I am so concerned for the crew members that live on castaway cay and the island. Really hope that they are prepared and safe.
Huh! Did not know some crew lived right on the island. I always assumed it was the ship crew that ran things on the island. Learn something new every day!
Here is some interesting information on Castaway Cay and the staff.
http://dcl.disneycareers.com/en/explore-positions/island-operations/
I was told that they work the same kind of contracts that the crew aboard the ship have, work so many months on with so many months off. This information I was given by a friend of mine who is a former cast member so I'm not sure if this information is correct or truck1 is correct. Who knows. Doesn't really matter, the important thing is that they are trained for tropical weather and that they are able to stay safe.
Since the safety of the employees has been discussed...
We were on CC the first time (Feb 2013) not too long after a storm, and according to those who had been there before, it was a bit different. The sand was NOT soft; it was downright painful. That was the biggest thing for us. Some said that the foliage was sparser because of the winds etc.
So for those with cruises after this storm has passed, it's possible you'll experience changes like that too.
I really love when you share your knowledge! I especially like the style you write, never condescending, just state the facts in an interesting manner. Glad you're here.I talked to a crewmember on the Dream that spens time on the island. There is a handful of ships crew that live there full time and the rest is maint for the island. Some of the tram operators for example come from nearby. All of the food service, and the DCL shops are from the ship. Typically a cccm will spend 3 weeks on the island and 1 on the ship. The reason is is so they can get a chance to run Walmart for example for necesities. When that happens a ships crew member takes there place on the island. Typically it's the Dream that handles the crew swap outs. In a case like now, the closest ship will stop and pull everyone off the island. Again usually the Dream since the Fantasy is usually in the farther areas of the carribean, and the Dream is near the island 2x in a week. I want to say there's about 60-70 crew full time over there now. But don't be surprised if the first ship back only stops briefly after this week. It may take a few days to a few weeks to put the island back together again and make it habitable. I'd hazzard a guess and say the crew was pulled on Sun by the Dream and they'll stay on the ship until Fri or Sun.
I'm predicting a brand new set of "newly-designed' cabanas are on the horizon for sometime soon.