Wonder can't dock at Castaway today....does this happen often??

[ncligs]

Recieved a call today from a friend on the Wonder this week. They could not dock at Castaway today so they get an extra day at sea.
My question is for the 4 day cruise, does this happen very often?
Is this one of the drawbacks of the 4 day cruise(Wonder)?
I suppose on the 7 day you may have a chance to come back another day?

 

[tstobb]

No second chances as Castaway Cay is scheduled for the last day of all of the cruises. They do make every effort to dock but, if the winds don't cooperate, they won't sacrifice safety for docking.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by tstobb
No second chances as Castaway Cay is scheduled for the last day of all of the cruises. They do make every effort to dock but, if the winds don't cooperate, they won't sacrifice safety for docking.

Thanks for the quick reply. Does this happen very often?

 

[tstobb]

That, I don't know so somebody else will have to answer - Maybe Barb or Dave have some %.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

I don't have any hard numbers. I would estimate that overall, 1 out of every 20 cruises is unable to dock there. The percentage is probably higher during the winter when the seas are higher.

Incidentally, there is <b><i>one</i></b> itinerary where you have a second chance... the four-day Bahamas itinerary with the day at sea... Castaway Cay is scheduled for the third day on that cruise, and if they're unable to make it, they try again on the fourth day.

 

[Cindyluwho]

On our first cruise on the Disney Magic last November we were not able to dock at Castaway Cay. We were told that in the winter it's about a 50/50 chance of docking there. This year we were able to dock but because of the illness we weren't able to do much on the island, most things were closed. But, we did lots of walking on the beach and the photo op with the ship is spectacular. There's tons of places to take a great pic of the ship on Castaway Cay! We'll have another chance next year and are looking forward to it!!

 

[SeaDog]

Happened to be on the Castaway abort cruise... since I consider the stop at Castaway the highlight of the cruise the cruise was a bummer for sure... I have always made it a point to make it up to a little lookout just over the flying bridge and watch the Captain pilot the ship during the docking procedure... totally fascinating... during a previous cruise we happened upon Capt. Henry on the dock at Freeport and enjoyed little chat with him about what he does and how he does it... he commented that piloting a big boat is one half science and one half art... his words rang all to true as I watched him tweak those little levers and joysticks that he uses to steer the ship into port... a nudge here and a bump there... now we know why the masters of such grand vessels make the big bucks. One wrong nudge and you're in the headlines!

I watched both docking attempts at Castaway... again fascinating! Almost like a chess game between the Capt. and the winds and currents. I actually thought we were going to make it on the second approach but has he neared the two channel markers it became apparent that those pesky winds and currents won the battle. Oh well... so much for my plan to try to circumnavigate the island on foot... maybe next time... That is all...

 

[Tantor]

Apparently there were 8 - 12 foot waves. Our cabin was in the aft part of the boat and you could sure hear him trying to get the ship in. Oh well, next cruise!!! We did get free punch that afternoon though. I enjoyed that.

 

[Cindyluwho]

SeaDog, I have read many stories of folks trying to walk around the island of Castaway Cay, including one written by the grandson of the man who used to own the island. They have enough surveilance (sp?) that you can't walk off the path. The portion open to the public is very small, I was really surprised. My husband's dream was to fly fish the flats but it just wasn't possible.

 

[SeaDog]

Stealth... remember... the mud elephant walking through the sea leaves no tracks...

Actually, you are probably right but I've always thought it would be worth a try... I suspect you would have to swim a portion of it...

 

[atigeg]

We were gone this weekend, so Tony probably didn't notice this post. I think he has the percentages, but I know that the worst months are either Dec. and Jan. or Jan. and Feb. I'll ask him to post and confirm.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[kajohn]

Does this only happen at Castaway Cay, or do they have problems getting to the other ports as well like St. Thomas and St. Marten? (Can you tell I'm booked on the Eastern itinerary!).

If they can't get to the dock, do they try tenders? What is different about this dock than others?

 

[MavisMarie]

I was on this cruise with my two grandsons, both of whom were greatly disappointed. The seas were quite high as was the wind. I felt sorry for everyone involved. The crew worked overtime to change schedules. I have 1 original schedule and then two additional "revised" schedules! It was a very mixed-up day as far as programming is concerned. The cast members improvised with some character signing at Route 66. Grandsons were able to get Captain Henry's autograph.

One cast member told me she'd been on the ship for 5 months and this was the first time they were not able to dock.
We were SO close! Took a few great photos from the ship. I am sure that was my one and only chance to see Castaway Cay. Sorry I missed it.

I'll post a trip report as soon as I can. It was a wonderful cruise.

 

[Figmentslf]

We too were on this cruise and extremely disappointed to miss Castaway Cay. My husband and I had done the three day before but this time we had our two children (daughter 22 and son 12) with us. My daughter was content to sun by the pool and enjoyed the free drinks but my son was left with absolutely nothing to do. The clubs did not interest him (I heard this comment from several parents of 10-12 yr olds) and we had kind of kicked back the day before. Just a few hours shopping in Nassau and then lounging around the pool because we been doing the parks non stop for the preceeding 5 days. I wish I'd known the chance was so high of missing the island in the winter. I'd definitely of planned some snorkeling in Nassau or other things for him to do. The last time we sailed on the Magic we managed to dock the day after a hurricane so I never expected to have a problem on what seemed to be just a breezy day. It also seemed to take them a very long time to try and pull an alternative plan together. If this happens as often as you seem to indicate I'd really expect a quicker response. As late as 12:30 that day I was still being told that the only thing the kid's club had scheduled ( I kept checking with them on the chance there'd be something to interest him) for that day was lunch at 1:00. To a 12 year old looking forward to his first snorkeling experience in that beautiful blue water (in comparison to the ugly brown stuff we experience at the Delaware beaches), biking on the island and renting the segway, lunch at 1:00 just wasn't cutting it. The family pool, hot tubs and the arcade were literally wall to wall people and not at all enjoyable. The staff was doing their best but with the crowd it was impossible to even keep the areas clean. There was just nothing for our 12 year old to do. I realize that the safety of the ship has to come first but I also feel that Disney needs to do more to "make it up" when it happens. We paid over $2000 for the three day which really breaks down to almost $1000 per day minus dinner and the show the first night. The Island adventure is really half your cruise. We've probably done more then 15 Disney vacations over the last 20 years (including DLP) and this is the first time I did not feel like I got good value for my money. I know Disney can't control the weather, we had over 6 inches of rain at the parks on Monday but there was still plenty to do inspite of the bad weather. We did not have this on the cruise. They replaced a day on the island with a putt and chip contest and a family animation drawing experience. Based on this I don't think I'll ever do the cruise again nor would I recommend it to anyone else. Missing the island is just missing too much of the fun. I don't mean to imply that this was a totally negative experience. We had some wonderful interaction with the staff. Ary and Michlena our servers were both just awesome and the shows and food were great. I just can't get past the feeling that I spent a $1000 dollars to sit around (and we were one of the lucky ones to actually have chairs) a non too clean pool that is the same size as the one in our back yard. And this one was filled literally, shoulder to shoulder with people. Okay, I've vented now, thanks for listening everyone.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

I just found out today that an associate of mine was on this cruise... definitely disappointed to miss Castaway Cay... but corroborated that the seas were really high.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Originally posted by kajohn
Does this only happen at Castaway Cay, or do they have problems getting to the other ports as well like St. Thomas and St. Marten? (Can you tell I'm booked on the Eastern itinerary!).

If they can't get to the dock, do they try tenders? What is different about this dock than others?

I have never heard of this happening with the Magic, but it does sometimes miss ports. On one of my Magic trips, we were re-routed to Key West, skipping St. Maarten. This was due to a hurricane in the southern Caribbean. I think that if the overall weather is good enough for the ship to proceed to the island, that it is very likely that the ship will dock. Both Philipsburg (St. Maarten) and Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas) are large deepwater ports. The channel at Castaway Cay is pretty tight, and the island is fairly remote, so there isn't anything around which will serve as a wind break. I'm sure there are conditions which would make it unsafe to attempt to dock at one of these ports, but such weather would usually be forecast well in advance, and the ship would likely skip the port altogether.

A couple interesting stories about tenders: Recently, a Carnival ship, Holiday, was anchored at Playa del Carmen, which is a tender port. The winds were tricky, so the ship was maneuvering in the harbor to help block the wind and waves from the tenders. It ended up running aground. This was on a Tuesday. They couldn't get the ship off the sand bar, and by Thursday, they decided to fly the passengers home. They finally got tugs to the port and freed the ship, but it sailed home empty.

Also, a Royal Caribbean ship, had to strand many of it's passengers on their private island in November. At their private island, Coco Cay, they always tender the passengers. During the day, the winds picked up to the point that it was no longer safe to run the tenders. Over 1400 passengers ended up spending the night on the island. The ship used launches to bring more food, blankets, pillows, etc. to the island.

The RCCL passengers got a full refund for their cruise plus a free future 4-day cruise. The Carnival passengers got a 25% discount voucher for a future cruise. They also got an extra day in Playa with free shore excursions.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

It typically doesn't happen at ports other than Castaway Cay. All the other ports are in protected harbors. The slip at Castaway Cay is not very protected... it's immediately adjacent to a pretty major channel, so they have to deal with sometimes-tricky currents when docking there.

Also, for what it's worth... the cruisers reported that seas were 8-12 feet. Any other cruise line that tenders in passengers to their "private" islands would have been unable to run their tenders in such high seas.

 

[Jhalkias]

I was on this cruise too, and it is the first one that I have been on of 4 to miss Castaway Cay, so I was not overly disappointed. We found plenty to keep ourselves busy - had it been my only chance though, I probably would have been more upset. It is ironic that my son was remarking the night before that the problem with the 3 day was no day at sea - well, he got his wish. . .

I think the crew really tried hard to make the experience enjoyable as they could. I watched both manuevers to try and get in - the early one from my veranda, and the later from deck 10. It was obvious the sea was not going to cooperate. It was very breezy as well, and I bet we would have spent the day eating that white sand.

I don't know if anyone else commented on this, but the sanitation procedures almost seemed a bit "overboard" if I can use that phrase. I almost felt like I was on a quarantine ship! I also missed the fact that the coffee and juice bar closed at midnight (they manned it at other times). All of the rubber gloves and no serving yourself at the buffets was a definite adjustment.

How about those seas that night! We had 13-15 foot seas on the way back to port - almost as rocky as our 7 day in January. Don't you just love to be rocked to sleep by that wonderful motion?

 

[luv2tvl]

I've been on 4 Wonder cruises in the last year and a half and 2 of those 4 we were unable to dock at Castaway Cay. The two that we weren't able to dock were in December and Feb. I think the weather is a little more unruly in the winter time.

I was on the 12/14 Magic and it was pretty windy the day we were there, too. I honestly think we were lucky to get in that day, but I'm sure glad we did.