OCSC Mike

Yeah, 300 vs. 24 might have made a slight difference. 🙈

That makes it even more cost effective if true & you can certainly fit another 1-2 people. 👍

Agreed, especially if it’s your first or even 2nd time there. Now that we’ve been there 3 times (4th is tomorrow), we have our preferred routine. This is the closest we come to chair hogging but it’s not that bad IMO. We have a spot by the pool we like (not far from the swim up bar, but not on the DJ side so we can hear music but it’s not super loud). Also not far from the Snack Shack on the way to Chill Island… kind of in between the pool & Chill Island. We claim 2 loungers with an umbrella early in the morning, then go to Chill Island so my wife can snorkel a bit (she saw a huge sting ray & her baby on Saturday) while I just chill and have my first drink, then we migrate back to our pool chairs, have some snack shack food later, eventually go to Chill Grill, then return to the pool chairs.

I saw you mention this before & passed it along… her (classic) response… I’m not a big fan of peach. 🤣 I can only laugh b/c she’s been picky since our first date 22 years ago. It used to be much worse (as far as food goes) believe it or not. Thanks for the recommendation though. A DL server had her try a non-virgin “Kiss on the Lips” but made it very weak on purpose. Tasted good to me other than the lack of alcohol, very sweet & mango-y … she said it was OK but of course wasn’t a huge fan of mango. 🤷‍♂️ She likes her virgin strawberry daiquiris & I’ve been getting the occasional mudslide as a last drink for dessert which she likes as long as there’s enough chocolate syrup in it. Finding more than 1.5 drinks for her is asking a lot.

Almost the entire island is covered in loungers with plenty of umbrellas at no additional cost. Several included food options & if you have a drink package or Diamond & above drink vouchers, they all work there too. We love going there & not spending a penny other than tipping for our Diamond drinks.

That is my understanding. Good catch.

They did have one in the MDR but my wife is very picky so we asked to see the menu before going in and not surprisingly she wouldn’t eat any of the 3 entrees, so we just went to the WJ… which is fine b/c I enjoy the paella they always have for day one lunch & we found a few good dessert they didn’t have on our 1st day one.

It would be pricey for me too, but finances & value are always relative. That said, when you consider it’s for 8 people, it’s not as expensive as it may first appear. I’ve seen random $199pp excursions on different islands that couldn’t possibly compare. Our attendant was the best. He brought tons of food and drinks, sometimes before we even had to ask. When we ran out of bottled water he showed up with a whole case. He even went to get the snack shack food in addition to the Beach Club filet & lobster b/c we mentioned how much we liked the chicken sandwiches & funnel cake on our last Cococay visit. If you find an even lower price, great! If not, and I know it’s just one man’s opinion based on one trip, you should be looking forward to it regardless.

We had one for the 1st 3 nights of our current Indy B2B & just switched cabins for the next 4 nights. The only time I ever heard our “neighbors” was when their iPhone alarm went off in the morning but we were always up already. The noise from the music during the promenade parties at night was far louder.

$1799 is actually a very low price for these. They can get to $3499 when only a few are left close to sailing during peak season. We had one for our extended family of 8 in late May & the experience was absolutely amazing! Enjoy!

Luggage & hanging clothes were waiting for us in our new cabin as expected. All in all, zero complaints about our first TAD. Back to cruising…

Took about 10-15 mins to pop into the terminal, use the customs facial recognition, & get right back on the ship. For those who have posted “I hope I can just stay on the ship”, it wasn’t a big deal whatsoever, but I know it may vary by port.

So far so good. Reported to Star Lounge at 8:45am as instructed. Sat here for a while. Eventually a crew member came by, asked for our old/new cabin numbers, saw we had already checked in on the app, and gave us our new sea pass cards. Apparently there are 400 or so people still showing as onboard as of 9:20ish. He said as soon the number is closer to zero, we’ll go into the terminal to see customs, then come back to the lounge for about 15 mins while they finish sanitizing the ship before having 90 mins or so alone. There are 24 B2Bers today and we were offered lunch in the MDR at 11:30. Not sure if we’ll go or not. May check it out if picky wife wants to but I’m a big fan of the day 1 paella in WJ (or day 4 in this case).

We’ve been experimenting with my non-drinking wife for years. The change is really nice for her. She’s mostly settled on virgin strawberry daiquiris but the point is she can now get free fun stuff instead of just sitting in the DL with me so I can drink (and be social). Vouchers are also great for kids. It was fun taking my 12 year old niece “to the bar” on Harmony.

Thanks. Waiting to meet in Star Lounge at 8:45 for turnaround. Just used the “extra” Diamond drinks on disembarkation morning for some bottled water for next week & iced coffee at Cafe Promenade mostly b/c I feel obligated to get free stuff, lol. Already had plenty of DL cappuccino. 🙈 Might be a little jittery this morning.

😳😳😳 Two main places to eat incuded food, the snack shacks & the grills (Chill Grill & Skippers Grill). Snack shack… crispy chicken sandwiches, mozz sticks, amazing funnel cake. One menu hack is to put mozz sticks & marinara on top of the chicken for a chicken parm sandwich. Grills… taco bar with freshly made flour tortillas, beef, chicken, pork, & all the usual fixins including guac, salsa, etc. It’s not gourmet obviously but it’s also not Taco Bell. They also have Cuban sandwiches, fake cheesesteaks (I’m from Philly, maybe their good, I wouldn’t know, lol), salad, burgers, & hot dogs. Gotta run as it’s turnaround day for our B2B but that’s the gist of it. My favs are the chicken, funnel cake, & taco bar. Good brownies in multiple locations too.

Well stated, IMO. The free drinks & socializing went hand in hand. We still stop by each night but we don’t stay long anymore.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Haven’t done any specialty or a la carte dining yet but going to Giovanni’s tomorrow night & likely Playmakers on Tuesday for burgers & the cookie. The included food has been the usual… some good, some bad. Still a big fan of the included food on Cococay.

Is that mustard? 😳

I’m definitely enjoying the vouchers although I was also happy with the happy hour drinks as well. The inclusion of frozen drinks & ability to try random stuff (like the unique drinks at Playmakers*) has changed my cruise drinking routine, I think for the better. I was content drinking vodka tonics each night in the DL but the variety that comes with the vouchers feels more like a vacation thing to me. JMO of course. *Playmakers note to John: Black & Gold wasn’t for me, I’m a clear liquor guy, but gave it a shot. The “Pitch” I got was crazy strong & I think I need a do-over. The bartender even asked if it needed more Sprite so I think he might have suspected he made it too strong. It was a pretty bright green but didn’t taste like Midori. I think we’re having dinner there Tuesday; will seek out Alex then.

On non-Oasis class ships you may find them in the WJ. Based on my experience on Indy the past few days… stay away!

Sorry to hear that but I wouldn’t let one bad experience influence you. Airlines lose luggage, accidents happen, etc, but the large majority of experiences will be positive.

I’ll try to update tomorrow or the next day but it should go as others have posted as far as packing, hanging clothes, etc.

Met the captain in the Indy DL last night… not sure there were more than 8-10 of us in there. I’m sure he was just making the rounds as the ship slowly drifted from Cococay to Nassau but we had a nice quick chat. It’s been very empty in there during both breakfast & happy hour but I don’t see them getting rid of it… or at least I hope they don’t. Maybe it’s b/c we’re used to going there from the open bar days but we still stop by nightly, though we don’t stay long. And there’s still the coffee machine of course.

You may want to try RapidTestAndTrace if you have free government tests lying around & the emed/Navica stuff sounds complicated (not passing judgment, truly offering an alternative you may prefer). You pay $20, make an appointment (available 8am-11:45pm et), then click on the link in the confirmation e-mail when it’s time for your test. No accounts to set up. You just need ID, any FDA authorized test kit & they ask for your first destination. Our proctor was also very friendly & asked repeatedly if we had any questions. She also stayed on after sending our result e-mails so we could verify the info was correct (no typos, right date, etc.)