May 25th, 2019 Symphony of the Seas --- Going to Coco Cay!

[SAmome]

Talk about a GREAT change of itinerary!!!!!

 

Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work transforming our private destination, CocoCay, into Perfect Day at CocoCay and we’re excited to share that we’ve added it to our itinerary! You’ll now experience everything Perfect Day at CocoCay has to offer, and as a result, we’ll be in Nassau, Bahamas on May 27^th from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Below, please find our updated itinerary.

[SAmome]

Will Mariner dock there too or might they be changing their Nassau/Coco Cay itinerary to put her there with Navigator instead of Symphony?

[SAmome]

I guess I should have pointed out it wasn't planning on stopping there, a 3 night sailing that was supposed to have a day at sea.  

 

[JoeFan]

Next is the double dip like Disney with Castaway Cay.

They even charge more for those cruises.

[JoeFan]

Doesn't look like you'll be alone.

 

[SAmome]

3 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

Doesn't look like you'll be alone.

 

But, I wouldn't think they'd put Symphony with Mariner if they could do a Nassau swap and put Navigator and Mariner together too.  It would not surprise me if Mariner is getting an update itinerary change that Nassau day and Coco Cay swapping.  Or, they are trying to get a feel for when two large ships are there and see what happens.

 

Symphony guests aren't getting an sale prices on shore excursions. No jetski and such showing as an option so could be Mariner stays.  I'd be pissed if I were on Mariner and would want them to share with Navigator the day before if possible.  Will be interesting to see the crowds, largest thus far.

 

 

[JoeFan]

Those prices are NUTS.

I paid $81 for full day and zip line package (Breaks down to WP $47 & ZL $34).

And from what I am reading that is high too. I am probably going to cancel that anyway due to my 15 & 16 year old need an adult to enter the WP. And that along is $59.

 

[JoeFan]

With IOS canceling to move to CocoCay and them changing up itineraries to include  CocoCay, I wonder if they are going to screw it up with double booking big ships their and ruining the experience? 

[SAmome]

7 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

Those prices are NUTS.

I paid $81 for full day and zip line package (Breaks down to WP $47 & ZL $34).

And from what I am reading that is high too. I am probably going to cancel that anyway due to my 15 & 16 year old need an adult to enter the WP. And that along is $59.

 

The price of the Symphony 3 night was already nuts.  They must have decided if anyone on Symphony wants to book let them pay full fare and if not, less crowded for original guests.

 

You might want to see if able to get them in and then if not request a refund at guest services.  Maybe have them walk in with another family with an adult.

[SAmome]

5 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

With IOS canceling to move to CocoCay and them changing up itineraries to include  CocoCay, I wonder if they are going to screw it up with double booking big ships their and ruining the experience? 

They are going to put as many pax on the island as possible and get their investment back.  

[JoeFan]

6 minutes ago, SAmome said:

The price of the Symphony 3 night was already nuts.  They must have decided if anyone on Symphony wants to book let them pay full fare and if not, less crowded for original guests.

 

You might want to see if able to get them in and then if not request a refund at guest services.  Maybe have them walk in with another family with an adult.

 

I can't see them honoring a cancellation 20 hours prior to the excursion. I thought it was 48 hours before sailing?

I was thinking about making friends with another family and seeing if they can walk them in.

[SAmome]

7 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

 

I can't see them honoring a cancellation 20 hours prior to the excursion. I thought it was 48 hours before sailing?

I was thinking about making friends with another family and seeing if they can walk them in.

I was more thinking if they didn't let your kids in and you were able to buy tickets w/o an adult buying then you could complain later and get money back.  But if they alerted you ahead of the cruise that needed to buy another ticket b/c under 18, I suppose it's better to cancel.  I dunno.  I don't think the waterpark will be as full as it might be in the future when multiple ships visiting and on their cruise planners early.

[JoeFan]

3 minutes ago, SAmome said:

I was more thinking if they didn't let your kids in and you were able to buy tickets w/o an adult buying then you could complain later and get money back.  But if they alerted you ahead of the cruise that needed to buy another ticket b/c under 18, I suppose it's better to cancel.  I dunno.  I don't think the waterpark will be as full as it might be in the future when multiple ships visiting and on their cruise planners early.

 

It's buried in the fine print. But it didn't alert me when I purchased and assigned to the kids.

The system wouldn't let you buy the Deluxe Beverage and give it to a kid.

[scorpluvsdolphins]

Hope you are NOT in a suite. No special area for suite guests. 

Sad

[MightyMike]

We are witnessing the future of cruising. 

 

No more exotic ports of call. No more witness to poverty. No more interaction with other cultures. No more rustic bathrooms.

 

Instead, everything is engineered to please our tastes--clean and sterile--the island equivalent of Disney World. Tropical ports are presented to us not as they are, but rather for how we imagine them to be. The bathrooms are spotless. The sand is soft. Bugs and pests are controlled.

 

It seems to be what consumers want. Given the prices people are gladly paying, I'd say the investment is paying off.

 

Personally, I might stay on the boat at Coco Cay. "Perfect Day" feels too much like an illusion to me.

[SAmome]

Looks like Symphony will be alone, Mariner switching Nassau days to be there with Navigator instead.  So, I'd expect the cruise planner sales to start at some point b/c they just wiped out all the May 26th Coco Cay excursions related to Mariner.

 

For those wo an interest in all the bright plastic you see disembarking, I get it.  But, island could be very much as you remember it if park yourself away from it all on a lounger and look out at the ocean.  

[SAmome]

Coco Cay May 26th cruise planner full prices, no sales yet:

 

Balloon ride - $74

Pool Cabana - $549

South Beach Cabana - $399

 

[JoeFan]

Too much of a good thing.

[JoeFan]

43 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

We are witnessing the future of cruising. 

 

No more exotic ports of call. No more witness to poverty. No more interaction with other cultures. No more rustic bathrooms.

 

Instead, everything is engineered to please our tastes--clean and sterile--the island equivalent of Disney World. Tropical ports are presented to us not as they are, but rather for how we imagine them to be. The bathrooms are spotless. The sand is soft. Bugs and pests are controlled.

 

It seems to be what consumers want. Given the prices people are gladly paying, I'd say the investment is paying off.

 

Personally, I might stay on the boat at Coco Cay. "Perfect Day" feels too much like an illusion to me.

 

So funny you mention this. I took a beating for always going to EPCOT. Like, why go to EPCOT Italy when you can go to Italy. ;)

 

[flannbarr]

11 hours ago, SAmome said:

Will Mariner dock there too or might they be changing their Nassau/Coco Cay itinerary to put her there with Navigator instead of Symphony?

 

We are on the 5/24 Mariner sailing. They changed our Cococay stop from 5/26 to 5/25 so we will be sharing with Navigator.  Not ideal at all.

 

Also, I booked our all day water park pass a couple of weeks ago and it’s $24 not $75.

 

[suesnake2002]

Mightymike. Your description was spot on. Although i like the private islands. 

But the fenced in areas at ports of call i refer to as "disney" ...insert port name here. 

[SAmome]

9 minutes ago, flannbarr said:

 

We are on the 5/24 Mariner sailing. They changed our Cococay stop from 5/26 to 5/25 so we will be sharing with Navigator.  Not ideal at all.

 

Also, I booked our all day water park pass a couple of weeks ago and it’s $24 not $75.

 

Right, different ships and different dates have different pricing.  I would hope all Mariner guests have their already purchased excursions transfered over at the same price.  If sailing Mariner I'd prefer docking with Navigator (it will be a regular occurance in the future) than docking with Symphony (they haven't done Oasis Class and Mariner class yet and not on the future schedules that I've seen, but it will probably happen at some point.)

 

Symphony only just announced the sailing will include coco cay so none of the pax have booked a thing there and it sails in 9 days.  Only 9 shore excursions showing and they are at "regular" pricing, no sales.  Will be interesting if they use this as a test, see how much money they make w/o having sales or only offer day of sale pricing last minute.  

 

The 3 night Symphony sailing was pretty expensive, rates increased relatively quickly toward what one might hope to spend on a 7 night.  They might want to see if the relative affluence of this particular sailing means they don't need to discount.

 

My June Navigator sailing has water park at 29, or did recently.

 

[dreadpirate3]

10 hours ago, SAmome said:

Looks like Symphony will be alone, Mariner switching Nassau days to be there with Navigator instead.  So, I'd expect the cruise planner sales to start at some point b/c they just wiped out all the May 26th Coco Cay excursions related to Mariner.

 

For those wo an interest in all the bright plastic you see disembarking, I get it.  But, island could be very much as you remember it if park yourself away from it all on a lounger and look out at the ocean.  

 

Thanks for this! I just looked up and 10K people on CocoCay seemed a bit much.

[TITISSA]

What a relief that Symphony will be the only ship at CocoCay that day! But still, those prices are intense...

[geoffinjersey]

2 hours ago, flannbarr said:

 

We are on the 5/24 Mariner sailing. They changed our Cococay stop from 5/26 to 5/25 so we will be sharing with Navigator.  Not ideal at all.

 

Also, I booked our all day water park pass a couple of weeks ago and it’s $24 not $75.

 

I'm on the same cruise.  I wonder what the lines are going to look like now??? And do I get to keep the Cabana that i booked in June? Going to be interesting.