No Castaway Cay On 10/23/03 Cruise!!!!!!!!!!

[Stepharoonie!]

 

[Hygiene99]

Could u not just make the best of what u had??

Relaxing and spending time together.....
we Just went on the Magic and did not need to have any excursions , we just went off the ship bought t shirt and came back on the ship .....................
Wow sorry u r so pissed off.....

 

[Cruisin]

What about the rest of the time you spent on the ship?
There must have been some good parts to it?
So you didn't get to Castaway Cay, now you have a reason to go back on another cruise.
Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and take things how they come. At least you had time away together. Think back and try to remember the good parts of your trip and maybe your disappointment will be less about the bad parts.
I know how much you were looking forward to this cruise, I am sorry that it didn't work out the way you had hoped it would.

Robin

 

[christinou]

Why was the trip a complete waste of time?????
we went on a 3 day and just loved it, what made your trip so bad.
I am sorry that the ship could not dock at CC, unfortunately Disney is not in charge of weather, and 32 knots winds seems really high......

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by Stepharoonie!
I have to admit, I'm SUPER pissed off right now.....
The trip was a total, complete waste of time...
<crying> ...........
something needs to be done to actually allow you to be able to dock if something happens...

Please don't everyone jump on me..................it's just not fair that it seems almost everyone else was able to have a wonderful, magical trip on this board. I, in return of preparing way ahead of time/plannin/saving/wishing/hoping, feel like I was s--- on.

I have literally been crying off an on since yesterday. So much for my romantic trip.

I can imagine being disappointed in not being able to dock at Castaway Cay. I cannot, however, fathom your reaction to the rest of the trip as having no value whatsoever. I don't think that you can blame Disney either for the weather nor for your apparent dislike of crusing. Perhaps in all of your planning you should have simply booked three days at a beach resort if you did not want to cruise. The ship has many, many opportunities for romantic moments and it is odd that you were not able to appreciate any of them.

Sorry, I am generally a sympathetic person and am truly sorry you didn't get to go to Castaway Cay, but am shaking my head at how you consider the trip such a failure because you didn't have the chance to spend eight hours on the beach there.........

 

[ohiominnie]

Was everything fine until you learned of not docking at CC?

That seems to be where the most dissapointment is, not docking there and then not being able to dock at Freeport.

I was just on a 3 day cruise. We got on Thursday, had the rest of the day on the ship, then had ALL of Friday...

So what happened with those two days? Was there nothing good that happened for two whole days up to the point of learning there would be no docking at CC?

I've read several peoples trip reports where they too could not dock at CC. Their attitude was "well, gotta book another cruise." You have to be careful what expectations you go in with because if something doesn't go exactly your way, and you are unable to roll with the punches, you'll hate it.

I have yet to go on a cruise where we have a "day at sea." I'm actually a bit jealous of your trip as I'd love to just spend the time on the ship, enjoy lounging on deck 4 in the blue comfy chairs, catch a movie and not feel like I'm "missing something."

Oh well, sorry you're ticked off. Maybe next time you should try a Carnival cruise

 

[gonna go cruising]

Steph, I am sorry CC didnt work out. It will be one of the highlights of our trip, but there are so many other things to do that we will just have to suck it up and move on if we cant dock. Thats not to say we wont be very disappointed but I am sure Disney would have docked if it had been possible. Hopefully time will make you all feel better about it.

 

[Cindyluwho]

I must admit I was very disappointed the first time we sailed with Disney because we couldn't dock at Castaway Cay. Even though I knew the odds were slim before we boarded the boat. From what I understand at certain times of the year, mainly fall and winter, the odds of docking at CC are about 50%. The second time we sailed on the Magic we were able to dock but the weather was like a Hurricane. High winds, lots of rain....so we went snorkeling. The weather doesn't really affect you when you're already wet

I have to say, though, that it certainly didn't damage my image of the cruise in the least when the boat couldn't dock. We had a blast! The cruise director had tons of stuff lined up to do. You know what they say "When life hands you lemons....add vodka, ice and shake well".

I do wish that Disney would either fix the docking problem on CC or be more honest with people who are sailing so there would be no surprises.

 

[strasfamily]

Wow - that was so disappointing to read. I'm sure there must have been something good about the cruise. After all, Castaway Cay was just one day. What else did you do on board?

 

[WDWLVR]

Our first cruise we couldn't dock at Castaway Cay either. We got close enough to drop off supplies but the island was wrecked from a recent hurricane. Did it disappoint us? Sure Did it wreck our cruise? No Way!

I think the problem is that some people focus so much on Castaway Cay that when they do miss it then the whole cruise is soured for them. Sad really. There is so much more to the cruising experience than the one island - no matter how wonderful it is.

Look back at the times before that happened - did you have fun at sailaway? Singing with the characters? Having a sailaway drink?

How about your dinners? Was the staff attentive? Did you have your choice of a wonderful selection of foods?

Were you enjoying yourself when those pictures were taken?

What about the clubs? Did you go and enjoy yourself there?

To some people, my in-laws for example, the destination is everything. They don't take the time to enjoy the journey.

Only you can make each experience magical.

Sorry you couldn't find the magic in your cruise.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by Cindyluwho
I do wish that Disney would either fix the docking problem on CC or be more honest with people who are sailing so there would be no surprises.

Disney does this....If you read your cruise contract in your documents #31 says:

If the performance of the proposed voyage is hindered or prevented (or in the opinion of the Carrier or the Master, is likely to be hindered or prevented) by war, hostilites, blockage, labor conflicts, weather, surf, shallow waters, insurrections, disturbances (on board or ashore), restraint of any Governmental Authority, breakdown of the Vessel, congestion, docking difficulties or any other cause whatsoever, or if the Carrier or the Master in their sole discretion consider that for any reason whatsoever, beyond the control of the Carrier, proceeding to, attempting to enter, or entering or remaining at any port may expose the Vessel or persons to risk of harm, loss or damage or be likely to delay the Vessel, the Guest and his property may be landed at the port of embarkation or at any port or place at which the Vessel may call; and in that event, the responsibility of the Carrier shall cease and this Cruise Contract shall be deemed to have been fully performed, or if the Guest has not embarked, the Carrier may cancel the proposed voyage without liabilty except to refund money or fares paid.

Whew! Disney makes it clear (in legal-ease) that they are not required to dock at CC nor do anything to make you happy after not docking at CC.

You think THAT one is scary...keep reading your Cruise Contract....#29 says they can substitue another vessel! Imagine showing up at the port and you have to get on something OTHER than the Wonder or the Magic....

HTH.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by WDWLVR
How about your dinners? Was the staff attentive? Did you have your choice of a wonderful selection of foods?

I hope that you did not skip tips for these people because of your dissapointment in not docking at CC. After all, it was not your room steward's or server's fault!!

 

[Cindyluwho]

Ohiominnie, the cruise brochure states that they're not liable if they can't dock the ship. What it doesn't state is that the odds that it will or will not happen. I was very surprised to learn that the ship doesn't dock at CC approx 50% of the time during the fall and winter. As much as Disney promotes Castaway Cay in all their cruise literature and in the adds it seems ethically murkey to me. They're busy promoting their "private paradise" and the main event of the cruise and odds are you might not get to go. It's very disappointing. That being said, the ship is a blast, and it in NO way ruined my trip when we couldn't dock there. It sounds to me like the original poster had a lousy experience on the cruise (I can't imagine how) and Castaway Cay was the final blow.

 

[TheGlensideGregorys]

What are you - 12???

I can understand being disappointed - as many folks have pointed out. I have crusie itinerary changed on another cruise line due to weather. I've had flights delayed, and even been laid over in an airport. Is it frustrating - yes!

BUT...

In this case - 1 day is going to ruin your cruise? If you and boyfriend couldn't find any romantic memories in the OTHER 2 days of cruising, I think you're kidding yourself if you think Castaway Cay was going to give you the "MAGIC". Like others said, it's hard to believe that this one thing ruins the other 2 days.

Way to throw the baby out with the bath water...

 

[noseybuddy]

Why doesn't Disney have boats that come out to the ship and take you back to the island? When I cruised on Carnival way back in 1982, we didn't pull into the dock, they had boats that came and got people and took them to the port. Am I missing something, why can't this be done?

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by Cindyluwho
Ohiominnie, the cruise brochure states that they're not liable if they can't dock the ship. What it doesn't state is that the odds that it will or will not happen.

I don't think Disney has to list the odds of it happening.

I, too, am surprised that it's only 50% in the fall and winter. Where did you get these stats? It surprises me b/c while I've heard of people not being able to dock at CC, it seems like it's few and far between. Either that or it's a side note "we didn't dock at CC, and were disappointed, but we still had fun."

 

[TheGlensideGregorys]

well maybe half of that 50% shrug it off, and the other half have life-altering, devastating ends to the entire vacation...

 

[Penny12]

Geez Louise - I guess everyone left their sympathy gene turned off today

Well, I can understand you being a bit upset and really, where better to vent than <i>here?</i> You'd been looking forward to CC and didn't get it - but not only that...you couldn't go off and do lots of fun things on the ship that day, because you were seasick from the rough weather. If I can think of 2 single things to put a dampner on any vacation it's the weather and being ill!

That said, I do agree that it was just 1 day of your trip that was affected. Hopefully, once the initial disappointment fades a bit, gain a little perspective and you'll see something good remains from the 2 previous days cruising that'll make you smile and be ready and raring to try another one

 

[Ginny]

Steph -

It is so obvious that Castaway Cay was a focal point of your cruise. I am so sorry that you missed it! We have actually only made it on 1 of our 3 cruises but I hate to publicize it because my fellow Christmas Cruisers may boot us off the ship.

Once you can put some distance between yourself and the disappointment of missing Castaway Cay and the extra, unplanned Sea Day, I hope you will be able to remember other pleasant memories and see things from a different perspective.

Our first cruise was the cruise to nowhere because we got to none of our ports..................and had to be bussed three hours back to Port Canaveral. It was a colorful adventure but we really look back on it fondly.

Take care -

 

[lulu201]

C'mon, everyone, can't you tell the lady needs a shoulder to cry on? If you've spent months dreaming of that white sand beach and a romantic time with your loved one, of course you're going to be disappointed! And as for just "gotta book another cruise," well, sometimes time and money aren't that easy to come by!

I'm sorry, Steph, that your vacation wasn't what you'd hoped it would be. . .hopefully, with some time and distance between you and this experience you'll be able to look back and recall some happy memories. Maybe just one?