Trip log, day three. Castaway Cay.
3-Night Very MerryTime Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida
November 13, 2022
Guests Ashore: 8:30 am Guests Onboard: 4:45 pm
Personal Navigator – Day 3
LAND! Castaway Cay, our only port of call for this slightly truncated sailing and well, the forecast for today was mixed.
The morning started off with Emily heading off to Senses Fitness to run on a treadmill, because that is really the only way to run a significant distance on the Disney Wish. Afterwards, she met us in Marceline Market for breakfast, where I ordered her an omelette (not pictured – all I have is a picture of the order number sign). I went with a sage sausage and cheese quiche which Isabelle help make more photogenic.
In our short turnaround time between breakfast and heading ashore, I tried to launch Disney Uncharted Adventure and once again ERROR.. A few people responded to my Tweets that resetting the app was the solution. I feel like I am technically savvy, but I couldn’t find out how to do it myself, so I asked for help. The cast member seemed well aware of the issue and the reset process. Once she reset my app and I re-linked my reservation, the game loaded… There seems to be a download process that occurs and for me it took nearly 15 minutes before the stars aligned and the game initialized. Just in time to head ashore.
To reset the Disney Cruise Navigator app, launched the app, tap More > Help > About This App and select the reset app button. It is important to note, this will purge your chat history and possibly activity favorites. However, it is the process to get the game to launch.
As I mentioned, the forecast was a mix and part of the reason we were not in a rush to go ashore was a line of showers moving over the island. While we stayed dry, we did miss out on seeing this waterspout which grew a bit larger pass near the island. Thankfully, a friend was already ashore and shared a picture.
It’s just a little squall; they come on you fast and leave you fast. By the time we made our way to the gangway, the blue sky returned.
We spent most of the morning between two neighboring Family Beach Cabanas shared by those who joined up as part of our DCL Blog Group Cruise. During previous group sailings, we did a ‘trot with Scott’ 5k, but I didn’t pack running shoes which is a miss on my part because the weather was lovely and they were passing out the new finisher medal featuring Mickey Mouse. While the metal looks great, it lacks a Disney Cruise ship, Castaway Cay design look of the previous designs.
For lunch, we headed over to Cookies BBQ Too where I was finally able to try the slightly updated offerings. During my last two visits, I spend most of the Castaway day exploring the Disney Wish while most guests were ashore.
Scott’s questionable post lunch snack of leftover pizza from last night paired with a Jockamo Juicy IPA which has been elusive to me on the Wish since the Maiden.
Do you want to build a snowman? We had a little group event building snowmen on the beach, well sandmen. The competition was close and I really wanted to give myself the prize for my ice puddle.
Afternoon storms rolled in, so we packed up and headed back onboard. Oh, lucky me, the Browns vs Dolphins game was on in the stateroom on a special events channel. Cruising really takes the pain away from watching the beatdown that occurred in Miami. Still, I am thankful the broadcast team chose this game to include.
This evening were were splitting up. Isabelle went with everyone else to Arendelle where they were seated at a great table, but the Olaf animatronic was still on vacation…
Emily and I headed up to The Rose for a pre-dinner cocktail. The Rose, from The Rose might come with a bit of sticker shock, but it a wonderful indulgence.
If you were to run out to your local liquor supplier you’d be a few hundred dollars for the bottles, and other supplies excluding the upfront cost of RIEDEL Fatto A Mano Riesling/Zinfandel glass, a smoke bubble gun, and presentation container. A bottle of Kosmos Reposado Rosa Tequila is $107, Grand Marnier Cuvee Louis Alexander is $72, and Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Rose Champagne price varies by year (2013 is $280 the 2012 was $330). The Rose cocktail is finished with an elderberry scent smoke and garnished with wild hibiscus flower (not sure this is the exact one used, but it is $15). Oh, the shelf like of Champagne is short, so while the liquor will last for multiple at home versions, you’d need to purchase additional bottles at Champagne unless you are not throwing a Rose themed party.
The Rose cocktail is fantastic by itself with the presentation elevating the experience.
Now we didn’t skip on dinner at Arendelle for just drinks, we finally went to Enchanté, where we indulged in the 9-course collection with the Champagne pairing. We had a great date night dinner and I cannot wait to share more. The experience deserves a separate and full review and will be at the top of my to do list no that the trip report is nearing completion.
After 9-,10-,11- it seems like so many more courses, I could have fallen into a food coma, but the night was still young. On the way out of dinner, we spotted the Chargers vs 49ers Sunday Night Football game on funnel vision.
On the final evening, we saw Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving in the Grand Hall. They proceeded down the grand staircase where they were seated on a couch by the tree meeting guests.
Even the Clauses enjoyed the Grand Hall’s Goodnight Kiss, where they took a break from meeting guests to share a dance.
Before I close out our final day, I want to share two time lapse recordings from the day spanning from about 7:00AM to 10:30PM. They are actually the same video, the first is a compressed 2 minute version followed by a 30-minute version that may make a great alternative for a yule log video this holiday season.
Trip log, day four. Debarkation Day at Port Canaveral.
November 14, 2022
Not a bad way to start a Monday morning.
Our time aboard the Disney Wish was about to end, but first we had to finish the end of cruise survey which included an extra two-sided handout specifically focused on the Very MerryTime aspect. It has been nearly a decade since we last sailed a VMT cruise. Previously, we sailed on one of the Disney Fantasy’s inaugural year VMT cruises which remains the pinnacle of the themed experiences. To be fair, the storm delays caused a ripple effect with the decorating and installation of the seasonal offering on the Disney Wish. However, Castaway Cay was not decorated and as of the first of December, it is still not decorated. Maybe it was by design, but I never felt the holiday season taking over the ship like I have in my memories of our Disney Fantasy Very MerryTime experience.
There was no time to drag our feet this morning. We did express walk-off in order to get back to Central Florida for work and school.
Don’t forget The Santa Clauses will be streaming exclusively on Disney+.
Welcome back to reality were the escalator to the parking garage was offline and only 1 elevator was operational in the Port Canaveral parking garage. It’s was too early to lug suitcases up stairs, but thankfully the express walk-off crowd was still small, I can only imagine what it was like after the first breakfast seating headed out.
Thanks for following along with us. Let me know in the comments or drop me an email if you have any questions regarding the Disney Wish, or the Very MerryTime offerings that I haven’t covered in the trip reports.
If you would like to join us on the next DCL blog group cruise, we would love to have you! Click here for more details on how to join us!
The Maiden voyage did not have the correct size lounge chair cushions on the promenade deck (only small chair cushions), and the promenade deck had patchwork staining (some areas as large as a car or SUV). Have these things been corrected?
Is Castaway Cay decorated for the holiday? I keep seeing things different places that say it isn’t! They always have a tree, etc there. Wondering what is up?
No, Castaway Cay is NOT decorated. (As of December 4, 2022)
The ship is a total disappointment
Scott, as someone who has sailed a lot and probably has a pretty good feel on the Captains… is Captain Marco a guy who keeps to himself? On the week we were on the ship we heard his voice… once. Also, for all the awesome hype with the new Disney Ship Horns and all the arrangements they can play we only heard them… once. When we were leaving Castaway. Captain Guus, Henry and Thord seemed more personable and we actually heard them. Insight is appreciated.
From my experience, Captain Marco did keep to himself and was not seen around the ship as much as some of the other Captains. Commodore Tom for example was frequently spotted around the ship during the sailing. I suspect the bridge teams may be a little more guarded following the industry shutdown to reduce exposure for the team.
As for the horns… well, that is a great question. Part of me thinks they are limiting the usage because they don’t necessarily sound all that good at times. I was hoping they’d receive the necessary fine tuning since the summer launch, but even on our last voyage in November they were mostly quiet.