Docking at Castaway Cay

[cashe]

No, DCL will do their best to dock, but if they cannot you will not go to another island. However, if CC is early on in your itinerary and you have a sea day, they may try to dock again on that sea day (barring there are no other boats at CC that day). Booked excursions will be refunded and they will hand out new navigators on board with added activities. It's been said that DCL pulls out all the stops if they miss CC in an effort to entertain everyone on board.

That being said, there are instances (and multiple threads on here where people have given instances of this happening) where DCL will do their best to accommodate you but not at the price of crew and guest safety. E.g. someone said that they were able to dock early at a port after missing the port before or an instance of not being able to dock at nassau, so the captain took them to CC. but these are not guaranteed protocols for when CC is missed, so don't expect it. Best advice: prepare for the worst, hope for the best. That's what I did. I already have a back up plan for activities on board if we can't make CC. The boat itself is a destination in and of itself so I know we will have fun if we can't make port!

hth

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If castaway is too windy to dock do they goto another island? And if so how do I plan excursions?

No.

There was a recent thread about what all would be involved in trying to go to a different island if CC were to be missed. Here it is (last few pages are drifting a bit off topic):
http://www.disboards.com/threads/di...-and-disney-wont-correct-the-problem.3380859/

Occasionally, if there is no DCL ship scheduled the next day, and it's a sea day, the captain may try to dock then.

 

[DCL9813]

If the currents, sea state, and winds are too severe to dock a big cruise ship, then the tendering wouldn't be an option either. It is just simply a chance you take when your vacation is in the command of Mother Nature. Does it suck, yes. Does DCL do EVERYTHING in their power to dock, ABSOLUTELY. RCCL has the same challenges as DCL, but more since they can't dock.

 

[cbonebt]

Ok thanks. Fingers crossed. Heard wonder today couldn't dock so they going to Nassau and I had never heard of that

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ok thanks. Fingers crossed. Heard wonder today couldn't dock so they going to Nassau and I had never heard of that

Was Nassau already on the itinerary? If so, they may be swapping port calls, and will attempt Castaway Cay a different day. That happens sometimes.

 

[cashe]

I would be ok if we just did CC twice and skipped nassau in May. LOL

 

[cbonebt]

Last day they come back tomorrow. I'll let u know when I hear from my friend again

 

[cashe]

grrr that sounds like our itinerary in may. i'd rather have another sea day than go back to nassau!

 

[cbonebt]

We board tomorrw but grand cayman and castaway

 

[Baileykiko]

We will be on the Wonder next week. I am just preparing for whatever happens. Forecast for CC keeps changing daily I'll be really disappointed, but need to accept it for the safety of all-for sure. It seems like it has been really windy down there lately.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Freeport is about a four hour sail from Castaway Cay. The tour operators all come from Abaco (As does the mailman). If Disney can't dock, you get a sea day. There are no other islands where their ships would go other than back to Nassau.

 

[E ticket rider]

If castaway is too windy to dock do they goto another island? And if so how do I plan excursions?

Generally, no... Castaway isn't just a few minutes from another place to dock. Multiple attempts to dock could eat up a few hours (not to mention fuel), so there really would be no point to sailing to another destination. It would just become a sea day. DCL has a plan for this contingency and others. Most cruise ship berths are booked a year (sometimes more) in advance of the actual sailings, so it's not really up to the Captain to just take the ship somewhere else. Berthing a ship is not cheap either...

For a planner, a cruise can be boom or bust... You can schedule your vacation down to the minute if you really wanted to, but Mother Nature doesn't really care about anyone's plans but her own. Your cruise contract basically states that DCL is required to provide a ship that is safe, clean and functional. There is very little beyond that.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

My friend just got off the Wonder today. they were unable to dock at Castaway Cay, which was a big disappointment. Now I'm starting to worry about our cruise next month. We loved Castaway cay when we were there last year, and I would be so upset if we couldn't dock.

Does anyone know what percentage of cruises are unable to dock? I know it depends on wind, waves, etc, but I'm wondering how frequent it is that a ship can't dock? Is it really rare? or does it happen often? Anyone know the stats?

We're 9 for 8 on Castaway Cay The 9th was actually due to a hurricane that switched an Eastern on Magic to a Western. Because we didn't have a port slot reserved in Key West the captain took us to CC on the first day, and then took us there again on our last day (when we were supposed to be there). Because we were there twice, they had to "improvise" a bit on the lunch they served at Serenity Bay, so they were grilling lobster tails and steaks along with the regular fare

 

[cashe]

We're 9 for 8 on Castaway Cay The 9th was actually due to a hurricane that switched an Eastern on Magic to a Western. Because we didn't have a port slot reserved in Key West the captain took us to CC on the first day, and then took us there again on our last day (when we were supposed to be there). Because we were there twice, they had to "improvise" a bit on the lunch they served at Serenity Bay, so they were grilling lobster tails and steaks along with the regular fare

that sounds AWFUL!!!

(my post bleeds sarcasm obviously)

 

[Mickeyhugger]

We're 9 for 8 on Castaway Cay The 9th was actually due to a hurricane that switched an Eastern on Magic to a Western. Because we didn't have a port slot reserved in Key West the captain took us to CC on the first day, and then took us there again on our last day (when we were supposed to be there). Because we were there twice, they had to "improvise" a bit on the lunch they served at Serenity Bay, so they were grilling lobster tails and steaks along with the regular fare
*******************************************************
Wish my family and I had been on that sailing.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

We're 9 for 8 on Castaway Cay The 9th was actually due to a hurricane that switched an Eastern on Magic to a Western. Because we didn't have a port slot reserved in Key West the captain took us to CC on the first day, and then took us there again on our last day (when we were supposed to be there). Because we were there twice, they had to "improvise" a bit on the lunch they served at Serenity Bay, so they were grilling lobster tails and steaks along with the regular fare
*******************************************************
Wish my family and I had been on that sailing.

The double dip was a nice compensation for missing Tortola.

 

[phinz]

...

 

[MUN]

This recent thread had a discussion on not docking at CC:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/di...rect-the-problem.3380859/page-8#post-53102188

 

[MUN]

It's seriously making me consider a different cruise line. I do wonder if it's just the Disney Wonder they have problems docking? One of the servers told me two cruises ago it couldn't dock at castaway either so I do think it happens more often than we know. Hope you get a chance to enjoy the island. I truly feel cheated, even though we did have a good time.

0% of the other cruise lines will be able to dock at CC.

 

[cbonebt]

Just debarked from wonder and had an absolute perfect day at castaway! All of the crew kept saying how lucky we were bc they were unable to dock a few times in a row. Btw the wonder before us did goto Nassau and they said it was very unusual