What was Castaway Cay's opening like?

[JM_97]

What was Castaway Cay like when it first opened? With a lot of conversation about Lookout Cay right now (for better or worse), I was wondering what the reaction to Castaway Cay was when it and the Magic were born. I didn't start cruising until the mid-2000s so I have no idea what the attitudes and comments were like back then.

 

[OKW Lover]

I don't recall any controversy about CC when it first opened, but that was quite some years ago and my memory might be wrong. Of course that was a different time and the negativity of today's internet had yet to develop.

 

[Cheburashka]

Castaway Cay has always had more amenities than Lookout Cay has now. Castaway Cay also used to have a sunken pirate ship that guests could look at while snorkeling. It has since been removed.

 

[katyringo]

Well it was probably before people made up their minds by seeing pictures on social media instead of trying it themselves for the first time...

 

[JM_97]

Castaway Cay has always had more amenities than Lookout Cay has now. Castaway Cay also used to have a sunken pirate ship that guests could look at while snorkeling. It has since been removed.

Not the same, but I do remember when they put the Pirates of the Caribbean ship next to the pier. Somewhere I have a photo of it and the Wonder.

 

[ljhayes]

Not the same, but I do remember when they put the Pirates of the Caribbean ship next to the pier. Somewhere I have a photo of it and the Wonder.

Here it is with the Magic in Jan 2008

 

[CarolynFH]

Of course that was a different time and the negativity of today's internet had yet to develop.

Well it was probably before people made up their minds by seeing pictures on social media instead of trying it themselves for the first time...

Exactly. We sailed the Magic in November 1998, during her inaugural year, and I don't remember much about CC at all, just that there was a family beach, a place to eat, and an adult-only beach that we didn't visit because we were with our kids, ages 14 and 10. So I'd have to rely on someone who has actual records of what was available there. I do know that it was a lot less than CC has now!

And social media was in its infancy then - I can't remember whether DH was already reading DISboards by 1998 (he joined before I did) or not.

 

[Cfabar1]

I think pre-2000s Disney really got to craft the narrative... That said, it was all developed in the golden age of Disney, and ME had no problem investing in a true premium experience, unlike the worst Disney instincts today... The types of resorts they were building, the types of ships they were building, you're unlikely to see anything like that ever again...

 

[JM_97]

I think pre-2000s Disney really got to craft the narrative... That said, it was all developed in the golden age of Disney, and ME had no problem investing in a true premium experience, unlike the worst Disney instincts today... The types of resorts they were building, the types of ships they were building, you're unlikely to see anything like that ever again...

I'll be interested to see who the next CEO will be after Iger retires (again) since Chapek was a disaster.

 

[Cfabar1]

I'll be interested to see who the next CEO will be after Iger retires (again) since Chapek was a disaster.

In James Stewart's book Disney War he quotes Eisner towards the end of his tenure suspecting that he will likely be the final creative type CEO of the company... I am skeptical the types of folks that made a company like Disney great in the 80s and 90s even exist anymore.... and if they do that they could be appointed given wall street's demands....

 

[insureman]

Found this from 2000. Looks a lot like it does now.

 

[auntlynne]

Per a video by The Distory Channel on YT, here are the changes to CC over the years:

2006 Flying Dutchman added

2007 Observation Tower opens

2009 Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure opens; Teen Beach closes

2010 Pelican Plunge, Spring-A-Leak, Cookies Too BBQ, Beach Sports, Teen Hideout open; Beach Cabanas added; Flying Dutchman closes

2015 Summertime Freeze opens

This doesn’t seem like a lot of changes other than in 2010, twelve years after its opening day.

Based on a video from 2018:

I didn’t realize that Perfect Day at Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean) was not that different (development-wise) from CC until 2019. The infrastructure decor leaned toward poor Caribbean rather than Disneyfied.

But they had to tender.

 

[Maxie86]

We first went to CC in 1990 or 91 back when the Disney cruise was on the Big Red Boat. The ship stayed docked in Nassau, you took a boat to the island. CC has changed a lot over the years. It's hard to remember just what was there. Serenity bay was not open then. The family beach and the adult beach were very close, you could easily walk between the two. Our son was 4 or 5 at the time but I remember checking out the adult beach. I don't know or remember what if any activities were available other than what was on the beach. It was pretty much go to the beach have lunch and take the boat back to the ship. For afternoon peeps it was lunch, beach and boat back to ship. I'm sure there must have been a gift shop or two as well, You either went in the morning or afternoon, I think it was tied to your dining time. I do remember we went in the morning and had early dining.

 

[kiford]

We went to CC in May of 2000. There was no Pelican Plunge, there was minimal shade, there were minimal amenities, there were no cabanas. Here is a photo from that trip - you can see the Captain Nemo sub near the pier. The next one is showing the island a little farther down. You can see that the vegetation is very immature and there are far fewer buildings than now. They were still building infrastructure around the main pier; I think there had been a hurricane a little earlier, too, which scrubbed away some vegetation there. DH probably has more photos from that time, especially of Serenity Bay, but I've no idea where he's squirrelled them away.

 

[tvguy]

We first went to CC in 1990 or 91 back when the Disney cruise was on the Big Red Boat. The ship stayed docked in Nassau, you took a boat to the island. CC has changed a lot over the years. It's hard to remember just what was there. Serenity bay was not open then. The family beach and the adult beach were very close, you could easily walk between the two. Our son was 4 or 5 at the time but I remember checking out the adult beach. I don't know or remember what if any activities were available other than what was on the beach. It was pretty much go to the beach have lunch and take the boat back to the ship. For afternoon peeps it was lunch, beach and boat back to ship. I'm sure there must have been a gift shop or two as well, You either went in the morning or afternoon, I think it was tied to your dining time. I do remember we went in the morning and had early dining.

Big Red boat never went to Castaway Cay. Disney didn't even sign their lease for the island until 1996, then they began fixing it up. Big Red boat went to Great Guana Cay

 

[laurelew]

Exactly. We sailed the Magic in November 1998, during her inaugural year, and I don't remember much about CC at all, just that there was a family beach, a place to eat, and an adult-only beach that we didn't visit because we were with our kids, ages 14 and 10. So I'd have to rely on someone who has actual records of what was available there. I do know that it was a lot less than CC has now!

And social media was in its infancy then - I can't remember whether DH was already reading DISboards by 1998 (he joined before I did) or not.

My first and so far only Disney cruise was also on the Magic in November 1998 and I turned 14 on that cruise! Small world.

Sadly I don't have many memories of CC from that trip to add to the conversation. I do remember being slightly disappointed with the ship overall. It felt very small to me and a lot of what was hyped up in the brochure didn't seem as impressive in real life. Nowadays I personally find watching YouTube videos, which I didn't have back then, helpful for setting expectations.

 

[Maxie86]

Big Red boat never went to Castaway Cay. Disney didn't even sign their lease for the island until 1996, then they began fixing it up. Big Red boat went to Great Guana Cay

Sorry if I gave wrong information. I really thought we went to CC. The next cruise wasn't until 2011 and it looked so familiar, I really thought it was the same island.

 

[justafigment27]

Pelican Plunge, Cabanas, Cookies Too, etc. and the expansion of the family beach were added in preparation for the launch of the Dream & Fantasy.

Wasn’t the Flying Dutchman just a visual point of interest? I don’t recall being able to to actually get close to it or anything?

Our first cruise was on the Magic in February 2000. CC was definitely not as lush as it was during our second cruise in 2008. We rented snorkel gear and a float in advance of the cruise because I thought they would sell out (ha!ha!) … but it was pretty chilly and we didn’t last long in either activity. I don’t remember a whole lot except that I was counting on lounging on a raft all day and it was too cold!

 

[JM_97]

Pelican Plunge, Cabanas, Cookies Too, etc. and the expansion of the family beach were added in preparation for the launch of the Dream & Fantasy.

Wasn’t the Flying Dutchman just a visual point of interest? I don’t recall being able to to actually get close to it or anything?

Our first cruise was on the Magic in February 2000. CC was definitely not as lush as it was during our second cruise in 2008. We rented snorkel gear and a float in advance of the cruise because I thought they would sell out (ha!ha!) … but it was pretty chilly and we didn’t last long in either activity. I don’t remember a whole lot except that I was counting on lounging on a raft all day and it was too cold!

Yes, it was Disney patting itself on the back for the Pirates of the Carribean movies by putting the real prop on the island. It was eventually removed because it didn't handle the weather conditions very well IIRC.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Well it was probably before people made up their minds by seeing pictures on social media instead of trying it themselves for the first time...

Disney is doing the damage to themselves. Bob Iger and his un-Imagineers are always giving you less for more now days.