Carnival buying LSC/CocoCay from Royal?

[Pellaz]

During our cruise last week on Freedom, the nice guy at the Future Cruises desk told me in no uncertain terms that Carnival had purchased Little Stirrup Cay (or "CocoCay") from Royal. He was pretty emphatic about it, but I've seen no mention of this anywhere, so I'm wondering if maybe he was a little bit.....overconfident? Or maybe just misinformed......

 

You'd think if CCL had bought the rights to LSC, you'd see a lot more cruises to there popping up, but I still don't see too many. I've been there before on Royal and was hoping to go there again on Carnival at some point.

[andy.capitan]

During our cruise last week on Freedom, the nice guy at the Future Cruises desk told me in no uncertain terms that Carnival had purchased Little Stirrup Cay (or "CocoCay") from Royal. He was pretty emphatic about it, but I've seen no mention of this anywhere, so I'm wondering if maybe he was a little bit.....overconfident? Or maybe just misinformed......

 

You'd think if CCL had bought the rights to LSC, you'd see a lot more cruises to there popping up, but I still don't see too many. I've been there before on Royal and was hoping to go there again on Carnival at some point.

 

AFAIK, Royal never owned, but leased it.

 

Both Royal and Carnival stop there.

[Domino D]

AFAIK, Royal never owned, but leased it.

 

Both Royal and Carnival stop there.

 

andy.captain,

This was in Travel Weekly a couple months back. It is an article about Carnival building a port in Haiti. In talks about the development being on Tortuga, but the map included shows it marked as Labadee. I don't really know the area well. I do know that there seem to be many ways to refer to the same general area. Perhaps you will be able to explain how or if this relates to Little Stirrup, which I think is also listed as Labadee sometimes, and is discussed in the article.

 

Are Little Stirrup Cay and Tortuga both parts of Labadee?

 

I know you have a lot of cruising under your belt, and thought you might be able to confirm.

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Haiti-expects-Carnival-port-to-spur-further-tourism-development/

 

I think this might be what the Future Cruise dude was referring to.

[marshhawk]

andy.captain,

This was in Travel Weekly a couple months back. It is an article about Carnival building a port in Haiti. In talks about the development being on Tortuga, but the map included shows it marked as Labadee. I don't really know the area well. I do know that there seem to be many ways to refer to the same general area. Perhaps you will be able to explain how or if this relates to Little Stirrup, which I think is also listed as Labadee sometimes, and is discussed in the article.

 

Are Little Stirrup Cay and Tortuga both parts of Labadee?

 

I know you have a lot of cruising under your belt, and thought you might be able to confirm.

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Haiti-expects-Carnival-port-to-spur-further-tourism-development/

 

 

I think this might be what the Future Cruise dude was referring to.

 

Labadee is not really an island but a resort on Haiti. Little Stirrup Cay is an island north of Nassau (great island), Tortuga is it's own island.

[andy.capitan]

Little Stirrup/CoCo Cay is in the Bahamas.

[MickCruiser]

CoCo and Little Stirrup are in the Bahamas. :-)

[Coopdog08]

CoCo and Little Stirrup are in the Bahamas. :-)

 

When will the private island in the Dominican republic be used as a port?

[Domino D]

Thanks for the clarity guys.

 

That's why I ask. Because sometimes, you get an idea in your head and just sticks like taffy. I guess because Coco Cay and Labadee were both RCCI ports, I thought they were two names for the same place. No real reason for this, just something I told myself at some point, and wallah it is so.

 

Little Stirrup and Coco are the same place though, right?

And NCL has a private island near there? Is it Great Stirrup Cay??

 

Okay, so back to the original question. I have not seen anything about Carnival buying Little Stirrup Cay.

[Domino D]

When will the private island in the Dominican republic be used as a port?

 

The article I read, was about Amber Cove, and was from this past January. It said it was suppose to be ready for the Winter 2015 Season. I would guess that means next November / December. But I admit, I'm not sure what Winter 2015 means.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Domino D

[mikey806]

Carnival corp. May have brought the island for the other cruise lines in their fleet. Aka holland america and princess

[Davey Wavey]

Little Stirrup and Coco are the same place though, right?

 

And NCL has a private island near there? Is it Great Stirrup Cay??

 

Yes little stirrup is now Coco, renamed by RCI when they PURCHASED the island after first obtaining the lease for it, and yes, NCL owns Great Stirrup Cay.

 

There is nothing informal about Carnival purchasing the island. There is nothing formal in the financial statements of Carnival, RCI or filings with the Bahamas about any purchases or change in ownership.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Davey Wavey

[andy.capitan]

If RCL owns it, then a little odd that they would let competitor Carnival use it, unless Royal needed cash?

[Domino D]

If RCL owns it, then a little odd that they would let competitor Carnival use it, unless Royal needed cash?

 

This is from the Travel Weekly article I referenced above. It is the last paragraph, and is talking about various private ports.

 

"Ports belonging to Carnival Corp. brands are shared. Half Moon Cay, for example, is Holland America’s private island, and it is operated differently than the other ports. However, Carnival Cruise Lines also uses the facility.

 

In one instance, Carnival uses one of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s private ports as part of Royal’s agreement with the Bahamian government, according to Harrison Liu, manager of brand communications for Royal Caribbean International.

 

Royal Caribbean markets the facility as Coco Cay, while Carnival designates it Little Stirrup Cay. Only one cruise line calls at a time, so there is no intermingling of guests."

[Domino D]

Ok, i have found some online info describing it as a "lease" and others that said RCC owned the island.

 

This is from the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. 2013 Annual Report. (this is the one that came up in Google, I don't know if something has changed since then)

 

We also operate two private destinations which we

utilize as a port of call on certain of our itineraries:

(i) an island we own in the Bahamas which we call

CocoCay; and (ii) Labadee, a secluded peninsula which

we lease and is located on the north coast of Haiti.

 

So it seems they do indeed own it.

 

Why they would let Carnival use it? I am guessing it has something to do with the "agreement" with the Bahamian Government mentioned in the other article.

 

Whether or not Carnival has bought it? I can not find anything even close to that, but who knows.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Domino D

[andy.capitan]

This is from the Travel Weekly article I referenced above. It is the last paragraph, and is talking about various private ports.

 

"Ports belonging to Carnival Corp. brands are shared. Half Moon Cay, for example, is Holland America’s private island, and it is operated differently than the other ports. However, Carnival Cruise Lines also uses the facility.

 

In one instance, Carnival uses one of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s private ports as part of Royal’s agreement with the Bahamian government, according to Harrison Liu, manager of brand communications for Royal Caribbean International.

 

Royal Caribbean markets the facility as Coco Cay, while Carnival designates it Little Stirrup Cay. Only one cruise line calls at a time, so there is no intermingling of guests."

 

Makes sense. Looks like it can get crowded.

 

 

[RSLeesburg]

Ok, i have found some online info describing it as a "lease" and others that said RCC owned the island.

 

This is from the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. 2013 Annual Report. (this is the one that came up in Google, I don't know if something has changed since then)

 

We also operate two private destinations which we

utilize as a port of call on certain of our itineraries:

(i) an island we own in the Bahamas which we call

CocoCay; and (ii) Labadee, a secluded peninsula which

we lease and is located on the north coast of Haiti.

 

So it seems they do indeed own it.

 

Why they would let Carnival use it? I am guessing it has something to do with the "agreement" with the Bahamian Government mentioned in the other article.

 

Whether or not Carnival has bought it? I can not find anything even close to that, but who knows.

 

 

I think that is backwards - IIRC, RCI own Labadee, but leases Coco Cay. The deal with Carnival goes back a year or so, and has to do with Key West. I believe that Carnival and RCI came to some agreement, which allowed RCI to get more stops at Key West and Carnival to call on Coco Cay in return.

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

Makes sense. Looks like it can get crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ouch. We stop there over Thanksgiving and there are two ships scheduled to be there at the same time.

 

 

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[Domino D]

Makes sense. Looks like it can get crowded.

 

 

 

I'd like to be there right now no matter who owns it. Zac Brown playing in my head now.

[Domino D]

I think that is backwards - IIRC, RCI own Labadee, but leases Coco Cay. The deal with Carnival goes back a year or so, and has to do with Key West. I believe that Carnival and RCI came to some agreement, which allowed RCI to get more stops at Key West and Carnival to call on Coco Cay in return.

 

 

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I hear you RS. I kind of wondered the same thing. Like Andy said, why would Royal Caribbean let Carnival stop there, but the quote is from a pdf of the RCC annual report.

[andy.capitan]

Whether Royal owns or leases, it sounds like the HOA or landlord still has the most rights.

[scooterpopsnana]

If RCL owns it, then a little odd that they would let competitor Carnival use it, unless Royal needed cash?

 

That came about a couple of years ago, when the Navy Pier in Key West stopped cruise ships from docking there. That left only one pier in Key West that the ships could use. Royal made an agreement with Carnival to allow them use of Little Stirrup Cay in return for Royal being able to dock in Key West, on days that Carnival and Royal had were both scheduled to be there.

Edited October 23, 2014 by scooterpopsnana

[RSLeesburg]

I hear you RS. I kind of wondered the same thing. Like Andy said, why would Royal Caribbean let Carnival stop there, but the quote is from a pdf of the RCC annual report.

 

 

Yes. I may have it backwards...lol. I did see an article that spoke about Carnival canceling 30 stops to Key West, and replacing with stops at Coco Cay. They mentioned RCI and Carnival reaching an undisclosed agreement, so my guess would be that this was not a one-way financial transaction...

 

 

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[Smart Arsenal Fan]

I hear you RS. I kind of wondered the same thing. Like Andy said, why would Royal Caribbean let Carnival stop there, but the quote is from a pdf of the RCC annual report.

 

Because if its empty on a day where no RCCL ship is to call on it, and they can make $$$, why the hell not? To paraphrase: "Profit is Job 1"

It's Win/Win.

 

I think there's less rivalry than is assumed.

 

btw, I've stopped at "Little Stirrup" Cay on Fascination, and while nice, I prefer Half Moon Cay. :) And definitely owned by RCCL.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Smart Arsenal Fan

[rednose83]

Because if its empty on a day where no RCCL ship is to call on it, and they can make $$$, why the hell not? To paraphrase: "Profit is Job 1"

It's Win/Win.

 

I think there's less rivalry than is assumed.

 

btw, I've stopped at "Little Stirrup" Cay on Fascination, and while nice, I prefer Half Moon Cay. :) And definitely owned by RCCL.

 

Agree. Why allow an asset to go unused if you could make $$$ from it??

 

I agree, HMC is the nicer island- over LSC and GSC.

[russianmom]

I think this is similar to Great Stirrup Caye which is owned by NCL but they "rent" it to MSC on days they aren't there.