Just back from Feb, 27th Wonder. No Castaway Cay.

[chrisn]

Hello everyone. I'm not sure if anyone has posted yet but Captain Henry tried his best to get us in two days in a row and it just was not meant to be. I'm fortunate enough to have been to the island before and I know that most people on the boat had not so I feel really bad for them. One of our fellow Disers had missed it last time as well. The cruise was great as always and I will post a trip report in the next couple of days.

Some of us Disers had a chance to meet on embarkation day. It's always nice to put a face to a name. Our resident cheerleader deedz was MIA and I really wanted to meet you. I looked around for a family of three at the Radison before boarding the shuttle and I thought I heard someone call deedz party of 3 but I didn't know if you were on a different bus or not.

Both of our deck parties were canceled do to rain. That was a bummer! My family did dress as Pirates for dinner and the party in the atrium. Everyone made a big fuss over us and we had tons of compliments. Also, our pics with Pirate Minnie turned out soooooo cute! I'm glad we did it and I would definitely do it again as it added to the experience. So if you saw a pirate family walking around or our pic with Minnie, that was us. I was the pirate wench with the long blonde hair and head scarf.

The shows were wonderful as I expected. I didn't remember Hercules being that enjoyable. It was great! Golden Mickeys was probably my favorite but Oh so close was Disney Dreams. Just fantastic! My kids won walk the plank game show in their pirate garb and were rewarded with mickey gold medals and pirate gold.

We had Brunch and Dinner at Palo. Both were fabulous but the dinner, oh man. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Serena was our server both times. She was wonderful. Just do it! We also did the wine tasting which was fun and informative.

We got off the ship in Nassau and went over to Atlantis. We booked a room at Comfort Suites so were able to utilize the facilities. It's nice. I'm glad we did it once but really I was underwhelmed and have been to nicer resorts. It was a nice place though and my kids loved the slides. It's not someplace I will return to for a longer period of vacation time though. It just didn't blow my dress up.

Our servers were Hernan and Ray. They were very good at their job but nothing extraordinary. Ray was very sweet and Hernan was so excited that we had dressed as Pirates for dinner. I think our room steward was Jeanette? Very quiet, did her job. No complaints.

My DS-7 again really did not take to the clubs. He made goo, participated in the show the last night but never asked to go and really preferred to hang out with us or his sister. I had the same experience on our last cruise.

Anyway, jeez my little just back paragraph almost turned into a trip report. Any questions, I'd be glad to answer.

Chris

 

[mmouse37]

Sounds like you had a great time...thanks for sharing!!! We could not get to CC in September due to Hurricane Jeanne's damage....but were lucky enough to get there on our other DCL cruises.

Welcome back!!!

MJ

 

[bratray]

i'm sorry to hear that you didn't make it to CC and your deck party was rained out- what a bummer- but it sounds like you made the best of it and its so refreshing not to hear someone complain & complain about not getting to shore due to weather...which is out of DCL's control

thanks for posting

 

[tpmorley]

We were on the February 24 Wonder so we were the cruise right before you. It was downright hot in Nasaau so I'm guessing it was at least 80 and our CC day was beautiful in the morning and then clouded over in the afternoon, although it was still nice.

When we got off the ship on Sunday though it was pouring rain and stayed that way all day. I'm sure that must have been the storm that messed you up. I agree, I appreciate your good attitude...it makes all the difference!

 

[my3princesses]

We were also on the cruise and it was very disappointing not going to castaway and the rain and cold weather didn't help. As well because of the rough seas our whole family of 5 spent the first evening in our cabins trying to not throw-up (at least 4 of us were successful) and the last night again doing the same. The other two nights were rained out.

I am trying really hard to be positive - honest! Everything we experienced was nothing that could have been fixed or avoided.

 

[BeenHad]

I am not too happy about the cruise experience right not. We saved for years to be able to take our 4 children and the biggest draw which is the most advertised by DCL is Castaway Cay. The weather was not all that bad and I am more than disappointed that the ship actually did not have enough power to get into Castaway Cay. I spent 7 months on a ship once and was more than suprised to find out the ship lacked adequate power for routine weather. Apparently this lack of access to Castaway Cay is not uncommon and I wish I would have known that. Without Castaway, DCL is certainly overpriced. The Castaway stop was the #1 reason for the Disney Cruise. Now I know why they are changing the 2006 7 day cruised to 2 stops at Castaway Cay. Just to increase their chances of docking.

After working so hard saving for so many years, I was brought to tears with my family.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

If the weather was bad, raining, why would anyone want to go to Castaway Cay. DCL can't predict the weather. And those are the chances you take sailing to the Bahamas in February. We were on the cruise before you, that last night going back to Port Canaveral in my opinion was rough!!! Seemed like the seas were getting bad. the weather stunk upon arrival. We flew out of MCO on 2/27, and my in-laws called that night concerned whether we made it home? They said tornados had been touching downon the east coast?

 

[my3princesses]

BeenHad - I agree with your frustration completely. Especially the fact that we sat right in front of castaway for an hour as it teased us with it's sandy beaches and blue water. Captain Henry tried very hard and we cannot complain about that.

My husband suggested that they build a break wall on either side of the entrance to the dock so that it can stop the water from making it so hard to do. Still trying 3 times to get in sounds like a very poor ratio and that is could happen often.

It was a very disppointing trip, I agree.

 

[my3princesses]

Clarabell - the two days trying to get into castaway were sunny! The first day was a bit rougher than the second. On the second everything looked good, but I heard the undertow was strong (still not many waves). We were within feet from the dock but he just couldn't get the ship in. Had we got in I think everything would have been great. There did not appear to be many waves on the shore of castaway and although a little cool we are canadians and could have handled the cold water.

I guess it's the luck of the draw as your trip was ok and probably the trip that is happening right now is ok. It is just very disappointing and frustrating. As in our case, this time of year is the only time that we are able to get away from our business. We really have no other choice but to go on the last week of february (we go away this week every year).

 

[Skywalker]

I guess I just don't understand the frustration over Castaway Cay. People, it is just a beach. A crowded beach. With the same lunch you can get on board.

 

[icartjetta]

Skywalker, some people don't have the luxury of going or seeing a beach that often. And a beautiful one at that. geez.......................................

 

[jef102563]

We were on board this ship as well. I understand Disney doesnt have control over the weather but what I am disappointed in was that the second day at sea navigator was the same as the day before. There really were not a lot of new options to try the second day especially if your child doesnt take to the kids club. I dont think I will be investing in a Disney cruise again.

 

[deedz]

Just to clarify...
This is a Pic taken from my stateroom verandah, 7526, way Forward if you look at deck plans. That buoy is right outside, and at this point I started getting my beach bag packed... a few minutes later, DH came in and said we were pulling away! I thought he was joking!

 

[my3princesses]

I guess I just don't understand the frustration over Castaway Cay. People, it is just a beach. A crowded beach. With the same lunch you can get on board.

Well the frustration lies in the fact that as Canadians we only get the opportunity to go to a nice beach where we can snorkel on occasion or for some once in a lifetime. This was part of the deal for the cruise and something everyone looks forward to.

You can see by the great picture posted that it looks beautiful - would have loved to go there but never will because we will never make that kind of investment in something that is not definite.

 

[deedz]

I too have to add.... that with those blue skies, and a warm day and being onboard for 4 days, I think everyone was beginning to get a little stir crazy. Yes, the Navigators were a repeat of Sea Day, which really didn't offer anything "new" even the Kids Club programming was the same.

Since we didn't dock at Castaway the Pools and upper decks were a madhouse. I had to laugh when counting 14+ kids in a jacuzzi!
It also seemed to me that even Crew Members were quite disappointed in not docking, many mentioned it... and chimed in that it "never happens twice in a row". I appreciate the Captains decision, safety being first, but can't help being disssapointed.

 

[joycepa]

I definitely understand your disappointment. We missed CC on our cruise also and it's almost unbelieveable when you get that close. I think for those of us that go on the cruise to see other islands and not just for the ship activities it's more of a letdown.
I'm so sorry it wasn't what you expected it to be. I am glad that it's been posted on this board when people miss ports. If I would have known how frequently it happens in winter months, I would have changed my plans.

 

[BeenHad]

I think the issue here is disclosure by disney on how frequently they miss docking into Castaway Cay. For some of us it was the entire reason for the cruise. The market it heavily to fill cabins and we should be privy to how often this happens. Everyone I talked to before we booked this told us that CC was the best part of the whole cruise.

My sister was on another cruise line and they changed the embarkation port and missed another port due to bad weather so they went to another port for them instead of another day at sea and gave everyone (each person) $200. of onboard credit. That was customer service. The lack of any type of credit or discount on another cruise from Disney does not show good customer service.

Prior to the cruise there was a problem with our airline tickets (for all 6 of us) and when I called Disney to get it straightened out they refused without charging me a $540. fee for straightening out the problem. I talked to a Disney Supervisor and they could care less and told me it was still going to cost me another $540. In the end I did it myself for free by calling the airline direct. Why couldn't they do the same thing?

I am not going to apologize for the negativity of my posts because they are facts and anyone who is going to spend hard earned money for the Disney experience needs to know some of the pitfalls so their expectations are lowered and the are risks made aware.

 

[chrisn]

And I am sorry that the cruise did not meet everyone's expectations. All I did was make the best of a bad situation. It was really sad to see the disappointment on everyones faces that second day when we missed that final attempt. Probably half the ship had one foot of the boat. I've read about cruises missing CC and I never thought it would happen to me but it did! Missing CC was just the culmination of a bunch of things that did not go right. Of course we as mere man cannot control the weather but the days we tried to dock it was sunny and really if you didn't know why, you might have a hard time understanding just why we missed. It was because of the cross wind and current. The onboard monitor listed the gale as light to moderate. My DH and I spoke to one of the officers who informed us that if Captain Henry couldn't get us in, then no one could. I overheard a few people saying that he may not be as agressive as the other captains and I asked the officer about this. He said "no way."

And I agree, Castaway Cay is not just a beach to me. It's a beautiful peice of Disney island magic. It's lovely and I would really like to go back again someday. I've been to many, many islands and beach resorts. For me, it just has that Disney magic. That's what I love about it. Will I do another Disney Cruise? Yes, but I think I'm going to give one of the big, new Princess ships a try first. Disney doesn't do southern and we want to do a family cruise to the Southern ports next. We did 9 days at WDW prior to the cruise and so we did have a fabulous vacation but the cruise just wasn't the cherry it should have been. Oh well, perhaps next time....

 

[OurDogCisco]

I guess, I am puzzled. If Castaway Cay is so important to you why did you sail in February? Disney doesn't have control over the seas and rough waters but to me it seems like that would be worst time to go. Also, the fact that you are on a shorter cruise doesn't give Disney many options to go to another port.

I know someone once was keeping track on the number of dockings at Castaway Cay and you see the pattern. Maybe they'll post their report.

Personally, if I were going to sail in the winter months I'd go down much further than where Disney goes. You need to be closer to Aruba & St Lucia. JMHO. However, they could get bad weather as well. It is just luck of the draw in the winter months.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

I agree it would be so dissappionting to miss CC.

That being said, it is important to note that it is not only Disney that this happens to....

We have been on other cruise lines (yes, big, reputable ones), with a lot of hype being given about their private islands. We have missed the islands as well--two times on a RCCL cruise in 2004. (and no compensation for it, but we weren't expecting any)

Like I said--I am sure it was a HUGE dissappointment, and please don't slam me, but the blam can't all be held to Disney--Mother Nature sure plays a big part.