, I would not get your hopes up at this point, sorry.

 

[JennsBabySky]

Originally posted by TinkerKat
I will start by echoing others, I pray for the safety of all Floridians.
A vacation can be replanned, family heirlooms and beautiful homes can not be replaced .

I cruise next Sunday the 12th.
So my question is, does DCL call guests to inform them of changes
or do they post it on the DCL web page?

If I had ressie's at Comfort Suites in Nassau is it safe to assume I should cancel them? They have a 48 hour cancellation policy.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,
We're also on the Sept 12th Wonder and have ressie's at the Comfort Suites. I was convinced that we would have to cancel them, but some of the reports from Nasseau make it sound like that island wasn't hit as bad as first believed. Also, on the website for the Atlantis they have a message that they are in the process of cleaning up, but that they had no major damage and that they are still open for business. So, as long as Ivan stays away, there is still hope we might make it to at least Nasseau. Of course, we need to find out the condition of the dock, etc, but I have a little hope today (but had none last night) I'll be waiting until closer to the 48 hour cut off to cancel, I'm sure we'll know by late this week.
See you on Sunday (hopefully),
Jennifer

 

[MarkRG]

Somehow this info all needs to be in one place.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

Originally posted by Viking
We were on the first cruise after Floyd in '99 and went to Key West instead of CC.
We're hoping right know that they'll be able to fix CC quickly, as we intend to be there on 10/08.

Nevertheless IMHO this is only a really minor problem we're facing: Not being able to visit one destination during our four-week-vacation. A real problem is what the people in Florida are facing now: Losing everything.
So instead of whining about not being able to cruise as planned, all of us should keep their fingers crossed, that Frances causes as little damage as possible - and especially that nobody is harmed

I completely agree. Everyone seems to be forgetting what is really important.

 

[Talking Hands]

It is too soon to speculate how long it will take to repair Castaway Cay. Frances, in contrast to Floyd, was an extremely slow moving storm and was over the island a long time. News reports from Abaco show knee deep flooding on that island so I would think that CC may also be flooded. All people can do is have patience and depend on DCL to provide a great substitute.
BTW when I say slow. We just spent 2 days in our home experiencing bands of this hurricane and we are still getting some effects. This storm was huge. NHC said it was the size of Texas. It was one scary storm and I'm in Hurricane Andrew territory.

 

[Poly Pal]

Even if the newer, post-Floyd dock has survived Frances, CC won't be ready to receive passengers. I would bet that there has been substantial damage to all of the structures on the island (Cookie's Barbecue, She Sells..., the picnic pavillions, the beach bars, etc). There is likely to have been damage to the sewer/sanitary facilities as well as the fresh water /desalinization plant due to flooding / inundation with seawater. Six months to 8 months of repair is my guess if this is the extent of the damage.

 

[traycie2201]

I'd be suprised if it took 6-8 months , most of the structures are prefab style i think so doesnt take long to knock them back up, it took a month after the last hurricane so i think 1 - 2 most ? here's hoping, anyway we won't really know until dcl update us.

 

[MarkRG]

Correct. The island was fully underwater from storm surge last time and it took about 2 months before the ships docked there again. That would be a good starting number and if the dock survived, it'll probably be less as they'll be able to bring the bigger equipment to the island immediately. I would guess a mimimum of a month to clean up and dredge the harbor.

 

[Poly Pal]

Sorry to disagree, but it will take at least several weeks to assess damage and clear the debris. (for example, there were still piles of debris and uncleared downed trees at Disney World 2 weeks after Charley).

If the Bahamas are anything like the U.S., it will take a month or two to get building permits in order. Plans will most likely need to be submitted and approved by the local government. It is likely that Disney has the architectural plans on file, so this will save some time. Of course if building codes have changed new plans will need to be developed and approved first by Disney and then by the Bahamian authorities. Politics may enter in to the rebuilding / reconstruction plan. Rumor had it that the residents of Abaco were not pleased that Disney did not use more local workers on Castaway Cay.

Because of widespread damage caused by Charley and Frances (and Ivan on-the-way), building materials will be in short supply and there will be lengthy waits to receive them. After Hurricane Andrew, there were waits of over 6 months for simple building materials like dimensional lumber and plywood. The cost of the materials will also increase as a result of demand surge.

If the property was insured (Disney may self-insure the property), then there will most likely be negotiations with the insurance carrier as to the amount of the claim and the repairs necessary.

The extensive landscaping for the most part was not native to Castaway Cay. In fact, it was imported from Florida from what I understand. I believe Disney has its own tree farm / nursery in Florida and hopefully it has not been damaged. In any event, just to replace landscaping will take weeks.

This is all speculation. Perhaps the damage is not as severe at CC as in other parts of the Bahamas.

 

[MarkRG]

Feel free to disagree.

Hurricane Floyd went over the island in possibly an even more severe pattern than Francis. That time it included building a new dock and that took an approximate total of 2 months before the first ship docked. A lot of the timeframe is going to depend on wether the new dock did hold up as expected.

Yes it did take about 6 months before the island was truly back to 'normal' as they opened the island to passnegers before finishing fixing up the landscaping/ buildings, etc. whatever was unusable was blocked off until they finished fixing it up.

 

[Poly Pal]

Sorry, our posts crossed in the ether. I was not disagreeing with you , MarkRG. I just think that if CC was inundated and ther is major structural damage, it will take longer than one month to recover as someone else posted.

Also, I forgot to add to my "list of things that need to be done before CC receives passengers list" that since food is served on CC, health authorities will also need to inspect repairs and give approval before CC is back to normal.

Let's hope this discussion is all for naught and that CC is relatively unscathed (and Ivan goes away!)

 

[MarkRG]

I'm the one who said it could be as quick as 1 month if all they have to do is dredge the harbor and remove fallen trees. That would be the most optimistic, best case scenario. A lot will depend on how much real damage there is.

We were on the last cruise to not stop at CC after Floyd. The next cruise did. The visible condition of the island was very sad. All the plant life was dead so the entire island was brown. They did bring passengers on to the island when it looked this way with the next cruise ship to call there. They didn't wait for perfection, just servicable.

Also they didn't have to reconstruct buildings after Floyd, so it depends on how bad such things are.

Also, I thought they catered all the food for the lunch buffet from the ship. Keep that in mind, they have a very mobile city that'll be parked right there at dock; they don't have to do anything on the island except have open beaches and basic facilities. and even then they could truck out some porta potties.

I too hope it isn't the worst, but knowing the way Disney operates, as long as they can get the ship in there, there will be people disembarking.

 

[traycie2201]

I hope we're all wrong and cc is fine, however here's my solution, dcl feel free to take onboard

heres my scenario we dock at cc in one month, beaches are tidied, and most things back to normal but still things to be fixed / built so parts of island still closed, so how about we have a beach day with a bbq or go back on board for the loo and food ! or dcl packs us picnic baskets and sticks portaloos on shore for a day or so, i'd be happy with that , anything so i can visit tha way no permits, buildings , food probs etc but everyone still gets to visit the beach.

 

[nuke]

As far as debris being cleared away. There are whole portions of CC that guests don't see. The debris can be stored over in that area pretty quickly.

We can speculate all we like but I think we will all just have to wait and see what Disney has to tell us in the next few weeks.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Poly Pal,

While you do make some good points, I think you're being a little on he pesimistic side.

For example, your comments that

there were waits of over 6 months for simple building materials

. While you are correct and there were problems for people in Florida, you have to remember this is Disney we are talking about. Disney has much greater resources than the typical home owner trying to rebuild after a storm. After all, the average home owner can realistically only get building supplies locally. They can't afford to pay a shipping company to go load a truck (or boat) with building materials from some place that has plenty and ship it.

From what I've heard, Disney had guest back on CC only 1 month after Floyd. And I could believe that that was the case givne Disney's resources and the fact that CC is really just a beach with a few modist facilities. You do correctly point out that there are LOTS of details that will have to be worked out, I think it will be weeks (3-7) rather than months (6-8) before guests return to CC.

Now I think you are correct in that it will take 6 to 8 months before all the work is 100% complete.

Of course we have to consider Ivan. I don't think it could do any more damage, but it WILL delay Disney getting started with cleaning up CC. It's my guess that Disney will try to send some of the time between now and Ivan coming allong to assess the damage. However, with Ivan only a few days away, I can't imagine them bothering to take any supplies and workers to the island at this point because you've have to turn around and evacuate again, even if Ivan doesn't directly strike the island.

 

[allears]

HooKooDooKu, I’m with you on this one. Disney can pull from it’s world wide supplies, personnel and resources. They don’t have to rely on the local suppliers or work force to meet their needs. Plus as was said, the facilities on the island aren’t that extensive, not like a resort hotel. I think as long as they can dock the ship there, we’ll be seeing cruises return with in maybe 4 or 6 weeks. Maybe less.

I do think we may see less excursions available and maybe even some of the public parts of the island closed off to cruisers for a while. And I think everyone is right, that it will take many months to restore it’s full beauty.

We sail on the 25th and while I’ve pretty much assumed we won’t being going to CC, I haven’t completely given up hope. The Magic would put in there four weeks from when Frances passed the island. So there is a chance, albeit slim that we may still go there.

I know we’ll all be glad when we hear something definitive from DCL about the status of the island and future stops. In the mean time let’s all keep thinking positively and remember there is some serious corporate muscle at Disney.

 

[tvguy]

I just wish DCL would put out some sort of statement for us Castaway Cay lovers.
I've seen lots of video of Southern Florida and the Bahamas shot from TV news helicopters, so I suspect Disney has been able to fly in by now since the weather is calm enough for the TV choppers to be up.
Remember, CC isn't all that far from civilization, it just seems that way.
I suspect building permits won't be an issue, I suspect they aren't even required.

 

[WDWLVR]

I think if there is one thing we've learned over the past couple of days is that matter what Disney does some people won't be happy.

If they give us an initial view and then it changes some people will be upset. If they give us a worse case scenerio view some people will be upset.

The main word in the above is some, not all.

I think what Disney will do is not make any kind of statement until they know exactly what needs to be done and how long that will take.

Disney may have already done a flyover, but I think they won't make any statements until they land in some engineers (either by air or water). I'm willing to wait.

 

[drclaws]

Originally posted by WDWLVR
I think if there is one thing we've learned over the past couple of days is that matter what Disney does some people won't be happy.

If they give us an initial view and then it changes some people will be upset. If they give us a worse case scenerio view some people will be upset.

The main word in the above is some, not all.

I think what Disney will do is not make any kind of statement until they know exactly what needs to be done and how long that will take.

Disney may have already done a flyover, but I think they won't make any statements until they land in some engineers (either by air or water). I'm willing to wait.

I do believe you've squarely hit the nail on the head, WDWLVR!

 

[mistleto88]

Just wanted to let you all know that the resort I work for in Grand Bahama will be closed until October 1st at the earliest. This is a direct result from damage sustained during Hurricane Frances.

I am equally disappointed about CC as my dd7 and I were to sail on our first cruise this past Saturday on the Magic.... So now we are sailing tomorrow on a 4-nt vs. a 7nt and making 1 port call (Cozumel) vs. St. Thomas, San Juan and CC. But, this is the chance we took booking a cruise during hurricane season.

Please be patient and know that Disney would and/or will do what is best for their guests. If CC has sustained damage even close to what my resort did, it'll take time to recover.

Melissa