Earlier this year, Disney Cruise Line refreshed their Castaway Club stateroom gifts, which are typically awaiting in the staterooms of all returning cruisers on embarkation day. The backpacks with a myriad of snacks has been replaced with one of three different color tote bags depending on your Castaway Club status. Regardless if you are a Silver, Gold, or Platinum cruiser, you will receive a tote bag with the same color as your lanyard, a matching magnetic dry erase board and magnet, and an Navilighter for highlighting your Personal Navigators.
Gold and Platinum members receive an added surprise; a game time with a deck of cards and a Cruise-o-grams, a nautical take on the popular Bananagrams. We have heard from others that the tote bags do not hold up very well and saw a few onboard with ripped out grommets. However, this was not the case for our bag, but we did not use it on the cruise.
Silver Castaway Club Gifts
- Silver tote bag
- Silver magnetic dry erase board & marker
- Navilighter
During the Alaskan sailings, returning Silver cruisers are receiving the following backpack in lieu of the tote bag.
Gold Castaway Club Gifts
- Gold tote bag
- Gold magnetic dry erase board & marker
- Game tin (not pictured – see below)
- Navilighter
During the Alaskan sailings, returning Gold cruisers are receiving the following backpack in lieu of the tote bag.
Platinum Castaway Club Gift
- Platinum (black) tote bag
- Platinum magnetic dry erase board & marker
- Game tin
- Bottle of Prosecco, Box of Truffle, or fruit plate
- Navilighter
Platinum Castaway Club members are also offered a choice of truffles, a bottle of Prosecco, or a fruit plate. We opted for the Prosecco, because when Disney Cruise Line offers a free drink, you take it.
In March on the Fantasy, we also received a commemorative bottle of Coke celebrating the 15th Anniversary of Disney Cruise Line. I do not know if these bottles are still being passed out to passengers.
Keep in mind that these are stateroom gifts, so it is one per room, not per person. The level of Castaway Club gift will depend on the guest with the highest status in the stateroom. I’ve also heard that the game tin has not always been included with the Gold bag. Additionally, Gold & Platinum members receive a 10% off discount in the onboard gift shops (note: no discount in the shops on Castaway Cay) with some exclusions.
Anyone know if the DVC merchandise discount is in combination with the Castaway Club discount? We’re always a little dismayed that the Castaway Club distinctions are based upon the number of SAILINGS rather than total nights at sea. I wonder if we’re alone in that?
No you’re not. We have 2 cruises but 26 nights. Does seem a bit strange doesn’t it?
We’ll be getting ours this Saturday. My wife will like the bag and I like the magnetic dry erase board. We use the back pack we received last cruise all the time for little adventures. Still in the silver range but we go gold after our Alaskan cruise next June.
I think you’re on my cruise, Bill! Fantasy on the 10th? =)
What a nice surprise! We are going on our first Disney Cruise in November, after we get married on the beach in Florida. We have sailed with another cruise line several times, and never offered more than a one free drink in an overcrowded meeting area. I can’t wait to sail with this first class cruise line! Thank you for all of your blog updates-it has really helped me prepare for our trip/honeymoon! 🙂
Elizabeth,
I am sorry to say as a first time Disney cruiser you will not receive the stateroom gift. Silver Castaway Club status does not begin until you complete your first cruise. We also celebrated our honeymoon on a Disney Cruise. Make sure to have a note on your reservation that you are celebrating your honeymoon!
We sail Platinum this Saturday….so excited to see the new gifts! Thanks for sharing!
I love the gift. We use the banana bag a lot – it’s fun to take with you out to dinner so the kids don’t hang on their phones all night, and the DCL logo is instantly recognizable. We had the game tin in our gold bag, and looking forward to our first platinum in July.
JC, I’m pretty sure it’s one of the other, they don’t stack.
Scott I and my family were just on the Fantasy a few weeks ago. My wife loved the new bag. I loved the coke in the canister as a collection item. But I missed the back-pack. It was useful during excursions and my son loved it for a school back-pack and it did not tear easily. Some people said the new bags rip very easy. My wife packed her and it did not tear. Maybe we were fortunate enough to get a good one.
I found the backpacks more useable as well.
Dave 52 – 23 nights on 3 cruises. Considering the expenditure I begrudgingly accept “silver” gifts.
Walt S, initially the tote bags were made very poorly. We have one from when they were first given out in late 2013. We saw people at guest services that entire cruise with broken ones. Since then they have changed the design and added reinforcement and they are holding up much better. We have two of the new kind and they are working well. Maybe not as useful as the backpack but at least they aren’t breaking on the first use now!
We used our silver castaway club bag throughout the cruise as a poolside bag and took it off the ship each port day and didn’t get a single tear. I found it to be pretty durable.
Anyone know if they are still passing around those Coke bottles? My father would LOVE that!
Melissa, we got one on our March 15th sailing.
Do you also get the lanyards in your first “silver” gift?
You will get the lanyards when you check in at the port.
We have split up our family into two rooms- one with aunties and 2 kids and myself, hubs and 2 kids. Just our immediate family is cc members. Will both rooms gift gifts cause the kiddos are cc members in a different room? No big deal, just curious!
Yes, both rooms will get one gift each as long as at least one passenger in the room is a returning cruiser.
Don’t hold your breath for the Prosecco/truffles/fruit plate. Not offered to us as Platinum members on the WBPC sailing. We eventually received the commemorative Coke bottles (2).
On the May 24th Alaskan cruise, all returning cruisers received the backpack instead of the tote and the color varied depending on your cc status.
any idea if the Med cruisers this summer are getting the beach bag or the backpack?
The med cruisers are getting the backpacks.
Just curious does each member of the stateroom get a lanyard or just 1 per stateroom? Going on our 2nd Disney cruise on 2nd of November 🙂 just wondering if I should buy lanyards for the rest or not 🙂
Each person will receive a lanyard based on their individual Castaway Club status.
Thanks 🙂
We received this tote bag in Feb. 2014 and the handle broke while at Castaway Cay. They did exchange it for us, but I have been hesitant to use again since it is quite a burden to have the handle break while the bag is full. I wish they would go back to the backpack!
I wonder which they will do on the WBTA in September? My first venture into the world of Platinum!
These new bags are awful! I wish the they continued with the backpacks and cheese snacks.
I encourage you to submit your feedback directly to DCL. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/contact-us/
Disappointed with the beach bag…. Did not pack my Oakley backpack because I was expecting a castaway one to use… Landed up buying a DCL backpack on board. Backpacks are a more gender neutral gift… As beach bags sway a lot further to the female side. Mine will probably never get used… Wife doesn’t find it Ito be very attractive compared to the bag she already uses…she was also disappointed with the switch to the bag over backpack. Should have stayed with the backpack DCL…. Take a look around your ships and see how many fathers or kids are carrying the backpacks…. And how on our latest cruise, which ended yesterday on the Fantasy, that it is just moms/ grandmothers carrying the beachbag.
It’s free.
Also….. Never got the dry erase board or navilighter that is shown above…. Only the bag.
We did not get the dry erase board in October either.
We got the dry erase and navilighter in November. Does anyone know if they still send out the magnets after your cruise? If so how long does it usually take if they do send them out?
We did not get a magnet, but we just received one of the prints late last week for our mid-October cruise.
Has anyone returned from a 2015 sailing yet? Curious to see if the castaway club gifts have changed. Going on my 4th cruise next month.
We were on the Wonder 1/14-1/18/15. We received a tote bag (silver).
LOL, I signed in here too to see what the current gift was…first time visitor here thanks to a websearch, we cruise next Friday on the Dream. I was curious to see if there were any changes since October, these gifts were exactly what we received, but not the coke bottle. My party had both silver and gold members, so we got to see almost the whole collection. I’m not going to pack a beach bag based on what I’m seeing here.
Are you supposed to get everything pictured in the silver club gift photo when you are returning??? Or just the bag?? I recently came off a caribbean cruise (nov 2014) aboard the wonder and only got the sliver club bag…. Not like im complaing i love the bag… This is just a cruiocity question. Silver castasay club member
Mandy, the gifts are constantly changing and at times are limited to supply on hand.
Thanks 🙂
Have we gotten a 2015 Giftie Update? Just wondering if they are introducing new gifts as it has been about a year since the last changeover.
Hi Kathy. I’ve been on 5 Disney cruises in the past 12 months and each time I received the same tote bag. I’m ready for something new as well but it looks like that won’t happen until possibly 2016. Fingers crossed!
I just came back from the fantasy and got a silver tote bag, none of the other utems listed here were part of the welcoming gifts. I yjink it might cary between cruised.
We just got back from our cruise on the magic it was the silver tote but we also recieved a 200 dollar on board credit for booking this trip while we were on our last cruise
We just returned from our 2nd seven night DCL on the Fantasy, Western caribbean cruise. Our first was on the Magic, same cruise ports. Upon arrival, we received a straw tote bag with the DCL embroidered on the outside with the thick rope straps. We just became silver castaway members this cruse. Used this tote as it was quite wide for our excursions when we left the ship. I never had any problems with this tote. Packed for 2 kids, my husband and I. Note, I did NOT have it weighted down with 100lbs either. **however my husband still carried his North Face backpack. Clearly agree-most men will NOT carry this tote. lol** Next cruise will be the 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise, we booked for next summer.
I just want to say, Disney doesn’t HAVE to leave us anything. Its just a very nice surprise to add that extra smile along with everything else it has to offer. Im thankful for any gift, that anyone gives to me/us. Its a gift.
Looking forward to our next sail next summer again on the Fantasy. And whatever if anything, is left in our state room upon arrival, I will be very grateful. Thank you Disney!