not docking at CC

[jlkmn]

i have a question i was ready the Passporter and noticed it said for the months of january and february that sometime the seas are to rough and sometimes they dont dock at castaway cay.

my question how many times has this ever happen to anybody?

we are thinking of cruising in january but if we dont go to CC that wouldnt be to nice.

jen

 

[ThreeCircles]

Another regular poster on the Disney Cruise Line forum, Lloyd Dobler, has been keeping track of this very thing.

Check out this thread he started for more info: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=539967

If you want more info you could PM him as I'm sure he would be happy to talk to you about the subject.

 

[yourtravelpro]

It happened to me on the 12/04/03 sailing. It was too windy. It was a real bummer~

They compensated by giving free

 

[natdencro]

Would not worry too much. We have cruised 4 weeks around that time, and have had 4 lovely days at CC. Daughter (CM) has been on the ship 4 years, and missed very few days at the beautiful island. Its pot luck Im afraid. Nat

 

[inkkognito]

In 38 cruises, many of which are at that time of year (we cruise every Feb. for our anniversary and often in Jan. too), we have never missed a docking at Castaway Cay. But I think our luck is pretty extraordinary, and this year there was one cruise where I would have bet money that the ship would not dock. It took the captain an hour, but somehow he made it.
One January, we missed Grand Cayman because the rough seas would not allow tendering (we just went to Cozumel early instead).
Barb

 

[jgalecpa]

Based on Lloyd Dobler's excellent work I think it is safe to say, paraphrasing Samuel Clements"

The Fear of not docking at Castaway Cay is Greatly exagerrated

Jim

 

[staylor]

Do you just have a day at sea instead?

 

[soccercruiser87]

yes you have a day at sea instead

 

[jfs9900]

Why doesn't Disney move CC up a day? Like on the Magic sailing have CC on Thursday and leave Friday for a relaxing sea day after. That way if docking is not possible on Thursday they can always go in on Friday?!?!?!

 

[Rence]

On our first DCL cruise, which was a 4 day on the Magic (this is before 7 day cruises on the magic) we missed CC.

The weather was so cold and windy that we wouldn't have been able to enjoy CC even if we had docked.

CC was day 3 of the 4 day. So day 3 became a day at sea, they hoped that weather would improve enough so that we could dock the next day, but it wasn't to be. So they took us to Key West instead.

 

[RickW]

Originally posted by jfs9900
Why doesn't Disney move CC up a day? Like on the Magic sailing have CC on Thursday and leave Friday for a relaxing sea day after. That way if docking is not possible on Thursday they can always go in on Friday?!?!?!

They couldn't make it there on time. It is too far from St. Thomas to Castaway Cay to be there by Thursday morning. As it is, they leave St. Thomas fairly early to make it to CC by Friday morning.

The 4 day Wonder did, however move the CC day up a day, so it would be possible to try again the next day.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

I'm not at work, so I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, but jgalecpa summed it up pretty well. The odds are very much in your favor. I've accounted for every Magic cruise this year (except the one which should have called this past Friday), and the Magic is batting 1.000 so far (knock wood). I'm missing a handful of Wonder trips, but am able to account for about 85% of them for 2004. Of the trips I have a record for, only one has missed.

Overall, the ships dock at Castaway Cay over 95% of the time, so while it will indeed be a bummer if you do miss, it's very unlikely that you will.

I usually post an update every few months, so I can post the exact numbers when I get back to work next week. I'm taking Monday off to go to Disneyland, though.

 

[SNicksed]

We were on the 2/26/04 Wonder, which was our 1st cruise and we were unable to dock @ CC because of high winds.

 

[TheWog]

We cruise in January if not at least to just get away from the cold. I wouldn't not book because of that slim chance. Go with it and enjoy. We loved CC and the water was beautiful, but all the other ports were great and we loved being out in the sun and swimming on board when everyone else was at home freezing.....

 

[kcashner]

We sail in Jan/Feb frequently, and have always had a day at CC...although one time, it was too cool to enjoy.

THe chances of not being able to dock due to weather is in the range of 1-2%.

 

[kellib36]

Our very first cruise, in Jan '03 was CC'd out......they served free drinks in the afternoon, and we spent the day following several other ships in a big circle in VERY rough seas. In Sept '03, we got to CC, but the afternoon was rained out, and very chilly.

While it IS a bummer when it happens, you'd drive yourself nuts trying to decide when it would happen. Good luck, Kelli

 

[jlkmn]

thanks for all your answers.
we plan on going on january and will enjoy whatever the seas bring us.

jen

 

[snowiit]

Originally posted by SNicksed
We were on the 2/26/04 Wonder, which was our 1st cruise and we were unable to dock @ CC because of high winds.

Our first cruise, 12/29/02 we were unable to dock at CC because of high winds. I believe they tried 3 times to dock but just couldn't do it safely. Our second cruise 8/17/03 we were able to. Both were on 4 night Wonder cruises. I was so glad that if we had to miss CC it was on our first cruise... we didn't know at the time just what we were missing!<G>

Nancy

 

[SNicksed]

Originally posted by snowiit
Our first cruise, 12/29/02 we were unable to dock at CC because of high winds. I believe they tried 3 times to dock but just couldn't do it safely. Our second cruise 8/17/03 we were able to. Both were on 4 night Wonder cruises. I was so glad that if we had to miss CC it was on our first cruise... we didn't know at the time just what we were missing!<G>

Nancy

Yeah, It's also giving us a good reason to go back so soon...