Coco Cay Skipped

[Iowa_Vike]

Looked ahead at wind speeds on the day we will be stopping. Looks like anywhere from WNW 9 to 21mph. with gusts of 35 possible. I"m guessing we're not stopping but I don't know how wind affects the ocean or how much wind is too much. praying we make it I guess.

[fletch1027]

We are 0-2 with Coco Cay. Once in November several years ago and once in October last year.

 

On the flip side, we are 3 for 3 and have never had to skip Grand Cayman. 2x in February and 1x in October

[Biker19]

It's a combination of many things, including wind, which determine whether you can tender there. 20 MPH wind alone may not be enough to cancel.

[time4u2go]

It would be a shame if they built a pier. All you have to do is look at the Labadee comments since they built a pier. While some like it, those that were their previously constantly complain about the over development. I've personally always liked Labadee, including the current, but I've also viewed CocoCay as the desolate island alternative. A pier would be nice, but if they build a pier and then develop the island like Labadee it'll just be another Labadee and not something different. Currently you could (thought they don't) visit both ports in the same cruise and get two different kinds of beach days.

 

I agree. We definitely liked the "before" version of Labadee better than the "after". Too much concrete and too many buildings.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

It would be a shame if they built a pier. All you have to do is look at the Labadee comments since they built a pier. While some like it, those that were their previously constantly complain about the over development. I've personally always liked Labadee, including the current, but I've also viewed CocoCay as the desolate island alternative. A pier would be nice, but if they build a pier and then develop the island like Labadee it'll just be another Labadee and not something different. Currently you could (thought they don't) visit both ports in the same cruise and get two different kinds of beach days.

 

I agree. We just visited CocoCay for the first time a couple of weeks ago and loved it. We kept commenting how it was like Labadee was when we first visited there in 2003.

 

Hoping a pier won't change the atmosphere too much. As long as they don't concrete the entire island, I think I'll be okay. I don't think there's anywhere that they can squeeze in a zipline, so that's good (although Labadee's zipline was pretty awesome, I must admit). :)

[BillOh]

It seams I have read more and more about cruises unable to anchor and skips the Coco Cay stop. It has happened to me once. Just wondering if this is becoming more frequent. Talked my brother and sister and their familys to go on a cruise with me. I know there is no guarentees but would love them to see he place.

 

It does seem seasonable and the entire Caribbean has been rough the last week or two. I think I started a survey a year or so ago and it seemed like among the participants it was missed 25-40% of the time. I claim no accuracy as the survey was not scientific ;). If you look at my signature I have been there 4 times on Majesty and I've made it all 4 times. The only note I have had in 4 times that when we arrived at 8am last October it was calm and quiet, but when we got back on the ship around 3pm it was rougher and I got a good taste of why the ship sometimes misses this stop. I would say the waves were 4-6 feet and the crew helped each passenger, one at a time transition from the tender on to the ship. A person 6 foot tall or more definitely has to watch their head.

 

There have been some rumors of a pier coming, but I don't think that is confirmed.

[BecciBoo]

Place is flat as a pancake with sea floor just as flat and shallow. I don't think they could over develop that little island...so I'd welcome a pier. But ya know, we have not been redirected or missed a stop in 21 cruises including 3 stops at CoCo....either we know how to pick 'em or we just lucked out.

 

We only came close once with Ike, but managed to embark just as he left the gulf to go inland.

We love CoCo and will cruise there again as soon as it fits our plans.

[bigbeergut]

The problem I see with the pier at Coco Cay is that it will be a single finger pier sticking out to deep water, unprotected by any breakwater, so wind and seas will still play a significant factor in whether the ship can dock and stay docked.

 

Agreed, we had this exact issue on Labadee shortly after the pier opened on the Independence of the Seas. There had been strong storms in the Atlantic with swells and wind coming directly onto the pier. We were docked for about an hour with passengers on Labadee and suddenly we were evacuated from Labadee. Conditions were such that the dock lines holding the Independence of the Seas to the dock were breaking and they needed to use the thrusters to keep the ship next to the dock until everyone was back onboard. If there isn't any protection for the pier this could be a common problem. I wonder if there is a plan to build a breakwall or some other protection for the pier.

[sockmonkeygirl]

What happens when they skip cococay? Do they just take their time returning to NJ to use up that extra day?

Or does the ship stay anchored near the island for the day, just refrain from tendering to it?

[BrnBrok]

Glad to hear that future stops at Coco Cay will have the use of a pier. That makes enjoying the private island a much better experience. Years ago we missed Coco Cay due to the weather for with the high waves tenders were not safe to board. The party was moved back to ship.

[Cruisin'4Us]

What happens when they skip cococay? Do they just take their time returning to NJ to use up that extra day?

Or does the ship stay anchored near the island for the day, just refrain from tendering to it?

We missed it due to a thunderstorm. Turned into an additional sea day. Passengers who booked excursions were refunded.

[Finhead99]

It happened to us on the majesty of the seas on our cruise in Nov 2016

[PRgymnast]

It's a combination of many things, including wind, which determine whether you can tender there. 20 MPH wind alone may not be enough to cancel.

 

 

I've been searching the site for a threshold of some kind to see if there was a certain number that would certainly cause a ship to miss Coco Cay. We're supposed to be there on Sat but winds are expected to be 20-25mph and waves in the 6-7ft range. I'm thinking there's a very good chance it will become a sea day. Does anyone know if there is a certain max (winds and/or waves) that once passed, the ship definitely cannot tender?

[Clarea]

I've been searching the site for a threshold of some kind to see if there was a certain number that would certainly cause a ship to miss Coco Cay. We're supposed to be there on Sat but winds are expected to be 20-25mph and waves in the 6-7ft range. I'm thinking there's a very good chance it will become a sea day. Does anyone know if there is a certain max (winds and/or waves) that once passed, the ship definitely cannot tender?

 

 

Like Biker said, it depends on other factors, such as wind direction, sea conditions, and maybe even tides.

 

 

However, I do suspect that if the winds are 200mph, then there is little chance of tendering that day.;p

[Iowa_Vike]

I've been searching the site for a threshold of some kind to see if there was a certain number that would certainly cause a ship to miss Coco Cay. We're supposed to be there on Sat but winds are expected to be 20-25mph and waves in the 6-7ft range. I'm thinking there's a very good chance it will become a sea day. Does anyone know if there is a certain max (winds and/or waves) that once passed, the ship definitely cannot tender?

I was just there last week. The winds were 14 mph with gusts to 20.

It took the captain a little extra time but finally got the ship positioned where the tender boats could load.

Good luck.

 

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[3happyferrets]

I think on the multiple times we've sailed there (7 maybe, around that anyway) we've missed it probably half the time. This is in a span of about 11 years. Not noticed it being more lately, it was just a weather thing when we missed. First time I was upset, got over it, after that I just sailed with the idea if we go, we go. I personally would love the dock as I don't want to miss it and I don't care for tenders, but we will keep taking the itineraries regardless.

 

 

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