Floats at Castaway Cay Stolen

[allshookup]

I was thinking of this when reading about the magnets being stolen from the stateroom doors. We were lucky enough to hold on to the magnet Verandah Man made for us, however we were not so lucky with the floats we rented on Castaway Cay. They were big, awkward and difficult to drag all the way down to the beach but it was lovely to just relax and float around in the warm crystal blue water. When we took a break for lunch we dragged them all out of the water and placed them up by our lounge chairs and headed to Cookie's BQ. When we returned....the blue floats were gone! Unfortunately there is a sea of blue floats all around so it was impossible to tell just who might've taken them. I was shocked that someone could be so mean! I looked around at the ones who had brought their own blow up floats and thought "now that was smart"! Next time we go to Castaway Cay we are bringing our own blow up ones with our name written in HUGE letters. They will be easier to carry and much easier to identify as our own!

 

[plutojudy]

Seems there are always people who think they are free to do whatever they want. Sad.

 

[westjones]

This has never happened to us, BUT I had wondered if it might happen. Last time, we did not rent floats because I didn't want to have to 'watch' them all day long.

I have wondered why they don't sell "Float Stickets" for your cards, so that you can pick up and return floats at CC all day long so you don't have to 'watch them'.

OR better yet, just let everyone use the floats for free so they don't have to bother with watching them (just add $6 to the cost of the cruise).

We went to a water park this summer in Indiana called Holiday World, and they did not make you rent your floats. You just picked them up as you wanted them, and then returned them. It was SO nice not having to 'watch' them.

Next year, I will take some cheap ones from Walmart for the kids to use, but I do not want to spend my time at CC watching my floats.

DJ

 

[cjsmith]

We had the exact same thing happen to us this past June. The people on both sides of us saw who took them and told us and when we questioned the people if they had "borrowed" our floats, they denied it and kept using them. 4 different families laughed and told us they had taken 4 out of our 5 floats! What a thing to teach your kids. Oh well, live and learn. We did go back up and Disney was nice enough to replace them for us, but once again, it was the long drag down the beach!

 

[MrsPete]

Bringing my own floats never occured to me! I think I'll see if I can pick up some cheap-os at the dollar store, then I'll just leave them on CC for whomever might want them.

 

[ReadyForDisney2003]

I agree. You should NOT have to pay for the floats -- they (and the bikes, too) should just be included in the cost of the vacation. Is it really worth it to spend all that paperwork, time and manpower to track a $6 rental?

Please, I'd pay an extra $10 if I didn't have to get involved in the reservation mess.

 

[two4ruff]

I bought inexpensive floats to use and they worked just fine! They were easy to pack, I hadn't opened them so they were completely flat. Afterwards, we deflated them and used them to wrap breakable souveniers.

 

[ruvidu]

If you take your own and leave them there someone is going to have to pick them, deflate them and then dispose of them. What if everyone who visited CC did this?
No flame but just think about the consequences.

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi cjsmith.

The people on both sides of us saw who took them and told us and when we questioned the people if they had "borrowed" our floats, they denied it and kept using them. 4 different families laughed and told us they had taken 4 out of our 5 floats!

Wow! Had it been me, after their denial, it would have been Desert Storm - The Sequel...

 

[sabaka]

For those of you who took your own floats, did you take the ring type or lounge type? And how lond do you get tao stay on Castaway Key?

 

[Mjasp]

Is there somewhere on CC where you can blow them up? Will they do that for you?

You can give them to your cabin steward and ask them to give them to the next family. We ordered 2 baskets from Shirley filled with sand toys, pails, shovels etc. When we left I gave them to our cabin steward and asked him to please give these to a family on the next cruise. I ordered the baskets as I didn't want to lug sand toys on the plane to the port, so I gave them away as I still didn't want to lug them on the way home.

Hope someone enjoyed them.

Joanna

 

[allshookup]

Originally posted by sabaka
For those of you who took your own floats, did you take the ring type or lounge type? And how lond do you get tao stay on Castaway Key?

I believe we arrived around 9am and we were told to board by 4:30.

Most of the ones I saw were the blow up lounge type and I even saw a few of the net types that fold up into a little pouch and then spring back into shape when opened. If we get the inflatable kind I will make sure they are the little cheap ones that are easy to blow up.

Mrs. Pete it was a nice thought to leave the floats for someone else but the CM's have to clear everything away for the next arriving guests and they will most likely just throw them away anyway.

 

[professorandmom]

Funny, we had the exact OPPOSITE experience! After a little while there were three or four times as many floats as people - so it seems...I kept wondering why I paid to rent so many when there were piles everywhere
Barbara

 

[CRenze]

oops...

 

[CRenze]

I'm starting to worry....I've booked the snorkel/bike/float excursion on CC. Now I know that I can't hang on to my float while I snorkel and bike ride (as well as hang on to my snorkel stuff while I bike ride). So, do I get my float when I get back from those or do they give you everything all at once? Also, is there any type of cord/string attached to the floats? I was thinking that maybe I could bring a small lock and somehow lock the floats to our chairs. I don't really want to lug 4 floats if a small lock will work.

Thanks,
Cindy

 

[LAMPSKIES]

On our last two cruises we had no problems. I've left cameras towels floats glasses and my wallet. The people next to us last time had the "big tubes" and they kept blowing a little down the beach. I brought them back twice and the third time they were gone. They just went to the rental gals and recieved new ones.

 

[minnieluvzmickey]

We have reserved 2 floats for castaway cay.

My question is, is there a place near serenity bay to pick up the floats? We are going without kids so we want to get straight to serenity bay so we can get a hammock......we will spend most of the day there.......or do i have to pick them up somewhere else?

 

[ruvidu]

The floats are the large foam types. As the previous poster said, if yours gets gone just go to the CM and tell them what happened. You will get another. We have been to CC 4 times and have left our stuff to eat lunch every time. Nobody has ever bothered it. If you are worried ask one of your neighbors to watch your stuff while you eat and volunteer to do the same for them while they eat.

Yes, you pick up your floats and other reserved items when you get to the beach. If you are a nice person you take them back to the same location when you leave. If you are a lazy jerk like some we see you just leave it on the beach for the CMs to take care of after you leave.


Russ and Miss Vivian

 

[westjones]

Hi Russ!
We were on the 7 Day Western in September 2002 cruise together! My twins DDs did the count down at the terminal when we boarded.

As for the CC package, I just wanted to mention that we had that package on last year's 7 day cruise and what we did was go on the bike ride first (before it got hot). Then we went snorkling. When we were done, we turned in our gear. Then we went and picked up our floats.

So we didn't get all of our things at one time.

BTW, we loved the bike ride. It was wonderful.
DJ

 

[ruvidu]

Oh, I remember you and your family well. I hope all is well with you and yours.
Russ