Missing Castaway Cay - Captain's Comments?

[BuzzMan]

Over the past several months (and probably before that) there have been a number of threads started by folks who have been disappointed/frustrated by the inability of the Magic/Wonder to dock at Castaway Cay. Since that has not happened on the three crusies that I have been on, I can only imagine how disappointing that must be . In many of the threads there has been what I consider to be speculation about why the ship could not dock and what could be done to improve the odds. I have also seen at least one thread that included statistics suggesting that missing Castaway Cay is a rare occurance. I was wondering if there is a way we could persuade the Disney Captain(s) to provide some sort of commentary regarding the factors (not just the obvious ones) that impact the ability of the ship to dock and some statistics. In fact, I think it would be great to have commentary provided in many areas. A lot of DIS members consider this board to be an extension of the actual cruise experience and commentary level participation by appropriate CMs would enhance the experience.

1) Are there others out there who would be interested in this? Any opinions regarding a potential negative impact on the value of this board?

2) Any suggestions on how to go about making it happen? I know that several DIS members have access to high ranking DCL management and would welcome any assistance thay can provide. To those responsible for the management of these boards, is this a realistic possibility?

Thanks for reading this!

 

[mmouse37]

Do you mean have actual CM's/Captain commenting/participating on this board....or ONBOARD during the cruises that miss CC?

If it is the first one, I would think DCL would decline to participate. I know DCL management reads these boards...if they keep up on it day to day I do not know, but I certainly know they read it at times.

I know the Captain usually makes announcements as to why they cannot dock. Their main goal is to dock and it would only be due weather or unsafe sea conditions that would keep them from docking. I am sure they do not make that decision lightly. We have been very lucky...only missed CC once in 13 cruises.

 

[justmestace]

Cast members, crew members and the Captains are allowed to read these boards (and they do) but they are NOT allowed to respond on the boards.

If the Captain decides that it is not safe or practical to dock at Castaway Cay, the reason is usually announced throughout the ship. Guaranteed, DCL is not about to have all those paying customers miss out on spending their money at their exclusive island if there is not an absolutely good reason.
While I can fully understand being disappointed at not seeing Castaway Cay, I cannot understand being angry or feeling the need to be "compensated". The lives and safety of those on board are far more important than visiting Castaway Cay.

 

[krdisneybound]

I definitely and absolutely agree with the above two posts. Safety first and foremost.

 

[BethC1952]

The only way I would expect to be compensated for missing CC (or any other port, for that matter) is if it DIDN'T say specifically in the cruise contract (which is part of your documents) that the ports can be changed or cancelled (can't find my doc package right now) for reasons of safety. I would never have gone on my first cruise without reading every word of that package, and I read it every time I receive one, so that I know what I'm signing. I would much rather be safe and miss a port.

During a presentation on the workings of the ship during our cruise in November, one of the senior staff members said that the ship cannot dock at CC if the winds are above a certain speed, or if ocean conditions do not permit. Don't forget that the surface of the water doesn't always indicate the conditions just below the surface. As a resident of the Jersey Shore, I am very aware of things like riptides which can't be seen from the surface, which may appear perfectly smooth, and yet entering the water can be life-threatening. I have total confidence in the Captain's ability to steer the ship, to navigate the currents to the best of his ability. If he says we don't go to CC (or anywhere else for that matter!) I'll take his word for it!

Beth

 

[justmestace]

The only way I would expect to be compensated for missing CC (or any other port, for that matter) is if it DIDN'T say specifically in the cruise contract (which is part of your documents) that the ports can be changed or cancelled (can't find my doc package right now) for reasons of safety.
Beth

I'm confused......did you mean that you WOULD expect to be compensated, even if the Captain made a decision that could save lives, if it weren't specifically written into a contract?
This is a stupid comparison, but that's like having someone say that they thought it was okay to have a picnic in YOUR backyard because you don't have a "No Trespassing" sign in your yard. Common sense would tell them that they can't have a picnic in your yard.
Common sense should tell people that if it isn't safe, you may not be able to get to a certain port. I don't think it needs to be in writing.

 

[BuzzMan]

Just to clarify, my thought was not that CM's would participate in the actual threads. What I was suggesting is that they might be able to provide comments (factual) on topics that were raised on this board. The DIS participants would not be able to respond directly to the CM with comments or questions. Since, as has been indicated, CM's do read the boards, it would be left to management to decide what to comment on.

The Castaway Cay docking topic was just one example of a situation where commentary could be provided and I did not mean for this thread to turn into another debate over compensation.

The whole idea may not be a good one (or may just not be possible). Just wanted to see what everyones thoughts were.

 

[justmestace]

I wish there was a way that they could comment....that's a good idea. I've had the Captains and other Cm's comment on things they've read here, when we were at the parks or on the ship. Some of what is said here is bothersome to them....and some think that there are some GREAT ideas tossed around here!

 

[TDC Nala]

I took one DCL cruise, back in January 2003, and we did not dock at Castaway Cay. The captain explained it over the intercom or whatever you call it by saying the weather and the rough seas made it impossible to dock the ship.

Of course it was disappointing, but I didn't require any further explanation, and I don't know anyone on the ship who did. I can't imagine why anyone would. I didn't even think about compensation.

 

[BethC1952]

"I'm confused......did you mean that you WOULD expect to be compensated, even if the Captain made a decision that could save lives, if it weren't specifically written into a contract?"

If that language didn't appear in the contract (which it does), then I can see how some people would think that compensation might be in order, because the contract would be guaranteeing certain ports. However, the language does exist, and I agree 100% that it should be there, to allow the Captain to make whatever changes he (or she) would think were necessary to assure the safety of the people on board, the safety of the ship, and even the safety of the people on the shore who would be assisting with the docking. This way, the Captain doesn't feel any financial pressure (in the form of having to allow refunds or credits) when difficult decisions are made regarding the safety of the ships.

Beth

 

[BeenHad]

I don't think that anyone wants safety to be compromised to get into CC by any means, shape or form.

The issue and we are seeing many come out to tell us is that CC is not a guarantee and it might just be missed more than you think. This needs to be disclosed during your booking. If they were to eliminate the CC stop altogether you would see a steady drop of bookings because at that point they are no longer anywhere near competitive with other cruise lines.

1) Castaway Cay is not set up properly for routine weather docking. It appears as though anything less than picture perfect weather prohibits the ship from docking.

2) Castaway Cay is heavily marketed by DCL to keep the bookings coming. It is a dirty little secret that they do miss it in routine weather. Look at the picture from the attempt on 3/2/2005 in another thread with sunny skies an <2 foot seas. So close yet unable to dock. These were not gale force winds, thunderstorms or violent weather patterns,........just a normal day. There should be some responsibility from DCL to offer some sort of a discount on future cruises PERIOD. Do you think this is going to break their piggy bank? Absolutely not, this is a for profit company. Why many of you are jumping onto DCL's defense wagon is beyond me. All that said they would not want a discount were already to CC.

You would swear that Disney is signing your paychecks.

 

[HappyLawyer]

I can olny add a legal perspective to why the capitan and members cannot directly respond. First i am sure the company has a publicity department to handle certain and specific questions, next anything they said-typed-refered to could be held against them, when things are said they can be left to be clarified in any manner so their non response would probably be so they are not held liable for anyting.

 

[TDC Nala]

Do you honestly think they're skipping Castaway Cay just to screw over the customers?

 

[BeenHad]

TDC Nala, are you reading the same thread everyone else is? What kind of question was that last post? Who would think that anyone would skip a port to cause problems with customers? Helloo.............is anybody in there?

 

[DisneyElf]

We missed it on our last cruise due to impact of Hurricane Frances -- the 9/7 Magic Cruise.

In reading the boards lately - it seems they have missed docking more since the hurricanes - perhaps due to the damage they need to clear the channel more. I know there used to be chart on how many times they missed during different months.

I am sure that DCL will be able to work on the problems while the Magic is o the West Coast.

 

[justmestace]

You would swear that Disney is signing your paychecks.

I don't see any of us here jumping to anyone's defense. What I said was that I didn't see where anything should HAVE to be in writing....common sense works perfectly well.
But now that our world has become so sue-happy, I can see where everything needs to be "in writing".
I don't know about anyone else, but I never booked my first DCL cruise based on Castaway Cay. In fact, I think CC is boring. Maybe that's why I wouldn't need to be compensated if we missed it.
Beenhad has a good point. Speaking as a business owner, maybe DCL should offer a discount to those who missed CC. That way, DCL would be guaranteed to make even more money off of those people who would re-book to get to use their discount!! What a brilliant money making idea!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

So let's assume DCL agrees and does compensate passengers for missing CC. What happens, then, to the people who are unhappy about the kids clubs, the food, Palo, the nightclubs, the shows, the Spa, their second bath or their stateroom size - all things Disney also emphasizes in their marketing. Should they be compensated too?

In reading these boards there is a lot of disappointment in WDW resort stays sometimes too. Should those folks be compensated? Where would it end?

 

[my3princesses]

We were on the latest cruise (Feb 27) that missed CC. After trying 3 times on 2 days we couldn't get in. We were within feet from it!

I have posted my frustration over this as this was one of the primary reasons for taking the cruise HOWEVER I do not expect to be compensated as I completely understand why I should not. People have commented "then why would you cruise in February?" There are several cruises in February and January who did make it.

I would have loved to hear exactly why we couldn't make it in three times though. You would think since so many cruises do make it in we would have been able to luck out 1 of out 3! There were some waves but it was sunny and clear. You could see the ship struggling with power but we were so close!

 

[Rence]

Missing Castaway Cay is a lot like Stateroom Upgrades. If you read the boards here you are going to believe that both are a far more common occurrence than they really are. When these events occur, they get a lot of post time on the board, they are news because they don’t happen that often.

A while back a user on here did a very thorough job of researching docking statistics at CC. I wish I could find the thread. The user went cruise by cruise and I believe was able to eventually get information on every cruise the Magic and Wonder had sailed regarding whether or not it had docked at CC or not. It turned out to be a very very rare occurrence. It would be nice if the information could be updated to include statistics on the last couple of months.

Also realize there are two reasons why the ship doesn’t doc at CC. One is due to hurricane damage. The ship cannot doc for a few weeks after a hurricane hits the island. This has now happened a couple of times. The second reason is because of weather/sea conditions. I believe that of the two, more cruises have missed CC due to hurricane damage than have missed due to weather/sea conditions. The one big difference is that they know in advance if CC will be missed because of hurricane damage, so people are a little less upset. With weather/sea conditions they frequently can’t tell until the attempt is actually made, so it is a last minute change in plans which is far more upsetting to people.

 

[mmouse37]

Missing CC is just like missing any other port....we missed Grand Cayman due to high winds/waves....DCL did not compensate us, nor should they have (they did automatically reimburse everyone for their port charges for that island and refunded shore excursion money, as they should). But boy were people up in arms and yelling at Guest Service on how dare DCL miss a port!!!! Too bad this was not really DCL's decision....the Grand Cayman Port Authority would not let any ship anchor off GC that day.

Even though the weather was sunny that does not mean it as a "normal" day for docking at CC. There was obviously wind, wave or hurricane damage to the channel that prevented the latest miss at CC. Statistically the ships missing CC is very small. The Captain tries repeatedly....they do not take the decision to miss CC lightly.

DCL does market CC as the only private island in the industry that does not have to be tendered to....but it is not the sole focus of their marketing...it markets their kids club (biggest ones at sea), their rotational dining (the only ones at sea), etc. I agree with Pea-N-Me....where would it stop....everybody will be disappointed at some time in one thing or another on the cruise.....does DCL compensate for every little disappointment??? No. This is not a perfect world. Everyone should be prepared that ports may be missed or changed. It is the nature of the industry.

1) Castaway Cay is not set up properly for routine weather docking. It appears as though anything less than picture perfect weather prohibits the ship from docking.

The above statement is just not true....we went to CC several times when it was not a perfect, routine day at all. There must be several conditions that prevent the Captain from docking and we are not in his shoes and do not know all the circumstances. It may look like a routine day to us, but obviously it is not. I also don't think any more needs to be disclosed at booking....it is all in the brochure...people do need to take responsibility and do as much research on their vacation as possible to be prepared....you cannot leave it up to the resort, cruiseline, etc....and then when something goes wrong say...I didn't know...blah, blah, blah. With the internet and such there really is no reason why someone would cruise or vacation anywhere and not be aware that missed ports are a possibility.