How important is CC to you when booking?

[ludari]

It's not that important to me only because I've been there numerous times. In fact on my last cruise to CC I did the 5K, returned to the ship and stayed there all day which was great! I am looking forward to the new ships and hopefully new itineraries.

 

[llachance]

Have been on a couple of DCL cruises that didn't stop at Castaway Cay and have another one booked (Bermuda). It did seem a bit weird not going there but certainly not a dealbreaker.

 

[quickcat]

It's not a deal breaker for us. I like itineraries with many port days and if it's one of them great and if not, that's ok too.

 

[KashasMom]

I will jump into this discussion with the very unpopular response that a stop at CC would not be a deal breaker for us at all. However, we've been there a bunch of times and you have not. We would prefer a port at an actual "real" island. But I don't know your other choices or what excursions you would pick or the ages of your kids. We like having the BBQ on the island, that's about it. We don't love the fake, "Disneyfied" feel of the island, but that's just us. We have taken our girls to all sorts of adventurous excursions on the islands DCL.stops at starting at a very young age but i know some aren't comfortable with that. Plus, I just saw that CC won an award as best private island amongst other lines. So i guess to sum up, i think your decision might have to do with not only the price but your expectation of the activities you'd do or sights you'd see on the itineraries without. Either way, you'll have the best time! Happy cruising!

I'll second your unpopular response. I think we've been there 3 times. We never do much but sit on the beach and walk around a bit. I didn't think the BBQ was so good. My daughter had fun the last time when she danced with Goofy at a dance party. Obviously excursions are much more interesting on other islands. On our upcoming Members cruise in August the 3 families traveling together snagged a cabana so we may enjoy it a bit more. On our upcoming Dream cruise I think we may skip it altogether and stay onboard (maybe the pool will be empty!). But...I do agree if you have never been there, it's cool to check out. Otherwise, I'd rather go to another island.

 

[mathgeek]

To me it depends on the itinerary. If I'm booking a Bahamas or Caribbean itinerary on DCL, then I want one that stops at CC, as that is part of the appeal to me cruising DCL in those areas. Of course, I just did B2B double dips a few weeks ago just for the opportunity to stop at CC 4 times in 10 days.

But that won't keep me from booking other cruises on DCL that don't stop there. I've done Alaska and have a Med cruise planned for next year.

 

[Msmit002]

Well, It's not a deal breaker, for sure. But I will say, I was seriously bummed that our EBPC cruise this fall ends in Galveston and not PC - with a chance at CC. Not disparaging Galveston, just would rather have ended in FL and stopped in CC.

Sadly, it hasn't happened for a few years so as long as the repos intent is to sail the fall out of Galveston I'll just have to deal with it.

 

[lizabu]

I love castaway cay but I would cruise an itinerary without a stop at castaway cay as long as there were other interesting places I wanted to see

 

[jetskigrl]

Out of 10 cruises, only 3 have stopped at CC (and 2 of those were B2B). One of the CC days was windy and kind of miserable. We got hit with a huge rain storm on the way out. So I have only had 2 really nice visits there. The rest of my cruises have been on the West Coast (getting ready to go back to Alaska next week). CC is definitely not a priority to us, but that could be because we live a few miles from the beach here.

It was nice for the other reasons (private, free food, etc), but not a deal breaker by any means.

 

[soniam]

Living in Texas, I too have looked at the ones leaving from Galveston. We have even done an RCCL one. However, CC is the best private island we have been to. We've been to 3. On a Caribbean cruise, I could take or leave Jamaica, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and St Thomas; however, I would always get off the ship at CC. We prefer sea days though over port days. I don't think I would bother doing a DCL cruise out of Galveston, if it didn't include CC. I would save more money and do RCCL.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I wrote your exact post in 2013 before our very first cruise. We were looking at a cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston and it wasn't going to stop at CC. I asked your same question!

We did the cruise, and we absolutely loved every minute of it! We were happy to go to Falmouth, GC and Cozumel.

We sailed again the next year on a 4nt Double Dip, so we got two days at CC! We loved that cruise also!

But, here is how I truly feel. I would pick a 7nt over a 4nt without hesitation. So, if the 7nt didn't stop at CC but the 4nt did, I would skip CC and take the longer cruise.

Do you think you will be able to sail DCL again soon after this? If so, then you will probably get to CC at some point.

Good luck! I know exactly what you are feeling!

 

[Laundress]

Out of 5 trips we have stoped at CC 3 times. It is not a deal breaker but preferable.

 

[tinkerone]

How important is it to me? It isn't. I couldn't care less about the ports generally, including Castaway Cay. The best thing about Castaway Cay to me is that everybody else can't wait to get off the boat and let me have it to myself.

This. I enjoyed CC the first time we were there simply because it was new and something to explore, not because it was CC. Second time it was okay, just a stop on the cruise. The third time we got off for lunch and that was it. It got to the point that we didn't even bother getting off the ship, we enjoyed the quiet and relaxed. Its a beautiful view from the ship. Would I/do I miss it? No, can't say I do but that is not the popular thought.

 

[clten]

Like many here, it's not a priority when picking our sailing. We do love Castaway Cay - it is a really easy beach day and the service is great because it is the ship crew. So it's fun to know the team on the island. But we sail the Caribbean less and less so go to Castaway Cay less and less. Do we miss it on an Alaskan or European cruise - nope. Those cruises are very different and so much about the destination that you don't think about what's not on the itinerary. You are too busy enjoying what is planned for it to even cross your mind.

But OP, you indicated you were comparing an itinerary that included CC to one that was less expensive. So let me ask you this - how would you feel if you went the more expensive option and then you weren't able to port in CC anyway? A lot of that depends on if you are "go with the flow" kind of people or what your financial means are or other traits we wouldn't know. Chances are good that if you pick the sailing including CC you will make it there. But I think you should consider the "what if" when making your choice, perhaps even more than other people's opinion on if CC is a make/break port.

 

[mhconley]

Our two cruises were supposed to stop at Castaway Cay but only one did. The other missed it when we had to skirt hurricane Joaquin. I'd book cruises without a visit there but if booking one in the Caribbean why not try an find one that makes a stop there. I love just being able to walk to a beach and relax for the day without any worries about paying for anything or whether we'll make it back to the ship on time. I booked our upcoming southern specifically to add a 4 night eastern B2B that stops at Castaway Cay. Now I'm just hoping a stop there on a February day will be warm enough to enjoy the beach.

Martin

 

[bbel]

Well, It's not a deal breaker, for sure. But I will say, I was seriously bummed that our EBPC cruise this fall ends in Galveston and not PC - with a chance at CC. Not disparaging Galveston, just would rather have ended in FL and stopped in CC.

Sadly, it hasn't happened for a few years so as long as the repos intent is to sail the fall out of Galveston I'll just have to deal with it.

Back in 2014 the EBPC ended in PC and there was no CC, the same with the ones to and from Miami so it's not just Galveston lol.

 

[lizzyb]

We love castaway cay, so it is important.

 

[SteveMP]

I was really excited about it before the 1st cruise. We all enjoyed it, but now that we've been once we don't really care. The second time we had fun, but if we went somewhere else instead, nobody would have missed it. I think the big pro for CC is you don't get all the street peddlars trying to sell you bracelets etc every 5 minutes.

 

[Bethany10]

I just had this discussion with myself. We have a break in January of 2019 where a cruise out of Galveston would work for us. However, the Itinerary does not include CC. The next one up would be a spring break trip where I'm betting they will have Marvel day at sea. Based on the 2018 itineraries, both trips would go to Cozumel, but the spring break trip would include Castaway.

As we're still gearing up for a May 2018 trip the dithering is all in my head, but I do think it's a consideration.

 

[Steph1992]

I'm not sure that we would sail without it (minus an Alaska or PC itinerary that we hope to do someday). But for regular sailings we will probably always stick with an itinerary that include CC.

Edit: This opinion comes from a family that doesn't have children.

 

[olookasquirrel]

I'll second your unpopular response. I think we've been there 3 times. We never do much but sit on the beach and walk around a bit. I didn't think the BBQ was so good. My daughter had fun the last time when she danced with Goofy at a dance party. Obviously excursions are much more interesting on other islands. On our upcoming Members cruise in August the 3 families traveling together snagged a cabana so we may enjoy it a bit more. On our upcoming Dream cruise I think we may skip it altogether and stay onboard (maybe the pool will be empty!). But...I do agree if you have never been there, it's cool to check out. Otherwise, I'd rather go to another island.

I agree with the BBQ not being great sentiment, especially when it's hot! Plus, I was weirded out they didn't have any "kids" foods besides hot dogs - no grilled cheese, no chicken fingers, nothing. My son is a very picky little guy and he ended up with a bag of chips and some ice cream until we got back on the ship. I can't be the only person who was looking for some nuggets!!