inkkognito
<font color=green>I shall call him Mini-Me<br><fon
- Joined
- Nov 22, 1999
- Messages
- 14,450
DH and I sailed for the first time since the new Castaway Club tiers were implemented. We've jokingly referred to ourselves as platinum members for years now, so it was interesting to see what the official Platinum Castaway Club was like. This was our 70th Disney sailing, so it was fun to experience something new:
Port: You can check in at the concierge desk, but they have apparently stopped priority boarding. If that continues, it may be a better bet to check in at the regular desk or Silver/Gold Castaway Club. The concierge check-in line took longer because there were a lot of people and only a couple of windows. The regular line was relatively short, and with a ton of windows it moved very fast. Use your own judgement, as that varies by time of day (we got there pretty early). You get your Platinum lanyard (or Gold or Silver as the case might be). I've never been big on lanyards, but I like the plastic pouch on this one better than the old ones; I think it's bigger.
Castaway Club gifts: All members get the same basic stateroom gift, which is a tote bag, water bottles and rice krispie treats shaped like flops. Platinum members have chocolate truffles, a luggage strap and a document holder waiting for them at turndown. You also get to choose a cheese plate, fruit plate, shrimp or champagne to be delivered on Castaway Cay day (we were on the three-day...it might be a different day on the longer cruises). We opted for the champagne, since more food seems like overkill.
Palo: You also get a free Palo meal; we got a call to book this before we sailed, and it was a very smooth process. It was apparently in the computer so there were no hassles at check time.
Experiences: We had the choice of a backstage theater tour or animal program experience on Castaway Cay. We opted to see the theater, which was way cool because you actually get to ride the lift. There were no costumes as others have reported; I think that's only on the Magic. We only had six people (including us) in our group, so we had lots of time to talk to the various managers. You can't take any photos while you are up on stage. This wasn't hugely different than the old general tour except for riding the lift and the low number of people. We loved it because we like any backstage type of stuff.
From what I gather, the animal program is a chance to talk with the head person out by the stingrays on Castaway Cay. With a smaller group it should be much more personalized and in-depth than the spiel you get at the beginning of the stingray snorkel.
All in all, it was fun to see the enhancements Disney has made to the program. It's quite a change from our second Disney cruise, when there was no party nor anything else! I was sorry we didn't get to see the new Castaway Club party, but we're doing #71 in December and it's a four-day, so we can check it out then.
Port: You can check in at the concierge desk, but they have apparently stopped priority boarding. If that continues, it may be a better bet to check in at the regular desk or Silver/Gold Castaway Club. The concierge check-in line took longer because there were a lot of people and only a couple of windows. The regular line was relatively short, and with a ton of windows it moved very fast. Use your own judgement, as that varies by time of day (we got there pretty early). You get your Platinum lanyard (or Gold or Silver as the case might be). I've never been big on lanyards, but I like the plastic pouch on this one better than the old ones; I think it's bigger.
Castaway Club gifts: All members get the same basic stateroom gift, which is a tote bag, water bottles and rice krispie treats shaped like flops. Platinum members have chocolate truffles, a luggage strap and a document holder waiting for them at turndown. You also get to choose a cheese plate, fruit plate, shrimp or champagne to be delivered on Castaway Cay day (we were on the three-day...it might be a different day on the longer cruises). We opted for the champagne, since more food seems like overkill.
Palo: You also get a free Palo meal; we got a call to book this before we sailed, and it was a very smooth process. It was apparently in the computer so there were no hassles at check time.
Experiences: We had the choice of a backstage theater tour or animal program experience on Castaway Cay. We opted to see the theater, which was way cool because you actually get to ride the lift. There were no costumes as others have reported; I think that's only on the Magic. We only had six people (including us) in our group, so we had lots of time to talk to the various managers. You can't take any photos while you are up on stage. This wasn't hugely different than the old general tour except for riding the lift and the low number of people. We loved it because we like any backstage type of stuff.
From what I gather, the animal program is a chance to talk with the head person out by the stingrays on Castaway Cay. With a smaller group it should be much more personalized and in-depth than the spiel you get at the beginning of the stingray snorkel.
All in all, it was fun to see the enhancements Disney has made to the program. It's quite a change from our second Disney cruise, when there was no party nor anything else! I was sorry we didn't get to see the new Castaway Club party, but we're doing #71 in December and it's a four-day, so we can check it out then.
Wowza!! 70 Disney cruises??? I am sorry, but you should be blowing platinum out the window, I think they need to give you your very own special category! Diamond!! or Pixie Dust!! If I had such a loyal customer I'd give you your own designated table anywhere you want....just reading your posts gives me confidence that we might actually have a great time on our first Disney (any cruise) cruise! Disney is doing something right to get your re-bookings!! And I firmly believe you and those in the similar sailing category deserve priority seating/check in!! I think anyone who sails over 50x on a Disney ship should have their own gate person....glad you had a great trip and at least got some goodies to celebrate with!!
