How windy to miss castaway?

[1Winston]

We are cruising on the 24th and I know A LOT CAN CHANGE and that the long term forecasts are not reliable at all but just wondering how windy it is before they cancel castaway? At this point it is not even close to being reliable but it has winds of 40km/hr gusts to 74km/hr! Those are strong gusts!!
If they don't dock do they just make it a sea day? That doesn't sound appealing to be at sea with those gusts either??
Thank you as always

 

[ccarter]

We cruised last March on the Fantasy and we were unable to dock at Castaway due to rough seas and wind. The captain tried once but it wasn't safe so we had to pull away. Yes, it becomes a sea day and it took a while to find some calm sunny weather. No question it wasn't comparable to a day at castaway cay but safety has to come first and they added lots of activities to make it as fun as possible.

 

[1Winston]

We cruised last March on the Fantasy and we were unable to dock at Castaway due to rough seas and wind. The captain tried once but it wasn't safe so we had to pull away. Yes, it becomes a sea day and it took a while to find some calm sunny weather. No question it wasn't comparable to a day at castaway cay but safety has to come first and they added lots of activities to make it as fun as possible.

How strong was the wind? Were people seasick on the sea day? Would be sad to miss but mostly don't want to be rocking in crappy weather at sea!!

 

[jdb in AZ]

How strong was the wind? Were people seasick on the sea day? Would be sad to miss but mostly don't want to be rocking in crappy weather at sea!!

I don't know that they ever announced how strong the winds were the day we were unable to dock at Castaway Cay. The captain tried three times but couldn't risk damaging the ship, or injuring the passengers so we went on to our next port a few hours early. The cruise director made a big deal about how the crew quickly came up with new activities. Um, missing Castaway Cay isn't all that unusual, so I imagine they have all sorts of contingency plans ready to go. (If they don't, they should.)

We were on a Panama Canal cruise and IIRC we ended up in Aruba, so people were able to disembark and enjoy the night life. We could feel the ship rocking as the captain turned in his attempts to get us docked at Castaway Cay, but other than that it really wasn't bad.

 

[ocspartan]

How strong was the wind? Were people seasick on the sea day? Would be sad to miss but mostly don't want to be rocking in crappy weather at sea!!

We were on this same March fantasy sailing and it was pretty rough as we sped away from castaway in search of some sunny weather. I would say it was around noon or so that we found some calmer waters but it was still quite windy on deck 12 and 13, you could tell it was rough around us as we saw three or four other ships around us that day.

I will say that the crew was amazing dealing with it as new navigators were in our hands with additional meet and greets and other activities added to the schedule within minutes of the failed second docking of the day....while it was disappointing; considering that had we docked 30 minutes earlier while it was still sunny we'd probably be stuck in that crappy weather all day

 

[sea2la]

Just did the Jan 4th 5 day sailing from Miami. Our Castaway Cay stop was on Thursday Jan 8th and it was very windy in the morning and we did not dock until 11am (it was the second try by the Captain). Lucky for us the wind started to die down around 10am.
Bummer was they cancelled the 5K Run....

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I have missed it once TBH on the ship you wouldn't gave noticed too much, inside there wasn't much of an indication, but as we got close and say you were on the top decks you could feel wind and it was dull.

It can be just wind in the wrong direction, the current the wrong direction.

 

[mmouse37]

How strong was the wind? Were people seasick on the sea day? Would be sad to miss but mostly don't want to be rocking in crappy weather at sea!!

Remember mother nature can often have strong winds at sea (and high waves). There is no guarantee of calm water ever on a cruise. Sometimes you can have high waves with no wind. Sometimes you can't dock at CC because of waves and not winds. Even if it is too windy/wavy to dock at CC does not mean that the sea day would be ruined. Often they can find calmer weather.

We have been on many cruises and it is always pretty much windy up on deck when you are at sea. Also, just because it is windy does not equate to crappy weather. Often times it is a beautiful sunny day with wind.

Going on a cruise you are pretty much guaranteed some windy days while at sea. Doesn't mean those days will have high waves but if you are prone to seasickness take the proper precautions and bring medications with you. Bottom line, be prepared for anything on a cruise as weather/sea conditions can change all the time.

On the cabin TV there is a channel where you can see wind strength and wave height displayed.

Here are some pics from an approaching hurricane we were skirting around while we were onboard.

MJ

 

[drb116]

I don't think there is a specific formula. It will depend on wind strength, waves, and most importantly direction. I have been to CC 7 times and we have gotten in all 7, but twice it wasn't until early afternoon. The times when it was borderline are when the wind and waves overcame the bow thrusters. The wind tends to be a cross wind to the dock, but if it shifted, I am sure it could be fairly strong and you would still get in.

 

[holula]

We have had stops at CC on 7 of 9 cruises and made it all 7 times. I was surprised we made it one of the times as it was so windy it was actually uncomfortable on the island. (This was right before Sandy.) There doesn't seem to be a formula but there does seem to be certain months where they miss more often. There is a poll/thread on this board somewhere.

 

[1Winston]

Thanks folks! We have cruised the last three years in Dec and Jan and have been lucky because we've docked every time. My children would be very sad to miss since this is their favourite destination on every cruise! We have also been lucky because with the exception of one evening we have had calm seas. We are not sure that the rough seas will make us sick but just prefer to avoid finding out
74km gusts are strong gusts!! If the weather stays the same which I doubt it will we likely won't dock. Wouldn't be fun to be on the island in that wind!
Jan is apparently the month that has the most cc misses.
Cheers!

 

[OKW Lover]

We've been on 12 DCL cruises, 11 of which would normally include a stop at CC, in all different times of year. We've never missed stopping at CC. One cruise we swapped a sea day with the scheduled cc day and made it in on the second day.

 

[Weedy]

I don't think it always matter how much the wind is blowing but what way the wind is blowing.
At one time during my time working at WDW I piloted the boats that ran to the hotels on the Seven Seas Lagoon. It the wind was blowing away from the dock it was very hard to dock. If it was blowing into the dock it made you look like a GREAT pilot.

 

[Kenny1113]

Hopefully we don't have a wind issue in March on our CC day.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The force of the wind is only 1 factor. The direction is equally important. Then add the direction and speed of the current, tidal and normal currents. Then throw in swells and waves.

I have been amazed at the ability of the Masters to bring the vessels into the dock with strong winds. It takes a great deal of skill.

Its still a long ways off to the 24th!...You cannot control the weather, so don't worry about it, enjoy the cruise.

AKK

 

[ptcbass]

Before we went on our cruise I was checking the forecast and our Nassau and CC days were supposed to be 30 - 40 mph winds and I was worried. Well both days were absolutely perfect! It was sunny, in the 80's and there was a light breeze. Now one night the winds got up to 50 mph and about blew our flip flops off our feet. Our son also got stuck out on the deck (several doors were blocked off) and we had to find a door to open to let him in. I think it scared him a little bit.

Anyway, it is hard to say how it will be just by the forecast.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

We cruise in 2 weeks. I hope we make it to CC!

 

[yesallours]

December 2012 the dream couldn't dock at CC due to wind, but we got to dock at CC on Saturday. The weather was beautiful!!