Why a Day At Castaway Cay is Worth Going On a Disney Cruise

Summer is quickly approaching and I couldn’t be more excited to start dreaming of tropical vacations and ocean waves. While I do tend to take a lot of the busy itinerary, action packed, and theme park crowded vacations, I happen to love to relax. Ya know, those vacations where you don’t have to put your makeup on and wear a bathing suit for a week?

Now, one of the most heavenly places I’ve ever spent a day was Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.

This island is as paradisiacal as you can get, although you do have to book a Disney Cruise to get to enjoy it. The thing that turns a lot of people away from Disney Cruises are their price tags, but I’m here to tell you that the day I spend on Castaway Cay was worth the entire cost of my cruise. Let me walk you through what to expect from your day at Castaway Cay.

I was so excited that morning, that I was one of the first off the ship. I just couldn’t wait to step onto those perfect white sands and see what a private island would have in store for me. But an unexpected surprise by doing all of that was seeing my Disney character friends in their island garb ready for a beach day. These photos ended up being super unique and very fun. I did notice, however, that the day got hot very quickly and these friends did not stay out very long, and definitely not all day. So if that’s something you want to experience, you may need to get out there sooner rather than later.

Now when I say this island is perfect, I mean it. All of the lounge chairs and umbrellas are free to use (surprisingly that’s not how it always goes on cruise line islands) and it’s meticulously clean. You shouldn’t be surprised by that standard with Disney, but that’s why we love them right?

There is an adults only section of the island called Serenity Bay if you wanted to be somewhere more quiet, and away from kids, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t even go over there! I will next time… for the blog’s sake.

The island has so many activities that you can pay to do including paddle boats, snorkeling (this is famous with Disney fans as they’ve sunk Disney artifacts underwater for you to find), a couple of water play areas with slides and bridges, and food, food, food. I absolutely loved that they had fresh cut fruit at the fruit stand for us, all day.

Lunch was served at Cookie’s BBQ or over on the other side of the island, Cookies Too BBQ. The food was delicious and they had so many choices for us from burgers, hot dogs, bbq, salads, fruit, desserts, and it was some of the best food we had the entire trip.

And I’m not trying to sound “uppety” but after our day in Nassau, I was so happy to see this pristine, quiet, picturesque island.

I’ve told many people who’ve asked that this day on Castaway Cay was probably one of my top 10 favorite days on planet Earth. I would’ve been completely content to stay here for DAYS.

It felt very akin to how I think Aulani is set up as well. It’s a luxurious tropical setting, with just a dash of Disney sprinkled around.

One of my favorite things about Castaway Cay is they had TONS of exclusive merchandise for the island itself. We’re talking ears, Spirit Jerseys, and experience exclusive t-shirts (there was a t-shirt dedicated to Cookie’s BBQ that I still kind of regret not purchasing).

Mom and I were one of the VERY LAST people off the island that day. We soaked it in for as long as we could and boarded the boat only after they started stacking chairs and shooing people back toward the gang plank (PS, that’s another perk of having the late dinner time, more time at your destinations!).

And Disney isn’t stopping there! This year, we’ll see their second island welcome guests for the first time - Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Needless to say, if it’s anything like Castaway Cay is, I can’t wait to see what Disney has in store for us.