Disney Cruise Line: Disney Fantasy Suffers Engine Failure, Skips Castaway Cay Stop
The Disney Cruise Line has four different ships in its fleet, and sometimes, there are just troubles that come about. On Thursday, the Disney Fantasy began to suffer some mechanical issues while out on a seven night Eastern Caribbean sailing, and it appeared the left engine actually stopped working. The ship had to skip its final stop at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island, in hopes of getting back to port in time on Saturday morning.
The Disney Cruise Line Blog was one of the first to get the word out that the Disney Fantasy had been suffering a mechanical issue of some sort. In no time, there was talk on social media and it was revealed that the port engine was not operating.
It was later revealed that the ship would have to operate at a speed of just a little over 17 knots. That is a good bit below the typical 22 knots that the Disney Fantasy typically sails on the seven-night cruises.
It also meant that the ship was going to be behind in getting back to Port Canaveral in time for the current sailing to end Saturday morning and the next one to begin on Saturday afternoon. That being said, Disney had to make some adjustments.
The Disney Fantasy is experiencing a mechanical problem and will not be able to dock at Castaway Cay tomorrow???? @TheDCLBlog
— disneyheather (@hkeller) February 4, 2016
A number of other tweets were going around confirming that the Fantasy would not be able to stop at Castaway Cay on Friday. It was set to be the final stop on the seven night leg before the ship returned to Port Canaveral.
Disney ended up having another day at sea for those on the Fantasy due to skipping the stop at the private island, but this isn’t shocking. Disney Cruise Line does need to make sure the current passengers are back for the end of the sailing on Saturday as many have return flights and other reservations.
There is also the matter of the Feb. 6 sailing of the Disney Fantasy, which is one of the new “Star Wars Day At Sea” sailings announced by the Disney Parks Blog last year. On those specific sailings, there will be Star Wars characters, special menus, and even theatrical showings of all the films in the saga, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
As of Friday afternoon, the Disney Fantasy was on pace to return to port on time for the current sailing to end and for the next one to begin on Saturday.
@thedclblog — we have a group going on Fantasy 2/6 – have been advised they do not expect a departure delay at this time.
— Beci Mahnken (@BeciMahnken) February 4, 2016
Disney Cruise Line did send out an email to all of those that are on the current sailing of the Disney Fantasy to advise them of the situation.
“Onboard the Disney Fantasy, we make ever effort to ensure that our shipboard operation runs smoothly and efficiently at all times. Although the ship is operation safely, it is necessary to reduce speed of Disney Fantasy due to a mechanical challenge. For this reason, we must modify our itinerary in order to reach Port Canaveral on time on Saturday.
“As a result, we are unable to call at Castaway Cay during this week’s itinerary. Instead we will spend the next two days at sea with onboard events and activities.”
The emails did go on to explain the situation with the discounted future cruise and on-board discount for those sailing right now.
Some may think that the Disney Cruise Line or Disney can do no wrong, but anything and everything can break down or have a problem. The Disney Fantasy’s engine failure this week and having to skip Castaway Cay is proof of that, but they’re seemingly trying to make it right for all those dealing with the inconvenience.
[Image via Disney]
