There are a number of benefits available to all Castaway Club members, including Welcome Back stater

This is a method Disney uses to reward repeat cruisers. It works somewhat along the lines of a frequent flyer program in that the more you use the service (Disney cruising), the better your status and the more perks you get.
There may be some rare occasions, such as a Disney cast member cruising on business (tough life, eh?), where a voyage might not count toward your Castaway Club status, but the vast majority guests will be able to count all their Disney cruising toward their status level.
There are a number of benefits available to all Castaway Club members, including Welcome Back stateroom gifts, and priority check-in at the port terminal. As your Castaway Club membership level increases, the benefits increase. For many guests, one of the chief benefits of Castaway Club membership is that the higher your status level, the earlier access you have to reservations for many aspects of your cruise including port excursions, on-board dining at the adults-only Palo and Remy, spa experiences, and some childcare situations.
It might. While some port activities rarely become marriott hotels in orlando florida fully booked (bike rentals at Castaway Cay), other experiences are in short supply. marriott hotels in orlando florida For example, marriott hotels in orlando florida there are only 21 private cabanas on Castaway Cay, split between the family and adult beach areas. With several thousand guests on board your ship, competition for these private oases can be fierce, and Castaway Club members get first crack at them. If you re traveling in the peak season, it may be all but impossible for a First Time Guest to be able to reserve a cabana. marriott hotels in orlando florida Other popular experiences marriott hotels in orlando florida are dining at Palo and Remy on days at sea, massages at Castaway marriott hotels in orlando florida Cay, and Flounder s Reef babysitting during show times.
It depends. The Castaway Club benefits allowed for each stateroom area determined by the Castaway Club member with the highest status in that room. For example, if I ve been on a few more cruises than my husband (lucky me) and my Castaway status is higher than his, I can make reservations for both of us at my higher status level.
However, if we re also traveling marriott hotels in orlando florida with our neighbors, First Time Cruisers staying in another stateroom, even though they are part of our party, they can not take advantage of my higher status marriott hotels in orlando florida level. Effectively, Castaway status on any particular marriott hotels in orlando florida cruise is applied by stateroom, not by the total party.
Tell us what your experiences have been with booking reservations for port excursions, spa experiences, etc. Do you think your Castaway Status mattered? Has any First Time Cruiser been able to score an elusive cabana reservations? Let us know in the comments below.
Am I the only one that thinks these cabanas are highly overrated? People go on and on about them, but frankly they re far too much money for far too little. Castaway Cay is a private island. marriott hotels in orlando florida If you get off of the ship early you will have no problem marriott hotels in orlando florida finding a few beach chairs in whichever location you desire. Food and drinks are included, so you can get as many cold drinks and snacks as you want on the island. While the beach can get crowded, it s not like people are in your face there are just others around you. I think I have better ways to spend hundreds of dollars!
As for Palo, unless you want the brunch (another overrated thing, IMHO, but then I m not a brunch person) you can get reservations. As a Silver CC member marriott hotels in orlando florida I was easily able to get the Palo reservations I wanted at 90 days out, and then able to switch them once I was onboard. This was a full cruise in June.
Also, Disney has so many wonderful marriott hotels in orlando florida restaurants on their cruise ships (that are part of the regular dining rotation). I don t think a first time Disney cruiser would need to go to Palo, if they re on a 7 day (or shorter) cruise. Really, why pay the extra $20 (is it still $20?) per person when the regular restaurants are just wonderful? Maybe if you re planning a romantic getaway ?
So IMHO, I don t think it s a big deal for the first time cruiser to miss out on cabana rentals and Palo reservations. marriott hotels in orlando florida I have personally cruised Disney multiple times without these things and had a wonderful time!
As for Palo, I disagree. My husband and I truly love the brunch. We have eaten brunch on 2 of our 3 cruises. marriott hotels in orlando florida By eating an early-ish brunch, we don t miss dinners, which we truly enjoy. I do agree that the food in the main dining rooms is delicious.
Although we haven t tried Remy yet, we plan to do so on our next cruise. Eating in a Michelin-starred restaurant is on a whole other level of food. Even though it seems pricey, if Remy lives up to its description, it is a less expensive experience than going to such a restaurant elsewhere. (Of course, to go to the other restaurants, you don t have to pay for a cruise! LOL)
First, the 3 main (rotating) Disney restaurants on the cruise ships are so highly themed that they essentially are specialty restaurants. Additionally, I would say that while the service at Palo is better marriott hotels in orlando florida (and the atmosphere more quiet/adult) the quality of the food is similar to the main restaurants. So my point is simply that for the first time cruiser (the one who makes reservations last and is theoretically missing out by not going to Palo) that they are NOT missing out: they will get far more interesting experiences and similar quality of food in the main 3 restaurants. Once they ve been on a Disney cruise or two, if they re a little bored with the regular restaurants, then Palo is worth a try.
FWIW, I ve cruised on many different cruise lines, and as a specialty restaurant, Palo compares poorly to the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines, such as Princess, Holland America and Celebrity. However Palo is much cheaper, so i guess you get what you pay for.
As for Palo, on our 3-nighter we are glad we did not eat there. The rotational marriott hotels in orlando florida restaurants are great and there s no real need to do dinner elsewhere. On our 4-nighter we thought Palo was wonderful and easily worth the upcharge (and tip.) Our waiter was fab, the food was special, the view was beautiful, and the chocolate souffle rocked. We d eat there again on a 4+ nighter.
As for the cabana, we d rather pay less for the room and have the cabana then pay for a better room and not have it. We feel it s nice to have the safe to store our valuables, great to have the shower to get the salt and sand off, nice to have the bicycle rental and snorkle equipment included in the cost of the cabana, marriott hotels in orlando florida helful to have a place to hide during the summertime thunderstorms, etc etc. It s not cheap, but we do like it and try to save $ s elsewhere to have it.