xeonpro Posted February 27, 2013 #1 Share Posted February 27, 2013 http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Carnival-to-use-Royal-Caribbean-island/?a=Carnival Cruise Lines has arranged with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to use its private island at Coco Cay for selected sailings of two Carnival ships this year. Starting March 14, the Carnival Fascination will call there 19 times this year on its five-day cruise from Jacksonville, while the Carnival Ecstasy will call 11 times on five-day cruises from Port Canaveral. For each ship, the calls replace a stop in Key West. The switch is being made to expand and diversify Carnival's port of call/destination options, Carnival said. Guests are currently being notified about the itinerary change. Carnival brands use two other private islands in the Bahamas, Princess Cay and Half Moon Cay, which was developed for Holland America Line. Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said that given the short duration of the cruises and the other ports on the itineraries, it would be difficult to reach Half Moon Cay and still maintain the ships' published schedule. In addition, Princess Cay does not offer tender operations, he said. Asked about payment, Gulliksen said Carnival entered into a commercial agreement with Royal Caribbean for the use of Coco Cay, also known as Little Stirrup Cay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slopfrog Posted February 28, 2013 #2 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Well that sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted February 28, 2013 #3 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Well that sucks. That comment explains a lot:confused: Assuming will use Coco Cay when no one else is using it. That is a fair number of days no one else is using it, particularly during the summer months, I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshhawk Posted March 2, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Well I think this is the end result of the debacle at Key West with only 1 pier available right now for cruise ships. So, you send the cruise ship somewhere else-no one sings the praises of Freeport, so move the port to an island (since HMC is so popular). However the cost of the cruise went up a buck (for interior) and the shore excursions are 20 bucks more with Carnival than RCCL. I still want to go, but dont want to have to pay more.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disdel Posted March 2, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Is there a way to know what ship(s) are anchored at Coco Cay on any given day? Is it uncommon for more than one RCI ship at a time to be there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhoon1 Posted March 3, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Interesting development. HMC apparently didn't Carnival's need for greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasysutler Posted July 22, 2013 #7 Share Posted July 22, 2013 we were just at coco cay on rccl, and they are really expanding the island, added many more cabanas (which I never saw used), but still.. it would really double the island quantity if 2 ships are there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegirl1 Posted July 23, 2013 #8 Share Posted July 23, 2013 We were on Coco Cay a few weeks and noticed there was no RCCL branding. We never noticed that before, but just before we left I read about Carnival using the facility. We found that interesting. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All4fun&fun4all Posted July 26, 2013 #9 Share Posted July 26, 2013 We will be on Carnival Fascination in October on one of the sailings that go to Little Stirrup Cay. I am excited to try a different private island. I also noticed that there are a few sailings on Carnival Fantasy that will be travelling here as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryscooking Posted July 31, 2013 #10 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I think that as long as ships aren't using the islands at the same time, this is only a good thing, as it leads to more diversity in itineraries. I'd take a private island stop over a Bahamas stop any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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