Staying on ship Castaway Cay

We are going on a cruise with children and grand children, however due to mobility issues walking is sometimes difficult. If we chose to stay on the ship at Castaway Cay stop, is there anything to do on the ship?

We are going on a cruise with children and grand children, however due to mobility issues walking is sometimes difficult. If we chose to stay on the ship at Castaway Cay stop, is there anything to do on the ship?

There are a few things to do onboard. Cabanas is open for lunch. Movies are run in the theater. There's no kid's club onboard (it moves to the island for the day).

You can find past Navigators by searching for Disney Cruise Line Navigator on Google. There's a blog that has lots of them. That will give you an idea of what sorts of things are available on Castaway Cay day.

We are going on a cruise with children and grand children, however due to mobility issues walking is sometimes difficult. If we chose to stay on the ship at Castaway Cay stop, is there anything to do on the ship?

I usually stay on the ship when we dock at CC. I usually see the movie they offer and enjoy a treatment at the spa. Then I go back to my room and order room service while sitting out on my balcony and watch the people stroll back to the ship. They also have Disney movies on the Dream and Fantasy that run in your room. I don't think they're offered on the classic ships in room. I could be wrong though since they've been in dry dock.

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I usually stay on the ship when we dock at CC. I usually see the movie they offer and enjoy a treatment at the spa. Then I go back to my room and order room service while sitting out on my balcony and watch the people stroll back to the ship. They also have Disney movies on the Dream and Fantasy that run in your room. I don't think they're offered on the classic ships in room. I could be wrong though since they've been in dry dock.

 

 

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Well, the Magic class does have Disney movies in-room. Just not on demand. They run on a loop on each channel that has them.

There have been movies in the rooms on all the ships at least since 1999. There were not on our 1998 Magic cruise! The difference, as Shmoo indicated, is that on the newer ships, they work on an "on demand" basis. On the classics, there are several channels, each running a different loop of films.

As to stuff to do on the ships while in Castaway Cay, when the weather is good, there is relatively little scheduled. There will be a couple of movies in the BVT, The spa, fitness center, and most of the "do it yourself" locations will be open. We eat in the sit down restaurant that it open as that's much easier than a buffet when dealing with our mobility issues. It's a great time to get photos around the ship without other people in them or to just enjoy any open air location.

I'm likely in the minority, but I prefer staying on the ship at CC. The beach experience at CC is lacking although I admit there is lots more to do than just go to the beach.

If the weather is nice, a very large fraction of the ship will go on to the island early. Restaurants may be crowded earlier than usual. After breakfast, you have the ship to yourself. The pool deck area will be all yours. The pools will be nearly deserted (but lifeguards will be on duty). Lunch, either sit-down or buffet or on-deck, will be at your leisure. There may be other things going on, but I've just stayed with my family at the pool. After lunch, many people will return to the ship early and crowds on deck will pick up markedly.

... We eat in the sit down restaurant that it open as that's much easier than a buffet when dealing with our mobility issues. ....

... Lunch' date=' either sit-down or buffet or on-deck, will be at your leisure. T....[/quote']

There's no sit down restaurant open for lunch. Only Cabanas, and the poolside quick serve locations.

There's no sit down restaurant open for lunch. Only Cabanas, and the poolside quick serve locations.

There was when we were on the Fantasy. I know exactly where we sat and the "off menu" item my daughter ordered. We were the only people in Enchanted Garden. I really think we may have been the only guests on the ship. Again, that was a couple years ago, so things may have changed.

Also...if the weather is bad, they will increase activities and food outlets on the ship.

There was when we were on the Fantasy. I know exactly where we sat and the "off menu" item my daughter ordered. We were the only people in Enchanted Garden. I really think we may have been the only guests on the ship. Again' date=' that was a couple years ago, so things may have changed.

 

Also...if the weather is bad, they will increase activities and food outlets on the ship.[/quote']

 

Interesting. I wouldn't think it made sense to open both cabanas and Enchanted Garden on a CC day. You wouldn't think there would be enough demand for both to be open. I wonder if your cruise was an exception rather than the rule. Never having missed CC, I have zero experience with what the ship is like during the day.

I just did a quick review on most of the Navigators for all 4 ships for 2017 and none of the regular sit down restaurants with servers were open for lunch while docked at CC. Of course you never know for cruises in the future, so always look at your Navigator on the ship and one may be open on your particular cruise. While not a standard dining restaurant, I did see one case where Remy was open for lunch on the Fantasy during 3 day cruise that spent 2 days at CC.

I just did a quick review on most of the Navigators for all 4 ships for 2017 and none of the regular sit down restaurants with servers were open for lunch while docked at CC. Of course you never know for cruises in the future, so always look at your Navigator on the ship and one may be open on your particular cruise. While not a standard dining restaurant, I did see one case where Remy was open for lunch on the Fantasy during 3 day cruise that spent 2 days at CC.

I remember the enchanted garden being open for a late breakfast. But it was buffet. It was open till 11 I think. I remember it was when we were docked at CC bc my husband and daughter went off the ship to have lunch at Cookies and I had breakfast there on my own.

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We are going on a cruise with children and grand children, however due to mobility issues walking is sometimes difficult. If we chose to stay on the ship at Castaway Cay stop, is there anything to do on the ship?

Call me crazy, but we pay an awful lot for our cruise to just stay onboard the ship. CC is our favorite private island stop of any cruise we have been on, and we book Disney just for this reason. I do realize you said mobility issues, but the last 5K we did on CC a young man ran past us with 2 prosthetic legs that he lost in the war. We were just there in July with our daughter and her family, and the grand kids absolutely love the family beach. They didn't want to leave. The snorkeling is fantastic at the adult beach if you venture that far and even the lunch they provide at the cookout is very good.

All this being said , I completely understand you not wanting to get off.... we have been to Nassau so many times we have lost count and really hate it there, but still venture off the ship just to stretch our legs and see how we can be harassed. Hope you decide to venture around CC, it's very enjoyable !

Please don't get me wrong--we do like Castaway Cay. Our situation was that this was our first time on the Fantasy and my daughter was rather new to dealing with her mobility issues. At that point in our lives, the ship, especially with very few people on board, was far more inviting than the island. We had a great time exploring all sorts of nooks and crannies on the ship!

Thanks everyone for all all info

just off the Disney Dream...

we spent the morning on the ship...

actually the morning and the afternoon...

we only got off to take a bike ride and have lunch at the adult beach...

on the ship, we spent our morning riding the aquaduck - where there was only a 10 minute line instead of 45 minutes the rest of the cruise..

we rode it 10 times in a row, before getting dressed to head out on the island for our bike ride and lunch..

CC is nice, but we live 10 minutes from a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean, so we never bother with beaches when we cruise....

had it just been my husband and me on this cruise, we would have stayed on the ship all day....for us, the ship is always our cruise destination...

our daughter and son in law wanted to take a bike ride and check out the barbecue.....so we left the ship for 2 hours...

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