Weather can affect Disney Dream Castaway

[NerdyDad]

I am so disappointed in Disney Cruise Line. Our family loves the beach and loved our first visit to Castaway Cay. This year we took the Disney Dream to Castaway Cay, but tides and wind caused the ship to not be able to dock. The ship tried 4 times but was unsuccessful. We wasted the whole day for the boat to dock, and my two older boys were in tears, by wife was upset because she had prepared for the Castaway 5K, and my parents wanted to take the kids on a bike ride around the island. We heard many other guests on the ship complain about how disappointed they were also. I read online that sometimes the ship will try once and then take the guests to some other island to enjoy a beach. This ship and crew decided to try four times and then spend the rest of the time at sea. If you have ever been on the Dream, you know that the ship (especially deck 11) is super crowded and because of the design and the size of the ship,many crew members seem tired and complain about the working conditions. I emailed Disney Cruise line after the trip to inform them of the issue, and I received a response back stating that the cruise contract and terms and conditions state that the trip can be changed at the cruise lines discretion. They also informed me that there will be no special compensation for the loss in value to their guests that this caused. Out of curiosity I looked at the Disney Cruise line mission statement and it talks about how Disney is an entertainment and information company that sells products to maximize profit. I suppose long term growth, customer value, customer satisfaction, family fun, are no longer a part of Disney's culture, value, or mission. I wonder what Walt would have thought of the current mission statement. I know that my wife and I are both crushed. We have fond memories of our parents taking us to Disneyland and Disneyworld when we were young, but it seems that Disney doesn't care if your family doesn't have a good experience with their services. I responded to Disney and stated that terms and conditions and contract may state that the schedule can change, but that the right thing to do was to help all the disappointed customers that expected to be at Castaway Cay that day.



Be warned, Disney can skip Castaway Cay, and Disney will not do anything to make the situation right.

 

[Trera]

This is more common than you think...........especially from November to March. There is actually a pole on here to see what months are most likely to have CC skipped due to uncooperative weather.

It is a risk we all know is possible when we book our cruises.

Sorry for your disappointment.

 

[wilma-bride]

I would have been disappointed also and, in all honesty, would have felt like complaining too. But DCL do say that weather and other circumstances can cause them to have to change their itinerary so, sadly, it is just one of those unfortunate things.

 

[lanejudy]

Here's another recent thread about missing Castaway Cay: http://www.disboards.com/threads/refund-for-not-going-to-castaway-cay.3380088/

I'm very sorry you were disappointed, that's understandable. But to allow that to ruin your trip is even more disappointing. DCL pulls out all the stops when it comes to an unexpected at-sea day due to missing a port -- they do a lot more onboard activities and other fun stuff. Weather and sea conditions are beyond their control. I've never heard of DCL stopping at a different island if they miss CC, though sometimes depending on port schedules they may be able to try CC again the next day.

 

[lmhall2000]

It's like asking the clouds to stop raining...the ship's captain can not predict conditions, and if he tried 4x he has the expertise to make that judgment call...I think if you look at the percentages, they make it to CC about 90%+ (if not higher)...but if my family vacation enjoyment hinged on 5 hours at a beach...I'd never take the cruise. We've only been to CC once (sailed Med/Pacific) and honestly, we spent less than 2 hours on it...we enjoyed the ship more...sorry for your disappointment, I know we would have been very disappointed b/c of all the praise CC receives...but honestly, my family was just 'meh' about it...

 

[ptcbass]

I am so sorry your cruise wasn't magical. There is a greater possibility of missing a port in the winter. I have also heard of them switching the itinerary to try to avoid this from happening. I have not ever head of them not being about to dock at CC and finding another port to go to. I guess I have accepted that due to the ocean conditions and weather a cruise can be easily affected. Just as if lightening storm comes up at WDW they may close the rides and then I might not be able to ride a ride I was looking forward to. Again, I am SO sorry your vacation wasn't everything you had hoped it would be. It is very disappointing to spend all that money and time building up to it and then to be let down. It was be SO nice if DCL would come up with more alternatives for what this happens, although I am not sure what it would be. I have heard of them trying to dock over and over and then eventually making it and the passengers get a few hours on CC.

Now if the cast members were complaining about their working conditions or being employed by DCL that is unacceptable and should be reported. I know our last cruise on the Dream I overheard on more than one occasion how difficult it was to be away from family and the sad sad stories. Looking back on it I think it was so we would feel bad for them and they could get a higher tip. I could be completely wrong but it didn't sit well with me. Overall everyone was really great though. I know on our next cruise if I hear CM's complaining and sad stories I think I will have to leave that on the comment cards at the end of the cruise. We are there to have a good time and spent a lot of money for our vacation. As sad as it is to be away from family they don't have to be there or have to work for DCL. It isn't ok to go around telling everyone how depressed you are about it.

They do really read their comment cards so I am glad of that. I think Disney does still care but in the end it is a business and I get that. I do not agree with a lot they do but embrace the parts that I do love.

 

[phinz]

I'd rather cruise to nowhere than go to Castaway Cay. If I'm just interested in the beach I can head farther south than Port Canaveral and never have to go through the hassle of embarkation and disembarkation. Perhaps you should have just flown to the Bahamas instead of bothering with getting on a boat that is subject to tides, winds, waves, etc.

Your wife could have done a 5k. Just go down to deck 4 and do 8 laps. 5k done. No medal, but who cares? The point is to do the 5k, isn't it?

Stick around. Don't be the typical one-time poster who does nothing but complain and then disappear. You might actually like it here.

 

[cashe]

I'm sorry you had a bad trip. I would have been upset also. In fact, I've already made an alternative itinerary for a day at sea if for some reason we have to skip CC. However, I'm going to be happy if we just leave port canaveral because in the contract that you sign it clearly states, they don't even have to leave port canaveral. That being said, cruising and having to miss ports due to wind or weather is a risk you take on ANY cruise line and I don't think it's Disney's fault. Hopefully, in time, you'll remember the good things related to this trip and not the bad. My honeymoon was a trip from hell and now we just laugh about it and 10 years later, I'm finally going back to the caribbean. lol. This too shall pass.

eta: i replied to you on the other forum also. just didn't know where you might go back and read replies.

 

[mmouse37]

Been there, done that. Honestly, as disappointing as it is to your family if the ship can't dock, it can't dock. Disney does not want to disappoint their guests but mother nature can't be helped. Disney does not have another island to go to cases like this so not sure where you heard they will take you to another beach. It is usually a day at sea when CC is missed. And, yes, it does happen quite often as you can't help nature.

I hope you don't let missing one port ruin your entire vacation experience. Disappointment in life happens. There is no way DCL could financially reimburse every guest for missing CC. We all have a warm fuzzy feeling towards Disney but they are a business in the end.

Curious how you think they should have corrected the problem? I am sure they reimbursed everyone's port adventure costs since they couldn't dock and beyond that there is not much more to do. As I said above they would not be able to reimburse everyone for missing CC as it is not feasible.

MJ

 

[NerdyDad]

A few questions/commentsI had though:
1) I read that instead of adding another day at sea, the boats sometimes will make one attempt at Castaway and then take the guests to a different island or port altogether.
2) Why didn't this happen on this cruise, was Disney trying to maximize the money spent on the cruise by either only trying Castaway Cay and then keeping the guest onboard? I assume that not being able to dock at Castaway Cay causes a loss to Disney and letting guests onto an island without excursions planned also costs Disney money. If this happened its sad that the guests would need to cover the costs of this loss in value to Disney.
3) Do the larger boats have less of a chance of getting into Castaway Cay because of their size? Did Disney update the dock/channel to allow the larger ships to get into Castaway Cay? Could this risk of missing Castaway be reduced if I choose the smaller ships?
4) I was told that Disney angled the dock at Port Canaveral so that people could see the ship as they drove onto Merritt Island. Did Disney do the same thing at Castaway, to allow the ship to be well photographed but inadvertently make it harder for the larger ships to dock because of exposure to the tides and winds.
5) Was there a backup system in place to allow the boat to dock and shuttle people to Castaway Cay.
6) Even though DCL says that weather can affect the schedule and planned ports, there were other options available to Disney to correct the situation/issue. From what I saw on the ship, a lot of families were upset and disappointed. This will probably cause a lot of people to have negative feelings towards Disney Cruise Lines and continuing this policy may affect their long term outlook.
7) Some cruisers going on Disney may be unaware of this possibility so I wanted to post and make sure that everybody has the correct expectation before going on a Disney Cruise.

 

[cashe]

I've never heard of a different island being added to a disney cruise.

how could they possibly maximize profits by keeping guests on board? They lost a lot of money in cabanas and excursions that day vs? People bring their liquor on (most do anyway) and there's not a casino. That doesn't make sense.

The smaller boats have just as much trouble if not more getting into castaway.

Why would you want to be shuttled to CC? IF the waters/weather were that rough, I definitely don't want to be on a beach in high winds and surf. JMO. Maybe some people like sand exfoliations.

Once again, I don't think this is Disney's fault and I am guessing they did pull out all the stops to entertain you and the other guests after they missed the port, but I'm also going to venture to guess that you were just so mad you couldn't see straight and refused to be entertained. You can be mad at disney all you want, but I don't think they can control Mother Nature.

 

[mmouse37]

A few questions/commentsI had though:
1) I read that instead of adding another day at sea, the boats sometimes will make one attempt at Castaway and then take the guests to a different island or port altogether.
2) Why didn't this happen on this cruise, was Disney trying to maximize the money spent on the cruise by either only trying Castaway Cay and then keeping the guest onboard? I assume that not being able to dock at Castaway Cay causes a loss to Disney and letting guests onto an island without excursions planned also costs Disney money. If this happened its sad that the guests would need to cover the costs of this loss in value to Disney.
3) Do the larger boats have less of a chance of getting into Castaway Cay because of their size? Did Disney update the dock/channel to allow the larger ships to get into Castaway Cay? Could this risk of missing Castaway be reduced if I choose the smaller ships?
4) I was told that Disney angled the dock at Port Canaveral so that people could see the ship as they drove onto Merritt Island. Did Disney do the same thing at Castaway, to allow the ship to be well photographed but inadvertently make it harder for the larger ships to dock because of exposure to the tides and winds.
5) Was there a backup system in place to allow the boat to dock and shuttle people to Castaway Cay.
6) Even though DCL says that weather can affect the schedule and planned ports, there were other options available to Disney to correct the situation/issue. From what I saw on the ship, a lot of families were upset and disappointed. This will probably cause a lot of people to have negative feelings towards Disney Cruise Lines and continuing this policy may affect their long term outlook.
7) Some cruisers going on Disney may be unaware of this possibility so I wanted to post and make sure that everybody has the correct expectation before going on a Disney Cruise.

Bottom line is Disney makes a lot of money from excursions and drinks so they certainly would not purposely try to skip CC to maximize profits. That would not happen. It also cost them money fuel wise to have a sea day and most of all they certainly do NOT WANT to disappoint people. As mentioned in a few posts above there is no other island they can just show up at if they miss CC. I have heard sometimes if the itinerary has a sea day after the planned CC stop they will try again at CC if they can't make it on the planned CC day. I have cruised DCL 31 times and only missed CC 3 times on itineraries that were supposed to stop there. I feel lucky with my odds so far but understand it will not always be possible.

They did dig out the channel for the larger ships but I believe it makes no difference in the size of the ship. It is more how the wind is blowing. If the waters are too rough/windy to dock the ship at the island it would be totally unsafe to dock offshore and tender (shuttle) people to the island. DCL would not take that chance. They do not have tenders in place at CC.

The spot DCL chose to dock at the island was the best place for the dock, not the best place to get a good photo (although it is a great spot!). It would not be in DCL's best interest to pick a place to dock that would increase the chance of the ship not docking just to get a photo op. The dock is where is should be. They had engineers figure out the best place.

Families will be disappointed but it is what it is. Disney can't fix everything and can't control the weather.

MJ

 

[undertheradar]

A few questions/commentsI had though:
1) I read that instead of adding another day at sea, the boats sometimes will make one attempt at Castaway and then take the guests to a different island or port altogether.
2) Why didn't this happen on this cruise, was Disney trying to maximize the money spent on the cruise by either only trying Castaway Cay and then keeping the guest onboard? I assume that not being able to dock at Castaway Cay causes a loss to Disney and letting guests onto an island without excursions planned also costs Disney money. If this happened its sad that the guests would need to cover the costs of this loss in value to Disney.
3) Do the larger boats have less of a chance of getting into Castaway Cay because of their size? Did Disney update the dock/channel to allow the larger ships to get into Castaway Cay? Could this risk of missing Castaway be reduced if I choose the smaller ships?
4) I was told that Disney angled the dock at Port Canaveral so that people could see the ship as they drove onto Merritt Island. Did Disney do the same thing at Castaway, to allow the ship to be well photographed but inadvertently make it harder for the larger ships to dock because of exposure to the tides and winds.
5) Was there a backup system in place to allow the boat to dock and shuttle people to Castaway Cay.
6) Even though DCL says that weather can affect the schedule and planned ports, there were other options available to Disney to correct the situation/issue. From what I saw on the ship, a lot of families were upset and disappointed. This will probably cause a lot of people to have negative feelings towards Disney Cruise Lines and continuing this policy may affect their long term outlook.
7) Some cruisers going on Disney may be unaware of this possibility so I wanted to post and make sure that everybody has the correct expectation before going on a Disney Cruise.

Rather than list a bunch of questions here, why not write what you would do? DCL has 4 ships, there is not room for multiple ships at CC at the same time. Have never heard of DCL sailing to another private island if unable to dock at CC.

You don't lose money on excursions that are booked directly with DCL. No docking at CC, no charge for excursions.

As for CMs complaining, what does that have to do with you not docking at CC? Your first post looks like an attempt to garner support for some type of restitution from DCL. You lost me when you tried to gain sympathy by adding the complaint about CMs.

Anyone reading these boards can clearly see that there are times that the cruise itineraries change and that it is sometimes unsafe to dock at CC.

Hope you had a better time enjoying the shows, activities, dining and stateroom amenities on the ship.

 

[perditax]

I have a naturally cynical mind and I had one of those "is this for money?" reflex thoughts the first time I read about a failed CC day, but as the posters said, it doesn't make financial sense. I assume all those docking attempts eat fuel like crazy, meanwhile you have a boat full of unhappy passengers eating free food and watching free movies instead of buying drinks on the beach and renting equipment and buying very expensive shore excursions.

 

[saraheli]

I agree with the above posters that Mother Nature cannot be controlled and therefore Disney is not contractually obligated to compensate us if they cannot stop at CC. HOWEVER we are sailing on a double dip cruise and the price of this particular sailing comes at a premium because we stop at Castaway Cay twice. If we don't make it to Castaway Cay either of those days to say we would be disappointed would be a huge understatement! Not sure what Disney could do but why not give a credit towards a future cruise. Something to make me even consider sailing again??

 

[Pens Fan]

We've been fortunate to never miss CC completely, but we did have our day cut half once due to a medical emergency. We were quite impressed with how Disney pulled out all of the stops to keep the guests entertained on board until we reached CC in the afternoon. To us, it seemed as if the CMs went above and beyond trying to keep the guests happy.

While I can understand being disappointed, I agree with the above poster that you at allowing that disappointment to blind you to simple reason. You are on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Technology and engineering can only do so much. At the end of the day, Mother Nature often has the last laugh. Most people taking a cruise understand that. Disney loses money every time a ship can't dock, and they have to refund the price of the port adventures. I'm sure it's a tough call for a captain to say it's not going to happen. Considering he tried four times, I'm not exactly sure what else you wanted them to do. At the end of the day, the safety of all on board has to be the deciding factor for docking at any port.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

There's not much to add that other posters haven't already covered, but I just want to point out to the OP that going to another island is not as simple as it sounds.
The Caribbean is a big place, it takes time to travel between islands, you are not on a speed boat that can pull up anchor and haul butt to another location. Also, take into account that port stops are scheduled ahead of time, there is a high probability that there is no room at a nearby port. And scheduling a pilot to meet the ship and guide her in is also another factor.
OP I am sure this was your first cruise on any line, so it probably looks very simple from your point of view, but it's far from simple. Ships on all lines, ships of all sizes, miss scheduled port stops due to rough seas more often than you know.
I would be happy that the captain put my safety and the safety of those around me first when he made his decision to skip CC. If that's the worst thing that happened on your trip, I'd say you had a good trip then. Could've been worse, you could've sailed in a hurricane.

 

[mmouse37]

There's not much to add that other posters haven't already covered, but I just want to point out to the OP that going to another island is not as simple as it sounds.
The Caribbean is a big place, it takes time to travel between islands, you are not on a speed boat that can pull up anchor and haul butt to another location. Also, take into account that port stops are scheduled ahead of time, there is a high probability that there is no room at a nearby port. And scheduling a pilot to meet the ship and guide her in is also another factor.
OP I am sure this was your first cruise on any line, so it probably looks very simple from your point of view, but it's far from simple. Ships on all lines, ships of all sizes, miss scheduled port stops due to rough seas more often than you know.
I would be happy that the captain put my safety and the safety of those around me first when he made his decision to skip CC. If that's the worst thing that happened on your trip, I'd say you had a good trip then. Could've been worse, you could've sailed in a hurricane.

Op said they did cruise DCL before and loved CC so that is why they are so disappointed in missing it this cruise and I agree it could have been a worse cruise. So many things could have gone wrong weather wise.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

1) DCL has never taken passengers to another beach if they could not dock at CC. They have rearranged the schedule and gone to Nassau for an extra day or switched Nassau (if room at the port) and Castaway Cay days, but they just don't go to any beach and say, "Oh, we can just pull in here."

4) Dredging the dock had nothing to do with positioning the ship for the best photograph, that is simply where it worked logistically to build the pier. It's just the way the island is situated.

5) If the conditions were such that the ship couldn't dock, I would not want to be out in the water in the a smaller tender vessel. Where would the tender vessels come from? All food and optics needed to run POS systems on the island are carried on the ship and need to be transferred the ship docks, no way to "tender" that to the island if the ship cannot dock.

6) DCL cruises have been docking at CC for 15 years, for the few times a year they have not been able to visit, it has not affected DCL in any significant way at all. Yes, people are disappointed, but it is only a small portion of your entire cruise and for the safety of all involved, if it is not safe to dock, DCL will not take the risk. If the weather was such that the Captain couldn't dock the ship, you wouldn't have wanted to be on the island anyway.

Sorry you feel the way you do, but I assure you DCL did not set out to ruin your vacation.

 

[blurbs]

We weren't able to dock at CC on my cruise last week either. It was a HUGE bummer because we didn't get off the ship at Nassau and were really looking forward to digging our feet into the sand. When the captain made his final announcement it was clear in his voice that he had tried as he could to get us there and was as upset as we all were. We watched the attempts to dock and I has visions of us slamming into the dock wall Titanic-style and was totally okay with what happened. We took a moment to be sad and then picked ourselves up and moved on. The new Navigators were out quickly and there were plenty of other activities. My dd was over-tired from the first couple of days activities so she was happy to chill out in the stateroom for a couple of hours while I worked on my tan on the verandah. I saw a lot of really angry people who were making big scenes all over the ship and actually yelling at crew members so we decided it was best to lay low until the bad feelings settled down.

I get that Disney lost a lot of money by NOT docking so we were in it together As with all things on the ship, you have to be prepared to switch things up. If you arrive at a character meet and greet and the line is 12 miles long...you have to have a happy plan B. This isn't the kind of vacation where you can make concrete plans and not be prepared to roll with punches. I spent too much money on my vacation to spend any of it angry.

I would love it if Disney sent me a check as an apology for not making it to CC, but they don't owe me that. I signed the cruise contract and we all lost out that day...but I made out better because we still had a great day and we ate our weight in room service Mickey Bars and chicken tenders so...we win!