Castaway Cay Archives - Living a Disney LifeLiving a Disney Life

Ten Reasons to Sail on Disney Cruise Line:

Beautiful ships full of Disney magic and extraordinary service.
The evening shows – excellent Broadway-style entertainment for the whole family.
Designated well-themed areas for children (and teens) with incredibly creative activities and lots of FUN (and safety!).
Designated adults-only areas with adult entertainment, refreshments, separate pools, restaurants, and more.
Castaway Cay – Disney’s Private Island is one of the ports of call on many Disney cruises and it is truly a paradise with something for everyone. Want to run a 5k? Ride a bicycle? Snorkel, parasail, swim, eat, dance, drink, play in the sand, lay in a hammock and do nothing at all – in an absolutely gorgeous setting! Adults-only, teens-only and family beaches ensure everyone can have the time of their life. Even a massage in a cabana on the beach is available! (Full review here.)
Castaway Club – once you’ve taken that first cruise, you’re automatically a member with perks for repeat cruisers. This article gives more details.
Excursions – Disney offers a tremendous number of family-friendly, adults-only and teen-only port excursions and they take good care of you! We’ve had incredible family adventures (like zip-lining in Alaska, swimming with stingrays in the Bahamas, and exploring the ruins of Pompeii) we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Fish Extender groups and Door decorating! You can pre-arrange to take part in a gift exchange (like secret Santa) with other cruisers. You can (and should) bring fun magnetic decorations for your stateroom door. See Fish Extender deets here and Door Décor here.
Characters – They seem to be everywhere and much easier to meet than in the parks. Drop off a pillowcase or a photo mat and some markers at Guest Services and the characters will autograph your items…which will then be returned to your stateroom.
Parties and First-run Movies – The Sail Away and pirate-themed parties are both bunches of fun (especially for children). Each ship’s movie theater shows the latest releases (and favorite Disney movies).
BONUS – Rotational Dining and Room Service. You keep the same restaurant servers at dinner each evening (unless you dine at an adults-only restaurant) for the duration of your cruise – you get to know them and they cater to (and often anticipate) your every need. The room service menu items (with a few exceptions) are included in the price of your cruise. Order appetizers while getting ready for dinner or a show, order cookies and milk for a bedtime snack! Too tired to leave your stateroom? Order dinner!

The reasons I’ve just listed are solely based on my own family’s experiences. We are not people who generally suffer from seasickness – it would be rare for one of us to have an episode, but not unheard of. We are a family that loves Disney vacations above all others. (I believe if Disney had its own ski resort, we would never stray from Disney property or cruise ship.)

The difference between a Walt Disney World vacation and a Disney Cruise Line vacation is, for us, purely a relaxation factor. All the things we love about Walt Disney World like good food, great service by friendly Cast Members, wonderful resort accommodations, Disney’s magical details (even hidden Mickeys!), meeting Disney characters, awesome entertainment – are all there on a Disney cruise. What is NOT on a Disney cruise? Walking ten miles a day, rope-drop frenzy, waiting for transportation in the blazing sun (or late at night), or favorite thrill rides and attractions (but there ARE plenty of adventures to be found on a cruise). We go home much more relaxed, but completely satisfied that we did and saw a bunch of amazing things!

HOW did we become such big Disney Cruise Line fans? What made us opt to turn away from Walt Disney World and take that very first cruise? I’ll tell you – it was our children. After we got home from a spring break trip to WDW one year (2006), Megan started asking when we would be going back, but Joseph said, “WAIT – I want to go to the beach. I want to see the ocean. Last time we went to the shore, I was so little I can’t remember what it was like. We need to go back to the beach!” And a months’ long argument began between the two of them from that day forward.

As for me, that’s when an idea began to form – I knew my plan wouldn’t be an easy one to pull off since I was certain Raymond would not initially be on board with it (YES! score a pun point for me!). Why not give both children what they want as a Christmas gift? Land and sea vacation package! Knowing Raymond would be adverse to the cruise portion of the trip, I talked him into it with 4 days at WDW followed by a 3-day cruise. He was picturing the cruise being rather like a hostage crisis – he’d be stuck on a ship with nothing to do! I was determined to show him the joys Disney Cruise Line had to offer. The happy ending to this tale is that when we walked off the ship, Raymond announced that he’d had a wonderful time and would gladly take a 7-day Disney cruise in the future! (The story of the Christmas gift reveal is here.)

Our baby steps from that first short Bahamian trip to a Disney cruise European adventure went like this:

December 2006, Land and Sea (4-days at WDW followed by 3-days in the Bahamas which consisted of stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island)
December 2007/January 2008 – New Year’s Eve 7-day Western Caribbean (for Megan’s senior trip), followed by a couple of days at WDW (Orlando to Key West to Grand Cayman to Cozumel to Castaway Cay and back to Orlando)
May 2010 – 5-night Castaway Cay double-dip (+ 2 days at WDW. Orlando to Castaway Cay to Nassau to Castaway Cay to Orlando)
May 2011 – 7-night Alaskan cruise (from Vancouver, visited Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Tracy Arm Fjord, back to Vancouver)
August 2013 – 7-night Mediterranean (from Barcelona to Ville Franche, France and then to La Spezia, Civitavecchia, and Naples in Italy, then back to Barcelona) (Trip report starts here.)

Our bravery increased over time – the more fun and adventure we had, the more we wanted to see and do! The price of airfare was, is and always will be the big holdup for doing more cruises that leave from distant ports, but we have always had as much fun (or more, gasp!) on a Disney cruise as we have had at each of our 12+ trips to Walt Disney World. Next up? Disney’s cruise through the fjords of Norway, summer 2015.

Have you taken a Disney cruise? If not, have you been considering one? What do you or don’t you like about the idea?

If you’ve been considering a cruise on the Disney Cruise Line, consider this: Castaway Cay. Disney’s very own private island in the Bahamas, visited as a port of call on most sailings with departures from Florida. What’s so good about it? Every. Single. Thing.

Castaway Cay (pronounced KEY) is a tropical paradise with something for everyone in the family. No matter what sort of beach person you are (or aren’t), you’ll find happiness on this beautiful island. Bask in the sun kind of person? Check. Action lover who wants to bicycle, boat, snorkel, swim, or run? Check. Teen who wants to get away from the parents? Check. Adult who wants to get away from any and all children? Check. Family that wants to stay together and enjoy a variety of activities? Yep, Castaway Cay is for you. The worst thing about a day in this paradise is that it’s too short! Even if you don’t like sand – you will like Castaway Cay.

Sometimes Disney Cruise Line offers “double dip” cruises that visit Castaway Cay twice on one cruise – awesome opportunity to pack in even more fun. We took such a cruise in 2010 and had the best time ever. Get up and off the ship ASAP! All aboard comes all too soon and will most certainly leave you wanting more time in this Disney-style paradise.

Here are some things to do on the island that we recommend:

Snorkeling. In the lagoon (equipment rentals available-$25 adults, $10 ages 5-9), the snorkeling is okay, but pretty barren with a few underwater surprises hidden around for you to discover – a better choice is the “Seahorse Catamaran Snorkel Adventure” (Currently $52 for adults and $36 ages 5-9). Oh, the things we saw! We swam with a sea turtle, saw tons of colorful fish, gorgeous reef plants, even a stingray joined us for a bit. I highly recommend this fantastic experience, however, I think it could be a bit of a challenge for the very young or inexperienced swimmer.
Bicycling around the island ($39-adult, $19-child/1-hour bike rental). If you’re not a huge fan of sand, exploring the island on a bicycle is a fun way to spend time and burn off some cruise food calories. Park your bike and climb the observation tower for an incredible view of the island. We thought this was a fun way to spend an hour and see what was “out there” away from the beach.
“Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure” ($35 adults, $29 ages 5-9, lasts an hour). This is a ton of fun and a not-so-scary way to learn about and interact (by feeding and petting) some small-ish and harmless stingrays. Then you get to gear up and snorkel with stingrays of all sizes in an enclosed lagoon.
Crab Races – this is hilarious! Cheer your team’s crab on to victory!

Cabana Massage (Raymond’s recommendation) – I surprised Raymond with a booking through the ship’s spa for an open air cabana massage on Castaway Cay. He said it was great – very relaxing – and he would most definitely do it again.

Lunch on the island is a very tasty buffet (no extra charge) plus there are souvenir shops, a bar (hammock-side service available), adult beach, family beach, teen beach, activities for little ones, a 5k run, and much, much more! Once, while there was a dance party going on – I just happened to walk by and there was Stitch – he ran right up to me and made me dance with him. (The Fam missed the whole thing and thought I was joking when I told them about it.) That’s another great thing about Castaway Cay – it’s full of surprises just waiting to be discovered.