Castaway Cay?

[BambiRumsey]

HI!

We're sailing our first Disney cruise 9/18 ont he Magic...

Can anyone tell me where in the Bahamas CC is? I mean, I am of course keeping my eye on the Weather Channel (My nephews are at the Atlantis in Nassau right now!) and just trying to get an idea if Castaway Cay will even BE there by the time we are supposed to pull in.

Thanks!

[sharlon]

Thanks for asking this. We are on the same sailing and were wondering the same thing. Have there been instances in the past where Castaway Cay has been closed? If so, did they add a day at sea?

[TheWog]

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=637083

This link has info about what happened to CC in the past after a hurricane. This may help. Good luck. I don't have the exact coordinates for the island.

[judimouse]

Castaway Cay is approx. 7 miles west of Abaco's Island. Original name was Gordo Cay. You can do a web search and find out lots of interesting information about the history of the cay.

I was on CC in December 1998 (think that's the right year) after the cay was hit by a strong hurricane that October. Flora and faune took a big hit and it took them weeks to get in put back together.

Looks like this hurricane will probably cause the same damage. I am sure that Disney learned a lot from that first storm.

I would enjoy a Disney cruise if it just dropped anchor in the middle of the ocean. This is from someone that's sailed on 3 Disney cruises without kids.

Enjoy your cruise.

qm judimouse
Bodacious Babes Chapter RHS
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.redhatphx.com

[Ella2]

It took QUITE a while for Castaway Cay to recover from that storm, I remember that as well, judimouse...I sailed that December too (I think it was 2000, though?). I do know they prepare as best they can. If they take a direct hit it's likely they will have to eliminate CC as a port stop until they recover. Last time the beaches were pretty much decimated and they had to bring in new sand.

[BambiRumsey]

I like sea days but was really looking forward to CC as I have been to the other two ports already. The Caribbean is only so big and we are kind of running out of islands to see.

I'm keeping Floridians in my prayers and my fingers crossed we don't see another storm in 2 weeks!

[judimouse]

Ella2,

The hurricane was in October 1999 and I was on Castaway Cay December 1999. December 1999 was the month where I did Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise and Disneyland for New Year's Eve. Best month of my life. LOL

Wonder why I am call...

judimouse

[TheWog]

Castaway Cay coordinates

26.07 N, 77.52 W

[GilaPete]

Hurricane Frances coordinates:

AT 5 PM EDT...2100Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FRANCES WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 25.9 NORTH...LONGITUDE 77.5 WEST OR ABOUT 90 MILES...

That's pretty close to CC. Hope everyone is gone or ok.

[momofmeg]

My daughter was on the Disney cruiseline board and Castaway Cay got a direct hit. We are on the Wonder Sept. 19. I would like to know if we will still do Castaway Cay or for that fact Nassau? Anyone know? If not where would we go? I heard the 3 day cruise turned into a 4 day cruise and they are going to Cozumel.

I would like to know because there would be no need to book Atlantis if we don't go to Nassau. Not disapointed or anything-we have been to Nassau twice and I am sure we will cruise there again sometime-I would just like to make some plans if possible.

In 2001 we wee on Sovereign a few days after a tropicial storm-it did not make hurricane statis so it was nothing like Frances- but we did not go to Coco Cay as they said there was too much debri and it needed to be cleaned up so we went to Freeport instead. We ran into another ship from RCCL a 7 day cruise-and they had gone to all different islands because of the storm-said everyone had been really seasick and basially had a miserable time. I felt bad for them but as our cruise started after the storm ours was fine and I did not really mind the ittenary change but then we were just on the 3 day mini cruise so we had not spent the money they had.

Ofcourse you just can't predict the weather and I believe the cruiselines do the best they can and after reading what Disney has done this week for their passengers-it seems to me Disney goes all out the keep their customers happy. I hope everything works out well for you Magic guys on Mon. Sept. 6.

[BambiRumsey]

I don't know how fast the Disney ships are and where else they can get to in a day or so - you guys might see Key West if Nassau and CC are not ready for public consumption. You might be able to get to and from Cozumel and just do one port. Maybe Casa de Campo in DR, but there has been trouble in Haiti so I don't know if cruise lines are going there right now.

For our cruise I don't know what they will do instead of CC. I am ssuming we do not pay port charges for their island so we will probably not get any type of discount for not having gone to three ports and we will probably not go anyplace else as we would have to pay port fees for any other port. I doubt Disney would eat that cost.

Right now I am keeping my eye on Ivan as well. It is only a tropical storm right now but it's projected path takes it over the virgin islands and puerto rico by Wednesday or Thursday. It has lots of nice warm water to feed on between now and then too.

[deborahjo]

Was on CC on the 14th of August. If I could go on a 5 day cruise and 2 days at CC we would love it. I just hope and pray they fair well but with the pictures from Nassua-Castaway Cay almost has to be hit.

Castaway Cay is a beautiful island and Disney has done a great job. Prayers to all who are out there just trying to get home. Of course they are on a cruise ship and I am sitting at home. Anyway. God speed tgo all.

[momofmeg]

I don't know how fast the Disney ships are and where else they can get to in a day or so - you guys might see Key West if Nassau and CC are not ready for public consumption. You might be able to get to and from Cozumel and just do one port. Maybe Casa de Campo in DR, but there has been trouble in Haiti so I don't know if cruise lines are going there right now.

For our cruise I don't know what they will do instead of CC. I am ssuming we do not pay port charges for their island so we will probably not get any type of discount for not having gone to three ports and we will probably not go anyplace else as we would have to pay port fees for any other port. I doubt Disney would eat that cost.

Right now I am keeping my eye on Ivan as well. It is only a tropical storm right now but it's projected path takes it over the virgin islands and puerto rico by Wednesday or Thursday. It has lots of nice warm water to feed on between now and then too.

You could still get a port-maybe not a great port but a port . As I said in my previous post back in Nov. 2001 when we were on RCCL sovereign-we went to Freeport instead of Coco Cay-we were not charged any extra-You know Disney would do the same-ofcourse I think Freeport got hit also so you may get an extra day at sea. Because what else is in that general area? Ft. Lauderdale? I would not want to go to Haiti unless Disney owns a private beach there the way RCL does. Even then it still makes me a little nervous.

You will still have a good time-Disney won't endanger your life and heck we all know cruising this time of year is iffy but it is also much more affordable.

[CathyCanada]

I did my first Disney cruise in Oct of '99 after that hurricane and we were scheduled to go to Cozumel because of the hurricane damage in the Bahamas and Castaway Cay. But at the last minute as we were boarding the bus at the Grand Floridian, we were told we would be the first cruise to do the regular itinerary again. Castaway Cay was a mess, it was sad, so brown and sparse and the damage to the dock was incredible! But they offered the snorkelling at a discounted price because it the area was still being fixed.
Cathy

[CathyCanada]

Did some research and pretty sure that it was Hurricane Floyd that hit in 1999 and it was from Sept 15-23 (give or take) and we cruised around Oct. 10th. Obviously the cleanup and reopening will be dependent upon the extent of the damage, but I know it was very bad after Floyd so that may give you some idea of how long it takes to get the island back in shape.

If you don't make it to Castaway Cay this time, you can always book another cruise, momofmeg! :) (I'm Mom of a Meg, too)

Bambi, you are right, there are no port charges for Castaway Cay.

Hope the damage isn't as bad as last time. :(
Cathy

[richym1]

Distance between 26.07N 77.52W and 25.9N 77.5W is
11.8243 statute miles

This calculation assumes the earth is a perfect sphere
with a radius of 3963.1 statute miles

[momofmeg]

Did some research and pretty sure that it was Hurricane Floyd that hit in 1999 and it was from Sept 15-23 (give or take) and we cruised around Oct. 10th. Obviously the cleanup and reopening will be dependent upon the extent of the damage, but I know it was very bad after Floyd so that may give you some idea of how long it takes to get the island back in shape.

If you don't make it to Castaway Cay this time, you can always book another cruise, momofmeg! :) (I'm Mom of a Meg, too)

Bambi, you are right, there are no port charges for Castaway Cay.

Hope the damage isn't as bad as last time. :(
Cathy
Hey even if we cruise 4 days in the ocean I won't mind. We have cruised enough we have done the Bahamas and Cozumel several times so I don't really care. I am just looking forward to get on that ship in 14 days.

My Meg is actually Meghan and I call myself that because she was the one who introduced me to these boards. Here lately though she has been on the Disney Cruise Line board and not here.

[CathyCanada]

My Meg is Megan. :)

I'm with you, I would be happy just to stay on the ship.....all the time! :)
Cathy

[momofmeg]

Same name Cathy- My Meg just has a silent "H". She has a friend she grew up with whose name is Maegan. Her parents prounouce her name Mae-gan where we pronounce our daughter's name Meg-gan. Both girl's middle name is Elizabeth but all their friends call them "Meg" and" Mae" to identify which girl they are talking to as when you say their names it is hard to tell which name you are saying.

We are big fans of "Anne of Green Gables" so we loved Megan Follows. She prounounces her name Me-gan-so I guess there are all kinds of variations.