What Happens if the Ship Can't Dock at Castaway Cay?
Disney’s Castaway Cay is an island paradise and most Caribbean and Bahamian cruise make a stop at the beautiful island port. There are sometimes, though, when weather makes it impossible for the ship to dock. So, what happens if your cruise can’t dock at Castaway Cay? That’s what we’re here to tell you today.
It came to our attention on our recent two cruises that many guests thought that docking at Castaway Cay was guaranteed. While it would be great if this was the case, it simply is not. High winds and/or high waves that could cause the ship to collide with the dock when arriving or leaving, or cause the ship to not be able to make it to the dock, sadly make it so that your Castaway Cay experience cannot happen. On most occasions the captain will attempt to dock at least once before making their decision.
Our sailing on the Dream was originally scheduled to end with a day at Castaway Cay. The night before the area saw storms which left high winds and high waves when we arrived just off of Castaway Cay. The captain made three total attempts to dock. One at around 9am, one at around 9:30am, and then again around 11am. It was really windy, and the waves were splashing up against and sometimes over the breakwater.
With Castaway Cay not able to happen we had an unscheduled sea day. So, what happens when you have an unexpected sea day? You enjoy the ship!
The characters and food that are normally on the island are all brought from the ship when it first arrives, so you still get to experience it all, just not at the beach. We met Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto in their beach gear around the ship.
The Castaway Cay 5K was moved to on the ship and on this occasion was done as “on your own.” Howard was signed up for the 5K on this cruise and did his miles in the gym.
Disney knows that things like this can happen, so they always have a back-up plan. Activities were available around the ship, just like on a normal sea day. Once we weren’t able to dock the first time the Personal Navigator App was updated with new activities and character meet and greet times and locations. For those that prefer a printed Personal Navigator those were printed and available around 12 noon after the final attempt to dock was unsuccessful.
Like with all sea days, the pool deck was very busy when we went up to let the kids play. Both family pools were packed, the splash area was full of small and big kids, the lines for the Mickey Slide and the AquaDuck were long, and the family hot tubs were packed as well. We spent enough time for the kids to play, for us to ride the AquaDuck twice, and then decided to call it a day since there were so many people at the pool, and because it was also chilly and windy.
We weren’t too upset that we weren’t able to dock. It gave us more time on the ship and to explore. The kids got more time at the Oceaneer Club, Bella got to go to open house again. We played Midship Detective Agency, hung out on the balcony, and just enjoyed being on the ship. There were, however, a great number of guests that weren’t happy with the situation. Disney knows how much guests love Castaway Cay, but they put the safety of the guests, the crew, and the ship first when making decisions like this.
There isn’t a specific time of year, or a certain ship, that is more likely to see a missed Castaway Cay day. It all depends on the weather.
The world is changing each day, but with time we will once again get to experience travel, magic, and relaxation at sea. When you’re ready to start planning your next getaway, I’m here to help! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com for your FREE quote and start planning. For more Disney and travel information follow me on Facebook.
It came to our attention on our recent two cruises that many guests thought that docking at Castaway Cay was guaranteed. While it would be great if this was the case, it simply is not. High winds and/or high waves that could cause the ship to collide with the dock when arriving or leaving, or cause the ship to not be able to make it to the dock, sadly make it so that your Castaway Cay experience cannot happen. On most occasions the captain will attempt to dock at least once before making their decision.
Our sailing on the Dream was originally scheduled to end with a day at Castaway Cay. The night before the area saw storms which left high winds and high waves when we arrived just off of Castaway Cay. The captain made three total attempts to dock. One at around 9am, one at around 9:30am, and then again around 11am. It was really windy, and the waves were splashing up against and sometimes over the breakwater.
With Castaway Cay not able to happen we had an unscheduled sea day. So, what happens when you have an unexpected sea day? You enjoy the ship!
The characters and food that are normally on the island are all brought from the ship when it first arrives, so you still get to experience it all, just not at the beach. We met Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto in their beach gear around the ship.
The Castaway Cay 5K was moved to on the ship and on this occasion was done as “on your own.” Howard was signed up for the 5K on this cruise and did his miles in the gym.
Disney knows that things like this can happen, so they always have a back-up plan. Activities were available around the ship, just like on a normal sea day. Once we weren’t able to dock the first time the Personal Navigator App was updated with new activities and character meet and greet times and locations. For those that prefer a printed Personal Navigator those were printed and available around 12 noon after the final attempt to dock was unsuccessful.
Like with all sea days, the pool deck was very busy when we went up to let the kids play. Both family pools were packed, the splash area was full of small and big kids, the lines for the Mickey Slide and the AquaDuck were long, and the family hot tubs were packed as well. We spent enough time for the kids to play, for us to ride the AquaDuck twice, and then decided to call it a day since there were so many people at the pool, and because it was also chilly and windy.
We weren’t too upset that we weren’t able to dock. It gave us more time on the ship and to explore. The kids got more time at the Oceaneer Club, Bella got to go to open house again. We played Midship Detective Agency, hung out on the balcony, and just enjoyed being on the ship. There were, however, a great number of guests that weren’t happy with the situation. Disney knows how much guests love Castaway Cay, but they put the safety of the guests, the crew, and the ship first when making decisions like this.
There isn’t a specific time of year, or a certain ship, that is more likely to see a missed Castaway Cay day. It all depends on the weather.
The world is changing each day, but with time we will once again get to experience travel, magic, and relaxation at sea. When you’re ready to start planning your next getaway, I’m here to help! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com for your FREE quote and start planning. For more Disney and travel information follow me on Facebook.
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