CocoCay Changes Coming

[island lady]

I kind of wish they moved the water park a little off to the side instead of walking right into it off of the pier. I wish it was more natural looking when you arrive. Im also curious what hurricanes will do to the tall structures. The zip line would be cooler over natural trails and water. Im not too resistant to the water park, but i guess, my perspective is in my daily life i dont get to see the ocean and palm trees and iguanas.

 

The ocean, palm trees and Iquanas were sold off and are now in a museum.

 

Theme park 1....Mother Nature...0. :(

[coordinator23]

Why do they have to ruin a perfect beach day island with all this crap? I will plan to avoid cruises with this stop. Waste of time for me, but I’m sure major $$$ for them. No competition for “excursions” here. They’ll rake in the big bucks at this port.

[time4u2go]

Why is it cheap on them. It's an option. I don't know of any free water parks on land either.If you want free, most of their ships either have or will have a free water park. Heck, with NCL, on Harvest Cay, you can't even use your drink package or have a free lunch.The only free things are the beach and the pool.

There are quite a few hotels that include water slides and such that could be considered water parks. While they aren't free, they are included in the price of the hotel, unlike this new water park, apparently.

[mickeychicky]

Wow, and all I wanted on the island was a lazy river! I see now, from the looks of things, this island will no longer be free for guests. I'm sure there will be an excursion for the water park, and yes the balloon ride will be extra, as it is at Disney. And the onsite eateries I'm sure will not be free by the sounds of the menu. I guess they have to get their $200 million back somehow.

 

I'm excited for change and the fact that everyone now no longer has to stampede to the beach area to sit on top of one another. But I'm also prepared to be disappointed with the "pay for extras" that I see are a no-brainer.

[mickeychicky]

I also really look forward to more news about the Perfect Day Island Collection, how it will change Labadee and what other new private destinations we will see.

 

"Perfect Day Island Collection, a series of unrivaled private island destinations around the world. The first in the collection is Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas but additional Perfect Day Island Collection destinations in Asia, Australia and Caribbean will be announced at a later date."

 

I don't think this will have any affect on Labadee, since Royal leases that island. :confused:

[mickeychicky]

Disappointed that Coco Beach Club will not be completed until 11- 2019 and we sail on Mariner in 5-2019. https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8498

But maybe the cabanas on Chill Island (under Beach Escape) will be ready.

Our grandsons would love all the new attractions and a 4 night Mariner would be great for them.

The over-the-water bungalows will be done in September. There are cruise ships in the Oasis class already "scheduled" to stop at CocoCay as early as May 19. I've already got Harmony in my sights and they are starting in May out of Port Canaveral. However, we're talking island time, so those schedules may change as this year goes on. But May is Spring so hopefully, their target time frame of Spring of 2019 will be a GO.

[Blizzard54]

A little off topic, but does anyone know when the changes to Coco Cay will be completed?

 

 

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It will be completed in sections with the beach club being last in the fall of 2019

[Merion_Mom]

I don't think this will have any affect on Labadee, since Royal leases that island. :confused:

 

1. Royal Caribbean leases CocoCay, whose actual name is Little Stirrup Cay.

 

2. Labadee is a peninsula not an island. (peninsula means "almost an island") :)

 

3. I believe that RC will definitely do this to Labadee as well.

[Getting out there]

It looks like over to the left is more of the free stuff : pool, and food/drinks. To the right is the pay for fun stuff. They have the free pirate ship right next to the pay stuff which will be hard for parents not to buy into the bigger/funner pools.

It looks like they pulled out most of the trees. I can't figure out where the beach we sat at was. It was right next to the pay for loungers with coverings. We had loungers right under palm trees right in front of the ocean.

[nalatrixie74]

It would be interesting to see a sattelite view of the island changing

[LMaxwell]

Are ANY of the water features included like the Splash Pad/little kid slides?

[Blizzard54]

Are ANY of the water features included like the Splash Pad/little kid slides?

 

I believe there are in the splash zone.

[LMaxwell]

Why is it cheap on them. It's an option. I don't know of any free water parks on land either.If you want free, most of their ships either have or will have a free water park. Heck, with NCL, on Harvest Cay, you can't even use your drink package or have a free lunch.The only free things are the beach and the pool.

 

There are plenty of mid-priced, mid-tier land resort hotels we have stayed at that have nice water slides/splash pad areas that are not an additional charge.

 

In fact our county has a number of splash pad / water parks for free use. Not gigantic theme park kind, but still good.

 

In situations like this where a cruise line takes you to a port that they run and manage, if there is going to be premium pay items, there should also be free items.

[WeLuvVacation]

Looks like a ton of fun for sure!!!! Got to love Royal, always pushing the envelope on creating new things! Certainly the best and most innovative of the big four cruise lines.

[mac66]

You've got to be kidding me...this takes upselling to a new level! For a better dining experience, make 'em pay for specialty restaurants, for a better beach experience, make 'em pay for it. So, a nice, relaxing beach day with services that can be enjoyed by everyone across the board isn't good enough anymore, I guess. At potentially $60-$100 pp for "Club" access, it sounds like the very best will only be accessible to those who can (or are willing to) pay for it. Everyone else will have to settle for mediocre, because that's exactly what it's coming to and what will be presented to us. And when the response to mediocre is next to nil, mediocre will be eliminated because that's "not what the people want." Until each and every single thing is something for which you'll pay extra.:(

 

On the other hand, no one holds a gun to your head to make you buy anything extra on a cruise. You don't have to eat in specialty restaurants or buy fancy drinks, or spa treatments, etc, etc. You can still just sit by the pool and read, eat in the MDR/Windjammer, go to the shows/activities, stay on board in port or go ashore and just walk around. My wife and I have been on many week long cruises where we had a zero balance on our account at the end and still had a good time.

[Espn]

We have been to Coco Cay 3 times and loved it just as it has been. Soon they will be charging for the beach chairs on the beach. Sounds like a good day to stay on the ship and enjoy the pool in the future. If I want to go to Disney World then I will go there!

[jamesboat]

Not a fan. if I wanted to go to a theme park, I'd go to one. I go on a Caribbean cruise for the beach.

[kruzerci]

1. Royal Caribbean leases CocoCay, whose actual name is Little Stirrup Cay.

 

2. Labadee is a peninsula not an island. (peninsula means "almost an island") :)

 

3. I believe that RC will definitely do this to Labadee as well.

 

1) Valid point.

 

2) Really? Does it matter? People use private island and private destination interchangeably just as they use car and vehicle interchangeably. No need to belittle :).

 

3) I think you’re right :(. Long gone are the days when Labadee and CocoCay were the primarily uncouched escapes that they once were.

[DJLDRUMS]

What we already know is that there's room to dock two RCI ships at a time. According to what I saw in the Webcast for Agents today is that the attraction can handle ABOUT 6,000 passengers.

What will eventually be known in future Webcasts is how much each passenger will have to pay to use the attractions. It's definitely not a free attraction. Will there be a charge JUST to get off the ship and walk around the place? Will there be places that will still offer the traditional "lunch" as in the past ? None of that was covered today. A lot more questions from everyone. Interesting to hear what RCI will have to say.

[DJLDRUMS]

Oh yes, reloading the webcast they did mention this spot for the traditional "free" lunch offer that another poster caught. Skipper's Grill will offer complimentary lunchtime favorites such as burgers, sandwiches, tacos and salads." Thanks for bringing that to our attention.

[SherriZ366]

They already are. We are on Harmony out of PC that stops at Coco Cay December 2019. ;)

oUR 9-1-2019 HM cruise stops in Coco Cay. They will not have finished the Coco Beach Club (done in December). It should be ready for our 1-12-2020 cruise. I might pay for it just for something different. Would definitely be interested in this area on a 3 or 4 nighter on Mariner. Park myself at the Beach club and have my DD & SIL take the boys to one of the water parks.

[LMaxwell]

I will be shocked beyond my wildest imagination if completion dates are met. How many times did NCL have to delay GSC? And even though it is open, it is NOT done, plenty of construction still.

 

How many times has MSC delayed Ocean Cay? Scheduled for Dec 2017, not likely before mid-2019.

 

Resorts World Bimini probably won't be on too many construction managers CV's, either.

 

Things don't move as fast in the Bahamas and storms can set back construction schedules more severely than most of mainland US would.

[LMaxwell]

oUR 9-1-2019 HM cruise stops in Coco Cay. They will not have finished the Coco Beach Club (done in December). It should be ready for our 1-12-2020 cruise. I might pay for it just for something different. Would definitely be interested in this area on a 3 or 4 nighter on Mariner. Park myself at the Beach club and have my DD & SIL take the boys to one of the water parks.

 

They're getting a little silly w the prices. Mariner is getting a water park, adults can have Solarium, and more lunch options onboard. Pretty comfortable place to be when 75%+ of the guests get off for the day :cool:

[pspercy]

Why is it cheap on them. It's an option. I don't know of any free water parks on land either.If you want free, most of their ships either have or will have a free water park. Heck, with NCL, on Harvest Cay, you can't even use your drink package or have a free lunch.The only free things are the beach and the pool.

 

In fairness to NCL, this is because Harvest Cay is a joint venture with the Belizean Gov't, the drink/food venues are not exclusively owned by NCL.

Edited March 16, 2018 by pspercy

[davy jones]

There goes the neighborhood.

 

 

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