First Look: Disney Cruise Line to Honor Families with Special Island Display

Disney Travel News

First Look: Disney Cruise Line to Honor Families with Special Island Display

By: Disney Destinations August 16, 2023

Over the years, families have made countless magical memories together from riding bikes and completing the Castaway Cay 5K, to snorkeling and spending time together on Castaway Family Beach.

 

In honor of the families who have sailed 50 or more times with Disney Cruise Line, a commemorative display will be added to Disney Castaway Cay this fall. This will recognize the legacy and heart of the Castaway Club, our members. The display will take residence near the Island Post Office with a colorful fence that features the names of these families. Check out the artist rendering!

Eligible Castaway Club Members will have the opportunity to select one of the beautiful icons below to accompany their family’s name on the display. Here’s a sneak peek of the options!

Castaway Club is Disney Cruise Line’s way of recognizing guests who have sailed.

 

Stay tuned for more on the installation! Details will be coming soon to each eligible family who has already reached this milestone.

The story of Cruise Lines Private Islands and Ports

The story of Cruise Lines Private Islands and Ports

 

In the 1960’s-70’s a young Abaco man saw the coming boom of the Cruise Line industry. He started purchasing Beach Front property and opening it up for Cruise Lines to bring their guests. Many of these became private ports of call for various Cruise Lines such as Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, Disney and others. Some spots became hotels and other tourist venues.

 

He purchased Gordo Cay, a little approximately 1,000-acre island, and opened it up to the island for local Abaco people to grow crops and raise animals. Gordo Cay means Fat Island. It was called Fat Island for its fat little shape. He built a small airstrip on the island so he could fly his family to the island for visits and keep track of what was going on there. Often, they would have a picnic or camp out there on the island with his family. One day in the 1980’s he was flying his family to the island for a day of fun. When landing he saw men on his runway with AK47’s! He did not land and decided right then to sell the island right away!! He sold the island to a company he had not heard of. He just wanted rid of this island and the Drug Runners that had taken control of it. Let the Cruise Line deal with the problem! The fledgling Cruise Line was Magical Cruises, now known as Disney Cruise Line. He let Disney and US Drug Enforcement deal with the Drug Runners.

 

Disney is using approximately 175-200-acres of the island for recreational and infrastructure. The majority of the island is being kept as a natural wild habitat. In fact, Disney is working to rebuild the natural coral reef in the lagoon. There have sunk some things there to make it inviting to the aquatic life that supports and is supported by a living coral reef. Sunk in the lagoon you will see Submarines from old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride, ships with Mickey and Minnie mast heads and other items that look like they fell off a Pirate Ship that was hiding in the Lagoon. These items not only are fun for the guests to go looking for they give hiding places for aquatic life, encouraging them to stay.

 

On the island guests find lots of activities. Port adventures range from Bike, Snorkel Gear, and Floats to Paddle Boats, Jet Skis, Parasailing and even Fishing! There are several places to grab a bite to eat and even some places to get adult drinks. Fook is free but alcoholic drinks and other specialty drinks cost, as they do on the ship. Like the ship most thins are included in your cruise fare.

 

The island is broken up into areas for kids, families, teens/twines and adult only. You can take your pick where to spend your time. Just like the ship there is a kids clubs activities so adults can head to Serenity Bay for a quiet bite to eat, a drink and some time to relax on the shore.

 

Castaway Cay – What Can You do for FREE on Disney’s Island Hideaway!

Castaway Cay – What Can You do for FREE on Disney’s Island Hideaway!

Disney’s Castaway Cay is located off Freeport Bahamas. It has a rich and somewhat sorted history. But I digress. I’ll tell that story in another post.

Disney Cruisers get to enjoy a fantastic place in the sun full of fun! This island paradise was purpose build by Disney Cruise Line for their guests. There is plenty to do. Some of the Port Adventures and Shops are run by locals that live on surrounding islands. Because they are run by 3^rd party companies, they may not always be available. Some offerings may be closed due to lack of staff due to Covid or other reasons.

The Island has 1 pier and only 1 ship can dock at a time. The Island is designed to accommodate the guests of the 1 Disney Cruise Line ship at a time. This is to reduce the impact guests and services have on the environment of the island. Over 85% of the island is kept in its natural state.

You walk directly off the ship onto the island. No tinder necessary and it is easy. You still have to follow all rules and regulations of getting off the ship at any port of call. At this time, there is a virtual queue for disembarking at ports. You will have to show your Key to the World Card when you get off and when you return. Take both your Key to the World and your ID for each member of your party. You will not need ID for children, other than their key to the world card. You can also head directly to the Family Beach for some beach fun!!

If you purchased the

Just like the ship, Castaway Cay is broken into Kid, Tween, Teen, Family and Adult Only areas. If you wish to check your children into the youth activities area they will be supervised while you Serenity Bay (the Adult Only Beach) to grab a drink and a few minutes of quiet.

First thing you can do is the Castaway Cay 5K run!!! It is free and all guests receive a Castaway Cay 5K medal. You can choose to preorder the Castaway Cay 5K Premium Package for an extra charge. Premium Package must be ordered before you sail and includes a Disney Castaway Cay 5K cinch sack, water bottle and hat. This is open to all guests 10 and older.

It is a short walk to the shuttles, or you can walk to the beaches yourself it really is not that far. The first shuttle drops you off by the Family Beach and Shops. You will also find the Snorkeling Lagoon there as well. I HIGHLY recommend the Snorkeling!! Lots of hidden treasures. The water goes really deep but then switches up to shallow so you can relax. You never have to swim far to find a shallow area. Pelican Plunge is also in this area. Pelican Plunge is floating water play area with waterslides that drop you into the ocean.

Cookies BBQ serves lunch and snacks. Cookies BBQ is near the Family Beach. You will find a beverage station and soft serve ice cream there as well. This is all included, just as it is on the ship. Cookies II BBQ is down at Quiet Cove, the Adult Only beach. Cookies II BBQ is for adults only. There are several bars on the island, and they cost extra. You don’t have to go to the Adult Area to get a drink.

You can take a long walk and go from the ship down an “abandoned” airstrip and walk to the lookout tower. You can ride the shuttles to Serenity Bay and continue the walk to the tower from there if you desire. Down that same path is the Tween and Teen area where they can play beach volleyball and other sports. In the main area near the Family Beach is a shaded area with games and activities.

As you can see there is MUCH to do for free on Castaway Cay!!!

My personal favorite things to do are snorkeling in the Snorkeling Lagoon and relaxing at Serenity Bay. The shops are always fun to look at. There are things that are exclusive to Castaway Cay, and they can’t be found anywhere else. There are also a couple of shops run by local merchants from the Bahamas. Many unique and fun things made by local artists to be found there.

For those with Disabilities Castaway Cay is full accessible. There are cement paths to accommodate wheelchairs and scooters through the entire Island. There are also Beach Wheelchairs available on a first come first served basis. Disney has done their best to make the island accessible and accommodating to all who come. The ships crew helps with handling things on the island while the ship is at port, so the service is the same and if a need arises help is there.

 

Disney's Castaway Cay

Disney’s Castaway Cay

            Disney’s Castaway Cay is their private island for guests of the Disney Cruise Line. A stop at Castaway Cay is an enjoyable day “stranded” in a tropical paradise. It is located off of Freeport, Bahamas.

            Castaway Cay was not always filled with Disney Magic. Back in the 1770s it is said that Gorda Cay (now Castaway Cay) was a pirate haven. In the early 1990s the gentleman, a real estate developer that owned this small beautiful island for years decided he had to sell. He had found that drug runners had taken over his island. They were using the airstrip he had built on the island for his personal use to bring in drugs to the United States.

In the late 1990s Disney went looking for an island and they came across the beautiful 1000 acre Gorda Cay. With the help of Bahamian and US law enforcement Disney booted out the drug running pirates and renamed the island Castaway Cay. You can still see the remains of the airstrip and in fact you use it as part of the trail to head to the adult Serenity Bay area of Castaway Cay.

Disney has not developed much of the island, approximately 85% of the island remains in a wild state. Guests are not allowed into the undeveloped area.

Approximately 100 Disney Castaway Cast Members lived full-time on the island. These brave souls sign up for a six-month stay on the island. They maintain the equipment, clean the facilities, train stingrays and repair storm damage.

Castaway Cay was hit by both hurricanes Francine and Janine in 2004. They have been hit by many hurricanes before and since this time. Francine and Janine took out the majority of the amenities of Castaway Cay. Yet within two months over 90% of the repairs were done. For the safety of the Castaway Cast Members Disney has built a hurricane bunker. Those living on the island can find shelter there. 

There are at least two Castaway Cats! Nobody knows exactly how these fastidious felines decided to join the House of Mouse. Everybody is fairly sure that the cats did not come in on one of the Disney Cruise Ships. (Disney cruise ships are the only cruise ships to stop there.) It is possible that the cats came in on one of the local Bahamian supply ships. One of the cats is black and appears to be missing part of one of its ears. This beauty seems to have picked up the name of Casey (I saw one report saying his name is Stitch) from its adoring fans and even has its own Facebook page. Many stories tell of Casey walking up to guests to get his ears scratched and he’ll often settle down next to guests as they sit on the beach. The second cat is a red tabby. Casey’s buddy is not as friendly and tends to stay as far away from people as he can. I know I’ll be looking for both of theses ‘s cats when I go on my next cruise!

You may wonder why the Disney cruise ships always leave Castaway Cay long before sunset. The reason is simple, sand fleas. These vicious little bugs come out after sunset. By having guests off the beach long before this the guests are saved any discomfort and inconvenience.

Castaway Cat Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/142961449132167/