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Hype over Ocean Cay fizzling since everything a la carte

LMaxwell

By LMaxwell,
in MSC Cruises

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ready2cruzagain

ready2cruzagain

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

NCL didn't have a free buffet at Harvest Cay last December.

 

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

NCL didn't have a free buffet at Harvest Cay last December.

 

Harvest Cay is not a private island like Ocean Cay, NCL has a contract with the locals for that island.  I was talking about Great Stirrup Cay for NCL

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Fogfog

Fogfog

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, Até said:

That area won't be finished until February or March... it must have been the worst area contamination wise.

Any idea what they will do for YC pax if that area isn't done?

YC was to have a private area, upscale buffet, drinks included and golf cart transport etc 

 

We have B2B and will call there twice ... So if it isn't ready... what will be done?

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted
42 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

YC was to have a private area, upscale buffet, drinks included and golf cart transport etc 

 

We have B2B and will call there twice ... So if it isn't ready... what will be done?

I guess they will have to rent a cabana if they want their own private area.  And I don't see why they wouldn't still be able to take guests around in a golf cart if needed, although not to the specific YC area.  YC will apparently still get free drinks and according to Brett were going to be allowed to eat at the buffet free, but now along with everyone else.   Maybe they will now get a meal at the Lighthouse restaurant instead, who knows.  I'll be going there when sailing in a regular cabin earlier, but I've cancelled my YC booking stopping there in December and rebooked the YC stop for a later date when I figure the area will be finished.

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Fogfog

Fogfog

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Até said:

I guess they will have to rent a cabana if they want their own private area.  And I don't see why they wouldn't still be able to take guests around in a golf cart if needed, although not to the specific YC area.  YC will apparently still get free drinks and according to Brett were going to be allowed to eat at the buffet free, but now along with everyone else.   Maybe they will now get a meal at the Lighthouse restaurant instead, who knows.  I'll be going there when sailing in a regular cabin earlier, but I've cancelled my YC booking stopping there in December and rebooked the YC stop for a later date when I figure the area will be finished.

That would be disappointing as the YC was to have some pretty nice offerings on that YC buffet, adult bev, and YC area. For the price of YC, getting in line at an open/free buffet is not the kind of service/amenity one would expect for that price tag$

 

IF the O.C isn't ready--where will they sail as an alternative? 

We are pretty happy with our sail dates, got the same room B2B and it's pretty much a cruise to "no-where" as we have been to many of the ports before. This is an opportunity for us to try on MSC for "fit" . Would prefer not to push the dates later into spring and we specifically wanted to avoid any "spring break" impact

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

IF the O.C isn't ready--where will they sail as an alternative? 

 

 

Nassau has been mentioned as an alternative and, as I've said elsewhere, I wouldn't mind that as I've never been and so want to see for myself why it's disliked so much as a POC.  (Our Meraviglia sailing is scheduled to be the first to visit the island).  We also have 13 other POCs to focus on - most of which we've never visited before, so, whether the island is ready or not is immaterial to us.  We have 23 nights to enjoy in YC which is the very best element of the cruise for us.  😜

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

That would be disappointing as the YC was to have some pretty nice offerings on that YC buffet, adult bev, and YC area. For the price of YC, getting in line at an open/free buffet is not the kind of service/amenity one would expect for that price tag$

 

IF the O.C isn't ready--where will they sail as an alternative?

As I said I cancelled this Winters YC booking that is stopping at OC and postponed it until Winter 2021, I have too many booked anyway.  I've sailed YC on similar itineraries several times so the OC experience as YC was an important part of that booking.

 

Conjecture about what happens if OC isn't finished on time is total guesswork.  I'm sure it will depend on what ship and itinerary you are sailing in the first place.  This Winters Seaside Eastern Caribbeans already stop at Nassau in addition to OC so someplace else would be added on the East side, or maybe just longer port times.  Western & Southern Caribbeans could possibly get Cozumel or Costa Maya, whichever the ship isn't already stopping at, or even Nassau.  Those 3 and 4 day Meraviglia & Divina cruises will be in trouble, Freeport or Key West?  I can see why MSC is taking a while on the new Armonia sailings.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Fogfog said:

it's pretty much a cruise to "no-where" as we have been to many of the ports before. This is an opportunity for us to try on MSC for "fit" .

 

That's me as well.  If Ocean Cay is ready for my sailing on Meraviglia, I will see what it offers in comparison to HAL's Half Moon Cay.  Golf cart transport for YC guests?  Sounds like a great idea to me.  Where does one find such information?

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cruiseguyinorl

cruiseguyinorl

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

If Ocean Cay is ready for my sailing on Meraviglia, I will see what it offers in comparison to HAL's Half Moon Cay.  Golf cart transport for YC guests?  Sounds like a great idea to me.  Where does one find such information?

 

http://www.mscoceancay.com/en-us/services-on-the-island

Although the island is 64 square miles, it's only a short walk to furthest point on the island. Signs and a walking path will guide you to wherever you desire with only a 5 - 10 minute walk to most places. For those guests who prefer not to walk, electric tram service will run continuously throughout the island. Our Yacht Club guests can enjoy electric golf cart service.

Bret

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sidari

sidari

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

Nassau has been mentioned as an alternative and, as I've said elsewhere, I wouldn't mind that as I've never been and so want to see for myself why it's disliked so much as a POC.  (Our Meraviglia sailing is scheduled to be the first to visit the island).  We also have 13 other POCs to focus on - most of which we've never visited before, so, whether the island is ready or not is immaterial to us.  We have 23 nights to enjoy in YC which is the very best element of the cruise for us.  😜

Xmas 2017 we were promised O C would be ready, we are promised once again it will be ready this Xmas! We shall see.

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, sidari said:

Xmas 2017 we were promised O C would be ready, we are promised once again it will be ready this Xmas! We shall see.

 

TBH, I'd rather have a regular port of call than the island, anyway, so I'm not pushed if it's not finished in time for our sailing.  The YC area definitely won't be ready and that would have been the only area I would have been interested in seeing.

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sidari

sidari

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

TBH, I'd rather have a regular port of call than the island, anyway, so I'm not pushed if it's not finished in time for our sailing.  The YC area definitely won't be ready and that would have been the only area I would have been interested in seeing.

Nassau would not be a good replacement having been there a number of times, Freeport is the worst place we have been to date. One stop is already Costa Maya and Cozumel we have done four times.

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gtaylor

gtaylor

Posted
Posted
On 6/15/2019 at 12:13 PM, cruiseguyinorl said:

 

http://www.mscoceancay.com/en-us/services-on-the-island

Although the island is 64 square miles, it's only a short walk to furthest point on the island. Signs and a walking path will guide you to wherever you desire with only a 5 - 10 minute walk to most places. For those guests who prefer not to walk, electric tram service will run continuously throughout the island. Our Yacht Club guests can enjoy electric golf cart service.

Bret

I see that came directly from the MSC webpage, but it is in error.

 

The island itself is only 95 acres, which is about .15 square miles.

 

The 64 square miles actually refers to the protected waters surrounding the island, per other sites.

 

gary

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hp_slash

hp_slash

Posted
Posted

I'm hoping everything goes according to plan for Ocean Cay...I booked a Jan 2020 sailing with my friends and it's their introduction to cruising, hoping to turn this into a "let's cruise more!" vacation. The private island was a big part of that plan.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

Posted
Posted
On 6/15/2019 at 4:13 PM, Beamafar said:

With 13 other ports to visit on this cruise, Dave, I'll be happy to stay onboard and have the One Pool area practically to ourselves if either the island or it's substitute doesn't appeal on the day.

 

YES!  I plan to leave Meraviglia YC to experience the island briefly.  But, why remain when a much better option should be available?

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nikkiw60 "Live from...." Rare

nikkiw60

Posted
Posted (edited)

We actually have liked our stops in Nassau, quick visit to John Watling for a rum tasting Adastra Gardens to see the Flamingos. Key West also would be good...

Edited by nikkiw60
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stoneman56

stoneman56

Posted
Posted (edited)

I’m not putting much hope in it being ready for November. As above we were promised in 2017 it would be ready for December 2018. You wait till hurricane season and they use the excuse they used last time that there was a lot of destruction. 

We ended up twice in Nassau, at least the ship was empty and we got chairs at South Beach pool without having to go down at 7am and put towels down (we didn’t do that) 

Edited by stoneman56
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