Update on Castaway Cay?

[diablodancer]

Was there yesterday on the Fantasy. It’s looking a lot better than I expected to be honest, the plant life on the island was surprisingly very green.

Still just chairs out on Serenity Bay and very little in the way of sea life (have seen starfish previously but this time there were only a few small fish near the shore and heard others worrying about jellyfish they had seen further out.

The Snorkelling Lagoon has been affected quite a bit and saw far less sea life this time round (which I think others have said is common after a hurricane?). There were only three buoys out to mark snorkelling sites - sure there’s usually more than this - and I’m not sure if the snorkelling area had been restricted. There’s some plant/tree debris in the water still closer to shore and the seaweed areas where I’ve seen sea turtles before looked less healthy.

In terms of excursions they were running, parasailing and the glass-bottom boat were both running (the latter of which is operated by Abaco residents). We got a letter when checking in saying that the Stingray adventure was shut but I heard a cast member talking about it on the day as if it was open so not sure.

 

[Garyjames220]

I wonder how much longer until it’s all back to normal

 

[Kadie]

We were in Castaway day before yesterday and it was beautiful. Still some attractions closed like the stingray excursion but we noticed almost no other impact. We were surprised how good it looked.

 

[CarAnn]

We were at Serenity Bay on Wednesday, 10/9. I saw the erosion but things were better than I expected. They are clearly working on it. Umbrellas, chairs and loungers were available. I had booked Cabana 25 as that was the last one available when I checked in online. That ended up being a great location because that’s where the beach access is for the cabanas right now.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

Awesome, thanks for the recent update! Unless another hurricane hits, it seems my family will be more than all set for our Castaway Cay double dip after thanksgiving.

 

[Melissa S]

I was also there last Friday. Scuttle’s Cove was fine my children spent a couple hours there. although there were no loungers at Serenity Bay I thought the water was the clearest there. Regarding family beaches we always go to the second beach in front of Pelican Plunge and thought it was fine. Later in the day we went to the first family beach and the water was murky. Overall the island was beautiful and never would have guessed it was battered by a Category 5.

 

[MN Dis Fans]

I was also there last Friday. Scuttle’s Cove was fine my children spent a couple hours there. although there were no loungers at Serenity Bay I thought the water was the clearest there. Regarding family beaches we always go to the second beach in front of Pelican Plunge and thought it was fine. Later in the day we went to the first family beach and the water was murky. Overall the island was beautiful and never would have guessed it was battered by a Category 5.

We're sailing on the Fantasy next week. Your post above mentions no loungers at Serenity Bay? I noticed post #24 (CarAnn) mentions that there were loungers / umbrellas, and there certainly appears to be loungers in her pictures? Can you please confirm? I guess I'm probably more concerned about umbrellas. Sitting out in the sun all day can be brutal.

 

[tinytilly]

Do you remember if the stingrays were back and the excursion was going?

 

[SamFaniam]

We're sailing on the Fantasy next week. Your post above mentions no loungers at Serenity Bay? I noticed post #24 (CarAnn) mentions that there were loungers / umbrellas, and there certainly appears to be loungers in her pictures? Can you please confirm? I guess I'm probably more concerned about umbrellas. Sitting out in the sun all day can be brutal.

CarAnn's visit was after Melissa's. I think you'll be fine.

 

[CarAnn]

CarAnn's visit was after Melissa's. I think you'll be fine.

Correct. Umbrellas and loungers were plentiful.

 

[allison0523]

We were at Serenity Bay on Wednesday, 10/9. I saw the erosion but things were better than I expected. They are clearly working on it. Umbrellas, chairs and loungers were available. I had booked Cabana 25 as that was the last one available when I checked in online. That ended up being a great location because that’s where the beach access is for the cabanas right now.View attachment 443272

Thank you for the info but I have a question. What do you mean by beach access for the cabanas being at cabana 25 now? Is that on Serenity Bay? We have the accessible cabana #1 booked in a couple weeks because we have 2 people using wheelchairs so I am just wondering if beach access will be an issue for us.

 

[Melissa S]

We're sailing on the Fantasy next week. Your post above mentions no loungers at Serenity Bay? I noticed post #24 (CarAnn) mentions that there were loungers / umbrellas, and there certainly appears to be loungers in her pictures? Can you please confirm? I guess I'm probably more concerned about umbrellas. Sitting out in the sun all day can be brutal.

Hi they were there after us so I would go by their account. Glad to see they are back

 

[CarAnn]

Thank you for the info but I have a question. What do you mean by beach access for the cabanas being at cabana 25 now? Is that on Serenity Bay? We have the accessible cabana #1 booked in a couple weeks because we have 2 people using wheelchairs so I am just wondering if beach access will be an issue for us.

I am just talking about the Cabanas at Serenity Bay which is the adult-only area. There was significant erosion there and they have recreated the access right beside Cabana 25.

 

[gometros]

We were at Serenity Bay on Wednesday, 10/9. I saw the erosion but things were better than I expected. They are clearly working on it. Umbrellas, chairs and loungers were available. I had booked Cabana 25 as that was the last one available when I checked in online. That ended up being a great location because that’s where the beach access is for the cabanas right now.View attachment 443272

Thanks for the update. We cruise on the Fantasy next Saturday. Looks like I won't need that shade tent after all.

 

[shelbell77]

We board the Fantasy this Saturday. Had Cabana 19 reserved and got contacted by Concierge this morning and told #19 is still damaged with no date for repair. They moved us to cabana #17.

 

[Semper Absurda]

We were at Castaway on Friday 10/11 and spent all day at Serenity Bay. This was our first time , so I can't make comparisons. There were plenty of chairs, loungers, and umbrellas. The water was crystal clear and fairly warm, the weather was perfect that day. We were very glad to have water socks as the bottom is very rocky/shelly.

 

[bostonluke]

We board the Fantasy this Saturday. Had Cabana 19 reserved and got contacted by Concierge this morning and told #19 is still damaged with no date for repair. They moved us to cabana #17.

We're going to be there the first week of Nov. Supposed to have Cabana 18... crossing my fingers that it is in use.

 

[kathi]

We are on the Christmas Double Dip (Fantasy). I'm getting really bummed out about 2 days at Castaway Cay (something I thought I'd never say). Serenity Bay is so tiny now and chairs are stacked right on top of each other. That is not the paradise I was hoping for. I know that it's because of erosion from the storm, I'm just disappointed. I'd rather skip visiting twice and pick up a different port where we could go to a beach with a chance of escaping the crowds. I'm trying to make the most of it and booked the island walk/kayak adventure on the first day and the Wild Side adventure for our teen the second day. The tide is highest in the morning when we are there, so we will probably just go to the beach for a few hours on the second day and then go back to the ship (we are usually first off and last on when visiting Castaway Cay).

 

[Garyjames220]

We are on the Christmas Double Dip (Fantasy). I'm getting really bummed out about 2 days at Castaway Cay (something I thought I'd never say). Serenity Bay is so tiny now and chairs are stacked right on top of each other. That is not the paradise I was hoping for. I know that it's because of erosion from the storm, I'm just disappointed. I'd rather skip visiting twice and pick up a different port where we could go to a beach with a chance of escaping the crowds. I'm trying to make the most of it and booked the island walk/kayak adventure on the first day and the Wild Side adventure for our teen the second day. The tide is highest in the morning when we are there, so we will probably just go to the beach for a few hours on the second day and then go back to the ship (we are usually first off and last on when visiting Castaway Cay).

Surly these issues will be fixed by then anyway ?

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

We are on the Christmas Double Dip (Fantasy). I'm getting really bummed out about 2 days at Castaway Cay (something I thought I'd never say). Serenity Bay is so tiny now and chairs are stacked right on top of each other. That is not the paradise I was hoping for. I know that it's because of erosion from the storm, I'm just disappointed. I'd rather skip visiting twice and pick up a different port where we could go to a beach with a chance of escaping the crowds. I'm trying to make the most of it and booked the island walk/kayak adventure on the first day and the Wild Side adventure for our teen the second day. The tide is highest in the morning when we are there, so we will probably just go to the beach for a few hours on the second day and then go back to the ship (we are usually first off and last on when visiting Castaway Cay).

You still have plenty of time before that sailing. Also, when I was on a 4 night Dream Double Castaway in June, it was amazing. Because there were so many families on board (Which I can only assume will be the same situation if you are on board over Christmas) Serenity should hopefully be a ghost town. There were maybe 30/40 people there for my sailing in June because there were so many families.

As to the loungers, those amazing pictures look virtually identical to what it was like back in June as to the setup, possibly a bit more space actually there.