I was wondering if DCL would ever consider doing this

[Disney1fan2002]

and if it would be popular with the cruisers.

I have read through this board, and the general consensus is, everyone LOVES Castaway Cay. Yet, with the stops, for the 4 day Wonder, Nassua and last year Freeport, lots of people seemed to be happy not stopping there.

I was thinking, what if the DCL offered a 3 and 4 day cruise, but the one and only destination be Castaway Cay? So it would arrive and dock for the two days. Maybe find a way to open a nightclub on the Island, for night life...but be at CC for two days. I would book that in a heartbeat over stopping in Nassau.

Feel free to expand on the idea! LOL

 

[Rence]

I have heard that there is a real nighttime insect problem at Castaway Cay which is why the ship never stays docked there. There have been cruises with 2 Castaway Cay days, but I believe that in all cases they have set sail and returned to the island, rather than staying docked.

 

[sweet angel]

nighttime insect problem

meaning???? like mosquitos? worse?

 

[ivanova]

Yeah, heard that CMs run for indoors before nightfall ... not sure if it's just mosquitos or other insects, but it doesn't sound pleasant.

I personally like the option of stopping elsewhere too. I like CC but want other stops too, not just CC.

 

[MarkRG]

From what I've heard, lots more than just mosquitos.

 

[GenieDana]

Sand fleas.

See:

http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/bohart.asp?s=insects&f=noseeum

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by Disney1fan2002
I was thinking, what if the DCL offered a 3 and 4 day cruise, but the one and only destination be Castaway Cay?

A bigger problem than insects may be the Passenger Services Act (1886), a Federal law that is supposed to protect U.S.-flagged ships from foreign competition.

The Disney Wonder, the Disney Magic, and all other "American" cruise ships are really foreign ships -- foreign-built, foreign-registered, and foreign-crewed. (The exception is NCL America's Spirit of Aloha, which will be joined by several other U.S.-flagged NCL America ships.)

Foreign ships must call on at least one foreign port, and their voyages may not begin in one U.S port and end at another. There are all sorts of exceptions, which is why DCL can offer the repositioning cruises. And it's also okay to stop at intermediate U.S. ports, as long as nobody starts or ends their journey at those ports.

Castaway Cay is in the Bahamas, so that qualifies, right? Actually, the answer appears to be no. Someone whose name escapes me, but who had a good track record on this board, posted a few years ago that it could not be a private foreign port such as Castaway Cay. So that's why all the cruise lines with private islands in the Bahamas have 3-night and 4-night itineraries that include Nassau or Freeport.

If insects were the only problem, DCL could simply have everyone board the ship in the late afternoon and return to the beach the following morning.

 

[Disnurse2B]

I went to San Salvador, Bahamas several years ago for a marine biology class. I have never in my LIFE (and I live in Alabama) seen so many mosquitos at night. I came home covered in bites- even all over my face! My last day there, I counted over 50 mosquito bites ON ONE LEG!!!! AND I literally layered insect repellant on every hour. It was torture. So if the mosquitos on CC are half that bad, I wouldn't want to be there after the sun goes down.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
A bigger problem than insects may be the Passenger Services Act (1886), a Federal law that is supposed to protect U.S.-flagged ships from foreign competition.

The Disney Wonder, the Disney Magic, and all other "American" cruise ships are really foreign ships -- foreign-built, foreign-registered, and foreign-crewed. (The exception is NCL America's Spirit of Aloha, which will be joined by several other U.S.-flagged NCL America ships.)

Foreign ships must call on at least one foreign port, and their voyages may not begin in one U.S port and end at another. There are all sorts of exceptions, which is why DCL can offer the repositioning cruises. And it's also okay to stop at intermediate U.S. ports, as long as nobody starts or ends their journey at those ports.

Castaway Cay is in the Bahamas, so that qualifies, right? Actually, the answer appears to be no. Someone whose name escapes me, but who had a good track record on this board, posted a few years ago that it could not be a private foreign port such as Castaway Cay. So that's why all the cruise lines with private islands in the Bahamas have 3-night and 4-night itineraries that include Nassau or Freeport.

If insects were the only problem, DCL could simply have everyone board the ship in the late afternoon and return to the beach the following morning.

Thanks for this Horace! Interesting info. But I have to wonder, if it is a severe bug problem, would they limit themselves to over the land? What about being on the ship, would we have to be kept from being on the decks?

 

[CheapMom]

I think I remember a Survivor a few years ago in a location with no-see-ums. It looked like torchure. A few of the people looked like they had leprocy around their legs ...

 

[shmora]

What are no see ums?

Shmora

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by shmora
What are no see ums?

Shmora

Rather nasty bugs......

 

[ericamanda01]

I would be on that cruise in a heartbeat!

 

[jrabbit]

As much as I love Castaway Cay I don't think having all (or most) cruises having multiple days there is a good idea. Part of the beauty of the island is that it is clean, and well maintained. Having 2000+ cruisers on it 7 days a week would tend to trash the place because the islanders wouldn't have as much time to "restore" the beaches and other areas before the next cruise.

Currently there are cruisers on the island only 3 days per week. If DCL adds a third ship out of PC (doing 7 or 10 day cruises) then there would be 4 cruises stopping there each week (like when the Magic and Wonder were both doing 3 and 4 night cruises). This still leavew time to clean up after us and make it beautiful for the next ship.

I wouldn't want to see more than 5 stops per week at the island because even if everyones careful, the beauty of the island will start to degrade from over use. Lets keep it the island paradise that it is.