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

[chrisn]

I am the OP and please let me reiterate. I had a great cruise and I am not blaming Disney. I am disappointed yes. I have been to CC and I don't know which would be worse to not have been there and wondered what you missed or to have been there and know exactly what you missed.

One thing that has not been mentioned is that the night before the second attemp at the Golden Mickeys. Jackie assured us that we would make it tomorrow. Her exact words were if Catain Henry says we will make it tomorrow, then we will make it tomorrow. I even chatted with her in the hallway for a few minutes. She again stated that we would make it. I know she has no control over this but I think based on her statements, a lot of peoples hopes were really built. My DD even mentioned what she had said and thought that she should have chosen her words a little more cafefully. Please don't flame me. I'm not blaming anyone. A lot of the crew members were even surprised that we did not make it in. As for the weather, I would much rather travel in late Feb/Early March then in hurricane season. It's not like we were traveling in mid January and our weather was really not bad. It rained for our sailaway at Port Canaveral. That was the worst of it. It then rained LATE that evening in Nassau for a few minutes and because of that, the pirate deck party was canceled. The rest of the time it was basically sunny and warm, a little breezy. Again, I did have a good time and I did make the best out of a really lousy situation. I certainly didn't lock myself in my cabin and throw myself into the depth of despair. I had fun. For those of you who have cruised and made CC and are thinking some of us 2/27ers have issues, please reserve judgment until you have walked in our shoes and it has happend to you. It's very disheartening. I hope everyone who did cruise did have special moments to remember. I know I did.

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Throughout 8 months of grueling treatment in 2004 I dreamed of again taking that cruise, this time with a happier outlook and perspective. So we booked Disney cruise #2 shortly after I started treatment with a sail date 1 month after finishing. It was literally my light at the end of the tunnel.

All during chemotherapy, radiation treatments and support meetings I meditated and pictured myself on that ship (not on CC BTW). In August I boarded the Wonder with my family and barely any hair. To say I was happy to be there would be a major understatement because there were times I didn't know if I'd ever make it anywhere again. I honestly wouldn't have cared where we went; just being there was magical -almost spiritual - to me. We met a wonderful group of Disers and had a great sail.

My own experience has made me count my blessings more often and "not sweat the small stuff". (I hesitated to post this but hopefully it has meaning for someone).

Linda -- Thank you for sharing... My DH was diagnosed with cancer less than a year after we were married and spent all last winter/spring/summer with chemo and radiation -- that is why we booked our 2/5/05 cruise and called it the Celebration Cruise 2005. It was important to have something to look forward to and our cruise was DH's "happy place". We didn't make it to CC on our Celebration Cruise and I was disappointed but like you, I was just counting my blessings that our journey through cancer was over and we spent the rest of our day at sea doing just what we came there for -- celebrating! God bless.

Stacy

 

[BeenHad]

Linda & Stacy, both of your stories are heartwarming and put life into perspective. I am happy for the both of you. I wish the very best for you and your families. I can empathize with your situations completely and first hand but I will not elaborate any further.

We never lost sight of what is important in life or our priorities. Everyone is grateful we were able to do this and had a good time. As a critical care flight paramedic I know tragedy all too well every single day. Everyone made the best of the situation and moved forward to enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Again, without being overly redundant, we were extremely disappointed and feel as though the price you pay for the Disney experience was not worth it without CC. A decent discount on future cruises would be more than appopriate from DCL and nothing was offered. Our kids are older and they could care less about the characters. I hardly saw our kids anyway except for dinner and in Nassau because they were glued to the Oceaneers Lab and the Teen Aloft with all of the friends they made. This cruise was for them, not for me and the choice for DCL was made due to CC. Hence the disappointment.

I don't know why everyone thinks we had a bad time and this ruined the cruise, it did not ruin our vacation. I hope everyone's DCL experience is first rate in the future, ours was good but not what is was built up to be by DCL without CC. They have issues with CC and the ship that should be addressed.

 

[BeenHad]

just posting to keep this thread alive. It usually brings out information that would not normally be out there. (i don't like that last sentence)

 

[fireplug]

We have been shut out of CC on one of our 4 DCL cruises. We didnt think it necesssry to offer us a discount for another cruise. Our Captain tried 3 times to dock and it just didnt happen. Oh well. Sometimes things happen due to mother nature. We dont feel that Disney should pony up because Mother Nature kept us out of CC. The ships dock there far more often then they miss. I dont anticipate any change in their policy towrds missing CC.


Steve

 

[lbgraves]

The double dip CC cruises were announced along with a port change to Costa Maya when the 2006 schedule was announced last year. I think that there is one a month. If it was due to the possibility of missing CC then they would have changed all of them so that reasoning doesn't seem very valid. People who have cruised DCL several times simply wanted different ports & more time at CC.

 

[BeenHad]

I have been searching the internet finding reviews of other DCL cruisers on their own websites, travel websites and multiple blogs.

ONE COMMON THREAD STANDS OUT:

The inability of the ships to dock at Castaway Cay.

I am sorry I did not do my homework better prior to booking the cruise.

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Linda & Stacy, both of your stories are heartwarming and put life into perspective. I am happy for the both of you. I wish the very best for you and your families. I can empathize with your situations completely and first hand but I will not elaborate any further.

We never lost sight of what is important in life or our priorities. Everyone is grateful we were able to do this and had a good time. As a critical care flight paramedic I know tragedy all too well every single day. Everyone made the best of the situation and moved forward to enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Again, without being overly redundant, we were extremely disappointed and feel as though the price you pay for the Disney experience was not worth it without CC. A decent discount on future cruises would be more than appopriate from DCL and nothing was offered. Our kids are older and they could care less about the characters. I hardly saw our kids anyway except for dinner and in Nassau because they were glued to the Oceaneers Lab and the Teen Aloft with all of the friends they made. This cruise was for them, not for me and the choice for DCL was made due to CC. Hence the disappointment.

I don't know why everyone thinks we had a bad time and this ruined the cruise, it did not ruin our vacation. I hope everyone's DCL experience is first rate in the future, ours was good but not what is was built up to be by DCL without CC. They have issues with CC and the ship that should be addressed.

Beenhad -- Please don't misunderstand -- I was VERY disappointed that we missed Castaway Cay - I am ashamed of how incredibly disappointed I was and that I cried over missing a day on the beach. I know how wonderful it is but DD10 was on her first cruise and I was upset for all of us. I agree that I don't know if I would book Disney at the prices they charge if I didn't think we would go to CC (even while I decided to just make the best of the day that we did in fact miss there). I feel for you and your family and do NOT disagree with what you say...I was probably more upset than most (and again, ashamed to say so, particularly after the struggles we faced just last year). In any case, nothing will bring back that day now and in the end, I'm glad we were able to make the best of it (as I'm sure you did as well). I know it is sometimes difficult, but try to look on the bright side -- you did have an enjoyable family vacation that (aside from missing CC) I'm sure has many happy memories.

Stacy

 

[mamalle]

i'm so sorry you missed CC and I think that disney should of compensated their guests some way. It is one of their main attractions that you are paying for and what a disappointment for you and your family when you couldnt dock at the port. we live in south fla and go to the beach quite often- CC is by far one of our favorites. we talked about how we wish we could of stayed there longer. I did talk to stephanie and she told me there is a demand for the two day CC and they had added some for the western cruises in 2006. It was far to steep of a price for us to pay so we booked the week prior in May. I do know this- I will never sail in Feb again. it was pretty rough and chilly at times. I'm just glad we were able to dock. I couldnt even imagine getting almost to the dock and turning away. How awful for you all.

 

[Asil65]

I am not a ship expert but if the Captain is unable to dock have the people tender into castaway cay. More work for the crew but happier passengers. Lisa

 

[lbgraves]

The ship has to dock at CC. They hook up the computer/power system to the island so you can use your KTTW cards at the gift shops on the island. You will also see forklifts on the dock as you pull up. They unload provisions including lunch for Cookies from the ship.

 

[gavin'sgrannie]

I sailed on the 2/27 Wonder. The experience was good but I found out I'm no sailor. I was disappointed about not landing on CC because I looked forward to enjoying the sea and sand beach with my daughter and grandson. I also had planned to send postcards to my nine grandchildren back in Minnesota in addition to purchasing souvenirs for them.
I am 'gavinsmom's mom and I know positively that she rates our cruise in her top 10 of fun experiences.
I was planning on cruising with my husband to Alaska in the fall but will choose a land tour instead. Another aside, most Minnesotans don't cruise in the summer because it's so beautiful here at that time of year. We cruise and also flee to warm destinations in Feb. and March to regenerate ourselves. On researching sailing at this time of year we were led to believe that this was a good time to go for non-turbulent seas.
Land Lubber

 

[briarroseALS]

I had no idea that people missed CC like this? I thought the only time it was missed was when the hurricanes hit. I went in 4-17-04 and I would have been so upset if we didnt get to go to CC! I live in Florida but our beaches are so different. What did you end up doing all day?

 

[Stinasmom]

I am going to try to be nice here and maybe it is a case of not knowing what I am missing, but why all the whining about missing CC? Isn't the cruise itself vacation enough? Compensation for missing it? really?
We are sailing on our very first cruise in June. We chose DCL because we have 2 small kids and want adult time too...and I love Disney. We are going on one of the WEST COAST itineraries...CC was not even an option or consideration and (despite paying the same or more for my 7 night cruise) I don't feel cheated.
As has been stated before, DCL cannot control weather or sea conditions. CC sounds really fun and billed as a plus for choosing Disney, but the emotions over not getting to go...wow.
I am employing my friendly firefighters now:

 

[briarroseALS]

I must confess I would be one of the whinners.. I love going to CC. CC is my favorite part of the trip besides all the shopping on the other ports. I have a ten year old and this is the only port she really enjoys. She would rather stay on the ship for the other ports. CC gives us a chance to just enjoy eachother all day. I know, I know..too mushy....

 

[my3princesses]

I had no idea that people missed CC like this? I thought the only time it was missed was when the hurricanes hit. I went in 4-17-04 and I would have been so upset if we didnt get to go to CC! I live in Florida but our beaches are so different. What did you end up doing all day?

We unfortunately had two days at sea with basically the same navagator so we really didn't have anything new to do. The pools were full so basically we sat around all day, went to a movie, nothing nearly as exciting as CC would be.

STINASMOM - if you read the posts before you, you would see that those of us who come from the north and have few experiences of going to a nice beach where you can snorkel plus take these February holidays to get away from the cold and snow look at CC as a very important part of the trip (and for us one of the main reasons why we chose a cruise). By missing CC in 3 tries we have decided to never cruise again. We spent $13000 in total on this trip and could have spent $8000 to go to an all inclusive resort which we will go back to doing, all for the use of the beach. Don't get me wrong as we love the Disney aspect of the trip just not the fact that we are so reliant on the weather for so much of it to make it worth while.

 

[deedz]

I am so flip/flop on this issue, i try to look on the bright side, and enjoy all the time spent onboard, i totally agree that because we couldnt dock at CC on a sunny beautiful day that the pools were extremely packed and not worth it. I have been checking other cruise lines (sorry Disney) and seem to be able to get much more cruise time for the dollar, and lobster tails!

I'm not put off by cruising, I loved it... Just dont know if the food, activities, were really worth it. Now that I've been there dont it, I dont know if I should try a seven day or switch cruiselines.?

 

[emtowle]

I am so flip/flop on this issue, i try to look on the bright side, and enjoy all the time spent onboard, i totally agree that because we couldnt dock at CC on a sunny beautiful day that the pools were extremely packed and not worth it. I have been checking other cruise lines (sorry Disney) and seem to be able to get much more cruise time for the dollar, and lobster tails!

I'm not put off by cruising, I loved it... Just dont know if the food, activities, were really worth it. Now that I've been there dont it, I dont know if I should try a seven day or switch cruiselines.?

I'm going to say that the decision to stay with Disney or go with a different line is going to be very personal based upon what you want to get out of the cruise. Some people definitely feel that the Disney experience is what it's about, others don't.

We've cruised on Princess twice before and went on Disney this time as an introduction to our daughter to see how it worked out. We figured Disney would have the kid appeal and the CC stop was not a factor in our decision to go on the Wonder.

We enjoyed our cruise, we were sad to miss the island; We did find out that DD likes cruises. On Princess there were many many more activities during the day (to the point where you frequently had to choose between one or another, and it wasn't necessarily an easy choice). On Disney, while there were activities throughout the day they didn't seem as varied as I was accustomed to.

If we go on another Disney cruise it will be a 7 day, but that is because _we_ like the longer cruise, not that the 4 day was a problem, I just want more time to be pampered Our next cruise, whatever line, will be a 7 day trip.

 

[dragon1]

We were on 2/27/05 Wonder cruise. We were also disappointed that we missed CC for two days. Did anyone hear any reimbursment from Disney Cruise Line? I heared this while were on the ship. Is this true that we will get some money back or discount for the future cruise?

 

[BeenHad]

There were many disappointed people. Unfortunately DCL made no offer for any sort of discount on a future cruise or anything. Very unhappy.