2020 Brilliance: Cozumel port replaced by CocoCay and Nassau

[Mikew0805]

I know many would be disappointed with this, but I personally would love to go to Coco Cay, from Tampa. 

[gkbiiii]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Having experienced Castaway Cay more than a dozen times, and the new Coco Cay three times since it opened, and a dozen or so times when it was a tender port, I'd take the new Coco Cay in a heartbeat over Disney's island. Also, AFAIK the only time Disney ever "overnighted" at Castaway Cay was when the seas were so rough that they couldn't leave the dock. When they "double dip" they also "double price". UGH

 

Notice that with Disney, people are willing to pay double the price for "double dipping" at Castaway Cay.

[orville99]

Just now, gkbiiii said:

 

Notice that with Disney, people are willing to pay double the price for "double dipping" at Castaway Cay.

Not really, Disney addicts are willing to pay whatever Disney chooses to charge them in order to participate in the "magic". We've double dipped there, and quite frankly the only part of the experience worth describing is the BBQ at serenity bay. The rest of the guest areas on the island are jammed up in one small area of beach. I guess the magic is being shoulder to shoulder with 4000 other people on  a narrow strip of sand or competing at the one food venue for lunch. Even before Coco Cay added the pier and all of the new venues, it was still hands down a more relaxed and uncrowded island experience.

[gkbiiii]

It is amazing to me, that the "Disney addicts" are willing to scrimp and save all year, for the privilege of paying Crystal pricing, for a Disney product.  I mean ten grand for a week at the parks, when I worked at Disney, this was the norm.  There is no limit to what these people will spend.  The new MSC island will be amazing, when the Yacht Club area opens and the new Virgin island!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

2 hours ago, BeancounterUSA said:

However, I think the loss of a sea day vs Nassau is unfavorable, in my opinion.  

FWIW, I treat Nassau as a sea day, and its much less crowded on the pool deck. 

[George C]

51 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

It is amazing to me, that the "Disney addicts" are willing to scrimp and save all year, for the privilege of paying Crystal pricing, for a Disney product.  I mean ten grand for a week at the parks, when I worked at Disney, this was the norm.  There is no limit to what these people will spend.  The new MSC island will be amazing, when the Yacht Club area opens and the new Virgin island!

Not a Disney fan at all, we are really looking forward to msc yacht club in November on seaside. Virgin sounds perfect for us, we have a celebrity suite next year that is a adult only music charter.

[Mikew0805]

41 minutes ago, OfTheSeasCruiser said:

FWIW, I treat Nassau as a sea day, and its much less crowded on the pool deck. 

Me too! Sitting on Nav now while most are ashore in Nassau. Looking forward to Coco Cay tomorrow. 

[amflor]

The topic is not if you like coco cay better.. The point is that the cruise line offered for sale a ininerary, that some people wanted and now they are changing course. If customers wanted to go to Bahamas they could have purchased Mariner/Navigator or perhaps another ship that offers stops in Nassau and or Coca Cay. 

[legaljen1969]

On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 1:06 PM, Host Clarea said:

That would be disappointing.  You signed up for a Caribbean cruise and won't even enter the Caribbean.

I agree.  That would definitely be incentive for me to cancel or try to rebook on another cruise.  I know they put an awful lot of money into Perfect Day at Coco Cay, but not everyone wants to go there.  Nassau has to be my least favorite place ever. 

[gkbiiii]

To me, the Jamaican ports are MUCH worse than Nassau: ever been to Falmouth?

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=510 

Edited June 25, 2019 by gkbiiii

[CelticMCO]

Just cancel and get your $$ back trip is not until next March...find another itinerary you like 

[familyofg]

My family was booked on the 5 night Brilliance with the original cruise going to Cozumel.  RCI did not even send us an email to tell us that they were changing the itinerary.   They swapped to Nassau and CocoCay.    I was more upset that no one even told us... I found out when I went to book excursions... I honestly thought it was a mistake on the website...  our TA was "shocked" by the itinerary change when I called to ask her about it.    We are really restricted with our dates for that trip because we have to take it when the kids are off school... so we cancelled the cruise and booked an itinerary very similar to the one we wanted on a completely different cruise line.  

[Ubiquitous Cruiser]

Same thing happened to us for our Brilliance out of Tampa on 3/2 ... We booked Mariner for this Oct to visit Coco Cay and Brilliance to visit Key West & Cozumel ... one woman in our roll call lives 1 hr from PC and booked Tampa to get away from the Bahamas.

 

Thing that is frustrating is that no compensation was offered like an OBC ... just we changed your vacation and we're happy we did it. If we cancel/change to a cruise that does visit Cozumel and not Key West, we end up paying $200 more to basically get what we already chose. 😡

[JCDCA]

On 6/24/2019 at 5:54 PM, depplep said:

I really felt like we were being pushed to go onto CocoCay on our recent Mariner cruise. Cabin steward,  and bar staff all wanted to know if we were getting off. Lots of marketing in the compass as well as an additional paper and map. Nothing on the ship opened until 3pm either except the pool bar.

The shops weren't even ope which I thought they would be as it's their own island. We got off only because it was going to rain and my plan was to lay at the pool all day. We figured we would get off just to see what it looked like. It's a water park, not interested. And I don't like sand.

It's definitely not just a water park.  That is one part.  There are also several beaches and my favorite feature, the huge freshwater pool.  The swim-up bar there and the atmosphere with the music and DJ was a ton of fun.  I'm going to guess you saw the water slides and assumed that's all there was.  For Mariner and Navigator 3-day trips, yeah, the focus is Coco Cay.

[karena1]

we  love CocoCay, but we do so many times a year there, I would be bummed to lose Cozumel because we love Paradise Beach there.  Not crazy about Nassau and during the months of Nov-Mar we do not get off the ship.  We only get off in Nassau if it is warm and we can head to Junkanoo beach for the day.  We can walk there and not pay the crazy prices the resorts want for a day pass

[depplep]

8 minutes ago, JCDCA said:

It's definitely not just a water park.  That is one part.  There are also several beaches and my favorite feature, the huge freshwater pool.  The swim-up bar there and the atmosphere with the music and DJ was a ton of fun.  I'm going to guess you saw the water slides and assumed that's all there was.  For Mariner and Navigator 3-day trips, yeah, the focus is Coco Cay.

Saw the whole island. As I said, I don't do sand, not into waterparks, the pool would be fine but there's a pool on the ship so I really don't see a need personally for me to get off on Cococay. Just thought I would look around. I get the attraction though.

[karena1]

5 minutes ago, depplep said:

Saw the whole island. As I said, I don't do sand, not into waterparks, the pool would be fine but there's a pool on the ship so I really don't see a need personally for me to get off on Cococay. Just thought I would look around. I get the attraction though.

OMG we love the beach at CocoCay. Guess if you don't like beaches, you won't like it.  We probably won't even go into the new area.  We go get our lounger on our favorite part of the beach and chill all day.  We are beach people, not pool people so love the beaches at CocoCay.  Nassau on the other hand, could totally do without, wish they would just leave me in CocoCay-lol

[depplep]

I know, I'm weird. I don't like sand and I won't go in the ocean. I like the IDEA of a beach, but the pool is fine by me. Don't like Nassau either, not much to offer in my opinion compared to other islands. What they did with Cococay is amazing though. I wonder how long it will make it though if a hurricane comes through? 

[karena1]

Just now, depplep said:

I know, I'm weird. I don't like sand and I won't go in the ocean. I like the IDEA of a beach, but the pool is fine by me. Don't like Nassau either, not much to offer in my opinion compared to other islands. What they did with Cococay is amazing though. I wonder how long it will make it though if a hurricane comes through? 

I am sure they made it to make it through a hurricane.  But guess we won't know until one actually goes through there.

[Mikew0805]

On 6/26/2019 at 6:01 PM, karena1 said:

I am sure they made it to make it through a hurricane.  But guess we won't know until one actually goes through there.

True. There would be damage, depending on the category of the storm, but I bet they built it to withstand quite a bit. I am sure part of the fees charged on Coco Cay are going to pay for some Hurricane Insurance. 😂

[Mikew0805]

On 6/25/2019 at 11:07 AM, Mikew0805 said:

I know many would be disappointed with this, but I personally would love to go to Coco Cay, from Tampa. 

Well... I like it so much, I booked it. April 27th... looking forward to getting to Coco Cay, without having to drive to PC or MIA/FLL

[DancerMama25]

On 6/24/2019 at 1:26 PM, CruisingJoe09 said:

Yikes - that is terrible. I am in CocoCay next week on Harmony, but I'm frustrated at hearing about how you have to pay for almost everything there and the fact that other ships (Brilliance, Independence etc.) are being re-routed there instead of other destinations just seems like Royal trying to nickel and dime their guests. Disappointing.

 

I just have to say that it is completely inaccurate to say “you have to pay for almost everything” on CoCo Cay.  That simply isn’t true.

 

While I agree it’s likely Royal changed the itinerary to include CoCo Cay because they’d rather have you spend with them than Mexico (IF you choose to spend), I think it’s more likely that they have such faith in their CoCo Cay port that you will choose to cruise with them again in the future because you’d like to return.  You can’t be “convinced” to return if you’ve never been there.  This is why I think they are changing the itinerary.

 

But that being said, there is much more to do on the island that’s free than is an additional cost.  Additionally, it is likely a cost-saver for cruisers because the food and drink is included, including any of the drink package you’ve purchased for the ship.  Lounge chairs and umbrellas are plentiful and comfortable.  The fresh water pool is fantastic.  There is a rather large splash pad area with two dousing buckets and three smaller slides that is included.  There is a pirate ship splash area as well.   There is really no need to spend extra money.   The balloon and the zip line are a monetized excursion, but they would be if you did either of those things at a different port of call as well.

[mysticmum]

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 7:13 PM, amflor said:

The topic is not if you like coco cay better.. The point is that the cruise line offered for sale a ininerary, that some people wanted and now they are changing course. If customers wanted to go to Bahamas they could have purchased Mariner/Navigator or perhaps another ship that offers stops in Nassau and or Coca Cay. 

 Totally agree, we are staying near Orlando and did not book to go from Port Canaveral as we did not want to go to Nassau and specifically did want to go to Cozumel, so we booked the cruise leaving form Tampa on the 3rd Feb 2020 and literally a week later they change the itinerary. This cruise was an alternative booked after our May transatlantic on Independence was cancelled too so a little bit dischuffed with RCI.

[Sherri914]

I would be disappointed that your Caribbean cruise isn't what you signed up for.    Doubly disappointing to substitute Nassau for just about any other port.  YMMV but for us, Nassau is a pool day on the ship.  We refer to Nassau as "the armpit of the Bahamas" when looking at itineraries.  As for CocoCay, we haven't been there yet, but I'm hearing really good things about the island and we're definitely looking forward to that one.  I wouldn't be one bit disappointed by having that port of call tossed into my itinerary.  

[Sherri914]

Sorry...  duplicate post.  Deleted

Edited July 9, 2019 by Sherri914
duplicate post in error